Reviews by Dave
By David E Houston II
Show air date: September 21, 2021
The start of this week’s NXT 2.0 was fresh from Monday Night Raw on this with a lot of talking as NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa was giving a big pep talk speech. That preceded a parade of guys yammering: Cameron Grimes then LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Ridge Holland.
Then comes the much expected and only mildly anticipated brawl that ends with Dog Faced Gremlin Jr challenging Dunne and Holland to a tag match with him and Ciampa. Eh. The one thing NXT did that stood out was not starting with the normal WWE promo segment trope. That looks to be gone.
Roderick Strong defeated KUSHIDA (c)
for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
Roderick Strong of the Diamond Mine beat KUSHIDA for the Cruiserweight title. Solid match that I expected better but definitely the right move as they stopped giving a damn about that title months ago and maybe Strong revitalizes it. Grayson Waller came out, bopping like a juiced-up Vanilla Ice, and challenged the new champion. The only thing good here was Malcolm Bivens.
I was hoping the Tony D’Angelo bit was a joke. Glad to see it’s not just POC that get outdated, stereotypical gimmicks from Vince.
The vignette for Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen was goofy but better. They can give them those names but not a tag team name? Lazy.
Kay Lee Ray defeated Amari Miller
Solid introductory vignette for Amari Miller, who got in some nice offense before falling to Kay Lee Ray. Was Miller really swatting at bubbles on her ring walk? Never do that again.
Dante Chen defeated Trey Baxter
Dante Chen made a good first impression with a quick win over Trey Baxter. Wade Barrett must be the only person to have never seen his finisher before. They are soooo bad on commentary. That hasn’t changed. Again, why did they have a name for Chen’s finish ready for commentary last night?
Didn’t They Already Have Timothy Thatcher Doing This Gimmick?
Andre Chase is a well-traveled veteran, and I’ve been a fan for a while. I thought his skit was pretty good but uh…didn’t they already have Timothy Thatcher doing this gimmick?
Cameron Grimes defeated Joe Gacy
Cameron Grimes beat Joe Gacy after Gacy gave a painful in-ring bit where I guess he’s supposed to be the heel liberal. THAT, my friends, is a Vince McMahon creation if there ever was one. Another quick match and I don’t mind it. Squash matches have a place.
Elektra Lopez defeated Anna Scheer
Newest member of Legado del Fantasma, Elektra Lopez got a dominant win over Anna Scheer. She nearly dropped her on that sitdown powerbomb but otherwise, nice exhibition. Big brawl between Lopez and her Hit Row counterpart, B-Fab.
Odyssey Jones Wins
Big ass Odyssey Jones squashes two guys and then foils an attack by Chase, the man he eliminated from the Breakout Tournament a few weeks ago.
Raggedy-ass chair.
Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes are either easily impressed or have never seen women before.
Hey. Mandy Rose is talking. Fast forward.
Main Event: Tommaso Ciampa and Bron Breakker defeated Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland
A good main event with Ciampa and Bron Breakker (ugh) beating Dunne and Holland. The veterans did the great wrestling, the big young studs did big young stud shit and it worked. Most modern fans never saw Rick Steiner in Mid South/UWF. Watch Breakker and that’s pretty much it, except maybe a bit taller and leaner.
Kyle O’Reilly made a surprise appearance, taking out Holland–who, with Dunne–attacked him last week–and that set up Breaker pinning Ridge with a power slam.
Tuesday Night Raw is okay. Nothing special but nothing really bad this week like last week.
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