The September 30, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
WWE NXT Results
- Shotzi Blackheart def. Dakota Kai.
- Cameron Grimes def. Joey Pistachio
- KUSHIDA def. Tony Nese
- Adam Cole def. Austin Theory.
- Kayden Carter (w/Kacy Catanzaro) def. Xia Li.
- Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae def. Damian Priest & Io Shirai.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Champions In Tag Team Action
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai and NXT North American Champion Damian Priest vs. Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano took place.
Of course, Shirai will defend the Women’s Title against LeRae while Priest will defend the North American Title against Gargano at this Sunday’s TakeOver show. Thus, this was a preview for those matches.
They ended up saving this contest for the main event of the show. The stars had a decent amount of time to work.
The finish saw LeRae hit Priest with a low blow that the referee didn’t see, which led to Io chasing after LeRae and Gargano hitting his finisher to Priest for the win. LeRae hit Io with a back breaker after the match. The heels closed the show by standing tall over the two champions.
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai is in the books in what marked the latest match for Blackheart, who has been a big star in the women’s division as of late.
Once moving away from a feud with the Robert Stone brand, she hasn’t been winning all of her matches, but has been positioned as a star on the rise and sharing the ring with notable names and in big time matches.
This was actually the opening match, which was fine as there is no storyline connected to it. There was some outside interference by Raquel Gonzalez and Rhea Ripley. This caused Blackheart to roll her up for the win.
Face-To-Face
Shawn Michaels hosted a face-to-face meeting between NXT Champion Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly just days before they meet in a championship match at NXT TakeOver.
O’Reilly won a Gauntlet Eliminator Match last week to earn this title opportunity. Not only did this segment fill time, build on the main event of TakeOver, and get O’Reilly over more a challenger, it will also help NXT’s viewership with an appearance by the WWE Hall of Famer.
The three stars sat in chairs with a makeshift table. Balor put over O’Reilly for being a great wrestler. Michaels called O’Reilly one of the best-kept secrets in wrestling. O’Reilly stated that Balor is a fighting champion, but stated that this is a certain defeat for Balor.
Balor questioned if O’Reilly was going to show up by himself or with Undisputed Era. O’Reilly said that the group being together is how they’ve achieved success, but stated that he’ll show up alone. Balor said there will be no room for excuses when he beats him at TakeOver.
Adam Cole In Action
Adam Cole came out for a promo where he talked about for the last three years. The Undisputed Era has won all of the titles in NXT and they dominated NXT.
He stated that everyone knew in the locker room that no one should cross them. He stated that they have since lost all of the titles.
He said that people forgot to check themselves when they get in the group’s way. He reminded people of their accomplishments. He recalled Austin Theory for talking trash about Kyle O’Reilly earlier in the show.
He called out Theory, who came out to the ring. Cole said that Theory can bring his stupid face to the ring and fight him or he can stay where he’s at and they can beat him down.
Thus, a singles match broke out. It was a lengthy back and forth affair with Cole winning after hitting the Last Shot.
