WWE NXT 1/18/2022

 WWE NXT 1/18/2022

 LA Knight arrived and talked to the Chase U group. He said he was looking for Grayson Waller. He then asked Brooks and Jensen but they didn't know either.

LA Knight came to the ring and called out Grayson. He talked a bunch of trash on him then Grayson came out. He said he had a restraining order against Knight. Knight said he didn't have a restraining order against Dexter Lumis and Lumis popped up behind Waller.

Grayson Waller vs Dexter Lumis

Dexter had control early and they went outside. GW did a baseball slide but finished with a lariat. Dexter took control for a bit and someone in a suit came out and rammed Dexter into the post. GW then did his outside to inside roll through the ropes stunner to win in a match that wasn't special.

Malcolm Bivens was talking about the Creed Brothers winning the Dusty Cup and said he wasn't worried about Imperium. He was insulting them when Walter grabbed him. Roderick Strong then came in and said he wasn't scared of him.

We had a Dusty Cup video introducing some of the teams.

Dusty Cup Quarterfinals - The Creed Brothers vs Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen

MSK were shown watching in the back. Legado del Fantasma interrupted and said they won't win it again. They said they will beat them if they fight in the semi-finals.

One of the Creed brothers tried to do a takedown but ate a Jensen knee and his mouthpiece flew out. Briggs and Jensen then did a double slam and double shoulderblocked the other Creed brother. Jensen got belly to belly suplexed over the top rope and took some hard looking knees. The Creed Brothers then slammed each other onto Jensen.

Briggs came in and cleaned house then hit a big chokeslam. Jensen got speared into the rails and dented it. The Creed Brothers then suplexed Briggs onto the other who then slammed Briggs for the win. Bivens did a great celebration for the win.

This was a good one. These two teams stiffed the crap out of each other and everyone got thrown around hard.

Dante Chen got a vignette. He said he's been out injured and said it has been hard to watch from the sidelines. He then said his dad died which also delayed things. He said he is back and ready to compete.

Imperium was in the back. Walter congratulated Aichner and his partner for winning the tag titles. He said they will show what Imperium stands for when they beat Roderick Strong tonight.

Dante Chen vs Guru Raaj

Raaj hit a big dropkick to start and then was dove on outside. Duke Hudson was outside the ring and beat up on both to end the match. He then powerbombed Chen and pounded him in the ring. There was little to this before the interference.

Joe Gacy and Harland were talking in the back about how they didn't get in the Dusty Cup. Gacy said this is time for them to grow and develop. Odyssey Jones then interrupted as he wasn't buying it. Gacy then helped him out of the door and said something about restraining yourself is a way to measure progress.

Tony D'Angelo was in the back practicing for the funeral.

Bron Breakker was interviewed. He said Santos Escobar was gunning for him then Elektra Lopez came in. He said he's not interested then Escobar came in. Escobar said NXT 2.0 would look better with the title around his waist. Bron asked for a reason for him to beat up Santos right now but Santos said things are done on his time.

Tony D'Angelo was in the ring with a coffin and a photo of Pete Dunne. He called him Petey Poppins and said he had to learn a lesson the hard way. Tony said we can't mourn forever and said it is time to add some gold to his collection. He said he wants the North American Title then Carmelo Hayes came out with Trick Williams. Trick said he thought they were "boys". Tony said they were teammates but not boys. He said his boys were: Jerry the Hack, Sammy the Shark, Betty the Groin(?) and JT the Brick. Trick said they were all skinny and looked like Vic Joseph. Hayes said the next memorial service would be for Tony if he keeps talking about him and the NA title.

Cameron Grimes came out. Hayes called them "goofies" (which is a word that got popular on SCJerk and /pw/ this week). Grimes said he'd fight them and Tony. Tony went after Grimes and got hit with the Pete Dunne photo.

Briggs and Jensen were in the back. They said they gotta keep on and then Kayden and Kacy said they should go have drinks tonight. Wendy Choo was sleeping on the lockers and said Jensen likes Kayden Carter. Jensen tried to explain it and they all told him to relax. Jensen, you can do better bro. Kacy's right there.

We got a small video on Yulisa Leon and Valentina Feroz. One's a weightlifter and the other did judo. Leon's quite hard to understand and this was half in Spanish. They said "welcome to our jungle, baby" then the ywere interviewed. Dakota Kai came in looking different than usual. They argued and Kai challenged Leon to a match tonight. A real classic I'm sure.

Kay Lee Ray vs Ivy Nile

Ivy got no entrance here. KLR hit some chops and grabbed Ivy but was thrown overhead. Ivy then enzugiri'd her. Ivy headscissored her but KLR got up and was flung off. Ivy hooked her leg behind KLR's head and ddt'd her with the leg in an unusual move.

Mandy Rose came out and KLR took a shot at her but was then rolled up for the Ivy win. This wasn't too bad.

Mandy jumped on KLR after and they fought. Toxic Attraction then helped out and Hartwell and Persia Peretta then evened things up and cleared them off.

We went to the back and Odyssey Jones was downed with Harland holding a broken crutch.

We got a promo for Sarray returning. She was dressed up like a schoolgirl nerd. She said she is a warrior inside the ring but just Sarray out of it. She said her grandma gave her a necklace and displayed it throughout, hinting that it gives her powers.

Dusty Cup Quarterfinals - Legado del Fantasma vs Malik Blade and Edris Enofe

Enofe hit a slingblade variation early then took double low dropkicks from Mendoza and Wilde. Blade hit a dropkick and got tripped by Escobar outside. Bron Breakker came out and carried out Escobar then Blade grabbed the surprise roll-up to win in a quick one.

Bivens was with Roderick Strong. He said they would go 3 for 3 tonight when Strong beats Walter. Bivens said the mat isn't sacred, but is a revenue generator for them to get a deluxe apartment.

Solo Sikoa got a video. He said his face was half burned and he had a bunch of marks on his face. He told Boa to bring his battle paint and said they would go to war next week.

Dakota Kai vs Yulisa Leon

Leon hit a nice side suplex and a fallaway slam into a bridge. Kai hit some facewash kicks here and won wit ha running yakuza kick. Kai beat up on Feroz a little after before her partner helped her out.

Raquel Gonzalez was interviewed. She said she was coming after Mandy until Cora Jade interrupted. Cora asked her if she wanted to win the Dusty Cup again and offered to be her partner. RG blamed her for not having a title and told her not to get in her way. Cora said she would convince her.

Enofe and Blade celebrated in the back. Bron Breakker came in and told them to win the cup.

Solo Sikoa vs Boa in a No DQ, Falls Count Anywhere match was announced for next week as was Grimes vs D'Angelo for a N-A title shot. Toxic Attraction vs Harwell, Pirotta and Kay Lee Ray was also announced.

Roderick Strong vs Walter

This should be a good one. Walter didn't get a full entrance. They traded some very hard slaps early. Walter then hit him with a hard boot to the face. Walter grabbed Bivens but Strong chop blocked him and got caught on the outside and thrown back first on the apron. We had a long break and Strong hit hard chops on Walter.

Strong hit a big superplex on Walter and they traded more shots. Strong hit a nice flying kick and Walter did a nice sell for it. Walter hit a big powerbomb and ended up winning it. It was good but not as good as it could have been and not one of Walter's best. They just didn't have the time.

Walter got on the mic after and said "the winner of this match is Gunther". Walter and Imperium beat up Strong after. Diamond Mine came in to even things up and they all fought. I assume the Gunther thing is the new name WWE trademarked which is "Gunther Stark". This caused a fit on reddit as someone searched the name and it came up with some Nazi ship commander that nobody has heard of.

Overall thoughts: I liked this one. Three of the matches were good, we got some vignettes and they built some stuff up for future shows.