NXT APRIL 17TH 2019
NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Velveteen Dream vs. Buddy Murphy
I know it was part of the story, but there’s no way Buddy is 205, is there? No surprise, but these two killed it here. Hot action and a hot crowd. They teased a double count-out earlier in the match and late on Buddy hit Dream with a knee to knock him off the apron, then had to break the count himself because he couldn’t get Dream back in the ring. By the time he did get Dream back in, he’d recovered and gave Murphy a fameasser as he was climbing back through the ropes. Dream then followed up with the Dream Valley Driver and the Purple Rainmaker for the pin. Great match.
Street Profits were shown going to Regal’s office, looking for an opportunity. When they knocked on the door, Hanson and Rowe exited the room instead. Or, Erik and Ivar. Look, the “haha what a silly name” stuff has been done, re-done and re-re-done and probably will continue to be until everyone gets used to it in… ooh, two weeks? But Hanson and Rowe were wearing War Raiders t-shirts here which I’m pretty sure haven’t been seen on TV once until now, so that was amusing. Rowe told them they’d already cleared things with Regal and they’d see them in the ring next week, with Hanson telling them to be careful what they wished for. Street Profits, once Hanson and Rowe had gone, celebrated getting what they wanted.
Gargano came out for the first time as NXT Champion for a promo. It was a standard ra-ra babyface promo until Undisputed Era interrupted, minus Strong, with Cole claiming that he beat Gargano and Gargano got lucky because if it was any other match he’d be champion. Gargano argued his case and pointed out he made Cole tap in two straight falls, before claiming he wouldn’t be whining and crying had he lost. Gargano challenged Cole to get in the ring and Cole, Fish and O’Reilly slowly made their way down the ramp, distracting him so Strong could jump Gargano from behind from the crowd. Cole superkicked Gargano as Fish and O’Reilly held him and Undisputed Era posed over him.
KUSHIDA’s signing was covered again, promoting his debut in two weeks. They then covered Ricochet, Black, Lacey Evans, EC3 and The Viking Experience going to Raw and Lars and Kairi going to Smackdown.
Dominik Dijakovic vs. Aaron Frye
Dijakovic won with his spinning kick in under 10 seconds. He then cut a promo post match about his family giving him this opportunity by coming to America, before alluding to the fact he was coming for the North American Championship. The crowd and I were expecting him to be calling out Keith Lee and were seemingly thrown by what they got instead. Judging by this, it’s still not going to happen for a while. Also, the fact that they announced Dijakovic versus Lee for this episode two weeks ago and it just didn’t happen, again, is probably a good sign it’s not happening for a while too.
Cathy spoke with Undisputed Era backstage. Cole claimed the difference between him and Gargano was Gargano gets caught up in the emotion and by doing so he felt right into their trap. Regal appeared as Cole was speaking though and said he’d just spoken with Gargano, who definitely wanted to face Undisputed Era. But, he didn’t want to face Cole, he wanted to face Strong. Strong was happy with this and Cole clearly wasn’t.
Recap of the history between Shayna and Kairi, ahead of the main event.
Aliyah and Vanessa complained that they weren’t ready to compete last week, because they were in New York and had done too much shopping. So they challenged Candice to find another ‘lower’ and meet them in the ring next week.
NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane
This didn’t get a ton of time, but was still a good match. Mostly though, it was here as a final, added on chapter of the feud, to write off Kairi and transition into Shayna’s next program. The key moment was Kairi going for the Kabuki Elbow from the apron but Baszler moving out of the way and Sane elbowing the barricade instead. Baszler went after the arm to the point that the referee had to call for the doctor to check on her. Io came out to check on her as well, but Baszler dragged Sane back into the ring and teased stomping the elbow, causing Io to come in and make the save but cost Sane the match by DQ in the process. Marina and Jessamyn then attacked Io post match and made her watch as Baszler stomped the arm anyway, with Baszler posing on the ramp and Io checking on Sane to close.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Definitely check out Dream against Murphy. Kairi and Baszler isn’t a match on the level of their previous big matches, but more of a set-up for what’s going to happen going forward and the segment with Gargano and Undisputed Era was decently done as well.
NXT WEEK: War Raiders against Street Profits, Aliyah and Vanessa Borne against Candice and a partner of her choosing and Gargano versus Strong.