WWE NXT Review - June 29, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Io Shirai & Zoey Stark def. NXT Women's Champion Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai and Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart in an NXT Women's Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Tag Team Match

I expected all action from this thing and was not disappointed. This was a highly exciting opener with strong showings from all involved. Shirai and Stark have teased clashing with The Way twice now, so they made the most sense to win. They'll get their shot at the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship next week at The Great American Bash. That also frees up Gonzalez and Kai to resume their rivalry with Moon and Blackheart if NXT wants to go in that direction. Whether it's for the NXT Women's Championship or not, I feel like Gonzalez vs. Blackheart is inevitable.

NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Johnny Gargano Brawled

Kross ambushed Gargano from behind last week, so Gargano repaid the favor this week by attacking Kross when he entered the building. That led to the two going at it again here in what was a well-done pull-apart brawl. My only issue is that NXT has done so many of them lately that they're starting to get old. This was fine, but I really don't want them to go overboard with them. Gargano is obviously the babyface by default, so it should be a fun clash of styles.

Roderick Strong def. Asher Hale

Hale debuted on NXT about a month or so in a match against Cameron Grimes and had an impressive outing. He's been on 205 Live ever since and has been having some super enjoyable matches. However, this was all about Strong and giving him a win in his first bout back. I was hoping for an explanation promo from them, but all we got afterward was some quick mic work from Malcolm Bivens. Still, he's a great mouthpiece for them and Strong is in his element in a faction.

Cameron Grimes def. Ari Sterling

Sterling is another one of the 205 Live guys who has been featured over on that show fairly regularly. This might have actually marked his NXT debut. He'll be another one to watch out for and I thought he and Grimes had quality chemistry here. Post-match, LA Knight emerged and challenged Grimes to a match next week where the Million Dollar Championship will be on the line, but if Grimes loses, he'll have to become Knight's butler. I can see that one going either way, but Grimes being Knight's "Virgil" for a bit could have potential.

Kyle O'Reilly Attacked Adam Cole

I didn't see the need for a rematch between these two initially and honestly I still don't, but I thought they did an effective job of selling viewers on it here with their mic work. Cole was excellent as always by boasting about how he was the biggest star in Undisputed Era while O'Reilly mentioned he was ashamed to ever be associated with Cole. I appreciated that this wasn't the same type of brawl we saw from Kross and Gargano earlier in the evening and that Samoa Joe just stood there as O'Reilly attacked Cole. The seeds were definitely for a future matchup between the two with that.

Tian Sha (Xia Li and Boa) def. Mercedes Martinez and Jake Atlas

Martinez's feud with Tian Sha has been a perfectly fine secondary storyline for the women's division, but the matches haven't been anything too special. Throwing Atlas and Boa into the mix made it more interesting, but Boa has been booked like a complete scrub so far, so it was hard to care whenever he was in the ring even though Atlas is talented. This will likely only be remembered for the finish that saw Li legitimately knock out Martinez with a kick to the head. That was a scary spot as Martinez flopped to the mat and barely kicked out of it. They didn't show her on camera after that. Hopefully she's okay.

NXT Tag Team Champions MSK and Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher Faced Off

Next week's NXT Tag Team Championship clash should be killer. I enjoyed this final face-off between the two teams as the mic work was solid and the segment was kept short and sweet. It's been a long time since the tag title scene got any really focus, so this has been long overdue. The crowd was clearly more behind Ciampa and Thatcher here more than they were MSK, so it will be interesting to see if that dynamic carries over into next week and if MSK will turn heel.

Isiah "Swerve" Scott def. Bronson Reed to Win the NXT North American Championship

The fact this match was made at the start of the show seemed to telegraph the finish, especially coming off Reed's appearance on WWE Main Event last week. Otherwise, why wouldn't you save this for a bigger stage (like The Great American Bash next week?) or at least advertise it a week out? And weren't they building to Reed vs. Santos Escobar one-on-one at some point? At any rate, this was a top-notch main event with these two working as well together as you'd expect. There was some interference at the end from the rest of Hit Row, but at least it protected Reed in defeat. Hit Row is money right now and I have no problem with Scott taking the title if Reed is on his way to Raw or SmackDown. I honestly don't have high hopes for him because of the main roster's track record with NXT call-ups, so fingers crossed.

Overall Show

The title change obviously made this more of a notable show than usual, but it was entertaining on the whole as it has been for the last few weeks. The brand has been picking up steam again since Joe's return and I'm glad they've been able to maintain that momentum. Thus, the timing of The Great American Bash couldn't be better. It's a stacked card next week and I'm looking forward to it. The final hype and setup on this show was well done with the opening and closing matches being the highlights of the night.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews