WWE NXT Review - September 5, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton def. Kiana James

I still don't understand why James became number one contender last week when Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolin and even Blair Davenport all would have been stronger challengers for Stratton. I know it was just a television match and James was an easy opponent for Stratton to beat, but I'm not confident they're saving the other women for down the road if there's a chance Stratton loses the title to Becky Lynch on next week's show. With all of that said, this was better than I was expecting with James having a solid showing. I'm certainly surprised they're not saving Stratton vs. Lynch for No Mercy in a few weeks.

Ilja Dragunov def. Oro Mensah

Mensah's very talented and has some quality matches in his time on the NXT brand, but I think it's almost impossible for anyone to not have their best match with Dragunov. The guy's got to be considered one of the best in the world. This was an enjoyable affair, leading to Dragunov being confronted by Wes Lee and Carmelo Hayes afterward. Hayes announced it's Lee vs. Dragunov next week with the winner getting the next NXT Championship opportunity at No Mercy. That one can go either way and should be a banger.

Nathan Frazer def. Duke Hudson ​in an NXT Global Heritage Invitational Match

I was looking forward to seeing what these two could do against each other, so I was disappointed they only got a few minutes. What we got was good, though. Frazer lost to Butch last week while Hudson beat Akira Tozawa on Level Up (yes, they're doing these matches there as well and I think that's pretty cool), so Frazer getting his first win in the Invitational made sense. That said, I'm not interested in seeing him and Noam Dar resume their rivalry.

Tyler Bate def. Dabba-Kato

Bate will be partaking in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational and Kato will not be, so it was logical for Bate to go over so he can start building momentum. The match didn't overstay its welcome and was what it needed to be. It was probably for the best that it was kept short and sweet, but they worked well together. Kato sure does lose for a "monster" heel, but it's likely because he's not ready yet for a more meaningful push on his own.

Mustafa Ali def. Dragon Lee in an NXT North American Championship No. 1 Contender's Match ("Dirty" Dominik Mysterio Served as Special Guest Referee)

With two competitors of this caliber, you'd expect them to go all out, and although they tried, this was simply too short to be what it could have been. It was a nice little sprint while it lasted, though. Mysterio made a quick count, so Ali's win wasn't clean, and once he realized that, he laid out Mysterio afterward. Does that make him a tweener? His character alignment has confused me thus far. Maybe Lee will get added to the match at No Mercy, but wouldn't that make it another Triple Threat like we got at The Great American Bash, also involving Mysterio and Ali?

Pete Dunne vs. Axiom in an NXT Global Heritage Invitational Match Ended in a Time-Limit Draw

Axiom's been grossly underutilized lately for someone as skilled as he is, but at least this Invitational will keep him busy for a few weeks. I don't think these two were ever in NXT UK at the same time, and if they were, it wasn't for very long. Thus, it was cool to see them clash here and they had a well-wrestled match, even if though they didn't completely click at certain points and are capable of better. The crowd was surprisingly tame and I wasn't a big fan of Axiom kicking out of the Bitter End right before the time ran out considering not many have done so.

Thea Hail def. Gigi Dolin

Hail is hanging out with Jacy Jane these days because she's mad at Andre Chase for costing her the NXT Women's Championship by throwing in the towel at The Great American Bash. She's apparently skipping class, too. What a rebel! I don't mind the new character direction for her, not to mention it gives Jane something to do for the first time in a while. The match was decent, but it was more about giving Hail a win and kicking off a feud between Hail and Dolin.

Bron Breakker def. Von Wagner in a No Disqualification Match

It's crazy to think how much Breakker has cooled off compared to a few months ago when he was having main event matches with Hayes and Seth Rollins. Yes, this was also a main event, but this storyline with Wagner has been far less significant than what he was doing previously. Baron Corbin sat in on commentary but never got involved. To their credit, they had a pretty entertaining main event and it might have even been Wagner's best bout in NXT to date. The fade-to-black ending was a bit goofy, but at least they're trying to get people to tune in with these cliffhanger endings week after week.

Overall Show

Was the energy down in the arena for this episode or was it just me? Even during the main event, they were less lively than usual, though I can't say I blame them as this felt like a step down from what we've come to expect from NXT TV recently. Considering they're stacking next week's show, that shouldn't be too shocking. This was the setup show for that show, and it was perfectly fine. Nothing you need to seek out this week, but I'm glad they're starting to put the pieces in place for No Mercy.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews