It’s that time once again, time to see what happened this week on NXT. This is a strange one this week, seems like NXT writers forgot to add any interview segments or promos in between matches. So, we’ve got a whole bunch of wrestling to get through. Let’s not waste any more time, let’s take a look.
Peyton Royce w/ Billie Kay vs Liv Morgan vs Nikki Cross
Hate that the odds seemed to be stacked Liv in this match. She’s been absent only until very recently in NXT, and now she’s getting dragged out into this. Anyway, the match got underway with Nikki dominating while Liv and Peyton played catch up with the uncaged member of Sanity. The match itself did feel slightly loose, a few of the spots seemed delayed and didn’t quite connect as intended.
Unexpectedly during the match, the Undisputed Era (you’ll get over it) brought out Taynara Conti. Conti then attempted to distract Nikki Cross and stop her from gaining the advantage. This ultimately led to Peyton hitting her finisher on Cross, earning her way for a chance to win the NXT women’s’ championship. While I would’ve preferred Nikki winning, using this opportunity to push the conflict between Sanity and Adam Cole’s stable was done well. A good use balance of in-ring work and storytelling.
Lio Rush vs The Velveteen Dream
The second attempt for Lio Rush’s in-ring debut, I hoped it wasn’t going to be a quick win to make Rush look like an idiot. Thankfully, Rush came out strong and ran circles around Dream. Almost to spite Dream for embarrassing him on his debut. This being the first time I’ve seen Rush in action, I have to say that I appreciate his fast style and how he moves in the ring. Will be keeping an eye on how he develops in NXT.
However, he lost to Dream… great. I know you got to make Dream look strong, but at the expense of new talent? Resisting urge to turn off the network. Oh wait, it crashed anyway. Thanks, WWE!
Lars Sullivan vs Danny Burch
Wow, another match without an interruption? I could get used to this. While you have to admire Burch’s courage, he was no match for the WWE2K18 exclusive DLC character Lars Sullivan… seriously why?! Sorry, I’ll let it go for now.
Sullivan utterly destroyed Burch. After fruitless attempts to gain an advantage, Burch could not overcome the odds and Sullivan achieved victory. A quick match that builds up Sullivan as a threat and really doesn’t do that much harm to Burch. Quick and painless.
Street Profits vs Jobbers
Aw hell yes, open to some positive vibes from these guys today. Since they’re facing jobbers today, this seemed like the perfect thing to lighten me up. They were loud, happy to be there, and left the winners once again. Although this was nothing special, it was a good change of pace and left me feeling happier for the rest of the show. Thank you Street Profits.
Johnny Gargano vs Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega
A rematch of their NXT TakeOver encounter got underway, at first it seemed pretty even as both Gargano and Almas got some decent attacks in. But, as the match progressed, Gargano started to hit harder and Almas returned with his own offence.
The back and forth contest continued and Johnny started to finally gain momentum in the match. An impressive suicide dive gave him the steps he needed to reach victory, as he slowly dismantled his opponent. However, the back and forth struck once again which took its toll and left both men collapsed due to spent energy.
It seemed like Gargano was going to get the win. But, thanks to the lack of empathy of Zelina Vega, she revealed she had been wearing a DIY top beneath her jacket. This was enough to leave Gargano bewildered but not enough to stop Gargano’s finisher. Almas escaped and we were left with a fast pace sprint to the finish. Almas finally hit the hammerlock DDT, leaving Gargano with another loss to his name.
