{"id":178787,"date":"2024-05-22T11:55:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T16:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=178787"},"modified":"2024-05-22T11:55:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T16:55:12","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-5-21-wes-lee-vs-coffee-vs-briggs-natalya-petrovic-vs-baszler-vice-henley-vs-hail-plus-lexis-king-chase-u","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/05\/22\/nxt-hits-misses-5-21-wes-lee-vs-coffee-vs-briggs-natalya-petrovic-vs-baszler-vice-henley-vs-hail-plus-lexis-king-chase-u\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (5\/21): Wes Lee vs. Coffee vs. Briggs, Natalya Petrovic vs. Baszler &#038; Vice, Henley vs. Hail, plus Lexis King, Chase U"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1198279546\" 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>Let me start off by saying that You Tube TV recorded the entire episode with a blue tint, making everyone look like Smurfs or folks from Avatar. It was extremely distracting, but I\u2019ll try and get through the episode!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fallon Henley vs. Thea Hail: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These two work well together. I\u2019m still adjusting to heel Henley, but she\u2019s good and will eventually win me over with the new attitude. Small gripe: I know it\u2019s par for the course with a heel turn, so I\u2019d like to see Henley change her outfit to a more dark color (at least I think it\u2019s still the gold one: the blue tint makes it hard to tell). The darker colors always seem to accentuate a heel turn.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallus: Hopeful Hit:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These three (especially Joe Coffee) have been criminally underutilized in NXT. I watched them in NXT UK and they were treated a dominate force, but stateside they\u2019ve lost more than they\u2019ve won. I\u2019m hoping that THIS time they are presented as a powerful faction. I also like that Coffee has been featured in both the North American title chase and the NXT Championship chase.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nathan Frazier &amp; Axiom vs. Stacks Lorenzo &amp; Luca Cruscifino: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A well-worked tag team match with plenty of near falls and the expected distraction finish. As with Gallus, The No Quarter Catch Crew has appeared lackluster non-dominant over the past couple of months. I like the aggressive edge shown, but if this will just lead to another feud lost, their shine will be pretty much tarnished. Gallows &amp; Anderson will make for great challengers to Axiom &amp; Frazier and I wouldn\u2019t mind a run by the duo in NXT. (By the way, the A-Kid crack about The Heritage Cup was a great little nod to NXT UK, with Axiom dropping his old moniker since coming stateside. It got a chuckle out of me!)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wes Lee vs. Joe Coffee vs. Josh Briggs: Hit<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3146620349\" 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>The match-up was nice enough, but with an unusual finish. I guess it makes sense, but pins to me were always pinning your opponents shoulders to the mat, but I guess it was never explicitly stated you had to be draped across the shoulders. I\u2019m not sure if this will lead to a one on one between Coffee and Lee or set up a triple threat. I thought it was strange that Oba Femi, who wanted a wanted a one on one with the winner of this match, would laugh over the fact that there are two winners for his to face. I\u2019ll hold my reservations to see where they go from this\u2026Okay, now I know. I write these as I\u2019m watching the matches and all it took was a commercial break to determine that it will be a Triple Threat at Battleground.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brinley Reece vs. Jaida Parker: Minor Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Matches between the rawer developmental talents are hard to rate sometimes, as there is a bell curve to factor in inexperience, but these match exceeded my expectations. Parker looked the best I\u2019ve seen her and Reece is another of those plucky underdogs. I\u2019m still not sure where this will lead with her Blade and Enofe, but it interests me more than The Chase U \/ Ridge Holland stuff (more on that in a bit)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lexis King vs. Dante Chen: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Okay, this was an adequate match, but Hit goes more for Dante Chen AND the extremely positive reaction he got from the audience. I know he\u2019s been a Level Up guy predominantly and to be honest, I was even sure he wasn\u2019t part of the recent NXT cuts. Great win for Chen and I really like the pairing with he and Mr. Stone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chase U \/ Ridge Holland drama: Miss<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As someone who has enjoyed every storyline Chase U has been a part of, this one does nothing for me. I liked Ridge as part of the Brawling Brutes, but he\u2019s become stale lately and this \u201cwill he or won\u2019t he\u201d mystery seems to be stuck in first gear.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Karmen Petrovic &amp; Natalya vs. Shayna Baszler &amp; Lola Vice: Minor Miss<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3196173139\" 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>There wasn\u2019t anything wrong, per se, with the match, it was more than two of these acts (Baszler and Natalya) are cold right now. I remember Basler being the dominant force in the women\u2019s division and now spends most of her time tag teaming. I know who we were supposed to cheer for during the match, but the post-match scrum was confusing. Baszler seemed more of the face in helping Vice up and the attack by Vice seemed very heel-like, but unfortunately she\u2019s always going to get cheered for shaking her hips and backside. I think Baszler could benefit from a babyface run and Vice (outside of her dancing) has a natural heel vibe to her. I would\u2019ve preferred a Fight Pit announcement, as we have just seen an Underground match, but who knows: maybe these two can pull it off better than Vice &amp; Natalya did. Petrovic looks good in the ring, but her character development has been lacking. I\u2019ll probably go back and watch the match a little later through possibly less jaded eyes, but I just couldn\u2019t get invested in this main event.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s hoping to a less blue-tinged episode next week as they continue their countdown to Battleground<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2268705842\"><div id=\"pwtor-663881306\"><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>Let me start off by saying that You Tube TV recorded the entire episode with a blue tint, making everyone look like Smurfs or folks from Avatar. It was extremely distracting, but I\u2019ll try and <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/05\/22\/nxt-hits-misses-5-21-wes-lee-vs-coffee-vs-briggs-natalya-petrovic-vs-baszler-vice-henley-vs-hail-plus-lexis-king-chase-u\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (5\/21): Wes Lee vs. Coffee vs. Briggs, Natalya Petrovic vs. Baszler &#038; Vice, Henley vs. Hail, plus Lexis King, Chase U\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":178788,"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178787","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\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-22-at-11.48.30\u202fAM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178787","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=178787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178789,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178787\/revisions\/178789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}