BRM Reviews the 2/19/2020 NXT (GREAT!)

[Big Red Machine]

OPENING SEGMENT- meh
Undisputed Era came out and did a great job of still being themselves but with the volume turned down to about a six, because they’re not quite so cocky now that they’re down to just one championship between the four of them.
Cole began to cut a promo when the room went dark and he was interrupted by The Velveteen Dream’s disembodied voice taunting Roddy and daring him to show up without his pals tonight. Roddy grabbed a mic and swore on his family and on his manhood that he would make TVD regret coming back. This felt like a babyface promo.

NXT CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Jordan Devlin(c) vs. Lio Rush- 8/10
Great action and one hell of a finishing sequence.

RAQUEL GONZALEZ AND DAKOTA KAI INTERVIEW- very good
Raquel explained to everyone (including Dakota) that Dakota was overlooked by her friends when she wasn’t chosen for the War Games team and thus she “stood up for herself” by attacking her friends. Raquel says that she can empathize with this feeling of being overlooked because it happens all of the time at the Performance Center when others are given opportunities that she thinks she should have, so she is standing up for herself and joining with Dakota.
Dakota piped in that because Raquel had her back at TakeOver, Dakota will have Raquel’s back now, too. William Regal dropped by to tell Dakota that she’ll be facing Tegan Nox again in two weeks, and this time there won’t be any interference because it will be a cage match.

RHEA RIPLEY INTERVIEW AFTER TAKEOVER- a good response to Charlotte attacking her.

AUSTIN THEORY vs.?- Tommaso Ciampa just walked out with a microphone and told Theory “not tonight, so Theory just backed off and let him talk. Eventually Theory got annoyed by Ciampa talking and tried to attack him but got floored by one punch, making Theory look like a chump. Ciampa then said that in order for him to win the title “there can be no Johnny Gargano in NXT.” Ciampa then went to leave but Theory attacked him yet again… and Ciampa again thwarted it with ease and beat the sh*t out of Theory, making him look like a total chump.

FINN BALOR VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO- good
He told us to watch next week’s show to see his next move.

RAUL MENDOZA & JOAQUIN WILDE vs. GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS- 6/10
GYV cut a standard cheap heat promo that was actually relevant later!
DANNY BURCH & ONEY LORCAN vs. THE BROSERWEIGHTS- 7/10
I actually found the Broserweights pre-match routine to be entertaining this week. I laughed out loud at Riddle claiming that the trophy wasn’t here because it “partied a little too hard” and thus failed a wellness test and had been suspended for thirty days.

RODDY TELLS UNDISPUTED ERA HE HAS TO DO THIS BY HIMSELF TONIGHT- good

FORGOTTEN SONS TWITTER VIDEO PROMO- good, but…
One of them (Cutler, I think) has shaved, so we can tell him and Murphy apart (although, as my previous parenthetical note implies, being able to tell them apart is not the same thing as knowing which one is which). These guys were unhappy with GYV’s earlier promo (and, apparently their use of the word “veteran”), so they’re turning babyface to stand up for the USA. I liked the promo, but I don’t like these guys cutting a promo using social media. It doesn’t feel like something they would do.

KEITH LEE IS INTERRUPTED BY KONA REEVES- Reeves came out in his gear and asked for a mic so Lee pounced him. Lee told ref to ring the bell, so we got our apparently scheduled…

KEITH LEE vs. KONA REEVES- squishity-squash

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Dominik Dijakovic came out and made excuses for his loss at TakeOver on Sunday. He wants another match. Lee says that if Dijakovic can talk Regal into it then he’s fine with it. I assume Dijak will be a heel by the time that match rolls around.

KAYDEN CARTER vs. CHELSEA GREEN (w/Robert Stone)- 3.5/10
The match was good for what it was, but I think it was hurt by being interrupted so that Bianca Belair could come out to the ring and cut a promo on Charlotte. The promo was great, but why did they feel the need to have her interrupt this match, making it feel completely secondary when they could have just done the promo afterwards.
The important takeaway from the match itself was Stone interfering to help Green win.

RODERICK STRONG vs. THE VELVETEEN DREAM- 8/10
Lots of good action and chasing big moves. TVD revealed Marina Shafir tights underneath the ones he wore to the ring. He beat Roddy clean even with a distraction from Undisputed Era, then got his ass kicked by Undisputed Era.


This was a GREAT episode of NXT, with lots of great promo and several awesome matches.