The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic goes into Round 2. Here's a recap of the four teams involved in this round:
Round 2
Moustache Mountain vs. The Forgotten Sons
Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. #DIY
The winners will face each other later in the finals. The winners of that match will be declared the tournament champions and will challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championships at NXT TakeOver: New York.
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Fool Me Once...
WWE NXT 3/13/19
WWE Network; WWE
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NXT Thoughts (3/13/19)
- We get a pre-taped video with The War Raiders narrating a highlight reel of the Round 1 action. They say no matter who wins, none of them are ready for WAR!
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic- Round 2
Match #1
The Forgotten Sons defeat Moustache Mountain.
Blake and Bate start the match. Cutler gets tagged in and eventually gets the advantage on Bate. The Forgotten Sons get Bate in their corner and start beating down on Bate. Bate eventually rolls around Blake and tags in Seven. Seven gives chops to both Cutler and Blake. Seven gets chop-blocked by Cutler on his bad knee. Cutler and Blake spend the next few minutes attacking the leg of Seven, including some jumping attacks on the ropes and the ring frame. Blake even breaks out a Spinning Toe Hold. Blake then transitions that into a Figure Four, but Seven reverses the hold to apply pressure to Blake. Blake gets to the rope. Tag to Cutler. Cutler continues to try to keep Seven from getting to the tag, but a double clothesline enables Seven to tag in Bate. Blake gets tagged in as well.
Bate goes after both Forgotten Sons, having to fight both men off by himself. He is able to power both men up on his shoulders and do a DOUBLE AIRPLANE SPIN with both men on his shoulder. Double Hurricanrana by Bate, but he crashes and burns going for a Running Shooting Star Press on the floor. Moments later, Moustache Mountain hits a double-team move on Blake. But Ryker gets the foot on the rope for his team from the outside. Seven and Bate go for another double team. Bate gets launched off the top rope to Ryker who strikes on the floor. The Forgotten Sons take advantage and hit the Reverse DDT/Double Stomp combination for the upset win over the former NXT Tag Team Champions.
The Forgotten Sons advance to the Finals.
(Good opening tag team match, but it wasn't overly impressive or anything. Moustache Mountain could have easily been in the finals, but they aren't on this version of NXT. So, you had to believe that they weren't going to actually win this tournament. I'm still a little "meh" about The Forgotten Sons overall. )
-Matt Riddle is interviewed backstage about last week. Riddle is interrupted by Adam Cole. Cole is the only guy worthy of the NXT North American Championship. Riddle tells Cole that they can settle this in the ring. (I could go for a Matt Riddle vs. Adam Cole {Bay Bay!} match.)
- Io Shirai takes on Bianca Belair for the #1 Contendership for the NXT Women's Championship. Shayna Baszler joins the NXT Commentary Team to watch her would-be challengers. Baszler calls Shirai a "nobody" and Belair "someone I already beat." Shirai gets the early advantage on Belair, sending her to the floor. But Belair catches her jumping on her on the floor and sends her face-first into the ring steps. Belair continues to beat up Shirai in the ring. Shirai starts fighting back and hits her version of the 619 followed by a Springboard Dropkick. Double Knees into the corner. Belair catches her on the corner, drops her into the Tree of Woe, and whips her with her long ponytail. Shirai and Belair fight on the corner. Frankensteiner to Belair off of the corner by Shirai. But she moonsaults into the Double Knees of Belair. Spear by Belair.
Baszler gets out of commentary, drags Shirai out of the ring, and puts the Clutch on Belair. Kairi Sane comes out, but she gets put in the Clutch by Baszler. Shirai attacks Baszler from behind and sends her to the floor. Baszler runs back in and locks in the Clutch on Shirai. Shirai is out, and Baszler has just put her three top challengers to sleep in a matter of 2 minutes.
(That's the way to promote a champion. You can say anything you want about Baszler, but she has been booked strong for most of her reign as NXT Champion. This was something I could see a monster champion like Vader doing to the locker room: complete utter decimation. As for the match itself, I enjoyed it. Belair still has some things to brush up on before becoming NXT Women's Champion, but she's not far away from that. Io Shirai and Kairi Sane are both better options in my opinion, but if they put the title on Belair, I think the division would be in good hands. As for Baszler, she can easily fill in the spot that Ronda Rousey leaves (minus the star power obviously) on Raw. And it would set the stage for The Four Horsewomen to come together whenever Rousey comes back (if she does).
- We get another replay of the Keith Lee/Dijakovic situation from a few weeks back as well as the WWE Performance Center incident from last week. Keith Lee will face Dominik Dijakovic next week.
- Baszler is interviewed backstage. She said none of those women deserve a shot at her. She's then informed that the match at NXT TakeOver: New York will now be a Fatal Four Way for her NXT Women's Championship. She storms off. (Yes, please. That match will be awesome.)
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic- Round 2
Match #2
Aleister Black and Ricochet defeat #DIY
#DIY come out wearing their #DIY shirts and gear this time to their classic theme. Ciampa and Black start off the match. Obviously, there's a lot of history between Ciampa, Black, and Gargano. Ciampa avoids Black Mass and runs around the ring. But Black catches him with some knee strikes. Ricochet tags in and continues working on Ciampa. But Ricochet gets caught by a boot from Ciampa. Tag to Gargano. Ricochet and Gargano are going back and forth, renewing their rivalry from the last NXT TakeOver. Gargano gets sent to the floor and gets hit with a Springboard Dropkick on the apron. Black and Ricochet do a sit down pose while #DIY regroups on the floor.
Ciampa and Gargano retake the advantage when Gargano catches Ricochet with a DDT coming into the ring. #DIY take turns beating up Ricochet for a few moments. Frequent tags by #DIY focusing on the neck of Ricochet. Ciampa then mocks Black's sitting pose. Stomp on the arm by Gargano to Ricochet. Then Ciampa gets in a deep headlock on Ricochet. Ricochet stops the Slingshot DDT by Gargano, but Gargano responds with a big lariat. Ciampa gets a big knee strike on Ricochet for a 2. More frequent tags by #DIY. Ricochet fights off both men and gets a Running Neckbreaker on Ciampa (who accidentally DDTs Gargano in the process).
Black gets the tag. Gargano gets knocked down several times. Double Asai Moonsault on #DIY. Gargano and Black trade reversals and attempts back and forth. A knee and brainbuster to Gargano only get a 2 as Ciampa breaks up the pin. Ciampa gets the tag. Black get a knee to Ciampa. Ricochet gets taken out by a superkick by Gargano. Seconds later, CIAMPA HITS TOWER OF LONDON ON BLACK ON THE RING FRAME! Back in the ring, Slingshot DDT connects by Gargano. 1-2-KICKOUT! GARGANO ESCAPE! Ciampa puts a submission hold on Ricochet to keep him from breaking up the submission. Ricochet DEADLIFTS Ciampa and piles him right on top of Gargano to break the hold. Gargano holds on to his leg and has to slide over to the corner to tag in Ciampa. Ciampa checks on Gargano on the floor.
Ricochet tags in. They trade blows in the center of the ring. CIAMPA GETS A BIG KNEE TO RICOCHET, BUT RICOCHET RESPONDS WITH A PELE KICK! Ciampa wants to tag out, but Gargano isn't on the corner. "Fight Forever," says the fans. Black gets tagged in. BLACK MASS! 630!!!! 1-2-3!!!! ALEISTER BLACK AND RICOCHET ADVANCE!
Aleister Black and Ricochet will face The Forgotten Sons in the Finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic!
(Excellent match again for #DIY even in defeat this time. How can you miss when you have four athletes like this that can move around like this? You add in the excellent storytelling that Ciampa and Gargano can do to this, and you have the ingredients for one of the best matches so far this year for the NXT brand. Well done.)
Candice LaRae checks on Johnny Gargano on the floor while Ciampa sits on the apron dejected. He then comes over to Gargano and kneels down. He holds up Gargano and helps him walk towards the back, leaving Goldie on the ring apron (the NXT Championship). Gargano collapses on the stage. Ciampa lifts him up.
Ciampa goes to fling him into the LED Screen, but Gargano stops in his tracks! HE WAS FAKING THE WHOLE TIME! The look on Ciampa's face is awesome. He's been had. And now, in shades of 2017, Gargano now sends Ciampa into the LED Screen! The crowd is loving this. SUPERKICK TO THE HEAD OF CIAMPA! Ciampa is out while the crowd cheers. Candice and Johnny celebrate over the decimated Ciampa as we fade to black.
(With Johnny Gargano's history, Ciampa should be thankful that Gargano didn't just jump him in the NXT Parking Lot over the last couple months. That was all about that Old Klingon Proverb that tells us "Revenge is a dish that is best served cold." Gargano suckered in Ciampa and gave him a dose of his own medicine. The sad part about all this is that we won't get to see Ciampa vs. Gargano again for at least a few months as Ciampa is out with injury. That's really disappointing. But if this feud has shown us anything, it is that returns from injury enhance the feud that much more. Black vs. Ciampa is good enough to be on NXT's first Hell in a Cell Match if NXT ever could get that approved.)
Overall, I enjoyed this episode of NXT a LOT more than last week's. It's much better to have the tag team matches in the tournament separated as bookends rather than back-to-back. It was also good to see the NXT women have another good outing, with Baszler looking like the dominant champion that she should be portrayed as. The main event delivered one of the best NXT matches of the year, and it also set up more Gargano-Ciampa awesomeness in the future. Here's hoping we get that blowoff to the feud before WWE ruin... I mean takes them as permanent members of the main roster.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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