Week in Review

Week of October 10, 2020

Each week, Graham "GSM" Matthews breaks down the latest Raw, SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live broadcasts as well as the occasional pay-per-view events for that respective show's highlights, low points and other noteworthy moments. Awards are also given to the week's best match, most impressive Superstar, and strongest show.

Match of the Week:
Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly (NXT TakeOver 31, October 4)

Holy hell, this was a fun match. I mean, I expected it to be good, but I had no idea it'd end up being one of the best bouts in WWE all year. Finn Balor has been a man reborn since returning to NXT almost exactly a year ago and has had great matches with just about everyone, but this was Kyle O'Reilly's time to shine and he more than made the most of the opportunity.

Say what you will about O'Reilly being booked as tag team guy for the last three years, but he proved he belonged at Balor's level with the performance he had at TakeOver 31. He came close to capturing the NXT Championship, and even though he ultimately didn't, he still looked fantastic in defeat.

Superstar of the Week:
Ember Moon

The biggest surprise coming out of NXT TakeOver 31 was undoubtedly the return of Ember Moon, who was out injured for almost one year. In fact, it was believed at one point that she may have been done with wrestling, so I couldn't be more ecstatic that isn't the case, as seen on Sunday night.

For the year-and-a-half Moon spent on the main roster, she was never booked correctly, so she's a welcome addition to an already-stacked NXT women's division. Her first match back on Wednesday's NXT was terrific and saw her deliver one of the best Eclipses I've probably ever seen.

Show of the Week:
WWE NXT TakeOver 31, October 4

Was there ever any doubt? To be fair, I did enjoy Night 1 of the 2020 WWE Draft during Friday's SmackDown and thought it was a solid show on the whole, but NXT TakeOver 31 blew everything else the company did this past week out of the water. That includes Wednesday's episode of NXT, which was enjoyable but not nearly as outstanding as this show was.

Admittedly, the NXT product hasn't been the same without the rowdy crowds during the pandemic era, but TakeOver 31 reminded me why I love the black-and-gold brand so much. All five matches were above-average, the right people went over and the Capitol Wrestling Center came across very well.

Other Notable Highlights and Low Points

This Week's Highlights

Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano: Despite coming together at the last minute, this was an absolutely excellent opener for NXT TakeOver 31. Gargano has never had anything less than a great match on the TakeOver stage and Priest has been on fire as a face these past few months. There were a few points where I thought Gargano had it won, but Priest pulled out the victory as he should have. There's still plenty more people for Priest to face as NXT North American Champion.

Santos Escobar vs. Isiah "Swerve" Scott: I was really close to naming this my "Match of the Week" instead of the TakeOver main event. Both bouts were fantastic, but I was extra satisfied with this one because I knew how well they could work together from their Lucha Underground and they delivered. This was one of my favorite Cruiserweight matches in a while and I'm really hoping their barn burner on this show will lead them to making the TakeOver card more often in the future.

Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae: Yes, I'm aware I'm including almost every match from TakeOver in the "Highlights" column, but for good reason because they were all terrific (including Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream, but it was the weakest of the bunch so I'll leave that one off). As for Shirai vs. LeRae, it was undoubtedly on the level of their stellar series of matches from last year and I loved all the nearfalls. The returns of Ember Moon and Toni Storm afterward made it that much better.

Mustafa Ali revealed as RETRIBUTION leader: Well, this was certainly an interesting development and one that I am in full favor of. I just mentioned last week that I was worried for Ali's future on Raw because of how he was previously directionless and forgotten about, but this could help him depending on how it's handled. Of course, RETRIBUTION has been a dud since the start, but this could get them on the right track, especially if they tie in the "hacker" stuff from SmackDown.

Drew McIntyre and The Street Profits vs. Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode: Evidently, there wasn't a lot I liked about Monday's Raw, but this was an enjoyable way to end the evening. It was a strong six-man tag team match with everyone doing their thing and making the most of the time they had. Orton pinning McIntyre for the win was notable seeing as how McIntyre hasn't been beaten in over a year. Coming off his various losses, I'd argue Orton needed that.

Big E vs. Sheamus: Big E is on the rise right now and it's amazing to see. To his credit, Sheamus has played his part perfectly throughout this rivalry and this was a wonderful payoff. The Falls Count Anywhere stipulation helped a lot as they were about to brawl into the parking lot area and take some brutal bumps. That allowed Big E to get more aggressive than usual and show off an all-new side to his character. This definitely helped take Big E to that next level as a singles star.

2020 WWE Draft Night 1: We're only halfway done with the Draft and it's already an improvement over last year. Okay, so Raw taking only Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods and not Big E was illogical, but I'm thrilled Big E is branching off on his own and I was satisfied with the moves that were made on the whole. The layout was also a bit better this time around and I appreciated that no USA Network or FOX "executives" were shown stupidly celebrating each pick backstage.

This Week's Low Points

Asuka, Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke vs. Zelina Vega, Natalya and Lana: It couldn't have been more obvious that this was designed to be filler ahead of the Draft. Asuka already beat Vega twice at Clash of Champions and on the next night's Raw, so there's zero reason for the feud to continue. As for Rose and Brooke, I'm still frustrated that WWE paired them up. It's a complete waste of Rose, who was riding high following her SummerSlam victory over Sonya Deville.

The Hurt Business vs. Apollo Crews and Ricochet: Bobby Lashley beat Crews to retain the United States Championship at Clash of Champions. That should have been the end of the road for this rivalry. Why did they face off again on Raw this week? Much like the aforementioned women's match, I assume it's because the Draft will put these guys on different brands, or at least that's the hope. Hurt Business gain nothing from constantly defeating these guys. Let's move on, please.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. The Riott Squad: As a match, this was perfectly fine and I thought they told a solid story. Unfortunately, the women's tag team scene is a dead division and this didn't change that. I simply don't care for Jax and Baszler as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions or for their Team Hell No dynamic. The Riott Squad reuniting over the summer was absolutely for the best, but I'm not sure where they go after failing to capture the gold.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks: It was really, really dumb to give away the first major meeting between these two on the main roster on SmackDown. I realize WWE probably wanted to load up the show and that it didn't last long, but doing the match at all was silly. Maybe I'm thinking too traditionally, but that's how I felt about this throwaway bout. Obviously, it set up Banks challenging Bayley to a Hell in a Cell matchup for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the pay-per-view.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro vs. The New Day: This isn't in the "Low Points" column because of the match quality (which was actually pretty good) but rather for the booking of it all. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods randomly returned in a backstage segment, and while I was stoked to see them, it made no sense for them to be awarded a title shot on the spot. Then, after winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, they're drafted to Raw. The whole thing was a rushed mess.

Kushida vs. Tommaso Ciampa: Kushida was fresh off the biggest win of his NXT career over Velveteen Dream at TakeOver 31. I didn't hate the decision to put him up against Ciampa days later on NXT, but the bout never got out of first gear and had an underwhelming disqualification finish with Dream interfering. I assume this will result in a Triple Threat with the three of them soon, but there was no need for the Kushida vs. Dream rivalry to resume following TakeOver.

Ridge Holland injured: Man, this really sucks. Holland appeared to be transitioning into a high-profile program with Undisputed Era after what we saw at the end of TakeOver 31 when he suffered the injury on NXT this week in what was a freak accident. I don't know for sure what the extent of the injury is, but from what I've read, he may be out a while and that's a massive shame. Hopefully he can reclaim that momentum upon his eventual return, whenever that might be.

Week in Review

Week of October 10, 2020

Match of the Week:Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly (NXT TakeOver 31, October 4)

Superstar of the Week:Ember Moon

Show of the Week:WWE NXT TakeOver 31, October 4

Other Notable Highlights and Low Points

This Week's Highlights

This Week's Low Points

Week in Review Archive

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2015

Match of the Week:
Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly (NXT TakeOver 31, October 4)

Superstar of the Week:
Ember Moon

Show of the Week:
WWE NXT TakeOver 31, October 4