The February 24, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
- Dexter Lumis def. Johnny Gargano
- Tyler Rust vs. Leon Ruff ended in a no contest due to an attack on Ruff by Isaiah Scott
- Io Shirai def. Zoey Stark
- Xia Li def. Kacy Catanzaro via referee’s decision
- The Grizzled Young Veterans def. Drake Maverick and Killian Dain
- Karrion Kross def. Santos Escobar.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Io Shirai vs. Zoey Stark
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Zoey Stark in a non-title match took place.
The match was lengthy with Stark getting plenty of offense. Io went over with her finisher. A strong showing for Stark. After the match, Toni Storm came out and did a promo about how Io is willing to fight anyone, but her.
She said that last week she kicked Io’s head off. She recalled not being pinned at TakeOver and Io can’t beat her. Io said that she will fight her any time, any place, and anywhere. Toni said Io is scared of facing her. Toni told Io to make the match happen.
Stark made her WWE debut while working the women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as she teamed with Marina Shafir, but lost to Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon in a first round match that aired on 205 Live. She then made her NXT debut by defeating Valentina Feroz last week.
NXT GM William Regal put out a video while praising Stark’s performance in her debut and gave her the opportunity to face Shirai in a non-title match. On the flip side, Shirai retained her NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm in a triple threat match at TakeOver: Vengeance Day. Fast forward to last week’s NXT, WWE did an angle where Storm attacked Shirai while Shirai was taking part in a photoshoot.
Adam Cole Addresses His Actions
Adam Cole broke his silence regarding his recent attacks.
Cole did a promo about how he had intentions of explaining his actions and he feels sick to his stomach with it. He said that the NXT Title means everything to him, but he doesn’t like who he has become. He said that he was upset with Kyle O’Reilly getting title shots, but it doesn’t excuse his actions. He said he’s ashamed of himself. He said that he wishes he could have this chat in person, but they can’t because of himself.
He said he was wrong for what he did and he hates himself for it. He said he’s going to try to fix it. Roderick Strong came out and questioned Cole for feeling bad over the last week until now. Strong was upset with Cole and said the group was built on brotherhood. Strong told him that Kyle is going to heal, but he’s not sure what Kyle will do to him when he does. NXT Champion Finn Balor came out and attacked Cole. Strong tried to make the save, but he got attacked as a result. Cole caught Balor with a superkick. Strong punched Cole and looked upset about it. Cole apologized and started crying. Strong apologized as well and they hugged it out. Cole hit a low blow to Strong then ripped the Undisputed Era necklace and connected with a superkick to close the show.
This comes after he took out NXT Champion Balor and O’Reilly with superkicks after Balor retained his NXT Championship against Pete Dunne in the main event of TakeOver: Vengeance Day.
The following episode of NXT, WWE played it up as Cole thought O’Reilly betrayed the Undisputed Era for showing respect to Balor after they had saved him from an attack by Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch. O’Reilly attempted to get answers from Cole on NXT, but instead, teamed up with Roderick Strong and Balor against Dunne, Lorcan & Burch for the main event.
While Dunne, Lorcan & Burch defeated O’Reilly, Strong & Balor, Cole made the headlines when he hit a brainbuster to O’Reilly on the steel steps. After the match, Cole superkicked Balor and posed with Balor’s NXT Championship.
Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis
NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis in a non-title match was booked as the opening contest.
Candice LeRae had attempted to attack Lumis, but he caught her and tossed her onto the apron, which led to Gargano getting the edge. Gargano tried to use a chair, but Lumis stopped him. Then, Austin Theory tried to do so, but he was stopped and Lumis locked in his submission finisher for the win.
Gargano retained his North American Championship against Kushida at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day earlier this month, which is also where this feud really caught fire between Gargano and Lumis. Theory was abducted by Lumis as The Way (Gargano, LeRae, Indi Hartwell, and Theory) as they were coming out to the ring.
Last week, WWE followed up the angle by having Lumis arrive to the building with Theory in a white van as during LeRae and Hartwell’s match against Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon. Gargano went and got Theory.
Tag Team Match
The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Drake Maverick and Killian Dain was booked in a tag team match. This was the first time each team has wrestled since their losses in the Dusty Classic.
The match was fine and strong down the stretch. The finish saw the vets hit their finishers for the win.
Although The Grizzled Young Veterans made it to the finals of the men’s Dusty Classic, they lost to MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day earlier this month. To get to the finals, Gibson & Drake defeated Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel), Kushida & Leon Ruff, and Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher.
On the flip side, Maverick & Dain defeated Curt Stallion & August Grey in the first round of the Dusty Classic but lost to MSK in the quarterfinals.
Karrion Kross vs. Santos Escobar
Karrion Kross vs. Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar in a non-title no DQ match took place.
It featured them brawling in the parking lot with Escobar hiding in an equipment truck. Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde came out to attack Kross. This turned out to be a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
They brawled from the parking lot to the ring with Kross taking out Escobar’s associates. Escobar worked over the left shoulder of Kross throughout it. Kross won it with his finisher.
The match was made official last week by NXT general manager William Regal after Scarlett appeared in his office and asked for the match. He told him that she was there because it wouldn’t be good if Kross was there instead.
Later in the show after finding out the news, Escobar ordered his Legado Del Fantasma stablemates Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde to make sure Kross doesn’t make it for the match. However, they were laid out backstage then Kross sent a warning to him that he’ll do the same thing to him. The feud started when Kross randomly challenged him to a match.