Sunday, February 14th, 2021
WWE Performance Center
Orlando, Florida
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Women's Dusty Rhodes Classic Finals
Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon
Gonzalez throws Shotzi around a little, so she tags in Ember. Gonzalez hits a sidewalk slam on her and so they illegally double team her while Kai just watches. Gonzalez's strength really is impressive. Kai tags in and misses a kick in the corner. Shotzi ties up her legs, dumps her to the mat and puts on a Texas cloverleaf. Kai gets to the ropes, but they hit a flurry of offense on her immediately after. Shotzi rolls into a single leg crab and Kai is unable to make a tag. Interesting to see them have Kai play the heel in peril here instead of the usual babyface. Moon and and Blackheart are arguing with the ref about a tag, but they get to Kai yet again before she can make the tag. Kai rolls Moon into the turnbuckle and finally makes the tag. Gonzalez hits a couple of clotheslines and then hits a fall away slam. She pulls Shotzi and gives her one for good measure. She tags in Kai and holds her up for a top rope clothesline, but Shotzi makes the save on the pin attempt. Shotzi and Gonzalez start brawling and Gonzalez throws her into the plexiglass. Moon is in, but the numbers game catches up to her and just barely kicks out of a pin attempt. All four women here are working extremely hard and keeping up a frantic pace. Kai hits a kick into a seated Moon in the corner for another 2 count. Moon ducks a clothesline and Gonzalez hits Kai. Moon makes a comeback while Shotzi is still knocked out of commission. Moon hits an Eclipse on Gonzalez, but Kai distracts the ref long enough to give Gonzalez time to recover. Gonzalez picks up Moon, but Shotzi hits her with a missile dropkick. Shotzi hits a dive under the legs of Moon and through the ropes onto Kai on the outside. Shozi hits a neckbreaker and Moon hits a Codebreaker, but it is still not enough. They are doing everything to make Gonzalez look like a monster and it is working. Moon then hits a crossbody variation of the Doomsday Device off of Moon's shoulders on Kai. Gonzalez hits a variation of the Go To Sleep with Kai hitting her with a kick instead of Gonzalez's knee. She then throws Moon onto the entrance ramp and then off of it to the floor. Shotzi hits Gonzalez on her way back in and gets a nearfall. Shotzi flips Kai over onto Gonzalez and goes up top. Gonzalez knocks her off and then tosses Kai onto Shotzi. Gonzalez hits the chokeslam and they win the first ever Women's Dusty Rhodes Classic. This was an absolutely fabulous opening match with non-stop action. Well done.
Match Rating: ****1/4
NXT North American Championship Match
Kushida vs. Johnny Gargano
We get some mat wrestling to start. We then get a quick burst of action with Kushida being one step ahead of Gargano's signature offense and it ends with Kushida putting on the Gargano Escape, but Gargano gets to the ropes. Garagano hits a kick to the jaw of Kushida from the apron. Kushida hits a suplex on the outside, as he continues to dominate this match. Kushida is focusing on Gargano's left shoulder and arm. Gargano finally gets in some offense with a neckbreaker on the second rope. Gargano hits a series of suplexes and mocks Kushida. We then get a series of pinfalls and then into a double clothesline. Kushida hits a nice cartwheel dropkick and then is stomping him in the back of the head. We get another series of counters until Kushida hits him Gargano with a kick to the back of the head. Kushida catches the slingshot and hits a DDT into a suplex combo for a nearfall. This is two matches in a row where they are telling a really nice in ring story, this time with Kushida having an answer for everything Gargano throws at him. Kushida hits a cartwheel kick on Gargano, who was climbing the ropes. Gargano counters Kushida this time and hits a corkscrew superplex. They are battling on their knees. Kushida goes for a springboard back elbow, but Gargano catches him and puts him in the Gargano Lock. The little details that Gargano puts into his facial expressions are top notch. Kushida rolls over and puts in the Hoverboard Lock. Gargano hits a lawn dart into the second turnbuckle and both men are down. Kushida brings Gargano up top and hits a variation of a Spanish Fly and into an arm bar on the injured arm. Gargano rolls over, but Kushida rolls right back. Gargano struggles and finally gets his legs to the rope. They're out of the ring and Gargano drives Kushida into the barricade to buy himself some time. They are on the elevated ramp and Kushida takes a running charge and kicks Gargano in the shoulder. Gargano snaps his neck on the ropes and hits One Final Beat on the ramp. Gargano hits a second One Final Beat, this time in the ring and gains the victory. That was another tremendous match and Kushida's true breakthrough performance here on NXT. Gargano, as always, was amazing.
Match Rating: ****
Men's Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament Finals
MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans
After the GYV take control early, Nash Carter hits a sprinboard corkscrew to turn the tide. Wes Lee comes in and they hit a flurry of moves including a cartwheel leap over the top rope by Lee and then Carter leaps off of Lee's back. Gibson avoids it and hits a clothesline on Carter. GYV isolate Carter, showing off their veteran instincts. Carter tries to comeback, but is greeted by a huge clothesline. Carter shows signs of life again and hits a suplex. He's unable to make the tag because Lee is dragged out of his corner and they hit a double team on Carter, but he kicks out. Lee finally gets a tag in and explodes with his athletic offense. He hits a swanton over the the corner turnbuckle and knocks off both men. He then hits a backflip kick and gets a 2 count. Lee goes up top, but after a distraction from Drake, Gibson pulls him off. He goes for a powerbomb, but it's countered into an X Factor. Carter is all fired up and is going crazy on Gibson. He then hits a springboard Diamond Cutter and we get another close call. He goes for another backflip kick, but Gibson hits him with a knee. He hits a Helter Skelter and then a 450 splash, but Carter kicks out. I am going to rain on my own parade a little bit and say that they shouldn't have kicked out of that. I so often get lost in the spectacular pace of these NXT matches that I forget that they kick out of everything. MSK then hits a reverse rana and then some high flying moves and somehow Drake kicks out. Again, that was a finish. GYV then hit a Doomsday Device suicide dive clothesline that flips Lee over. That was pretty insane. Carter fights off both opponents, but Gibson clubs him from behind and they hit a super backstabber and again we get a kick out. Lee breaks up a double team and saves the day. Lee gets the legal tag and he hits a backflip reverse neckbreaker for the victory. This was another pedal to the metal match, but I do have to nitpick on the false finishes being a little too unbelievable. Still, there was still too much for me to like to go below excellent. MSK looks to be WWE's answer to the Young Bucks.
Match Rating: ****
We get a fun Cameron Grimes music video to break things up.
Triple Threat Match For The NXT Women's Championship
Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai
Martinez interrupts the introductions and starts the brawl. Martinez is able to slam Storm to the mat and then bait Shirai into missing a moonsault to the outside. Martinez is now focusing on Storm in the ring. Shirai comes in and puts Storm in a Crossface and then Martinez puts Shirai in a Dragon Sleeper. Martinez then hits a face-first suplex on Shirai. Shirai hits a 619 and a missile dropkick on Martinez. Ash she's going up top, Storm meets her there. As she is going for a superplex, Martinez shoves Shirai off and hits a German suplex from the top. Shirai is back up there and hits a stomp to the hanging Martinez. We get some craziness on the outside of the ring and Shirai leaps off the steel pillar. Martinez hits a fisherman suplex and gets a 2 count on Storm. Storm hits a nasty looking headbutt and Storm Zero, but Martinez kicks out. Cue the shocked face from Storm. This is where the kick outs start to wear thin. You have a third competitor to break up the pin. Storm hits a headbutt off the top rope, but Shirai hits a moonsault off the top rope on both and pins Martinez. This one just didn't click like the first three matches. It felt a little disjointed and just not as important. This was still good, just not anywhere near great.
Match Rating: ***
LA Knight has signed with NXT and they show him from the pre-show. Wade Barrett was fun here. So glad he's back.
NXT Championship Match
Pete Dunne vs. Finn Balor
These two put on a clinic to start and show why they are main eventing the show. Dunne starts with the finger manipulation, with Balor doing whatever he can to try and roll through. Balor changes things around and works on the ankle of Dunne. Dunne hits a suplex, but drops him on his back rather than completing the suplex. Dunne hits a big enzuigiri, but Balor bounces up for a big clothesline. Balor continues to work on the ankle and then puts on the STF. Dunne is out and the pace picks up, with Dunne hitting a sit down powerbomb for a nearfall. Dunne stomps on the fingers of Balor, but Balor is able to take out his leg again. He hits a backstabber and a running dropkick. Balor is up top and he goes for the Coup de Grace, but Dunne catches him and puts him in a triangle choke. Balor is able to drag his feet to the bottom rope, but Balor appears to be knocked out. Dunne drags him to the middle of the ring, but the referee gets in there to check on the status of Balor. Balor says he can continue and Dunne stomps him. Balor goes into an abdominal stretch, but Dunne grabs the fingers of Balor and snaps them. Balor is still fighting for his life, but Dunne keeps holding on. Dunne hits the Bitter End, but Balor kicks out. Dune hits a double stomp on Balor's hands, but Balor counters a powerbomb with a DDT. Dunne is clinging to the fingers of Balor, even as he goes after Dunne's leg again. Balor finally breaks the hold and then rips the mouth guard from Dunne's mouth and hits a running dropkick. He hits the Coup de Grace and 1916 to retain his title. This was an intense and physical battle that featured a different style than the other matches on the show. I didn't love it quite as much as probably some will, but I definitely respect the effort and what they were going for. Another good main event to a great show. After the match, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch attack Balor and throw him back into the ring. Undisputed Era's music hits and they clear the ring. O'Reilly helps up Balor and they seem to come to an agreement. As they all pose, Adam Cole hits Balor with a superkick. O'Reilly doesn't like it, so Cole hits him with one as well. Roderick Strong is shocked as Cole heads to the back as the show comes to an end. There's the big angle heading into WrestleMania season.
Match Rating: ***3/4
NXT has definitely found it's groove again when it comes to their TakeOver shows. Balor has created a shift in style for their main event matches to help break up the sprints that we see from the undercard on the shows. The women's tag match was the match of the night for my money and Gargano continued his incredible run of high quality matches on NXT's biggest stage. This show is another high recommendation.
Overall Rating: 93%
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