HUH!
I really didn’t know what to do with this recap. I did not enjoy this show at all.
I love Shawn Michaels. He’s my favorite wrestler of all-time. But this ain’t it. And the epic tale of the Women’s North American Championship is a microcosm of why.
Blake Monroe torpedoed her chance at getting the match she begged and pleaded for because she just had to beatdown Thea Hail right before the match. The woman practically cried about wanting a rematch. No, not practically, she did. I remember her pouting in Ava’s office and whimpering about picking the right referee. So color me blindsided that she threw all of that out the window mere seconds before the match. Why? Well, according to her, The Glamour is unpredictable. Yeah, no. That’s terrible logic. Ava kicked her out of the building, which is usually NXT for “suspended indefinitely.” Maybe it’s their way to write her out of the territory but it doesn’t make her look bright in the least.
A barely functional Thea urged Ava to let her do an open challenge since she has to prove she deserves that championship. Jordynne Grace encouraged this too, telling Ava to let her friend do her thing. Wrestling logic said this was all about Jordynne answering said challenge and taking the championship. But nope. As it turns out, it came down to Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame.
Now, later in the recap you’ll understand why that’s wild but the long and short of it: Tatum and Izzi went on first after Thea and Blake couldn’t happen. Tatum defeated Izzi pretty soundly in the middle of the ring, and Izzi had no backup. No Shawn Spears, no Niko Vance.
Fast forward to this open challenge and Tatum comes through with a chainsaw to clear the rest of the locker room only for Izzi to sneak in from behind and hit the ring first. But she did it with Shawn & Niko in tow. The same Shawn Spears who went Casper after Tatum chased him away with a chainsaw a couple weeks ago. The same Niko who Tatum kidnapped! The same two cats who were nowhere to be found when Izzi wrestled Tatum in what was deemed an important match for both women. So where were they? No answers there.
Perhaps more importantly. No, ignore that “perhaps.” More importantly, they set this up for a Thea loss, so why not let Izzi defeat Tatum before giving her a title shot, spur of the moment or otherwise. Oh and the showed no signs of wear after suffering a defeat. She looked fresh as a daisy as if the match with Tatum never happened. So of course she defeated Thea to become the new Women’s North American champ.
Why not just let Izzi defeat Tatum earlier? Why not book this as both women not being 100 percent and make it a grueling endurance test?
The fun didn’t stop there either but there’s no rhythm or logic to this show. Things happen that don’t matter later or have no effect on future events. Izzi loses to Tatum? Who cares, give her a title match and let her win. Blake wrecks Thea before this title match she’s ached over for several weeks? No big deal! All that story and build up was merely a tease that never demanded any follow through.
The card is always subject to change but the logic should remain consistent.
Party Favors
- Well, after the Women’s North American Championship match didn’t open the show as scheduled, that honor went to Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame. Solid bout that really felt like the end of this feud. The story, besides the usual face makes a comeback against the heel tale, was all about Izzi not getting it done without someone in her corner. Izzi claimed credit for Tatum’s success but it was Ms. Paxley who showed she can do her dirt all by her lonely. That almost mattered, too.
- Kendal Grey continues to impress. I almost thought she’d topple Jacy Jayne but alas, Fatal Influence as a whole proved too much for Kendal & Wren Sinclair.
- Kelani Jordan and Lola Vice continued their violence towards each other as the former attacked the latter in the back. Cool pull apart brawl.
- Joe Hendry gets Dion Lennox next week and has some OTM-sized back-up. Wild that he had to convince OTM to squabble up with DarkState, the team who has the tag titles OTM wants.
- I have no words for anything that happened with Ethan Page, Jasper Troy, Stacks, Tavion Heights, Josh Briggs, and Shiloh Hill.
- The main event! Now, if there’s something on the show that actually broke through and I enjoyed a bit, it was this. Almost. Oba Femi proved he can work with anyone. He made Leon Slater look like a legit threat during Leon’s comeback. And, of course, Leon sold the initial Oba domination incredibly, which made his comeback even more meaningful. And for one split second, it looked like they might do the unthinkable and give a TNA wrestler the NXT title. That didn’t happen. Oba, banged up knee and all, pulled out the win at the last minute. But whew boy what happened next really put a sour taste in my mouth.
- Oba is gone. He’s out. He won, posed, and placed the championship neatly in the middle of the ring. Of course we didn’t see him do any of that because we just had to cut to Ava giving a pep talk to the troops. As she recanted the number of top tier talent no longer calling Orlando home, Mr. Stone interrupted her and the camera cut to the belt. And who else was in the shot? Mr. disappearing act himself, Tony D’Angelo. He stood in the stands and looked on like a broke ass Sting as the camera pulled back and eventually faded to black. That’s it. That’s Oba’s farewell. This after Ricky Saints called Oba out at the top of the program. So if they knew Oba was leaving, why have Ricky even mention him? Yes, he needed to cut a promo after sending Je’Von packing, but maybe don’t tease a third match between them that you know isn’t happening any time soon.
I’ve said all I can about this episode. I wasn’t feeling it and it felt like several steps backwards. NXT isn’t in the best shape right now creatively and losing all that talent doesn’t help matters. Ava was right about one thing: This is a big moment for the brand with plenty of opportunities for people to step up. The hope is that the writing and booking helps more than it hinders. Right now, it’s firmly the latter.
What say you, Cagesiders? Is that it for Blake? Will anyone ever care enough about Tony lurking in the shadows to interview him or even acknowledge it?
