WWE Worlds Collide Review - January 25, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show Match: NXT UK Champion Kay Lee Ray def. Mia Yim (Non-Title)

Much like the NXT Women's Championship (which I'll address later), the NXT UK Women's Championship is being shortened to simply the NXT UK Championship. It's an odd move that I wish would be explained to avoid confusion. Putting that aside, this was a well-wrestled pre-show match that made sense from a storyline standpoint after Ray cost Yim the WarGames advantage two months ago. Yim didn't waste any time in going after Ray once the bell rang, which was a nice touch. It would have been silly for Ray to lose to someone who isn't even a part of the NXT UK Women's division, but despite the obvious outcome, they had a very good matchup and Yim was protected in defeat. My only nitpick is that the referee came across like a total idiot for not seeing that Ray clearly used the ropes to give herself an advantage during the finish.

Finn Balor def. Ilja Dragunov

The crowd didn't seem to be overly familiar with Dragunov, but they should be. I realize he hasn't appeared on NXT TV at all, but he's a terrific talent and has a bright future ahead of him. He and Balor had strong chemistry and kicked off the night on a high note with an awesome match. They worked a consistent pace, the crowd was into it, and the aggression and intensity from both men was appreciated. There was no way Balor was losing so close to his clash with Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: Portland, but I liked that Dragunov scored as much offense as he did over Balor and looked credible in defeat.

Jordan Devlin def. Angel Garza, Isiah "Swerve" Scott and Travis Banks in a Fatal 4-Way Match to Win the NXT Cruiserweight championship

Cruiserweight wrestling in NXT and on shows like this compared to 205 Live and the rest of the main roster is like night and day. Not every Cruiserweight match is going to tell a spectacular story, but the action should be exciting and this delivered that in spades. All four of these guys went all out and some of the spots they pulled off were out of this world. I fully expected Garza to hold onto the gold considering he won it just last month, but I have no issue with Devlin becoming the champion. Granted, I don't want him to be pigeonholed as a Cruiserweight, but hey, a title is a title. He deserves it for being one of the best on any brand right now. By the way, the new NXT Cruiserweight Championship belt is super slick looking. It still has some shades of purple, but the all-purple strap had to go after being associated with failure for so many years.

#DIY def. Moustache Mountain

DIY vs. Moutache Mountain was a match I didn't know I wanted until it was announced last week, and I'm so happy we got it. To say this was tag team wrestling at its finest would be an understatement. The early goings were well done, and as they gradually picked up the pace, it turned into an instant classic. They busted everything out of their arsenals and the crowd was electric for all of it. Johnny Gargano and Tyler Bate never cease to have Match of the Year contenders and this was no exception. I really can not praise this enough as being an absolute gem, especially with even the smallest of things mattering (like Trent Seven protecting Bate at one point, DIY finding their rhythm again, etc). Stellar stuff here from all involved.

NXT Champion Rhea Ripley def. Toni Storm

No, Ripley isn't the NXT Champion, but apparently NXT is going to start referring to the NXT Women's Championship as the NXT Championship. Yes, it's incredibly confusing since Adam Cole's championship has the same name, but I'm going to also refer it in my reviews as long as WWE does. At any rate, this was a solid match but disappointing on the whole. They've had far better matches than this in the past. I understand that DIY vs. Moustache Mountain was going to be tough to follow no matter what, but they didn't even try to top it. It never felt like it reached that next gear before ending abruptly. Of course, Ripley retaining the title was the right result, but they could have done a better job of giving Storm more shine prior to her loss.

Imperium def. Undisputed Era

Alexander Wolfe getting hurt early on and being removed from the match was a real shame. This ended up being exceptional anyway and I give the two teams props for improvising on the fly, but I guess we'll never know how much different it would have been with him involved (if at all). That said, Imperium having the stellar showing they did without Wolfe was very impressive. It felt like a mega showdown and everybody played a part in this being such a remarkable main event. Any interaction between Adam Cole and WALTER was highly entertaining, and speaking of WALTER, I thought he was the star of this match. The crowd was behind him in a major way and this helped restore some of the luster he lost with what happened at Survivor Series and the not-so-amazing matchup he had with Joe Coffey from TakeOver: Blackpool II. I wouldn't be opposed to a rematch down the road with Wolfe involved if they're going to work this well together (maybe at WarGames if all eight are still on their respective brands by that point?).

Overall Show

The tournament style that we got with Worlds Collide last year over Royal Rumble and WrestleMania weekends was fun, but with 205 Live basically depleted now, I like this concept of having NXT and NXT UK do straight-up battle much better. It'd be perfect as an annual Rumble weekend tradition, and with the right people involved, it makes for some money matches like we saw on this show. NXT and NXT UK ended up tied with three wins apiece, so it's possible we'll get some sort of resolution at TakeOver: Portland (which there was also effective build for on this show). This week's episode of NXT was hyped up as well with Tegan Nox attacking Dakota Kai in the crowd and The BroserWeights and Grizzled Young Veterans engaging in a war of words at ringside (we found out the winner of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will receive an opportunity at the NXT Tag Team Championship at TakeOver: Portland, by the way). The two tag team matches were phenomenal, the Cruiserweight four-way was a blast, the Balor vs. Dragunov opener had a super smart layout and the two women's matches were enjoyable (even if Ripley vs. Storm fell a bit below my lofty expectations). Definitely make time for this show sometime this weekend. You will not be disappointed.