[8.0] "A real good and fast paced tag match between both teams and opener to the show, very entertaining action, Bron and Corbin winning the match was the right call to make and they were incredible as a tag team."
[9.0] "****1/4 (8.5/10) Yes, Trick (and only slightly more less did Melo) looked sloppy in certain spots - because that neckbreaker wasn't really a neckbreaker, really. But: if you're still watching NXT (or all of WWE), you've obviously seen both Melo and Trick have improved to the top guys of the rising stars in the business, and this was a turning point for both guys careers, whether they looked smooth and crisp or not. Wolf-Dogs had that natural (but kinda old school) style of tag team charisma, with an attitude that was really over with the fan base. You could make the case this was one of the best opening matches on all WWE 2024 PLEs."
[7.0] "Fun and fast paced opener, The Wolf Dogs got the much deserved win and set everything up for what would happen in the main event of this show. Trick and Melo had good offense and Bron and Baron also did great. Overall a very solid match."
[4.0] "[*3/4] Despite involving some of the more experienced NXT wrestlers this was totally riddled with botches. In fairness, the match never completely broke down and there were some impressive moments but outside of the late, light or missed moves the match was unremarkable."
[5.0] "[2.5*] This one was a little bit disappointing in my opinion. The action was cool, but there were A LOT of major botches, at least 3 of them, and this can not be overlooked. Melo looked off throughout the whole match and Trick looked lost at the ending, thank God he was good afterwards. Corbin was great tho. My MOTT is Bron and Corbin vs Frazer and Axiom, which was VERY better than this one."
[7.0] "Very fun fast paced opener, the only thing that really holds this back for me is some constant noticeable botches but this was still a very good way to open the show and the right team won."
[7.0] "I thought this was a fun way to open the show. I was a little unsure as to who would win this or not, especially considering that I was sure Williams was losing in the main event, but Breakker & Corbin getting the win was the right call. I think they've shown some good chemistry as a team."
[4.0] "This was a complete botchfest; sloppy rope work and I hate to say that because I was expecting more from them but I guess they were having a bad night Regardless;. The Wolf Dogs have really won me over the last few weeks, and Trick is over af (Melo couldnt handle the heat)"
[7.0] "Really good opener. I didnt think Melo/Trick had any chance of winning( however, they did an excellent job of storytelling and keeping the viewer glued in."
[7.0] "After rewatching, I certainly believe that the slip-ups weren't the fault of the fighters at all. The rigidity of the ring ropes wasn't well done, leading to those slips. Nonetheless, great chemistry was sparked, especially while delivering the mega spots. Breakker and Corbin's win was never in doubt because of the saga between Trick & Melo, but the journey to that victory is vital, and the Wolf Dogs clinched it in style. 3.25 out of 5 stars!"
[4.0] "Well, the many botches that happened in this match made it way worse that it should have been. When I was getting into it, a botch happened; When I was getting into it again, a new botch happened, and took me out again. Sad, cause in paper, this was one of the best matches of the show. (**1/4)."
[3.0] "The first five minutes I saw I didn't feel anything relevant, although I don't think that mistake with the rope while Breakker was running was as serious as they told me, the cut on his face perhaps indicates danger, but at the same time dedication of part of Bron Breakker; The movements that were pulled out of their sleeves, although they are not innovative as such, look very good, speaking of the team of Breakker and Corbin; first Trick with that poorly done forward jump that hurts his knee and then Carmelo with a poorly done Springboard Moonsault, I don't expect something like that from them; beautiful Catch Knees Facebreaker from Carmelo; beautiful Fallaway Slam/German Suplex from Breakker for Williams and Hayes, with the jump well done it looked much better; The truth is that it bores me when WWE always experiments with its "slow fire" but it was satisfactory, as time went by the match got better, mainly from Bron Breakker; That last Spear did look lethal, well, I'm not interested like others in the fact that certain wrestlers have improved and such, I only see if the match is good or not in terms of Wrestling, Breakker and Corbin stand out quite a bit, the truth is that I don't feel any improvement since 2018 or I don't even know when I debut in WWE, Carmelo is a great talent, but this match I didn't highlight almost anything, the match was tolerable, although there were a lot of mistakes, it makes you think, they should improve and give better matches without errors for events of this magnitude that are assumed to be PPVs."
[4.0] "This was a bit of a mess. There were so many mistakes. The high spots looked sloppy and it was only really Bron Breakker that came out of the match looking any good. It was a weak opener and would have expected better from Carmelo Hayes at least. But nothing clicked here."
[7.0] "Fun, but definitely not a clean match. Not entirely their fault, as there were multiple botches due to rope tension that actually brought the ring crew out between this and the next match. I won't dock too much from the lads for something like that, being that it was out of their control. Great finish, imo. Melo taking the Spear after shoving Trick out of the path of Bron to protect Trick for his match v Ilja later is *chef's kiss* for someone like me. We know the turn is coming, but stuff like this gives you enough of a morsel to play into the doubt. Strong opener, had a good time watching this one."
[4.0] "Eigentlich als Opener in Ordnung aber leider wurde das Match dann doch durch ziemlich viele Botches deutlich abgewertet. Das ganze Finsih wirkte mehr als unglaubwürdig durch diese Fehler.Vielleicht wären etwas weniger Spots und dafür mehr Sorytelling die bessere Entscheidung für dieses Match und die beteiligten Personen gewesen."
[3.0] "Given that all four of the guys in this match are capable workers, this was really disappointing. The early going was incredibly dull and boring, and then when they tried to ramp it up during the closing stretch, it was botch after botch after botch. If they'd kept it a bit simpler, it'd have stayed on the rails and probably come in at about three stars. As it was, it qualifies as a bad match that did nothing to help anyone. Breakker came out of this looking the best, which is a positive sign as he hopefully becomes a main roster full-timer soon."
[6.0] "I dont mind the botches at all, the sloppiness makes it feel like more of a proper scrap. The issue for me was the lack of storytelling, it just felt like a series of spots without much intent behind it. The charisma of Melo and Trick was able to carry them through work thats nowhere near up to their usual standard imo, and Corbin has never really been someone to watch, but Breaker was great. Couldve been so much more imo."
[4.0] "This match had a lot of botches. Sure there were some good spots, I enjoyed when Bron Breakker threw the guy then turned it into a cutter. But really, I cannot express this enough, there are botches and slips everywhere, so many times I rewinded just to make sure I was seeing right. Even the ending was botched, Trick wasn't even touched and he just jumped out of the ring while Bron was going for the pin."
[6.0] "[3.5*] Bron Breakker was the highlight of this match, his physical and strength displays were incredible. Him doing suplex and Trick and Melo at the same time was impressive. The match ended up suffering from a large number of botches coming from Carmelo or Trick who even ruined the ending."
[6.0] "Solid wrestling match! . Corbin and Breaker are a great team and the Carmelo hot tag was really well done. I don't feel like anything was really spectacular about this wrestling storytelling but that Suplex into a cutter was crazy! Bron is something special."
[7.0] "[7.6] The end of a fun little tournament, with Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin coming out from it as the hottest tag team in WWE right now. Quite a few replayable spots but the match lacked the oomph to take it to the next level."
[9.0] "'Well actually there were a couple 'botches'' I don't care did you see Bron's self assisted RKO, or Corbin's dive? This match ruled and people judging wrestling like it's a dance are boring"
[5.0] "Kinda felt like this one was a bit all over the place. I've seen all 4 men have much better showings than this. Trick especially seemed a bit off here to me. Luckily he had a much better showing later in the night! Pretty sloppy in parts, but still somewhat entertaining. **3/4"
[6.0] "Big fan of 3/4 of the guys in this match so I came in with high hopes but unfortunately they werent close to being matched. Not to say that this match sucked or anything but I thought this match was just decent nothing memorable. Too many botches and noticeable slip ups for my liking it felt like these guys were going wayyyy too fast and didnt slow down enough. Decent opener but fell short of my expectations 3.25/5"
[7.0] "[3.75*] At the opening of the show they started with the fight that interested me most in this show, this match was worth a lot for what would be told in the rest of the show since Trick would fight in ME, and it was very good, full of Wolf Dogs' energy, but with a lot of technique at the same time, technique that carmelo lacked in some moments that he botched, but that didn't ruin the match. I want to give an addendum to the string botch on Bron, as that could have caused a very big problem"
[8.0] "This was a really fun match! It's cool that baron Corbin is having a big NXT run and showing that he can go and it's just his booking that's been bad not him. Camello and trick losing set up Carmelo's big betrayal in the main event. Just really well told stuff."
"Interesting tag team combat. Perhaps there was a few botches, I believe that it was extremely enterteining. It was an excellent opening match and an interesting way to finish the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic."
[3.0] "Literally just full of botches, cant really blame any one person as everyone has a go fucking something up. Off night for everyone here it seems. I really expected alot better from the ratings but each to their own. Even without the botches this match wouldn't be anything special, ending before really even getting hot. The actual story of Hayes/Williams descension told reasonably well at least."
[4.0] "For a tournament final, this wasn't it. These are supposed to be four of the bet wrestlers in NXT, and they were sloppy, uncoordinated, and missed the mark almost entirely. There's some basic tag work from both teams, but the timing is off with Melo/Trick is particular. Below average, but more disappointing that anything. 2 Stars."
[7.0] "A good opener but for what is was billed to be it didn't quite live up to expectations, got very messy at times and resulted in some injuries which is hopefully nothing serious. 6.5/10"
[1.0] "So much excitement, but so insanely messy. A botch, miscommunication, or bad positioning can all be forgiven, but when it gets to the point of 'oh no, not another one' it has to be called out for what it is. Almost every spot involving all four men was poorly choreographed, resulting in Carmelo or Trick watching while the other took a move. Carmelo's positioning and timing was notably awful. Bron on the other hand went full intensity and looked good from a character point of view, but his intensity is all for nothing if he clips his head on the ropes. I see how people enjoyed this match, but you can't deny the sheer number of errors."
[6.0] "I didn't like the match. I cant say that it was bad, but it was written somehow weakly. This is still the final of a prestigious tournament, but I didnt feel any heat, tension, or intrigue. And in general there seemed to be no interaction between the teams. Here was Breaker's team with Corbin and that was it. I dont remember Trick and Carmelo at all. The highlight was obviously Bron Breaker, who continues to impress and impress with his progress. At the same time, even Corbin blossoms with him, and in general I like their team very much, so I would like them to take the tag team titles from the most boring The Family, but given the plans to transfer Breaker to the main team, its hard to believe in this. It is also worth noting that there was a lot of dirt in the match, and there were no hard botches, even in some moments you cant blame the wrestlers, but they spoiled the impression one way or another."
[4.0] "Very messy opener. Obviously Bron got his bell rung pretty early into the match, maybe Melo too the way they struggled to keep their balance and smoothness. This can be forgiven for the most part. I don't really care if people make mistakes (makes it look more real), but when these mistakes result in being able to clearly see how they co-operate for spot, it has the opposite effect. Also, this match really needed someone with a better eye for psychology tying the match together, this was all over the place."
[7.0] "A good match, though maybe not as good as I was expecting. Still, it was fun and entertaining. The ending, though logical in the storyline, was a bit strange though in the execution. Clearly, Trick had no reason to be out of the ring and too far to break the pin. 7/10."
[9.0] "I don't really care for mistakes they made as this was an insanely enjoyable match. I was even considering giving it a 10, but ultimately, I thought a 9 is perfect for this one. Great stuff"
[7.0] "I thought it was a good opener, Breakker got his work in, and it built up the inevitable turn later in the show. Unfortunately the entrances outdid the actual match, but it was still quite good."
[8.0] "I thought this was a pretty good match and it kinda goes into the story of the main event I thought both teams worked pretty good together and I thought corbin and breaker winning was the right descision. ****"
[5.0] "There were enough spots that would look good on GIFs, but the match itself felt like it was aimless in the middle, and they were trying to fill time before executing the finish where Breakker speared Hayes in a way that pushed Williams away so he wasn't able to break the pin attempt. Baron Corbin did a dive which was hilarious, but that's pretty much it."
[5.0] "Unglaublich, wie technisch schwach Corbin immer noch ist. Hayes sellt eine Clothesline mit einem Flip Bump, und Corbin bleibt einfach stehen, anstatt ihm Platz zu machen, wodurch Hayes natürlich voll gegen Corbin knallt. Breakker brilliert wie üblich durch seine Intensität, die Faces machen den Hope Spot und den Hot Tag ziemlich gut. Nur die Springboards vom Hayes sind so furchtbar Finish wieder typisch WWE konstruiert. Trick Williams wird anscheinend vom Luftzug des Spears aus dem Ring geschleudert und kann den Pinfall nicht mehr verhindern lol Ich wäre bei 6 gewesen weil Breakker stark war, aber das Finish war schon sehr albern"
[7.0] "This was pretty good. But before I start, I have to mention that there were a few botches throughout the match that were hard to overlook at times. But other then that, the action was fast paced and back and fourth, and Melo took the pin because Trick couldnt save him."
[4.0] "This was quite the mess, almost entirely due to the sloppiness of the fan favourites Carmelo and Trick. Trick has good energy and is obviously very over with the NXT fans, but I still see absolutely nothing special in him, and all he could offer in this match was bland offence executed with some sloppiness and weak impact. Carmelo, the usually very slick high-flyer, was somehow the obvious worst worker in the match, seemingly messing up every single distinctive spot he went for. He still had a few decent aerial/agile spots, but not nearly enough to make up for all his other, obvious mess-ups in big moments. Corbin was perfectly satisfactory as one of the babyfaces' bruiser heel opponents, neither standing out nor embarrassing himself, but Bron was the real star of the match with his impressive strength/athletic displays and impactful strikes and power moves. I still wish he had more of a character than just a generically hyped-up meathead, and he was a slight bit sloppy at points himself (that rope run botch, damn) but he was fun enough with his role and work here. Aside from Carmelo and Trick both being very underwhelming with their would-be exciting babyface shine and comebacks, the match also suffered from modern-wrestling brain rot where they stuffed in a bunch of multi-man spots and sequences in really over-choreographed ways which would always ruin my suspension of disbelief and make whichever wrestlers were on the receiving end of said sequence/spot look really stupid. Even the finish was a mess, given Trick's sloppy neckbreaker on Corbin and then Trick completely moving out of the way of Bron's would-be double Spear on he and Carmelo, which then made Trick look absolutely stupid for not immediately getting up and breaking up Bron's resulting pin on Carmelo, given he had zero contact with the Spear. Even with this being as over-choreographed as it was, I probably still would've found it decent if not for the many botches and other moments of generally awkward chemistry they had, given I know Carmelo can usually be an impressive high-flying athlete and could've had some cool mix-of-styles interactions with Bron's powerhouse offerings. I can handle a handful of botches in an otherwise alright match, but seriously, it was like every other big spot here was blown. **1/4"
[7.0] "A real good match between the three future wrestlers at WWE and the experienced Baron. The match is cool with good spots and a Bron really highlighted. I liked the knee injury that will be used to build the Main-Event storyline. Williams is a little late at the end of the match, too bad, but it remains a real solid match. (****)"
[7.0] "The final of the Dusty Classic. Bron and Baron have made for a surprisingly entertaining team and have been the tournament MVPs. Melo and Trick have their own bigger, more important story going on, so they weren't really expected to win here. This match was very sloppy. Bron nearly necked himself while running the ropes, that was scary. There were quite a few moves that whiffed, with Trick being the main culprit. That said, this was still a fun, high energy match from start to finish. Bron continues to stand out with his freakish combination of athleticism and strength. The finish felt odd, they were trying to show Melo taking a spear for Trick, but it didn't really play out that way. Regardless, the Wolf Dogs winning made sense as they become the tag team number one contenders as well. 7/10"
"Great matchup to start, Wolfdogs are really good & a lot of fun, makes sense for them to win the Cup, obviously because of the main event and what happened after."
[7.0] "This was a hot opener. Obviously Trick and Melo are the focus of the show right now but the Wolf Dogs have been a lot of fun too and the crowd was into all four guys. High impact moves and an exciting finish, this was the perfect start to the PLE."
[9.0] "It was an exceptional match that surpassed expectations. Corbin and Bron were my predicted winners due to their remarkable chemistry, and Bron's standout performance validated the choice. The opening tag team action was highly engaging. Surprisingly, Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin displayed impressive tag team chemistry, resembling seasoned partners. Their genuine enjoyment of the Wolf Dog tandem added an authentic touch to the makeshift team. Overall, this Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic has been the most captivating in a while, with standout performances from The Wolf Dogs and LWO, making each week's matches a highlight."
[8.0] "[4.00/5.00]: An excellent kick-off for the show, brimming with action and impressive offense from everyone involved. Corbin and Bron's dynamic chemistry suggests they should make a seamless transition to the main roster together with the latter already performing lofty expectations in the Royal Rumble. While a few missteps hindered the pace, preventing it from reaching the heights of their semifinal clash with Nathan Frazer and Axiom, it still delivered a commendable performance. Acting as the first act in the Trick drama of the night, it managed to hold its own effectively."
[5.0] "I didn't enjoy this a whole ton to be honest. I'm going into this show not really knowing a lot about the storylines or buildup. I was a little excited to watch this since I've heard good things about Trick & Mello, I love Bron Breaker, and I've heard Baron Corbin has gotten better. There's a lot and I mean a lot of sloppy wrestling. Trick Williams landed maybe only one strike out of six. Bron had a lot of good power moves but he also necked himself on the rope. Corbin hit a crazy looking black hole slam along with his usual offense. I believe the right team won in this case, I'm probably not gonna watch the tag title match but I do the "Wolf Dogs".. (Horrible, Horrible Name BTW) win cause Bron should get more training. **1/2"
[7.0] "A good way to kick off the show while I felt there were some stronger matches in the tournament (Carmelo & Trick/Enofe and Blade, Carmelo & Trick/LWO, Bron & Baron/Frazer & Axiom being the best of the tournament overall) they still delivered a good finals match. There were some slight moments of miscommunication that felt a bit noticeable than Id expect from these four. Still largely good performances from all. Bron & Baron make for a fun team and its a fun tidbit that Baron went from being a finalist in the first Dusty Classic in 2015 to a winner of it in 2024 when he is arguably at the best he has been in his career. 7-7.5"
[7.0] "This was a sloppy match , but it wasn't bad all the way through and had quite a few stand out moments , a moment I liked was Corbin doing high flying moves , something Corbin usually doesn't do often , and Brons moonsault from the top rope showed fantastic athleticism for a man of his size. Trick was over in this match , Melo was also relatively over but not as much as Trick , Bron and Baron are a good team , so were Melo and Trick which I will talk about after the main event , good natch bjt a lot of unexpected sloppy moments , especially from Melo who is usually always smooth."
[7.0] "This was a fun match to open the show but was pretty standard fare for everyone involved; the thing is, standard fare for these four guys is pretty great."
