NXT LVL Up – August 25, 2023: Well They Were Close

NXT LVL Up
Date: August 25, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Blake Howard, Byron Saxton

Last week’s show was a bit of an upgrade as there were two matches featuring names from the regular NXT roster. If that keeps up, the show can be that much better, as there are all kinds of stars who could pop up around here. Or maybe there won’t be anyone included whatsoever. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Hank Walker/Tank Ledger vs. Tyriek Igwe/Tyson DuPont

Walker runs Igwe over to start and cranks on the arm before driving in corner shoulders. Ledger is pulled in with a slingshot splash or two so it’s off to DuPont, who is double shouldered down. Igwe comes back in for a belly to back suplex and some right hands as Walker is in trouble for a change. A clothesline out of the corner puts DuPont back down and there’s the tag off to Ledger to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and a running powerslam with a crossbody to the back at the same time finishes Igwe at 5:05.

Rating: C. Not a bad power match here but I’m still not that into Walker and Ledger. They feel like some weird cross between Heavy Machinery and Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen and it’s not really working. They’re not bad but they come off as quite the token power team and that’s not great. Igwe and DuPont are the latest team who looks great but have little to make them stand out, which has to change at some point.

Kiyah Saint is ready to debut against Kiana James. She’s educated and calculate.

Kiyah Saint vs. Kiana James

James snapmares her down to start so Saint nips up. Saint grabs a headlock this time and manages to take her down. That’s broken up so James takes it into the corner, where Saint rolls her up for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long as Saint comes back with some running forearms. A fisherman’s suplex gets two but James is back with the 401k. The Dealbreaker finishes Saint off at 5:19.

Rating: C+. For someone’s debut match, Saint looked a lot better than most of the rookies you get around here. She has quite the athletic background and when you mix that in with quite the bit of energy, it makes for a nice debut. James is fine in the role she’s been filling, but that isn’t going to get her much further.

Scrypts vs. Dante Chen

Scrypts has Bronco Nima and Lucien Price with him. Scrypts gets in a shot to the ribs to start but Chen pulls him down into an armbar. Back up and Scrypts gets knocked to the floor, where he manages an arm snap across the top rope. An elbow to the face gives Scrypts two and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Chen’s back. Chen fights up and strikes away but can’t hit the double chop. Instead he kicks Scrypts in the head but Nima offers a distraction. That’s enough for Scrypts to hit a handspring cutter for the pin at 6:39.

Rating: C. I know I’ve said it before but my goodness Scrypts is still rather lame. Even giving him a pair of monster lackeys isn’t going to hide that and I’m not sure what else could. Chen isn’t that much better, but at least he never makes it out of LVL Up. This was a rather uninspiring pick for a main event here and it showed pretty badly.

Overall Rating: C. It says a lot that the thing that stood out the most here was a rookie best known for her triple jumping career in college. They went straight back to the “oh who cares” version here with some lower level names than last time. As usual the short run time saves the show but that’s about all it has to offer.

Results
Hank Walker/Tank Ledger b. Tyriek Igwe/Tyson DuPont – Powerslam/crossbody combination to Igwe
Kiana James b. Kiyah Saint – Dealbreaker
Scrypts b. Dante Chen – Handspring cutter

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