{"id":191562,"date":"2025-01-22T16:03:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T22:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=191562"},"modified":"2025-01-24T12:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:11:15","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-1-21-the-return-of-corey-graves-lexis-king-bvs-dempsey-for-heritage-cup-oba-femi-vs-eddy-thorpe-bayley-guilia-roxanne-cora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/01\/22\/nxt-hits-misses-1-21-the-return-of-corey-graves-lexis-king-bvs-dempsey-for-heritage-cup-oba-femi-vs-eddy-thorpe-bayley-guilia-roxanne-cora\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (1\/21): The Return of Corey Graves, Lexis King vs. Dempsey for Heritage Cup, Oba Femi vs. Eddy Thorpe, Bayley-Guilia-Roxanne-Cora"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2464615550\" 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>The Return of Corey Graves: Hit<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I wasn\u2019t happy with Graves being upset for what he considered a \u201cdemotion\u201d, but I\u2019m glad that fences have been mended and he\u2019s returned to the fold. If only they\u2019d ditch Booker T, the Joseph\/Graves dynamic would be awesome. Speaking of Graves\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not Letting Graves have more talk time: Miss<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Graves offers so much to commentary, Booker T offers nothing, outside of annoying catchphrases and uninspired insight. He doesn\u2019t even pull off heel commentator well. So often, Vic would say he wanted to hear the opinions of both, but only Booker got his in, before they were on to the next part of the commentary. Three man commentator teams rarely work, especially with a guy like Booker. It\u2019s grating for this viewer to listen to\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony D\u2019Angelo vs. Ridge Holland: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nice match with a predictable outcome, aside from the Izzi Dame interference. It still amazes me that in this age of not having wrestling \u201ccharacters\u201d, D\u2019Angelo makes his schtick work. He\u2019s great in the ring and Holland has become more interesting these past months than most of the rest of his career.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bayley\/Guilia\/Roxanne Perez\/Cora Jade Promo: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This gets a Hit, because that was approaching Dominik Mysterio heat on Perez and Jade. Too many times the Performance Center crowds are 50\/50 or 75\/25, but this was loud and I\u2019d say unanimously or close to it jeering for Perez and Jade. This shows how the energy of the crowd can make or break a segment.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3922389148\" 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>Dion Lennox vs. Wes Lee: Minor Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Lennox still is a bit green, but Lee can get a good match out of almost everyone. I like the Lee and Trick Williams program. I hope they put together a little feud instead of it being a one off. Williams should stay out of the title picture for a while, so having a program with Lee could be fun. I\u2019d also like to see more character out of Lennox than resident bookworm (not judging: I\u2019m a geek for reading, too!)<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;PWT Talks NXT&#8221; with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/pwt-talks-nxt-wells-lindberg-discuss-oba-femi-vs-eddy-thorpe-ridge-holland-vs-tony-d-angelo-lexis-king-vs-charlie-dempsey-more--63797061\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=63797061&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Lexis King vs. Charlie Dempsey for The Heritage Cup: Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These guys work well together. King has shown improvement since he came over to NXT. At first, I didn\u2019t like the whole King transformation into a guy who didn\u2019t want to cheat to win, but cheats to win (inadvertently or not) has kind of started to intrigue me. I still don\u2019t know where they are going with his character, but consider me invested.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Karmen Petrovic vs. Jaida Parker: Minor Hit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I struggle getting invested in matches that stem from altercations that happened minutes ago, but the match quality was pretty good. I\u2019ve followed NXT since the beginning and watching women like Parker and Petrovic grow and improve over the weeks is a lot of fun for me. Plus, I have to admit: the Petrovic\/Ashante Thee Adonis stuff is a stupid, guilty please of mine. I like the character development of Kelani Jordan recently. A feud with Parker would benefit them both.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Niko Vance &amp; Brooks Jensen vs. Channing Lorenzo &amp; Luca Crucifino: Minor Miss<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1502335542\" 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>Not too much meat to this match. I know there\u2019s a feud between Spears\u2019 group and The Family, but this match never seemed to get out of second gear. Vance looked pretty good (I still don\u2019t know much about him or his background in wrestling).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eddy Thorpe vs. Oba Femi: Minor Hit<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A good match, but another with another expected outcome. That\u2019s my one gripe with NXT: They have multiple title matches, but there\u2019s never a surprise outcome. I\u2019m not saying play Hot Potato with Championships, but bring us back to the 1-2-3 Kid moment: show us that something COULD happen. It\u2019s too paint by numbers a lot of the time. I like Femi as champ, but NXT seems to thrive with a heel champ. I hope Thorpe isn\u2019t relegated to obscurity following this match, as this is the most I\u2019ve been invested in his character since he started with the company. As I mentioned, not a fan of Trick being back in the title picture. Move him up to the Main Roster already.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay right here and keep the flow going. We think you&#8217;ll like to read this next&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED NEXT:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/01\/21\/nxt-tv-results-1-21-wellss-live-report-on-oba-femi-vs-eddy-thorpe-tony-dangelo-vs-ridge-holland-lexis-king-vs-charlie-dempsey-more\/\">NXT TV RESULTS (1\/21): Wells\u2019s live report on Oba Femi vs. Eddy Thorpe, Tony D\u2019Angelo vs. Ridge Holland, Lexis King vs. Charlie Dempsey, more<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/01\/22\/powells-nxt-hit-list-oba-femi-vs-eddy-thorpe-for-the-nxt-championship-tony-dangelo-vs-ridge-holland-for-the-nxt-north-american-championship-wes-lee-vs-dion-lennox\/\">Powell\u2019s NXT Hit List: Oba Femi vs. Eddy Thorpe for the NXT Championship, Tony D\u2019Angelo vs. Ridge Holland for the NXT North American Championship, Wes Lee vs. Dion Lennox<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at <a href=\"mailto:kellerwade@gmail.com\">kellerwade@gmail.com<\/a>. You can also send live event results and news tips to <a href=\"mailto:pwtorch@gmail.com\">pwtorch@gmail.com<\/a>. Also, we&#8217;re always looking for volunteer contributors to help us round out of coverage of the pro wrestling scene.)<\/p>\n<h3>Follow us on Blue Sky, a great Twitter alternative, as we shift away from TwitterX\u2026<\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pwtorch.bsky.social\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pwtorch.bsky.social<\/a> (search \u201cpwtorch\u201d)<\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/thewadekeller.bsky.social\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/thewadekeller.bsky.social<\/a> (search \u201cthewadekeller\u201d)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PWTorch NXT Post-Show - NXT on CW w\/Wells &amp; Lindberg\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Ro9iVPV_2Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2299126663\"><div id=\"pwtor-525765729\"><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>The Return of Corey Graves: Hit\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t happy with Graves being upset for what he considered a \u201cdemotion\u201d, but I\u2019m glad that fences have been mended and he\u2019s returned to the fold. If only <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/01\/22\/nxt-hits-misses-1-21-the-return-of-corey-graves-lexis-king-bvs-dempsey-for-heritage-cup-oba-femi-vs-eddy-thorpe-bayley-guilia-roxanne-cora\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES (1\/21): The Return of Corey Graves, Lexis King vs. Dempsey for Heritage Cup, Oba Femi vs. Eddy Thorpe, Bayley-Guilia-Roxanne-Cora\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191563,"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":[46,52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-22-at-4.00.55\u202fPM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191562","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=191562"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191658,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191562\/revisions\/191658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}