WWE NXT Review - May 25, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart def. NXT Women's Champion Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai

These teams have had a pair of great matches in recent months: one at TakeOver: Vengeance Day and another a few weeks later when Moon and Blackheart beat Gonzalez and Kai to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship. This was another above-average encounter with all four women putting in the effort. The babyfaces winning was the better call as the heels would've gained nothing from the victory, as them vs. The Way would be an odd matchup in terms of the dynamic. Maybe they'll still get there, but this keeps things interesting and possibly sets up Gonzalez against Moon or possibly Blackheart for TakeOver: In Your House. I thought we'd get Gonzalez vs. Kai at that event, but it looks like they're holding off on that for now thankfully.

Pete Dunne def. Bobby Fish

Dunne's excellence is well-documented, but I feel like people tend to sleep on what Fish can do because we don't see him spotlighted in singles competition that often. Considering he was out injured for almost six months, I'd say he fared pretty well for himself here and didn't show any signs of ring rust. This was a very well-wrestled match as expected with the right result. I assume Fish will take exception to Kyle O'Reilly not coming out to save him from Dunne and Oney Lorcan afterward.

Mercedes Martinez def. Zayda Ramier

Ramier beat Toni Storm in a pretty big upset a few weeks ago but has done nothing of note since. I'm not saying she should have won here, but the least they could have done was give her entrance to establish she's more than an enhancement talent (unless that's what her role is going to be). She scored some offense, but this was mostly about Martinez and getting her back on track following her failure to become NXT Women's Champion. I'm glad she's already settling into another storyline with Xia Li, who we haven't seen in what feels like months.

The Million Dollar Face-Off Between Cameron Grimes and Ted DiBiase Ended with LA Knight Attacking Grimes

I don't know about anyone else, but I've found the weekly segments with Grimes and DiBiase to be comedy gold and the best part of the program. Grimes has been hilarious with this character and it's been awesome seeing DiBiase back in a regular role on TV. I assumed this segment would end with DiBiase either agreeing to be Grimes' new manager or giving him the Million Dollar Championship, but we instead got Knight interrupting them and laying out Grimes. He and DiBiase walked out together, but I don't know if that means they're aligned or not. Either way, I'm all for Knight getting involved and giving him something meaningful to do. Him and Grimes seems like a natural feud at this point.

Franky Monet def. Cora Jade

This marked Monet's debut match on the NXT brand. I've been following her career since her Lucha Underground days, so I was really looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. She has the presence of a star and she's a super skilled wrestler to boot. For the record, she's been using Beth Phoenix's Glam Slam as a finisher for years. Hell, I'd love to see that match at some point. On a side note, it was cool to see Jade. She hasn't been used much on NXT TV since signing earlier this year. Fingers crossed Gigi Dolin is next.

NXT Tag Team Champions MSK Saved NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed From Legado del Fantasma

I've had the chance to interview Reed twice now and I can confirm he is every bit as nice and as genuine as he comes across in his promos on the show. He said pretty much everything you'd expect from a first-time champion, but I liked it. The real surprise was Santos Escobar challenging him for the title, which means he's officially out of the Cruiserweight division and that's great news. Legado del Fantasma have their NXT Tag Team Championship against MSK next week and I assume we get Reed vs. Escobar at TakeOver.

NXT Champion Karrion Kross def. Finn Balor

I thoroughly enjoyed their TakeOver match from last month and found this to be equally entertaining. Kross' best NXT matches so far have definitely come against Balor and I loved how this had that big fight feel to it. There was the small chance Balor could win, but it made more sense for him to do the honors again and likely bow out of NXT. Maybe he'll have a proper farewell at TakeOver, but this could have easily been his swan song and the next time we see him might be on Raw or SmackDown (hopefully the latter). As for Kross, we found out that a Triple Threat next week between Kyle O'Reilly, Pete Dunne and Johnny Gargano will determine his opponent for TakeOver. My money is on O'Reilly with Gargano taking the fall.

Overall Show

I was a big fan of how streamlined this edition of NXT felt with most of the matches getting an ample amount of time and all of the biggest segments delivering. The women were all over the episode between three different matches, feuds were teased or furthered, the Grimes-DiBiase stuff continues to intrigue me, we got hype for next week, and the main event was excellent. The second hour was the stronger of the two, but on the whole, this was a hell of a show.

SEE ALSO: WWE NXT Reviews