NXT MARCH 21ST 2018
We were back at Full Sail for the first time in over a month. The show began with Ciampa coming out and getting the same treatment he got in Atlanta, with the crowd holding up Gargano signs and preventing him from speaking. Ciampa eventually had enough and yelled that Gargano was gone. That was all he ended up getting out, before he went out and started ripping up Gargano signs. This was all really good stuff, but the payoff was amazing. Ciampa grabbed one of the larger signs, only to reveal that a masked Gargano himself was behind it, nailing Ciampa and hopping the rail to go after him. This was all done and coordinated so well that I didn’t even suspect anything until Gargano was revealed. Security hit the ring to subdue Johnny and drag him out of the arena, with Ciampa making no attempt to fight back. Full Sail were red hot for this, maybe just as hot as they’ve ever been. Great stuff.
Charly presented a recap of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round. They covered that Bate was injured, with Cathy interviewing him and Bate confirming Moustache Mountain were having to withdraw, before airing Strong appealing to Regal that he be allowed to find a partner and replace them.
After covering how Cole versus Ohno came about for tonight, we got an Undisputed Era promo. They’re back doing promos on that steel arch with their music playing underneath like a knock-off NWO. Well, another knock-off NWO. They talked about Strong being put in the tournament and how winning the Dusty Classic did nothing more than signing you up to be next to lose to them. Cole claimed tonight was a night off and he was so confident, he preferred that Fish and O’Reilly stay in the back. These three talking like this, I have zero problems with, I just wish they’d lose all the stylisation, or get something better.
DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC ROUND 1
Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne
Well, this made for a fun pairing. No signs of any sort of dissension or hesitancy between Roddy and Pete, whether that means Dunne has fully turned or not I don’t know. But they’re just a regular team. This started out with some technical stuff, but was always going to get more physical. Burch ended up being the target of Strong and Dunne’s offence, before getting a tag off to Oney. The match would really pick up from there. Lorcan versus Strong might be the fastest paced singles match any company in the world could make right now. Lorcan and Burch ended up getting dueling submissions on but Strong kicked Oney into Burch to free Dunne. A blind tag then led to Strong getting the win over Burch with End Of Heartache. They meet Sanity in the semi final and given that the winners face Undisputed Era, they’re definitely realistic contenders.
Hype video for Ricochet.
Ember Moon vs. Aliyah
They started with a handshake, so Aliyah was a face here. It’s always important to clarify that, because it changes so often with Aliyah. Baszler joined commentary for the match, which Ember ended up winning reasonably comfortably, seemingly motivated by seeing Shayna watching.
Raul Mendoza was supposed to have a match, but he was jumped and thrown off the stage by Almas during his entrance. Instead, Almas ranted at Black, mostly in Spanish, calling him something that had to be bleeped out and saying he’d pay for his disrespect next week.
Lars Sullivan hype video for his return next week.
Regal hyped an announcement for next week that would change NXT forever, apparently.
Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno
Big reaction for Cole. The story the commentators were pushing when Kassius came out was that he was inconsistent and couldn’t win the big win. Not sure which I prefer, Hirooki Ohno or Kassius Goto. Cole hasn’t been much better at winning the big one since coming to NXT, to be fair. This was a strong main event. Cole faked a knee injury and did a convincing job of it, before hitting an enziguri to take control of the match. Ohno ended up catching Cole with an awesome looking, and sounding, right hand and made a big comeback. Last few minutes here were great, with good near falls for both with a cyclone kick for Ohno and the brainbuster onto the knee from Cole. Ohno ended up countering the shining wizard and nailing Cole with his flying elbow smash, but it knocked Cole out of the ring. By the time he got Cole back in, Cole was able to catch him with a rollup, hit three superkicks, the brainbuster onto the knee and then the flying knee to the back of the head, which Mauro called the Last Shot, for the pin. Again, trust in NXT to figure out when a finisher looks weak, because that’s the third match in a row Cole’s used the knee to the back of the head instead of to the front.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The whole show, really. As tends to happen, returning to Full Sail and starting a new set of tapings seemed to refresh the atmosphere. The two matches that got time were well worth watching and the opening segment with Ciampa and Gargano was arguably one of the best in NXT history.
NXT WEEK: Street Profits versus The Authors Of Pain and Sanity versus Strong and Dunne in the Dusty Classic Semi Finals and Lars Sullivan in action.