Pantoja’s WWE NXT 2.0 Review 9.21.21

WWE NXT 2.0

September 21st, 2021 | Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida

Some of the new WWE NXT talents like Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker were in the ring to start. New NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa hit the ring to cut a passionate promo about being back on top and putting over the new talents as the future. Even with a new coat of paint, NXT is still the special place it has always been. Cameron Grimes showed up for a title shot but Joe Gacy cut him off until LA Knight showed up to say he had everyone beat last week. Odyssey Jones cut him off to say he lost twice in one night last week and has no right to talk. Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland also hit the ring and Dunne ran them down before Ciampa leveled him. That led to a big brawl, with Ciampa and Breakker clearing out Dunne and Holland to end it. That was okay but it’s too early to buy into some of this.

Kay Lee Ray, B Fab and various other women brawled backstage for no real reason.

Back to the ring and Breakker and Ciampa challenged Dunne and Holland to a tag match, playa.

NXT Cruiserweight Championship: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Roderick Strong

These are legitimately two of the best cruiserweight wrestlers in the world. They opened with the expected good chain wrestling before heading into a commercial break. Returning, Strong got going with chops and some higher impact offense, though KUSHIDA’s work on the elbow made things tougher for him. KUSHIDA trapped the arm up top and came off with an armbar. That triggered the highlights of the match from Angle Slams to Hoverboard Lock attempts. When Strong got in trouble, the various Diamond Mine members got involved and beat up KUSHIDA outside. Strong hit End of Heartache and we had a new champion after 9:00. That was a solid match with a pretty lame and tired finish. Roddy as champion makes sense. [***]

Grayson Waller interrupted and nobody knows who he is. He was seen managing Drake Maverick last week with no explanation and he challenges Roddy to a title match next week. Of course, nobody can care about this because they have no reason to. Malcolm Bivens and Roddy conferred before accepting. I need more Bivens in my life.

We got another hilarious Tony D’Angelo vignette.

A Briggs and Jensen vignette airs to hype them.

Amari Miller vs. Kay Lee Ray

So, I guess this is from the brawl earlier. Miller got an entrance and an insert promo, yet did next to looking and looked green throughout. KLR finished her with the Gory Bomb in 1:38. Odd that Miller got screen time instead of just being a total jobber. [NR]

Breakker and Ciampa got a promo in the back and Bron sounds 100% like a Steiner.

Some guys got into an argument earlier today about one dude holding the door for girls and the other guy trying to enter in front of them. We get no word on who these people are.

Dante Chen vs. Trey Baxter

Chen got a two-second hype video before the break which just showed the Singapore flag since he’s WWE’s first signing from there. That’s all we get. Baxter hit a sweet German suplex before Chen rolled through an inside cradle and hit a modified Angel’s Wings in 1:01. Not bad for a debut. [NR]

Andre Chase was leading a class where he dissed Odyssey Jones for losing in the Breakout Tournament Finals. A student pointed out that Jones beat him, so Chase kicked him out of the class. I don’t really know what the point of this was but it was goofy, Chase is fun, and it’s more character stuff than we’ve gotten from others.

Joe Gacy sat in the ring and he looks like Kevin Owens in many ways. Maybe if KO goes to AEW, they’ll rebrand him as KO like Fake Razor and Diesel. He spoke about being “woke” and that he doesn’t use his white privilege to his advantage. He wants to achieve unity and tolerance.

Cameron Grimes vs. Joe Gacy

Gacy got in more offense than a lot of new people so far but the outcome was never really in doubt here. Grimes put him down in 2:48 with the Cave In. It was better than other stuff so far. [*½]

NEXT WEEK ~ The Honeymoon of Indi and Dexter! So, the Edge/Lita live sex celebration?

Anna Scheer vs. Elektra Lopez

The Legado del Fantasma theme goes so HARD. A quick win for Lopez with a series of suplexes and a powerbomb in 1:30. [NR]

Santos Escobar put over Lopez, who then cut her own promo until Hit Row interrupted. B-Fab snuck in from behind to brawl with Lopez until it was broken up.

Cora Jade came up to Trey Baxter and they’re apparently dating even though nobody really knows who either one is. She supported him despite his loss.

Cary Millman and Darren Chiappetta vs. Odyssey Jones

CHIAPPETTA! Ha. Jones tossed around both guys until Andre Chase strolled out for a closer look. Jones splashed both geeks to win in 2:47. He feels like one of the few guys so far to stand out in NXT 2.0. [NR]

Chase entered to hit Jones with a chair but he broke it as he blocked it.

Ikemen Jiro showed off his colorful closet in a vignette.

Toxic Attraction, the new name of the Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne’s group, hit the ring for a promo. Mandy looked like about a 26/10. Rose said she came to NXT to be the woman the geeky crowd wanted but could never have. She then said the fans were nowhere when she hurt her face. Um, what were they supposed to do? That’s an odd concept for this promo to go with the tired “fans turned on me” trope. Dolan and Jayne got to talk too. Dolan said they were chaos without a purpose until they brought Mandy into play. They issued a challenge for the Tag Titles.

Backstage, Zoey Stark and Io Shirai accepted the challenge but then got interrupted by Persia Pirotta. This person has NEVER been on TV as far as I can tell but she says her and her best friend Indi Hartwell will want a shot. WHAT? You’re her best friend and you weren’t even in the wedding party last week?

NEXT WEEK

· Io Shirai & Zoey Stark defend the Tag Titles against Toxic Attraction

· Raquel Gonzalez puts the Women’s Title on the line against Franky Monet

· Roderick Strong gives Grayson Waller a Cruiserweight Title opportunity.

Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland

Although Ciampa/Dunne is a good choice for a title program, I was really only stoked to see Breakker get in there. His name is dumb but he feels like something special. As soon as he got tagged, he was already impressing me. Ciampa took the heat and the heels worked him over through the commercial break. That let me know this was all about showcasing Breakker. He got the hot tag and tore the house down. Some of his stuff looked absurdly fluid for a guy who has only been wrestling since February. He even busted out the Steiner Recliner. Things broke down and out came Kyle O’Reilly to hit Holland with a club for some revenge. Breakker finished with a powerslam in 12:23. That was good fun and Breakker looks like a star. [***¼]

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

I’ll give it about the same score as last week. There are things I really like, specifically Breakker, but the lack of explanations and reasoning for some of these debuts and such are frustrating.