NXT FEUD TRACKER (7/14): Brandler’s assessment of the feuds advanced on the latest episode including Zaria as North American Champ, Kendal Grey as Women’s Champ, Heights-Drake feud, more

The July 14 edition of NXT television had two title matches and set up some future title matches. The night was short on matches, and much heavier on backstage segments.

Women’s NXT NORTH AMERICAN TITLE
Champion: Zaria

Originally the match was supposed to be Zaria vs. Layla Diggs. Due to an injury to Diggs, General Manager Robert Stone rebooked the match. This became a Fatal 4-Way match which had Izzi Dame vs. Lizzie Rain vs. Evolve Champion Nikkita Lyons vs. Zaria.

This was a hard-hitting match. All four women had opportunities to win. Izzi and Lizzie fought outside the ring all the way to the dressing room. Nattie and Karmen Petrovic showed up to beat up Zaria in order for Lyons to take the title. At that moment, Jaida Parker intercepted Nattie and Karmen and beat them both up. Zaria hit a spear and F5 on Nikkita to retain her title.

Brandler’s Bit: Old school promotors (Jerry Jarrett in Memphis, Eddie Graham in Florida, Bill Watts in Mid-South. Paull Heyman in ECW) believed that when you have a substitution for a wrestler, you need to make the match BETTER than the one you advertised. This makes the crowd happy and gets them to return. NXT apparently didn’t get this email. They changed the match from a one-on-one battle between the up-and-coming Layla Diggs to basically the same match as last week. Yawn! How many women on both main event rosters could they have brought in for the match? This would have given NXT a buzz-worthy moment and would have made Zaria’s title reign more credible.

The substitution issue notwithstanding, I was impressed by Nikkita Lyons improvement. She is in much better shape after knee surgery and is much smoother in the ring.

I suspect we are headed for an Izzi vs. Lizzie match, which will be great. I’m hoping that the winner moves up to the NXT Women’s Title pool.

NXT MEN’S TAG TEAM TITLE
Champion: The Vanity Project Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor (with Jackson Drake and Lockwood)

The second title match on NXT television was for the NXT Tag Team Titles. Vanity Project defended their titles against Dorian Van Dux (DVD) & Sean Legacy. This match had the cheating champs versus the highly-athletic newcomers. DVD & Legacy took advantage of their athleticism early, but in the end, the heels cheated. They used outside interference by both Lockwood and Drake. This allowed Smokes & Balor to hit their double stomp for the win.

Brandler’s Bit: These matches build anticipation for the day the heels “get theirs.” This is good old-school storytelling. When NXT can be patient with t

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WOMEN’S WORLD TITLE
Champion: Kendal Grey

Former NXT Women’s World Champion Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan vs. the first Evolve Champion Kali Armstrong met to determine Grey’s next challenger. The match was a typical Triple Threat match with two wrestlers in the ring, and the third member outside the ring. Lola and Kelani were amazing in this match. Kali looked overmatched. At the end it looked like Kelani was going to win when she hit a 450 splash onto Armstrong and got a 2.9 count! Lola kicked Kelani, rolled her out of the way, and pinned the fallen Armstrong. Lola Vice is the number one contender for Kendal Grey’s title.

Brandler’s Bit: On commentary, Vic Joseph told us that Kelani Jordan is 0-8 in number one contender’s matches. What a terrible stat! Are we to interpret that Jordan is good enough to get these opportunities, but not good enough to get a title shot for the NXT Women’s Title?! (She is a former TNA/Impact Women’s Champion) I thought she was amazing in this match. Kali Armstrong is green and has potential and was not in either of these women’s league. Lola vs Kendal 2 for the NXT Women’s Title will even be a better match.

NXT MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Champion: Tony D’Angelo

Tonight we had a match between Nakaru vs. Tate Wilder. Tate Wilder is Jeff Hardy light. He bumps hard, and hits high-risk moves. This was a one-sided affair for the most part. Wilder had one flurry before Nakaru hit his “Enter The Abyss” finisher. Tony D came out post-match and he and Nakaru had a pull apart brawl. Nakaru threw red mist, but hit the “security” person instead of D’Angelo.

Next Week: Tony vs. Nakaru in a Street Fight for the NXT Men’s Heavyweight Championship.

Brandler’s Bit: Tate Wilder continues to be the perfect undercard babyface. In every match, Wilder begins his comeback. He then goes for the one extra high spot, which he misses, which leads to him losing. The post-match brawl was a nice set up for the Street Fight. With a no disqualification stipulation, could this play into Nakuru’s “evil “side and a title change?

MENS MID-CARD FEUD
Tavion Heights vs. Jackson Drake

Tavion dominated the early part of the match with many Greco-Roman throws. Drake made a great comeback demonstrating great athleticism and high flying including a 450 splash. Heights went after Vanity Project who were at ringside. This proved to be his undoing as Drake won with a rollup.

Brandler’s Bit: Much like in the Tag Team Title match, VP used their four on one mismatch leading to them winning. Drake is not even 23 years old. He has an incredible grasp of pro wrestling at this age. Down the road, it is easy to see that he will break apart from VP and become a singles wrestler. Heights is growing from a one-dimensional Olympic wrestler to wrestling character. For every Kurt Angle who gets it immediately, there are many who take a slower path.

NEXT WEEK ON NXT

DarkState (Cutler James, Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin) vs. Saquon Shugars, Romeo Moreno & Noam Dar (Shugars searched all night for partners)

• Keanu Carver vs. Hank Walker (w/ Tank Ledger)
• NXT Championship — Street Fight: Tony D’Angelo vs. Nakaru
• Reina Volcan vs. Skylar Raye (Volcan’s debut match on NXT)
• Shawn Spears vs. Niko Vance (Does Spears get his revenge from last week?)
• Nattie (w/ Karmen Petrovic & Nikitta Lyons) vs. Jaida Parker (Jaida is still trying to show Nattie that she is good enough)