 NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov Called Out Carmelo HayesThis was the biggest thing being hyped up coming into this episode, so I was surprised to see this segment to start the show, but then it became clear this would only be a small preview of what we'd get from them later on in the night. It was similar to Hayes explaining his betrayal of Trick Williams a few weeks ago. They kept it short and sweet and established that Hayes wouldn't agree to step in the ring with Dragunov until Dragunov drew up a contract for a championship match between the two. Kiana James def. Kelani JordanNXT officials have been high on James since her debut on the brand, but personally, I find Jordan much more interesting and fun to watch. James and Izzi Dame are racking up victories both in singles and tag team matches right now and I'm not really sure why. As a match, though, this was well worked and better than you'd expect considering their respective levels of inexperience. The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) def. Edris Enofe and Malik BladeAnderson and Gallows having a run in NXT isn't going to light the tag team division on fire, but honestly, I don't see the harm in it. It's not as if they've done a damn thing since coming back to the company and NXT will give them fresh opponents to work with. This was a pretty basic showcase for them. Enofe and Blade's losing streak has received some focus recently, but not here. Chase U will get their shot at the NXT Tag Team Championship next week at Roadblock, which could be where Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin lose the belts so The O.C. can challenge Chase U at Stand & Deliver. Roxanne Perez def. Jakara JacksonI love how it was explained that Perez didn't answer the impromptu NXT Women's Championship open challenge last week because she was in the shower, so she took out her frustration on the tag team partner of Lash Legend (who did accept the open challenge). There was nothing out of the ordinary about this, but Perez did manage to carry Jackson to a competent contest. It also existed to give Perez another win before she gets another opportunity at the NXT Women's Championship. Dijak def. Luca CrusifinoApparently this stemmed from Crusifino taking issue with Dijak putting Joe Gacy in a straightjacket last week. Neither of these guys are babyfaces, so this had a weird dynamic. Crusifino scored a little more offense than I thought he would, but ultimately, it was a glorified squash win for Dijak. He and Gacy brawled afterward to set up their Asylum match for Roadblock next week. I assume that be the spiritual sequel to the Asylum match Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho had at Extreme Rules 2016. NXT Women's Champion Lyra Valkyria Informed Tatum Paxley They'll Challenge The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at Roadblock; Shawn Spears Attacked Ridge HollandThe first half of this segment with Valkyria and Paxley was pretty simple stuff with both women playing their roles well and furthering their storyline with Valkyria agreeing to team with Paxley again, this time for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Of course, they've done almost nothing to earn the opportunity, but it will be cool to get The Kabuki Warriors back in NXT for one night. Look for Perez to cost them the tag titles. The other half of this segment was bizarre with Holland of all people interrupting the women and being laid out by the returning Shawn Spears, who the commentators did not refer to by his WWE name Tye Dillinger. His AEW run was very underwhelming and NXT is where he did his best work once upon a time, so although I don't find this move terribly exciting, I'm not opposed to it, either. It's better than him pulling jobber duty on the main roster again. Von Wagner def. Lexis KingIt was a battle of the two most directionless guys in NXT. Wagner has gotten over in the babyface role to a certain degree, but I don't know how anyone could possibly care about King at this point. I'm a fan of his and still feel he has potential, but he's also not exceptional in any one area and his mediocre booking has done him no favors. This was a match that happened. That's perhaps the best thing I can say about it. Jaida Parker def. Gigi DolinParker hasn't wrestled many matches under the NXT banner and should probably be relegated to Level Up until she improves some more, but it's not like she's terrible at the moment. I didn't have high hopes for this because Dolin hasn't had many standout matches in the last year, but it ended up being okay. Dolin is the gatekeeper of NXT's women's division at this point and thus beating her means very little, but Parker will apparently be pushed pretty aggressively. Charlie Dempsey def. Noam Dar to Win the NXT Heritage Cup ChampionshipFinally! Dar held that title for way too long. It's a pointless prop, but it perfectly suits Dempsey, who has a ton of upside. It's well documented in these reviews that The Meta-Four do nothing for me, so hopefully this leads to them getting less television time than they have been. The wrestling here was serviceable, but this was no different than most Heritage Cup matches they've done. The concept hasn't clicked and I wish they did away with it, but again, Dempsey is the right person to put at the helm of the division if they insist on keeping it around. Carmelo Hayes Attacked NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov and Tony D'AngeloD'Angelo coming out and immediately inserting himself into the NXT Championship picture was quite the unexpected development, and personally, I don't hate it. Yes, it comes completely out of nowhere and D'Angelo currently does not feel like a threat to the title whatsoever, but I'll take Hayes vs. D'Angelo next week over Hayes vs. Dragunov for the fourth time. That would seemingly set up Dragunov vs. D'Angelo for Stand & Deliver, and although it's absolutely not main event material, I appreciate that it's something different and that D'Angelo is back to being a singles star. This was a solid segment that didn't play out as predictably as I figured it would when it was announced. Overall ShowWith the Roadblock special being next week, I didn't think there'd be anything notable about this episode because it's not as if any of the shows since Vengeance Day have been overly eventful. But between Spears surprisingly returning, the NXT Heritage Cup Championship changing hands and what went down in the NXT Championship contract signing, this was certainly a significant show. Outside of the top two or three storylines, a lot of what's going on in NXT these days doesn't pique my interest, but this was a quality episode.
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