WWE NXT Review - June 7, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams and Grayson Waller Attacked Solo Sikoa

I was surprised to see Cameron Grimes' reign as NXT North American Champion end at only two months, but Hayes is so great in the champion role that I can't complain. He bragged about becoming champion again here before being interrupted by Sikoa, who Grimes promised a title shot last week. Waller joined the heels in laying out Sikoa in what was a solid segment to set up the Handicap match later in the night.

Josh Briggs def. Von Wagner

I haven't cared about this rivalry in the slightest. Von Wagner remains abysmal and I don't find anything interesting about the Briggs character. To their credit, though, they had a decent hoss fight. Briggs won after Fallon Henley tossed in a weapon for him to use, so the fact he didn't win clean likely means this isn't over yet. I still can't get over how Von Wagner was the one who ended Kyle O'Reilly's run in NXT six months ago.

Nathan Frazer def. Santos Escobar

As I mentioned last week, Frazer is an absolute delight to watch in the ring and I'm happy he's been getting as much television time as he has been. A-Kid was only around for a few matches, but it looks like Frazer is here to stay. The story here was that Escobar had to do as Tony D'Angelo said and that was what cost him the win in the end. The crowd was very much behind Escobar throughout, so I assume this storyline will end up turning him into a full-fledged face.

Apollo Crews Confronted NXT Champion Bron Breakker

From Dolph Ziggler to Natalya, we've seen several Raw and SmackDown Superstars show up in recent months and rejuvenate their careers with runs on NXT. Crews is the latest name to be added to that list and I have no issue with that whatsoever. He's always been incredibly talented in the ring, but he's lacked in the charisma department and his heel turn was terribly botched last year with the fallout of his Intercontinental Championship win. He's been toiling away on Main Event ever since, so putting him back on NXT for the time being (without an accent, no less) is a smart move. He can help elevate Breakker and I'm really looking forward to their clash of styles. Oh, and he ditched the dumb accent, too, which is a major plus.

Roxanne Perez def. Tiffany Stratton in the Finals of the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament

Stratton replaced Nikkita Lyons, who had to pull out of the tourney due to injury. Who knows how this would have played out if Lyons was still in it. As much as I hate Stratton's stupid gimmick, I have to give her credit in that she's actually improving in the ring. This was a very nice match with both women having an impressive showings. Perez winning was absolutely the right call and now she and Cora Jade can challenge Toxic Attraction for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship. I mean, could they make it anymore obvious?

Pretty Deadly def. Andre Chase in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Pretty Deadly attacked Bodhi Hayward backstage before this bout, turning what would have been a regular tag team match into a Handicap match. Chase showed good fire while attempting to overcome the odds and the crowd was behind him, but Pretty Deadly winning was what needed to happen. Thea Hail tried to tag in at one point, but she was never officially a part of the match I believe. I'm not super high on Pretty Deadly feuding with Chase U following their loss of the NXT Tag Team Championship at In Your House, but at least it keeps them on TV, if nothing else.

Alba Fyre def. Tatum Paxley

Paxley challenged Fyre for this episode in a backstage segment at In Your House following a back-and-forth with Lash Legend. Fyre vs. Legend is where we're going, so this logically served as a warm-up for Fyre. Paxley is another one of the NXT 2.0 newcomers that is getting better with each outing, though this was obviously more about Fyre than it was her. This was short, sweet and exactly what it needed to be.

Apollo Crews and Solo Sikoa def. NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller

This was advertised as a Handicap match before Crews stepped up to be Sikoa's partner. The commentators mentioned that this might have been the first time we've seen Crews in action on NXT since 2016, which is actually false since he had a one-off against Kushida back in the summer of 2019. Nonetheless, this was a very entertaining main event with all four guys getting a chance to shine. Crews' babyface offense was missed and it looked like he had a new lease on life here. He already accepted Breakker's open challenge earlier in the evening, but maybe we'll still see him against Hayes one-on-one at some point as well.

Overall Show

The post-special event editions of NXT TV tend to be the most newsworthy because the deck is reset and we find out what the future holds for certain stars and storylines. That was certainly the case with this episode between the return of Crews and Perez winning the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament. They kept the crap to a minimum this week and produced what was a quality show on the whole. It'll probably be back to the norm next week, but having Crews in the mix for a bit should be fun and some storylines have potential.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews