The September 16, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
WWE NXT Results
- Io Shirai def. Shotzi Blackheart
- Tommaso Ciampa def. Desmond Troy
- KUSHIDA def. Austin Theory
- Breezango def. Imperium to retain tag team titles
- Killian Dain & Drake Maverick def. The Undisputed Era via disqualification
- Damian Priest def. Timothy Thatcher to retain North American Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Non-Title Match
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Shotzi Blackheart in a non-title match took place, which was certainly an interesting dynamic with two babyfaces facing each other.
We’ve seen this type of booking before, but with Shotzi, who had been in a comedy feud with the Robert Stone Brand, it made for an interesting decision by NXT officials.
Io hit a moonsault off the top rope for the win. This was an excellent match with the announcers putting over Blackheart for taking the champion to her limit. It was a back and forth affair with both stars shining bright.
With such a performance, it will be interesting to see where Blackheart goes from here. Perhaps a title shot in the near future?
Tag Team Match
Killian Dain and Drake Maverick vs. Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish in a tag team match is in the books.
Of course, WWE set up this bout last week when Dain took on Strong in a singles match, which saw Strong go over thanks to outside interference by Fish. Post-match, Strong and Fish beatdown Dain until Maverick ran out, but he got taken out. Once Dain chased them off with a pipe, Maverick tried to make an alliance by shaking his hand, but Dain laid him out with a punch.
It turns out that for this contest, Dain didn’t want to be Maverick’s tag team partner as advertised. Thus, Maverick worked a handicap match instead. William Regal tried to talk some sense into Dain and go to the ring, which he did. He laid out Fish and Strong until Fish attacked him with a chair that caused the DQ.
Post-match, Dain and Maverick cleared house, but Dain laid out Maverick before leaving.
NXT Tag Team Title Match
Breezango put the NXT Tag Team Titles on the line against Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner.
The NXT tag team division is lacking so this felt like just another endless match between these two teams.
The match was fine and there were some nearfalls. At one point, it looked like Imperium was going to win as Breeze missed a leg drop off the top rope and Aichner caught him with a running knee strike followed by a german suplex for a near fall.
In the end, Breeze scored a roll up win to retain the titles. Let’s hope there are some new challengers in the wait and we move on from this feud.
NXT North American Title Match
Damian Priest put the NXT North American Title on the line against Timothy Thatcher.
The match was really fun and that was expected as Priest has found his groove in the last few months while Thatcher is always going to put on a fun match just because he’s so talented.
Thatcher got the majority of the offense in this contest and brought the champion to the peak of abilities. Priest made a comeback that was capped off with a heel kick to the face and his finisher to retain the title.
Thatcher has been finding his character as of late and it’s no secret that Triple H is a big fan of his as he has been pushed hard since his pairing with Matt Riddle.
Major Announcements
WWE had promised that there would be two major announcements made on this show and it was delivered.
William Regal did so in a pre-recorded video to announce that a Gauntlet Eliminator Match will determine the new #1 contender to the NXT Title, which is held by Finn Balor.
This contest will take place next week. The rules of this match is as followings:
- Two men will start in the ring
- Ever 4 minutes, another competitor will enter
- The only way to be eliminated is via pinfall or submission
- The last man standing will be named the #1 contender for the NXT Title and will go on to face Balor for the strap at NXT TakeOver.
There will also be a #1 contender battle royal to determine who will challenge Io Shirai at TakeOver for the NXT Women’s Title.
Shotzi Blackheart, Kacy Catanzaro, Indi Hartwell, Aliyah, Dakota Kai, Candice LeRae, Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Raquel Gonzalez, Kayden Carter, and Xia Li are the competitors.