Below, we have the NXT results from the Tuesday, January 11th show, along with highlights and headlines coming from tonight.
NXT Results, highlights and headlines from last week’s show
WWE NXT Results 1/11
Santos Escobar w / Legado Del Phantasma def. Xyon Quinn
Tony D’Angelo Promo: Tonight, he’ll beat Pete Dunne with a crowbar just like… his dog?
Mandy Rose Photo Shoot: She looks good and is still champ
Cameron Grimes def. Damon Kemp
Joe Gacy and Harland Promo: They will win the Dusty Classis, and bring a safe space to all of NXT
Edris Edolfe & Malik Blade def. Joe Gacy & Harland via DQ to qualify for Dusty Cup Tournament
Imperium Promo: The slobs of America can’t understand their success or talent
Tony D’Angelo def. Pete Dunne in a Crowbar on a Pole Match
Grayson Waller Promo: He deserves to be in the main event, proving he’s in the right
Toxic Attraction Promo: They are the attraction of NXT, and no one can come close to them.
Indi Hartwell, Persia Perotta & Wendy Choo def. Amari Miller, Kayci Catanzaro & Kayden Karter
MSK and Dakota Kai Promo: MSK is still focused on winning back the tag titles, Dakota Kai is still crazy.
Kay Lee Ray Promo: If Mandy has time to take photos, she has time to defend her title. Oh, and KLR destroys perfectly fine camera equipment.
Solo Sikoa vs. Boa Ends in a Count Out, brawl backstage
AJ Styles Promo: He loves the passion of NXT, but Grayson Waller doesn’t have it or belongs in NXT.
Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams Promo: Melo proved he’s the A Champion, and sets up feud with Cameron Grimes.
AJ Styles def. Grayson Waller
NXT Highlights From 1/11
Xyon Quinn Shows Great Promise, but Most Importantly Takes the Loss
Xyon Quinn may just have the best overall look of anyone in NXT 2.0, but so far his green in-ring skills and sometimes chalky promo work has left him a bit of an uncertainty in terms of just how good he could be. The solution to these doubts? Put him in the ring with Santos Escobar who is one of, if not the best in-ring talent in NXT right now, so he’s a great pairing for less experienced talent like Quinn.
But with the assumption being that this match would be a loss for Escobar, it was great to see the total package get the push here while still making Quinn look good. They even managed to make the “will they/won’t they” angle with Elektra Lopez work by making it a “won’t they.” A nut to the boots from Lopez sealed the deal here. Hopefully, this ends this feud and pushes Escobar up the card in pursuit of a title while continuing to build up Quinn in the background.
Crowbar on a Pole Match? Not as Dumb as it Sounds
Pete Dunne and Tony D’Angelo have been feuding since the lead-up to War Games, and this blowoff match here broke through a seemingly dumb gimmick to shine. Anything on a pole should make a wrestling fans’ heart palpitate, but here, Tony and Pete managed to have a good match with just an added touch of brutality which was well planned.
Most refreshing in the “star building” climate of NXT 2.0 was also a match where both guys were over with the crowd. This crowd likes D’Angelo’s gimmick a lot, and after the win here, I hope they realize they can return to the tweener/babyface role that got him super over before War Games made him turn more towards being the bad guy. For Dunne, he looked great here and really carried the match in stretches. His strikes and creative bumping with the crowbar did a lot to get over this outcome and match as a whole.
I’m nervous for what they do with Dunne from here, as he’s an endangered species as a holdover from NXT 1.0. But, if WWE continues to make the most of his skills, he remains one of the most consistent great wrestlers on the whole planet.
I Love Wendy Choo
This highlight isn’t a novel, but I don’t care. WWE gave us a character who has been napping on TV for TWO MONTHS. And then, she debuted and… I love her. Don’t get me wrong, there are pretty apparent similarities to AEW’s Orange Cassidy that border on gimmick theft, but the slacker who wakes up in the ring to sleepwalk through her opponents is awesome. Well, awesome in a very dumb way. Let’s see how they use Wendy Choo from here, but this six-Women Tag may have been the match of the night. There’s a reason why the biggest pop of the whole match was Choo yawning underneath a clothesline. Why take your wrestling so seriously, right?
AJ Styles and Grayson Waller Live Up to the Height
The overexposure of Grayson Waller may be annoying to some, but matches like this show why he was given the opportunity to attack Johnny Gargano on his last night in NXT. A brilliant match that should be watched, Waller had many chances to almost defeat the future hall of famer, but near count after near count left Waller in desperation mode.
The story was that AJ Styles was just too good for where Waller is right now, and since Waller’s whole thing has been the moment being more important than the grind, this result was well thought out narratively. A win for Styles makes the match feel bigger, leaves the door open for more storyline development, but also gave Waller a lot of shine as he heads into a feud with LA Knight again. Not to mention, Knight got a huge pop to close the show, so this feud seems like it could be a hit and continue the monster ascension of Grayson Waller in NXT 2.0.
NXT Lowlights From 1/11
Joe Gacy is Holding Back Harland
I don’t want to jump the gun here, but so far Joe Gacy is just holding back the monster that could be Harland. I’ve liked some of the destruction Harland has dished out in recent weeks, but the hypocritical teachings of Gacy as he “holds him back” haven’t really worked for me.
The big thing is I can’t figure out what Gacy wants. I’m okay with his character, but since all of his points are meant to be BS, it’s impossible to see where he actually wants to take himself and Harland. This week, he cut two promos on winning the Dusty Classic, then let Harland DQ them and miss the tourney altogether. Now, they could still enter the tournament, but why didn’t Gacy care? His character can be good, but he needs to be more straightforward just so the audience knows what’s happening. Because all that happened tonight was not being sure where these two are going from here after a poor booking decision.
WWE Headlines
WWE announced this week that Impact Women’s Champion Mickie James will be entering the Women’s Royal Rumble, marking the first time WWE has even mentioned the other promotion, let alone had one of their stars compete. Rumors are now circulating that WWE may be willing to work with other free agent stars or similar promotions to Impact potentially moving forward.
Tonight’s NXT 2.0 served in many ways as a Night 2 for New Year’s Evil. All of the feuds that didn’t have room last week were featured this week, with Santos Escobar vs. Xyon Quinn, D’Angelo vs. Dunne, and Styles vs. Waller being especially highlighted. It didn’t come close to the quality of New Year’s Evil, but it still did well to give some stories fitting conclusions and overall was a show that was definitely worth the watch. The main event, in particular, would have fit in just fine on any big card NXT puts on moving forward.
