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The final episode of WWE NXT for the year had a major North American Championship match announced for the night. Leon Ruff looked to win back the title from Johnny Gargano to end the year on a high.
Superstars from WWE RAW made a surprise appearance during the night and competed against a top faction from NXT. Mercedes Martinez returned to action and squashed an unknown competitor, while NXT teased the return of Xia Li for next week’s show.
The Grizzled Young Veterans put on a great show with Breezango in the ring and had a face-off with Ever-Rise following their victory over the former NXT Tag Team Champions.
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Additionally, NXT announced the Year-End Awards for the brand where The Undisputed Era won the Tag Team of the Year, and Adam Cole was awarded the Male Competitor of the Year.
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Shotzi Blackheart took home the Breakout Star of the Year award and Io Shirai won two big awards to leave a mark on the brand.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Event of the Year: NXT TakeOver: WarGames
Breakout Star of the Year: Shotzi Blackheart
Tag Team of the Year: The Undisputed Era
Rivalry of the Year: Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee
Female Competitor of the Year: Io Shirai
Male Competitor of the Year: Adam Cole
Match of the Year: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly (NXT TakeOver: 31)
Future Star of the Year: Austin Theory
Overall Competitor of the Year: Io Shirai
In this article, we will look at the five things WWE NXT got right during this week’s episode.
#5 Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott meets Bronson Reed on WWE NXT
Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott has been competing with a new attitude on WWE NXT, and he got a big match against Bronson Reed this week. While Scott picked up a victory over Jake Atlas last week, he wasn’t ready to compete against a man almost twice his size.
Scott walked into the match with far too much confidence, and he managed to do some damage to Reed’s knee early in the contest. Reed used his power to fight through, but his knee kept on slowing him down throughout the match.
The Colossal One was able to take down Scott with a massive standing senton and then finished him off with the Tsunami Splash to pick up the victory.
This was another big victory for Reed who’s looking like a true future star for the company. While Reed was competing on a much higher level before he went on the break, it’s good to watch him quickly climb the ladder again without competing in many squash matches.
The future seems bright for Bronson Reed.
#4 The Lucha House Party take down Legado Del Fantasma on WWE NXT
WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar appeared on the brand to mock the entire Cruiserweight division. He called the NXT Year-End Awards a sham and showed no respect to the winners.
Surprisingly, RAW's Lucha House Party arrived on NXT and challenged Escobar's faction to a match. Gran Metalik was fresh off a victory over former WWE Champion The Miz, and it seemed like NXT was looking to give the RAW Superstars a good time on the Black and Gold brand.
Metalik and his partner Lince Dorado went after Raul Medoza and Joaquin Wilde early on. Both the babyfaces perfectly showed how good the cruiserweight division is and continued to hit their challengers with some great moves.
Dorado hit Mendoza with a hurricanrana and finished him off with a springboard elbow to pick up the victory. After the match, Dexter Lumis announced that Metalik would fight Escobar at NXT New Year's Evil.
This was a fun match that allowed the Lucha House Party to pick up some pace in WWE. Metalik is a phenomenal performer, and it’s good to watch him get big chances in the company.
#3 Finn Balor and Kyle O'Reilly set the stage for WWE NXT New Year's Evil
Finn Balor and Kyle O'Reilly put on an epic show at TakeOver: 31 for the NXT Championship. Their efforts won them the NXT Match of the Year award this week. Balor took the award from William Regal and stated that he wanted to hand it to O'Reilly personally.
Balor headed towards the ring, but Pete Dunne caught him on the way claiming that he was coming for the NXT Championship next. Once The Prince got in the ring, he invited O'Reilly to come down and collect his trophy.
The Undisputed Era member came out and gladly accepted the award he so rightfully deserved. However, he stated that he wanted something greater instead and would take away the NXT Championship from Balor next week.
Karrion Kross and Scarlett came out to the middle and warned the two competitors that Doomsday was coming soon.
Damian Priest appeared to attack his opponent for next week, and the two men brawled all around the arena before crashing through a table.
The segment helped build towards two big matches for next week. While the match between Balor and O'Reilly could end up stealing the show, fans can also expect a big encounter between Priest and Kross.
#2 Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong put on a great match on WWE NXT
Pete Dunne attacked Roderick Strong last week and left him in a heap after delivering The Bitter End on the ring apron to the former NXT North American Champion. This led to a match between the two former partners on this week’s WWE NXT.
This was Strong’s first singles match since September, and the Superstar was looking to prove a point on behalf of The Undisputed Era. Dunne started well in the match and tried to manipulate his opponent’s joints. However, Strong was ready for the punishment and came in with his own gameplan to take The Bruiserweight down.
The two men exchanged some technical strikes and The Messiah of the Backbreaker brought out some of his signature moves to keep Dunne down. While the former NXT North American Champion continued to rally, he was taken down by Dunne who ended him off with the Bitter End.
This was arguably the best match of the night. Dunne and Strong have incredible chemistry in the ring, and they put on a stellar show to lift the mood.
NXT did the right thing by allowing Dunne to pick up the victory as he desperately needs a push forward. With the future of The Kings of NXT unknown, The Bruiserweight must be given a chance to grow on his own. Strong will easily bounce back from this defeat.
#1 The One Final Beat halts Leon Ruff’s rise on WWE NXT
Throughout the night, Johnny Gargano’s luck kept decreasing on WWE NXT as he came across a black cat and ran under a ladder. However, he was determined to break the curse and finally score a victory over Leon Ruff to defend his WWE NXT North American Championship.
With The Way on the outside, Gargano tried to take control of the match early on. However, Ruff tried to impress the fans once again with his agility and attitude in the ring.
The Rebel Heart mocked the underdog who refused to stay down for long. Ruff continued to try and find some openings to stay in the match and give Gargano a tough time. The challenger hit a neck breaker followed by a German Suplex and a Cannonball, but could not take down the Champion.
Gargano locked in the Gargano Escape later on but he could not make the challenger tap out. The challenger made another comeback, but he finally fell for the One Final Beat to give Gargano the victory.
This was a fun match that allowed Ruff to work freely against the best in the business. Gargano is great at selling in the ring, and he gave Ruff another major performance to give him something to talk about in the future.
