April 5th 2019, New York City
By Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames
NXT Tag Team Championship
War Raiders © def. Aleister Black & Ricochet
Well what can I say, possibly the greatest tag team contest in NXT history? The art of tag team wrestling is alive and well in NXT, and on this night these four men exhibited how good tag team wrestling is when done right. This flowed like a river, chain wrestling, strong style strikes and multiple beautifully crafted sequences. The match momentum swung back and forth as each team fought for an advantage, Black was flawless, his exchange of strikes with Rowe were stunning, top draw wrestling. Ricochet was as crisp as ever, he moved gracefully and didn’t miss a beat, Hanson then took over and hit multiple corner Clotheslines for audience approval. The contest spilt to the outside as all four men took to the sky, Ricochet took the honours here. They returned to the ring as a combination of Black Mass and the 650 splash surely signalled victory, only for Hanson to interrupt, the War Raiders then took over and reclaimed their titles as they put Ricochet down for the count. Flawless
Standing ovation for Ricochet & Aleister Black, their NXT swansong for sure.
NXT North American Championship
Velveteen Dream © def. Matt Riddle
Big time fight feel, Riddle started the stronger and out wrestled Dream at every turn. Dream tried to come back into the contest but Riddle hit two consecutive Gutwrench Suplex’s, again Dream rallied Riddle get a hard German Suplex on the outside. Riddle was in close control early on, he rocked Velveteen with strikes and submissions, Dream looked out of his depth. The dominance of Matt Riddle was not expected, he just beat down Dream throughout, vicious knee strikes and kicks rocked the arena and Dream. The audience seemed to slightly turn on Riddle as he pounded the Champion, Dream struck back and parodied Hul Hogan, not good at all. Velveteen came back into the contest but Riddle was resilient, Dream tried again but the challenger locked in the Ankle Lock. Dream got free and hit the Death Valley Driver, he then went for Purple Rain but was caught in an attempted BroMission. They continued as Matt Riddle hit Dream with a huge German Suplex from outside to in. After another sequence Dream was again caught in the BroMission, it looked over before Dream rolled through and pinned Riddle. Personally, for me Velveteen looked completely out his depth once the bell rang, Matt Riddle was superior.
WWE United Kingdom Championship *Title Change*
Walter def. Pete Dunne ©
I can’t justify this match with words, an exceptional back and forth professional wrestling contest between two of the very best professional wrestlers on the planet. Walter introduced himself on the world stage and placed his foot firmly in the ground, for Pete Dunne the time had come to drop the title and move on to the greener pastures of NXT US or surely the WWE main roster. Time will tell. Just a flawless exhibition and the reason the European wrestling scene is one of the best in the world. With a performance like that, there is no reason Pete Dunne cannot be challenging for the WWE or Universal title(s) within the next 12 months.
NXT Women’s Championship Fatal-4-Way Match
Shayna Baszler ©def. Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane
This was not as good as previous NXT Women’s matches; it did come to life when Shirai and Sane were in the ring together but at times it seemed over busy and clunky. The action was solid and some of the sequences worked really well, Belair again seemed out of her depth. Shirai and Sane were very good and their exchanges were really smooth and crisp. Baszler was not as dominant as previous matches but when it mattered, she was as good as ever. The near falls mounted up towards the of the match, Belair dispatched Io and Kairi before once more Baszler capitalised and tapped another challenger for her title.
NXT Championship, Two out of Three Falls (Vacant) *New Champion*
Johnny Gargano def. (2) Adam Cole (1)
This had a very cagey start, the pace was very slow, Gargano had the advantage in the first fall but it all seemed to take place in slow motion. Gargano had most of the offence as Cole seemed to be trying to catch up with the action, Gargano hit the spear early but to no avail. Cole finally came back into the match and levelled Gargano with his patented Shinning Wizard to win the first fall. The audience seemed nearly all in favour of Cole during this match, the second fall dragged again with Cole on the offence before Gargano rocked him with Tornado DDT on the outside. The ref counted but Gargano did not want a count out victory, this wasn’t good for him as Cole launched him into the ring post. The match finally returned to the ring where after a brief exchange Johnny locked in the Gargano escape, Cole tapped immediately.
The third and final fall finally picked up the pace, this was the match we all expected. The wrestling during this fall was of a very high standard, Gargano and Cole have rarely looked better.. The sequences were exceptional, they traded forearms and Superkicks, Cole took control and hit Gargano with a variation of Suplex’s, the Wheelbarrow Suplex on the ring apron was brutal. Gargano hit back with two spike DDT’s, but still Cole kicked out, he fired back with a Superkick and Canadian Destroyer for a very close near fall. Cole then struck Gargano with an Underhook Facebuster on the announce table, again back in the ring Cole hit a Superkick for another near fall. Johnny Gargano hit back with a Superkick that took Cole’s head off, as the ref counted the Undisputed Era arrived, they took out Johnny but still he kicked out, Cole levelled Gargano again with a Superkick and Shinning Wizard, still Gargano kicked out! It was then we knew what was coming, Gargano trapped Cole with the Gargano escape, Cole rolled through but Gargano kept the grip tight. Finally, Adam Cole tapped
