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Showing posts with label Johnny Gargano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny Gargano. Show all posts

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.



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.




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. 




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. 

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NXT TakeOver: WarGames (Dec. 6, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts




NXT TakeOver: WarGames was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for their NXT brand division. It took place on December 6, 2020 at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and featured NXT's virtual fan viewing experience called the Capitol Wrestling Center. It was the 32nd NXT TakeOver event and the fourth event under the WarGames chronology.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish) defeated Team McAfee (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan) in a WarGames match while in the opening bout, Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel González, and Toni Storm) defeated Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, and Io Shirai) in the women's WarGames match.




Match Results:



Dark Match: Six-Man Tag Team Match
Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde) def. Curt Stallion, Ashante "Thee" Adonis and August Grey


I personally didn't see this match, but I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't show up on NXT's TV tapings or 205 Live over the next few weeks, if it didn't air already. 



Women's WarGames Match
Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel González, and Toni Storm) def. Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, and Io Shirai)



Team Candice...

Team Shotzi... riding her shiny new tank!

This match was rather odd to get started - which was complicated more by the asinine logic (or lack of thereof) of having the babyfaces bullying the heels for majority of this match. That was complicated even more by the babyfaces winning the advantage to start the match when the heels traditionally cheat to win that right. It was puzzling to me that the babyfaces were the ones bringing the weapons into the match as if they were fighting in some sort of disadvantage here. It (kinda, but not really) came together when it came time for the final member of Team Shotzi to enter the match, NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai, who was blocked at every turn to enter the ring by members of Team Candice, including an injured Indi Hartwell. She couldn't compete in the match, so it cool that she was able to contribute here in some limited capacity. Io ends up entering the match via non-conventional means as I'm sure you have seen the gif/screenshot of Io's Grouch impersonation as she dove from the top of the cage while inside a trash can.



As cool as that looked, I'm glad no one was hurt as that could have gone horribly wrong. Io would be involved with another trash can-related spot as Dakota Kai would perform a Diving Double Foot Stomp to her while she was still trapped within. Dakota Kai almost couldn't get her out of the crushed trash can afterwards since it warped around Io's petite frame so much. I thought they were going to take that thing off of her and she would have been a bloody mess. Unfortunately, she wasn't hurt but this match wasn't shy in brutal spots and bumps.

The spot where Candice LeRae broke her arm/wrist.


Candice LeRae would suffer a possible broken arm/wrist from the awkward landing during the impact of Shotzi Blackheart coming down off of the ladder onto LeRae's arm that was covered by a steel chair. It was already bad enough that Candice took a flat back bump off the ladder onto the two chairs, but to add the Diving Senton from Shotzi was pretty darn nuts. As of this posting (12/10/20), Dakota Kai had missed last night's NXT TV taping as she was still suffering from the abuse she took in this match. I wouldn't be surprised if that absolutely BRUTAL Eclipse that she took from Ember Moon over two chairs had anything to do with that. That was pure insanity to see executed. How in the hell did she not end up with a broken neck or broken collarbone is beyond me. 


I don't even know how to even explain how the hell Dakota Kai doesn't have a broken neck from that.



Much like Rhea Ripley's performance last year, this was a standout performance for Raquel González with her picking up the win for Team Candice with a vicious Avalanche Powerbomb to the NXT Women's Champion onto a ladder bridged between the two rings above that metal strip connecting them. I seriously thought that Io was possibly paralyzed after taking a bump like that. If she had kicked out I would have insanely pissed off - much like I was when Dakota Kai barely sold the two strikes from a goddamn sledgehammer from Rhea Ripley upon her arrival into this match. Fortunately, this was the finish of the match and I was fine with this as the opener. The ladies worked hard and came off as bad asses from all of the punishment that they put each other through here. It's just a darn shame that this match was riddled with piss poor booking for majority of this match to start it off. I saw people say that this match was a complete burial to the babyfaces on Team Shotzi. I honestly can't disagree, but the babyfaces were booked like shit from the start of this feud anyway, but the heels on Team Candice needed the win here even more. It was bigger slap to the face that the heels won clean over all else here though. That's the main issue I had with this match as a whole. 

I do have to knock NXT for allowing Io Shirai to be still walking around like nothing happened on NXT (12/9/20) last night. C'mon it would not have killed you guys to have her take the week off to sell that finish.








Singles Match
Tommaso Ciampa def. Timothy Thatcher



This was a hard-hitting affair, but it was a tough match to call going in to predict who would walk away as the winner. Where the women of NXT started things off with a train wreck of sorts in terms of hardcore-oriented violence, Ciampa and Thatcher took things to a technical level with mat wrestling here. This was a great match in its own way, even though Thatcher's ear was rendered to a bloody mess by the time it was all said and done. In retrospect, that ended up adding to this match, showing Thatcher's toughness and endurance.



I was a little bummed out that Thatcher couldn't pick up the win here after his string of losses on NXT programming as of late - such as his first submission loss to Kushida a few weeks ago, but Ciampa hasn't had a TakeOver victory in roughly two years, so he was LONG overdue at this point. I guess they could do a rematch in the Fight Pit down the road if they want to continue this program.








Strap Match
Dexter Lumis def. Cameron Grimes by submission



I honestly didn't fucking care about this feud nor this match at all. I went on a fast food run with the WWE Network app still playing the match on my phone as I waited in the drive-thru. There were some interesting spots in this match, but I couldn't get the irony of the fact that NXT has the two ex-IMPACT/TNA Wrestling guys tied together in a nonsensical feud as this when BOTH of them could be in much better spots on this card.

I don't want to knock either of these guys as I like them as wrestlers but I just don't care about this feud at all. From what I glanced at the match was fine, but I can't say that I have EVER been a fan of Strap Matches in WWE in any shape nor form. Thank God that this wasn't the type of strap match that required you to slap each of the four turnbuckles to win.








Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Championship
Johnny Gargano def. Damian Priest and Leon Ruff (c)



It didn't hit me until I started writing this review, but I can easily see what NXT is trying to do with Leon Ruff. He's literally NXT's equivalent of Ring of Honor's Cheeseburger when he started getting "serious". Jot that down as another example of stuff that NXT is "borrowing" from ROH's booking over the last decade or so. As for this match, it was fine until the closing minutes as I didn't think that all of the run-ins were necessary. Only ONE of the Ghostface(s) were Austin Theory, so who were the rest?




Oh, thanks for the clarification there, T-Bar. Now we know what the extra goons of RETRIBUTION do on their days off. 


Priest powerbombing Ruff through that barricade like Kevin Nash did to Rey Mysterio backstage on Nitro how Hernandez sent Gail Kim coast to coast with a Border Toss.








Priest should have been able to wipe his ass with these two guys in dominating fashion, but no, he keeps allowing himself to get outwitted by the antics of Gargano. I like Johnny Gargano as an in-ring worker, even though I think some of his TakeOver performances have been EXTREMELY overrated and over-bloated in terms of content, but I'm sick and tired of this heel run for him and his wife. They aren't good heels at all. Just because they are annoying and people don't like them doesn't mean that they are great at being heels. That's the wrong type of heel heat and the Garganos are accumulating a lot of "go away" heat. I fear that's going to infect Indi Hartwell too. To be honest, I don't feel sorry for Austin Theory at all, especially when it seems like Triple H and the rest of the top brass in WWE are inclined to simply ignore the laundry list of sexual allegations against not just Theory, but with a lot of their male talent(s) that they are pushing. Taking guys off TV for a few months, expecting people to forget about those ongoing investigations, are not going to make fans simply forget about what's going on with these people. 








Men's WarGames Match
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish) def. Team McAfee (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan)

(Laughs) I'm glad someone took the time to tell Pete Dunne to lay off that horrible looking orange spray tanner that he's been using on the TV tapings lately for this event. He didn't come in looking that Hogan orange hot dog frank color that his skin tone looks like these days and actually was back to looking human again.

In comparison to the women's WarGames match, this was a massive improvement in terms of match psychology and how they booked this from start to finish. Just go out of your way to watch this match over anything else on this card - outside of Thatcher/Ciampa. You won't be disappointed. 

Both teams went out there and beat the holy hell out of each other. If I had any major complaint, I felt that Pat McAfee should have ate the pin for his team instead of the anti-climatic finish that they went with. He's the biggest chicken shit heel out of that bunch, so you knew he would have been able to talk it up about how he was "screwed" in the end and bounce back from the loss just fine. I do have to question the amount of weapons and foreign objects used in these NXT WarGames matches. It's turning more into IMPACT/TNA Wrestling's Lethal Lockdown more than the traditional WarGames match and that's not necessarily a good thing, despite the fact I actually liked both flavors of those matches over the years. 


For anyone who is keeping count, Undisputed Era's WarGames record is 2-2 now. 






Afterthoughts:

With another win in the books, it seems like The Undisputed Era is moving on from this feud with Pat McAfee's faction. Bobby Fish is injured anyway, requiring surgery, so he's going to be out for a while even if they wanted to continue this program. I know the higher ups in WWE has to think he's injury prone at this point as he hasn't had any luck in that department at all since joining this company. If The Undisputed Era were getting called up to the main roster, I wouldn't do it until all four men were healthy and ready anyway.

Raquel Gonzales is being positioned to challenge Io Shirai next for the NXT Women's Championship, but it seems like she still has a roadblock in the form of Rhea Ripley still standing in her way. If Rhea is getting called up for WrestleMania season, then giving Raquel "the rub" as she does the honors on the way out is the way to go. 

Thatcher and Ciampa seem to be continuing their feud, which I hope that means that they will have a rematch in the Fight Pit down the road.

Gargano's new faction, dubbed "The Way", consisting of himself, Candice LeRae, Austin Theory, and Indi Hartwell, seems to be the unit that will be Johnny's insurance policy of sorts to assist him in hanging onto the North American Championship. I hope they just don't throw Leon Ruff to the wayside as it seems like Kushida is going after him next. I would love to see Kushida challenge Finn Balor for any match in some capacity before he leaves NXT. 

As of this posting (12/11/20), Karrion Kross has made his return, putting his name into the conversation with Damien Priest, Pete Dunne, and Kyle O'Reilly concerning who will challenge Finn Balor for the NXT Championship at the next TV special for January 6, 2021 dubbed New Year's Evil that was teased during this show. I'm game for Kross to win back the title he never lost while Finn gets to head over to NXT UK and give us the match that we were denied this year between him and WALTER for the NXT UK Championship. 

This was a good show from start to finish in terms of action, but in terms of compelling storylines and/or angles to make me excited to see the weekly TV tapings, they are extremely lacking in that regard. This event did nothing to change how bland those shows are to watch on a week to week basis. 

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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. 




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.



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. 
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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.




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. 



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. 



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. 



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. 



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. 




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. 
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