Kevin’s WWE NXT Review 10.07.20

KUSHIDA vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Apparently, these two were fighting backstage and got booked because of it Commentary hypes this as a TakeOver quality match. KUSHIDA is in jeans again. He wins the first exchange with his cartwheel dropkick. Ciampa cuts off the handspring elbow with a basement dropkick. Ciampa has control for a bit but KUSHIDA comes back with right hands. Still, Ciampa goes to work on the neck with a neckbreaker. KUSHIDA rallies and gets going after cutting off Willow’s Bell and knocking Ciampa off the apron with a handspring kick. Commercial time. Returning, Ciampa lights him up with chops. KUSHIDA gets caught on the apron and catches his arm before slamming it across the top turnbuckle. Kick to the arm and enziguri inside. Ciampa avoids the submission but takes a kick to the head. Armbar locked in but Ciampa gets out. Fisherman Buster hits after a string of offense for two. KUSHIDA wins the next exchange and starts stomping on Ciampa’s back and neck. Hoverboard Lock is in but here’s the awful Velveteen Dream in to hit an axe handle for a DQ.

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa via disqualification in 14:34 [That was intense. It came from out of nowhere and was pretty badass throughout. The finish was lame and expected but the match still ruled. ***1/2]

KUSHIDA recovers and sends Dream packing, sending him scurrying to the back.

Ember Moon is in the ring to cut a promo. She says that she’s happy to be back after 14 months. While away, she discovered Ember’s Law (she admits it’s corny) which means nobody will get in her way of doing what she wants. She wants gold. Io Shirai interrupts. Before she can speak, Rhea Ripley’s music hits and she joins the party. She says something about Ember and a title shot but is hit from behind by Raquel Gonzalez. She and Dakota jump Rhea until Ember comes over to help. Io watches from the ring. Officials separate it and William Regal says our main event is Ember and Rhea vs. Dakota and Raquel!

Earlier today, Drake Mavericks arrived and said that he and Killian Dain have been discussing their tag team ideas. An annoyed Dain comes over to say they’re not a team. Drake says they have a match against Ever-Rise tonight and a frustrated Dain storms off.

Backstage, Shirai admits she didn’t help in the brawl because that’s not her problem. The NXT Women’s Title is.

The Undisputed Era speak backstage. Kyle says he didn’t get the job done but his friends put him over for his performance. They focus on Ridge Holland. He broke Adam’s ribs and they don’t know why he did it but he’s a dead man.

Drake Maverick and Killian Dain vs. Ever-Rise

Maverick promised cool theme music and it had whistles to it. He skips out to it and Dain is pissed. He forces him into the ring to start. Dain tags in hard and it hurts Drake. He tries hard but Ever-Rise use cheap shots and tag moves to isolate him. Dain breaks up a pin and gets called a fat bozo, which angers him. He shoves his opponent, drags Drake to the corner, and forces a tag. he destroys Ever-Rise and hits cross body blocks and sentons. Drake tags himself in and they argue, leading to a rollup. Dain pump kicks Ever-Rise #1 and then powerbombs Drake onto him, giving Drake the W.

Winners: Drake Maverick and Kililan Dain in 4:02 [I never cared for Dain. However, I dig oddball tag teams and this could be fun. **]

Drake wants to dance after the bell. Dain knocks him out instead but carries him to the back safely.

A Toni Storm vignette airs. She talks about how she won the Mae Young Classic and NXT UK Women’s Title but nobody talks about her anymore. That’s about to change. This Toni Storm is like nothing we’ve seen before.

While walking their dog, the Garganos say that TakeOver went terribly and they deserve rematches. They might need to focus on something new. As they get home, Candice spots a 65″ TV from Indi Hartwell. Johnny hears Indi’s name and disses her but when he sees the TV, he praises her.

Austin Theory vs. Leon Ruff

Ruff is part of the newest Performance Center class. He gets a quick rollup for two but is then run over. Ruff slips on two different spots and gets hit with the ATL.

Winner: Austin Theory in 1:49 [NR]

Theory cuts a promo and says that he’s the future of NXT. There’s nothing anyone, including Adam Cole, can do about it. He says he’ll put anyone in their place now. He’s interrupted by Dexter Lumis.

Austin Theory vs. Dexter Lumis

Lumis starts hot and causes Theory to regroup outside. Lumis gets two inside before a break. Returning, Theory has control and wears down Lumis with rest holds. He gets two on a moonsault. It takes a bit but Lumis gets going and lights Theory up with strikes. His rolling monkey flip looks quite cool. Theory stops him in his tracks with a sweet dropkick but Lumis is up first. Theory has no idea how to deal with this. Lumis catches him as he tries to escape. He hits the uranage and applies the Anaconda Vice to win.

Winner: Dexter Lumis in 12:09 [Lumis matches still don’t really work for me. This was kind of bland. **1/4]

Lumis has his celebration cut short by Cameron Grimes showing up and hitting the Cave In. He tells Lumis to answer questions when he asks him.

Dakota and Raquel are interviewed about attacking Rhea. Dakota says Rhea got in their business last week. Raquel says she’ll deal with Rhea once and for all, while Dakota says Ember must get in line behind her.

Backstage, Grimes says you don’t mess with him and that he’s going to the moon.

A video package airs to recap Bálor/O’Reilly. They both ended up in the hospital and Finn has two fractures in his jaw.

Earlier today, Ridge Holland is asked why he attacked Cole. He arrived in a Mercedes and said he didn’t have it last week but now he does. That’s what beating up Adam Cole does for you.

They run a Superstar Profile on Damian Priest. He gets interviewed and says that anyone who wants his title can get a reckoning.

Danny Burch vs. Ridge Holland

Burch comes out firing and puts Ridge on his ass in the corner. He holds nothing back with his strikes. Holland is quickly back up after each and hits a few moves, capped with Northern Grit. That ends it.

Winner: Ridge Holland in 2:05 [NR]

Holland disrespects Burch after the bell, so Danny gets up and slaps him. He attacks and out comes Oney Lorcan. Oney sends him packing but Holland gets back in and takes him down with a tackle. Officials break things up. As Ridge is outside, Oney hits a tope onto him. Ridge is again quickly up and fights back. Things finally get split up and Oney hits another dive outside onto Ridge before it’s broken up again. it looks like when Oney landed on him, Ridge hurt his leg.

At the Gargano house. Johnny set up the TV and there was a USB included. The video showcases the women’s battle royal from a few weeks ago. It has a spotlight on Indi continually saving Candice from elimination throughout.

Time for Thatch-as-Thatch-can. He basically tortures people as he talks about how life grinds you down until you quit.

They show that Holland’s leg may have broken and he did a stretcher job. It seems legitimate.

Shotzi Blackheart vs. Xia Li

They instantly come out firing on each other. Xia seems more aggressive than usual, reeling off several corner shoulder thrusts. Shotzi turns it around and wins with the top rope senton in short order.

Winner: Shotzi Blackheart in 1:47 [NR]

After the loss, Boa shows up in a suit and hands a piece of paper to Xia Li. She reads it and leaves with him.

Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Ember Moon and Rhea Ripley

Ember has new music that’s much lamer than her previous one. She starts with Dakota and works over the arm a bit. Dakota slams her down and tags Raquel. She runs over Ember at times but when Dakota gets the tag, she gets her ass kicked. Ember WRECKS her with a tope suicida and Rhea cuts off an interfering Raquel with a somersault off the apron. Ripley gets tagged and a Raquel boots sends her outside heading into break. Returning, Rhea takes the heat as Raquel stretcher her with a brutal looking submission. Rhea ultimately elbows free. They keep the pressure on Rhea and continue to isolate her. Ember gets the tag eventually and comes in hot, hitting various things including a leaping Codebreaker for two. Gonzalez stops her streak and gets two on a powerslam. Rhea and Kai end up legal and Rhea puts her down for a near fall. dakota gets two on the Kairopractor. Tag to Ember and Raquel interrupts but eats a DDT. Rhea clotheslines her out but is then knocked out by Kai. Ember catches Kai with a popup powerbomb. Raquel cuts her off up top and Rhea gets her on her shoulders. Kai kicks Rhea, sending both into the announce table. Ember beats Dakota with the Eclipse.

Winners: Ember Moon and Rhea Ripley in 11:51 [That was good but the rust on Ember was clear. She wasn’t nearly as crisp as she has been in the past. Still, the other girls looked good and this did what it had to. ***]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

That was an enjoyable episode of TV. They didn't put on any fantastic matches or anything like that but a lot of it was entertaining, they set things up for the future and there were good matches.