NXT JULY 11TH 2018
Adam Cole vs. Danny Burch
Solid match. It started out promisingly, but the crowd really weren’t as into Burch as the match needed, since the story was Cole dominating and berating Burch for not being at his level. It’s a shame, since this was the follow-up to Takeover for Burch and by extension Lorcan and the reaction they got didn’t carry over. The actual match was good though. Burch got back into the match and got one near fall off a Tower Of London, but Cole ultimately put him away pretty decisively, after a string of his three big moves, topped off with the knee to the back of the head.
Candice was asked earlier in the day about her victory over Lacey Evans, but ran into Baszler and confronted her. Baszler told her to stick to being the cute little sidekick and Candice slapped her, which sparked a pull apart brawl.
Cathy interviewed Dakota about Baszler’s comments. Dakota said Baszler would be seeing her again really soon, because she was going to get another title shot. Lacey Evans interrupted, saying if her dirty paws ever got the title, she’d do nothing but bring it down. She said the division needed someone with class, confidence and sophistication and Dakota didn’t have those traits, so Dakota challenged her to a match next week.
Kairi Sane vs. Vanessa Borne
Another good showing for Borne. She played her part in a competitive match, which Kairi ended up winning with a cross legged boston crab which she bridged back on, which she’s calling the Anchor.
After the match, Kairi addressed Baszler as well, saying she knew Shayna was strong, but she’d beaten her before and she’d do it again. It was then announced that Kairi, Nikki Cross, Candice and Bianca Belair would be in a fatal fourway #1 contenders match for Brooklyn next week.
Black was shown arriving and ran into Gargano while talking to the guy behind the camera. Gargano warned Black that Ciampa couldn’t be the NXT Champion. Black told Gargano to let him handle it and worry about himself, but Gargano said he knew exactly what he was doing. Once Black entered the building itself, Ciampa ambushed him and gave him the draping DDT off of a bench on the floor.
NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Moustache Mountain (c) vs. Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly
If the early part of the show was a little flat at times in terms of crowd reactions, fair to say that the main event brought the crowd up, with the fans split between both teams and red hot the whole way, for a great end to the show. Strong and O’Reilly jumped Moustache Mountain on the bell, ensuring a hot start, which didn’t let up the entire match. Seven’s leg was worked over after Strong dropped him knee first on the steps. They teased the hot tag, with O’Reilly pulling Bate away at the last second. Bate eventually got the tag and made a big comeback, including a giant swing/airplane spin combo, while Seven had his knee checked on by a trainer. Bate ended up refusing to tag Seven since he was hurt, which led to Undisputed Era regaining control of the match. Seven would get the tag, after Bate was knocked into the corner and he fought off both Strong and O’Reilly for a while. The knee would catch up to Seven in the end though. He survived a Strong Clutch thanks to a Bate save and a long heel hook from O’Reilly. O’Reilly was able to lock in a double knee bar though and with Bate having used up his save, he ended up throwing in the towel after a long tease to save Seven, giving Undisputed Era the win and the titles. Hell of a match. I wasn’t entirely keen on the throwing in the towel finish, personally, but I get what they were going for.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Moustache Mountain against Strong and O’Reilly is must see and probably up there with the better NXT TV matches all-time. The rest of the show was solid and focused as well, a good week.
NXT WEEK: Dakota Kai against Lacey Evans and the fourway #1 contenders match between Candice, Bianca, Nikki and Kairi.