The July 20, 2021 episode of NXT featured some thrilling in-ring action and furthered a few existing storylines. It was a slightly weaker episode than some of its recent predecessors, but it was still a fun two hours of pro-wrestling TV.

Winner: Angry Samoa Joe 

"Tick Tock, Tick Tock Guess who's come to smash your clock."

This week's edition of NXT opened with an irate Samoa Joe, who stormed to the ring and called out NXT Champion Karrion Kross -- the man who choked him out following the main event of last week's NXT episode. William Regal emerged from the back while Joe was unloading a verbal tirade into the mic. The NXT General Manager pleaded with his colleague to quash his lust for revenge and encouraged him to settle things peacefully. But Joe had no intentions of putting Kross to sleep peacefully. He didn't calm down, but he did promise Regal that the war between himself and Kross would be over by the end of the night.

Losers: Diamond Mine

Diamond Mine's two active wrestlers, Roderick Strong and Tyler Rust faced off against Kushida and Bobby Fish in tag team action. While Diamond Mine's manager Malcolm Bivens and Coach Hachimann encouraged their stablemates from ringside, Rust and Strong struggled to overcome their opponents in what was a very enjoyable technical spectacle involving four very talented pro wrestlers who know each other very well. The match ended when Kushida made Rust tap out with an armbar.

Diamond Mine debuted in NXT with some fanfare, and their tenure on WWE's black and gold brand started strongly. But tonight they suffered their first setback since joining forces as a cohesive unit. Of course, Kushida and Fish are incredibly tough veterans who most wrestlers would struggle to beat, but if the goal is to get Diamond Mine over as a formidable faction, this ain't it.

Winner: Kyle O'Reilly 

Kyle O'Reilly participated in his first match since he lost to Adam Cole at The Great American Bash. This week, O'Reilly had to tap into a new side of himself to get the job done against Austin Theory, who put up a hell of a fight against an opponent with a lot more experience.

Theory did well, and O'Reilly, who was clearly taken back by the upstart's resilience grew increasingly frustrated. He eventually snapped and hit Theory with a flying knee to the face before locking in an aggressive Heel Hook which forced Theory to tap out.

This match was way better than it needed to be, and it fulfilled all of its purposes: it made O'Reilly look like a tough virtuoso who knows what it takes to get the job done. But it also solidified Austin Theory as one of NXT's most exciting up-and-comers.

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 Winner: Odyssey Jones

26-year-old former college football star Odyssey Jones advanced to the second round of the NXT Breakout Tournament with an emphatic victory over fellow NXT newcomer Andre Chase. Jones had a hype package earlier in the show, and Chase did not so the outcome of this match was inevitable.

The match was brief and decent if a little sloppy. At one point, Jones was meant to catch Chase, but dropped him. Chase landed on his head but recovered very quickly. It was the NXT TV debut of both men, so some slopiness is forgivable.

Odyssey Jone is an absolute specimen. He's huge, charismatic, and knows his way around the ring well enough to get over, although there's still plenty of room for improvement. It would not be remotely shocking to see him win the whole tournament.

Loser: William Regal's Medical Bills

Throughout the rest of the show, Joe was sporadically shown impatiently awaiting the arrival of Karrion Kross. Sadly, as entertaining as Angry Joe was, we never got to see him get his hands on the NXT Champion because Kross was one step ahead of Joe. When Kross' car arrived, Joe yanked its door open and pulled out the driver -- who was not Kross. Kross' driver informed Joe that he had dropped Kross off in front of the building.

Immediately after the main event match in which Raquel Gonzalez successfully defended her NXT Women's Championship against challenger Xia Li, Joe stormed to the ring yet again and demanded Kross show himself. Kross did not appear in the arena but on the big screen. Kross was outside in the parking lot, with a chilling message for Joe.

"See Joe," Kross said as he held his title up to the camera. "This means I can go wherever I want, I can do whatever I want and I can hurt whoever I want."

The camera then panned to William Regal, who was crumpled in heap on the floor and had clearly just been assaulted by Kross. Joe ran outside but Kross got in his car and left the scene.

Loser: Kross Losing On Raw

The aforementioned final segment of this week's NXT was well done, enjoyable, and really raised the stakes of the Samoa Joe vs. Karrion Kross feud. However, it would have landed a lot better if Kross hadn't been fed to Jeff Hardy on last night's edition of Raw.

Full Results

  • Bobby Fish and Kushida def. Diamond Mine's Tyler Rust and Roderick Strong via submission when Rust tapped out to a Kushida armbar
  • Frankie Money def. Jacy Jayne with a Glam Slam
  • Kyle O'Reilly def. Austin via submission with Heel Hook
  • Odyssey Jone def. Andre Chase via pinfall with a modified Mark Of Excellence
  • Drake Maverick def. LA Knight via pinfall with a rollup
  • Raquel Gonzalez def. Xia Li via pinfall after a chokeslam

Noteworthy Moments

  • William Regal pleaded for calm when Samoa Joe put Karrion Kross on notice
  • LA Knight confronted Drake Maverick in the parking lot and challenged him to a match after Maverick attempted to assist Knight's butler Cameron Grimes with Knight's luggage
  • Jessi Kamea accompanied Frankie Monet to the ring (with Robert Stone in tow)
  • Mandy Rose appeared at ringside during the Monet/Jayne match
  • Johnny Gargano informed Austin Theory that he would not be accompanying him to the ring after Theory accepted a challenge from Kyle O'Reilly
  • Wade Barrett conducted a sitdown interview with former NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed ahead of Reed's match with Adam Cole next week
  • Hit Row interrupted Legado Del Fantasma and insulted them on the mic. The encounter soon turned physical which ultimately led to Swerve smashing a guitar over the back of Joaquin Wilde
  • The Way argued among themselves backstage following a series of defeats
  • An MSK backstage interview in which they were explaining the meaning of their team name was interrupted by an Imperium vignette featuring Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner who proclaimed that the ring is sacred and they intend to put a stop to gimmicks that besmirch the artform of pro-wrestling by any means necessary
  • Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan challenged Tomasso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher to a match on next week's edition of NXT
  • LA Knight beat down Drake Maverick after losing to him. When Cameron Grimes attempted to help Maverick, Knight put him in his place and forced Grimes to hit Maverick
  • Xia Li sustained a shoot injury during a spot in the main event in which Raquel Gonzalez splashed her from the top rope. Li was checked by medical staff and was able to finish the match.
  • Samoa Joe called Karrion Kross out on final time but Kross appeared on the big screen and revealed that he had attacked William Regal

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