By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live January 25, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] The show started off with a close-up shot of the Dusty Rhodes Cup. MSK, Wes Lee and Nash Carter, were standing next to the Dusty Cup. Wes Lee wanted to touch it but Carter noted that bad things might happen if you touch the cup. MSK talked about winning the cup for a 2nd year in a row…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Joseph announced that the Dusty Rhodes Classic finals will take place on the “NXT Vengence Day” Themed episode on February 15…
1. “MSK” Wes Lee and Nash Carter vs. “Jacket Time” KUSHIDA and Ikeman Jiro in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. MSK dominated Kushida early on with quick tags and chain wrestling. Jiro tagged in. Lee dominated with quickness and evasion. Lee nailed Jiro with a dropkick after Jiro tried to pose with his jacket. Jiro turned Lee inside out with a jacket lariat. Kushida tagged in allowing Jacket Time to hit Lee with tandem punches and a double team bulldog. Jacket Time cut the ring in half on Lee for a stretch.
Lee gave Jiro an Irish Whip which allowed Carter to tag in and hit Jiro with a Bronco Buster. Carter got boos (is the Izzy thing still a thing? ugh..). Lee blind tagged in. Jiro sent Carter to ringside. Carter held Jiro in place with a stunner, which allowed Lee to swoop in with a gamengiri. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Carter hit Jiro with a flurry of strikes, a German, and a standing Shooting Star for a two count. Lee tagged in but Jiro regained control Jiro hit Lee with a nice looking Thrill of the Kill for a two count. Kushida tagged in and Jacket Time hit Lee with double team strikes. Carter broke up the subsequent pin. Jiro slipped a bit and missed a Swanton. Carter tagged in and hit Kushida with a strike. Kushida countered Carter’s Hot Fire Flame with a Hoverboard Lock. Carter rammed Kushida into the corner. MSK hit Kushida with a Doomsday Blockbuster to give Lee the win.
MSK defeated Jacket Time to advance to the semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Joseph noted that MSK will face the “Cinderella Story” of Enofe and Blade in the next round. Jacket Time and MSK traded bows and handshakes out of respect after the match…
Io Shirai and Zoey Stark were chatting backstage. Stark talked about how she’s not going to be ready in time to team with Shirai to wrestle in the Dusty Classic. Shirai didn’t seem interested. Stark wondered if Shirai didn’t want a new partner because she’s starting to warm up to Stark. Tiffany Stranton showed up to mock Stark and Shirai’s fashion. Stratton noted she was facing Shirai later in the show…
While MSK were still eyeing the Dusty Cup, Legado Del Fantasma, made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good high-energy opening match. MSK never disappoints. I wonder if they were getting boos because the fans preferred Jacket Time more as babyfaces, or if the small “Izzy” fan group is still booing Nash Carter for what is, to me, a pretty petty reason. My guess is it’s the Izzy thing because now that most hardcore fans are aware of it, they are trying to counter that vocal minority. Looking forward to see how they handle MSK’s journey in the tournament. As for Jacket Time, I’m not a huge fan at this point. Kushida should be a badass, but 2.0 has framed him as a comedy sidekick to the comedy sidekick. It didn’t encourage me that he took the pin here too. Jiro’s great, but he should be a comedy singles star, not an anchor to Kushida. I still say though, Jiro’s JPoppy theme is still one of my favorite entrance themes in modern pro wrestling.
Cameron Grimes cut a promo to hype up his match against Tony D’Angelo…
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams escorted musical guest Ollie Jay to the WWE Performance Center. Bonus points to Melo for wearing a Kobe Bryant Mamba shirt…
Santos Esocbar was in the ring with the rest of Legado Del Fantasma. Escobar talked about Bron Breakker’s opponents taking the low hanging fruit approach towards feuding with Bron Breakker. Escobar said they mock Breakker’s family and mock his poor [Steiner] math skills. He said people also keep hyping Breakker as a huge future star both today and in the future. Escobar said he’s real and that was a trait he got from his father El Fantasma.
Escobar talked about also being from a famous wrestling family and Breakker doesn’t intimidate him. Escobar said he doesn’t like Breakker and he despises Breakker. He said he despises how fast Breakker got here, how he got all those opportunities, and how he won the NXT title before Escobar. He said Breakker makes him sick. Breakker made his entrance and cut off Escobar’s promo.
Breakker said that Escobar is great but very insecure. He said Breakker needs people like Wide, Mendoza, and Lopez to do his dirty work. Breakker did note that they came from similar backgrounds coming from wrestling families. Breakker said his family taught him to take on business head on. Escobar cut off Breakker to not talk about his family. Breakker cut off Escobar with the word “Callate!”. Breakker said he’ll accept Escobar’s challenge, simple. Escobar said Breakker has a huge target on his back and he’s alone. Escobar said they’ll do things on Escobar’s time and when Escobar is ready, Breakker will know. Escobar left the ring. Wilde and Mendoza tried to jump Breakker but Breakker saw it coming and cleared them from the ring. Breakker and Escobar jawed form a distance…
A Boa promo aired, where he hyped up his match against Solo Sikoa. It was subtitled and he was speaking in Mandarin…
John’s Thoughts: Very good promo exchange to build up Breakker next’s world title feud. Escobar is a gem. As I continue to hype, not only is he one of WWE’s best technical wrestlers, he’s an extremely eloquent English promo. I like that they are not trying to be too cute with the Escobar-Breakker feud (like they tried to get to cute with the Quinn-Escobar feud). Both men have the same background with Breakker being the next generation of famous wrestlers in the US while Escobar is the next generation after a famous wrestling family in Mexico. Hopefully they stay on track with this and it can be good.
Facepainted Boa attacked Solo Sikoa during Sikoa’s entrance. Sikoa had facepaint and his “burn” scars…
2. Solo Sikoa vs. Boa in a No-DQ match. Boa pummeled Sikoa with a kendo stick. When Boa tried to drag in more weapons to the ring, Sikoa nailed Boa with a Samoan Drop. Solo and Boa played Tug o War with a chair which Boa won. Boa pummeled Solo with a chair. Boa hit Solo with Muay Thai chinch knees and a Butterfly Suplex for a two count. Boa set up a table at ringside. Solo recovered and brawled with Boa to the backstage area. After a bit of an exchange, Solo tackled a ladder into Boa. Solo got a two count.
Boa sidestepped Solo, sending Solo’s hip into the garage door. The garage door got dented. Solo was sent through the door to the parking lot. Solo held the door closed to prevent Boa from exiting. Boa opened the garage door and ate fire extinguisher fluid to the face. Wade Barrett joked about wanting to face Kofi Kingston in a no-dq match because he thinks Kofi cheated at Fantasy Football with him. Solo dragged Boa to the ring and went for the Uso Splash, but Solo tripped Solo off the top rope.
Boa dragged Solo to the announce table (now on an elevated platform). Solo gave Boa a Samoan Drop on the elevated Announce Table, which didn’t break. Solo put Boa on a wooden table. Solo gave Boa a splash through the wooden table. Solo got the ringside pinfall.
Solo Sikoa defeated Boa via pinfall in 8:08 to win the no-dq match.
Duke Hudson was shown backstage, heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: The match started off a bit rudimentary, but got pretty fun by the end. I wouldn’t have booked this feud so soon in Boa’s “transformation” because he’s looked a lot better in his new character and both of these guys need to pick up wins in their early feuds. Solo continues to look like someone WWE’s going to get a lot out of. He’s an Uso, he wrestles like the other two Usos, and having a third potential main eventer in Rikishi’s family wouldn’t hurt. He does stand out on his own too with the whole Muay Thai integration into his Uso moveset. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets fast tracked to Smackdown to team with his brothers and cousin (he’s already way better than other wrestlers that didn’t pan out from famous families, like Sim Snuka, Manu, Von F’n Wagner, etc)
An Imperium promo aired where Walter, via subtitled, explained his name change. He said he was called Walter by his parents to honor his family patriarch, his grandfather, who taught him this sport. He said it’s time to establish his own indentity. Barthel said it was a new time for Imperium and they were opening the door to a new future. Aichner said the future will be led by their leader. Gunther introduced himself as “The Ring General, Gunther”…
Duke Hudson made his entrance. His video wall still has a poker theme, but he has seemingly shed the poker stuff from his look…
3. Duke Hudson vs. Guru Raaj. Hudson was aggressive and attacked Raaj with ground and pound. Hudson pummeled Raaj against the buckles. Hudson hit Raaj with a leaping sidewalk slam. Hudson hit Raaj with the Razor’s Edge for the win.
Duke Hudson defeated Guru Raaj via pinfall in 1:08.
Dante Chen called out Hudson after the match and rushed the ring for a brawl. Referees ran out to separate the two. Hudson got a cheap shot in with a chop block on Chen. Barrett noted that the chop block was to the injured leg of Chen…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Persia Pirotta and Indi Hartwell. Pirotta talked about liking Hudson’s new haircut and attitude. Hartwell told Pirotta to focus. Pirotta joked about Hartwell’s lack of focus due to Dexter Lumis. Kay Lee Ray showed up to psych up her tag team partners for the next match…
Entrances for the next match took place…
John’s Thoughts: See, sometimes less is more. Hudson didn’t need a gimmick, let alone a generic poker gimmick. This would defeinitely be easier for Hudson to sink his teeth into and we saw that this can be a good character for him in that feud with Grimes, when they didn’t focus on the “poker”.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Santos Escobar and Legado Del Fantasma. Mitchell wondered why Escobar didn’t accept Breakker’s challenge. Wilde and Mendoza interrupted and said they want to get their hands on Breakker. Escobar said Breakker will have to face Wilde and Mendoza with a partner of his choosing. Escobar said that he doesn’t think Breakker has any friends and can even find a tag partner because he’s the NXT Champion…
[Hour Two] Kay Lee Ray and her partners made their entrance…
4. “Toxic Attraction” Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolan, and Jacy Jayne vs. Kay Lee Ray, Persia Pirotta, and Indi Hartwell. Rose and Pirotta started the match. Ray tagged in which caused Rose to quickly tag in Jayne. Ray dragged Jayne to her corner and tagged in Hartwell to isolate Jayne. After a few draping boots, Hartwell got a two count. Jayne dragged Hartwell to her corner with a few knees to tag in Dolan. Dolan was rolled up for a two count. Dolan hit Hartwell with a tackle. Rose tagged in and continued the isolation game on Hartwell.
Pirotta tagged in and hit Rose with a backbreaker for at two count. Ray tagged in which caused Rose to run the hell away. Ray managed to tackle Rose off the apron. Ray hit all three Toxic Attraction members with a cannonball. The face team traded quick tags to isolate Jayne. Jayne came back with a forearm to Hartwell. Hartwell gave all three of her opponents elbows, but they dragged her by the hair into the buckle. Jayne got a two count off Hartwell.
Dolan and Rose tagged in to isolate Hartwell. Rose got distracted by Pirotta, which allowed Hartwell to hit Rose with a sidewalk slam. Jayne pulled Pirotta and Ray off the apron to prevent Hartwell from tagging out. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Toxic Attraction dominated Hartwell back from the break. Hartwell and Jayne took each other out with big boots. Pirotta and Dolan tagged in. Pirotta hit Dolan with a corner splash and Snake Eyes. Pirotta hit Dolan with a German Suplex for a two count. Hartwell hit Jayne with a spinebuster. Rose hit Hartwell with a knee. Ray grabbed her bat to intimidate Rose. Rose crawled away in fear. Rose dodged a few bat shots. Ray chased Rose to the back. Joseph noted that the match became a tag match. Dolan reversed a suplex into a inside cradle for a two count. Pirotta hit Dolan with a superkick and sitout F5 for the victory.
Persia Pirotta, Indi Hartwell, and Kay Lee Ray defeated Toxic Attraction via pinfall in 10:25 of on-air time.
Vic Joseph noted that Persia Pirotta pinned one half of the tag team champions…
An Edris Enofe and Malik Blade promo aired where both men were excited to advance in the Dusty Classic. Enofe said that Blade might finally be able to ask Mandy Rose on a date. Blade said that will never happen. Enofe noted that Blade should never say never after they overcame the odds. They continued to joke about asking Toxic Attraction on dates…
The Grizzled Young Veterans made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A pretty decent six person tag match. Nothing special, but everyone worked hard. Good to see a lot of talent thriving in-ring wise in NXT 2.0. Rose is a bit rough at times, but she continues to get better and not screw up things. Everyone else seemingly has a lot of experience and that experience shows. Jayne is actually a really good wrestler as long as she’s not doing a suicide dive. I kid, I kid.
Raquel Gonzalez was lifting weights at the WWE Performance Center, earlier today. Cora Jade showed up to continue to try to convince Gonzalez to team with her. Gonzalez told Jade that she doesn’t think Jade is tough enough to team with her…
Andre Chase and his blonde student, Bodhi Hayward, made their entrance…
5. “The Grizzled Young Veterans” Zack Gibson and James Drake vs. Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Drake and Chase started off the match. Drake dominated Chase with chain wrestling. Chase came back with a trip. Chase hit Drake with a modified Zig Zag. Chase did his Chase U boots. Hayward tagged in, hit an elbow, and tagged Chase back in. Hayward and Chase traded quick tags for a double team advantage on Drake.
Chase gave Drake a Dusty Rhodes Bionic Elbow. Gibson caught Chase at ringside. The GYVs hit Chase with a Spike Piledriver. Gibson worked on Chase with methodical offense. Chase got a two count off a backslide. Chase prevented Gibson from tagging out with some quick moves and tagged in Hayward for the hot tag. Hayward hit Gibson with a body slam. Hayward hit Gibson with football run splashes.
Drake distracted Hayward which allowed Gibson to throat punch him. Drake tagged in. The GYVs hit Hayward with a double codebreaker for the win.
The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Bodhi Hayward and Andre Chase via pinfall in 5:11 to advance in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
After the GYVs left, Von Wagner showed up and attacked Hayward and Chase. Wagner hit both men with Death Valley Drivers. Robert Stone showed up and handed Wagner a Suit Jacket. Stone said that Wagner is free from his suspension and is under new management…
Grayson Waller was backstage with Saurav (from Indus Sher). Waller reminded everyone his restraining order against LA Knight. Waller noted that “Sanga” (Saurav’s new name) will want to meet with Knight first…
Io Shirai made her entrance. The show cut to a WWE 2K22 commercial…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A better than expected tag team match given that both tag teams weren’t the most interesting going into the matchup. Chase has had plenty of tag team experience, as Harlem Bravado, and did a fine job carrying the bulk of the work for his team. Hayward seems green, but he had good energy. The football run was good enough for a chuckle. The GYVs are a great tag team, but their repackage has been horrid. Thankfully we didn’t see any of that repackage today, and I hope it stays the hell away.
Wade Barrett and Vic Joseph checked in from ringside and wished Odyssey Jones the best after having surgery..
6. Io Shirai vs. Tiffany Stratton. The match started off with light chain wrestling. Stratton hit Shirai with an armdrag. Shirai hit Stratton with a flapjack after Stratton gloated a bit. Shirai hit Stratton with a basement dropkick. Stratton got to the bottom rope to prevent Shirai from locking in a crossface. Stratton kicked Shirai and gave her a boot. Stratton put Shirai in a headlock. Stratton gave Shirai a backflip elbow for a two count. Shirai countered a kick with a rising palm. Shirai hit Stratton with a corner meteora and body slam. Shirai hit Stratton with a moon sault for the win.
Io Shirai defeated Tiffany Stratton via pinfall in 4:18.
John’s Thoughts: Pretty much one sided and Stratton didn’t really get much in. I’m still not sold on her. She still feels like someone WWE decided to give a gimmick to and it doesn’t match the performer. Did WWE just see her as Blonde and therefore “Valley girl”? Again it’s tough for her to live up to Taya Valkyrie’s amazing portrayal of a Valley Girl, especially since Taya was in NXT.
Malcolm Bivens and Diamond Mine were at the gym area. Bivens called “Gunther” an awful name and said that his parents should have named him “DUMBASS, in all caps”. Bivens said rather than being the beginning for Imperium, it’s the beginning of the end for Imperium. He said that the Creed Brothers are going to win the Dusty Classic. Bivens hyped Roderick Strong and even Ivy Nile dominating Gunther down the road. Bivens hyped up Imperium vs. Diamond Mine in a six man tag for next week. The Creeds and Strong hyped themselves up for next week…
John’s Thoughts: Kudos for Bivens lampshading WWE’s dumb name changes (and for pointing out how annoying it can be sometimes to have to write out wrestlers names in ALL CAPS). What I am kinda disappointed at is that now that Gunther/Walter is full-time in the US, it looks like we might be seeing him more regularly in matches. Part of what made Walter so special in the US is the fact that he would come over every several months as opposed to every week.
The commentators hyped Cameron Grimes vs. Tony D’Angelo as the main event of this week’s show…
Trick and Melo introduced musical guest Ollie Jay. Ollie Jay sang the song, Make em Fall, which NXT uses as one of their themes…
Tony D’Angelo cut a promo on his way to the ring area to hype up the main event…[c]
Tiffany Stratton was on the phone complaining to “daddy”. She walked into Wendy Choo who told her that everyone loses to Io Shirai so she shouldn’t worry. Stratton slapped away Choo’s cup and Choo whined saying that she slapped away a free refill…
The following matches were hyped for next week: Imperium vs. Diamond Mine, Cora Jade vs. Raquel Gonzalez, and Wilde and Mendoza vs. Bron Breakker and a partner of Breakker’s choosing…
Cameron Grimes made his entrance…
7. Cameron Grimes vs. Tony D’Angelo to become number one contender to the NXT North American Championship. Grimes got Tony on the apron and hit Tony with a PK. Grimes slammed Tony into the buckles. Tony countered Grimes by slamming him into the mat. Tony hit Grimes with a Gutwrench Suplex. D’Angelo whipped Grimes to ringside. Grimes tried to hit D’Angelo with a Paydirt, but D’Angelo hit Grimes with a backbreaker. The show cut to picture-in-picture. [c]
[Overrun] D’Angelo planted Grimes with a belly to belly for a two count. D’Angelo worked on Grimes with methodical headholds. Grimes escaped a headlock and hit D’Angelo with a Frankendriver. Grimes hit D’Angelo with a series of clotheslines. D’Angelo avoided a boot in the corner. D’Angelo hit Grimes with a Belly-to-back suplex. Grimes reversed a fisherman suplex into an inside cradle for a two count.
Grimes hit D’Angelo with a the Spanish Fly Power Slam for the two count. Grimes hit D’Angelo with stiff roundhouse kicks. D’Angelo recovered and hit Grimes with an Exploder Suplex into the turnbuckle for a two count. Grimes slipped off the rope for a botch, but recovered and hit a moonsault on D’Angelo. Grimes hit D’Angelo with a diving crossbody for a two count. Grimes was about to go for the Cave In, but D’Angelo rolled to ringside. While the referee was distracted by Grimes, Pete Dunne showed up and hit D’Angelo on the hand with a cricket bat. D’Angelo rolled back into the ring, right into the Cave In for the loss.
Cameron Grimes defeated Tony D’Angelo via pinfall in 11:41 to become the number one contender to the North American Championship.
Grimes and Melo glared at each other from a distance…
The unseen interviewer interviewed Bron Breakker about his potential tag team partner. Before he can give a complete answer, an SUV pulled up with Wilde and Mendoza trying to jump Breakker. Tommaso Ciampa showed up to have Breakker’s back. Wilde and Mendoza retreated to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Interesting, Dunne and Ciampa returning to NXT after a few weeks on Main Event. I still think their main roster callup is eminent, but they can always take their time with that. D’Angelo vs. Grimes, a pretty good match. Not the most epic of workrate matches, but pretty damn good. Tony D’Angelo continues to astonish me with his quick growth in terms of his in-ring. When he started on 2.0 it looked like they were going to have him do cartoony mafia stuff in the ring, but he’s acclimated to the high-workrate style really well and hasn’t really botched anything. They always talk about D’Angelo’s amateur background, and there is a bit of Kurt Angle in him in terms of how fast he’s picking up pro wrestling.
A step down from last week’s show. Not like this week’s show was bad, but there was nothing really special either. It was more character development and story development, which isn’t a bad thing.
Highly disappointing nobody is talking about Sikoa’s “burn scars” falling off near the end of the match lmao