Kevin’s NXT Review 7.20.21

NXT

July 20th, 2021 | Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida

Samoa Joe opened the show and called out Karrion Kross but William Regal came out to stop him. Joe said the agreement was that he wouldn’t do it unless provoked and he has been provoked. Joe also insinuated that Regal didn’t know about Kross going to Raw. Regal said all hell would not break loose when Kross arrived but Joe guaranteed this would end tonight.

Bobby Fish and KUSHIDA vs. Roderick Strong and Tyler Rust

I am really liking Diamond Mine so far. As expected, these are four quality wrestlers who know what they’re doing. KUSHIDA more than held his own against the heels but Bobby Fish found more trouble. He became the face in peril leading into the commercial break. I must say, it’s odd to see Bobby and Roddy on different sides, even if I remember their ROH feud. KUSHIDA got the hot tag and went at it with Rust, making me feel like that’s the Cruiserweight Title match they’re building toward. But, in a surprising result, KUSHIDA trapped him in the Hoverboard Lock for the submission win in 15:02. Really good match but questionable booking. Bobby Fish is RIGHT THERE to eat a fall instead of beating Diamond Mine already. [***¼]

Outside, Drake Maverick got into an altercation with LA Knight, who was bossing around Cameron Grimes, when he tried to help Grimes. That set up a match.

TakeOver is the night after SummerSlam.

Odyssey Jones video package for the Breakout Tournament. His name is dope.

Franky Monet vs. Jacy Jane

Jessi Kamea was with Monet. Robert Stone came out to talk to her and he even seemed to cheer on Monet. While Monet did her thing, Mandy Rose walked over to commentary and sat on the table, looking GOODT. Monet won with Road to Valhalla in 3:20 and honestly, this wasn’t a very good showing in a squash. [NR]

Johnny Gargano was interviewed about the loss last week but Kyle O’Reilly interrupted because he heard about Austin Theory dissing him last week. Kyle is in a fighting mood and challenged Theory, who accepted. Johnny said that he got himself into this mess and has to get himself out.

Bronson Reed was interviewed by Wade Barrett. He talked about how difficult it has been since losing the North American Title. However, he is still out to be the best, which is why he’s fighting Adam Cole next week.

Austin Theory vs. Kyle O’Reilly

This was the main event of EVOLVE 125, when Theory was champion there, and that’s available on Peacock. I laughed as Theory going for the no look high five with nobody next to him. Kyle got the upper hand to start, using a chop block and hitting a knee to the back, wearing down his larger opponent. Returning from a break, Kyle was firing off strikes until Theory hit a sweet rolling neckbreaker for two. That allowed Theory to take over for a while. Kyle got enraged as this went on and when they got near the steel steps, he seemed to have memories of taking a brainbuster onto them. Commentary sold this like he snapped. Ken Shamrock style. Kyle lit him up with strikes and kicks before beating him with the Heel Hook in 14:09. That was really good and the best showing Theory had in a while. Kyle continues to rule. If only he’d win more big matches. [***½]

Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai were interviewed about the main event. Raquel said Xia or her friends don’t scare her. When she said that after Xia, there would be nobody left to face, Dakota gave her a quick glance. Maybe I’m reading into this as a Dakota fan.

Legado Del Fantasma came out for a Mariachi Musical show to prove it’s the best music in the world but Santos Escobar sent away the players, changing his mind. Santos talked about what he would do with the North American Title until Hit Row Records interrupted. They ran down the crew for the music sucking and for Wilde and Mendoza having Santos as their “daddy.” Top Dolla said he was more Pablo Escobar than Santos. Swerve brought up how it took them all for Santos to beat him last year but now he has a crew of his own. Words led to a big brawl and in the end, Swerve leveled Santos. He threatened him with a mariachi guitar but missed and Santos escaped. However, Wilde was left to take a beating and he ate the guitar shot. I’m really liking this feud so far.

Backstage, The Way got into an argument as Candice was hard on them and Indi brought up Dexter Lumis again. While they fought, Austin Theory somberly said they were falling apart but got ignored. Johnny also ignored his high five attempt, so Theory walked out.

Joe and Regal again had words about what to do when Kross arrived.

NXT Breakout Tournament First Round: Andre Chase vs. Odyssey Jones

Big pop for Jones. For those unaware, Chase was formerly known as Harlem Bravado. This didn’t last long but the focus was on Jones’s athleticism. You could see that Chase was more polished but Jones did high impact moves and such. He won with Boss Man Slam style move in 3:21. [**]

MSK was interviewed about their next challengers and they accept anyone. When asked about what MSK stands for, their story was cut off by a video from Imperium dissing the tag division and saying they’re coming to fix it by any means necessary.

Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan got promo time to say they’re challenging Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher to a scrap next week. Should be fun.

Drake Maverick vs. LA Knight

Grimes was tasked with holding the Million Dollar Title high in the air outside. The match itself was kept short, with Drake hitting a sweet rana and showing his typical fire, while Knight threw him around a bit. When Knight stopped to yell at Grimes, Drake rolled him up to win in 2:28. Ho-hum. [NR]

Knight jumped Drake after the match and then ordered Grimes to also attack him, which he did because Grimes is a man of his word.

Someone who looks like Kross arrived and Joe went after him, only to be told that the NXT Champion went in through the other side.

NXT Women’s Championship: Raquel Gonzalez [c] vs. Xia Li

This is an interesting title match because both women have shown promise (Raquel more so) but neither are completely polished. Xia was out on her own. Raquel easily overpowered Xia to start but the challenger turned it around by avoiding a big boot and wrapping the leg around the ring post. Gotta chop down that tree. Through a commercial break, Xia kept that focus on the leg and wore the champion down, even coming close to winning with a half crab. Raquel rallied and hit a twisting Vader Bomb but then officials stopped to check on Xia as if she was seriously injured. Xia got up to continue but was put down immediately after with the one-armed powerbomb in 10:50. A good main event that told a fine story but that ending was a damper. Hopefully, Xia is okay. [**¾]

As Dakota and Raquel celebrated, Samoa Joe stalked out past them and called out Karrion Kross. Kross appeared on screen to say that this is his world and he can do anything he wants and hurt anyone he wants. The camera panned down to show him standing over a fallen William Regal. Kross escaped in his car as Joe got there too late. Boy, I am not feeling this feud since Joe is so vastly superior to Kross in every facet

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

After a lackluster week, NXT only rebounds slightly to above average. I get it, since the NBA Finals likely dominated ratings. Still, this at least had a decent main event and a very good Kyle/Austin match. Otherwise, it was mostly skippable but certainly not bad.