BRM Reviews the 3/10/2021 NXT (AWESOME!)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 3/10/2021 NXT (AWESOME!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Mar 11th, '21, 17:18

WILLIAM REGAL MAKES HIS TWO BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS- underwhelming
1. They’re doing a two-night Takeover on Wednesday and Thursday April 7th and 8th.
2. Due to the controversial finish of last week’s match, NXT is creating their own Women’s Tag Team Titles, which they are awarding to Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez. Regal pulled a Shane McMahon and forgot to say the word “tag team” the first time.
The second announcements only feels “game-changing” on a technicality, and the first really doesn’t at all.
Kai & Gonzalez cut a typical arrogant heel promo about their dominance of the division. Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart then stepped out of the lines that the women had all been standing in on the ramp to start to cut one of those “I’m going to congratulate you, but I really just want a title shot” promos. My reaction to this was exactly the same as Indi Hartwell’s (she rolled her eyes and put her head back in exasperation). Ember and Shotzi want a title shot tonight. They’ve only won one match since losing to Kai & Gonzalez in the Dusty Cup finals, so I don’t really think they’ve done enough to earn a title shot, but Regal disagrees and books the match, insisting that we will be “making history” again.

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Io Shirai(c) vs. Toni Storm- 7.5/10
This was very good for the time it got, but disappointing considering all of the build going in. It’s not the wrestlers’ fault. They did what they could in the less than twelve minutes they were given. Building a match up the way NXT did with this one and then short-changing it on time is a terrible idea.

FINN BALOR PROMO- great build for the main event

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS L.A. KNIGHT- good
He says he’ll debut next week if anyone is brave enough to step up and face him. Bronson Reed showed up and grabbed him by the throat and tried to throttle him. People pulled Reed off of Knight and Reed yelled “good luck in your debut.”

JAKE ATLAS vs. PETE DUNNE (w/Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan)- 4.5/10
This was good for what it was, but what it was was mostly a squash of a guy who is way too talented to be treated like a jobber. If they were using these losses to tell a story with him like they have done with Isaiah Scott then that would be one thing, but they’re not doing the necessary follow-up on those losses to tell that story.

PETE DUNNE PROMO- great
He says he’s the best and he’s looking for someone to step up to him.

IMPERIUM PROMO- decent
They made their recruitment pitch to Timothy Thatcher. I really could have done without the “we’re taking over” language. It’s corny and stupid. Without it, this would have been good.

LEON RUFF PROMO- Good built to his match against Isaiah “Swerve” Scott next week.

NXT WOMEN’S TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez(c) vs. Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart- 7/10
This was yet another big match (they kept telling us how history-making it was) that didn’t get enough time for a match of its stature (this one went 12:16). Shotzi was the babyface in peril for a bit. The finish saw Shotzi roll Kai up for the win, which I don’t get. If this was your plan, why not just have Moon & Blackheart win the Dusty Cup and be in the spot that Kai and Gonazlez were in. Anything you might do coming out of this with Gonzalez turning on Kai for costing her the titles could have been done just as well by having Gonzalez turn on Kai for costing her the tournament.
Beth Phoenix pushed this match like it was the greatest thing ever, yammering on about this great but in no way spectacular match was “setting the bar” high like other great women in history, and claimed that the division “continues to innovate…” you know… because there has never been a women’s tag title match before, I guess.
And just in case you were trying to take this title change seriously, Tom Phillips killed it shouting “let the celebration in the ball pit begin!” Shotzi’s catchphrase is already moronic, but this made me hate it even more, and hate Tom for feeling the need to use it.

ADAM COLE PROMO- PROMO OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE!
Kyle “stepped out of line” so Cole put him back in his place. He also brags about having manipulated Balor into giving him this title shot, says that he- not Balor- was the greatest NXT Champion of all time, and he is going to prove that by beating Balor.

A BUNCH OF BABYFACE WOMEN CLAP FOR EMBER AND SHOTZI WHILE INDI HARTWELL & CANDICE LERAE WALK OFF, DISGUSTED- bad
I’m firmly on Indi and Candice’s side here. I don’t understand why this is supposed to be so important. Ember and Shotzi are still basically a makeshift team so there hasn’t been any sort of long journey for them and there was no big story with their team forming that would get us invested in seeing them work together (think Maverick & Dain), there was less than an hour’s worth of build to the match, and the champions had had the belts for that same short period of time. This is no more important than any other title change (and, in fact, feels a lot less important than most), but it is being treated as if it was something momentous.

THE WAY BACKSTAGE- bad
Austin Theory asks is Gargano paid off the psychiatrist last week, and Gargano says it’s because Therapy costs money, so I guess Theory is far too dumb to pick up on what the rest of us picked up on.
Gargano reminds Theory of the stupid mean things that Lumis supposedly said about him, so Theory got upset and started crying and vowed that Lumis would pay.

KAYDEN CARTER vs. XIA LI (w/Boa & Tian Sha)- no rating, EXCELLENT segment
I didn’t like Xia Li doing the kata on the ramp. It felt too much like the old Xia Li, rather than the new one who is a stone-cold killer.
They had their match for a bit with the appropriate aggressiveness. In the one thing I would change, Kacy Catanzaro came down to ringside on her crutches during the match. I would have had her come out with Kayden, so as to avoid her having to walk right past Boa and Tian Sha (they didn’t show this, but it pretty clearly had to happen).
Xia Lee got Carter in a similar position to the one she got Kacy in when she injured her, but using the ropes and not the steps. At this point, Kacy hit her in the leg with one of her crutches for the DQ. Kacy slid into the ring as Xia Li begged off, but Kacy wouldn’t wall for it and hit her with a crutch a few times (the first shot in the corner could have looked a little better).
Boa slid into the ring to save Xia Li so Kacy swung the crutch at him but he caught it and stomped on it to snap it. Tian Sha gave Boa the sign to destroy Kacy but Kayden ran in with the second crutch and hi Boa with it, causing him to retreat. I loved SOOOOO much about this.
It was great to see Kayden able to show more emotion in the ring and to see her and Xia work a more fast-paced and harder style. I loved Kacy saving her bestie and even more I loved her not giving in to Xia’s pleas and showing mercy. I loved that Boa actually got to do something badass rather than just be a victim all the time, and I loved that the babyfaces got their first much-needed moral victory in this feud. Kayden also sold well on her way to the back.

JORDAN DEVLIN SELFIE PROMO- good
He can travel to the US again, and he is already at the airport. He’ll be there next week and wants to determine who the real NXT Cruiserweight Champion is. Cool.

ZOEY STARK VIDEO PACKAGE- good
She’s a generic babyface, but at least now we know her story and have a reason to root for her. Video packages like this are the reason why it’s important to have the wrestlers tell their own backstories rather than just impart them to us through the announcer.

WILLIAM REGAL & SANTOS ESCOBAR ARGUE AT THE GORILLA POSITION- fine
Escobar is upset about the Jordan Devlin promo we just saw. Wilde & Mendoza tried to get him to come to ringside for their match, but he told them to go and defend their honor without him because he has business to discuss with William Regal.

GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS PROMO- good
Gibson called Mendoza & Wilde “Santos Escobar’s puppets,” so I guess we’re actually going somewhere with them having “taken bullets” for Escobar, as Gibson put it. Then something extremely unexpected happened: James Drake actually talked!

GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS vs. LEGADO DEL FANTASMA (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde)- no rating, good segment
MSK came out dressed as astronauts. I assumed it was Fandango because it was Wilde who was distracted by them at first, but then they unmasked themselves and it became GYZ who were distracted, with Wilde pinning Drake via roll-up. GYZ went after MSK but got hit in the stomach with their astronaut helmets. The black guy in MSK then crushed Gibson’s hand on the steps with the helmet.
We cut to Legado Del Fantasma mocking GYZ, but then they were jumped from behind by Fandango. Presumably, if Escobar had been at ringside, he would have been able to warn them about this. The announcers guessed that Breezango gave MSK the astronaut suits and it was all a plan. The babyfaces danced together at the end.
I appreciate that they kept it short, but I didn’t like the whole astronaut thing. Having them act all goofy and then get stone-faced only when they were about to be attacked didn’t work for me, and I didn’t like the goofy dancing afterwards from anyone.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS DAKOTA KAI & RAQUEL GONZALEZ- meh
They were angry. Io Shirai came by to tell Raquel that she wanted a match with her. Raquel told her to “be careful what you wish for.” If this is how they’re getting to the title match that she should already be owed for pinning Io at War Games then I can think of no reason whatsoever why this team should have won the Dusty Cup or had the tag titles in the first place.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL’S INTERVIEW WITH TIMOTHY THATCHER IS INTERRUPTED BY TOMMASO CIAMPA- good
McKenzie was in the middle of asking Thatcher about Imperium’s attempt to recruit him. Ciampa says he is interested in WALTER’s NXT UK Title. He tells Thatcher “if we’re not with them, we’re against them” and suggests a match between them and Imperium next week. Thatcher didn’t respond.
In other news about next week’s show, we’re getting Lumis vs. Theory, plus they officially announced L.A. Knight’s in-ring debut.


NXT TITLE MATCH: Finn Balor(c) vs. Adam Cole- 8.75/10
Cole is wearing the same gear he was wearing when he won the title. Cole worked Balor’s injured jaw while Balor worked over Cole’s back. The false finishes in here were tremendous. Kyle O’Reilly showed up in the crowd towards the end, totally stone-paced, and both men had chance to stare at him. Balor won clean in one of the best TV matches I’ve seen in a while.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- mixed
Kyle O’Reilly hopped into the ring and approached Cole. Cole tried to beg off but then went for a low blow. Kyle blocked it and ripped off Cole’s Undisputed Era armband, then beat the crap out of him. A referee tried to pull him off but Kyle shoved the referee down. He ran Cole into the boards and the steps, then set up for a brainbuster on the steps but an entire school of referees pulled Cole to safety. Kyle went after Cole again and the refs tried to keep him off.
Kyle chased Cole backstage, and instead of following them, we cut to the ring to look at Finn Balor. They turned the camera a bit, and zoomed in, and when they pulled back, I guess Balor must have felt Karrion Kross breathing on him because knew who was there and said “what took you so long” while turning around. I thought the stuff with Cole and O’Reilly was excellent but hated the stuff with Balor and Kross. It was one of those segments where it’s clearly the booker trying to do something that will look cool, and in order to set that up, they essentially admit to you that the director and cameras already know what’s going to happen and are trying to shoot it to make it as dramatic as possible.


This was an AWESOME episode of NXT, although the disappointing NXT Women’s Title match and the disappointment of Regal's announcements are definitely strikes against it. Still, while the women's title match was disappointing for the hype it got, it was still objectively a great match, and almosteverything else on the show was of a similar quality for what it was intended to be. The show did a wonderful job of both giving us big things for this week while also building up next week’s show, and was tremendously easy to sit through as well. Nothing that happened tonight felt small.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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