WWE NXT Review - July 12, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Giovanni Vinci def. Apollo Crews

As I've said before, Vinci's presentation still needs some tweaking, but the guy can go in the ring. That's why I was excited for this outing because I knew it'd be great. Sure enough, they delivered. In case people forgot, Crews is also quite talented, so I thoroughly enjoyed this opener. Crews losing his first singles match back in NXT wasn't exactly ideal, but at least he was protected in defeat with Xyon Quinn costing him the win. Plus, it keeps Vinci rolling.

JD McDonagh Interrupted Cameron Grimes

Grimes was out in the ring to discuss what was next for him when he was interrupted by McDonagh, who brought up how he was the one everyone was talking about coming out of The Great American Bash because of his attack on Bron Breakker. McDonagh has terrific mic skills, so I enjoyed this exchange. They also did an effective job of setting of McDonagh's (re-)debut match against Grimes for next week.

Tatum Paxley def. Kayden Carter

Paxley is very much a work in progress, but she has potential from what I've seen of her. She definitely has the look of a star and I like what they've been doing with her and Ivy Nile. Carter's been around in NXT for a lot longer, but that doesn't mean she's technically proficient by any means, so this wasn't the best bout whatsoever. At the very least, it was passable and Paxley picking up her first victory on the show was the correct call.

Sanga def. Duke Hudson

Sanga is another prospect who I've been high on and would like to see him get more opportunities. Not only does he have size on his side, but he has a nice presence about him and is very well-spoken. I believe Hudson has the makings of a star as well, but he's been firmly established as an enhancement talent in recent months, so I can't say him taking the quick loss here was terribly surprising. This was basically a glorified squash.

Solo Sikoa vs. Von Wagner Ended in a Double Count-Out

I really don't want Sikoa tied up with Wagner, but I'm not sure what else there is for him to do right now since he's already failed to win the NXT North American Championship multiple times and he isn't moving up to the NXT Championship picture just yet. Wagner has improved, but I still can't bring myself to care about the dude. This hoss fight was better than I thought it would be, but the non-finish seemingly sets up a rematch I have no desire to see.

Indi Hartwell def. Lash Legend

The booking of Hartwell has been puzzling. After losing her tag team partner and "husband" in storyline, she was feuding with Toxic Attraction before losing to Mandy Rose and that was the end of that. She went on to randomly lose to Kiana James and it doesn't look like she's going to avenge that loss. I assumed she'd lose here, too, but she actually ended up winning with help from Alba Fyre. The match was pretty bad and that botch from Hartwell right before the finish was unfortunate.

Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo def. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade

Instead of replacing the released Troy Donovan with someone else, it appears D'Angelo will be taking his spot as Lorenzo's partner for the time being, if not permanently. Donovan being let go isn't much of a problem since D'Angelo now has all of Legado del Fantasma in his ranks, anyway. Enofe and Blade are a spirted young duo and this was well wrestled while it lasted, but this was all about D'Angelo and Lorenzo. 

NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose def. NXT Women's Tag Team Champion Roxanne Perez

Everything leading up to this match was convoluted as hell. Perez won the NXT Breakout Tournament and a title shot at a championship of her choosing several weeks ago, and although she's one-half of the tag team champions, that didn't count as her title shot because she and Cora Jade earned that opportunity by winning a number one contender's match. Then, despite coming into this match injured, Perez insisted on competing, anyway. I don't understand why Jade would be upset over Perez challenging for the NXT Women's Championship when they already won the tag titles together, but either way, this turn was way too rushed. The match itself was solid, but everything about the angle that ended the show was quite dumb.

Overall Show

This show was a significant downgrade from The Great American Bash last week. I figured that would be the case since the specials always outperform the regular weekly shows, but this was an especially abysmal episode. The ending in particular is going to create a lot of chatter (and not the kind of buzz NXT should be seeking), and the rest of the show was largely dull outside of the entertaining opener. I know NXT 2.0 isn't the most exciting program from week to week, but this edition was below average by the brand's standards.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews