BRM Reviews the 6/19/2019 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

OPENING SEGMENT- great!
Undisputed Era came out for Cole’s title celebration. They played a version of the opening theme with only Undisputed Era highlights which Kyle made. Cole said they were coming for all the belts and soon would have all the power, and then no one, not Regal and “not even Triple H himself will be able to touch us.”
That line, combined with the warning to all other champions, brought out The Velveteen Dream who said “Adam, you say that no one will be able to touch you? I’d like to touch you.” TVD is fantastic. Promos were cut. Also coming out to cut promos were Matt Riddle and Tyler Breeze. The end result of this was a six-man tag being set up for later with any three members of UE vs. Riddle, Breeze, & TVD. This went AT MOST ten minutes. The main roster writers need to watch this segment to understand how to do the “big opening talking segment to set up the main event.” There was no wasted time or wasted words, and nothing they said felt forced or unnatural.

IO SHIRAI VS. SHAYNA BASZLER VIDEO PACKAGE- good

RAUL MENDOZA vs. DAMIAN PRIEST- no rating, awesome semi-squash
Okay... Damian Priest’s entrance is pretty cool. He dominated Mendoza, never leaving his feet even though Mendoza got a decent amount of offense in.

WILLIAM REGAL MAKES AN ANNOUNCEMENT- Starting next week we will see an eight-man single-elimination tournament called the Breakout Tournament with the winner getting a title match of his choosing... featuring eight wrestlers who have never been on NXT TV before. Those wrestlers will be:
- Jordan Myles (FKA ACH)
- Boa
- Cameron Grimes (FKA Trevor Lee)
- Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (FKA... well, this one is pretty obvious)
- Dexter Lumis (FKA Sam Shaw)
- Bronson Reed (FKA Jonah Rock)
- Angel Garza (FKA Humberto Garza)
- Joaquin Wild (DKA DJ Z)

Those FKAs were actually included in the graphic, which I didn’t like at all. Firstly, it kind of buried Boa as being way less experienced than the others and by making the others feel like people wrestling fans should already know while Boa was someone there was no reason to know. Secondly, it really just begs the question of why these names are being changed, which has no good kayfabe answer. Or rather it has no good kayfabe answer that doesn’t make WWE look overly controlling or greedy, which is obviously not a good look and thus one you should avoid having. And in the case of Garza, where it reveals that they are only changing his first name it seems almost silly because it’s so obvious that the change happened because there is already an Humberto on the roster
It also feels very out of place, as the majority of the big pushed signings over the past few years have been allowed to keep their names (Cole, Roddy, Bobby, Kyle, Gargano, Ciampa, EC III, Riddle, Keith Lee, Baszler, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, WALTER, Ricochet, Bobby Roode, Nakamura, Hanson, Rowe, Gulak, Cedric Alexander, KUSHIDA, Mia Yim).
But on the whole, I think this tournament is a good idea. I just question the wisdom of putting f*cking Samuel Shaw in it.

MIA YIM VIDEO PACKAGE- AWESOME!

TAYNARA CONTI vs. XIA LI- 2.5/10
They did some stuff and told a good story with Conti as the trash-talking heel. There were several spots in this match that I strongly suspect were saved by the editing. That leg sweep certainly was.

STREET PROFITS VIDEO- fine
They’re facing the Forgotten Sons next week.

THE VELVETEEN DREAM, TYLER BREEZE, & MATT RIDDLE vs. UNDISPUTED ERA (w/Kyle O’Reilly)- 7/10
This went less than ten minutes, but it was quite good and action-packed. The match-up that got by far the most focus was Cole vs. Riddle, and Roddy pinning TVD solidifies that direction as well. TVD and breeze had some problems at a key moment towards the end, but managed to work together afterwards so maybe that was just a spot for this match rather than something being built up for down the line.

A very fun episode of NXT.