NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day (February 2021)

Original Airdate: February 14, 2021

                                                           

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, and Beth Phoenix

Opening Women's Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament Final Match: Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart v Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez: 'NXT' chant right at the bell here. These people are worse than ECW fans. Shotzi starts with Gonzalez, and tries grabbing a sleeper right away, but gets flung off. Over to Ember, and she manages getting big Gonzalez in an octopus, but can't hold onto it for long. That leads Ember and Shotzi to use a double team to get some traction, but Gonzalez shrugs them both off, and reverses a sunset cradle on Blackheart for two. Gonzalez puts Shotzi in a bearhug to wear her down, and then tags to Kai to cover for two. Corner big boot misses for Kai, however, and Shotzi puts her in a Texas cloverleaf, but they're in the ropes. Shotzi with a straddling ropechoke, and Moon tags in with a slingshot splash for two. Back to Blackheart to help wishbone Dakota (there's a spot I miss tag teams doing), and Shotzi traps her in a modified half-crab. Kai tries a leg-feed enzuigiri to escape, but Shotzi ducks, and (speaking of cool old school tag team combos) Ember tags in for a tandem monkeyflip. Moon takes it to the mat with a grapevine, and she goes to an anklelock next. Are Moon and Gonzalez the babyfaces here? Why are we getting a heat segment on Dakota? Kai finally fights Moon off long enough for the tag to Gonzalez, and she abuses Ember in the corner. Gonzalez with a pair of fallaway slams, and she drags Shotzi in without a tag just so she can get one, too. Well, that's thoughtful. What a sweetheart. Tag to Kai, so Blackheart dives at Gonzalez on the floor, but gets powerbombed into the barricade for her efforts. That allows Moon to recover with a powerslam on Kai, but Gonzalez grabs her in a bearhug to cut that off, and Kai adds a dropkick for two. Kai for a corner seated boot for two, but another combo goes badly when Gonzalez steamrolls her. That allows Moon to make a comeback, and she hits Gonzalez with the Eclipse, but the idiot referee is suddenly concerned about the amount of people in the ring for the first time in the match, and fails to count. That allows Gonzalez to recover with a suplex attempt, but Shotzi roars back to life with a flying dropkick to save Moon. Tags all around, and Shotzi charges in with a dropkick on Kai. Facebuster follows, and a fireman's facebuster gets her two, but Gonzalez gets the tag back in. Undeterred, Shotzi slices bread from the top for two, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Shotzi hits Dakota with a crazy tope (coming inches from probably blinding herself on the edge of the announce table), and she hits a springboard sunsetbomb on Gonzalez for two. Moon goes up for a dive, but Kai distracts her, so Shotzi pulls Kai onto her shoulders for an electric chair/flying bodypress combo on the floor! Inside, Moon gets Gonzalez in a modified STF, but Kai saves. Kai adds a Canadian destroyer on Blackheart for two, so Moon charges back in, but Gonzalez dumps her onto the ramp to get rid of her. That gives Shotzi time to recover, however, and she dives on Gonzalez, then backdrops Kai over the top onto her. Shotzi goes up for another dive, but Gonzalez shoves her to the mat to block, and hits a powerbomb to win the tournament at 17:40. This was all good fun, especially once it settled into everyone just doing combos and saves in the third act. ***

 

NXT North American Title Match: Johnny Gargano v Kushida: Kushida looks like he's on his way to a DJ gig after this. He tries to trap the champion in a submission early, but Johnny stays near the ropes. They feel each other out, and a big criss cross ends in Kushida countering a crucifix into a crippler crossface, but Gargano gets into the ropes right away. Johnny dumps the challenger to the outside for a trip into the steps, but the follow-up is blocked when Kushida puts him in a cross-armbreaker out there. Of course, it doesn't count on the outside, so Kushida gives him a hammerlock suplex on the floor instead. Back in, Kushida uses a running dropkick to the arm, and he works the part. Johnny gets the better of an exchange on the apron to turn the tide, and he tries a neckbreaker, but Kushida counters to a backslide. Gargano counters back with a gourdbuster, and he goes to work on the hand of the challenger. Kushida fights him off and goes for an octopus, but Gargano escapes, and a reversal sequence ends in Kushida cradling for two. Both guys pop up and throw clotheslines for a double knockout, and we get a slugfest as they stagger up. Gargano wins with an enzuigiri, but Kushida gets him in an anklelock anyway, and then uses a German suplex when Johnny goes for the ropes. Kushida with a roundhouse kick to the head for two, so Gargano tries the slingshot shoulderblock, but Kushida counters with a bridging hammerlock suplex for two. That was nicely executed. Kushida rams the arm into the post, and he takes the champion upstairs for a superplex, but Johnny counters with a neckbreaker on the way down. He adds a DDT for two, but Kushida blocks the snake-eyes. That leads to another extended reversal sequence, this one ending in Johnny cradling his way out of an armbreaker for two, and both guys pop up for another double knockout spot. Gargano gets him in the Escape, but Kushida pulls on the bad arm to force a break, and he traps the champ in a hammerlock. Johnny escapes, triggering another reversal sequence that ends in Kushida hooking a bridging cradle for two. Johnny fires back with the snake-eyes, but another reversal sequence ends in Kushida suplexing him into the turnbuckles. To the top, Kushida uses a Spanish fly into a cross-armbreaker, but Johnny makes the ropes to save his gold. They spill to the outside on the break, and Gargano buys recovery time by ramming him into the barricade. Unfortunately for the champion, Kushida recovers first, and he punts Johnny in the bad arm. Inside, Kushida gets a submission on him, but Johnny drops him onto the ropes to break out. Kushida bails to the ramp, so Johnny goes after him with a slingshot DDT out there, and another one on the way back in retains at 24:51. The spots and sequences were complex and largely flawless, but the overall match felt extremely choreographed, and wasn't really my cup of tea. Has anyone dropped off faster than Johnny Gargano? Maybe only Bret Hart when he went to WCW. Just a couple of years ago Johnny was on my shortlist for potentially becoming the greatest of all time, and now I actually dread having to sit through his matches, knowing I'm in for twenty plus minutes of choreography each time. ** ¾

 

Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament Final Match: Grizzled Young Veterans v MSK: Zack Gibson and Nash Carter start, and Gibson takes him down to work on the mat. Nash starts to flip around to try and get free, so Gibson quickly railroads him into the home corner, and passes to fresh James Drake to put him back down in a headlock. Nash manages to force a criss cross, and uses a springboard bodypress, and it's over to Wes Lee for a combo. He tries to hold Drake in a headlock, but Gibson gets the tag, so MSK rattle him with some double teams. Gibson bails, so Wes dives after him, and then Nash does a dive of his own for good measure. Unfortunately for Nash, he hits Drake, allowing legal man Gibson to clobber him with a clothesline on the floor. Inside, Gibson hits Nash with a neckbreaker for two, and the Veterans go to work cutting the ring in half. Nash manages to dodge a combo to get a tag off to Wes, and Lee comes in hot. The Veterans bail, so Lee dives after them with a crazy somersault suicida over the post, and he looks to legitimately hurt his back on the landing. Well, yeah, how could you not? He still manages to get Gibson in to cover for two, but a trip to the top ends badly when Drake knocks him off. That allows Gibson a powerbomb attempt, but Wes counters with a facebuster, and he passes to Nash for a superkick. Nash adds a springboard cutter for two, and he passes back to Wes, who promptly gets kicked in the head while trying an overly choreographed pele kick. It doesn't need six extra flips, just kick the guy in the brain, dude. Drake hits him with a brainbuster for two, but Wes counters an electric chair from Gibson with a victory roll for two. That gets Wes pounded, and the Veterans go in for the kill, but Nash returns to save. MSK take turns hitting Drake with dives for two, but Gibson cuts off another combo from them. So nice of Wes to sell that before it even happened. The Veterans kill Lee with an electric chair/tope combo on the floor, and with Lee gone, it's time to finish Nash. They use a powerbomb/lungblower combo for two, and Drake goes for a tombstone next, but Wes returns to stop him. That allows MSK a spinebuster/neckbreaker combo on Drake, and they win the tournament at 18:25. Wow, if you thought the last match had too much choreography, this match wants you to hold it's beer. * ¾

 

NXT Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Io Shirai v Toni Storm v Mercedes Martinez: First fall wins. Mercedes attacks Io during the ring announcements, dumping her to the outside, and kick starting the match. She tackles Toni down for mounted punches, but Io is back, and Mercedes gets dumped. Criss cross between Io and Toni ends in Io hitting a flapjack, and a victory cradle shifts into a double stomp. Io puts the boots to her in the corner, but Toni blocks a whiplash, and manages a seated clothesline before Mercedes pulls her to the outside for a neckbreaker on the floor. Io dives after Mercedes with a springboard moonsault press on the floor, but there's nobody home, and Mercedes covers Storm for two on the way back in. Mercedes with a three-alarm rolling vertical suplex, but Storm blocks the third alarm, just as Io returns with a missile dropkick on Mercedes. Toni dumps Io into the corner for a hip attack, but an attempt to do the same to Mercedes is met with a rotating spinebuster for two. Mercedes takes

Toni to the mat for a regal stretch, but Io breaks it up. That allows Io to put Toni in a crippler crossface, but Mercedes puts Io in a dragon sleeper before she can coax a submission. Storm bails to regroup as Io fights in the hold, and Mercedes gives her an inverted vertical suplex. Mercedes tries a running big boot, but she misses, and Io knocks her to the outside. Io goes upstairs, but Storm is back, and follows to the top. Unfortunately for her, Mercedes is ALSO back, and Storm gets German superplexed. Mercedes ends up in a tree of woe in the process, thus allowing Io a flying double stomp to knock her loose, and everyone is down. To the outside, Mercedes slams the champ into the barricade, but gets nailed by Storm before she can follow up. Toni tries to clear the announce table, but it somehow collapses from just that, which is pretty funny. Toni still tries a Storm Zero on the remnants of the table (Why? It's basically padding now), but Io dives off a lighting column with a flying bodypress onto both. Inside, Mercedes bashes Toni with knees, and a muscle buster gets her two. Reversal sequence allows Toni a headbutt, and the Storm Zero connects for two. Toni goes up with a flying headbutt drop, but Io breaks up the pin with a flying moonsault, and she covers Mercedes herself at 12:14. This was okay, but felt like it had too much going on. Action is good, but so is breathing room. ** ¼

 

Main Event: NXT Title Match: Finn Balor v Pete Dunne: Feeling out process to start, with Dunne ahead on points. He starts cranking on the hand, and a corkscrew brainbuster gets the challenger two. Cradle gets two, and a leg-feed enzuigiri connects, but Balor bounces back with a clothesline for two. Finn goes after the leg and takes him down for an STF, so Pete wrenches on the bad hand to force a break. I love earned bits of psychology like that. Finn responds by cracking him with some chops, but Dunne responds in kind, only to have the leg give out as he tries a springboard. That allows Balor a pele kick attempt, but Dunne dodges, and puts the boots to him. Pete with a sitout powerbomb for two, and he gives the champ a double stomp to the hand, but a big boot misses. That allows Balor a lung blower and a matslam to set up a running dropkick, but Dunne counters the Coup de Grace with a triangle choke! Finn makes the ropes to save himself, so Pete tries for the Bitter End, but Balor blocks. Dunne responds by going after the hand again, but Balor takes him down for a mat-based abdominal stretch. Pete wrenches the hand to force a break, and the Bitter End gets a dramatic two. Powerbomb, but Balor counters a frustrated challenger with a DDT on the way down. His running dropkick gets blocked, however, and Dunne tries another End - only to get countered with the inverted 1916 for two! Dunne tries grabbing the hand, but Balor double stomps him before he can get anywhere, and he pulls Pete's mouth guard out before blasting him with a running dropkick. Coup de Grace connects, 1916 finishes at 25:11. This was okay. I liked what they were going for here by working a more mat based contest as opposed to the spot fests everyone else was doing tonight, I just don't think they quite got there. ** ¼

 

BUExperience: Still a far cry from the glory days of NXT here.

 

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