NXT Cliff Notes 6-24-20

Grimes vs Priest

Dirty, dirty, dirty. Grimes took advantage of a compromised Damian Priest after an incident in the parking lot, that Grimes had everything to do with. Two Cave-ins made somewhat short work of Priest. I’m not into Damian Priest as a babyface so this feud isn’t working for me just yet. I’ve been wrong before and I suspect that in time,I will be wrong about this also.

Atlas vs Escobar [c]

No matter how well you start, the only thing that matters is how you finish. Atlas tried to get retribution for Drake Maverick but Escobar can not be touched. I love this feud and hope it continues, it gives Atlas more personality and something to do to remain relevant after his performance in the Cruiserweight title tournament.

Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai

Not sure how I feel about the pairing of Kacy and Kayden. On the one hand, it’s a great way to use both, by getting them on television and furthering feuds. On the other hand, neither one quite stands out enough to push outside of this tag team. Kai continues to establish her intentions of capturing her first NXT Women’s title while Gonzalez shows her impressive power with her awesome finisher. I would like for Gonzalez to have a long title reign a couple years from now, with perhaps Shotzi Blackheart finally being the one to beat her after about a year.

Rhea Ripley vs Aliyah

Playing hard to get is not something Rhea does but taking for an answer isn’t something Robert Stone does either. Rhea takes out the trash and gets into it with Aliyah who is now officially managed by Robert Stone. Aliyah has a very well done match with Ripley before Rhea puts her out of her misery.Stone gets a rematch next week after talking with William Regal.

Karrion Kross vs Bronson Reed

Excellent showing for Reed, couldn’t have looked better. Reed’s hard shots made Kross look like a maniac that can take any punishment dealt to him. The evolution of Kross’s character is very cool to see, I have no idea when he’ll capture the NXT title but it’s going to be sooner than we all expected. When Kross does capture the title, Reed will be a great rematch for Kross to come across as an impressive badass that dominated the competition.

Triple threat

I hate Balor losing clean to Keith Lee and being pinned but Balor is still on a collision course with Walter so that is okay I guess. Keith Lee is getting a mega push squandering it is not an option. It is going to be one hell of a match between Cole and Lee though. Keith Lee is destined to go to Raw or SmackDown at some point, which makes the outcome of the winner takes all match even more interesting.

Honorable mentions

1. Thatcher vignette.

2. Just because Roderick Strong’s shrink is Kyle O Reilly doesn’t make any of the segments funnier.

3. Malcolm Bivens talks tag titles in a Inuds Sher promo backstage.

4. Lumis gets his hands on Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish

Final take

Next week’s fatal 4 way vignette sets off what should be a damn good show, one might say, a Great American Bash.

#GreatAmericanBash #KeithLee #NXT #CameronGrimes #KarrionKross #SantosEscobar #wwenxt