NXT returned last night (December 30) from the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find the results on the live blog here.
Sold
NXT had a real baller segment this week that excited a New Year’s Ill show that was already quite exaggerated.
Finn Bálor and Kyle O’Reilly won the year-end award for the game of the year, a choice we agree with. They worked at an angle to sell the fight for next week’s title.
Finn did not receive his award, leaving it with general manager William Regal. But he took Kyle’s to give it to him. The champion marched into the ring and summoned his opponent for the next week. He told KOR that he doesn’t need the prize to remember the match. He has the hardware to do that – not just the NXT title on his shoulder, but the three screws in his jaw.
O’Reilly knew that Finn’s gesture was condescending, that it was a consolation prize. But he told the champion that the hardware was not below him. Because it was proof that he deserves to share the ring with Bálor and deserves to be on top of the card. The champion then told his opponent that next week, he will take revenge for what O’Reilly did with his jaw.
This was a strong promotional effort from both, particularly O’Reilly, to really increase the excitement for next week’s game.
However, they were interrupted by Karrion Kross and Scarlett. Kross’s black angel told the men in the ring that it doesn’t matter who wins next week because the gold belongs to Karrion. Add Dunne trying to beat Finn after the Brit defeated Roderick Strong, and the title scene is getting a little crowded. In the good sense.
But Kross has other problems. He was dropping his catch phrase “Tick tock”, Damian Priest was suddenly behind him. But he didn’t attack his evil New Year enemy from behind. He waited for him to turn around.
So these two beat each other up across the arena. I said that in the past few weeks, but Priest found his way as a tough babyface. Resisting the unstoppable Kross helped raise his star. I doubt the Archer of Infamy will win next week, but if they schedule in the same way they did this fight, he’ll be fine.
This segment made me more excited to New Year’s Ill than I already was.
Broken Curse
Johnny Gargano was concerned about defending the US title this week.
Gargano has never successfully defended a singles title. He felt he was cursed, so he and the rest of the Way tried their best to avoid anything that could cause bad juju. They inexplicably saw a black cat down the hall and walked the other way in what was my favorite part of it this week. (Also, the thought of someone bringing their cat home from here to this part tickles me.)
However, the moment he crossed the curtain for the game, Austin Theory unluckyed him, he broke a mirror and he passed under a ladder.
Fortunately, none of this affected the outcome of his match against Leon Ruff, as Johnny finally beat the man and retained the title. It was a fun fight and a reminder that Ruff is a very good fighter. Since disturbing the leader of the Way to initially win gold, he has become much more than an enhancement talent who has had a casual victory. He integrated more offensive into his matches while still playing against the underdog. It is a formula that will serve you well in the future. That whole angle made Leon a player on the NXT and, hopefully, he continues to grow on Wednesday nights.
Now is the time for Gargano and his family’s next rivalry. I wonder if Kushida is next on the agenda.
Still Rules
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is back in a few weeks, so we had a little focus on the tag team this week.
The Grizzled Young Vets defeated Breezango in a competitive match. But, once again, Ever-Rise (who rules by the way) stole the show with his post-game comedy antics. Chase Parker and Matt Martel left after the match with a referee they were using to make it look like she was holding them. But when she was tired of her crap, she left and suddenly these guys changed their tones, not wanting anything from GYV.
Ever-Rise slowly changed from “Who are these guys?” to two guys that I find hilarious every week. I hope NXT uses Dusty Classic to present them as more than a comedy duo to help complete their presentation.
We don’t know if Ever-Rise is at Dusty. We know Undisputed ERA is in it, with the new team of Adam Cole and Roddy Strong representing the New Year’s Award winning unit.
Big Bronson
Bronson Reed defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott.
It wasn’t a squash, but I felt that they put themselves in a corner when scoring this match. Big Thicc will not lose after just relaunching. Of course, they have big plans for him. But Swerve is also going through a heel curve. They discussed their new attitude and lack of sportsmanship in tonight’s comments. A loss so soon can undermine the change you are experiencing.
Given that he is in a state of transition, this loss should not hurt much. Perhaps it just reinforces your acceptance of the dark side.
Everything else:
– Pete Dunne defeated Roderick Strong in a fight between longtime rivals. I wonder if Dunne will make it through ERA … maybe to get to Kyle as a champion?
– Lynx Dorado and Gran Metalik of Raw interrupted a Santos Escobar promotion when he was talking about how William Regal will have trouble finding someone who can challenge him. Dorado disagreed with Escobar saying what lucha is before two-thirds of the Lucha House Party (are they still the LHP?) Defeated Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Noah. Escobar will defend his cruiserweight title against Metalik next week.
– Mercedes Martinez crushed a poor soul this week. I’m glad they are leaning towards the heel persona this time. She was a leap from the last time, but they also joined her with goofy Robert Stone, which hurt. Now she is just a murderer.
– Xia Li & Boa’s training is over and they will be returning to NXT next week. It was about time, but now I’m starting to wonder if this will translate into the ring. And if greener talents like Xia and Boa will be able to perform at the level they need. Clearly NXT thinks so, so we’ll find out next week.
– We have an advertising campaign video for the Raquel González / Rhea Ripley Last Woman Standing match next week. It was very good like most of their videos. It affected their friendship in real life to make their rivalry very personal. Before it was more about the confrontation of two powers. Now there is more than that.
I will admit that I was distracted for much of this show. I usually try to turn everything off and focus on NXT objectively, something that I am better at certain times than at others. But tonight I really wanted to watch the Brodie Lee tribute show at Dynamite. Brodie’s death is still difficult to understand and I would have preferred to watch alongside other grieving fans while he aired.
Because of that, NXT fights that were solid or better, like the tag team fight or Roddy / Dunne, weren’t getting my attention as I bet they normally would.
Trying to remove my distraction and look at it as objectively as possible, it was still a good show. This second half had some strong segments, like Finn / Kyle leading to Priest / Kross and the fight for the title of the main event. If you’ve watched Dynamite and are wondering what to check out NXT, the whole show was solid, but definitely the second half.
Serie B
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