BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

DANNY BURCH vs. KARRION KROSS (w/Scarlett)- 4/10
The referee ordering the bell rung when he wasn’t in the ring was a little weird. At least I’m assuming that’s what happened, rather than the timekeeper directly obeying Burch without the referee’s assent, which would be extremely bad.
The match itself was very good for the time it got. Burch got a fair amount of offense in on Kross but Kross still felt dominant.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- hated it
Keith Lee came out with a contract in his hand. Kross went to leave but Lee called him a bitch to get him to stay. He then told Kross that in order to get Regal to agree o give Kross the title match at TakeOver, Lee vowed not to put his hands on Kross until then. That really doesn’t make much sense to me. Regal’s issue wasn’t that he was afraid these guys would fight; he didn’t want to give Kross the title match because he didn’t think Kross had earned it. Lee vowing not to put his hands on Kross until TakeOver shouldn’t make Regal change his mind.
Anyway, Lee tosses the contract down to Scarlett. Scarlett picks it up and brings it to Kross to sign, then Kross gives it back to Scarlett, who slides it back to Lee. Then Lee picks it up and opens it and a f*cking FIREBALL bursts out at him. WHY?! And HOW?! If this is Karrion Kross developing magic powers, then no, I don’t want to see it at all. Magic powers are dumb. It’s pro wrestling in 2020. Be realistic. And if this was some sort of device that Kross or Scarlett planted, I have to ask why they were carrying such a thing in the first place if they had no idea Lee was going to come out.
This whole thing just screams of random desperation. You’ve got one charismatic babyface ass-kicker, and one scary, imposing, dangerous charismatic heel monster. Just let them cut promos on each other and kick other people’s asses until the title match! This isn’t that hard!
They followed Lee around for a while afterwards and did all of the right things to make this a big deal, but it felt so random and forced and desperate that it didn’t feel like a big deal to me because it felt phony.

DRAKE MAVERICK vs. KILLIAN DAIN- 3/10 for the wrestlers, but I want to give NXT a DUD for the production.
During the commercial picture-in-picture, they cut away from this match to show us Lee getting loaded into an ambulance and getting treated more. You already spent five minutes showing us people throwing a wet towel of Lee’s head. DON’T CUT AWAY FROM A MATCH THAT IS IN PROGRESS!
And now it’s getting worse! Once Lee is loaded into the ambulance, you’d think they could cut back to the match, but no. We had to pan over to look at Undisputed Era leaving their vehicle and walking towards the arena with a purpose. They would soon run out and attack both men for the DQ. I’m already in a bad mood, and a double-DQ in what should have been a very good monster vs. determined undersized babyface match doesn’t help it any.

ADAM COLE CUTS A PROMO ON PAT MCAFEE- GREAT!

KUSHIDA WANTS THE TV TITLE VIDEO PACKAGE- good

SANTOS ESCOBAR vs. TYLER BREEZE- 6.25/10
Breeze was no-nonsense for his entrance. Escobar sent his guys to the back before the match, but of course they came out when he needed them to help him, setting up Escobar winning. I really wish they’d just let the heel win cleanly sometimes. You could still set up the same post-match segment by having him just keep beating on Breeze afterwards and have his goons come out to help.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- GREAT!
The heels beat on Breeze until Fandango- arm in a sling- limps down to ringside, carrying a broom handle. He hits the minions with it but gets cut off by Escobar, who then hits him in his injured elbow with the broom handle. Isaiah Scott came out to make the save for Breezango. I anticipate him being named #1 contender to the Cruiserweight Title very soon.

DAKOTA KAI VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO- very good

RIDGE HOLLAND PROMO- good

SARAH SCHREIBER INTERVIEWS MIA YIM- very good
She lets us know that Keith Lee didn’t suffer any serious damage. She just got here from the hospital and is still putting on her gear. She says she has to focus on her match, but sounds quite nervous. Excellent acting from Mia.

INDI HARTWELL vs. MIA YIM- 4/10
Mia overcame her emotional disadvantage and got the win. Personally, I would have let Indi win this one. Build her up as the woman who gets those fluky wins so she can feel like a threat in certain situations.

FINN BALOR PROMO- very good
PAT MCAFEE VS. ADAM COLE IS OFFICIAL- We were shown clips of Hunter going on some show and offering McAfee the match at TakeOver, and McAfee accepted.

DAMIAN PRIEST vs. BRONSON REED- 6/10
Oh yeah. Now I remember why I’ve never really enjoyed Jonah Rock/Bronson Reed that much. His matches are just so slow. This wasn’t bad or anything, but it wasn’t great, either. It was solid enough, but that’s it.
They built to their finish well, but unfortunately part of their finishing sequence called for Reed to miss a top rope splash… except he didn’t miss it, but Priest just no-sold and went on like he hadn’t gotten hit. Not good.
Reed won via flash pin, which was the right finish for the story going into this match.

IO SHIRAI VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO- AWESOME!

CAMERON GRIMES PROMO- yeah… he’s just a clown at this point.

ROBERT STONE TRIES TO RECRUIT KACY CATANZARO- He tells her she has to ditch her loser friend first. Kacy goes to slap him but he gets his hands up, so she stomps on his injured foot. I’m sorry, but the way his legs were initially injured makes people going after them just not funny to me because injury was caused by an unprovoked and completely over the line assault.

KACY KATANZARO & KAYDEN CARTER vs. THE ROBERT STONE BRAND (Mercedes Martinez & Aliyah) (w/Robert Stone)- 5/10
Aliyah doing her glamor girl smiley entrance right next to Mercedes doing her “I am a killer and I am coming for you” entrance was HILARIOUS! The heels won a fine match.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Rhea Ripley comes out to brawl with Mercedes. Aliyah ran in to give Mercedes the advantage, so Shotzi Blackheart came out to even things up. The babyfaces won the brawl.

JOHNNY GARGANO & CANDICE LERAE VIDEO- bad
I know they’re trying to be over the top, but whoever came up with the idea for those stupid screen effects should be flogged. These just don’t work for me.
That being said, Gargano saying that Damian Priest and Bronson Reed were “both very talented; very hungry… one a little more than the other” had me rolling. That might be the best fat joke I’ve heard on a wrestling show since Matt Hardy used to get berated with chants of “FEED MATT LESS!”


THATCH AS THATCH CAN- These no longer serve a purpose

NXT NORTH AMERICAN TITLE LADDER MATCH QUALIFIER: Cameron Grimes vs. KUSHIDA vs. The Velveteen Dream- 7/10
I was expecting the mystery competitor to be the return of Tommaso Ciampa, but instead it was Velveteen Dream. Yes, really. After everything that has gone on over the past few months.
Early on, Cameron Grimes managed to land on his head taking an ARM WRINGER. I’ve never seen that before. This was a good three-way action-match with a very clever finish.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
TVD snapped and attacked KUSHIDA for costing him the match by getting pinned.



This was an okay show from NXT. A lot of the promos were good, but the wrestling was sub-par and the Keith Lee angle was a desperate mess of an idea.

[NWK2000]

Anyway, Lee tosses the contract down to Scarlett. Scarlett picks it up and brings it to Kross to sign, then Kross gives it back to Scarlett, who slides it back to Lee. Then Lee picks it up and opens it and a f*cking FIREBALL bursts out at him. WHY?! And HOW?! If this is Karrion Kross developing magic powers, then no, I don’t want to see it at all. Magic powers are dumb. It’s pro wrestling in 2020.

I was waiting for this, specifically so we could confer with each other what we saw. I thought Scarlett did something to it, like she kissed it or something? I mean yeah, this was still hideously dumb, and Kross/Scarlett isn't an act that needs magic, but at least they had the manager load the fireball instead of the wrestler having it to hand. Always appreciated it more when the manager set up the fireball for some reason.

[Big Red Machine]

Anyway, Lee tosses the contract down to Scarlett. Scarlett picks it up and brings it to Kross to sign, then Kross gives it back to Scarlett, who slides it back to Lee. Then Lee picks it up and opens it and a f*cking FIREBALL bursts out at him. WHY?! And HOW?! If this is Karrion Kross developing magic powers, then no, I don’t want to see it at all. Magic powers are dumb. It’s pro wrestling in 2020.

I was waiting for this, specifically so we could confer with each other what we saw. I thought Scarlett did something to it, like she kissed it or something? I mean yeah, this was still hideously dumb, and Kross/Scarlett isn't an act that needs magic, but at least they had the manager load the fireball instead of the wrestler having it to hand. Always appreciated it more when the manager set up the fireball for some reason.

I assume the reason you would appreciate it more is that the wrestler has been checked for weapons by the referee before the match.


It's not even the "magic" thing, though. Even if Scarlett loaded it via some sort of device, it's still wacky because
1) Why did she have this thing with her?
2) It's still desperate and unnecessary
3) Wouldn't a non-magical fireball risk burning up the contact, and Regal presumably would be much less willing to offer another one after this?

[NWK2000]

Anyway, Lee tosses the contract down to Scarlett. Scarlett picks it up and brings it to Kross to sign, then Kross gives it back to Scarlett, who slides it back to Lee. Then Lee picks it up and opens it and a f*cking FIREBALL bursts out at him. WHY?! And HOW?! If this is Karrion Kross developing magic powers, then no, I don’t want to see it at all. Magic powers are dumb. It’s pro wrestling in 2020.

I was waiting for this, specifically so we could confer with each other what we saw. I thought Scarlett did something to it, like she kissed it or something? I mean yeah, this was still hideously dumb, and Kross/Scarlett isn't an act that needs magic, but at least they had the manager load the fireball instead of the wrestler having it to hand. Always appreciated it more when the manager set up the fireball for some reason.

I assume the reason you would appreciate it more is that the wrestler has been checked for weapons by the referee before the match.


It's not even the "magic" thing, though. Even if Scarlett loaded it via some sort of device, it's still wacky because
1) Why did she have this thing with her?
2) It's still desperate and unnecessary
3) Wouldn't a non-magical fireball risk burning up the contact, and Regal presumably would be much less willing to offer another one after this?

That's all valid, but I'm still stuck on what did she do?, is she pyrokinetic? Did she slip several illegal M80s into it?