NXT took place at the Capital Wrestling Center in Orlando Florida. The show featured a big No DQ match as Santos Escobar is forced to take on Karrion Kross or else he will be stripped of the Cruiserweight Title and suspended. Plus, Adam Cole speaks for the first time since turning on The Undisputed Era.
[lawrence-related id=1187023]The show kicked off with Dexter Lumis in the ring, ready for his match.
The Way get ready to go out to the ring. Johnny Gargano asks Theory if he is ready, checking his mental state and Theory said he is ready.
Dexter Lumis Defeated Johnny Gargano
Maybe it’s the 👁👁s or the flashback from that "vacation," but
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
@austintheory1 couldn't bring himself to strike @DexterLumis. #WWENXT @JohnnyGargano @CandiceLeRae @indi_hartwell pic.twitter.com/mTSeDkdHq8
Nowhere for @JohnnyGargano to go. @DexterLumis has put the #WWENXT North American Champion to sleep in dominating fashion. pic.twitter.com/sA3quNdlFp
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
William Regal goes to the parking lot of the Capital Wrestling Center. He tells the camera crew to let him know when Santos Escobar arrives.
A recap of MSK winning the Dusty Cup is shown. They talk about how nervous they were and how they have fought on the indies for years. He said all the hard work paid off when winning the tournament and the amount of support they got was overwhelming. Nash Carter talked about how his father inspired him to become a wrestler. They say they’ve been hungry for so long and they are MSK all day and all night.
MSK was being interviewed about challenging for the tag titles next week until the Grizzled Young Veterans attacked them with a chair from behind. Officials separated them.
https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1364749057495871489?s=20
Backstage, Leon Ruff was cleared to compete by medical staff. Malcolm Bivens offered to have Leon face Tyler Rust unless Isiah Swerve Scott beat him badly enough to not face Rust. Leon says he’ll see Rust in the ring.
In the ring, Malcolm talks about Leon Ruff as the son he didn’t have but wanted. He said Leon has a special place in his heart which is why he is facing Tyler Rust. He said he will show Leon why Tyler Rust is a diamond in the rust.
Isiah Swerve Scott attacked Leon Ruff as he was about to enter the ring. Scott threw Leon back first into the apron and left. Malcolm Bivens raises Tyler’s arm, claiming victory.
.@swerveconfident demands more opportunities… 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚! #WWENXT @LEONRUFF_ pic.twitter.com/OdIc83rnxy
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
Footage from the day before showed Regal asking Zoey Stark if she would like to face Io Shirai. He said after her debut last week, she would like nothing more than to see what she can do against Io. Zoey says she’ll do it.
Zoey Stark was interviewed about her opportunity against Io. Zoey says her heart is pounding and she is ready to go out there. Suddenly, she was cut off due to technical difficulties.
Footage was show backstage of someone watching an old Ted DiBiase clip. The person was Cameron Grimes. He says how smart DiBiase wants and with a lot of money you can humiliate anybody. He goes up to a random guy and challenges him to dribble the basketball 10 times for money. The guy does it and Cameron asks how he did it. He said DiBiase kicks the ball before the 10th dribble. Cameron was angry saying DiBiase thinks he is smarter than him.
Pay up, @CGrimesWWE! 💰 🏀 💰 🏀 💰 🏀 #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/OksvOOzH0M
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 25, 2021
Io Shirai Defeated Zoey Stark
They shake hands and hug after the match. Toni Storm came out saying Io is going to literally fight anybody beside her. She said she attacked Io but didn’t do anything about it. She said Io pinned Mercedes Martinez because she can’t beat her. Io said she will beat Toni anytime, anywhere. Toni said she doesn’t think so because she would’ve already gone to Regal by now to demand for a match. Toni tells Io to find Regal to make the match happen and prove her wrong.
A one-on-one NXT Women’s Title Match between @shirai_io and #ToniStorm? Just say when! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/CVqqSdSzWJ
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
The Way was interviewed about what happened earlier. Johnny yells at Theory for not hitting Lumis with the chair in the match. Theory said Lumis is a misunderstood guy. Johnny said he has kidnapped other people too. Candice says she should be in jail. Indi says Lumis is hot. Johnny flips out but says they are going to fix this and Theory will be going to therapy. They walk out.
Footage was shown of earlier today, Cameron Grimes offering people the chance to dribble the basketball. He has one of the women offer the challenge but she knows the trick. She stands up and shows how tall she is compared to him. Cameron thinks she can do it. She dribbles. Cameron tries to kick it but she dodges and keeps dribbling. He pays her the money and says DiBiase ain’t smarter than him.
Xia Li Defeated Kacy Catanzaro Due To Referee Stoppage
Kayden Carter tries to go after Tian Sha but Boa stops her on the ramp. Xia kicks Kacy in the head with a roundhouse kick in the ring and leaves.
.@XiaWWE made good on her threat against Kacy Catanzaro.
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
Next target: @wwekayden. 👀 #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/13pda8S8wA
Regal goes outside the parking lot again and asked if he arrived but they said no. He walks back inside again.
Highlights from last week of Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax confronting Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai. Shayna says that the women’s division now is all the scraps left over than how she left it. Nia calls Raquel and Dakota a joke. Shayna said Dakota has a friend now that can take her to the hospital. Raquel and Dakota claim they will walk out as the Women’s Tag Team Champions next week.
Cameron Grimes tells a guy in the parking lot to do the dribble challenge to give him money. He tries to do it but then Cameron knocks him out. Cameron says that DiBiase is not going to get the best of him. He tells DiBiase to kiss his grits. He throws the money around and leaves.
Money Makin’ @CGrimesWWE lays down a high-stakes ba$ketball challenge. 💰🏀
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
cc: @MDMTedDiBiase #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/BDlNR1cWBR
As The Grizzled Young Veterans came out for their match, they say that Wes Lee broke his hand after their attack. They say Regal has left them a hefty fine but it was worth having MSK taken out. He calls Killian Dain and Drake Maverick Shrek and Donkey. They say they will soon be Tag Team Champions.
Grizzled Young Veterans Defeated Drake Maverick and Killian Dain
It's a hard-hitting tag team collision as #GYV clashes with Killian Dain & @WWEMaverick!#WWENXT @ZackGibson01 @JamesDrake_GYT pic.twitter.com/3I9CfcmkP5
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
A win is a win for #GYV, by any means necessary. #WWENXT @JamesDrake_GYT @ZackGibson01 pic.twitter.com/DwfM1K1J79
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
A SUV pulls up to the Capital Wrestling Center. Legado Del Fantasma appeared out of the car.
Killian Dain was shown carrying Drake Maverick backstage. Alexander Wolfe confronts him saying Killian use to be a monster. He shakes his head and walks away. Killian calls for a doctor for Drake Maverick.
As Karrion Kross’ entrance plays, Kross attacked Legado Del Fantasma in the parking lot. Santos attacks Kross from behindand the No DQ match began.
Karrion Kross Defeated Santos Escobar In A No DQ Match
The time for talk is up, as @WWEKarrionKross brings the fight to @EscobarWWE, @RaulMendozaWWE & @joaquinwilde_ in this #NoDQ brawl! #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/UdytNM9nrM
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
Another reminder of 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 how dominant @WWEKarrionKross is. #WWENXT @Lady_Scarlett13
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 25, 2021
𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑻𝒐𝒄𝒌…. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/cFlAx5dAOX
LA Knight cut a video promo saying it is his game so he will debut on his terms. He said at the end of the day, everyone will be stomped out by him.
Adam Cole came out to the ring. They show what Cole did to Kyle O’Reilly last week. Cole said he is going to explain what he did to Kyle but after watching the footage he is sick to his stomach. He said the NXT title is important to him but he does not like the guy he has become. He said he doesn’t like that Kyle O’Reilly got opportunity after opportunity and failed but did not like what he did last week. Adam says he wishes they could have this discussion man to man but because of him that’s not the case. He said he was wrong and Kyle should be in this ring with him. He said he hates himself for putting Kyle on the shelf. He tells Kyle he is sorry and he’ll fix this. Roderick Strong came out yelling at him for saying now Adam is sorry for what he did. He said Adam is too late to fix this. Strong said Adam shattered their trust. Strong said Kyle is going to heal but he won’t be able to save Adam for what he is going to do to him. Finn Balor came out and attacked Cole. Strong tried to get Balor off of him but Balor attacks him. Cole pushes Balor into the plexiglass and kicks him in the head. Strong attacks Cole with a clothesline but then regrets it. Cole apologizes and wants things to go back to normal. Cole breaks down crying and Strong consoles him in the ring. They hug but then Cole low blows Roderick Strong. Cole tells Strong how stupid he is and kicks him in the head. The show goes off the air with Cole standing tall over Strong who is laid out in the ring.
Undisputed, no longer? 💔#WWENXT @AdamColePro @roderickstrong pic.twitter.com/qsIFZOkyyc
— WWE (@WWE) February 25, 2021
Overall Review: Pretty strong NXT episode with not much to really complain about. Gargano’s match with Lumis was what it should’ve been to have Lumis be the next contender for Gargano’s North American title. With what happened with MSK and The Grizzled Young Veterans, it does add to the underdog story they are telling with MSK heading into their title match against Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan on the next episode. So I’m okay with what they did with MSK. I thought Io Shirai and Zoey Stark really tore it up. Still not fully invested in Zoey Stark but she did pair with Io very well and she will get better in her character as her time in NXT goes by. Afterwards the promo between Io and Toni Storm was to set up their next title match with each other. I know that match is going to steal the show in two weeks. Xia Li’s match was what it should’ve been too and the way the match ended was the right way to go. Xia should be not only winning the matches but making sure her opponents are incapacitated. The Cameron Grimes skits with him trying to pay tribute to The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase was pretty entertaining. The No DQ match was really great. I think I enjoyed that match than the other matches on the show especially with Santos working on the surgically repaired shoulder of Kross throughout the match. In the end though, Kross winning was what should happen. The ending segment with Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and Finn Balor was great although Finn seemed forgotten after Cole kicked him in the head which was weird. It was a different way to end it instead of a match and a cliffhanger type ending which I’m all for.
Grade: 6/10
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