Kevin’s WWE NXT Review 1.29.20

Weekly recap opens the show as always. Beth Phoenix is upset about what Randy Orton did to Edge but he urged her to come to work anyway.

Finn Balor vs. Trent Seven

This stems from Moustache Mountain stopping Finn Balor from attacking Johnny Gargano at Worlds Collide. Last night, Balor attacked Seven when he got out of his car at the PC and choked him with the door. It was a great clip. Balor leveled Seven during his entrance, knocking him off the apron. Seven still opted to compete and Balor rocks him with a dropkick at the bell. Balor remains aggressive, stomping on Seven, hitting him outside, and doing a standing double stomp for two. Seven gets two on a small package and starts firing back with strikes only to eat Slingblade. During the break, Balor slows the pace and wears down Seven. Returning, Seven fires off chops to rally and hits the Seven Star Lariat for two. Finn stops his momentum with the John Woo dropkick and Coup de Grace. He wraps it up with 1916.

Winner: Finn Balor in 10:09 [***]

Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviews the Broserweights about tonight. Riddle says he can see the love from his Bro from another Mo whenever Pete looks at him. Pete hilariously has the angriest straight face on. Dunne says they’ll snap the Grizzled Young Vets if they have to. When they win, everyone will see that Pete is ready to party.

We get a recap video of Dakota Kai’s attack on Tegan Nox at TakeOver: War Games, as well as Tegan’s on Dakota at Worlds Collide. They meet tonight!

A weird video aired with two blue circles on the top corners of a black screen and three yellow circles featuring the numbers 5, 20, and 2 in them.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Shotzi Blackheart

Shotzi came out driving a tank. Purrazzo puts the focus on the arm as you’d expect from her. Shotzi makes her comeback with some knees and a bulldog. She shows off the Question Mark Kick for a near fall. She adds a lungblower and top rope senton to win.

Winner: Shotzi Blackheart in 3:21 [**]

A recap airs of Keith Lee winning the North American Title last week. He hits Full Sail next.

A Worlds Collide highlight video runs.

Out comes Keith Lee for a promo. He says he’s our limitless North American Champion. “You deserve it” chants. He talks about ending the Undisputed Era’s prophecy but before he can discuss what’s next, Damian Priest interrupts. Priest says he likes taking things and what he wants is the title. Next to show up is Dominik Dijakovic. He puts Lee over as deserving. He adds that “bootleg Marilyn Manson” won’t be first to challenge Keith, it’ll be him. Lee goes to leave them to discuss it but Djiakovic stops him. Priest grabs Dominik and Lee leaves anyway. Priest levels him and a referee is out.

Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic

The fight almost instantly spills outside where Priest hits a crucifix bomb onto the apron. Commercial time. Returning, Dijakovic gets in offense in the ring before Priest fires off kicks and strikes, culminating with a clothesline. He hits a lifting Flatliner for two. Priest blocks a kick but is still hit with a choke bomb for a near fall. Outside, Dijakovic hits an Asai moonsault. They continue to trade big blows inside before fighting up top. Priest gets two on a ridiculous avalanche posion rana. He has the Reckoning counters andDijakovic hits Feast Your Eyes to win.

Winner: Dominik Dijakovic in 8:40 [***1/4]

Grizzled Young Veterans prepare for the Dusty Finals backstage.

Cathy Kelley interviews Tommaso Ciampa about the possibility of being announced as Adam Cole’s challenger for TakeOver: Portland. He says Goldie comes home at TakeOver and he makes sure of it tonight, walking off with a pipe.

Backstage, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong are all knocked out. Tommaso Ciampa walks out from around a corner with a pipe and with his shirt ripped. he limps away and towards the arena. He brings a table with him. Adam Cole finds his friends out and heads to the arena. He calls out Ciampa for being a coward. Ciampa says he never lost the title and that he’s Goldie’s daddy. Ciampa demands he comes to the ring and sign a contract for a title match at TakeOver on the table he brought in. William Regal comes out to say that Cole already signed the contract, not concerned about who he faces. Cole snatches the contract and walks down to the ring. Ciampa charges when he gets on the apron and Cole hits him with the microphone. Ciampa turns the tide and powerbombs him through the table. A bleeding Ciampa signs the contract and wipes the blood on the paper before staring at Goldie with blood dripping onto it.

A highlight video airs to showcase Bianca Belair’s stellar Royal Rumble performance. 33 minutes and 8 eliminations. She goes face to face with Rhea Ripley next week.

Jordan Devlin’s win from Worlds Collide was highlighted. He appears on NXT next week!

Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox

Tegan comes out carrying her knee brace. As she stands in the ring, a black and white video plays on the tron of Dakota attacking her at War Games. Dakota hits the ring and Tegan throws the brace at her. She catches it and gets hit. Dakota turns it around and hits a running boot before Tegan comes back with the running corner senton. They fight outside and through the crowd, with the referee putting on the count. Tegan breaks it at 7 but takes a big boot. Dakota throws the timekeeper to the side and tries using a chair but Tegan stops her and sends her into the ring post. Dakota whiffs with the knee brace and takes a German suplex. Candice LeRae shows up to stop Dakota from using the chair and the referee is distracted, allowing Tegan to use the knee brace for the win.

Winner: Tegan Nox in 3:14 [**1/2]

The circles and 2 5 20 seems to indicate 2/5/20.

Chelsea Green vs. Kayden Carter

Green slows down Carter after a quick start and kicks her into the turnbuckle. Carter fires back with quick offense and a series of kicks that gets her a near fall. She gets stopped when she runs into a big boot. Green wastes time talking trash and Carter pulls her into a small package for the win.

Winner: Kayden Carter in 3:14 [*]

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: The Broserweights vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

Hot start here with a ton of action. Dunne hits a dive to the outside but their hot streak is ended when GYV team up for a pescado spike shoulder breaker on the outside. Or maybe it was a spike Tombstone. Hard to tell. Commercial time with Dunne in trouble. After the break, Riddle gets the hot tag and lights up Gibson and Drake. He hits an Exploder and the Broton. A PK and a deadlift German suplex get him a near fall. Riddle adds a Jackhammer and then combos with Dunne for a powerbomb into the knees. Riddle gets the wind knocked out of him and Gibson takes control, hitting a modified Saito suplex for two. Things break down as everyone gets involved. A barrage of offense ends with a powerbomb and flash knee from Riddle on Drake for two. Gibson and Dunne relive their UK Title match from 2018 with a huge fistfight. Dunne with a German suplex and stomp on the digits before rolling into an ankle lock. Riddle slides in and throws Drake down into one. They get out heading into another break. Returning, Dunne gets a near fall before getting trapped in the Shankly Gates. Drake pulls the bottom rope away from Dunne and he is brought to the middle of the ring. Drake tries to stop Riddle with a choke but he gets up with him on his back and spears Gibson. The Broserweights hit the Bitter End onto the knee but it’s’ only a near fall. Gibson cuts off a spike tombstone spot and Drake rolls up Riddle for two. Dunne takes a Doomsday tope suicida on the outside and is out. Riddle takes a corner dropkick and a 450 splash but kicks out. Dunne returns and they both hit Bro Dereks. Riddle and Dunne go up to the same corner. Dunne with a moonsault to the outside on Gibson and Riddle with the Floating Bro on Drake. Inside, the Broserweights hit the Go to Sleep/enziguri combo to win.

Winners: The Broserweights in 21:09 [***3/4]

The Broserweights celebrate in the ring with the Dusty Cup and pyro.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

While this wasn't one of the better episodes of NXT lately, it was still really good. We had a strong main event, some serious angle advancement, and a the Ciampa/Cole segment came off very well. Another two hour show that flew by.