Reviews by Dave
Show air date: September 8, 2020
A lot of good wrestling on this episode NXT on USA. Good opening title match, strong closing cage match, with some good work in the middle. Some foolishness, too, but give them credit for trying to do different things.
Finn Balor defeated Adam Cole for the NXT Championship
“The Prinxe” Finn Balor beat Adam Cole to be crowned as the new NXT Champion, making him the third two-time champion. Good match that was given a lot of time. It got goofy at a point and it did seem like they ran out of shit to do. It was just slingblades and superkicks. I could have lived without Cole completely blowing off a full-grown man jumping into his chest and stomach and 10 seconds later being on offense (pro wrestling in the 21st century, what are you gonna do?) but overall, it was better than the Iron Man match from last week. They could have just done this.
Io Shirai, Shotzi Blackheart Standoff
A whole silly forgettable segment with The Robert Stone Brand and Shotzi Blackheart that ends with the only memorable thing and that’s a face-off with Blackheart and NXT Women’s champ, Io Shirai. Interesting but Blackheart should beat someone of note before they do this so we at least buy she has a chance.
Velveteen Dream defeated Ashante Adonis
Velveteen Dream beats Ashante “Thee” Adonis in a short but shockingly competitive match. They gave Adonis a lot here. I would go with this match again and give it a few more minutes. Dream would win that too, but let that be the start of something for Adonis. Dream then gets waylaid by KUSHIDA, the man he turned on several weeks ago and beat down. Great fire by KUSHIDA and a good segment, easily the hottest thing in the first hour.
Dueling Promos and A Good Adam Cole Promo
Some good dueling promos by the women in the main event steel cage match, Rhea Ripley and Mercedes Martinez. Also a good backstage promo by Adam Cole.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
Candice LeRae and Tegan Nox try to patch up their friendship with a nice dinner that quickly goes awry. Not great but not bad. Will probably be the highlight of a feud between cardboard and construction paper.
Thatch As Thatch Can
Timothy Thatcher did a great job of breaking down North American champion Damian Priest in a Thatch As Thatch Can lesson. Priest delivers a Cena-esque bad promo where he tries to tell jokes when finding out he will be defending his title next week against Thatcher.
Bronson Reed defeated Austin Theory
Bronson Reed beat Austin Theory. It was alright.
Roderick Strong defeated Killian Dane
Roderick Strong (with Bobby Fish) beat Killian Dane. It was alright, they made the ref look like an idiot. The UE guys beat down Dane, who was saved by a steel pipe wielding Drake Maverick, who is rewarded by Dane with a punch hard enough to straighten his mouth.
Rhea Ripley defeated Mercedes Martinez
Why the first match of this feud is in a cage, I don’t know. Why they couldn’t just have the cage match without a bunch of weapons in it like chairs and tables, I dont know. But my guy already told me to lay off with all the logic, so I’ll just say both women worked really hard and had a physical, hard hitting main event as Rhea Ripley beat Mercedes Martinez in the steel cage, hitting the Rip Tide through a table. I hope they have something in store for Martinez because they just had her lose her first really big match for the brand to someone, Ripley, who didn’t need the win. It lost the thread a little at the end with Stone getting involved.
A lot of good work throughout the show. It was like watching TNA 2008: good wrestling, head scratching booking at times.
