The April 20, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
- GYV def. Breezango.
- Sarray def. Zoey Stark.
- KUSHIDA def. Oney Lorcan to retain Cruiserweight Title
- Imperium def. Ever-Rise.
- Kyle O’Reilly def. Cameron Grimes.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Io Shirai Speaks
Io Shirai’s first appearance since losing the NXT Women’s Championship took place on this show as she did a sit-down interview. She dropped the strap to Raquel Gonzalez in the main event of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one earlier this month.
Io said that she was going to take some time off and when the time is right, she would get her rematch.
Franky Monet appeared and introduced herself as well as said that Io had a great title reign. She said that she is willing to fill Io’s spot as the top star in the women’s division. Io said something to her in Japanese and said she likes cats before walking away.
Kushida Defends His Title
A championship celebration was booked for NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida on this show. However, WWE changed it and booked a title match instead as Kushida did an open challenge.
The challenge was answered by Oney Lorcan. This was a really fun back and forth match. They had a stiff technical style. Kushida won with a kamura. Post-match, Legado Del Fantasma attacked him, but MSK came out to make the save and they stood tall in the ring.
This came after Kushida answered Santos Escobar’s open challenge on last week’s NXT and defeated him to win the strap. As a result, this marked the first title that Kushida has held since signing with WWE in 2019.
Kyle O’Reilly Appearance
Kyle O’Reilly made his first appearance since TakeOver: Stand & Deliver where he battled Adam Cole in an unsanctioned match on the second night two weeks ago.
Kyle opened the show with a promo about how he’s in a good mood because he no longer has to deal with Cole. He said that he found his killer instinct and is willing to pay the sacrifices to get where he wants to go. He made a time reference and said Karrion Kross has something he wants.
Cameron Grimes came out and talked about how Kyle showed he could stand and deliver. Kyle eventually decked Grimes to end the segment. They later worked the main event.
Neither O’Reilly nor Cole appeared on NXT last week, but WWE did show footage of what happened in the aftermath of their match including Cole being stretchered out and being transported to the hospital by ambulance.
In that same footage, O’Reilly was seen collapsing backstage and being taken out by ambulance. Funny enough, when they saw each other at the hospital at the same time, Cole started yelling at him.
Last week’s show also saw Cole and O’Reilly’s former Undisputed Era stablemate Roderick Strong give NXT general manager William Regal papers and told him he was done in NXT.
Sarray’s Debut
Sarray (formerly known as Sareee) made her NXT debut against Zoey Starks.
WWE gave Starks some offense in this match, which was surprising considering this is Sarray’s promotional debut. Sarray went over with her powerslam finisher.
Post-match, Toni Storm came out and laid out Starks.
The 24-year-old is from Tokyo, Japan. Prior to joining WWE, she worked for the likes of World Woman Pro Wrestling Diana, SEAdLINNNG, and Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling.
Her signing with WWE was made official last month as she was originally supposed to move to the United States and start with WWE last year. That was delayed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sarray is using the nickname “The Warrior of the Sun.”
Dexter Lumis vs. LA Knight
Dexter Lumis vs. LA Knight took place in a singles match.
This comes after Knight had eliminated Lumis from NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver’s Gauntlet Eliminator match when night pinned Lumis as Lumis had his Silence choke locked on Cameron Grimes
Later on, after Knight was eliminated, Lumis put him in the Silence choke outside of the ring. Last week’s episode of NXT saw Lumis, Reed, Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon defeat The Way (Gargano, Austin Theory, Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell) in an eight-person tag team main event.
The match was pretty good. In the end, Heartwell appeared at ringside and distracted Knight to allow Lumis to hit him with an outside dive. Back in the ring, Knight caught Lumis with a face planter for the win.