BRM Reviews the 6/15/2021 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

OPENING SEGMENT- PERFECT!
William Regal comes out gives this big emotional speech about everything that NXT has been and has given him. He says that the recent chaos has convinced him that he doesn’t think he can do a good job anymore. He was about to resign when Karrion Kross interrupted him and was a huge dick about the whole situation. He demanded that Regal say he was right when said Regal didn’t control things anymore.
Then f*cking SAMOA JOE showed up (with his original awesome NXT music, too!). He said that Regal wanted to speak with him. Regal asked Joe to become the new GM. Joe said no. He said that instead, he would be Regal’s enforcer and help him run things and “make sure that you get the respect you deserve.” That last part was said while looking right at Kross. Regal told Joe that if that were to happen Joe 1) couldn’t be a competitor, and 2) could not lay a hand on anyone “unless provoked.” Joe accepted, and the got right in Kross’ face and asked him “what are you still doing in this ring? Tik-tok, young champion.” And Karrion Kross, the NXT Champion, took his belt and left.
I loved this whole thing. Kross is now firmly established as a heel, and the swerve with Joe was genius! Joe as GM having to control his temper when people disrespect him would create some good tension, but Joe as Regal’s enforcer and having to control his temper is even better because you’d have tension not just between Joe and the heel but also between Joe and Regal with Regal sternly warning Joe not to hit the heel.
And, of course, if Joe ever gets the clean bill of health again, they have a built-in way to turn him back into a wrestler.

GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS PROMO- great!

TYLER BREEZE & FANDANGO vs. IMPERIUM (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel)- 6/10
Fandango was the babyface in peril. He eventually made the hot tag to Breeze, but Breeze got cut off almost immediately by Aichner… and then caught Aichner with an inside cradle about six seconds later. That sort of thing needs to happen every once in a while so that fans learn not to dismiss roll-ups that come at a point in the match where you wouldn’t expect a possible finish.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Imperium know that WALTER will not be pleased with this loss, so they attack Breezango afterwards and bury them under Imperium’s flag. I wasn’t crazy about that last part, but at least there was some heat here with Imperium- and what they stand for- being the opposite of Breezango, so it feels like there is some actual symbolism in the flag-burying. Take notes, Cody.

THERE IS ANOTHER BRAWL BACKSTAGE- This time it was between Cole and O’Reilly. Security was keeping them apart. Rega told them they would have a match at the Great American Bash, and that they could pick their own opponents for next week. They broke free and started to fight again, but Joe came in to pull them apart. Cole shoved him, so Joe choked Cole out. I wasn’t crazy about Cole getting choked out so easily, but this segment did the necessary job of showing us that Joe actually will make a difference in these situations.
It’s kind of funny that Cole and O’Reilly had an unsanctioned match already and now they’re going to have a regular match, but it works.

SOMETHING IS CHARGING- This might have been part of a commercial.

SANTOS ESCOBAR PROMO- meh
He’s coming for Bronson Reed, but one on one this time. He pointed out to us that he proved that he can pick Reed up at TakeOver, but this feud feels like it should be over already.

NXT CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: KUSHIDA(c) vs. TREY BAXTER- 6.75/10
This is another open challenge. How about instead of doing these open challenges, you have someone win some matches on 205 Live and give that person a title shot?
KUSHIDA’s entrance wasn’t shown. That, too, doesn’t make the title look good.
“All Heart” Trey Baxter got a video package before the match. He came off as very generic. He looked fine in the match. Kyle O’Reilly came out to watch the match. After the match, he challenged KUSHIDA to a match next week.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS FRANKY MONET- fine
Next week we will see the “encore” of her “world premiere.”
She walked over to the Robert Stone Brand women and blamed their recent loss on Stone. When Stone showed up, she told him that she had told the women to listen to him more.

MERCEDES MARTINEZ PROMO ON TIAN SHA- great!

L.A. KNIGHT’S MILLION DOLLAR CORONATION- great segment, but…
Knight cut this big babyface promo about how Ted Dibiase was his hero. He went on so long that you knew the turn was coming. He attacked Dibiase, saying now that he had the belt, he didn’t need Ted. Ted’s private security just stood there and did nothing. Cameron Grimes eventually came out to make the save. It was kind of odd that no one else came out, either, considering that Ted is a legend, but that’s a minor point. What’s more important is that they finally did something to turn Grimes babyface. I’m glad that they did… but he’s still just so annoying that I don’t want to see him on my TV.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS DAKOTA KAI & RAQUEL GONZALEZ- fine
She asks Raquel why she is wrestling tonight, just forty-eight hours after a grueling title defense. How about because she’s a professional wrestling and it’s her job to wrestle the matches management books her in?
Raquel and Dakota say they want the tag titles.

WE’RE UP TO 11% ON THE CHARGER- My phone is up to 82%. I’m winning.

SAMOA JOE KEEPS EMBER MOON & SHOTZI BLACKHEART AWAY FROM DAKOTA KAI & RAQUEL GONZALEZ- fine

KAYDEN CARTER & KACY CATANZARO vs. DAKOTA KAI & RAQUEL GONZALEZ- 6.75/10

EVER-RISE SHOW US FOOTAGE OF HIT ROW SMASHING THEIR PLAY-HOUSE, THEN CUT A PROMO ON THEM- I’ve seen enough Ever-Rise by now that I’m comfortable assuming that Ever-Rise probably brought this on themselves by annoying Hit Row.

IO SHIRAI’S PROMO IS INTERRUPTED BY CANDICE LERAE- good
This was a distraction so that Indi Hartwell could attack Io from behind. Io fought back but got beaten down two on one until Zoey Stark made the save.

MCKENZIE MITCHELL INTERVIEWS WILLIAM REGAL & SAMOA JOE OUTSIDE- We immediately cut away from this because it’s apparently more important to show us Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa walking down a hallway. Ciampa sole someone’s popcorn. That’s not a babyface thing to do.

THE DIAMOND MINE OPENS NEXT WEEK- So we’ll see what that’s about.

THE WAY INTERRUPT MCKENZIE’S INTERVIEW WITH JOE AND REGAL-
They tried to suck up to Joe. He told them to f*ck off, so they did. Then Pete Dunne showed up and had a stare-down with Joe.

TORNADO TAG TEAM MATCH: Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Grizzled Young Veterans- 7.5/10
A solid but not spectacular blow-off. The babyfaces won clean. The announcers absolutely need to stop calling Thatcher “Toothless Timmy.” That’s not how you treat a star.

MCKENZIE INTERVIEWS JOE & REGAL OUTSIDE AGAIN- They say things will be different from now on. I don’t understand what the purpose of this was. They’ve been saying that all night long.



A very good episode of NXT.