Even though the world seems to be grinding to a halt, WWE continues to push on, welcome to NXT!
NXT 4/29 opened with a recap of the Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament as it stands so far before we get to out first match: Isaiah Scott vs. El Hijo del Fantasma. Nothing special during this match. All in all a round robin tournament is a fantastic way to stretch out content for weeks while having a goal in mind, unfortunately the Cruiserweight division in NXT is a bit lacking in premiere talent so it’s hard to get invested. Isaiah Scott defeat El Hijo by pinfall off a crucifix to go 1-1 in the tournament.
The next match was Candice LeRae vs. Kacy Catanzaro. This match was used to show off Candice’s ferocity, she had Johnny Gargano in her corner cheering her on. She manages to get the win in this match viciously. After she wins, she runs back into the ring to put the Garga-No Escape lock on Catanzaro, Johnny seems pleased with this.
I was not a fan of this next segment titled, The Newly-Bro Game! The game featured Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher, in an attempt to prove that Riddle really knows Thatcher…because they’re bros. Byron Saxton hosts this game in which they have to try and guess each other’s bro-ness, by filling in the blanks to prompts. I felt it was ill-formed, there was a laugh track and clap track which was completely unnecessary, at this point WWE needs to lean into the fact that there’s no crowd, see Austin 3:16 Day episode of RAW. Please don’t remind me that there is no crowd by piping in laugh tracks like this is a bad sitcom. Near the end of the game Imperium attacks taking out Thatcher, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel go after Riddle. It’s a savage beat down that is just what this silly segment deserved.
Next up was Mia Yim vs. Charlotte Flair, this was the second-best match of the evening. Charlotte won with a Figure Eight, but Mia Yim gave her a run for her money. I still believe Charlotte can bring the best out of people. I’m not sure if it’s the nostalgia as a part of NXT that gives this a nice feeling, but I’ll take seeing a superstar on NXT that helps make things feel a little different. After the match Io Shirai comes out to tell Charlotte that “next week, you are mine!”
Dexter Lumis defeats Shane Thorne in a very uninspired match, not much to see here.
The second match of the Cruiserweight Tournament was next between Tony Nese and Drake Maverick. A quick aside: I had though that Maverick was released from WWE two weeks ago after some of the cuts were announced. Apparently Maverick is competing in this tournament and if he wins the Cruiserweight Title he’ll get to stay in WWE.
I’m of two minds on this, on the one hand this storyline makes it incredibly obvious that Drake Maverick will win this tournament and get to stay in WWE which is great, however, it makes the tournament less interesting because the outcome seems obvious. On the other hand, if Maverick doesn’t win the tournament it seems incredibly cruel to have him be strung along like this and then released from WWE, which just feels mean. The announcers dial up the “fighting for his job” angle to 11. Maverick wins in classic underdog fashion to go to 1-1 in the tournament (in which he will certainly win).
[Editor’s Note: As of press time it’s been reported that Drake Maverick is not being resigned to WWE, and this is part of the final 90 days of his contract. Could this change? Of course.]
The final match of NXT 4/29 was Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest for the North American Championship. Keith Lee is probably one of my favorite wrestlers in the company right now, certainly my favorite in NXT. I adore watching his matches, seeing someone of his size move so fluidly is a joy to watch. This felt like the best match of the evening, although it’s hard to ignore that Keith Lee is elevated so much by the fans, as are most baby faces. Regardless Keith Lee and Priest give us a great match. Priest tries to use a night stick for chicanery, but it doesn’t work on Keith Lee! Keith Lee finishes off Priest with not one, but two Spirit Bombs (which is one of the best finishing move names in my opinion), to retain the North American Title.
