NXT Quick Takes 6/1/21

Sean Covington
Jun 5, 2021
2 min read

Triple threat

Pete Dunne vs Kyle O’ Reilly vs Johnny Gargano

Strong way to kick off the show. I was expecting Kyle O’ Reilly to win, I certainly wasn’t expecting the ending we got. Adam Cole pops up and takes out the competition and Regal is heated. Ultimately, I’m okay with it because everyone is protected from having lost and losing momentum.

Later, Adam Cole went to the middle of the ring to talk his shit. Kross wants to take on all comers and Regal takes him up on that, making a fatal 5 way match at In Your House.

Knight vs Atlas

LA Knight starts with a mic from the backstage area while walking to the ring. A unique thing that will surely become one of his signature things to do, I love it. Ted Dibiase watches from the ramp while Grimes tries to talk Ted into passing on the million dollar legend to him.

Atlas wins, great loss for Knight, he needs to lose early so that he’s not overpushed and booked into a corner. Atlas is a great worker, great win for Atlas, he needs a strong win or else he won’t be relevant. This furthers the story very well, even adding someone into the mix that can get the rub.

Hit list

Parking lot beef is a foot when Swerve and his faction run into Ever-Rise. Drake Maverick was an innocent bystander that found himself barking at Swerve. Killian Dain wasn’t having it and just like that they are on the “Hit List”. Hit Row needs a great feud like this to elevate themselves with great talent. Also a way to get Ever-Rise involved in something meaningful.

Here comes a new challenger

So NXT is officially back to pushing “young/new” talent. First Zoe Stark, then Ramir, now Carmelo Hayes. Hayes even got a vignette before the match, stating how hungry he was and that he was here to basically be a star and win gold. I’m impressed by the match Hayes was able to have with a legend like Kushida.

Stark & Ramir vs Indi & Candace

I liked what this match accomplished, get the champs out there in a decent match and make them look good while putting over new talent. A good tag partner can really hide the bad things about a sub par talent.

Legado vs MSK[c]

Santos Escovar said he’d be in their corner and he was, nearly costing the champs their titles but Bronson Reed smashed him against the glass. Didn’t see that coming. MSK tell great stories in the ring, the best tag team NXT has had in a while. I’m not entirely sure why there were boos for MSK, they are the most exciting thing about the program.

Honorable mentions