NXT LVL Up
Date: January 13, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shaw, Byron Saxton

As usual, LVL Up has me wondering what in the world I should be expecting. It might be a boring show, it might be a show with some slightly bigger NXT names or it might be a show that winds up being rather entertaining. It really is a show that could go anywhere, but it would be nice to have some more consistency. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Von Wagner vs. Oba Femi

Mr. Stone is here with Wagner, who powers Femi into the corner to start. A running shoulder drops Femi but he’s back with a running shoulder of his own. Wagner cuts him off with a clothesline though and starts in on the back. A belly to back suplex and elbow to the face put Femi down again and we hit the chinlock. Femi fights up and hits a running clothesline in the corner, earning himself a big boot. The Death Valley Driver finishes Femi at 4:13.

Rating: C. Nothing special to this one but Femi getting to be in there against a bigger name might mean something for him. At the same time, there is only so much to be gotten out of Wagner, who has not shown much in the way of variety so far. Maybe Wagner being here means WWE is giving up on him at the moment, which might be for the best until he can find something different in the ring.

Jakara Jackson is a goal (yes goal) digger and she needs to check Isla Dawn off her list tonight.

Jakara Jackson vs. Isla Dawn

They go with the grappling to start and Dawn takes her to the mat with a headscissors. Back up and Jackson grabs a headlock before dropkicking Dawn into the corner. Dawn isn’t having that and goes after Jackson’s hand, setting up the chinlock. A Meteora gives Dawn two so she yells at the referee (whom she has hurt before). The distraction lets Jackson get two off a rollup and a knee in the corner gets the same. Dawn uses the rope to block a suplex though and a Nightmare On Helm Street finishes Jackson at 5:25.

Rating: C. Decent showing from Jackson here but Dawn is the one who is going to be presented as something more important going forward. Dawn is going to be the new supernatural force, but thankfully she doesn’t go in that direction all of the time. Thankfully they didn’t waste it on what should be an easy win for her, meaning this made better sense.

Duke Hudson vs. Damon Kemp

Chase U is here with Hudson. Kemp struts to start and mocks Chase U (uh oh) and it’s Hudson cranking on his arm to stand up for his school. A knee to the ribs cuts Hudson off though and a fireman’s carry sets up the armbar on the mat. Hudson can’t flip away but he can power up and hit a hiptoss. Kemp is back up with a flapjack and neckbreaker, setting up a slingshot seated senton to the back for two. The chinlock goes on before some shots to the face just annoy Hudson. A running shoulder lets Hudson hit some spelling jabs and a running elbow (the Big Elbowski) finishes Kemp at 6:31.

Rating: C. You know what you’re going to get from a Hudson match, though changing from the big boot to the elbow to the face seems to be a bit of a downgrade. Speaking of downgrades, you have Kemp, who is lucky to make it on this show anymore. I was digging him as the amateur wrestler who didn’t care about anything good, but yet here he is, seemingly in NXT jail.

Overall Rating: C. Well, it was back to run of the mill this week, but it was nice to see some slightly different names around here. LVL Up, is the hardest show to predict each week, despite it doing so many of the same things. This was a pretty in the middle show, though it isn’t like the high end is that much better around here.

Results
Von Wagner b. Oba Femi – Death Valley Driver
Isla Dawn b. Jakara Jackson – Nightmare On Helm Street
Duke Hudson b. Damon Kemp – Big Elbowski

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NXT LVL Up
Date: December 30, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Byron Saxton

It’s time for the final WWE show of the year and I have no idea what to expect around here. The good thing is that the show has been a little more focused in recent weeks but there is no reason to believe that it is going to continue for any length of time. Maybe they have something planned, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Thea Hail vs. Amari Miller

The rest of Chase U is here with Hail, who gets armbarred to start. That’s reversed into a headlock takeover and some armdrags have Miller in more trouble. A middle rope spinning splash misses for Hail though and we hit the chinlock. Hail fights up and hits a springboard backsplash, setting up the neckbreaker spun into a faceplant for the pin at 5:54.

Rating: C. Hail is such a ball of energy that it is almost impossible to not like her at least a bit. She is so all in on this Chase U stuff that she is going to be something if she can back it up even the slightest bit in the ring. Miler has that great personality and smile but she feels like she is in the same place she was a year ago, which is rarely a good sign.

Oro Mensah is ready to show Javier Bernal what he is all about.

Bronco Nima/Lucien Price vs. Bryson Montana/Oba Femi

Now this is interesting as you don’t have any star power involved. Nima and Montana fight over a lockup to start with neither being able to get very far. Price comes in to kick Montana in the face for two, meaning it’s off to Femi. A big spinebuster drops Price and we hit the chinlock. It’s already back to Montana to forearm away but a charge misses in the corner. The tag brings in Nima as everything breaks down, leaving Montana to get Codebreakered into a German suplex for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: C. This is the kind of match that this show needs to do more often, as they let one of the new teams actually win something. Nima and Price might not be the next stars called up but at least they did something different here and that is long overdue. There’s something to be said about having four big guys hit each other and that’s what you got here.

Oro Mensah vs. Javier Bernal

Mensah wrestles him to the mat to start as commentary compares Bernal to Conor McGregor and Zoolander. An armdrag into an armbar has Bernal in trouble but he drops Mensah ribs first onto the top rope to take over. We hit the seated abdominal stretch, followed by an over the shoulder backbreaker to stay on the ribs. With that broken up, Mensah makes the comeback and starts striking away, setting up a springboard missile dropkick. The running spinwheel kick in the corner finishes for Mensah at 6:20.

Rating: C. These are two guys who are in weird places. Mensah hasn’t done anything since he came over here and has dropped rather hard since being in that #1 contenders match. Then you have Bernal, who is doing his comedy stuff well on NXT but loses to someone like Mensah. That’s a strange way to go and it didn’t work well here.

Overall Rating: C-. Egads this was a pretty worthless show, though I did like Nima and Price getting a win. Hail beating Miller doesn’t feel like much but the energy picking up was nice. The problem here was the show feeling so boring and there isn’t much that could be done to fix it this week. Maybe it was due to the holiday season but there wasn’t much here in the way of effort in the matchmaking and it showed badly.

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NXT LVL Up
Date: November 18, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Byron Saxton

We are on the way to Survivor Series and for once there was something a little different here last week. Granted it was just a six man tag but after the months of the same formula, a little change was nice to see. There is no reason to believe that will stick this week, but at least they made things better once. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Thea Hail vs. Dani Palmer

The rest of Chase U is here with Hail and this is Palmer’s debut. Palmer even shakes hands with Chase U to start so she seems rather nice. They fight over arm control to start, with Hail getting the better of things off an armbar. A springboard wristdrag keeps Palmer in trouble before we get the armbar sequel. Back up and Palmer flips her over to set up a standoff in a bit of a surprise. Palmer manages to grab an abdominal stretch, which Hail breaks away from to start the comeback. A neckbreaker spun into a faceplant gives Hail the pin at 4:41.

Rating: C. This was a nice to meet you match from Palmer, who is another gymnast who can do her stuff well enough already but has nothing to suggest that she is ready as a wrestler whatsoever. That being said, a fair few WWE stars have started out as gymnasts and done well in wrestling, so maybe that is where we are going here. Granted there is no way of knowing where Palmer is after less than five minutes, so this is hardly the definitive note on her career.

Oba Femi, a rather large man from Nigeria and the University of Alabama is ready for his debut and wants to make his family proud.

Oba Femi vs. Dante Chen

Commentary talks about Femi’s power records at the Performance Center so he seems to have something behind him. Femi powers Chen to the ropes to start but can’t get out of a headlock. An uppercut drops Chen and Femi launches him into the corner, setting up a one armed sideslam for two.

The bearhug goes on, followed by another uppercut for another two, and a second bearhug as Femi doesn’t have the most varied offense so far. Chen manages to power out of the bearhug and Femi misses an elbow. A missed charge into the corner doesn’t do much for Chen, who is right back with a top rope chop to the head for two. The double chop finishes Femi at 5:33.

Rating: D. What the….IT’S DANTE CHEN! You have this guy who looks great, gets hyped up, has his power game praised, and DANTE CHEN beats him? Chen has languished for so long in the depths of NXT that I don’t think many people remember he works here. You can’t have Femi grab a bearhug or a powerslam and pin him? Femi doesn’t need to become the next Bobby Lashley right now, but what the heck was the point in having him lose?

Oro Mensah vs. Stacks

Tony D’Angelo is on commentary. Stacks takes him down by the arm to start but Mensah comes up and cranks away on the arm right back. Some armdrags have Stacks bailing to the floor, followed by a running crotch attack on the ropes. Back in and Stacks takes him down before going after the arm, including a Fujiwara armbar.

Mensah slips out so Stacks grabs another armbar. That one is broken up as well and Mensah strikes away, setting up a springboard missile dropkick. D’Angelo offers a distraction though, including a crutch shot to the neck. A running knee to the back of the head (basically a Stomp with the knee) finishes Mensah at 5:40.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what happened to Mensah but he came in hot and then went pretty cold a few weeks later, to the point where he is stuck on this show instead of doing anything else. Stacks is a bigger deal than Mensah and should have won, but it’s still weird seeing Mensah fall pretty quickly. If nothing else, D’Angelo should be healthy soon and that should open up some more doors for both of them.

Overall Rating: D+. Well this was incredibly frustrating and that is because of one match. NXT has a history of doing things like this with people who look great, even if it is on a show that has no meaning whatsoever. Anyway, the show was the usual style, though I do like having some NXT midcarders show up as the main event. It gives the show a bigger feeling, though apparently not at that DANTE CHEN level. Annoying show, and all because of one not so bright decision.

Results
Thea Hail b. Dani Palmer – Neckbreaker into a faceplant
Dante Chen b. Oba Femi – Double chop
Stacks b. Oro Mensah – Running knee to the back of the head

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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