HEYDORN’S NXT 2.0 RECEIPT 1/11: Bron Breakker kicks off championship run with authentic promo

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

Bron Breakker makes big challenge on NXT
PHOTO CREDIT: NXT

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

This week’s episode of NXT 2.0 has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-Bron Breakker kicked off his championship run with a good enough promo that felt genuine. That has been the key for Breakker with me thus far. He’s not polished with his lines and still yells too often, but when he does those things it feels like a natural extension of his personality. You can teach a promo cadence, but you can’t teach that type of presence.

-I’m a little confused by the Quinn/Escobar/Lopez story coming out of Quinn vs. Escobar. What exactly was the point? I supposed it was to get extra heat on Escobar and Lopez for the swerve and for Lopez leading Quinn on, but that simply didn’t come across well during the match.

-Escobar vs. Breakker was teased with a well-timed glance between both guys. This would be a very smart road to travel down for Breakker’s first title program as champion.

-Mandy Rose has to add a layer to her character. She can’t only be a beautiful woman. She has an it factor, but she needs depth to play off of during serious feuds for the title.

-Joe Gacy and Harland continue to get a lot of time on television and I continue to not buy their relationship. Harland looked menacing during the match, but his tone still doesn’t jive with Gacy.

-Crowbar on a pole match? *sigh* Tony D’Angelo needs to be a babyface. The mob gimmick is getting a comedy reaction from the audience and him trying to finesse heel tendencies while that’s happening really cuts the gimmick down.

-Pete Dunne is a lost soul in NXT 2.0. He really doesn’t fit what’s happening there now and it stands out in a big way. Dunne is a talented guy, but a fish out of water in this environment.

-Just what in the heck is Wendy Choo’s gimmick? I mean seriously? She had some good moments in the match and looks like she can go in the ring, but that gimmick … someone help.

-Solo Sikoa is a stud. The guy oozes charisma and has a special intensity that stands out amongst the new NXT 2.0 talent. Right now he’s not talked about in the same way as Breakker, Grayson Waller, and Carmelo Hayes in terms of potential, but he absolutely should be.

-Carmelo Hayes can handle himself on the microphone. That was a mission statement promo from a heel and the ensuing interaction with Cameron Grimes frames up his next challenger nicely. What a match that will be, huh? Great stuff.

-A nice match between A.J. Styles and Grayson Waller. It was good to see Waller keep up with Styles and both had some really compelling near falls throughout. LA Knight back in the picture on NXT is good for the brand, but he seems ready for a main roster call up at this point as he’s done as much as there is for him to do in his current NXT slot.


CATCH-UP: 1/11 NXT ON USA REPORT: Wells’s Report on AJ Styles vs. Grayson Waller, Dunne vs. D’Angelo in a Crowbar on a Pole match, Solo Sikoa vs. Boa, more

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