SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT ON USA
DECEMBER 28, 2021, 8PM EST
LIVE IN ORLANDO, FLA., AT CAPITOL WRESTLING CENTER
AIRED ON USA NETWORK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Vic Joseph & Wade Barrett
Join the “PWT Talks NXT” Dailycast with me and Kevin Cattani to break down the episode:
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[HOUR ONE]
-Grayson Waller was introduced to boos. “A**hole” chant. He said there was no better way to open the show than with the Breakout Star of 2021. He said he was minding his own business when AJ Styles (the crowd was already chanting his name) wanted a little bit of his clout. A video of his appearance on Raw played. Waller said he doesn’t know why people like AJ Styles. He mocked AJ’s theme music and called it a bottom-five theme, whereas his was a banger that made fans try to get their fat asses out of their seats. He switched gears to Dexter Lumis. He said Indi Hartwell is “a Dexter Lumis 10, but a Grayson Waller 3.” Since Lumis can’t be here tonight, Odyssey Jones replaced him in the opening match. Waller shook his head and walked away, saying no to the match. Jones suckered him back in by saying he thought he was a big superstar, but he’s just a big bitch.
(1) ODYSSEY JONES vs. GRAYSON WALLER
Waller begged off of a lockup. Jones splashed Waller in the corner and bealed him. Waller got in a right but Jones fired back. Waller went down expecting a Jones leapfrog, but Jones stepped on him instead. Rope run and Jones hit a sidewalk slam. Cover for two and the match went to split-screen. [c]
Back to full-screen, Waller put down Jones with a back kick. Waller hit an elbow drop from the second rope and covered for two. Waller threw rights and combo punches, then got caught and thrown. Jones hit a few shots and a backbreaker, then fired up. He missed in the corner and Waller hit a rising knee. Waller went up for some punches in the corner and Jones powerbombed him, but Waller had yanked off the turnbuckle pad. Jones covered for two, and then of course charged into the exposed turnbuckle. Waller charged in for his finisher and got the three.
WINNER: Grayson Waller at 7:35.
AJ Styles showed up on the tron and said Waller showed up and got attention from him on Raw, but it was the wrong kind of attention. He said he’d show up next week at New Year’s Evil.
(Wells’s Analysis: Not much more than a formulaic big vs. small match, but the growing heat on Waller made it work. His stock continues to rise as I’m starting to wonder if Jones was worthy of all the hype. It seems he’s lost some energy in the ring, but perhaps his start-stop push is grating on him)
-McKenzie Mitchell talked with Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade about their match tonight. They got a small amount of time to talk before Io Shirai showed up and said she wanted the first shot, and Kay Lee Ray followed soon after and made her case. Mandy Rose showed up via a monitor and said this was precious. She said Toxic Attraction couldn’t appear tonight, so instead, Gonzalez and Jade can face Shirai and Ray, and the winners will face her in the triple threat next week.
-Tiffany Stratton hype. [c]
-Xyon Quinn said “Elektra – I know you want this as much as I do. It’s either me or Legado. This needs to happen tonight. The choice is yours.”
-MSK showed up live for the first time after weeks of doing stoner comedy with each other, and later Riddle. It seems the audience either liked them a lot more now or simply bored of booing them before. An “MSK” chant seemed to answer the question. They lamented the loss of their tag titles but looked forward to what was to come. Riddle showed up on the tron and said he couldn’t be there “because of a change of plans.” He said he’d be there in spirit like a…higher…power. He said he knew the championships were their fate.
MSK called out Imperium, and the tag champs hit the ramp. They spoke a lot in German and Italian so MSK could ask for subtitles. Marcel Barthel said the simple fact was that MSK couldn’t touch them, and the NXT tag team titles belong to Imperium. MSK said if Imperium was feeling spicy, they could put their championships on the line right now. Walter showed up on the tron before Imperium could answer, and said his mates show respect to this sport and they’re not worthy of a championship match. Riddle butted in for a split-screen tron session and suggested a six-man match next week: Imperium (including Walter) vs. Riddle and MSK. The audience popped for that. Walter said they’d expose their opposition for what they are: a bunch of showmen. After all, the match is sacred.
-Harland and Joe Gacy briefly showed up in front of a cheesy dark scene of a forest in a shameless bluescreen spot. Gacy fired up Harland ahead of his match. [c]
-McKenzie spoke with Edris Enofe. He said all his life, he had doubters. He went on but Von Wagner interrupted, because in 2.0, literally the only reason for someone to be interviewed is so someone can interrupt. He yelled that Enofe got lucky. Malik Blade jumped in and defended Wagner, who asked “Who are you?!”
-Harland got to the ring with Joe Gacy. There was no Kendrick. Gacy said that Kendrick not showing up is an admission that he’s the problem and he did wrong. Andre Chase showed up and called out Kendrick for not showing up, but Gacy framed this as Chase volunteering to face Harland. The bell sounded.
(2) ANDRE CHASE vs. HARLAND
Harland dominated immediately. He smashed Chase into the mat repeatedly. Referee Darryl Sharma called for the bell as Harland was doing so.
WINNER: Harland via ref stoppage at 0:59.
After the match, Chase’s long-haired student tried to check on him, but Harland dragged him to the back and Vic wondered where they were headed. [c]
-Legado del Fantasma had a little chat. The men tried to confront Elektra Lopez. Solo Sikoa showed up and accidentally broke up their little palaver, so Santos Escobar demanded an apology. Sikoa said he did nothing, but if Escobar needs to fight it out, they can do so.
(3) FALLON HENLEY vs. TIFFANY STRATTON
Collar and elbow. Stratton shoved Henley to the floor. There was actually a dueling chant for the two who haven’t even hit TV yet. Stratton flipped on the ropes to twist free of an armbar, then hit her own on the mat. The two exchanged headlocks. Rope run and a block by Stratton. Another rope run and a body slam by Stratton. Stratton attempted a backflip into a back elbow in the corner, but she landed weird on her last flip and kind of awkwardly went into the elbow and got booed for the small miscue. She hit her finisher.
WINNER: Tiffany Stratton at 2:37. [c]
(Wells’s Analysis: Stratton is much farther along as a character than as a wrestler. Her timing in the ring obviously needs some work, but she’s probably TV-ready on a scale this small. She’s clearly been coached to bring her character into everything she does in the ring, which is probably the best thing about this otherwise disappointing at times refresh. Psychology within one’s character is becoming a lost art to some degree, and it seems they’re trying to rectify that particular problem)
-Tony D’Angelo cut a promo from his couch to warn Pete Dunne that if he comes back, the beating he gets will be a lot worse.
[HOUR TWO]
-Wade Barrett moderated a contract signing for the unification match of the Cruiserweight Championship and the North American Championship. He introduced Roderick Strong first, who hit the ring with all his Diamond Mine mates. He took a seat at the long table. Malcolm Bivens took the mic and said he didn’t see Trick Williams backstage. He gets it: the gas prices are high. Carmelo Hayes’s music played and he and Trick hit the ramp. Williams did some mic work to cut down Diamond Mine. Malcolm Bivens suggested that he would “translate” like all the white people didn’t understand his slang. Strong asked Bivens to tell him to threaten Hayes, so Bivens did so with slang. While this isn’t heading into distressing territory, I still can’t believe the scene was conceived at this point. Hayes took over and said he was unifying these titles by any means necessary. Strong took the mic, unfortunately, and did some basic mic work against Melo. He said Carmelo would be carried out and forever known as “Humbled Hayes.” Barrett thankfully called for their signatures, and got them.
Trick Williams and Malcolm Bivens had a bit of a disagreement after the signing, and the Creed Brothers busted Williams through the table. [c]
(Wells’s Analysis: I don’t know why this match warranted a contract signing, or why it devolved into racial stereotypes, or how to rewind reality to before I saw it)
-GYV vignette. They’re the best tag team of this generation, they say. It turned to Briggs & Jensen, who struggled through a few lines. Jacket Time was next and insisted that they were the next champions.
(4) SOLO SIKOA vs. SANTOS ESCOBAR (w/Legado del Fantasma)
Collar and elbow. The two powerhouses jockeyed for position. The opening moments were extremely slow but the audience had a sustained, loud dueling chant that was probably related to the “loudest fan” contest sometimes run live. “Uso” chant. Sikoa threw Escobar off and finally, at about the two and a half minute mark, the two worked on the mat. Escobar controlled briefly until Sikoa slammed him. Sikoa reversed an Irish Whip into one of his own, then hit a body slam and a diving headbutt. Escobar bailed and Sikoa followed and hit some rights on the floor. Sikoa was distracted by Mendoza & Wilde and Escobar took over on offense heading into commercial. [c]
Escobar dominated with a stretch. Sikoa escaped and got in some rights. Rope run and a Russian leg sweep into a pin by Escobar for two. Escobar hit a dropkick to Sikoa’s back for two. Escobar threw some kicks at a grounded Sikoa and worked a modified half-crab. Sikoa crawled to the ring and reached it to break. Flash knee to the jaw by Escobar for two. He transitioned to a crossface and then covered for two. The two exchanged kicks, then Escobar tried a suplex twice but Sikoa tossed him away and Escobar landed in a way that barely avoided disaster. Samoan drop by Sikoa. Senton followed. Sikoa cleared the interfering men from ringside, and Escobar hit a rana from the top rope just after. Outside, Xyon Quinn had appeared to meet with Elektra Lopez, and Escobar hit Quinn with a plancha. Escobar entered the ring and got superkicked, then hit with the frog splash.
WINNER: Solo Sikoa in about 13:30.
(Wells’s Analysis: Given the story with Xyon Quinn, the result was likely never in doubt. Escobar is too good to be mired in someone else’s storyline, so hopefully he’s on a fast track to the main roster with his two cronies whereas Elektra and Xyon can stick around to develop further)
-McKenzie Mitchell ran through the card for next week’s New Year’s Evil.
-On the roof of the PC, Harland attempted to slam Andre Chase’s blond student from the top, but Joe Gacy convinced Harland to call it off. [c]
-An unseen interviewer asked Solo Sikoa what it was like to get this victory. Boa attacked Sikoa and stood above him.
-Vic and Wade promoted Day 1 and New Year’s Evil, then threw to a recap of Tommaso Ciampa’s issue with Bron Breakker. The recap got a few minutes.
(5) MALIK BLADE vs. VON WAGNER
Wagner dominated early with punches and knees. Blade got some kicks in, but Wagner slammed him. We got a shot of Robert Stone watching from the back approvingly. Deadlift gutwrench by Wagner resulted in a bad landing as Blade rotated too far. Blade fought back with rights but Wagner hit a lariat to stop his momentum. Blade hit a pair of dropkicks and a high cross-body. Robert Stone was less enthused now. Wagner slammed Blade and went for a powerbomb, but Blade rolled through for two. Wagner hit a high-angle slam and his finisher.
WINNER: Von Wagner at 3:54.
Edris Enofe made the save for Blade after the match. [c]
(Wells’s Analysis: The audience came with a “This match sucks” chant at the end, but it didn’t. Wagner is death on the mic and I don’t know how high his ceiling is as a wrestler, but the match was inoffensive.)
-New Year’s Evil hype.
(6) RAQUEL GONZALEZ & CORA JADE vs. IO SHIRAI & KAY LEE RAY – Winners advance to a triple threat championship match with Mandy Rose
Competitors entered in the order listed above. Shirai and Jade opened. Shirai won an early psychological battle and hit a flapjack. Jade got some shots in and rolled up Shirai for two. Kneelift by Jade and a tag to Gonzalez, who hit a knee for two. Gonzalez threw Shirai to her own corner to tag Kay Lee Ray. Ray threw some shots and got flattened by a shot to the back. Everyone briefly got involved and KLR hit a plancha on Gonzalez on the outside and Shirai followed with her own heading to split-screen. [c]
KLR had Jade dominated. Half-crab. Jade nearly made her corner but Ray pulled her away. Ray went for the KLR Bomb but Jade rolled through.
[OVERRUN]
KLR hit a snap suplex and tagged Shirai, who wanted her moonsault but the opponent slipped away. Shirai got another shot from the top and hit a missile dropkick for two on Jade. Shirai missed double knees in the corner and tagged Ray. Enzuigiri by Jade got her back into it and she crawled for, and reached, Gonzalez for the tag. Gonzalez dominated KLR and hit a fallaway slam and then went up for a twisting senton. KLR got back into it with a superkick, but Gonzalez caught her with a bomb. She ran into Jade, which caused a tag, and Jade covered for what would have been a finish, but Gonzalez took issue and broke it up. A couple of contrived spots later, Gonzalez and Jade won with a rollup.
After the decision, Mandy Rose cockily congratulated the winners and said this is why she made it a championship match: she knew the winners wouldn’t get along so she would be able to pick up the pieces.
WINNERS: Raquel Gonzalez & Cora Jade at 10:52.
(Wells’s Analysis: Rose overexplained the finish there, but whatever: I can appreciate her heel motivation here and she did some pretty good mic work, by her standards, to set the final hook. Shirai and Kay Lee would make for a much better match, but they’re likely on a fast track upward in comparison to their opponents, so that’s the big consideration here.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: I’d like to be more positive, but this was a bit of a trudge. I have no doubt that Covid played a part, so I’ll largely give it a pass. Next week’s show has the potential to be great or a huge misfire, as with a lot of early TakeOver specials, and I’m sure I’ll have a lot of thoughts when it actually happens. In the meantime, this show has dizzying highs and painful lows as a developmental show inevitably must have. Check out PWT Talks NXT with me & Kevin Cattani tonight or stream tomorrow. Cheers.
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