WWE NXT Review - June 28, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade def. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter in an NXT Women's Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

The commentators explained that Perez still has her automatic title shot whenever she wants to cash it in and this number one contender's match was separate from that. Yes, it sounds stupid (and it is), but Carmelo Hayes already did something similar when he challenged for the NXT Tag Team Championship last fall and he hadn't used his NXT Breakout Tournament title shot for that, either. The match itself was well wrestled and served as a good opener. I still can't bring myself to care about Chance and Carter, but they always hold their own regardless of who they're in the ring with. Perez and Jade will challenge for the tag titles at The Great American Bash next week.

Giovanni Vinci def. Ikemen Jiro

The presentation of Vinci's new character still needs work, but his in-ring ability is second to none. This was another solid showcase for him and Jiro was the person opponent for him as he sold his offense nicely. It remains to be seen how far he'll actually go with this character and if cutting promos will pose a problem for him. I'm just glad he wasn't cut from the roster after he was split away from the rest of Imperium.

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

Yes, Brooks and Jensen are the new NXT UK Tag Team Champions after winning a Fatal 4-Way for the vacant titles last week on NXT UK. I don't hate the decision to put the tag titles on a team from NXT 2.0 to give the brand additional exposure, but I'm not a fan of Briggs and Jensen being that team. Pretty Deadly interrupting them made sense given they're former NXT UK Tag Team Champions and they appear to be the first feud for Brooks and Jensen.

Kiana James def. Indi Hartwell

In a land of bad gimmicks, James' might be one of the worst. I'm sure a portion of NXT's older audience will like it, but don't let it distract you from how abysmal she is in the ring. That's why I was so baffled by the outcome to this contest. Hartwell deserves better than this, even if the idea is for her to avenge the loss one of these weeks. James could use more seasoning on Level Up before she's considered ready for television.

Joe Gacy and The Dyad def. Diamond Mine (Roderick Strong and NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers)

The dissension within Diamond Mine has been one of the more compelling stories NXT has had going in the last two months and that made this match interesting to me, but seeing those two dudes wrestling with the dumb cloaks on took me out of it at several points. I hope they're revealed as the former Grizzled Young Veterans soon and unmask themselves because it's hard to take those guys seriously with what they're wearing in the ring. This is also probably the best spot for Gacy right now since he plays a lot of mind games and isn't a main event act. In the back afterward, Strong got fed up and challenged Creed Brothers for their tag titles (with Damon Kemp) next week, so I'm intrigued to see how that will play out.

Sanga def. Xyon Quinn

I don't want to completely write off Quinn as damaged goods quite yet, but he's definitely approaching that territory. I know that sounds ridiculous because he's only been around for less than a year, but there's currently nothing interesting about him, whereas Sanga as shown some potential as of late (specifically on the mic in backstage segments). This was a perfectly passable match and I'm glad Sanga went over because that means they might actually do something with him. Meanwhile, Quinn's downfall continues.

Nikkita Lyons def. NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose by Disqualification (Non-Title)

Lyons was briefly sidelined with an injury that caused her to miss the rest of the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, and truthfully speaking, Perez was a much better choice to win the whole thing. As I've said in the past, I'm not as high on Lyons as many other people seem to be. She's below average in the ring in that was once again evident in this outing, which was subpar to say the least. The disqualification finish makes me fearful we haven't seen the last of these two in the ring together and I'm not looking forward to that rematch at all.

Cameron Grimes Attacked NXT Champion Bron Breakker

Grimes has been teasing a heel turn in recent weeks and it was all but cemented here with what he said about Breakker and how he acted, especially when he aggressively pushed Breakker into the turnbuckle multiple times and took pleasure in injuring him. On the whole, though, I thought this segment was well done. I still don't think Grimes has a legitimate chance of beating Breakker for the title, but they've attempted to make him look like a threat and his character work has been excellent. This feud has been a significant step up from what Breakker was doing previously with Gacy.

Overall Show

Although more matches were announced for next week's Great American Bash edition of NXT, this wasn't a very effective go-home show. The final segment was arguably the highlight of the night because nothing else seemed to stick for me. Then again, that's par for the course in the current landscape of this brand. It's a developmental show, so you get what you get. Most of the main title pictures have my interest and I'm looking forward to the card for Great American Bash on paper, but this was a fairly forgettable episode all things considered.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews