WWE NXT Review - March 15, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

LA Knight Crashed Miz TV with The Miz, NXT Champion Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode

I never thought I'd ever see an episode of NXT open with an installment of Miz TV, but here we are. This was the epitome of main roster booking, but I assume that's the point of Ziggler being NXT Champion and it sort of works to an extent. Ziggler and Miz going at it was whatever, but I became much more interested once Knight showed up. He had strong chemistry with all three heels and they set up the NXT Championship main event nicely, even though it should have been advertised in advance and saved for another week. I can understand the circumstances with Stand & Deliver coming up in two weeks, but this came out of nowhere.

Santos Escobar def. Cameron Grimes to Qualify for the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match at NXT Stand & Deliver

Both of these guys are top talents and should be holding singles hold in NXT, so I was fine with either outcome. I was actually hoping both of them would be added to the Ladder match and maybe Grimes can still quality another way. This was the entertaining outing you'd expect from them. I can certainly see Escobar and/or Grimes being moved up to the main roster following Stand & Deliver. Whether they'd be booked correctly is the question.

A-Kid def. Kushida

This feels like a really weird time to bring A-Kid over to NXT because he doesn't exactly fit the vibe of what they're going for with NXT 2.0, but maybe they wanted some fresh faces on the show. There's also not much more he can do in NXT UK, so we'll see what he can do on this brand assuming he's here to stay. Kushida was the perfect first opponent for him because they're both excellent wrestlers, but this was too short to be anything out of the ordinary. Kushida continues to be wasted, but A-Kid could be a fun fit in the North American title Ladder match if he's able to qualify next week.

Tiffany Stratton def. Sarray

The repackaging of Sarray has been a bit better than expected, but I still can't get into the Tiffany Stratton stuff. The "daddy's little rich girl" gimmick is just plain awful. She needed to get some heat back after losing to Fallon Henley last week and the way they went about this was smart. Stratton attacking Sarray before her pre-match "transformation" protected Sarray in defeat. It was less of a match and more of an angle, but I thought it worked for what they were going for.

Tony D'Angelo Attacked Tommaso Ciampa

I was unsure what the future held for Ciampa following his failure to regain the NXT Championship last week and it looks like now we know. There's been no word on whether his contract is coming due or not, but it's possible he may just move to Raw or SmackDown post-Stand & Deliver, which is interesting given comments he's made about the main roster schedule in the past. He cut a strong heartfelt promo and D'Angelo also played his role well. D'Angelo benefiting from beating him in his sendoff is the way to go, a lot like what happened with Grayson Waller and Johnny Gargano last year.

Indi Hartwell def. Persia Pirotta

I know the story being told with these two and Duke Hudson has been developing for a while, but the match should have been saved until later down the line for when it meant more. Then again, they only started teaming in NXT five months ago, so I shouldn't be surprised their apparent split was so rushed. This was total throwaway due to being so brief and it never had a chance to get out of first gear. The post-match angle with Hartwell making out with Dexter Lumis while Pirotta made out with Hudson was so damn dumb. There's probably an audience for this sort of stuff (likely consisting of creepy old men if I had to venture a guess), but it's a definite downgrade from what NXT has done with its women in the past.

Dominik Mysterio def. Raul Mendoza

The Mysterios showing up in NXT 2.0 was certainly unexpected, and it's even more surprising they didn't interact with one of their WrestleMania 38 opponents The Miz at all. The Mysterios likely won't be in NXT for the long haul considering they'll be at WrestleMania, but I honestly wouldn't mind if that was the case coming out of that event. Rey could be a nice fit and Dominik needs the experience. This was a nice little match, but what I'm really looking forward to is Rey against Santos Escobar if we end up getting it at some point. I think that has a ton of potential.

NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium Challenged MSK and The Creed Brothers to a Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver

You had to know this was coming after what happened in last week's match between MSK and Imperium. However, I'm not complaining because the Triple Threat was the logical route to take. The in-ring action should be off the charts. They didn't really explain why MSK deserved a title opportunity from a storyline standpoint, and Imperium making the challenge themselves was strange, but the segment accomplished what it needed to.

NXT Champion Dolph Ziggler def. LA Knight

As previously noted, I'm not a fan of how they rushed into this match and barely built it up, but I assume that was done because Knight is on his way out of NXT and they wanted to give Ziggler a big title defense before he possibly drops the belt back to Bron Breakker at Stand & Deliver. This was a well-wrestled main event with enjoyable action. I absolutely wouldn't mind a rematch on the main roster down the road. Breakker's post-match face-off with Ziggler set up their Stand & Deliver main event.

Overall Show

Between Ziggler and Mandy Rose being champions and the appearances from Roode, Miz and The Mysterios on this show, WWE is really going above and beyond to make NXT relevant again. Unfortunately, NXT 2.0 feels like Raw-lite (and not in a good way), and the shows are still largely a struggle to sit through. It isn't all awful, though. There are some shining spots as I've mentioned before and the bigger matches tend to deliver. The card for Stand & Deliver has come together nicely, and if it's anything like the WrestleMania weekend TakeOver specials we've gotten in the past, it should be a thumbs-up show. This edition of NXT was a mixed bag, but there was enough stuff to make it worthwhile.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews