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NXT opened 2020 with its first episode that showcased some incredible in-ring action.
The new NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley couldn’t wait to come out and address the fans, while Roderick Strong waited patiently to see who’d be his next challenger.
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic rang in the new year with two fantastic tag team matches. The Undisputed Era managed to overcome Gallus while Imperium outperformed The Forgotten Sons in their respective matches.
Apart from that, Johnny Gargano also came out this week to address the NXT Universe and Finn Balor was not too far behind in coming out to taunt the former NXT Champion.
In this article, we will look at the 4 things NXT got right on this week’s episode.
#4 Theory’s first win
In case you missed the North American Championship match on the Christmas Special between Roderick Strong and Austin Theory, then we suggest you go back and watch it immediately!
The newcomer made his mark with his debut performance in the ring and was back in action against Joaquin Wilde.
While the action in the match wasn’t remotely as good as in the one between Strong and Theory, it was good enough to push the latter forward on the Black and Gold brand by allowing him to pick up a dominating victory.
It was incredible to watch how quick Theory can move in the ring and counter his opponent without messing up at all. All of this showcased the amount of talent he has, and gave the fans a glimpse of what's to come from the Superstar.
This was a great segment and match that allowed him to start building up on NXT after a great show on his debut (although he lost that match).
#3 Gargano vs. Balor
It’s a bit surprising how slow NXT is taking the rivalry between Johnny Gargano and Finn Balor, but they could be doing so to give Gargano more time to recover from his injury.
This week, Johnny Wrestling came out to address Balor and the NXT Universe. Gargano wasn’t happy with his current opponent's betrayal after walking into the Black and Gold brand again and he claimed that The Prince has made a habit of walking out on NXT and then coming back in whenever he liked.
This brought out the former NXT & Universal Champion who give it back to Gargano and ensured that he made it clear that he was actually the Prince of NXT.
This was a good segment that helped push this rivalry forward even though both men aren’t the finest at delivering promos. They worked well off each other and utilized their star power to further this feud without getting physical.
The NXT Universe can’t wait for these two men to compete in the ring against each other, but it may take some time before they start delivering show-stealing matches.
The segment did well to keep the two men in the fans’ mind while the rest of the episode settled things inside the ring.
#2 Women’s Champions
The show was opened by none other than the new NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. With former Champion Shayna Baszler absent from the show, it was the former NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm who walked out to challenge Ripley for Worlds Collide.
Storm also believed she could defeat Kay Lee Ray for the NXT UK Championship on Sunday, but Lee Ray came out to take exception.
While the two women alone can put on stellar matches, it didn’t take long before Io Shirai and Bianca Belair also came out to lay their claims to a Championship match.
Candice LeRae was a little late to the party but she also wanted a shot at the title, which made things even more interesting.
There is no question that each of the five women in the ring can hold NXT upon their shoulders, and Ripley will have to fight hard in order to extend her reign for as long as possible.
The six women fought in a tag team match, with Storm, Ripley, and LeRae taking on Belair, Shirai, and Lee Ray. The Nightmare delivered a Riptide to The EST of NXT to pick up the victory for her team.
This segment and the match did exceptionally well to show the world how deep the NXT women’s roster runs. Ripley will have a handful of challengers to look out for in the coming weeks, and things could get very interesting once she faces LeRae and Shirai.
#1 Strong’s strongest challenger
The NXT Universe wanted a strong competitor to step up to Roderick Strong for the North American Championship, and the Black and Gold brand booked the biggest match possible to give him his future challenger.
Damian Priest, Dominik Dijakovic, Cameron Grimes, and Keith Lee squared off in the main event to give the fans a match to remember right at the beginning of the year.
All four men got their chance to show their skills and shine, but Grimes seemed to be a bit out of place between the other three huge Superstars.
The match was little about athleticism and all about size and strength, and we saw all four men deliver some explosive moves to keep the fans at the edge of their seats.
While Grimes seemed to be closing in on the victory, The Limitless One delivered a vicious Spirit Bomb to pick up the win.
Lee is heavily over with the WWE Universe at the moment, and he deserves to get a run with the title before the creatives try to rush him to RAW or SmackDown.
The Limitless One should defeat Strong in their match to win the North American Championship in order to retain all his value and credibility that he has so well earned in the past couple of months.
