The January 13, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
- Candice LaRae def. Shotzi Blackheart
- The Grizzled Young Veterans def. Ever-Rise
- Johnny Gargano def. Dexter Lumis
- MSK def. Jake Atlas and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
- Xia Li def. Jobber
- Undisputed Era def. Breezango
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis
Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis took place in the second hour of the show.
There were a few instances of Austin Theory getting involved and the referee didn’t do anything about it. Lumis hit a suplex to Theory, which allowed Gargano to roll him up for the win.
Post-match, Lumis locked in his submission hold on Theory only for Gargano to attack him from behind. Kushida ran out to make the save and told Gargano that he was coming after the NXT North American Title.
Lumis was the host of NXT New Year’s Evil last Wednesday. After Blackheart and Kushida interrupted a celebration for Gargano breaking his title defense curse, Lumis made a mixed tag team match where Kushida & Blackheart defeated Gargano & LeRae.
Gargano broke his title defense curse by retaining the North American Championship against Leon Ruff on NXT two weeks ago.
Candice LaRae vs. Shotzi Blackheart
Candice LaRae vs. Shotzi Blackheart served as the opening contest of this show.
The match was good and that’s as expected due to LeRae’s abilities. She dominated most of the match, but Blackheart made a babyface comeback towards the end of the contest. The end of the match saw Blackheart got distracted by Indie Heartwell, and allowed LeRae to hit a neck breaker off the top rope.
Blackheart and LeRae were the captains for the women’s WarGames match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames last month. It turned out that LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez & Toni Storm defeated Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley & NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai in that contest.
Based on the finish of this match, it appears the feud will continue.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match
Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Roderick Strong) vs. Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) in a first round match as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament took place.
This was the main event and these four guys put on a heck of a match. Pete Dunne attacked Kyle O’Reilly at ringside. This concerned Cole and he got super kicked in the face by Breeze. Finn Balor later came out to take out Dunne. Moments later, Cole connected with a superkick of his own to Fandango for the win.
Obviously, Cole and Strong are the favorites to win the match as they won the tournament in 2018. Breezango was pushed quite a bit last year by management including a run with the NXT Tag Team Titles. However, they still remain a comedy act.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match
The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) vs. Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel) in a first round match as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament took place.
The match was short, but exactly what you would’ve expected. GYV has advanced to the second round of the tournament.
Grizzled Young Veterans have been featured on TV in the past while WWE has held off on really putting Ever-Rise in a showcase match where they went over strong.
MSK Tag Team Debut
MSK turned out to be the new name for Desmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz, formerly known as The Rascalz in Impact Wrestling.
Xavier and Wentz recently signed with WWE while the third member of the faction, Trey Miguel, hasn’t signed with any promotion just yet. The new MSK logo is similar to the logo used for The Rascalz in Impact, which led to speculation heading into the show that the former Impact stars could be this mystery group.
Nash Carter and Wes Lee, their new names, took on Jake Atlas and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in the first round of the Dusty Classic. It was a spot fest. MSK went over with their finisher.
The Prince Speaks
Finn Balor had successfully retained the WWE NXT Title over Kyle O’Reilly in the main event of last week’s show.
On Wednesday’s edition, WWE had him come out to the ring for a promo. He said that he’s still the champion and praised Kyle for being great, but noted that he’s not on his level. He said that Kyle got put down for a second time, but this time, it’s Kyle eating his meals through a straw.
He said that he put a target on his chest for a reason and told anyone who plans to come after him next to know that they stopped making the cloth that he’s cut from. This led to Pete Dunne walking out with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Dunne said that Balor shouldn’t question what’s next. He said that he knew it would always come down to both of them. He said that Balor is the poster boy for UK wrestling and that’s only because he didn’t take it from him yet.
He said that he wasn’t waiting in line anymore. A brawl broke out. O’Reilly eventually ran out to make the save but was attacked. Roderick Strong and Adam Cole also came out to clear the ring.