NXT recap & reactions: Fight, Lola, fight

Trick Williams faces his challengers, Michin & Jaida Parker go to war, and Lola Vice gets emotional on NXT’s Heatwave go home show.

A Tale of Two Citiez

Last week, Oro Mensah got a huge moment talking about his childhood. The story came in in the midst of sharing love with his Meta-Four crew, and came across as genuine. It provided insight on a guy the audience doesn’t know much about. Contrast that with Lola Vice this week and it really was the tale of two cities. Lola and Roxanne Perez’s face-to-face before their championship match had the right idea but the wrong execution.

For those who missed it, Roxanne shared how much she respects Lola’s journey to this point. She gave props for her MMA career, and even gave her props for defeating Shayna Baszler. I’d say it then went off the rails after that but Roxanne gave a shaky delivery all throughout her monologue.

Then Lola came in with the emotion, complete with crying that just didn’t work. I loved learning more about Lola, even if it came out of the blue and felt incongruent to the moment at hand, but this wasn’t the way to do it. Roxanne went back and forth between a face response and a heel response to the story, which didn’t help.

I’m rooting for Lola at Heatwave but I hope they put her in a better position going forward. In fact, the way the segment ended is more of what Lola does well right now:

Knocking out a grown man? That’s dope. That shows just how much Roxanne needs to fear this woman rather than sympathize with her. And introducing that element into feud that to this point lived off both women’s disdain is a misstep.

B-Sides

Violent

How is Michin still standing? More to the point, how is she not coughing up blood or even still breathing on this earth? Exemplifying this street fight between her and Jaida Parker, Michin took a swan dive through the ropes and face planted on a steel chair seat. At full speed. It happened minutes ago and I’m still in shock.

But that’s the type of match these two had. They started aggressive and only increased the intensity. But it was Jaida who got the W. This was the perfect match for her considering her wrestling style, and she sold everything beautifully. Michin looked good in defeat, as it took everything Jaida had to put her down. Very impressed with both women here but it’s a sign that it’s Jaida’s time to shine. Look at that rhyme!

Hey Young World

The formulaic contract signing that ended the show accomplished its goals. It established more competitive tension between Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans, while also letting the heels play mind games. It wasn’t my favorite contract signing nor did it tell us anything new about the match, but it did give us a bit more Je’Von. To Shawn Spears’ point, he usually is just happy to be here. Letting him flash a little edge and not only get in Shawn’s face but Trick’s as well, goes a long way to making him a threat in the match. Plus it helps me because I never got into wrestlers who are all smiles and simply cool existing.

Singles

• It turns out Duke Hudson didn’t know about Ridge Holland’s cheating ways last week. He came clean to Andre Chase and the rest of Chase U, so now Ridge isn’t coming with them to Heatwave. The question is whether or not Chase U loses without Ridge or whether he disobeys and shows up.
• To that point, Nathan Frazer & Axiom aren’t on the same book, much less the same page. Normally I’d say that means they’re losing their championships but this thing with Ridge complicates that equation for me.
• Loved Wes Lee’s video promo with Oba Femi’s shadow creeping behind him and getting larger as he spoke. That was beautifully done and great visual storytelling.
• Eddy Thorpe and Lexis King are really about to beef over music tastes. As a music fanatic, I think I’m into it? While I agree with Lexis that Classic Rock reigns over EDM any day of the week, he’s way off saying that’s what the masses want to hear these days. But I’ll listen to a hair band any day of the week.
• Izzi Dane looked impressive defeating Brinley Reece. The woman’s power is insane and Brinley is a great rag doll. Tatum Paxley’s weirdness showed up and I don’t know where they’re going with that. I do know that Brinley’s union with Malik Blade & Edris Enofe is probably on its last legs. I have mixed feelings about that. I like their energy together even if they never truly went anywhere. The whole positivity thing combined with taking mad L’s gets a bit tired.
• New Catch Republic gave Hank & Tank a nice exhibition for their talents.
• Speaking of exhibitions, the video segments exhibiting backstories for Heatwave’s other championship matches was a great touch. Gave me character, motivation, and everyone in explaining why they need the respective championships in their own words.

This wasn’t my favorite NXT go-home show. It started incredibly and only got that momentum back in spurts. The final segment didn’t compare to the opening match, but the show at least felt cohesive. As I said above, I dug the champions and challengers getting their time in front of the camera, but we also got some matches that lacked the urgency necessary for a go-home show.

What say you, Cagesiders? What match are you most looking forward to at Heatwave?