NXT Minus 6: Wolfe Sent Packing

6. Who was released this week? 6 entry-level wrestlers, 2 referees (including one known for extremist political views), and the workhorse of Imperium, one of the premier stables in WWE. I’m not saying Alexander Wolfe was world champion material, but this smells fishy. I hope he is happy and successful wherever he goes. Any other wrestling company in the world will be lucky to get such a versatile & talented performer.

5. In 2020, I built the perfect wrestler. Here’s what I said about the Dresden Hatchet Man. Honorable Mention: Alexander Wolfe’s versatility: NXT traditionally isn’t the place for radical makeovers…unless you are Wolfe. He came in as the wild street punk of SAnitY. Now he’s the cold blooded mercenary of Imperium. Those two things could not be more opposite, and he does them both really well.

4. His underrated feud with Ilja Dragunov culminated in a no DQ match in January 2020. Even though he took a loss, his cold, calculating brutality left me thinking Wolfe is a guy I don’t want to cross in a dark alley. The other standout from his time in NXT is his tag match with WALTER versus Pete Dunne & Dragunov. It happened just to set the stage for the WALTER-Dragunov classic, but it still hit 4.6 and landed on my 2020 MOTY list. 

3. I was so close to heaping praise on Tony Storm. She busted out what was almost a cool and unique finisher, some kind of hip toss brain buster. Then she has to blow it by dumping poor Zoey Stark on her head. Earlier in the match, she almost botched her other finisher, Storm Zero. Instead of bashing Toni Time, I’ll give thanks that Stark still has the use of all her limbs. 

2. Hit Row won’t be heels much longer. Catchy music. Catchy chants. Ashantee Thee Adonis’s dropkick. Top Dolla looks like he was born to do this. Ashantee’s dropkick. Swerve Scott is the coolest dude in this or any other room. Did I mention Ashantee’s dropkick? He got higher than Riddle. Shades of Koko B. Ware. I will speak this into existence: it will be a crime against wrestling if Hit Row isn’t in War Games this year.

1. Not just a match in a cage. A Cage Match. Bronson Reed and Johnny Gargano showed the world how to use every inch of a giant metal box. So much of the action focused on using the cage as a weapon or part of the story. Even Austin Theory’s interference was all about the cage. In addition to tag team wrestling, women’s wrestling and long term storytelling, I’ll add cage matches to the list of things NXT does better than anybody else.