WWE NXT: Results, Highlights and Grades for October 30, 2019

Finn Balor addresses his actions

After announcing that we’ll have a rematch between Pete Dunne and Damian Priest on next week’s episode of NXT, Finn Balor comes out to address the NXT universe. Balor starts off hot saying that two months ago he was laying down for the hottest thing in the business just because some guy put on a mask. He then mentions that last week, he took his mask off and now is the hottest thing in the business.

Finn then goes off on the locker room, calling them a bunch of Twitter tough guys and declaring there’s too many fans that should be out in the crowd. Balor then drops the line of “I don’t watch this business, the business watches me.”

Balor turns his attention to his target from last week, Johnny Gargano. After congratulating him for getting out of the hospital, he warns Johnny that if he comes after him again, he’ll turn him from “Johnny Wrestling” to “Johnny Watches Wrestling” before dropping the mic.

Wooo, boy. This was awesome. As someone who has been begging for Balor to stop smiling before fights and show a more aggressive side, this is exactly what I wanted to see. Finn is pissed off and he’s done messing around. While most of the fans gave Balor jeers throughout the promo, this was a breath of fresh air and it’s going to be one of the more interesting angles in NXT moving forward.

Shane Thorne vs. Bronson Reed

We go straight from an Irish temper to an Aussie brawl as Shane Thorne took on Bronson Reed. Both Aussies start out fast as Thorne takes the upper hand before Reed begins to throw his weight around to take control. Eventually, both men start chopping each other down to the center of the ring to the point where my own chest starts to sting watching it.

The opening match between Shirai and LeRae was physical, but this match took this episode to another level. Both Thorne and Reed spent the majority of this match striking the hell out of each other and when Thorne goes from a top rope hurricanrana, Reed swats him like a fly and hits a top-rope splash for the win.

Winner: Bronson Reed

This was just fun to watch. The match started off fast with Thorne trying to use his speed, but Reed just used brute force to pick up the win. Reed also has a sense of charisma that makes him fun to watch during his matches. Not sure where Thorne goes from here, but the more comfortable Reed gets in the ring, the bigger the star he should become in NXT.

Grade: 4 of 5 stars

After the match, Cathy Kelley interviews Team Kick ahead of their Women’s Tag Team Title match against the Kabuki Warriors. They pretty much said what you would expect a babyface team getting their first title shot to say. Kai says they’ve been through a ton to get here after their injuries and Nox says she can’t wait to win the titles with her best friend. It’s almost like the issue I had with Balor smiling before getting into a fight, but here we go.