WWE NXT
Episode 536
Original Air Date: November 27, 2019
Event Date: November 27, 2019
(aired live on USA)
City: Winter Park, FL
Venue: Full Sail University
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix
Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor
Video
This past Saturday, WarGames happened.
Ring Area
As Josiah Williams raps, the locker room empties and heads to the ring to celebrate NXT’s victory at Survivor Series. The Undisputed Era crashes the party. Adam Cole says the only reason NXT was successful this past weekend was because the Undisputed Era carried them to victory.
In the ring, Tommaso Ciampa (flanked by Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and Dominik Dijakovic) says Cole is talking a lot for someone who lost at WarGames. This past Saturday was the beginning of the end for UE, and tonight the collapse continues.
Finn Balor comes out and walks past the Undisputed Era. Balor says he is standing in Ciampa’s way as Ciampa focuses on taking Cole’s NXT Title. Ciampa challenges Balor, and Balor seems to accept. After a few moments, Keith Lee invites Fish and O’Reilly into the ring for their scheduled Tag Title defense.
Match 1
NXT Tag Team Title Match
Dominik Dijakovic & Keith Lee vs Roderick Strong (NA Champ) & Kyle O’Reilly (Tag Champ)
(referee: DA Brewer)
Result: Roderick Strong pins Dominik Dijakovic after Total Domination
Time: 13:24 (2 breaks)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was supposed to be Fish and O’Reilly defending the titles, but Fish was injured during the first minute of the match. After a commercial break, Roderick Strong had replaced Fish so the match could continue. That replacement definitely gave the match a lot of tension since it seemed like Lee and Dijakovic would be able to take advantage of someone who wasn’t ready to compete tonight and wasn’t even in his ring gear. O’Reilly and Strong were tag champs together before though, so they didn’t really miss much of a beat.
Lee and Dijakovic worked together pretty well, but they still seemed to have some tension between them. Strong and O’Reilly were able to capitalize on Lee and Dijakovic’s lack of cohesion as a team, and a sacrifice by Adam Cole late in the match further exposed the rift between the two giant rivals. This was a fun match all around. I just hope Bobby Fish is okay.
Backstage
Cathy Kelley asks Candice LeRae about Dakota Kai. All LeRae keeps thinking about is being trapped in the WarGames cage while Kai attacked Tegan Nox. LeRae is pissed, and she’s going to take it out on Kai tonight.
Backstage
Lio Rush warms up.
Backstage
Akira Tozawa also warms up.
Match 2
Shane Thorne vs Mansoor
(referee: Drake Wuertz)
Result: Mansoor wins via pinfall after a slingshot neckbreaker
Time: 3:02
Match Thoughts
This was a nice match. It definitely felt like a showcase for Mansoor, but Thorne did get in some nice moves to make Mansoor work for it. The match was short, but I liked what both men did in it.
Match 3
Candice LeRae vs Dakota Kai
(referee: Darryl Sharma)
Result: Candice LeRae wins via DQ when Kai hits LeRae with Tegan Nox’s knee brace
Time: 9:07 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Kai was very aggressive in her newfound persona. Kai’s style (i.e.: lots of kicks) lends itself well to a bad guy, and she kicked LeRae a bunch tonight. LeRae was angry though, and she gave as much damage as she took. It didn’t feel like anything would be settled tonight, and sure enough, nothing was settled by the end of the match. Still, despite a cop-out finish, this was a good match for both women.
Ring Area
After the match, Kai slams LeRae into the ring steps. Kai grabs a chair, but Rhea Ripley stops Kai before she can attack LeRae any more.
Backstage
Cathy Kelley welcomes Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa says it’s Balor’s mistake to stand in Ciampa’s way.
Video
Cameron Grimes hangs out in a swamp as he talks about how good he is.
Match 4
NXT Cruiserweight Title Match
Akira Tozawa vs Lio Rush (Cruiserweight Champ)
(referee: Drake Wuertz)
Result: Lio Rush wins via pinfall after the Final Hour
Time: 9:45 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Great match. Tozawa came into the match displaying a RAW t-shirt, so Tozawa wrestled as a bad guy tonight. He was very aggressive, and that seemed to make Lio Rush more aggressive as well. There were some huge, dangerous-looking moves throughout the match. At one point it looked like Tozawa was nearly knocked out. Rush also hit Tozawa with some stiff kicks and an elbow strike that led into the final sequence of the match. This was a lot more hard-hitting than I expected, and I loved it.
Backstage
Cathy Kelley welcomes Finn Balor. Balor will welcome Ciampa to his world tonight, and his world is very dark.
Match 5
Xia Li vs Vanessa Borne
(referee: Stephon Smith)
Result: Xia Li wins via pinfall after a spinning kick
Time: 1:11
Match Thoughts
I expected more from this since Li put Borne’s friend Aliyah out of action, but this was a very dominant squash by Li. Li looked very strong tonight.
Ring Area
After the match, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir attack Xia Li. Li does her best to fight back, but she is overwhelmed. Baszler hits Li with a running knee strike.
With Li gone, Baszler talks about beating both the RAW and SmackDown Women’s champions at the same time. Rhea Ripley interrupts as she heads to the ring. As Ripley enters the ring, Baszler and her friends leave. Ripley calls Baszler back to the ring to congratulate her on beating Bayley and Becky. Ripley then reminds Baszler that she beat Baszler in WarGames. Next time Ripley beats Baszler it will be for the NXT Women’s Championship.
Baszler has heard this all before. The reality of the situation is that Ripley will be tapping or napping just like everyone before her. Ripley challenges Baszler to do it right now, but Baszler declines the invitation.
Match 6
Tommaso Ciampa vs Finn Balor
(referee: Jessika Carr)
Result: Finn Balor wins via pinfall after 1916 (also after a kick from Cole to Ciampa)
Time: 9:02 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. I’d like to see this again when they could maybe give us a shenanigan-free ending, but I understood why the match ended like it did. Adam Cole came down to the ring late in the match and made his presence felt, but before that we got a very good match between to very good wrestlers.
Ring Area
After the match, Adam Cole enters the ring and stands beside Balor. Both men look down at Ciampa and pose, but Balor hits Cole with a surprise overhead kick. Balor leaves the ring with both Cole and Ciampa down as the show ends.
Show Impressions
This was a very good show. It was a nice starting point for the post-WarGames an post-Survivor-Series story lines.
Match of the Night
Akira Tozawa vs Lio Rush
I probably could have picked the main event as well, but the shenanigans during the finish of Balor vs Ciampa led me to pick the Cruiserweight Title match instead.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2019-11-27