WWE NXT Review - June 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Adam Cole def. Carmelo Hayes

Cole was supposed to pick his opponent here like Kyle O'Reilly did with Kushida last week but opted not to because he didn't want to follow William Regal and Samoa Joe's rules. That brought out Hayes, who just debuted as part of Kushida's open challenge a few weeks ago. As I've said before (because I followed his work on the independent scene), the dude is an absolute star in the making. I'm glad he got this opportunity and it was a very fun match to boot. He got to look credible in defeat, which I appreciated. This was a little too similar to John Cena's debut against Kurt Angle back in 2002 (20 years from this Sunday), but it was a top-notch piece of business, nonetheless.

Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan Confronted The Way

What a weird segment. Gargano is entertaining as a heel, but having Dunne of all people interrupt him was a strange call considering they're both heels. I know NXT tends to do this a lot (we got Karrion Kross vs. Santos Escobar as recently as a few months ago), but it doesn't seem to make a ton of sense other than keep both guys busy. Is NXT really that light on babyfaces? This served to set up the tag team match between the two teams later in the night.

Io Shirai and Zoey Stark def. The Robert Stone Brand (Aliyah and Jessi Kamea)

Aliyah and Kamea have been in developmental for so long that I don't see them ever escaping enhancement duty. While there was no uncertainty surrounding the outcome of this contest, it was a decent match that served as a solid showcase for the new team of Shirai and Stark. They established earlier in the evening that they don't like each other but that they have respect for each other. All hell broke loose afterward with Shirai and Stark being interrupted by The Way and then brawling with Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart. It's about time the women's tag team division in NXT was shown some love.

The Way (Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory) def. Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan

As previously mentioned, this was one of those bizarre heel vs. heel matches NXT does on occasion, but it felt like The Way were the babyfaces by default. The commentators even mentioned that Gargano was back in Johnny Wrestling in mode for the first time in a long time. As expected, this was very well wrestled and a ton of fun. Gargano talked trash about Karrion Kross during his promo earlier, which is why Kross attacked him after this match. I'm curious if Gargano will go back to being a full-fledged babyface or he's just play the babyface for a one-off against Kross.

Franky Monet def. Elektra Lopez

I had a chance to interview Monet this week and she couldn't have been nicer. She has a huge upside and has thankfully been portrayed as a star so far. I don't think I've seen Lopez on NXT TV before, but she fared well for herself. This was a little more competitive than Monet's in-ring debut against Cora Jade but she still won decisively as she should have. She'll need her first feud eventually, but at least she's off to a strong start.

Hit Row (Top Dolla and Ashante "Thee" Adonis) def. Ever-Rise

Consider me all in on Hit Row. The act just screams money to me and everyone plays their role well. We know how talented Isiah "Swerve" Scott is and Top Dolla and Adonis work well the designated tag team of the group. This was an effective glorified squash win for them. I can certainly see them getting a tag title run down the road. As for Scott, it looks like we're headed for him against Bronson Reed for the NXT North American Championship after Reed gets done with Santos Escobar.

Kyle O'Reilly def. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida (Non-Title)

This was considered a dream match by many and it did not disappoint. I didn't have a problem with the Cruiserweight title not being on the line because you knew O'Reilly wasn't going to win it two weeks before he faces Cole at The Great American Bash. I also didn't have a problem with Kushida losing clean because it was after a such a hard-fought battle, and a non-finish in the main event would have felt cheap. This was a terrific main event with Diamond Mine's debut afterward being the cherry on top. The new group consists of Roderick Strong, Tyler Rust, Malcolm Bivens and Hideki Suzuki, so I'm intrigued. I will say that NXT is starting to feature too many heel factions (a la AEW), so hopefully one of them can turn face soon because it's going to become overkill if it isn't already.

Overall Show

​While this wasn't as hot of a show as last week, it was still an enjoyable and efficient episode on the whole that had a few notable developments, moved several stories forward and set up more matches for next week and for The Great American Bash in two weeks. There was some strong wrestling to boot, so the two hours flew by. For what it's worth, Samoa Joe didn't have as much of a presence this week, but he once again teased tying up with Kross, Dunne and Cole. They wouldn't be hinting at those potential matchups if they weren't going to come to fruition at some point, right?

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews