Powell’s NXT Hit List: Thoughts on Zilla Fatu being the latest addition to the NXT Championship mix, bad factions, and the need for no more Speed

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

NXT Hits

Cruz Montana vs. Grayson Waller to become the No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship: Normally, I’d complain about a show filled with bad finishes concluding with a no-contest. I may still grumble about some of the other finishes, but in this case the debut of Zilla Fatu more than makes up for the no-contest. While a case could be made for going with a decisive finish and saving Fatu’s attack for after the match, I suspect they are working toward a four-way with Tony D’Angelo defending the NXT Championship against Montana, Waller, and Fatu at the NXT Heatwave event. Either way, the additions of Montana, Waller, and Fatu have added some juice to what had been a depleted title picture.

Lizzy Rain and EK Prosper vs. Niko Vance and Izzi Dame: An entertaining mixed tag match with good work from all four wrestlers. The women performed some impressive moves on the men, and Prosper’s flashy offense is fun. It’s time to give up on the Culling faction name and put some work into establishing who Vance and Dame are, regardless of whether they are aligned or go separate ways.

Kam Hendrix vs. Mason Rook: Fun while it lasted, with the match ending in less than five minutes. Hendrix removed the turnbuckle pad and then slammed Rook’s head into the exposed turnbuckle to get the win, so one can only assume there will be a rematch.

Lucien Price vs. Lexis King: Price dominated King before pinning him clean. As much as I wish Price were moving on to bigger and better things, this set up Price for a shot at King’s worthless WWE Speed Championship. Here’s hoping that Price’s OTM tag team partner Bronco Nima and the rest of the Los Perros del Mal faction take the WWE Speed Championship belt to Mexico and bury it deep in the Chihuahuan Desert.

NXT Misses

Saquon Shugars vs. Dion Lennox: This feud hasn’t clicked and really needs to end for the good of both wrestlers. They both need credibility-boosting wins that they can’t get from working against one another. It was interesting that being yelled at by Grayson Waller inspired Shugars to go after Lennox again later in the night. Was this the start of a new alliance?

BirthRight: I’d be calling for the end of DarkState more often if I didn’t view BirthRight as an even worse faction. It’s not that BirthRight doesn’t have some talented people involved. Rather, it’s that Lexis King, Charlie Dempsey, Uriah Connors, Stacks Lorenzo, and Arianna Grace lack chemistry. It still amazes me that Grace was so fun on TNA television, yet she’s a background player in NXT.

Zaria vs. Wren Sinclair for the NXT Women’s North American Championship: A minor Miss. It wasn’t a bad match, but the distraction finish involving DarkState and Saquon Shugars was a groaner. In fairness, the lack of a clean finish made more sense by the end of the show, as a rematch was announced for NXT Heatwave, where Zaria will put up her title against Sinclair’s WWE Speed Women’s Championship in a unification match. This would seem to suggest that Sinclair’s Speed Championship is headed to the title belt graveyard where it will take its rightful place next to the Western States Heritage Championship and TNA’s Little Red Toy Belt That Nobody Cared About. Good riddance.

(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time since 1997. He hosts the weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at [email protected] and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)