NXT LVL Up
Date: October 18, 2024
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Blake Howard, Byron Saxton

I’m a good bit behind on this series again and hopefully I’m coming back with a good show. You can get quite the set of surprises around here and it would be nice to see the quality working here. In other words, it depends on who we get in the ring, because the talent selection goes a long way. Let’s get to it.

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

Tyson DuPont/Tyriek Igwe vs. Harlem Lewis/Niko Vance

Igwe and Vance fight over a lockup to start before it’s off to Lewis to work on the arm. A shoulder runs Igwe over again but it’s off to DuPont to run the other two over. Igwe and DuPont clear the ring and get in a quick pose but it’s Vance taking over on DuPont back inside. A dragon screw legwhip takes DuPont back down and we hit the half crab. That’s quickly broken up and it’s off to Igwe to clean house. Everything breaks down and the Heartstopper finishes Vance at 6:19.

Rating: C+. This was better than I was expecting and that’s always a nice surprise around here. Igwe and DuPont continue to be a team who can do well if given the chance but they’re always stuck around here. Give them a few more wins and something to do on the main NXT show and it could be worth a look. Vance and Lewis did well enough, though they felt like two people being thrown out there to give Igwe and DuPont something to do.

Malik Blade is ready for his singles match against Tavion Heights.

Layla Diggs vs. Lainey Reid

This is the result of Reid not wanting Diggs’ opinion. Reid shoulders her down to start but a ram of the knee into the mat is blocked. Diggs works on a wristlock before hitting a quick dropkick for two. Reid is back up with a spinning suplex into a chinlock but Diggs fights up without much effort. Diggs hits a powerslam into a standing moonsault for two but Reid knees her in the back. That and a rollup with the ropes are enough to finish Diggs at 5:36.

Rating: C. Reid is someone who has been getting a lot of extra attention in recent months and I’m sure WWE sees something in her. What we got here was good enough as she cheats to beat another rather athletic star. Diggs hasn’t gotten to prove much about herself but I’ll take a decent showing like this one.

Post break Reid said she did what she had to do but Diggs chases her off.

Malik Blade vs. Tavion Heights

Myles Borne is here with Heights. Blade takes him down to start but Heights shows him a much better way to do so, with the riding ensuing. Back up and Blade hits a quick dropkick into a headlock takeover as Heights can’t power his way out. Heights manages to get up and power Blade into the corner, with a suplex back out of it getting two.

Blade slugs away until a hard running clothesline drops him for two more. Heights mixes it up with a seated full nelson but Blade slips out for two off a crucifix. A swinging DDT gives Blade two more but Heights is right back with the spinning belly to belly to put Blade away at 8:27.

Rating: C+. Nice back and forth match here as Blade was able to hang in there on his own without the injured Edris Enofe. Heights still feels like someone who could be a player if he was given the chance and we saw some of that here. That belly to belly looked good and the match worked well enough, especially for a main event.

Overall Rating: C+. This show had a nice mixture for around here and I’ll take that where I can get it. You’re only going to get so much out of LVL Up most weeks and this was a bit better than usual. What matters is finding the right balance around here and having something possibly continuing with Diggs and Reid is better than nothing. Nice show here, or at least as nice as it’s likely to get.

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NXT LVL Up
Date: October 4, 2024
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Blake Howard, Byron Saxton

NXT has officially moved over to the CW and, well, things didn’t really change that much. I’m not sure what it is going to mean around here, but last week’s show was pretty fun so it would be nice to replicate that this week. Then again you never know what you’re getting around here so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Adrianna Rizzo vs. Lainey Reid

The rest of the D’Angelo Family (minus Tony) is on commentary as Riz hits a Thesz press and hammers away. Some left hands in the corner don’t do much to Reid though, as she slips away and pulls Riz onto the turnbuckle. A hammerlock slam works on Riz’s arm but she sends Reid into the corner for two. Riz fights out of the armbar and snaps off a northern lights suplex to start the comeback. A springboard elbow sends Reid out to the apron but she’s back with a springboard kick to the face. Reid’s twisting suplex gets two but Riz is back with A Taste Of Risotto for the pin at 5:41.

Rating: C. Riz continues to look better and better each week and is becoming something other than the woman of the Family. If she can keep growing at this rate, she could be something in the title picture one day. On the other side you have Reid, who WWE certainly sees something in given how often she’s out there these days.

Harlem Lewis is a former college football player and is ready for Dante Chen. Well so much for his career.

Lainey Reid is upset at another loss but Riz says she’ll get her next time. This doesn’t seem to go well.

Harlem Lewis vs. Dante Chen

Chen works on the arm to start as the fans are already in his corner. Back up and Lewis runs him over and mocks the fans for their fandom. A running neck snap across the middle rope has Chen down again and Lewis hits some shoulders in the corner for two. Lewis’ big boot gets two more and we hit the neck crank. Chen fights up but gets suplexed back down for two more. They fight over a suplex until Chen gets the better of things and the comeback is on. A superkick sends Lewis outside for a bit, only for Chen to run him over back inside. The Gentle Touch finishes for Chen at 6:56.

Rating: C. It was a Dante Chen math, meaning it was all about giving Lewis his first chance. I’m not sure what they have with Lewis here, but at least he got the chance to get out there. He was antagonizing the crowd a bit and could easily be seen as unlikable, so maybe there is something there, though you can only get so much out of that with such a short match. In other words, what else are you supposed to get out of about seven minutes?

Overall Rating: C. Not much to see here with the shorter version of the show. Riz continues to look like she could be something in the future but there wasn’t much else of note this week. As usual, it’s such a guessing game of what you’re going to see around here and that was on full display here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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