WWE NXT Review - July 13, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Dakota Kai def. Ember Moon

Poor Moon. She and Shotzi Blackheart were gelling really well as a team and they embroiled in a rivalry with Kai and Raquel Gonzalez when Shotzi was randomly called up to SmackDown with Tegan Nox as her new tag team partner. If Moon chose to stay, good for her, but I'm not sure where she goes from here considering she already failed to win the NXT Women's Championship from Gonzalez and lost to Kai here. This was the usual quality contest from these two. Post-match, Xia Li confronted Gonzalez and Kai visibly showed signs of frustration. I love the slow build to the breakup of Kai and Gonzalez and it's going to be a big deal when it inevitably happens. Li vs. Gonzalez goes down next week for the title.

Tyler Rust def. Bobby Fish

It's been three weeks and we still don't know what the hell Diamond Mine is supposed to be about. That's disappointing. If you have Malcolm Bivens as a mouthpiece for the group, use the damn guy. At any rate, I love the idea of Fish facing off with Roderick Strong eventually given their history in Undisputed Era. I figured this would result in a win for Fish, who could probably use it, but I understand wanting to protect Diamond Mine by having Rust win (albeit not clean). Kushida made the save for Fish afterward, setting the stage for next week's tag team match.

Sarray def. Gigi Dolin

This marked Dolin's first singles match since signing with NXT at the start of the year. She was in the women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but that was it. I'm glad she finally resurfaced here and had a strong showing before eating defeat. Her character work will definitely make her stand out in a stacked division. Speaking of character work, that's exactly what Sarray lacks, but I hope it'll come in time. In a random turn of events, Mandy Rose was shown standing on the stage. She was just on Monday's Raw teasing challenging for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Dana Brooke. WWE literally doesn't know what they're doing from one day to the next as far as the booking goes and this proves that.

Santos Escobar def. Dexter Lumis

Bronson Reed losing the NXT North American Championship as quickly as he did screwed over Escobar in a way because NXT was building to Reed and Escobar one-on-one at some point before the title change. Granted, Escobar likely would have lost, but I was looking forward to the match. Based on what happened after this match, Escobar will still get a shot at the North American title eventually, it'll just have a different dynamic with Isiah Scott also being a heel. Escobar vs. Lumis was well wrestled and had the right result.

Duke Hudson def. Ikemen Jiro in an NXT Breakout Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Jiro has been a blast to watch over on 205 Live in recent months. As for Hudson, he was formerly known as Brendan Vink and wrestled a handful of tag team matches alongside Shane Throne on the main roster in the early months of the pandemic. Obviously, he was brought back down to NXT and is now in a tournament to determine NXT's next breakout star. He felt generic to me initially, but his brief character profile made me care about him a bit more. Some people will probably be upset that Jiro didn't advance, but Hudson looks like a star and could be something if he can continue to improve. This was an enjoyable clash of styles and the significant size difference made Jiro even more of an underdog.

Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter def. The Robert Stone Brand (Aliyah and Jessi Kamea)

Catanzaro and Carter have developed into a terrific team over the last year. Their chemistry is off the charts and they're a lot of fun to watch. This was a short, harmless encounter. NXT's women's division remains pointless in my opinion, but Catanzaro and Carter getting a shot at the titles eventually should be cool. As for the aftermath, Aliyah apparently turned babyface by attacking Robert Stone, and Franky Monet is now leading the group. I have no problem with the latter, but Aliyah is bound to flounder on her own, even more than she already has in Robert Stone Brand. If she's getting called up to Raw or SmackDown after all these years, I don't see her being booked as anything more than what she's been in NXT: a glorified enhancement talent.

Bronson Reed Attacked Adam Cole

Cole boasted about his win over Kyle O'Reilly last week before calling out Samoa Joe, who he is most definitely going to battle with before long and I can't wait for it. I didn't think we'd see Reed again in NXT after he lost the NXT North American Championship as abruptly as he did, but him coming out to confront Cole was a pleasant surprise. He said that he sees Cole as a "golden opportunity" and stood tall to end the segment. I'm all for that as it's a fresh match and a logical direction for both guys to go in.

NXT Champion Karrion Kross def. Johnny Gargano (Samoa Joe Served as Special Guest Referee)

Gargano was basically back in babyface mode here. He's been entertaining as a heel for the last year and a half, but he's a natural face and that was evident here. He and Gargano had a super enjoyable TV main event and the rumors surrounding Kross' imminent call-up to the main roster (combined with Reed losing his title a few weeks ago) made those nearfalls down the stretch that much more suspenseful. Gargano sold Kross' offense really well and Kross was in his element as he tends to work best with smaller opponents. Post-match, Kross choked out Joe, which could lead to one of two things: either Kross gets stripped of the NXT Championship for putting his hands on an official (which would be weak) and goes to the main roster undefeated, or this leads to Kross vs. Joe at the next TakeOver special. Personally, I prefer the latter.

Overall Show

We also got the debut of Cameron Grimes as LA Knight's butler in various vignettes on his show and they were well done. There was no way this edition of NXT was going to top The Great American Bash from last week (and it didn't), but the two hours were solid. The Breakout Tournament got off to a nice start, two matches were advertised for next week, Mandy Rose returned for some reason (and I'm intrigued), and the main event delivered. With WWE getting out of the ThunderDome this week, I say NXT needs to get back on the road as well or at the very least return to Full Sail University for the weekly TV show because the Capitol Wrestling Center has overstayed its welcome in my opinion.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews