NXT LVL Up – July 26, 2024: The Missing Part

NXT LVL Up
Date: July 26, 2024
Location: Capital Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Blake Howard

Everything changed last week as we had what resembled a more traditional wrestling show, with stories being advanced, feuds being st up and wrestlers talking about what is on their minds. It was so nice to see for once and I could definitely go for that being the new norm around here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Jaida Parker vs. Layla Diggs

OTM is here with Parker, who runs her over with a shoulder to start and grabs a headlock. Diggs reverses into a chinlock before cranking on the arm a bit. Diggs sweeps the leg and hits a standing moonsault for two but Parker pulls her down by the hair. A running seated senton in the corner looks to set up a suplex but Diggs reverses into a small package for two. Parker isn’t having that and cranks on the leg (Diggs clearly taps, which doesn’t count as it doesn’t seem to be what she was suppose to do), before sending her neck first into the ropes. The running hip attack finishes for Parker at 4:54.

Rating: C. Parker continues to improve in the ring and is starting to put together a signature style. That could take her a long way if she is given the chance, but she is still going to need a signature win. For now, she’s doing well enough around here, even making Diggs give up when she wasn’t supposed to.

A very polite Cutler James requests and receives a match with Dante Chen.

Uriah Connors vs. Dion Lennox

This is fallout from a brawl last week, as we’re actually getting something in the way of continuity around here. Lennox shoves him down to start and then grinds away on a headlock. Back up and Connors snaps the neck over the top to take over before slowly slapping away. A hard clothesline gets Lennox out of trouble and they trade rollups, with Connors’ grab of the rope being caught. Lennox rolls him up for the pin at 4:37.

Rating: C. Not much here but these two are still pretty new around here, meaning the expectations aren’t exactly high. Giving Lennox a win is fine, but it isn’t going to matter if he’s just trading victories with everyone else at his level. You don’t necessarily need to give him a push, but if he’s just going to trade wins, I’m not sure how much good it is to have him around here.

Layla Diggs hates losing when Riz comes in to say she needs confidence. Riz is keeping an eye on her.

Dante Chen vs. Cutler James

James powers him away to start and then grabs a front facelock to start the grappling exchange. Chen gets in a running shoulder and grabs the armbar to slow things down. A slam puts Chen down for a change and a belly to back suplex gives Chen two. They trade shots to the face for two each until James grabs a reverse chinlock. The regular chinlock makes Chen fight up and jawbreak his way to freedom. Chen chops away but gets caught in a Samoan drop for two. Back up and Chen boots him in the face, setting up the double chop for the pin at 6:18.

Rating: C. Yeah it’s still Dante Chen and he’s still as uninteresting as you can imagine. There’s just nothing there to make me care about him being in the ring and that was on full display here. James has some size to him and looked good enough, but as usual, there is only so much you can get out of a generic match without that much time.

Overall Rating: C. It’s nice to have some interviews and week to week story building, but the wrestling wasn’t here to back it up. That’s kind of an important part and it was missing this week. As usual, consistency is this show’s biggest issue, but I do like that they’re actually doing more than just three straight matches week to week. That’s a very helpful change and might actually aide the wrestlers in getting used to how WWE TV works rather than having glorified in-ring training sessions.

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