The 2020 Worlds Collide was the second Worlds Collide professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT and NXT UK brand divisions. The event aired exclusively on the WWE Network and took place on January 25, 2020, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, NXT UK's Imperium (Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe) defeated NXT's The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong) in an eight-man tag team match.
Production
Background
Worlds Collide is a series of professional wrestling shows that began on January 26, 2019, when WWE held an interbrand tournament featuring wrestlers from their NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brands.[1][2][3] The "Worlds Collide" name was subsequently adopted for a WWE Network series that aired in April 2019. During the Royal Rumble 2020 weekend announcements, WWE revealed that a second Worlds Collide event would air live on the WWE Network on January 25, 2020, and be held at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, though unlike the previous year's event, it would only feature the NXT and NXT UK brands and not also 205 Live. Also unlike the 2019 event, there was not a Worlds Collide Tournament with a future championship opportunity at stake. Instead, the card's matches were interbrand matches pitting wrestlers from NXT against those from NXT UK.[4]
Storylines
The card included six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT and NXT UK brands,[5][6] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, NXT and NXT UK.
Event
Pre-Show
On the pre-show, Mia Yim took on Kay Lee Ray. In the end, Ray rolled up Yim while grabbing the ropes to win.
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with Ilja Dragunov facing Finn Bálor. In the end, Bálor performed the 1916 DDT to win the match.
Next, Angel Garza defended the NXT Cruiserweight Championship against Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Jordan Devlin, and Travis Banks in a fatal four-way match. In the end, Garza performed the Wing Clipper on Scott, however, Devlin broke up the pin by delivering a headbutt to Garza and threw him out of the ring. Devlin then performed the Devlin Side on Scott and pinned him to win the championship for the first time.
After that, Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) faced DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa). In the end, Ciampa and Gargano performed their old tag finisher, Meeting in the Middle (running knee smash/superkick combo) on Seven to win the match. After the match, both teams shook hands and hugged, with Ciampa and Gargano raising Bate's and Seven's hands afterward.
The penultimate match was Rhea Ripley defending the NXT Women's Championship against Toni Storm. In the end, after Storm missed the Frog splash, Ripley performed the Riptide to retain the championship.
Main event
In the main event, Imperium (NXT UK Champion Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe) defeated The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong) in an eight-man tag team match despite being outnumbered 4-3 after Wolfe suffered an injury early in the match.
Aftermath
A Worlds Collide event was not held in 2021, but it was announced to return in 2022.[7] The 2022 event was also the first Worlds Collide event to air on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021.[8]
Results
External links
References
- WWE.com staff. WWE Worlds Collide to stream on Saturday, Feb. 2 WWE, January 24, 2019, retrieved January 24, 2019^
- NXT, 205 Live and NXT UK Superstars to battle in the first-ever WWE Worlds Collide Tournament at Royal Rumble Axxess WWE, January 10, 2019, retrieved January 10, 2019^
- Joseph Currier. WWE WORLDS COLLIDE TOURNAMENT SET, WILL BE TAPED FOR NETWORK SPECIAL Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online, January 10, 2019, retrieved January 10, 2019^
- WWE Worlds Collide preview, Jan. 25 2020: NXT and NXT UK clash during Royal Rumble Weekend WWE, November 17, 2019, retrieved November 16, 2019^
- Ed Grabianowski. How Pro Wrestling Works HowStuffWorks, Discovery Communications, January 13, 2006, retrieved March 5, 2012^
- Live & Televised Entertainment WWE, retrieved March 21, 2012^
- Robert Defelice. WWE Announces The Impending Launch Of 'NXT Europe' Final NXT UK Event To Be 'Worlds Collide' On 9/4 Fightful, August 18, 2022, retrieved August 18, 2022^
- Robert Defelice. Standalone WWE Network App Shutting Down In The US On 4/4, New Details On The Transition To Peacock Fightful, March 8, 2021, retrieved March 8, 2021^
- Jason Powell. WWE Worlds Collide results: Powell's live review of Undisputed Era vs. Imperium, Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm for the NXT Championship, Angel Garza vs. Isaiah Scott vs. Travis Banks vs. Jordan Devlin for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov, DIY vs. Moustache Mountain Pro Wrestling Dot Net, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^
- Anthony Benigno. NXT UK Champion Kay Lee Ray def. Mia Yim WWE, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^
- Anthony Benigno. Finn Bálor def. Ilja Dragunov WWE, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^
- Anthony Benigno. Jordan Devlin def. Angel Garza, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott and Travis Banks to become the new NXT Cruiserweight Champion (Fatal 4-Way Match) WWE, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^
- Anthony Benigno. #DIY def. Moustache Mountain WWE, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^
- Anthony Benigno. NXT Champion Rhea Ripley def. Toni Storm WWE, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^
- Anthony Benigno. Imperium def. The Undisputed ERA WWE, January 25, 2020, retrieved January 25, 2020^