Reverse Hipster's Reviews
Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet, NXT North American Title Match 8.7/10 B
This match showed off god-level agility. You could see both men causing the other to raise their game. The action was daring and acrobatic, but it was beautiful and executed to perfection. This match made me gasp several times in amazement. At one point, Ricochet and Carmelo collided in mid-air after springboarding off the ropes on separate sides of the ring. They both took really nasty recoil bumps, and I have no idea how they safely did it. This match was incredible, and I love that Carmelo won with a roll-up. It's a huge win, but it shows Melo merely survived. Ricochet walks away looking better than he has in his entire main roster run. This was the perfect opening match to the PPV.
Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen vs. The Creed Brothers, Elimination Match for NXT Tag Team Unification Title 8.3/10 B
This was a fun, fast-paced match. I loved the aggression shown by every team. The brawl on the outside of the ring between Fallon Henley and Lash Legend was hard-hitting, and the brawl between the eliminated teams was also hard-hitting. Julius Creed just had a coming-out party as a freak athlete, and he looked inhumanly strong and athletic in this match. The only thing I would criticize is he was supposedly hurt with an elbow injury, but then he didn't sell the elbow at all. I loved the turn by Damon Kemp. Kemp saved Diamond Mine only to cost them the titles, and it was a thrilling moment.
Also, Pretty Deadly was the correct winner for this match. They are from NXT U.K., but they also came over to NXT and built up their name in the U.S.
Blair Davenport vs. Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura, NXT Women's Unification Match 8.5/10 B
Very solid match. It didn't have the highest highs throughout, but it got to the point it needed to. Each woman got to shine. Blair was double-stomping everything in sight from odd angles and high heights. Meiko Satomura was the MVP of the match. She provided most of the impressive spots, like her frog splash and her innovative kicks. When Meiko kicks her opponents, it's entertaining to watch because of the athleticism, but all the kicks look painful, like a guillotine dropping on you. Mandy showed she could hang with both women and ended up hitting them both with her Pump Kick Finisher and winning the match. I love it because it solidified Mandy as a historic champion, and the finish was opportunistic yet dominant, which describes Mandy's character.
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Nikki ASH and Doudrop 8.2/10 B
This match surprised me a bit. I was surprised at how good Nikki and Doudrop were. They had so much chemistry, and Doudrop especially was completely dominating. Carter and Chance showed off their expert-level teamwork. Chance and Carter were able to shine as a dynamic, cohesive, and agile team against the more dominant team of Doudrop and Nikki. Carter and Chance won in the end. They were the right winners. I would have given this match a higher grade if not for Toxic Attraction. Toxic interfered on behalf of NXT and distracted Nikki ASH.
This was a terrible look for the champions. Having two heels interfere in the biggest match of their career and cheat for them undercuts them as champions. The winning pin was literally in the background of Toxic's fight with Nikki ASH. It feels like WWE still wants Toxic at the top of the division because Chance and Carter have defended their titles twice now, and they still don't have a win without Toxic Attraction interference. The champs don't seem to care, but they should.
Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate, NXT Unification Match 8.4/10 B
Bate lost the match, but it was an exciting thrill ride where the MVP of the match was Tyler Bate. Tyler was driving most of the match, and he had the crowd willing him to succeed as he pulled off crazy moments of athleticism and strength. However, I gave this match a weird score because I didn't love that story. Tyler is the one who made a name for himself long before Bron was even a thought in our heads. Instead of telling the story of Tyler controlling the match and almost winning before Bron finds a way to take him down, I wish that WWE would have told the story of Bron coming at Bate again and again with relentless power and explosiveness until the brilliant Tyler Bate ran out of answers. Bron was the one who needed to prove himself, but the match story put the crowd on Bate's side.
Rob's Reviews
Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet (North American Championship)
Carmelo Hayes and Ricochet was an exciting enough match that the crowd was into with little to no story. They had good sequences and built chemistry despite never being in the promotion at the same time. Hayes continued his streak of finding a way to win in big matches, and his win against Ricochet gives him a new layer of credibility in NXT.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Creed Brothers vs. Briggs and Jensen vs. Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly (NXT Tag Team Championship and NXT UK Tag Team Championship)
This was a chaotic multi-man match to unify the first of three championships tonight. The biggest takeaway story-wise is the turn of Damon Kemp on the Creed Brothers, and the story is set for the much-anticipated implosion of Diamond Mine. Unfortunately, that cost the Creed Brothers the NXT Championship. Giving Pretty Deadly the championships is good for their image, but they have almost no credibility because the only time they can win is by opportunistic circumstances. I liked this match, but I hate that the hottest tag team in NXT got a short reign with no hugely memorable moments. I also hate that it means the tag team championships hopped quickly from Pretty Deadly to the Creed Brothers back to Pretty Deadly.
Final Grade: 5/10 Average
Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport (NXT Women's and NXT UK Women's Championship)
This followed a great formula for triple threats as the heels worked together to try to take out Meiko Satomura but couldn't quite get along. Eventually, it made the veteran Satomura look great when she made a comeback. Ultimately, the crafty Mandy Rose found a way to take credit for Satomura's work and pin Blair Davenport. Like Carmelo Hayes earlier in the night, Rose just finds a way to keep winning. I would have loved to see Satomura or Davenport win this match, but Rose's reign is unarguably becoming a historical one. Having Davenport take the pin sets up an opportunity to have a one-on-one match with Satomura. I would love to see her have more matches in the States, as this one was solid.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop (NXT Women's Tag Team Championships)
Unlike the Carmelo Hayes and Ricochet match earlier in the night, this match did not do a good job of building credibility for Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. They are one of the most talented established women's tag teams in all of WWE right now, and they needed help from Toxic Attraction's distraction to win this match. It didn't make any sense, and it was a bad use of everyone involved. The only thing keeping this grade from worsening is that the in-ring work was solid.
Final Grade: 4/10 Below Average
Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate (NXT and NXT UK Championship)
I said it once, and I'll say it again: Bron Breakker works the WWE main event style better than most of the guys on WWE's roster, and I would even put him in the top 5. A matchup with Tyler Bate was most similar to a Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan situation- Breakker is the dominant, typical WWE-style big man going up against a smaller, more technical wrestler beloved by the Internet Wrestling Community.
They worked the crowd back into it despite four long matches preceding them. Because of the booking earlier in the night and the story going in, I think they made a mistake by not subverting expectations and letting Bate win this match. I enjoyed the journey there, but the finish was admittedly disappointing.
Final Grade: 6/10 Above Average
Rob's Final Grade
With above-average ring quality and below-average booking, it's hard to rank Worlds Collide overall. The five big matches outline remains superior, especially on a weekend of longer shows. They didn't have much story going in, but the show's premise gave clear stakes. Maybe it's because of WWE's recent obsession with unification matches, but they didn't feel consequential. On top of that, the whole show was booked to maintain the status quo of long-term champions Carmelo Hayes, Mandy Rose, and Bron Breakker. I would have loved to see an NXT UK superstar come out on top of at least one of these matches. You could argue that Pretty Deadly are NXT UK superstars, and that was the one match I wanted NXT to maintain the status quo. How NXT moves forward will decide if we see a return to the quality we saw in NXT's golden era or if NXT 2.0 will remain a feeder brand.
Final Grade: 5/10 Average
Reverse Hipster's Final Grade 8.42/10 B
This PPV wasn't perfect, but it was entertaining throughout. There were no A level matches, but a few matches were close. Also, there were no matches below a B. I like the direction NXT PPVs are going, and I hope they continue to work their way back to TakeOver standard.