Reviews by Dave
Show air date: March 17, 2021
Solid NXT on USA last week. Some good wrestling, a couple of hot angles, and then some WWE stuff that reminded me “Oh yeah. WWE.”
Nothing Special Here
Such a thing occurred right off the bat when NXT champion “The Prince” Finn Balor had his confrontation with his TakeOver challenger, Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) interrupted by NXT tag champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, who came out to talk about a whole other dude who wasn’t there (Pete Dunne) and somehow ended up in a tag title match defending against Balor and Kross as the show’s main event (what was the main event since they booked this in the moment?). Not a damn thing special here.
Dexter Lumis defeated Austin Theory
Austin Theory went without his The Way cohorts to face Dexter Lumis in a match with some good work but a goofy-ass finish. Lumis wins with the Silence choke. Getting off to a rough start.
Two Guys Wanting To Fight
Adam Cole kicks the show into a higher gear with a hot promo in the ring, challenging his former Undisputed Era mate Kyle O’Reilly to come out. General Manager William Regal shows up to tell him O’Reilly has been banned for the building. O’Reilly hacks into their ZOOM account and cuts a pretty good promo of his own from the big monitor. Great fire here from Cole and O’Reilly. Two guys wanting to fight. I love it.
Legado del Fantasma defeated Breezango
Legado del Fantasma–Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza–beat Breezango–Tyler Breeze and Fandango–in a nice TV match. Interim Cruiserweight champion Santos Escobar gets his promo cut off by the return current Cruiserweight champion Jordan Devlin. Not the best promo work but the (errant) headbutt and Devil Inside suplex JD hit on Escobar made the whole thing. TakeOver just got another title match.
Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark
You know how you don’t build up a new star acquisition: have her drop her first two significant matches by clean pinfall but that’s what happened as Zoey Stark followed up her loss to NXT champion Io Shirai last week with a loss to Dakota Kai this week. Then she has to be helped to the back by Shirai, who came out to give a title match contract to Kai’s tag partner, Raquel Gonzalez.
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Marcel Barthel
Tommaso Ciampa, looking for his tag partner Timothy Thatcher, got a win over Marcel Barthel of Imperium in a good match that was relatively short but entertaining. The NXT: UK invasion was complete as NXT: UK champion WALTER made his NXT TV return, urging his squad to beat Ciampa down. The commentary was horrible throughout but good job of Wade Barrett explaining what the Thatcher-Imperium connection is.
LA Knight Makes His Debut
LA Knight made his debut and looked good but they did some silliness with Bronson Reed and a jacket. Yawn.
Main Event: Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan defeated Finn Balor and Karrion Kross
The main event was already a struggle but Burch getting hurt killed whatever might have been good about it. A bunch of confusion led to Lorcan singlehandedly successfully defending the title, pinning Balor after Kross beat the snuff out of him for Scarlett getting knocked down out the outside. Then Kross gives it to Lorcan and they go off with him looking like a monster.
It was an okay show with Cole and O’Reilly bringing the intensity and the return of WALTER being the big event
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