NXT returned last night (January 27) from the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find the results from the live blog here.
Spinning the Wheels
The most important event this week was a match in a cocktail party full of them, with former enemies Finn Bálor and Kyle O’Reilly facing the championship of Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch in a non-title match.
The match itself was good, although it was easy to get tired of matches for the team as there were so many. Finn Bálor played the face in danger with the heels working on his arm, and O’Reilly was the hottag who definitely won with a submission.
After the game, Pete Dunne showed up to use a handicap of the winners before Adam Cole and Roderick Strong fired the Kings of NXT.
All in all, this corner is turning its wheels. Kyle and Finn had an entertaining feud against each other, but there is little spark in this story of them playing reluctant allies against Pete Dunne and the champion. Overall, NXT has lacked a spark, and many of the issues are that there is nothing hot going on with the headlines. (The women’s title does not yet have a clear direction, but will only start to be announced after weeks.)
I do give them props to make Finn Bálor’s action literally step back to stand shoulder to shoulder with the ERA as a very important moment, but it was not enough to make this major event worthy.
This story needs a spark to earn a leading spot on a map with TakeOver, just a few weeks away.
Friendship goals
Raquel González and Dakota Kai predictably defeated Jessi Kamea and Aliyah to advance in the Dusty.
There is not much to say about the match. Dakota did a lot of the work, but González eventually took care of business. It was nothing spectacular, but did what the plan was to do: Remind us that González is dominant.
What I appreciate most, though, is the evolving relationship between Dakota Kai and Raquel González. Raquel debuted last year as Dakota’s bodyguard. She clearly worked for Kai, focusing on advancing Kai’s career.
Then Raquel started to break on her own, and instead of dropping or arguing the team, the dynamics changed. Dakota was more than happy to try to play the role of support for the rising González. She was even locked in a closet for her help during Raquel’s last women’s match against Rhea Ripley. And now they function as a team and both work towards the common goal.
These may be bad girls, but I’m digging this friendship.
Height
The first opening game in the evening of the tags features MSK taking on Drake Maverick and Killian Dain.
One thing I generally appreciate about the Dusty Classic is how they use it to raise tag teams to a more serious status. Dain and Drake were a complete comedy bit when they started. Over time and now a place in the Dusty, they were more than a respected tag team.
The DNA of the team is still there: Dain is the threat and Maverick is the ‘weak link’. But this week, Drake kept his head down. He was not the liability as he has played in the past. This is important if they want this team to be more than just a comedy. (Which should be fair, if that’s what NXT wants, it’s a good role for them.)
The team still does not feel like a cohesive unit. There’s still a feeling of two guys teaming up in a tag team, as opposed to a duo actually working together. It’s part of who they are, but hopefully they develop into more team.
On the other side of the ring, MSK is very exciting. I have a bit of experience looking at them as the Rascalz in Impact, but I’ve been away from Impact for many months, so I do not know what the job was when they left. That said, they feel more special here. They are unique in style and personality. I was excited for this game because of this week and I’m excited to see what they do next round.
Excellent Underdog
My favorite game of the evening was the Dusty quarterfinals where the Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Kushida and Leon Ruff.
It was the only Dusty game of the evening that really felt like the finish was not the issue. Yes, GYV was the favorite. But Ruff and Kushida scored a big victory in the first round.
This match accomplished the task of getting me to a point where I really wanted the underdog team to win. Leon Ruff just does a fantastic job as a sympathetic character. His personality makes it so easy to root for him. Meanwhile, the GYV is not flashy, but with their style you can easily root against it. Then it’s all the more disappointing when they win.
After the match. Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory attacked Ruff & Kushy, taking revenge for their loss to them last week. They were eventually deterred by Dexter Lumis, who is also having trouble with the Way as he lost a North American title race in a less than clean way.
Who’s next?
It looks like Io Shirai may have to defend her title in a triple threat match.
Toni Storm called out the champion, but after Shirai responded, Mercedes Martinez put herself into all of this. While Storm and Martinez are not on the same page, even though they are a one-time team, there is enough to deal with the tripartite threat.
Honestly, a triple threat makes sense. There are so many women who deserve a title contest, and running a program with two of them at the same time helps move the line. And if there is someone they want for a singles match with the champion in line, they do not take the pen.
It’s not official, but it’s our best guess as to what’s next for the champion.
All the rest:
– Bronson Reed was about Isaiah “Wandering” Scott. Clearly, they are building up Reed largely. I question it to do so at the expense of Swerve, who at his time in NXT had yet to gain anything of significance. I think a win to split a series with Jake Atlas (who also never wins) was his biggest achievement. They need to find a program for Scott because he can achieve the victory.
Curt Stallion would have a crossweight match this week. But he was attacked beforehand, so it was busy until next week. William Regal figures out that El Legado del Fantasma is the culprit, and although he probably looked right, Karrion Kross leaves me a phone card on Santos Escobar’s pocket, or he’s the real attacker. However, I do not see what his motive would be.
Malcolm Bivens Tyler Rust has planned a cupcake match to pick up an easy week after Rust tried to do his own business last week and discussed himself in a match with Bronson Reed. Rest won so Malcolm earned money.
With the abundance of matchmaking matches and the lack of real hot corners, this show felt like it was going on. Nothing was outwardly bad. Each segment would have worked well on a show with some hot corners. But it feels like a bunch of complementary stories put together, and it makes it feel like a duller episode of NXT.
Degree: C +
Sounds down below.