BRM Reviews the 12/2/2020 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

PAT PATTERSON TRIBUTE- I was loving this until the stupid crowd chants. Can we not do that sh*t, please? Let’s let some things stay real and -have dignity.

LEON RUFF & DAMIAN PRIEST vs. LEGADO DEL FANTASMA (Santos Escobar & Raul Mendoza)
This was supposed to be Leon Ruff & Cur Stallion, but Priest somehow got Stallion pulled from the match so he could protect Ruff and ensure that Ruff makes it to TakeOver. We got footage of an incident earlier today where Priest explained his rationale and had a run-in with Legado del Fantasma where he shoved Joaquin Wilde into a wall.
Johnny Gargano was on commentary for this match. We got a good double-heat and lots of action. I also really liked the finish, which saw Ruff tag himself him when Priest’s arm was outstretched as he was posing before hitting his finish, and Priest actually accepted it, let Ruff get the pin, and didn’t cause trouble or anything.
Priest was initially cut off when a Ghostface appeared in the crowd to distract him, and after the match, two Ghostfaces appeared in the crowd behind Gargano.

EMBER MOON & RHEA RIPLEY HAVE BROUGHT SHOTZI A MYSTERY ITEM- snore
I have no interest in this over the top, Shotzi Blackheart bullsh*t. The only people who put on the at stupid “I’M RAGING!” face when they weld things and use power tools are poseurs.

UNDISPIUTED ERA GO OUT TO DINNER AND TALK ABOUT WAR GAMES- bad
This told us nothing, and all of the background noise was very distracting and made it hard to understand what they were sating,

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS TEAM CANDICE- fine
Candice and Gonzalez were the only two who got to talk. Gonzalez said she would bring her team the advantage tonight and rightfully made fun of Shotiz’s love for her dumb toy tank.

CAMERON GRIMES vs. AUGUST GRAY- 4/10
Grimes won clean.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- bad
Grimes had brought a strap to the ring with him, so he demonstrated how next week’s gimmick match will work. Dexter Lumis used his magical powers to swap places with Gray while Gray was on the floor and he beat Lumis up. Even without the dumb magic this would have been bad because Lumis has gotten the advantage at pretty much every turn in this match, so where is the heat? Why should I care about seeing this theoretical babyface get his hands on the heel yet again when the heel has barely done anything to him?

TONY NESE vs. JAKE ATLAS- 4.5/10
They did stuff. Atlas, who had dedicated this match to Pat Patterson, got the clean win. He cut a great post-match promo, too.

PAT MCAFEE PROMO- F*CKING TREMENDOUS!

XIA LI & BOA PRACTICE DROWNING THEMSELVES, THEN EACH GET HIT BY A KENDO STICK- I’m rapidly losing patience with this crap. Also, how are we even seeing this footage?

IMPERIUM JUMP EVER-RISE BEFORE A SCHEDULED MATCH WITH THE GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS- Imperium said they were going to put everyone in the division in their place. We wound up getting…

GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS vs. IMPERIUM (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner)- 6.25/10
They had a match that looked like it was going to start getting good but then Ever-Rise ran in for the annoying DQ. McKenzie Mitchell tried to interview them after a commercial break, and they yelled a lot like the goofs they are.

TOMMASO CIAMPA CRASHES A THATCH-AS-THATCH-CAN SEMINAR- good
Ciampa wanted to fight. That pretended he didn’t want one, but then attacked. Thatcher got the advantage after his student helped him. Thatcher threw Ciampa into stuff at ringside and choked him out. This was a good angle.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS TIMOTHY THATCHER- Thatcher was great, but McKenzie’s questions makes me question her sanity. How on Earth could someone see that and think it was a set-up?

LADDER MATCH FOR THE ADVANTAGE IN WAR GAMES: Shotzi Blackheart vs. Reina Gonzalez- 6.75/10
They had a ladder match with a bunch of interference. The last interference was Io Shirai joining the babyface team, so the babyfaces won the advantage at War Games. HUH?


This was mostly a dull episode of NXT. It was a go-home show without any soul.