WWE NXT Worlds Collide Review - September 4, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes def. Ricochet

It's been three years since Ricochet last wrestled in an NXT ring and he has been missed, especially with the way he's been booked on the main roster. There was no reason to think he'd be taking the title with him to SmackDown, but he gave Hayes a hell of a fight and they had as entertaining of an outing as I thought there would be. Yes, it was mostly a spot-fest, but it was super fun and everything I hoped we'd get from these two. Hayes won clean but the roll-up protected the main roster star in defeat.

Pretty Deadly def. NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers, Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), and NXT UK Tag Team Champions Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Elimination Match to Become the Unified NXT Tag Team Champions

This wasn't a match I was overly excited for coming into the show just because of how thrown-together it felt on paper, but it ended up being an entertaining affair with all four teams working really well together. The elimination stipulation helped and I appreciated that Briggs and Jensen being the first team gone. I also wasn't expecting Damon Kemp to turn on Creed Brothers here and cost them the titles. Is Roderick Strong (who was shown attacked outside before the show) behind it as well? Pretty Deadly were a wise choice to walk away as champions.

NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose def. Blair Davenport and NXT UK Women's Champion in a Triple Threat Match to Become the Unified NXT Women's Champion

Rose's matches as champion have been hit or miss over the last year, but it was going to be tough for her to have anything less than a quality match with two women who are as talented as Satomura and Davenport. They kept things interesting throughout and maintained a nice pace. Any one of these women could have realistically won, so that added some suspense to some of the nearfalls down the stretch. Ultimately, NXT went with the person I didn't want to win in Rose, but at least Satomura wasn't pinned. I just fear that Rose will hold the gold for over a year only to lose it to Nikkita Lyons, which would be awful.

NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter def. Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H.

This was easily the weakest match on the card, but it was still solid and featured good work from both teams. Chance and Carter have turned into a terrific tandem with innovative offense and winning the tag titles last month gave them the credibility they needed. Doudrop and Nikki also have superb chemistry, but both women are in desperate need of a repackaging. The only thing I didn't like about this was the lame finish with Toxic Attraction interfering and costing Doudrop and Nikki the win. I know wanting to protect the Raw Superstars, but that made no sense and felt like something you'd see on NXT TV and not on a live special.

NXT Champion Bron Breakker def. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate to Become the Unified NXT Champion

NXT UK didn't win any matches on this show (unless you consider Pretty Deadly to be a part of NXT UK which they haven't been in many months), so part of me thought Bate might actually take both belts to end the show on a shocking fashion. Well, that didn't happen, but it was a top-notch match, nonetheless, and one of Breakker's best bouts yet as champion. The crowd clearly favored Bate but didn't boo Breaker when he emerged victorious instead. Hopefully this served as a reminder of how fantastic Bate is to anyone who wasn't aware or forgot.

Overall Show

My biggest complaint about this event was that it came together so quickly and the build was incredibly rushed as a result. It would have meant more if they hyped it up over a longer period of time, not to mention it's going to be overshadowed by Clash at the Castle and AEW All Out also happening this weekend. With all of that being said, this was a strong show from an in-ring standpoint. There were no bad matches and even some excellent ones worth going out of your way to see, specifically the opener and the main event. NXT UK has officially folded, but where will NXT go with the talent leftover from here?

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