Reviews by Dave
By David E Houston II
Show air date: May 11, 2021
NXT on USA’s theme this week must have been “solid”. Nothing particularly great but some interesting things got going that should have good payoffs. Two marquee matches where only one even came close to meeting expectations.
Karrion Kross defeated Austin Theory
NXT champion Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett) beat up Austin Theory. Nothing special at all. WTF did Kross have on? Let that be the grand opening/grand closing for that gear. I like Kross but to go from selling to suddenly back to grimacing just looks goofy. Finn Balor showed up after the match and being the former champ, he shouldn’t have to stand in line. He’s up next in two weeks.
MSK defeated Breezango
Tag champions MSK beat Breezango. Solid match. Normal WWE pacing. Some tension seemed to be brewing with the former champs.
Pete Dunne defeated Leon Ruff
They should ease up on Regal segments. Leon Ruff was refused his sanctioned match but chose to accept the open challenge by Pete Dunne and looked good. Dunne beat him. That’s enough of that with Ruff. Get him some wins and not flukey upsets.
Raquel González (c) defeated Mercedes Martinez
for the NXT Women’s Championship
I had high hopes for the Raquel González (c) vs Mercedes Martinez Women’s title match but it just didn’t come together. Just not good at all. They had spots where they looked completely lost. González won.
They Are Officially Out of Good Names.
Good introductory segment for Swerve Scott’s new crew: Hit Row (they are officially out of good names). I like they let all three introduce themselves, and I like Ashante Thee Adonis’ Super Mario-inspired fashion sense. Give me throwback 90s vibes. I just hope they aren’t Scott’s flunkies and get their own things to do. Funny how they never could decide on which camera to close out on at the end so Hit Row is just looking up and down, up and down, trying to catch the final shot.
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Oney Lorcan
Speaking of flunkies, Oney Lorcan was back in that role for Dunne and got beat by Kyle O’Reilly in another solid TV match. As they put the boots to O’Reilly, he was saved by his returning–and now former–tag partner, Bobby Fish, fresh from the ER.
Main Event: KUSHIDA (c) defeated Santos Escobar
for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship in a 2 out 3 Falls Match
In the main event, KUSHIDA successfully defended the Cruiserweight title in a 2 out of 3 falls match against former champion, Santos Escobar. Good match but they did that thing where the loser of the first fall (almost always the face) wins the 2nd fall really fast. KUSHIDA takes the last two and sends Escobar home empty-handed as they go to black.
A lot of yelling and talking over each other this week at commentary and it felt more than normal. How have these three been working together this long and still not developed any timing or chemistry?
Thanks for reading!
