Csonka’s NXT Review 4.01.20

Csonka’s NXT Review 4.01.20

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Velveteen Dream defeated Bobby Fish @ 15:50 via pin [**½]
– Dexter Lumis defeated Jake Atlas @ 3:20 via submission [NR]
– Second Chance Gauntlet: Dakota Kai defeated Aliyah, Deonna Purrazzo, Kayden Carter, Shotzi Blackheart, & Xia Li @ 24:10 via pin [**¾]
– KUSHIDA vs. Joaquin Wilde @ 8:50 via submission [**½]
– : North American Title Match: Champion Keith Lee defeated Damian Priest & Dominik Dijakovic @ 19:30 via pin [***¼]

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Velveteen Dream vs. Bobby Fish: Fish grounds things early on, Dream counters back to his feet and they trade as Dream takes control with clotheslines. He grounds things and starts going for near falls, Fish counters into a sleeper, and follows with strikes and kicks. Dream starts favoring his knee, to the floor and Dream cuts him of with strikes, the doubles axe handle and delivers strikes. The superkick follows and Dream heads up top. Fish rolls to the floor so Dream follows with a double sledge. Fish then runs Dream to the barricades, Post break and Fish has the heat on Dream. Dream tries to battle back but Fish attacks the knee. He grounds Dream and works him over in the corner. Fish keeps him grounded, follows with strikes and follows with the senton atomico for 2. Post break and Fish works the ankle lock, but Dream makes the ropes. Dream fights off the sleeper and hits the Dream valley driver for the win. Velveteen Dream defeated Bobby Fish @ 15:50 via pin [**½] This was a solid match with the right winner, but having Dream work nearly 16-minutes in an empty arena setting really exposes his short comings, I wouldn’t have had it go this long despite the fact that Fish so good.

– Dream cuts a promo on Adam Cole to hype their upcoming clash.

– Malcom Bivens and his big lads in Bivens Enterprises are next and are ready to take over.

Dexter Lumis vs. Jake Atlas: Lumis stares him down, and then attacks with strikes. Atlas fights back with arm drags, an enziguri and gets cut off. Lumis follows with strikes, Atlas fires back and hits a RANA. Lumis cuts him off and follows with an uppercut for 2. He grounds him, Atlas tries to fight back and follows with a neck breaker. The suicide dive follows, but back in, Lumis cuts him off and chokes him out with the anaconda vice. Dexter Lumis defeated Jake Atlas @ 3:20 via submission [NR] This was short and fine for the time given, but I wouldn’t have had Atlas lose his TV debut.

– We get a Killer Kross vignette.

– Next we go back to the Gargano vs. Ciampa brawl at the PC.

Second Chance Gauntlet: Aliyah vs. Dakota Kai vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kayden Carter vs. Shotzi Blackheart vs. Xia Li: Shotzi and Deonna begin. They work into some back and forth, as Shotzi takes control. Deonna cuts her off and lays the boots to her. Clotheslines follow for 2. She follows with strikes, and grounds things. The head butt connects, but Shotzi fires back and they work up top. Shotzi knock her off and the senton eliminates Deonna. Xia Li is next. She hits a dropkick, follows with kicks and takes control. Post break and Li continues to dominate. The dropkick follows and the Robinson special misses and Shotzi tap her with a cattle mutilation variation. Aliyah is next. And the cradle gets 2. They work into counters and tumbleweed until Shotzi grounds her and Aliyah cuts her off by the hair. Aliyah keeps going for near falls, yells at the ref and Shoti hits the tiger suplex and taps her. Kayden Carter joins the match, takes control right away and follows with the hanging dropkick. Post break and Shotzi hits the knee strike and the senton finishes Carter. Kai is in last. She attacks, taking control and grounding Shotzi. Kai follows with kicks covering for 2. Shotzi keeps fighting, frustrating Kai s Raquel gets in cheap shots. Shotzi makes the comeback, takes out Kai and Gonzalez with a suicide dive, and then sends Raquel into the steel steps, but back in, go to kick finishes things for Kai. Dakota Kai defeated Aliyah, Deonna Purrazzo, Kayden Carter, Shotzi Blackheart, & Xia Li @ 24:10 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good, had some nice energy as the ladies worked hard; Kai winning works due to her angle with Nox and they will try to kill each other in this match. I like that Shotzi got a good run here.

– We get a video package for Rhea vs. Charlotte.

KUSHIDA vs. Joaquin Wilde: They work into counters right away, with KUSHIDA controlling and grounding Wilde. The am bar follows and Wilde makes the ropes. KUSHIDA starts attacking the arm, Wilde counters back out and grounds KUSHIDA with arm drags. KUSHIDA fights back to his feet, hits the cartwheel dropkick and covers for 2. Post break and Wilde battles back, picking up a near fall. The knee strike follows for 2. He follows with kicks, and works over KUSHIDA in the corner. KUSHIDA counters back, attacking the arm but Wilde counters with a jawbreaker until KUSHIDA hits the back handspring elbow; the arm bar finishes it. KUSHIDA defeated Joaquin Wilde @ 8:50 via submission [**½] This was a nice, solid match, that never hit that next level both are capable of. I absolutely hate that they have positioned KUSHIDA as just another guy.

– NEXT WEEK: Gargano vs. Ciampa & The Women’s #1 Contender’s ladder match.

– THE LUCHA NINJAS HAVE KIDNAPPED Joaquin Wilde!

Champion Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic: They go right at it and we immediately go to break. Post break and Priest takes control on Dijakovic. He follows with strikes in the corner, and follow with a DT for 2 as Lee makes the save. he dumps Priest, but Priest fires back and he and Lee battle up top. Priest fights him off and Dijakovic sneaks in, gets Lee on his shoulders and Priest hits the doomsday spin kick. Everyone is down. They all trade, Dijakovic & Priest double chokeslam Lee but Priest counters feast your eyes and splash mountains Dijakovic into Lee and Priest follows with the step up tope. Post break and Dijakovic misses the moonsault, priest hits the chokeslam and that gets 2. Dijakovic counters the cyclone kick and Lee powerbombs Priest onto Dijakovic and follows with the spirit bomb until Dijakovic makes the save. Lee and Dijakovic trade, spinebuster by Lee and he corner splashes Priest. Priest cuts him off with an enziguri, follows him up top and Lee counters the RANA once until Priest finally hits it, top rope elbow drop by Dijakovic and he and Priest work into a double down as they cover Lee for 2. Lee delivers chops, they all work up top and they shove Lee off and Dijakovic dumps Priest. Dijakovic then follows with the corkscrew moonsault for 2. Priest gets his nightstick, but Dijakovic counters into feast your eyes, Lee pounces Priest to the floor and ground zero finishes Dijakovic. Champion Keith Lee defeated Damian Priest & Dominik Dijakovic @ 19:30 via pin [***¼] This was good, all three worked hard and delivered a really fun outing as you would expect, but there were some odd spots and it never really fir up down the stretch..

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 102. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jerome Cusson break down the Dark Side of the Ring special on Chris Benoit as well as Steve Austin’s interview with Bret Hart. Steve Cook then joins the show for a retro review of NWA-TNA PPV #1. The show is approximately 153–minutes long.

* Intro
* Breaking Down Dark Side of The Ring on Chris Benoit: 2:00
* Thoughts on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions With Bret Hart: 1:05:20
* NWA-TNA PPV #1 Retro Review: 1:29:29

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

This week’s NXT, while far from bad, came off really flat to me. I didn’t hate it, but when all was said and done, despite a good main event and fine build for next week, it felt really flat; nothing they did really made me care. Also, Sam Roberts on commentary was fucking trash.