[8.0] "The question is simple: if you don't follow NXT episodes, you can't value this match correctly: Yeah the technical exhibition is nothing memorable, but the story-telling is so clear about the fact that Tatum can't actually overcome her weaknesses. (8/10)"
[4.0] "Yeah, their chemistry wasn't there for me at all. Even apart from that TERRIBLE finish that makes Tatum look like a geek the chemistry just wasn't there for me. This was a primary reason why I didn't want Tatum in the culling because I knew the payoff wouldn't be good at all."
[2.0] "In my opinion one of the worst matches all year, they tried to do some "cinema" acting and it was all just so cringe. When they actually wrestled it was ok enough. But the acting match was almost unwatchable. The finish also was just straight up bad."
[6.0] "I'm not really familiar with either lady, but they both did a good job in winning me over with their character work here. Tatum Paxley has a certain charisma about her that makes me want to watch her. The match was slower-paced. However, that didn't kill it for me. I thought it was a decent showing due to the drama behind it all, whatever that was..."
[8.0] "I really appreciated the storytelling of the match. It's a match where you need to know the history very well to catch every detail, but if you do, you enjoy it 100%. Thanks to this feud, they have the opportunity to have the top heel and top face of the show in the coming months, and I hope they don't waste this chance."
[0.0] "This 'professional wrestling' match ended after Dame and her crew ripped the head off Paxley's toy doll. That's a real sentence recapping a legitimate real finish in the biggest professional wrestling company in the world. That's unforgivably rubbish and a complete insult to not only your viewers but the entire history of the business. Ripping the head off a toy. Come on now, what a complete and utter embarrassment."
[4.0] "The booking and match psychology were also quite strange and seemed hastily written. It made Paxley look foolish, as she repeatedly fell for yet another series of tricks from Izzi. Technically, the bout wasn't interesting at all, while Paxley was solid, her opponent Izzi proved to be a very mediocre wrestler, making her a poor fit. Ultimately, the match seemed designed only to make Henley look like a "complete chum" so that the feud could continue."
[3.0] "The moment to moment wrestling was fine. They both tried hard and put a lot of thought into the layout of the match. Everything surrounding it was what I can't get into with modern WWE. Idiot babyfaces, overwrought drama, grown adults being distracted by shiny objects like they are cats, just an awful story dragging down a perfectly fine match. *1/2"
[7.0] "Not a bad match. I had heard about Tatum Paxley, and this was the first match I watched with her, and I really liked this charming girl. I'm sure she has a bright future. Great character work and an interesting gimmick. She reminds me a lot of Alexa Bliss. She does an awesome job of selling her character's behavior in the ring. Plus, I really liked her composure; it was sad to see her delicate and beautiful belly get hurt, and she genuinely sold it. If you've seen the shorts on YouTube when she left after the match, you could notice a pretty nasty red mark on her beautiful belly -- and she still went on to have the match with that mark on her stomach. Overall, the match could've been really good if Izzi Dame had been involved. Similarly, I saw her for the first time in my life, and it was immediately clear that this girl has no idea how wrestling works and doesn't know anything in the ring (and probably won't learn). Worse than Lash Legend or Nia Jax, honestly. No wonder she's in the same team as Shawn Spears. I hope Paxley is doing okay. It's a shame she lost to such a bad wrestler."
[5.0] "There was a nice story being told here between both women, and the match itself was fine for the most part, but it was too overbooked and ending felt a bit deflating."
[6.0] "They had a nice staple storyline to build tension, and both were great in the ring, but the lack of an X-factor element kept it from breaking the ceiling of a good match. Tatum losing the title so early made this rivalry drop a dime of excitement heading in, even though the plan was to raise Izzi's stock higher. 3 out of 5 stars!"
[4.0] "Tatum has such a high ceiling and has been a joy to watch in-ring in recent times, but the repeated 'mini-betrayals' really served to make her look stupid more than anything else. The match itself was decent, almost entirely down to Paxley, but the storytelling and the result really didn't land for me."
[6.0] "Tatum and Izzi are both great storytellers -- I was fully intrigued in the match to see how they were going to set this feud up in the future. The only problem was the story that they were told to tell was ass. I think its odd having Tatum lose the belt only for her to lose to Izzi the following PPV. Why wasnt this feud over the belt? Who ever wins only get bragging rights and I feel like the way they were setting up the story, the stakes should be higher"
[7.0] "[6.75] Both contenders decently fight the match, but what makes it even more enjoyable are all the various storytelling elements featured throughout the match, from Izzy's pretend attempt to make peace with her former friend to the two Barbies."
[5.0] "I was super excited for this, but it felt like more of an angle than a proper match. I think they're setting up Tatum for a bigger rematch, but I think this one was slightly odd. Tatum has her mind played with several times, and it got kind of old. I think it's fine if they have a plan to evolve Tatum further, but otherwise it's just a strange match."
[8.0] "I personally thought that the drama heading into this match was terrific. Izzy is awesome at being a conving evil bitch, Tatum is crzy likeable, and the acting with promos and buildup worked on me. No joke, I was tearing up during the intro package for the broken heart of Paxley, even though her oveall story doesn't make too much sense. The match itself was worked very well, Tatum is actually a prodigy just as much as Roxanne Perez. That ypung lady will be a huge star for all the weirdos and theater kids. Oh yeah, she can also work her ass off. And then...the finish happened. I have no issue with Izzy crushing Tatum with her nice big boot, I have an issue with her still being affected by dolls in a cheap manner by two big dudes. Not like that lead to her being conflicted about her friend (which was the stpry of the match), it just distracted her. Moreover, distracted her in a way she couldn't not be distracted -- two dudes block her way! Very bad finish to a great match. 4* still, for the emotions."
[6.0] "This match confuses me, not because of anything in the match, and I wasn't confused watching it, it actually engaged me, for both good and bad reasons. Good reasons being because I was hooked on seeing the conclusion but bad reasons because I had a feeling Izzi would win. I mean, Tatum lost the title, got betrayed for the millionth time, lost the match against the person who betrayed her and at the end, had her dolls head dropped in front of her, it's like one big cruel joke and I don't know if I wan't to laugh. I like the psychology of the match eith Izzy and the tag team constantly playing mind tricks on her, so points for that, but as a whole, the match is alright."
[6.0] "That was an average match, but emotionaly I liked it. Tatum and Izzi showed a good mind games performance and maybe if wrestling was better, it can be a banger. I don't like a finish, where Tatum lose, but I hope that rivalry will continue and they get an extreme rules match."
[8.0] "This was something new in WWE and I really liked it. It defied what a match was and felt more like a theatre performance, and it kept me engaged throughout. As we reached the conclusion I felt like it needed some ironing out on plot beats in the match front, but simultaneously If they expand on this in future matches it will become one of my all time favorite NXT feuds. I didn't realize the culling was a single star with three managers, but I'm in love with it."
[1.0] "Izzy Dame needs a little more work on the basics, her promos were awful, didn't play alongside the crowds boos, and the whole story seems really dumb, I am betraying you now, oh i am sorry, oh immediate betray, oh we the culling are sorry, oh bye bye dolls, we hate you again Tatum. Why are Shawn spears and the other guy alongside every match, I dont know, they are token characters and offer nothing. Tatum definetely needed the win, and the way they are burying her is dumb. Hopefully she wins the title back at sometime."
[5.0] "This match was kind of weak. I mean the story is good but it's missing.... I dunno..... something special. A entire minutes worth of the match was just Izzi trying to bring Tatum back to the Culling.... I think. If they're going to run this again at New Year's Evil or something, they should do a stip match."
[8.0] "Whether you loved, liked or didn't like this match came to how you felt about the melodrama. Personally, I love most matches that give me something I haven't seen before. Tatum walking down already in tears, in two minds, which made sense given her character and storyline, just worked for me. I thought this had something most main event matches strive for- actual emotion - so I think I liked it more than most."
[6.0] "Could have been quite the match if the melodrama didn't drag it down. The work here was still fine enough where this came across just fine. They gotta be careful with Tatum man. Don't like how she loses so often"
[4.0] "Melodoramatic bullshit match; a massive let down for tatum after the excellent jacy matches. The result makes sense, but you can get to this result after a competitive match without the melodrama."
[8.0] "A good psychological match, which clearly won't be their last. Here, Izzy and Spears toyed with Tatum's childish naivety, who still hoped to restore their friendship. Both men played well, and they accomplished the task completely. A trilogy is definitely in store for them, ending with a victory for Tatum."
[5.0] "You have to question the booking here. Tatum flip flopped between not believing Izzi's shit and falling for it. I know she's damaged and hurt from previous relationships, but she's infatuated with gold and that should've won out here - Izzi cost her her gold. At least keep it consistent for the length of the match. Not thrilled with Tatum losing here so soon after losing the Title too. BUT the wrestling we got was fine and without any major botches. Izzi certainly has potential with her size and look and has a higher ceiling, but Tatum's floor is so much higher. Disappointing as a big Tatum fan."
[3.0] "Really poorly put together match, that made Tatum look dumb and didn't help Izzi much. I think Tatum Paxley is really promising, but the way her gimmick gets booked in certain matches really hurts her because when they were actually wrestling here it was generally fine. All of the "cinema" spots dragged very long and felt forced/contrived. Half the match didn't need to be people making faces, staring at each other, and monologues. Not a fan of the former world champion losing because someone broke her doll (I get it she's weird but there's less-cringe ways to run that gimmick in matches)"
[2.0] "A strange, bad match. The story should be Tatum wanting revenge on Izzi for betraying her and costing her the NXT title. Instead we get this nonsense where Tatum is conflicted about the whole thing. Multiple times they do the same spot where Izzi pretends to be nice to Tatum only to attack her. All it does is make Tatum look stupid. Izzi is way too green to carry a match where she's on offense a lot. The only highlight was Tatum hitting her finisher on the announce desk, that looked great. Izzi wins thanks to a distraction involving dolls, which was incredibly dumb. Horrible attempts at storytelling, mediocre wrestling. What were they thinking with this match? It sucked. 2/10"
[7.0] "A very interesting story between this two. The in-ring performance was pretty solid and both have a great chemistry. Tatum is so amazing and have a wonderful potential as a babyface. Great match overall."
[0.0] "This was fucking confusing and terrible. Why did they have Tatum be so gullible here? She was betrayed by Izzi, so she shouldn't be hesitating to fucking beat the shit outta her. It was almost Izzi just dominating Tatum throughout the whole match. The saving grace from this getting a negative star from me, was Tatum doing her finisher on the announcers table, but then Spears ruins her momentum and Izzi won. Yeah, this was trash."
[8.0] "Match could have been better if they had picked up with the pace and intensity, but there was still a lot to enjoy here and a lot to move forward with for a potential rematch. Could maybe have done with a stipulation and also without the rest of the cullen"
[5.0] "This was quite good but the dolls stuff and the finish really drags that match down. Both women wrestled a really well quality, but still a quite forgettable match. Dame winning is also a weird call with Paxley being really over with the crowd."
[3.0] "The match booking was strange. Paxley looked foolish, falling for yet another series of tricks -- and there were quite a few of them. The match psychology seemed hastily written; they clearly could've come up with something better. Technically, the bout wasn't interesting at all -- Izzi is a very mediocre wrestler, Paxley was as solid as ever, but her opponent just wasn't a good fit."
[4.0] "Bad match. The in ring work wasn't terrible but that was WAY too stop start with the 'cinema' sections. It also made Paxley look like a complete chum cause this feud must continue it seems. Crazy how quickly Paxley's booking quality has dipped since she lost the title"
[7.0] "I really like it when wrestlers are shown as real people who are capable of experiencing a diverse range of emotions. Tatum was brutally betrayed, and this is probably the first time in my memory that a wrestler enters the ring not with basic confidence in the eyes and a desire for revenge, but with tears and leaking mascara, which allowed me to feel empathy for her and increased interest in how this match would go, as she looked absolutely depressed. after another loss of a close friend. And even though it wasn't a classic like a pure wrestling match, for me in wrestling, emotions always came first, and I was able to get into their story and was impressed by their performance."
[1.0] "All the worst parts of modern WWE attempted 'storytelling' (and frankly, American TV wrestling at large regardless of company). Lots of standing around making faces at each other, sub-community-theatre level acting and feigning crying about backstory. This was one of those matches that seemed to think the match itself is the least important part of wrestling. It's more concerned about aura-farming. About melodramatic starting into each other's eyes, a faction skulking around the ringside. Mid-match talking at your opponent instead of staying on the offence. A match that only exists for the world's dullest Twitter accounts to talk about 'moments'. And when the wrestling was actually happening, it was not good at all. The second match in a row where a babyface's TOY being messed with by the heel factored into the match in a major way. Is this aimed at 7-year-olds? I thought there would be nothing on this card worse than Ethan Page vs Mr Iguana. I was wrong. 0.75 of a star."
[8.0] "I thought this was great and Had such great chemistry, Izzi really held her own in this match, and These two did absolutely amazing, some great moments, and great story line and feud, But Tatum is just such a great story teller, and she's been so good lately."
[7.0] "This match had massive heat and was very good, but I think they leaned a bit too hard into the cinema (despite it being the best of this type in wwe right now). This generally felt like a bridge to the real clash between these two, which feels a bit odd when its on PPV, but you also want a feud that is over on the show."
[6.0] "It was a fine story match. I think Tatum Paxley does a phenomenal job at playing her character, and is also a great wrestler bell to bell. Dame played the heel pretty well here, her heat segments were mostly good. The crowd loved Tatum a lot, and were pretty hot for lost of the match. They told the story with Izzi trying to emotionally manipulate poor Tatum for most of the match, which worked really well. The finish makes sense, because they're probably doing a rematch with a stipulation soon. Fine match here."
[7.0] "Tatum vs Izzi is an interesting rivalry. Tatum is simply great at what she does and she's not weak in the ring either. Izzi also shows something good and won this fight and that's how it was supposed to be. We'll see what happens with both women now and what Tatum will try. Everything about the fight itself was fine. 7/10"
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