The John Report: WWE NXT 06/28/22 Review

This week’s WWE NXT featured a women’s tag team match for a title shot and a Bron Breakker-Cameron Grimes confrontation in the main event.

This episode was live after taped shows the last two weeks. As always, I will go summary style for the matches instead of a play-by-play review.

Note: I will be on vacation starting next Monday, July 4th. I know it’s a holiday in the US that day. Here in Canada, it’s July 1 as our birthday. Anyway, I’m going to be off for a week. That means no reviews of Raw, NXT, Smackdown, Dynamite or Rampage next week. I’ll be back ready to write for the July 11th edition of Raw. I will most likely do condensed reviews for the shows I miss because I want to get them all done. I look forward to a wrestling break. I know our news and feature writing team will keep the content coming on TJRWrestling without me, so keep supporting the site and we will continue to cover the wacky world of pro wrestling as best we can.

This episode is taking place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. My WWE NXT Review archive is here. Let’s get to it.

The team of Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary to welcome us to the show.

Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance

The winners get an NXT Women’s Tag Team Title match next week at Great American Bash. NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne were in the “Toxic Lounge” watching the match along with NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.

Jade is 21 years old and Perez is 20 years old (21 later this year), so both were born in 2001. They are best friends like Chance and Carter are. Jade was in the ring for the first part of the match with a dropkick and corner elbow on Chance. Perez did a headscissors into a pin attempt. Carter/Chance did some impressive double-team moves with Carter hitting a spin kick followed by a clothesline for two. Chance was on Perez’s shoulders and Perez sent her into the top rope. The four women had a face off to reset the match a bit, but then Carter decked Perez with a forearm and Chance knocked Jade off the apron. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

Carter was in control of Perez with a single-leg crab submission and then Chance tagged in with her own Boston Crab submission. Jade got the tag with a jumping kick and running knee strike on Carter for a two count. Carter and Jade knocked eachother down with forearm smashes. Carter hit Perez with an impressive superkick. Jade saved Perez from a double-team move and then Perez hit the Pop Rox (Code Red) for the pinfall win after 14 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade

Analysis: *** A pretty good tag team match between two exciting teams that work well together. Since Chance and Carter are the more established team, you could make a case for them winning, but the Jade/Perez team winning made sense since Chance/Carter lost their last title shot. The finish was pretty simple with Jade saving Perez from a double team move and then Perez hit her finish to win.

The win meant that Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade get to challenge Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne next week for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles at Great American Bash.

Diamond Mine was training when Joe Gacy walked up to them with his two Dyad guys. Diamond Mine leader Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp walked in to support Diamond Mine. Gacy was told “wherever, whenever” and Gacy basically challenged The Creed Brothers to a match.

Giovanni Vinci made his entrance as I continue to get used to that name instead of calling him Fabian Aichner.

(Commercial)

The Toxic Attraction trio of Mandy Rose, Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin were interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell. Jacy said they were not impressed and Gigi said that they have been beaten best friends and any challengers in the past. Mandy said that if Roxanne thinks she will use her contract for a match against Mandy, then she said “oh no.” Nikkita Lyons said that Roxanne may not have won the tournament if Lyons wasn’t taken out of the tournament due to injury, but now Lyons is back and her eyes are on Rose. Mandy said that eyes are on her at all times. Rose told Lyons when she steps in the ring with her, Mandy is the “queen of the jungle.”

Analysis: I mention every week that this is the common way they set up matches in NXT. Same thing with the Creed/Gacy segment before the break. It’s the format they love to use.

Giovanni Vinci vs. Ikemen Jiro

Vince was dominant in the match with some hard hitting chops to the chest. Jiro got a few of his punches while holding the jacket, but then he missed a springboard moonsault when Vinci moved. Vinci hit a Tornado DDT off the top rope leading to “holy shit” chants. Vince hit a sitout Last Ride Powerbomb for the pinfall win after three minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Giovanni Vinci

Analysis: *1/2 Vinci is a pushed “new” character while Jiro is mostly just a comedy guy at this point, so obviously Vinci was going to get the win here. The finisher looks great, but he may not be able to do it to larger opponents.

They showed Briggs & Jensen winning the UK Tag Team Titles last week. They were up next.

(Commercial)

The NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams were interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell. Hayes said nobody can get one over on him because he’s an exceptional talent. Grayson Waller walked in talking about Melo’s win last week. Waller got Melo to sign a basketball, some photos, a shirt and a piece of paper. More on that later.

Let’s Hear from Briggs & Jensen

The team of Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen with Fallon Henley made their entrance as the NXT UK Tag Team Champions. The fans chanted “you deserve it” for them. Yes, you deserve tag team titles on the fourth brand. Sure. Briggs said they found the best that NXT UK had to offer, but they brought the fight to them. It led to “USA” chants. Briggs said they have a championship rematch for the former champions. Jensen said when they first met eachother, Briggs said he saw potential in him and they have busted their asses together. Jensen thanked Briggs for picking him. They hugged. Another “you deserve it” chant from the fans that like to chant things. Henley said it was time to drink some beers.

Pretty Deadly interrupted saying those titles were once gorgeous when they held them and now those titles smell. Elton Prince and Kit Wilson let the champions know they didn’t deserve those titles. They bragged about holding those titles for 287 days. Briggs called them “Zoolander twins” and told them to shut up. Briggs trashed them saying they weren’t a great team. Biggs said they could talk or fight right now. Jensen punched Prince, then Henley slapped Wilson and the champions punched Prince off the apron. That led to the champions celebrating in the ring.

Analysis: It was a way to put over Briggs & Jensen as the new NXT UK Tag Team Champions with Pretty Deadly getting some heat by criticizing them. It should set up a tag team title match between them soon. I like Briggs as a talker while Jensen has a bit of a way to go as an overall talent since he’s in his early 20s, but I think being in a tag team is the right spot for him.

A video package aired featuring NXT Champion Bron Breakker talking about how NXT was his life.

Indi Hartwell made her entrance for singles action.

(Commercial)

Kayden Carter and Katana Chance were in the women’s locker room and they were frustrated about their loss. I think it was Tatum Paxley who mocked them for it.

Indi Hartwell vs. Kiana James

Kiana is the woman that is “all about the stats” so that’s her gimmick. James was in control as she pulled Hartwell into the ropes so that Hartwell’s ribs hit the ropes. James worked over the ribs with a leg scissors around the waist. Hartwell with a running kick. Hartwell with an uppercut and a running kick by the ropes for a two count. Hartwell went for the top rope elbow, but James avoided it and James did the pin attempt while putting her foot on the ropes for leverage. The referee never saw the cheating. It went about four minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Kiana James

Analysis: *3/4 A decent match that was a bit of an upset since Indi is more established while James is a newer superstar.

A video was shown from “last night” featuring Tony D’Angelo. Tony had an extra watch and black leather jacket in his hand. He had “Stacks” with him. Tony said he tried to take his spot, so now he’s sleeping with the fishes (a term in the mafia meaning that somebody is dead). Tony threw the watch into a river. Santos Escobar called asking if he was talking to the new NXT North American Champion, then he laughed and Tony threw the phone into the river. Tony said he’s sick of that guy he’s had it with him.

Analysis: This was their way of explaining the release of Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan, who was let go after they taped the last two weeks of shows. It was apparently a failed drug test of some kind for Two Dimes, so he is gone. He might be back in a year or more, but he’s gone for now.

Diamond Mine entered for tag team action.

(Commercial)

Wes Lee did a promo saying Trick Williams ruined his moment last week. Lee said he has no pity for him and nobody will stop him finding his inner peace in that ring.

Roderick Strong, Julius Creed & Brutus Creed vs. Joe Gacy and The Dyad (Dyad 1 and Dyad 2)

The Creed Brothers are NXT Tag Team Champions. The Dyad guys continue to wrestle in red outfits that are hoods that also cover their faces. My guess for The Dyad guys are that they are the former Grizzled Young Veterans, but I admit I don’t know. Strong and Gacy started the match. Brutus hit a gutwrench suplex on one of the Dyad guys. Julius suplexed Brutus onto the Dyad guy. Gacy told his Dyad guy that he trusts him saying that the pain is only temporary. The Dyad guys worked over Julius for a few minutes. Julius teased a delayed suplex, then the other Diamond Mine guys went into the ring and they hit a triple suplex. Diamond Mine cleared the ring going into a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

Gacy was in control of Brutus with a chop block to the leg and a DDT for two. Brutus was in the face in peril for a few minutes as Gacy hit him with a uranage slam. One of the Dyad guys hit a neckbreaker while they kept going for chinlocks to wear down Brutus. Julius got the hot tag with powerslams and a weird slam on one of the Dyad guys. Strong tagged himself in with a jumping knee, Julius wondered what he was doing and Strong shoved Julius since Strong is the leader. Brutus knocked Gacy out of the ring. The Dyad guys made the switch in terms of who the legal man was, then there was a tag and Dyad hit a double team DDT. The Creeds were on apron watching as Strong was pinned. It went 14 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Joe Gacy and The Dyad (Dyad 1 and Dyad 2)

Analysis: **3/4 It was okay. I thought it dragged on a little too much. The finish was weird because Strong was being pinned while Brutus and Julius were on the apron where they made no attempt to make a save. Anyway, it continued the story of Strong having problems with The Creed Brothers while Gacy worked well with The Dyad to win the match.

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams were interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell, who informed Hayes he had to defend the North American Title against Grayson Waller. When Waller had Hayes sign items, one of the items was a contract, so Waller tricked Hayes.

A member of the medical team was shown about to talk about Alba Fyre being attacked by Lash Legend last week. Legend said that Fyre is out of action permanently and warned the NXT women’s division to stay out of her way.

Sanga made his entrance and was attacked by Xyon Quinn in the aisle. Referees broke it up.

(Commercial)

Diamond Mine were in the locker room complaining about their loss. Roderick Strong tried to reason to the Creed Brothers, who said that Roddy still blames them. Strong said that next week, he’s going to team with Damon Kemp against The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Team Titles. Kemp stared at both titles and left.

Analysis: One thing I don’t like about NXT sometimes is they give out title shots in the most random way. Strong and Kemp haven’t earned a shot at the Tag Team Titles, but they get a shot just because Strong wants to teach a lesson? I don’t like that from a logical point of view.

Sanga vs. Xyon Quinn

Sanga ran over Quinn with a shoulder tackle and a clothesline out of the ring. Quinn got a bit of offense choking Sanga against the middle rope, but Sanga came back with a launch into the top turnbuckle two times. Sanga with a body slam. Quinn got a bit of offense, but it wasn’t much as Sanga hit a clothesline. Sanga hit a Chokeslam for the pinfall win after about five minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Sanga

Analysis: *1/2 A boring, slow paced match with Sanga looking dominant for most of it. There was a lot of basic offense for Sanga like body slams and clotheslines. I think Quinn has been miscast as a heel because he was more entertaining as a face. I don’t think Quinn has much momentum as a heel.

A video package aired about Cameron Grimes, who challenges Bron Breakker for the NXT Title at Great American Bash next week. Here’s another match where they just handed a title shot to a guy. I like Grimes a lot, but they should have had him earn the title match.

They showed Nikkita Lyons and Mandy Rose (with friends) walking backstage for their match up next.

(Commercial)

A video aired about Wendy Choo responding to Tiffany Stratton’s hurtful comments from the past. Choo said she’ll beat Stratton at Great American Bash.

It’s official for Great American Bash: The Creed Brothers defending their NXT Tag Team Titles vs. Roderick Strong & Damon Kemp.

Nikkita Lyons vs. Mandy Rose (w/Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin)

Lyons was in control with a corner splash and a hiptoss sending Rose across the ring. Rose left the ring to regroup.

(Commercial)

Rose worked over Lyons’ left knee that Nikkita injured in the past and caused her to miss a few weeks. Rose kicked the left leg while twisting it. Rose told Lyons that she’s a “nobody.” Lyons fought back with a clothesline, a rising kick and a corner elbow. Lyons hit a German Suplex for a two count. Lyons wanted a superplex, Rose shoved her down and Rose hit a missile dropkick off the top. Lyons avoided the jumping knee leading to Lyons hitting three kicks. Dolin and Jayne into the ring with Jayne clipping the knee of Lyons for the DQ finish. They got about nine minutes here.

Winner by disqualification: Nikkita Lyons

Analysis: **1/2 A fine match with some psychology as Rose worked over the left knee and Lyons kept coming back for more. I have mentioned Lyons as a candidate to be the next NXT Women’s Champion. Now that Lyons is back from injury and just beat Mandy by DQ, I’m more confident in that prediction of Lyons winning the title soon. It’s not like I want Mandy to lose. I just think it’s coming soon.

Post match, Lyons was attacked by the three Toxic heels, but then Jade & Perez made the save for Lyons. The heels retreated at that point.

Solo Sikoa was shown talking backstage to Apollo Crews with Solo complaining about how Waller got lucky against him last week. Crews told Solo that he’s magic in the ring and that means a lot coming to him. Xyon Quinn walked up to talk trash telling Crews that he (Xyon) is the perfect WWE superstar. Crews said that on paper, Quinn has a bright future, but when Crews looks at his future, it don’t look too good.

Analysis: Quinn just lost a five-minute match where he didn’t look impressive at all and he’s still cocky? Crews should beat Quinn when they wrestle.

Cameron Grimes and Bron Breakker were shown arriving for their main event segment.

(Commercial)

A video was shown of JD McDonagh, which is the new name of Jordan Devlin, who is coming over from NXT UK.

Next Wednesday at NXT Great American Bash:

* NXT Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Cameron Grimes.

* Wendy Choo vs. Tiffany Stratton

* NXT Tag Team Women’s Championships: Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin (c) vs. Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez

* NXT North American Championship: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Grayson Waller

* NXT Tag Team Championships: The Creed Brothers (c) vs. Roderick Strong & Damon Kemp

* Wes Lee vs. Trick Williams

That’s the official card for now.

Face to Face: Bron Breakker and Cameron Grimes

Wade Barrett introduced both men in the NXT Championship match next week. It was challenger Cameron Grimes up first followed by NXT Champion Bron Breakker. Barrett was going to talk, but then Bron interrupted and said respectfully, they just want to talk so Wade left the ring.

Bron said he knows Grimes is going to bring it because Grimes has everything to gain, but nothing to lose. Grimes said that next week is just another title defense, but what’s the worst that happens if Bron loses? He’s still Bron Breakker. Grimes said if Bron loses then he’ll be on Raw or Smackdown and they probably put him on SummerSlam. Grimes said that he is going to all-in on Breakker after losing his North American Title. Grimes said that he doesn’t have backup plan while noting that if loses the title, that’s it for him. Grimes said that this is Bron’s backup plan because the Ravens cut Bron from the NFL and now Bron’s a wrestler so Bron called up pops (Rick Steiner) because he wanted to be in WWE. Bron mentioned the last time somebody brought his father into this. Bron said that Grimes can say whatever he wants because Grimes is going to the moon and he won’t like what he finds there because Bron will spear him in half. Grimes said that he’ll keep getting up every time Bron knocks him down. Bron said he’ll keep knocking him down. Bron said when they’re done, Grimes can call his buddy Ted Dibiase to ask what he should do next. Grimes said that Bron doesn’t have Cameron’s heart. Grimes said it’s just genetics, just like his daddy and that’s why Rick was never a World Champion. Bron grabbed Grimes.

Bron went for a powerslam, Grimes slipped out of it, Bron went for a charge in the corner, Grimes moved and Bron went shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Grimes picked up Bron and whipped him hard into the turnbuckle. The turnbuckle pad came off the corner while Bron was selling a right arm injury. Grimes looked at the injured arm, Grimes said that at 100% maybe Grimes can’t beat Bron, but it looked like Bron wasn’t at 100% right now. Bron was getting checked on by doctors and referees while Grimes left. Grimes shouted “to the moon” to end it.

Analysis: I thought it was a good go-home segment. They also posted this post-show video of Bron getting his right arm checked. It means that Bron will go into Great American Bash next week with an injury, so maybe Grimes can take advantage and win. I think Bron will win after selling the right arm injury the whole match.

Three Stars of the Show

1. Bron Breakker/Cameron Grimes
2. Cora Jade/Roxanne Perez
3. Mandy Rose

The Scoreboard

This week: 5.25 out of 10

Last week: 5.75

Final Thoughts

A weaker episode of NXT this week. I think the lineup of matches this week was weaker than most weeks. That’s probably because most of the bigger NXT names are in action next week for the Great American Bash episode, so there was less quality in-ring action this week.

Next week’s show should definitely be better because the Great American Bash lineup has several well-built matches, so it should be a stronger than usual episode.

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Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter @johnreport