NXT NO MERCY REVIEW

The NXT brand continues to thrive outside of the PC, as NXT Superstars along with some of the stars of TNA made their way to Denver for the historic No Mercy PLE in front of a capacity crowd. With lots of surprises, storytelling, and stellar in ring action, this was another event that solidified NXT as the unofficial third brand. 

 

In our opening contest, The NXT Tag Team Champions Chase U defend against former champs Nathan Frazer and Axiom. Great match between all four men, (Andre Chase and Ridge Holland for Chase U) but the “Champ U” reign ended rather quickly as Frazer and Axiom regained the tag team championships. Post match, Holland attacks the rest of Chase U, garnering a ton of sympathy for the popular NXT faction. Chase is slammed into the announce table and taken out on a stretcher. Great job by Thea Hail with facials and overall selling of the attack on Chase. 

 

Up next, former two time NXT Tag Team Champions formerly known as MSK, Wes Lee and TNA X-Division Champion Zachary Wentz finally square off in a very personal affair, after Lee’s massive heel turn. Although the TNA X-Division Championship wasn’t on the line, it didn’t need to be. The match was so personal and the pre-match video package was absolutely perfect. These two showed why they are perfect dance partners whether on the same side of the ring or standing across from one another. Great chemistry and storytelling here. Wentz squeaks out the win in this one with some insurance from Trey Miguel, but this feels far from over.  

 

After a surprise appearance from TNA’s Rosemary on NXT television via Wendy Choo, a new look Choo faces off against NXT Women’s North American Champion, Kelani Jordan in a solid matchup. Kelani hit a flurry of high flying offense including 450s, corskcrews, split-legged moonsaults, and more. The high flying offense proved too much for Choo and Jordan retains as your NXT North American Women’s Champion. Keep an eye on Jordan as her future is incredibly bright. 

 

The next championship to be defended was the historic NXT North American Championship as Oba Femi defended against Tony D’Angelo with the family in his corner. This match was heavy hitting and got a ton of time. D’Angelo kicked out of Femi’s power bomb which no one else has done to date, and had a very strong showing. However, Femi was able to continue to prove that he is seemingly unstoppable with a flurry of more powerbombs to defeat the Don of NXT. D’Angelo is continuing to put on great matches but is seemingly always the bridesmaid and never the bride. His time will come. 

 

Up next, The WWE NXT Women’s Championship is on the line as Roxanne Perez defends against former soccer player Jaida Parker. Parker brought the intensity to the ring, but was honestly out-wrestled and out-performed by Perez, who came up as a pure pro wrestling prodigy on the independents, ROH, and the like. Unfortunately, it is sometimes easier to see the tiny weaknesses and extra thinking time in some of the NIL talents as opposed to the pure wrestlers. Parker came out aggressive and with some strong language in the ring, but there is still work to be done with this transition to pro wrestling. Perez retains and only continues to get better and better. 

 

Post match, arguably one of the best Women’s Wrestlers in the world, Giulia makes her appearance known to the NXT Universe and to the NXT Women’s Champion. This is very exciting!! 

 

Our main event of the evening proved to be an interesting scenario. Arguably, one of the most popular wrestlers on the planet, TNA’s Joe Hendry had the opportunity to challenge NXT Champion, “All Ego” Ethan Page for his title, with former NXT Champ Trick Williams as the special guest referee. It’s no secret that WWE has been utilizing Hendry to the fullest, even teasing more appearances after this bout. The question remained would WWE go as far as to put the actual NXT Championship on a TNA Wrestler, the caliber of Hendry? The answer was no, as Page was able to retain due to some funny business while multiple officials including Trick were taken out of the equation. Trick did a great job as the official, but I did question his role in this one, thinking of some possible scenarios outside of the ones we saw play out on the PLE.

Solid match by the two competitors in ring, and although this could be the end of Hendry in NXT, it may not be the end of Hendry in WWE.

 

No Mercy and PLEs like this are exactly what NXT needs to continue to grow and make NXT Superstars become household names. NXT makes its way to our area in Philly for Halloween Havok next month,  and we will have all your NXT and WWE coverage right here on BCP+.