MSK vs Killian Dain & Drake Maverick
NXT 1/27 kicks offs as MSK counters Dain’s size with teamwork and finishes Drake Maverick with a blockbuster from spinebuster position reminiscent of the classic Hart Attack.
Winners: MSK
Curt Stallion sits down to talk about making the towns and following shooting stars. He’s followed them from Texas to Chicago to NXT and vows to follow them all the way through the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez vs Jessi Kamea & Aliyah
I doubt anyone saw The Robert Stone Brand upsetting the duo of Kai and Gonzalez but damned if they didn’t make you consider it there for a moment. Just a moment though as Jessi Kamea shines and Aliyah makes for a safe (if not particularly smooth) dance partner against Dakota Kai. Raquel goes all ’91 Diesel on them though and absolutely plants Jessi with a one-arm powerbomb for the win.
Winners: Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai
Speaking with The Way, McKenzie Mitchell congratulates Candice LaRae and Indi Hartwell on their advancement in the women’s bracket but triggers Johnny Gargano’s newfound phobic reaction to the very name “Kushida.” Austin Theory explains this to her as they walk off. Nothing explains Dexter Lumis hiding in the curtains (but then again nothing ever does.)
Scarlet reads tarot and the cards all read the same for NXT: “Fall and pray.”
Tegan Nox is training to rehab her injury and does so on WWE social media along with Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson!
Tyler Rust vs Rios(?)
Tyler Rust shows polished skills with chain technical wrestling. This included a never-before-seen-by-me swinging wristlock. He gets ahead of himself and isn’t too impressive when the opponent, referred to only as “Rios” by the announce team makes for an impressive rally. In the end, skill and experience see Rust lock in a variation of the war special hold to wrench a verbal submission out of his opponent.
Winner: Tyler Rust
Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly take stock of each other, neither one fully trusting his partner.
Grizzled Young Veterans vs Leon Ruff & Kushida
The Grizzled Young Vets take a methodical approach, attempting to wear down Kushida. The former Time-Splitter is no newbie himself, though, and grits through it. Leon Ruff goes en fuego hitting dives and rebound handspring maneuvers but misses a Swanton. GYV hit their Ticket to Mayhem, cancelling Ruff and Kushida’s trip to the semifinals.
Winners: Grizzled Young Veterans
Gargano and Theory rush the ring to attack a recovering Kushida and Ruff. Theory holds Ruff in place to watch Gargano brutalize Kushida but Dexter Lumis appears out of nowhere to stare them back to the locker room.
Stallion is down on the floor, blaming Legado del Fantasma. Santos Escobar says it’s too bad Stallion is not medically cleared tonight but William Regal is steadfast that their match will happen next week.
Toni Storm tells Io Shirai that she doesn’t wait, she takes. And, after Io cost her the Dusty Cup, she wants to hurt the champ and take her belt. Io tosses her burnt Mercedes Martinez cones in to drop her. Toni takes out MM to attack the champ herself. All three women want that belt.
Why did Swerve get into Bronson Reed’s face last week? It ain’t Swerve’s fault. Never is.
Imperium package highlights the return of Alexander Wolfe.
Roderick Strong and Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) say that Tommasso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher are tough as they come but can’t function as a unit the way that they do.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs Bronson Reed
“Styles make fights.” Long said and long true but both of these men are known to mix their styles. Agile aerialist Swerve is deceptively tall and strong while Bronson is unofficially listed on Qantas flight logs. Swerve is confident in his Eddie Van Halen tights and goes right after the Thicc Boi. Ramming Bronson’s shoulder into the ringpost proves to be a strong strategy for Swerve as it renders him unable to deliver a chokeslam later on. No shoulder strength needed to leap from the top turnbuckle, though. Tsunami washes away Swerve’s swagger.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Tommasso begins his monologue about how fights change someone. Thatcher pulls up a chair and adds to the discussion.
Finn Balor & Kyle O’Reilly vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
The champions manage to isolate O’Reilly and focus on his injured jaw. Once the tag to Balor gets made, the former rivals seem to surprise themselves with how well they cooperate. Burch & Lorcan do a textbook job of isolating one opponent at a time to do maximum damage between tags. O’Reilly takes the most of it but, in the end, he’s the one who catches Danny Burch in an Achilles lock during a mid-air dropkick attempt!
Winners: Kyle O’Reilly & Finn Balor
After the match, there’s some uneasiness as O’Reilly has made it clear that he’s not done gunning for the NXT gold around Finn’s waist. You know who has the same idea? Pete Dunne… and he’s here! The tag team champions send o’Reilly into the barricades before they assist Dunne in a back alley mugging on Balor. O’Reilly tries to make the save but it’s 2-on-3 and one of the three is fresh as spring linens. Just so happens, though, that The Undisputed Era has no problem helping Balor to protect their own. Adam Cole and Roderick Strong make like McAfee and punt his former flunkies to the back.
Five Takeaways from NXT 1/27
- I thought that The Robert Stone Brand was dead and I’m genuinely glad that it’s not. It doesn’t have to be successful. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. It just has to give the ladies in the first hour something to do.
- The rise of Tyler Rust is similar. It reminds me of the old WCW mid-card; where you doubt it’s going to the top but you’re curious as to where it does go.
- I don’t know if this is the end of Swerve vs Bronson but their body language after the match had me waiting to see if the big Aussie attacked his foe after the match for good measure for a monster heel turn.
- Kushida & Ruff are out of the Dusty Cup. Gargano and The Way are still on them but now there’s Dexter Lumis in the mix. Are we going to see Johnny give the rub to creepy Dex or is going to be a silent and unwanted trouble fixer for now?
- We all love NXT. Even those that hate “WWE product” can’t help but give them at least a partial pass. But I won’t extend that graciousness so far as to overlook the very very WWE tradition of having a singles champ and his rival beat the tag champions and (as it’s looking) a thrown together team walk out with the Dusty Cup.
