NXT returned last night (August 12) from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. You can find the results on the live blog here.
Puppy …
This week’s Mystery Mystery competitor was revealed to be Velveteen Dream.
Although he certainly has the name in NXT to discover a mystery, it did not come as intended.
One reason is the big elephant in the room when it comes to Dream. These are the accusations that come out against him and accuse misconduct with minors. That happened during the #SpeakingOut movement, but it was not the first time. That that can understandably sour people, myself included, on a character.
But even if you remove that, I was already attached to the current Dream character. His injury had shattered his momentum and he did not pull the babyface role away. He was far too hot and was hurtful as well as downright hurtful (like when he said Roddy was not a man because his wife kept her last name) who played the role.
Those things combined, Dream’s reveal got a “Puppy …” response from me.
There is nothing they can do to remove the shadow of accusation. Clearly, they researched and did not find what they felt was legitimate if it was worth going to, and now it is up to each fan to make a decision with how they feel about seeing the character. They can address his character issues and have started doing so this week.
Velveteen did not win here. Cameron Grimes die. Dream did not lose either, and made sure he gets a bigger match next week in the second chance match with Finn Bálor. After the match, Dream expressed his frustrations over Kushida, who took the pin. That they turn him on, which fits better as babyface for this character.
Speaking of Kushida, he just can’t seem to find it.
This man was debuted as a blue chip athlete who people from other markets came to try to defeat but could not. However, an injury derailed that run and he never found his Groove again. Sure, this may mean he fights with Velveteen Dream, but they stopped and his pressures started like this, he has lost all his luster.
Cameron Grimes had a good night, thought. He grabbed the win with a creative Cave In. He is absolutely found syn groove in recent months.
Flame on!
Karrion Kross may have gotten a little supernatural this week.
He has always drawn that line with the images they use for him – his entrance with Scarlett playing the role of harbinger and the over-glass. But he is always grounded in reality. He has never appeared from the whole place as a Bray Wyatt or Undertaker. He is dangerous and has an aura of unknownness around him. But he has always been human.
This week, they crossed that line a bit.
Karrion Kross opened the show and defeated a game Danny Burch. Burch is not a single wrestler who needs to be highly protected, but they did a very good job of putting up a match that presented Danny as a game competitor, while not detracting from Kross’ dominance.
Afterwards, Keith Lee stormed out with a contract in hand. He told Kross that he was pleading with William Regal to make the match and Regal relief. Although I would like to have a little explanation from the GM as to why he changed his mind, you can probably put two and two together, given Karrion’s bodywork last week.
Lee drew the paperwork. That the Regal I. It was just on Kross. Scarlett grabbed the contract and Kross signed. She took it back, kissed it and passed the folder on to Lee. When the champion opened it for viewing, he was greeted with a fireball.
Given that we did not plant them one kind of device, I think we should assume that happened because Scarlett tute the map. That just makes Kross and Scarlett a little more supernatural. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it was a bit of a cheesy angle for my taste considering how they presented themselves earlier.
However, it is not something that makes the fame less for me. I’ve been involved in this story ever since Lee won the title. A little fireball will not change that.
Kyle’s Eyes
Undefeated ERA interrupted a match between Drake Maverick and Killian Dain (an odd match for NXT to make in general), and attacked both men. As Michael Cole would say, it was VINTAGE ERA!
Adam Cole cut a short but passionate promo on Pat McAfee. He pointed out that Pat could land a cheap shot last week, but if he actually enters her world, the punter will kick his ass.
While Cole hit the right beats, I found myself just watching Kyle O’Reilly the whole time. I have convinced myself (probably out of hope) that this will lead to a Cole / O’Reilly fame. Kyle preferred to sit with stones and crashed maybe a few times into the back of Cole’s head in this short segment. But that may have been me to see what I wanted, hoping for a story I really want.
Hype Vids
The celebration of the women’s title was represented by two video promos of the two women involved. Both were good, though Io’s were great. Normally I do not review promo videos like this often, but both were worth sharing the vids.
Dakota spoke with the response to Shirai that it was a stiff kick for the fact. She also did not need help (referring to the MIA Raquel González). Although that’s wrong, because Kai really needs help.
Io took Kai’s history back, from her betrayal at WarGames all the way back to when she was Shayna’s victim. They close by telling their opponent that she is not in the head, just pissing them off. They really nailed Io Shirai’s presentation. Instead of sending her to a ring with a microphone, she produces really cool videos where she can use subtitles and she can look like the badass she is.
All The Rest:
Santos Escobar defeated Tyler Breeze this week with the help of Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza. A 3 on 1 beatdown followed when Fandango ran with his arm in a sling to even try the chances. Of course, those odds were still 3 on 2 and El Legado del Fantasma still held the upper hand until Swerve Scott came out to finally walk away from the trio. He should get that Cruiserweight title race sooner rather than later.
– Mia Yim defeated Indi Hartwell despite being raped with her husband who was in the hospital for his burnt corneas. We’ve seen a lot of Hartwell lately, and I’m a fan so far. She has a good appearance and a sharp whole attitude. I look forward to seeing how she progresses.
– Bronson Reed grabbed a bit of a rebellious win over Damian Priest. This makes sense, because I think Priest obviously wins the belt. This gives Reed a bit of impetus up front and a bit of a wrong direction in the finish of the ladder match.
– The Robert Stone Brand (Mercedes Martinez and Aliyah) defeated the fun team of Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro, with Mercedes taking the win of course. Afterwards, Rhea Ripley paid the ring to take the fight to Martinez. Mercedes loves a fight, and even shot her own tag team partner aside when she got in the way. Shotzi Blackheart finally came down to stand with Rhea. I smell a tag team match in the very near future.
This show felt like a lot of filler. Almost as if she were half of her main event of Take over and score until they have no competition next week.
It was not something actively bad, but it was also not something really good. Normally, even if I’m tired of NXT, it makes me upset at least once in the show. But this week, it never did.
Quality: C +
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