NXT JANUARY 30TH 2019
Kairi Sane and Io Shirai vs. Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke
Marina came into this with a broken nose and was wearing a protective mask as a result. Shafir and Duke are clearly still learning, but all things considered, this was a good match. It obviously required Sane and Shirai to hold things together at points, but Shafir and Duke themselves did fine, I thought. The one thing that’s clearly missing is a bit of confidence and presence, but that’s only going to come with time. I guess the problem is that they’re teasing this Four Horsewomen tag now and they might not get enough time before then. But maybe they’re quick learners. Finish saw Sane hit Shafir with the double team, pop-up version of the elbow, before Shirai hit a dive to Jessamyn and Sane pinned Shafir after the top rope InSane Elbow.
Recap of Gargano’s North American Title win over Ricochet. Gargano was interviewed afterwards, saying he delivered on his promises to have a match of the year and win the title. He then made a big deal of saying winning feels great, which I guess is going to be the excuse for him and Ciampa joining back up.
Belair versus Baszler recap. Belair was interviewed and said that being undefeated was a mindset, which isn’t technically true. She said that Shayna knew she’d take the title from her one day, before they addressed whatever the Sam Roberts thing was. And by addressed, I mean Bianca told him to kiss her ass.
War Raiders/Undisputed Era recap. In their interview, War Raiders said Undisputed Era have earned their respect, but that era had ended.
Recap of Riddle against Ohno. Riddle claimed he broke Ohno by beating him until he gave up.
Highlights of Ciampa and Black, ending with Ciampa and Gargano both holding their titles. They then showed the post show angle that set up the Halftime Heat six man tag match. They also covered Kairi, Candice, Shirai, Black and Gargano being in the Royal Rumbles
Street Profits vs. The Forgotten Sons
Street Profits had new, old school Harlem Heat style gear for this. I think this might have been their first Takeover or pre-Takeover match ever. This was a pretty cold match early on, Montez didn’t really get a chance to shine at the start like in some Street Profits matches and then it was Forgotten Sons working him over, which was fine, but the crowd weren’t invested. Things picked up with the Dawkins hot tag though, before Montez hit an awesome looking flip dive to Cutler to finally get the crowd really going. Street Profits hit a doomsday blockbuster but Cutler broke the count. Ryker then pulled the rope down on Montez as he teased another dive and the distraction allowed Blake to take out Dawkins with a dive, leading to the reverse DDT/second rope stomp finish to give Forgotten Sons the win. First half of this looked like it wasn’t going to land, but they turned it around well in the second half.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Check out Street Profits and Forgotten Sons from after the hot tag and you’ll see the best of the show. The Sky Pirates/Horsewomen match was okay too.
NXT WEEK: An appearance from Johnny Gargano.