NXT MARCH 13TH 2019
The show began with a War Raiders narrated recap of the first round of the Dusty Classic.
DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC SEMI FINAL
Moustache Mountain vs. Forgotten Sons
This was another decent showing for Forgotten Sons, ending with them advancing to the final. After starting out with Bate, they went after the knee of Seven in the middle of the match. Bate would eventually get the hot tag and was the source of all the big moves in this one, between dives to the floor, shooting star presses on the floor and a double airplane spin on both Cutler and Blake. Ryker would end up getting involved in the match though, putting Blake’s foot on the rope to prevent a pin and then getting involved in the finish as Bate got pushed off the top into a polish hammer by him on the floor. Seven got cut off as he went for Ryker and Forgotten Sons hit their reverse DDT/stomp combo for the win.
Cathy interviewed Riddle backstage about confronting Dream last week. Riddle was interrupted fairly quickly by Adam Coie who told Riddle he was clueless if he thought he deserved a title shot over him. Riddle challenged him to a match and Cole seemed to agree.
WOMENS TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP
Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair
Baszler joined commentary for this, with the winner facing her at Takeover. This was a really good match while it lasted, with Shirai and Belair working well together. It ended with Baszler leaving commentary to get the match thrown out however, pulling Shirai out of the ring before putting Belair in the Kirifuda Clutch. Kairi tried to make the save but got put in the Kirifuda Clutch immediately. Shirai then had to save Sane and clear the ring of Baszler, but Baszler came back and choked her out as well. So I guess it’ll be a fourway at Takeover, although it’s a bit of a stretch to say Kairi earned her spot here.
Recap of the Dijakovic and Keith Lee double count out two weeks ago and their confrontation at the Performance Center last week, with the rematch announced for next week.
Cathy questioned Baszler about her actions outside. Baszler said no-one had shown they deserved a shot at her and she just proved it. Cathy informed her that Regal had booked the fourway for Takeover and she seemed annoyed.
DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC SEMI FINAL
Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. #DIY
DIY came out in their old DIY shirts this week. There wasn’t really much of a grudge match feel here, all things considered and was more of a straight up tag match. At this point, I’m not sure if I expected any different or not. This did feel like the same kind of match you’d expect them to have on Raw though. Which isn’t to say it was bad, because it was obviously enjoyable and they got plenty of time to maybe go a bit beyond a middle of the show Raw match. It just didn’t have the same kind of fire it could have had. There was some story progression at the end as well, with Gargano getting a knee injury on the break up of DIY’s dual submissions, leaving Ciampa on his own. And after Ciampa couldn’t tag out, Black would hit Black Mass and Ricochet followed up with a 630 for the win. A fine match, for what it was.
Candice came out to check on Gargano post match. Ciampa and Candice then both helped Gargano up the ramp, until they got to the trophy, at which point Ciampa got mad and tried to throw Gargano into the screen. Gargano put the brakes on though, revealed he’d faked the knee injury and superkicked Ciampa, before leaving with Candice. So, they did do the Gargano face turn after all and the crowd did at least react to it as such, even after all positive reactions to this DIY reunion stuff. It did feel a little bit anticlimactic, after all these two have been through, but maybe I’m still just longing for something this story hasn’t been for a good 6 months.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: All three matches were good this week, so another strong episode, even if it didn’t have the same standout match as it did last week.
NXT WEEK: The Keith Lee against Dominik Dijakovic rematch.