NXT has been on a hot streak of late as we build to TakeOver: Chicago. In a video recap of last week’s finale, it is immediately announced that Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa will face off at the event in a Street Fight. We are promised more pieces will soon be put in place, so let’s find out which rivalries heat up and which storylines are advanced tonight.
Aleister Black Promo
The NXT Champion comes out and declares that whoever his opponent at TakeOver may be, he only needs one kick to make them fade to black. Lars Sullivan storms down to the ring to announce that he has been awarded the title shot in Chicago. He talks up Black’s achievements before pointing out that the Dutch Destroyer has never faced anyone like him. A fight ensues, and Sullivan surprises his opponent by blocking the Black Mass kick. One Freak Accident later and Black is laid out on the mat while Sullivan stands tall.
That was an impressive showing from Sullivan – he carried himself well on the mic and was made to look an even bigger threat when he caught Black’s leg to prevent Black Mass. One segment in and we already have another match confirmed for TakeOver.
War Raiders v. George Hixon & Cody Vincent
Jobber squash time as the War Raiders return to NXT TV. As the fans chant ‘Raiders!’ (I guess the new name is sticking), Rowe and Hanson toy with the opponents, tossing them around with ease and unloading with their signature offence. The match lasts as long as War Raiders want it to with a double-team log drop off the top rope finishing things off.
Winners: War Raiders
Rowe and Hanson looked impressive, but then again, they shouldn’t look anything less against opponents like these. Hopefully, they get some real opponents soon.
EC3 v. Fabian Aichner
After a drawn out entrance for EC3 (that doesn’t really work in a small arena like Full Sail), the match gets underway. However, it is soon interrupted by Johnny Gargano, who was supposed to barred from the premises along with Ciampa by order of William Regal. He grabs a live mic to announce that he has signed his contract for the Street Fight at TakeOver. Aichner nearly capitalises on the situation as he hits a huge crossbody dive from the top rope to the outside. It doesn’t take long for EC3 to reassert control on the match and a pinfall soon follows after a neckbreaker.
Winner: EC3
Unless it was to foreshadow a future rivalry, it is hard to fathom why Gargano needed to come out during that match. The TakeOver Street Fight had already been announced and videos on official WWE social media had already shown us Gargano signing it. And I still don’t get the fuss about EC3.
Ricochet v. Chris Dijak
This is apparently Dijak’s debut. He stands a few inches taller than Ricochet but soon finds himself on the wrong end of a beatdown. Dijak gets a moment to shine when he catches Ricochet’s dive to the outside and gets a near fall off a springboard elbow. A moonsault that misses the target puts Ricochet back in control. After showing off some impressive strength with a deadlift suplex, a 630 Splash soon secures the win.
After the match, Ricochet calls out Velveteen Dream. The Dream himself shows up on the stage when he is called a punk. Ricochet challenges him to come down to the ring and take the spotlight, but Dream responds that they will need a much bigger spotlight to share in Chicago.
Just as dream is claiming he can do anything Ricochet can do, Ricochet somersaults over the top rope and onto the ramp, much to Dream’s shock and surprise.
Winner: Ricochet
Another case of the match being more about the angle than the contest. Dream is a master of building heat without the need for physical confrontation and we have one potential Match of the Year contender booked for Chicago.
NXT Women’s Title Match: Shayna Baszler (c) v. Dakota Kai
This match received a strong hype package earlier in the night showcasing the history between champ and challenger over the last few months starting with Baszler stomping on Kai’s arm in a match before she was the champion.
Building on the bullying storyline, Kai is reluctant to engage her tormentor early on. Baszler ramps up the aggression with a stomp to Kai’s leg as the fans chant “Shayna’s gonna kill you!” Kai offers zero resistance as Baszler twists her leg and ankle before getting on the wrong end of an ankle stomp.
Kai musters a slap but is soon trapped in an ankle lock. She makes the ropes but immediately ends up back in the hold. The babyface comeback starts with a spinning kick to break the hold. Kai then unloads about 10 seconds of kicks and strikes. She goes for her finisher, but Baszler catches her and counters into the Kirufida Clutch for the victory.
The hold gets reapplied after the bell, which draws out Nikki Cross to a huge pop. Baszler clearly doesn’t know what to make of the former Sanity member as the calls of “Nikki’s gonna kill you!” now ring out. The champ makes her way up the ramp but Cross steals her belt and invites her back to the ring to reclaim it.
We then get a bizarre moment as Nikki Cross demands a match right then and there with Dakota Kai as the referee. She immediately hits Baszler with The Purge, Kai makes the count, and Cross escapes through the crowd with the belt!
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Hmm, that was interesting. Baszler-Cross should be a great match up but it feels strange that after 6 weeks of a storyline centred around Dakota Kai, we potentially get just a couple of weeks to build to the TakeOver clash. Still, props to Baszler whose facial expressions really sold how unsettled she was at Cross’ demented behaviour.
Final Thoughts
Not quite up to the very high standards set over the last couple of weeks but a solid show nonetheless. Lars Sullivan and Velveteen Dream both excelled as antagonisers on the mic, Ricochet’s flipping comeback to Dream has to be seen to be believed, and it looks like Nikki Cross is finally back in the title picture. I also enjoyed seeing War Raiders in action and the positives of the show were enough to make me overlook the strange placement of Johnny Gargano’s announcement and the general ‘meh’ factor EC3 induces in me. See you next week!
