By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live February 8, 2022 on Syfy Network
[Hour One] The show started off with a Mandy Rose promo video package where she hyped up her match against Kay Lee Ray later in the show…
At the Performance Center ring, the camera focused on the Dusty Rhodes Cup. Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary…
The Creed Brothers were already in the ring. The Grizzled Young Veterans got a televised entrance where Zack Gibson was doing his old “Soon to be recognized” promo…
John’s Thoughts: I sure hope that Gibson doing his old entrance promo means they have dropped the lame failed con men repackage of the Grizzled Young Veterans. The old Gibson heat promos are enough.
1. “The Creed Brothers” Julius Creed and Brutus Creed (w/Malcolm Bivens, Ivy Nile, Roderick Strong) vs. “The Grizzled Young Veterans” James Drake and Zack Gibson in a semi-final match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The Creed Brothers cleared The GYVs from the ring, causing the GYVs to regroup. The Creeds cut the ring in half on Gibson for a bit. Gibson managed to shove Julius into Drake to allow himself to tag in Drake to cut the ring in half on Julius.
Julius managed to hit Drake with a gutwrench suplex. Gibson tagged in and ate a dropkick from Julius. Brutus tagged in and the Creeds pinballed Gibson with knees. Brutus hit Gibson with a delayed gutwrench suplex. Drake distracted Brutus which allowed Gibson to hit Brutus with a throat punch. The GYVs gave Brutus a monkey flip, throat first into the steel beam under the ring.
Gibson worked on Brutus with methodical offense, with Brutus selling an injured throat. Drake tagged in and put Brutus in a side headlock. The GYVs traded tags to keep the ring cut in half on Brutus. Brutus managed to get a moment of respite after hitting Gibson with a deadlift vertical suplex. Drake tagged in and cut Brutus off at the pass to put him in a sleeper. Brutus fought hard and tagged in Julius for the hot tag. Julius punched Gibson off the apron and hit Drake with a chop block.
Julius put Drake in an elevated Stretch Muffler. Drake tried to lock in a Guillotine Choke but Julius backdropped Drake. Julius slammed Drake. Gibson broke up Julius’s pin attempt. Gibson tagged himself in. Julius tried to fight off Gibson, but Drake hit him with a nice suicide dive. The Grizzled Young Veterans hit Julius with a Doomsday Device to give Drake a two count. Joseph noted that Drake lost a second with his leg under the bottom rope. Drake crash and burned on a corner dropkick.
Brutus and Gibson tagged in. Brutus was still selling his throat. Brutus took down Gibson for some ground and pound. Drake distracted Brutus to allow Gibson to hit Brutus with another throat punch to the injured throat. Drake tagged in and worked on Brutus with punches. Brutus tackled Gibson into the corner. Julius treated Brutus’s back like a bridge to hit a top rope Drake with a superplex. Julius hit Gibson with a cartwheel suplex. Brutus hit Gibson hit Gibson with a basement lariat for the victory.
The Creed Brothers defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans in 12:01 to advance to the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
The Diamond Mine were celebrating around the Dusty Rhodes cup…
John’s Thoughts: Holy Crap was that a splendid tag team match! That was the best the Creed Brothers have looked in NXT and the Grizzled Young Veterans were back (at least for the night) to their old great technical selves. This was a longer match, but believable and it made the Creeds look good while the Veterans looked smart (instead of stupid which they’ve looked since their light repackage). This match had a great storyline and kudos to Brutus for selling the throat injury throughout the match to give his team some babyface vulnerability.
Highlights from the Cora Jade vs. Raquel Gonzalez match aired…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Cora Jade about setting up the team with Raquel Gonzalez and how they will start the women’s tournament in two weeks. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon showed up to tell Jade that she shouldn’t look past them. Raquel Gonzalez and Yulisa Leon traded words in spanish. Leon and Feroz walked off. Gonzalez implied that they called Jade a curse word in spanish…
Highlights from the Wendy Choo vs. Amari Miller match aired. Miller and Choo were shown entering the WWE Performance Center. Apparently they bought stuff with Tiffany Stratton’s credit card. Choo noted that the card got cancelled. She threw the card in the trash…
Tiffany Stratton and Wendy Choo made their entrances for the next match. Choo’s entrance theme sounds like it came straight out of Nickelodeon Jr…
2. Tiffany Stratton vs. Wendy Choo. Stratton hit Choo with an armdrag. Choo came back with a drop toehold and crossface. Choo taunted Stratton with the splits and then did a rollup for a two count. Choo hit Stratton with a sleeping elbow for a two count. Stratton slammed Choo into the corner. Stratton hit Choo with a backflip into a splash. Stratton hit Choo with a few dropkicks in the corner. Stratton hit Choo with a Vader Bomb for the victory.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Wendy Choo via pinfall in 3:06.
John’s Thoughts: 50-50 booking with two gimmicks that I don’t have high hopes for. At least Choo has the potential to catch on even tough it’s a bit too hokey. Stratton is just very vanilla and on-the-surface at the moment (if they are going to rip off Taya, at least take inspiration from Taya. Not do an inferior caricature of a valley girl). By the way, they’ve haven’t gone with a commercial break so far in this show (which I remember them mentioning during raw). This makes it a bit hard to keep up in terms of review, but eh, tis life.
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in from ringside. They cut the show to a Draco Anthony prom where he was confronted by Joe Gacy and Harland. Gacy said Anthony gave it all in his loss. He said to keep his head up and he doesn’t have to do this all by himself. Gacy said he’s here to listen, not just to actions, but to words. Gacy wished Anthony a good night and walked off. Harland stood there and glared at Anthony…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Pete Dunne about his upcoming match against Tony D’Angelo next week. Dunne noted that D’Angelo has gone slient on Twitter since losing to Cameron Grimes, but it’s hard to tweet with a broken hand. Draco Anthony walked up to Dunne and said it’s an honor to face him in a match next. Dunne said “whatever” and said he’s still going to snap Anthony’s hands tonight…
Pete Dunne made his entrance heading into the first commercial break of the show (Thank God… for my typing fingers). The break was Picture-in-picture…[c]
3. Pete Dunne vs. Draco Anthony. Back from the break, Anthony hit Dunne with a suplex. Harland and Gacy were watching from the crow’s nest. Dunne quickly turned the tables and put Anthony in the joint manipulation. Dunne dominated Anthony for a stretch of the match. Anthony no sold chops from Dunne and came back with a ripcord lariat. Anthony hit Dunne with an awkward looking back suplex for a two count. Anthony glared at Gacy for a moment which allowed Dunne to sidestep Anthony and hit him with a meteora to the arm.
Anthony came back with a back suplex. Dunne blocked a dive with a gamengiri. Tony D’Angelo tried to blindside Dunne with a crowbar but Dunne saw it coming. Dunne punched D’Angelo to the ringside mat. Dunne hit Anthony with a German Suplex and Bitter End for the victory.
Pete Dunne defeated Draco Anthony via pinfall in 6:50.
D’Angelo tried to put Dunne in a sleeper but Dunne escaped by snapping D’Angelo’s fingers. Dunne threw chairs, crowbars, kendo sticks, and a toolbox in the ring. Dunne stood in the center of the ring with a cricket bar. Dunne said D’Angelo is going to need more than a crowbar at Vengeance Day. Dunne said they’re going to hang weapons up in the cage for a “weaponized cage match”…
John’s Thoughts: Ah, “weaponized cage match” is the gold TNA “Lethal Lockdown” match. I’m not the biggest fan of Lethal Lockdown because all these matches built around weapons tend to run together. Not to mention, Dunne and D’Angelo already had Lethal Lockdown lite in their crowbar on a pole match. That said, I’ll give these two the benefit of the doubt to make it work becuase Dunne and D’Angelo have had great in-ring chemistry in their two matches together.
Io Shirai and Zoey Stark were chatting about the NXT Women’s Tag Team division. Stark was still in a knee brace. Stark reminded Shirai that they need to find her a new partner. Stark said they need to find a partner as crazy as Shirai. Shirai said she knows who to ask and she won’t tell Stark…
LA Knight made his entrance to the ring heading into commercial…[c]
Wendy Choo was limping backstage. Dakota Kai was rummaging through the items that Wendy Choo bought with Stratton’s credit card. Kai told Choo that these clothes won’t buy you victories in the ring…
Sanga (f.k.a. Saurav) made his entrance with Grayson Waller. Before the match, Sanga angerly yelled “NAMASTE!!!!”…
John’s Thoughts: Doesn’t a restraining order mean that Waller needs to stay a certain distance away from Knight?
4. LA Knight vs. Sanga (w/Grayson Waller). Sanga dominated Knight with power moves and dumped him to ringside. Knight made a comeback by shoving Sanga into the ringpost. Knight ducked a big boot. Sanga blocked a BFT and shoved Knight. Sanga hit Knight with an elbow drop for a two count. Knight hit Sanga with a slingshot dropkick for a two count. Waller removed the top buckle pad, which caught the attention of the referee. Knight took advantage of this by raking Sanga’s eyes. Knight then sent Sanga running into the exposed buckle. Knight hit Sanga with a neckbreaker for the victory.
LA Knight defeated Sanga via pinfall in 3:10.
Waller attacked Knight after the match, but Knight saw it coming and left Waller lying with the Blunt Force Trauma. Joseph wondered if Knight winning means the restraining order is lifted. Barrett reminded Joseph that Waller said “maybe” when he challenged Knight on behalf of Sanga. Joseph noted that the restraining order is supposed to go both ways and that Waller is supposed to honor not being near Knight as well…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Duke Hudson about Dante Chen wanting revenge on him. Hudson said that Chen has been talking all week but is nowhere to be seen. Hudson said saying something is different then stepping up. Hudson said the Singaporean warrior isn’t as tough as he thinks he is. McKenzie wondered if Hudson had something to do with Chen’s disappearance. Hudson said Chen is not here for a reason and that’s the scoop. Hudson then wished Indi Hartwell good luck next week and for her to bring the tag titles home (to Australia)…
Vic and Wade hyped up the NXT Championship Summit for after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Did Hudson mean to mention Pirotta? Or are they planning on doing a Trouble in Paradise storyline to pit Hudson against Lumis? I only mention that because it seemed like Pirotta was crushing on him last week. Anyways, like Hudson’s new badass persona over his generic poker guy persona. Knight vs. Sanga was what it was and did a decent job pushing forward the Knight and Waller feud. Sanga looks good in the enforcer role. By the way, it took about two years for Sanga to return to television. Is it going to take two years since the vignettes for his old tag partner Veer Mahan to debut on Raw?
A table was set up in the ring. Wade Barrett was the moderator. Santos Escobar was already seated at the table with Wilde, Mendoza, and Lopez behind him. Barrett introduced Escobar and Bron Breakker. Bron Breakker got a televised entrance. Escobar was in a dress suit while Breakker wore denim jeans and a denim vest. Barrett asked the first Question to Breakker and asked him why he thinks he’ll walk out next week still champion. Breakker said he’s going to keep it simple, he’s going to beat Escobar next week and there’s nothing Escobar can do about it.
Breakker said he knows how these contract signings usually go and they should just flip the table and brawl now. Escobar said Breakker is so naive. He said he’s pulling all the strings and keeping things under control Escobar said Breakker doesn’t realize that while people like Paul Heyman are calling Breakker the future of WWE, Escobar is already plotting the end of Breakker’s career. Before Breakker could get a word in the “I’m here to show the world” theme played as Dolph Ziggler made his entrance to NXT.
Wade Barrett stepped aside and allowed Ziggler to sit in the center seat. Ziggler said that it’s quite the moment to have the NXT Champion and Challenger want to throw down, but that moment changed when he showed up. Ziggler brought up Breakker trying to chase clout by calling him out on Twitter. Ziggler said that he’s getting a bonus to work Tuesdays. Ziggler thanked [Johnny] Ace for the bonus. Ziggler said he’s not paid by the hour and he’s wondering who Bron is. Breakker said he’s the NXT Champion and the reason Ziggler showed up.
[Hour Two] Breakker said he’ll handle Ziggler when he handles Escobar. Ziggler said it’s an amateur move to look past Escobar. Ziggler then named his accolades including being a former WWE World Champion. Ziggler said he knows he loses a majority of his matches, but we all know what he can do any day of the week. The crowd filled in the blank by saying “steel the show”. Ziggler said the one title he never had was the NXT Championship. This invoked a Triple Threat chant. Ziggler said he doesn’t care what the crowd is chanting, all he has to do is be in Breakker’s head. Ziggler said all it might take is a thumb to the eye.
Tommaso Ciampa interrupted and made his entrance. Santos Escobar rolled his eyes. Ciampa said it’s something and a moment to have Ziggler in the ring. The crowd wanted a fatal four way. Ciampa said it’s a hard pass with Ziggler as NXT Champion. Ciampa called Ziggler “kid”. Ciampa said he likes Ziggler’s spirit. Escobar interrupted and asked what the hell is going on. Escobar told Ziggler that he doesn’t go here and is just here for some mean tweets. Escobar said that once he becomes NXT Champion he’ll handle Ziggler and Ciampa. Ciampa said that if Escobar interrupts again he won’t make it to Vengence Day.
Ciampa said he’s next in line after Vengence Day for the title unless Ziggler wants to contest that. Ziggler said that Ciampa calls this home, yet the same few hundred “Flordia people” clap like seals to Ciampa no matter what Ciampa does. Ziggler asked when does it end. Ciampa gave Ziggler a big boot to send him to ringside. Ciampa and Ziggler brawled at ringside. Wilde and Mendoza blindsided Breakker and put the boots to him.
Breakker fought off and tossed Wilde and Mendoza to ringside. When Escobar turned around he saw Breakker standing tall. Breakker looked like he was going to powerbomb Escobar, but Wilde and Mendoza recovered and beat down Breakker. Wilde and Mendoza gave Breakker a double power bomb through the table. Escobar said it’s his time now and next week he’ll be champion. Legado Del Fantasma stood tall to end the segment…
Kay Lee Ray cut a promo in her smash room where she was breaking glass dishware with her bat. She hyped up her match against Rose later in the show…
Grayson Waller said that LA Knight is the real loser now because he broke the restraining order. The interviewer wondered if Waller was challenging Knight to a match. Waller said no, and that Knight is going to get arrested on TV next week, Yeah…
Schoolgirl Sarray was walking backstage. She started at her henshin amulet and walked to the ramp where she made her ring gear henshin. Vic Joseph sent the show to picture-in-picture…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A decent promo segment in terms of performances, but it also felt a bit too saturated and contrived because they had to shoehorn Dolph Ziggler into it. Don’t get me wrong, having Ziggler around does add star power and elevate the show, but they probably could have separated this into two different segments. I felt like the person that got hurt the worst here was Santos Escobar. No matter how good he is on the mic, he had to play second fiddle to Ziggler and Ciampa getting their words in.
5. Sarray vs. Dakota Kai. The match was joined in process (started during the PiP). Sarray rolled up Kai into a Half Crab which Kai broke with a rope break. Kai dodged the face wash dropkick and gave Sarray a few Face Wash knees in the corner. Kai got a two count. Sarray made a bit of a comeback. Kai hit Sarray with a scorpion kick and twisting DDT for the two count. Sarray got a two count off a sunset flip. Kai and Sarray traded two counts.
Kai hit Sarray with a pump kick. Sarray avoided a Yakuza Kick and hit Kai with a back kick. Sarray hit Kai with a face wash dropkick. Sarray hit Kai with the Saito Suplex for the victory.
Sarray defeated Dakota Kai via pinfall in about 6:07.
Joseph noted Sarray winning two weeks in a row…
John’s Thoughts: A good match, but the tables have turned from a few months ago where Sarray lost to Kai when Kai was in the Women’s title picture (and Sarray was turned into an enhancement talent with the 2.0 shift). Looks like things have flipped. I like the upgrade in the Sarray presentation and hope they don’t go the wrong way with it. I’m still not sure why Sarray wears a high school uniform cosplay in public? I’m curious with why they have Dakota Kai wandering around backstage doing essentially nothing other than saying things of no substance to random people backstage. He unhinged character seems to have a ton of potential. She’s kinda like the female version of Joe Gacy right now in how she’s an amazing wrestler and character, yet is positioned to just wander around backsage and randomly talk with people for no reason.
A cinematic promo package aired of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams at the barber shop. Trick joked that Melo was trying to get glammed up to hang out with OllieJayy. Everyone at the show talked about the Melo vs. Grimes match. Melo noted that Grimes has been in NXT several years and has won nothing. Williams talked about Melo winning the North American Title and War Games in his short time in NXT. Melo said people are only talking about Grimes now because Grimes is messing with the A-Champ…
The commentary team hyped Hayes vs. Grimes for the NA Championship for Vengence Day…
Indi Hartwell was chatting with Dexter Lumis on the phone about having a bubble bath when they get home. Persia Pirotta wondered if it was actually Duke Hudson on the phone because Hudson wished her luck. Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne showed up to taunt Hartwell and Pirotta. Dolan brought up a photo of Hudson and Hartwell hanging out together and how they were old friends. This fired up Hartwell and the two teams brawled. The segment ended when the camera focused on the Hartwell and Hudson photo…[c]
A Nikita Lyons promo aired where she talked about how she can sing and kick ass. She said she had to defend herself from creeps as she was traveling with her dad in the tour van. She said that people make assumptions about her just being a girl, but if they come at her with that “weak ass shit” (uncensored) they should expect the roar of a “lyon”…
Josh Briggs tried to coach Brooks Jenson on how to ask Kayden Carter on a date on Valentines day. Jenson walked up to Carter to ask to hang out next week. Catanzaro was there too and said it would be fun if all four of them could hang out. Jenson said that sounds fun. Carter and Catanzaro left. Jensen asked Briggs to maybe drag Catanzaro away to the movies next week so he can be alone with Carter. Jensen handed Briggs money, and Briggs noted that it costs around $20 per person for the movies and he only handed him a sweaty $8…
Entrances for the next Dusty cup match took place…
6. “MSK” Wes Lee and Nash Carter vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade in a semi-final match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Lee and Blade started the match with chain wrestling. Carter tagged in and got a two count on Blade. Enofe tagged in and gave Carter a back suplex. Lee tagged in and MSK nailed Enofe with swarming offense. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Lee hit Enofe with a dropkick to the back and a T-Bone suplex. Lee ran through Enofe with a meteora. Carter tagged in and Lee put him in a wheelbarrow. Carter hit Enofe with a superkick and diving meteora. Blade broke up a pin. Blade hit Lee at ringside with a dive. Enofe rolled up Carter for a good two count. Lee and Enofe hit Carter with a double team suplex. Enofe hit Carter with a splash. Lee broke up the pin at two. MSK dumped Blade to ringside. MSK hit Enofe with the Doomsday Blockbuster for the victory.
MSK defeated Enofe and Blade via pinfall to advance to the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Highlights from the match aired. When the show cut back, MSK jawed with the Creed Brothers in front of the Dusty Cup…
John’s Thoughts: A decent enough indie style high spot match. That said it didn’t click as well as the opening Dusty match. That’s not to sell this short. Both teams tried hard to add compelling nearfalls, but not every match needs to be a classic. MSK makes the most sense to go through to the finals given they are the defending Dusty cup champions. Given how good MSK are at tag team wrestling and how good the Creeds looked today, MSK vs. the Creeds has the potential to be something fun next week.
A promo package aired for Cameron Grimes. It looked to be filmed at his home in Cameron, North Carolina. he said his time in NXT has been a roller coaster. He said no one has taken more body blows, had to adapt, and grown more in NXT more than him. He said through everything he came out as a self made man. He said he got the mansion, fancy cars, and money in the bank account. He said He’d be happy to trade away all that money and live in a trailer park if it means he can hang a championship on his mantle. He said he agrees that Melo has gone on the fast track, but 2022 is the year of Cameron Grimes. Grimes talked about how he has a one way ticket “to the moon”…
An ad aired for the WWE 2k video game…[c]
John’s Thoughts: They’re still trying to find that right balance in terms of goofy and serious for Grimes. I get that they shouldn’t 180 his character comepletely to keep things organic, but it’s also awkward for him to try to shoehorn some of his To the Moon and Cult of Lee Trevor Lee schtick into his elevated persona. Maybe they should lean 70:30 instead of 50:50 in terms of being serious vs. clown-shoes.
Wendy Choo taunted Dakota Kai backstage, saying “it’s not as easy as it looks”…
The commentary team ran through the advertised NXT Vengence Day themed show card for next week…
Mandy Rose and Kay Lee Ray were in the middle of their world championship entrance camera shots. Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta ran in to brawl with Dolan and Jayne while Toxic Attraction were heading to the ring…
Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring championship introductions…
7. Mandy Rose vs. Kay Lee Ray for the NXT Women’s Championship. Ray dominated early on with chops. Rose escaped a Gory bomb with a slap. Rose hit Ray with a Thesz Press. Ray recovered and came back with a lariat. Ray hit Rose with a Tornado DDT for a two count. Rose rolled to ringside to recover, but Ray kept the pace up by hitting Rose with a suicide dive. Rose blocked a kick and then shoved Ray into the turnbuckle. Rose hit Ray with a spinebuster for a two count.
McKenzie Mitchell cut in saying that Persia Pirotta, Indi Hartwell, Gigi Dolan, and Jacy Jayne have been escorted out of the building. Vic Joseph noted that this means that Rose loses her usual numbers advantage. Rose got a two count off a backslide.
[Overrun] Rose worked on Ray by grinding her elbow in to Ray’s gut during an abdominal stretch. Ray escaped and rallied back with a lariat and dropkick. Ray hit Rose with a springboard moonsault for a few two counts. Ray quickly transitioned to a Koji Clutch. Rose escaped by pinning Ray’s shoulders to the mat for a two count. Rose reversed a Gory Bomb into a Code Red for a two count. Ray reversed a double underhook with a front suplex.
Rose reversed a superkick with a rollup for a two count. Ray hit Rose with a kick for a two count. Jacy Jayne got on the apron, which allowed Gigi Dolan to shove Kay Lee Ray off the top rope. This allowed Rose to nail Ray with her running knee finisher for the victory.
Mandy Rose defeated Kay Lee Ray via pinfall in 7:58.
Dolan and Jayne held Ray in place while Rose taunted Ray with Ray’s bat. Io Shirai ran out to clean house with Toxic Attraction. Shirai hit Dolan with a 619. Shirai then hit both Dolan and Jayne with a slingshot dropkick. Rose tried to attack Shirai, but Ray hit Rose with a Gory Bomb. Shirai and Ray stood tall in the ring with Ray’s theme playing. Vic Joseph closed the show hyping up next week’s Vengence Day show on SyFy…
John’s Thoughts: Screwy finish, yes. And yes we see a lot of this in pro wrestling. But I’m okay with them doing it here to protect Ray for a potential run at the title down the road. The finish also shows that NXT is scrambling to put together random women’s tag teams for a tournament to the point where they have to drag all of their singles women’s world champion contenders into the tag division for a tournament detour (this also includes Jade and Gonzalez). As for the match, it was actually fairly good. Ray is always good in her matches and it seems like Shawn Michaels is always high on protecting her and presenting her given the push he’s given her here and in the NXT UK promotion he’s run for the last few years.
I’m not gonna sell Mandy Rose short either. A lot of people like to point out Rose being one of those random fashion models that WWE signs (and yes, it was kinda like that when they signed her out of tough enough), but we’ve got to see her adapt well and show good work ethic. What I like about Rose in the ring is that she looks like she’s trying to win a fight and is gritty, even though it isn’t pretty all the time. She’s not like your Kelly Kelly or Maryse types who seem to be always pulling back on their punches. Rose is good on the mic too, but so far in NXT 2.0 they have her very one-dimensional. Hopefully they fix that soon.
As for the rest of the show, a decent show. NXT still feels like Developmental in the 2.0 run, even bringing back the FCW Main Roster Cameos that were so prevalent when NXT was FCW and we would see people like Dave Batista mix it up with Mike Dalton or Leo Kruger. What does make the show watchable is the high production value and the few good performers still around. They just really need to trim off some of the experimental stuff that’s still around (and maybe handle some QA behind the scenes or at live events as opposed to having people stumble on live television).
The Creed Brothers have the potential to be the best tag team in the business within a couple of years. The crowd is already wanting them to be the top team in NXT. They absolutely should be the team to win this tournament.
Nobody gives two deep fried donkey shits about fatass Taya Valkyrie and Tiffany Stratton is already 100x better at the same gimmick. Stratton is also actually in shape and has a ton of upside.
Meanwhile, Tiffany Choo is just the worst parts of Orange Cassidy with zero upside for anyone who isn’t an IWC dork.
Ey. To each their own. I’d just argue that Tiffany Stratton hasn’t shown anything to make it look like the daddy’s girl valley girl debutante character is her actual character as opposed to cosplay.
I’m saying this as a person who grew up around Hollywood and the Hollywood Valley and a handful of my friends fit the “Valley girl” stereotype.
Someone warn Jason. The best entrance music in WWE just interrupted the “summit” segment on NXT.
Really looking forward to Ciampa vs Ziggler.
Above average show. Still too much indyrific nonsense with people like Brokeback Viking Pete Dunne, Sarray, Dakota Kai, and the spotfest tag teams, but it feels like those are mostly being phased out.
It’s telling just how meh the audience was for Kay Lee Ray. I’m not sure what all the hype is around her as she just seems like another person with a weird look and mediocre charisma whose entire career hinges on being able to do a lot of moves. Rose was the clear favorite of the crowd despite being the supposed heel and at least they made the right decision to keep the belt on her.
>Doesn’t a restraining order mean that Waller needs to stay a certain distance away from Knight?<<
Yeah, imagine WWE not giving a crap about logic…
To give NXT credit, they did cover that after the match and it looks like that will be the technicality that Knight uses to get the order lifted. They did pay attention to that detail later on by having Joseph point out that restraining orders are supposed to be a two way street and that Waller was the first one to break the order by instigating being near Knight.
“…(E)ven bringing back the FCW Main Roster Cameos that were so prevalent when NXT was FCW and we would see people like Dave Batista mix it up with Mike Dalton (Dolph Ziggler’s old NXT/FCW name).”
Mike Dalton was Tyler Breeze’s FCW name not Ziggler’s FYI.
You’re totally right…
I had my blonde shorter plucky babyfaces mixed up. Mike Dalton always felt like Dolph’s clone anyway