Reviews by Dave
Show air date: February 3, 2020
Wednesday night looks to be the night of just flat shows that close with really good main events as NXT on USA was not that good until a hot main event.
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter in a solid tag match. It was pretty basic WWE but it was alright and the right team definitely won. I could go my whole life without them trying to squeeze in all the Ninja Warrior spots for Catanzaro and please give her a different finish.
Austin Theory defeated Leon Ruff
Leon Ruff fell to Johnny Gargano’s young boy, Austin Theory. It was fine. I can’t tell why this is still going on but it looks like Dexter Lumis’ appearance and dust up with Theory seems to be the next thing for both.
Who is Tian Sha?
I just could NOT with the video package on Tian Sha, the new…something for Xia Li and Boa. WWE really believes in ethnic gimmicks, don’t they? It’s always 1979 with them.
Legado Del Fantasma defeated Lucha House Party
Legado del Phantasma–Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza–beat Lucha House Party–Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado–in a good match. Again, nothing really noteworthy but good enough. Looks like the House Party push is over. MSK come out and I wish they hadn’t. Not the best script for them to work from.
Edge Puts NXT Over
Pat McAfee’s boy really needs Pat McAfee. They lack a certain buzz without him and it came through with Pete Dunne’s promo here and his exchange with NXT champion Finn Balor. Edge came out, put over NXT, and then insinuated he might pick the NXT title to challenge for at WM.
Ninja, please.
Toni Storm defeated Jesse Kamea
Toni Storm and Jesse Kamea of The Robert Stone Brand had just a nothing match. Storm’s heel turn is not getting her much and the match-up made no sense and the match made no sense. Why is Kamea getting that much offense with Storm set for a title match? Storm was getting beaten when one of her TakeOver opponents, Mercedes Martinez, chose right then to hit the ring to pick a fight. Then NXT champion Io Shirai comes out and does the smart thing in just watching them fight but then chooses to hit them with a moonsault (a moonsault that lands wrong and hits Martinez in the face). Throw all this out.
Santos Escobar (c) defeated Curt Stallion for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
Curt Stallion finally got his cruiserweight title shot against Santos Escobar and it felt like it would never end. Why have the challenger take that much beating just to lose?
Scarlett watched from the stage (Vic Joseph was terrible here. Turn around, ninja, she right there) and Karrion Kross came out after the match to tell Escobar he was giving him time. Throw this out too. Not one bit of this makes sense. Kross is in the spot Ruff needs to be in.
Main Event: Ciampa & Thatcher defeated Undisputed ERA
Thank Bast for the Adam Cole and Roderick Strong’s match with Tommasso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher. Very well done with Strong taking a helluva beating. Thatcher and Ciampa win when Ciampa hits the Widow’s Bell on Strong, advancing to the semi-finals of the Men’s Dusty Classic tag tournament. They’re confronted by Grizzled Young Veterans, their opponents in that match. If you missed it, check out that main event but don’t worry about anything else.
Rest in peace, Hacksaw.
