Last week on NXT: Forgotten Sons tag teamed their way to victory against Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch and Humberto Carrillo. Mansoor and Dijakovic had a hell of a match that wasn’t on the YouTube. Dijakovic won obviously, but damn to Mansoor put on a show. Velveteen Dream rewrote the National Anthem in his image. The Kushida beat Kassius Ohno in a stunning debut.
Bianca Belair vs. Mia Yim
- Mia Yim has such a dark and brooding hip hop entrance theme. It sets a MOOD!
- Then Bianca comes out and is a mood. This match has me hyped. It’s hard to pick a favorite but I am always rooting against whoever is against Bianca Belair.
- Crowd is split as well. Mia doesn’t have much of a character outside of her aesthetic, her crowd support is due to her work before NXT and her wrestling ability in NXT. I can only imagine how much more support she will get when a character blossoms.
- Mia and Bianca talk some smack in between them hitting strikes and moves on each other. Bianca is able o gain control and does not let up.
- Belair throws Mia into the corner, Mia moves when Bianca went for an elbow in the corner. While Yim was walking away, Bianca instantly attacked. She has stopped playing to the to crowd and just trash talks her opponent while doling out offense. It really enhances her killer instinct.
- Mia caught Belair running to the ropes by choking Belair with her own hair. It was innovative and turned the tide of the match. The crowd seems kind of out of it, must be late in the taping. Even “superfans” Izzy and JJ are looking at JJ’s phone.
- Belair did one of the best sells of an attempted sunset flip. She tried to counter with a pin but was holding the ropes. The ref caught her, Mia reversed into a sunset flip pin, Bianca kicks out back into her pinning position, ties her hair around the ropes to add leverage and wins the match.
And I’m Like… That was a great match. They built the story well and layered in the intensity. Mia gave just as good as she got, when Bianca realized that she might lose this match, she got dirty. It was simple and beautiful. It used a character and her defining characteristic to win the match. It was wrestling the way it should be.
So the War Experienced Viking Raiders got beat up by The Forgotten Sons. I just want the belts off the Raiders for the sake of name confusion.
Io Shirai jumped the horsewomen in the performance center. Took them on 3-on-1 and they were able to fight her off a bit before the trainers showed up.
Riddick Moss vs. Raul Mendoza
- I was just at an NXT Live event and Riddy Mo was working this gimmick. He is from my home state of Minnesota and did the whole heel routine by talking about how great the city of Edina is. The crowd really bought into the whole match, which featured Eric Bugenhagen, so of course it was a great time.
- Riddick has the confidence, the character and the theme music. It looks like he might have a future. The gimmick is “Simon System/Bullfit” kind of thing. He has a special mix he drinks on the way out, as well as an actuator. So during the match when he feels pain and goes out to actuate himself. Also, before the match starts he stretches a stretch band a bit. He is all about physical fitness.
- Raul has been an NXT main stay for a few years now, still doesn’t have a character, but like Mia Yim, builds fan support through his in ring work.
- Raul goes for a springboard cross body, Moss catches him in midair, curls the mother fucker a few times and then throws Mendoza over his head with a fall away slam, it was tremendous.
- Riddick is already hitting signature moves, like a meditation pose into push-ups into a running shoulder in the corner. Then a military press slam into a spine buster. This is looking like a squash.
- Riddick yells at the ref “you got to count like the regiment, you need to be quick like me.” Then he takes a sip from his special mixture, tries to give Raul some but that fires Mendoza up.
- Mendoza hits a comeback with lots of fire, then a running step up enziguri in the corner, then a springboard tornillo for the WIN.
And I’m Like… Crowd stands on their feet clapping, commentary is surprised and I’m surprised. Which is crazy cause Riddy Mo just re-debuted and Mendoza is known as an NXT enhancement talent. This was a better match than I thought it would be and Mendoza is so talented he got the crowd behind him at the end of the match.
Adam Cole vs. Matt Riddle
- Just saw on Twitter someone made Pikachu dancing to wrestling theme songs. Matt Riddle and Undisputed Era are both in there.
- This match was set after Adam Cole got mad at Matt Riddle during a photo shoot.
- I think the plus side for the whole Undisputed Era being very small, is that Vince probably won’t want to call them up for a while, which makes them integral to NXT. They are probably making upwards of $100k, get to stay in one state and be creatively satisfied.
- Matt Riddle is just having his way with Adam Cole. Riddle is able to do three consecutive deadlift gutwrench suplexes.
- After that show of dominance, Adam Cole was able to take over as the crowd dueled “Undisputed/Let’s Go Bro”.
- Both of these men have an innate ability to deliver convincing offense and sell really well. On top o them both glistening in sweat, they are able to make this seem like an actual fight rather quickly. In a perfect world this is a future Wrestlemania main event.
- Cole slaps Riddle in the face and talks some shit, that’s enough to fire Riddle up. Both men hit some big strikes and high impact moves. We have moved into the third act of the match. The crowd is awake for this and either man can win at any time.
- Adam Cole reversed a fall away slam by switching mid air into a back stabber. It was out of this world and something I don’t think I’ve ever seen.
- This leads to a yay/boo strike battle, starting on their knees and working up to their feet. Adam is able to gain control when he steps on Riddles toes. Matt is always barefoot, sometimes to his detriment.
- Cole takes a second to taunt Riddle and that cost him. Matt is able to apply an ankle lock. After Cole reverses the Bromission, Riddle hits rolling fisherman suplexes that Cole reverses into a Ushigoroshi. That only gets two and now the match is in the Adam Cole fourth gear.
- Adam Cole, in big matches, always has an ending 5+ minute sequence where it’s all finishes. Like, every move could be a finish and everyone bites on them. Adam Cole might be the king of the near falls.
- I think we are on our third strike battle that leads into a signature move for a near fall. Adam gets his shit rocked and goes to the outside of the ring. ONLY Roderick Strong shows up to help Adam Cole up. Matt Riddle takes Strong out.
- Riddle gets caught flipping into the ring with a superkick, Adam almost wins but Riddle reverses the pin int a Bromission for the win. For some reason The Undisputed Era is mad at Roddy, when he didn’t do a thing to hurt Adam’s chances.
And I’m Like… NXT is the best wrestling in WWE right now. It’s crazy the disconnect from NXT to the main roster. If you apply the NXT philosophy to WWE main roster, you’d solve a lot of problems. The majority of the wrestlers on the main roster were in NXT and just as loved as these wrestlers. The only difference is the booking philosophy. The match ends with Adam Cole and Roderick Strong arguing with each other. Kyle sides with Cole and Roderick has Fish on his side. The crowd is hot for it too. They leave the ring, but not as a unit.
