Reviews by Dave
Show air date: November 11, 2020
NXT on USA had three title matches on a rather soft show that used to build up different stories more than anything else, coming off the Halloween Havoc event last week.
Leon Ruff defeated Johnny Gargano (c) for the NXT North American Championship
Trying to break his streak of losing titles in his first defense, Johnny Gargano set up his own Spin the Wheel to select his first challenger. The “pick” was underneath guy Leon Ruff, who went out and pulled off the upset and became the new North American champion after Gargano got mixed up with former champ, Damien Priest. Way more angle than a match but surprising and pretty good. Despite a lot of lobbying, NXT General Manager William Regal, refuses to reverse the decision. The only person dragging this down was Damien Priest, who is just dull as a face.
Santos Escobar (c) defeated Jake Atlas for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
Since it got over so well last week, they replayed Jake Atlas taking out one of Legado del Fantasma in the parking lot and it didn’t come across as well. That led to Atlas coming up short in his challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight title against the champion, Santos Escobar. Good match but nothing really special despite getting some good time. They seemed to run out of steam later. Credit Raul Mendoza for selling his attack from last week better than anyone who sold their Hell in the Cell bouts on Raw the night after.
Raquel Conzalez beats Boa
Raquel Gonzalez was set to face Xia Li but Li’s associate, Boa, came out and told her Li wasn’t there. That should be a forfeit. Lady Diesel then beats the hell out of Boa. That was good but then, as became the theme for the night, the angle dragged and a Chinese man came out to his own music and smoke.
Candice LeRae defeated Toni Storm
Candice LeRae beat Toni Storm in a good match that also seemed to peter out at the end. LeRae beat her with a very old school roll up with her feet on the ropes that the referee missed by putting himself in a bad position. Storm, being a bad loser, jumps on LaRae immediately. Candice is saved by the Scream mask wearer from last week, which brings out Shotzi Blackheart, who also gets beat down. The mask wearer reveals herself to be Indi Hartwell, which shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone. It looked absolutely goofy for her to run down in her mask and Scream killer get up but WWE gon’ WWE.
Timothy Thatcher defeated Dexter Lumis
Timothy Thatcher interrupted Dexter Lumis playing Win, Lose, or Draw so they have a match. It was okay but needed a few minutes shaved off it. Credit to Wade Barrett for the Billy Robinson name check. Thatcher wins due to interference from Cameron Grimes, who leaves Lumis laying with a sack over his head. Prince of Darkness match, here we come. Damn.
Tommaso Ciampa Promo
I could have sworn Tommaso Ciampa was a good promo guy. He’s been off for weeks on the mic.
Main Event: Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch (c) defeated Breezango
After a pretty good Pat McAfee promo, his guys–Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch–successfully defended the NXT tag titles against Breezango–Tyler Breeze and Fandango. Overall, good wrestling in this match but crazy overbooked. McAfee jumps up to distract the ref as his guy had the advantage, leaving an opening for Drake Maverick to interfere. Then Pete Dunne gets involved and there’s the goofy ending with a pointless “blind” tag. Maverick rejoins the list of Stupidest Babyfaces by jumping Pat Mac’s group, 1 on 4. Breezango tries to help him and they end up beat up some more. I do appreciate them ending with the heels getting some heat, even under these Nitro-esque circumstances.
Solid show. Nothing more.
