 NXT Champion Ethan Page Attacked Trick Williams During the NXT Championship Contract SigningI honestly didn't even notice that the contract wasn't actually signed, which is why we got this segment again at the end of the night. In that case, why was this segment even necessary? Nonetheless, both men cut good promos and recapped their rivalry nicely. My only real takeaway was that Ava is not a natural when it comes to appearing in front of the crowd. She's definitely improved over the last year, but there are plenty of other people who would be way better in the role she's currently in. Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley def. Rosemary and Wendy ChooI've been digging the pairing of Rosemary and Choo in NXT and in TNA and their vignettes have been especially cool, but the NXT audience has been given zero reason to care about Rosemary so far. She's had three matches and has lost every single one of them. This is the same woman who might be challenging Jordynne Grace for the TNA Knockouts World Championship at Bound for Glory next month. This was a good match and it was fun seeing Valkyria and Paxley reunite. Hammerstone def. Tony D'Angelo by Count-OutFor a guy as physically imposing as Hammerstone, it's comical how many matches he's lost in TNA this year. That's why I feared for how he'd fare against D'Angelo here. Thankfully, he won, even if it was by count-out. The match was fine while it lasted, but it never really got out of first gear. D'Angelo later relayed to The Family that he's scared of Femi, but Adriana Rizzo instilled some confidence in him before the end of the episode. Zachary Wentz Addressed Wes LeeFor those who missed it, Wentz dropped the TNA X-Division Championship back to Mike Bailey at Victory Road over the weekend, confirming that he only won it in the first place so he could appear at No Mercy with it. Oh well. At any rate, he cut a great promo here. He was fired up while addressing Lee ahead of their Street Fight on the CW premiere in two weeks. Footage also aired of Lee attacking Trey Miguel last weekend, so they're blaming Miguel's legitimate injury on Lee, which I like because it puts more heat on him. Eddy Thorpe def. Ashante "Thee" AdonisAdonis really returned to NXT to be the enhancement talent he already was on SmackDown, but you can't argue that he isn't getting consistent television time on NXT (and doing more character stuff, too). This was all about Thorpe, so it was logical to keep the match short and sweet. Thorpe desperately needs to rack up a string of wins against important people in order for people to care about him because it feels like he's floundering at the moment. CM Punk Got In Between NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez and GiuliaThis was supposed to be where Punk made his "huge announcement," but that wouldn't happen until the end of the night for obvious reasons. Instead, he spent the time pandering to the crowd and name-dropping several stars from NXT's past and present. His exchange with Perez was enjoyable for those aware of how close they are in reality, and Giulia also played her role well. She continues to come across like a total badass without doing or saying much at all. Je'Von Evans and Cedric Alexander def. No Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne and Tavion Heights)Evans and Alexander make for a hell of a team. I'd have no problem with them being paired up permanently, including on the main roster at some point. This was a quality contest with them beating No Quarter Catch Crew and likely getting Evans closer to challenging for the NXT Heritage Cup Championship again. Speaking of No Quarter Catch Crew, they've been better off since Wren Sinclair joined their ranks. Brooks Jensen def. Dion LennoxI know the word "aura" is an overused word these days, but it's amazing how aura-less Jensen is any time he's on screen. I applaud the powers that be for trying with him and I applaud Jensen for the effort he's putting in to make this character work, but it has fallen flat and the crowd doesn't care. Shawn Spears is the only interesting thing about his act. This was a simple showcase win for Jensen and nothing more. Lola Vice def. Jacy JaneGiving two women's wrestlers who are supposed to be on the rise only two-and-a-half minutes to work with isn't exactly ideal. Both of them need wins right now, too. Vice is struggling to find her footing as a babyface and Fatal Influence will start to feel like the NXT version of Pure Fusion Collective unless they're made to look strong soon. The match was whatever. Jaida Parker made the save for Vice afterward. Tyrese Haliburton Mediated the NXT Championship Contract Signing Between NXT Champion Ethan Page and Trick Williams; CM Punk Was Announced as the Special Guest RefereeAll of this played out predicably after what went down in the opening segment and after Punk didn't make his announcement when he appeared earlier. This felt like an excuse to get Haliburton in a segment on the show, but if WWE can get some mainstream attention out of this (and if he is indeed having a blast out there), then more power to them. The segment accomplished what it needed to, including established that Punk will be the special guest ref. I'm glad he'll be on the CW premiere in Chicago, but running back the ref bit when we just saw it at No Mercy two weeks ago (also in an NXT Championship match) is lazy in my opinion. Overall ShowAs you'd expect, NXT is loading up those first two shows on The CW and the build has been effective so far. This one of those editions of NXT where you didn't miss much by not tuning in (it was especially light on meaningful wrestling) and it was also all over the place at times, but the key segments were what they needed to be and there were some newsworthy announcements. The rest of the show featured too much filler for my liking, which NXT has to do a better job with limiting.
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