{"id":170660,"date":"2023-12-15T12:01:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T18:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=170660"},"modified":"2023-12-15T12:01:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T18:01:59","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-12-12-booker-t-meta-four-vs-briggs-hensen-henley-dragon-lee-vs-tyler-bate-dijak-carmello-ava-reign-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/12\/15\/nxt-hits-misses-12-12-booker-t-meta-four-vs-briggs-hensen-henley-dragon-lee-vs-tyler-bate-dijak-carmello-ava-reign-more\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (12\/12): Booker T, Meta Four vs. Briggs &#038; Hensen &#038; Henley, Dragon Lee vs. Tyler Bate, Dijak, Carmello, Ava Reign, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2008134781\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>Meta Four vs. Briggs &amp;Jensen &amp; Henley: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Outside of the NXT UK Tag Team Title run, I\u2019m surprised Briggs &amp; Jensen haven\u2019t been pushed more. Great match from everyone, including Lash Legend, who continues to improve in the ring. Maybe I\u2019m foreshadowing, but with the success of Briggs and Henley, it seems like Jensen could be moving towards a heel turn? He\u2019s seemed out of sorts with the other two garnering so much attention.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oba Femi vs. Miles Bourne: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These Breakout Stars matches always make me watch them through a different lens, since these are (mostly) unproven newcomers, but even without that filter, I thought this was a pretty standard, but well-worked match neither competitor was asked to do to much and it flowed nicely. I can see why people are talking about Femi; he has everything that could catapult him pretty high.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dragon Lee vs. Tyler Bate: Major Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Seriously, these two could come to the ring and play cribbage and it would be exciting! (Okay, that might be a stretch\u2026) As great a match as you would expect to see from these two. I would love to see a Best of Seven between these two or possibly an Iron Man 60 minute match at a PLE.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe: Minor Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This almost landed in the Miss column based on the absolute zero interest I have in Eddy Thorpe. He seems to lose more than he wins and he gets beat up severely almost all the time! All I know is that he\u2019s proud of his Indigenous People background and while that\u2019s awesome, I have little other interest in caring about him one way or another. This gets a Minor Hit because (a) we got to see a little blood (See? You don\u2019t need to bleed buckets to have it make an impact!) and (b) the turnbuckle breaking and then being used as a weapon was pretty unique. Whatever happens next with these two men, I hope it concludes a feud that seems to be running out of steam.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-478141534\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Riley Osbourne vs. Keanu Carver: Minor Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As with the other Breakout Star match, this was standard and didn\u2019t overstay its welcome. If I\u2019m not mistaken, I think I\u2019ve seen Riley at least once on Level Up? I do like an entrant in the tournament being from Chase U though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lyra Valkyria &amp; Nikkita Lyons vs. Cora Jade &amp; Blair Davenport: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A well-worked match with these four women that never seemed to drag. Hit within a Hit for another weird and yet wonderful Tatum Paxley appearance, continuing her stalking\/worshipping Lyra. I\u2019m really looking forward to where she can take this character.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Closing Segment: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The drama continues! I like how when this all started, Melo was the most obvious culprit, but good on Shawn Michaels and NXT for adding a few additional breadcrumbs that allow you to think to yourself &#8220;Hmm, maybe it was &#8216;person x,'&#8221; but inevitably coming back to Melo. He\u2019s had subtle facial expressions and mood changes that have played nicely into this &#8220;whodunnit&#8221; saga.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ava Reign has become an authority figure?: Miss<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think this has been bizarre for me, as we\u2019ve gone from Ava being in a cult to talking with Paul Heyman to being Shawn Michaels\u2019s second\u2026 with no explanation. And as much as I love Lexis King, his being granted a spot in the Breakout Tournament by attacking an existing entrant was bizarre. Plus, unless you\u2019re willing to erase the fact that King has been wrestling since 2017, he\u2019s hardly a fit for this tournament.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2140381840\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>The Trick Williams \/ Booker T: MISS!!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Okay, I PROMISE to try to make this the last time I mention Booker T in one of these columns, but either mute his mic or change Trick\u2019s music &#8211; no, don\u2019t do that: it\u2019s great, but it just leads to painful moments of Booker feeling the need to interject what has become the very definition of sleep demon noises for me! I\u2019ll try to be fair. Lately, some of Booker\u2019s back and forths with Vic Joseph have been entertaining and gotten me to chuckle, but please! No more sing-a-longs! (I\u2019ll trade you one sing-a-long for three \u201ccaviar dreams\u201d and two \u201cshuckie-duckie\u2019s\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all for this week! Time to go exorcise my sleep demon callings with well-aged Scotch! \u2018Til next time!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED NEXT: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/12\/13\/nxt-ratings-report-12-12-viewership-key-demo-rating-year-ago-comparison-seasonal-averages-7-day-viewership-totals-for-november\/\">NXT Ratings Report (12\/12): Viewership, key demo rating, year-ago comparison, seasonal averages, 7-day viewership totals for November<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2023\/12\/07\/wwe-nxt-media-call-live-notes-on-shawn-michaels-speaking-with-the-pro-wrestling-media-ahead-of-saturdays-nxt-deadline\/\">WWE NXT media call: Live notes on Shawn Michaels speaking with the pro wrestling media ahead of Saturday\u2019s NXT Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-738648857\"><div id=\"pwtor-3923985168\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Meta Four vs. Briggs &amp;Jensen &amp; Henley: Hit Outside of the NXT UK Tag Team Title run, I\u2019m surprised Briggs &amp; Jensen haven\u2019t been pushed more. Great match from everyone, including Lash Legend, who continues <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/12\/15\/nxt-hits-misses-12-12-booker-t-meta-four-vs-briggs-hensen-henley-dragon-lee-vs-tyler-bate-dijak-carmello-ava-reign-more\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (12\/12): Booker T, Meta Four vs. Briggs &#038; Hensen &#038; Henley, Dragon Lee vs. Tyler Bate, Dijak, Carmello, Ava Reign, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-15-at-11.58.45\u202fAM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170662,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170660\/revisions\/170662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}