WWE NXT 3/22/2022

WWE NXT 3/22/2022

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/03/wwe-nxt-3152022.html

Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes arrive in a fancy car. Hayes said we will have more qualifiers for the ladder match tonight. Hayes called them "meloficiation matches".

North American Title Qualifier - Roderick Strong vs Solo Sikoa

No entrance for Sikoa here. Solo misses a kick and is tripped. Solo comes back with a headbutt as Trick and Hayes are on commentary. Solo beats him down more and drops him with a slap. Solo does a jump into a headbutt on a laying Strong. Strong goes outside and pulls Solo's throat over the ropes.

Strong then pounds on him and camel clutches him. Strong hits a running kick to the face then Strong stomps his head. They trade forearms and Srong kicks him for 2. Strong then hits an olympic slam for 2 and Santos Escobar walks down. Solo gets more shots in and samoan drops him.

Solo knocks Strong off the top then hits a top rope splash to win it.

Strong has been relying heavily on the strikes and not much else lately. It was okay but not that great and not Strong's best work. I don't know if Strong is injured or was told to tone it down or what. This went longer then it needed.

Indi and Persia argued over who had more instagram followers and who was more popular. Indi said Dexter was wrestling tonight and Persia and Duke could come watch.

Tony D'Angelo vs Dexter Lumis

TD takes him down, hits a big belly to belly and pounds on him. Dexter then hits a Thesz press. He then hits a fallaway slam and hits some crossfaces.

Dex hit a slam and legdropped him for 2. TD hit a chinbreaker and they went out to fight. Dex then got dropped face first on the steps. TD then put his hat on and taunted him.

We went to break and returned with TD still in control. Dex drops him with some punches then bulldogs him. Dex then backdrops him and drops a leg for 2.

Indi came down and Persia Perotta followed.Indi took Tony's crowbar then Persia took it from her. Persia and Tony fought for it leading to Dexter getting hit with it and pinned.

This was alright for the short match that it was.

Tony D got on the mic after. He said the new don arrives at NXT Stand and Deliver and said he outsmarted him. Ciampa's music hit and he came from behind and hit a fairy talen ending. Ciampa said if Stand and Deliver is his final match in NXT, he is writing his own ending to it.

Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode were interviewed. Roode said he is a former NXT champ and said NXT wouldn't be where it is without him. Ziggler said Bron Breakker is 2 weeks away from the biggest match of his career. He asked Roode to pummel him but to leave some scraps for him.

 Grayson Waller did a promo with Sanga. He said Stand and Deliver won't be a big show without him. He said he was the last man standing 3 weeks ago and will be the only man standing on top of the ladder when he wins the NXT North American title ladder match. He said A-Kid stands in his and said he is good, but not him. He said Kid is nothing but a stepping stone

Elektra Lopez vs Fallon Henley

Biggs and Jensen were out with Lopez and Lopez had LdF with her. Lopez slaps her across the face and Henley hit some forearms and a dropkick. She then wnent for a crossbody and was dropped throat first on the top then stomped. Lopez dropped her body first and pulled her by the hair. Lopez put her on the bottom rope and shook her with her foot then LDF and Brooks/Jensen fought to the back.

Fallon hit a bulldog for 2 then took a blue thunder for the Lopez win.

Lopez's last match was horrid and this was much better. She's still limited and green but didn't have any big screwups. It looks like this was mostly to build to LDF vs Briggs/Jensen though.

Draco Anthony and Xyon Quinn are in the locker room. Draco's phone keeps ringing and it's Joe Gacy. Gacy sends a video saying they can make his life better and Draco throws the phone. Xyon says he needs to handle this like a man and says he has his back.

Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai were interviewed. Choo said Kai won the tournament with her best friend last year and she will do the same this year. Wendy talked about what Kai did to Raquel and Kai said Wendy had too much orange soda. Kai said she will put her name on the trophy a second time and said it is their night.

Robert Roode vs Bron Breakker

This is odd that it is not the main event. Roode shoulder blocks him early then Bron does it back. They trade shots and Roode jumps up only to get powerslammed down. Bron beats up Roode near the entrance and they go back in where Roode takes control back. Roode suplexes him and poses, but Bron hits a clothesline. Bron goes for a spear in the corner and Dolph pulls Roode out of the way. Dolph is then kicked out.

We go to PiP break and Roode stays in control during it. Roode hits a blockbuster as we return Roode continues the beat down. Bron tries for a back body drop and gets neckbreakered. Bron does a top rope frankensteiner (which they call do call it) then Bron belly to bellies Roode. Roode hits a spinebuster.

Bron comes back and runs into a knee then hits a big spear for 2. Roode hits a glorious ddt for 2. They trade punches and Roode tries for a 2nd rope crossbody but gets powerslammed for the Bron win.

This was really long and Bron got beat up on for most of it. The only reasoning I can think of is that they wanted to get Bron more in-ring process. I don't think this helped him at all though it wasn't bad.

Ziggler superkicked Bron after the match and dropped him.

Persia and Indi argued backstage with their boyfriends. Dexter went back to painting after the argument and Duke wanted to know what he was doing. Dexter showed a drawing of Gunther and Persia asked if Duke could beat him. 

We went to Chase U. Bodhi was reading an essay on fortitude. He said Von Wagner has been challenging his fortitude and he said he came to class even with a black eye. Someone named Darnell raised their hand and Bodhi Hayward was yelling and swearing at them. Andre asked who taught him to talk like that and Bodhi said Andre did. Andre said that's a great thing to hear and Bodhi continued to rip on the guy. Bodhi then said he is taking down Von Wagner next week.

North American Title Qualifying match - A-Kid vs Grayson Waller

Kid jumps up to the top with Waller's help and hurricanrana's him. Kid then armdrags him int oa nice dropkick. Solo Sikoa is seen watching out there.

Kid's head is put on the buckle and GW kicks the buckle. GW then front kicks him and Kid does a nice flip sell for it. Kid topes GW on the outside then GW tries to roll in for a cutter but Kid tries for a sleeper. Kid goes to the 2nd rope and GW russian legsweeps him from then rolls into the ring with a cutter for the win.

It was short and good but I don't get the logic of having Kid lose here clean. Doesn't make much sense at all.

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams then talked and said they will take the 3 loses of the qualifiers and put them in a qualifier for an NXT N-A Title shot. Hayes said he may be "A-Kid, but he will never be A-Champion".

Robert Stone and Von Wagner talked in the back. Von said they would take out Bodhi and worry about the rest. A hot girl then came in and said she wanted to talk business with Stone and they left..

The Creed Brothers vs The Grizzled Young Veterans

The Creed's got a split screen for their entrance which was different. The Vets were still being accused of jumping The Creed's, but they said they didn't do it.

The match started before the bell and Brutus hit a karelin's lift on Drake. Julius hits a nice overhead belly to belly on Gibson then puts a nice stretch muffler on him. Gibson got on all fours and Drake jumped off his back to dropkick Julius off the apron.

Julius hit the Vets 1v2 then evaded a doomsday device. Drake then took a big spear. Julius suplexed Drake into a Brutus reverse fireman's slam and Brutus picked up the win.

This wasn't too long but was good. The two teams matched well. The Creed's new finisher is cool.

We cut to a video of someone destroying the Diamond Mine gym. A message said since the Creed's can't find them, they will find the Creed's.

Imperium talked in the back.

Gunther vs Duke Hudson

Gunther shoulders him over and slams him to start. Duke hits some nice forearms then slaps him before taking a big chop. Gunther hits a super hard chop that gets a holy sh*t chant from the crowd.

Duke comes back with a face kick and corner spears. Gunther picks him up and puts him on the apron then Duke slingshots in for a german in a cool spot. Gunther hits a stiff lariat. He then powerbombs him for the win.

This was short but a good hoss match. Gunther was super stiff here and Duke didn't do bad at all. I wish they would have gotten abou 10 more minutes for this. Definitely worth seeing.

Gunther does a promo after and says he is overlooked. He says it is a disgrace that LA Knight can talk himself into matches then LA comes out. LA wanted to talk and Gunther told him to shut up. He said LA does a lot of talking and has little skill. He said LA does not have what it takes to win matches, but his mouth gets him into those matches. LA says if he is interrupted ever again he will knock his head off. LA says he was going to use his words to ask for a match, but since he doesn't like that, he took a shot at him. Imperium then beat up on him and MSK made the save. LA hit a nice powerslam and Walter went out of the ring. This was a good segment and should be a good match.

Cameron Grimes did a promo saying he was frustrated and emotional last week. He said his dad passed away when he got signed by NXT. He said next week is the biggest match of his career when he gets a final shot at the North American title ladder match. Grimes said there's 3 types of people - one who gets by, one who tries their best and one who does whatever it takes. He said he will do whatever it takes next week in a good promo.

Dusty Rhodes Classic Finals (Women) - Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray vs Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai

Wendy spinning headscissors Io but Io catches herself. Io basement dropkicks Wendy. KLR gets in and Wendy rolls her up. She then hits a single leg dropkick. KLR takes facewash kicks in the corner. Toxic Attraction is watching from the Toxic Lounge. Io tries to 619 Kai but Wendy puts a pillow in the way in a cool spot.

Kai gets thrown over the top then KLR and Io tope their opponents. We go to break and return with Choo hitting an overhead belly to belly on KLR then handspring back elbowing her.

Wendy top rope belly to belly's KLR. Io gets in and flapjacks Kai then 619's her. KLR is on the 2nd rope and dives at her and flips in a weird move. Kai does a sunset codebreaker on KLR. Kai goes up top an double stomps KLR then Wendy does an inverted splash for 2.

Wendy full nelson slams Io then takes a KLR bomb. Io is tagged then moonsaults on Wendy for the win.

This was a good match for the girls. Not much story but they hit their moves, they kept the match moving and they did some bigger moves than usual. Wendy looked good here and worked most of this match.

Toxic Attraction came down after. They ruin their celebration and say KLR and Io won't beat them for the titles. KLR and Io say they are going to cash in the title shot but say they want to make it a fatal four way for the singles title and presumably Cora Jade is involved here. KLR was super hard to understand here and I really don't understand how the match could be made a four way or how the title match could be this.

Cora Jade then comes in and helps them clear off Toxic Attraction.

Overall thoughts: A weird show timing wise as some matches were too long and some were too short. The ending made no sense with the 4 way challenge. Duke/Gunther was good and really most of the matches were pretty good tonight, making this one worth seeing.