Below, we have the NXT results from the Tuesday, September 28th show, along with highlights and headlines coming from tonight.
WWE NXT Results 9/28
Hit Row cuts a promo advertising the “ladies night” happening on NXT and setting up the B-FAB vs Elektra Lopez No DQ Match
Elektra Lopez (w/ Legado Del Fantasma) Def. B-FAB (w/ Hit Row): No DQ Match
InDex Honeymoon gives us comedy skits featuring Johnny Gargano pretending to be a shark and too many condoms
Joe Gacy cuts a promo showcasing his Therapist/Activist from Hell character, and he gets good heat from the crowd
Xyon Quin Def. Oney Lorcan in a Squash Match
Grayson Waller promo: Aussie Surf Dude
MSK brag about their title reign before being interrupted by several teams and a brawl
Io Shirai and Zoey Stark Def. Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne w/ Many Rose) to retain Women’s Tag Titles
Promos from Bron Breaker and Tommaso Ciampa set up what I assume will be the NXT title match for our first Takeover 2.0
Boa (w/ Mei Ying) def. Andre Chase
Roddy Strong (w/ Diamond Mine) Def. Grayson Waller to retain Cruiserweight Championship
LA Knight sets up a match with Odyssey Jones, before beating up Jones to close the segment
Cora Jade and Trey Baxter discuss Jade’s debut next week, and tease a healthy, normal WWE couple for a change
Lashing Out with Lash Legend gives us a Wendy Williams-type segment and highlights the athletic pedigree of Legend
Kyle O’ Reilley Def. Ridge Holland (w/ Pete Dunne). Von Wagoner saves O’Reilly from a post-match beatdown
Tony D’Angelo’s “good fella’s” persona continues to be advertised in vignettes, but we finally see his gangster glory in action next week.
Raquel Gonzalez Def. Franky Monet (w/ Robert Stone and Jessi Kamea) to retain the NXT Women’s belt, with Toxic Attraction coming out to beat everyone down and set up Mandy Rose versus Gonzalez
NXT Highlights From 9/28
Elektra Lopez No DQ Match
In a time where many new stars look green, Elektra Lopez looked crisp and perfectly at home in her No DQ Match. She fits in really well to the venom of Legado Del Fantasma, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her in more singles action going forward.
Joe Gacy’s Social Justice Warrior Character
Joe Gacy’s character is a mix of Social Justice Warrior, Woke and Cancel Culture cliches, and for now, I find it really intriguing. The idea of the ring being a safe space and wanting to seek peaceful outcomes is an easy thing to boo with its hypocrisy, and he is so easy to hate. My one worry is WWE is walking a fine line here on what people will boo. Too much of these stereotypes is obviously a good heel persona, but at times it can feel like Gacy’s point is “I’m making fun of counseling and valuing mental health”, which is clearly a direction to be wary of.
Io Shirai and Zoey Stark’s Pairing
Io Shirai and Zoey Stark’s pairing is really working for me right now. Seeing both in the ring is always a treat, and if anything they need to find ways to feature this pair more with Shirai, in particular, being a show-stealer whenever on screen. Plus, while the odd-pairing tag champs is done to death in WWE, the spin of Zoey Stark slowly wearing down the isolating character of Shirai is enough of a wrinkle to keep this act intriguing. Anything that can help us care about the women’s tag belts is a welcome addition, and this did that in spades, in my opinion.
While I’m still warming up to Toxic Attraction as a tag team especially, with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne having some botches here and there in this one. However, this match was a good watch and I hope it leads to more with Mandy Rose involved directly soon.
Grayson Waller is Electric in the Ring
Grayson Waller’s character needs a little work, but man can he go in the ring. He came in firing on all cylinders, had a wonderful match against one of the most consistent performers in NXT, with Roddy Strong. But, Waller didn’t look out of place at all, as he seemed a very natural risk-taking baby-face. For a guy whose promo earlier in the night was essential “I’m a daredevil Australian,” he got the crowd on his side by the end and made it clear that he deserved more opportunities like this one.
Furthermore, the storyline of the Diamond Mine being a chance for Strong to face off against young guys while Malcolm Bivens promotes others is a good fit on paper for the current landscape of a young NXT.
Women’s Title Scene
The women’s title scene feels like the most established on the whole show and that should be applauded. While Franky Monet lost here, she feels like she could reinsert herself with little controversy, and Mandy Rose is over as a heel with the crowd. Raquel Gonzalez continues to impress as the monster champion, and all of these strong contenders only make her look better. While I think setting up Mandy as the next champ seems to be the direction they are going, I hope Monet and Gonzalez stay in the title picture for a while as well.
NXT Lowlights From 9/28
Talent Gap
The biggest issue in WWE NXT since their rebrand two weeks ago is simple. A bunch of new stars means it’s messier at times. And mainly, the gap between the best of NXT and the greener stars on the roster is just so wide it’s glaring at times. But that was what made NXT intriguing in the past — the chance for development. This can be annoying for me, at times, when someone who’s so good in the ring as Oney Lorcan gets jobbed out to someone as green as Xyon Quin, but it will work out hopefully. Because the truth is those who are more green but featured right now will be in main events soon, so they need veterans to hurdle in the meantime as much as that can stink in these early weeks.
Mei Ying/Boa Storyline
I’ve totally lost track of where this Mei Ying/Boa storyline is going. Boa got the win tonight, but what was once the coolest part of NXT hasn’t gone anywhere and now it might be time to either find out what exactly is happening with the mysterious Mei Ying or to go in a totally different direction. It didn’t help hear that the crowd was way more into Andre Chase’s dorky professor persona, and honestly, I can’t blame them for rooting for Chase here.
Tag Title Segment
The tag title segment only highlighted how overlooked that division is right now. Out of the teams that came out to interrupt MSK, only Grizzled Young Veterans feels like a match worth doing right now, and Jensen and Baxter got a mix of silence and boos when they’re currently being pushed as bar-fighting babyfaces. MSK is a good act, but they need more screen time and, more importantly, need a division that feels like it can give them a challenge. I’m hoping, for now, they drop the titles to GYV to set up a longer feud for the belts while the rest of the division heats up.
NXT Headlines
With the draft happening this week on Smackdown and RAW, it will be interesting to see if there are any moves to or from NXT, as none were really teased this week.
The headlines for this show were the championship feuds for the two major belts becoming pretty clear, as Tommaso Ciampa versus Bron Breaker (nephew of Scott Steiner) and Mandy Rose versus Champion Raquel Gonzalez both seem set for NXT’s first Takeover since the rebrand two weeks ago. It’s assumed that Takeover will happen the weekend of Survivor Series in about a month’s time.
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