Reviews by Dave
Show air date: October 7, 2020
Solid NXT on USA this week. They balanced out a weak middle with a good opener and a very good main event. The women got a lot of time and carried the show.
Tommaso Ciampa defeated KUSHIDA
I thought the Tommaso Ciampa-KUSHIDA match was a good match. Not the Takeover-quality commentary wanted to sell but a good TV match. KUSHIDA’s rival, Velveteen Dream, interfered and ended up hitting Ciampa instead of KUSHIDA so Ciampa was giving the victory by disqualification. Dry finish but good action as the two continue fighting afterward.
Ridge Holland broke Adam Cole’s ribs? Okay.
Killian Dane and Drake Maverick defeated EverRise
Killian Dane and Drave Maverick have good chemistry with this new pairing and looked decent in an exhibition with The Quebec Bucks, EverRise–Chase Parker and Matt Martel. Maverick is a terrible partner and Dane was right to check his chin after the match.
Austin Theory defeated Leon Ruff
Dexter Lumis defeated Austin Theory
They went into the low point of the show as Austin Theory quickly dispatched Leon Ruff (Ruff can jump, can’t he?) and then after cutting a nothing promo, faced the returning Dexter Lumis in a match that went too long and only brought out the worst in Beth Phoenix on color. Cameron Grimes hits the Cave In stomp on Lumis after the match (Bast, I wish he had done it 5 mins sooner), still hot that Lumis just looked at him like a dummy instead of answering his question. Grimes was good here and almost cut a good promo.
Toni Storm is coming back. Very good vignette on the Balor-O’Reilly NXT title match at Takeover.
The Garganos
Looks like Indi Hartwell wants to be Candice LaRae’s new bestie. The Garganos were both good in this segment.
North American champion Damien Priest’s promos have been so bad lately, it’s like he’s trying to get Cedric Alexander’s old spot in Team Swagger Free.
Ridge Holland defeated Danny Burch
Holland beat Danny Burch in a pretty good but short match. Burch got in a lot of offense but was stopped with Holland hitting him with a stiff clothesline and his Northern Grit suplex finish.
Burch wanted more smoke and got his ass whooped some more, needing his tag partner, Oney Lorcan, to rush to his save and he had a nice brawl with Holland. This was where WWE’s rampant tendency to overbook bit them in the ass. That brawl should have ended after the second pull apart by the refs but instead, they had Lorcan do a second dive on Holland, who was on the floor, injuring him legit, tearing up his knee and ankle, we found out later.
Shotzi Blackheart defeated Xia Li
Shotzi Blackheart beat Xia Li pretty handily. Looks like the Chinese government has had enough and sent Boa out there with a one-way ticket back home.
Main Event: Ember Moon and Rhea Ripley defeated Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez
In the main event that didn’t look that hot on paper and not helped at all by the earlier flat promo segment, Ember Moon made her big return, teaming with Rhea Ripley to take out Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez in a very good tag match. Moon looked fantastic and full of fire and energy here and I hope this leads to her being a real player in the women’s division. On the other hand, Gonzalez looked really rough at times. She should just work tag matches and/or short singles matches for the foreseeable.
A strong finish to bring up a good enough show.
