By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live February 1, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] Entrances for the opening six person tag match took place…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary.
1. “Imperium” Gunther, Marcel Barthel, and Fabian Aichner vs. “Diamond Mine” Roderick Strong, Julius creed, and Brutus Creed (w/Malcolm Bivens, Ivy Nile). Both teams brawled before the bell rang. Aichner and Brutus were left alone in the ring. Aichner hit Brutus with a deadlift Samoan Drop. Barthel tagged in and put Brutus in a armbar. Brutus managed to turn the table into a ground and pound on Barthel. Julius tagged in. Barthel made a comeback with a PK on Julius.
Barthel hit Julius with a enzuigiri. Gunther tagged in to “Walter” chants. Walter and Barthel cut the ring in half on Julius with methodical offense. Strong got the hot tag and ate drive by elbows from Strong. The show cut to picture in picture.[c]
Brutus escaped Aichner’s Fireman carry and tagged in Julius. The Creeds hit Aichner with a double body slam. Walter broke up Julius’s pin. Walter and Strong tagged in. Strong gave Gunther a series of chops. Strong gave Gunther a running knee. Imperium domintated Strong and Julius at ringside. Brutus took down Aichner and Barthel. Brutus walked into a sleeper by Gunther. Brutus escaped and hit Gunther with a shoulder block. Gunther recovered, hitting Brutus with a clubbing blow to the chest followed by a power bomb for the victory for the win.
Imperium defeated The Diamond Mine via pinfall in 12:01.
Highlights from the match aired…
The show cut to LA Knight cutting a promo about Grayson Waller backstage. Knight talked about Waller having hell to pay. Joe Gacy and Harland walked up to Knight. Gacy offered to help Knight because he helped Harland deal with a restraining order he had with someone else. This led to Knight challenging Gacy to a match, ending the promo with his Yeah and Fact of Life catchphrases…
Toxic Attraction were shown heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A nice brawl to start off the show. Despite me saying that Diamond Mine needs to start losing less, there is no shame to losing to such an invincible force as Gunther. Imperium have also raised their credibility in their last few months in NXT so there’s no shame in losing to them either.
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in from ringside. The commentators noted that due to the Olympics, NXT will air on SyFy the next two weeks…
Toxic Attraction made their entrance. Gigi Dolan said that Indi and Persia have signed their death sentence due to their fluke last week. Jacy Jayne said they are putting the tag titles on the line against Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta at Vengence Day. Kay Lee Ray interrupted, carrying out her bat. Ray demanded a match against Mandy Rose. Rose simply said “no”. Ray threatened to bash the brains of Dolan and Jayne. Rose asked Ray to put the bat down and Dolan and Jayne would leave. Ray dropped the bat and the women’s tag team champs left.
Ray said she’s the longest reigning WWE Women’s Champion of the modern era, via NXT UK. Rose said that means nothing. Rose said she had a ton of accomplishments before WWE. She said she was on a ton of billboards, magazine covers, being a bikini world champion. She said every woman aspires to be her and the men want to be with her. This drew a “you deserve it” chant from the horny males. Ray said that doesn’t compare to any in ring skill. Ray said she was champion for 649 days where she dominated a continent. Ray said all Rose did was slipping on her ass at WrestleMania while sucking the face of Otis.
Rose said “look at me now” because she’s the hottest thing in WWE. Rose said she’s going to be transparent with Ray, All the Talent in the world will not replace “this” (Rose). Ray said she will get her title match. Rose said it was doubtful. Ray slapped Rose. Ray then chased the Toxic Attraction trio with her bat…
The show cut to McKenzie Mitchell interviewing Cora Jade about her match against Raquel Gonzalez. Jade said she’s trying to prove she’s tough enough and that her and Raquel can be the winners of the Dusty Cup. Gonzalez walked in and asked if Jade still wants to go through with it, which Jade did. Gonzalez made her entrance for the next match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A better promo segment for Ray than Rose. Not that Rose was bad, but her character is very dry and formulaic at the moment. They’re giving her nothing more than the “I’m better than you, and men want to be with me” schtick. This is not a knock against Rose, because Rose is doing the best she can with limited material. Where it was good for Ray was Ray giving a lot of exposition for her character that was established in NXT UK.
The unseen interviewer caught up with Rose, Jayne, and Dolan in the parking lot. Rose said she’s not granting Ray the title shot. Dolan and Jayne entered an SUV. Turned out, Ray was in the driver seat. Ray drove off with Dolan and Jayne as hostages…
Cora Jade made her entrance. She had new pop punk entrance music (not as good as her last theme in my opinion)…
2. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Cora Jade. Gonzalez took down Jade with a light lariat early on. Gonzalez then planted Jade with a strong lariat. Jade put Gonzalez in the corner with a lariat. Gonzalez blocked a meteora and gave Jade a backdrop. Jade tried to come back with gut punches, but Gonzalez came back by catching Jade off a crossbody attempt and hit Jade with a sidewalk slam for a two count. Gonzalez worked on Jade with methodical offense. Gonzalez twisted Jade in a Gory Special. Gonzalez slammed Jade into the corner.
The camera went black for some reason. Jade reversed a sidewalk slam into an armbar. The camera went out again. When the camera went back online Jade had the upper hand. Jade did a old school into a huracanrana. Jade hit Gonzalez with an enzuigiri. Gonzalez reversed a high knee into a Chingona Bomb for the win.
Raquel Gonzalez defeated Cora Jade via pinfall in 6:02.
Instead of leaving, Gonzalez walked back to Jade who struggled to get to her feet. Gonzalez gave Jade a handshake and said “lets go win it”. The announce team assumed this was Gonzalez accepting Jade’s offer to be her tag partner…
A repeat of Sarray’s schoolgirl promo aired. The graphic said that Sarray will return “next”…
John’s Thoughts: Very odd match at points with the random blackouts. I don’t think that was just me because the USA logo was up and the audio was still solid. I wonder if there was something that wasn’t safe for TV? (They did cut off for a stretch when Gonzalez would turn towards the screen). As for the match, it was a simple story. Gonzalez should be presented as a powerhouse and Jade plays the plucky underdog well. This seemed very roundabout to get to WWE’s usual “reluctant partners” trope. It doesn’t help that babyface Gonzalez in recent months has come off as borderline unlikable.
A Pete Dunne promo aired where he bragged about smashing Tony D’Angelo’s hand with a cricket bat. He said it was ironic where he took D’Angelo’s cousin’s advice about taking care of business by any means necessary. Dunne challenged D’Angelo to a steel cage match…
Sarray was shown at the Gorilla Position. She was in her schoolgirl uniform. When she went through the curtain she transformed (or “Henshin’d”) into her ring gear. It was more sparkly. She also had Purple and Silver highlights in her brown hair (her “schoolgirl” hair was black).
3. Sarray vs. Kayla Inlay. Inlay tried to lock Sarray in a armbar. Sarray escaped and gained control Sarry tossed Inlay around with armdrags. Inlay sidestepped Sarray and gave Sarray kicks. Inlay gave Sarray a few shoulder tackles. McKenzie Mitchell cut in saying that nobody knows the whereabouts of Jacy and Gigi after their kidnapping. Sarray gave Inlay forearms. Sarray rolled up Inlay into a double stomp. Sarray draped Inlay on the bottom rope and hit her with a signature facewash dropkick. Sarray hit Inlay with a Deadlift Saito Suplex for the victory.
Sarray defeated Kayla Inlay via pinfall in 3:29.
The show cut to a Duke Hudson promo. He said the only way to get ahead in this place is to strike first. He said it didn’t matter if it was Dante Chen, he saw an opportunity and took it. He said he used to be addicted to the felt of the poker table and the long game, and that brought him suffering. He said he’s addicted to one thing now, inflicting pain and seeing others suffer. He said when you control your destiny you don’t have to calculate odds. When you take matters into your own hands you eliminate luck. Hudson said he creates his own luck now. Hudson gave himself a buzzcut with a razor…
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams were shown walking backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Great promo by Duke Hudson who has shed away the generic poker dude gimmick towards being a well developed badass. He was very eloquent in his speaking there. If they run with this, I think they might have finally found a gimmick that works for good ol’ Brandan Vink. As for the Sarray, ehhhh, I’m gonna wait and see. As a Kamen Rider fan, I’m all for the henshin and whatnot, but it doesn’t help that Io Shirai is running around with a better ode to Kamen Rider with her ring gear and character. Did someone show Shawn Michaels or Bruce Prichard Sailor Moon for the first time and this is the result? I guess? This “medallion” is a henshin device (that looks like it came from a cracker jack box, in my opinion)?
Bron Breakker thanked Tommaso Ciampa for his help last week and wondered why? Ciampa said being at the top of the mountain is a lonely place and he understands where Breakker is now. Breakker said he respects that. Ciampa said he wants to see Breakker remain NXT Champion. Breakker said the Blackheart and Breakker are about to kick some Legado ass…
[Hour Two] NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams made their entrance. Trick talked about Cameron Grimes thinking he’s ready for the A-Champion after defeating a distracted D’Angelo. Trick said Grimes is better off wasting time playing poker than getting the ring with Grimes. Melo said the old him would verbally put Grimes in a grave. Melo said that the crowd may not see Grimes as a threat, but Melo does. Melo said because of that he’s working harder in the gym, putting mo work in the ring, spending more time with OllieJayy, because that’s what the A-Champ does. He said he sets the bar on this show and he’s definitely looking down on Grimes.
Before Melo can get out a catchphrase, Cameron Grimes made his entrance in a dress suit. Grimes said that he came out because he heard Melo say that the crowd doesn’t care about Grimes. The crowd gave Grimes a “too the moon” chant. Trick called Grimes a bum and said that Grimes is slimey. Grimes said he’s not Slimy, he’s grimey. Grimes said that Melo’s hair looks like a pineapple, spongebob’s house, which would make Trick Squidward. He said they both liked all of OllieJayy’s “Bikini Bottom” on Instagram. Trick tried to drop some lines on Grimes. Grimes wondered if he was fighting Grimes now, or fighting Melo.
Melo said that at Vengeance Day Grimes will find out that Melo shoots for the moon while taking stars as casualities. Melo and Trick headed up the ramp. Grimes said its funny because their Vengeance Day match is going to be a one star match, and that one star will go to the moon…
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade were coming up with tag team names. Enofe thought up “Team Enofe and Blade” first then team “BBC”. Enofe then started fawning over Mandy Rose. Mandy Rose randomly stumbled into their locker room into Blade’s hand. Rose was running away from Kay Lee Ray. Ray and Rose brawled. Enofe got horny and was enjoying the brawl. Blade acted like he was hiding a boner…
LA Knight made his entrance for the next match…[c]
The Diamond Mine members were interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell backstage. Brutus said they will face Imperium again once they win the Dusty Classic. Zack Gibson and James Drake showed up to taunt Diamond Mine. Bivens called them nerds and said that the Creed Brothers will kick their ass next week…
4. LA Knight vs. Joe Gacy (w/Harland). Knight put the boots to Gacy while leading a “yeah” chant. Gacy hit Knight with an STO and gave Knight a Uranage. Gacy gave Knight a forearm and a belly to back suplex. Gacy worked on Knight with methodical offense. Knight came back with a neckbreaker on Gacy. Knight hit Gacy with a elbow drop. Gacy sent Knight ot ringside with a shoulder block. At ringside, Sanga distracted Knight which allowed Grayson Waller to come out of nowhere and nail Knight with his finisher, the rolling stunner. Knight beat the 10 count and walked right into Gacy’s handstand lariat for the loss.
Joe Gacy defeated LA Knight via pinfall in 4:18.
Waller got the mic and taunted Knight, saying he owns NXT and there’s nothing Knight can do about it, ‘yeah’. Knight tried to attack Sanga, but Sanga gave Knight a chokeslam. Waller said that if Knight can beat Sanga next week, maybe he’ll take down the restraining order…
Wendy Choo was shown walking backstage and heading to the ring. Tiffany Stratton was shown glaring at Choo from a distance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A decent enough match for the time given. Knight was protected, his story with Waller was pushed forward, and Gacy gets a win (which he needs). Knight is doing better than expected as a babyface with the crowd really taking to him. His feud with Waller is looking good so far. Meanwhile, despite getting the win, Gacy and Harland are spinning their wheels. Gacy has developed a very intriguing character, but it seems like the writers don’t know what the hell to do with him.
Robert Stone and Von Wager were backstage. Stone talked about how he used to be focused on the “entertainment” side of the business. He then said he saw a 6 foot 5 , 255 pound athlete destroying people and said he wanted to be a part of that. He said he paid Wagner’s fines because Wagner is the future. He said Wagner is a future NXT, WWE, and Universal Champion. He said this is Von Wagner’s world. Wagner said “and you’re just living in it”…
John’s Thoughts: We’ll see where this goes. Wagner’s a bad promo, and Robert Stone is a parody of a manager.
Amari Miller made her entrance. Footage from earlier today showed that Tiffany Stratton tried to encourage Miller to destroy Choo. Wendy Choo made her entrance to her own new theme. Joseph and Barrett talked about relating with Choo’s love for slurpees…
5. Wendy Choo vs. Amari Miller. Choo was sleeping. Choo reversed Miller into a leg lock, leading to her sleeping on Miller’s leg. Biller got a backslide for a two count. Chook tackled Miller. Choo gave Miller a superkick. Choo gave Miller a “sleeping” elbow drop. Miller gave Choo a sweep kick and running senton for a two count. Choo came back with gut punches and a lariat. Choo gave Miller a belly to belly suplex. Chook gave Miller a flip elbow and exploder suplex. Miller came back with a codebreaker for a two count.
Tiffany Stratton showed up and gave Amari Miller a credit card. Miller didn’t know what to do with the card. Choo rolled up Miller for a two count. Choo gave Miller an Axe Handle lariat for the win.
Wendy Choo defeated Amari Miller via pinfall in 3:26.
Stratton demanded her credit card back. Turns out, Choo too the card and danced up the ramp with it…
John’s Thoughts: I mean, Stratton could just deactivate the card. Anyways, Choo is starting to win me over. She’s like WWE’s cross between Orange Cassidy and Susie Yung. A childish “sloth”. I still am not sure of the staying power of this gimmick, but the former Mei Ying/Karen Q is trying her best. She’s at least looking good bell-to-bell.
Dexter Lumis, Indi Hartwell, and Persia Pirotta were backstage. Pirotta was crushing on Duke Hudson. Lumis gave that crush a thumbs down. Brooks Jensen showed up crushing on Kayden Carter. Hartwell said it’s a turnoff when a guy talks to much and non-verbal communication is sexy. Hartwell started at Lumis and said they need to go to the hot tub. Jensen tried to give Pirotta the hot tub look, but Pirotta said she’s into someone else. Jensen continued to act like a dweeb…
A introductory vignette aired for Draco Anthony which talked about his Marine background…[c]
A Nikita Lyons promo aired. She said she was born in entertainment being the result of a rock bassist meeting a groupie. She said she traveled all across the company where her dad worked for everything he earned. She said people said she may have been learning from shady club owners and degenerate musicians. She said in reality her life experience have lead to these lyrics and this moment. Lyons rapped a few bars. She said she’s a part of the most competitive women’s division in the world. She said the world better look out for this “Lyon’s” Roar…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Sarray, who was back in Schoolgirl mode. She had her black hair and a school uniform (complete with a school emblem and sailor uniform). Sarray said she was dedicating her win to her grandma and she said “I love you”. Sarray said that the medallion reminds her that she can do anything. Dakota Kai showed up and mocking Sarray for looking like she came from Sailor Moon. Kai said she can tell that Sarray’s medallion is important to her like her grandma is to her. Kai said no matter how strong her relationship with her grandma is, the sun will always set…
Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward made their entrance. Draco Anthony was already in the ring.
6. Andre Chase (w/Bodhi Hayward) vs. Draco Anthony. Chase and Anthony traded headlocks. Chase gave Anthony an Atomic Drop and neckbreaker for a two count. Anthony gave Chase a power slam. Anthony worked on Chase with strikes. Anthony gave Chase a back suplex for a two count. Chase escaped a butterfly stretch and gave Anthony a series of axe handle strikes. Chase gave Anthony a side sweep. Chase did his signature cheerleading stomps.
Anthony shoved Chase to the mat and took away Hayward’s flag. Anthony stomped on Chase’s flag to boos. A fired up Chase pummeled Anthony with punches and stomps. Chase gave Anthony a Hammerlock Flatliner for the win.
Andre Chase defeated Draco Anthony via pinfall in 4:36.
Chase got up the camera and said that Von Wagner will get a Andre Chase University sized ass whooping next week…
A disheveled Mandy Rose was tumbling around in the backstage break room area. Kay Lee Ray showed up and spilled a random bowl of spaghetti and meatballs on Rose. Ray found a random cake and slammed it into Rose. Ray continued to chase around Rose with the bat…
Legado Del Fantasma all made their entrance…[c]
An ad aired for WWE 2K22…
An ad aired for the Vengence Day themed show…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett announced the following matches for next week: several Dusty Classic matches and LA Knight vs. Sanga…
7. “Legado Del Fantasma” Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza vs. NXT Champion Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa. After an exchange, Breakker and Ciampa hit both Legado members with delayed vertical suplex. Breakker and Ciampa both did Ciampa’s signature back pat. The show cut to picture in picture.[c]
[Overrun] Breakker worked on Wilde with a chinlock and lariat. The referee got distracted, which allowed Escobar to slam Breakker into the stairs. Wilde and Mendoza trade quick tags to cut the ring in half on Breakker. Wilde got a two count after a suplex. Breakker hit Wilde with a backdrop on Wilde to bring in Ciampa for the hot tag. Ciampa cleaned house with both Legado members and took down both opponents with a lariat. Breakker tagged in and hit Wilde with a spinebuster.
Escobar got on the apron for the distraction. Mendoza tagged in and hit Breakker with a slingshot dropkick. Mendoza hit Breakker with a Phoenix Splash for a two count. Mendoza caught Breakker with a gamengiri. Breakker came back with a spear. Wilde broke up the pin. Ciampa hit Mendoza with a knee. Wilde went high risk, but Ciampa shoved him to ringside which sent him through the announce table. Breakker hit Mendoza with the Military Press power slam for the victory.
Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa defeated Legado Del Fantasma via pinfall in 11:28.
Ciampa handed Breakker the NXT Championship. Breakker put the belt on the ground and jawed with Santos Escobar who was on the apron. Escobar dropped from the apron and walked away from Breakker’s challenge. Breakker and Ciampa fist bumped and left the ring…
Kay Lee Ray chased Mandy Rose to the ring. Ray said she doesn’t want to wait until Vengence Day, she wants the title match next week. Rose asked Ray to put down the bat. Ray put the bat down. Ray gave Rose a superkick and a Gory Bomb. Vic Joseph said the Women’s Championship match was set, Rose vs. Ray, for next week…
John’s Thoughts: Standard TV main event to give Breakker a win over Escobar’s stooges. Ciampa’s involvement was a bit underwhelming, but I hope that this is just the first step to something more intriguing for Ciampa (if he’s sticking around in NXT for a bit). There’s an interesting story to be told if Ciampa ends up turning his back on Breakker, leading to a rubber match singles match between Breakker and Ciampa. Let’s see where they go.
A solid episode of NXT with rough parts. What I thought was a bit overdone was the Mandy Rose beatdown throughout the arena. They tried a bit too hard there, even feeling the need to add gratuitous spaghetti and cake. They don’t need to try so hard with Kay Lee Ray. I thought they were doing okay with the whole Smash Room thing with her. Now they are really trying hard to get the bat over. The problem there too is she refuses to hit anyone with the bat (It’s not like they can’t make bat shots safe. She was doing “home run shots” a few years ago in War Games and they can always aim for the gut).
Well,I think it’s high time Io Shirai gets called up,but would she be used properly?Probably not.
Wendy Choo needs to never be on TV again.
I think you are being overly kind to Mandy Rose here. She is doing the mean girl Look How Sexy I am schtick they are “giving to her” because she can’t do anything else.
I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt because she’s shown the same presence and confidence with better material and has done well. I’m referring to her storylines with Otis and Sonya Deville. The “i’m prettier than you” thing is so one dimensional to the point where she needs some actual storyline meat to bite into as opposed to reading cookie cutter lines.
“Enofe got horny and was enjoying the brawl.”
How does one get horny?