‘WWE NXT’ Review (Nov 18th 2020)
Welcome to this week’s NXT review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a wonderful excerpt of an interview with Helen Keller in honor of our Women’s Championship main event:
Interviewer: Hello Helen.
Helen Keller: Wa?
Interviewer: (louder) Hello Helen!
HK: (louder) WA?!
Int: (louder) HELLO…H-E-L-E-…
HK: (louder) WAAAAAAAAA?!
Int: (louder) HELLLLLL…
HK: (louder) WAAAAAAAA…
You get the idea. We have a bunch of short matches, because that’s what draws; short, dull matches. Let’s get ri…what the…? Stonkley Jones: Greetings sir! What a fine gentleman…a fine gentleman you are. Are you interested in bangin’ a man whose mother didn’t have any children that lived? Nathan: Um…what the f…
Match #1: Leon Ruff def. Johnny Gargano – NXT North American Championship Match (Disqualification)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Johnny Gargano might have underestimated Leon Ruff for the second consecutive week, as the new NXT North American Champion seemed to overwhelm Johnny Wrestling from the get-go with awe-inspiring athleticism, highlighted by a spectacular springboard tope con giro. Gargano eventually turned the tide however, and seemed poised to regain his title — until Damian Priest pulled Ruff out of the ring and blasted him with a right hand, giving the referee no choice but to disqualify Gargano, keeping the title around Ruff’s waist.
My Opinion: 2.8 out of 5 – This went about four minutes, had some decent action and ended with a DQ. Do you wanna watch this?
Match #2: Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis – Blindfold Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Cameron Grimes spent much of this unorthodox encounter desperately screaming and trying to locate Dexter Lumis, but instead a wild swing found the referee and left the official down on the mat. The Technical Savage was horrified upon removing his blindfold and seeing what he had done. Meanwhile, Lumis removed his blindfold as well and proceeded to beat Grimes around the Capitol Wrestling Center until he narrowly escaped The Tortured Artist’s clutches.
My Opinion: 0.1 out of 5 – Grimes was funny…that’s it. This went four or so minutes and had little to no action. Why are they still trying to make Blindfold Matches popular?
Match #3: Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell def. Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell looked the part of a well-oiled machine in their first action together, taking down the more seasoned duo of Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter. Hartwell neutralized Catanzaro on the outside while The Poison Pixie put away Carter with a vicious surfboard stomp inside the ring.
My Opinion: 2.3 out of 5 – Once again, four or so minutes was all we got. They tried, but we got nothing to write home about, thanks to the paper and the pen running short and dry before they could get to the first sentence of the letter.
Match #4: KUSHIDA def. Arturo Ruas
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
NXT’s resident Time Splitter prevailed in this unique battle, countering Arturo Ruas’ leg grapevine into a smoothly executed roll-up, marking yet another victory for the red-hot Kushida in the blink of an eye.
My Opinion: 3 out of 5 – Yet again, four minutes, but it was a good four. KUSHIDA was great here and made the most of yet another chance to show how tough he can be. The Spanish Man lost to the Japanese Koosh Ball and that’s cool with me.
Match #5: Ember Moon and Toni Storm def. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Toni Storm & Ember Moon proved to be a scintillating team, complementing each others’ contrasting styles well. Moon nearly pinned Raquel González following a massive facebuster off the ropes, but Dakota Kai saved here teammate to incense Moon. Toni Storm squared off with Kai moments later, eventually catching her off-guard with a small package for the three-count. But Storm & Moon were ambushed afterward by Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell, who assaulted and dumped them back in the ring, allowing Kai & González to pick the bones and leave them both lying.
My Opinion: 3.6 out of 5 – This went around eleven or twelve minutes and had some excellent wrestling action. Moon and Storm were great together, with Kai and Gonzalez playing the part of great foils to the eventual winners. Moon and Storm was not a team I would have thought of at the top of my head, but they should have been, based on how good they were here. They had a steady rhythm in how they wrestled tag and Moon/Storm quickly felt like a team that could grab some straps together. All in all, this was solid, sturdy tag action that didn’t skimp on the good parts and put over the right team…the Atlanta Falcons.
Match #6: Timothy Thatcher def. August Grey
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Timothy Thatcher taught his former student another unforgiving lesson, grounding and pounding August Grey in ruthless fashion before tapping him out with a standing Guillotine. The dean of Thatch-as-Thatch-can looked to continue the punishment afterward until Tommaso Ciampa confronted him face to face. Thatcher took that as his cue to exit, insisting he had “no problem” with The Blackheart.
My Opinion: 2.4 out of 5 – How many four minute matches do I have to review here? At least this had Thatcher doing his ground work.
Match #7: (Main Event) Io Shirai def. Rhea Ripley – NXT Women’s Championship Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Rhea Ripley seized control early on, leveraging her significant strength advantage against Io Shirai in what proved to be an epic, back-and-forth battle. Shirai regained the advantage with her quickness and shrewdness as she connected with a huge German suplex from the second rope. The Genius of the Sky targeted Ripley’s left arm, neutralizing her power as she dissected it with a variety of maneuvers. The challenger valiantly fought her way back, landing a superplex and trapping Shirai in the Prism Lock until the champion countered with an armbar, further attacking Ripley’s injured arm. Ripley evaded Shirai’s first attempt at a moonsault, but was sent through the announce table by an unbelievable sunset flip powerbomb from Shirai, who finally delivered the moonsault afterward to claim victory.
My Opinion: 4.6 out of 5 – Now this was worth waiting for. Io and Rhea had a battle of weird first names and let he who was without sin kick the first ass! If you want hard-hitting action, then let these two give it to ya with a side ‘a coleslaw. I expected this would be a big bruiser of a bout and it was, with both champion and challenger knockin’ the stuffin’ out of each other. If you like that whole Japanese fighting spirit motif in your matches, then you’ll likely love the gusto that this sucker gushes. This has gotta be one of the best matches of the year.
News Of The Night:
- Leon Ruff, Damien Priest and Johnny Gargano will fight each other for the NXT North American Title.
- Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa are in a feud now.
- Finn Balor returned and brought The Undisputed Era to beat the s—t out of Pat McAfee’s boy band.
Final Verdict: 3.3/5
The main event is all there is to see here. Even the women’s tag match, while fun, was not enough to anchor this show. Io and Rhea really earned their keep here…right on.
