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WWE NXT Recap – The Leon Ruff Era of NXT Has Begun

On WWE NXT this week, Leon Ruff proves the Gargano Curse is still a thing, while Candice LeRea gets a leg up on Toni Storm. Santos Escobar defends his title too! Read all about it right here!

I'm Jude Terror, and this is The Shovel: Wednesday Night Wars Edition, covering AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT. Except, thanks to YouTube TV, I've had to pay $5 to watch AEW on Fite. Luckily, once Dynamite was over, YouTube had fixed whatever was wrong so I could watch NXT. Well, luckily for you. Unfortunately for me, as I almost had the night off!  Ah well! The duties of a wrestling "journalist" never stop. Nor do the doodies.

WWE NXT Recap for November 11th, 2020 Part 1

NXT begins with a slickly-produced Veterans' Day video. The COVID Wrestling Center is all done up with flags. Very patriotic.

Johnny Gargano is in the ring to cut the obligatory long-winded promo. He has a wheel in the ring with different potential challengers written on it. He talks about the Gargano curse of losing his title on the first defense after winning it. He says he's gonna reverse the curse with one spin of his wheel. He spins it. The wheel is obviously gimmicked to land on Leon Ruff.

Leon Ruff comes out. Ruff smiles way too much for a jobber. WWE hasn't broken his spirit yet. But wait for it. It'll happen.

They have a match. In a shocking upset, Ruff wins the title!!!

Leon Ruff defeats Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT North American Championship.

Gargano was squashing Ruff until Damian Priest showed up at ringside and distracted him. Priest didn't directly interfere. Gargano was just intimidated by his presence in the crowd area. Ruff and Priest celebrate on the ramp. Ruff puts the belt on, but it's too big and falls to his ankles. NXT takes a commercial break.

Backstage, Damian Priest gives Ruff his car keys so that Ruff can get away before Gargano comes backstage and murders him. Gargano comes backstage and gets in Priest's face. Refs separate them. Priest is having the time of his life making fun of Gargano.

Santos Escobar is in the ring with Legado del Fantasma. Jake Atlas comes out to the ring with no backup (bad move). NXT plays a clip of him assaulting Legado del Fantasma with a tire iron in the parking lot earlier today.

They have a match. It's a long match. And if I cared about either of these guys, that might be a good thing. Since I don't, it's mostly tedium, especially because Escobar retains.

Santos Escobar defeats Jake Atlas to retain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

Dexter Lumis is seen drawing a picture making fun of Cameron Grimes backstage. Raquel Gonzalez is seen walking backstage. NXT is seen taking a commercial break.

Gonzalez comes to the ring. Boa comes out and says Xia Li isn't here tonight. Gonzalez kicks his ass instead. After the beating, the lights turn red, and dragon graphics appear in the CWC. A man comes out with a letter for Boa, marks a symbol on his hand, and then leaves.

August Gray is about to give an interview backstage, but Timothy Thatcher attacks him. They brawl in the lobby of the Performance Center, and Thatcher beats the crap out of him.

Tony Storm comes to the ring, followed by Candice LeRae, who cuts a promo on both "that punk rock poseur" Shotzi Blackheart and on Storm. They have a match. Commentary sells the match as PPV-caliber. This is true. So why is it on a random episode of NXT? It is a damn good match, though, so I'm not complaining. LeRae eeks out the win on a rollup with assistance from the ropes on the pin.

Candice LeRea defeats Toni Storm.

Toni Storm attacks LeRae after the match. The Scream mask mystery person runs out to beat down Storm with LeRae. Shotzi Blackheart runs out, but she gets beat up too. LeRea and Scream Mask stand victorious. Scream Mask removes the mask to reveal she is Indi Hartwell. Or at least, she is this week. In the last two weeks, she was out for COVID-related matters is the rumor, which is the reason for the mask.

Breezango cut a promo about how much it sucks to have lost the tag team championship, especially due to the actions of Pat McAfee. They have a rematch with Lorcan and Burch, and they're taking it seriously! NXT takes a commercial break. And I, too, will take a break and return in part two of this NXT recap for the second hour of the show. Clicky clicky!

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