The NXT 2.0 Rewind: 11.16.2021 – The Poker Showdown

Previously on the NXT 2.0 Rewind: Pete Dunne sneaks by the North American Champion, Elektra Lopez and Xyon Quinn make lovey eyes at each other, and Boa gains mysterious powers.

We kick off with the entrance of Tony D’Angelo. As he comes out, we’re greeted by Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix on commentary.

Tony D’Angelo vs Dexter Lumis

Dexter has created some new art, revealing his painting of Tony D’Angelo sleeping with the fishes. Dex controls early as the fans offer dual “let’s go Dexter” and “let’s go Tony” chants. Tony D fights back with a headlock, Dexter fights out and clotheslines D’Angelo in the corner. Tony runs out and grabs the easel, poking Dex in the eye as the referee gets rid of it. Tony whips Dex with a suplex and gets the pin.

Tony D’Angelo pins Dexter Lumis. This was almost too quick of a win and made Dex look dumb, but he was also a made man at this point anyway in NXT.

NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick WIlliams attack Dex after the match, putting his arm in a chair. Melo stomps the arm and chair with a leap from the top rope before Johnny Gargano finally appears, far too late to save his partner.

We return from break to Johnny Wrestling in the ring. Gargano originally wanted to beat Hayes just to show he was better, but now Melo has screwed with his family and he’s going to kick Melo’s teeth down his throat. He calls out Melo and gets Pete Dunne instead. Dunne tells him he can’t just worm his way into a title match and we get another interruption, this time Melo and Williams up on the balcony. Melo offers a shot next week on NXT via a triple threat match.

Diamond Mine are warming up in the locker room, Malcolm Bivens promising that they will show again tonight that they are the most dominant group in NXT. Joe Gacy wanders in, Bivens gives him his card.

L.A. Knight tells us via vignette that he is a megastar and he is going to beat the breaks off Grayson Waller.

Jacket Time (Ikemen Jiro & Kushida) and Odyssey Jones vs Diamond Mine (NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong and Julius & Brutus Creed with Malcolm Bivens, Ivy Nile and Hachiman)

The excitement of Jacket Time continues! Odyssey Jones is still around as well but is not wearing a cool jacket so what’s even the point. The good guys overpower Julius, exchanging quick tags and all flying off the top individually onto Julius. Julius dodges Ikemen and suplexes him to the corner, tagging in Brother Bruti. Brutus slams Ikemen to the mat with a big overhead power slam and tags in Roddy. Ikemen runs for a tag to Kushida who is on fire and drops all three active members of Diamond Mine until Roddy finally smacks him down and we take a break.

After that break, Jiro is being slammed around by Julius. Roddy and Odyssey tag in, Rocky actually lifting up Odyssey for an Angle Slam. Jacket Time dropkick the Creeds off the apron and Jones splashes Roddy, getting the pin and outsmarting Diamond Mine.

Jacket Time & Odyssey Jones defeat Diamond Mine when Odyssey Jones pins Roderick Strong. This was good. It felt quick (it was eight minutes including the commercial), never slowed down and gave us a surprise result.

Grizzled Young Veterans, who have borrowed the NXT Women’s Tag Team belts, call their nana on the phone and tell her they are dedicating their title victory to her. Meanwhile, a sleepy woman in a onesie is snoozing on a couch in the background.

MSK are in an airport and neither wants to hold their bag. You know, because weed. They’re stoners. They love the weed. They make it to their destination and talk about their shaman who one day they’ll find.

Xyon Quinn vs Andre Chase

Wade calls Xyon a himbo, a word he has learned on the internet. Chase tries to chain wrestle and Quinn clotheslines him down instead. Chase dodges a charge in the corner and takes Xyon down with a neckbreaker as the corner chyron warns me that the poker showdown is next. If I wasn’t sober, it would be a good time to start getting ready. The Chase U student section in the crowd roots on Chase as he slows it down and hooks a headlock on Xyon. Xyon lifts Chase out of it and Chase shuts it down with elbows. Xyon powers out again and drops a rolling backbreaker and then jackhammers Chase for the three count.

Xyon Quinn pins Andre Chase. A good squash.

Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza run in after to attack Xyon and lure him into a corner where Santos Escobar lays Xyon out. Elektra Lopez walks up and tells Xyon that no one tells her no before they shove him spine-first onto a steel plate.

Raquel Gonzalez tells McKenzie Mitchell that she misses her title and will deal with Dakota tonight. Tonight is about revenge.

Poker Showdown: Duke Hudson vs Cameron Grimes

We have a poker table in the ring and the great Alicia Taylor in ring to announce the rules. The only cards I play are Uno, so she might as well just have announced the rules in a foreign language for me. Here, have a look.

We’re playing Texas Hold’em, friends. Duke laughs at Alicia wishing them good luck, saying luck is for losers. “Tonight Cameron Grimes, I’m gonna make you my bitch.” You might recognize the card dealer as one Maxxine Dupri.

Then they play cards and talk about flops and give us winning percentages and so on and so forth. Grimes says he can’t be intimidated and pushes the pot to $10,000. Alicia, to her credit, totally sounds like she knows what she is calling and I appreciate that. Duke’s winning percentage jumps to 100% on the graphic as Cameron goes all in. Duke folds and Grimes wins the hand, not even knowing that you could fold. Grimes reveals he had a king and 3. The fans chant “you got played” and Duke attacks, powerbombing Cameron through the poker table. He goes under the ring and finds a pair of scissors, chopping off the beard and some of the hair of Grimes. Rude of him.

Kyle O’Reilly and Von Wagner discuss Wagner’s appearance on SmackDown. Wagner says they will handle things tonight. What a time 2021 must have been to have Von Wagner on NXT AND SmackDown.

Von Wagner & Kyle O’Reilly vs Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen

I was still reeling from the excitement of the poker showdown and zoned out on the first part of the match, but I zone in for Jensen and Briggs double teaming O’Reilly. O’Reilly finally gets the hot tag and Von Wagner tosses Jensen. Briggs misses a dodge and falls to the outside, O’Reilly leaping on him. Wagner plants Jensen and gets the pin. The boys are back.

Von Wagner & Kyle O’Reilly defeat Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen when Kyle O’Reilly pins Brooks Jensen. This was a tag team match alright.

NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium watch backstage and say Wagner & O’Reilly will never beat them.

Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta stare into the trainers room where Dexter is getting checked out. Persia tells Indi to go be there for her man and she’ll handle their tag match alone.

Lashing Out with Lash Legend time! Lash discusses Kay Lee Ray when Grayson Waller struts in, grabbing a chair and offering to spill some tea. Grayson says he doesn’t work for a hot dog and a handshake. “This business isn’t about wins and losses any more. It isn’t about how many stars you get, it is about likes, how many followers you have.” That’s right, down with the star ratings! I was ahead of the curve on this one.

Persia Pirotta vs Gabby Stephens & Jenny Levy

Hey, some new faces to introduce! Gabby is better known as Kaci Lennox. This was her sole appearance under the WWE/NXT umbrella. She had several years of indies under her belt and even appeared before this match on a 2020 episode of AEW Dark. Since this NXT match, she’s been all over the place including matches on Dark, Impact and most recently ROH on HonorClub. This was the first WWE/NXT appearance for Jenny Levy too, though she did make a grand return in 2026 as Gianna Capri, Evolve competitor. She also first appeared on Dark before NXT and spent the better part of a few years balancing between being Valentina Rossi for AEW and indies and Adriana Gambino for WOW.

Now that we’ve covered that, let us see how Persia does her in handicap tag action. I don’t like Gabby and Jenny’s chances. Robert Stone appears on the ramp to watch as Persia beats down both women. Persia scoops one woman on her shoulders, stacks the second on top of that and drops them both with a double Samoan Drop.

Persia Pirotta defeats Gabby Stephens and Jenny Levy. Squash!

Mitchell is with Dakota Kai who is battling her brain twitching a bit. I feel ya. She says it felt good to hit Raquel with a shovel. She’s lost and her mind is cloudy and the only way to purge that is get rid of the past. Toxic Attraction appear and Dakota tells Mandy Rose that she owes her twice. Dakota leaves and GYV appear, giving the belts back.

NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa is backstage and tells us his accomplishments over the last two months with Goldie. He sees a lack of integrity in the new crop and decides he’ll head to the ring to discuss it.

Kayden Carter and Kacy Catcanzaro go to EDC Orlando, raving and dancing and letting out their inner crazy. I hope they stayed hydrated, those festivals will get you. They’re the life of the party and they’re bringing it to NXT.

As promised, here’s NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa to say some words in the ring. He says that Melo can’t hit a shot, he’ll tell Waller what to do with his hot dog, and tries to go to Tony D before being interrupted by the familiar sirens of Bron Breakker. Bron doesn’t care if Ciampa is worried about the new crop of talent and promises to run through Ciampa and take his gold. Ciampa reminds Bron of his Havoc win and tells Bron he has less than a 33 ⅓ chance of taking the gold from him. “At the end of the day Bron, you’re just a puppy.”

Breaking news! Next week, a triple threat for the North American Championship with Hayes vs Gargano vs Dunne. Ciampa vs Waller is also on the card.

USA Olympic Gold Medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock is sitting ringside and gets a USA chant. She signed with WWE just under two years later and won the first season of LFG before getting released earlier this year.

Raquel Gonzalez vs Dakota Kai

The two former partners brawl outside before fighting in, Raquel being choked in the corner and smiling. Raquel in the bright green gear era gets me every time after this run of the Judgment Day. Gonzalez beats Kai from corner to corner and then stretches her spine over her shoulder.

We come back from a commercial to Kai controlling, kicking Raquel in the face and covering her for two. The fans are very loud and very split for both women. Raquel grabs Dakota by the neck and slams her down before running over her with a series of clotheslines. Dakota grabs the bottom turnbuckle pad and exposes it as Gonzalez suplexes her across the ring. Gonzalez scoops Dakota up for the Tejana Bomb, Kai reverses out into a pin attempt. Gonzalez scoops Kai up by her leg for a stretch muffler and tosses Kai. Kai blocks another lift and drops Raquel right into that exposed turnbuckle. Dakota ducks out to grab her shovel, laughing manically until Gonzalez boots her in the stomach and grabs the shovel. Dakota begs off and here are Toxic Attraction to cause the DQ.

Raquel Gonzalez defeats Dakota Kai by disqualification. Just a brawl but they work well together.

The four women pick Raquel apart until Cora Jade and her skateboard tries to even the odds (she can’t). Zoey Stark limps out on her crutches to her theme and is followed by Io Shirai, who takes a crutch and goes to attack. That still brings the odds to 4-on-3, but Iyo grabs a mic and yells “WAR GAMES” anyway to end our show.

A pretty, pretty good episode this week. They lost me with the poker thing because poker is so far out of my knowledge base to write about, but the matches were fun and the episode flew by.