NXT Results, Highlights and Headlines: 11/23

Below, we have the NXT results from the Tuesday, November 23rd show, along with highlights and headlines coming from tonight.

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NXT Results, highlights and headlines from last week’s show

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WWE NXT Results 11/23

Grayson Waller Promo: Waller turns heel, says that it’s the superstars that matter and not the fans

Ciampa def. Waller

LA Knight and Joe Gacy Promo: LA Knight says Waller still sucks, and Joe Gacy calls him out for his hurtful language

Cameron Grimes Promo: He wants revenge on Duke Hudson, and sets up a hair vs. hair match at War Games

Pete Dunne Promo: He’s waited too long for a championship, and Dunne claims he’ll become the North American Champion in the main event

Indi Hartwell & Persia Perrotta Promo: Indi updates us on Dexter Lumis injury, and seeds planted for possible riff between Persia and Indi

Tiffany Stratton Promo: Hype package for her debut, seems to be a country club, rich girl character

Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter def. Indi Hartwell & Persia Perrotta

Santos Escobar w/ Legado Del Phantasma def. Malik Blade

Legado Del Phantasma Promo: LDP, Von Wagoner & O’ Reilly, and Imperium argue, setting up a contender match for the tag team championships at War Games

Tony D’Angelo Promo: Collects bets for the main event and calls the announcers stooges

Cora Jade def. Mandy Rose after Kay Lee Ray distracts referee

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams Promo: He’s the one with everything to lose, and the one who gets chased, and he’ll keep his title in the main event

Kay Lee Ray Promo: She’ll join team Io Shirai for War Games

Grayson Waller attacks LA Knight on the way to the ring, Diamond Mine confronts Joe Gacy instead

MSK Promo: They get pulled over on the way to a shaman, make a lot of weed and prison jokes in a very, very dumb segment

Ivy Nile wins squash match vs. local competitor

Solo Sikoa Promo: He’s walked alone his whole life, and now he’s ready to fight anyone

Boa Promo: He has the spirit of Mei Ying now, and all should fear him

Briggs & Jensen def. Grizzled Young Veterans

Carmelo Hayes w/ Trick Williams def. Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne. A brawl breaks out setting up Men’s War Games Match

NXT Highlights From 11/23

Grayson Waller as a Heel is Electric

The stock of the Australian Sensation Grayson Waller continues to rise this week. Last week, Waller made a sudden turn towards the heel route. But in that promo and in his performance tonight, he showed why it could prove to be such a genius decision. It’s truer to his character – seeking the girls, the fame and the spotlight – to be the heel. And his promo to open the show was brilliant, making several true points about how fans often boo those who become the biggest stars outside of the company. His comparison to the Rock even translated to a really fun spot in his match against NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, where he got the crowd boiling with a People’s Elbow spot.

Let’s not forget this match had a one-week build! All it took was two promos from Waller and one from Ciampa last week to make the story in this match sing as the traveling veteran trying to put the fame-obsessed youngster in his place. With so many stars on NXT 2.0, they need to perfect short builds like this. All that said, don’t mistake the fact that, of course, one huge reason why this worked so well was the consistent excellence of the NXT champ Ciampa. And most importantly, they need to throw more fuel onto the fire that is this new direction for Grayson Waller as he continues his feud with LA Knight. The opening match of this show set a blistering pace and is a must-watch for those interested in the present and future of NXT.

North American Championship Scene Steals the Show… Again

While Ciampa’s has been doing a hell of a job as NXT Champion, the most interesting points of the show have consistently been dominated by the North American Championship scene since Carmelo Hayes won the belt. This week was no different. This match was great on paper, and it met those lofty expectations with three stellar performances out of Gargano, Dunne and Hayes vying for the title. Both challengers couldn’t have been bigger names in NXT, and saying that, Hayes still stole the show in the main event.

He conveys your attention with his swagger and everything just looks so smooth in the ring. Even a messy finish with Tony D’Angelo running in and a brawl commencing couldn’t damper the energy of this main event. In fact, chaos reigning as the show went off the air only elevated the carnage. The middle of this show was too bloated and boring at times, but the main event and opener made for a good show overall. Bonus, the Men’s War Games match basically being a new generation versus old NXT is a smart way to not only book the first NXT pay-per-view, but it also keeps things very interesting with heels and faces on both sides.

NXT Lowlights From 11/23

Indi Hartwell Too Heartbroken to Wrestle?

In theory, the idea of Indi Hartwell being so distracted by the injury to her husband Dexter Lumis that she costs her team the match is fine. I even like the idea that this preoccupation on Dexter is wrecking her tag team. But in execution, this was just too cheesy.

The actual tag match between Hartweel and Perrotta vs Kayden and Kacy saw way too many spots that made Hartwell look like an idiot. She kept looking at her ring and missing tags, even pouting on the apron and in the ring, which led to her opponent taking advantage of her bad focus for the win. Again, this storyline is fine, and at least give those involved something to do in the women’s tag division, but there are only so many times I want to see Perrotta take a swing at Hartwell’s dangling hand as she’s too sad to notice. Going forward, if they make this more real and less rom-com, it’ll go a long way.

Roderick Strong Needs More Direction

During the first few weeks of NXT 2.0, I really thought Diamond Mine was a highlight consistently. Lately though, the group has been far too middling. The Creed Brothers have taken a loss, and overall the rest of the group just hasn’t been pushed much.

But the biggest case of spinning their wheels in the group is assuredly their leader, Roddy Strong. The Cruiserweight champion hasn’t had much to do at all since beating Kushida for the title, and even worse doesn’t seem to have a sure direction either. He faced the very-not-205 Odyssey Jones, and now is suddenly going after Joe Gacy without the Jones stuff going anywhere. The most sad may be the fact that it seems like Gacy may be in a position to take the title at War Games, which would truly leave Strong and his Diamond Mine with no place left to go but down.

NXT Headlines

This past week WWE released another round of superstars, including recent NXT call-ups the Hurt Business and past NXT stars Tegan Nox, Drake Maverick, Jaxson Ryker and Shane Thorne. John Morrison was also released from the main roster. The reason for releases has been claimed to be purely financial and a response to market fluctuations by WWE brass.

The build to NXT War Games on December 5^th continues. Cameron Grimes vs Duke Hudson in a hair vs hair match was officially announced, Joe Gacy vs Roderick Strong for the Cruiserweight title, and the Men’s War Games Match seeing the likely matchup of Johnny Garganno, Pete Dunne, Dexter Lumis, LA Knight and Tommaso Ciampa vs Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, Grayson Waller, Tony D’Angelo and Bron Breakker. This might be most of the card one would assume with the Women’s War Games Match, and Imperium’s Tag Team Championship match also seeming like locks for the Pay-Per-View. Tonight’s show was too bloated for much of it, but it’s promising a lot of upsides possibly in two weeks at War Games.

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