Csonka’s WWE Worlds Collide 2020 Review

Csonka’s WWE Worlds Collide 2020 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Non-Title Match: NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray defeated Mia Yim @ 9:30 via pin [***¼]
– Finn Balor defeated Ilja Dragunov @ 13:55 via pin [***¾]
– NXT Cruiserweight Title Match: Jordan Devlin defeated Champion Angel Garza, Swerve Scott, & Travis Banks @ 12:30 via pin [****]
– DIY defeated Mustache Mountain @ 23:10 via pin [****½]
– NXT Women’s Title Match: Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Toni Storm @ 10:15 via pin [***]
– Imperium defeated Undisputed Era @ 30:00 via pin [****]

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NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray vs. Mia Yim: Yim attacks right away, hits the cannonball and covers for 2, Ray fires back, they trade and Yim grounds her with kicks. She follows with a RANA, chops and then a basement dropkick for 2. Ray battles back and counters into a tornado DDT for 2. She grounds things, follows with kicks and then chops in the corner. Yim fires back, they trade and Ray hits the superkick for 2. Ray heads up top but the swanton misses. Yim follows with clotheslines, a neck beaker and a slingshot DDT for 2. Yim dumps Ray and follows with a suicide dive. Back in and Ray superkicks her to the floor and follows with a step up tope. Back in and they trade, go crazy fists and Yim fights off the Gory bomb into code red for 2. Ray counters protect ya neck and hits eat defeat for 2. Yim fights off the Gory bomb again, and counters into a powerbomb for 2. Ray fires back but Yim his the destroyer for a good near fall. Ray cradles her and uses the ropes to steal the win. NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray defeated Mia Yim @ 9:30 via pin [***¼] This was a good pre-show match, they have history together, played off of it well, made the most of the time given to them and got the crowd into it.

Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov: They lockup and Balor grounds things until Dragunov escapes. Balor grounds things again, taking control until Dragunov counters out and grounds Balor. Off the ropes and Dragunov huts across body for 2. They standoff and Dragunov attacks, but Balor slaps him and dumps him. The dropkick follows and back in, Balor delivers chops. Dragunov fires back, hits the senton and covers for 2. He grounds Balor, working the arm, and then follows with kicks in the corner. He dumps Balor and follows with a high cross to the floor. Dragunov up top and misses the dive as Balor rolls away. Balor lays the boots to him, delivers hops and back in, hits abasement dropkick for 2. He grounds things, Dragunov fights to his feet, but Balor hits a slam and covers for 2. He follows with kicks, they stomps away at him. Balor lays in chops, and grounds things again. Dragunov fights to his feet, and counters into a suplex. The knee strike follows and the lariat takes Balor down. Dragunov to the ropes and bombs away connects for 2. He follows with chops, backhands and knee strikes for 2. Balor counters back, hits the standing double stomp and delivers strikes. Dragunov fires back, they trade and light each other up, enziguri by Dragunov and thy work into counters as Balor hits a final cut. Sling blade connects, and Dragunov cuts off John Woooooooo and the German follows for 2. Dragunov hits 61-line and heads up top and flies to the floor to takedown Balor. Back in and the coast-to-coast dropkick gets 2. Dragunov back up top and the senton eats knees. John Wooooooooo by Balor and he heads up top and the coup de grace connects; bloody Sunday finishes it. Finn Balor defeated Ilja Dragunov @ 13:55 via pin [***¾] This was a very good opener, with Balor being really giving as Dragunov got to shine before losing, which we all knew he was, but the important thing was that he got to look good in front of a bigger audience that wasn’t into Dragunov, so they had an uphill battle but succeeded.

– The Grizzled Young Vets & Broserweights are in the crowd, the winner of their match on Wednesday win the Dusty Classic and earn a tag title shot at takeover Portland. They cut promos to hype the match.

NXT Cruiserweight Title Match: Champion Angel Garza vs. Swerve Scott vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks: They all brawl at the bell and they attack Garza. Devlin takes control and picks up the first near fall. Scott cuts of Devlin with the flatliner, dumps Garza and then catches the Devlin moonsault and DVDs him to the floor. Dive by Garza and Banks follows with a double stomp from the apron. They brawl on the floor, as Banks takes control with chops and strikes. Back in and Banks follows with kicks to Scott. Garza in and Scott hits the head kick, German by Banks and he dumps Scott onto Garza. The suicide dive follows. Banks continues to run wild, until Devlin cuts him off and hits the Spanish fly for 2. Everyone is down, they slowly fight to their feet, trading strikes and Garza takes control and the pants are off! They work into a wild four-way doomsday double stomp spot as Scott and Garza trade. Scott hits the pop up knee strike, but Devlin cuts off the house call and Banks hits him with the destroyer. Banks up top, Garza dumps him and he heads up top. Scott cuts him off, follows him up and Devlin joins in and hits the double Spanish fly! Slice of heaven by Banks, and the kiwi crusher gets 2. Scott hits a head butt on Banks, they trade chops and Scott counters into a Michinoku driver for 2. Garza dropkicks Scott into a poison RANA, and follows with a wing clipper. Head butt by Devlin and Devlin side follows for the WIN! Jordan Devlin defeated Champion Angel Garza, Swerve Scott, & Travis Banks @ 12:30 via pin [****] This was a great balls to the wall sprint and while I had hoped Devlin would win, I didn’t expect it but I absolutely loved it! Devlin is awesome and deserves a bigger stage to show that. Just keep him as faraway from Daivari as possible.

– Post match, Devlin proclaims his greatness; respect the Irish ace.

DIY vs. Mustache Mountain: Bate and Gargano begin. They lockup and work into counters as Gargano grounds things. Bate back to his feet, but Gargano takes him back down. Back to the feet, and we get a standoff. Lockup and Gargano grounds things again. Bate counters out until Gargano grounds him again. They scramble, and work to the ropes. They pick up the pace, Bate takes him down and they tease finishes until Gargano cradles him for 2. We get a standoff as Ciampa and Seven tag in. They play to the crowd and lockup, of the ropes and Ciampa hits a shoulder tackle. They work into counters until Seven cradles him for 2. Lockup and Seven works the arm, tags in Bate and they have a pose off. The test of strength follows, Bate overpowers him at first but Ciampa counters as they battle for position. They work into the double bridge spot, lockup and pickup the pace, Ciampa cuts him off with strikes, dumps Seven and dumps Bate as DIY takes control and picks up the aggression, slamming Moustache Mountain over the announce tables. Back in and Ciampa takes the heat on Bate. Gargano tags in and double teams follow. Gargano grounds things with a running kick and covers for 2. Ciampa back in and the running back elbow connects. He grounds the action, Bate to his feet but Ciampa maintains control. Bate counters out and makes the tag. He takes control with chops, a DDT and clotheslines. The powerbomb follows for 2 lariat to Ciampa and that gets 2. Knee strike by Ciampa, wholesale changes and Gargano runs wild and hits the slingshot spear for 2. Bate spills to the floor, Seven cuts off Gargano but Ciampa takes him out. Suicide dive by Gargano, and back in, DYI follow with DDTs and cover for 2. Gargano follows with chops on Bate, Ciampa in and the meeting in the corner follows Seven makes the save, but Ciampa cuts off Bate, but Bate hits the rebound lariat and Tyler driver 97 for 2. It breaks down and everyone is down. Gargano tags in but Bate counters the lawn dart into a cradle for 2. The XPLODER follows, but Gargano counters the running shooting star press. Bate fights back, airplane spin until Gargano counters into the Gargano escape, arm bar by Ciampa shades of how they won the NXT tag titles! Moustache Mountain powers out and hits double airplane spins and that leads to a near fall. Bate accidentally takes out Seven, and DIY looks for meeting in the middle, Seven covers up bate and they hit bop and bang, the doomsday burning hammer follows for a GREAT near fall! Spiral tap by Bate hits Seven as Ciampa pulled him in the way to save himself. They all brawl center ring, it breaks down and Bate flies into double superkicks. Meeting in the middle finishes Seven. DIY defeated Mustache Mountain @ 23:10 via pin [****½] I loved the playful beginning, working to get the crowd interested until they amped things up, It was also a good buffer period from the previous match. From there, they beautifully escalated the action, the crowd was completely drawn into it, DIY didn’t miss a beat, Mustache Mountain continues to be great, and the little things they did from basic saves to miscommunications to cut offs to pappa Trent protecting Tyler with his own body all worked. Overall this was a tremendous piece of business and beautiful tag team wrestling that stole the show.

– Tegan Nox attacks Dakota Kai in the crowd and they brawl to ringside until security breaks them up. A nice payoff to the usual “NXT star in crowd” cameos.

NXT Women’s Title Match: Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm: They lockup and work to the ropes. Storm looks to work the arm, using slick counters to control and then follows with a basement dropkick. Ripley fires back, but Storm stays a step ahead of her until Ripley connects with clotheslines, a superkick and then works her over in the corner. Storm counters back and Germans her to the buckles and she spills to the floor. Storm follows and attacks, rolls her back in and follows with a suplex for 2. The STF follows, Ripley fights and crawls as she makes the ropes. Storm follows with strikes, chops and spikes her with a DDT for 2. Storm grounds things, still targeting the neck until Ripley escapes, but she’s quickly cut off. Ripley fires up, delivers strikes and they go crazy fists as Ripley takes control with clotheslines. She follows with knee strikes and the basement dropkick. The slam follows, and the inverted cloverleaf is locked on. Storm fights, Ripley pulls her back center ring until Storm rolls out and counters rip tide for 2. Storm zero is blocked, but she counters into a German for 2. Storm lays the boots to Ripley, but Ripley counters into a superkick, dropkick and then runs into a head butt. Storm up top and misses the frog splash. Rip tide finishes it. Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Toni Storm @ 10:15 via pin [***] These two were put in a difficult place following an excellent tag team match, I would have put it before the tag personally. They had a good, physical match but it suffered from Toni never really feeling like a legit threat as she continues to struggle to succeed within WWE in terms of the big wins. I do see a heel turn coming soon for her.

– Moments ago, Balor attacked Gargano backstage and beat his ass as Tyler Bate made the save. Where was Ciampa?

Imperium vs. Undisputed Era: Aichner and Kyle begin, with Aichner overpowering him with ease. Kyle pulls guard and looks for an arm bar, but Aichner makes the ropes and follows with uppercuts they trade chops and strikes. Aichner hits a powerslam, Barthel joins in for double teams and that gets 2. Kyle fights back, Roddy tags in and takes control over Barthel. Wolfe tags in and they double team Roddy, covering for 2. Wolfe works him over in the corner, Roddy fires back and Fish tags in as double teams follow for 2. Wolfe is down, being checked on and he looks to be hurt, likely concussed. Good work by referee Drake to see that and get help right away. They take him away as WALTER tags in and starts working over Cole. Cole counters the chops, follows with kicks and TUE attacks, Roddy tags in and WALTER cuts him off with the big boot. Aichner tags in and follows with a suplex on Roddy. Barthel tags in and isolates Roddy in the corner. Cole sneaks in and cuts him off. Fish tags in and they isolate Barthel in the corner, working quick tags and double teams. Fish hits a senton atomico, Cole follows with a neck breaker and that gets 2. He grounds things, Barthel fights to his feet but Cole hits the backstabber for 2. Kyle back in, follows with knee strikes and keeps Barthel grounded. Kyle mocks WALTER, and Barthel attacks and cuts him off. WALTER tags in and he runs wild, Germans Kyle. He follows with slaps but Kyle pulls a guillotine until WALTER counters and Roddy tries to help and WALTER Germans them both. Aichner in and he and Barthel hit the double team deep impact for 2. Barthel hits a back elbow and that gets 2 on Kyle. Aichner tags back in, and the suplex gets 2. He grounds things, follows with knee strikes and WALTER tags in. The slam and sit down splash connects, he delivers strikes and Kyle battles back until WALTER takes his soul with a chop and covers for 2. Kyle fights off Aichner and is quickly cut off in the Imperium corner. Barthel gets an ankle lock, Kyle escapes, Roddy and Cole tag in, Roddy runs wild and trades with WALTER, delivering chops and running forearms until WALTER kills him with a lariat. Roddy follows with a knee strike, sick kick, powerbombs Aichner and transitions to the Stronghold. Barthel & Fish tag in, Imperium double teams Fish and the air raid crash follows for 2. The European bomb is countered, Fish tosses them into each other and Cole tags in hits an enziguri on Barthel. The ushigoroshi follows for 2 as WALTER makes the save. TUE swarms WALTER, dump him and they dismantle an announce table. WALTER fires back with chops, Kyle saves Roddy but WALTER keeps fighting, post Fish and he dismantles another table. He and Kyle onto the table, Fish attacks and Roddy hits the Angle slam through the announce table! Back in and Barthel suplexes Cole, hits the flying uppercut and then takes out Kyle. Aichner and Barthel runs wild until Cole hits superkicks and the OG last shot for 2. Roddy tags in and double teams follow for 2 on Barthel. Fish in and Aichner makes the save, he’s cut off with double teams, Barthel is beaten down an Kyle hits bombs away to the knee, follows with a heel hook but Barthel makes the ropes. Ropewalk moonsault by Aichner to Kyle, but TUE attacks, using the numbers game but WALTER is alive and Barthel fights and tags him on. GET TO THE CHOPPA MOTHERFUCKERS! Cole cuts him off, but WALTER kills him with chops, he dumps the others and powerbombs Roddy, the top rope splash follows, last shot by Cole and Imperium makes the save. They regroup and then brawl! High low to WALTER, Barthel takes out Cole, then Kyle and Roddy then follows with a dive. Aichner then follows with a run up aces high to the floor Fish misses a moonsault, John Woooooo by WALTER and the powerbomb finishes it! Imperium defeated Undisputed Era @ 30:00 via pin [****] First things first, it absolutely sucks that Wolfe got hurt, but credit to the other seven men as they overcame the handicap, ad carried on like complete pros, didn’t miss a beat, and delivered in the main event spot. I thought all of the interactions played will, they did some Dole vs. WALTER, but also didn’t over do it. Everyone got time to shine, WALTR looked like a beast and the crowd treated him like a big deal. Again, I can’t praise the work of the seven men that carried on and delivered after an unfortunate injury.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 84. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Steve Cook review the latest between AEW & NXT, and then preview NWA Hard Times, WWE World’s Collide, & The WWE Royal Rumble. The show is approximately 144–minutes long.

* Intro
* AEW Dynamite (1.22.20) Review: 7:45
* NXT TV (1.22.20) Review: 39:05
* The Head to Head Comparison: 53:30
* NWA Hard Times Preview: 57:55
* WWE World’s Collide Preview: 1:19:35
* WWE Royal Rumble Preview: 1:45:56

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8.4

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

With the pre-show included, WWE Worlds Collide 2020 had a friendly three-hour run time and was an overall great show, with three must see matches, a surprising title change and proof that the concept, with the right matches can work and possibly be a fun yearly feature for the network.