NXT LVL Up
Date: February 24, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Blake Howard, Byron Saxton

It’s another LVL Up and again I’m not sure what to expect. The best formula around here seems to be having some midcard NXT stars in the main event and the younger stars filling in the rest of the show. That has worked well in the past, but you never know what direction the show is going to take. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Axiom vs. Kale Dixon

Dixon works on the arm to start but Axiom reverses into an armbar of his own. A springboard kick to the side of the head drops Dixon but he’s right back with some clubbing forearms. They trade kicks to the ribs until Dixon gets two off a delayed vertical suplex. Axiom strikes his way out of a chinlock and there’s a high crossbody. The Golden Ratio finishes for Axiom at 4:35.

Rating: C. Axiom is starting to find his grove and that was on display here. He’s getting smoother and smoother in the ring and that Golden Ratio is starting to look good. Dixon is someone who has a good look but not much else to back it up, though getting to more than about five matches might be a good start.

Myles Borne and Tank Ledger are different on paper but they can win together tonight.

Sol Ruca vs. Lola Vice

Ruca takes the arm to start and fireman’s carries her into an armbar. Vice fights up and knees her down, setting up the sleeper. That’s broken up as well with Ruca starting the comeback, setting up the Sol Snatcher for the pin at 4:29.

Rating: C. Ruca is still almost all about that finisher but to be fair, it’s a pretty incredible looking finisher. She has such a unique style and it makes sense to push her every chance WWE has. That was the situation here, though Vice has a certain fire to her as well that makes it easy to want to watch her.

Tavion Heights/Damon Kemp vs. Myles Borne/Tank Ledger

Ledger and Heights grapple over a rollup to start with Heights being suplexed over, meaning it’s off to Kemp. Borne comes in to work on Kemp’s arm but Kemp hits him in the face. It’s back to Heights for a suplex and Kemp grabs a chinlock. Borne fights up and hits a dropkick, with Heights knocking him into the corner for the tag. Ledger splashes Heights for two and everything breaks down. Ledger rolls Kemp up for two but walks into a Rock Bottom neckbreaker for the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as there was one even slightly important name in the match and that didn’t help anything much. It felt like four people who were thrown together for a main event and then told to figure it out for themselves. Not bad by any means, but it came off more like a Performance Center training exercise than a match we needed to see.

Overall Rating: C-. Not the best show here as Axiom was the big name and wasn’t exactly in much danger. The other two matches existed for the sake of a finisher and getting people on the show. This felt more like the LVL Up of old and that is not the best thing to see after it was starting to make some progress.

Results
Axiom b. Kale Dixon – Golden Ratio
Sol Ruca b. Lola Vice – Sol Snatcher
Damon Kemp/Tavion Heights b. Myles Borne/Tank Ledger – Rock Bottom neckbreaker to Ledger

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NXT LVL Up
Date: January 6, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Byron Saxton

We’re back here for a new year and that could open up…well ok nothing is likely to change, as tends to be the case around here. Last week did see two of the new class actually win a match, albeit against a team actually less experienced than themselves. I’m not sure how much more I can expect here but let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Elektra Lopez/Amari Miller vs. Sol Ruca/Dani Palmer

Kind of a weird dynamic here. Miller and Palmer start things off with a fight over arm control. Palmer drags her to the corner for the tag to Ruca, who elbows her down. A standing moonsault gives Ruca two and a middle rope spinning crossbody gets the same. Lopez comes in to pull Ruca down by the hair and some knees get two. We hit the seated crossface chickenwing and it’s Miller coming back in for a hard clothesline. The armbar stays on Ruca’s arm by way of barring it, only to have Ruca flip over and bring Palmer back in to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and the Electric Shock finishes Palmer at 5:05.

Rating: C. This was a weird way to go as the face/heel dynamics didn’t quite match up. It’s also a bit strange to see Ruca losing (albeit not getting pinned) after she has been pushed so hard around here lately. That being said, Palmer is the kind of person you can put in her to take the fall without losing anything.

Tank Ledger is ready for Xyon Quinn because like a tank, he’ll keep moving forward.

Tank Ledger vs. Xyon Quinn

Ledger grabs the arm to start before they go to the test of strength. Quinn has to fight out of Ledger’s one arm lift and there’s a forearm to knock Ledger into the corner. A running shot to the face takes Ledger down and we hit the double arm crank. That’s broken up and it’s a fall away slam to send Quinn flying. The fireman’s carry is escaped though and Quinn hits his running punch for the pin at 4:37.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but they played on the idea of a rookie vs. a more experienced star. Granted Quinn is little more than a rookie himself but he is further along than Ledger. They seem to see a little something in Ledger so maybe this is the first, albeit minor, step towards something else.

Tavion Heights/Myles Borne vs. Malik Blade/Edris Enofe

Heights, a former Olympic wrestler, wrestles Blade down without much trouble. Blade fights up and hits a dropkick (earning some cheers) before it’s off to Enofe. Heights drives him into the corner though and Borne comes in for a dropkick of his own. The Crossface goes on for a bit before Heights powers Enofe back into the corner to keep him in trouble.

Enofe slips out of a suplex though and brings Blade back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Heights/Borne grab a fireman’s carry lifted into an assisted Downward Spiral (that was sweet) to Blade as everything breaks down. It’s back to Blade though and the Climax finishes Heights at 5:05.

Rating: C+. Heights seems like someone who is getting the hang of this pretty quickly and Borne has come a long, long way in the last few months. They were starting to cook near the end and that Downward Spiral got a very nice reaction. I could go for more from these teams, but could we please give Blade and Enofe a win that matters at some point?

Overall Rating: C+. This was a show that went a good bit better than I was expecting, with a hot main event and some people seemingly moving up a few steps. It’s still not a great show and not even one that you need to watch, but for half an hour, there are certainly worse things to put out there.

Results
Elektra Lopez/Amari Miller b. Sol Ruca/Dani Palmer – Electric Shock to Palmer
Xyon Quinn b. Tank Ledger – Running punch
Edris Enofe/Malik Blade b. Tavion Heights/Myles Borne – Climax to Heights

NXT LVL Up, 2023, Elektra Lopez, Amari Miller, Sol Ruca, Dani Palmer, Tank Ledger, Xyon Quinn, Edris Enofe, Malik Blade, Myles Borne, Tavion Heights

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NXT LVL Up
Date: December 2, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Byron Saxton

We’re into the final month of the year and much like the rest of the months, that isn’t likely to mean anything significant. I’m never sure what to expect in any given week on this show and I’m really not sure how much thought is put into the show week to week either. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Oro Mensah vs. Myles Borne

Mensah kicks out of a wristlock to start but gets wrestled to the mat for a quick two. Back up and a quick anklescissors takes Borne down, setting up a running crotch attack against the ropes. Borne is able to catch him on top though and some covers get some twos. We hit the chinlock on Mensah, followed by a quick belly to belly to give Borne another near fall. A northern lights suplex gets the same but Mensah hits his own suplex to start the comeback. Mensah nails a running forearm, setting up the running spinwheel kick in the corner to finish Borne at 6:10.

Rating: C-. This was mainly about Borne out wrestling and more or less dominating until Mensah hit one or two moves and hits finisher for the pin. Mensah just isn’t that impressive for the most part while Borne has come a LONG way after a few pretty lame early matches. Not much to see here, but it was mostly a Borne squash until the ending switched everything up.

Tavion Heights, a former Olympic wrestler, is ready to debut against Stacks.

Tavion Heights vs. Stacks

Tony D’Angelo is here with Stacks. Heights nips his way out of some headlock attempts but Stacks cuts him off with a dropkick. Stacks has to slam his way out of an armbar and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Heights snaps off a powerslam, setting up a gutwrench suplex for two. Not that it matters as Stacks is back up with a knee to the back of the head for the pin at 4:18.

Rating: C. Heights is someone who looks like he has some potential but he has a long way to go. Putting him out there for an early match like this against someone with a bit of success like Stacks isn’t the worst way to go and they did things decently enough here. It’s fine enough for a debut, even with Stacks handling most of the work.

Thea Hail vs. Sol Ruca

The rest of Chase U is here with Hail, who flips around a lot and grabs a wristlock. The fans are behind Chase U, even as Ruca takes her down into an armbar. That’s broken up so Hail armdrags her for one before they’re back up for a quick standoff. Ruca powers her down though and hits a cartwheel splash for two, setting up the bodyscissors.

We hit the abdominal stretch to keep up the variety of rib work, followed by what should be the required surfboard. Hail fights up and shakes the ropes a lot, setting up a backsplash for two. Ruca jumps over her and tries a Matrix, only to get rolled up to give Hail the pin at 6:20.

Rating: C. Ruca is one of the craziest athletes I’ve ever seen and that was on display again here. Sometimes you just need to let someone use their natural abilities and make themselves look great, which is what they’re doing with Ruca. At the same time you have Hail, who is the most enthusiastic ball of energy that you are going to see in NXT these days. Fun match here, but more a showcase of what Ruca can do.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show is starting to find a bit of a groove as they are now focusing on building people up rather than just throwing out random matches. You can see where people like Ruca, Borne and even Hail are starting to come along. If this show actually helps develop people then cool, but they would be much better served by putting in some more extensive time on the Florida house show circuit. For now though, decent show this week.

Results
Oro Mensah b. Myles Borne – Running spinwheel kick in the corner
Stacks b. Tavion Heights – Knee to the back of the head
Thea Hail b. Sol Ruca – Crucifix

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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