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NXT returned last night (January 27) from Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find the results of the live blog here.
Spin the wheels
The main event this week was a tag match, in a show jam packed with them, starring former enemies Finn Bálor and Kyle O’Reilly facing tag team champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch in a no-win match. title.
The game itself was good, although it was easy to get tired of the tag team games as there were so many. Finn Bálor played face in peril with heels working his arm, and O’Reilly was the hot tag who won decisively with a submission.
After the match, Pete Dunne showed up to employ a winners-beaten handicap before Adam Cole and Roderick Strong led the Kings of NXT.
Overall, this angle turns its wheels. Kyle and Finn had a fun feud with each other, but there’s little spark in this story where they play reluctant allies against Pete Dunne and the Tag Champions. In general, NXT lacked a spark, and a big part of the problem is that nothing hot is happening with the main titles. (The women’s title still doesn’t have a clear direction, only starting to unveil it after weeks.)
I’m giving them props to make the act of Finn Bálor literally stepping back to stand side by side with the ERA to feel like a very important moment, but that wasn’t enough to make this main event worthy.
This story needs a spark to make it feel like it deserves a first place on a map with TakeOver in just a few weeks.
Friendship goals
Raquel González and Dakota Kai defeated Jessi Kamea and Aliyah to advance into the Dusty.
There isn’t much to say about the game. Dakota did a lot of the work, but González took care of the business in the end. It was nothing spectacular, but did what he planned to do: remind us that González is dominant.
However, what I appreciate the most is the evolution of the relationship between Dakota Kai and Raquel González. Raquel made his debut as a Dakota bodyguard last year. She was clearly working for Kai, with the emphasis on advancing Kai’s career.
Then Raquel started to escape on her own and instead of dropping the team or quarreling, the dynamic changed. Dakota was more than happy to try and play the supporting role of Ascendant González. She even locked herself in a locker for her help during Raquel’s Last Woman Standing match against Rhea Ripley. And now they operate as a team, both working towards this common goal.
They might be bad girls, but I dig that friendship.
Elevation
The opening bout on Tag Night featured MSK taking on Drake Maverick and Killian Dain.
One thing I generally liked about the Dusty Classic is the way they use it to elevate tag teams to a more serious status. Dain and Drake were a little funny when they started. Over time and now a place in the Dusty, they were presented as a more respectable label team.
The DNA of the team is still there: Dain is the threat and Maverick is the “weak link”. But this week, Drake held on. He was not the responsibility like he had played in the past. It’s important if they want this team to be more than just a comedy act. (Which to be fair, if that’s what NXT wants, it’s a good role for them.)
The team still doesn’t feel like a cohesive unit. There is always the feeling of two guys who are in a tag team game as opposed to a duo actually working together. It’s part of who they are, although hopefully they’ll evolve in addition team.
On the other side of the ring, MSK is very exciting. I have some experience watching them as Rascalz at the Impact, but I’m several months away from watching the Impact, so I don’t know the caliber of work when they left. Having said that, they do feel more special here. They are unique in their style and personality. I was excited for this game because of them this week and can’t wait to see what they do in the next round.
Superb Underdog
My favorite game of the night was the Dusty quarterfinal fight where the Grizzled Young Veterans beat Kushida and Leon Ruff.
It was the only Dusty match of the evening that really gave the impression that the finish was not certain. Yes, GYV was the favorite. But Ruff and Kushida got a big win in the first round.
This game did the job of getting me to a point where I really wanted the underdog team to win. Leon Ruff just does a fantastic job of working a match as a sympathetic character. His personality makes it so easy for him to take root. Meanwhile, GYVs aren’t flashy, but their styling allows you to easily root against them. Then it’s all the more disappointing when they win.
After the game. Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory attacked Ruff & Kushy, in revenge for their loss to them last week. They were ultimately scared off by Dexter Lumis, who also has issues with The Way given he lost a North American title match in a less than clean way.
Who’s next?
It looks like Io Shirai may have to defend his title in a triple threat match.
Toni Storm called the champion, but after Shirai answered, Mercedes Martinez stepped into it all. With Storm and Martinez not being on the same page despite being just one team, there is enough stuff here to go with the triple threat.
Honestly, a triple threat makes sense. There are so many women who deserve a title match, running a program with two of them at once pushes the line forward. And if there’s one person they want for a singles match with the champion down the line, they don’t take the pin.
It’s unofficial, but it’s our best guess for the sequel for the champion.
Everything else:
– Bronson Reed went on Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. It’s clear they’re building Reed big. I wonder if I do this at the expense of Swerve, who didn’t gain anything significant during his time in NXT. I think a win to share a streak with Jake Atlas (who never wins either) was his biggest achievement. They must find a program so that Scott can emerge victorious.
– Curt Stallion was supposed to have a cruiserweight title match this week. But he was attacked before so it was pushed until next week. William Regal thinks El Legado del Fantasma are the culprits, and while he’s probably right, Karrion Kross leaving a business card on Santos Escobar’s bag makes me wonder if he’s the real attacker. However, I do not see what his motive would be.
–Malcolm Bivens scheduled a cupcake match for Tyler Rust an easy week after Rust tried to do his own thing last week and booked himself in for a match with Bronson Reed. Rust wins so Malcolm earns money.
With the abundance of label matches and the absence of any real hot angles, this show felt like it was going on forever. Nothing was outwardly bad. Each segment would have worked well on a show that had hot angles. But it felt like a bunch of extra chained stories, leaving it feeling like a duller episode of NXT.
Quality: C +
Ring below.
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