WWE NXT Review - December 14, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cameron Grimes def. Duke Hudson in a No Holds Barred Match

This was the match I was hoping to get from these two at NXT WarGames where they ended up having a fairly basic bout. This was more competitive and they made nice use of the stipulation. Grimes is great and Hudson is showing more signs of potential. I feared Hudson would win to build to a rubber match, but I don't think that was necessary, so Grimes winning and ripping his wig off afterward was the right call. Hopefully Grimes can ride this wave of momentum into NXT North American Championship contention.

Grayson Waller Boasted About Ending Johnny Gargano's NXT Careeer

I've been following Waller since he started on 205 Live earlier this year and the guy is terrific. He was always able to go in the ring, but he needed a character of some sort and it looks like he's found it. I'm among those in favor of Waller attacking Gargano on his way out as it gives him the maximum amount of heat going forward. He cut a quality promo here and I'm interested to see what he does next.

Ivy Nile def. Amari Miller

I've sang Nile's praises before and will continue to as she's very impressive with what she can do. It also helps that she stands out with how she's presented and her appearance. If she can continue to be built up as a badass, she may be a potential star in the women's division. As for Miller, she isn't much more than a happy-go-lucky babyface at this point, but she's making progress with her appearances on 205 Live.

Harland def. Guru Raaj

There was a ton of hype surrounding Harland signing with WWE earlier this year, so I was curious to see what he could do here. Ultimately, he didn't get to show much in this match because it was so brief, but at least he was made to look dominant by putting Raaj away decisively and quickly. He can do a lot better than this gimmick and I'm sure he'll break away from it in time. Paul Heyman a vocal supporter of his certainly doesn't hurt.

Cora Jade def. Dakota Kai

Jade reminds me a lot of Kai's original character in NXT. Okay, so Kai wasn't a punk skater, but she was a very likable underdog babyface similar to how Jade is now. They worked well together here and had a nice match in the time they were allotted. Jade keeps winning with roll-ups, so I guess it somewhat protected Kai in defeat. That said, she probably should have won (albeit not against Jade) if she's going to be facing Raquel Gonzalez in a Street Fight next week.

Tony D'Angelo def. Andre Chase

The last time I checked, both of these guys were established as heels, so I'm not sure who the crowd was supposed to cheer for. Okay, so D'Angelo has developed a bit of a cult following among the audience, but I don't think the intention is for him to be a face. At any rate, both of these guys are talented in the ring, so I was fine with this being a step above a squash for D'Angelo as they got to showcase their skills a bit. D'Angelo's face-off with Pete Dunne afterward also furthered that feud.

Boa def. Edris Enofe

I was wondering if Boa and Solo Sikoa were still feuding and I guess we got our answer beforehand when we were shown a replay of the two interacting from a few weeks ago. I still think that's a waste of Sikoa, but that's just me. Hopefully it's an easy win for Sikoa. Boa is marginally more interesting with the face paint, but he's still just passable in the ring. I honestly thought Enofe stood out more in this match than he did.

Jacket Time def. Grizzled Young Veterans

As I've said before, I've grown to like the team of Kushida and Ikemen Jiro more than I thought I would, but they have to tone down the goofiness a bit (especially Jiro though I know that's his whole gimmick). Some of their humor isn't the best, but it's better than whatever the hell has become of Grizzled Young Veterans. This was an average outing that continued the bad blood between these two teams and The Creed Brothers.

Bron Breakker def. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong (Non-Title)

I was really looking forward to this. It didn't quite live up to my expectations, but it was a well-worked main event with Strong doing an excellent job of allowing his opponent to shine while also having an awesome outing himself. Strong was never going to win, but I'm not disappointing with him losing if the idea is to get rid of the Cruiserweight title soon. Personally, I'd hold off on Breakker's rematch with Tommaso Ciampa until New Year's Evil.

Overall Show

A majority of NXT 2.0 is still filled with enhancement matches, but I understand the point is to build up the newer faces. The focus isn't as much on the in-ring action, though we did get two entertaining matches on this show in the opening and the main event. It's becoming more bearable than it was when they first overhauled the product, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's must-see TV by any means. This was a solid show, but we won't know how many of these stars will actually be successful for at least another few months. In the meantime, we're left with a program that is the definition of developmental and I'm not sure it belongs on prime time television anymore.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews