‘WWE NXT’ Review (Sept 26th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s NXT review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and here comes N….X….T!
Match #1: Lars Sullivan versus Victor Orchant
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Lars Sullivan may have thought he put his troubles with EC3 behind him when he barraged The Top One Percent in a backstage ambush weeks ago, but it was no such luck for the Rocky Mountain behemoth. A vengeance-minded EC3 made his presence felt during The Freak’s match tonight against Victor Orchant. The interruption stoked the flames of EC3 and Sullivan’s raging rivalry, but it was also a saving grace for Orchant, who was in the process of being mauled by The Freak when EC3 arrived. After Sullivan threw Orchant clear out of the ring, EC3 ran in and landed shots on the Rocky Mountain monster, ejecting Sullivan from the squared circle. NXT’s “Golden God” then successfully fought off Sullivan’s attempt to return fire, causing The Freak to retreat. As Sullivan stalked away slowly, a menacing grin overtook his face, suggesting that the methodical monster is already plotting his next move against the lionhearted EC3.
My Take: 1 out of 5 – Bret Hart would be proud. Wait… no he wouldn’t. Why do we keep doing these goofy run-in things? This doesn’t make me want to see more of these two. You know what I would like to see these two guys get to do more of? I’d like to see them wrestle. Hiyaaaaaa!
Match #2: The Mighty def. Street Profits
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
After absconding with Street Profits’ gold chains and signature party cup last month, The Mighty were all too happy to flaunt their stolen goods, but the all-business Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins weren’t having it. The Curse of Greatness slugged Shane Thorne in the mush to start things off and continued the momentum, staying one step ahead of The Mighty’s double-team offense. He then brought in Ford, who used his insane leaping ability to take out Thorne & Nick Miller with an explosive dive. The Profits ran into trouble, however, when Thorne drop-kicked the steel ring steps into Ford’s leg as it was wedged between the steps and the ring post. From there, The Mighty relentlessly targeted Ford’s bad limb and prevented him from tagging out. Ford fought courageously, and just when he seemed to be within reach of tagging his partner, Miller illegally ran interference, distracting Dawkins. Thorne rolled up Ford seconds later to score the pin for the dubious Aussie action heroes.
My Take: 2 out of 5 – This was a nice, quick match to give The Mighty a bit of juice in their tank. I don’t like having a designated loser, which is what The Street Profits are becoming lately, but at least they are getting some television time.
Match #3: Kairi Sane def. Vanessa Borne
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Vanessa “The Vision” Borne has added to her repertoire since her series of matches against Kairi Sane earlier this year. However, the reigning NXT Women’s Champion still had the reinvented Superstar’s number when they met in non-title action. Borne showed plenty of attitude as she stomped stomping on The Pirate Princess’ tricorn hat, and used new attacks like a twisting suplex, but Sane wouldn’t be undone. She stopped Borne with a high-angle DDT and soon after took flight with the Insane Elbow, which put Borne down for the count. Former NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler stomped to the ring after the match and declared that she was invoking her rematch clause, adding that she was going to “drop anchor” on Sane’s title reign. Sane had no problem accepting the challenge, and even named the place: WWE Evolution, the historic all-female pay-per-view that streams live on the award-winning WWE Network on Sunday, Oct. 28.
My Take: 2 out of 5 – This was a decent match that didn’t get the chance to show what either of these fighters can do. Fortunately, these women got better treatment than the NFL cheerleaders. Women’s wrestling needs a Gloria Allred to advocate for them so that they get more chances to have matches that matter, but so do the men as well. Sane makes for a good champion, but she runs the risk of not being seen as imposing as the former champion, Shayna Baszler. Over-all, this was a solid show-case for Sane, but she does deserve better.
Match #4: Main Event – Tommaso Ciampa def. Otis Dozovic
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Following his hard-hitting collision with Heavy Machinery’s Otis Dozovic, NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa might think twice before labeling a match a “waste of time” ever again. The Scourge of NXT eked out the win, but it was far from the walk in the park that he had anticipated. Dozovic spun Ciampa into a bodyslam that elicited a “Steaks and weights” chant, and dumped Ciampa to the floor (which Dozovic celebrated by breaking into the Caterpillar). After Dozovic nearly took off the champion’s head with a clothesline, Ciampa seemed willing to call it a day and retreated up the entrance ramp with the NXT Title, only to be cut off by Tucker Knight. Upon his return to the ring, Ciampa was repeatedly tossed overhead by the ferociously strong Dozovic. The Blackheart resorted to using the referee as a blockade to slow Dozovic’s momentum, though the Heavy Machinery member still came back with a thunderous powerbomb to garner a near-fall. Dozovic then set up for a Vader Bomb, but Ciampa rolled out of the way. The break in the action gave Ciampa time to regroup and drill Dozovic with a draping DDT onto the ring apron. He immediately followed up with a second draping DDT inside the ring. The back-to-back impacts were utterly debilitating, and Ciampa snared the victory, barely. There may have been some skullduggery involved, but the self-proclaimed “Greatest Sports-Entertainer of All Time” once again proved his win-at-all-costs mentality.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5 – This was an excellent match that gave Dozovic some momentum for the future, but not at the expense of the champion, who looked good getting pushed to fight harder than he thought he’d need to. Ciampa has become quite the addictive wrestler to watch and has really made some-thing out of his time in NXT, title or no title. Ciampa has always been an athlete to watch, but his work in NXT has given him all the leverage he’ll ever need in any league he competes for. Dozovic looked pretty good against Ciampa and might be a fine contender for a title shot after he gets his feet wet with a few more good matches like this one!
News Of The Night:
- Ricochet versus Adam Cole versus Pete Dunne in a Triple Threat Match for the North American Title will happen in a few weeks.
- Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly will defend the NXT Tag Team Titles against Hanson and Rowe in the near future.
- Kairi Sane will give Shanya Baszler her re-match for the NXT Women’s Title in the near future.
Final Verdict: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a solid episode with a fine main event, but I can’t help but wonder if Triple H and the NXT bookers have watched Lucha Underground and wondered why they are able to accomplish more in an hour than they are doing now?
