WWE NXT Review - June 25, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chase U (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) def. The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows), Legado del Fantasma (Angel and Berto), and Malik Blade & Edris Enofe in an NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Match

We've seen some stellar Gauntlet matches in WWE over the years. This was not one of them. That's not to say it was bad by any means, but the mini matches were too short to mean anything and they largely blended together. Three of the five teams being main roster teams really exposes how weak NXT's tag division is at the moment, but at least it was an NXT team that earned the title shot. A surprise TNA tandem taking part in this would've been cool, but no such luck.

Je'Von Evans Saved NXT Champion Trick Williams From Ethan Page and Shawn Spears

Page and Spears boasted about beating Evans in previous weeks to Ava before attacking Williams, leading to Evans making the save. Last week's closing angle heavily hinted at a Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Championship at Heatwave and this further planted the seeds for that. It was a simple segment that accomplished what it needed to, including hyping up Williams vs. Spears later on in the main event.

Wes Lee def. Joe Coffey

I was hoping we'd see The Rascalz reunite to take on Gallus two weeks ago, but New Catch Republic stepped up to team with Lee instead. I thought they may have been saving a six-man tag team match pitting The Rascalz against Gallus for another time, but it looks like Coffey is officially done in the NXT North American Championship picture after this. The dude was beaten in three minutes! It was certainly surprising to see this booked as a glorified squash, but at least Lee has momentum heading into his championship clash with Oba Femi at Heatwave.

NXT Heritage Cup Champion Tony D'Angelo def. NXT Tag Team Champion Nathan Frazer

This was easily one of the best Heritage Cup matches I've seen since they started doing them in NXT. Frazer is fantastic and worked really well with D'Angelo. The rounds didn't hold them back and the entire outing was nicely structured. The story of Frazer being obsessed with regaining the NXT Heritage Cup Championship will likely lead to him and Axiom losing the NXT Tag Team Championship at Heatwave and the dissolution of their team soon after.

NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez def. Karmen Petrovic (Non-Title)

Petrovic stepped up to Perez in the locker room earlier in the night. This was a predictable win for Perez, but they had a basic bout and I appreciated that Petrovic got to score some offense before eating defeat. Lola Vice, who sat sat in on commentary (and did a decent job), laid out Perez post-match. It was later made official that they'll face off at Heatwave for the NXT Women's Championship.

Tavion Heights def. Damon Kemp

Both of these guys have legitimate backgrounds as successful amateur wrestlers and have potential if they continue to improve. Kemp has been given a chance to shine in the past two years, but Heights has remained at the enhancement level for whatever reason, at least until now. Kemp dominated a majority of the match before Heights pulled out the upset. I'd love for this win to actually amount to something for him. He's now a member of No Quarter Catch Crew, but what will that ultimately mean if the group doesn't go anywhere?

Sol Ruca def. Arianna Grace

I don't know if this was technically an NXT Women's North American Championship number one contender's match or not, but the outcome wasn't in doubt either way. It will be babyface vs. babyface when Ruca challenges Kelani Jordan at Heatwave, but Jordan teased the match last week and Grace doesn't have much momentum at the moment. This was pretty standard stuff.

Shawn Spears def. NXT Champion Trick Williams (Non-Title)

Williams is only going to get better by working with guys more seasoned and experienced than him, so it was smart to pair him up with Spears here. They had a quality main event and Spears winning was a pleasant surprise. I'm normally not in favor of champions losing non-title matches, but they had to justify Spears being involved in the Fatal 4-Way beyond beating Evans two weeks ago. Brooks Jensen (whose supposed to be a "free agent") actually factored into the finish by accidentally hitting Williams at ringside, so we'll see if that amounts to anything.

Overall Show

No TNA presence on the show this week (the working relationship between the two companies is what excites me about the current NXT product more than anything else at the moment), but it was a solid show otherwise. I applaud their effort to put together a compelling card for Heatwave in a short span of time and this show effectively built toward the event. NXT isn't exactly white-hot right now, but progress has been made in the past month and they're currently producing some stories that have my interest.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews