WWE NXT Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for January 4

WWE NXT Source: WWE.com

Find out everything that happened on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT, a super-sized show from a recent tour stop in Melbourne, Australia.

Previously on WWE NXT, the caravan picked up and headed east – way – east – to Japan. We saw – again – Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Samoa Joe to regain the NXT Championship. It was a great moment for the King of Strong Style in front of his countrymen.

A pair of matches for the other championships in NXT also left the crowd excited. Asuka, in her hometown, successfully defended the NXT Women’s Championship against Nia Jax. And DIY retained the NXT Tag Team Championships over Japanese stars Akira Tozawa and the legendary Tajiri in a phenomenal match.

This week, the tour bus stops in Melbourne, Australia. A trio of matches have been announced for the show from Down Under. First, DIY will again defend the NXT Tag Team Championships against a team of locals – this time, Australia’s own TM61.

In addition, a triple threat match between Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, and Billie Kay will help to shape the future of the women’s division. And Elias Samson will team with Bobby Roode to face Tye Dillinger and Buddy Murphy – the first Australian to hold a championship in WWE.

We’ve also been promised the steel cage championship match from a few weeks back between Nakamura and Joe, this time in its entirety. Much like last week, we’ve seen this before – but in a heavily edited version that left the match feeling flat. Hopefully the director’s cut tonight will spice things up a bit.

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Please continue reading for all the highlights from Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT.

Source: WWE.com

The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) vs. Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli

Result: The Revival defeated Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

I like the team of Moss and Sabbatelli. Back in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, I pointed it out when they made their initial appearance as a team. They have a very bright future ahead of them in NXT, and hopefully in WWE one day.

Moss has one of the best fallaway slams I’ve seen in a long time. He got tremendous distance on Dawson – and that’s after he caught him out of mid-air. And Sabbatelli has “the look” that the top people in WWE covet in superstars (okay, Vince McMahon).

The thing about this match that was a little strange is the alignments. While undeniably popular with the fans, The Revival are clearly supposed to be heels. And based off their ring entrance and attitudes, Moss and Sabbatelli are heels, too. It’s an interesting way to kick off a live event, without a clear cut fan favorite for the crowd to get behind.

Of course, by mid-match, it seems that the rookies are supposed to be the babyfaces – Moss gets isolated, deals with double-teaming, makes the hot tag to Tino. Sadly, the crowd wanted no part of it until Tino press slammed Dash – an impressive maneuver, to say the least.

But Dash and Dawson are Top Guys, and they do Top Guy Things. So they put on a clinic in teamwork, blind tags, and rule-bending, until they’re just too much for the rookies. There’s a reason The Revival are on the short list of best tag teams in the world. A great counter into a Shatter Machine, and this one is over.

Elias Samson & Bobby Roode vs. Buddy Murphy & Tye Dillinger

Result: Buddy Murphy & Tye Dillinger defeated Elias Samson & Bobby Roode via pinfall

Rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars

First things first, I need to give props to Elias Samson for fully embracing the dark side. He is owning the character he’s playing – not easy to do when you know that literally everyone hates you. He’s like Jerry on Parks & Rec – even when he does something good, it’s overlooked. But not by me!

Part of what’s making Samson come across so well as such a lousy character is Corey Graves. I know I don’t point it out as much as I could or probably should, but his commentary is the best thing to happen to WWE NXT in a long time. His love for Roode couple with his sheer disdain for Samson sets a great stage.

One major takeaway from this match in my opinion? The rivalry between Tye Dillinger and Bobby Roode is far from over. Roode may be the number one contender for the NXT Championship, but before too long he’ll be matched up against Tye again. Perhaps for the title?

Having Buddy Murphy be the hot tag is the simplest decision that could have been made. Yet WWE’s track record with things like that isn’t the best, so seeing it happen was nice. And real talk: Murphy is possibly the most talented of the four guys in this match at this moment.

Lots of great stuff in both of these tag matches to start the show.

Liv Morgan vs. Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon

Result: Ember Moon defeated Billie Kay and Liv Morgan via pinfall

Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars

Jeez, I didn’t realize that WWE/NXT had so many Aussies on the roster now. Like, I knew, but I didn’t, get it? Buddy Murphy before, Kay here in this match, TM61 later on tonight, Emma maybe on Raw again at some point, and Peyton Royce who somehow didn’t get booked tonight. That’s pretty impressive to see Australia making such a big impact, since you don’t usually think of it as a wrestling hotbed.

The trouble here is Kay being the only heel in a triple threat, but also being the native “hero.” So it takes some doing before the crowd decides to boo her. She’s gotta play the coward first, then directly address the crowd in a demeaning manner.

Scary spot late in this one when Morgan took a backdrop to the outside onto Moon, but kind of undershot it and whacked the ring apron on the way down. I’m sure it looked worse than it was, but man it looked bad.

One complaint: Can whoever produces these matches lay off the Tower of Doom spot? It’s getting a little overplayed. Tonight had at least a little variation, leaving Moon up top to be in position for the Eclipse – which I guess is canon now, and not me being ridiculous trying to come up with a lunar-based named for the O-Face.

Not a bad match, keeps things moving right along tonight.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match

TM61 (Shane Thorne & Nick Miller) vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) (c)

Result: DIY defeated TM61 via pinfall

Rating: 2.7 out of 5 stars

I sat here for the majority of this match, and I couldn’t think of a single thing to talk about until the end. It’s upsetting to me, because I feel like this kind of match should be something that makes me super excited, but I got nothing from the first 75 percent of the match.

Part of the problem is the glut of tag team matches on tonight’s episode. This is the fourth match of the show, and the third tag match. That’s a lot. When you consider that both of the earlier tag matches were pretty good, you really need something special to stand out in the crowd. And for the life of me, I didn’t think anything was particularly special.

Another problem is that DIY had such a great match last week against Tozawa and Tajiri. This week, I just felt that it was a similar enough match, but not as strong as last week’s. TM61 are great, but they’re no Tozawa and Tajiri.

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I think TM61 overall is starting to wear thin on me. They always say wins and losses don’t matter, and to a certain extent that’s true. But at some point, Miller and Thorne need a big, impressive win that builds momentum. They are the most stop and start talent in a long time, and it’s hard to get into what they’re doing because of that.

That said, the ending kicked it up a notch. Gratuitous Tower of Doom spot aside – although, I like the twist of Miller sacrificing his partner to pull off the moves – once the intensity picked up for the last few minutes I got more into things. Ciampa’s powerbomb backbreaker is sick, and Thorne sold it like a champ.

With an already announced rematch pitting DIY against The Revival taking place next week, there was little drama here. Gargano and Ciampa retain, and head into a big match back in the States next week.

NXT Championship Steel Cage Match

Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c)

Result: Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Samoa Joe via pinfall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

In the words of the late, great Yogi Berra, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

Last week, we got the rerun of a championship match between Nakamura and Joe from Osaka. Tonight, we’re getting the rerun of the rematch that aired the following week, only in an extended uncut edition. Who knew WWE NXT was going to start having bonus features?

When I wrote about this match in its edited form, my big complaint was that the cage was mostly useless. It was hardly used, the match was won via pinfall – take the cage away and you have almost the same match.

Tonight, the material that had been cut at least makes the cage seem like it had a role. Joe, especially, used the cage as a weapon, tossing Nakamura into it repeatedly. It still wasn’t a major factor, in my opinion. One or two possible escape situations is pretty lame.

The extra footage also makes the whole “Nakamura won’t walk out the door” thing make more sense. With the cut material back in, we see Joe more vicious than a few weeks ago. He used the cage a bit to rough Nakamura up. So Shinsuke decides to forego an easy victory, and instead go back in and wallop Joe with a pair of Kinshasas to seal the deal. It comes across better this week.

Here’s the thing, though: Four of the past five episodes of NXT have featured Nakamura and Joe in these two title matches. Three of the four episodes put the match in the main event. It’s basically sending the message that these are the only two guys in NXT who matter.

Look, I’m like most people who have been clamoring for either or both of these guys to head to Raw or SmackDown. I don’t know how imminent it is for either one, but if this has been a farewell tour, it could have used a few less stops.

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What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE NXT?