Kevin’s WWE NXT Review 11.4.20

Dakota Kai vs. Ember Moon

We barely get entrances here. Dakota takes Ember to the mat with some arm work at the start. Ember rallies and hits an impressive looking senton that has Kai reeling. Ember avoids a corner shot and brings her over the middle turnbuckle but is pulled into the post with her shoulder hitting it. Kai pulls on it to add more pressure. From there, Kai wears down Ember on the mat with various holds and submissions. The main focus is on the shoulder. They start going at it with Ember hitting a springboard kick and Kai nailing a superkick. Ember hits a tope suicida but misses a second one heading into break. Returning, commentary says Kai dominated that section. Moon takes a wheelbarrow facebuster for two. Moon fights back with her first legitimate near fall. She slaps on a crossface in the middle of the ring by goading Kai into position after avoiding a forearm. Kai counters and it leads to several flash pin attempts on both sides. Kai works an armbar but Ember makes it to the ropes. She holds on until the count of four and is frustrated. Ember fires up and lays into Kai with forearms and knees. She wants the Eclipse but Gonzalez distracts her and Kai crotches her up top. Kai hits the Go to Kick and wins.

Winner: Dakota Kai in 16:20 [A very good way to start the show. These two went back and forth and had a hell of a match with Ember looking the best that she has since coming back. ***1/2]

Cameron Grimes gets scared of McKenzie Mitchell but says he’s over last week. That wasn’t even a real match. He’ll beat KUSHIDA tonight but the referee coming up to him made him yell “ZOMBIE” and run off.

Shotzi Blackheart is interviewed about facing Toni Storm tonight. She picked Toni personally as a reward for hosting last week. She calls Toni

Cameron Grimes vs. KUSHIDA

Again, only the end of KUSHIDA’s entrance and none for Grimes. They start with a quick pace and Grimes get caught in an armbar. KUSHIDA keeps him from the ropes at every turn. He finally gets free and counters an armbreaker with a shot to the lower back. He catches him with a stun gun for a near fall heading into break. Returning, Grimes stomps away on KUSHDA in the corner but he fights back with kicks to the arm. The handspring back elbow connects and he adds a high cross body for two. He catches the kickoff and holds the arms as he goes to stomp on Grimes’ head. Grimes avoids it and rolls him up with tights for two. They go into an exchange where Grimes hits a sitout powerbomb for two. They fight up top where Grimes gets crotched. KUSHIDA with the fastball punch and a single arm DDT off the top. With the arm damaged, he hits a soccer kick to it. However, before he can capitalize, the referee gets hit twice. KUSHIDA puts on the Hoverboard Lock and Grimes taps but there’s no official. After KUSHIDA checks on the ref, Grimes hit shim with the moonsault slam. The zombie ref from last week runs out and Grimes is terrified. As he runs away, KUSHIDA catches him in the Hoverboard Lock. Grimes looks at the ref, screams, and taps.

Winner: Cameron Grimes in 14:05 [Quality match. It got hurt a bit by the break but was solid throughout. ***]

Toni Storm puts over Shotzi and is flattered that she was picked but Shotzi made a bad decision. She will use Shotzi as a stepping stone.

Io Shirai gets a vignette explaining what’s next. To prove that this is indeed her NXT, she wants to face Rhea Ripley one on one. She’s not afraid of a nightmare.

Drake Maverick and Killian Dain vs. Ever-Rise

Dain didn’t stop the theme music this week. Dain starts hot for his team but when Drake enters, he gets isolated. He lowbridges an opponent but I can never tell who is how in Ever-Rise. As he hits him off the apron, we get a split-screen that shows the arrival of Pat McAfee and his buddies. The “Kings of NXT” apparently. Pat commanders a camera as they head inside. They hit the ring and cause a no contest.

No Contest in 3:53 [Not much of a match. NR]

Even Dain gets beat up. After they finish, Pat goes into selfie mode and puts them over as the best four-man group in wrestling. He says to smile and they all do except Pete, who snarls.

Returning, Pat cuts  apromo and says they aren’t scumbags. They’re classy and will commemorate the previous great four-man group, The Undisputed Era and put their shirt up in the rafters. Screenshots in the background are shown as Pat discusses their history. When they get to Roddy joining, Pete Dunne says that they taught him to trust the right people. He’s back with a vendetta. Pat says that NXT changed their business model to appease the group and that held down the likes of Oney and Danny. After talking about the group, they vote and decide not to raise the banner for UE and they instead want to throw it in the trash. They dump the flag and burn it. The group walks out to their car and Dain attacks McAfee but the other guys jump him and Dunne kicks the car door into Dain’s head.

At his home, Johnny Gargano talks about how much he loves wheels. There are a bunch around, including on a game board. He also makes history, especially as the first two-time North American Champion. He gets a call from Ghostface, who says they’re in the house. They’re actually sitting with him and their turn is next in the game. Next week, Johnny says he fixes the one blemish on his legacy, which is not being able to defend a singles title successfully. He’ll do that next week against a “worthy” opponent.

Shotzi Blackheart vs. Toni Storm

Shotzi wants to fight immediately, upset that Toni called her a stepping stone. Toni with an atomic drop and big boot to the chest. Shotzi wants a springboard move but slips and crashes. Apparently, Shotzi is also blaming Toni for her tank going missing. They go back and forth with each woman picking up a near fall or two. Toni wears her down on the mat for a bit. Butterfly suplex gets two. She remains in control heading into break. Returning, Shotzi gets going and hits a facebuster. She adds the rope hung senton for two. Toni fights back with a German suplex. Shotzi blocks the Storm Zero and hits a saito suplex for two. Toni stops her with a headbutt and falls on her for two. With Toni on the apron, Shotzi hits a springboard tornado DDT that looks awkward. Shotzi beats the count back in and the referee stops counting. Candice LeRae appears on the tron to say that someone put Shotzi’s tank in the middle of the road. Toni sneaks in and wins with a pinning combination.

Winner: Toni Storm in 13:49 [They threw bombs at each other and it led to a very entertaining outing. The women continue to be the best part of wrestling. However, that finish was pretty lame, especially since Toni should’ve been counted out. ***1/4]

Candice continues on the screen and stops a big truck in the road. She then takes over as the driver and runs over Shotzi’s tank as revenge for her interference last week. Ghostface is in the car with Candice. Shotzi sells this like it broke her heart.

Earlier today, Legado del Fantasma arrived. Santos says he beat Jake Atlas clean last week. Atlas shows up in a car and has a weapon as he beats on the henchmen before driving off.

It’s time for another live Thatch-as-Thatch-can. His student this time is a guy named Akeem. Thatcher shows off how to reverse stuff and takes pleasure in torturing him. Akeem is annoyed but sticks around for another hold. As he beats up Akeem more, the student from last week runs out and sends Thatcher packing.

Xia Li is interviewed backstage. She explains that the letters she has received are from her family. She needs to turn things around. William Regal shows up with another letter for her. Xia reads it and says she must challenge Raquel Gonzalez, who dishonored her last week.

Rhea Ripley gets a vignette to say that 2020 has been trash and she has wanted her one on one shot at the title since she lost it. She says Io doesn’t have to be scared of her. She knows Io is terrified of losing the title, which is what she will make come true.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream

Their NXT Title match in 2018 got ****1/2 from me. Ciampa opens by shoving Dream, who is in nWo style gear. Ciampa goes right after the arm which is still in a cast. He lays Dream on the announce table and fakes a running knee, instead slamming Dream’s hand on the table and then patting himself on the back. Dream tries to walk out but Ciampa brings him back and delivers a huge pump knee. Dream avoids the Fairytale Ending but keeps getting the hand worked over regardless. Ciampa stomps on him outside heading into break. Returning, Dream has started a comeback and uses his good hand to fire off shots. Still, Ciampa sets him up top for a superplex that connects for two. They start trading stuff and both go over the top to the outside on a suplex counter. Dream superkicks him and sends a steel chair inside. The referee removes it and Dream leaps off the top into a pump knee. Ciampa takes him over into Willow’s Bell and transitions into the Fairytale Ending.

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa in 13:33 [Solid enough main event. I liked the hand work and the fact that Ciampa got to kick Dream’s ass. ***]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

My kind of wrestling show. The two hours mostly flew by. There were five matches and four of them were good, while another advanced an angle. The Pat segment was golden again and I just found this to be a really entertaining show.