AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Paris/WWE NXT

It was a jam-packed Tuesday of wrestling motion. “WWE NXT” ran in opposition to “AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Paris,” which left the Wrestling Inc. Employees with a lot to speak about. There are already outcomes over on the NXT outcomes web page in addition to the AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Paris outcomes web page.

As for now, it is time to debrief from watching two exhibits without delay. The Wrestling Inc. Employees have loads of ideas, from the disappointing nature of “NXT” to the large highs of the Grand Slam primary occasion. I am positive there’s a lot you wish to discuss as nicely, which is why the feedback part can be open, prefer it all the time is.

Sufficient of my speaking; it has been a protracted sufficient evening as it’s. Let’s get into one of the best and the worst from the rematch of the Wednesday Night time Wars.

It is probably not a secret at this level that Kendal Gray is among the finest wrestlers, not simply in “WWE NXT,” however in all the firm, and the truth that she is injured actually is a large disgrace heading into the ultimate few months of the yr the place “NXT” has some very huge exhibits like Halloween Havoc and the yet-to-be-announced Deadline.

It is due to how good she is that WWE clearly desires Gray to stay a presence on TV, and has been having these remedy classes to assist her take care of being injured, however when you ask me, the truth that this week was the ultimate session was a real blessing as a result of this was dangerous. It was truly worse than final week and we hated it then as nicely, and no this is not us right here at Wrestling Inc. operating out of concepts and nit-picking stuff for the love of the sport, this my associates, was dangerous.

By this level, it has been well-established that WWE officers have seen Gray and thought that one of the best character we may give her is somebody who loves wrestling a lot that when she will be able to’t wrestle, she must go to remedy. That is only a dangerous character to start with, however placing her in these conditions when in actuality, she remains to be very inexperienced to all of the non-wrestling bits of the enterprise simply exposes her flaws much more. She’s not one of the best on the mic, so do not give her an excessive amount of to say. She hasn’t obtained a fleshed out character that works in backstage skits, so do not put her in backstage skits that make her seem like much less of a wrestling character and extra like a foul actress.

You realize what you do as a substitute? You simply haven’t got her on TV. You do not have her relay this terrible dialogue that she’s actually tried to memorize so she will be able to put some half-hearted emotion into it. You truly let her relaxation up and heal in order that when she does finally come again and inevitably problem for the highest prizes once more, folks can be like “Yeah, there’s that nice wrestler we all know and love!” Not “Yeah, there’s that lady who had these bizarre remedy classes nobody wished!”

To high all of it off, the truth that the therapist himself principally simply referred to as the entire thing off on the finish was fairly humorous as a result of, and I am no medical skilled or nothing, however I am fairly sure that is not the way it works. Therapists aren’t meant to only say “Alright you are all higher now bye.” Both manner, the silver lining is we do not have to listen to from these classes for the foreseeable future.

Written by Sam Palmer

I initially wasn’t so positive about ROH World Champion Bandido’s match in opposition to Kofi tonight. Whereas, in fact, it was going to be a banger and I knew I used to be going to like the in-ring motion, I did not count on Bandido to lose the title, and I did not suppose Kofi ought to be taking a singles loss. I spotted shortly, nonetheless, that this match was actually simply meant to proceed Bandido, “Hangman” Adam Web page, and Brody King’s feud with New Degree and Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Trios Championships. And I am right here for it.

It began with King and Austin Creed at ringside for his or her respective tag group companions, however Strickland arrived with Prince Nana, bringing out Web page. The 2 stared daggers at one another from reverse sides of the ring, and issues virtually escalated right into a brawl. That near-fight distracted Kofi sufficient that Bandido was in a position to hit the 21-plex for the victory.

I believed perhaps this might go additional within the course of dissension between New Degree and Strickland, however King additionally was virtually scolding Web page after the match. He might be heard telling “Hangman,” “that is what issues,” whereas pointing to the ROH World title and Bandido. I liked the truth that despite the fact that Bandido received off the distraction, King remains to be involved about Web page getting concerned with Strickland, and issues may be rocky between them. Web page dropping a superb relationship due to his hatred towards his largest rival can be one other good beat of their story.

In a while, it was revealed that New Degree and Strickland can be defending their titles in a rematch in opposition to Brodido and Web page at WrestleDream. As an alternative of being upset that Strickland supplied up a rematch, Kofi and Creed mentioned that they had a greater concept and put forth the two-out-of-three falls stipulation. It was attention-grabbing to me that New Degree did not appear upset with Strickland in any respect, regardless of Kofi’s title loss, and it will be attention-grabbing to see the place they go from right here.

Whereas some followers are prepared for the champions to maneuver on from Brodido and Web page, I personally fairly like this. I like the dynamic between Web page and Strickland, and I actually love that this match is not only a straight-up singles rematch. I really feel like we do not usually see two-out-of-three-falls matches in AEW, and that is going to be one heck of a bout between these two groups at WrestleDream.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Earlier than I truly get into why this section did not actually land for me, the “Grayson Waller Rub.” That both appears like a sizzling sauce that you simply would not contact with a ten-foot pole, or one thing you would need to see a specialist about.

Anyway, heel Myles Borne is up for there for me as one of the crucial boring characters on all the “WWE NXT” roster. I perceive that there was all the time going to be a narrative between him and Tavion Heights given their turbulent yr as a duo that finally led to Borne turning on his former accomplice again at Heatwave, however the charisma vacuum that arrives on display screen each time Borne has come out since that evening on the finish of August is one that’s unattainable to get behind for me. Do not get me fallacious, I like him within the ring, however he has a pure underdog spirit that WWE officers are silly to not capitalize on.

On high of that, he is come out on this episode of “NXT” to confront Grayson Waller, one other heel, to step up and try to be the man to take the WWE NXT Championship from the Aussie…why? Certain, you may argue that as a result of Tony D’Angelo got here out virtually instantly, the entire level of the section was to get to establishing Borne vs. D’Angelo for subsequent week, however you can have carried out that both backstage with a extra cautious setup, or just with out Waller within the ring as a result of he did not add something to this section both.

I truly felt just a little sorry for D’Angelo by the point he began reducing his promo as a result of he truly sounded attention-grabbing and got here throughout as a legit contender, solely to play second fiddle to Borne making an attempt his finest to get hated on. Then got here the loaded punch, which I did not even know was a loaded punch till Vic Joseph pointed it out and there have been quarters in every single place. I initially thought D’Angelo had misplaced all his tooth for a second, which might have a minimum of made Borne seem like as a lot of a heel as he presumably might, however when your loaded punch is so not loaded that it actually needs to be defined to you, it wasn’t an excellent punch.

Clearly, I do have just a little little bit of sympathy for these writing “NXT” as a result of Mason Rook is injured, and he was greater than seemingly going to be the subsequent challenger to Waller at Halloween Havoc, so all of those plans the corporate had have been pressured to be chopped, modified, and thrown round. However that does not excuse segments and characters being poorly written, and this was an instance of each.

Written by Sam Palmer

I had no concept what to anticipate from Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov of their first-round match for the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Crew Traditional in opposition to Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. In full honesty, the one factor that I actually knew about both man was that Ash was presently in a relationship with Tiffany Stratton due to social media. I’ve to say, after seeing each Ash and Zanov within the ring tonight, they each impressed me of their first displaying on “NXT”.

Ash and Zanov are a type of pairings that I feel have a variety of potential as each a tag group and as singles wrestlers. Whereas they do want just a little extra expertise and seasoning to appreciate mentioned potential, they’re off to a superb begin based mostly on what they confirmed that they’ll do within the ring. Ash and Zanov’s hard-hitting in-ring types labored nicely with Walker and Ledger’s related types, and their extra severe characters additionally performed rather well off Walker and Ledger’s extra enjoyable and carefree characters to make for a very attention-grabbing distinction. On an episode of “NXT” the place not a lot actually stood out to me, Ash and Zanov have been the spotlight of this present, and I am excited to see what comes subsequent for each males.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

WWE has been hell-bent on counter-programming AEW for the previous few years, and definitely in current reminiscence, with WWE x AAA World Collide operating in the identical neighborhood as AEW All Out within the Chicago space. Then, there was all of the discourse about WWE then airing the present on YouTube throughout AEW’s particular tribute episode of “AEW Dynamite” for the late Pac. So, it is complicated to me why WWE selected to punt this time round. It is like they did not even attempt.

We have seen earlier than that WWE has introduced in huge stars, like Cody Rhodes, into “NXT” to try to counter-program AEW once they’ve aired on the identical time on the odd Tuesday, within the post-“Wednesday Night time Wars” period. That wasn’t the case tonight. “Grand Slam: France” additionally had a complete of 4 title matches, and whereas none of these titles modified fingers, they have been nonetheless actually good matches. “NXT” had zero titles on the road. Not even the North American titles have been defended.

The battle royale to find out the subsequent challenger for NXT Ladies’s Champion Kelani was a very enjoyable primary occasion, and featured stars from the principle roster, TNA, AAA, and “WWE EVOLVE,” however actually no sufficiently big names to remove from “Dynamite.” Exterior of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Crew Traditional persevering with, and even these matches had lesser-known groups, there was nothing to write down house about on “NXT.”

Whereas there have been some newsworthy, and definitely enjoyable, bits to “NXT,” it is shocking, after the whole lot that is gone on in very current reminiscence, that WWE selected to punt, particularly for a pre-recorded episode of “Dynamite.” Possibly the powers that be have been good sufficient to lastly notice that folk are going to observe what they wish to watch it doesn’t matter what, or can get caught up later. I would say perhaps “NXT” is not a precedence, however we have additionally usually seen WWE use the developmental model’s premium reside occasions to go up in opposition to AEW occasions. Tonight was actually a head-scratcher on WWE’s finish, and it will be attention-grabbing to see the way it performs out within the rankings.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada turned out precisely how I envisioned it, and that is not a foul factor. The pair traded laborious hits and finishers. Ospreay, per traditional, took flight as nicely.

I am nonetheless not fully positive how I really feel about Okada kicking out of a Rainmaker at one, however the transfer undoubtedly stored the group buzzing. The close to falls stored us on the sting of our seats, too.

For Ospreay, the bout turned out precisely how he hoped it will. After All Out, he offered Okada, the AEW Worldwide Champion, with a chance to problem him for the world title at Grand Slam France, with the intentional viewers in thoughts. On a private stage, Ospreay additionally sought to rectify his previous losses to Okada, and Tuesday evening, he did simply that.

In a manner, Ospreay’s win tonight felt poetic. With Okada, who boasted an amazing win-loss file over “The Aerial Murderer,” now additionally within the rearview mirror, Ospreay can pivot his focus to contemporary challengers in a contemporary stipulation at WrestleDream. I am nonetheless not precisely positive what to anticipate from a Clockwork Carnage match, however a lineup consisting of Ospreay and Samoa Joe thus far sounds promising.

Written by Ella Jay