WWE NXT Review - November 1, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Champion Bron Breakker and NXT North American Champion Wes Lee Challenged NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly

This was a pretty paint-by-numbers segment to set up the NXT Tag Team Championship main event. Everyone's mic work was adequate and I'm a fan of them all, but I just don't think the match or this segment were necessary (though we did find out what was next for both Lee and Breakker afterward). I almost thought they were building to Lee and Breakker facing each other for both belts, which would have been the wrong call and I'm glad that's not the direction they're going in.

Grayson Waller def. R-Truth by Referee Stoppage

Truth and Waller had a verbal exchange on last week's show. Between Raw, NXT and Main Event, Truth continues to make the rounds in WWE, but his resurgence may be short-lived seeing as how he was legitimately hurt here, causing the contest to be thrown out. What we got before the break was serviceable, but it never got out of first gear. Props to Waller for filling time with his impromptu promo.

Kiana James def. Thea Hail

This was a rematch from a few weeks ago, and it wasn't one I particularly cared to see. Both women are still a work in progress, though I think Hail has improved a lot from when she debuted and James is doing fine. The main focus was on Duke Hudson, who is apparently an official member of Chase University now that Bodhi Hayward has been released (reportedly there's more of a reason behind that has yet to be revealed). I thought he might turn on Andre Chase afterward, but instead, he helped up Hail. Didn't Hail just graduate high school? And Hudson is 32-years-old? Yikes.

Odyssey Jones def. Javier Bernal

Jones had been out of action with an injury since January and he finally resurfaced on last week's show. Most people probably forgot he was still on the roster, but he received a good reaction from the crowd and they were clearly happy to have him back. He really shined upon NXT's relaunch around this time last year, so I hope he can pick up where he left off. This was a solid return match for him.

Alba Fyre Crashed Toxic Attraction's Celebration for NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose

Last week marked one year since Rose won the NXT Women's Championship at Halloween Havoc 2021, so this segment was meant to celebrate her year of dominance in the division. The video package was well done and Rose cut a quality promo. You had to know someone was going to crash it, but I'm actually disappointed it was Fyre. She has received three title shots this year and lost all of them, so I don't really care about her getting another opportunity. Is there no one else that can feud with Rose right now?

Indi Hartwell def. Zoey Stark

Hartwell and Stark got into it backstage earlier in the episode when Stark got frustrated over how she and Nikkita Lyons lost last week. Based on her actions in this match, it definitely looks like she's headed for a heel turn. The match itself was decent and Hartwell continues to rack up victories. Stark and Lyons will get another shot at the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship next week and that could be where the seeds are planted for a split between the two.

Cora Jade def. Valentina Feroz

Feroz asking Sanga for his help backstage and Sanga turning her down because of his reunion with Veer Mahaan was a nice touch. I appreciated that they properly ended that story. At any rate, Jade vs. Feroz was slightly competitive but mostly a showcase for Jade. Feroz held her own, but this was designed to get Jade back on track following her loss to Roxanne Perez at Halloween Havoc and kick off a feud with Wendy Choo I have minimal interest in.

NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly def. NXT North American Champion Wes Lee and NXT Champion Bron Breakker

My top takeaway from the match is that Breakker and Lee have wonderful chemistry as partners and that Pretty Deadly sold amazingly well for their offense. This was an entertaining main event, but as previously noted, the tag titles didn't need to be on the line. Carmelo Hayes cost Lee the win while Von Wagner attacked Breakker post-match. We also saw Apollo Crews and JD McDonagh come face-to-face backstage, so those appear to be the three new programs going forward. That said, I'm hoping they're only temporary and aren't meant to culminate at Deadline in December.

Overall Show

While this wasn't as eventful of an episode as last week, this was still a fairly efficient edition of NXT. The tag title main event felt like filler, but at least the action was enjoyable. Nothing of note happened in the middle, but we got some progression on some stuff (regardless of whether I want to see some of those storylines or not) with the build to Deadline now underway. Moreover than anything else, I'm looking forward to Dominik Dijakovic's pending return to the brand. Fingers crossed he isn't given a new name, unless it's his Ring of Honor name Donovan Dijak.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews