6 Ups And 0 Downs For WWE NXT: New Year's Evil
5. An Undisputed Emperor Of Lucha Libre Is Crowned
Ending 2020 with a twist, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado decided to crash Legado del Fantasma's Lucha House Party on last week's episode of NXT, setting up a mouth-watering battle of the luchadores over the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on last night's New Year's Evil card.
The former pre-WWE teammates quickly picked up the pace, with the 'King of the Ropes' living up to his moniker by nailing the Champion with an array of rope assisted hurricanranas, and a jaw-dropping moonsault to the outside. It was only a matter of time before the wily 'Emporor of Lucha Libre' found his way back in to the bout, however, and an ugly looking half-botched hurricanrana from Metalik was soon reversed into an even more revolting slam into the barricade.
Metalik would slowly begin to work himself back into the encounter with an insane springboard senton to the champ outside of the ring after being grounded for a spell by Escobar, but the high-flying challenger was soon derailed by a sweetly timed knee to the face. Ultimately, after almost losing his mask and nearly sealing a win via top rope hurricanrana, Metalik was finally bested by a perfectly executed Phantom Driver.
Adding Metalik to Escobar's growing list of impressive scalps was a wise call, but giving the former the chance to show-off exactly why he's rated so highly by his contemporaries was arguably more important. Let the LHP set up shop back on the black and gold brand, or loosen the reins on this ridiculously talented duo on the main roster because last night proved they're capable of much more than what we've seen of them thus far.
4. Transformation Complete
For what feels like forever, Xia Li and Boa have found themselves trapped inside of a garage beating the crap out of/hardening each other for their eventual return to the black and gold brand. Last night we finally got to see what all of the blood, sweat and tears was for as the pair of tortured stars returned to the CWC.
With what appeared to be metal/wooden sticks in hand, Li, closely followed by Boa, marched down to the ring whilst being watched by the ominous figure we'd seen in the aforementioned vignettes. She then paused on the ramp and proceeded to show off her impressive arsenal of kicks and strikes before making her way into the squared circle.
Li then immediately set about beating the p*ss out of an unfortunate masked jobber, drilling her opponent with an insanely brutal spinning kick for the win. Whether Boa also demonstrates this formidable dominance going forward remains to be seen. But as of this moment, it appears all those weeks of strange and uncomfortable dimly lit sequences may have been worth enduring if Li's showing here was anything to go by...