WWE NXT Review - August 8, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nikki Cross def. Amber Nova

Amber Nova has made a handful of appearance for IMPACT before, though she has yet to impress me in the ring. She looked fine here, but this was largely designed to serve as a showcase for Cross. I was wondering whether we would see her promoted to the main roster following her failure to get back into NXT Women's Championship contention, and perhaps she still will, but for now she's getting back on track with wins like this. Perhaps post-SummerSlam we will see her pop up on Raw or SmackDown Live (likely the latter).

Undisputed Era Attacked Ricochet

Ricochet was advertised to compete on this show, but he was ambushed by Undisputed Era before the bout came to fruition. This was an easy and effective way to get heat on Adam Cole ahead of his NXT North American Championship defense against Ricochet at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV without giving anything away. It's also worth noting that Bobby Fish wasn't on crutches for the first time and was instead sporting a knee brace, so he could be back in the ring sooner rather than later.

Kassius Ohno def. Adrian Jauode

This had to have been one of Jauode's first appearances on NXT TV because he's a new face to me, but he has a great look and could have potential in the future. However, this was all about Ohno, who has been more aggressive since his last outing on NXT TV. After suffering a string of losses, he seems to be determined to return to his winning ways and prove to the world that he isn't one to be overlooked. This was short, sweet, and exactly what it needed to be.

Keith Lee def. Marcel Barthel

It has been evident for a while that Lee's style was tailor-made for NXT and I'm so happy that he has finally arrived. Unsurprisingly, he received a strong reaction from the audience and had an awesome showing in his television debut. Granted, Barthel may have scored more offense than he should have, but Lee had his hand raised in the end and was given the star treatment.

Taynara Conti def. Vanessa Borne to Qualify for the 2018 Mae Young Classic

Both of these ladies competed in last year's Mae Young Classic and are still works in progress, but all things considered, this wasn't as atrocious as it could have been. It didn't last too long and it's nice to see them trying to develop their personas (for example, Borne is full of herself and Conti is just straight-up unhinged). The heel vs. heel dynamic was odd, but I appreciated the effort, even if the finish came off as a bit botched and there were a handful of sloppy spots.

Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano Ended in a No Contest

I was really looking forward to this match because they had yet to go one-on-one in NXT, but I knew not to expect much once the bell rang so close to the end of the episode. Sadly, this was more of an angle than an actual matchup, but I assume they're holding off on their clash for another time. Tommaso Ciampa got involved and all hell proceeded to break loose before William Regal announced a Triple Threat pitting the three of them against each other at TakeOver. WWE then reported on their website that Black was attacked outside of the arena afterward, so he may be written out of the show due to a legitimate injury he suffered recently, which is a shame.

Overall Show

These editions of NXT tend to feature one memorable match or two, but this show lacked that and suffered as a result. I enjoyed the hour on the whole, but not too much of note happened aside from Lee's debut. The main event angle was well done, but it set up a TakeOver matchup that may not even happen at this point. This was easily one of the weaker NXT shows in recent memory, but not bad by any stretch.