[5.0] "A highly inconsistent event that begins strongly but suffers from several disappointing performances. The opening match provides a promising start, yet the card loses momentum through a couple of weaker contests, including a major low point. The remaining match offers some recovery, but it cannot fully compensate for the earlier shortcomings. Overall, the show delivers a few positives while remaining too uneven to feel satisfying."

[7.0] "NXT kicks off with Dusty Classic action. Noam and Romeo beat Los Americanos in a great match (9). We then get Skylar Raye going over Kali in a match that was okay at best (5) and truthfully probably shouldn't have been given 10 minutes given the experience of the ladies involved. Reina Volcan is back and doesn't have a side. Glad she hasn't disappeared before she got a chance. Ladies tag action as Thea and La Catalina go over Zaria and Kelani in a decent enough match (6) that gets us one step closer to I assume two title matches. Cruz Montana and Dion Lennon go head to head on the mic. Both guys sound confident and they know their charcaters, but I can't honestly say either of them do a lot for me. Cruz sounds a little like a one track record, and we've seen the "I didn't have to pay my dues because I'm a great athlete" plenty of times. They did get me towards the end though when Dion skipped the alluding and straight up talked about Cruz and his mother's history with drugs. Creeds proceed in the Dusty Classic in a raw sprint against two big guys from Evolve. Creeds are so much fun and probably shouldn't have spent as much time of this short match selling. Six man tag was fine (6) and kept me relatively entertained despite not particularly caring for a lot of the people involved (Zilla is green as goose shit, Sean Legacy is bland, Lexis is at best annoying, and Stacks has just had enough chances for me to care). Zaria gets embarrassed backstage by a 10 second clip of her in a play at school. Izzi is NXT's mean girl - where is Niko Vance? Where the hell if Shawn Spears for that matter? Main event segment was very entertaining; Grayson Waller is great as the shit talking, trolling heel, but Mason Rook held his own when it was his turn to talk. He shrugged off Waller's insults and reminded him that when they face, the bell will ring. Good stuff from both men. A show bookended with a phenomenal opening match and a great closing segment, without much of note in between. Enough in those two segments to make this whole thing a good show overall."

[6.0] "I think that was an average episode for NXT. Great match at the opener and Dusty Rhodes Classic looks very intresting, besides the second match was too short. There was not bad Cruz Monatana and Dion Lennox's segment, even with a few cool punches, and awesome main event promos from Grayson Waller and Mason Rook. Everything else was just a basic level."

[6.0] "As always nxt is enjoyable to watch, its so crazy how the tag team division is so much better than the main roster one, this tournament shows how much of a difference there is, incredible first round match.its nice to see Skylar wrestle again and im fine with her defeating kali Armstrong that way, a good triple threat is close to happen, and again I see la Catalina in a show, she continues to be everywhere which I dont mind, and its impressive to see the only non title holder to win this match, the cred brothers just showing off, even for a three and a half minutes match it was good. And the main event was good but I was actually expecting more, I think that if this was the match opener and the noam and Romero vs los americanos was the main event it would have been better. Nonetheless, Mason's promo was really good i liked it a lot, and Waller as a champion is a delight"

[7.0] "A pretty enjoyable episode of NXT. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic started off well with a very enjoyable opener where it seemed feasible that either team could win. An effective return for Reina Volcan. The women's tag team match was pretty good while setting up Zaria's next challenger effectively. Good exchange between Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox. Solid wins for both The Creeds and BirthRight. Grayson continues to be very enjoyable on the microphone and as taken to being NXT Champion very well. Mason did well in his response getting the crowd behind him. I do think Mason could have shown just a little more intensity in his retort to Grayson but an effective face-off ahead of their NXT Title Match on the next show."

[7.0] "A very enjoyable episode of NXT with a strong start to the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and plenty of useful progression across the card. The opener was the highlight, while Reina Vulcain return, the women's tag match, and solid wins for the Creeds and BirthRight all added something to the show. Grayson Waller continues to feel completely at home as NXT Champion, even if Mason Rook could have shown a little more intensity in their face-off."

[8.0] "A very great episode of NXT once again. The opener with Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate taking on Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno was one of the best WWE tag team matches of the year. What an incredible display of tag team wrestling from both teams. WWE has shown that when they put real focus on tag team wrestling, it can be a major part of the product. NXT has been doing exactly that, and it reminds me of SmackDown in 2024-2025 with teams like DIY, Motor City Machine Guns, Andrade & Rey Fenix, Pretty Deadly, The Street Profits, and The Wyatt Sicks. Something like that can absolutely be built again. I was very surprised by Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno getting the victory, but it was a great result. Kali Armstrong losing to Skylar Raye was a little surprising, but it looks like we could be heading toward a feud between Kali and Nikki Blackheart, which I'm very excited about. Those are two very promising prospects going against each other in NXT. Thea Hail pulling off a shocking victory over Zaria was another great moment. La Catalina & Kelani Jordan also looked great in a very fun tag team match that delivered. Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox had a very strong segment as well. Dion bringing up Cruz Montana's mother was genuinely shocking, and I think this could lead to a really solid storyline for Cruz before he eventually heads to the main roster. The Creed Brothers have also been booked extremely well since returning to NXT. They completely squashed their opponents and will now move on to the next round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Mason Rook and Grayson Waller had an excellent promo battle. Mason Rook really went deep with his promo, and I can absolutely see why John Cena is so high on him. He continues to show a lot of potential. The main event was solid, with EK Prosper, Sean Legacy & Zilla Fatu suffering a loss to BirthRight. Overall, this was another very strong episode of NXT. Next week's show is already looking stacked with two title matches and two Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic matches. NXT has really been on a roll lately, and I'm very happy to see it."

[7.0] "A solid episode featuring good matches and, in particular, strong talking segments. The only downside was the brevity of the second tournament match, though even that had a positive aspect: I really liked that Jax Presley was given a chance to shine, despite the limited time. I sincerely hope that he and Harley will perform on the brand more frequently once the tournament concludes."

[4.0] "A solid opener, followed by matches that steadily declined in quality. A decent promo from Lennox, though the best exchange was--unssurprisingly--the final one between Rooke and Waller. Not many interesting backstage angles, aside from the continuation of Grey's misfortunes. Overall, a rather disappointing episode. Match quality: 2.75/6.5. Non-match angles and segments: 1/3.5. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 3.75/10. Watched on Netflix (FR)."