Few look as cool in street clothes as Shayna Baszler. The NXT Women’s Champion kicks off this week’s episode addressing what happened at the end of last week’s show. As soon as The Queen of Spades mentions Nikki Cross, the Twisted Sister of NXT appears, gnashers flaring like an unmuzzled pitbull. After more verbals, Shayna chucks the mic at the Psychotic Scot. “I could put you to sleep in a heartbeat!” she warns.
Nikki seems delighted at the thought. “DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!” she wails. “PLEASE!” That’s a bit weird.
A fight ensues, ending with a Cross body (see what I did there?). The Queen of Spades backs off, stunned, bleeding from the mouth, as Mauro Ranallo and friends play up the chinks in the champion’s armour. Both ladies did a grand job here.
Strewth, TM61 are out next. I’m so tempted to reach for the fast-forward button. The commentators remind us how the Aussie Action Heroes (yes, Nigel McGuinness really did call them that) cheated to beat The Street Profits and Heavy Machinery. They probably won’t need to use the ropes to down their opponents this week, though. They are two hapless jobbers who believe it or not, are already in the ring when Thorn and Miller arrive. That’s more like it!
To be fair to TM61, Thorn shows some heel charisma and a picture-perfect drop kick. Other than that, I am rapidly losing interest by the time TM61 win with a blow to the back of Jobber 1’s head. Then some bright spark decides to give them post-match mic time. “Blah blah…we’re winners….blah blah…we are the mighty…blah blah…and the mighty don’t kneel.” Whatever.
“From the mighty to the majestic!” chirps Nigel, to hype up Lacey Evans’ rubber match with Kairi Sane tonight. A segue Oli Davis would be proud of.
We get a recap of Lars Sullivan laying out NXT Champion Aleister Black last week. The camera cuts to the Performance Center where The Rocky Mountain Goliath is laying waste to randoms in the training ring. And he’s wearing a Download Festival T-shirt while doing so. Immaculate product placement right there. Sullivan eventually stands alone amongst the broken bodies.
SHOCK THE SYSTEM!
Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly are so much better than Roderick Strong at ring entrances. Seriously, they need to give him swagger lessons. Then Rod’s opponent Danny ‘Stop calling me Martin Stone’ Burch emerges, flashing V for Victory signs like a slimline Winston Churchill. They mat wrestle early. Stone (sorry, Burch) lands a nasty head butt. Other than that, nothing much happens until Cole and O’Reilly decide to run out and jump on the apron. Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan even the odds and Martin (sorry, Danny) applies a crossface to Strong, but another Undisputed Era distraction allows Strong to eventually backbreaker the Londoner for the one-two-three.
As an undistinguished challenger for the tag belts at Takeover, I felt Dan needed the win here. This feud needs to elevate Burch and Lorcan but instead appears to be dragging Dunne and the Era down.
The World Cup starts next week. Here’s a fun football fact. Japan’s national team once had a player called Shunsuke Nakamura.
I bet this chunk of knowledge has enriched your life.
Kassius Ohno is having his photo taken backstage. With the black and yellow attire, for one split-second I thought he was Sha Samuels. EC3 struts into shot, looking more orange than a space hopper. TAFKA Bateman is fricking hilarious, calling himself the Golden Goose of NXT. Ohno warns The One Per Center he’s 1% away from being 99% unconscious. As I’m trying to work out the math, KO challenges Carter to a match next week and the Tangerine Dream accepts. Best thing on the show so far.
We get an eerie Aleister Black promo package talking about the Sullivan match. I really don’t care about this. Has any champion’s star ever dimmed as fast as Black’s?
The ensuing Ricochet-Velveteen Dream build-up video is infinitely superior.
This montage of multiple Velveteen and Ricochet clips, interspersed with sit-down interview footage of the two, not only showcases the Dream’s wonderfully bonkers wardrobe, but we also get a nostalgic peek at young Patrick Clark entering Tough Enough years ago. The Dream says he has no memory of this. Neither do I, to be fair.
On his opponent, Dream has this to say. “He’s good, athletically he can impress a few people…but can he make them feel it?
“I have the intangibles…every word I say, every gesture has you hooked.”
This just about sums up the difference between the two men. I’m really looking forward to their Takeover match.
The girl with the twirl, Lacy Evans, has quite literally got a Woman’s Right with Kairi Sane’s name on it. She’s written ‘Kairi’ on her fist in marker pen. Genius.
Match three between Sane and Evans is full of subtle touches like this, such as Lacey grinding her fist into Sane’s head at one point, just for the hell of it, and cockily covering her in a press-up position. In between The Lady pulls out an incredible springboard elbow and a jaw-dropping twisting springboard top rope moonsault. Sadly she finds nothing but canvas on the latter, and the Pirate Princess is able to rally with a top rope forearm, Alabama Slam and InSane Elbow for the three count.
These two women have superb chemistry and I’d be more than happy to watch them lock up again in future. As I don’t see Nikki Cross beating Shayna Baszler at Takeover, expect Sane – The Queen of Spades’ conqueror in last year’s Mae Young Classic – to be lined up as next challenger.
Candice LeRae is Johnny Gargano’s “significant other” while Tommaso Ciampa is “insufferable”. Ranallo has such a way with words.
Out prowls The Sicilian Psychopath to end the show. There is the usual genuine hate in the room. When the Full Sail fans chant “YOU SUCK!” at Ciampa it’s not with Kurt Angle affection, that’s for sure. One fan in the front row even has a “GO AWAY” sign. This made me chuckle.
Tommaso sits on the top rope as the crowd screams “JOHNNY WRESTLING!” There are even light “Psycho Killer!” chants. Like all good heels, Ciampa reacts with “Spare me with your Psycho Killer bullcrap!” and then calmly chastises his nemesis for “damn near crippling your own wife” two weeks ago. “I WIN!” says Tommaso, sounding like Anna Windass mocking a dying Phelan in Coronation Street.
At this, Johnny Gargano storms down the ramp, fighting off officials. The former best pals have their usual inferno-intense brawl into the crowd and back into the ring, where it needs six referees to separate them. Ciampa then blindsides Johnny and locks him in his own hold. “HE’S AS DIABOLICAL AS THEY COME!” bellows Mauro as the posse of refs eventually force the incarnate Tommaso to release the Gargano Escape. Then just when you think it’s over, Gargano charges after Ciampa again and rams him head-first into the Special Olympics sign on the stage. Tomasso bleeds! The show fades to black (sorry Aleister) with Johnny cranking for all he’s worth on the Gargano Escape as the officials once again try in vain to separate these mortal enemies.
These two men can do no wrong. Gargano vs Ciampa is the best thing on WWE television BY A COUNTRY MILE.
Did you enjoy this week’s NXT? Let me know by commenting below!
6 years ago by Wrestle Talk
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