NXT starts tonight 2021 with a special episode.
A rematch of the NXT’s Match of the Year in 2020 picks up the New Year’s evil while Finn Balor defends the NXT Championship against Kyle O’Reilly tonight. At TakeOver 31 in October, Balor retained his title against O’Reilly, but suffered a broken jaw in the process. Tonight will be Balor’s first game since undergoing surgery for the injury.
Karrion Kross vs. Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez in a Last Woman Standing match, Santos Escobar vs. Gran Metalik for the NXT Crossweight Championship, and the return of Xia Li and Boa are also tonight.
Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher were originally slated to fight in a Fight Pit game tonight, but WWE has announced that the game has been postponed due to Thatcher suffering minor injuries. WWE said Thatcher is expected to return soon and the Fight Pit match will take place as soon as he heals.
New Year’s Evil is presented by Dexter Lumis and will be presented “with fewer interruptions and more action.” Our live coverage starts at 20:00 eastern time.
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The show opened with Dexter Lumis walking to the sound of the Capital Wrestling Center. He’s the host, but he did not say anything. He turned the house lights on and off, and then he saw this lever. So he pulled the lever, and the arena was magically filled with lights and a crowd. It was also known that Lumis was wearing a sports jacket.
Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) defeats Damian Priest
Kross pinned Priest clean, but Kross fought almost to the end. The game was commercially free, and they got a lot of time. This is a PPV caliber match. Can even fit on a G1 card.
Priest sold his ribs during the game, and Kross overworked them.
Kross blocked the Razor’s Edge and a chokeslam, but Priest returned to the floor with a springboard dive over the ropes. Priest delivered South of Heaven, but Krosss kicked out. Kross cut him off and went to work on the ribs.
The fight went back outside the ring, and Priest was beaten on the ring stairs. They square again. Priest told Kross that he was still standing, so Kross gave him a Saito suplex. Then Kross with a knockout blow to the back of the head, and Kross covered Priest for a fall.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic starts next week on NXT.
The undisputed era team of Adam Cole & Roderick Strong was interviewed about the tournament. They tackle Breezango in a first game. Cole conveyed their accomplishments and said they had fulfilled the golden prophecy. Cole said they will do it again in 2021.
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar (with Legado del Fantasma) defeats Gran Metalik (with Lince Dorado) to retain his title
Escobar pinned Metalik clean in a fun match. Metallic is so underrated. He was probably the best flyer in the world when WWE hired him a few years ago. He remains wonderful.
Metallic had to show what a great high flyer he still is, and that led to an Asai lunar eclipse for an almost fall. There was a well-rounded place before a commercial break. Heat on Metallic through the break.
Escobar applied la tapatia when the show returned from the ad. Metallic returned and flew over the ropes with a top con giro. Metallic with a springboard in a baking press for two counts.
Metalik went to another springboard, and Escobar met him with a knee in the air. Escobar follows with a point through the ropes. Metalik still kicked out on two.
Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde intervene, and Dorado flies in to save. Nevertheless, Metalik was lifted. Escobar a while later with the Phantom Driver, and he got a fall.
A vignette hyped Mercedes Martinez. She cut a promotion on NXT women’s champion Io Shirai. Martinez attacked Shirai in a previous episode.
Xia Li defeats Katrina Cortez
Li pinned Cortez in an improvement game. Li was a new entrant with Boa and the mysterious figure who trained them.
Cortez wore a lucha mask, but she used a full name. This is strange. It was a showcase for Li anyway.
Li displayed her kicks, and she tried to look like a killer. Li with a jumping knee attack, and then a high kick to get the pinfall.
Raquel Gonzalez defeated Rhea Ripley in a final women’s match
They started with slugfest, so it looked at least like a resentment match. Gonzalez talked a little trash about them never being friends. They could have talked about that detail earlier than last week. They only fatten for more months.
They wrestled on the floor. Handcuffs came up, and Ripled handcuffed Gonzalez to the chain link fence. Gonzalez tore the chain apart and she started hitting Ripley with the shackles.
Ripley tried to use the hammer of the ring bell, but Gonzalez blocked her. Ripley is covered on the announcement bench, and she takes an ugly bump. The table broke and Gonzalez piled chairs and other rubbish on top of Ripley so she could not beat the ten score. Nevertheless, Ripley crawled out from under the rubble to break the score.
The game underwent a commercial break. Snoop Dogg was in a beer commercial during the break, and he was a popular attraction on the other wrestling tonight.
Ripley is off stage after a commercial break. Gonzalez complained to her, and Ripley fought back. They went through a glass door that broke.
Ripley did a swanton bomb to put Gonzalez through a table. Suddenly, Dakota Kai ran out of nowhere to attack Ripley with a kendo stick. Ripley fired, and she hit Kai. Ripley then pushed Kai into a box, and she put a roller bag in front of the box. Kai was trapped there.
Ripley applied her inverted scorpion while she was on stage. Gonzalez resisted dropping Ripley in a video board on stage. Ripley and Gonzalez apparently tried to recreate the infamous hump with Shane McMahon and Kurt Angle, and Gonzalez wrapped Ripley in the video board.
They concluded with a trick. Gonzalez chokes Ripley through a gimmick section of the stage. Gonzalez was able to break the score, but Ripley could not answer the ten score. Gonzalez was crowned with the match. Ripley did a portable.
The Way had police escort the building into a garage.
NXT North American champion Johnny Gargano celebrates breaking his curse. He was accompanied by his wife, Candice LeRae, and their groups, Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell.
LeRae gave Gargano a memorial plaque. Theory and Hartwell also have a gift. They unveiled a photo they allegedly drew of the stable. Gargano announced that he and Theory would be a team in the Dusty Classic.
Shotzi Blackheart in her tank interrupted their celebration. Theory confronted, but he was shot through the tank into the groin. Blackheart will attack LeRae and Hartwell. Blackheart clears the ring, and Kushida comes out to look back at her.
Dexter Lumis rings the bell, indicating that it is now an impromptu tag match. Teddy Long had much better announcements. At least he spoke. Lumis never said a word.
Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Kushida in a team match with a mixed team
Kushida won the North American championship, so maybe we will get a title match between the two soon.
LeRae & Gargano were in streetwear. Kushida was mostly in streetwear, but it is now his equipment. Blackheart was dressed in her wrestling.
The game underwent a commercial breather, and LeRae got heat on Blackheart. Kushida penetrated a hot label, and he went wild.
They held submissions, and all four made some combinations.
Kushida hit Gargano from the apron and he kept the ropes open so Blackheart could dive outside on LeRae.
The theory mixed in by drowning Kushida, and theory pays for it. Kushida continues to pin Gargano.
The bext TakeOver has been announced for February 14, which is also Valentine’s Day.
The Dusty Classic was also announced soon.
NXT champion Finn Balor defeats Kyle O’Reilly to retain his title
Balor put O’Reilly in a great game. Maybe not better than their game a few months ago, but it was still good.
They started wrestling and mat work. They moved and held. They built up to exchange strikes. From there, the pace began to accelerate.
The intensity began to increase. There was a double discount after O’Reilly landed a PK, but he slipped outside the ring after hitting the kick.
O’Reilly worked an arm, and Balor worked a jaw and O’Reilly’s face.
O’Reilly tried to tie Balor up with Leglock, but Balor escaped by nailing O’Reilly in the shit.
Balor with an inverted DDT, and he proceeded to apply a cross to the injured face. O’Reilly escapes the hold.
O’Reilly tries to pull together, and Balor stops the momentum with a carrying blade. Balor follows with a double step and a shotgun dropkick. Balor went to the top line for the Coup de Grace, but O’Reilly hindered him.
Balor takes a superplex and a brain breaker, and then O’Reilly catches him in an armrest. Balor managed to break rope. Balor was somehow cut open on his face, and he was bleeding.
Balor hit O’Reilly with a kick in his liver. O’Reilly sold big, and then Balor caught him in a cobra turn. O’Reilly knocks out soon.