wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s WWE NXT Review 3.10.21
Loading...William Regal is out for the “game-changing” announcements. He throws to a video package about TakeOvers, announcing that for the first time, we’re getting a two-night TakeOver. TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, on 4/7 on USA and 4/8 on Peacock. The second announcement sees the women’s roster gathered on the stage. He puts over the division and then brings the Dusty Cup winners, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, into the ring. Due to last week’s injustice, Regal has created NXT Women’s Tag Titles and Kai and Gonzalez are the first champions. Kai puts over the talented division and says they still beat everyone involved. Raquel tells everyone to get used to this. Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon come up and say they want a title shot tonight. Regal books the match.
NXT Women’s Championship: Io Shirai [c] vs. Toni Storm
Right off the bat, Toni takes the upper hand with a corner hip attack but her tope suicida is cut off by a forearm. Io enters with a double stomp. Their next exchange is won out by Io with a basement dropkick. Io works ab abdominal stretch for a bit before firing off chops. Going outside, Toni cuts her down on an Asai moonsault attempt before tossing her into the steel steps heading into commercial. Returning, Io fights back with shoulder blocks and a flapjack. Springboard dropkick gets two. The fight goes up top and Toni hits a superplex. Toni gets two on a German suplex. Toni continues on offense and adds a sliding clothesline. Io counters a Storm Zero attempt on the apron and adds a moonsault off the top. Back inside, both women get close calls, including Io with her crossface but Toni reaches the ropes. Running knees connect for the champion. She steps on Toni and goes up but misses the moonsault. Toni pounces and hits Storm Zero for a near fall. Toni wants a diving headbutt but misses and Io traps her in the crossface. Surprisingly, Toni taps out.
Winner: Io Shirai in 11:58 [A hell of a match that was probably Toni’s best singles one in NXT. I do think they have something better in them, especially knowing their STARDOM stuff, so it was a bit anti-climactic. ***3/4]
Backstage, Finn Balor cuts a promo saying he and Adam Cole are the biggest names in NXT history. Tonight is no blindsides or cheap shots, just one on one. He beat him to win it and will do so to retain it.
LA Knight is interviewed and he basically dares anyone to step up to him. Bronson Reed shows up and chokes him until officials separate them. Reed says Knight is about to debut against him next week.
Jake Atlas vs. Pete Dunne
Dunne comes out aggressively, clearly in a foul mood from TakeOver. Atlas tries to meet that level but he just can’t. Dunne puts him on his heels and holds serve but Atlas does come back with a series of boots and kicks. His standing moonsault is caught into a submission but he cartwheels free ad snaps off a German. Soccer kick and moonsault connects for two. Dunne weathers the storm and snaps back on the arm, wrenching on the fingers, to win via submission.
Winner: Pete Dunne in 4:23 [Just what it needed to be. Atlas got in a bit of fiery offense and Dunne kicked ass. **]
Post-match, Dunne gets on the microphone to say that this is what happens when you try to step up to him. He’s the best technical wrestler in the world and he dares someone to test that.
Imperium gets promo time in the back where Marcel Barthel addresses Timothy Thatcher and offers him a spot with them because he belongs with them. They’ll even make room for Ciampa out of respect for him.
Leon Ruff cuts a promo in the back saying that he’s sick of people thinking that he lucked into opportunities. It’s not Swerve’s House. He beat him and has held it down since arriving in NXT. It’ll be another Ruff landing for Swerve next week.
NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez [c] vs. Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart
Ember charges in but gets sent packing with a series of Kai kicks. Tag to Shotzi, who catches Kai kicks in the corner and puts her in a cloverleaf. Kai is trapped in it for a bit but finally gets free before a commercial break. Returning, Kai now has control and works a body scissors on Shozi. Shotzi fights free, hits an enziguri, and tags Ember. She knocks Raquel off the apron and then fires off clotheslines and slams on Kai. Senton connects before an awkward stomp. She adds a dropkick and hits a leaping Codebreaker on Raquel, who then pulls Kai to safety outside. Shotzi goes through Ember’s legs with a tope suicida on Raquel. Inside, Ember gets two on a roll up. Things turn around as Raquel assisted Kai with a Go to Kick that gets two. She destroys Ember with a flipping chokeslam of sorts but Shotzi breaks up the pin. Shotzi enters against Kai with a flurry of offense including a big knee and she scores a near fall. Tandem moves from the challengers capped by a slingshot splash from Ember for two. Tandem wheelbarrow suplex on kai but Raquel breaks the pin and chokes Shozi. She breaks it with a neckbreaker and Ember wants the Eclipse. Raquel blocks it mid-move and then stops a rana. Ember ends up deadlifted for a powerbomb but Kai is sent into Raquel, knocking them off the apron. Shotzi then rolls up Kai and gets the three count.
Winners: Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in 12:16 [The match itself was really good, just a shad under the TakeOver one. I’m not a fan of the result as I’d have loved to see Dakota get a real title reign instead of one that lasts 57 minutes. ***1/2]
Adam Cole cuts a promo backstage saying this and everything else he does is about the NXT Title. People looked at Finn as the best NXT Champion but he had a 403-day reign that was far better. He beat everybody.
Various women congratulate Ember and Shotzi in the back, while Candice and Indi boo them. They walk over to Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory shows up to wonder why Johnny paid the therapist last week. Johnny says therapy isn’t free. Johnny gets Austin mad by saying that Dexter suggested Austin had a mediocre abdominal region. Austin rips his shirt off and storms away.
Kayden Carter vs. Xia Li
Xia goes to attack before the bell but Carter is ready and dropkicks her. Xia catches her next kick and fires off some of her own. Carter weathers the storm and rolls her way into a superkick. Xia starts attacking the leg as Kacy Catanzaro comes out on crutches. Xia starts stomping on Kayden’s leg like she did to Kacy and says it’s for Kacy. Kacy hits her with her crutch, resulting in a DQ.
Winner via DQ: Xia Li in 2:09 [NR]
Kacy attacks more with the crutch, saying Xia took it too far. Boa enters and breaks her crutch but then Kayden Carter uses the other one to hit him and they escape before anything more can happen.
Jordan Devlin cuts a promo from an airport saying that it’s tough to have the biggest TakeOver ever without the real Cruiserweight Champion. His travel ban has been lifted and he’ll be in NXT next week to see Santos Escobar.
A Zoey Stark vignette airs.
Santos Escobar complains to Regal about Devlin coming next week. He tells Legado to go out and compete while he handles business.
Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado Del Fantasma
Zack Gibson disses LDF for being Santos’s puppets. The match goes on for a minute or so before Breezango shows up dressed as astronauts. That distracts Wilde long enough for Drake to level him. The astronauts remove their helmets and it’s MSK. That distraction lets Wilde roll up Drake to win.
Winners: Legado del Fantasma in 1:41 [NR]
GYV goes after MSK but they get beat up and Wes Lee crushes Gibson’s hand with the helmet. Meanwhile, the real Breezango hits the ring to get revenge on Legado del Fantasma. The babyface teams celebrate by dancing together.
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez are interviewed backstage. Kai freaks out about the interviewer asking stupid questions. Raquel says they were still the first champions. Io Shirai shows up and says she wants Raquel next. Raquel says, “be careful what you wish for.”
Timothy Thatcher is interviewed about Imperium’s words earlier. Ciampa shows up and says he knows his answer for Imperium. He’s more interested in WALTER, who sits comfortably with his title across the pond. Ciampa says he got a tag match against Imperium next week. Thatcher looks unsure.
NEXT WEEK ~ Austin Theory vs. Dexter Lumis! LA Knight’s debut! Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah Scott!
NXT Championship: Finn Bálor [c] vs. Adam Cole
Cole still has the Undisputed Era theme and is wearing the gear he wore when he originally won the title. Lots of trash talk before the bell. Their first exchange goes to a stalemate heading into break. Returning, Finn hits a roll through dropkick but Cole quickly gains the upper hand and is in firm control until he takes a dropkick to the knee. Finn gets going and puts a target on the knee but eats an enziguri. Cole has a TKO countered into the Final Cut for two. They go to another break after Finn delivers a vicious suplex on the stage. Returning again, they are trading shots inside before Cole hits a brainbuster on the knee that gets a near fall. Finn fires up with Slingblade and the John Woo dropkick. He goes up for the Coup de Grace but Cole avoids it and hits a superkick to the previously injured jaw. Finn holds it like it broke but kicks out. Cole slaps on a crossface and Cole rolls away from the ropes to the middle of the ring. Finn rolls out of it and turns it into a submission of his own but he can’t get it on completely. Cole goes back to the crossface but Finn makes it to the ropes. They go into another exchange where Cole hits a superkick. He connects on the Last Shot but Finn somehow gets the shoulder up. Cole goes up for the Panama Sunrise and hits it. He covers and Finn again kicks out. ole doe the gun taunt but has the Last Shot avoided as Finn sends him over the top. Kyle O’Reilly appears in the crowd, which distracts Cole. Finn hits a tope suicida and adds 1916 outside. Coup de Grace inside ends it.
Winner: Finn Balor in 20:06 [A hell of a main event in a different way than the opener. I think they went a bit overboard with the close calls/false finishes down the stretch but the ending made sense and the whole thing was great. ****]
Kyle hits the ring and takes the armband off Cole before getting some revenge, brawling with him. He goes to hit a brainbuster on the steps but officials stop him. Kyle continues the attack on the stage. In the ring, Finn says, “What took you so long?” and turns around to come face to face with Karrion Kross.
