NXT 2.0 HITS & MISSES 7/12: Rose vs. Perez, D’Angelo & Stacks vs. Hartwell vs. Legend, Sikoa vs. Wagner, Vinci vs. Crews, Paxley vs. Carter, Sanga vs. Hudson, more.

GIOVANNI VINCI vs. APOLLO CREWS

After Apollo returned to NXT a few weeks ago, Giovanni Vinci decided to pick a fight and insult Crews’ family leading into this match tonight. I’m curious to see what Crews winds up doing down here in NXT before, presumably, going back to the main roster. AJ Styles and Natalya have recently had brief NXT runs, but had clear cut stories at least a week after debuting in NXT. Crews has had matches with a few people and has had some sort of vignette alluding to him being a vigilante. There hasn’t been a clear direction for him yet, making me wonder if he’ll be staying in NXT longer term.

Giovanni Vinci, while a fantastic wrestler, needs to find a way to connect with the audience. His gimmick reminds me of Suit-Cesaro crossed with Tony D’Angelo, though he hasn’t really shown a whole lot of deep character work as of yet. I feel like he’s on the right trajectory, but I’d like to see him stand out from the crowd a bit more over the coming weeks.

In terms of match quality, this was fantastic for NXT 2.0. We’re so used to seeing developmental stars hone their craft, that it’s very refreshing to see two veterans tear it up. Xyon Quinn interfered on behalf of Vinci, attacking Crews behind the ref’s back.

Verdict: HIT

TATUM PAXLEY (w/Ivy Nile) vs. KAYDEN CARTER (w/Katana Chance)

Last week at the Great American Bash, Tatum Paxley got into it back stage with Kayden Carter, leading to this match tonight. Not often do we see Carter in singles competition, but I think this was a good opportunity for her to shine without a partner by her side.

Paxley continues to improve each time I see her in the ring. She’s still green, there’s no doubt about it. But all we can ask is that she improves week after week.

I like the pairing of Ivy Nile and Paxley, they seem like they’d be opposites in terms of gimmick but it works very well together. Paxley picked up a win, impressing Nile and perhaps leading her one step closer to the imploding Diamond Mine.

Verdict: Lukewarm HIT

SANGA vs. DUKE HUDSON

The Great American Bash opened up with a pool party where most of the NXT talent was partying, celebrating the summer. It was probably one of the worst things NXT has ever produced. But part of the party, Sanga cannonballed into the pool, soaking Duke Hudson and caused him to get water in his ear.

Yes. That’s literally what started this feud. Water in the ear. That’s almost as stupid as fighting over a Japanese shampoo commercial. I’m looking at you, Edge and Booker T.

Sanga is definitely trending in the right direction. Between improving in the ring and his new, albeit generic, look — Sanga could possibly become a mainstay “big man” on the main roster.

Duke Hudson seems like he may be on his way out of NXT. He posted something on Twitter about being perfect for Max Dupri’s Maximum Male Model faction on SmackDown, and both Joseph and Barrett also alluded to MMM on commentary. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hudson isn’t long for NXT.

The match was short and relatively dominated by Sanga. Which, by the way, I’m just glad to see someone using a Chokeslam again.

Verdict: Lukewarm HIT

SOLO SIKOA vs. VON WAGNER

Now this is a match that I was looking forward to from the moment they announced it. Sikoa is easily one of the most polished and protected acts in NXT, and Wagner has also been booked to be as protected as possible. So that begged the question — who would wind up with the loss tonight?

Sikoa, even though he hasn’t been on the roster very long, is already being talked about to move up to the main roster to join his family in The Bloodline. He could easily be plucked out of developmental and be thrust into a program with the Usos and Roman Reigns and still feel like he belongs with the group. He’d be a great addition, not a hinderance to the group.

Von Wagner is… well… is still Von Wagner. Or as I dubbed him on PWT Talks NXT last week, Mr. McEyebrows.

Okay, that’s not nice. I shouldn’t make fun of someone’s appearance.

So anyway, Mr. McEyebrows has had plenty of time in the developmental system. Years, in fact. Yet, he still feels very far from a finished product. His promo ability is sub-bar, and his in-ring ability doesn’t seem natural, for lack of a better term. To me, it seems like he’s still thinking about the next move as soon as he delivers a move. His attire does not help him look like a star. It’s incredibly generic and looks like it was purchased from indiewrestlertrunks.com. If that’s even a website.

Turns out, they both wound up eating a loss as they were counted out while fighting up the ramp and into the backstage area. Looks like this feud is far from over.

Verdict: Lukewarm HIT

INDI HARTWELL vs. LASH LEGEND

Well, well, well. Ms. Legend may have finally won me over. Prior to the match, she cut a promo on Indi Hartwell backstage while dribbling a basketball. Easily the best promo she’s cut to date. Excellent delivery and content that felt like it came from the heart rather than a writers room.

Once in the ring, she had one of the best matches she’s had thus far as well. I still compare her to Nikkita Lyons due to their similar size and styles, and Legend has easily surpassed Lyons both in the ring and on the mic.

Indi picked up a win after a botched top rope finisher, with Alba Fyre attacking Legend after the match, continuing their ongoing feud.

Verdict: Lukewarm HIT

TONY D’ANGELO & STACKS vs. EDRIS ENOFE & MALIK BLADE

A very short tag team contest, mostly to continue to showcase D’Angelo, Stacks & Legado del Fantasma. Enofe and Blade certainly got some offense in, but there was no believable chance that they’d even come close to a win over D’Angelo & Stacks.

After the match, D’Angelo ordered a reluctant Legado del Fantasma to attack Malik Blade. I thought that was a nice touch, honestly. Not only does D’Angelo continue to humiliate his opponent, he humiliates Legado by ordering them around.

Verdict: Lukewarm HIT

ROXANNE PEREZ vs. MANDY ROSE

At the start of the show tonight, Perez was shown laying on the pavement in the parking lot after an attack. Presumably Toxic Attraction was behind the attack, yet that wasn’t necessarily confirmed.

It didn’t seem like Perez would be able to compete and her tag partner, Cora Jade, came to the ring to challenge Mandy. Perez made her way to the ring, ribs taped up, saying she was okay and could compete after all.

To me, this match could have gone one of two ways. Either the injury was a way to make Perez seem even more like an underdog, building sympathy on her to make her victory mean a little more. Or, they used the injury as a way to have Rose go over without damaging Perez (too much).

Mandy Rose wound up retaining after a halfway decent match. The big story of the night though isn’t the win. It was Cora Jade attacking her tag team partner with the NXT Tag belt, allowing Rose to pick up the win.

It’s going to be interesting to see what transpires going forward since Perez and Jade are the current tag champions.

Verdict: HIT