Wrestling Roundup: December 19, 2019

The Wrestling Roundup is here to bring you all the news and rumors you need to know in one place.

NXT Results:

A pair of title matches book-ended this week’s NXT show. The full results are here:

• Adam Cole (c) def. Finn Balor to retain the NXT Championship
• Damien Priest def. Killian Dain
• Cameron Grimes def. KUSHIDA
• Io Shirai def. Santana Garrett
• Pete Dunne def. Travis Banks
• Rhea Ripley def. Shayna Baszler (c) to win the NXT Women’s Championship

NXT Takeaways:

Johnny Gargano is back! The heart & soul of NXT has returned, and he did it in order to screw Finn Balor out of the NXT Championship. Gargano continued his beat down of Balor after Cole picked up the win. It looks like the originally planned Balor-Gargano feud is back on for the next NXT TakeOver.

Finn's past has come back to haunt him.

JOHNNY WRESTLING IS BACK!!! #NXTChampionship #WWENXT @FinnBalor pic.twitter.com/qwpIhwD1DO

— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2019

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is also back. The annual tag team tournament will have it’s teams announced on the New Years Day episode. No indication on the size of the field, but it will likely be eight teams as usual.

The #DustyClassic RETURNS in 2020! 🖤💛

The teams will be announced on the New Year's Day edition of #WWENXT. pic.twitter.com/VpSLwgHQxx

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 19, 2019

Rhea Ripley is the new NXT Women’s Champion, and the celebration with the NXT locker room & crowd show how popular she is. Kudos to Shayna Baszler on her run as the big bad of the NXT Women’s Division. She made Ripley look like a million bucks while doing the job. It was a heck of a match, and now Ripley leads the NXT brand into the new decade.

AEW Results:

This week’s Dynamite featured a faceoff between a young up-and-comer and Le Champion, plus a tag team title match. Full results are below:

• Lucha Bros. def. Kenny Omega & Adam Page
• Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin def. The Butcher & The Blade
• Awesome Kong def. Miranda Alize
• Jungle Boy & Chris Jericho go to a 10-minute time limit draw
• Kris Statlander def. Britt Baker to become #1 Contender for the AEW Women’s Championship
• SCU (c) def. The Young Bucks to retain the AEW Tag Team Championships

AEW Takeaways:

Kris Statlander has arrived as the new hot star of the AEW Women’s Division. Her performance in beating Britt Baker was outstanding, and now Statlander gets the next shot at Riho’s AEW Women’s Championship on January 1st. AEW has struggled to find someone for fans to connect with in their Women’s Division, but Statlander could be the answer. It will be an interesting decision to see if AEW straps the rocket to her and gives her the title.

.@callmekrisstat keeping that pressure onto Baker! Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/UYE7nfdqdg

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 19, 2019

Jungle Boy was made to look like a star while facing off with Chris Jericho. The 10-minute time limit stipulation was smart to keep both men strong: Jungle Boy for surviving, and Jericho for not getting pinned. 

Jungle Boy is on the attack towards Jericho! Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/CIiPJYBC4E

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 19, 2019

Dark Order has become a real force in AEW. At the end of the show, they came out in numbers and beat down the Young Bucks and members of The Elite. They even recruited two new members in Alex Reynolds & John Silver. Dark Order has been asking for members to join them, and now they have them. It will be interesting to see what they do with this new momentum going forward.

#DarkOrder has gained 2 new members! @YTAlexReynolds & @silvernumber1 pic.twitter.com/sOGrdADDpK

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 19, 2019

Jimmy Uso Found Not Guilty in DUI Case

On Wednesday, Jimmy Uso appeared in court and was given a verdict of not guilty of DUI (h/t CagesideSeats). Uso had been arrested in July in Pensacola, Florida, and has been out of action since. His twin brother Jimmy & his wife Naomi have also been out of action since the arrest. Now that a jury has given him a not guilty verdict, the doors are seemingly open to a return to WWE television.

Killer Kross Now A Free Agent:

Impact Wrestling has released Killer Kross. The company confirmed it on their website, but it was first reported by Fightful. Kross had been at odds with Impact Wrestling over things like preventing him from working certain AAA dates and not having proper medical personnel present when asking him to blade. Fightful confirmed that Kross does not have a no-compete clause to his release. Kross himself posted a teaser for his new free agent status on Twitter.

https://t.co/HB4EIHfkwv pic.twitter.com/yaWXQRvd3E

— Karrion Kross (@WWEKarrionKross) December 18, 2019

One for the Road:

Jungle Boy has been scouting Chris Jericho for a while now.

This was Summerslam 09. Jericho wrestled in a tag match on this show. #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/ZBoMCOtRFp

— Fightful Wrestling (@FightfulWrestle) December 19, 2019