WWE NXT 6/29/2021
#1 Contender's - Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon vs Io Shirai and Zoey Stark vs Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai
Io won this one with a moonsault on Kai. This was a spotfest but it wasn't too bad. They hit all their spots for the most part and the usual women's botches just weren't there. I was rather impressed with them being able to pull this off without any issues.
Kross and Scarlett arrived in the back and Johnny Gargano speared Kross into the wall. Security broke it up, but wasn't Joe put here to prevent this?
They announced a new NXT Breakout Tournament for 2 weeks from now. I guess some of the people who have been losing to Kushida in open challenges lately will be put in it and maybe Hale, Sterling and Jiro.
Bronson Reed was interviewed. Hit Row interrupted. Top Dolla told Reed to put his title on the line and Scott wanted it to be defended against him tonight. Reed agreed.
Karrion Kross came to the ring with Scarlett. He did a promo on Johnny Gargano and said he wanted to see how well he fared. Gargano came out. He said Kross is standing in his world in the ring. He said Kross is bigger than him but he is smarter then Austin Theory jumped Kross. Kross fought them off throwing Johnny into the boards. Security came out to break it up by Gargano superkicked Kross and knocked down everyone. Joe then came out and stared down Kross. Kross told Joe he's "doing a hell of a job" and he's right. I don't know if Joe is supposed to look like an idiot here, but he is coming across as one.
Roderick Strong with The Diamond Mine vs Asher HaleI didn't finish the NXT ep where the Mine debuted, but I don't see it as being a successful faction. All of the guys are charisma vacuums in a promotion full of those types and I don't think Bivens will be able to carry them hard enough.
This may be Hale's NXT debut as he is a 205 Live regular now. Hale did a nice roll into a headlock then had his head driven into the buckles while he was on Strong's back. Strong hit a hard spinning back elbow and hit a jumping knee right to the jaw. He then tapped out Hale with a seated butterfly double arm hold and won it.
Malcolm Bivens said the Diamond Mine is open for business and this is just the beginning after.
Cameron Grimes vs Ari Sterling
Looks like the 205 Live demolition continues here. Grimes got out of a move attempt and told him to kiss his grits as he shook his butt at him. Sterling did his inside to outside 2nd rope moonsault then did a neat running corkscrew SSP. Grimes evaded a top rope SSP then hit his M. Bison stomp for the win. This was a quick one and I'm not sure why Ari was sacrificed for this, but it was a fun match. Ari is above losing this.
LA Knight came out. He mocked him and said nobody cares that he won. He called him a natural born loser. Grimes told him he sucked and said he wanted to carry the million dollar title and it's legacy. Grimes challenged him to a title match next week. Knight said no then said he is the million dollar megastar. He said he would accept the challenge if Grimes becomes his butler if he loses. Grimes said OK because he was going to the moon.
Jake Atlas & Mercedes Martinez vs. Tian Sha (Boa & Xia Li) (w/Mei Ying)
I lost my review of this. I'm not into intergender or mixed wrestling and WWE's been slowly trying to push it. It was a disaster that ended with the finish being messed up and Mercedez getting legit knocked out cold by a Xia Li spin kick. They also did a spot that should have been an immediate dq but they got away with it.
Regal was interviewed and talked about being excited for the NXT Breakout Tournament. His accent was heavy here and 8 hungry competitors sounded like 800 competitors. Sarray then came in with even worse English.
Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory tried to jump Karrion Kross in the parking lot. He ended up getting the edge and slammed the car door on Kross. Johnny started talking to the camera then Kross choked him from behind. Kross then forearmed Austin Theory in the back of the head into the side of the building. He seemingly tried to run Johnny over but Samoa Joe saved Gargano, grabbing him by his shirt.
NXT North American Title - Bronson Reed (c) vs Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
Scott jumped up for a leap frog and was swatted down after being deadlifted from a triangle attempt. He was then gorilla pressed. Scott held onto the ropes and Reed pulled him then splashed him on his way down. Scott had Reed in the sunset bomb position near the apron but Reed just sat down on him.
We went to break and returned with Scott hitting a rebound german on Reed. Scott then hit a cool roll into a flatliner. Reed flipped Scott with a lariat but Scott didn't sell it, then rolled into a death valley driver.
Reed went up top after a body block and got pulled down by Ashantee Adonis. Top Dolla charged at Reed but ended up diving through the boards. Adonis then was thrown at him. Scott used this to hit a 450 from the top on Reed to win the match. This had a lot of action and kept my interest. Reed as usual looked good and they did this in a decent way.
Overall thoughts: Despite a disaster mixed tag match, this was a good show with 3 good matches.
