NXT JULY 18TH 2018
Dakota Kai vs. Lacey Evans
Decent match. For the majority it was Evans working over Kai, as you’d expect. Evans was doing a fine job of it, although they maybe went a little too long before Kai made her comeback and brought the crowd back into things. They did get behind Kai’s fightback, but it was brought to a sudden stop, as Evans ended up winning with the Women’s Right out of nowhere.
Cathy interviewed Ricochet about Undisputed Era. Ricochet said he didn’t like Strong and O’Reilly, but he knew would be fighting champions, unlike Adam Cole. Ricochet said he was this close to winning the ladder match before Cole stole it from him and Cole stole another win over him a couple of weeks ago, thanks to Undisputed Era. Cole had been hiding behind the title and Ricochet wouldn’t stop until he got him one on one and won the title.
Video of Street Profits playing basketball and psyching themselves up for a match with TM61.
EC3 was questioned about his issue with Velveteen Dream as he walked through the building. He ended up taking a selfie with a fan and giving another fan one of his new shirts. So, I guess they might be turning him already? He ran into Kona Reeves, who complimented him on his suit and his watch, but pointed out that they weren’t the finest like his. EC3 took exception to this and threatened to feed Reeves to his cats, before challenging him to a fight. Reeves agreed, but only after EC3 left, lamenting that they could have been the finest of friends instead. So, I guess they must be turning EC3 already. Not necessarily a bad idea. EC3, obviously, did great here because he’s such a natural talker, but Kona did a good job of showing his personality and his character here too and came off the best he has since returning.
Hype video for Black versus Ciampa next week.
Kassius Ohno vs. Rick Ramirez
Nice chance to Ohno to pick up a rare win, quickly disposing of Ramirez with a rolling elbow strike.
Undisputed Era cut a promo under their little arch, bragging about their titles and claiming that Bate and Seven’s Tag Title win didn’t count because it happened in Britain. Cole addressed Ricochet, saying he was infact a fighting champion and if Ricochet angered Undisputed Era, he’d regret it, so he should back off before he got hurt.
Hype video for War Raiders. It started out like a normal little video, with them in their head gear, but transitioned into a sitdown interview giving some more background on the two. They referenced facing each other for the first time in ‘a tournament’ and deciding to become a team instead, before clips were shown of them in PROGRESS and ICW. Rowe’s motorcycle accident was also covered and they also tried to explain why they dress like vikings, which was appreciated. That said, they both came across better and looked way cooler in their regular guise than they do with the face paint and helmets.
Velveteen promo video, covering his history in NXT and his big Takeover matches with Black, Ohno and Ricochet, as well as the ladder match in New Orleans and teasing the spotlight would be on him in Brooklyn.
WOMEN’S TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP
Nikki Cross vs. Candice LaRae vs. Kairi Sane
Belair was supposed to be in the match as well, but got pulled. Baszler came out to do commentary before the match got underway. This was a pretty hectic, all-action match, which the crowd got fully into. Candice seemingly had the match won after a quebrada to the back of Kairi, but Nikki broke up the pin and gave her a draping swinging neckbreaker off the apron. That left Nikki with Kairi, but Nikki took too long trying to win the match and allowed Candice to recover. Candice hit an Unprettier and a quebrada to Nikki, but Sane came off the top with the InSane Elbow to snatch the win on Candice. Bit of a surprise since they seemingly set Candice and Baszler up last week with their pull-apart.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The main event was an enjoyable triple threat and the clear highlight of the show. The opener was okay and the segments with War Raiders and EC3 and Reeves were the out of the ring standouts.
NXT WEEK: Aleister Black against Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Title.