BRM Reviews the 1/20/2021 NXT (awesome!)

[Big Red Machine]

MEN’S DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC FIRST ROUND MATCH: Leon Ruff & KUSHIDA vs. The Way (Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory)- 7.75/10
This was a great action opener. KUSHIDA pulled out some kind of wrist-trap suplex with a bridge for the pin.

PETE DUNNE VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO ON FINN BALOR- great

MCKENZIE MITCHELL BUMPS INTO MALCOLM BIVENS OUTSIDE OF WILLIAMS REGALS OFFICE- good character stuff, but the very flawed
McKenzie asks Malcolm what he is doing here. Malcolm puts Rust Taylor over huge. Rust then comes out of Regal’s office and tells him that he got the match he wanted for tonight against Bronson Reed. Malcolm tells Rust quietly that he “would have gone a different direction” but then cut a promo putting him over.
This segment did a good job of illustrating what they wanted to illustrate about the characters involved and setting up for whatever the fallout will be of Taylor presumably losing to Reed tonight (and there are several directions they could go), but being me, there were two things that jumped out at me here that really bugged me.
1. McKenzie was surprised to see Malcolm here. If she wasn’t here to interview him, why did we cut to her?
2. Shouldn’t the manager be the one negotiating with the GM? Isn’t that a manager’s ostensible kayfabe purpose?

ASHANTEE THEE ADONIS vs. KARRION KROSS (w/Scarlett)- no rating, meh segment
Kross won a boring squash. Adonis was injured. His tag team partner (who I didn’t even know he had until Vic Joseph told me who he was) went to check on him after the match but Kross attacked him, too, because… Kross is angry, I guess.

MSK VIDEO PACKAGE- great… aside from that first part where one of them acted like a total goof.

TONI STORM & MERCEDES MARTINEZ PROMO- good

MEN’S DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC FIRST ROUND MATCH: Lucha House Party vs. Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner)- 7/10
Another great match, though they got a little too cute for my tastes at some points. This was the style-clash that you’d expect. Imperium losing was not something I saw coming, but once I saw the bracket again, it madea lot more sense to set up what should hopefully be a big blow-away Lucha match between LHP and Legado del Fantasma.
Imperium losing also set up the…

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- intriguing
Alexander Wolfe is here, and he doesn’t look pleased with his comrades. Does this perhaps foreshadow WALTER coming to NXT Prime?

FIGHT-PIT WEIGH-IN FROM EARLIER TODAY- bad
Why are we having a weigh-in if there are no weight limits? Thatcher shoved Ciampa. Referees quickly separated them. That was a completely pointless angle that certainly wasn’t worth creating a logic hole.

WOMEN’S DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC OPENING CEREMONY- These things almost always feel like a waste of time, and to have Beth prattling on about “making history” as if women have never been in a f*cking tournament before just made it worse.

WOMEN’S DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC FIRST ROUND MATCH: Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs. Toni Storm & Mercedes Martinez- 4.75/10
As you’d expect, the big mean heel threw the smaller babyfaces around. The babyfaces got a short comeback but were cut off again, only to be saved by Io Shirai sneaking in and taking out Mercedes Martinez, leaving Toni alone where she was pinned after a cool move by Kayden and then a big, crazy, flippy move from Kacy (think a 630 version of a Phoenix Splash, so technically an inverted 630 senton, I think?) that looked INSANELY dangerous because of the way she had to roll off of Toni when she landed. This is the sort of thing that I can’t imagine people don’t hit their heads on the mat if they screw up even a little bit.
Anyway, the announcers made a big deal out of this wain for Kacy and Kayden… and I think that was a HUGE mistake because the win wasn’t clean and we all know that, so having the announcers put it over like Team KC had done something when what they really did was win a short handicap match makes the announcers seem like they’re trying to push something on you rather than reacting naturally. And, when Team KC does get a big real win, having pushed this so hard will make that feel less important.

FINN BALOR GOES TO WILLIAM REGAL’S OFFICE- good
I’m okay with the cut to McKenzie here, as it’s clear that she and her cameraperson have been following Balor because they saw him walking determinedly and sensed he was about to do something newsworthy.
Balor said he wanted to take out Lorcan & Burch before taking out Dunne. I thought he wanted two singles matches but Regal interpreted this as Balor wanting a handicap match and told him he couldn’t do it because he had to protect Balor from himself and told Balor to find a partner instead. Balor said he doesn’t have friends anymore, only enemies. Regal advised him to keep his friends close, but his enemies closer.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL’S INJURY UPDATE ON ASHANTE THEE ADONIS IS INTERRUPTED BY TEAM KC-
Adonis won’t be able to compete in his DRTTC match on 205 Live this week, so he’ll have to be replaced. Hmm…
Team KC showed up making a lot f noise and celebrating and coming across like total assholes because 1) McKenzie is trying to update us on an injured man’s health, and 2) THEY DIDN’T WIN CLEAN. They were getting beaten and benefitted from outside help!

BRONSON REED vs. TYLER RUST (w/Malcolm Bivens)- 6.5/10
Before the commercial break, we saw Isaiah “Swerve” Scott say something to Reed that annoyed Reed a bit. This happened in the usual “this guy is walking to the ring for this match” with no sound so we couldn’t hear what Reed said, but after the commercial, they showed us the video with audio (Swerve told Reed to never get in his business again). This was a MUCH better way to do this than just having a camera on Reed backstage for no reason and having Swerve come talk to him like in a usual main roster backstage segment.
Solid stuff. Reed used his power advantage; Rust tried to work the elbow. Reed won, as you’d expect. Bivens was supportive of Rust after the match.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS FINN BALOR- He notes that some people owe him a favor. Being the nit-picker that I am, if we’re going to come back from this commercial with Balor going into UE’s locker room, I would have gone to commercial with McKenzie and the camera hurrying after Balor rather than with the camera zooming on McKenzie as she stood there, seemingly trying to interpret Balor’s pretty obvious statement. Doing this would make it obvious why there was a camera on Balor when a after the commercial break (and a brief shot of Timothy Thatcher), we saw…

FINN BALOR BARGES INTO UNDISPUTED ERA’S DRESSING ROOM- EXCELLENT!
This was sufficiently tense and hostile while still being an atmosphere conducive to the necessary… well… “diplomacy” would be too strong a word, but you know what I mean.

SANTOS ESCOBAR PROMO- great segment
He declares himself the “champion of champions” and takes shots at not just the other champions, but also Karrion Kross (who was never defeated for the NXT Title). His villainous laughing was a little much, but otherwise, this was awesome. Lucha House Party interrupted him and brawled with Legado del Fantasma but got their asses kicked because it was three against two. Curt Stallion- looking completely unrecognizable with his shorter and now-dyed hair- made the save. This built up next week’s semifinal and also set up a new challenger for Escobar. Two bird with one stone.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS DRAKE MAVERICK & KILLIAN DAIN- meh

MCKENZIE MITCHELL’S INTERVIEW WITH CURT STALLION & LUCHA HOUSE PARTY IS INTERRUPTED BY LEGADO DEL FANTASMA (AND A BUNCH OF REFEREES TO KEEP THEM APART)- good
Escobar wants to embarrass Stallion next week, so he’s going to put his title on the line. Cool.

FIGHT PIT!: Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa- 8.75/10
This had the grittiness of the first match I didn’t love it quite as much. I give them major points for creativity, especially on the finish and how they set up Willow’s Bell in a situation where there were no ropes. I was also extremely happy to see Thatcher win. He really couldn’t afford a loss, and beating Ciampa is a huge deal as well. I hope they make the Fight Pit Thatcher’s signature gimmick match. I’m fine if there are Fight Pits without him in it, but when he is in, he should win almost every time.


This was an AWESOME episode of NXT. There were definitely some issues with the booking, but even with those, it still feels like they’re moving in the right direction for the story they want, but are making little mistakes in how they get there. Next week’s show looks great as well. I F*CKING LOVE THE FIGHT PIT!

An AWESOME episode of NXT.

[XIV]

For me, one little change in what Regal said to Balor makes a difference, instead of saying “keep your friend close, but your enemies closer” which in this context didn’t make a huge amount of sense. If he’s have said “the enemy of your enemy IS your friend” I feel that would have set up the UE interaction much better allowing it to look like Regal knew where to send Balor for a tag team partner if he truly wants to protect him.

Fight pit is just great, feels different to anything bf else WWE has going on. Sort of what I wish Shamrock’s Lion’s Den could have been all those years ago... but this should only be brought out once or twice a year and only if the two guys involved fit the bill for that environment. I don’t want to see NXT turn this into a “hell in a cell” style PPV choice.

I’m now bored of seeing Kross taking out jobbers. He’s been the NXT champion, he shouldn’t be messing about with job guys.

[Big Red Machine]

For me, one little change in what Regal said to Balor makes a difference, instead of saying “keep your friend close, but your enemies closer” which in this context didn’t make a huge amount of sense. If he’s have said “the enemy of your enemy IS your friend” I feel that would have set up the UE interaction much better allowing it to look like Regal knew where to send Balor for a tag team partner if he truly wants to protect him.

For clarification, Regal just reminded him of the adage. He didn't say the "keep your enemies closer" bit. You're right that it maybe would have worked a little better, but given the way that Balor framed the conversation (telling Regal that he doesn't have any friends, only enemies) I think what Regal said made plenty of sense in this context.

[XIV]

For me, one little change in what Regal said to Balor makes a difference, instead of saying “keep your friend close, but your enemies closer” which in this context didn’t make a huge amount of sense. If he’s have said “the enemy of your enemy IS your friend” I feel that would have set up the UE interaction much better allowing it to look like Regal knew where to send Balor for a tag team partner if he truly wants to protect him.

For clarification, Regal just reminded him of the adage. He didn't say the "keep your enemies closer" bit. You're right that it maybe would have worked a little better, but given the way that Balor framed the conversation (telling Regal that he doesn't have any friends, only enemies) I think what Regal said made plenty of sense in this context.

I just think he could have led him to UE in a better way. But it’s a small thing!