WALTER and Roderick Strong headlined the 1/18 edition of NXT 2.0. WALTER defeated Strong and post-match, he stopped the ring announcer and stated that the winner of the match is “Gunther”. WWE recently filed a trademark on ‘Gunther Stark’. The final images of the show saw Imperium (Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel & WALTER) brawling with Diamond Mine (Roderick Strong, Julius & Brutus Creed). It was confirmed by Wade Barrett at the start of the show that WALTER is a part of NXT 2.0 full-time now.
The ring isn't big enough to hold a brawl of this magnitude!! #Imperium #DiamondMine#WWENXT @WalterAUT @Marcel_B_WWE @FabianAichner @roderickstrong @JuliusCreedWWE @BrutusCreedwwe pic.twitter.com/FLEQUtLsY5
— WWE (@WWE) January 19, 2022
The 2022 men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is underway. The Creed Brothers bested Josh Briggs and Brooks Jenson in a first-round matchup. Later in the show, Edris Enofé and Malik Blade scored a win over Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) to advance to the next round of the tournament. Legado’s loss came about when NXT Champion Bron Breakker carried Santos Escobar away from the ringside area which caught the attention of Joaquin Wilde and led to the victory for Enofé and Blade.
On the 1/25 program, Jacket Time (KUSHIDA & Ikemen Jiro) are taking on MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) along with Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) taking on Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward in first-round matches.
.@bronbreakkerwwe out here to make sure it's a fair fight between @MalikBladeWWE & @Edris_Enofe and #LegadoDelFantasma.#WWENXT @EscobarWWE @joaquinwilde_ @RaulMendozaWWE pic.twitter.com/j2EgPF6Nw2
— WWE (@WWE) January 19, 2022
A video package aired to promote the return of Sarray. She has not had a match on NXT TV since losing to Kay Lee Ray on the 11/9 show. Sarray sported a new look in the video package.
.@SarrayWWE returns SOON! ☀️#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/384L3a5nNG
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) January 19, 2022
For the first time since September, Dante Chen was back on NXT 2.0. He had been out of action with an injury along with mourning the loss of his father. Dante took on Guru Raaj, but their match was interrupted by the returning Duke Hudson. Hudson was last featured on NXT TV when he took on Cameron Grimes in a No Holds Barred match.
.@sixftfiiiiive sending a message to the entire #WWENXT locker room at the expense of @DanteChenWWE and @gururaajwwe! pic.twitter.com/3dWaKfpTNB
— WWE (@WWE) January 19, 2022
There were multiple announcements made for next week’s show including a six-woman tag that will see Toxic Attraction (Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) take on Kay Lee Ray, Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta. This match came about after Mandy cost Kay Lee Ray her match against Ivy Nile. It was Lee Ray’s first singles loss since she joined NXT U.S. in August 2021. Hartwell and Pirotta came to the ring to even the numbers game.
Boa is set to go one-on-one with Solo Sikoa on 1/25. Their bout will be a Falls Count Anywhere match. In addition to that, Cameron Grimes is taking on Tony D’Angelo and the winner of that match is next in line to challenge Carmelo Hayes for his North American Championship.
Ollie Jayy, who created one of the NXT 2.0 theme songs is scheduled to appear next week to perform live.
There were two encounters involving Joe Gacy, Harland and Odyssey Jones. Jones is on crutches and said he’d be out of action for a few weeks with a sprained knee and Gacy opened the door for him so he could exit the area. Later in the show, Harland attacked Jones and targeted his knee.
