WWE NXT Review - February 20, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Aleister Black def. Roderick Strong

Black came to the aid of Ricochet against Undisputed Era last week, hence why this match happened. I'm surprised that these two hadn't gone one-on-one prior to this point, but it certainly lived up to the hype in being an exciting affair. The lack of interference from the rest of Undisputed Era was appreciated and they were given the time necessary to have the contest they were capable of. Ricochet saved Black from Undisputed Era afterward, so it appears their alliance is headed somewhere.

Mia Yim def. Xia Li

Fans may remember Li from this year's women's Royal Rumble, where she had a nice little run for herself. She showed signs of potential then as well as in this match. Yim hasn't been featured much in the last few months, and while I'd love to think that this was designed to get her back on track, I assume Yim only won so it'll mean more when she faces Shayna Baszler next week (and loses). This was a decent matchup, though, as they worked a fun pace.

Velveteen Dream def. Johnny Gargano to Win the NXT North American Championship

The last two matches Gargano and Dream had against each other were exceptional and this was every bit as entertaining as those encounters. I loved how they started out slowing before going all out down the stretch. Those nearfalls in the second half were suspenseful and the crowd was hot for everything they did. Apparently, two different finishes were taped to avoid spoilers getting out, which is super smart. I'm not thrilled about Gargano losing the title so soon after winning it, but perhaps this is leading to him challenging Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship at the next TakeOver if Ciampa's reaction backstage was any indication.

Overall Show

In addition to everything written about above, a brief snippet of a Matt Riddle interview was shown (the full thing is available on WWE's YouTube channel) and it was announced that the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will be returning in two weeks, with the winners challenging for the NXT Tag Team Championship at TakeOver. The main event is absolutely worth seeking out, while Black vs. Strong was an excellent way to kick off the episode and Yim vs. Li set up Baszler vs. Yim for next week.