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WWE NXT – A First Hour of Good Matches with Boring Stories

Published Thu, 15 Oct 2020 10:35:44 -0500

In the first part of the WWE NXT report, a bunch of guys have really good matches that ultimately don't matter. Welcome to Bleeding Cool's Wednesday Night Wars report, covering AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT. We watch four hours of wrestling every Wednesday, so you don't have to! You're welcome.

The official logo for WWE NXT.

WWE NXT Report for October 14th, 2020 Part 1

After a recap of last week's somewhat lackluster, directionless, and injury-prone episode of NXT, NXT begins live from the Capitol Wrestling Center. Some kid named Vic Joseph welcomes us to the show Undisputed Era heads to the ring, sans Adam Cole. Kyle O'Reilly says he'll be cleared next week, but Adam Cole's ribs are broken from Ridge Holland, who kayfabe injured Cole right before he shoot injured himself. O'Reilly says Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish are gonna become the number one contenders for the tag team championships tonight and then win the titles next week. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan come out to do the job.

Undisputed Era vs. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch

Both Dynamite and NXT tonight open up with tag team matches, AEW's for the titles, and this one for a number one contender spot against… who are the NXT champs again? Is it Breezango? I'm not 100% sure, which should tell you which of these matches actually feels like it matters.
Let me ask you a serious question, dear reader: do you ever see Danny Burch and/or Oney Lorcan having a serious main roster run? Because I don't. To be fair, I only really started watching this show weekly in May, but it's been nearly six months, and I couldn't tell you a thing about these guys' personalities. At best, they stay in NXT forever. At worst, they're comedy jobbers who occasionally show up during 24/7 Championship segments on the main roster. All of this is to say there's no way I see them winning here. It doesn't help that they're both smallish bald dudes with black tights, so they both look like Gillberg.
It's a fine match, of course. NXT always has good matches from a workrate perspective.
Breezango are seen watching the match from the stage, so I guess they are indeed the tag team champs. I thought so.
After a long, technically proficient match that ultimately I couldn't bring myself to care about, Undisputed Era wins.

I guess this is what happens when everyone you book to win a belt gets injured within the next month. So if Fish and STrong beat Breezango (and they should), we can expect one or both of them to get injured next, and then NXT will be totally screwed.

Speaking of which, McKenzie Mitchell gives an update on Finn Balor. He had jaw surgery last week and needs to recover. William Regal said he's gonna wait a few weeks to see how Balor recovers before deciding whether to strip him of the title. So the world title scene is on hold for the next several weeks? Off to a great start, NXT! Time for a commercial break.

In a video promo, Ember Moon talks about terrible it was being out with an injury, but she used the time to find herself and realize NXT was where she belonged. She says she was supposed to be in the draft but took herself out of that situation, and now all of her passion and drive is back. I'm kinda surprised they're letting her say this stuff. I mean, it's true of nearly everyone who goes from NXT to the main roster these years, but it's surprising WWE would script it. Moon says she's going to go through all the women to earn a shot at the AEW Women's Championship. Ashante "Thee" Adonis comes to the ring, followed by Jake Atlas for a match with no stakes.

Ashante "Thee" Adonis vs. Jake Atlas

Illustrating my point, Vic Joseph refers to this as a "resume-building match." Even he knows it doesn't matter.
Mendoza and Wilde come out in the middle of the match and distract Adonis, who gets rolled up by Atlas.

Mendoza and Wilde assault Adonis after the match, but Atlas dives on them, and he and Adonis team up to send them packing. Santos Escobar comes out, and he, Mendoza, and Wilde prepare to attack again, but Isaiah "Swerve" Scott comes out through the crowd to even the odds, and the situation de-escalates.

McKenzie Mitchel talks to Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano. LeRae says she's the uncrowned NXT Women's Champion. Gargano says Dexter Lumis doesn't deserve a title shot at Damian Priest. Gargano and LeRae's destiny is to be champions, and it will happen. But tonight, Gargano says he's gonna teach Austin Theory a wrestling lesson… after some commercials.

Austin Theory comes to the ring. Then Johnny Gargano.

Austin Theory vs. Johnny Gargano

Both of these guys are arrogant douchebag heels, so it's a weird matchup. Who are you supposed to root for?
It's a weird story but a great match.
Gargano gets the win with One Final Beat in one of those matches where Theory got a lot of offense in because supposedly, he's put over just by giving Gargano a run for his money.

Of course, that's rarely actually true, but it's how it supposedly works. Wade Barrett even spells it out on commentary. Raquel Diaz cuts a promo on Rhea Ripley. She challenges her to a match at Halloween Havoc, but Riple shows up mid-promo and wants to fight now. Officials hold them apart, though. NXT takes a commercial break.

Our WWE NXT report continues in part two. Click down below to read it.

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