SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The July 7 edition of NXT television focused the promotion on upcoming title matches with two four-way matches. It also progressed a few feuds to the next level.
NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Women’s Champion: Kendal Grey
Kendal Grey, with BFF Wren Sinclair, defended her NXT Women’s Title against Nattie. Nattie was accompanied by Nakita Lyons, the Evolve Champion, and Karmen Petrovic. Both Lyons and Petrovic were chased to the back by Wren and Lola Vice, the former NXT cChampion. This allowed the match to be one on one.
It was a great one-on-one WRESTLING match with Nattie and Grey trading ground wrestling moves, submissions, and reversals. Grey got overconfident and went to the top rope only to be captured by Nattie’s Sharpshooter submission. Grey showed great championship grit by getting to the ropes. Later she hit her “Shades of Grey” finisher for the win and the title defense.
After the match, Jaida attacked both Petrovic and Lyons who had returned to ringside, stood in Nattie’s face, and said, “I’m not finished with you.”
Brandler’s Bit: Great old-school move by using Nattie to elevate Grey. She has been on the “fast track” since starting her NXT career. Nattie’s role in NXT apparently is to help talent move up to the next level since that is exactly what she is doing in the Parker feud. It’s so rare in a business plagued by egos to see someone who is looking at the future, not their next payoff!
Next week, Kendal’s number one contender will be determined in a three-way match between Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan and the former first Evolve Champion Kali Armstrong. The three of them had a promo exchange. This conflict led to Kali wiping out the other two with her “Kali Connection” clothesline finisher.
Brandler’s Bit: I look forward to what Kali can do at this level against the other top women in the NXT Women’s Title picture. Kali, a 32-year-old rookie, has a dominant on screen presence but since she had few matches at NXT, she is an unknown in the ring.
NXT MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Champion: Tony D’Angelo
Nakaru is still Tony D’s chief rival. He did a prepacked promo asking Tony D, “How far will you go for your NXT Title… How much pain and torture can you stand?”
Tate Wilder was watching the promo backstage and issued a challenge to Nakaru next week.
Brandler’s Bit: Nakaru continues to demonstrate the “evil” that he brings to D’Angelo and the NXT Heavyweight Title. The match against Wilder will probably not work out well for Tate. We could see a Tony D run in to prevent further damage to Wilder. This could lead to another Nakaru vs. D’Angelo match.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “PWT Talks NXT” with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
NXT WOMEN’S NORTH AMERICAN TITLE
Champion: Zaria
Zaria’s next challenger was established in a Fatal Four-Way match. The match was Izzi Dame vs. Lizzie Rain vs. Thea Hail vs. Layla Diggs. This was a great match. All four women were strong. Hail had a dominant performance in her underdog role. Both Rain and Dame were close to winning several times, but newcomer Layla Diggs won to become the number one contender for the Women’s NXT North American Title. She will face Zaria next week.
Brandler’s Bit: A great showing by these four women. I hope both Dame and Rain work their way into the main title picture because they have the full complement of skills to be there. It is noteworthy that Diggs, who was invited to train with Nattie at The Dungeon, requested that Nattie’s crew not accompany her to ring side for the match. Will this set up a “you’re with us or without us” scenario costing Layla the match?
NXT MEN’S TAG TEAM TITLE
Champion: The Vanity Project (Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor w/Jackson Drake, Lockwood)
The Vanity Project (VP) identified their number one contender after a Fatal Four-way match between OTM, Dark State, Dorian Van Dux (DVD) & Sean Legacy, and Birthright (Stacks & Connors). This spotfest was won by DVD and Legacy with their frog splash/450 combination move.
Brandler’s Bit: It’s great that DVD & Legacy won. They will give VP a great match. The four-way was a cluster of highspots. The match lacked structure. It had no story. Each team would hit a collection of moves which would lead to more moves. Eventually, this match ended. By contrast, the Women’s four-way match told a story and built excitement towards a finish. Regardless of the structure of the match, the tag division has a new challenger instead of recycling the old ones.
MENS MID-CARD FEUDS
NXT Men’s North American Title
Champion: Miles Bourne
Tavion Heights came out for a promo. He apologized for doubting his friend Miles. Jackson Drake of the VP came out and challenged Heights. Of course, this then became a three on one attack. Bourne came out to defend Heights fighting off the VP. After the attack, Bourne and Heights hugged each other to solidify their friendship.
Brandler’s Bit: Jackson Drake vs. Tavion Heights will be a great match. Any match with Drake, who is the future of the promotion, has the capacity to be outstanding. I’m wondering how this plays out as we move towards NXT Heatwave.
There were two other Men’s Mid-Card matches
The first involved Tank Ledger, one half of Hank & Tank vs Keanu Carver. This was Tank’s first singles match in two years. Tank has gotten in good shape and was very popular with the NXT audience. These two hosses as Jim Ross would have called them in Mid-South Wrestling had a “slobberknocker” of a match. Carver was more the powerful of the two and defeated Tank with a dropkick and spinebuster.
Brandler’s Bit: Last week on commentary, Carver was trashed by both Vic Joseph and Booker T. They felt he had a bad attitude and was blamed for his bad performance. This week, the same commentators praised him for being an outstanding performer and had a bright future. This is very confusing!
One other match was Niko Vance of the Culling vs. Shiloh Hill. This was a battle of two big men who went after each other with hard shots. Of course, there was distraction from Tristan Angels which led to Vance defeating Hill with “X marks the spot” (Will Osprey’s finisher “hidden blade”). After the match, Shawn Spears appeared and waffled Vance with a chairshot.
Brandler’s Bit: Angels and Hill continue to be a solid mid-card feud. It also looks like we are going to have a Vance vs. Spears match in the future. I think using Spears in the Men’s Division like the way they are using Nattie in the Women’s Division is good for the overall progress of NXT.
Next week on NXT…
- Kali Armstrong vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Lola Vice – Women’s Title #1 contender match
- Vanity Project vs. DVD Legacy – NXT Tag Title Match
- Zaria vs. Diggs – Women’s North American Title
- Nakaru vs. Tate Wilder
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