The new era of NXT on USA begins. With two hours of action to cover I will not be getting everything, but fear not I have selected the most noteworthy events including two umber one contenders matches, an unexpected debut, the NXT North American Championship, and Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain in a street fight with an ending no one saw coming. With all the said let’s get started with our first number 1 contender’s match.
CANDICE LERAE BECOMES NO. 1 CONTENDER IN GREAT FATAL FOUR WAY
Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, Mia Yim, and Candice LeRae made sure even if you were a new viewer, you would understand each woman’s role. Belair the bulldozer powerhouse, Yim’s smash-mouth style, Shirai the gifted technician, and of course LeRae as the underdog were all given equal opportunity to get over without making anyone look weak.
No question the perfect way to kick off this new start for WWE’s most celebrated brand. Ultimately LeRae pulled off the victory with a springboard moonsault to Yim. Her celebration was interrupted by current champion Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke.
PROPHECY FULFILLED!! RODERICK STRONG WINS NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Velveteen Dream and Roderick Strong squared off in the main event for the USA portion of the card. It was a very evenly wrestled match Dreams size and mind games were largely neutralized by Strong’s speed and opportunistic veteran instinct and vice versa.
The rest of Undisputed Era made their way to the ring midway through the match, and ultimately proved to be the difference maker in the match. After a distraction from O’Reilly and Fish, Cole landed a superkick before Strong hit End of Heartache for three count to fulfill the prophecy.
IMPERIUM DEBUTS AND SETS THEIR SIGHTS ON KUSHIDA
Kushida was scheduled to face off against a local competitor, but said competitor was assaulted ruthlessly by Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe of NXT UK’s Imperium. Shortly after NXT UK Champion Walter made his way to the ring.
The champion was given a microphone stating in short that anyone who doesn’t repsect the mat and it’s traditions will have to go through them. Kushida made his way to the ring, simply stating it was his time before heading to the ring. The Japanese sensation quickly dispatched Aichner, Barthel, and Wolfe with a series of kicks before Walter grabbed Kushida’s shirt/vest suplexing him into the ring.
Kushida slipped out of his shirt, and landed a kick to Walter before exiting the ring. The segment ended with Imperium and Kushida staring each other down.
LIO RUSH SUCCESSFUL IN RETURN, BECOMES NO. 1 CONTENDER TO CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Oney Lorcan looked to get one more shot at the Cruiserweight Championship, Lio Rush wanted to be successful in his return to the ring and NXT. That combination made for one great match! Lorcan’s hard hitting strikes were on display, and so was his brutal submission game. A notable modified STF in the match looked particularly brutal (also gave this writer flashback to neckcranks from his MMA days).
Rush’s athleticism and innovative offense was ultimately the difference maker, landing an unexpected sitting springboard stunner from the bottom rope, and countering Lorcan’s blockbuster with a standing Spanish fly to set up the winning frog splash.
KILLIAN DAIN VS MATT RIDDLE ENDS IN TOTAL CHAOS
Rivals Killian Dain and Matt Riddle cam face to face to finally settle this blood feud that has been building up for weeks. This was complete chaos, and not in the way this writer expected. The fight quickly made it’s way out of the ring and into the backstage area.
While Riddle and Dain were doing there best to beat up the other, Walter decided to lock in a choke on Riddle, and an all out brawl broke out! Almost every mid card and tag team wrestler was involved in this unparalleled frenzy. Just when you though we would get some order back as Riddle and Dain headed back to the ring, the swarm of wrestlers followed them. The show closed with Dain hitting a suicide dive to a small group, while the massive brawl continued around them.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
