Date: 02/08	7:00 PM
Views: 388

Nickolye's WWE NXT recap for February 8, 2022 at 8 PM ET! Tonight, the Dusty Classic semi-finals take place as it'll be GYV vs. The Creed Brothers, and MSK vs. Malik Blade and Edris Enofé. LA Knight takes on Sanga, Andre Chase challenges Von Wagner to a match, and Kay Lee Ray takes on Mandy Rose for the NXT Women's Championship! All this and more on NXT on SyFy! NXT has a makeover in 2.0 fashion. Hit F5 or refresh as often as you like for the latest updates!

We open the show with Mandy Rose recounting what happened to her last week when Kay Lee Ray tormented her just to get a title shot, and tonight she vows to be "the baddest bitch" in NXT.

* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Finals: The Creed Brothers vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

The fight breaks out as GYV make their entrance and start talking trash. The bell dings with Brutus Creed and James Drake in the ring to get it officially started. GYV spend some time outside the ring to gameplan and Zack Gibson tags in as the crowd chants "Gibson sucks." Julius Creed tags in, gutwrench suplexes his brother onto Gibson, Drake protect his partner in the corner, and GYV take control as Drake tags in. Julius does a couple of mat slams, Gibson makes the blind tag, Julius clotheslines Drake out the ring and dropkicks Gibson followed by a mat slam. Brutus tags in and they knee him in the gut, then Brutus delivers a gutwrench suplex to take back control, even brings him back into the ring, but Drake distracts him enough so that Gibson chops him in the throat, and GYV catapult Brutus up into the steel bars under the ring.

We are commercial-free for this match, so we continue with Drake choking Brutus on the top rope, Gibson tags in and lays his forearm across his throat, then tags out so that Drake can hit a double axe handle across his back then he puts him in a chinlock. Brutus tries a sliver of hope but Gibson keeps him down, but he does reverse Gibson's suplex with one of his own, but Drake cuts off the tag attempt with a sleeper hold. Julius gets the hot tag and lays them both out, chopblock to Drake, applies the stretch muffler, Drake counters with the guillotine, Julius counters with a back drop, slams him down, and Gibson breaks the count! Julius rolls Drake up, Gibson already made the hot tag, pulls him out the ring, and Drake wipes him out with a suicide dive in front of the announce table to make the crowd chant "Holy shit!" GYV connect with the Doomsday Device, Drake makes the cover, and Julius kicks out!

Julius side-steps the corner dropkick, Gibson and Brutus tag back in, Brutus beats him down, Gibson goes back to the throat, Drake tags in, hits heavy punches, and he taunts the rest of Diamond Mine at ringside. Gibson tags in, Brutus fights back, Julius runs off Brutus's back to superplex Drake off the top rope, rolling slam to Gibson, Brutus hits the sliding clothesline, and covers for 3!! WINNERS and Advancing to the Finals: THE CREED BROTHERS!

We go back to last week when Cora Jade proved to Raquel González that she has the moxy and gusto to be a good tag team partner in the women's tournament. Cora Jade gets interviewed and we learn that the women start their tournament in two weeks. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon interrupt the interview to say that they want to win the Dusty Cup too because they have a lot to prove. Raquel shows up and speaks Spanish to their potential competition saying that they are ready for them. Raquel says why why not wait for two weeks when they can wrestle in the ring tonight! Valentina and Yulisa walk off, Raquel says "Only I can call you that" to Cora, and Cora has no idea what they were saying. (I understood their Spanish.)

We go back to last week when Wendy Choo won her match against Amari Miller. Tiffany Stratton tried to bribe Amari Miller to win the match, but Wendy Choo walked off with Tiffany's black card. We cut to earlier today with Wendy and Amari entering the building with lot of shopping bags saying it was fun until the card got cancelled, so she threw it in the trash. Cut back to the ring now and Tiffany is making her entrance.

* Tiffany Stratton vs. Wendy Choo

Tiffany wants her credit card back, Wendy wrenches her arm, Tiffany backflips to counter with an armdrag, and Wendy just relaxes on the mat confusing her into a drop toehold. They trade wrestling holds, Wendy rolls her up for 2, dropkicks her, hits a running kick to the jaw and follows up with a sleepy elbow drop for 2. Tiffany counters the chinlock, Wendy hits a belly-to-belly overhead throw, Tiffany blocks avalanche, freaks out that she broke a nail, hits a cartwheel twisting splash, swinging dropkick, basement dropkick, springboard corkscrew splash, and gets the 3-count! WINNER: TIFFANY STRATTON!

Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett take of back to last week where Draco Anthony said he was disappointed by not winning in his NXT debut match. Joe Gacy shows up (w/ Harland) to tell him not to feel disappointed, and wants to not feel alone. Backstage, Pete Dunne gets interviewed to say that Tony D'Angelo talks way too much. Since he lost to Cameron Grimes, he hasn't said much. Dunne wants D'Angelo in a steel cage match next week. Draco Anthony shows up to tell Dunne that he respects him and it'll be an honor to share the ring with him tonight, but Dunne isn't in the mood so he ignores his handshake. "Whatever mate. I'm still about to snap your fingers, so good luck." Dunne heads to the ring for our first commercial break.

* Pete Dunne vs. Draco Anthony

The match gets started during the break with picture-in-picture. When we come back, Anthony has Dunne in a chinlock while Joe Gacy and Harland are watching from the balcony, then hits a shoulder block and dead-lifts him to a vertical suplex. Dunne stomps on his hands, buzzsaw kick to the head, hammerlocks one arm, snaps fingers on the other hand, stomps him on the ear, and stomps on his elbow. Anthony tries to fight back but Dunne hits a harder forearm smash than him then applies an armbar followed by more chops. Anthony gets fired up, hits a short-arm clothesline, clotheslines him in the corner, hip attack, and a faceplant. Draco looks up at Joe smiling at him, and Harland looks ecstatic too. (-_-) Dunne side-steps him in a corner, kicks him in the head, kneedrop to the shoulder, Draco tosses him up and over, Dunne kicks him in the head again, and avoid Tony D'Angelo sneaking in with a crowbar. Dunne makes it back into the ring, snap German suplex, hits The Bitter End, and covers for the victory. WINNER: PETE DUNNE!

D'Angelo grabs Dunne in the sleeper, but Dunne breaks the hold by snapping his fingers. Dunne grabs a bunch of weapons and tosses them all into the ring as D'Angelo backs away. Dune throws a toolbox into the ring as well, but he also has his cricket bat and a microphone. "Hey Tony! You're gonna need more than a crowbar at Vengeance Day! How about we take everything we can find, we attach it to that cage, and we have ourselves a weaponized steel cage match?!" D'Angelo thinks about it, then shouts "You got it!"

Zoey Stark is trying to convince Io Shirai to think about her options for the Women's Dusty Tag Classic, naming the other teams that will be involved. Io wants to know why Zoey keeps telling her these things, Zoey reminds her it's a way back to the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles, and because Zoey's knee is not healed yet they need to find a replacement partner for Io. They need someone as crazy as Shirai, and she knows who to ask (but she won't tell Zoey).

After the break, Wendy Choo is still hurting from her match and  finds Dakota Kai going through her shopping bags and mocking her.

* LA Knight vs. Sanga

Knight shows no fear as he goes right after the big man, but is barely able to make him budge. Sanga quickly takes him down with strikes and a headbutt, Knight sends him into the ringpost, ducks under the big boot, but Sanga throws him down and hits a big elbow drop for 2. Knight clotheslines him a few times, Sanga is reeling, Knight hits a springboard missile dropkick, and covers for a near-fall! Grayson Waller unties the turnbuckle pad, the referee goes over to yell at him, Knight rakes Sanga's eyes to break the choke, and chases off Waller. Sanga crashes into the exposed steel, Knight hits the jumping neckbreaker, and covers for 3! WINNER: LA KNIGHT!

Knight and Waller start scrapping in the ring after the match, and Knight hits the snapmare driver. Sanga is back on his feet as Waller starts to recover.

Duke Hudson is getting interviewed and says he doesn't think Dante Chen is not here after vowing to call him out. He then turns attention towards Indi Hartwell, telling her good luck in her match next week to win the tag titles. Breaktime with a promo for NXT Vengeance Day.

Wade Barrett is in the ring with Legado Del Fantasma to introduce Santos Escobar, then introduces NXT Champion Bron Breakker to the ring. Breakker says he respects Escobar but he's going to beat him and there's nothing he can do about it, and he's even ready to fight right now. Escobar laughs at him for being young and naive, and wants to do things on his time. DOLPH ZIGGLER IS IN NXT! Ziggler takes Barrett's seat in the middle of the ring, points out the moment that they're having, and calls out Breakker for their Twitter back-and-forth. "You wanted to know if I work Tuesdays, apparently I do now." Ziggler asks who he is, Breakker says he's the reason why he's here, and when he's done with Escobar he'll deal with him after. Ziggler lists off his former championships, realizes he's not got a great win/loss record lately, but all those accolades he has he's not had the NXT Championship. The crowd chants for a triple threat but Ziggler doesn't care about them, but all we wants to be is in his head. Tommaso Ciampa heads out now! Now Ciampa calls Ziggler in NXT a moment, the crowd chants for a fatal 4-way, and Ciampa says Ziggler as NXT Champion is a hard pass. Ciampa pulls up the chair in front of Ziggler and calls him out, but Escobar is getting fed up. "Once I become the new NXT Champion, I'm gonna handle you and I'm gonna handle you." Ciampa threatens Escobar not to interrupt him, tells him he's next in line, and calls out Ziggler again. Ziggler mocks him, Ciampa boots him in the face, and they start fighting outside the ring! Legado Del Fantasma attack Breakker from behind, Breakker fights them off, Escobar had no idea, but he turns around to stand one-on-one. Breakker sets up for a powerbomb, but Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza get back in and they slam Breakker through the table! Escobar reminds him that everything happens on his time, and he'll see him next week.

Backstage, Kay Lee Ray broke a bunch of stuff to let off some steam. Elsewhere, Grayson Waller complains that LA Knight took a cheap shot on him and broke his restraining order, so next week he'll have him arrested. "Let me talk to ya LA, karma is a bitch!"

* Sarray vs. Dakota Kai

This match got underway during the break in picture-in-picture. When we come back, Sarray rolls her up for 1 then puts her in a half crab but Dakota grabs the bottom rope. Dakota avoids the sunray dropkick, hits the running facewash three times, makes the cover, gets a near-fall, and she has to calm herself. Sarray fires up, rolls her up, double foot stomp, missile dropkick from the top rope connects and gets a 2-count. Dakota hits the scorpion kick, spinning neckbreaker, and gets another near-fall. Sarray does a sunset flip from the ropes for 2, counter roll-up for 2, counter for 2, Dakota kicks her, Sarray avoids the around-the-world kick, hits the Sunray dropkick in the ropes, plants her with the exploder suplex, and covers for 3! WINNER: SARRAY!

Trick Williams tells the barber to trim the mustache of Carmelo Hayes because he has a third date with OllieJayy. Along with some other guys, they have some barbershop talk where they make fun of Cameron Grimes, and they even give him some credit, but ultimately Carmelo won't miss when he shoots. Hayes and Grimes will battle next week for the North American Championship.

In the locker room, Indi Hartwell finishes her phone convo with Dexter Lumis, and Persia Pirotta questions if it's Duke Hudson. Persia notes that Duke only wished Indi good luck and not her. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne show up to make fun of them. Gigi even holds up an old photo of Indi and Duke together, and that sets up Persia to spark up a brawl between the four women. Breaktime.

We get another video package for Nikkita Lyons showing off her kickboxing skills and nunchuk work. "If you come at me with that weak-ass shit, you better watch out for this Lyon's roar." Josh Briggs convinces Brooks Jensen to ask Kayden Carter on a date for Valentine's Day, and he sputters "we" meaning including Briggs and Kacy Catanzaro. Jensen gives Briggs $8 to take Kacy to the movies, even though it's more expensive than that. 

* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Finals: MSK vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofé

Wes Lee starts the match with Malik Blade and they have a clean break from the collar-and-elbow. Blade does a high leapfrog, Lee pushes him off, Nash Carter tags in, bronco buster, and covers for 1. Enofé tags in, hits a back suplex, 1-count, puts him in a chinlock, gets tossed onto the apron, rolls back in, jumping 'rana but Carter rolls through and hits the penalty kick. Lee and Blade tag in, MSK hit double team stomps and they dump both men out the ring before the break.

After some picture-in-picture action, we come back full-screen with Blade holding Carter down in a chinlock, but both side tag out. Lee kicks and punches Enofé, dropkicks him in the back, forearm smash, kick to the back, back exploder suplex, running meteora, Carter tags in, catapult into a superkick, and hits a diving foot stomp. Blade breaks the count, throws Lee out the ring, hits a tope con hilo, and Enofé rolls Carter up for 2.5! Blade tags in, double-team suplex/cutter, Enofé tags back in, diving body splash, covers and gets 2.99 as Lee also tries to break up the count. Lee tosses Blade out the ring, Carter dropkicks Enofé in the corner, MSK hit their tag-team assisted blockbuster, and Wes Lee covers for 3 to go to the finals again! WINNERS and Advancing to the Finals: MSK!

Next week, The Creed Brothers take on MSK in the tournament finals! We get a video package for Cameron Grimes saying no one has grown more in NXT than himself. Grimes says he would trade all the riches and fancy cars if it means walking through the front door of the trailer to see that North American Championship. The commercial for WWE 2K22 airs next.

Dakota Kai walks backstage still smarting from her loss, and Wendy Choo is right there to remind her that it's not always easy to win a match. Next week, the Dusty Cup Finals take place between MSK and The Creed Brothers; Toxic Attraction defend the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships against Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta; Cameron Grimes challenges Carmelo Hayes for the North American Championship; Pete Dunne and Tony D'Angelo will fight in a weaponized steel cage match; and Bron Breakker defends his NXT Championship against Santos Escobar! Also, will LA Knight be publicly arrested?

Kay Lee Ray is ready for her title match. Toxic Attraction are walking backstage, and suddenly Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne are attacked by Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta, still angered by their earlier confrontation! Mandy Rose gets involved in the fight as well, but she's ordered to take her title and go defend it in the ring. 

* NXT Women's Championship: Kay Lee Ray vs. Mandy Rose {C}

We get the proper title match introductions, the championship is on the line, and the bell dings to get the main event underway. KLR avoids the running knee at the bell and hits several chops to the chest. Rose slaps her after avoids the backslide, hits a Thesz Press with some mounted punches, KLR clotheslines her, hits a lot of forearm shots and does a tornado DDT for 2. KLR goes up top, Rose rolls out the ring, Kay Lee Ray hits a torpedo suicide dive, throws her back in, covers for 2, and sends her to the corner. Rose ducks a clothesline and shoves her into the turnbuckles, then proceeds to beat her up in the ropes. Rose plants her with a spinebuster, covers for a near-fall, and applies a body scissors. McKenzie Mitchell reports that all four of Dolin, Jayne, Pirotta and Hartwell have all been escorted out of the building.

KLR and Rose trade covers and counters, 2-counts, Rose hits a flipping pendulum slam, then puts her in the octopus stretch, and the crowd continue their dueling chants from the beginning. KLR clotheslines her, dropkick, hits a springboard moonsault, 2-count, then transitions to the Kofi Clutch! Rose gets Ray's shoulders down, so KLR lets go at the count of 2, she sets up for the KLR Bomb, but Rose counters with the Code Red for 2.5! Rose sets up the double-underhook, KLR counters with a front suplex, Rose counters the superkick with a schoolgirl rollup for 2, KLR hits the superkick and gets a near-fall! KLR goes up top, Jacy Jayne is back to distract the referee, and GiGi Dolin throws KLR off the top rope behind the ref's back! Rose hits the running pump knee, covers, and gets the 1-2-3! WINNER and STILL NXT Women's Champion: MANDY ROSE!

Toxic Attraction all get in the ring with KLR's bat, but Io Shirai runs down to make the save as she ducks a swing and hits Rose with the palm strike! Shirai gives Dolin the flapjack, uses Jayne's leg to kick Dolin, palm strike to Jayne, tiger feint kick to Dolin, and springboard missile dropkick to both Jayne and Dolin followed by a kip up! Rose attacks Shirai from behind, Kay Lee Ray drops Rose with the KLR Bomb, and Toxic Attraction finally back off. Shirai and KLR (and her bat) stand tall to close out the show.