NXT returned last night (January 27) from the Capital Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can get results from the live blog here.
Spinning wheels
The main event this week was a tag match, which was a show jam packed with them, with former enemies Finn Bowler and Kyle O’Reilly facing AK Lorkan and Danny Birch’s team champion in a non-title match.
The match was very good, although it was easy to get bored with the matches being tagged so much. Finn Baylor played face in danger with his hand working heels, and O’Reilly was the hot tag that won decisively with submissions.
After the match, Adam Cole and Roderick Strong showed readiness to cripple the Pete Dunn waiters before snatching the Kings of NXT.
Overall, this angle is spinning its wheels. Kyle and Finn had an amusing feud with each other, but their story of reluctant teammates playing against Pete Dunne and Tag Champs has a little spark in it. In general, NXT is missing a spark, and there is a big issue that is not getting hot with the main issues. (There’s no clear direction on the women’s title yet, only to begin unveiling weeks later.)
I find them literally stepping up to Finn Bauler’s act. Staying shoulder to shoulder with Era seems like a very important moment, but it wasn’t enough to make this event worthy of a major event.
For this story to need a spark, it seems appropriate to have a top spot on a takeover card just a few weeks away.
Friendship goals
Ravel Gonzalez and Dakota Kaye Jesti Kamia and Aliyah are likely to advance to Dusty. Was defeated.
Not much to say about the match. Dakota worked hard, but Gonzalez eventually took care of the business. He did nothing spectacular but did what he decided to do: remind us that Gonzalez is dominant.
However, the one I appreciate the most is the evolving relationship between Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. Ravel made his debut as Dakota’s bodyguard last year. She was clearly working for Kai, focusing on how Kai’s career was moving forward.
Raquel then began to breakout on her own, and the team moved dynamically instead of falling or quarreling. Dakota was happy to try to play a supporting role for Arohit Gonzalez. She was also locked in a locker to help her during Rowell’s Last Woman Standing match against Rhea Ripley. And now they are working as a team, both of them working for a common goal.
They may be bad cheeks, but I dig this friendship.
Elevation
MSKA featured Drake Maverick and Killian Dine in the early stages of the Tsags night.
What I generally appreciate about Dusty Classic is how they use it to elevate tag teams to more serious situations. Dan and Drake were perfect on the off-medi beat when they started. With time and now a place in the dusty, they were portrayed as a more respectable tag team.
They are still the DNA of the team: Dain is the threat and Maverick is the ‘weak link’. But this week, Drake planned his own. It was not the responsibility he had played in the past. It’s important if they want this team to be nothing more than a come-and-go act. (Which is fair, if NXT wants, it’s a good role for them.)
The team still doesn’t feel like a uniform unit. There is still the feeling of two people matching a team working together, which is really the opposite of both working together. That’s part of who they are, though hopefully they’ve evolved into one more Team.
On the other side of the ring, MSK is very attractive. I have a little bit of experience seeing them as rascals in effect, but I’ve been away from seeing impact for many months so I don’t know the caliber of work when they’re gone. That said, they seem more special here. They are unique in style and personality. I am excited for this match because of them this week and I am excited to see what they do in the next round.
Superb underdog
My favorite match of the night was the Dusty Quarter Final Bout where Grizzly beat Young Veterans Kushida and Leon Rough.
It was the only dusty match of the night that really felt like the ending wasn’t the Eastern finish. Yes, JVV was a favorite. But Rough and Kushida won big 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 Rough, just doing a wonderful job working in a match as a sympathetic character. His personality makes it very easy for him to take root. Meanwhile, GYV is not flashy, but their style allows you to easily root against them. Then it’s even more frustrating when he wins.
After the match. Johnny Gargano and InStin Theory attacked Rough and Kushi last week, compensating them for their losses last week. He was eventually intimidated by Dexter Lumis, who has issues with Way as well as given that he has lost the North American title match in less than a clean way.
Whose turn is it now?
It looks like Io Shirai may have to defend his title in a triple threat match.
Tony Storm called the champ, but after Shirai answered, Mercedes Martinez introduced himself into all of this. With Storm and Martinez not on the same page despite having one and full tag team, here’s enough to go with the triple threat.
Honestly, triple threat means. A lot of the women here deserve a title match, one of them running the program together helps to move the line together. And if there’s someone they want for a singles match with the champion line, they don’t take the pin.
It’s not official, but our best guess is what’s next for the champion.
All the rest:
– Bronson Reed Isaiah “Swarve” Scott went up. It’s clear they’re making a big time out of Reed. I question doing it at the expense of Swarve, who won nothing important in his time at NXT. I think the win to split the series with Jack Atlas (who never even won) was his biggest achievement. They need to find a program for Scott that can be victorious.
– Kurt Stallion’s cruiserweight title match was due this week. But he was attacked earlier so he was under pressure until next week. William Regal’s figures are the El Legado del Fantasma criminals, and while he’s probably right, Carion Cross left a calling gender card on Santos Escobar’s bag, leaving me wondering if he’s the real attacker. I don’t see what his purpose would be though.
– McCullum Bevans scheduled a cupcake match for Tyler Rust so he tried to do his business through Rust last week and booked himself in a match with Brnson Reed. Rust won so Malcolm earns money.
With an abundance of tag matches and a lack of any real hot angles, the show felt like a stretch. There was nothing bad outside. Each segment would have worked well on a show that had some hot angles. But this one felt like a bunch of complementary supplements at once, leaving what seemed like a duo episode of NXT.
Grade: C +
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