NXT North American champion Ricochet defended his title against a surprise opponent while EC3 looked to pay back Bobby Fish in kind in their grudge match this week on NXT.
Tag Division
The Mighty and the British-American alliance of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan collided in a rematch from two weeks ago where the latter defeated the Australians but Nick Miller and Shane Thorne got some payback by beating up Burch and Lorcan post-match.
Lorcan and Burch looked super intense as they made their way to the ring pre-match, gunning for Miller and Thorne. This was a typically high-octane, fast-paced match with action going back and forth. The Mighty showed one particular terrific-looking double-team move with Shane Thorne using Nick Miller to cannon ball himself on top of Danny Burch who was lying prone in the corner.
Neither team gained a sustained foothold in the match but it was Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan who prevailed once again, finishing Miller off with a spiked double-team DDT. Some of the strikes were extremely stiff in this contest.
Also in the tag-division, Heavy Machinery’s involvement in Bobby Fish’s match and subsequent beatdown of Kyle O’Reilly sent a message to the current NXT Tag-Team champions. The new tag-team division is taking shape in NXT.
EC3 and Bobby Fish
The Undisputed Era started the show this week, coming out to cut a promo before Bobby Fish’s grudge match with EC3. Adam Cole called EC3 stupid for thinking he could elevate his NXT career by getting on the wrong side of the Undisputed Era. Cole would then go on to promise that in 2019, the entire Undisputed Era would be draped in championship gold.
EC3 then came out to start his match with Bobby Fish. EC3 used his strength advantage to initially dominate Fish in the early goings before a distraction by Fish’s Undisputed brethren allowed him to gain the upper hand. Fish then focused on EC3’s kayfabe injured leg – which was ironic considering he was the one who had the injured knee in real life.
EC3, however, managed to small package counter his way out of a submission attempt and into a sneaky victory before getting jumped by the Undisputed Era. Heavy Machinery would then come out and make the save with Kyle O’Reilly left in no man’s land, in the middle of the ring. EC3 and Otis Dozovic would then flatten O’Reilly before sending him packing out of the ring.
Women’s Division
NXT Women’s champion, Shayna Baszler, alongside Duke and Shafir, said in a backstage interview that it didn’t matter who won the Fatal Four-Way #1 Contender’s match in two weeks because they’ll be going to a hospital after she’s done with them.
NXT General Manager William Regal also announced that Lacey Evans, having qualified at a live event this past week, would be joining Bianca BelAir in that aforementioned Fatal Four-Way match.
Speaking of the #1 contender’s match, Mia Yim faced Reina Gonzalez who has seemingly come out of left field, one match away from a #1 contender’s match for the NXT Women’s title.
Gonzalez looked intense early on but the experienced veteran Mia Yim eventually got the better of the former Mae Young Classic competitor and hit her Eat De-Feet finish for the win. She advances to the #1 contender’s Fatal Four-Way match in two weeks.
Next Week
It’s official. Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano will clash inside the confines of a steel cage next week on NXT. Both Black and Gargano featured this week in pre-taped promos. Gargano said that he’d end the chapter of Aleister Black from his life once and for all. Black promised total annihilation for Johnny Wrestling next week on NXT.
Also next week, two of the four horsewomen of MMA were announced to be making their TV debut as Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke will face off against Dakota Kai and Io Shirai.
Donovan Dijakovic, fka Chris Dijak and Donovan Dijak, was also announced to be set to make his NXT debut next week.
Main Event – Return of an NXT OG
Ricochet made his way out to a warm reception, in anticipation of who his surprise opponent would be.
TYLER BREEZE! Prince Pretty’s music hit as the former #1 contender of the NXT championship made his way out to huge cheers from the Full Sail faithful. A “this is gorgeous” chant erupted from the audience as Breeze, with his patented iPhone and selfie stick in-hand, made his way to the ring where an amazed Ricochet stood.
The Fashion Police was fun on the main roster but this was Tyler Breeze at his best. Oozing charisma, Breeze looked all business and was at his athletic best, taking it to Ricochet.
Tyler matched Ricochet in the high-flying department, including following up the supermodel kick with a reverse Frankensteiner for the near fall. Ricochet would eventually get the better of a kicking contest however and plant Tyler Breeze with a muscle-buster like finisher for the win. An extremely refreshing match and great to see Breeze show what he can do when given more than 90 seconds inside the ring. After the match, both men shook hands in mutual respect.
