May 11, 2021 – Orlando, Florida
Karrion Kross def. Austin Theory
Kross is wearing his skirt again. I thought he’d save that for Takeover but I suppose this is his first match since he debuted it; so it seems it’s just his new all the time gear. Better than the vest, at least. I quite like Theory’s Garganofied gear. This was very slow and very boring. It almost got interesting when Theory was in control, but not really. Kross stared at Gargano while putting Theory out with the Kross Jacket at 6:05. If you’re going to do a squash, do it faster. Please. After the match, Finn Balor magically appears behind Kross and says he won’t wait in line for a rematch. Kross agrees to fight him. I’d be excited about the symmetry of this feud if I cared about Kross at all. *¾
Earlier today, Leon Ruff asked NXT GM Wiliam Regal for a match tonight. Regal says no, even though Ruff is cleared to work. Later, the commentators let us know that Alexander Wolfe vs. Killian Dain won’t happen tonight because one of them has COVID. Or a stomach flu. Whatever you want to believe.
Wes Lee & Nash Carter def. Fandango & Tyler Bate
Lee is just the greatest. Even his shoulder tackles are cool. Things get pretty goofy early on as the referee gets involved in up-down-leapfrogging as if this was at a house show. I bumped up against that, but the rest of the match was quite good. I’m very happy that MSK’s finisher has a name. They hit the End Transmission on Breeze for the win at 7:25 (shown of 10:43). After the match, the champs say they’ll take on Legado del Fantasma’s challenge. ***
Johnny Gargano screams at Regal because of his title defense against Bronson Reed next week. Then, Ever-Rise shows up behind the commentary desk but they don’t really do anything. Are these Ever-Rise appearances ever going to lead to them wrestling on TV?
Pete Dunne def. Leon Ruff
Dunne was mad that Kross chose Balor for his first title defense so he put out an open challenge. It’s good to see Oney Loran is still aligned with Dunne even with Danny Burch on the shelf. Dunne pretty much completely squashes Ruff. He elbows Ruff until the referee calls the match off at 3:06. Maybe I misheard earlier because they make it seem like Ruff was not cleared to wrestle here. Dunne breaks his fingers after the match. *½
Legado del Fantasma say they’re going to win their titles back. Raquel Gonzalez gets loose for her match. Frankie Money premieres live on NXT in two weeks. That same night, Balor gets his title shot. That’ll make four weeks in a row of title defenses. Who doesn’t love that?! I bet they do Legado vs. MSK that night too.
Raquel Gonzalez def. Mercedes Martinez {NXT Women’s Championship Match}
Just as I was starting to think that this was a clumsy but effective attempt at giving this division a big heavyweight style match, Martinez just straight up forgot what she was supposed to do and weirded up the match. Ultimately, this was pretty disappointing. I think it’s time to pull the trigger on Kai betraying Gonzalez and giving us that match. Gonzalez hit the powerbomb for the win at 8:19 (shown of 11:56). **¾
Gargano & Theory have attacked Reed in the locker room. Good thing Steve Corino and Scotty 2 Hotty are there to help. Because of that, their match next week is made a Steel Cage match. Later, Cameron Grimes shows up to bid on a house at auction but he’s outbid by Ted DiBiase. Grimes wants to fight, but DiBiase blows him off. Later still, they announce that Zoey Stark vs. Toni Storm II happens next week.
Isaiah Scott introduces the world to Hit Row. Ashante Adonis sings along with the entrance music because that’s how you show you’ve bought your own hype. AJ Francis is now called Top Dolla, and Briana Brandy is BFab now. I don’t hate this.
Kyle O’Reilly def. Oney Lorcan
Lorcan challenged O’Reilly earlier in the parking lot. What we saw was good, but half of the match happened during the commercial. O’Reilly hit the diving kneedrop for the win at 5:48 (shown of 9:13). Dunne attacks after the match but Bobby Fish returns and makes the save. Fish and O’Reilly agree that their on different paths, but Fish has a score to settle with Lorcan & Dunne. **
Kushida def. Santos Escobar {Cruiserweight Championship 2/3 Falls Match}
MSK and Legado fight at the top of the match until the referee bans everyone from ringside. After that and a big dive from Kushida, the first fall slowed way down. Too much. Way too much. Things picked up just seconds before Escobar hit the Phantom Driver to win the first fall about 11 minutes in. Moments later, Vic Joseph screamed at the production crew not to go to commercial because Kushida caught Escobar with a cross armbreaker to win the second fall. That was a cool touch. Also cool was that they were able to stop struggling and put on an engaging third fall. Kushida relentlessly went after Escobar’s arm, which paid off in the end when he hit a hammerlock suplex for the win at 15:10 (shown of 22:13). They didn’t really use the stipulation, but then NXT hasn’t had an interesting 2/3 Falls Match in forever. ***¼