NXT FEUD TRACKER: Brandler’s analysis of the latest developments with Zaria, Kendal Grey, Lennox vs. Shugars, Heat Wave ramifications

This edition of NXT television cemented the storylines for the entire NXT Heatwave card which is on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 3 p.m. The show also presented an AAA title match and Steel Cage Match.  The outcomes of these matches gave some direction about future storylines.

NXT WOMEN’S NORTH AMERICAN TITLE

Champion: Zaria

•Zaria vs Kali Armstrong

If Armstrong wins, the unification match becomes a triple threat match.  Two very strong women fought a high impact match.  They took turns leading and coming back with heavy moves.  Late in the match, Kali went for her finisher, only to get speared by Zaria.  Zaria went to finish the match with an F5, only for Kali to hit a Victory Roll for the pin.  There will now be a Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Title is at Heatwave

Brandler’s Bit: Once we knew Kali was going to fight Zaria with the triple threat stipulation, the outcome of this match was pretty predictable. These two women had a great match.  Kali has made great improvement in the last month.  Wren Sinclair, the current Speed champion, will be wrestling in her home state of Texas.  Will she have a “home field advantage”?

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE//NXT MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

The NXT Heatwave Summit
Women’s Champion: Kendal Grey
Men’s Champion: Tony D’Angelo

All the main event men and women appeared in the summit.  The women – Kendal Gray, Wren Sinclair, Kelani Jordan, Zaria, and Kali Armstrong – stated why they are going to win their respective matches.  Grayson Waller followed by Tony D, Cruz Montana, and Zilla Fatu came out after.  Each cut short promos.  Montana said, “All of you came to talk, I came to throw hands.”  This led to the predictable fight between the women contenders and the men contenders as the show went off the air.

Brandler’s Bit: The NXT Summit was a different idea for the promotion.  Instead of having everyone fight with each other in two or more segments, having a summit was more efficient.  The predictable fight at the end was reminiscent of old time wrestling in the Crockett NWA or Mid-South Wrestling, where the announcer would yell “we’re out of time, we’ve got to go……..” as the screen would fade to black.

Zilla Fatu has gotten a great deal of television time including Raw on Monday night and Tuesday night on NXT.  Why give him so much attention if there is not going to be a title change?

I wonder how the NXT women are feeling about Grayson Waller’s promo… “Ladies, great to look at, hard to listen to…You girls used to be the highlight of the show until Grayson Waller decided to come back…..”  There is heel heat and there are condescending comments.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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MID-CARD MATCHES

•AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix vs.  EK Prosper

Rey Fenix has wrestled in more than 1,000 matches in his 20-year career.  Prosper has just over 200 in his eight-year career.  This match highlighted the experience difference.  Fenix had many offensive moods, in addition to hitting all of his signature moves.  He made the less experienced Prosper look great in the match.  In the end, Fenix hit his cutter (which has yet to be named).  Prosper fired back and went for his moonsault.  Prosper missed.  Fenix hit the Mexican Muscle Buster (MMB) for the win and successful title defense.

Brandler’s Bit: Fenix is so smooth and such a seasoned pro.  In a good way, we may overdose on Fenix.   This week, he was on Raw, then NXT.  On Sunday, he is in the AAA six-man match at “Ola de Calor”(Heatwave) with Penta and Dragon Lee.  He is back on Raw on Monday in the “Roman Invitational” against his brother Penta.  He is finally getting a well-deserved spot on a major stage.

•Dion Lennox vs. Saquon Shugars in a Weaponized Cage Match.

The blow off to the Dark State feud occurred.  It was a predictable weapons match with lots of chairshots, kendo sticks, and an uncooperative table.  We learned in the match that Saquon has a surgically repaired knee which flared up in the match.  Shugars won with a high cross body from the top of the cage.

Brandler’s Bit: The good news: the feud is over and there were no run-ins from the other Dark State members.  The bad news: how can you identify Shugars knee injury on commentary and not have Lennox exploit this weakness in Saquon? The commentary and booking of the match were incredibly inconsistent. (By the way, a “weaponized” cage match is redundant in WWE. When was the last time you saw a Cage Match or Hell in the Cell match WITHOUT weapons?  The ECW named “Weapon Filled Cage Match” would be much more accurate.)  Shugars hopefully moves onward and upward on the card.

•Sean Legacy & Noam Dar & Romeo Morena & Dorian Van Dux vs. Birthright (Lexis King & Uriah Connors & Stacks Lorenzo, & Charlie Dempsey)

The four men on the baby face team are the up and comers in the tag team division.  The Birthright team is one unit. They are always together in singles or tag team matches. This was an incredibly athletic match with multiple dives over the ropes and multiple near falls. Dempsey won with a belly to back suplex with a bridge.

Brandler’s Bit: Connors is the most underrated member of the NXT roster.  The son of Findley gets “it”.  He underplays his talent as to not to stand out in this group.  He has charisma and could somewhere down the line, be a great babyface.  Dempsey is multi-talented as a wrestler; not so much as an entertainer.

•Keanu Carver vs Kam Hendrix

This match was thrown together at the last minute by General Manager Robert Stone.  This is the new Keanu Carver—a wrestler, not a brawler, not a hot head.  Late in the match, Mason Rook appeared and distracted Kam.  Carver took advantage and hit a “Perfect Plex” for the win.

Brandler’s Bit: Rook and Kam are due for a layered feud.  That would be good for both of them. The booking of Carver continues to be confusing.  He switches personalities week to week.  Last week, he won with a “small package”; this week the “Perfect Plex”.  Who had those moves on their Carver bingo card for the summer months? Nattie and Jaida Parker had a short back and forth confrontation to set up their “Submissions Match” on Sunday.  This will be a great opportunity for Jaida to win.

THIS WEEK ON NXT

The only announced match is Shiloh Hill looking for revenge against Nakaru.