WWE NXT Review: February 26, 2020

WWE NXT Review: February 26, 2020 by Felix Pichler

Dominik Dijakovic vs. Cameron Grimes

We kicked this episode of NXT off with this interesting fight between Dominik Dijakovic and Cameron Grimes. In the final phase, Dijakovic was on the apron while Grimes was lying in the ring and the ref checked on him. Suddenly, Damien Priest came into the picture and attacked Dijakovic from behind with a tonfa. Dijakovic went down and bet the count out of the referee at nine, just to then be planted with the Cave In and Grimes pinned him for the win.

Opinion: This Standing Double Stump looked incredibly nasty and I am a fan of Grimes. Due to that, I’m happy that they gave the victory to him and used the attack of Priest to don’t let Dijakovic look that weak.

Rating: B

Finn Balor’s promo

Finn Balor came out to cut a promo in which he said that he builds up brands as he did in Mexico, Japan and now in the WWE. He asked who would be the next to get that “Finn rub”. Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel interrupted him and came out.

Barthel noted that he never won the NXT UK Championship and added that Walter would send him his regards. Then, a brawl between these three men broke out in which Barthel and Aichner made use of their numerical advantage to leave Balor lying.

Opinion: So, we will get Balor vs. Walter? This will be an interesting feud and surely a great match. I’m really looking forward to that.

Rating: B+

Xia Li vs. Mia Yim

This match didn’t even take three minutes as then Dakota Kai and Reina Gonzalez came out and walked down the ramp. This distracted Mia Yim and Xia Li rolled her up for the quick pin. Gonzalez went after Yim, but Li wanted to make the save. In the end, Gonzalez destroyed both women.

After that, we saw Velveteen Dream in front of a mirror in a room with pink lightning. He said that last week’s match against Roderick Strong wasn’t enough since the Undisputed Era broke his back. He asked William Regal for a Steel Cage match against Strong.

Opinion: Good angle in this match what will lead to a tag match between the faces and the heels. Kai and Gonzalez seem to be an interesting combination while the little promo by Dream was once more well delivered.

Rating: B

Austin Theory vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Austin Theory had way more moments in which he showed off his offensive moves than I expected him to have as the fight took almost 10 minutes. In the end, Tommaso Ciampa performed the Fairy Tail Ending for the victory. After the match, Johnny Gargano attacked Ciampa and they brawled in the ring. Theory tried to get involved, but Ciampa tossed him away what gave Gargano the chance to perform a Superkick followed by a Running Knee

Opinion: Strong match by both performers and a logical post-match attack by Gargano. Theory continues to show great performances and I hope that we don’t have to wait that long until he gets a major push.

Rating: B

Branson Reed vs. Killian Dain

Both big men have a lot of agility what we saw in this match which took just about six minutes. It was no typical squash match (what we rarely see on NXT compared to the other WWE shows) but in the end, Killian Dain performed the Vader Bomb for the three count.

Opinion: A short but good match between these two men. Let’s see where this leads to for Dain.

Rating: B

“The Grizzled Young Veterans” Zack Gibson and James Drake vs. “The Forgotten Sons” Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake (w/ Jaxson Ryker)

This was clearly one of the best matches of the Forgotten Sons but, in the end, Zack Gibson and James Drake performed the Ticket to Mayhem for the win.

After the match, Tegan Nox got interviewed in the backstage area about next week’s cage match against Kai. She explained that this time Gonzalez won’t be a factor and added that Kai started this feud in a cage, and she will end it in a cage.

Opinion: Good match and a strong interview. Until now, there was nothing bad in this episode, but also nothing too crazy, but the biggest match of this night is still to come.

Rating: B

Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair

Then, it was finally time for the main event of this episode of NXT. No woman was really able to dominate this match for a longer period as we saw several counter-attacks. In the final phase of this match, Charlotte Flair performed a Spear followed by the Natural Selection to then get the pinfall.

As the match was over, Charlotte brought a chair in the ring as Rhea Ripley’s music hit and she made her usual entrance what gave the Queen the chance to lock in the Figure 8 against Belair. As Ripley entered the ring, Flair went to the ringside and left.

Opinion: A good match and great to see a new opponent for Charlotte. However, why did Ripley her full entrance instead of hurrying up to help Belair? This was really weird.

Rating: B+

Summary

An extremely solid episode of NXT without anything bad. There wasn’t this one big moment, but you can’t have such every single week. Due to that, great work by WWE’s best show.

Rating: B+