BRM Reviews the 6/29/2021 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

TRIPLE THREAT #1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Zoey Stark & Io Shirai- 6.75/10
In this match you had three people legal at the same time with their partners on the apron. There was a lot of action and chaos. Io pinned Dakota. Remember a few weeks ago when we couldn’t let Ember Moon pin Dakota cleanly going into a title shot? I guess the plans have hanged and Dakota no longer necessitates protecting.

JOHNNY GARGANO JUMPS KARRION KROSS BACKSTAGE- Security ran out and broke it up quickly. Nice to see that they’re getting better at their jobs. Kross vowed revenge.

THEY ANNOUNCE THAT THEY’RE DOING ANOTHER NXT BREAKOUT TOURNAMENT- fine, and the recap of the last one served to give a little more meaning to…

HIT ROW INTERRUPT BRONSON REED’SINTERVIEW- good
The heels goaded Reed into putting his title on the line tonight against Isaiah Scott.

KARRION KROSS CALLS OUT JOHNNY GARGANO- ineffective segment
We got some good promos here from both guys. Gargano distracted Kross so that Theory could attack him from behind… and once again, Kross destroyed two men at the same time with ease. Kross was going to murder Gargano with the steps but security stopped him. Gargano used the opportunity to get in a cheap shot and then ran away. Kross was angry at Joe.
In order for something like this to work 1) Kross needs to be likable, so that we’re angry at Gargano for his cheap-shots, and/or 2) we have to think that Gargano’s tactics might weaken Kross to the point where he becomes beatable, but neither of those things are even close to true at this point. I’m sure the match will be great, but they’ve given me no reason to root for anyone or to think there is a snowball’s chance of the title changing hands.

WE’RE STILL CHARGING, SO I GUESS THAT WASN’T FOR THE DIAMOND MINE- I’m losing patience with whatever this is.

JOHNNY GARGANO & AUSTIN THEORY LEAVE THE BUILDING- fine
Also, Reed vs. Soctt has been made official.

ASHER HALE vs. RODERICK STRONG (w/the Diamond Mine)- 2/10
This was weird. The work in the match was fine, but everything else about it didn’t seem to add up. Roddy is a returning heel with a new stable, but Hale survived for quite a while. The announcers put over that the other members of the Diamond Mine were “shouting encouragement” to Roddy as if he were a babyface. Roddy wrestled completely cleanly, but then, when Hale tapped, Roddy bent his arm into another submission, but in a way that it looked like (and the announcers framed it as) Roddy trying to stop Hale from being able to tap. That’s the sort of thing a sadistic heel would do, but Roddy didn’t wrestle like a sadist at any other point during the match.

CAMERON GRIMES vs. ARI STERLING- 2/10
Grimes wins clean in what should have just been a squash.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
L.A. Knight came out to make fun of Grimes. Grimes challenged him to a match for the Million Dollar Title next week. Knight countered that if Grimes loses, Grimes will be comes his butler. As a segment, this was fine, but I really don’t need to see the “butler” angle again… and, quite frankly, Knihgt should be a lot smarter than this. If he wants a butler, why not just hire a professional, who won’t be looking to f*ck with you at every opportunity (never mind being better at the job for having whatever sort of necessary training there is).

MCKENZIE MITCHELL’S INTERVIEW WITH ZOEY STARK & IO SHIRAI IS INTERRUPTED BY THE NXT WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS- decent
Indi says that Stark and Io aren’t “a real team” and “don’t even like each other.” Stark responds that all they need is mutual respect. Candice warns Zoey to watch her back around Io (who turned on supposed best friend Candice a few years ago). Io points out that Candice has never beaten her. This would have been better if it hadn’t been handicapped by feeling very staged in the beginning, as Indi and Zoey’s lines felt more like they were reading the booker’s bullet points than anything that it was natural to say to the other person.

KYLE O’REILLY CALLS OUT ADAM COLE- great!
Samoa Joe came out to get between them before they talked. Cole cut a big promo saying that he was the star of UE. Kyle responded by cutting the same promo he cut before their previous match (I regret being in UE because I was a terrible person doing terrible things). Cole said that Kyle’s wife knows that Cole was the star, and things got heated. Joe got between them and Cole backed down, but then tried to take a cheap shot. Joe ducked it and Kyle blocked it, then locked in a submission and Joe did nothing to break it up, letting Cole get his just desserts.
I really liked this, but it did throw up a bit of a red flag to me that Kyle had nothing new to say. I also hate the “randomly bring up someone’s family for heat” thing. I’m not saying it’s not something someone would get angry at, but it always feels cheap to me. It feels like a shortcut to create tension because that’s the end goal of the segment; like it’s not something that would be said if they weren’t purposely trying to get to a certain level of tension.

TIAN SHA PROMO- fine

HIT ROW GIVES ISAIAH SCOTT A PEP TALK- fine

MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH: Mercedes Martinez & Jake Atlas vs. Tian Sha (Xia Li & Boa) (w/Mae Ying)- 5/10
The heels won by ref stoppage when Mercedes was concussed by a Xia Li kick.

MSK VS. THATCHER/CIAMPA SEGMENT- fine
They cut good promos on each other and MSK showed some fire.

SARRAY INTERRUPTS MCKENZIE MITCHELL’S INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM REGAL- good
You know what? “Interrupts” is too strong a word. She was so polite while doing this that it made me instantly want to see her win the match she asked for. She wanted to wrestle “someone like Toni Storm.” Regal says he will take that under consideration.

WE’RE CHARGED UP TO 81%- just an update

JOHNNY GARGANO ATTACKS KARRION KROSS IN THE PARKING LOT- terrible
Gargano slams the car door on Kross shoulder a bunch of times. This was the same thing that used to put Killian Dain out for weeks, but Kross is up moments later, choking Gargano out. Also, Austin Theory was there to get beaten up. You might as well have had Kross run them over with the car, too. Then Samoa Joe showed up and pulled Gargano along by the shirt like he was a schoolchild.


NXT NORTH AMERICAN TITLE MATCH: Bronson Reed(c) vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (w/Hit Row)- 6.75/10
Scott won the title after interference in one of those matches where they shine the babyface up so much that the heel doesn’t come across as credible. The size difference (which was what they based their story around) gave Scott some protection on that front, but it’d be nice if he could have looked a bit more effective on his own.


This was a decent episode of NXT. As a go-home show for next week’s big Great American Bash, it was pretty good, though. The thing this show needs the most, though, is a credible challenger for Karrion Kross, and they seem to be going out of their way not to have one.

[NWK2000]

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
L.A. Knight came out to make fun of Grimes. Grimes challenged him to a match for the Million Dollar Title next week. Knight countered that if Grimes loses, Grimes will be comes his butler. As a segment, this was fine, but I really don’t need to see the “butler” angle again… and, quite frankly, Knihgt should be a lot smarter than this. If he wants a butler, why not just hire a professional, who won’t be looking to f*ck with you at every opportunity (never mind being better at the job for having whatever sort of necessary training there is).

Because a good heel's ego is so powerful it impedes common sense beyond, "I must spend every day humiliating my rival"

[Big Red Machine]

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
L.A. Knight came out to make fun of Grimes. Grimes challenged him to a match for the Million Dollar Title next week. Knight countered that if Grimes loses, Grimes will be comes his butler. As a segment, this was fine, but I really don’t need to see the “butler” angle again… and, quite frankly, Knihgt should be a lot smarter than this. If he wants a butler, why not just hire a professional, who won’t be looking to f*ck with you at every opportunity (never mind being better at the job for having whatever sort of necessary training there is).

Because a good heel's ego is so powerful it impedes common sense beyond, "I must spend every day humiliating my rival"

Yeah, but there has to be a less risky way to do that than the butler stip. We all know how that goes, so Knight should know, too. He should have suggested something like Grimes has to give Knight his fortune. Or do a Ted Dibiase "kiss my feet" thing or whatever.