A Room with a Review: NXT 03/11/20
Due to a scheduling conflict and Full Sail’s inability to budge, NXT takes place this week from inside the Performance Center. Counterprogram against that, AEW!
- They are starting the show with the North American championship match between Keith Lee and Cameron Grimes. There’s a surprising amount of support for Grimes, considering how over Keith Lee is. Of course, Grimes wrestled as Trevor Lee on the indies, so we are finally getting our first Lee v Lee one-on-one matchup in NXT. Grimes tries to attack Lee from multiple angles but the Limitless One overpowers Cameron at every attempt. Grimes hits a beautiful deadlift German suplex. Lee battles back with a Pounce and Big Bang Catastrophe to retain the title. After the match, Damian Priest nails Lee twice with a police baton, leaving Keith unconscious in the ring. Dominik Dijakovic comes to the ring to help, as Priest had done the same to him last week. As Dijakovic tries to help Lee up, Keith hits him with the Spirit Bomb, thinking that DD was the one who attacked him.
- After the commercial break, it’s Mia Yim against Dakota Kai w/ Raquel Gonzalez for a spot in the Takeover ladder match to determine a #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. Yim goes for some quick pinfall attempts, but Kai is able to kick out after just a one-count each time. As a side note, the match is being refereed by Tom Castor. Castor broke his leg during a house show match last year but was able to finish the match and count the three. He returned last week and as a former ref, I just wanted to give him a shoutout. Gonzalez breaks up a pin attempt by Yim and the ref admonishes her. Kai goes for the pin but the ref is still distracted by Raquel. Yim hits her finisher and gets the pin, but gets laid out by Gonzalez afterward.
- Next up is Kushida vs Raul Mendoza. I’m excited for this one. These are two of my favorite underused guys in NXT. The match is back and forth with lots of flippy stuff and strikes. Kushida wins with an armbar out of nowhere.
- Backstage, Not Queen Cathy is interviewing Tyler Breeze about the importance of the PC. Plain Vanilla-ass Austin Theory interrupts and makes some backhanded comments about Breeze’s age. I smell a match in their future. And burnt toast.
- Rhea Ripley heads to the ring to say that she’s not intimidated by Charlotte Flair. As if by magic, Flair’s music hits and the Queen (still not Cathy Kelley) makes her way out. The crowd starts chanting “go back to Raw”, which is fantastic. The two mix it up and Charlotte applies the figure four to Rhea around the ring post.
- Mia Yim is talking to the camera out in the parking lot when an SUV speeds past. They stop by Raul Mendoza, who is loading his stuff into his car. Two masked luchadors in suits grab Mendoza and force him into the vehicle. Wait, is Mendoza the Exalted One in AEW?
- Back in the ring, it’s Tegan Nox against Deonna Purrazzo. The Virtuosa is another one of the underused NXT superstars that always delivers. She tries to apply the Fujiwara armbar, but Nox counters with the Shiniest Wizard for the victory. Nox joins Mia Yim and Chelsea Green as qualifiers for the Takeover ladder match.
- Undisputed Era head to the ring for the main event against The Broserweights. Velveteen Dream pops up on the balcony and says that he and Adam Cole are going to main event Takeover: Tampa. Cole says that Dream hasn’t earned anything. Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle come out and we have ourselves an NXT Tag Team championship match. The Broserweights pull a great twist on one of my favorite wrestling tropes. While the referee is distracted, Riddle throws Roddy Strong in the ring. Dunne claps his hands together and bumps, selling an imaginary kick from Strong. The ref hears the “kick” and ejects Cole and Strong from ringside. The Grizzled Young Veterans come down, but get taken out quickly. Dunne and Riddle hit their Bro to Sleep/Kick combo for the victory.
- Even though that was the last match, Tommaso Ciampa heads to the ring to speak on this. Johnny Gargano appears on the screen in a conference room, so Ciampa heads to the back to find him. The two fight throughout the entire PC and hit each other with anything that isn’t nailed down. While fighting in the gym area, Gargano throws Ciampa through the glass part of a door. The fight eventually makes its way back to the ringside area where Ciampa chases Johnny up to the balcony. Gargano removes the railing from one section of the balcony and tries to throw Ciampa off. Tommaso counters but Johnny applies the GargaNo Escape. Ref Drake Wuertz tries to break them up but Johnny shoves him down. Ciampa recovers, grabs Johnny, and hits him with an Air Raid Crash off of the balcony and through the announcer’s table.
An enjoyable episode with a fantastic ending. I really hope Takeover: Tampa doesn’t get canceled because I have tickets and the show is shaping up to be something amazing. Which potential Takeover match are you most excited for?
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