WWE NXT Review - May 14, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sol Ruca def. Izzi Dame to Qualify for the NXT Women's North American Championship Ladder Match at Battleground

I don't have much faith that Dame is going to do much on her own now that her tag team partner Kiana James has been called up to Raw. She held her own here, but Ruca has a much higher ceiling and is further along in her development, so she was the right choice to qualify. I'm stoked to see what she can do in a Ladder match. They had a perfectly passable match and the out-of-nowhere finish looked awesome as always.

OTM (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price) def. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade

The storyline with Enofe and Blade being down on their luck is so incredibly stupid. It's not just that their on a losing streak, they're literally to find ways to get good luck. This was their most competitive match in some time (and it was decent), but they still came up short. It's worth noting that Scrypts wasn't with the rest of OTM. His contract is rumored to be up in a few weeks and apparently the company won't be renewing it.

Lash Legend def. Ivy Nile to Qualify for the NXT Women's North American Championship Ladder Match at Battleground

Poor Nile. First, she fails to advance in the Queen of the Ring tournament, and now, she can't even qualify for the Ladder match at Battleground. They've been pushing The Meta-Four pretty hard recently, so the outcome wasn't too shocking, but I wish WWE did more with her. She and Legend had a fine match. Legend is getting a ton of television time as part of her storyline with Trick Williams, so maybe she wins gold as well at Battleground?

Je'Von Evans def. Oro Mensah

Mensah can certainly go in the ring, but Evans has a bit of buzz at the moment and it was wise for that to be capitalized on with this win for him. They had an enjoyable sprint, and as I've said before, Evans is a blast to watch work. Fingers crossed he can continue to build momentum and eventually work his way toward championship contention (the NXT North American Championship, that is). He needs to improve his promos first and hone his skills on that front.

Wes Lee, Ivar and Josh Briggs Staked Their Claim to an Opportunity for Oba Femi's NXT North American Championship

The verbal back-and-forth between Lee and Femi was good and I thought they'd announce their match for Battleground, but Ivar and Briggs also emerged to give their reasons why they should get a title shot. Ivar is somewhat understandable, but what the hell has Briggs done to earn another opportunity? It was a solid segment to set up next week's number one contender's Triple Threat. That's better than just doing a four-way with Femi.

The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) def. Ridge Holland and Riley Osborne

Much like he did with Gallus (who returned at the end of this episode, by the way) a few months ago, Holland was willing to fight The O.C. alone until Andre Chase suggested he team with Osborne. It was an average affair, but the miscommunication between Holland and Osborne costing them the win was mildly interesting. I really can't bring myself to care about whatever the hell's going on with Holland. Is he a babyface or a heel? It's impossible to tell.

Lola Vice def. Carlee Bright

Bright asked Ava for an opportunity backstage earlier in the episode and got it in the form of this match. The mini video package they produced for her was appreciated, but there's still nothing so far that stands out about her. She's competent in the ring but comes off as very basic. This felt like it only existed to set up the post-match angle with Karmen Petrovic and Natalya challenging Vice and Shayna Baszler to a tag team match on next week's show.

Tony D'Angelo def. Charlie Dempsey to Win the NXT Heritage Cup Championship

I'm glad D'Angelo has finally win singles gold after coming up short of capturing the NXT North American Championship and the NXT Championship over the years. That said, the Heritage Cup means next to nothing and I'd love to see D'Angelo toss it in the trash. Dempsey's reign was so short that it was difficult to care about him losing it so quickly. For what it's worth, this was a quality contest and one of the better Heritage Cup matches I've seen in recent memory.

Overall Show

There's no question NXT has cooled off this year, especially with the brand losing a lot of stars to SmackDown and Raw in the Draft, but I'd argue they're recovering as well as they can. I still can't get into The Meta-Four being a focal point on the program, but I'm intrigued by the NXT North American Championship picture and the new NXT Women's North American Championship is getting a lot of love. This was a serviceable, middle-of-the-road show with a title change at the end (for whatever that's worth).

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews