Kevin’s WWE NXT Review 3.31.21

Cameron Grimes vs. Roderick Strong

These guys are pulling double duty tonight. Grimes puts up a logo mimicking the Undisputed Era with his name on it before the bell. Roddy attacks and is on the offensive to start, wailing on Grimes. A chop that he hits wrecks Grimes. Strong tells him to shut up before Grimes gets in a cheap shot that turns the tide a bit. Strong with a leg lariat that stops him. A clothesline sends Grimes outside and Roddy follows with the wrecking ball dropkick. He continues the chops and strikes out there. A slight distraction opens the door for Grimes to send him into the plexiglass going into commercial. Returning, Grimes has remained in control. Roddy tries to rally but is taken down for a near fall. Strong still gets in some shots and adds a huge superplex. Roddy fires off running forearms and kicks until Grimes catches him with a moonsault slam for two. He pulls out something from his trunks but takes an Olympic Slam. The object falls and Roddy picks it up as an Undisputed Era armband. It distracts him enough for Grimes to hit Cave In and win.

Winner: Cameron Grimes in 11:47 [A good way to start the show. Two talented dudes having a quality match. ***]

A video package airs of Karrion Kross training for TakeOver.

After a break, a video package airs of WALTER talking about Tommaso Ciampa. he’s aware of how he was a dominant and ruthless champion. After his injury, WALTER knows that championships and such aren’t the most important thing to him. That’s the difference between them as WALTER is dedicated to the sport and the title.

Legado del Fantasma is in the ring. Escobar issues an open challenge and puts himself over. Tyler Breeze comes out and says he worked his ass off to be here and accepts the challenge.

Santos Escobar vs. Tyler Breeze

Santos with aggression at the start, stomping away on Breeze in the corner and talking smack. Breeze fights back and sends him outside. He takes out Wilde and Mendoza before kicking Santos heading into break. Returning, Santos wears down Breeze in the corner and hits running knees for two. He works a surfboard to stretch Breeze in vicious ways. Breeze rallies and slaps on a Sharpshooter, which is fitting while he wears black and pink. Santos manages to reach the ropes and that’s it for Breeze’s threat. Santos hits the Phantom Driver to secure the victory.

Winner: Santos Escobar in 10:40 [This was solid but nothing more. **3/4]

Legado look to beat on Breeze but MSK run out to make the save. Legado escape but Grizzled Young Vets interrupt on the tron. They say that MSK is distracted by memes while Legado are distracted by trying to impress Santos. Meanwhile, they’re focused on being the next champions.

The Way is interviewed backstage. Johnny complains about the gauntlet eliminator. He asks why Austin Theory is in it and Austin says they can pull off the fingerpoke of doom if he wins. Johnny says that killed the business but they’re still here so it’s okay. Candice and Indi plan on showing what a real women’s tag team is like tonight.

A small dog is shown walking up to the Performance Center and then Beth Phoenix is like, “WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?”

Last week, Io Shirai was asked if she may have bitten off more than she could chew by challenging Raquel Gonzalez. Io says that’s why she picked her.

Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell vs. Gigi Dolan and Zeda Ramir?

Indi starts with Gigi (Priscilla Kelly for those unaware) and Gigi works some technical stuff including a snapmare and kick to the back. She misses a boot and Indi hits a sidewalk slam. Gigi sends her into a tag to Candice. Gigi gets booted away into the opposite corner. Gigi avoids her and struggles to the tag, which she does to her partner whose name I didn’t get. I think it’s Zeda something. I’ll go with that. Zeda gets going on offense but ends up eating the Wicked Stepsister and an Indi flying elbow to lose.

Winners: Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell in 3:09 [Mostly a squash. NR]

Candice gets on the microphone and says there isn’t a woman in the back who deserves to be champion more than her. She’s not wrong. They’re coming for the Tag Titles and they’ll do it their way at TakeOver. Ember and Shotzi show up to respond. They run Candice and Indi down for thinking the titles belong to them but they do accept the challenge. Shotzi then shoots Indi with the tank and whatever they shoot hits Indi in the crotch.

Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez walk backstage as Raquel gets ready for a match. Io Shirai walks up to her and says she can’t kill her. Io attacks and they brawl. Dakota comes over to help and Io is slammed onto a crate before officials break it up.

The small dog has made it into the PC!

Backstage, Roderick Strong is walking out of the building. He tells the interviewer that he’s done and he’s going home.

Raquel Gonzalez vs. Zoey Stark

Raquel overpowers Stark at the start but the feisty competitor gets going flipping over Raquel and dropkicking her into the corner. Her next move is stopped when Raquel simply slams her down for two. Raquel wears Zoey down with some rest holds. As Stark rallies, Raquel shrugs some of it off but then catches her plancha, only to be driven face first into the post. Dakota hits Zoey behind the referee’s back but is clotheslined over the guardrail for her troubles. Inside, Stark with a pump knee and forearm. Another big knee gets two. She also gets two on a nice flipping neckbreaker off the top. She is stopped in her tracks when Raquel catches her with the one-armed powerbomb.

Winner: Raquel Gonzalez in 4:54 [Zoey continues to give spirited runs. **3/4]

Io Shirai runs out against the wishes of officials and goes right after Raquel, dropkicking her to the outside. She follows with more shots but gets caught and launched into the plexiglass.

The dog now runs upstairs.

KUSHIDA is interviewed and says nothing will stop him from winning tonight. Pete Dunne interrupts to say that he’s the best technical wrestler in the world, not him. He dares KUSHIDA to try and prove him wrong. KUSHIDA said he heard him and will prove him wrong.

Time for a Prime Target special on the Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly match coming up. It should be watched. I won’t go into detail but it covers their history as friends and rivals, even including a photo from New Japan.

Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter vs. Mei Ying and Xia Li

Shouldn’t Kacy still be on the shelf? Mei is Xia’s master but she stays on the chair and Xia goes at it alone as Kacy jumps on her back. Xia has the upper hand until Kacy tries an inside cradle for two. She then leaps into a spin before hitting a Codebreaker in a sweet spot. Kayden leaves the apron like a dummy to attack Mei, who simply chokes her with the greatest of ease and then blows smoke in her face. In the ring, Xia hits a knee and then a spin kick to win.

Winners: Mei Ying and Xia Li in 3:07 [Not much here. NR]

Raquel is interviewed backstage and Io again attacks her. Raquel again puts a beating on her choking her and throwing her through a wall.

The dog finally makes it to its destination. It stops at the feet of someone wearing high-heeled boots. The screen reads, “See you April 13th. Franky.”

Tommaso Ciampa cuts a promo in the back. He talks about a necklace his wife and baby girl gave him when he went into surgery. It was ripped off when he was attacked last week. It reminded him of his journey. He’s heard the talk about him not being the 2018 Ciampa anymore. He has changed but that doesn’t mean he won’t take the head off of the dragon that is WALTER. He’d rather be the guy who has something to fight for. The blackheart and the Psycho Killer is still there.

The TakeOver cards are run down.

Now we hear from Finn Bálor who says he has been waiting for Kross for a long time. He talks about TakeOvers and how he’s used to it. His stamina is his strong suit and the longer the match goes, the closer Kross is to drowning. At TakeOver, Karrion chokes.

Gauntlet Eliminator Qualifying Battle Royal

The final six of these 11 men will qualify for the TakeOver Gauntlet Eliminator. Their order in that match is determined by how they’re eliminated here. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott is jumped by Leon Ruff during his entrance and Ruff sends him packing before wanting a dive but Scott bails to safety. After a break, everyone is in the ring. No Roderick Strong. I’ll just keep this to notable spots and eliminations to keep it simple. Thanks to help from Malcolm Bivens, Jake atlas is eliminated by Swerve (Rust was involved which is why Bivens helped). With Swerve on the apron, he backdrops Rust out. Dexter Lumis is just standing in the corner staring forward and nobody is messing with him. Theory is sent out but his feet didn’t touch the ground. To get back up, he chooses to nip up, which makes his feet touch the floor, causing him to be eliminated. KUSHIDA and Dunne have a good exchange of technical stuff and then both go over the top because of it as KUSHIDA traps Dunne in a Hoverboard Lock. That leaves us down to the six for TakeOver in Reed, Knight, Lumis (who still hasn’t done anything), Swerve, Ruff, and Grimes. The next two eliminated will start the Gauntlet Eliminator. William Regal announces that KUSHIDA will face Dunne on night one of TakeOver. That ends up being Ruff and Swerve, as expected. Everyone gangs up to dump out Reed, with Lumis finally getting involved. Grimes tries to pay off Lumis and Knight so they throw him out and send money flying everywhere. We’re down to Knight and Lumis. They go back and forth, with Knight surviving to win.

Winner: LA Knight in 12:56 [Your typical battle royal. **1/2]

We’re not done as a beaten Io Shirai makes her way out to the ring and gets a microphone, demanding Raquel Gonzalez come out. Raquel answers, Io attacks, and the locker room has to keep them apart. Raquel shoves most of them away but Io hits her on the apron. She is sent back but dropkicks her off. Then, Io attacks the girls trying to hold her back and she adds a springboard splash onto everyone else.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

As usual, NXT delivers a quality episode of TV. Nothing about it was must-see but it was entertaining and helped to build TakeOver.