WWE NXT Review - May 2, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kairi Sane def. Shazza McKenzie

This was my first exposure to McKenzie, though I can't say she did anything here to overly impress me. Rather, this was a standard showcase for Sane as she hit all of her signature spots and kept things short and sweet. The real focus was on Lacey Evans emerging afterward and "apologizing" to Sane for being wrong about her before laying her out. I'm fine with that as a secondary feud in the NXT women's division.

TM61 def. The Street Profits

The crowd didn't have any incentive to cheer for either team because it felt pretty random going in, but it was fun while it lasted. On the bright side, it appears NXT might finally be doing something with TM61 based off the finish. They teased turning heel by cheating to beat Street Profits, so I hope this turns into a full-fledged feud between the two tandems that gives them some much-needed direction.

Kona Reeves def. Patrick Scott

I'm actually shocked Reeves is being repackaged and put on NXT TV before the former Donovan Dijak. The gimmick comes across as being low-rent, his in-ring skills are hardly above average, and he simply does not give off the presence of a star. He wasn't terrible in his re-debut for NXT, but nothing about this bout screamed special to me in the slightest. Hopefully he'll either improve in time or be taken off TV.

Bianca Belair def. Candice LeRae

It was only one week ago that LeRae's husband was brutally beat down by Tommaso Ciampa, so the story here was that she wasn't completely focused on winning this match as a result. He did have some hope spots, but by and large, she was dominated by Belair, who has been on the fast track to super stardom in recent months. This was obviously her biggest win to date as she continues to climb the ladder to success.

WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne def. NXT Tag Team Champion Roderick Strong by Disqualification (Non-title)

These two initially clashed for the WWE United Kingdom Championship a few months back and had an excellent encounter. That bout was better in my opinion, but this was a great match as well. The roles were reversed this time around, which was interesting. I didn't mind the non-finish because it protected both men and Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch making the save afterward made total sense.

Overall Show

While this wasn't one of the best all-around editions of NXT in recent memory, it was still a solid show on the whole. It was cool to see two women's matches featured in one night for a change and both were good. As noted, Reeves' re-debut did nothing for me, but the tag team matchup was nice and the main event was entertaining as expected and well worth checking out. Next week, EC3 will make his in-ring debut on NXT TV against Raul Mendoza, Kassius Ohno will battle Ciampa, and Heavy Machinery will face War Raiders.