 The Lucha Brothers def. Rich Swann and The MackI knew this was going to be incredibly exciting as soon as I saw it advertised for this episode, and it turned out to be as crazy of a contest as I hoped it would be. The two teams worked amazingly well together, the frantic pace was perfect and they kept raising the bar higher and higher the longer the match lasted. I actually never wanted this thing to end, but I enjoyed every second of it. Afterward, LAX emerged and challenged The Lucha Brothers to an Impact World Tag Team Championship match at Homecoming on January 6. It was made official for the pay-per-view soon after. Jordynne Grace def. KatarinaThis was a rematch from Grace's IMPACT in-ring debut a few weeks ago. Katarina didn't know if Grace could beat her twice. Well, she got her answer. Katarina scored some offense, but this was all Grace for the most part and it should have been. I liked Don Callis comparing Grace to Rhyno because that is super accurate, at least in my opinion. She has plenty of potential and definitely brings something different to the table compared to the rest of the Knockouts division.
 Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch def. The MightyLorcan and Burch have been riding a wave of momentum since Lorcan's return to the ring a month or so ago and they never cease to deliver, no matter who they're up against. The Mighty continue to suffer from a lack of character development, but at least they can always be counted on for a quality contest and this was a very enjoyable affair with a great pace. The babyfaces emerged victorious, but the heels got the last laugh with a post-match attack. The feud will continue. EC3 def. Marcel BarthelEC3 has had a weird year in NXT. He debuted with a bit of buzz behind him as a heel before randomly transitioning into a babyface role, missed TV time due to an injury, and now is back. The crowd adored him here, so that was encouraging. Barthel scored way more offense than he probably should have, mind you, but EC3 picked up the win in the end and cut a promo afterward about setting his sights on Undisputed Era (and specifically Bobby Fish) for putting him on the shelf last month.
 Noam Dar def. Mike KanellisKanellis hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire since coming to 205 Live, but at least it's better than losing to No Way Jose and Zack Ryder every week on Main Event. I don't mind his alliance with TJP and his feud with The Lucha House Party so far has been fine. This was a perfectly solid match between Dar and Kanellis, though I thought Dar had a more impressive performance than Kanellis. A distraction from Lucha House Party cost Kanellis the victory, so next week, it will be Kanellis and TJP vs. Lucha House Party in a tornado tag team matchup. Hideo Itami def. Levy CruiseThis was hyped as the "return" of Itami to 205 Live, but I honestly didn't even realize he was gone. The blow-off to his feud with Mustafa Ali wasn't too long ago, right? At any rate, he was back to his aggressive ways here and seemingly took pleasure in inflicting pain on his opponent. It's honestly difficult to care about Itami at this point because it's clear he won't get beyond a certain level and he comes across like a shell of his former self. His newfound alliance with Ariya Daivari (who has apparently been out injured since April) doesn't do much for me, either.
 Tyler Bate def. Joe Coffey by DisqualificationCoffey was originally supposed to do battle with Sid Scala, but Scala claimed he had an injury and chose Bate as his replacement. Wolfgang and The Coffey Brothers attacked Bate a few weeks ago, so I liked that Bate wasted no time in taking the fight to Coffey. It was a hard-hitting affair with a great pace and the crowd was into the action. NXT UK doesn't do disqualifications often, so I was fine with the non-finish because it protected both guys and led to the post-match angle with British Strong Style reuniting to rival the heel trio. Ligero def. Dan MoloneyMoloney is a perfectly solid hand in the ring, but it appears his role for the foreseeable future will be as an enhancement talent. He didn't score a ton of offense, but he had a fine showing and fared well for himself. However, this match was all about Ligero, allowing him to showcase his skills and get back on track following a recent loss. As I've noted before, he is definitely different from everyone else on the roster and I always look forward to seeing him in action.
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