The penultimate episode of NXT before it all begins again at NXT TakeOver: New York was high-octane and action-packed. All matches on the card were built up in one way or another as another new era dawns on NXT.
NXT Championship Face-Off
NXT started this week with the vacant NXT Championship perched on top of a podium in the middle of the ring. Adam Cole’s music would hit and the leader of the Undisputed Era would make his way out.
Cole would proclaim that, after beating four of NXT’s finest last week to earn the opportunity, he plans on leaving NXT TakeOver: New York as the NXT Champion. But first, he wants Johnny Gargano to come out and face him like a man.
Cole’s opening promo, though he himself is always great on the mic, fell a bit flat. With the NXT Championship already in the ring at the start of the show, there was never any doubt the two challengers would come face-to-face. Calling Gargano out came across as a bit redundant.
Johnny Gargano would come out and duelling “Johnny Wrestling” and “Adam Cole” chants would ring out in the arena. Cole would try to silence the crowd by telling them that he does not need their support and would win the title on his own. Gargano would start off comically by asking Cole to give the world a million reasons why he would win the NXT Championship. Gargano would then point out that history was being made because Adam Cole is at a loss for words.
Impassioned Promo
Things would take an impassioned turn as Gargano vowed to show to Adam Cole why the world called him Johnny TakeOver. Cole would respond by reminding Johnny that his TakeOver win-loss record isn’t actually that impressive. In fact, he would be better off calling himself “Johnny Participation”. He would add that there was no way Gargano could beat him in two-out-of-three falls.
Cole would reminisce that New York was the place where he made his NXT debut, beat up then-NXT Champion Drew McIntyre and held the NXT title up high. And how it was fitting that it is there he returns to capture the NXT Championship.
The leader of the Undisputed Era would fire more shots at Gargano by telling him he didn’t deserve this title shot. A riled up Gargano would retort by telling Cole that his journey began in 2015 at his NXT try-out where he was initially turned down before proving himself. Gargano ran down his journey from participating in the Dusty Rhodes Classic in 2016 alongside Tommaso Ciampa to standing here as a contender to the NXT Championship.
An extremely fired-up Johnny Gargano stated that it was his destiny to finally win the title. He fought and earned his contract and he earned this shot at the NXT Championship. Gargano didn’t debut by attacking the NXT Champion and neither did he have goons fighting for him. “They (fans) fought for me and I fight for them.”
Undisputed Final Word
Cole walked out of the ring, letting Gargano have the final word – for now. As he reached the entrance ramp, Cole turned around and tell Gargano that he “could fight, scratch, claw, in the end Adam Cole will be the NXT Champion – and here’s why”. The rest of the Undisputed Era would come out as Gargano, for the first time, looked visibly nervous. Cole would add an exclamation mark by stating that his victory at TakeOver will be undisputed.
Both guys were fantastic in their promos. Started of real slow but, just like a good match, this was a slow burner. The fire in the eyes of both competitors was there for all to see as they made their cases for the NXT Championship. An Undisputed new era is about to be upon NXT.
Women’s Division
Vanessa Borne and Aliyah made their way out after the opening promo, set for a tag-team match. Their opponents would be Lacey Lane and Kacy Catanzaro.
The heels would take control early on, viciously beating up on Lacey Lane.
However, before the match could go any further, ¾ of the Four Horsewomen of MMA, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, would make their way out. The heels would escape from the ringside area as the tyrannical NXT Women’s Champion and her cronies targeted Lacey Lane and Kacy Catanzaro.
Kacy Catanzaro would put up a valiant fight, escaping out of the kirifuda clutch once before taking out Duke and Shafir but would get caught by Baszler again. Baszler put the former American Ninja Warrior competitor to sleep before leaving the ring.
Shayna Baszler would then make her way to the announcer’s table and shout at Percy Watson that this would keep happening as long as the champion keeps getting mistreated. Crowed booed Baszler all the way, really well sold segment by the heels.
Riddle vs Reeves
The no.1 contender to the NXT North American Championship, Matt Riddle, would face “NXT’s Finest” Kona Reeves.
Reeves would get some offence in early on but just as it looked like Riddle was taking control and getting ready to put him away, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream’s music would hit and he would come out…dragged on a sofa. The Dream was comfortably sitting on a sofa with his title belt as he was dragged out to the entrance stage by two women. Incredibly entertaining showmanship.
The interruption would almost cost Riddle the match though he would soon lock in the Bromission for the submission victory.
After the match, the Dream grabbed a mic and announced “Matthew Riddle” as the winner. Riddle made his way up the entrance ramp towards the Velveteen Dream. The Dream was drinking from a huge cup of sorts which Riddle grabbed and drank from before throwing it away. Riddle would grab the mic and add “I’ll see you in New York, bro” before heading off.
Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic
FINAL
The final of the Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic took centre stage in this week’s main event. Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake, flanked by the always menacing Jaxson Ryker, made their way out to the ring before Ricochet and Aleister Black followed suit.
The match would see a fiery start as all four men got into the ring before the faces cleaned house. However, the muscle of the Forgotten Sons, Jaxson Ryker, paid dividends from the outside, pushing Ricochet as he tried one acrobatic move too many.
The heels would take control of Ricochet, isolating him from Black as the pace slowed. Ricochet would eventually manage to avoid both opponents and make the hot tag.
Black would show off his incredible moveset, including a springboard double-knees meteora on Blake. Ricochet would get the tag and do some showing off of his own, countering a reverse-frankensteiner attempt by Blake by landing on his feet.
After some predictable near falls and back-and-forth action, the Forgotten Sons looked to have shockingly sealed victory when Blake delivered a jumping lung-buster on Black. Aleister would get his feet on the bottom rope with Ryker trying to push it off. However, the referee would spot this and send an incensed Ryker to the back.
Aleister Black would then deliver a quite scintillating black mass kick to Blake, sold amazingly well by the former NXT Tag-Team Champion, before taking out Cutler on the outside with a moonsault. Ricochet would then deliver a 630 splash on Blake for the win.
Black and Ricochet would hug in the middle of the ring before lifting the prestigious Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic trophy.
War is Coming
The NXT Tag-Team Champions the War Raiders made their way out, interrupting the celebrations. The two teams would face-off in the middle of the ring with the champions holding the titles high above their head to close off the episode.
