‘WWE NXT’ Review (Jan 27th 2021)

Welcome to this week’s NXT review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a bunch of bull… (Nathan is shot). I’ve been…shot! Fredo! Why did you betray me? Fredo: …because I’m Al…Al Fredo. Me: You sunuvabitch! I’m gonna get yo’ ass! This is the day you made the biggest mistake of your life! Fredo: What’s that? Not shooting you a second time? I thought of that… (shoots again…and again…and again). Me: Ow…pain hurts. You ain’t gonna get away with this ya’…bastard. (coughs) Fredo: Hey…I’m Al Fredo. If my mother had kept her maiden name, I woulda been Al LaMode. (shoots again) Good luck finishing your review when you’re sleeping with the fishes. (walks aways) Me: My main man, Fredo, has shot me and left me for dead. I have been betrayed and my criminal empire of giraffe lingerie has been threatened by my top guy stealing it out from under me. I gotta get my groove back. A vendetta has been sworn…my vendetta. Oh, NXT starts…VENDETTA!

Match #1: MSK def. Killian Dain & Drake Maverick in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Looking seamless once again in their second time out on NXT, MSK lit up Killian Dain & Drake Maverick with high-octane attacks, including a Bronco Buster by Nash Carter and a springboard senton by Wes Lee. The isolated Maverick eventually tagged in Dain, who used Maverick as a human battering ram against the opposition to turn the tables. But MSK’s well-oiled offense was too much, and they picked up the victory following a double-team Blockbuster on Maverick to advance.

My Opinion: 5 out of 10

Match #2: Dakota Kai & Raquel González def. Aliyah & Jessi Kamea w/Robert Stone in a Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First-Round Match

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

The Robert Stone Brand looked worthy of investment early until Aliyah ate a big pump kick by Dakota Kai on the outside of the ring, flipping the match’s momentum. Raquel González looked virtually unstoppable yet again and planted Jessi Kamea with her one-handed powerbomb for the empathic win to secure a spot in the semifinals.

My Opinion: 4 out of 10

Match #3: Tyler Rust w/Malcolm Bivens def. Dante Rios

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Tyler Rust may be better served by Malcolm Bivens’ guidance after all if tonight was any indication. A week after Rust fell to Bronson Reed in a match he lined up himself, the promising upstart impressed with a victory over Dante Rios, forcing a submission with an excruciating modified double-arm butterfly.

My Opinion: 3 out of 10

Match #4: Grizzled Young Veterans def. Kushida & Leon Ruff in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Despite having much less experience as partners than their foes, Kushida & Leon Ruff once again looked the part of a seasoned unit, making frequent tags while working on James Drake. But Drake & Zack Gibson began to beat down Ruff, dropping him with a particularly nasty combination backbreaker before later decimating Kushida with a Doomsday Device. NXT’s resident Time Splitter thwarted The Grizzled Young Veterans’ first attempt at the Ticket to Mayhem, but he couldn’t ward off the second try, and it spelled the end.

My Opinion: 6 out of 10

Match #5: Bronson Reed def. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

With tensions between Bronson Reed and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott having mounted for weeks, The Colossal one seemed poised to make short work of “Swerve.” Reed flashed his uncanny athleticism, including a tope suicida among other jaw-dropping maneuvers. Scott made a late rally, but Reed miraculously pulled his shoulder up after “Swerve” landed a 450 splash, much to Scott’s disbelief. Scott had no such answer for Reed after he flattened him with the Tsunami for another impressive win.

My Opinion: 5 out of 10

Match #6: (Main Event) NXT Champion Finn Bálor & Kyle O’Reilly def. NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

After battering each other in two brutal NXT Title Matches, Finn Bálor & Kyle O’Reilly looked surprisingly cohesive as a unit, bonded by their mutual dislike for the opposition. The Prince’s decision to recruit O’Reilly as a partner proved wise, as Bálor’s late tag gave way to the martial-arts specialist overwhelming both Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. O’Reilly caught Burch’s second-rope dropkick attempt and masterfully countered into a leg lock, forcing Burch to tap out. Though they acknowledged each other with nods of mutual respect, Bálor & O’Reilly couldn’t bask in the afterglow of victory. Pete Dunne hit the ring for a mugging of both, leveraging the numbers advantage. The Undisputed ERA’s Adam Cole & Roderick Strong eventually arrived for backup, but not before Dunne brutally splayed Bálor’s fingers to send an unequivocal message to the NXT Champion.

My Opinion: 7 out of 10

Final Verdict: 6/10

I’m thinking about revenge as I drive to the Guillierre. Fredo will have holed-up with Mantange and his rat-bastard brother Viznellganno, along with the rest of what was my crew. We were gonna be big, bigger than any animal-related sexy clothes criminal-tycoons, un-like this NXT episode and it’s timid booking of the men’s and women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Tourney bouts. For something that is supposed to be a big deal, you’d think that they’d wanna put a little more juice in the glass so you can get a little more out of a chug. Well, I’m not gonna blow my chance for revenge. I’m here, with my pistol and enough piss-and-vinegar to feed a smushed baby after the smushin’. I was shot several times, so I just took a salt tablet and walked it off. I’m goin’ in fo’ da big, fat kill…and to tell you that these matches all had something worth seeing, but only the first and last were memorable in any significant way. Actually, the main event was the only one that felt like it was a big deal. You know what else is a big deal? Gabredollo: Sh…it’s the boss! Me: What? Do I got some-thin’ in my teeth? (fires gun) Bulagela: What the f— was that?! Prantecallo: I’ll check. Steve: IS IT A KITTY?! Me: Finn and Kyle worked well together, so much so that they felt like a regular team. Their tags were so quick and efficient that they may as well as been a machine at full speed. The champs looked very capable in their effort to look formidable and made their part of the match very visceral. Hold on… Prantacello: I think I heard some-thing. Me: Yeah. You did. (shoots gun) Now, make no mistake…Tyler Rust and the various tag teams looked really good in their respective matches, but they always felt like a means to an end, unlike the main event. Seeing Io Shirai and Toni Storm showcase their chemistry in a brawl was good fun and Raquel Gonzalez getting in the middle of that melee was quite exciting as well. Bulagela: Prantacello? What happened?! Prantacello?! PRANTACELLO! Me: He’s taking a break. (shoots gun) Why don’t you take a load off too? Steve: ME! ME! ME! MY TURN! MY TURN! Me: (shoots gun) What ever you say. All that’s left is Fredo and his traitor bastard friends in the top floor business suite… Ride this elevator on up…might as well mention that Santos Escobar seemingly attacked Curt Stallion to get out of defending the NXT Cruiserweight Title this week, but he has to defend that strap against that opponent next week. Also, it seems like Karrion Kross might be going after Santos, since one of Kross’s playing cards was left on Santos’s bag. Dexter Lumis is haunting Johnny Gargano, so that appears to be a feud, which would make two for Johnny Wrestling, since he is likely to defend the North American Title against KUSHIDA in the near future. Ah…here we are. (Nathan knocks on suite door) Me: (pretending to be Regis Philbin) Who wants to be a millionaire?! (door opens) Viznellganno: Must be the pros…oh sh… (Nathan shoots Viznellganno in the head). Mantange: NOOOOOOO!!!! You shot my brother you son of a bi…(Nathan shoots and Mantange returns fire) Me: I’m so glad I brought the TalkTech with me so I can finish this review. Plus, you fine folks get a free action movie. Suck s—, mother-f—–s! (fires on Mantange and Fredo) Mantange: Boss! Get to the roof! I’ll call the chopper! (reaches for cell phone) Hey! Rev-up the chop…(shot in head) Me: No need. I’ll get Fredo where he’s going. As I chase Fredo up this roof, I just want you to remember that we have more Dusty Rhodes tag matches coming in the next few weeks, including a match featuring the team of Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher, who had a promo to brilliantly display their new dynamic as men who have respect for one another after the two brutal matches they had against each other. Nowhere to go, Fredo. Don’t be afraid, Fredo. It’ll be over real quick. Fredo: Fredo…’fraid? Fredo ain’t ‘fraid! No ‘fraid Fredo! Fredo ‘fraid? …Fredo ‘fraid not! You ‘fraid o’ Fredo! Ol’ Fredo ‘fraid? Fredo ‘fraid what? Me: How about a bullet in the ass as you fly off this roof to your death? Fredo: Ohhhhhhhhhh…Fredo ‘fraid o’ that. (Nathan shoots Fredo in the balls) Fredo: Ow! Fredo’s balls! Fredo’s balls hurt! Fredo was ‘fraid o’ that. (Fredo falls off roof) Me: Well, I got revenge on being screw out of $17.50 and that’s that. NXT was a decent show that was too timid to go for the gold, but it looks nice with a bronze medal around its neck all the same. See you next week.