NXT has always has a more prominent tag team division that it’s main roster counterparts, Raw and Smackdown Live. From its earlier days with the likes of Blake & Murphy, The Ascension, American Alpha, The Revival, Enzo & Big Cass to today’s line-up with Authors of Pain, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish, The Street Profits and TM61, NXT has managed to create tag teams that feel like tag teams, rather than the general main roster norm of just throwing together two mid-card wrestlers with no active storylines. The result has been some of the best matches on NXT Takeover cards, such as #DIY vs Authors of Pain or The Revival vs. American Alpha (or #DIY).
SABATELLI & MOSS: BREAKING OUT IN 2018
But as the singles roster of NXT begins to finally stabilize after losing the likes of Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Samoa Joe, the tag team division has only just started to rebuild itself. There are some emerging teams, such as Heavy Machinery and the Street Profits, plus holdovers like Authors of Pain (who are most likely main roster bound sometime between now and Raw After ‘Mania) and the formerly known as reDRagon (Fish & O’Reilly), but the faces severely outman the heels. Only reDRagon are true heels – AOP and SAnitY (when they fight in tag matches) are tweeners heading to the fan favourites side, while Heavy Machinery, TM61 and The Street Profits are clear faces. Even the new team of Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are getting more cheers than jeers. But that’s where the team of Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss come in. They’re moving up the ranks quickly, in feuds with The Street Profits and now Heavy Machinery, to slide into the number two heel tag team in NXT.
RIDDICK MOSS
Riddick Moss has been in the NXT system since 2014, originally debuting as an enhancement wrestler at Live Events and on TV as Digg Rawlis. By August of 2015, he was given his proper NXT name, Riddick Moss. A former collegiate football player with the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the NCAA’s Big Ten, after a failed tryout with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, he turned his attention to pro wrestling in 2013. Moss would enter small feuds with other NXT stars when they hit the midcard, such as runs against Elias, No Way Jose, and Tye Dillinger, but ultimately his opponents always worked their way up higher and Moss remained stuck in mid-card limbo.
But in 2016, he was paired with Tino Sabbatelli for the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament, and, although they were defeated in the first round by TM61, showed some real chemistry. By the end of 2016, they were feuding with #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) at NXT Live Events. They spent most of 2016 and 2017 off of NXT TV however, as the team, dubbed God Gifted Athletes, found their groove, until they finally debuted in October of last year in a victory over Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
TINO SABBATELLI
The WWE has employed many former NFL players in the past, but most were bench players who barely saw a start. But Sabatino Piscitelli was safety in the NFL for five years and, apart from only seeing three games in his rookie season due to a broken ankle, played full seasons for the remainder of his career. His first three and a half seasons were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, before finishing 2010 as a Cleveland Brown. His final year, he played in all 16 games of the 2011 season as a Kansas City Chief.
Shortly after his NFL career ended, his brother began a career in pro wrestling, as Sean Swag, with NWA Florida Underground. Depressed over his NFL career ending, Swag pushed his brother to channel his energy and athleticism into professional wrestling as well. In October 2014, Sabatino was signed by the WWE over his brother and began training at the Performance Center. He suffered a concussion early in his training, pushing him back, but he returned to regular action at NXT Live Events in July of 2015. Renamed Tino Sabbatelli, he was a jobber to the stars of NXT, from Apollo Crews to Sami Callihan (Solomon Crowe) to Rich Swann, until his pairing with Moss for the Dusty Classic.
SABATELLI & MOSS: GOD GIFTED ATHLETES
Since their return in October of 2017, Sabbatelli & Moss have shown dramatic improvement over their previous enhancement matches. Their year of tagging together at NXT Live Events, away from the cameras and the scrutiny of the Full Sail University crowd or the internet fans, they found their rhythm, both in the ring and on the mic. While they’ve still got a ways to go to be main roster ready, they’ve become highly entertaining old school heels, pushing the bravado of their physical attributes and the swagger of their stature in life. They were a natural foil against the Street Profits (who could become their archrivals in the near future) and are now engaged in another fun feud against Heavy Machinery.
With the return of TM61 to NXT television following some untimely injuries, and the impending debut of War Machine, Sabbatelli & Moss have a great opportunity to become top heels in the NXT Tag Team division and potentially one day wear the gold of the NXT Tag Team Champions.
