WWE NXT Review: December 4, 2019

WWE NXT Review: December 4, 2019 by Felix Pichler

Killian Dain vs. Pete Dunne

Mauro Ranallo checked in from the commentary balcony but was interrupted by Killian Dain who was in the ring. Since the scheduled match between him and Damien Priest got cancelled due to an injury of Priest, he demanded another opponent for a match. Pete Dunne made his entrance and they had the opening fight of this show.

The two competitors had a great clash which lasted about 15 minutes. In the final stage of the match, both men were on the ropes in the corner. Dunne applied the Sleeper and due to that Dain faded away. He fell asleep and fell down. Both men went down and as Dain fell on top of Dunne, he made unconscious the pin for the victory.

Opinion: First of all, it made sense to put Dunne instead of Priest in this match since these three men are currently in a kind of a feud. The match was great as they received enough time to work together and the ending was also good. They didn’t let look Dunne really weak due to the defeat while Dain continues to pick up wins. A good opener of the show.

Rating: A

Promo of the Undisputed Era

Dakota Kai got interviewed in the backstage area by Cathy Kelly. She said that Tegan Nox wouldn’t be worth her time and that Rhea Ripley would be stupid. She added that she would take out Ripley tonight as she took out Mia Yim.

Then Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly came out and made their entrance. Bobby Fish wasn’t there due to his injury. Cole started by saying that the UE had a November to remember. He added that the month may be over, but the year of the Prophesy has just begun. He recapped that Keith Lee sent him last week flying into the crowd and said that he wouldn’t be a ragdoll. Then Cole said that he wouldn’t leave this ring until he gets an explanation from Finn Balor for his kick. Then Lee made his entrance and joined the UE in the ring. O’Reilly called him the moment maker as he had great moments within the last time, but no championship while the Undisputed Era had all the gold.

Lee answered that he needs to give UE credit, but noted that he’s not just a moment maker but a game-changer. He also added that he has made Cole a viral GIF. Lee looked down on O’Reilly’s Tag Team Championship and got an answer as O’Reilly asked him where he would be looking at since his eyes are “up here”. Then Cole started talking again and cheap shot Lee. However, Lee was able to fight off all three men and as Cole wanted to escape, Tommaso Ciampa appeared at ringside to toss the NXT Champion back into the ring. Lee wanted to hit him with the Spirit Bomb, but Strong and O’Reilly saved him and escaped through the crowd.

Opinion: A Solid segment to put heat on the UE while they once more brought over Lee. Also, good stuff to give O’Reilly at least a bit time to talk as he’s one of the funniest guys on the roster. Nothing bad to say about this segment, but it wasn’t the absolute best promo of these superstars.

Rating: B+

NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Xia Li in a non-title match

Ahead of this match, we saw a video package which focused on Kushida’s recovery from his injury as he returned this night. They showed how he spent time with his wife and his daughter. His final words of this video package were that he’s not just fighting for himself, but for his family.

Then, the match between Shayna Baszler and Xia Li kicked off. After about four minutes, Baszler applied the Kirafuda Clutch for the win.

Opinion: The video package about Kushida was well-done and he’ll surely have a good comeback later that night. The match was solid and good work from Baszler carrying Li through this match and logically that they gave the win to the NXT Women’s Champion.

Rating: B+

“The Forgotten Sons” Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler (w/ Jaxson Ryker) vs. Adrian Atlantis and Leon Ruff

Before this match started, we saw Kassius Ohno who said that he’s not just a knockout artist, but a wrestling genius. He hyped up the event World’s Collide and added that he would give Full Sail a little preview.

Then the Forgotten Sons bet their opponents after not even two minutes. After the match, Jaxson Ryker even sent Leon Ruff with a Chokeslam to the outside of the ring what looked absolutely brutal.

Opinion: First of all, I’m looking forward to seeing Ohno back in action on NXT. However, on the other side the Forgotten Sons are for me just lost in no man’s land. I think they need a new gimmick or in general, a restart to fulfil their potential. Anyways, this match was neither really bad nor anything special.

Rating: C

Baszler’s insult

Then the match between Dakota Kai and Rhea Ripley was scheduled. Kai made her entrance while we saw on the big screen scenes from her attack on Nox what made the entrance just great. Then Ripley came on the stage with a microphone and said that Kai’s setup at TakeOver was clever, but that she would have her own setup now. Mia Yim walked out and bet up Kai at ringside. They continued their brawl in the ring, but the ref didn’t start the match since it wasn’t scheduled. They continued to brawl in the crowd and then went backstage.

Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir came out to attack Ripley. At first, she was able to fight the three women off, but in the end, she had no chance. Then, referees came out to stop the attack. Ripley was lying on the ground while Bszler took a mic and said that she would also want a title match on 18 December.

After that, we saw Kelly who interviewed Lee and Ciampa in the backstage area and announced the UE vs. Lee, Ciampa and a mystery partner for the main event. However, she wanted to know who the third superstar on their team would be. Dominik Dijakovic came into the picture to reveal that he would be the mystery partner.

Then a little video of an interview with Balor aired. He said that UE wants to bear the flag of NXT, but he said that he would be the original flagbearer. He added that everyone else plays checkers while he plays chess. He ended this segment by saying: “Adam Cole? Checkmate.”

Opinion: Good angle to give Yim the chance to get some revenge and the attack of Baszler and the MMA Horsewomen also made sense. I’m looking forward to this Championship match and they once more let Ripley look incredibly strong as at first, she was able to fight off all three women at once. Then we saw a typical backstage interview as it was clear that we would get this match, but the interview of Balor was good.

Rating: A

Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno

Since both men are great wrestlers, we saw a solid match. Even though they had less than 10 minutes, it was still a well-worked fight with Matt Riddle performing the Bro Derek in the end for the win.

Opinion: For new viewers, Ohno looks like a guy who talks much but lost his first match on NXT. Due to that, this win doesn’t seem meaningful at all for Riddle. However, people who watch NXT for a longer time know that Ohno is a hell of an athlete.

Rating: B-

Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes

Kushida was already in the ring as his scheduled opponent Raul Mendoza made his entrance. However, Cameron Grimes hit him with the Standing Double Stomp to take him out and replace him. So, we got to see the match between Kushida and Grimes which didn’t even take five minutes. In the end, Kushida got his opponent with a rollup for the win.

After the match, they hyped Lio Rush vs Angel Garza and Dakota Kai vs Mia Yim both for next week’s episode.

Opinion: Logical way to give the win to Kushida as it was his return. Grimes still delivered a good performance, but we’ll see if this might result in a feud between these two which could be quite interesting.

Rating: B

“Undisputed Era” Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Dominik Dijakovic

As you would expect they delivered an outstanding match. In the end, suddenly Balor appeared and hit Cole with a dropkick. This sent the NXT Champion into the corner where O’Reilly, Dijakovic were on the middle rope and the ref also stood there. O’Reilly and Dijakovic went down to the ringside while Cole and the ref were taken out.

This gave Balor the chance to hit Ciampa with a Bloody Sunday, however, Lee showed up to hit Balor with a Spirit Bomp. Cole wanted to hit Lee with the Last Shot, but he countered with a Jackhammer for the pinfall victory.

After the fight, we saw Balor recovering at ringside while all other men were also down except for Lee. William Regal came out to announce that next week we would get a match between Lee, Ciampa and Balor to declare the superstar who would face on 18 December Cole for the NXT Championship.

Opinion: A great main event with an outstanding finish. A good call to put Lee in this match while it was clear that we would get Balor vs Ciampa to declare the real number one contender. They continue to let Balor like the guy who isn’t on anybody’s side but just beating up everyone. A great way to close the show.

Rating: A+

Summary

This episode was really good, but I can’t imagine how incredible the episode of the 18 December will be. We’ll see Ripley vs Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship and also Cole will defend his title against one of three top wrestlers. However, this episode was really great as we had a good mixture of promos, video packages and matches.

Rating: B+