WWE NXT Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From July 1
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE NXT on July 1.
We are quickly approaching Evolution on July 13 and NXT is set to have a presence at the event when Jordynn Grace face Jacy Jayne for the NXT women's title.
This week's show continued the buildup for that match as well as others. Here is a look at what WWE advertised for Tuesday's episode:
—Jasper Troy vs. Yoshiki Inamura (No. 1 Contender's match)
—Joe Hendry vs. Wes Lee
—Myles Borne vs. Lexis King
Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's NXT.
Joe Hendry vs. Wes Lee
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This week's NXT opened with a match right away as Hendry took on Lee. The former TNA champion had a big size and power advantage, but Lee is known for being able to counter size with his speed and agility.
Hendry took control early, but Lee was able to rebound and gain the upper hand with a flurry of fast-paced moves.
When we returned from the break, Hendry was back in the driver's seat and using his strength to throw Lee around. Mike Santana showed up and ended up stopping Lee's cohorts from getting involved.
Hendry won a moment later with his finisher to end a pretty solid encounter. This was the perfect opening match because it was fun but left a lot of room for what comes after to be even better.
Result: Hendry defeated Lee
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—Williams was very funny on commentary.
—It's funny to see Hendry use the chokeslam. He's not as tall as most people who have tried to use it.
—It was cool to hear Santana get a pop when he showed up.
Lexis King vs. Myles Borne
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Luca Crusifino came out and said he wanted to put all of this to rest, so he asked Tony D'Angelo to join him in the ring. Luca laid out all the ways he has been loyal to Tony D until Stacks came out.
Luca ended up laying both men out with big right hands and said his loyalty is to himself before leaving.
Up next was King vs. Borne in a singles bout. Since Lexis no longer had the heritage cup, there was only pride on the line.
These are two pretty evenly matched competitors, so they had a good back-and-forth fight. It was hard to predict who would win because both guys could reasonably use the victory right now.
The match wasn't very long but it was competitive. Borne won with his finisher and celebrated with the crowd.
Result: Borne defeated King
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—King has clearly been working hard to get himself into better shape and it shows.
—Borne really threw himself into the middle turnbuckle to sell a spot. It looked great.
Thea Hail vs. Lainey Reid
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Newcomer to NXT, Lainey Reid, had her second match this week against Thea Hail, who was also looking to gain momentum heading into Evolution.
Hail came out of the gate hot, but Reid quickly grounded her after surviving the initial salvo.
Reid tried to take a shortcut and use the rope for a pin, but the ref caught her. A few moments later, she did it again and got away with it to score the win.
There wasn't much to this match but both competitors looked good with what they did. It just didn't have much meat on the bone, so to speak.
Result: Reid defeated Hail
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
—Reid's music is too simple. It will get drowned out by too much crowd noise if she becomes really popular.
—It was hard to tell if Reid was supposed to be a heel until she cheated twice in this match.
Sol Ruca and Zaria vs. Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame
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Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley represented The Culling this week in a tag match against Zaria and Sol Ruca. Paxley seemed conflicted because she still considered Ruca and Zaria to be friends.
Ruca and Zaria took control right away but ducking a pair of clotheslines and sending their opponents out of the ring. Paxley fought out of a waistlock with a backflip and made the tag to Izzi so they could double-team Ruca.
They fought through the break into the next segment, so this match had a lot more two it than the two bouts that preceded it.
For a match with such a new duo, this ended up being a lot more fun than expected. All four women brought a lot of energy to the ring and it was obvious how much they wanted to impress with their performance.
Paxley saved Dame from a spear from Zaria, which caused her to hit Ruca by mistake. This led to Dame hitting a powerbomb on Ruca for the win.
Result: Dame and Paxley defeated Ruca and Zaria
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
—The Culling's entrance music sounds like something from a movie, but it's not exactly great for a wrestling entrance.
—Corey Graves was being pretty funny on commentary.
—There is really no benefit to Ruca jumping off of an opponent Zaria is holding instead of just jumping off the top rope.
—Paxley and Dame had some creative double-team offense. They clearly put time into planning how to work as a tag team.
Jasper Troy vs. Yoshiki Inamura
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Troy and Inamura did battle this week to determine the next No 1 contender for the NXT Championship.
Inamura is a big guy, but Troy dwarfed him in size. He quickly took control and grounded Inamura for a two-count very early in the match.
Oba Femi was shown watching from backstage as Inamura made a comeback. He used some Sumo moves at one point, but that just served to make Troy angrier.
Unsurprisingly, this was a hard-hitting fight. Troy is still gaining experience but Inamura helped keep everything moving in the right direction.
In a slightly unexpected outcome, Inamura ended up scoring the win with a huge splash from the top rope. He will fight Femi for the title at The Great American Bash.
Result: Inamura defeated Troy
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
—Inamura is stronger than he appears. He got Troy up for a side suplex with absolutely no trouble at all.
—Graves made a Lord Tensai reference on commentary. He should know better than that.
—Je'Von Evans ended up attacking Troy after the match was over, so it looks like we know what their next feud will be.
The Final Word
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This week's NXT ended with a promo segment with Jordynne Grace and Jacy Jayne to hype their match at Evolution. Predictably, it turned into a fight. Fatal Influence had the numbers advantage, but Blake Monroe made the save.
Ava came out and booked a tag team match for next week. Monroe and Grace ended the show standing tall.
This week's episode felt a bit like a filler episode of a normal TV show. It didn't make a ton of progress with any storylines, but it still had enough to keep us entertained.
Inamura and Troy had a solid performance that would have stolen the show had it not been for the women's tag match. Dame, Paxley, Ruca and Zaria put on a great show that is well worth watching.
With Evolution and The Great American Bash coming up soon, this is a busy time for NXT and its Superstars. The next few weeks could be very interesting.
Grade: B-
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