WWE NXT Results – January 13, 2020

Written by Liam Stewart • Published 14th January 2021
WWE NXT Results

WWE NXT Results will be updated live as they occur so check back throughout the show!

Keep up with all of tonight’s WWE NXT results, as the show’s 438th episode emanates from The Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida and features the fallout from WWE NXT New Years Evil!

Summarised Results:

  • Candice LeRae [w/ Indi Hartwell] defeats Candice LeRae via pinfall in 10:09
  • The Grizzled Young Veterans defeat Ever-Rise via Pinfall in 8:02
  • Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart enter the Women’s Dusty Classic
  • Johnny Gargano [w/ Austin Theory] defeats Dexter Lumis via pinfall in 8:52 to retain his North American Championship
  • The Fight Pit between Thatcher and Ciampa set for next week on NXT TV.
  • The Mysterious MSK debut, defeats Issiah ‘Swerve’ Scott and Jake Atlas via pinfall in 11:01.
  • Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm announced for the Women’s Dusty Cup.
  • Xia Li [w/ Tian Shan] defeats unnamed enhancement talent via pinfall in 0:33
  • Adam Cole & Roderick Strong [w/ Kyle O’Reilly] defeat Breezango via pinfall in 13:02

NXT Results and Analysis provided by ITRWrestling writer Liam Stewart

Candice LeRae [w/ Indi Hartwell] defeats Shotzi Blackheart via pinfall in 10:09

  • Immediately the two performers demonstrate their experience facing off against one another as they enter a sequence of counters as they pivot for early control.
  • Shotzi sweeps the legs of Candice LeRae on the top turnbuckle causing her to fall crashing down head first on the turnbuckle.
  • Blackheart follows up with a huge flying knee strike off the steel steps after countering LeRae’s attempt to mimic the finish to the Women’s Battle Royal by playing possum on the steps.
  • LaRae struggles to get into the match before interference from Indi Hartwell following an attempted Tope from Blackheart opens the door for LeRae.
  • The Gargano attempt is unable to get the job done however LeRae’s Wild Ride gets the job done following further interference from Hartwell.

Analysis: I must say I expected a little more ruthlessness and aggression from LeRae and Blackheart here, the two have been feuding for nearly four months now with LeRae having Blackhearts number the majority of ‘the way’. Blackheart brought the violence at WarGames however this felt very reined in and would leave me to believe this isn’t over yet, it feels like naturally a last woman standing style match would suit the ending of this feud however the presence of this gimmick match at New Years Evil decreases the possibility of that occurring.

Finn Balor adresses the NXT locker room, Pete Dunne interrupts

  • Balor begins by stating that Kyle O’Reilly is great, but he is no Finn Balor.
  • He continues stating “They stopped manufacturing the cloth I’m cut from” and if you want to come for me just remember Kyle is drinking through a straw now.
  • Pete Dunne flanked by Lorcan and Burch makes his way to the ring cutting a scathing promo on Balor during which he states the only reason Balor is Champion is because he hasn’t taken it off him yet.
  • Burch, Lorcan and Dunne beat down Balor until O’Reilly and the rest of the UE [excluding Fish] make the save chasing the trio off.
  • Balor and O’Reilly exchange a moment of mutual respect as the segment comes to an end.

Analysis: Balor vs. Dunne is a bonafide dream match and therefore it is fantastic work from NXT to slowly tease us towards getting the match. The storylines fitting together feels incredibly natural with O’Reilly coming out of respect and Cole + Strong coming out, out of allegiance to O’Reilly. This all feeds into so many stories that its truly excellent, Kyle and Coles inevitable split is worked upon whilst we continue The Kings of NXT vs. The Undisputed Era, great stuff.

The Grizzled Young Veterans defeat Ever-Rise via pinfall in 7:54

  • Early on the match Ever-Rise get the better of GYV’s James Drake due to the effectiveness of mind games and insulting criticisms of Drake’s wrestling ability.
  • Commentary put over the chemistry of both teams, praising them for their roles as a formed team and referencing the mismatched teams in the competition,
  • Ever-Rise get the better of GYV for a good portion of the match including Parker beating down Drake with a huge Clothesline,
  • Gibson illustrates his Tag Team knowledge and Chemistry cutting off a flapjack attempt from Parker onto Drake before countering Ever-Rises momentum to hit the Ticket to Mayhem and pick up the win advancing to the next round against either Kushida and Ruff or Gargano and Theory.

Analysis: I struggled to get into this match, the result itself felt very predictable and the feud leading to this match was lacklustre preventing any real babyface fire to get behind Ever-Rise. GYV are fantastic but much like The Revival in NXT of old they need a valiant babyface partnership to work off, hopefully Kushida and Ruff advance and that gives us this dynamic in the next round.

Johnny Gargano [w/ Austin Theory] defeats Dexter Lumis via pinfall in 8:52

  • Gargano starts the match by tearing up a drawing Lumis gifted him earlier in the show and despite an attempt to blindside Lumis, Gargano is unable to gain control early on.
  • A series of vicious strikes from the former Samuel Shaw allow him to halt the momentum of the North American champion and gain control of the ring in the opening exchanges.
  • Lumis hits a huge slingshot front Suplex before following up with the kip up leg drop for a huge near fall over the North American Champion.
  • Gargano counters a Uranage attempt from Lumis into a Crucifix Pin before following up with a kneeling super kick for a two count.
  • Austin Theory provides a momentary distraction allowing Gargano to set up for the One Final Beat which is countered into ‘Silence’ by Lumis.
  • Theory gets on the Apron and allows the necessary distraction for Gargano to sneak in the back door and roll-up Lumis to retain his North American Title via pinfall.
  • Post match Gargano and Theory beat down Lumis only for Kushida and Ruff to make the save, Kushida stares down Gargano posing with the NA Title.

Analysis: This was somewhat lacklustre again Dexter Lumis is not suited to longer matches, it tends to expose the limited offensive variability in Lumis’ arsenal. Gargano winning was the correct decision and the storyline being built between Gargano and Kushida makes perfect sense and could be a fantastic TakeOver opener. The time has been right for Kushida to win a title in NXT at least three times now, the Cruiserweight Title, The World Championship and now the North American Championship. Hopefully, 2021 is the year that the former BOSJ Champion climbs the mountain top in NXT!

The Mysterious MSK debut, defeats Issiah ‘Swerve’ Scott and Jake Atlas via pinfall in 11:01.

  • MSK are unveiled [as expected] to be the former Rascalz – Desmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz
  • The duo are renamed as Nash Carter and Wes Lee a fairly jarring change from their IMPACT names.
  • Early on the pairing of Swerve and Atlas ruthlessly dominate the new kids on the block however a flurry of high paced offence from MSK including a beautiful top rope Tope allows MSK to regain control.
  • Wes Lee and Nash Carter hit the fantastic assisted sliding standing moonsault for a near fall early on.
  • A beautiful combination Brainbuster/450 Splash give Swerve and Atlas a very close near fall however Carter breaks up the pin at 2.9999
  • An incredible tip toe frankensteiner from Lee sets up MSK to hit the assisted float over neckbreaker for the win via pinfall.

Analysis: This was predictable but in the best possible way. MSK are one of the most unique and entertaining tag teams on the planet and they could be the duo that save the struggling NXT Tag Team Division. Swerve and Atlas looked really strong here and I hope they remain a team, Swerve looks incredibly menacing with the full length closed leather cloak and metallic teeth effects. Interestingly, it’s likely MSK’s next match will be against Dain and Maverick which will be an interesting dynamic for the high paced athletes.

Xia Li [w/ Tian Shan] defeats unnamed enhancement talent via pinfall in 0:33

  • Xia Li places a precision punch and kick combo to knock out Li’s opponent in two strikes.
  • As Li appears to leave, the mysterious masked figure leading the group known as Tian Shan indicates that Xia should finish her opponent off again.
  • Li locks her opponent in the ropes before hitting a flurry of kicks and strikes.

Analysis: Tian Shan which appears to be the name of the new faction including Xia Li refers to the name of the heavenly mountains in China/Kyrgyzstan. Fitting name for a incredible faction with an incredible aesthetic!

Adam Cole & Roderick Strong [w/ Kyle O’Reilly] defeat Breezango via pinfall in 13:02

  • Both teams exchange a moment of respect before locking up, Cole and Breezango exchange a series of fast-paced counters with no team coming out on top in the opening exchanges.
  • Strong and Fandango exchange periods of control with Strong attempting the Stronghold before escaping a counter attempted via cartwheel only to be caught with a Spinning Heel Kick from Fandango.
  • Breeze and Cole exchange a series of high pace vicious strikes with The Undisputed Era comping out on top, Cole sets up for The Last Shot only for a last minute tag to foil his attempt.
  • A beautiful inverted backbreaker from Tyler Breeze gives Breezango a chance to regain control which Fandango capitalises on with a huge Leg Drop/Backbreaker combo.
  • Adam Cole and Fandango give each other a double down as a jumping knee and super kick combo wipes each other out.
  • With all four competitors down, Pete Dunne, Lorcan and Burch run down the apron in an attempt to wipe Kyle O’Reilly out and hit a systematically place knee strike to the jaw of O’Reilly on the outside despite Finn Balor’s attempt to make the save.
  • Cole looks on to the injured O’Reilly on the outside however the distraction allows Breezango to attempt the Last Dance leg drop, it’s not enough however as Cole hits a huge Superkick for the win.

Analysis: The main event match itself was very enjoyable, however the post match/mid match angle was incredible. We have seen glimpses of the psychopath Pete Dunne that dominated the UK Indie scene for so long however in recent weeks it had faded slightly but now he returns with a huge Knee Trembler on O’Reilly’s jaw aiming to take him out of the picture. I am very interested in how Karrion Kross plays into all this as he had a video package earlier in the night telling Balor he was coming for him but the clear story seems to be Dunne vs. Balor with Dunne coming out on top. I wonder if NXT are still as high on Kross as they were pre-injury and if the rumoured plans of Balor vs. Kross at Mania weekend remain true.

Overall this was a pretty good episode of WWE NXT although it did start fairly slow and underwhelming. I still stand by the statement that LeRae and Blackheart was fairly disappointing given the intensity of their feud up to that point however with both competitors entering the Women’s Dusty Classic I guess we at least now know that it isn’t over and we can continue to capitalise on the intensity of their feud.

In my opinion the initial Balor promo combined with the main event, alongside MSK’s debut and the Xia Li segment were the highlights of the show and really changed the perception of the show. If you only plan on watching the key/most enjoyable segments from the show then my best recommendation would be to start after GYV vs. Ever-Rise because everything up to and including that match is fairly missable for now at least.