NXT HITS & MISSES 4/4: W.Lee vs. Axiom, Hartwell vs. Stark, D’Angelo & Stacks vs. Pretty Deadly, Dijak vs. Jones, D. Lee vs. Frazer, more.

TONY D’ANGELO & STACKS vs. PRETTY DEADLY

At Stand & Deliver, these four men took place in a backstage segment when D’Angelo took offense to something that Kit Wilson said. It turned into a bit of a shoving match before officials were able to break up the commotion. Tonight, they stepped in the ring to settle their differences, as ya do in wrestling.

The match was average at best, but the finish was amusing. Pretty Deadly were dressed in identical attire and Elton Prince was the legal man. Kit Wilson exposed one of the turnbuckles and raised the apron over the top of the mat while the ref wasn’t looking. When Elton went down, Kit Wilson snuck into the ring and covered himself with the apron so nobody would know it was him. Once the reveal was made, Tony D’Angelo was jumped by Elton — the still legal man — and rolled up for the win.

For a brand new and somewhat cold feud, the match got a halfway decent response from the crowd. I think they’re going to need to amp things up a little bit in order to get people invested, but this is only week one.

Verdict: Meh. I’m not very enthusiastic about the feud, but willing to wait and see how it plays out. 

DIJAK vs. ODYSSEY JONES

Last week during the battle royal, Dijak was eliminated by Jones. Dijak then went after Jones which lead to a brawl between the two. Tonight, they squared off in the ring.

Big sweaty men slapping meat, that’s exactly what we saw here. A very quick match where Dijak essentially squashed Jones. I think I see where they’re going with this, feeding a giant to Dijak to give him more heat. But, Jones is a lower card giant at this point who should probably wind up moving up the card. They may not have anything for Jones at the moment, but I would love to see him get a bit more of a push, like he was with Blade & Enofe a few months ago.

Verdict: Another meh match. Too short to get invested in. At least the first match had some decent action. 

NATHAN FRAZER vs. DRAGON LEE

After a breakout performance in the North American ladder match at Stand & Deliver. Before the bell rang, Noam Dar showed up with the Heritage Cup in tow. He said that he’d decide who would be worthy of competing for the cup and sat ringside to watch these two competitors to determine their worthiness.

As far as I’m concerned, these two should be worthy enough to challenge for any title on any brand they choose. The match took a few minutes to amp up, and once it did all momentum went out the door as the show went to a break. The show was still shown on a picture in picture, but it still seemed to affect the speed in which Frazer and Lee wrestled. It felt like it threw off the pacing of the match to me, moreso than it does when it happens most weeks.

Once back from commercial, they kicked back into gear. Dragon Lee ended things with a wizard shinier than anything I’ve ever seen from Teagan Nox, and celebrated his victory.

Lee obviously should have won his first singles match, I just wish that Frazer wasn’t on a bit of a losing streak as of late. He’s talented on the mic, he’s insanely talented in the ring. Why not strap a rocket to him? And I’m not just saying that because Frazer and I share a first name.

Verdict: I’ll give this a HIT, but by the skin of it’s teeth.

INDI HARTWELL vs. ZOEY STARK – NXT Women’s Championship

I still can’t believe Hartwell won the title, honestly. As I wrote in the Stand & Deliver Hits & Misses, I thought Indi was one of the least likely to win the match. I personally love Indi, but I didn’t think they saw a champion in her. Plus, as much as I am invested in her character, I’ll be the first to admit that she’s not the greatest in-ring wrestler on the roster. The mid card was where I expected her to be, perhaps an upper mid card/main event gatekeeper. We were all very surprised, yet over the moon to see her win and break through a ceiling I didn’t know if she was going to be able to break through.

During the opening segment tonight, Hartwell was addressing the crowd and celebrating her win. Stark came out and started trash talking her ongoing rival and challenged her for a match for the title. Indi, as all babyface champs do, says she wants to be a fighting champ and agrees to the match.

Now, I expected this to be the main event. Especially where this angle originated in the first segment of the night. Instead, it went on at the halfway point of the show. That’s not necessarily the worst spot to be in, but it’s a far cry from a spot in the main event of the night.

The match wasn’t a five star “slobberknocker”, but it admittedly exceeded my conservative expectations. Granted, the match wasn’t the main point of this segment at all. After Indi’s win, Tiffany Stratton appeared on the ramp, distracting the champion. Cora Jade then attacked Indi from behind, making it look like she has two potential upcoming challengers, three if Stark winds up with a rematch.

Verdict: HIT

TATUM PAXLEY vs. IVY NILE 

Three weeks ago Paxley turned on her tag team partner, Ivy Nile, during a match that cost them a shot at the tag titles. Tonight, we saw Paxley return with a new, darker look (as everyone does when they turn heel) and a new edge to her character.

Nile and Paxley did not hold back. They were firing on every cylinder that they had to offer. I was shocked at the stark difference in the in-ring performance of both Paxley and Nile tonight, I’m not sure who improved more from the last time we saw them in the ring. They made this look like a personal, emotion fueled blood feud. Nile got the win, and some retribution over her backstabbing former partner, with a chokehold.

This may be a controversial statement considering the quality of the main event, but as this wrestling fan writing this article… this was match of the night, hands down. I’m so proud of the progress made by these wrestlers where I’m able to say that. It evoked more emotion from me in their shorter and less refined match than what Wes Lee and Axiom did. And (SPOILER ALERT) I enjoyed the hell out of the main event

You know what — can we just take two seconds here to give major props to the women here tonight for carrying the damn show???

Verdict: HIT

WES LEE vs. AXIOM – North American Championship

The women may have carried the show, but they carried it to the main event of the night. Two of the most explosive and nimble competitors that NXT has to offer, competing for the North American gold.

Or as I like to call it, “The prettiest belt in NXT”.

If you are at all familiar with either Wes Lee or Axiom at all, you can probably imagine the type of match up that we saw. A competitive, fast paced contest similar to what we saw in Dragon Lee vs. Frazer, but given more time to shine. Plus, the picture in picture commercial break during this match didn’t feel like it interrupted the flow as much as it did earlier for their match.

Wes Lee retained his title in another hard fought match, and with Axiom lambasting his loss in the ring, the lights went dark and we heard the cryptic synthesized voice of Scrypts, the wrestler formerly known as 24/7 Champion Reggie.

When Scrypts made the attack, Axiom used his “superpower” to anticipate the attack and counter it, leaving Scrypts laying in the ring.

Can we just take two seconds here to give major props to the women here tonight for carrying the damn show???

Verdict: HIT