WWE NXT Review - July 1, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Joe Hendry def. Wes Lee

It's astounding how much less of a star Lee feels like compared to even a year ago. He was on the rise as NXT North American Champion but hasn't been able to recapture that same momentum since returning from injury. I'm not sure turning heel was the way to go, but I understand they're trying to get Tyriek Igwe and Tyson Dupont over by aligning them with him. Nonetheless, this was a nice opener with the expected outcome with Hendry set to challenge for the TNA World Championship at Slammiversary. Speaking of which, I'm glad Mike Santana has since been added to the title match at Slammiversary and that he helped Hendry win here by thwarting Igwe and Dupont at ringside.

Luca Crusifino Attacked Tony D'Angelo and NXT Heritage Cup Champion Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo

The boring melodrama with the former D'Angelo Family continues. Seriously, does anyone honestly care at this point? We get it, no one likes each other and no one is likable. The segment itself was whatever. I just desperately want this thing to end. With any luck, they'll do a Triple Threat for the NXT Heritage Cup Championship (where I guess the Heritage Cup Rules wouldn't apply) at The Great American Bash and get the feud over with.

Myles Borne def. Lexis King

Two totally random sidenotes: First of all, I love Borne's new theme, which I immediately recognized as "Make Your Move" by The Product because TNA used it as the theme song for Final Resolution in 2010. Automatic aura points in my book! Secondly, King looks to have gotten in an even better shape than I remember seeing him in, so good for him if that's the case. At any rate, this was a decent match while it lasted. Having Borne rack up more wins to establish himself as a singles star makes sense.

Lainey Reid def. Thea Hail

I was worried Reid might disappear from NXT TV altogether after losing to Jacy Jane in that NXT Women's Championship match a few weeks ago, but I'm glad she's sticking around. Even with that said, I was still surprised by the result here. She held the ropes to secure the win, so Hail was protected in defeat. The match was perfectly fine but too short to be much more than that.

Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley def. NXT Women's North American Champion Sol Ruca and Zaria

​​I might be in the minority in this, but in my opinion, Paxley has one of the best character arcs of anyone in NXT. Her story is simple in that she desperately wants a friend but gets burned by almost everyone she starts to trust (or she betrays them herself). She's found a friend in Dame for the time being and they were successful here. This was a well-worked match, but I largely enjoyed it because of the story they told.

Yoshiki Inamura def. Jasper Troy in an NXT Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Troy has been built up well since debuting on NXT TV last month, but Inamura was the correct choice to win here since we just saw Oba Femi retain against Troy a few weeks ago. I appreciated that Troy lost clean and there wasn't an attempt to protect Troy in defeat by having Je'Von Evans cost him the win (Evans attacked him afterward instead). It's not like he didn't score a ton of offense before losing in what was a highly physical affair.

Blake Monroe Saved Jordynne Grace from Fatal Influence

Promos certainly aren't Grace's strong suit, so it's smart to give her more opportunities to talk so she can improve. She cut a serviceable promo here hyping up her NXT Women's Championship clash with Jane at Evolution, and Monroe saving Grace to set up the tag team match for The Great American Bash was logical after Fatal Influence laid her out during the contract signing two weeks ago. This accomplished what it needed to, though Monroe seemingly being a babyface out of the gate will be weird.

Overall Show

WWE's overpacked premium live event schedule is affecting NXT as much as it is the main roster in that The Great American Bash is happening a day before Evolution, so we're getting a tag team match with the women at the former show instead of an NXT Women's Championship defense. The rest of the lineup looks solid on paper, but the build has undoubtedly been rushed. At least this was an effective episode in terms of building toward it.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews