‘WWE NXT’ Review (Aug 15th 2023)
Welcome to this week’s review of NXT, right here on Nerdly. Let’s get straight into it and see what went down in this episode…
Match #1: NXT Tag Team Championships – Tony D’Angelo & Stacks def. The Dyad
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The NXT Tag Team Titles remain with The Family as Tony D’Angelo and Stacks retained their titles against Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid of The Dyad. The leader of Schism, Joe Gacy, brought a host of followers to ringside, but their presence ended up becoming a hindrance as when Ivy Nile arrived, their attention from the match got diverted. As Nile stood at ringside yelling at Schism, two masked followers jumped the barricade and attacked The Dyad, allowing Tony D to hit a modified uranage to pick up the win.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Blair Davenport def. Dana Brooke
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The newfound mean streak of Dana Brooke not only wasn’t enough for her to get the win, but it’s continued to worry her friend and partner, Kelani Jordan. Brooke’s aggression was evident as she was shoving Davenport and attacking while she was tied up in the ropes which was very uncharacteristic for the normally respectful Brooke. In the end, she tried to get the ring bell stating that she “didn’t care” only for Davenport to deliver two clubbing blows that ended the match for good.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: Trick Williams def. Drew Gulak
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Trick Williams notched a huge win in his attempt to get out from NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes’ shadow as he defeated NXT’s superb submission specialist, Drew Gulak. The numbers game wasn’t in Williams’ favor as Charlie Dempsey and Damon Kemp were at ringside and even attempted to interfere, but Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen appeared and evened the odds. That left Williams all alone with Gulak and one final corkscrew pump kick gave him the much needed confidence boost heading into NXT Heatwave.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: No. 1 Contendership Match – Wes Lee def. Dijak
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Former NXT North American Champion Wes Lee is officially the No. 1 Contender to the NXT Title at Heatwave after defeating Dijak in a brutal singles match. Both competitors gave it their all and were methodical in their approach with Dijak working over Lee’s shoulder and back while Lee went right after Dijak’s left knee. As Dijak looked poised to win, Eddy Thorpe confronted him at ringside which allowed Lee enough time to recover and launch an attack, culminating in a Kardiak Kick and a twisting splash from off the top rope.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #5: Tyler Bate vs. Joe Coffey (No Contest)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The matchup between Tyler Bate and Joe Coffey ended prematurely when the hulking Dabba-Kato appeared and destroyed Bate with his devastating sit out powerbomb.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #6: Jacy Jayne def. Thea Hail
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The spiraling of Chase U’s Thea Hail continued as she could barely get anything going in a loss to Jacy Jayne. Jayne dominated the matchup early, mocking not only the crowd, but leering at Andre Chase and Duke Hudson, but Hail wouldn’t go quietly. She let out her pent up aggression and even locked in a Kimura Lock at one point, but when Chase attempted to save her from an exposed turnbuckle, Jayne rolled her up and pinned her to the mat.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
Another good week for NXT and a solid build to next week’s Heatwave special episode. Having one less match on this card meant that this week’s show worked better than the last episode, everything was given room to breathe, even if a fair amount of time was allocated to promos etc. Just a shame the Bate/Coffey match had such a dodgy ending though – that could’ve been a much better match but lost points for the shenanigans.
