BRM Reviews the 8/21/2019 NXT
Posted: Aug 25th, '19, 10:51
OPENING SEGMENT- GREAT!
Undisputed Era come out to celebrate Cole’s victory. Cole brags a bunch, then Roddy complains about how he and reDRagon got screwed at TakeOver. Roddy notes hat The Velveteen Dream pinned Pete Dunne in the North American Title match and not him, and thus he should still be the top contender. Fish and O’Reilly reiterated their complaint from their interview after TakeOver that Kyle was not the legal man when he got pinned, and they presented some very convincing video evidence. This was basically Undisputed Era being Undisputed Era.
They went to leave, only to have their path blocked at the top of the ramp by Jordan Myles, holding the contract for a title shot of his choosing that he earned by winning the NXT Breakout Tournament. Cole cut a series of promos trying to convince Myles not to challenge him, each getting more threatening than the last as Cole grew frustrated by Myles standing there stoically. When Cole was finished talking, Myles held the contract out to him. When Cole tried to reach for it, Myles dropped it and strutted away. This would be total dick behavior, but Cole is such a dick that doing it to him feels totally justified.
BRONSON REED INTERVIEW- meh segment
Reed is sad that he didn’t win the NXT Breakout Tournament, but he is going to ask Mr. Regal for more because he is “the leader of Australian Strong Style” and “NXT’s resident thick boy.” Ooooookay. Shane Thorne shows up and talks trash to him so Reed challenges him to a match, which will take place later tonight.
MANSOOR vs. DAMIAN PRIESTS- 2.75/10
Both Nigel McGuinness and Beth Phoenix were insufferable during Priests entrance. It felt like they were under orders to get in “he wants to live forever” and “see his name in lights” at least twice per sentence. This was a solid, mostly one-sided victory for Priest.
MIA YIM vs. VANESSA BOURNE (w/Aliyah)- 2/10
Similar to the above, except that we’ve seen these two do basically this same thing before so my reaction upon seeing Bourne come out wasn’t “this should be fun” but rather “oh. This again.”
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- okay segment
Shayna Baszler comes out and starts cutting a promo putting Mia over. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir quickly surround the ring. Baszler offers Mia a spot in her group, but Mia- knowing that turning her down will surely mean a beating- strikes first by attacking Jessamyn Duke (who, I didn’t realize until just now, has her arm in a sling). Baszler and Shafir beat Mia down until some referees intervened. With the caveat that there are some good directions they could take this in, at the moment this felt a lot like water-treading.
KEITH LEE VS. DONOVAN DIJAK VIDEO PACKAGE- great!
Dijak is apparently back from injury and they’ll be facing off next week.
BRONSON REED vs. SHANE THORNE- 4.5/10
Holy crap Thorne is actually proving himself. This match was also pretty great for the time he got.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- The Velveteen Dream was wheeled out on his sofa and cut a promo on Roderick Strong. I’m not sure why they did this here, with the other two still in the ring. If one of the others was going to get angry about being “disrespected,” you’d think one of the announcers would have brought it up, but none of the three did.
They have announced Street Profits vs. Fish & O’Reilly for the tag titles for next week and Cole vs. Myles for the NXT Title in two weeks.
KILLIAN DAIN vs. MATT RIDDLE- 7.75/10
Riddle came out of the crowd to attack Dain to start things off, keeping that motif of this feud going. Riddle fought valiantly throughout the match despite his injured ribs getting worked over, but in the end Dain just kept squishing Riddle with sentons and Vader Bombs and got the win. I didn’t like Riddle being able to get up and dive onto Dain’s back as Dane was going through the curtain because I thought it made the finish of the match feel pointless.
Beth Phoenix clearly has no idea how to pronounce the word “chutzpah” or what it means. Nigel McGuinness was only a little closer to the mark on “déjà vu.”
A decent episode of NXT, buoyed by a GREAT main event and a GREAT opening segment. The next few weeks should be quite exciting, based off of the announced matches and the promised continuation of Roddy vs. TVD.
Undisputed Era come out to celebrate Cole’s victory. Cole brags a bunch, then Roddy complains about how he and reDRagon got screwed at TakeOver. Roddy notes hat The Velveteen Dream pinned Pete Dunne in the North American Title match and not him, and thus he should still be the top contender. Fish and O’Reilly reiterated their complaint from their interview after TakeOver that Kyle was not the legal man when he got pinned, and they presented some very convincing video evidence. This was basically Undisputed Era being Undisputed Era.
They went to leave, only to have their path blocked at the top of the ramp by Jordan Myles, holding the contract for a title shot of his choosing that he earned by winning the NXT Breakout Tournament. Cole cut a series of promos trying to convince Myles not to challenge him, each getting more threatening than the last as Cole grew frustrated by Myles standing there stoically. When Cole was finished talking, Myles held the contract out to him. When Cole tried to reach for it, Myles dropped it and strutted away. This would be total dick behavior, but Cole is such a dick that doing it to him feels totally justified.
BRONSON REED INTERVIEW- meh segment
Reed is sad that he didn’t win the NXT Breakout Tournament, but he is going to ask Mr. Regal for more because he is “the leader of Australian Strong Style” and “NXT’s resident thick boy.” Ooooookay. Shane Thorne shows up and talks trash to him so Reed challenges him to a match, which will take place later tonight.
MANSOOR vs. DAMIAN PRIESTS- 2.75/10
Both Nigel McGuinness and Beth Phoenix were insufferable during Priests entrance. It felt like they were under orders to get in “he wants to live forever” and “see his name in lights” at least twice per sentence. This was a solid, mostly one-sided victory for Priest.
MIA YIM vs. VANESSA BOURNE (w/Aliyah)- 2/10
Similar to the above, except that we’ve seen these two do basically this same thing before so my reaction upon seeing Bourne come out wasn’t “this should be fun” but rather “oh. This again.”
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- okay segment
Shayna Baszler comes out and starts cutting a promo putting Mia over. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir quickly surround the ring. Baszler offers Mia a spot in her group, but Mia- knowing that turning her down will surely mean a beating- strikes first by attacking Jessamyn Duke (who, I didn’t realize until just now, has her arm in a sling). Baszler and Shafir beat Mia down until some referees intervened. With the caveat that there are some good directions they could take this in, at the moment this felt a lot like water-treading.
KEITH LEE VS. DONOVAN DIJAK VIDEO PACKAGE- great!
Dijak is apparently back from injury and they’ll be facing off next week.
BRONSON REED vs. SHANE THORNE- 4.5/10
Holy crap Thorne is actually proving himself. This match was also pretty great for the time he got.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- The Velveteen Dream was wheeled out on his sofa and cut a promo on Roderick Strong. I’m not sure why they did this here, with the other two still in the ring. If one of the others was going to get angry about being “disrespected,” you’d think one of the announcers would have brought it up, but none of the three did.
They have announced Street Profits vs. Fish & O’Reilly for the tag titles for next week and Cole vs. Myles for the NXT Title in two weeks.
KILLIAN DAIN vs. MATT RIDDLE- 7.75/10
Riddle came out of the crowd to attack Dain to start things off, keeping that motif of this feud going. Riddle fought valiantly throughout the match despite his injured ribs getting worked over, but in the end Dain just kept squishing Riddle with sentons and Vader Bombs and got the win. I didn’t like Riddle being able to get up and dive onto Dain’s back as Dane was going through the curtain because I thought it made the finish of the match feel pointless.
Beth Phoenix clearly has no idea how to pronounce the word “chutzpah” or what it means. Nigel McGuinness was only a little closer to the mark on “déjà vu.”
A decent episode of NXT, buoyed by a GREAT main event and a GREAT opening segment. The next few weeks should be quite exciting, based off of the announced matches and the promised continuation of Roddy vs. TVD.