WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • Elevation Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us

Columnist Corner

WWE NXT Review - June 24, 2020

6/24/2020

Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cameron Grimes def. Damian Priest

Priest was shown injured outside before the bout began, and despite medical personnel advising him to not go through with the match, he competed anyway. It was pretty obvious from the get-go that Grimes would win, but Priest was protected in defeat, so I have no complaints. This didn't last long at all and I'm sure they could have a killer match, but this was designed to be more of an angle to give Grimes another notable win.

NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar def. Jake Atlas (Non-Title)

Atlas is a close friend of Drake Maverick (who the heel trio has been targeting lately), so this match made sense. This was meant to be all about Escobar, but at least Atlas looked good in defeat and scored some offense before eating the loss. I can't say enough about Escobar and how he comes across like a complete star. The theme song may sound generic to some, but I dig it and thinks it fits his mafia-esque gimmick nicely.
Picture

Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez def. Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter

This "feud" has been fairly one-sided in favor of the heels, but that's exactly what it should have been as Kai sets her sights on Io Shirai's NXT Women's Championship. Catanzaro and Carter are both works in progress, but they held their own here and it was a decent match on the whole. If Kai fails in next week's number one contender's Fatal 4-Way, I could see her and Gonzalez challenging for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship eventually.

Karrion Kross def. Bronson Reed

I was hoping for a hoss fight from these two, but it just ended being an extended squash for Kross. Don't get me wrong, he should still be beating people with relative ease at this point in his run, but it would have been cool to see what Kross and Reed could do against each other. Reed is too talented for a guy his size to settle for being midcard fodder, so hopefully he'll rebound soon and start stacking up victories again. As for Kross, he remains firmly planted in the NXT Championship chase, but it may be a while before he gets his shot at the strap.

Rhea Ripley def. Aliyah

Aliyah is apparently Robert Stone's new client and Ripley disrespected Stone a few weeks ago on the show, so that's how this bout came to be. Part of me feared that Aliyah would pick up the fluke win, but thankfully, that was not the case. Ripley dominated a majority of the match before putting Aliyah away. Unfortunately, the feud isn't over yet, as Ripley will face both Aliyah and Stone in a 2-on-1 Handicap matchup next week on NXT. Is this what Triple H meant when he said that Ripley losing the title to Charlotte Flair back at WrestleMania 36 was all a part of the plan? Ugh.

Dexter Lumis def. Roderick Strong by Count-Out

The last match Strong and Lumis had was actually enjoyable and Lumis gained something in defeat, but this was total throwaway. Strong acted scared the entire time before running off to the back, leading to his count-out loss. For what it's worth, Lumis teamed forming an alliance with Velveteen Dream last week, but Dream was nowhere to be seen here. In other words, I'm not sure what this was supposed to accomplish.

NXT North American Champion Keith Lee def. Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano in a Triple Threat Match

This was worthy of being a TakeOver main event, and I almost wish it was so it could have been given more time and so the flow didn't have to be interrupted by the commercial breaks. Other than that, this was a terrific Triple Threat while it lasted. The action was entertaining and they constantly kept things moving. Any one of these guys realistically could have won, so that added to the suspense surrounding the outcome as well. Lee retaining the title was the correct choice as he moves on to face Adam Cole in a Winner Takes All main event in two weeks. Personally, I'd have Lee go all the way and win both belts.

Overall Show

I'm happy that several of the storylines in NXT are clicking at the moment and that they aren't wasting any time in between TakeOver specials. The main event on this episode was great and set the stage for the huge title vs. title main event in two weeks (which will be airing opposite of Night 2 of AEW Fyter Fest). I didn't care much for the Ripley vs. Aliyah and Lumis vs. Strong matches, but the rest of this rock solid show was easy to sit through.
Comments

    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2021 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • Elevation Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us