Reviews by Dave
By David E Houston II
Show air date: January 25, 2022
WWE NXT 2.0 656 got some solid storyline development going and some of the better wrestling of the last month-plus for them.
MSK defeated Jacket Time
I thought MSK doing that little bit on the Dusty Cup was eh but then it felt odd when it was revealed they cut it in front of the live audience. These guys have great personalities but it can be hard to tell with their NXT time lately. They went on to advance to the next round of the Dusty Cup tag tournament, beating Jacket Time–KUSHIDA and Ikemen Jiro–in a pretty good match. Still can’t stand Jiro and those “punches” but this was the first match I’ve seen him in worth remembering.
Steiner Math Reference
Santos Escobar’s promo as he’s set to challenge NXT champion Bron Breakker wasn’t too bad. He even got in a Steiner Math reference. Glad to see they’re finally leaning in on Breakker’s family and that adds to this feud. Breakker came down. There seemed to be a moment where we were supposed to be shocked a White dude knew a Spanish word and a scuffle broke out where Legado del Fantasma got to be Uso’ed. It didn’t go too long so it was fine.
Solo Sikoa defeated Boa
Solo Sikoa–another generational talent they don’t really tap into yet–beat Boa in a no-disqualification falls-count-anywhere match in what has been the most interesting underneath thing they have going. A good brawl that featured both guys well.
Duke Hudson. Fast forward. I saw Dante Chen come out. Run down. Get beat up again. They making that boy look hella lame.
Indi Hartwell, Persia Pirotta, and Kay Lee Ray defeated Toxic Attraction
Six women tag match with Toxic Attraction–Women’s champion Mandy Rose and tag champs Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin–lost to Indi Hartwell, Persia Pirotta, and Kay Lee Ray. This wasn’t bad. Not great as it had the typical WWE tag match cliches but these women have faced each other quite a bit so they’re developing a rhythm and with Hartwell, Ray, and Dolin doing the heavy lifting it never started to drag, at least not for too long. Probably be even better with a minute or two shaved off. Ray chased Rose to the back with a bat and Pirotta pinned Dolin so I expect her and Hartwell to get a title shot soon.
They Found a Way to Put Rose Over
I didn’t like it (Raw scripters have invaded NXT) but they gave Edris Enofé and Malik Blade a short vignette. That’s nice. They found a way to put over Mandy Rose in it. SMH.
The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Chase University Team
James Drake and Zack Gibson–the Grizzled Young Veterans–beat the Chase University team of Andre Chase and his protege, Bodhi Hayward, advancing to the next round of the Dusty Cup. Also not bad. Hayward is probably on TV too soon but when the veterans were working, it was good and didn’t take all day. The live crowd was really good the whole show. Gave the show some energy it needed.
Io Shirai defeated Tiffany Stratton
Io Shirai beat Tiffany Stratton. Fast forward. Stratton was then rude to Wendy Choo, who just happened to be woke.
Malcolm Bivens is a Blessing
Malcolm Bivens is a blessing. Loved his promo on Imperium, who they face in a six-man next week. I don’t know why they let the Creeds and Roderick Strong even talk. They just brought it down.
Someone named OllieJayy performed before the main event. I fast-forwarded through it thinking I would stop when whatever angle they shot happened. It never did. No ma’am. No sir.
Main Event: Cameron Grimes defeated Tony D’Angelo
Cameron Grimes got a win over Tony D’Angelo to determine the next challenger for Carmelo Hayes’ North American title at their Vengeance Day show on February 15. Best thing on the whole show but still felt…regular.
I guess the recent trend of great technical wrestling had me thinking this would be another one of those and it wasn’t.
Plus, Grimes slipping on the moonsault attempt looked bad for D’Angelo as he was lost. Pete Dunne’s involvement in the finish makes me think they’re going to do more of those and I’m not excited about that.
Legado went old school with the black SUV in the parking lot but Tommaso “Just For Men” Ciampa showed up to even the odds.
Good finish to an above-average show for them. Had some truly tragic segments but a lot of solid to good wrestling.
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Reviews by Dave is the best wrestling review on the internet! It’s written by David Houston II, who writes about WWE NXT 2.0, AEW Dynamite, and IMPACT Wrestling.
