Worlds Collide 2020 Review

Saturday, January 25th, 2020
Toyota Center 
Houston, Texas

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Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov

I didn't realize Dragunov was so animated. After a taunt from Dragunov, Balor rolls through a sunset flip and slaps Dragunov right in the face. He follows it up with a dropkick to the outside. We get a little bit of an awkward spot where Dragunov looks like he is going for a springboard move, but he hesitates and kicks Balor and then hits it. Back in the ring, Balor regains control and hits a dropkick to the back of the head. They are working a pace like they are going to go 20+ minutes, but I'm not sure that will be the case. Balor goes for a DDT, but Dragunov hits a suplex instead. Dragunov exposes his knee and hits a knee drop from the top rope. Balor hits a double stomp out of desperation and they then go back and forth with forearms. Balor then hits an elbow to the throat and a Sling Blade. He charges at Dragunov, but eats a boot to the face. Things are picking up here, but it's not quite to second gear yet. Dragunov leaps off the top rope to Balor on the outside, but that came across way too telegraphed. Dragunov then hits a dropkick from the top rope and gets a 2 count. Dragunov goes up top again and goes for a Senton, but Balor gets his knees up. Balor goes up top and hits Coup de Grace and 1916 and gets the victory. They seemed to have some moments where they weren't on the same page, but there were also some really hard hitting moments too. I'm not sure I would have put this on this card and maybe would have put it on the go home show or something like that.

Match Rating: **3/4 (out of 5)

They show Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm backstage. They show the two finalists for the Dusty Rhodes Classic in the crowd. They announce that the winner will take on the NXT Tag Team Champions at NXT TakeOver: Portland. The Grizzled Young Veterans say it's onward and upward for them. Meanwhile, Matt Riddle is dancing at the opportunity.

Fatal 4-Way For The NXT Cruiserweight Championship
Isaiah Scott vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks vs. Angel Garza

We get some fun chaos to begin here, which is exactly what this match needs to be. From the little I have seen of him, Devlin is a real nice talent. Scott catches a Devlin moonsault and slams him outside. Garza follows it with a dive over the top rope and Banks hits a double stomp off the apron. Banks gets a chance to showcase his skills by taking out Scott and Garza. He then hits a suicide dive on Devlin. Devlin hits an absolutely beautiful DDT off of a reversal that I can't even describe. Garza is now in control and takes his chaps off. He and Scott hit a combo moves of sorts with Garza holding both Devlin and Banks and Scott coming off the top rope. Devlin then eats a vicious looking Canadian Destroyer from Banks. Devlin hits a double suplex on both Garza and Scott and then eats a Slice of Heaven and a Kiwi Crusher from Banks, but it's only good for a 2 count. I can't even keep up with all of this. Garza hits a dropkick on Banks, who is on Scott's shoulder and then Banks hits a reverse hurricanrana on Scott as he's falling back. That was incredible. Garza hits his finish on Scott, but then Devlin comes in and hits the Devlin Side out of nowhere and we have a new Cruiserweight Champion. They used the familiar multi-man match and spiced it up with some incredible segments and moves that I personally have never seen. Really, really good match.

Match Rating: ****1/4

Keith Lee, Mia Yim and Chelsea Green are shown in the crowd.

Moustache Mountain vs. Team DIY

The announcement of this match alone made this a must see show. Gargano and Bate start things off. They put on a clinic and show why they are two of the most talented men on the WWE roster. They then go ahead and make the tag to their partners, who then get a chance to show off what they can do. Bate is back in and they do a test of strength like it's 1990. DIY gets the first flurry of the match and throws both of their opponents over the announcer tables. They both do the Ciampa pat on the back and clap on the apron in a fun moment. DIY work on Bate, but in comes Seven and he takes out both men. He hits a lariat on Ciampa for a 2 count. Gargano is in and hits a beautiful dropkick on his way in. It's amazing how good DIY looks despite not teaming in quite awhile. They both hit DDTs and Gargano gets a 2 count on Bate. Ciampa hits a big knee to the back as Bate leaps off the top rope. Bate follows up and hits a Tyler Driver 97. These guys have skipped right over second gear and are tearing it up. Bate goes for a standing Shooting Star, but Gargano gets his knees up. Bate reverses Gargano and gets him in the airplane spin, but Gargano reverses that into the Gargano Escape. Ciampa is in and has Seven in a submission, but then they reverse both holds and hit a double airplane spin. Moustache Mountain hits double knockout punches and then hit a leaping knee off the top rope, but somehow Ciampa kicks out. God, these NXT events are just impossible to recap. All four men are now going at it in the center of the ring. They hit a superkick/dropkick combo on a leaping Bate and then hit a superkick/knee combo on Seven and get the victory. These two teams are just so incredibly smooth in everything that they do. Their talent is just off the charts and in a perfect world, they'd be the ones main eventing WrestleMania. I liked that they really took their time and had fun and then slowly built to the balls to the wall finish.

Match Rating: ****

Mercedes Martinez is now shown in the crowd and they then cut to Dakota Kai who is attacked by Tegan Nox. I love the intensity here. Nice work by both.

NXT Women's Championship Match
Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley

Storm gets in some offense quickly, but it only infuriates Ripley. Storm quickly recovers though and hits a suplex on Ripley that tosses Ripley neck first into the turnbuckle. Storm slaps on the STF, but Ripley is able to eventually crawl to the ropes to break the hold. Storm hits a strong DDT and gets a 2 count. Storm has a good look and is charismatic, but I'm not sure I think she is quite as good as someone like Ripley or some of the other NXT women. They have a nice segment that ends with a German suplex from Storm. Storm then hits a big headbutt on a charging Ripley. Storm goes up top, but misses with a Frog Splash. Ripley hits the Riptide and gets the pinfall. They were starting to find their groove there, but the ending didn't really work for me.

Match Rating: ***

Bianca Belair and Ripley exchange words. They will face each other in Portland.

They then show Gargano being interviewed and then attacked by Finn Balor. Bate and Seven pull Balor off of him.

Undisputed Era vs. Imperium

I love that a straight up eight man tag team match is headlining a show in 2020. I know eventually a break up of some sorts is coming, and likely sooner rather than later, but I am so glad that the Undisputed Era have made it this far. Strong and Fish hit a double team on Wolfe, who appears to be injured. The ref takes Fish off of him and lets him roll outside. Walter leapfrogs a charging Strong and hits a big boot. Walter gets a hot tag and destroys the Undisputed Era. He and O'Reilly are slugging it out. Walter hits a German suplex, but O'Reilly then goes on to get him in the Dragon Sleeper. Walter counters and then hits a suplex on O'Reilly and Strong together. Imperium hit a jumping DDT, but didn't hit it as cleanly as they would have liked. Walter hits a tribute to Earthquake on O'Reilly. Walter then chops O'Reilly harder than Hardcore Holly could ever dream of. Strong gets a hot tag and he gets his fair share of chops in on Walter, but then Walter steamrolls him with a clothesline. Fish suplexes Aichner onto Barthel, which looked painful. Fish, Strong and O'Reilly go three-on-one to go to work on Walter and throw him outside the ring. Walter goes to powerbomb Strong through the table, but O'Reilly makes the save. Walter and O'Reilly are up on top of the table. Strong saves O'Reilly and then hits an Angle Slam through the table. Barthel gets a nice bit of offense in. Cole comes in and interrupts it by hitting a superkick and then a superkick to a leaping Aichner. Strong hits a gutbuster and it's followed by a running knee from Cole, but that only gets a 2 count. O'Reilly hits a knee off the top rope and gets Barthel into a submission. Aichner hits a double springboard moonsault to break up the hold. Walter is back up on the apron and gets the tag. He chops down the Undisputed Era, but Cole hits two superkicks. Walter chops him down and then hits a powerbomb on Strong. He then hits a Frog Splash onto Strong. Cole hits him from behind, but the pin attempt is broken up by Imperium. All seven men are in the ring and are going at it. Fish misses a moonsault on Walter. Walter hits a running dropkick and then a powerbomb and Imperium are the victors despite being a man down. There were a few spots early on that felt a little off and it was definitely a bummer to see Wolfe have to exit the match. With that being said, the rest of the match was filled with good wrestling and some memorable spots. Not quite great, but pretty darn close.

Match Rating: ***3/4

It's not apples to apples, but this variation of Worlds Collide was light years better than last years. This wasn't quite a TakeOver classic level of awesomeness, but it was really good. The cruiserweight match was the highlight for me and it was really great to see DIY back together. The main event was highly entertaining and the other two matches were serviceable. This was a definite recommendation of a show and let's hope that the Royal Rumble is the same.

Overall Rating: 83%