Distractions
Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans are perfect foes. This is terrible for a writer to admit, but I can’t quite describe why they fit so well together. Maybe it’s the complementary attitudes. Or perhaps it’s Trick’s power and athleticism that looks good next to Je’Von’s otherworldly agility. Then again, maybe it’s just that Trick saves his most dastardly deeds for matches with Je’Von, which makes any Je’Von come back
look like a hard-earned victory. We got a little of everything in this week’s main event, along with a dose of Mike Santana for good measure. The moral of the story for Trick, who won’t face Oba at Heatwave, is that trying to be the face of two companies has its consequences. The same can be said for NXT overall right now as it stretches itself even further into TNA.
That last line isn’t a diss to anything Trick and Je’Von did in the ring. As I’ve said before, when NXT is focused on NXT business, the show mostly works. There’s so much history between these two and so much on the line that they didn’t need to push as hard as they did. And yes, push is a double entendre here.
That’s insane. That happened on a Tuesday night rather than a Saturday or Sunday. It showed how much disdain Trick has for Je’Von but how much he wants “his” NXT championship back. Je’Von the performer was clearly willing to risk it all for our entertainment. Props to him because that looked nasty.
Trick dominated the rest of the match because, well, look what happened. It reflected the opening moments where he went for the Cyclone Kill early for the quick win: it had urgency. Trick pulling every stop out of his bag and Je’Von soldering through all of them made the match feel important. Eventually, Je’Von found his second or third win to make the third act more competitive. But like I said, this was about Trick biting off more than he could chew, something Je’Von pointed out earlier in the episode.
Mike Santana lurking threw Trick off his game for a couple seconds. Sure, that hesitation cost him, he never had a shot the moment he put himself in a position where something like Mike from TNA showing up might stop him from achieving his ultimate goal. His loss is Je’Von’s win as he gets his shot at the largest dog in the yard. I’m pulling for Je’Von here if only because there are no lands left in NXT for Oba to conquer. It’s time for him to move on and Je’Von is the right choice to run with the baton.
This match and the opening match stood tall on a show that felt stretched too thin. NXT spent a lot of time dealing with its TNA cousin instead of what’s happening in the territory. The NXT women’s title picture? Relegated to a couple seconds towards the end of the show. The NXT Tag Team championship match feels less important and now might come with someone who appears when you say his name. And I still have no idea what’s happening with Tony D’Angelo! That Sopranos style cliffhanger was three weeks ago and we still have nothing. Plus we’re missing on whatever is happening with Chase U.
At a certain point, NXT needs to focus on its stories and its still-developing talent. The TNA partnership isn’t a bad thing on its face, but it’s come at the detriment of the homegrown talent. Not to mention the product itself as storylines disappear at a moment’s notice and lose momentum.
Album Cuts
- Raw held an Extreme Rules match on its recent episode. Apparently NXT saw that and said “nah.” Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura didn’t get to ECW levels, nor should anyone expect them to, but they represented the city’s wrestling legacy better than their Raw counterparts. The animosity between the two helped, but the way they started it set the tone. They started fighting before the match begun and immediately attempted homicide on one another. Each man showed how far they were willing to go for a W and to eradicate the other. Josh Superplexed his former partner through a hardcore device comprised of steel chairs and a steel barricade. On the flip side, Inamura put a steel trash can on Josh’s head and beat it with his hands. The man punched and chopped a steel trash can. He willingly cut up his hands if it meant making his former best friend bleed. I hope I never dislike someone that much. It ended when the guy who believes he’s mayhem incarnated hit a Moonsault from the top rope on his opponent lying prone on a table. Josh didn’t hit it perfectly but he got enough of it. This was a fun start to the show and definitely set a tone.
- Speaking of setting a tone, Josh seemingly transitioned right to a beef with Ricky Starks. As The Revolution entered the ring for his match against Jasper Troy, he and Josh crossed paths. And Josh gave him a look that said “you next, son.” Or Ricky owes him money. Either way, look forward to that one after Ricky dispatched Jasper Troy. I’m still unsure what they’re doing with Jasper. He came in looking very strong when he took Oba Femi to the limit and almost won the NXT championship. Since then, he’s not only loss matches but took Ls from smaller cats at that. After taking multiple high profile losses despite looking like a monster his first night in the territory, it feels like someone cooled on the big man.
- I wasn’t feeling Jordynne Grace’s promo. It sounded robotic and stiff. Philly didn’t seem to dig it either as the crowd remained dead silent throughout. Jordynne is awesome in the ring but the mic work remains a missing piece of her NXT puzzle. She’s got the character to pull it off, but it feels like she’s at odds with what the territory wants her to do. Beating up Blake Monroe’s security guards? That’s her strength, no pun intended. Blake hit the ring with those toy soldiers in tow and a contract in hand. She negotiated a deal where their match gets canceled if Jordynne touches her before Heatwave. Weird to pull that out a handful of days before the event but okay. The violence at the end with the security guards saved a flat segment.
- Jacy Jayne and Fatal Attraction looked much better this week. They faced the Elegance Brand in a six-woman tag that didn’t make them look like inept idiots. Masha Slamovich talked her way into guest refereeing the match but she didn’t add much intrigue other than maybe focusing on an outside distraction when Team Elegance might’ve won the match. That said, that kinda thing happens with a regular ref so there’s no real difference or additive. I liked the match though as it highlighted every woman and put the three competitors fighting for the Knockouts championship in the ring at the same time. A bit more drama would’ve gone a long way to tease the triple threat, but this was also a show that served a lot of masters, so its focused was all over the place. But on the bright side, Jacy got the W for her team and looks not only strong going into Heatwave, but competent. That’s a step up that I’ll take.
- I love Chelsea Green so it’s hard for me to know what to say about anything she does other than “she’s great.” That said, she was great in the Peace Treaty segment. Chelsea and Ethan Page play well off each other and were perfect foils for Tavion Heights and Tyra Mae Steele. Their deliveries contrasted, along with their attitudes. Tavion had a line about being crafted in the image of the Olympus gods that made me nod in approval. That’s a line that can easily come off as corny but he sold it, which goes to a larger point about Tyra & Tavion: their passion made everything seem real. Eventually the words became sharper as the four wrestlers talked, so Ava stepped in before words became actions. She set up the inevitable mixed tag team match at Heatwave. Team Canada vs. Team USA. I’m riding with the former and you can blame Chelsea.
- Right before the main event, NXT ran through a bunch of backstage segments as if they realized they needed to check some boxes. DarkState wanted props from Ava (the same Ava who wanted them out of NXT…still weird) and then said Joe Hendry’s name. You know what happened next. Joe hilariously appeared out of Ava’s cabinet and confronted the very perturbed faction. Joe is excited to see their tag match but, like Ava, wanted to know which two are fighting Hank & Tank. This continued the intrigue around Heatwave’s NXT Tag Team championship match. It also gave a hilarious moment where after DarkState told Joe to get behind them or they’ll leave him behind, Cutler James almost whispered in Joe’s ear that he doesn’t want DarkState behind him.
- Next in the almost montage-esque segment came a reminder that Jacy is also the NXT Women’s champ. Kelani Jordan and Lola Vice squabbled over who will get the shot at Jacy, only for Lash Legend to come through and say she deserves the shot over everyone, including the absent Jaida Parker. While I understand Lash and Lola (cool tag name) fighting for their spots, NXT has to come up with better reasonings. Both women cited their recent matches as proof for deserving a title match, even though they both came up short. Yes, Lash took Nia Jax to the limit but she still took the L. And while it’s awesome that Lola competed at Triplemania, she took didn’t go to the winner’s pay window. This is the problem with putting wrestlers in big spots after losses. Also, where’s Nia?!
- Oh and we also got Myles Borne and Lexis King. Lexis apologized for being weird for several weeks and making fun of Myles’ deafness. But he was just amazed that Myles can do what he does while being deaf and blind. Myles said he’s not blind, Lexis sprayed something in his eyes, and said he is now. Meh.
Heatwave looks solid on paper. This was actually a fine go-home show because it added some more meat to a few Heatwave matches. The TNA x NXT thing still isn’t clicking for me fully because the territory seems like it can’t properly split its focus. That’s the problem with only having two hours of programming per week. And this episode, which blazed through a bunch of NXT-specific items back-to-back-to-back right before the main event is indicative of that larger issue.
What say you, Cage Siders? Does Je’Von topple Oba Femi at Heatwave or does The Ruler continue his reign?
