WWE NXT Review - July 19, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

JD McDonagh def. Cameron Grimes

Not many people can pull off the tweener role, but Grimes is doing it brilliantly right now. He's also excellent in the ring to boot, so this was a wonderful opener. NXT viewers should remember the former Jordan Devlin from the time he spent on the brand in 2020 and 2021 as the NXT Cruiserweight Champion, but he reminded everyone again here that he's very talented in the ring. They had strong chemistry and this gave McDonagh a big win to kick off his latest NXT stint. Grimes grows even more frustrated with the loss and it looks like he'll be moving onto something with Joe Gacy. We'll see how that goes.

Cora Jade Addressed Roxanne Perez and Discarded Her Half of the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship

Jade has never been the best talker, but she's getting better, I'll give her that. I don't know how good of a heel she'll be when she seemed to be such a natural babyface, but I'm willing to give it a chance. I appreciated that she attempted to explain her actions from last week and most of it made sense, but it is a little silly when you consider that she turned on her partner even though they were already NXT Women's Tag Team Champions. Speaking of which, I have no issue with her throwing the belt in the trash because that's where it belongs. They mean nothing at this point due to bad booking, so I hope this is their way of getting rid of them.

Roderick Strong def. Damon Kemp

Strong and Kemp previously failed to beat fellow Diamond Mine members The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Team Championship at The Great American Bash and Strong wasn't happy with the way Kemp reacted to the loss. In other words, Strong is still teasing tension with all of the members and it might be a matter of time before he's booted from his own group. Creed Brothers were shown being beaten down backstage on the big screen during this match, and Strong took advantage of Kemp being distracted to pick up the win. It was a short and sweet affair, but Strong's role in this whole thing has been the most interesting part.

NXT UK Tag Team Champions Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen def. Pretty Deadly

I still can't get over how ridiculous it is that Briggs and Jensen are the NXT UK Tag Team Champions. NXT UK was already a dying brand and this only speeds up the process. It's not like Pretty Deadly winning here would have been a much better option since they were already the champs for almost all of 2021. The match itself was decent, though I could have done without some of the shenanigans toward the end.

JD McDonagh Interrupted NXT Champion Bron Breakker

I probably would have saved this for next week since McDonagh already appeared in the opener, but this was a solid segment, nonetheless. Breakker is clearly getting more comfortable on the mic and McDonagh has always been a talented talker. I know he's not everyone's favorite (for some totally understandable reasons as well), but I'm confident he'll hold his own in this program and the eventual match will deliver.

Axiom def. Dante Chen

Axiom is, of course, the former A-Kid from NXT UK. What's weird is that A-Kid already debuted on NXT a few months ago and had a handful of matches. I don't understand the purpose of repackaging him. Is he really going to get any further with the mask on then he would have without it? To ignore his accomplishments in NXT UK is dumb to me, but oh well, we'll see how it helps him (if at all). It was a basic bout, so I hope they allow him to let loose and be the exciting performer he was in NXT UK.

Zoey Stark Won a 20-Woman Battle Royal to Become the No. 1 Contender to the NXT Women's Championship

This was practically every Battle Royal you've ever seen. NXT has some talented women in the division, but a majority of them aren't completely polished yet. Yes, I realize that's the whole point of NXT, but they probably shouldn't be on television yet is what I'm saying. This Battle Royal exposed that. I fully figured Nikkita Lyons was winning, and although she didn't, I maintain she'll be the one to ultimately dethrone Mandy Rose as NXT Women's Champion. It's not what I want to see, but it's what I expect to happen. Stark returning to win the whole thing was a pleasant surprise, though. I've never been her biggest fan because I find her generic, but she can go in the ring and she's a new opponent for Rose (not to mention Toxic Attraction was blamed for putting her on the shelf in storyline), so I can't complain. 

Overall Show

This was an obvious improvement over last week's dreadful episode. I mean, it would have been tough for this show to be any worse than that. Don't get me wrong, NXT 2.0 remains a chore to get through most weeks, but several storylines were furthered on this show and we've got some fresh faces in McDonagh and Axiom being brought in as well as Stark being brought back. Personally, I enjoy the episodes where there is less going on and more time is devoted to each match/segment, so this was a thumbs-up show for me in that regard. I'm curious to see when the next Saturday/Sunday special will be that they'll be building to, but the brand has a few interesting storylines to hold them over until then.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews