The John Report: WWE NXT 08/29/23 Review
This week’s WWE NXT featured a women’s four-way main event along with The Creed Brothers facing The Dyad in a Steel Cage Match.
I will do summary style for most of the show and play-by-play for the main event.
This episode is taking place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. My WWE NXT Review archive is here. Let’s get to it.
The opening video package featured highlights of last week’s NXT Heatwave special.
It was Vic Joseph and Booker T on commentary as usual.
Steel Cage Match: The Creed Brothers – Julius & Brutus Creed vs. The Dyad – Rip Fowler & Jagger Reid (w/Joe Gacy & Ava)
If The Creed Brothers win then they are reinstated in NXT. No tags in a tag team Steel Cage Match. They said pinfall or submission is the only way to win here.
Brutus Creed was attacked by Joe Gacy and Schism members in masks. They took Brutus to the back. Julius fought alone with overhead suplexes on both guys and a double suplex. The Dyad was in control for a couple of minutes. Julius gave a one-arm Powerbomb to Reid while doing an Ankle Lock to Fowler. The Dyad picked up Julius and slammed him face first into the cage leading to a break.
(Commercial)
When they came back from break, Brutus Creed re-emerged from the back beating up masked Schism members. Gacy had the key with him. Some of the Schism masked guys bumped even though they weren’t touched. Brutus pulled the door off the cage and brought it into the ring. Brutus attacked The Dyad with the door. The fans chanted “this is awesome” after Brutus’ destruction. The Creeds threw Reid into the cage about four times in a row. The Dyad took control for a couple of minutes, but The Creeds fought back. Julius had both Dyad guys on his shoulders leading to a Brutus Ball attack off the top. That led to a “holy shit” chant. Julius and Brutus each hit running clotheslines for the pinfall win after 13 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Creed Brothers – Julius & Brutus Creed
Analysis: ***1/4 A good match that was heavy on story with Brutus taken out early in the match. After the break, Brutus was absolutely on fire and the fans loved that comeback. The Creeds are so fun to watch with their unique power moves. The result was obvious here with The Creeds winning to earn their spot on the NXT roster again.
The win means that The Creed Brothers are re-instated in NXT. They celebrated with their buddy Ivy Nile.
A video aired about Roxanne Perez about how she’s going to win the four-way match later.
Eight superstars are in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational.
Group A: Axiom from Spain, Tyler Bate from England, Charlie Dempsey from the USA and Butch from England.
Group B: Duke Hudson from Australia, Joe Coffey from Scotland, Akira Tozawa from Japan and Nathan Frazer from Jersey.
The NXT GHI begins next.
(Commercial)
The NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes was talking to the NXT Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo. The Street Profits due of Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins showed up in suits talking to the champions. Carmelo dismissed himself. The Street Profits were talking to Tony & Stacks while four women started fighting into the picture.
NXT Global Heritage Invitational Group A: Charlie Dempsey (w/Drew Gulak & Damon Kemp) vs. Butch
There’s a 12-minute time limit on these matches. Charlie is the son of William Regal, who is one of the best wrestlers from England ever, but Charlie is representing the US where he grew up. Butch is from Smackdown and representing England. Meta Four led by Noam Dar was watching the match.
Butch was dominant in the first few minutes with some stomps on the limbs as well as forearms to the head. Dempsey hit a German Suplex for a two count. Butch stomped on the fingers along with a kick to the head. Butch continued with some offense leading to a Bitter End for the pinfall win. It went about five minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Butch
Analysis: **1/4 It was a solid match that was on the short side with Butch dominating most of it. Dempsey got a couple of nearfalls off suplexes, but that was really it. I think Butch picking up wins in this tournament is a good thing. I look forward to his match against Tyler Bate especially.
The win gives Butch two points in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational.
Ilja Dragunov was shown walking backstage because he’s up next.
(Commercial)
Dragon Lee was interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell, who mentioned that Dragon pinned Dominik Mysterio in a tag team match last week. Mustafa Ali interrupted saying Dominik lost when he had a singles match against NXT North American Champion Dominik. Ali said he never got a singles match. Ali said that Dragon struck out, so Ali is up to bat now.
Let’s Hear from Ilja Dragunov
Ilja Dragunov was in the ring in dress clothes for a promo. Dragunov said that Trick Williams him last week. Dragunov said that Trick’s performance deserves respect. Dragunov mentioned Carmelo Hayes…but here’s an interruption.
Noam Dar and Meta-Four were on the stage in the back part of the building. Dar said that until No Mercy he gets to relax in the Global Heritage Invitational for an opportunity to lose to him. Dar said that Dragunov is pathetic. Dragunov exchanged words with them with Lash Legend saying Dar isn’t scared of Dragunov. Oro Mensah mocked Dragunov for not having a title and Dar said that Dragunov has excuses.
Dragunov teased going after Dar, who said let’s make it official. Dar said that next week it will be Dragunov against…Oro Mensah, who said that Dragunov doesn’t deserve to face Dar. Mensah got into the ring with Dragunov, who kicked Mensah in the head. Dragunov charged, but Mensah bailed to the floor.
Analysis: That should be a win for Dragunov over Mensah next week. Obviously, they can do a Dragunov vs. Dar match in the future too. It will be interesting to see if they got back to Dragunov/Hayes for the NXT Title or if there’s something else for Dragunov.
Von Wagner did a promo with Mr. Stone by his side. Wagner trashed Bron Breakker for attacking him from behind. Wagner said next week he’s against Bron Breakker in a No Disqualification Match.
Analysis: That should be pretty good. I think Wagner will get the biggest win of his career.
Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice entered for tag team action.
This Saturday at WWE Payback, Seth “Freakin” Rollins defends the World Heavyweight Title against Shinsuke Nakamura.
(Commercial)
Dana Brooke & Kelani Jordan vs. Elektra Lopez & Lola Vice
Lopez and Vice hit a double clothesline on Jordan to take control. Jordan got a sunset flip on Lopez for two, but Lopez came back with a jumping kick. Lopez hit an impressive spinning back fist. Jordan broke free after a couple of minutes with a spinning heel kick. Brooke tagged in with a bunch of clotheslines on Lopez. Brooke hit a bulldog on Lopez for two. Jordan tagged in with an assisted moonsault Lopez broke up the pin and sent Brooke into the steel steps. Lopez tagged in for a spinning kick while Lopez hit a spinebuster for the pinfall win after four minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Elektra Lopez & Lola Vice
Analysis: *3/4 It’s hardly a great match, but you can tell Jordan is improving a lot while Vice works well as a heel. Vice’s strikes look good since she’s a former MMA fighter and they are putting over her striking ability a lot.
After the match, Dana Brooke was overacting by screaming in anger about the loss.
Analysis: That’s probably going to mean a heel turn for Dana Brooke soon.
Eddy Thorpe and Dijak were shown walking separately backstage ahead of his match.
(Commercial)
A video aired about Gigi Dolin talking about her road to the NXT Women’s Championship saying she’ll win and face Tiffany Stratton.
Carmelo Hayes, the NXT Champion, and Trick Williams talked to eachother in the locker room. Carmelo said that he doesn’t like people thinking that he only beat Ilja Dragunov because of Trick’s help. Carmelo said Trick knows Melo can beat him right and Trick said he thinks so. Trick said what happened at the Great American Bash wasn’t his fault. Trick admitted he didn’t know if Melo could beat Trick. When Melo left, Trick said Melo can do it.
Analysis: It sounds like they are building to another Carmelo-Dragunov match, which is certainly fine with me.
Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe
Dijak attacked Thorpe during his entrance, but Thorpe dropkicked Dijak into the steel steps. After the match started, Dijak hit a High Justice sitout slam for two. Thorpe came back with a spinning kick and clothesline. Dijak took the belt off his waist, then he tried to use it and Thorpe stopped that. Thorpe sent Dijak into the ring post and hit a dive on the floor. Dijak slammed Thorpe onto Booker’s chair after Booker got up. Dijak missed a chair shot at Thorpe, the referee took the chair away and Dijak picked up the belt for a punch. Dijak hit a running kick to the face for the pinfall win after five minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Dijak
Analysis: **3/4 It wasn’t a long match, but it was very physical the whole way with the announcers pushing that it was a fight. Dijak was the crafty veteran heel that used the metal part of the belt to hit Thorpe and win the match after that.
Kiana James got her turn to do a video package about how she was going to win the four-way main event for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship. James said she doesn’t make excuses, she makes things happen.
Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker were shown talking backstage. Bron said that Corbin should thank him for saving Corbin last week. Bron said he’ll put a stop to Von Wagner. Corbin said he didn’t care about Bron or Wagner. Corbin gave him a tip to not get put through a table.
(Commercial)
A video aired about Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo. They both had a dream about Grandpa. Garza woke up with scars on his chest and Humberto had scars too. Garza said that their late Grandpa knows they had to restart from scratch. They will return to NXT next week.
Analysis: It’s nice to tell the story of these guys as cousins. Some of the vignettes have been pretty cheesy. I like them as performers.
The Bray Wyatt tribute video aired. It was the same video that aired on Raw & Smackdown. I don’t mind seeing it again.
After the Bray Wyatt video, the lights were off in the NXT Arena and the fans lit it up with cell phone light as “fireflies” in tribute to Wyatt. The announcers joined in too. The fans chanted “Thank You Bray” as well. Bray Wyatt’s song played and they showed a rocking chair that he used to sit in.
Analysis: We will always remember Bray Wyatt and miss him a lot. Gone far too soon at 36 years old. Rest in peace, big man.
(Commercial)
Blair Davenport did her promo about winning the four-way main event match.
A Rhea Ripley TikTok video aired with Dominik Mysterio. They mocked Dragon Lee & Mustafa Ali about who should fight him next. Dominik told them to fight it out and he’ll fight the winner at No Mercy. Rhea whispered in his ear, so Dominik said he could be the referee.
NXT Global Heritage Invitational Group B: Joe Coffey (w/Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) vs. Nathan Frazer
There was a spot early in the match where Frazer ran the ropes really quickly and got his throat caught against the top rope. Joe slowed it down with a body slam. Frazer hit a running kick, which was probably the spot he wanted to do when he got knocked down by the top rope. Frazer dropkicked Joe off the apron into the commentary table.
(Commercial)
Frazer got some offense going with a neckbreaker into a slam for two. Joe hit an uppercut and a running forearm smash to send Frazer into the turnbuckle. Frazer sent Joe out of the ring followed by a suicide dive. Frazer got a springboard Frog Splash for two. Joe avoided a Phoenix Splash off the top followed by Joe hitting a stiff clothesline for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Joe Coffey
Analysis: *** A good match with Frazer on offense for most of it. Joe avoided the top rope attack and hit the clothesline for the decisive win. I thought Frazer was going to win this match.
There was a Chase U class segment. Thea Hail wasn’t in the class. Thea showed up later and then she went to hang out with Jacy Jayne. Andre Chase & Duke Hudson were concerned.
An NXT Anonymous video was shown of Fallon Henley asking Myles Borne if he wanted to team with her buddies Briggs & Jensen, so Borne said yes.
Roxanne Perez and Gigi Dolin entered as two of the women in the main event.
(Commercial)
Wes Lee was shown in an Instagram video saying he’s going to keep fighting. Wes said he’s coming for the NXT Championship.
Tyler Bate was interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell with Tyler commenting on the guys in his Global Heritage Invitational group. Bate mentioned Butch is a friend and a rival. Bate called out Dabba Kato and dared him to try to push Bate around.
Next week on NXT:
* Dragon Lee vs. Mustafa Ali with Dominik Mysterio as the referee.
* Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner in a No Disqualification Match.
* Tiffany Stratton defends the NXT Women’s Championship against the winner of the four-way main event.
* Tyler Bate vs. Dabba-Kato.
* Ilja Dragunov.
Kiana James was next followed by Blair Davenport.
Gigi Dolin vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Kiana James vs. Blair Davenport
A four-way match has no disqualifications and no countouts. The winner gets an NXT Women’s Title match against Tiffany Stratton on NXT next week.
Perez went after Blair in the ring while Dolin and James fought on the floor. There were a bunch of nearfall spots with all four women getting multiple pin attempts. They did a double rollup spot for Perez and Dolin for two. Dolin slammed Perez on the apron and Dolin whipped James into the barricade. Blair with a double stomp on Dolin and James hit a moonsault off the barricade on Blair. Perez hit a suicide dive on James on the floor.
(Commercial)
The match continued with Perez going up top, but Blair stopped that with a jumping kick. It was Tower of Doom time as Dolin did the Powerbomb part leading to a double superplex on Perez. Dolin was on fire with a kick for James and a running hip attack on Blair along with a running dropkick on Blair for two. Blair pulled on Dolin’s arm and sent her into the ropes. James sent Dolin into the ring post. Perez got back into it with a hiptoss along with a headscissors takedown. Perez hit running uppercuts on Blair and James. Perez jumped onto Blair with a cross body block. Dolin was back in with an STO trip on Blair. Perez hit a neckbreaker on Dolin for two because James broke it up. Blair hit a dropkick on Perez into the turnbuckle. Blair hit a spinning slam for two on Perez because Dolin broke it up. Dolin hit a bridging German Suplex for two on Blair because Perez broke it up. There were “NXT” chants. Perez with a headscissors on the floor. Blair kicked Perez and Perez still hit Pop Rox on Dolin on the floor. Blair went up top and hit a double foot stomp to the back. Perez hit Pop Rox on Blair, but Blair rolled out of the ring. Dolin went for her finisher, Perez held onto the ropes and kicked Dolin. James jumped back into the ring with a DDT on Perez. James it a jumping knee smash on Dolin for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Kiana James
Analysis: ***1/4 I thought they did a good job here in terms of building excitement for the finish with Kiana James sneaking into the ring to hit two big moves for the win. One of my issues with four-way matches in WWE is they are legally allowed to use weapons, yet nobody did anything like that. The heels should introduce weapons into the match and maybe do a table bump to pop the crowd. Anyway, it could have gone either way with all four women involved in this match. Perez stood out the most with her work in the match while Dolin did well and I thought Blair had some cool moments too. I wouldn’t have expected a James win here, so at least it was unpredictable.
Tiffany Stratton arrived with the NXT Women’s Title for a staredown with James. The win by Kiana James means she’ll challenge Tiffany Stratton for the NXT Women’s Title next week on NXT TV.
Analysis: I am surprised they went with a heel vs. heel scenario for next week with Stratton facing James. It’s probably because they have a babyface in mind for No Mercy on September 30, but first they are going to have Stratton get by James.
Carmelo Hayes, the NXT Champion, went into Shawn Michaels’ office and said they need to talk. End show.
Analysis: This will likely lead to Carmelo Hayes asking for another title defense against Ilja Dragunov with Melo wanting to know if he can beat Dragunov on his own.
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Three Stars of the Show
- The Creed Brothers
- Kiana James
- Dijak
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The Scoreboard
This week: 7 out of 10
Last week: 8
2023 Average: 7
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Final Thoughts
It was a solid show this week with mostly good matches, but nothing that really stood out. Last week was stronger because it was the Heatwave special. I thought The Creed Brothers were excellent in the Steel Cage Match with The Dyad as they picked up a big win. Lots of cool power spots by the Creeds in that match. The women’s four-way match was booked well in terms of being unpredictable. I didn’t expect a Kiana James win there, so that’s a nice surprise.
I like the story of Carmelo Hayes wanting to face Ilja Dragunov to try to prove he can beat Dragunov without Trick Williams’ help. It makes Hayes a more likable NXT Champion for being obsessed with wanting to prove he’s the best.
As usual, NXT does a great job of featuring a lot of people throughout the show. That’s what I really like about it.
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Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. My contact info is below.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter/X @johnreport