Kevin’s WWE NXT Super Tuesday 9.1.20 Review

We open to a video package recapping last week and hyping the NXT Title match tonight.

Street Fight: Breezango and Isaiah Scott vs. Legado Del Fantasma

I appreciate Legado del Fantasma wearing street clothes. They start by taking out the faces with dives and they then brawl outside. Lots of clubbing shots and various weapons being used. Fandango even does his best Terry Funk ladder airplane spin gimmick. Breeze uses a fire extinguisher to send the heels packing heading into commercial. Returning, Fandango is in pain through a broken table. Durin the break, Legado Del Fantasma put him through it with a springboard dropkick. The also hit a trio of corner dropkicks. Imperium runs out and shows up to get revenge on Breezango. Legado del Fantasma’s momentum gets stopped when Fandango and Scott bring out a damn forklift and hit stereo somersault dives off of it. Breezango then hit dives onto everyone outside. That leaves Escobar to get pinned after Scott nails the JML Driver.

Winners: Breezango and Isaiah Scott in 11:53

[Very good six man tag. It was wild and had a lot of action crammed into the runtime. ***1/4]

Tegan Nox speaks about her relationship with Candice LeRae. She says that once Johnny started his “Gargano Way” stuff, she got a twinkle in her eye and completely changed as a person. This isn’t the person who she introduced to her nephews. She wants to hash it out because that’s her sister and she doesn’t want to live in a world where they aren’t friends.

Candice LeRae vs. Kacy Catanzaro

Quick start for Kacy until Candice hits a vicious neckbreaker and dropkicks her outside. Candice remains aggressive throughout but eats knees on a back elbow attempt. That gives Kacy the opening to fire up. Candice delivers the old Super Dragon Curb Stomp to win.

Winner: Candice LeRae in 3:00

[Mostly a squash but a good one as Kacy looks good out there each week. NR]

Candice cuts a promo saying that Kayden and Kacy remind her of Tegan and herself. She wants to talk it over with her. Tegan is invited to her house and dinner is on Candice.

Backstage, Rhea Ripley cuts a promo saying she’s sick of Mercedes Martinez and the Robert Stone Brand. To handle this, she challenges Martinez to a Steel Cage match.

Bronson Reed vs. Timothy Thatcher

Reed pounces on Thatcher and prevents him from taking this to the mat. A battle of offense and strikes is his but he has to avoid the mat. From the ground, Thatcher starts kicking at Reed, only to eat a THICC BOI SENTON. A clothesline swings the momentum for Thatcher. Reed comes back with a flying elbow through the middle rope. Austin Theory runs in with a sneak attack behind the referee’s back. He sends Reed, who hurt his forearm during the match, back inside and Thatcher puts on an armbar. Reed fights through it but Thatcher transitions into the Fujiwara and gets the tap out.

Winner: Timothy Thatcher in 4:49

[There was potential here but it was kept short and used to build Theory/Reed. **]

Mercedes Martinez accepts Rhea’s challenge for next week.

NXT Championship Ironman Match: Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Ciampa comes out aggressively, while Gargano heads outside and has a seat, allowing everyone else to put in the work. He tries to sneak in on Ciampa and is sent packing with a knee. He adds more knees to everyone outside. The guys move into trading offense with nobody really gaining a true upper hand for a sustained time. Johnny has it for a bit and makes sure to talk trash to everyone, even stealing Finn’s gun taunt. He also mocks Undisputed Era. Cole is next up to hold serve for a while. You guessed it as Balor is next to take over, hitting Slingblade for two on Ciampa. Commercial time. Returning, we still have no falls but Johnny might’ve lost a tooth. He at least has a bloody mouth. The guys start throwing bigger bombs with kicks and knees that lead to everyone being down. Ciampa hits a tower of doom style move to take out Cole and Balor. Johnny tries to stela the pin but only gets two on both men. Finn comes back and hits Johnny with 1916 but only gets a near fall. Already, it seems like the clock it off. My stopwatch says 19 minutes and the TV says there are 39 minutes left. Balor misses Coup de Grace and takes an Air Raid Crash from Ciampa for two. That leads us to another break. Returning, Johnny and Ciampa come back to back and nearly face off but are dumped outside by the other two, giving us a Cole/Balor face off. Cole wants a Too Sweet but Finn dumps him and hits the tope con hilo. He fires off dropkicks all around the ring to different people. Coup de Grace on Cole gets him the first fall in 23:55. Balor stays on the offense, stomping the hell out of the former #DIY for a while. After a break, Balor saves Cole from the Ciampa slingshot that hurt Jake Atlas last week. Ciampa hits him with Willow’s Bell and the Fairytale Ending. Johnny tosses him aside and steals the pin on Balor to tie this after 31:46. Cole nearly ties it with Last Shot but Ciampa kicks out. A barrage of offense from everyone leads to Cole hitting superkicks and then the Panama Sunrise on Gargano to score a pin in 33:42. Ciampa hits double Willow’s Bell on Cole and Gargano. Fairytale Ending on Cole gets him that first fall at 35:40. Everyone takes part in a slugfest at the 37:00 minute, though the clock is still off. Balor and Ciampa fight inside while Cole and Gargano do so outside. All four men end up on the ground and are exhausted. Ciampa gets going and does his old pat on the back taunt with everyone down. Cole interrupts and superkicks him in the back of his previously injured knee, knocking him off the top heading into another break. During this portion, Cole slaps a Figure Four on Ciampa. That gets broken up and everyone is going at it again. Ciampa’s leg is so hurt that he falls while running. Finn pounces and puts on a half crab. Ciampa reaches the ropes but Finn hits the John Woo dropkick. He goes up but Johnny cuts him off, allowing Ciampa to move. Finn eats stereo superkicks from Cole and Gargano. Johnny hits Ciampa with a tope suicida and does the same to Cole. Finn cuts off his attempt but Johnny instead nails a tornado DDT on the floor. Another commercial. Returning, Cole fires off superkicks but misses Last Shot and gets put in the Gargano Escape. Ciampa pulls Gargano’s leg, dragging both men to the outside. Ciampa hits Johnny with the apron slingshot that took out Atlas. Inside, Ciampa covers but Cole breaks it up. He tries again and Finn stops it. We’re at 56:00 and the clock reads 90 seconds left. Johnny and Tommaso fight up top and Ciampa hits a middle rope Air Raid Crash. Finn comes off the top with Coup de Grace to get his second pin at 58:11. Cole sneaks in and hits Last Shot. He covers and ties Finn at the buzzer. Actually, it was at 58:27 but still.

[As a match, that was very good. It wasn’t great but it kept a strong pace and let everyone do their thing to keep it moving for nearly an hour. You could see the four-way tied at 1 coming from a mile away and knew it would come down to the final minute. That tie finish is pretty bad, though and makes the whole thing feel pointless. I know ratings are important but this feels like a cheap way to try to attract viewers for next week. ***1/2]

William Regal comes out to say that Cole will face Balor next week and the first fall gets the title.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

All in all, it was a very good week of television. You had a strong opener, some angle advancement, and a very good main event. That ending just left a sour taste in my mouth.