by Jayden Lawrence
Attending the NXT season premiere on the CW was a vibe. The show was packed with action, story, and some significant surprises, but it raised several questions about the direction of the brand. As NXT continues to balance its role as WWE’s “developmental” show with its ability to attract big-name stars, I found this episode to be a mixed bag that leaves me wondering if we’re truly witnessing the rise of new talent.
The show opened for the live audience with a dark match between the veteran Good Brothers and a relatively new tag team of Hank and Tank. This match had the potential to give Hank and Tank a chance to shine against established names. But come on, Gallows and Anderson? In 2019, they won the Best Tag Team in the World Cup and continued their dominance outside of the WWE. To see them demoted to a dark match was sickening. It also felt like a missed opportunity to showcase Hank and Tank as part of the main show. I understand wanting your best for the CW’s broadcast, and The Good Brothers, while great in the ring, haven’t been built or solidified that well recently. They’ve been around for a while and putting them up against rising stars on-screen would have fit better into NXT’s supposed mission of developing new talent. Hank and Tank won this match, but nobody outside of Chicago and a small, dedicated community would know or care.
After the first match, Mike Rome arrived to announce, Vic Joseph and Booker T arrived for commentary, and the show began. The new intro slaps, and the intro used “Millions from Now” from 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne’s Welcome to Collegrove joint album from late 2023. That got my section hyped despite many old-school fans hating the new venture into Hip-Hop. Shawn Michaels and Triple H appeared to rebrand the main championships, which is a classic new season NXT move. However, they also tapped into the nostalgia early with asking Chicago, “Are you ready?”
Following that, we saw one of the night’s highlights, the clash between Giulia and Roxanne Perez. Giulia, already a star from overseas, made a big impact in her debut. Roxanne, however, has been one of the few shining lights from the era of the Rainbow NXT. It’s hard to still think of Roxanne, Cora Jade, Trick Williams, and even Tony D’Angelo as “new” talent when they’ve been with the brand long enough to have cemented their place. Even Wes Lee being there since 2021 is weird for me. The match was good, but it didn’t change the strange feeling of it being referred to as a showcase of new talent when both competitors have already been established. Roxanne won with help from a hooded mystery person who was revealed to be Cora Jade, a return that I predicted for this episode. She hasn’t competed since injuring her ankle against Lyra Valkyria in January, but it’s interesting to note that Cora and Roxanne debuted around the same time in NXT and Roxanne has clearly had the better career.
Fraxiom, the tag team champions, were playing WWE 2K24 and discussing their title defense against A-Town Down Under. Frazier and Axiom are very entertaining in the ring, and I can understand why they’re used for product placement because of their humor. But in such an extensive tag team division, there are so many more young tag teams that deserve the opportunity to be mentioned or set up to win the titles. They deserve to be taken a bit more seriously as champions, which they’ve proven in the ring.
CM Punk, Ava, and Lexis King had a segment. Punk interestingly said that Lexis can fight the genes within him or do whatever it takes to win. I’ll have more on that later, but this went by relatively quickly.
Wes Lee vs Zachary Wentz succeeded that segment. Interestingly, before Wentz’s entrance, North American champion Kelani Jordan was shown making calls for a later segment involving Fatal Influence, worrying about the shaky alliance between Jaida Parker and Lola Vice. Back in the ring, the match was an absolute banger. Early on, Wentz and Lee went aerial, and Wentz took a brutal kendo stick assault but quickly retaliated, turning the tide. The chaos escalated when Wentz pulled off a coast-to-coast dive into a trashcan, crushing it on Lee in multiple high-risk moves. Things got even wilder when Wentz was launched through a table and crashed hard to the floor. The match came to a close when Lee connected with a Meteora, his knees wrapped in chains, driving into Wentz’s chest as he sat defenseless. This match, like the others on the card, was impressive. And while I would debate whether these two count as “new talents,” their performances spoke volumes.
Miz TV was another segment that didn’t feel necessary but made sense for the season premiere on the CW for star power. Considering he attacked R-Truth on RAW, he was booed though, and fed off it. Of course, the segment wasn’t about the Miz, and the it ended up building Oba Femi and Tony D’Angelo, to the point where “The Don of NXT” looks credible enough to end Oba’s reign. The segment was good enough that it felt like it could have been on Raw or SmackDown, and while Miz brought his usual charisma, it didn’t quite fit the NXT environment. It’s just weird when you have stars in NXT like Grayson Waller who can run a talk show and take a beating. It was nice to see the Family not jump Oba though. As well, Oba and Tony have evolved enough, that it was nice to see a talk show-style versus fighting. But of course, this is another example of how the blending of main roster elements can distort the image of NXT’s core mission.
Finally, some newer talents were center stage. Kelani joined on commentary as Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley took on Jaida Parker and Lola Vice. Jacy being the veteran of the match is weird to say, but she handled it well. Jaida ended up walking out and Vice took the pin, but then, to help Kelani confront Fatal Influence, out came the Women’s Tag Team champions, Smackdown’s Bianca and Jade. Their involvement did bring more main roster influence to NXT, but again, it highlights how NXT is blurring the lines between developmental and a third brand, and how they use established stars to create moments versus their active roster.
Je’Von had a prerecorded promo detailing how big this Orton match next week in St. Louis is, and then, the main event between Trick Williams and Ethan Page. This was a fun match with Page hitting the G.T.S on Trick, but Trick kicked out. While Page doesn’t need the championship to be a star, Trick is elevated much more by the NXT championship because he’s not built to chase and become a top star in the division without a title. This match naturally had high stakes, with Trick continuing to prove why he’s one of NXT’s breakout stars. Ethan Page, who’s more of a seasoned veteran worldwide, performed well. Trick ended up winning this match, but while he celebrated, in classic CM Punk fashion, he hit the G.T.S on Page and then bought the live audience free Lou Malnati’s Pizza and C4 Energy Drinks. It was a great match, but now there’s a looming sense that the storylines are in transition, waiting for that final puzzle piece to fall into place.
Also, with Trick Williams winning the NXT championship, there’s a sense that NXT is retracing its steps from earlier in the year. Every single title that was available in May now has the same champions now holding them. I do think Trick’s rise has been one of the best stories in NXT, but with so many elements from the past still lingering, nothing really feels new except for the Women’s North American champion. There’s a sense of rehashing instead of real evolution.
Looking forward, Randy Orton facing Evans next week feels like a full-circle moment. Evans is their youngest, most underdeveloped star, and he fits the developmental mold perfectly. It’s an exciting prospect to see what Evans can learn from facing one of the most experienced wrestlers in the business. Also, as Randy said, he was in Je’Von’s place before. The match in St. Louis will likely be the first true test of whether NXT can truly develop a new generation of stars, or if it’s still leaning too heavily on its veterans.
Speaking of Je’Von, his absence from the ring was a misstep. Since his world title match, his booking has been consistent but purposeless. While this kind of limbo can build anticipation for a character, not making a more impactful statement in front of a live audience on the season premiere felt like a missed opportunity for Je’Von. This goes for a lot of NXT because there’s a lot of young talent like Je’Von, who have the potential to shine, but they need more time in the ring, not behind screens.
Make no mistake about it, this was an amazing show and a fantastic season premiere. However, there’s no denying the Women’s North American Championship is one of the few truly new elements of the show. Where are Edris Enofé and Malik Blade, Sol Ruca with the Sol Snatcher (arguably the greatest finisher in the WWE today) and Karmen Petrovic, Arianna Grace and the rest of the NXT Women’s Breakout stars? Does NXT Level Up become developmental?
It’s also impossible for me to overlook CM Punk showing up in Chicago because it was a massive moment for NXT and the fans. His presence lit up the crowd, and for a city that lives and breathes Punk, this was huge, despite it leaving some storylines unresolved. Punk’s involvement with Lexis King and Ethan Page opened the door for future storylines, but will these threads carry forward, or will they fizzle out without a proper payoff? In the Triple H/HBK era, we’ve seen these intricate stories being developed. Yet, the hardest balance to master as a booker is the equilibrium of the short and long payoff.
The next few months will be crucial for NXT to define what “new” really means, especially as it continues to blend its nostalgia-driven appeal with the mission of building the future of WWE. For now, it’s an entertaining watch, but the long-term direction remains uncertain and that’s what I think is the true beauty of this CW deal. As much as most dedicated fans want NXT to become a permanent third-brand, WWE will continue to experiment with it, while Shawn pushes the needle more and more. The reappearance of Sexxy Red tells me all I need to know: NXT is just fun! However, I think there are underutilized stars that deserve to be an integral part of that fun.
