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BALOR & KROSS KICK OFF THE SHOW WITH THE TAG CHAMPS
Finn Balor has never been known for being the greatest promo, but tonight he felt much more fake and scripted to me than usual. As did Karrion Kross. The scripting for everyone involved in this angle just felt forced and made it so hard for me to buy into anything that was said.
Kross is the only real competitor left for Balor at this point unless they brought Ciampa or Gargano back up to the main event scene. Kross doesn’t even feel like a main event player at this point after his injury, and returning to feud with lesser talent off the bat.
While I think they can salvage the angle before Takeover, the segment itself did not resonate with me. Why on Earth would the Tag Champions put their titles on the line against the NXT Champion and his number one contender? Especially at Scarlett’s request. Why would Balor and Kross even want to team up? Making two rivals co-exist on the same page is a trope in wrestling as old as the hills and when done correctly, is intriguing. This just seem forced, like they had nothing better to do tonight.
Verdict: MISS
AUSTIN THEORY vs. DEXTER LUMIS
Can we be done with the Lumis stuff now? The announce team was still touting Lumis as the babyface here, that he just wanted to help Theory and take him away from the mental anguish that The Way causes him. That he’s “misunderstood”. Well, that defense wouldn’t hold in a court of law when Lumis faced kidnapping charges, would it? Why should it work in this context? Just because someone was well intentioned, doesn’t mean that they did the right thing. While I guess I can technically sympathize with someone like Lumis being misunderstood, it doesn’t excuse the behavior.
And then, Lumis tricked Theory into trusting him towards the end of the match and Lumis double crossed him. Commentary praised Lumis for this! This whole angle just seems like its opposite day.
Verdict: MISS
LEGADO DEL FANTASMA (Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza) w/ Santos Escobar vs. BREEZANGO (Tyler Breeze & Fandango)
Right before this match, Jordan Devlin showed up to the arena with his NXT Cruiserweight title in tow. Current NXT Champion, Santos Escobar wore his Cruiserweight title to the ring and the camera made a point to catch it. Instantly, I figured Devlin would be getting involved with the match.
The match itself was your typical TV tag team match. Formulaic, the heels putting one of the faces in peril until they are able to make a hot tag. The match, while decent, felt like filler until Devlin showed up after the Legado win.
Devlin was the NXT Cruiserweight champion as the travel ban was put into place at the beginning of COVID. They never stripped him of the title, but they crowned an interim champion. Escobar. Devlin has been portraying a heel on NXT UK, yet they seem to be positioning him as a tweener-leaning-face for this feud with Escobar.
While this match and post-match segment didn’t necessarily warrant a miss, it was not nearly must-watch TV either. The match served as a way to elevate the Fantasma stable before going into war against Devlin, but didn’t do anything to serve the tag team of Mendoza and Wilde, if that makes sense. As a part of the stable, they are strong. But unless this win leads to NXT Tag Title involvement, they are just lost in the shuffle even with the win.
Verdict: HIT
DAKOTA KAI vs. ZOEY STARK
Stark has been positioned as a spunky newcomer with the talent to be a top star. You’d think if they wanted to give her a chance to connect with the audience, they would have given her an entrance tonight. For a newcomer to the company, Stark looked like she belonged in the ring with Kai. The last couple times that Stark was in the ring, I felt like she was a little clunky. Tonight, while it was there, seemed much more smooth. Of course, her opponent tonight is one of the best wrestlers in NXT, so that will absolutely help make you look as good as Kai wants you to look.
Stark may have lost her second big match in NXT. But just barely. The important thing is that she looked like she belonged in the ring with someone like Kai.
Easily the best match of the night.
Verdict: HIT
MARCEL BARTHEL vs. TOMASSO CIAMPA
Before the match took place, Ciampa took Barthel out during Barthel’s entrance. Thatcher was apparently attacked earlier in the day and Ciampa thought that Imperium was behind it, leading to this match. The fact that they are acknowledging the independent history of Ring Kampf, where Thatcher teamed with some of the members of Imperium makes me think that we might see Thatcher join the NXT UK faction. Perhaps?
Ciampa, wrestling in a tanktop and with his disheveled beard and hair almost looked like a balding, greying, Brodie Lee. For me, it’s always a treat when we get a Ciampa match on NXT TV, even if it is a short one like this. While he’s cooled down from his main event run a little over a year ago, he’s still a top draw for NXT and anything that he is involved in is going to be worth watching.
We knew Walter was going to show up eventually to side with his Imperium buddies, and it’s just a matter of time before we get Walter vs. Ciampa. I can’t wait.
Verdict: HIT
LA KNIGHT vs. AUGUST GREY
The former Eli Drake, now known as LA Knight, made his in-ring debut tonight. The theme music, the entrance attire and the lights clearly show that they have high hopes for him. Mid match, Bronson reed appeared, continuing their feud from last week. He had LA Knights blue jacket, and reminiscent of a Chris Farley movie, the “fat guy put on a little coat”, tearing it to shreds.
The distraction almost allowed Grey to get a rollup win, but Knight ultimately overcame and won his debut match.
Knight is fantastic on the mic, and I think that is what’s going to get him over long term. In-ring, he’s “Miz-level”. The combination of that charisma and the in-ring ability, the NXT brass could be right about having a star on their hands. Knight has a chance to shine, and it seems like they are giving him all of the tools necessary to give him every chance to do just that.
Verdict: HIT
NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: ONEY LORCAN & DANNY BURCH vs. KARRION KROSS w/ Scarlett & FINN BALOR
So often lately, we see a singles champion also in the mix for the tag titles. Bayley and Asuka on Smackdown and Raw respectively come to mind. Why can’t the tag team champions stay in their own division? Why must we see dual champions so often?
Lorcan & Burch, the champions, didn’t get an entrance for this match. But the NXT Champion, Finn Balor, as well as Karrion Kross did. For us seasoned wrestling fans, nothing says “these people don’t matter” than not getting an entrance.
During the match, predictably, Kross and Balor showed minor shades of teamwork, but for the most part they didn’t help one another outside of tagging. Scarlett was knocked over inadvertently by Balor, sending her to the floor. Kross, seeing Scarlett laid out, attacked his partner and threw him to the wolves to allow the NXT tag champions to retain.
Predictable, predictable, predictable. Using a manager to cause problems between two wrestlers is so over done, I really didn’t think that was the well that they would tap for the finish to this match. Ultimately, they did.
For a main event angle, there isn’t much that I’ve liked about the angle itself. I like the talent involved, but this booking just doesn’t paint anyone in the best light.
Verdict: MISS
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