Can’t Knock The Hustle: NXT Battleground 2024 Review
NXT has been riding a wave of momentum recently, with increased television viewership and fan excitement, and they look to continue that momentum with the Battleground pay-per-view.
The show comes to us from the UFC Apex live event center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be another small, intimate setting for an NXT show, with 702 seats available. The brand will be delivering six matches to those fans… five title matches and an NXT Underground bout. We have a Ladder Match to crown the very first NXT Women’s North American Champion. We have the current TNA Knockouts Champion competing for the NXT Women’s Title. We have the new NXT Champion defending his title for the first time, with his challenger competing in his very first NXT match.
It should be a very newsworthy show, but will it be a very entertaining show? Time to find out.
From the opening shot of the venue, during host Sexyy Red’s introduction, it appears as though the UFC Apex is a bit smaller than NXT’s usual stomping grounds at the WWE Performance Center. This isn’t meant as an insult whatsoever, but it looks like the venue that a top independent company would run, only with WWE’s production budget.
Sol Ruca vs Kelani Jordan vs Lash Legend vs Jaida Parker vs Fallon Henley vs Michin – Ladder Match for the NXT Women’s North American Title
Actually, scratch what I mentioned earlier. When the arena is shown from the usual hard camera shots, it does look bigger than the Performance Center setup for the weekly NXT television show. What is pretty clear, though, is that the ringside area is tiny. The fans and the announce desk are much closer to the ring than usual. That should come into play during a match like this.
It wouldn’t be a Ladder Match without someone looking like a fucking moron. After a flurry of offense sends five women to the mat, Fallon Henley is the only one left standing, so she grabs a ladder to try and win the match. Instead of climbing right away, she poses and makes faces for the camera, allowing her to get caught well before she reaches the top.
It’s the first match of the night, and it’s a Ladder Match, so you think the crowd would be red hot. You would be incorrect, though. So far, the crowd has had its moments, but it’s nowhere near as hot as the crowds that we get from the Performance Center.
The match was fun. It had some weird moments, though. Almost everyone involved is still, technically, a developmental talent. That led to some awkward moments, and a bunch of spots where women would climb the ladder and seemingly have to wait for someone to show up and perform the next spot with them. All six women worked hard, though, and it showed. In the end, Kelani Jordan is the first NXT Women’s North American Champion, and she gets a “you deserve it” chant from the crowd. I would’ve given them a little more time to work with, honestly. Six women and a bunch of ladders, but the match only got about 12 minutes. It is what it is. 3.25 Stars
Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson – NXT Tag Team Title Match
If the first match didn’t bring out a red hot crowd reaction, I’m not really expecting this match to do it.
This has been quite the styles clash (no pun intended) so far. The champions are younger, much faster, and more athletic. The challengers are world-traveled veterans, much stronger, and have a lot more chemistry together. Those types of pairings tend to make for fun matches.
Sure enough, it was a fun one. It wasn’t a classic, but it wasn’t designed to be. The match was put together to give the champions an impressive title defense against one of the more tenured teams in the company. Frazer and Axiom move on and continue their two-month title reign. 3.5 Stars
Shayna Baszler vs Lola Vice – NXT Underground Match
Before the fight, we’re shown a couple UFC fighters sitting in the crowd. One of them, the former two-time UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno, wraps his hands around his daughter’s neck and pretends to strangle her. I’m expecting to see a bunch of complaints about that.
Well… that was a thing that took place. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but I’m begging WWE to figure out that MMA-style “fights” don’t work with their style. This isn’t Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport. Much of the match featured Shayna and Lola hitting normal looking pro wrestling strikes… because, you know, they can’t actually punch the ever-loving fuck out of each other over and over again. Like the previous match, this seemed to be nothing more than a vehicle to allow the younger talent to earn a big victory over the veteran. They referred to Shayna as the greatest MMA crossover star, and whether you believe that or not, it looks good for Lola Vice to have a victory over her now.
It wasn’t all bad, though. The submission work was fun. As I said, it’s just difficult for these types of matches to look as genuine and authentic as possible under the WWE umbrella, especially when you try to stretch things out to have them fight for ten straight minutes. What is this? Royce Gracie vs Dan Severn from UFC 4? Hey, it was better than that match between Shayna and Ronda Rousey, at least. I’ll give this 3 Stars, because I’m nice.
Oba Femi vs Joe Coffey vs Wes Lee – Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Title
This motherfucker Oba just lifted both opponents up at the same time for a vertical suplex. Whenever he wrestles, no matter who he wrestles, he has multiple spots that make me lose my mind. I’ve been watching pro wrestling for something like 293 years, and it always seems like I’m seeing something for the first time when Oba is involved.
Even with a couple rounds of interference from Mark Coffey and Wolfgang, it was not Oba Femi’s time to drop the title. He has been built up as such an unstoppable monster that it’s going to take something very special to dethrone him. Nothing against Wes Lee and Joe Coffey, but they weren’t it tonight.
The match was a lot of fun, like all of Oba’s matches are. Non-stop action. Everyone involved gets to shine, but Oba’s power is what will be remembered, and for good reason. He might be my favorite wrestler right now. 4 Stars
Roxanne Perez vs Jordynne Grace – NXT Women’s Title Match
It’s still weird to see a working relationship between NXT and TNA. I dig it, though. Shawn Michaels… after the whole Singapore Cane thing, I know you read my columns. I am here to humbly request of you… NXT vs TNA… Worlds Collide… please and thank you.
Big fight feel right at the sound of the opening bell. A “this is awesome” chant breaks out immediately. Really cool shit happening here.
Looks like Jordynne had an earring ripped out of her ear. She has blood all over her ear, dripping down onto her shoulder and arm. Ouch.
The earring was stuck in Roxanne’s tights. Ouch, part deux.
Remember what I said earlier about styles clashes? It works here, too. The challenger is one of the baddest, strongest women in the business today. The champion, on the other hand, is almost always a physical underdog to begin with, and needs to use her speed and athletic ability to her advantage.
Tatum Paxley comes out of the crowd and steals the Knockouts Title belt, only to be met in the entranceway by the former Dana Brooke, Ash By Elegance. This distracts Jordynne Grace, who gets her belt back and lays both women out, only to get back in the ring and lose the match. I get it. You have to give the loser an “out” here, and she got one. Before all of the shenaniganery at the end, this was a lot of fun. Like I said, it was a clash of styles, with both women working their style in a great way. Even better is the fact that we could get a rematch at some point sooner than later. 4 Stars
Trick Williams vs Ethan Page – NXT Title Match
This is the 47th day of Trick’s title reign, and it’s his first title defense. President Jack Tunney never would’ve stood for that.
I think this is the loudest the crowd has been all night. They love Trick Willy, like all NXT crowds do, but they also really dislike Ethan Page. That’s a good sign for his time in NXT.
In the previous match, we got an “out” for Jordynne Grace’s loss. This was a match I assumed we’d get an “out” for, as well. Trick losing the title in his first defense would be a bad idea, and Ethan Page losing his first NXT match would also be a bad idea. I figured some sort of nonsense would happen, and the loser of the match would have all the ammunition he needed to get a rematch.
Nope.
Trick retains the title in as clean a fashion as possible. Welp. It was a good match, but perhaps not the caliber it needed to be for the “firsts” that both men were experiencing. 3.25 Stars
Interesting show overall. No bad matches, but no classics, either. There wasn’t a match on the show that went over 14 minutes in length. All four defending champions retained their titles.
It was worth checking out, if you haven’t already done so, but it’s probably not something that you’ll really remember down the road.
