WWE NXT Review - February 21, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ilja Dragunov def. Trick Williams

It's great to have Dragunov back in action on NXT. I don't think the outcome of this one was ever in any real doubt, but they did make you think Williams had a chance of winning when JD McDonagh came down to ringside and almost cost Dragunov the win the same Dragunov did to McDonagh two weeks ago. This was good stuff and Williams continues to impress on his own, though that isn't to say I want him to split from Carmelo Hayes any time soon. There's no need to break up that act.

Schism Interrupted Tyler Bate; The Dyad def. Chase U (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson)

Bate has simply been racking up wins since returning to NXT and now it looks like he's found his first program with Schism/Joe Gacy. I'm no Schism fan, and every rivalry they've had so far has dragged down the person they were feuding with, but it gives Bate direction, if nothing else. That part of the segment was solid and the subsequent match had some energy. Chase U continue to tease tension with Thea Hail's worrying costing them the win, so the outcome made sense.

Jacy Jane def. Indi Hartwell by Disqualification

Hartwell remains the gatekeeper for NXT's women's division. I never expected her to win, so Gigi Dolin interfering and preventing Hartwell from eating defeat again was a pleasant surprise. The match was decent but was too short to be anything more than that. I know I should be careful for what I wish for, but when will her time come to be called up to Raw or SmackDown? She's been ready for a while and there are clearly no plans to do anything meaningful with her in NXT. Hopefully we get a promo from Dolin soon cementing her babyface turn.

NXT Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) def. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade (Non-Title)

Enofe and Blade have had a few standout showings over the last few months, but they seem to have lost any momentum they had because now they're just an enhancement team. I mean, they didn't score much offense here at all. This was kept short and sweet with Gallus going over in decisive fashion, so this wasn't designed to be competitive and that's not an encouraging sign for Enofe and Blade. Pretty Deadly furthered their feud with Gallus afterward, but I'm not sure who fans are supposed to cheer for given both teams are heel.

Tony D'Angelo def. Von Wagner

Speaking of heel vs. heel feuds, what's going on with these two and Dijak? I figured Dijak was the babyface in his feud with D'Angelo considering D'Angelo cost him the NXT North American Championship at Vengeance Day, but he faced Wagner here, so it was a weird dynamic. Unless the idea is that Wagner is going face (and I have no interest in seeing that), this was a waste (not to mention the match was four minutes and forgettable, anyway).

Alba Fyre def. Ivy Nile

I'm all for Nile getting more matches on NXT TV seeing as how she's largely been to NXT Level Up for the better part of the past year. Yes, she's always appearing in backstage segments, but she doesn't wrestle much at all. She rarely loses on NXT TV, so I wasn't a fan of how she lost so quickly here to Fyre. On the bright side, Fyre finally won a match, but it was a match that didn't matter and was over before it had a chance to get going.

NXT Champion Bron Breakker def. Jinder Mahal

This felt like a simulated match in Universe Mode in a WWE 2K video game. It was absolutely not necessary to give Mahal a shot at the NXT Championship, but I understand they wanted to tell the story that Breakker could lose the title before Stand & Deliver again like he did last year. To their credit, they had a competent main event. It certainly wasn't worthy of taking place on a live special, but it worked as a television main event and Mahal is another established name Breakker could to beat (for whatever that's worth at this point).

Overall Show

The show went off the air with Grayson Waller taunting Shawn Michaels backstage, so they really want you to think they're going to be facing each other at Stand & Deliver. I doubt Michaels actually comes out of retirement, and instead, he'll have someone serve as his surrogate, presumably the debuting Dragon Lee. At any rate, this was a mediocre show on the whole. I wasn't expecting much from an episode headlined by Breakker vs. Mahal, but it's not like anything else stood out as special. Hopefully they can put together a kickass card for Stand & Deliver once the Roadblock edition of NXT has passed.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews