By Jon
COMMENTATORS: Sudu Shah & Nigel McGuinness
NXT Level Up this week features the in-ring debut of Arianna Grace, plus Damon Kemp and Andre Chase in action.
CHAMPIONS
- NXT CHAMPION: Bron Breakker
- NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPION: Mandy Rose
- NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION: Cameron Grimes
- NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince)
- NXT WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne)
LINEUP
- Damon Kemp vs. Dante Chen
- Arianna Grace vs. Amari Miller
- Andre Chase vs. Quincy Elliott
*****
MATCH RESULTS
- Damon Kemp defeated Dante Chen via pinfall after a Powerslam (5:16)
- Arianna Grace defeated Amari Miller via pinfall with an inside cradle (5:14)
- Andre Chase [w/ Bodhi Hayward] defeated Quincy Elliott via pinfall after a bodyslam (6:17)
NOTES
- Grace was announced as a participant in the first-ever Women’s Breakout tournament beginning in two weeks and tonight marked her in-ring debut in NXT.
- McGuinness mentioned that Damon Kemp would be traveling overseas to compete for NXT UK as the talent exchanges between the two brands continue.
- Andre Chase’s slam on the much bigger Quincy Elliott was compared to Hogan slamming Andre at WrestleMania III by McGuinness, which made me laugh.
- This week’s RAW clip covered Mustafa Ali’s surprise return, first interrupting Miz TV with Miz & Theory, and his rollup win later in the night against Miz. However Ali ended the night on his back anyway, the victim of a sneak attack by Tommaso Ciampa.
*****
REVIEW
Fine episode of NXT Level Up this week, with Andre Chase vs. Quincy Elliott being my favorite match of the show. My love for Chase U grows every week, and Chase building up to slamming Elliott en route to a win was great. If this was 1993 he would’ve beaten Lex Luger to the punch on the U.S.S. Intrepid. As for everything else:
- Arianna Grace vs. Amari Miller was a bit dry for my taste, with most of the offense being a wristlock. This also felt like one of Grace’s first matches ever, not just in NXT, leaving Miller to get something watchable out of her. However Grace is the one in the Breakout tournament so the company does see something in her, and she’ll probably get a lot better the more she wrestles. Miller’s entrance was great with the bubble gun, I’ve seen her on main roster NXT before but she didn’t really get to do much. I hope she gets more of an opportunity going forward.
- Damon Kemp vs. Dante Chen was a good opener, with Kemp scoring yet another win on Level Up. Kemp is taking to pro wrestling pretty easily it seems and is already showing a lot of skill but weirdly enough that also makes him feel out of place in current NXT 2.0 and WWE at large. Kemp & The Creed Brothers becoming a trio could be cool though.
