BRM Reviews the 9/30/2020 NXT (go-home show failure)

[Big Red Machine]

SHOTZI BLACKHEART vs. DAKOTA KAI (w/Raquel Gonzalez)- 6/10
Just when I thought I couldn’t find Shotzi Blackheart any more annoying, she starts up with this “WELCOME… TO THE BALL PIT!” crap.
My favorite part of this match was when Shotzi tried to sound tough and cool by shouting “I’M WATCHING YOU!” at Raquel Gonzalez, to which Gonzalez simply responded “okay, then watch me.”
Their big spot was Shotzi trying for a Shiranui on the apron but she didn’t get all the way over and landed on her head on the apron. Gonzalez interfered but was countered by Rhea Ripley. The finish saw Kai go for a Helluva Kick or something like that but the referee was standing in her way so she had to take a circuitous route. This gave Shotzi enough time to recover, avoid the move, win via roll-up.

CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH BUILD SEGMENT- decent
Both guys spoke well, but they never really gave us a reason to think that the result would be different this time (Escobar will find some way to screw Scott).

We got that weird video game-esque video teasing someone coming to NXT at TakeOver.

KYLE O’REILLY VIDEO PACKAGE- good babyface stuff, and the stuff with Undisputed Era felt designed to make a paranoid wrestling fan assume that a UE break-up is coming if Kyle wins… which is a great thing to do simply because it will make it easier for people to believe that Kyle actually has a chance.


SARAH SCHREIBER INTERVIEWS JOHNNY GARGANO & CANDICE LERAE- fine
Apparently Tegan Nox tore her ACL during last week’s attack by Candice. Johnny said that this was karma for Tegan breaking their TV. They pushed the idea of them being champions together. They were nice to Sarah to her face, but bad-mouthed her after she left.

CAMERON GRIMES & RIDGE HOLLAND SEGMENT- bad
William Regal apparently let Grimes come out and here and have a gauntlet of hand-picked jobbers. For the first match, the referee wasn’t even in the ring when he rang the bell.
The second guy came out got taken out by Ridge Holland, who was apparently allowed to take this guy’s spot. He then beat the crap out of Grimes, culminating in him getting DQed for not stopping the beating when Grimes was in the ropes. So Grimes is a goof, Holland is an idiot, and Regal is corrupt. BAD.

SARAH SCHREIBER INTERVIEWS AUSTIN THEORY- great
Theory badmouths Kyle O’Reilly. Theory plays the arrogant youngster well and is great at bragging about things that matter but not as much as he makes them out to, which is a good skill for a heel. The problem is that eventually Theory does need to start actually winning.

KUSHIDA VIDEO PACKAGE- fine
He’ll have the chance to get revenge on The Velveteen Dream at TakeOver.

KUSHIDA vs. TONY NESE- no rating, fine segment
This wasn’t quite a squash, but it was close. They did a good job of getting KUSHIDA over, and The Velveteen Dream cut a promo on KUSHIDA after the match.

CAMERON GRIMES BUMPS INTO DEXTER LUMIS BACKSTAGE- Lumis is back. Oh, joy.

ADAM COLE PROMO- great!
He puts over Undisputed Era’s dominance, then calls out Austin Theory for disrespecting Kyle O’Reilly earlier. Cole gives Theory a choice of getting his ass kicked in the ring or on the stage. Theory heads for the ring and we get…

ADAM COLE vs. AUSTIN THEORY- 7.5/10
This was a pretty great match and definitely a step up for Theory even in defeat, but he’s coming to the point where you have to give him a big win at some point. Cole cut a promo on behalf of O’Reilly after the match.

SARAH SCHTEIBER INTERVIEWS DAMIAN PRIEST & IO SHIRAI- fine

XIA LI vs. KAYDEN CARTER (w/Kacy Catanzaro)- 3.5/10
Li wrestled a much more heelish style here. She controlled most of the match but got rolled up for the loss. She shoved Kayden afterwards. Good movement for this story.

SHAWN MICHAELS HOSTS A PRE-TAPED EMPTY-ARENA FACE TO FACE WITH FINN BALOR AND KYLE O’REILLY- very bad
This is clearly pre-taped, so can we please pretend that it was taped on Monday, before Randy Orton assaulted Shawn (which Shawn seems to be showing no sign of)?
This was just boring as f*ck, filled with forced animosity between two guys who came off like they were trying to be too cool for school. This was a huge miss.

MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH: Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae vs. Damian Priest & Io Shirai- 6.25/10
Stuff happened. The heels cheated to win and Candice attacked Io after the match, which was the right finish, but the match wasn’t particularly interesting.


This was a meh episode of NXT, and as a go-home show for TakeOver, it felt particularly weak. The show feels oddly weak, too. Yeah, all five matches will probably be great, but it feels very weird to not have Cole, Roddy, Rhea, the tag champs, and Ciampa all healthy and yet also not on the show. NXT took a hit in starpower when Lee was called up and Kross was injured (and the less impactful but still important, Mercedes, Yim, and Dijakovic were all called up), but they haven't really helped themselves much with the way they've booked these shows. It's weird, because all of those people I mentioned other than Cole have stories going on right now and those stories feel like they're developing at a fine pace, but it's surprising that nothing wound up on TakeOver. I'd have thought that Rhea vs. Gonzalez would have made it (Maverick & Dain vs. Roddy & Fish and Atlas vs. Ciampa aren't at natural places for there to be a TakeOver match), or that they'd at least stick Cole on there against Reed, Theory, or Thatcher, but Cole is apparently not wrestling on TakeOver. Odd.