Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT UK

January 25, 2020 – Houston, Texas

Kay Lee Ray def. Mia Yim
This was actually a little better than I was ready for. Yim controlled most of it with escalating offense, getting close with the Code Blue and a Destroyer. But KLR was dastardly enough to get the edge, stealing Yim’s finishers and ultimately cheating to win. She won in 9:11 by reversing a roll up to one of her own and using the ropes for leverage. ***¼ 

Finn Balor def. Ilja Dragunov
Like most of Balor’s high profile matches, this was a very compelling back-and-forth affair. Like the last match, our hero was in control for a lot of it. But here, Dragunov lost because he got overconfident. Down the stretch, he began hitting dive after dive, only to miss one and lose control. Balor came back with a Jon Woo, Coup de Gras, and 1916 for the win at 13:10. A little while back I wrote that I might have overrated Balor’s match against Matt Riddle in light of his banger against Adam Cole, but now I’m actually thinking that most people are underrating his NXT run. With the exception of a slightly disappointing TV match against Tommaso Ciampa, Balor has consistently made his opponents look like beasts while coming away looking incredibly strong (and nearly undefeated) himself. That paired with the killer Gallus vs. Dragunov angle that this match found itself a part of and I was left tickled pink by the whole affair. ****

They announce that the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals, which happen this Wednesday, will be for a shot at the tag titles at Takeover: Portland. Hey, no shit. Every tournament except for the first one has been for a tag title shot, and that’s only because inaugural winners Samoa Joe and Balor began feuding with each other right after they won. Anyhow, the Grizzled Young Veterans and the Broserweights cut promos from the front row that are polar opposites of one another and are both a delight. 

Jordan Devlin def. Isaiah Scott, Angel Garza, and Travis Banks {NXT Cruiserweight Championship Fatal Four Way Match}
The title belt got the makeover I was hoping it’d get when WALTER’s belt got his on this week’s episode of NXT UK. So I guess this division isn’t going anywhere after all. As for the match, I have a ton of respect for the athleticism that was on display. It’s rare I see something I’ve never seen before, but Scott’s inverted powerbomb on Banks was brand new for me, and apparently for Tom Philips too because he popped as much as I did for it. I popped even more for Devlin winning, because I wouldn’t have guessed that would happen in a million years and I think it’s about time he got a little momentum going. That said, Banks tends to take me out of his matches with his cartoony expressions and mannerisms, a sentiment echoed by my non-wrestling fan viewing companion. A good amount of the more complicated spots reeked of indie nonsense too. But the good far outweighed the silly. Devlin won in 12:05 with the Devlin Side on Scott, after Scott had been hit by Garza’s Wing Clipper. Good for them for tweaking the typical triple threat stolen pin by having Devlin actually knock out Garza with a headbutt and then hit his own finisher on Scott as well. ***½ 

Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa def. Tyler Bate & Trent Seven
It’s odd to have nostalgia for things that didn’t end very long ago, but here I was popping for seeing what felt like old friends do old tricks even though both tandems teamed up for matches in 2019. Funny that. It looked like all four guys were having so much fun. There was a metric fucke tonne of cute spots that you’d only truly appreciate having followed DIY and Mustache Mountain for some time. The pacing at times was a little odd and the match did feel like it only existed to give us the warm n’ fuzzies, but I’m okay with that. It’s a hard world, we could all use a little warm n’ fuzzy. I also think there was more to gain putting Mustache Mountain over, but I can definitely see them not wanting to job Gargano or Ciampa and not wanting to use shenanigans to end matches on a supershow like this. DIY won at 22:57 when they hit Meeting in the Middle on Seven. ****¼  

Mercedes Martinez waved from the front row. Dakota Kai was in the front row as well, but all she did was scowl. That is, until Tegan Nox charged and attacked her. The two fought for a while. That’s a pretty stellar pay off for six years of “celebrities” waving from the front row of NXT specials. 

Rhea Ripley def. Toni Storm {NXT Championship Match}
Speaking of championship makeovers, rumors of this title dropping “women’s” from its name turned out to be true. When I heard the rumor I was very happy about it, as I believe we’re all mature enough to understand which title is the top prize of which division through the context of who is fighting for it. I feel even better about now because my aforementioned (female) non-wrestling fan viewing companion said, “I like this show 5,000 times more now because of that.” So that’s a win right out of the gate. As for the match, it oddly created a pattern in this rivalry. The matches that Storm wins are better than the matches that Ripley wins. Ripley being vulnerable because her neck was hurt was interesting, but it wasn’t executed all that well. A lot of the action here was awkward too. So this was much more like their first match (which suffered because Storm got injured during it) than their second or third. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all. Ripley won in 10:08 with the Riptide. After the match, Bianca Belair was shown clapping at ringside. **¾ 

Balor attacked Gargano backstage, but Bate made the save. Yes I will take Bate vs. Balor in the build to Takeover and I’ll like it very much, thank you. 

WALTER, Alexander Wolfe, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner def. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly
This very long match can be forgiven for being awkward in the early going because of Wolfe’s unfortunate injury. Thankfully, a few hours after the show went off the air he reported on Twitter that he was doing well. I’m pretty impressed that these teams were able to pull it together and have what turned out to be an insane fight to close the show. Three vs. four is enough people that it didn’t feel like a handicap match, especially because of the giant WALTER looming over everything. I wish Cole had pinned WALTER in the end, as it would better suit the way I’ve fantasy booked the road to Takeover: Tampa Bay, and WALTER pinning Fish (in 29:52 with a powerbomb) is probably the least interesting and most predictable finish the match could have. But that’s really my only complaint. Like I said, it’s a real feat and testament to everyone’s professionalism that they turned this into a brain-melter. ****

And speaking of worlds colliding, NXT made up a larger portion of the women’s Royal Rumble match than Raw or Smackdown did the following night, so I felt like I needed to review the match. There were 11 NXT/NXT UK wrestlers, 8 from Raw, 7 from Smackdown, and 4 special guests (though you could make the argument that Beth Phoenix is from NXT now, but I won’t). 

January 26, 2020 – Houston, Texas

Charlotte Flair def. Alexa Bliss, Bianca Belair, Mighty Molly, Nikki Cross, Lana, Mercedes Martinez, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Candice LeRae, Sonya Deville, Kairi Sane, Mia Yim, Dana Brooke, Tamina, Dakota Kai, Chelsea Green, Naomi, Beth Phoenix, Toni Storm, Kelly Kelly, Sarah Logan, Natalya, Xia Li, Zelina Vega, Shotzi Blackheart, Carmella, Tegan Nox, Santina Marella, and Shayna Baszler {Royal Rumble}
I popped more and more each time another NXT wrestler came out, realizing slowly that they were going to lean heavily on amazing NXT talent. Very heavily; Belair and Baszler combined to eliminate over half of everyone in the match. The two of them came out of this looking incredible. Also incredible, the reversal of the recent battle royal spot between Bazsler and Blackheart. I really liked Tom Philips noting on commentary how thirsty Storm is for championship gold, having recently lost two title matches and trying to get a shot at another by winning this one. I am disappointed that Nox and Kai were both in this match but never at the same time. Seems like a wasted opportunity. And as for non-NXT wrestler highlights, Naomi was dope as always, Phoenix looked remarkably great for someone who has wrestled on TV four times in the last eight years, and everything involving Rose and Otis Dozovic was solid gold. It was also fun to see Molly enter in a different persona than she did two years earlier. I’d watch this again. Charlotte entered at number 17, eliminated 4 people, and put Baszler down last to win the match at 54:31. ****