My Time is Now
Oba Femi likes to talk about the future being closer than his opponents think. Kendal Grey epitomizes King Oba’s proclamation almost better than the man himself.
The NXT Women’s Championship around her waist says that better than any words ever could.
For starters, Kendal and Lola Vice wrestled the match of the night for my money. Of every match on the show, this one felt worthy of a PLE. More to the point, it
felt worthy of a PLE on broadcast television. Not just the stakes. Not just the title change. Not just the history between these two. The match itself was solid technically, told a story about a champion going to the well one too many times, and a challenger who learned from past mistakes to get that monkey off her back. It’s also the one match of the night that didn’t feel disrupted by ads. I don’t even remember if ads existed through the main event, but I remember them being poured on the rest of the show like someone drunk off turkey gravy at Thanksgiving. I acknowledge a ton of that had to do with my considerably high interest in this match, but the wrestlers involved fought hard to maintain that curiosity.
Back to Kedal though. Her short rise from Evolve Champion to NXT Women’s Champion is a direct result of NXT playing the hot hand. One can argue the main roster, historically anyway, lets cats cool off a big too much. I always worry about them not pulling the trigger on Oba. But that’s not an issue in Orlando. Kendal is, despite Kelani Jordan’s protests, the hottest women’s wrestler in the territory. Why not give her the championship and run with it? Lola’s go home show promo foretold Kendal’s reign, just not yet. There’s a version of this story that rolls exactly like that. It’s one where Kendal fights hard but loses despite gaining more respect from Lola. Thankfully, that’s not where we went.
I’ve written too many times about NXT finding itself. Wade Barrett spoke to that when he talked about a talent vacuum at the top of the card.
When in a situation like that, why not take a shot with someone the crowd loves who can also get it done in the ring?
NXT chose wisely.
B-Sides
- Well that was certainly a thing that happened. Naraku came to NXT with more than a little bit of hype. The Man Formerly Known as Evil earned a title shot at NXT’s summer celebration due in part to his dominance and, well, evilness. That vile nature came into play recently when he launched a fireball into Tony D’Angelo’s face. And yes, it was an actual ball of fire. That dastardly deed left the champ with one good eye and in a world of pain. So forgive me if I’m less enthused about Naraku taking an L from a man with decidedly less than 20/20 vision! I understand the story is about Tony D “surviving” or “overcoming the odds” but a guy they built up as a supreme force shouldn’t lose to any person with one eye. In fact, that handicap provided an excuse for Tony losing his championship and set the stage for a well-deserved rematch. But now? Now they have a guy they’re selling as a monster who can’t even defeat a one-eyed man. How does that help anyone?
- On the flip side, Tatum Paxley could reasonably challenger for the Women’s North American Championship again. Why? Glad you asked. It took not one but two F-5s from Zaria to put her down, along with a hellacious boot to the back of the head. Tatum made Zaria work for that title retention, which bodes well for Tatum’s future. Zaria is still the champ, obviously, but we got nothing about her next challenger. Not that we needed it either, especially after Zaria survived a very tough title defense.
- I’ll always give NXT props for trying something. I don’t know if their first PLE on broadcast television is the time to experiment, but shooters gotta shoot. During Shiloh Hill vs. Tristan Angels, Tristan found himself under the ring…again. This time, the camera took us under there. Here’s where the experimentation started as NXT showed us what lurks beneath. Turns out it was a cell phone, and Shiloh dressed like a bootleg Jason Vorhees. I love horror, so I have no problem with this in theory. The execution left me confused though. I get the callback to Shiloh messing with Tristan under the ring. I get the mind games. It’s just a weird spot for a match already built on something silly. The two guys worked well with their material though. I love Shiloh’s character. He knows who he is and has a unique voice. That goes a long way, which is probably why they toss him into so many different situations. I liked his promo at the end of the match too. I just hope this whole thing with Tristan is done now.
- Remember when I said BirthRight is in a slump? That continued here as Wren Sinclair made Arianna Grace tap, which came after Wren threw hands on Charlie Dempsey, who felt the urge to get on the apron and interfere in the ref’s count. This didn’t make the group look the greatest, which I gotta believe is the point right now. Even with the numbers on her side, Arianna couldn’t get it done. To say nothing of Kendal’s absence. Where does BirthRight go from here? Back up the birth canal? Terrible joke, I apologize.
- Saquan Shugars vs. Dion Lennox let me down a bit. I thought it was a solid match and I liked the ending. It just never got to the aggression and violence this type of feud demands. Well, it did at the very end, but this is speaking solely about the match. These guys were brothers who now despise each other. Everything leading to this point was very personal. The match felt like something built for a regular Tuesday night rather than a big time PLE grudge match. That speaks to one of NXT’s current problems: It rarely explores all facets of the pro wrestling genre anymore. I wanted a match worthy of Dion’s betrayal and the fact Saquan put Dion’s muscle on the shelf. Even when said muscle returned, the match never truly took advantage of them until the end. Saquan won the battle but not the war as it turned out James Cutler & Osiris Griffin are completely healthy! They punished Saquan with a baseball for existing post match, which means this thing is far from over. Maybe the match I want is somewhere over the horizon.
The Great American Bash didn’t do much for me. The show never found a flow, and couldn’t help but feel like an overly long episode of NXT on Tuesday, save for one match. NXT is still finding itself but at least it’s on solid ground at the top of the Women’s card.
What say you, Cagesiders?
