Welcome to the NXT podcast, your home for weekly NXT reviews and insight. Beautiful part of NXT is that when one dream ends, another dream begins. Find all of your NXT news recaps and analysis right here. So with that being said, we only have one question for you, are we thought? So let's get the show started right now. All right, everyone, this is Memphis Mark coming to you from Matter and we are going to do the review for NXT the sixteenth of April. And it is a surprisingly surprisingly good
good show. Really only have one dud out of the group, so I mean, can you beat that? And they even started off right the now forever little deal they do at the start of every WWE has now been changed up officially, a new era, a new promo, a new voice, you know, so you know it's different. So of course I'm more of a nostalgia guy, but I like change and I like you know something, So we'll see how this, you know, plays out over a period of time. May come to love it. But a good start, a good
start to everything. They even got the fans are showing, the fans coming into the performance center in Florida. They're getting ready for it, so kind of a different way to start it off. You know a lot of energy.
Can't complain. Of course, you're going to go in to the starting match, which you know last week they built a story because Metaphor kind of did a little comic uh mimic thing of some of the right guys, and uh, well some people didn't like it, and die Jack didn't I like it, so he came out and got in, Uh, got in Metaphor's
face last week, which is leading to this match. Uh. In the match itself, die Jack's so much bigger, U should be like a squash match almosts But the way they're they're they're doing a build, they're doing a slow build. I don't know him because he looked good in this match. He did everything the way it's supposed to be done. If you're the smaller guy, you got to chop the guy down. He had great moves.
His timing is good. Of course, die Jack being the size that he is, the moves that he can do, the high flying moves, and he does not a big Viking move where he does the cartwheel and just flips over. No, he does some innovative moves. So I just don't something about die Jack just hadn't clicked with me. I guess I just that's just me. I don't know how to put it. But yeah, the match itself though really good. Noam looked fantastic, so I mean I can say
is overall a fantastic match. I like to build on it. And the surprise end they let with some interference and a little metaphor metaphoric interference, Noam pulls it off and die Jack had just been bragging earlier that he did not get pinned by Oba, but he got pinned today. And and the way they did it, you know, it doesn't make die Jack really look bad. It just makes the situation that no End took advantage of it, and uh, you got to win, you know, it is what it is.
So when you don't make somebody look bad, you get to do a storylineine that. I mean, I think it's a win win. It's a win win. But they go from there to the wise All Wise Eva and she's talking with a drugging off and uh so little here in her there, but there's going to be an open challenge match later. You know, Dragon Off does good, he does finding this little promo, but you think she'd
be getting better by now. But anyway, well uh uh, and then you know they go straight from that to a Soul Ruka Lota vice match. Another good match, another good match. Soul Ruka is good. She's getting her ring legs back under her, you know, from being injured for a while, does great, has some goodhiphline moves. But Lola really really looked good. Showed her MMA training and not just foo food training, I mean like some real like she did some good moves, the placement of her feet
and a lot of her kicks. I mean, say what you want to man, that was a good match. Soul does good. She always does good, you know, And so this is another match where neither one's really gonna look bad coming out of it, because right towards the end, when Soul looks like she's about to take control, you've got Blair daving Port still
sticking her nose in. And yeah, the way she did it, I liked a little run in good fall, and then the kick that Lola put on Soul was freaking right on placement, just you know, really really good. So good finish, Lola ends up getting to win. Nobody looks bad, sets up Sol and we even get a Buddy Landelle reference in here. You know that somebody's always trying to take your spot. They were trying to groom the natured boy Buddy Lyndale to take over for the nature boy Rick Flair
at one time back in the day. Couldn't he could not. Bloody Lyndale was good. Could never cover those shoes and of course didn't cover those shoes. But the match itself though, really good. So I cannot complain out of the show at all everything they've done. So they do this little they go from there and they do this little anonymous you know, where they're trying to act like they've got a hidden camera or somebody's previewed as something that they're
not supposed to. And in this one it's Ridge Holland and mister Wilde l w O. And that's gonna set up, you know, a match a little bit later because Rich you know, puts a little choke choke on him, you know, pretty much out of my business mate. Uh. And so yeah, it's got to lead and then of course the great skills of Ava in that too. Yeah. But Booker t was on fire tonight, just good references, good good everything. Uh. And the only real kind
of Dug. We're not really died, but in this particular case, but they have Arianna Gase, Rihanna Grace doing her little pageant deal with right. And I expected this to really suck. I just did. I thought it would. This is really gonna be bad. But this is a case of the ladies taking something that was written and making the best out of it. Now, it wasn't particularly for me. I did think it was the way they did it was okay. But the teenagers and the kids that were around
me, they thought it was cool. So, uh that's your audience. I'm buying on purchasing most of your w W merchandise, so uh maybe it's a win. And I just didn't know it. But uh, just the quality these things are like little movies. Uh. And uh they did real good when this one, you know, uh they didn't over you know, overplay anything or it wasn't that at all. GG came out looking okay, you know, did a little some something to the dress and made it you
know, that was picked for And I just I can't describe this. I'll just go back and check it out. It's it's it's not bad. I mean, as like I said, you keep expecting for the worst, but it actually isn't. Uh. And and then they're gonna go from there to the Ridge Holland and uh Walking Wild Wool match. And in this one there again the winner is gonna look okay, yeah, but the loser doesn't look bad either because Ridge is a lot bigger. Uh. You know, Uh,
it should be an easy match. But mister wild Man, anybody that can fly through this crowd, uh, fly through the sky with the greatest of ease, this gentleman does. Uh. He puts on a great match, really good match, and makes Ridge look good. He carries this match and makes Ridge look good. But I mean not that, not the greatest match, but uh, just a couple of Wild's moves, they were just
that that matrix move. He misses a clothesline. It's just the timing these guys now have got is just unbelievable, and the athletic ability they have. And even at the end, Ridge catches and does a power the guy's like Wild's jumping through the ropes to get him on the outside, and Ridge catches him and power slams him. But then on the outside is Sean Spears checking the match out. So you know, Ridge ends up getting the wind and
then walking by and kind of bumping shoulders with Sean. So that's setting up something of course on down the road. Folk Show. Uh got a quick little promo with Josh Briggs getting cleared. You know. I hope they do something with him too, because he seems like he could be h I mean, he's with his size and his athletic ability, you know. And this one, they're setting up the big Viking, you know, because they're trying to figure out who's gonna go after Oba, so they're gonna have a match
to determine who's gonna go against Oba. And the Viking actually looks normal and kind of they let him speak in non weird mannerisms. He talking, he's talking kind of normal and uh, okay, Little Spot Briggs looks a little stiff in this one. Uh, you know, but uh it is what it is. But good little Spot can't complain Folk Show. Uh. And uh they go from that to Nophie and Blade. In this Brindley Reese.
Uh, they're trying to do some little TikTok promo or whatever, but they're in the gym and and they're She's thinking that, HEYOPI is ape or whatever she I don't know, kind of a stupid interview, but I hope they don't. They don't type cast a Nophie in Blade in a bad way, because man, these guys could get over they could pull it off. They're they're young, good looking guys with ability just out of the world. So hopefully somebody, somebody helps them, Somebody comes on and gives these guys some
good writing. Uh, I mean, that's that's I just don't want them to get buried. And with more promos here yout Andre Chase and seeah hail. He's explaining the gambling angle on their storyline. And there again it's somebody that's doing the best that they can with what was written for him. And I could see somebody writing this out of an experience or a friend's experience and thinking that's gonna they can sway it into this storyline and they do the best
they can. That's when it is what it is. But uh, you know you're gonna have after that, at least you're gonna have a little action, not in the ring, per se in a match, but you've got Ony D Tony D in the family coming out, you know, the consillari, the underboss. You've got this future ladies, you know, representative of the di Angelo family. So he's you know, he gets up in there and he's given his little state of the Union speech, whatever you might want
to say. And then you've got the No Quarter catch crew that comes out there, and Dempsey is a mouthpiece for them in this one, and it's gold end up in a fight like it always does. But Tony had to carry this little promo spot because it could have gone really bad. Just there was some awkward silence. And back in my restaurant nightclub days, when you heard silence, that means the DJ was either in the bathroom or that you
had some kind of problem. So it was a big deal. So radio silence bad, TV silence bad during an interview, so Tony d pulled it out. They you know, they did okay, and then like I said, they throw hands at the end. But this is all leading up to I think the best match of the night, and I gotta say, possibly the best debut I have seen. I'd have to go back and really think
on this one. I can't remember the first time I saw someone wrestle for the first time, and I know he's been on but I mean really getting a chance, and he impressed me the way this Evans kid, this nineteen year old phenom man his entrance, he jumps over Booker T and Vic and jumps over tracking Off and turns, spends his direction around in midair and lands in front of him like a superhero. And then they put on a match. I mean, he beat the daylights out of that kid, and that
kid kept coming back and it looked good. Even if he might have had a little slip up, he made such impact on his rest of his moves because they set this up. They have all these wrestlers running in trying to get in, and then he comes from the other side and does his entrance and jumps in. So you got to have a good match with an entrance like that man, and he did not disappoint. This is definitely worth going
back and checking out. Dragonoff did not have to carry this match. This was a match that I mean, I would have been impressed if I was a veteran in here that this kid's got this kind of poise. A little weight on this kid a time in the gym man, I mean, nineteen years old. If he just keeps his nose to the Grindstone. It doesn't listen to the people around him. Once he gets a little, it gets more TV time that and he just keeps working. Man, he could be
Dare I say the word generational talent or phrase I should say. I mean it was I was stunned, So I mean highly highly recommend going back and checking checking the match old. And it was about midway of the show, you know. So it's like I said, I was just stunned at how good this kid was with his time and and everything. It was just it blew me away. All right, let me see they do some more promos,
of course, and get a little of that going on. Let's see, I'm still kind of I said, that match kind of really did surprise me. Uh. And then you, of course you've got soul Ruka and our lovely gm Eva that is here passing off more knowledge. She sol wants her match with Davenport, so of course they set that up. Uh. And then you're gonna have a Thea Tatum Paxley match that you know. THEA does good in the ring. She's like a little buzz Sawyer or something.
I mean, and now bus Sawyer the wrestler, but uh, she does good in this match. But Tatum Paxley is really come into this role that she's playing. Her character is has to be somewhat of a part of her because she just does it just a little too good, the creepy psycho girl. And then you know, you got theig over there doing all her four Horsemen moves, you know, all her technical type, you know, good moves, good solid moves and everything. But yeah, the match itself not
so bad, not so bad. Uh actually surprisingly good for them. I expected it to be really kind of you know, not be worth watching. But Tatum is really, like I said, she's really taken on that roll. So her mannerisms in her moves in the ring, you know, fit her personality. So weird moves, strange thing in the corner she did. Yeah, you just you have to check it out. But hey, she's she's pulling her character off and gets the win. And what was surprising at
the end of this match, They've got to break the ladies up. And then in the middle of this you've got Lyra coming in to jump on Tatum. You know, Andrea's going after It's just in pandemonium. At the end of the match. Uh, not so bad. Good little end on it. Then they go and they they play rock Sand being her villain self, and she's kind of growing into that role a little bit. She's really taking
on that smart Alec kind of she's statement on pretty good. So she makes a couple of references to Ava. Uh and uh, you know, so Ava's gonna have her screen time. So she comes in and only the way Ava can uh says that I've got an easy job. That's what you just said. So we're gonna have a three way match at spring Breaking. I hate the name spring Breaking. Yeah, spring breaking anyway, Uh, but yeah, and Ava looks so much bigger than Rocksand I mean, like like
Andre the giant bigger. I mean, all right, uh, but then they're gonna have you know, you've got the Final Testament coming out to have a match, and you got precious Paul Ellering that never gets to speak seventy years old. Actually the otis active a character or person on the roster, I believe. But yeah, you've got aop going against blade In and o Fie And like I said, man, I just don't want him to bury
Anolfie in Blade because I really think that they could do something. But they really must believe in this AOP because they've been pushing them and trying them for a while now, bringing ellering in and flying him in, just havingim walk out in a pair of leather pants with that look. If he can still talk, they need to let him on the mic or whatever. Maybe they're
grooming across to become a manager later on. I I don't know, but they're they really got to believe in AOP as much time as they've spent on these guys, and they're good, they're big, and they're three hundred pounders, and yeah, it's just sometimes if you know, if somebody doesn't get over with this much TV time, I don't know how much rebranding or repackaging you can do to make them get over. But I don't know. They're trying Blade in enough, you know, Blade and Enough He definitely did try
their best on this. They looked good their course, high flyers. They did everything they're supposed to do well. Man, they get caught one time flipping outside of the ring, and I mean, these guys are definitely big, but they actually catch Enoughie and they hit hit him, hit blade with them. I mean it's you know, it's when you use your opponents to batter the other opponents, but they made it look okay. You know,
it's okay. You got alling at the end up there, but you got Nathan Fraser and Axiom the champs running out with the belts and doing some goofy little like look me, I got a built uh whatever, but uh yeah, yeah so uh and and and it was after that they do some more of the the grace and gg spot. Uh. Still yeah, it's okay. Uh. Then they're gonna have Josh Briggs and the big Viking going at it. And uh, Josh Briggs has supposedly got two broke ribs but was
cleared anyway, and he does portray that in his match. He gets every chance he gets, he grabs his ribs. He does that the match itself pretty good. But of course, if a three hundred and something pound man uh squashes you off the second or third rope, you're gonna if you've really got bad ribs, you're gonna lose. And that's actually what that so you know, there again, it doesn't make Briggs really look that bad, uh, you know, because of the way he lost and everything. But they
got a little Obuffinny watching in the background. With a big old grin, you know so, and of course he's got to throw somebody down walking out to look impressive, and poor poor Mensa, you know you figure with a name like Mensa, he'd be smart enough to stay out of those situations.
But didn't always work that way. Doesn't always work that way. But then they go on an extravagant promo of all about Trick Williams and Mellow that's stand and deliver, and they're going through all that it's okay, And then of course they show the refs setting up the steel cage match that they're gonna do, and it's all pins that they're just setting these panels together with. And then they have the match. Now, this just show has been good.
I've liked everything. I mean, I would recommend it, but this has to be the worst stel cage match I've ever seen in my life. These two guys were terrible. They are not the type of people to do a steel cage match. They just were not. They just their moves do not go with that. It just didn't look good. Trick look out of place. Mellow was trying. It just wasn't good. I gotta be honest, when when it calls for it, and you know they towards the end of
the match, it gets okay. I guess I just it was hard to watch. It was hard to watch. I mean, it's just the way it was. You know, Trick ends up getting the wind this so other building on that, you know, heading towards with him and tracking off because dragging off's up in the muffett box. At the end, they're mouthing at each other. But that just shows you how good that match was. I just skimmed through the whole thing right there. That is what it is.
Guys. I don't know what I can tell you on that one, but overall, show good. Liked everything except the end. The guys are working with what they got in front of them and went as far as the writing, you know, it isn't what it is. But we're getting ready for spring drinking and that's coming up in two weeks. So yeah, that's about
all I can say about these guys. Now, we're kind of doing a little abbreviated deal because I'm I'm it's getting ready to be my daughter's eighteenth birthday, so I am preparing birthday stuff, so we're gonna cut it off a little quicker this week, but guys, we will see you next week. And thank you very much for listening this week. And this is Memphis, Mark spay neuter if you know. Always how Kuch shelter if you can. And this is this Mark and you know. Guys, thanks for listening to
the WWE podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss a show, or head to WWE podcast dot com and for all of these shows add free head over to Patreon dot com slash WWE podcast. Until then, we'll see you next time.