STREET FIGHT: Legado del Fantasma vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Tyler Breeze, & Fandango- 5/10
This started out as a fine street fight, but it kind of jumped the shark for me with that dive off of the forklift. That was just wacky. Why is there even a forklift there? And having both babyfaces up there to dive off of it made it feel even goofier. I would have preferred for Imperium to not get involved, and just let these six have their big match, ending with Scott pinning Escobar to set up a title shot.

CANDICE LERAE/TEGAN NOX VIDEO PACKAGE- bad
I’m sorry, but I just can’t buy it when Tegan tells me that being on NXT TV with Candice “meant more to me than anything else in this business” when you spent every moment from her debut until a few months ago telling me that it was Dakota Kai who was her best friend. This whole video package came off like Tegan is being set up to wind up looking like an idiot in the end because she can’t accept that Candice has changed, even though we see people turn on their friends relatively often (especially in the women’s division), and it just happened to Tegan with her other best friend ten months ago.

CANDICE LERAE vs. KACY CATANZARO (w/Kayden Carter)- 3/10
This was short, but good for the time it got (much like Kacy). That curb stomp looked like murder.

CANDICE LERAE PROMO- She says that seeing Kacy and Kayden’s friendship has made her realize what she has lost with Tegan Nox, so she invited Tegan over for dinner. Yeah… if Tegan doesn’t see a trap coming here, she’s an idiot.

RHEA RIPLEY PROMO- awesome!
She challenges Mercedes Martinez to a cage match.

BRONSON REED vs. TIMOTHY THATCHER- 4.5/10
Bronson Reed is now “the Colossal Bronson Reed,” so that atrocious “Thicc Boy” stuff is done. That’s a step up. It just sounds so silly.
Reed dominated most of the match with his size, though he hurt his arm on a lariat and Thatcher was able to work it over a bit. Eventually Austin Theory ran down the ramp and hit Reed with biggest bulldog ever while the referee was checking on Thatcher. Thatcher went for an armbar and Reed was almost able to fight out of it but Thatcher switched to the Fujiwara Armbar and got the win. This did a fine job of building up the budding Theory vs. Reed feud, and the ability to do things like this are why they really shouldn’t have also had a run-in in the opener, especially if it wasn’t going to lead to the finish.

MERCEDES MARTINEZ PROMO- fine
She accepts Rhea’s challenge and wants the match next week.

FOUR-WAY SIXTY-MINUTE IRONMAN MATCH FOR THE VACANT NXT TITLE: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor- 8.5/10
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was a little disappointed by this. I guess I was expecting something intricate and all we got was mostly “a long match with cool spots and nearfalls.” There really wasn’t much story here, especially in the first half. It was just Ciampa’s knee, a bit of work on Cole’s arm, and Gargano being a weasel. I thought not keeping Ciampa’s new guillotine into the ring frame as a stretcher-job was a huge waste after one week, too.
I also REALLY hated the finish. Why do a four-way Ironman match and then do a tie for a finish so you can have the actual title match next week? If you’re going to take two weeks to do it and do a singles match to determine the title, why not just do a tournament? That way fewer people have to get pinned, you can save Gargano and Ciampa facing off for a time when it will mean more, and you DON’T HAVE TO JERK THE FANS AROUND!


So yeah… despite some really great stuff, this show wound up being very disappointing and frustrating. A big mistake from NXT. Don’t f*ck the fanbase around by telling us a match is going to be a huge deal and then f*ck us on the finish!

I called the tie in the iron man match...

But I didn’t think they make you wait, I figured they’d just remove two and go for a one fall takes it all situation.

This sort of feels a bit shitty.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 1st, '20, 22:31
FOUR-WAY SIXTY-MINUTE IRONMAN MATCH FOR THE VACANT NXT TITLE: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor- 8.5/10
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was a little disappointed by this. I guess I was expecting something intricate and all we got was mostly “a long match with cool spots and nearfalls.” There really wasn’t much story here, especially in the first half. It was just Ciampa’s knee, a bit of work on Cole’s arm, and Gargano being a weasel. I thought not keeping Ciampa’s new guillotine into the ring frame as a stretcher-job was a huge waste after one week, too.
I also REALLY hated the finish. Why do a four-way Ironman match and then do a tie for a finish so you can have the actual title match next week? If you’re going to take two weeks to do it and do a singles match to determine the title, why not just do a tournament? That way fewer people have to get pinned, you can save Gargano and Ciampa facing off for a time when it will mean more, and you DON’T HAVE TO JERK THE FANS AROUND!

Considering we just got what felt like 1000 years of people qualifying for the North American Title ladder match in multi-man matches , I could go without another contenders match for a long time, so this was a welcome, surprising way to get to the inevitable singles match for the title anyway.

People usually complain about 15-20 minute matches ending with a non-finish and these fuckers did a full 60 minute one. If there was ever a need for sudden death, it was here, but this way they get ratings on two nights.

NWK2000 wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 07:03

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 1st, '20, 22:31
FOUR-WAY SIXTY-MINUTE IRONMAN MATCH FOR THE VACANT NXT TITLE: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor- 8.5/10
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was a little disappointed by this. I guess I was expecting something intricate and all we got was mostly “a long match with cool spots and nearfalls.” There really wasn’t much story here, especially in the first half. It was just Ciampa’s knee, a bit of work on Cole’s arm, and Gargano being a weasel. I thought not keeping Ciampa’s new guillotine into the ring frame as a stretcher-job was a huge waste after one week, too.
I also REALLY hated the finish. Why do a four-way Ironman match and then do a tie for a finish so you can have the actual title match next week? If you’re going to take two weeks to do it and do a singles match to determine the title, why not just do a tournament? That way fewer people have to get pinned, you can save Gargano and Ciampa facing off for a time when it will mean more, and you DON’T HAVE TO JERK THE FANS AROUND!

Considering we just got what felt like 1000 years of people qualifying for the North American Title ladder match in multi-man matches , I could go without another contenders match for a long time, so this was a welcome, surprising way to get to the inevitable singles match for the title anyway.

Why was the singles match "inevitable?" Why not just decide the title in the match you're advertising as doing so?

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 08:44

NWK2000 wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 07:03

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 1st, '20, 22:31
FOUR-WAY SIXTY-MINUTE IRONMAN MATCH FOR THE VACANT NXT TITLE: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor- 8.5/10
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was a little disappointed by this. I guess I was expecting something intricate and all we got was mostly “a long match with cool spots and nearfalls.” There really wasn’t much story here, especially in the first half. It was just Ciampa’s knee, a bit of work on Cole’s arm, and Gargano being a weasel. I thought not keeping Ciampa’s new guillotine into the ring frame as a stretcher-job was a huge waste after one week, too.
I also REALLY hated the finish. Why do a four-way Ironman match and then do a tie for a finish so you can have the actual title match next week? If you’re going to take two weeks to do it and do a singles match to determine the title, why not just do a tournament? That way fewer people have to get pinned, you can save Gargano and Ciampa facing off for a time when it will mean more, and you DON’T HAVE TO JERK THE FANS AROUND!

Considering we just got what felt like 1000 years of people qualifying for the North American Title ladder match in multi-man matches , I could go without another contenders match for a long time, so this was a welcome, surprising way to get to the inevitable singles match for the title anyway.

Why was the singles match "inevitable?" Why not just decide the title in the match you're advertising as doing so?

I sort of suspected either Ciampa or Balor would win the title, and they would set up the next title match by having Johnny or Adam come out crowing about some perceived unfairness that happened in the match, thus justifying them being the number one contender . That's a less predictable way of going about that.

NWK2000 wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 09:40

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 08:44

NWK2000 wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 07:03
Considering we just got what felt like 1000 years of people qualifying for the North American Title ladder match in multi-man matches , I could go without another contenders match for a long time, so this was a welcome, surprising way to get to the inevitable singles match for the title anyway.

Why was the singles match "inevitable?" Why not just decide the title in the match you're advertising as doing so?

I sort of suspected either Ciampa or Balor would win the title, and they would set up the next title match by having Johnny or Adam come out crowing about some perceived unfairness that happened in the match, thus justifying them being the number one contender . That's a less predictable way of going about that.

Predictable does not mean bad.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 09:57

NWK2000 wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 09:40

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Sep 2nd, '20, 08:44

Why was the singles match "inevitable?" Why not just decide the title in the match you're advertising as doing so?

I sort of suspected either Ciampa or Balor would win the title, and they would set up the next title match by having Johnny or Adam come out crowing about some perceived unfairness that happened in the match, thus justifying them being the number one contender . That's a less predictable way of going about that.

Predictable does not mean bad.

Normally I'd agree with you, but the North American Title qualifiers killed my desire for less straightforward contendership matches, at least for a while.