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WWE NXT recap & reactions (Mar. 24, 2021): Out of control

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NXT returned last night (Mar. 24) from the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find the results at the live blog here.

Adam Cole is out of control (and so is O’Reilly)

The war between former friends Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly could no longer be constrained to the confines of the Capitol Wrestling Center. The fight spilled out into public and left Regal praying that law enforcement would drop the charges… but that’s only because HE wanted to be the one to hand out the punishment.

Cole would have to face the music when he arrived, with both O’Reilly and Regal waiting. The GM would be forced to make a ruling with Stand & Deliver only two weeks away!

Regal started the meeting (which was the “main event” of the show) calmly, but quickly started yelling at both Cole and O’Reilly for getting the BLOODY POLICE involved. He told them that the only way he’d allow an injured Kyle O’Reilly to take a match as the co-main event of Takeover night two was if they both signed a hold harmless agreement absolving NXT of any responsibility for what would occur.

Adam Cole signed first, but not before taking the opportunity to belittle Kyle O’Reilly as nothing more than a “lap dog” and a “sidekick.” He told William Regal he was like a blind man seeing the world for the first time, and his revelation was that he didn’t need The Undisputed Era — in fact, they were holding him back. The record setting title reign, the main events, the t-shirt sales, all ADAM COLE BAY BAY. He said the winner at Takeover was obvious to everyone except the man across the table from him.

O’Reilly’s rebuttal was equally passionate. He couldn’t believe the last three and a half years had been a waste of time, that their friendship had been a lie, but he had to accept that or he wouldn’t be able to do what was necessary at Takeover. O’Reilly said they had become better wrestlers, better fighters and world champions in The Undisputed Era… but only one of them had become a BETTER MAN. He vowed to take responsibility for all his misdeeds, starting by taking out the man he used to trust with everything. He signed the contract and threw the pen at Cole, Cole erupted in rage, and the match for Takeover was official!

Tag team champions no more

Due to Danny Burch’s unfortunate injury last week, General Manager William Regal felt he had no choice but to strip Burch and his partner Oney Lorcan of their tag team titles.

This left a huge vacancy in the title picture, one that could possibly be addressed either before or at Takeover: Stand & Deliver. What would William Regal’s decision be? He came up with a triple threat for the first night of Takeover — MSK, Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado Del Fantasma would face each other for the vacant belts!

Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon vs. Mercedes Martinez & Aliyah

While it seemed unlikely that the women’s tag team titles would change hands again so soon after being inaugurated, that didn’t mean Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon could just laugh off the challenge that Mercedes Martinez (filling in for an injured Jessi Kamea) and Aliyah brought to the table, particularly with Robert Stone ready and willing to run interference on their behalf.

WALTER vs. Drake Maverick

I’m not kidding. The long reigning NXT UK champion WALTER faced the minuscule Drake Maverick in a non-title defense on WWE NXT this week.

This lasted exactly as long as you’d expect it to. WALTER destroyed him with a single power bomb and put him in a submission hold, but the referee stopped the match after declaring that Maverick was already out cold. Tommaso Ciampa came out to challenge WALTER for his NXT UK title at Takeover, and WALTER accepted… but only after Imperium left him in a heap in the middle of the ring.

Bronson Reed isn’t playing around any more

Last week Bronson Reed thought it was funny to do the “fat man in a little coat” spot with LA Knight’s designer jacket. This week though Reed was all business — no more time for jokes.

LA Knight tried his best to keep “The Colossal” Bronson Reed at bay, but eventually he pissed Reed off one too many times and he “hulked up” for the comeback. Knight tried to crotch him on the top rope and suplex him off, but Reed overpowered him and sent him flying, then came off the top for a TSUNAMI to end the contest decisively.

Karrion Kross vs. Oney Lorcan

If it wasn’t enough that Karrion Kross destroyed Danny Burch by accident last week, now he was going to up the ante by trying to destroy Burch’s tag team partner on PURPOSE.

Kross mocked Lorcan during the match, telling him that he enjoyed hurting Danny Burch and didn’t regret his actions one bit. This got Lorcan to make a furious comeback filled with uppercuts, but he still succumbed to the forearm to the back of the head, just as most of Karrion Kross’ opponents do. The win was just an excuse for Finn Bálor to come out and tell Kross that he had shown his weakness last week — he’s a young hot head ruled by emotion. Bálor promised to be cold and dispassionate at Takeover: Stand & Deliver, where he vowed to drown Kross in “the deep water.”

Jordan Devlin vs. KUSHIDA too

Did they really have enough time to cram all of this into a two hour episode? Apparently so! Like WALTER this too was a non-title match for the cruiserweight champion Jordan Devlin.

Legado Del Fantasma tried to provide a distraction and cost Jordan Devlin the match, but he avoided both Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde, diving back into the ring and bridging KUSHIDA for the pin. The damage had been done though as KUSHIDA had been working over his left arm for the entire match, possibly sending him into the title unification match (in kayfabe at least) in a weakened state. Santos Escobar got in the ring to confront him and show off the interim title, but Shawn Michaels’ music hit and interrupted them both!

The Heart Break Kid didn’t say anything but he didn’t need to. He lifted the apron and slid a ladder into the ring, and both men took that as a cue they’d have a ladder match to unify the Cruiserweight belts at Takeover. It’s on!

Raquel sends a message

Io Shirai and Zoey Stark vs. Dakota Kai and Raquel González was the opening contest on this week’s show. This was a good chance to remind everyone that Io Shirai vs. Raquel González will headline NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver night one. It was an even better chance for González to prove a point by showing her dominance to Shirai. She gave her a boot to the face on the apron and power bombed Zoey Stark in the middle of the ring for the pinfall, then just to add insult to injury, she slammed Shirai right on top of the announce desk after the match. Shirai was left writhing in pain as González gloated over her.

Oh, and ONE MORE THING

William Regal announced a 12 man battle royal to determine a new number one contender for NXT North American champion Johnny Gargano.

Grade: B+

With no disrespect to Jessi Kamea the match was upgraded by having Mercedes Martinez as Aliyah’s tag team partner for the title shot. Unfortunately they rushed through the whole thing to give more time to the segment at the end of the show, and that’s my biggest knock on the episode as a whole. Title matches should be important even if the opponents change at the last minute. There was some unnecessary Cameron Grimes shtick where he tried to buy the intellectual property of The Undisputed Era from Roderick Strong and got decked in the face, but at least it was short. I would have preferred WALTER have an actual match instead of a squash, but any week he’s on NXT is a good week in my eyes.

Get up from your cageside seats and sound off below. See you in seven days!



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Entertainment

WWE Raw results, recap, reactions (Mar. 22, 2021): Gas on the fire

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This was a weird show.

I can honestly say I liked half of what I saw, and disliked half of what I saw. WWE 50/50-ed the whole show for me.

A lot of the comedy was a hit with me, aside from the dumb Shane McMahon and Elias song. But there were some strange decisions that made me not too excited about WrestleMania for Raw.

Right now, it’s McIntyre/Lashley, Fiend/Orton, Bad Bunny/Miz, Asuka/Ripley, and AJ and Omos/New Day. How much of this excites you?

Some of it I like, but the more main stuff is not a hit with me. We still have two weeks to go. Turn it around for me, WWE.

Let’s get to the main hits and misses of this show. For a full rundown of Raw, check out the live blog by Rev. Claire Elizabeth!

Well… more fire

Randy Orton still does not get that you can’t fight fire with… literal fire when it comes to The Fiend.

Before Orton came out, Alexa Bliss said that he should be careful what he wishes for. The idea was for Orton to summon the Fiend and put an end to it once and for all.

Orton walked out with a bag and said that it was time to put an official end to The Fiend and Alexa Bliss.

Silly Randy.

Bliss came out and wound up the… Bliss in the Box? The Fiend lighting returned, as did the screeching sound which I did not miss.

So what was in Orton’s bag?

… Gasoline.

Fiend didn’t flinch when Orton poured it on him, and then Fiend charged at him and Orton hit the RKO. Bliss got into the ring and Orton got distracted by her. He got the Mandible Claw for it. Then a Sister Abigail.

And then Bliss pointed to the sign and it was engulfed in flames. So that’s how we got The Fiend vs. Randy Orton for WrestleMania.

Huh?

Come on, man. What are we doing? The presentation of the return of the crispy Fiend was good at Fastlane, and then they ruined it here. And no Firefly Fun House match? That’s the wrong call.

I’m very disappointed with this. I don’t know how to salvage it. Help me, Cagesiders.

Multiple stories

Most of this match was rest hold city and just proved that WWE doesn’t know what they’re doing with Raw. They relied on the commentary team selling Sheamus’ match from last night as he wrestled this match as if he didn’t wrestle an Exploding ThunderDome Death Match at Fastlane.

They did this match last week. Lashley won already. There’s no need for him to “make an example” out of Sheamus as one of the commentators said. He did already.

So when Lashley made him tap out, Alexander and Benjamin pulled him out of the ring and attacked him. Who but Drew McIntyre made the save for his biggest rival not named Bobby Lashley. He then went into the ring and tried to get Lashley to fight him, but MVP calmed Lashley down and got him out of the ring.

This was a really unfortunate way to start the show. Sheamus has lost so many matches since turning on Drew and he doesn’t deserve this. Three matches in a week! Two of the three unnecessary, and both the Lashley matches.

The only thing this match did was sell dissension with Cedric and Shelton and Lashley and MVP. Sheamus had to continue being sacrificed for that. MVP said that they embarrassed the almighty both by being out there and losing the Raw tag team titles. To make good, they went to Adam Pearce to get a two on one handicap match against McIntyre, which McIntyre accepted under one condition – if he wins, Cedric and Shelton are banned from ringside at WrestleMania.

McIntyre dominated both men for the first few minutes, and went for the Claymore Kick, but Alexander pulled Benjamin out of the ring. Alexander tagged in and almost tweaked his knee on the outside. The Hurt Business then dominated the second half and worked well to put McIntyre down.

But we knew what was going to happen. After a hellacious Claymore to Alexander, McIntyre picked up the victory. Ced and Ben should just run away and not even go near MVP and Lashley. Of course they didn’t, and MVP chastised them. Then in an interesting twist, Lashley went up to a bunch of dudes in the locker room and put a bounty on Drew.

Ricochet was one of those men, and it HAS to be him. Please let it be him. I need Ricochet in the Hurt Business.

As for the rest of all of this, I’m saddened by the presentation of The Hurt Business after Lashley’s WWE title win. They immediately lost the tag titles, and now they’re imploding. Give me Ricochet in the Hurt Business, sure, but did they need to do all of this?

Drew’s just Drew. I haven’t thought about it really, but he’s been pretty one dimensional for a while. But I also don’t know how to change him up a bit to make him fresh. It’s weird.

On the plus side, Sheamus is officially done with this and going after Riddle!

Hey Hey, Hop Hop

You may think you know what my reaction to this was, but trust me… you don’t.

Miz asked who Bad Bunny thinks he is? How dare he ridicule the only double grand slam champion. Miz threw it to the tron where a WrestleMania poster showed Bad Bunny and Damian Priest, but no Miz and Morrison.

They then played their new single Hey Hey, Hop Hop a diss track to Bad Bunny and it was… very well produced actually. He challenged Bunny to a match and said his upcoming match with Jeff Hardy would serve as a display of what’s to come.

That was hilarious. Stupid, but hilarious. I laughed very hard at this. Yeah… me! Me who hates the Miz and Morrison stuff usually. THE BUNNY SUITS! HAHAHAHA! It felt like a better produced video and song, almost as if the great Bad Bunny himself was involved.

Hardy asked Miz to get Morrison away from ringside because we all know what happens. Miz surprisingly agreed. If you thought Morrison was going to come back anyway and interfere, we were in the same boat. I was very surprised.

As Miz’s hand was raised, BAD BUNNY HIM WITH A GUITAR! As of now, we have a singles match with Miz and Bunny at WrestleMania. I’m betting Morrison and Priest get added, but maybe not? Depends on if Bad Bunny actually has been training hard for a singles match. If he has, I’m game.

Bad Bunny gets it. He’s the best celebrity they’ve had on the show involved in storylines.

A-J Rocks! A-J Rocks!

Styles hyped up Omos’ debut at WrestleMania and said he’ll be teaming with the best wrestler in WWE history. He ran through New Day’s accolades and said that they can’t lose with Styles’ wrestling ability and Omos’ size.

Kingston interrupted and said they’re not a real team. Then Woods said to Omos that Styles would bring him down since he is a big man with great abilities. They then questioned how much Styles knows Omos. They asked what Omos’ favorite color, ice cream, and WWE wrestler was, and Styles failed all three questions.

Embarrassed, Styles challenged Kingston to a match.

They traded choke holds and take downs, and Styles kicked out of a pin attempt at one. Styles dove over the top rope and Kingston ducked it and took Styles down. Really clever take down into a pin by Kingston using his legs.

Kingston went for a Trouble in Paradise, but Styles kicked him right in the back of the head and man it looked nasty. He sold it so well I thought he got a concussion from it. He broke the Calf Crusher, and Styles was going for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Woods played the trumpet and distracted him.

Omos went to get Woods and Kingston took advantage to pin Styles. That was a fun match and I liked the teasing of tension between Omos and AJ. AJ is also really good with comedy and provided another laugh out loud segment for me.

The Rest

Asuka defeated Peyton Royce / Rhea Ripley debuted

Asuka went for an early Asuka Lock, but Royce transitioned out for her own submission. She sent Asuka face first into a turnbuckle and suplexed her. Asuka went for the hip attack but Royce dodged it and sent Asuka to the floor. Asuka did a German suplex and a knee to Peyton’s face for a near fall. Royce had a nice sell of Asuka’s facebuster for another near fall. Royce went to the top rope with a double stomp and almost won. SHe fell to the Asuka Lock. Peyton was booked very well here.

AND THEN RHEA RIPLEY CAME OUT! She called Asuka one of the greats. She mentioned Charlotte and that she’s recovering from COVID-19. So since she’s not here, she challenged Asuka for the title at WrestleMania, and Asuka accepted! Hell yeah! She was not presented as a heel as was rumored, and I prefer it this way. I’m excited for this one.

CHOO CHOO!

HAHAHAHAHA THEY’RE PLAYING THE TRAIN HORN AND ENGINE REVVING SOUNDS AS BRAUN RUNS AROUND THE RING! Shane doing dumb shit was dumb and yeah of course he faked his injury so he wouldn’t have to wrestle. So dumb but the sounds were hilarious.

The Reginald Tag Team Champions defeated Mandy and Dana

Yeah this was just for the continuation of Reginald as the focal point of the women’s division. Dude can just come in and out of the ring and not get the team disqualified or get thrown out. Cool, cool, cool, cool.

Grade: C

What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?

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Entertainment

WWE SmackDown results, recap, reactions (Mar. 12, 2021): Contract signed

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Edge started the show saying he had some words for the two men having a title match at Fastlane.

He called Reigns and Heyman spin doctors and said that Reigns begged him to acknowledge the Tribal Chief. Then when he did, he made a U-Turn down “Daniel Bryan Boulevard” and Daniel Bryan went into business for himself.

He took offense to Bryan saying that he deserved to be in the main event of WrestleMania and not him. He listed all of his former opponents and stated that he’s back because like Bryan, he loves this.

That brought Bryan out and he called out the “Ultimate Opportunist” for getting worked up over Bryan going into business for himself. He felt demoralized after Elimination Chamber and if this is his last WrestleMania he wants to give it everything he’s got. He’ll do whatever he has to do to be in the main event.

Okay show of hands – who else now wants an Edge/Bryan feud? One, two, three… thirty eight, thirty nine, forty… eh let’s just say literally everyone reading this. Given both their similar retirement into grand returns, it would be amazing. We have a Roman Reigns problem though (and a good problem to have!) and the contract signing closed the show.

Before that though, we saw a bit of the tension starting again in the Family when Heyman denied Jey Uso access to Reigns. Edge went up to Uso and recalled memories of Uso’s past with his father. He mentioned that in 2015 he watched the Usos and was reminded of why he loved wrestling, but now he sees Jey walking with his head down as the subordinate to Reigns.

Bryan came out for the contract signing and Reigns said that even though he had agreed to this before, the answer is now no. And then Bryan dug deep. He said that he was surprised the Head of the Table wasn’t a man of his word, but he must have realized that last week changed for him because he did something Reigns could never do on his own – make Jey Uso quit.

Reigns got so mad he signed the contract and then Jey tossed the table out of the ring and got in Bryan’s face. Jey decided to make himself the special enforcer for their match, and Edge came down and suggested both he and Jey face each other next week for the right to be the enforcer. Adam Pearce made it official and they all brawled, but when Edge tossed Bryan aside, Bryan gave him the running knee to close the show!

WHO ELSE NOW WANTS AN EDGE/BRYAN FEUD? WE DESERVE THIS!

On a serious note, I loved Bryan getting his way by bringing us all back to Hell in a Cell last year when Roman had to nearly murder Jimmy in order for Jey to finally say “I Quit”. Brilliantly done. And next week’s match to decide who gets to be special enforcer will rule because everyone has a vested interest in it. Roman wants Jey, but he knows Jey usually can’t get the job done. Bryan wants Edge, but Edge should come to the conclusion that if he really helps Bryan, Bryan gets his spot at WrestleMania Edge says he doesn’t deserve.

Is it Friday already? I’m ready for this.

But like… give me Edge/Bryan pretty please?

Let’s get to the rest of the main hits and misses of this show. For a full rundown of SmackDown, check out the live blog by Rev. Claire Elizabeth!

“You’ll never be on my level!”

Seth Rollins was interviewed about Cesaro.

He said that he went out to help Cesaro because he saw the potential in him. But when he tried to help, he got embarrassed. He called Cesaro the biggest waste of potential in WWE.

Kayla Braxton said that Cesaro and Murphy would be having a rematch, and Rollins walked off delighted.

So Rollins walked out for the match and sat on the stage. Murphy hit Cesaro with a high knee (and slapped his leg! Oh no!) Cesaro superplexed Murphy from the apron to the mat. His strength is incredible. Cesaro started swinging Murphy and Rollins interfered.

He hit Cesaro with two curb stomps and grabbed a chair and set it up on Cesaro’s head. Jaime Noble jumped on Seth to stop him. What a cute reunion. The referees helped Cesaro up as Seth berated him.

Seth walked to the back and was greeted by an angry Shinsuke Nakamura! I would have like… attacked him but Nak just stood there. The segment and match were good and I’m liking the direction of Cesaro here. We haven’t seen him presented this way in a long time.

The “biggest waste of potential in WWE” line cuts a little deeper doesn’t it? It’s how a lot of us have felt WWE’s, specifically Vince’s, opinion has been of Cesaro for years. Time to prove ‘em wrong.

The Reginald division

Kevin Owens said that he needed some time away because of how physically exhausting the past few months were. He brought out Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair.

Owens said that they could potentially be tag team champions at WrestleMania but they have to beat Jax and Baszler first, which they haven’t been able to do. He addressed their underlying tension.

Belair said that Banks has been entertaining Reggie and that’s why he keeps coming out for her matches. Banks said she can’t help it if she looks this good, and said that the EST would be nothing without the bEST. They kept going at it, but then Jax, Baszler, Reginald, Natalya, and Tamina came out and that led to the tag match.

Of course Reginald distracted the referee when Belair was about to get the victory, and then he dove into the ring and Sasha went after him which distracted the ref again and Tamina pinned Belair.

I don’t like this at all. Reginald is the focal point of the WWE women’s division. He was even standing in the middle of everyone with the camera right on him at the end. Stop this.

Fashion show

So we have a… Sugar Mama situation going on.

Nia Jax took Reginald to an upscale suit place and told him he could get whatever he wanted.

Cut to every dressing room scene in any movie and television show you’ve already seen 100 times. Reggie came out in different suits to the delight of Jax, and the dismay of Baszler, who just sat looking at her phone the whole time.

At one point he came out in a gold suit with these cool looking shoes and honestly that should have sealed the deal. Dude looking hella good in that one. But in the end they both chose this gray one and then he sat in Jax’s lap and they basically alluded to sex.

So… huh. To be honest the segment wasn’t awful. Nia really just takes me out of it because I don’t really like her, but who doesn’t relate to Shayna here the most? We’ve all been there.

The Rest

Big E defeated Sami Zayn

Big E returned and said that now that Crews opened Pandora’s box, there’s no coming back. Now he has to go Old Testament on him. He told Crews to come down to get his opportunity, and no Apollo. E decided to make an open challenge and King Corbin came out to accept it. As he was about to, Sami Zayn ran out and accepted it instead. I’m loving the dynamic between Zayn and Corbin lately.

E screamed out Apollo’s name as he attacked Zayn. Big E won and continued to call for Apollo. Finally, Apollo’s music hit and he blindsided E. He threw the steel steps in the ring and hit E with them again. Maybe this will take Big E out of Fastlane so that their match can be for the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania. This match certainly deserves to be a marquee match at WrestleMania. The ferocity of Crews in this heel turn has truly revitalized him.

Street Profits and Mysterios defeated Dirty Dawgz and Alpha Academy

The Dirty Dawgz and Alpha Academy attacked the babyfaces before the match started. Poor Rey got knocked right off of Dominik’s shoulders. Dawkins started with intensity and drop kicked everyone. Alphas double teamed Dom and Gable did a phenomenal suplex. I really want these two in an Iron Man. Roode grounded him but Dom did a tornado DDT that also looked great. Roode knocked Ford off the turnbuckle and he took quite a tumble to the floor. Rey came in and wow I couldn’t even keep up with him. Ford flew up 30,000 feet and hit the frog splash to win. This was a really fun match. Montez pinning Bobby Roode would mean be on the lookout for a tag title match soon.

Grade: A-

What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?

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Technology

Apex Legends on Switch: Early reactions say it’s pretty bad

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Apex Legends launched Tuesday on Nintendo Switch, and early reactions to the battle royale game from fans are … not good. They’re disappointed in the game’s performance, and they say cross-platform play against users on higher-performance systems leaves them at a huge disadvantage.

“I can excuse bad graphics, but on Switch, the game feels awful to play,” wrote one player, in the Switch subreddit on Wednesday afternoon.

“The game drops to like 10 frames when you’re in any gunfight,” says the Reddit thread starter. “Graphics look muddy in docked mode … I don’t even want to know how handheld looks.”

Apex Legends, which launched in 2019 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One, runs at 720p resolution in the Switch’s docked mode, and 576p in handheld. The slower frame rates and weaker resolutions give Switch players less time to react in a fast-paced shooter, and less visual information than competitors on other systems can get just at a glance.

Reddit user Ann0ying posted a visibility comparison of a Switch running Apex Legends and the same frame on an Xbox One at 1080p. “Close up enemy model (is it even there?)” they wrote, over a pixelated smudge that doesn’t resemble anything important at a distance.

“Apex runs on a highly customized Source engine that was built to expand the loading distance for long distance views and such,” noted redditor JabroniSn0w.

“It does look nice at times,” shrugs YouTuber RGT 85, “But it definitely does look blurry. … The frame rate targets 30 frames per second, but it definitely drops at times, and that kind of disappoints me a bit. … If you play first-person shooters on other platforms, it’s definitely jarring.”

Switch users are recommending that players turn off the cross-play option (in the game’s settings menu), and join Switch-only lobbies, to stand a better chance in Kings Canyon. Playing against people on platforms where visibility isn’t an issue, the thinking goes, might not be as balanced as matching up against folks who are in the same boat as Switch players. For some reason, probably because it gets players into a match faster, cross-platform play is on by default for Switch. But opting for Switch-only lobbies reportedly means much longer wait times to get a game started, given the new launch’s much smaller installation base.

Panic Button, the port shop that brought Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal to the Switch, developed Apex Legends for the console, too. Lots of players still pointed to the job that studio did bringing a hardcore multiplayer shooter to Nintendo’s platform, and the post-launch support both titles have received, in hopes that Apex Legends will get better on Switch over time.

“They were still patching Doom a few years after, even though it didn’t need it and they didn’t have to,” said one Redditor. “Give it a few months. I was also expecting better, but I am not disappointed, if that makes sense.”

Apex Legends launched March 9 on Switch, giving players on that platform 30 free levels of the Battle Pass for Season 8, which is already in progress. Switch players also earn double XP during the first two weeks the game is available.

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Entertainment

WWE Raw results, recap, reactions (Mar. 1, 2021): Reborn

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Of course it was supposed to happen this way.

If you remember last week, I said that there was definitely going to be more bait and switch this week. Holy shit did I undersell that or what?

To be honest with you, them dragging it out like they did soured me on pretty much the whole show. Okay, 9:00 P.M. no now 10:00 P.M. no now the main event! That was maddening.

The countdowns were laughable but I didn’t mind the one to 9:00 P.M. and then 9:00 P.M. came and went. And then 10:00 P.M. came and went. Miz had a cramp, and then let the bell ring and took the title and ran off for a count out. Literally anything that he could think of as an excuse to try and get out of this match he tried.

And it failed. Nearing the end of the final countdown, Shane McMahon said he had to defend the title or else he would have the title taken away and given to Lashley. Shane even threw in a special match to make sure Miz didn’t get away – a Lumberjack match!

So all of the heels who could have interfered in this match didn’t. Shane didn’t pull any shenanigans, neither did Braun, who was actually a lumberjack! I was waiting for it. Braun was very angry earlier in the night, RETRIBUTION was there, I was prepared for anything really.

I knew that Lashley wasn’t going to be the champion at the end of this show.

And my God does it feel amazing to be wrong!

As I said, it was exactly how it was supposed to happen. Miz weaseled and weaseled and in the end, he got dominated and tapped out to the Hurt Lock. Bobby Lashley is the new WWE Champion. This is incredible. I am so happy for him. He was very emotional about it and that made my night.

Bobby Lashley came back to WWE and was put in a feud with Sami Zayn, who brought out his sisters and tried to talk trash about him. He cut a very awkward promo telling them that he loved them. Yes, that did really happen. Then he got paired with Lio Rush and they had a fun run together, but Vince cut it after a few short months.

And then the Lana thing happened. That led us right into the pandemic and MVP was back and scouting talent. MVP chose Lashley and just like that, Lashley was reborn and as dominant as ever. MVP deserves a hell of a lot of credit for this night happening. He’s been a true guiding light for three souls lost to shit booking and floundering around in the mid card. Thank you, MVP.

Now we go to WrestleMania. Drew McIntyre said at the start of the show that whoever left the show as champion, he would be locked on them heading to the grandest stage.

Let’s get to the rest of the hits and misses of this show. For a full rundown of Raw, check out the live blog by Rev. Claire Elizabeth!

Former friends brawl

Drew called Miz the resident cockroach. Hahahahaaaaa. Sorry to the Miz fans out there.

That was great. Miz did great here too, buttering up Drew thinking he would get on his good side enough to interfere in the title match. Morrison’s suggestion of the “Three M-migos” was pretty funny.

I thought it was a great touch to remind us of last year’s offer from MVP to Drew, and I thought that telling us when the match was starting was smart. Really going for that second hour bump!

Anyway, Sheamus and McIntyre tore each other to shreds in proper blood feud fashion. Sheamus neatly caved McIntyre’s head with a knee to the face. Loved seeing someone finally do Sheamus’ 10 Beats of the Bodhran on him. McIntyre went for a futureshock DDT but was met with a nasty clothesline.

McIntyre then did the White Noise! Wow I did not expect that! They traded pinfall attempts and finally, the really awesome finish was McIntyre dive, duck, dip, dive, and dodging a Brogue Kick and hitting a Claymore to win.

This was a really great first match to start the show, after a bunch of talking.

“That sucks!”

Hahahahaaaaaa. I am so conflicted about all of this.

Okay. So clearly we’re heading to Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania. How we’re getting there is… huh. Yeah.

Braun came out and wasn’t aware that he was going to be in a tag match, and didn’t know who his partner would be. This is a conspiracy, he said. So McMahon came out with Pearce and he went on about taking MBA classes and being all weird and all of a sudden Adam Pearce is tagging with Strowman in a Raw tag championship match. Huh?

Braun was actually pretty funny in this segment. Then the match came and he manhandled the tag champs. He threw Alexander across the ring multiple times. He powerslammed Benjamin and then Shane got up on the apron to get Braun to tag Pearce. And then Pearce got rolled up.

Alrighty then. This accomplished the goal of getting Braun pissed off and we’ll see where this goes I guess.

It finally happened

I’ve been loving Bad Bunny and Damian Priest since the start of this beautiful television friendship.

This was my least favorite iteration.

Why is Priest in a needlessly long match with Elias? This match was looooong. And sleeper holds galore. Something felt very off here. Thankfully Priest won, which I figured was happening but boy did it take us a while to get there.

Bad Bunny didn’t do anything this time around but stand around and try and get the referee to turn around when Ryker decked Priest behind his back. It’s great that he’s there! I love that he’s there! But this wasn’t the best week.

Let’s not do this again next week, please.

Seriously… is Randy Orton Okay?

Orton has confronted many people in his long WWE career, but never has Randy Orton confronted… um… Randy Orton before?

Kayla Braxton was interviewing Orton about what happened last week, and he said that he would not be as lenient as he had been with the twisted Bliss in the past.

Suddenly she popped up on the screen behind him. And then Orton popped up on the screen talking to himself. In a sinister demonic voice he said that he’ll soon come face to face with everything he’s done. And then non-demonic Orton started choking again.

Looks like we’re getting another Firefly Fun House match!

Charlotte Flair decides who she wants to face at… wait a minute

What a babyface!

Charlotte Flair said she wanted to be Asuka’s tag partner and she respects her. Asuka is at home injured due to Shayna Baszler’s kick to the face last week.

So how does she want to calm her friend in her hour of need? Going to her home, or sending her flowers and a get well soon card, calling her up, Zooming with her?

Nah she just announced that she wants Asuka’s Raw women’s title at WrestleMania. How nice, Charlotte! Seriously this is how WWE thinks good people act? Shayna and Nia called her out and then beat Charlotte up to start the match.

Charlotte won. Duh.

The Rest

Riddle and Lucha House Party defeated RETRIBUTION

In the midst of all the tomfoolery on this show, we had an actually entertaining six man tag. Everybody had a quick sprint and urgency and a fire under their asses. It was quick but it was fun and it led to the next match.

Mustafa Ali defeated Riddle

Riddle was wearing down Ali’s arm and suplexed him out of the ring. Ali targeted Riddle’s arm and it looked painful. Ali went for another neckbreaker and Riddle transitioned into a submission in mid-air. Riddle was going up to the top rope and the masked group distracted the referee and Ali did… something to pick up the victory. It looked cool! Also really looks interesting to see Ali pin a champion!

Nia Jax defeated Naomi

Uh… this was pretty much a match I guess. Remember that Lana and Naomi won a “future WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Opportunity” and this was certainly a momentum killer. K.

Grade: C-

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NXT recap & reactions (Feb. 24, 2021): No Regrets

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NXT returned last night (Feb. 24) from the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find all the results at the live blog here.

No Regrets

Adam Cole: Still a prick.

This week’s episode closed with the explanation for Adam Cole’s betrayal. But we never really got it. Instead it was Cole pretending he was remorseful only to predictably reveal that he most definitely was not.

Kyle O’Reilly, who they told us is out 4-6 months (but surely will be back sooner), did not show up tonight. It was too soon for any of that. Instead Roddy Strong confronted the former leader of Undisputed ERA. At first, he didn’t buy Cole’s BS. But after an interlude where NXT Champion Finn Bálor tried to confront Cole but got put down by a brief alliance between Roddy and Adam (a bit reluctant on Strong’s behalf), the Panama City Playboy turned on the waterworks, suckered Roderick in, and punched him in the nuts.

This all made for enough drama that it was fun following along, but it didn’t make much sense to me when I really thought about it. Who was Adam trying to fool? He knew Kyle wasn’t there. Was he trying to lure Roddy out just to attack him? Would have have kept the ruse up until he had the chance to punch someone in the balls if Strong didn’t interject?

We’ll see what he does next, if he continues to pretend he regrets his decisions or if this week was a one time thing. It feels like the type of segment that was entertaining but doesn’t hold up to any real scrutiny. But that’ll depend on how they play it as this goes forward.

Best Effort

I’ve never seen Karrion Kross sell as much as he did this week.

I don’t watch Triple A, but I watched his full run in Impact and obviously all he’s done in NXT, and this match featured more selling then maybe all of those combined.

OK, that’s obviously hyperbole, but Kross spent maybe 90% of tonight’s no-DQ match getting his left shoulder worked over by Santos Escobar. It started with their brawl in the parking lot when the Cruiserweight champ dropped a truck door on it. Combine that with a constant three on one threat, Karrion found himself in a situation he rarely ever does.

Even though it was often a handicap match, it still left the lasting image of Santos Escobar doing something no one has done to this dangerous man. The reason doesn’t matter. What matters is it happened, that Santos dominated Kross at times, despite the fact Escobar eventually lost this match.

The bout itself was… fine. There was some fun spots, such as Kross tossing both Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza through a fan pod barrier and staring at a worried Escobar. But mainly, it was a one sided beat down. Then when Kross did eventually fire back up, he didn’t really sell the arm that was worked the prior 20 minutes. Sure, you can write some of that off as him being superhuman, but if that’s the case, it undercuts the idea of Santos working the prior injured shoulder.

In the end, they accomplished what they needed to. Kross over came the odds to assert his dominance while Santos gave the big man the biggest run for his money he’s had. It just felt like it dragged to get there.

The Rebellious Stage

The Way is experiencing a bit of trouble.

Dexter Lumis has started to drive a wedge between the parents and the kids. Austin Theory has not been right since being kidnapped by Lumis at TakeOver: Vengeance Day. That sounds like a pretty obvious statement. Being kidnapped for days is going to mess with anyone. In this case, it’s closer to Stockholm Syndrome as he feels he had a great time with Uncle D (my nickname, not his).

He’s also off in general. He tried to high five Johnny Gargano with the wrong hand. He always played the clueless member of the Way, but it’s more now that he went on vacay with Dex.

This possibly cost Johnny his match against Lumis this week. After a fun match (Gargano has great matches with pretty much everyone), the leader of the Way distracted the referee. Candice instructed Theory to attack Dexter with a chair. But when the creepy Lumis made eye contact, Austin smiled, pretty much saying “What’s up?” and not using the chair as a weapon. When Gargano tried to rush his foe from behind, he accidentally hit his protege and then got caught in the Silence, losing by submission.

Oddly enough, Indi Hartwell is a bit infatuated with Dexter as well. The announcers made sure to point out she was smiling during a moment where Lumis was beating Johnny Wrestling. And backstage later, she admitted she found the aloof wrestler “hot.” No matter what, Johnny and Candice need to get their house in order.

(Said backstage segment is embedded above because backstage segments with the Way are one of the best things on NXT weekly.)

All in all, the Way are still wildly entertaining. I certainly appreciated them singing “That’s the Way (I Like It)” prior to Johnny’s match. I hope this continues. May I suggest “Baby, I love The Way?” as their next tune? I’m also impressed with how well Theory has adjusted to the group. At first, he felt like the odd man out. But then they leaned into that, making him the dumb one. It’s a role he plays well, making the entire group feel whole.

Quite the Rollout

NXT is really high on Zoey Stark.

Not everyone gets a competitive two segment match with the top woman on the roster in their second ever NXT match. That’s what Stark got this week. And she more than held her own against Io Shirai.

We’ll see if she lives up to the push they’re going to give her. But we got an exhibition match from Io Shirai tonight, something we don’t see often. I’ll take watching one of the best wrestlers in the world work any day of the week. It’s not something we should see often, but when we do, it’s a treat.

After the match, Toni Storm walked out onto the stage to accuse the champ of ducking her. It was simple, but probably my favorite heel promo from Storm. It’s a smart angle given Toni has a history of defeating Shirai in a high profile situation.

This should be a really fun program. The title match is already set for two weeks from now, but that could just be a chapter in the longer story.

First Test

Xia Li had her first real match since joining the ranks of Tian Sha.

She faced off against her “former friend” Kacy Catanzaro. The match itself was fine. Both women are both still relatively new to the business, and they put on a solid match. But the closing angle when Li went into the character work as a brutal fighter was very good.

When a prone Kacy was laying against the ring steps, Xia delivered a nasty stomp to her arm. She then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the ring. Li didn’t get a chance to finish off her opponent because the referee decided Catanzaro could no longer go and called the match.

Kayden Carter once again tried to get into the face of Mei Ying, which was a bad move. Mei nodded to Li, who was still in the ring, and Xia delivered a kick to the head of Kacy as the former Ninja Warrior was already being tended to by the officials.

This will lead to Carter vs. Li, which will probably be more of the same. That works. What happens after that will be interesting. Maybe it will lead to some physicality from Mei Ying?

All The Rest

– MSK had a video package telling us a little more about them. Which is good because when they were going to give a live promo with McKenzie Mitchell, the Grizzled Young Vets attacked them. This lets us know that the real program up next for the Dusty Cup winners is a rematch with GYV. Their tag title match next week is more likely going to set that up further.

– The Young Vets followed this up with a tag team victory later in the evening against a game Killian Dain and Drake Maverick. There was intrigue when Dain was confronted by his former SAnitY mate Alexander Wolfe while he was carrying Maverick. The current Imperium member questioned what Dain’s become. Is this the beginning of the end for Drake and Dain?

– Another segment that didn’t happen because of a brutal attack was a Tyler Rust match with Leon Ruff. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott was not over his loss to Ruff last week. He attacked the former North American champ and delivered a Death Valley Driver onto the ring apron. That move looked… wait for it… rough.

– Cameron Grimes continues to be fantastic. This week, he tried to pull off the basketball bit that the Million Dollar Man did back in the day, but he was too stupid to pull it off. I would definitely enjoy it if this led to a Ted DiBiasi cameo.

This was a pretty good show, but none of the big segments felt like they really nailed it. Still enjoyable overall.

Grade: B

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NXT recap & reactions: Dusty Classic Fatigue

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NXT returned last night (Feb. 10) from the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find the results at the live blog here.

Finals are Set

The main event of this week was a men’s Dusty semi-final match between The Grizzled Young Veterans and Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher.

The match was a solid main, which made sure to demonstrate how the GYV really functioned as a true team. While T & T weren’t off the same page, it was clear the Vets are extensions of each other. This factored into the finish when Zack Gibson grabbed James Drake, who was prone for Ciampa’s finish Willow’s Bell, preventing the move. This allowed the Vets to deliver their double team finisher Ticket to Mayhem. Gibson covered Tommaso as Drake prevented Thatcher from breaking it up.

The Grizzled Vets were always a lock for the finals as it seemed like they were in line for a significant push before the pandemic hit and they returned to Europe.

On the on the other side of the bracket, MSK defeated El Legado del Fantasma to join them in the finals.

This match opened the show and was quite a fun time. Both have a very entertaining style and that meshed well for this bout. MSK’s roll out has been as strong as can be. They’ve been able to show personality and use their unique style within the NXT tag format. Advancing to the finals of the Dusty immediately establishes them as a legit tag threat in the division, whether they defeat the Grizzled Young Veterans or not.

This will pit a talented, but bland (by design) team in GYV against the exact opposite in MSK. And while the Vets are those heels with no redeeming qualities, they’re always good in the ring. This final should deliver a match worthy of a Dusty Classic final.

The Other Final

The Women’s Dusty Finals were also set this week.

Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon defeated Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell to advanced to TakeOver. It was a really enjoyable bout, though with some of the talent in this match, that shouldn’t be surprising. Moon, Blackheart, & LeRae are all great wrestlers. Hartwell is still rather new to this ,and that is obvious in many of her matches. But here, she was solid, even whipping out an impressive springboard elbow.

My “gripe” about this match was more the positioning of it. Last week, Raquel González & Dakota Kai punched their ticket to the finals. That means the outcome of this match was never really in doubt. Heel vs. heel matches are very uncommon, so the Way had little chance in this match. Face vs. face matches are more common. If Ember & Shotzi won first, it wouldn’t be impossible that Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter could have won their match. This isn’t an issue with this match at all. It’s more an issue how they opted to lay it out.

We learned this week that the winner of the Dusty Cup will get a Women’s tag team title shot “eventually.” The winner Sunday should try to get that match before Nia’s hole is completely healed.

A Perfect Jerk

Johnny Gargano continues to find new life as the cowardly heel.

To try to avoid facing Kushida at TakeOver, he told everyone he broke his arm. To drive the point home, he had the Way bring him to the ring in a wheelchair, explaining that he’s such a power walker that if he can’t swing his arms, he can’t walk. I’ll buy it.

It was all classic comedy heel, something that still amazes me how well Johnny plays it. From instructing the Way to turn the wheel chair from the facing the hard cam to facing the video screen to supplying an x-ray with the wrong limb identified, it was all hilarious stuff.

William Regal played the party pooper, revealing he knows that Gargano is cleared to compete and pointing out all the fallacies in Johnny’s argument. This allowed Kushida to sneak in behind the Way, leading to a comedic reveal when the heels noticed him in their ranks.

Kushy faced Austin Theory later in the night, a match that ended in DQ when the North American champion attacked his challenger. After the match, Dexter Lumis prevented this from becoming a two on one beatdown and their night ended with Lumis and Kushida executing dual submissions.

While Lumis has enough reason to dislike the Way, he feels a bit shoehorned here. I’d call him a fifth wheel, but technically he’d be a fourth wheel, which is the perfect amount of wheels.

Picking the Wrong Fight

The Tian Sha stable looks to have its first program.

To start, I think Tian Sha is the stable name. After last week’s origin video, it was possible that was the name of Mei Ying after she sold her soul to a dragon to become immortal. But given Tian Sha is on the video screen as they all come out, and that Wade Barrett referred to her as Mei Ying this week, I’m using it as the stable name until I see something suggesting otherwise.

Their first feud will be against Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter. The KCs were ringside when Xia Li was squashing Cora Jade, trying to get through to a woman they thought was her friend. (This is a classic move in wrestling, establishing a friendship after the fact despite said friendship never really being shown on TV.)

To make matters worse, Carter got into the face of Ying, predictably upsetting the dark queen. Mei even choked Boa until Li effectively disposed of both Kayden and Kacy.

I’m unsure how this is going to go. Right now, Tian Sha has one active wrestler in Xia Li. Ying just watches and Boa hasn’t wrestled. Not that he would be fighting one of these women, but it is odd that they haven’t given him a couple squashes as well. Perhaps NXT doesn’t feel he’s as ready as Xia.

So right now, one woman is going to battle a tag team. Unless this is the vehicle to get Mei in the ring. Given she just observes the fights, it’ll take a bit more work to get her to reveal that soul of a dragon.

All the Rest:

– Cameron Grimes returned to Full Sail very wealthy from investing in GameStop and then dogecoin. This is a humorous twist to this character. He’s still a cocky idiot, but now he’s super rich. It’s a fun wrinkle that will be entertaining to follow. I also look forward to when he loses it all.

– Both main title matches got the video package treatment. Which is fine, but both matches were lacking any real heat. They could have benefited from one more segment to try to add a little more drama to those matches.

– Santos Escobar sent Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza to attack Karrion Kross. Kross of course destroyed them instead. (Only the aftermath was shown.) Escobar will face Kross next week.

This was a solid show. None of the main title angles had any fresh additions to them, both represented in video form. This meant that the Dusty semis had to carry the day.

And in general, those matches were all good. Though I think next time, they should space the men and women’s Dusty tournaments. I understand why they want to run them at the same time, but these last few weeks felt like tag team overkill. The other option is announcing it sooner and stretching the rounds over a longer period of time so they don’t have to cram every episode with them. This wasn’t as big of an issue as they progressed deeper into the tournament, but there was some Dusty Classic fatigue even this episode.

Outside establishing what the two Dusty finals would be, this show didn’t do anything to add to Sunday’s TakeOver. Johnny Gargano is always entertaining though.

Grade: B

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WWE SmackDown results, recap, reactions (Feb. 5, 2021): The future

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This recap is properly titled “The future” because there are many men and women in WWE who are indeed the future of wrestling. Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, Apollo Crews, Bianca Belair, Dominik Mysterio, Liv, Ruby, and Billie Kay are just some of those names.

Hulk Hogan has no place in that future, and it’s time for the business to move on from him.

Hogan right before the Black History Month video package? Hmm. I am not interested in hearing from ol’ red and yellow talking about the Andre the Giant match or any of his opinions on what’s going on right now. And I’ve got a bridge to sell you if you think that he’s even interested in the modern era of wrestling.

Total contrast to the 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Edge. Edge is not here for himself. You could see it on this show, and you could see it throughout his interactions with people. You can see the happiness in his face. This is not even comparable to Goldberg, and yeah I’ve seen that and it’s a dumb comparison.

The future of wrestling is bright. Time to stop trotting out the legends of yesteryear to “pop a rating”. Build up the performers who this generation will want to look to in 20 years. SmackDown generally does the right thing, and did with this show too, with one miss I’ll touch on in a moment.

Let’s get into the main hits and misses of this show. For a full rundown of SmackDown, check out the live blog by Rev. Claire Elizabeth!

Building the suspense

Reigns started the show, talking about looking to the future. (Hey I did that, too!)

He demanded Edge come out to make his decision because Edge should be begging to face him, but Heyman had to inform him that Edge was not here yet.

Dude got MAD. He demanded an answer from Edge by the end of the night.

This promo wasn’t even over yet and I wanted Edge to pick Roman. Immediately was sold on this match. I haven’t seen him as irate as he was since his feud with Jey Uso. Angry Roman is… is something, isn’t he?

Edge came out later and put over all the WWE champions throughout the brands. Reigns came out with a very creepy Uso stalking Edge and Edge called him out for having back up. Reigns told Uso to go back to the bus and said he insulted his family, and he wants to be acknowledged. All of a sudden, Kevin Owens hit the Stunner on Reigns. Edge smirked and got out of the ring to close the show.

The way Jey Uso stalked Edge was frightening, by the way. I just needed to mention that. Jey’s fully enrolled in Fight Club with Roman Durden. We all know the first rule…

This was a brilliant finish. Accomplished multiple things. For starters, I said on my Royal Rumble recap that the ending of Owens and Reigns should not be the last time they interact. Seeing this Stunner likely means one more match? I’ll take it. We need a placeholder until WrestleMania. Secondly, the suspense. And it’s already killing me. Edge and Drew would be fun, as would Edge and Balor.

But Edge and Reigns? After this show, sign me up.

Who’s the bEST?

People are blowing up Belair’s phone because of her Royal Rumble win.

She put over the Empress of Tomorrow and The Boss Sasha Banks’ Mandalorian appearances, and said both would be incredible opponents.

Enter Reginald. He offered advice, saying picking Asuka would be way better because she’ll never beat Banks. Carmella came out and said she beat Banks twice and Belair wouldn’t be able to beat her.

Banks made her grand entrance and put Belair over hard. She’s been paying attention to the EST and her record breaking win, but she’s not the bEST. Reginald tried to butt in again and Belair whipped him with her ponytail.

The emotion and presence did not match from last Sunday, but that’s really because WWE has no clue how to book babyfaces. Bianca is a damn star. Let her talk. She was brilliant after her win on Sunday. She didn’t even need to sell it because that was real. We need more of that.

The Rest

Big E defeated Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn

Big E knew he signed up for fights by being champion. He really is such a wonderful talker.

Crews’ strength was on full display here. He launched himself over the top rope and took out Big E, and then did a moonsault from the apron to the floor. Even my gut hurt from that. Zayn tried for a Blue Thunder Bomb but couldn’t get E up. E sent Crews of the rope and I almost jumped because it looked nasty. But he came back in and got a near fall on Zayn. Incredible height on a frog splash! Crews took Zayn out but fell to the Big Ending. This was a great match and boy did Crews look pissed. I’m excited to see what comes of that!

Cesaro defeated Daniel Bryan

These two locked up immediately. Bryan had urgency and aggression right from the jump. Cesaro threw Bryan up for an uppercut but Bryan took him down and tried for the Yes Lock. Cesaro’s head was already bleeding. Bryan stomped on that bleeding head and went for the running knee and Cesaro transitioned into a Backbreaker. I did not expect Cesaro to make Bryan tap, but as Bryan’s said in the past, he wants to put guys over. Cesaro going back to show respect to Bryan was intriguing! Rumor mills swirled saying that Cesaro was originally planned to be in the Nakamura spot weeks ago, so maybe a face turn incoming?

Bayley defeated Ruby Riott

I really hope they never make this Billie Kay stuff bad. It’s so so good, y’all. She was at commentary claiming that she didn’t take Riott’s and Morgan’s discussion as them telling her they didn’t want her around. Some really awesome spots in the match, like when Bayley launched Riott into the top turnbuckle head first and I nearly gout Carmella from the Royal Rumble vibes. She also sold her arm like it was broken, and of course Kay tried to help but it didn’t work. Loved Billie going up to Bayley with her resume.

Dirty Dawgz defeated Otis and Chad Gable

Roode and Ziggler have new music, and it sounded pretty good! Y’all I have no clue what happened in this match because I was totally distracted by the new box that popped up with the Street Profits doing Cole’s and Graves’ jobs. All I know is Roode and Ziggler have new music, and Roode and Ziggler won. My apologies to Otis and Gable.

Dominik Mysterio defeated King Corbin

Dominik was the super underdog for most of this match, but I actually like what they did here. Both Corey and Corbin were selling Dom needing to split from his father in order to become something, while Cole was selling Dom’s babyface qualities linked with his father. Corbin got out of the 619 path and hit the Deep Six. Rey crawled under the ring and grabbed Corbin’s leg and Dom took advantage with a 619, frog splash, and victory.

Grade: A-

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NXT recap & reactions: Spinning the Wheels

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NXT returned last night (Jan. 27) from the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida. You can find the results from the live blog here.

Spinning the Wheels

The main event this week was a tag match, in a show jam packed with them, featuring the former enemies Finn Bálor & Kyle O’Reilly facing the tag team champions of Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch in a non-title match.

The match itself was good, though it was easy to be tired of tag team matches given there were so many. Finn Bálor played the face in peril with the heels working his arm, and O’Reilly was the hot tag who won decisively with a submission.

After the match, Pete Dunne showed up to employ a handicap beat down of the victors before Adam Cole and Roderick Strong ran the Kings of NXT off.

All in all, this angle is spinning its wheels. Kyle and Finn had an entertaining feud against each other, but there’s little spark in this story of them playing reluctant allies against Pete Dunne and the tag champs. In general, NXT has been missing a spark, and much of the issue is there’s nothing hot going on with the main titles. (The women’s title still doesn’t have clear direction, only starting to unveil that after weeks.)

I do give them props for making the act of Finn Bálor literally stepping back to stand shoulder to shoulder with the ERA feel like a very important moment, but that wasn’t enough to make this feel main event worthy.

This story needs a spark to make it feel deserving of a top spot on a card with TakeOver only a couple weeks away.

Friendship Goals

Raquel González and Dakota Kai predictably defeated Jessi Kamea and Aliyah to advance in the Dusty.

There isn’t much to say about the match. Dakota did much of the work, but González took care of business in the end. It wasn’t anything spectacular but did what it set out to do: Remind us that González is dominant.

However, what I appreciate the most is the evolving relationship between Dakota Kai and Raquel González. Raquel debuted as Dakota’s bodyguard last year. She was clearly working for Kai, with the focus being advancing Kai’s career.

Then Raquel started to breakout on her own, and instead of dropping the team or feuding, the dynamic shifted. Dakota was more than happy to try to play the role of support for the ascending González. She even got closed into a locker for her aid during Raquel’s Last Woman Standing match against Rhea Ripley. And now they’re functioning as a team, both working to that common goal.

They may be bad gals, but I dig this friendship.

Elevation

The opening bout in the night of tags featured MSK taking on Drake Maverick & Killian Dain.

One thing I have in general appreciated about the Dusty Classic is how they use it to elevate tag teams to a more serious status. Dain and Drake were a ful on comedy bit when they started off. With time and now a spot in the Dusty, they were featured as more of a respectable tag team.

They DNA of the team is still there: Dain is the threat and Maverick is the ‘weak link.’ But this week, Drake held his own. He wasn’t the liability as he had played in the past. That’s important if they want this team to be more than just a comedy act. (Which to be fair, if that’s what NXT wants, that’s a good role for them.)

The team still doesn’t feel like a cohesive unit. There’s still a feel of two guys who are in a tag team match together as opposed to a duo actually working together. It’s part of who they are, though hopefully they evolve into more of a team.

On the other side of the ring, MSK are very exciting. I have some experience watching them as the Rascalz in Impact, but I’m many months removed from watching Impact so I don’t know the caliber of work when they left. That said, they feel more special here. They’re unique in style and personality. I was excited for this match because of them this week and I’m excited to see what they do next round.

Superb Underdog

My favorite match of the night was the Dusty quarterfinal bout where the Grizzled Young Veterans defeating Kushida and Leon Ruff.

It was the only Dusty match of the night that really felt like the finish wasn’t the foregone conclusion. Yes, GYV were the favorites. But Ruff and Kushida picked up a big first round win.

This match accomplished the task of getting me to a point that I really wanted the underdog team to win. Leon Ruff just does a fantastic job working a match as a sympathetic character. His personality makes it so easy to root for him. Meanwhile, the GYV aren’t flashy, but their style allows you to easily root against them. Then it’s all the more disappointing when they win.

After the match. Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory attacked Ruff & Kushy, revenge for their loss to them last week. They were eventually scared off by Dexter Lumis, who has issues with the Way as well given he lost a North American title match in a less than clean manner.

Who’s next?

It looks like Io Shirai may have to defend her title in a triple threat match.

Toni Storm called out the champ, but after Shirai answered, Mercedes Martinez inserted herself into all of this. With Storm and Martinez not on the same page despite being a one and done tag team, there’s enough here to go with the triple threat.

Honestly, a triple threat makes sense. There are so many women deserving of a title match, running a program with two of them at once helps move the line along. And if there’s a person they want for a singles match with the champ down the line, they don’t take the pin.

It’s not official, but it’s our best guess of what’s next for the champion.

All the Rest:

– Bronson Reed went over Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. It’s clear they’re building up Reed big time. I question doing it at the expense of Swerve, who hasn’t won anything of significance at all in his time in NXT. I think a win to split a series with Jake Atlas (who also never wins) was his biggest achievement. They need to find a program for Scott he can walk out victorious.

– Curt Stallion was supposed to have a cruiserweight title match this week. But he was attacked prior so it was push until next week. William Regal figures El Legado del Fantasma are the culprits, and while he’s probably right, Karrion Kross leaving a calling card on Santos Escobar’s bag makes me wonder if he’s the real attacker. I don’t see what his motive would be though.

– Malcolm Bivens scheduled Tyler Rust a cupcake match up to pick up an easy week after Rust tried to do his own business last week and booked himself in a match with Bronson Reed. Rust won so Malcolm is earning is money.

With the abundance of tag matches and lack of any real hot angles, this show felt like it dragged on. Nothing was outwardly bad. Each segment would have worked well on a show that had some hot angles. But this felt like a bunch of supplemental stories strung together, leaving this to feel like a duller episode of NXT.

Grade: C+

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