Last week on NXT: Nikki knows a secret. Keith Lee destroyed the charismatic Kona Reeves. Ricochet retained his North American championship against Pete Dunne and Adam Cole in an outstanding match.
Cold Open
Weird voiceover guy said we have a double main event. Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders for the tag titles and Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair.
NXT Tag Team Championship
War Raiders vs. Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly (C)
It’s weird how War Raiders aren’t really a thing. As War Machine they seemed to have a bit of character and fans were generally excited to see them. Now they just kind of exist. Already lost in the shuffle with no real character outside of modern vikings.
This feels like a match that has happened in ROH a bunch of times. I don’t think it really has ever happened but it sure as hell feels like it. This is a typical speed vs. strength tag match. Undisputed Era is looking to wear down War Raiders and Raiders are just loking to pound the snark out of the UE.
Once the Raiders got a hold of Roddy and Kyle they didn’t let up. Both Raiders were able to fight off the Undisputed Era 2-on-1 or 2-on-2. The little chihuahua’s that are The Undisputed Era wouldn’t stop attacking and finally got the advantage after Kyle chop blocked Rowe’s leg.
Looks like the match is building to a hot tag to Hanson. The finish isn’t predictable but the journey to the finish sure is. This isn’t that special, pretty by the numbers. It’s better than most Raw tag team matches but on par with Smackdown! Live’s tag team matches. Hanson does a good job looking antsy which builds crowd anticipation.
One thing of note. Kyle O’Reilly sweats a lot. His body is so shiny during the end of this match. Hanson finally gets the hot tag and destroys UE while invigorating the crowd. Hanson’s fury ended after a two count and then he tagged Rowe back in? What the hell? Rowe was hitting a lot of moves and Nigel chocked it up to “adrenaline”. Hanson gets tagged back in to do a springboard clothesline.
Adam Cole runs down but gets clocked by Hanson so the ref allows it. That is pretty dope. Rowe is tagged in again and gets decimated by kicks from Strong and O’Reilly. Roddy hits an Angle Slam on Rowe for two. Rowe does his best to fend off these little doggies but gets caught in a submission. Hanson breaks up the submission and drags Rowe over to the corner for a tag.
Shit breaks down after a pop up powerslam and a tope suicida onto all of Undisputed Era. War Raiders hit their finish but a fully heeled Bobby Fish shows up to end the match in disqualification with chair shots to The Raiders. This is a great use of Undisputed Era. Even if they are wrestling in great matches, they still ruin great matches. Nothing an NXT fan hates more than having a good match ruined.
Britt Baker vs. Shayna Baszler
Britt Baker is a certified dentist and Adam Cole is her boyfriend. She has made quite a little name for herself on the indies and was in the only woman’s match on All In. Half of the women in that fatal four way are now signed to WWE. The Four Horsewomen of All In isn’t a thing that exists, but it could. Just do a whole show of different Four Horsewomen factions.
Shayna starts the match off in control and then methodically and meticulously bends Britt’s arms in ways they shouldn’t bend. Shayna does the arm break thing on Baker and that thing still grosses me out. The referee calls for the bell because Shayna done broke Britt’s arm. Now she can’t even work on teeth Shayna!!!!
As Shayna is declared the winner and Britt is being helped up by trainers, Baszler runs up and knees Britt in the face. Evolution this Sunday! Shayna vs. Kairi and Shayna on a roll!
Regal is interviewed by cameraman about what Nikki knows. Regal says Black is coming back soon and Regal needs some answers. William Regal said he will talk to Nikki after her match tonight.
Tian Bing and Rocky vs. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch
Tian Bing is the first Chinese wrestler to be signed to WWE/NXT and without looking it up I don’t know anything about Rocky. Oney and Danny are getting love from the crowd and seem to be some NXT favorites. They are a team that will do their best creatively in NXT and then stagnate on the main roster. Which is a shame.
Bing and Rocky surprisingly get some offense in on Lorcan but it’s like 1970’s offense. It’s wrestling I like and appreciate, but in front of a dead crowd is dreadful to watch. Even when Danny comes in like a house of fire the crowd didn’t react much. After the hot tag the match was over pretty quickly with a win by Oney and Danny.
William Regal will make an NXT Championship announcement next week for NXT Wargames.
Bianca Belair vs. Nikki Cross
Bianca Belair is not only undefeated but her theme song is my toddlers favorite theme song. Nikki comes out an she is ready to play. The crowd is making a lot of noise that turns into “Nikki” chants. I really think Nikki is the most over superstar on NXT.
The women battle to the outside very quickly and take no time into turning this match into a brawl. Bianca surprisingly got the better of Nikki in the brawl, but when they got in the ring Nikki started to out wrestle Belair.
Bianca doesn’t have to be the most technical wrestler though, she easily over powered Nikki while the crowd battled “Nikki Cross/EST”. EST for Bianca because she is the EST of NXT. The bEST the fastEST the strongEST.
This match has a sense of urgency to it. The wrestlers seem desperate, Bianca crawls to Nikki as fast as she can to continue doling out the punishment. Nikki is frenetic and won’t stop fighting back, as well as hitting herself in the face. For every move the upstart Bianca Belair has the veteran Nikki has a counter. Even though Belair is undefeated, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her weaknesses. Bianca is still a novice and doesn’t know all the tricks Nikki does.
Bianca’s outfit is glittered to the max and after a almost 10 minutes of wrestling, the ring is now full of glitter too. It adds something special to the match to have both women an the ring and ref covered and glitter. This shit is a spectacle! A brutal, hard hitting, shiny ass match.
Bianca dead lift powerbombs Nikki Cross in an amazing show of strength that barely garnered a reaction. Cross kicking out popped the crowd and rallied the majority of the NXT faithful behind Nikki. Bianca ain’t messing around anymore and rolled her long ass braid up ontop of her head. Screaming at Nikki to “stay down” made Nikki smile.
Bianca straight up doing military press squats but it’s too much showing off. Nikki is able to fight out of it. What’s crazy is Cross is trying her hardest and fighting her heart out. Bianca is as well but is also spending a lot of time showboating and gloating which is costing her the match.
Belair busts out the hair whip that Nikki sells like a bullet to the gut. These two superstars are fighting on the top rope and Nikki is able to hit a superplex on Bianca. The lights all go out and Aleister Black’s music hits. How rude, he could have waited for the end of the match just like Regal was going to.
Crowd erupts in a “holy shit” chant. Once Nikki starts laughing the crowd starts up with their “Nikki’s got a secret chants”.
Nikki crawls to Aleister at Black’s command. Black says “tell me” and Nikki whispers something to Aleister’s face. Black starts shaking in anger as Nikki slides away. The show ends with the crowd saying “who?”. This was a quick show. A surprise return, storyline progression, another surprise return and some great wrestling. Love it.
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