NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver - Nights 1 & 2 (April 7 - 8, 2021) -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver was a professional wrestling television special, pay-per-view, and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their NXT brand division. It took place on April 7 and 8, 2021, and was broadcast from the Capitol Wrestling Center, hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

It was the 34th NXT TakeOver event and was the first to take place over the span of two nights. Both nights aired on the WWE Network, thus marking the first WWE in-ring event to air on Peacock's WWE Network channel in the United States following the shutdown of the aforementioned service's standalone American version on April 4. The first night aired in NXT's weekly Wednesday night timeslot on the USA Network, making it the first TakeOver to air on television and the final NXT broadcast on Wednesdays before moving to Tuesdays on April 13. The second night aired on traditional pay-per-view in addition to the WWE Network.

Six matches were contested on Night 1 at the event, including one match on the pre-show. In the main event for Night 1, Raquel González defeated Io Shirai to win the NXT Women's Championship. Other prominent matches included Walter defeating Tommaso Ciampa to retain the NXT United Kingdom Championship and MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) and Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde) to win the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship.

Six matches were also contested on Night 2 of the event, including one match on the pre-show. Two matches were promoted as main event matches for Night 2. In what was the final match on the card, Kyle O'Reilly defeated Adam Cole in an unsanctioned match. In the penultimate match that was promoted as the other main event match, Karrion Kross defeated Finn Bálor to win the NXT Championship. In another prominent match on the undercard which opened the event, Santos Escobar defeated Jordan Devlin in a ladder match to determine the undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion.

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Night 1 (April 7)

Match Results:

Kick-Off: Singles Match

Zoey Stark def. Toni Storm

While I think the world of Zoey Stark in terms of being an incredible worker and enhancement talent, I didn't think that she should have been beating Toni Storm without any build or storyline. It would have made more sense for her to beat Dakota Kai in this spot, given their last few matches on NXT programming. I have absolutely no idea what they were thinking with this decision. 

Despite that though? This was a fun match, so I can't complain too much about the ladies starting things off hot - in more ways than one. 

Singles Match

Pete Dunne def. Kushida

At this point, I'm convinced that NXT has absolutely no idea what to do with Kushida and I'm sure he has to be regretting his decision to leave New Japan to come to NXT. This company has done nothing but give him numerous start and stop pushes with little to no payoffs. That being said, this match was fine for what it was worth though, so I can't complain about this being a solid opener. 

Six-Man Gauntlet Eliminator match

Bronson Reed def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Cameron Grimes, LA Knight, Dexter Lumis, and Leon Ruff

Winner received an NXT North American Championship match on Night 2

I honestly didn't care about majority of this, but was getting into the final moments between Swerve, Reed, and LA Knight. I was surprised that Dexter Lumis was eliminated though as I had him pegged to face Gargano in Night 2 to pick up where their feud from the last TakeOver event and the ongoing drama and angst within The Way. The MVP of that match was easily Bronson Reed by far. 

Singles Match for the NXT United Kingdom Championship

Walter (c) def. Tommaso Ciampa

This was easily the best match between both nights of TakeOver for WrestleMania week. If you don't watch anything else from Night 1 and 2, go out of your way to watch this match. That's the beauty of Walter's matches though. Only he can do these matches. If everyone else tried to work like this, it would come off fake and boring. With Walter you can buy into anything this MFer does could end a match. 

Excellent psychology in this match from bell to bell. The narrative for this match was that Walter was too reckless early on in his efforts to put Ciampa away and smashed his hand through the commentary table. That became the Achilles' heel that Ciampa sank his teeth into like a rabid animal for the duration of the match that gave the seemingly indestructible Walter a weak link in his armor. It ultimately wasn't enough to keep Walter down for good, but it made for a great recurring weak spot to target that gave Ciampa some convincing near-falls here. Ciampa definitely put up a great fight, but it ended just the way I figured it would. 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship

MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) and Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde)

I'm so sick and tired of GYV and Legado Del Fantasma's boys that I was pulling for MSK from bell to bell. This was a surprisingly good match - something that this dying tag team division on NXT desperately needed in the wake of its lack of interesting teams, outside of MSK. The right team won too with MSK going over, which was something that should have happened when they won the Dusty Tag Team Classic in the first place. I thought the winners of the Classic got a title shot in previous years or am I getting that mixed up with something else?

Singles Match for the NXT Women's Championship

Raquel González (with Dakota Kai) defeated Io Shirai (c)

Maybe it was just me, but Io Shirai got in far too much offense here and forced Raquel to work from underneath as if she was the babyface in this match, which came off pretty damn odd to me. There were a lot of great spots and moments in this match, but when Raquel finally hit that powerbomb on Io, there was no doubt in my mind that the title was changing hands tonight. 

Raquel was the right one to dethrone Io and at the right time too. Io's had a great run as champion for over 300+ days, but I could easily see her sticking around on NXT for another year to work with the debuting Sarray (who was in the crowd with Stephanie McMahon) and few other noteworthy women in the NXT women's division. As much as I want to see Asuka versus Io Shirai in a WWE ring, I'm willing to wait a bit longer before Vince McMahon gets his hands on her and muddle up her character in the same capacity as so many joshi women before her.

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Night 2 (April 8)

Match Results:

Kick-Off: Tag Team Match

Killian Dain and Drake Maverick defeated Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango)

Winner receives a future NXT Tag Team Championship match.

You guys and gals know how I feel about both of these tag teams and I really didn't care about this match at all. I went and did everything else but watch this match while it was airing on the kick-off show. 

As of NXT on April 13, 2021, Dain and Drake got their match against the NXT Tag Team champs and came up short, only to get laid out by Imperium shortly thereafter. I personally think it's beneath Imperium to even entertain the thought of feuding with them, but it's whatever at this point if they want to feed Drake to the slaughterhouse that is Walter next. Now him against Dain could make for decent hoss fight though... 

Ladder Match to determine the undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion

Santos Escobar (Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion) defeated Jordan Devlin (NXT Cruiserweight Champion)

Despite liking Escobar during his days as King Cuerno in Lucha Underground, I can't say that I have been overly thrilled at his run in NXT so far. With the wealth of sexual allegations against him, I'm surprised that Jordan Devlin is even allowed on NXT programming period, especially when the Velveteen Dream has been completely removed off of the brand over the past year. I said it on Twitter during the show and I feel the same after the fact - it was going to be very telling for WWE with all of the media attention on them for WrestleMania week in terms of whether or not they were going to "award" Devlin in this match and continue parading him around as the Cruiserweight Champion. 

For their sakes, they made the wise decision and went with Escobar defeating him to unify the two titles. As for this match itself, they had a lot of wild spots that took me by surprise involving the two ladders and really went above and beyond to punish their bodies in this match. Not all of this was very good and not all of it was all bad either. I was pretty indifferent to majority of this match until they started turning the dial to eleven with crazy bumps.

The finish looked like Escobar killed Devlin off of that bump. Jesus F'N Christ, man. 

EDIT: I'm adding this after watching NXT (April 13, 2021) and I'm shocked that Kushida answered Escobar's open challenge and actually won. What was the point of having him lose on TakeOver then if he was going to get the title a few days later? I thought it would have made more sense that Pete Dunne answered the challenge instead in that case and Kushida got his win back down the road. 

Tag Team Match for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship

Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart (c) def. The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell)

I honestly didn't care for anyone in this match save for Indi Hartwell, who was doing well for her TakeOver debut. This match could have EASILY been on a typical NXT episode before or after this event. I don't know why they wasted a spot with this. 

I dare say that the Eclipse Ember Moon did on Candice and Indi for the finish was one of the worst I have ever seen her execute in NXT though. I hate to say it, but the more I see Ember Moon back on NXT, the more I am losing interest in her character. It's a darn shame too because I was initially excited to see her back to the brand when they weren't doing absolutely nothing with her on the main roster before she got injured, only to see her comeback to the NXT brand and just seems to be going through the motions. Where is that fire she had when she was first part of this brand? 

Singles Match for the NXT North American Championship

Johnny Gargano (c) (with Austin Theory) def. Bronson Reed

I'm not going to lie, but I was downright disgusted with this show after Gargano retained here. After all of these start and stop pushes with Bronson Reed and he really had a standout performance on Night 2, you would think that it was going to be a given that he would pick up the win here. Nope, Gargano retains, only to continue hogging air time on the weekly NXT shows with his bland heel gimmick and eye-rolling antics with his faction. God, I hope they split The Way up for we can see less of this fool every week after someone beats the tar out of him and takes that title from him. 

Y'know... Common sense booking would have had Reed win here and have him start a program with LA Knight in the weeks that followed. I'm just sayin'. Knight has lost clean to Reed since his debut and hasn't gotten any retaliation. 

Singles Match for the NXT Championship

Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) def. Finn Bálor (c)

In hindsight, I think this match should have closed out the show. Much like the Walter/Ciampa match on Night 1, this match played out from bell to bell with great psychology and sheer brutality. Balor got his shots in Kross, but Kross wasn't taking that punishment laying down. He dished it back out tenfold and reclaimed the title that he never lost to begin with. This was easily the best match on Night 2 in my eyes. 

I still have my fingers crossed that this loss frees Balor up to challenge Walter next for the NXT UK Championship. C'mon, we've been denied that match for over a year thanks to the pandemic. Everyone else may have forgotten, but I sure as hell haven't. 

Unsanctioned Match

Kyle O'Reilly defeated Adam Cole

As much as I love Kyle O'Reilly's in-ring work and the wars that him and Adam Cole have had outside of this company, it's with a heavy heart that I have to admit to myself that they did a bit too much here. There were some insanely creative spots with the chains and chairs that I won't think I have seen anywhere else (at least not mainstream), but ultimately, the 45+  minute runtime killed this match - along with the crowd too. You could tell the fans live in attendance at the CWC were completely burnt out at this point. By the time they even got to the 20-30 minute mark, I was constantly asking myself when is this going to be over? This is the same issue I had with the Cole vs. Gargano or Gargano vs. Ciampa matches that a lot of people fawn and rave over as the best TakeOver matches in history, they do too much stuff to the point that they are having the entire series of a feud in a single match and by the end of it, I honestly don't care anymore. For the record, I don't want to discredit the pure athleticism and in-ring ability of these two men, but my personal issue with matches like this is that you start doing so much in a single match for an excessive amount of time that you start to desensitize your audience of anything and everything you do before it's all said and done. 

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Closing Thoughts

NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver was a fine show, but I didn't think this needed to be stretched out over two nights. Both nights were great, but Night 2 could have shaved off at least 2-3 matches, with a main event that went FAR too long for it's own good. At the same time, I feel that the talents involved all worked hard and didn't embarrass themselves. They put on some WrestleMania weekend worthy matches that I'm sure that will be the talk of the town, even when people start compiling their best matches of 2021 lists. 

NXT: Halloween Havoc (Oct. 28, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

 

NXT: Halloween Havoc was a special episode of WWE's weekly television series NXT, broadcast on the USA Network. It took place on October 28, 2020 at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Five matches were contested during the event. In the main event, Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae in a Tables, Ladders and Scares match to retain the NXT Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Dexter Lumis defeated Cameron Grimes in a Haunted House of Terror match and Johnny Gargano defeated Damian Priest to win the NXT North American Championship in a Devil's Playground Match in the opening bout. 

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Devil's Playground Match for the NXT North American Championship

Johnny Gargano def. Damian Priest (c)

Gargano defeating Priest with a ledge dive/drop bump that reminded me of something straight out of Lucha Underground. The majority of that match did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't think that they should have beaten Priest this early for the belt, especially not for Gargano's stupid heel gimmick.

After the opening match, Pat McAfee took to the ring with the new NXT Tag Team Champions, Danny Birch and Oney Lorcan, to shoot on the "internet wrestling fans" and the Undisputed Era as any good heel would and should do. This was a piece of good business. I just wasn't a fan of how much time this took. Even Ray Charles saw Pete Dunne's turn on Kyle O'Reilly. Like why the fuck would he align with the Undisputed Era when those guys have been at odds for years now? Not to mention, Roderick Strong was the one who turned on him during the Dusty Tag Team Classic about three agos to put this faction together Overall, I'm not really sold on this mash-up of guys aligned with McAfee. I need a few more weeks to see what they are going to do with them collectively before I'm buying into it completely. So far it just comes across as lumping guys together for the excuse to put UE in WarGames for like 3rd or 4th year in a row. I've seriously lost count at this point.

Singles Match

Santos Escobar def. Jake Atlas

Santos Escobar def. Tony Atlas. As much as I loved Escobar in Lucha Underground as King Cuerno and I like Tony Atlas as a ring talent too, NXT has done nothing to make me care about anyone who faces Escobar's stable. That's just an easy cue to go to the bathroom or the kitchen to make a sandwich in this case - not that this lasted very long anyway. 

Legado del Fantasma dressed for the occasion.

That being said, I did like Escobar's Mysterio Halloween Havok-inspired gear though.

Haunted House of Terror match

Dexter Lumis def. Cameron Grimes by submission

While the "zombies" in the House of Horrors match looked cool with the contortionists, I want them to scrap this whole pseudo/wannabe Undertaker/pseudo Sam Shaw character for Dexter Lumis. It's just not working - AT ALL. Ironic that they have the two ex-TNA/IMPACT Wrestling guys involved in a match like this too... 

Why did they feel like this needed to be split into two parts though? It just made this match feel like it overstayed it's welcome big time. I guess they might have wanted to get all of their investment on those extras they hired to play the zombies in the haunted house. (Shrugs) Who knows? I have to wonder where the hell 

Singles Match

Rhea Ripley def. Raquel González

Rhea Ripley def. Raquel Gonzales in another match that didn't do much for me. Giant vs. Giant matches or Powerhouse vs. Powerhouse matches can be really boring when both people aren't going to bump around like the people lighter than them normally would. It just makes for a lot of bland and stale action. I honestly found myself flipping the channel back and forth to the NWA Women's title match over on AEW over this instead. I had to laugh after Rhea won too as even in victory, this match did nothing for everyone involved.

I remember having to do a double take at first as I thought Shotzi was completely nude here, but quickly realized she was rocking a Bride of Frankenstein get-up for her first costume (of many) during this broadcast.

I will mention that while I thought Shotzi's costumes were cool, I still was disappointed that she didn't rock an Elvira look for one of her multiple costume changes for the night.

Tables, Ladders and Scares match for the NXT Women's Championship

Io Shirai (c) def. Candice LeRae

After the opener, I didn't have any high hopes for the main event between Io and Candice since I was half-expecting Io to drop the title to her for Candice and Gargano to have bragging rights next week. I was surprised to see Poppy (lipsync) sing Io to the ring to what sounded like a garbled mess instead of Io's normal music. The match wasn't really good nor was it god-awful, but I'm surprised that Candice doesn't have a crushed pelvis from how she landed on ladder during the finish. (Sighs) Lemme walk that comment back a bit... I felt the same way about this match as Candice and Io's TakeOver match less than a month ago. Both women gave their all, but I don't have any enthusiasm of seeing Io losing to Candice in any shape nor form in a one-on-one match. If this was a multi-person match, then go nuts with the title change, but just all kinds of no on Candice beating Io clean. 

Reports following this show said that Hartwell wasn't the one under the mask, but was taken off the show tonight as a precaution due to COVID concerns. 

I would bet the farm that the person in the hood/Scream mask is going to be revealed as Indi Hartwell though.  I was happy to see Shotzi run interference for we would be spared from the gloating from the Garganos next week too.

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Afterthoughts: 

This wasn't a bad show, but at the same time, I wouldn't say that it blew me away either. 

I was just glad that they didn't go with the predictable route of making both of the Garganos win their matches here, even though I'm still not too keen on the idea of having Damien Priest lose the North American title to Gargano so soon after winning it. Gargano doesn't need to be a champion to be successful on NXT, but Candice LaRae could use a NXT Women's title win to pad her resume before going up to the main roster. The problem with that is that I wouldn't have Io Shirai losing to her PERIOD, even if there was heel foul play involved with the finish. I heard that there's some talk about the individual wearing the Scream mask tonight being not just one person but two individuals aligned with the Garganos. I could see that being a possibility as well. Austin Theory has been suffering a string of losses on NXT over the last few months before uttering the words that he "quit" not too long ago. Gargano could have taken him under his wing, much like how Candice may have coaxed Indi Hartwell into doing her bidding. Don't forget that Indi handed Candice a pair of brass knuckles a few weeks ago to set up this match, so there's that possibility as well. 

The impromptu creation of Pat McAfee's faction seems to be reaching at the moment, but I'm willing to give them a few weeks to iron out the kinks out on this idea before I give a final verdict on whether I have warmed up to the concept or not. I can't say the same for anything involving Legado del Fantasma though. They have great matches, but I just don't care for them as characters on this show. Double goes for roughly everyone they have been feuding with over the last few months. I really want that to change, especially with Jordan Devlin returning to NXT UK. Hopefully, we'll get to see Escobar Santos and Jordan Devlin clash to see who is the REAL NXT Cruiserweight Champion in the coming months, sooner more than later. 

NXT TakeOver 31 (Oct. 4, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver 31 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their NXT brand division. It took place on October 4, 2020 at the remodeled WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, which housed the new “Capitol Wrestling Center”, NXT’s version of the “ThunderDome” used for Raw and SmackDown at the Amway Center - also in Orlando. As the name implies, it was the 31st NXT TakeOver event.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Finn Bálor defeated Kyle O'Reilly to retain the NXT Championship. On the undercard, Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae to retain the NXT Women's Championship and Damian Priest defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT North American Championship.

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Match Results:

Singles match for the NXT North American Championship

Damian Priest (c) def. Johnny Gargano 

I can't speak for anyone else but you will never hear me complain when Johnny Failure shows up to play at these NXT TakeOver specials. Whether he's heel or face, Gargano can bump his ass off, but still can't get the job done. I would love to know what is his win/lose ratio at these NXT TakeOver specials though. 

As for this match as a whole, it was a solid opener, but my biggest knock against this match and this show as a whole is that this is NOT the match I would have started the night off with. I think Kushida and Velveteen Dream should have gone on first being that it's the only non-title match on this entire card. Don't get me wrong either as I don't think this was a bad match, just not one that I would have opened this show off with. This was a solid bout with some great spots, but Priest definitely dodged a bullet on that dive over the ropes and into the trainees/extras standing at ringside to catch him. If Priest was any further off on that landing he would've hit dead on the corner of that barricade or one of his limbs would have done the same as well - either way that would have been ugly. Someone needs to tell Priest that this isn't Ring of Honor anymore and he doesn't need to be diving out of the ring to make an impact. That's a bit much, especially when you're one of the bigger guys. That shit is going to catch up with you sooner more than later. 

It's almost comical at this point. Something has to change.

I'm better than this. We're bigger than this.

— Johnny Gargano (@JohnnyGargano) October 5, 2020

The narrative here was that Gargano pulled every dirty trick in his playbook, only for the "Gargano Way" to be all for nothing as he still walked away with this match with another token loss in the L column of Johnny Failure's laundry list of defeats. This isn't a bad thing either as at this point of his NXT tenure, he should be putting over guys instead of beating people, despite the fact that I was scared going into this show that NXT would do something stupid like the main roster would and have Priest drop the title to Gargano just to give him heel heat and bragging rights for him and Candice (after beating Io later). 

Singles match

Kushida def. Velveteen Dream by submission 

It cannot be said enough about how much I adored that promotional package with Kushida talking about why he's here in NXT and his ongoing struggles to fit in on NXT and American soil, only to express that he's doing this not only for himself but for his family - namely his adorable baby girl. I cringe at the thought of what Vince would do to him on the main roster, but this was excellent for him here. This was the match that should have started off this show, especially after Kushida attacked Dream during his entrance. 

THIS was the Kushida I wanted to see since Day 1 after I heard he was signing with NXT. We've seen glimpses of it here and there but man, I'm glad to see Kushida kick it up a notch like during his New Japan days. I'm sorry, but Dream didn't have jack shit against this dude here. It felt absolutely one-sided at one point to me. The narrative for this match was simple - Kushida was fed up with Dream's bullshit and he was going to pay for it. Simple as that. Kushida systematically wore down and tore down Dream's arm until he forced to submit from the Hoverboard Lock. Kushida didn't stop there as he continued to attack the limb following Dream's submission while the referees rushed in to break it up. This "hardened" edge to Kushida was a much needed and welcome change for me. 

Triple H's comment about Dream's "immaturity" out of the ring was telling too as it seems like he's in the doghouse of sorts for those continued allegations against him, despite Triple H and WWE's claims of running their own investigation(s) on him and Austin Theory. I don't care how talented those guys are in-ring, but if the truth comes out and they are guilty as all sin, then NXT and Triple H need to be held accountable for glamorizing these individuals on their programming. That goes double for Matt Riddle too. 

Singles match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship

Santos Escobar (c) (with Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott 

Even though I know that these two were Killshot and King Cuerno in Lucha Underground, I honestly cannot get into this feud. I thought NXT signing El Hijo del Fantasma was a great pick-up for the NXT brand, much like the signing of Shane Strictland, but this whole thing over the Cruiserweight Championship isn't doing not a damn thing for me. It's sad too because these guys are putting on some solid performances since their initial outing back in the Interim Cruiserweight title tournament, but it feels like that these two have been feuding forever with no ending in sight. The same can be said about Escobar's cohorts in Wilde and Mendoza feuding with the current NXT Tag Team Champions in Breezango, but to be fair, they've ran that program and the one with Imperium into the ground. I like the group - Legado del Fantasma - collectively, but man, NXT have been running these programs against guys who cannot get a break against them for shit for feels like months now. Move onto something else, please. I was hoping that maybe we could have gotten Undisputed Era against Legado del Fantasma for War Games in some capacity, but I doubt that is going to happen with Swerve getting a new ally in the form of Ashantee "Thee" Adonis. I watched this match twice and I didn't have an idea who the flying fuck that dude was until later in this show where they interviewed him backstage. Apparently, he was in Ring of Honor and a few other places before signing with WWE and competing primarily on 205 Live. (Laughs) No wonder I don't know who he is then...

Once again, this wasn't a bad match, even though there were some sloppy missteps upon execution. It didn't bore me to death, so that's a positive. I'm just sick of seeing these guys face off, especially when it seems like Swerve faces this dude to a losing effort at every opportunity for the Cruiserweight title. He's turning into the Apollo Crews of the Cruiserweight division, whereas if he keeps getting shot after shot against Escobar, eventually he's going to get lucky and get the title off of the guy. 

Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship

Io Shirai (c) def. Candice LeRae 

(Laughing) When Johnny Failure shows up to TakeOver, his wife Jenny Failure isn't far behind. I'm sorry, but after this match, I'm done with this current crop of opponents down in NXT's Women's Division for Io Shirai. It's painfully obvious that no one other than Rhea Ripley is a stand out in that division, especially when they aren't going to have Dakota Kai nor Raquel Gonzales beat her for it and Tegan Nox just got sidelined with an injury while anyone else in that division has seen much screen time on weekly TV episodes or if any at all (Ahem... Santana Garrett, who I have absolutely NO idea why they aren't pushing that woman to the moon...). Much like the opener between Gargano and Priest for the North American Championship, I had doubts going into this show that NXT would do some stupid main roster booking and have Candice and Gargano sweep the champions just to say that they are the first and only couple to hold NXT gold at the same time. It was the same thing on the main roster where they couldn't resist to put all of the belts on Sasha Banks and Bayley earlier this year. In my opinion, putting all of your championships on one person does nothing but highlight the fact of how much your division(s) are lacking in credible challengers and the lack of depth in that said division. If we're being honest with ourselves, WWE has a major problem with that across all three brands, including NXT as well. 

It was a saving grace that they ended this match with not one but TWO new challengers making themselves known to the reigning champion - first with the returning Toni Storm (who I'm guessing is able to leave the United Kingdom now that the travel restrictions have eased up a bit) and second with the returning Ember Moon (revealing herself as the mystery former champion in the vignettes from the last few weeks) from the injury that nearly ended her career. 

If you #BOlieve ... anything can happen! https://t.co/NOg71p5UU8

— Ember NXT Moon Palmer (@WWEEmberMoon) October 5, 2020

I tweeted it during the show and I'll say it here too. If I could be selfish, I wish it would have been Ember Moon returning on the main roster to challenge Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship to revisit their old NXT rivalry that never got to be resolved properly, due to Asuka forfeiting the title and leaving the NXT brand following an injury of her own. Monday Night RAW is severely in need of new, strong opponents for Asuka and Ember Moon would be one hell of an opponent for Asuka if they were to play up their history from NXT. Alas, that think tank of chimps writing on the main roster probably didn't think of that, so Triple H got first dibs at Ember Moon making her return to the company on NXT instead. Io Shirai versus Ember Moon would easily be a dream match-up for many, as I'm not sure if they have faced each other in any capacity in the past outside of WWE. Io and Toni Storm on the other hand, have had a lot of encounters outside of WWE, namely for Stardom. That would be a pleasant treat to revisit some of those bouts for future TakeOver specials. Toni and Ember will definitely spice this women's division on NXT for the better, that's for sure. I wouldn't mind seeing Rhea Ripley face those two (again in some cases) as well. They definitely have to rehab her following her lost momentum following the lost to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania this year. Rhea's momentum fell off a cliff at that point and never came back. That has to be NXT's biggest blunder all year, especially when you look at how her star was on the rise this time a year ago. 

As for this match from bell to bell, it was alright, but I can't say that it was one of my favorite TakeOver outings for Io Shirai. Candice LeRae put up a better performance than I was expecting, but I don't have to see her competing for the NXT Women's Championship anytime soon. It was a bit much to even entertain that thought at this point. I honestly don't know what they should do with Candice really. She was set to be in a program with Tegan Nox until it was confirmed that her torn ACL injury was legitimate over the past week. Tegan Nox can't catch a break with these leg injuries at all. I hate that she has to miss time in the ring and nurse yet another leg injury, I think Tegan might have to consider hanging it up if she keeps getting put down like this. As for Candice LeRae, this heel gimmick with Candice's husband is generally hit or miss, with not just me, but most people watching NXT every week and I didn't think she was a very good babyface either. She's just really bland to me, but she's good worker in the ring though. I guess they could migrate her into a program with Shotzi Blackheart, but it seems like her and Rhea Ripley are still feuding with Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzales off and on, so who knows. 

I loved the Spanish Fly that Io busted out towards the end here, but I have no idea why Tom Phillips made a point to keep saying that Io is a fan of Rey Mysterio afterwards when he doesn't have a reputation of using that move in his own arsenal. That was a minor gripe here that was quickly forgotten after Gargano's attempts to play the role of the referee backfired and ensured that the "Gargano Way" wasn't the way to victory here. 

Singles match for the NXT Championship

Finn Bálor (c) def. Kyle O'Reilly

This match made me really happy as a long-time Kyle O'Reilly fan, namely for the fact that more people have this chance to see exactly how good he is in the ring. 

Both Balor and O'Reilly suffered some legit injuries from this hard hitting affair. O'Reilly fractured Balor's jaw in two places after being on the receiving end of one of his brutal high knees while O'Reilly lost some teeth by the end of this match. Both of these guys brought it like they were wrestling in the main event in the Tokyo Dome. This is definitely a TakeOver match that shouldn't be missed. As an O'Reilly fan, I'm really happy to see him in this spot. It would have been even better if he won the match, but at the same time, I get why they didn't pull the trigger on that victory quite yet. It's up in the air on whether or not that they want to pull the trigger on splitting up the Undisputed Era too. I wouldn't do that as should be called up to the main roster collectively as an unit. Otherwise, Vince McMahon will just look at each individual member of that group as more "too small" guys to fill up 205 Live's roster. O'Reilly and Bobby Fish (together as reDRagon) are desperately needed to reinvigorate that dying tag team scene on the main roster, but I fear for Fish's long-term ability to avoid injuries when he has been plagued with them for the last few years. Strong will fit in easily as a "good hand" for the mid-card scene at the Intercontinental/United States title level, but I can't see him going beyond that level in WWE's environment. Adam Cole is the total package out of all four members of Undisputed Era, but his size will be the only thing that would have him looked over (by Vince mostly) in favor of bigger, imposing figures in WWE. 

Maybe it's just me, but to me, it looked like Finn Balor completely no sold O'Reilly working his limbs over the entire match just to merely hit the Coup de Grace twice - both standing and diving without showing any signs of the abuse making a difference in the finish. I doubt that was intentional, especially for a seasoned professional like Balor, but damn that didn't sit right with me watching this finish live Sunday night. 

There will be hell to pay for this.#NXTTakeOver #NXTChampionship @KORcombat @AdamColePro @roderickstrong @theBobbyFish @FinnBalor pic.twitter.com/KsqwGnzsEM

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) October 5, 2020

The post-match with Richard Holland tossing a battered and bruised Adam Cole like a piece of meat at the feet of the members of Undisputed Era at ringside felt a little flat to me. Holland is a monstrosity to behold, but at the same time, I hope they don't fast track this dude to the top at the same manner that they did with Karrion Kross earlier this year or even Brock Lesnar back in 2002. Hell, Holland looks JUST like a young Brock Lesnar and I'm sure that Vince McMahon would lose his mind if he saw that guy right now. I wouldn't even hold that match where Johnny Gargano suffered that scary stinger by being dropped onto his head by Holland against him either. Both of them were to blame in that freak incident where Gargano jumped a little too late and at the same time, Holland didn't spin around with the Powerslam in time before landing on the mat. Accidents happen, but I do think it wouldn't hurt to slow his ascent though. It's not going to kill them to take their time with that guy. They took months with Lars Sullivan when they were building him up as a credible monster. I think most people were expecting the Undisputed Era to fall out following the decision of this match, but I think the long game is to pull the swerve that Cole staged the entire incident and has Holland as his hired muscle. 

FYI here’s the footage of Ridge Holland’s leg injury tonight. Unsure whether it’s the knee or the ankle. @WrestlingInc @RajGiri_303 #wwenxt #wwe pic.twitter.com/GDnXN1ghiE

— Jack. (@nomorewords97) October 8, 2020

As of this posting (10/8/20), Ridge Holland suffered a pretty gnarly knee injury during a match with Danny Burch on WWE NXT last night (10/7/20). I don't know what the full scope of that injury is, but man, that has to suck for Holland as it was abundantly clear that NXT had big plans for that guy. People who saw the match live on social media said that you could literally see his knee explode during the spot in question. It looks like a pretty bad as you just know that your knee and/or ankle isn't supposed to bend that way. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for the guy. 

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Afterthoughts:

The change in scenery for the Performance Center was needed desperately months ago when this pandemic first started. I thought when WWE started running shows in there full-time that they would spice the venue up a bit, but NXT keep getting more and more boring to watch visually as the weeks played out. Changing the venue to look like a modified version of the Thunderdome set that WWE has been using for RAW and SmackDown! for the past few months was a nice touch, along with the fans and trainees behind the fences/Plexi glass. I hope someone gets a good screenshot online of the side of the venue across from the hard camera where you can clearly see Shotzi Blackheart and several others in attendance not wearing any masks, but Triple H assured everyone on his post-show conference call that all safety and health guidelines were being followed. Yeah, right...

I did think it was in good taste that they formally renamed the WWE Performance Center to the “Capitol Wrestling Center”, as an homage to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to WWE that was founded by Jess McMahon in 1953. They even adopted the old logo to boot. This new look will definitely made the boring, bland Performance Center stand out more akin to the shady fight club feel that it should have, similar to a blend between Lucha Underground and Ring of Honor's visual presentation. I mention the latter mainly because that is what a lot of NXT storylines and matches are heavily influenced by. My only concern is how long is this layout going to stay fresh until viewers are bored with this visual presentation too? Even AEW are struggling in that regard week-to-week when they were leading the charge on how to present wrestling during this pandemic at first, so only time will tell in the long run. 

This wasn't a bad show at all, but I think it was a far cry from being one of the best TakeOver specials of the year. It's just hard to top the stand out performances from TakeOver XXX a few months prior to this, but the talent here put in their best efforts to try though. There's no doubt about that. The best thing for me was that this show didn't overstay it's welcome either as it was over well before 10PM Eastern Standard Time and didn't try to clock in towards midnight like AEW or the main roster PPVs. 

NXT TakeOver XXX (Aug. 22, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver XXX (originally NXT TakeOver: Boston) was a professional wrestling and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their NXT brand division that took place on August 22, 2020 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and was the 30th NXT TakeOver event.

The event was originally scheduled to take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mayor Marty Walsh announced the suspension of all large-scale gatherings and that no permit would be issued for an event that could draw a large crowd before September 7 (Labor Day). As such, the event was moved to NXT's home base of Full Sail University.

Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the Pre-Show. In the main event, Karrion Kross defeated Keith Lee to win the NXT Championship. On the undercard, Io Shirai defeated Dakota Kai to retain the NXT Women's Championship, Damian Priest defeated Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Johnny Gargano and Velveteen Dream in a Ladder match to win the vacant NXT North American Championship and Adam Cole defeated Pat McAfee.

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Match Results:

Triple Threat Tag Team Match to determine the #1 contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship

Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) def. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch and Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza)

I didn't watch the pre-show since I was watching AEW Saturday Dynamite prior to tuning into the main show for this card, but I'm surprised to read that result when WWE tends to lean towards factions all having championship gold all at once. This just sounds like an easy title defense to fill time between shows until the next TakeOver special. I don't understand the point behind this Breezango push. Nobody cares - I hate to say it. I get those guys wanted some sort of "redemption" after being misused and mismanaged on the main roster, but don't do that at the detriment of getting other tag teams over on NXT. Nothing makes me hit the fast forward button or change the channel quicker than when I see this team show up on my television. It's a darn shame too, because I actually liked these guys when they were coming up as singles stars.

Singles Match

Finn Bálor def. Timothy Thatcher

This was a solid opener for this show, but my only knock against this match is the fact that Thatcher worked Finn's legs the entire match, only for Finn to no sell the damage to execute his Double Foot Stomps without any issues. Like c'mon, man. Plus I honestly don't agree with Thatcher losing like this when they are supposed to be getting his "shooter" gimmick over. One loss isn't going to hurt Finn at this stage of the game, especially when he should be moving back up to the main roster at this point. It's obvious that we're not going to get that Balor vs. WALTER match anytime soon that we were promised for the NXT UK TakeOver Dublin event that was set for earlier this year, but was cancelled due to the travel bans and quarantines due to COVID-19. Send Balor back to the main roster where he can do some more good there for some of the struggling brands with the lack of star power right now.

Ladder Match for the vacant NXT North American Championship

Damian Priest def. Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Johnny Gargano, and Velveteen Dream

This was a stupid good ladder match with a lot of stupid, yet entertaining spots to boot. On top of that there were a lot of ugly bumps in this match where I'm sure that these guys will be feeling in the morning. I'm surprised Gargano took as much punishment as he did to say that he had that close call on the last set of TV tapings. That was a truly gnarly spot between him powerbombing Cameron Grimes on top of the ladder bridged between the ropes. Grimes' body only hit the corner of that before bumping onto part of the bottom rope. Man, that shit was scary to watch. Not to mention Candice LeRae holding onto Bronson Reed's back for dear life as he splashed Gargano from the top of the ladder. Jesus F'N Christ, man. I cracked up laughing at how Velveteen Dream was dumped off the top of the ladder and down out through the commentary tables at ringside.

Say what you will about Dream, but he - along with his fellow competitors in this match - definitely brought it in this match from bell to bell. I would love to see any combination of these five men go at it again in the future, stipulations or not. This was an all-round fun match from bell-to-bell.

I would've told Triple H to get lost while I was about to have my "celebration"...

FYI, the women in the hot tub with Priest for his "celebration" were Brandi Lauren (formerly IMPACT's Ava Storie, who feuded with Shotzi Blackheart in EVOLVE and happens to be one of Jay Lethal's students) and Jayme Jameson, who appeared on RAW Underground the week prior. Jameson is the ex-wife of Gunner/Jaxson Ryker of the Forgotten Sons.

Singles Match

Adam Cole def. Pat McAfee

My anticipation for this match was low going in, so I wasn't really blown away (at least not until that fool busted out a Senton Bomb into the crowd at ringside) like most were at McAfee's in-ring ability. Jim Cornette pointed out on his podcast that Pat McAfee was trained by Rip Rogers, so he's definitely going to know at least how to work in some capacity. The story of this match has been saying that McAfeee has only had a mere TWO WEEKS to prepare for this match when in reality he has been training for wrestling for several YEARS now.

As good as McAfee looked in this match, I thought it was major disservice to Adam Cole to have McAfee last as long as he did. Cole has been the longest reigning NXT Champion in the history of that brand before losing that title a little more than a month ago to Keith Lee. This match had no business going on as long as it did, but I guess NXT was doing the same thing IMPACT Wrestling did a while ago with DeAngelo Williams to show off that McAfee could go with the best that NXT has to offer.

I'll admit that they had me doubting Cole was going to win for a second there off the punt kick for the near-fall. In the end, it was the Panama Sunrise (Canadian Destroyer) that sealed the deal. That made me happy to see a Canadian Destroyer finally win a match for once on this brand instead of being a fucking transition spot.

I have a question for people to think about though. Who actually benefited from this match and build? Pat McAfee pretty much solidified himself as the top heel for the NXT brand in the segment on the go-home episode prior to this PPV. Adam Cole and the rest of Undisputed Era were made to look like fools during that segment as well when they allowed McAfee to talk all of that shit for roughly ten minutes, only to do absolutely NOTHING and go home with their tails between their legs. Sure, Cole said that line that he would make McAfee his bitch at TakeOver, but I can't see any positives to this feud at all. Where does Cole and the Undisputed Era go from here? I guess they could have them feud with Legado del Fantasma, but that would be a step down for the longest reigning NXT Champion in history to be in a feud for the Cruiserweight Championship - not to mention that would highlight McAfee's comments about Cole's size or lack of thereof.

Singles Match for the NXT Women's Championship

Io Shirai (c) def. Dakota Kai (with Raquel González)

There was a scary moment early into the match where Io knocked herself loopy off a backflip of all moves while evading one of Dakota Kai's attacks. Forunately, it didn't seem to hinder Io's performance for the rest of the match though. I hope it doesn't come out that Io suffered some sort of a concussion from such a simple maneuver.

"King Kota" dominated a lot of this match to the point where I was starting to question whether or not Io really was going to retain here. I remember Dakota Kai from back when she was wrestling as "Evie" back in Shimmer and on the indies and it's great to see how far she has evolved her character and in-ring abilities. That being said, I don't see her as NXT Women's Champion - BUT I do see her ready to take on the main roster if they want to move the pairing of her and Raquel Gonzalez up with the upcoming WWE Draft right around the corner. I don't see why don't they call up Tegan Nox and Mia Yim up there too.

I felt the ending here fell flat when Raquel took FOREVER to come in and lay out Io following the referee bump for the near-fall. That just made it look silly when Io popped up hit her moonsault on Kai and Raquel at ringside, only to roll in Kai and hit the same move again for the win. It just came off bad in execution when it seemed like those events were done out of sequence or something. Maybe Raquel was in the wrong spot at the wrong time? I dunno. I just know that it didn't look good at all.

Seeing Raquel and Rhea Ripley of all people stare down was interesting. I'll say that much. I can't say that was a match that I was clamoring to see. I'm disappointed that we didn't get Rhea Ripley vs. Mercedes Martines one-on-one for this TakeOver event. If we don't get that on free TV over on WWE NXT on the USA Network in a few weeks, then that's going to be stupid booking in that regard. It seems like they are planting the seeds for Io and Rhea one-on-one down the road, but I don't know if I like the idea of her going for the NXT Women's Championship so soon, especially when they could go with an idea from one podcast/online comment I remember reading. The idea was to have Rhea and Shotzi as a tag team and would challenge for and win the Women's Tag Team Championships from Bayley and Sasha Banks. If you ask me, I like that idea much more than the makeshift team of Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler that was half-assed together on Monday Night RAW (8/24/20) following this event.

Singles Match for the NXT Championship

Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) def. Keith Lee (c)

From the moment I saw how elaborate Kross' entrance was for this match, I uttered out "This dude is fucking winning this match" to my friends that I was chatting it up with over Discord. There was no doubt in my mind that they would go through all of that for one guy's entrance as the challenger no less and NOT have him win the title here. That shit was fucking incredible. Then Keith Lee comes out to pretty much nothing added to usual banger of an entrance theme he normally has. That was the tale of the tape right there.

Then the bell rung and Lee showed that he was ALL business, knocking Kross across the ring. I like this no nonsense Keith Lee more than the gentle giant that he is normally portrayed by. This is the change in demeanor that I crave to see from Big E whenever he decides to kick the New Day to the curve and go all in on a singles push. I'm not talking about that silent, just stand there and look tough bullshit he was doing with AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler either. I'm talking about this strictly business (shout out to Nick Aldis in NWA), Hulk Smash attitude that Keith Lee brought to this match.

Lee's rage got the better of him as he smashed his arm against the plexiglass at ringside and trapped his arm between the barricade, which allowed Kross to smash it between those two surfaces. From here on out, Kross systemically tore down Lee's defenses as he continued to target that limb - from Lee's wrist to his elbow and up to his shoulder. The irony of that is that Kross suffered a legitimate shoulder injury (separated shoulder) during this match, but continued on and powered through the rest of this match regardless.

The story of the match was that no matter how hard Keith Lee powered through, Kross' sheer brutality and ruthlessness was too much to overcome for the Limitless One. In fact, Kross proved that Lee DID have limits as he succumbed to the Doomsday Saito from off the top rope. I thought the finish was rather anti-climatic, especially given the build-up to this match. That being said, NXT got where they wanted to go with this mega-push for Karrion Kross, even though I don't necessarily agree with pushing the guy so fast at this point.

The following night, Keith Lee was announced to be the newest addition to the Monday Night RAW roster, so we see why NXT was so dead set him to drop those two titles so fast over the past two months. (Crosses fingers) I'm praying that they don't fuck this up. I honestly see him being Apollo Crews' "back-up" to deal with the Hurt Business, but I wouldn't go that route with him. I would debut him as a part of the Hurt Business and naturally have him split away from the faction to go on his own down the road, much like The Rock with the Nation of Domination. You want this guy to go in as a wrecking machine and that's definitely the group you would want him to be a part of and learn from in terms of veterans in the business.

As for Karrion Kross, I hope his shoulder separation isn't too serious as I would hate to see that his monster push was all for nothing if he has to open NXT on Wednesday night by forfeiting the title.

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Afterthoughts:

As of this posting (8/26/20), Keith Lee has officially debuted on Monday Night RAW and is set to face Randy Orton at Sunday's WWE Payback PPV while the verdict is still out on how serious is Karrion Kross' separated shoulder injury. Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley are set to face against Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, making me wonder what the hell are they thinking not booking the one-on-one match against Rhea Ripley and Mercedes Martinez following what happened on NXT last week. Has Triple H finally ran out of good ideas for this thing or it's becoming painfully apparent that the same shitty booking from the main roster is starting to infect NXT just the same? If we can all be honest with ourselves for a minute, but NXT has been "borrowing" ideas from early to mid-2000s Ring of Honor, Shimmer, and New Japan for a while now. Sooner or later, we should have all seen it coming with the well running dry eventually. That just means that NXT is going to have to start getting creative or actually cook up their own original ideas.

If Kross' injury doesn't require surgery and he can work around it, I suggest opening tonight's (8/26/20) NXT with him and Scarlett laying dominion over NXT and just sit out on the stage watching matches from a pair of thrones like Mil Muertes did at the start of Season Two of Lucha Underground, Shao Khan-style like this is Mortal Kombat as he surveys the landscape of potential challengers worthy of his time. 

NXT Great American Bash Night 1 & Night 2 (July 1 and 8, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

On June 24, 2020, WWE announced that the eighth Great American Bash under the WWE banner would take place as a special two-week event during the July 1 and July 8 episodes of NXT. Both episodes were taped on Wednesday July 1. One scheduled match for July 8 was a champion vs. champion match between Adam Cole and Keith Lee for the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship. The Bash went head to head against AEW's Fyter Fest, which was held on the same nights.

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Results:

Night 1 (July 1, 2020)

Fatal four-way elimination match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship
Tegan Nox def. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Mia Yim

I was a little surprised that Tegan Nox would win this when it seemed like they were going with Dakota Kai getting a shot at the title next. All four of these women are solid workers, but I have to be honest when I say have remotely no interest in any of them challenging nor holding the NXT Women's Championship. I enjoyed Mia Yim as Knockouts Champion when she was going by Jade in IMPACT Wrestling, but her current gimmick isn't doing anything for me in terms of gravitating towards her character. Candice LeRae has been a massive dud since her and her husband have turned heel. Tegan and Dakota's feud has had some highs and lows, but NXT needs to be careful not to beat a dead horse.

Singles Match
Timothy Thatcher def. Oney Lorcan by submission

This was the best "pure" wrestling match between both NXT and AEW on across both shows for the evening. I love this shoot fighter gimmick they have going with Thatcher as that fits him perfectly, especially if that means that he's going to end every single one of his feuds with a Fight Pit match in NXT.

Handicap match

Had Ripley lost, she would have joined the Robert Stone Brand.

Rhea Ripley def. Aliyah and Robert Stone by submission

I didn't understand why did this match drag out for so long. The former Robbie E from TNA/IMPACT Wrestling is entertaining in this role as Robert Stone, but homeboy needs to invest in some socks to go with his church shoes. On a side note, he might want to cover up his physique in the future as it's hard to buy him as some cowardly wimp when he's just as jacked and cut as most of the other guys on the NXT roster.

A win for Rhea here was good and all, but it does nothing for her since her momentum has been in a nosedive over a cliff since losing to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania. I still don't understand what was the long-term booking plan of having Charlotte Flair beat Rhea Ripley. Rhea went home crying like a baby after the loss and on top of that she wasn't able to reclaim said title in the triple threat with Io Shirai involved. Now Charlotte's back on the main roster, despite being written off on injury leave currently, with Rhea wandering around aimless and directionless. Feuding with Charlotte may have been good on paper but it was more damaging for Rhea Ripley in the long-term than blowing their loads on a match that WWE could have waited on, especially if they were going to call her up to the main roster sooner more than later.

The more I see of Aliyah, the more I ask myself how does she still have a job, especially after the wealth of talent releases over the last few months? She's not any better since when she was first starting NXT back on that Breaking Ground show.

Strap match

Dexter Lumis def. Roderick Strong

This wasn't bad. It was boring and it dragged on and on and ON throughout multiple commercial breaks. Normally, Strong is able to get a great competitive match out of anyone on this roster, but it wasn't happening in the least with this slow, methodical demeanor that Lumis seems to be forced into working into his fighting style here in NXT. Back in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, I don't remember him being this slow at moving around when he was Samuel Shaw.

Singles match

Io Shirai def. Sasha Banks (with Bayley)

This was easily the best match of the night with a lot of great back and forth from Io and Sasha. This was a dream match-up for a reason and you can easily see why by the time it was all said and done. The right woman won though, thanks to an assist from RAW Women's Champion Asuka. I marked the hell out to see Io and Asuka standing in the ring together in a WWE ring. For the love of all things holy, I need an Asuka vs. Io match in WWE. Let's get Asuka vs. Io, Asuka vs. Kairi Sane, and Io vs. Kairi too while we're at before Io and Kairi head back to Japan if the rumors are true about their departures from the company once their current WWE contracts expire this year.

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Night 2 (July 8, 2020)

Singles Match

Tony Nese def. Leon Ruff 

I looked away from the television for what felt like a minute and this match was over faster than it had begun. Thanks for comin', kid. This would actually setup Nese's match later in the show.

Street Fight

Candice LeRae def. Mia Yim 

This feud isn't doing anything for me. I will be happy once both of these women move onto something else. I've seen far worse matches than this to be honest as it wasn't a bad match. It was just a pretty boring one. This was a far cry from Mia Yim's hardcore matches with Rosemary back in IMPACT Wrestling. That being said, the right woman won as Candice LeRae desperately needed the momentum for this heel turn.

Singles Match

Bronson Reed def. Tony Nese 

I really want to like Bronson Reed, but every single time I look at him and his work, he reminds me of Bull Dempsey and I remember how that turned out. They pushed him to an extent and cut him out of company like they were trimming off the fat on the Thanksgiving turkey. Tony Nese has been killing it since the Cruiserweight Classic and it baffles me that this guy is still a glorified enhancement talent more often than not, especially when he's not being stifled in the cruiserweight division over on 205 Live.

This match wasn't bad. It was just there on a show that was essentially a one match card as everyone is waiting to see the main event.

Singles Match
Johnny Gargano def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott 

Both of these guys are great in the ring. Gargano has headlined several NXT TakeOver specials and Scott was a cornerstone in MLW rising to prominence over the past few years after he spent some time in Lucha Underground as Killshot. That being said, this was just an average match between these two and easily forgettable, especially if you're familiar with both men's body of work. Much like his wife's win, Gargano's win was much needed as Johnny Failure and his wife have been nothing but all talk since their heel turn started.

Six-Man Tag Team Match
Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Raul Mendoza) def. Drake Maverick and Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) 

While I applaud NXT for trying to do something positive with Fandango and Tyler Breeze after the main roster has squandered their talents for years, I didn't give a damn about them in this match. I much rather see the original version of Tyler Breeze make a comeback on NXT without being paired up with Fandango. On the positive side, Escobar's group needed this win to get the wheel rolling forward as a show of force.

Singles Match

Mercedes Martinez def. Santana Garrett 

Even though I hate that Santana Garrett is a glorified enhancement talent here in NXT, I thought she was the right opponent for Mercedes Martinez's debut here. Mercedes came off like a killer - like she should be, especially given her history being aligned with Shayna Baszler. If NXT were smart, they would pair Shayna's cronies with her in the meantime since they are still green and need seasoning before they could be called up to the main roster with Shayna and allow them to get the rub from Mercedes in a similar manner. That way, when we do have Shayna and Mercedes reunite or butt heads in the future there could be this rift between them in terms of Jessamyn Duke and Marina Safir taking sides of who to follow. By that point, I think either Ronda Rousey would be back with the company or Nicole Savoy can quit dodging the inevitable and have a Trifecta reunion under WWE's banner.

My only issue with this debut is that it seems like NXT has too many heel women and not enough significant babyfaces to oppose them.

Winner Takes All singles match for the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship
Keith Lee (North American) def. Adam Cole (NXT) 

This is match definitely lived up to the anticipation and hype, despite the fact that the ending was spoiled a week prior to this airing. To be honest, it really didn't matter as it drew even more interest on NXT that night over AEW, who were running with Chris Jericho against Orange Cassidy in their main event in opposition. Cole tried everything in his bag of tricks to get the job done, but ultimately couldn't put Keith Lee away. The only thing that I was a little puzzled by was the lack of interference from the rest of The Undisputed Era, much like the rest of Cole's title defenses - not like it would have made a lick of difference anyway once Keith Lee fired up and started HULK SMASHing everything in his way. Putting away Adam Cole was no different. This win made for a great moment to top off this show and well worth the wait for two weeks.

The show closed with the shot of Karrion Kross and Scarlett watching from above as it seems to hint at Kross is the next in line to challenge for the NXT Championship. I honestly don't think they should jump the gun on Kross in that title picture. The guy only had one appearance on TakeOver to date outside of a few squash matches.

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Closing Thoughts

Simply put, Great American Bash Night 1 was a two match show, with Timothy Thatcher vs. Oney Lorcan and Sasha Banks vs. Io Shirai being the highlights of that card above the rest while Night 2 was essentially an one match show, with the Winner Takes All title match between Keith Lee and Adam Cole was arguably the best thing on the entire show. I can't knock NXT too much as they don't do anything that's not completely insulting to the wrestling business as a whole, but they do have a few acts and numerous matches on these shows that are a total slogfest to sit through, especially when you're just waiting for the headliner for these cards. That is to NXT's detriment as well when they have some of the best finely tuned athletes in the sport today, but that doesn't help excuse the fact that a lot of these matches are just flat out boring. I applaud their efforts and hard work, but I can't deny that a wealth of the talent and matches on these cards bored me to no end.

I can see why AEW keeps their fans engaged. They always have some sort of a car wreck or insanely stupid spectacle going on their programming that keeps you engaged from bell to bell, whether it's good or bad.