Reviews by Dave
By David E Houston II
Show air date: June 29, 2021
I thought WWE NXT on USA was a solid show last week. Good action with some good talking. Some instances of trying too hard and one particularly frightening moment for one wrestler.
Io Shirai & Zoey Stark defeated Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon and Dakota Kai & Raquel González
Earning a title shot at the NXT Women’s tag titles at Great American Bash (GAB), Io Shirai and Zoey Stark defeated former champs Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart and inaugural champions Dakota Kai and current NXT Women’s champion, Raquel González. Typical WWE triple threat match: fast-paced, lots of saves, and actions that didn’t always make sense. Having it where three women were legal at all times instead of one team standing out waiting probably helped it. It was alright. I know a lot of people like those kinds of matches (unless they’re on TNT, then they hate them) and the right team won even if I thought the wrong woman got the pin (Zoey needs a big win).
Shirai and Stark had a backstage interview where they’re confronted by the champions, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell, and it’s pretty good. WWE should have had this closer to the match. They really sat around 30+ minutes without showering to do an interview?
They Spend the First Hour Sneak Attacking Each Other
We got two heels fighting for the NXT title as Johnny Gargano is set to challenge Karrion Kross and they spend the first hour sneak attacking each other. You don’t like being jumped like that Kross, show up on time. The show started at 8:00, not 8:25. Gargano and his young boy Austin Theory then leave. They just left Candice and Indi?
Surprise, surprise (not really since Adam Cole has been doing this for weeks) but The Way didn’t leave and tried to jump Kross again and again, he beats both of their asses alone.
Why do we think Gargano can win the title? Why, exactly? It only got worse, and I can’t do it.
Does this place seem any more in control since Regal hired Joe?
Roderick Strong defeated Asher Hale
Effective use of a TV squash match as Roderick Strong makes his in-ring debut as the lead dog in Malcolm Bivens’ Diamond Mine.
Cameron Grimes defeated Ari Sterling
Cameron Grimes got back on the winning track. After his match, Grimes and LA Knight book themselves into a match where if Grimes loses, he becomes Knight’s butler. Fine.
Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly Confrontation
A very good confrontation between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly the week before their match at GAB. The backward booking aside, it was going very well but then they just had to do a thing where O’Reilly locks him in a kneebar and GM Flunky Samoa Joe does nothing. Unnecessary.
Tian Sha vs Mercedes Martinez & Jake Atlas
Scary moment in the intergender match with Tian Sha–Xia Li and Boa–beating Mercedes Martinez and Jake Atlas due to ref stoppage after Li legit knocked Martinez out with a spinning kick to the face. The match was okay at best before that with the typical spots where the women get heat on the men with no consequences. For some reason, Martinez got distracted by Mei Ling standing up at the top of the ramp.
Main Event: Swerve Scott defeated Bronson Reed
for the NXT North American Championship
In his biggest victory to date, Swerve Scott beat “Colossal” Bronson Reed for the North American title. Familiar foes so they had good chemistry and told the best story of the show with Swerve using speed and willingness to do whatever to offset Reed’s size and power. Reed’s selling Swerve chopping him on the thigh will probably be the stupidest thing anyone does on TV this week.
Otherwise, it was a good match and a good main event.
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