WWE NXT Review - September 19, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Women's Champion Becky Lynch Attacked Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James

Lynch is obviously over, but that rhyming part of her promo made it quite clear that she's lost a lot of her "cool" factor. I don't know if it's a Lynch problem or the material they're giving her to work with, but promos have not been her strong suit this year. I was actually more impressed by Stratton on the mic here. It was a solid segment to set up the tag team main event for later on in the night and the NXT Women's Championship rematch between Lynch and Stratton for No Mercy.

Butch def. Tyler Bate in an NXT Global Heritage Invitational Match

It's wild to think Butch/Pete Dunne vs. Bate from NXT TakeOver: Chicago was over six years ago. Their chemistry is still strong as seen in this match, which was fun and I'm glad they got some time. It could have gone either way, but Butch is the main roster talent, so I understand why he went over. These two really should be ripping it up on the main roster at this point. As for Bate, I'm curious what's next for him because I thought he might win the whole thing.

Duke Hudson def. Joe Coffey ​in an NXT Global Heritage Invitational Match

I was perfectly fine with this getting a lot less time than Butch vs. Bate, especially since it led to a Triple Threat involving them and Nathan Frazer later on as a result of Hudson's win. What we got was decent and Hudson going over was the upset the NXT Global Heritage Invitational needed to not feel so predictable. Coffey losing obviously didn't end up mattering considering what happened in the Triple Threat.

Roxanne Perez def. Lola Vice

Vice needs a lot more seasoning and experience, but considering her background in mixed martial arts, I assume she'll be just fine. Working with women such as Perez will only help her cause. The match was passable but nothing out of the ordinary. It felt like something you'd see on Level Up. Perez hurting her shoulder was designed to explain why she wouldn't team with Lynch in the main event, though they did seem to plant the seeds for Lynch vs. Perez at some point.

NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes vs. NXT North American Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio Ended in a No Contest (Non-Title)

For such a big champion vs. champion match, you'd think this would have headlined, but perhaps it's for the best that it didn't considering it culminated in a non-finish. Neither guy should be losing at this point (especially coming off Mysterio's shockingly quick loss to Cody Rhodes on Monday's Raw), so I didn't have an issue with it. They worked well together and it was an enjoyable outing for what it was. The tension between Hayes and Dragunov continues to build ahead of their championship clash at No Mercy.

Joe Coffey def. Duke Hudson and Nathan Frazer in an NXT Global Heritage Invitational Triple Threat Match

Needless to say, this was a significant improvement over Hudson vs. Coffey from earlier on. They worked a frantic pace and delivered a quality contest. Props to Hudson and Coffey for pulling double duty. Frazer's involvement made it much more interesting, though Coffey winning was ultimately the correct outcome. Hudson vs. Noam Dar at No Mercy would've been whatever, and Frazer already lost the title to Dar and doesn't need a rematch. With Coffey being a heel, does that mean we might be getting Butch vs. Dar?

NXT Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria def. Kiana James and Tiffany Stratton

Lynch was ready to go at it alone before Valkyria stepped up as her partner. I actually really like that pairing and hope Valkyria can benefit from it, assuming it sticks. This was a well-worked main event and Lynch's presence alone warranted it being in this spot. I appreciated that Valkyria was the one to win for her team by pinning James. Post-match, Lynch announced that the stipulation for her No Mercy match against Stratton will be Extreme Rules. so that should be great.

Overall Show

Last week's show was better, but I still thought this was an adequate episode. The No Mercy card is pretty much set and the hype for it this week was well done. There's nothing worth seeking out from this edition of NXT, but we certainly got a lot of Lynch, so it seems like she'll be the new focal point for the foreseeable future. Between her and Mysterio, these main roster stars are arguably overshadowing the NXT Championship picture. Hayes vs. Dragunov II at No Mercy should feel bigger than it does, but I'm looking forward to it, nonetheless, and the entire event for that matter (though NXT's tag team division is a total afterthought at the moment).

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