WWE NXT Review - August 8, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Mustafa Ali def. Axiom

Ali appears to still be in the hunt for the NXT North American Championship after not getting pinned in the Triple Threat at The Great American Bash. He's also leaning more heel than babyface, so I don't know if we'll ever get him against Dominik Mysterio one-on-one. Nonetheless, he and Axiom worked very well together here and had a very enjoyable opener. Scrypts and his new backup were standing ringside, so Axiom had an out for losing.

Blair Davenport def. Kelani Jordan

This was Davenport's first appearance on NXT TV since losing to Roxanne Perez at Great American Bash, so this served as an easy rebound win for her. Jordan held her own, but she's still green, so I had no issue with this being booked as a squash. Dana Brooke told her later in the night that she needs to be more aggressive, and that came after she almost hit her with her belt in the ring, so a heel turn might be coming for Brooke and it'd be the best thing for her.

Tyler Bate def. Noam Dar in a Heritage Cup Rules Match

Bate and Dar always had great chemistry in NXT UK, so while the match itself was fun, I can't bring myself to care about the drama surrounding the NXT Heritage Cup Championship. It's a pointless title. Bate beat Dar for his fake Heritage Cup, only to give it back to Dar backstage when Nathan Frazer agreed to fight Dar in a Winner Take All match. Why would I take Dar seriously against Frazer when he lost clean to Bate here?

Ilja Dragunov and Trick Williams Went Face-to-Face

I'm all for Williams getting more of a significant singles push and having him feud with Dragunov makes a lot of sense coming off what happened during Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes at Great American Bash. This was a solid segment to set up their upcoming match for Heatwave. My guess is that Dragunov will win to set up a rematch with Hayes for the NXT Championship at No Mercy, but it's possible these two will have another match at No Mercy and Hayes will still be busy with Wes Lee or Dijak instead.

Bron Breakker def. Von Wagner

Breakker going after Wagner a few weeks ago was so random. It really feels like he's done all he can do in NXT and has feuded with or faced everyone of note on the roster. That includes Wagner, who Breakker beat to retain the NXT Championship late last year. Is Shawn Micheals keeping him busy with Wagner until the time comes that Triple H needs Breakker for the main roster? This match was fine while it lasted, but nothing special. The rivalry will likely continue as Breakker won but Wagner put him through the commentary table afterward.

Charlie Dempsey and Drew Gulak def. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen

Briggs and Jensen have seen their television time reduced significantly since the end of their storyline with Kiana James and I'm not complaining. They're simply not that interesting, which is why I was also down for the duo of Dempsey and Gulak beating them here. It was a well-worked tag team match, but the focus was on Damon Kemp aiding the heels to victory. Kemp is a perfect fit for their group and it was even teased a while ago.

Kiana James def. Ivy Nile

This was less about James winning than it was furthering the feud between Nile and Schism. The match wasn't anything out of the ordinary to begin with, but all of the interference made it much worse. They're obviously killing time until The Creed Brothers return to rekindle their rivalry with Schism, which completely kills the Loser Leaves NXT stipulation that the last Creed Brothers vs. Dyad match had. Needless to say, I'm ready for this rivalry to be over.

NXT North American Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio def. Dragon Lee

NXT's booking of Lee has been all over the place since he debuted. It feels like he loses more than he wins, and thus I didn't think he'd actually take the title here (though he would be a good candidate when the time comes for Mysterio to lose it). They had an entertaining main event and Rey Mysterio being in Lee's corner was a nice touch. Post-match, Lyra Valkyria showed up to take the fight to Rhea Ripley, seemingly setting up a mixed tag team match for a future episode.

Overall Show

Mysterio and Ripley continue to dominate NXT and it's been nothing but a positive for the show as far as the ratings are concerned. It's also given the North American title a higher profile and now Valkyria has direction, too. I'm just worried it's all coming at the expense of NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, who was relegated to a backstage segment this week. He needs to be back at the forefront soon to avoid getting overshadowed completely. On the whole, this was a serviceable show with some quality action and strong opening and closing matches.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews