Generation NXT - NXT recap for February 17, 2021

Kyle O'Reilly heads to the ring at the start of tonight's show. He says he cannot make sense of Adam Cole's actions at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day and says he is pissed off and disappointed, as he feels that The Undisputed Era was supposed to be unlike every other group in the business until Cole ruined it. O'Reilly feels that Cole stabbed him in the back when he superkicked him, yet he is giving Cole the benefit of the doubt as he still considers him his brother, and asks Cole to come to the ring to explain himself. After O'Reilly says he is willing to hear Cole out despite wanting to punch him in the face, Roderick Strong shows up and says they both known Cole, and he knows that Cole's actions were solely based on emotion and that Cole regrets his actions. O'Reilly says he wants Cole to explain and that he does not want Strong's "peacekeeping mission," and when Strong tries to get in the ring, O'Reilly tells him not to get in, saying he does not trust him and does not want to "hear [his] bullshit." When O'Reilly calls out Cole again, he gets Finn Balor with his bags. O'Reilly says he is not looking for him, but Finn Balor says he is looking for him, and tells him to get in line if he wants to see Cole as they have some business to address. Finn says he should not have accepted O'Reilly's hand on Sunday, then Strong tells Finn that O'Reilly had nothing to do with it. As Finn and Strong argue, they are ambushed by Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Referees run in to break up the ensuing brawl.

We hear from General Manager William Regal, who plays a message from Santos Escobar telling Karrion Kross that nobody threatens him, and says he will go home, saying he will face Kross on his time, not Kross' or Regal's. Regal says the match will take place next week, and if Escobar does not show again, he will be suspended indefinitely and stripped of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. He then announces a six-man tag match between the team of Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch and Pete Dunne and the team of Roderick Strong, Kyle O'Reilly and Finn Balor for later tonight.

The Way (Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell)show up with missing posters for Austin Theory before Johnny Gargano guests on commentary for the next match.

Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon beat The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell). During the match, a white Dodge Ram van shows up outside of the arena. Later on in the match, Johnny Gargano leaves the commentary table to look for this van. Gargano finds the van during the commercial break and finds nobody inside the van as he looks for Austin Theory. Shortly afterwards, Johnny Gargano brings Austin Theory - who is in underwear and slippers with a fanny pack and a low-cut T-shirt - to the ring and unmasks him. This allows Ember Moon to pin a distracted Indi for the win.

We hear from Pat McAfee, who is currently on his plane. He says that Adam Cole was a scumbag like he said all along and that the fans have him to tell him what they don't know.

In footage from earlier today, McKenzie Mitchell interviews KUSHIDA in the trainer's room. KUSHIDA says he is not done with Johnny Gargano. Bronson Reed tells KUSHIDA that he did well at TakeOver, and that he is not done with Gargano, either. He says that he wants the North American title, and if their paths cross, they will deal with it they meet. After telling KUSHIDA to heal up, Malcolm Bivens suddenly meets with KUSHIDA. Upon learning KUSHIDA is medically cleared, Bivens says he has the perfect opponent for him.

Leon Ruff beats Isaiah "Swerve" Scott with a crucifix pin. After the match, Swerve shakes Ruff's hand only to slap him and take the boots to him, then he picks up and throws him into the corner before telling Ruff he is tired of him being handed everything while he has to scratch and claw.

Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter beat Aliyah and Jessi Kamera. During the match, Boa is seen watching the match from the stage. After the match, Xia Li shows up, and Kacy and Kayden confront Xia Li. Xia grabs Kacy's arm and marks her hand with two black lines before telling her that she will "purge" her next week.

Backstage, Malcolm Bivens says that KUSHIDA was impressive on Sunday, then says Tyler Rust is even better and is an athlete that comes once in a generation. He then says that while KUSHIDA is not 100%, Tyler Rust will take care of him.

Beth Phoenix is in the ring to present the Dusty Cup. After a short video package, Beth Phoenix introduces MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter), who head to the ring to check out the trophy. Nash Carter says that Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch with him and Wes Lee for the NXT tag titles in two weeks, and Lee says they will be tag team champions. Afterwards, Beth Phoenix introduces Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, who head to the ring. Dakota says she and Raquel feel awesome and that taking out the competition will always take their breath away before saying she and Raquel were the best team in the tournament. Suddenly, Nia Jax and "The Queen of Spades" Shayna Baszler show up. Baszler says that Dakota and Raquel were on the right side of history when they won, then says they will be on the wrong side of history when she and Nia beat them. Dakota introduces Raquel to Nia and Shayna, saying that Nia beat her up and that Shayna ran away after Rhea Ripley beat her. Meanwhile, MSK and Beth Phoenix are eating popcorn in the corner. Shayna says that Dakota is the same woman who was whining and crying when she broke her arm, but Dakota is not the same woman she once was and will happily kick her head off to show her. Raquel tells Shayna that things have changed since he left and that she and Dakota run things now, and says that they will know that when they beat her and Nia for the women's tag titles. Nia says she is only here to honor Dusty Rhodes, who says that Dusty called her "a beautiful bad-ass bitch" before saying that Dusty was right and that she and Shayna are the most dominant in WWE. After Raquel says that Dusty never met her, Shayna then says that in two weeks, Nia and Shayna will return to beat them, and as they leave, Raquel tells them to be careful, because she will shove a boot so far up her hole she will never get it out.

Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong are seen arguing outside of the arena.

We see a vignette for Cameron Grimes. At the end of the vignette, however, Cameron Grimes crashes his Lamborghini, then makes up his mind to buy another one.

We see photos of Toni Storm attacking Io Shirai during Shirai's photo shoot from Sunday.

KUSHIDA beats Tyler Rust with the Hoverboard Lock after Malcolm Bivens tells the ref to stop the match.

We see a video package for Zoey Stark, who makes her NXT singles debut next.

In footage from earlier today, LA Knight says that he put NXT on its ear and that people are saying he might already be the greatest NXT Superstar of all time. He says that he is off the market and ready to claim his perch, and that nobody will stop him and that is just a fact of life.

Zoey Stark beats Valentina Feroz.

We hear from Scarlett and Karrion Kross. Scarlett tells Santos Escobar that since he loves playing games, playing with time is not his forte, and that there is no pause button on this nightmare. Kross tells Escobar his destiny has already been decided. He tells Escobar he has two options: show up next week and step in the ring with him so he can drive his arm into the back of his head on live television, or not show up, get stripped of his title, and get caught up with anyway.

Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch beat Finn Balor and The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong). During the match, Balor inadvertently drop kicks Dunne into the referee after Burch tries to introduce the NXT Championship into the match. After this, Finn Balor goes up top, but Adam Cole shows up and pushes him off the top turnbuckles and into the referee before superkicking O'Reilly on the outside and suplexing him into the steps. Lorcan tries to use the championship belt as a weapon, but Strong hits him with a knee. Strong then puts his hand on Finn Balor only to eat a Pele kick for his efforts. When Finn Balor looks back and realizes that he has kicked Strong, Dunne gets back in the ring and hits him with the Bitter End for the win. After the match, Adam Cole superkicks Finn Balor in the ring, then stares down at O'Reilly before holding up the NXT Championship.

Here are the top ten moments from tonight's show!