Below, we have the NXT results from the Tuesday, December 7th show, along with highlights and headlines coming from tonight.
NXT Results, highlights and headlines from last week’s show
WWE NXT Results 12/7
Von Wagoner def. Kyle O’Reilly in a steel cage match, attacked O’Reilly after the match with cage door
Joe Gacy and Harland promo: Together they can change the world, and Harland debuts in-ring next week
Bron Breakker promo: He wants one more shot at Tommaso Ciampa, but Diamond Mine interrupts and says Roddy Strong wants Breakker next week
Briggs & Jensen def. Creed Brothers
Von Wagoner promo: His War Games have just begun
Duke Hudson promo: He wore a wig, sets up a no-holds barred match with Cameron Grimes
Grayson Waller and LA Knight fight over a girl in the parking lot
Dexter Lumis def. Carmelo Hayes w/ Trick Williams
MSK promo: They reach the shaman, and Matt Riddle imparts some wisdom
Persia Perrotta and Indi Hartwell promo: Perrotta asks Indi to focus on their tag team, Indi ignores her
Toxic Attraction def. Yulisa Leon & Royce
Mandy Rose promo: Toxic Attraction still runs NXT, and Cora Jade calls her out for the title alongside Raquel Gonzalez
Tiffany Stratton promo: She plans on bringing her Olympic pedigree to NXT
Tony D’Angelo promo: He has Pete Dunne’s number, and stole his mouth guard
Santos Escobar def. Xyon Quinn
Diamond Mine promo: Malcom Bivens says Roddy Strong is the champion to watch in NXT, but Carmelo Hayes interrupts to say there’s only one A-Champ and it’s Melo
Johnny Gargano promo: He might be leaving, but a beatdown by Grayson Waller leaves us in doubt
NXT Highlights From 12/7
Bron Breakker and Malcolm Bivens Make Me Laugh
Okay, this highlight isn’t a must-watch, but I genuinely cackled during the Breakker and Bivens promo. First off, I like the idea of Breakker vs. Roderick Strong next week, which this segment set up. It needs to go somewhere, but it keeps Strong in a relevant place on the card and continues the story of Breakker clawing his way back to Tommaso Ciampa. But the real treat here: Malcolm Bivens kept calling Breakker “LeBron Breakker.” Yes, it was very dumb, but hearing the smarmy Bivens ask the walking embodiment of a protein shake “May I call you LeBron?” cracked me up. The humor on NXT 2.0 is usually way too over the top for my taste, but this was right up my alley and a laugh deserves a highlight.
More promos between these two going forward, please.
MSK Do Something Good, Bro
Seven freakin’ weeks we’ve watched MSK drive across country searching for the shaman, and it hasn’t been a very smooth ride. The former tag champs cut dumb segments one after another and it only served to make them feel like a joke. But just when it seemed like finding the shaman would compound the terrible booking, Matt Riddle actually managed to make me care about MSK. The duo did what they should have weeks ago and spoke about how they wanted their gold back. MSK pondered if they had peaked too soon and asked Riddle how they could build themselves up again. While Riddle wasn’t a philosopher here, he was goofy enough to relate to MSK while still being legit enough in his own right to command the screen in his advice. I’m not saying this promo idea was good overall, but I do think after their clam bake with Riddle. I actually care about MSK for the first time on NXT.
Grayson Waller Becomes the Biggest Heel on the Planet
How do you turn someone into the most hateable man in wrestling? Have him jump Johnny Gargano during his farewell speech. Much speculation will be made of the future of Gargano, so let’s start there.
His contract is coming to an end, and parenthood seems to be a certainty to cause at least some break for Johnny Wrestling, but rumors are all over the place if this means he’s gone for good or if this will be a temporary departure. But after tonight, maybe he isn’t going to be gone after all. This segment might be an all-timer, alongside Mark Henry’s fake retirement speech, if it goes the blood feud direction, because just as Gargano had us all crying, Waller put a chair into his back. Gargano thanked everyone in NXT, looked forward to being a father, and just when Mr. NXT seemed certain to say goodbye, a certain Australian bastard came looking for his moment. The beatdown by Waller got him Ciampa levels of heat for his attack on Gargano, and to be honest, I don’t know how things go from here. Because maybe this was how Gargano wanted to go, selflessly making one more star on his way out.
Or maybe, down the road, we’ll get to see one of the best babyfaces to ever lace up his boots come back for revenge. Either way, tonight is another feather in the cap of the legendary Johnny Gargano, and if this was his last moment in NXT, he did what he always has — gave wrestling fans something to talk about.
NXT Lowlights From 12/7
Cameron Grimes Needs to Move On
Cameron Grimes and Duke Hudson have been feuding since the beginning of NXT 2.0, and even a climactic Hair vs. Hair match at War Games hasn’t seemed to end this storyline. Because, tonight, we got a wig-wearing Duke out to the ring to slander the good name of Grimes, who challenged him to a no-holds-bar match next week. So, not only are these two going to have another match, we know Hudson is going to lose again because they need to reveal his embarrassing new hairdo.
Grimes has looked like a star at times in the rivalry, with some stellar promo work lately, but this story certainly has run its course. Cameron Grimes should be on a rocket “to the moon” by now, and poor Duke Hudson doesn’t need another loss. The promo tonight was good between the two, but this storyline has been dumb even its bright spots and now has dragged on too long as well.
Everything Needs More Time
I don’t like to revisit points I’ve made in the past on these articles, but this point needs to be revisited. NXT is far too rushed because of how much it tries to fit into one show. With all of the promos, new character intros, skits and squash matches, it leaves such little time for things to actually play out. There isn’t one thing on the show tonight that couldn’t have used a little more time, and there were some stars who weren’t even featured (wear the heck is Odyssey Jones?).
But it especially showed in the matches tonight, besides the slightly sluggish Von Wagoner vs. Kyle O’Reilly. The men’s tag team match and Escobar vs. Quinn especially each could have gone for another 10 minutes each. NXT has put all of its effort into making new stars, which I can appreciate, but it’s gone the quantity over quality approach. Currently, we just have way too much happening on these shows, and it makes it so otherwise great segments suffer.
NXT Headlines
NXT 2.0 had plenty of headlines to follow this week. War Games was received decently by the wrestling community, with most calling it a good show, but still falling short of typical lofty expectations for past NXT Takeovers. But despite their first pay-per-view, the big news to follow for NXT this week are reports that Kyle O’Reilly and Johnny Gargano both have contracts with WWE set to expire. Rumors are that both will at least take time away from NXT, if not leave altogether for AEW. Following the events of NXT tonight, it looks like O’Reilly especially could be set to join his old Undisputed-Era allies in AEW, while Gargano promised he’d be making fatherhood his job starting in February, but a beatdown by Grayson Waller could change that.
This week, NXT did a little clean-up, but most feuds are set to continue going forward from War Games. Grayson Waller and LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Tony D’Angelo, and even Cameron Grimes and Duke Hudson all seem like they are going to continue their perspective feuds moving into next week. The card for next week’s show was set up well by tonight, and while the show this week wasn’t anything special, it was worth the watch just for the possible swan songs of Johnny Gargano and Kyle O’Reilly in NXT.
