WWE NXT Results/Grades (Nov. 28, 2018)...
Published Nov 28 2018.
WWE NXT aired on Wednesday, November 28. 2018
Match 1: Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. The Mighty Summary: Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch looked set to get a surprisingly early win when they locked in submissions on both members of The Mighty. However, legal man Shane Thorne grabbed the bottom rope and the match continued. It looked at various stages as if either one of the teams could pick up the victory. In the end, The Mighty threw Lorcan into Burch in the corner of the ring before attempting a double-team, but Lorcan rolled Thorne up with a sunset flip for the win. Following the match, the crowd booed as The Mighty attacked Lorcan and Burch.
Verdict: Lorcan and Burch always have solid matches but this was way better than I expected it to be. The Mighty’s characters are more interesting now than they’ve ever been, so it’s not inconceivable that they could be in tag title contention at some point in the near future.
Grade: B+
Match 2: EC3 vs. Marcel Barthel
Summary: Marcel Barthel had a surprising amount of offence early on, notably when he slammed EC3 to the mat and got a 2-count, but it didn’t take long for EC3 to take control and pick up the victory with his One Percenter finisher. Following the match, he said his battle with The Undisputed Era isn’t over and he wants a match with Bobby Fish.
Verdict: This was a decent way to give Barthel a strong(ish) NXT outing while continuing the EC3 storyline. Very little has screamed “top 1 percent” about EC3 in NXT so far, so let’s hope he receives some more meaningful storylines in 2019.
Grade: C
Match 3: Mia Yim vs. Vanessa Borne Summary: Vanessa Borne dominated the early stages and gained a 2-count when she hit a modified suplex. Mia Yim, competing in her hometown, turned things around by locking in an armbar but Borne soon escaped. In the end, Yim launched Borne into the corner before connecting with her Seoul Food finisher to get the 1-2-3.
Verdict: Like EC3 vs. Marcel Barthel, this was all about establishing Borne with the audience some more while giving Yim another victory. Borne has improved a lot from last year, so expect to see her more often on NXT in 2019.
Grade: C
Match 4: Keith Lee vs. Lars Sullivan Summary: Both men took the other down to the mat in the early stages and kicked out at 1-counts. Lars Sullivan gained control after Keith Lee failed to land a jump from the ring apron into the ring. Sullivan flew from the top rope with a diving headbutt but Lee kicked out. Lee then attempted a cross body from the ring apron for the second time in the match. This time he was successful but Sullivan kicked out. In the end, Lee failed with a moonsault and Sullivan hit the Freak Accident to pick up the win.
Verdict: Remember when The Big Show and Braun Strowman faced each other in the main event on Raw and everybody made a huge deal over two big guys having a really entertaining match? Well, this was just as good! Sullivan’s main-roster debut is coming up and he’ll have no problems fitting in on Raw or SmackDown Live if he performs like this. If you watch anything from this week’s NXT, make it this (closely followed by the tag match).
Grade: B+
Elsewhere on the show…
Published Nov 28 2018.
WWE NXT aired on Wednesday, November 28. 2018
Match 1: Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. The Mighty Summary: Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch looked set to get a surprisingly early win when they locked in submissions on both members of The Mighty. However, legal man Shane Thorne grabbed the bottom rope and the match continued. It looked at various stages as if either one of the teams could pick up the victory. In the end, The Mighty threw Lorcan into Burch in the corner of the ring before attempting a double-team, but Lorcan rolled Thorne up with a sunset flip for the win. Following the match, the crowd booed as The Mighty attacked Lorcan and Burch.
Verdict: Lorcan and Burch always have solid matches but this was way better than I expected it to be. The Mighty’s characters are more interesting now than they’ve ever been, so it’s not inconceivable that they could be in tag title contention at some point in the near future.
Grade: B+
Match 2: EC3 vs. Marcel Barthel
Summary: Marcel Barthel had a surprising amount of offence early on, notably when he slammed EC3 to the mat and got a 2-count, but it didn’t take long for EC3 to take control and pick up the victory with his One Percenter finisher. Following the match, he said his battle with The Undisputed Era isn’t over and he wants a match with Bobby Fish.
Verdict: This was a decent way to give Barthel a strong(ish) NXT outing while continuing the EC3 storyline. Very little has screamed “top 1 percent” about EC3 in NXT so far, so let’s hope he receives some more meaningful storylines in 2019.
Grade: C
Match 3: Mia Yim vs. Vanessa Borne Summary: Vanessa Borne dominated the early stages and gained a 2-count when she hit a modified suplex. Mia Yim, competing in her hometown, turned things around by locking in an armbar but Borne soon escaped. In the end, Yim launched Borne into the corner before connecting with her Seoul Food finisher to get the 1-2-3.
Verdict: Like EC3 vs. Marcel Barthel, this was all about establishing Borne with the audience some more while giving Yim another victory. Borne has improved a lot from last year, so expect to see her more often on NXT in 2019.
Grade: C
Match 4: Keith Lee vs. Lars Sullivan Summary: Both men took the other down to the mat in the early stages and kicked out at 1-counts. Lars Sullivan gained control after Keith Lee failed to land a jump from the ring apron into the ring. Sullivan flew from the top rope with a diving headbutt but Lee kicked out. Lee then attempted a cross body from the ring apron for the second time in the match. This time he was successful but Sullivan kicked out. In the end, Lee failed with a moonsault and Sullivan hit the Freak Accident to pick up the win.
Verdict: Remember when The Big Show and Braun Strowman faced each other in the main event on Raw and everybody made a huge deal over two big guys having a really entertaining match? Well, this was just as good! Sullivan’s main-roster debut is coming up and he’ll have no problems fitting in on Raw or SmackDown Live if he performs like this. If you watch anything from this week’s NXT, make it this (closely followed by the tag match).
Grade: B+
Elsewhere on the show…
- Speaking backstage, Kairi Sane said she is not finished with Shayna Baszler. Dakota Kai explained that she tried to help at TakeOver: WarGames because she does not like Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir’s actions. Io Shirai added that they want to face all three of them.
- Candice LeRae refused to answer questions as she made her way into the Performance Center in a video from earlier in the week.
- NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa said he expects the NXT crowd to “follow my lead” when he returns next week.
- A video package was shown promoting the debut of Dominik Dijakovic.
RSS Feed