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Csonka’s NXT Review 2.26.20

February 26, 2020 | Posted by Larry Csonka
WWE NXT Charlotte Flair Bianca Belair, NXT Injury Report Image Credit: WWE
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Csonka’s NXT Review 2.26.20  

Csonka’s NXT Review 2.26.20

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Cameron Grimes defeated Dominik Dijakovic @ 12:40 via pin [***]
– Xia Li defeated @ 2:40 via pin [NR]
– Tommaso Ciampa defeated Austin Theory @ 12:40 via pin [***¼]
– Killian Dain defeated Bronson Reed @ 6:15 via pin [**¾]
– The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated The Forgotten Sons @ 13:05 via pin [**¾]
– Charlotte defeated Bianca Belair @ 12:05 via pin [***]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

Cameron Grimes vs. Dominik Dijakovic: They lockup, Dijakovic grounds things and takes early control. Grimes fights to his feet. but Dijakovic mows him down. They work into counters, dropkick by Grimes and he follows with knee strikes. Grimes then chokes out Dijakovic in the corner. Dijakovic fires up with the cyclone kick for 2. He follows with strikes, a backbreaker and splash for 2. Grimes counters back with kicks, a RANA, but Dijakovic cuts him off and dumps him. Dijakovic follows him out and Grimes then takes out his knees, follows with the apron PK and delivers clubbing strikes. Back in and Grimes chokes out Dijakovic, follows with kicks, knee drops and they trade. Grimes chokes him out again. He grounds Dijakovic, follows with kicks and maintains control. Grimes kills time during the screen in screen, and back from that and Dijakovic starts to fire up. He follows with strikes. they trade and Dijakovic follows with kicks and a back elbow. The suplex connects and then follows with a superkick and lariat for 2. Grimes counters back with a German and that gets 2. Dijakovic then follows with the moonsault to the floor, favors his knee and Damien Priest attacks with a night stick shot to the knee. Grimes finishes things with the cave in. Cameron Grimes defeated Dominik Dijakovic @ 12:40 via pin [***] The match was good, thy worked hard, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the finish. It feels like they’re teasing a triple threat with Priest, Dijakovic, & Lee.

– William Regal announces that starting next week, a tournament begins for the women. The two finalists will compete in a #1 contender’s ladder match at Takeover: Tampa.

– Dijakovic is helped to the back.

– Finn Balor arrives and says he’s not a moves guy or a stooge to the office. When the bell rings, he is the guy. He builds brands like Japan, Mexico, was the IC Champion, Universal Champion, & NXT Champion. He’s not trying to peak for Mania season because he has been at his peak for 20 years. What’s next for him? Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) arrive. Barthel says there is something Balor hasn’t done, and that’s be NXT UK Champion. WALTER sends his regards. Finn takes them out with a dropkick and then double stomps Aichner. He slams Barthel into the steps and hits a sling blade on Aichner. Barthel attacks and Imperium bats Balor down.

– Bianca says she will give Charlotte the EST tonight.

Mia Yim vs. Xia Li: Yim defeated Xia Li in Li’s NXT TV debut last year. Xia Li backs her off with kicks, until Yim follows with a dropkick. They work into counters, cradle by Yim and that gets 2. Yim follows with the running boot, and the cannonball follows. Xia Li fires back. delivers kicks and Yim hits Seoul food as Gonzalez & Kai arrive. They distract her and Xia Li cradles Yim for the win. Xia Li defeated @ 2:40 via pin [NR] It was short and ok, the Kai promo made sense as they have history and the bat down played well.

– Post match, Raquel Gonzalez beats down Mia & Xia, and leaves with her BFF Dakota Kai.

– Velveteen Dream cuts a promo e in front of a mirror. He talks about beating Roderick Strong last week, but that’s not enough because they broke his back. He wants everything and he wants Strong to experience the Steel Cage.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Austin Theory: They lockup and work to the ropes. They trade strikes, shoulder tackle by Theory and he grounds Ciampa with strikes. Ciampa fires back, follows with a clothesline and grounds Theory. Theory counters out and Ciampa dumps him. Theory pulls him out and slams Ciampa to the apron, back in and follows with the dropkick for 1. Ciampa fires back, stuns Theory off the ropes and posts him. Post break and Theory lays the boots to Ciampa, and follows with the standing moonsault for 2. He grounds Ciampa. Ciampa fires back, hits clotheslines and a German. The running knee strike follows, Theory fires back but rolls into a knee strike for 2. Ciampa takes him up top, Theory counters and they trade on the mat. Theory hits the blockbuster, buckle bomb and attaxia follows for 2. Ciampa fires back, they trade and Theory follows with a superkick. Attaxia follows for 2 again. To the floor, Theory slams him to the barricades and back in, Ciampa hits willow’s bell and fairy tale ending for the win. Tommaso Ciampa defeated Austin Theory @ 12:40 via pin [***¼] This was good, Theory got to shine a bit but Ciampa winning was the right call. I also enjoyed the post match angle as it made sense.

– Gargano attacks post match, and lays the boots to Ciampa in the corner. Ciampa fires back, Theory gets involved and that distraction allows Gargano to hit a superkick. Gargano sits on the apron next to a hurt Ciampa and slowly claps to mock him as he throws Ciampa to the floor and stands over his corpse.

– Undisputed Era cut a promo. Strong says he agrees to the cage match next week. Bobby Fish says Pete DOONE has a stupid name and Matt Riddle has a stupid face. They got lucky at Takeover. Kyle O’Reilly puts over he and Bobby, while Adam Cole says they’ll all win their titles back soon to remain the most dominant faction in NXT.

Killian Dain vs. Bronson Reed: They lockup and Dain takes control in the corner. He follows with kicks, Reed dumps him and follows with a suicide dive. Back in and Dain cuts him off, follows with the draping leg drop and covers for 2. Dain delivers strikes and whips Reed to the buckles, covering for 2. Dain delivers more strikes, and grounds things with an abdominal stretch. Reed fires up and delivers elbows and they work into a double down. They trade center ring and Reed hits head butts and a clothesline. The slam follows, and the Saito suplex connects. Reed follows with the running ass attack and Dain counters into a Samoan drop, Reed counters the Vader bomb and counters into a diving DDT. The DVD follows for 2. Reed up top and Dain cuts him off. They trade up top and Dain follows with the superplex. A trio of sentons follow and the Vader bomb finishes it. Killian Dain defeated Bronson Reed @ 6:15 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good hoss fight with Dain getting back on the winning track.

– We get a Broserweights video package.

The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. The Forgotten Sons: Ryker is at ringside. Gibson and Blake lockup, Gibson follows with a shoulder tackle and Blake counters back into hip toss, dropkick and dumps Drake. Cutler in and double teams follow as Cutler covers for 2. He grounds things and Gibson fires back, Cutler cuts him off with body shots and Gibson cuts him off tags in Drake and double teams follow for 2. Drake follows with clothesline and covers for 2. He grounds things and tags Gibson back in. he follows with a high knee strike and that gets 2. Drake back in and he grounds Cutler. Blake tags in and he follows with the powerslam on Drake for 2. Drake powders, Blake attacks, rolls him back in and Cutler joins in as they deliver double teams on the GYV. They dump Drake onto Gibson on the floor. Post break and Drake is back in control until Blake cuts him off. Gibson tags in and grounds Blake. Blake counters to his feet, hits a neck beaker and tags in Cutler. He runs wild with suplexes, a clothesline and the backbreaker for 2. He follows with the crab, dumps Gibson and Drake battles back. Cutler hits the buckle bomb, and fisherman’s driver for 2 as Gibson puts Drake’s foot on the ropes. They take out Ryker, the GYV battle back and dump Cutler. Blake battles back until ticket to mayhem finishes it. The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated The Forgotten Sons @ 13:05 via pin [**¾] This was really solid, but went to long. The GYV can be good but need quality dance partners, while the Forgotten Sons are a WCW Saturday Night special team. Not bad at all, but just no juice to it. Also trying to force the Sons as American babyfaces just didn’t work/

– Tegan Nox admits she didn’t expect Gonzalez at Takeover but this time, she can just be a spectator as she beats on Dakota in the cage next week.

– We get a video showing quick clips and teasing an apocalypse.

NEXT WEEK: Steel cage matches Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox and Roderick Strong vs. Velveteen Dream.

– Damian Priest says the attack on Dijakovic wasn’t personal, it was just that he was just in the way of what he wants.

Charlotte vs. Bianca Belair: They lockup and work to the ropes. Charlotte talks shit and they lockup again, Charlotte grounds her until Belair escapes. They work into counters and Charlotte grounds things. She follows with clubbing strikes, Belair counters back and hits a dropkick. The crowd loves Belair as she attacks in the corner. Charlotte fires back with chops, the running boot and Belair is down. Charlotte follows with a clothesline, Belair fires back but Charlotte follows with a neck breaker for 2. She grounds things, maintaining control. She keeps things grounded, follows with strikes and dumps Belair. Charlotte celebrates and to the floor, Belair posts her. She rolls back in and Charlotte follows as Belair cradles her for 2. Charlotte cuts her off with chops, a neck breaker and Belair fights of the dragon sleeper. She slams Charlotte to the mat, and the double chicken wing slam follows for 2. Belair follow with kicks, Charlotte cuts her off with knee strikes and follow with an abdominal stretch, until Belair counters an takes control of the hold. Charlotte escapes, but Belair hits the back handspring moonsault for 2. Charlotte counters back, slams Belair to the buckles and heads up top. Belair counters the moonsault but Charlotte locks on the crab. Belair counters out and Charlotte follows with the stretch muffler and powerbombs Belair for 2. Belair dropkicks her to the floor, posts her and back in, heads up top and jumps over Charlotte and they trade spears as natural selection finishes things. Charlotte defeated Bianca Belair @ 12:05 via pin [***] This ended up good, but was honestly disappointing. Charlotte is made, and this was a match where Bianca could have shined, but one, it wasn’t booked that way and two, Bianca largely felt off and didn’t step up.

– Post match, Rhea arrives as Charlotte Pillmanizes Bianca’s ankle. Rhea lets it happen and Charlotte escapes unscathed. That was a choice.

 photo The411onWrestling-KHC15_1A_zps84kblpqb.jpg

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 93. On the show, Ian Hamilton joins Larry Csonka for a long-form discussion on NXT UK, Mark Radulich helps preview WWE Super Showdown, & Steve Cook joins for a retro TNA Lockdown 2009 review. The show is approximately 181-minutes long.

* Intro
* NXT UK: The Birth, Lack of Growth, & Issues With The Brand: 3:10
* WWE Super Showdown Preview: 1:26:06
* Retro TNA Lockdown 2009 Review: 2:19:10

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

6.5
The final score: review Average
The 411
This week’s NXT was solid, but felt like a really cold product; something is really off the last few weeks in my opinion. Some of the booking choices/finishes are odd, I hate the two steel cage matches next week (you can get two weeks of main event matches out of that), the wrestling is all solid to good, but nothing is really clicking or wowing. The one thing I loved about the show was setting up WALTER vs. Balor, but that was it.
legend

article topics :

NXT, Tremendous Tirades, WWE, Larry Csonka