WWE Raw Star Actually Pitched NXT Cage Fight Match Concept

On the 05/27 episode of NXT on the USA Network, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was the special guest referee for the first-ever Cage Fight between former NXT Tag Team Champions Timothy Thatcher and Matt Riddle.

The match, which was won by Thatcher, proved to be Riddle’s last in NXT for the foreseeable future. Two days later, Kurt Angle announced on SmackDown that Riddle was the newest member of the main roster.

In case you haven’t seen it, go and check out the awesome Cage Fight from last match. The match perfectly blended the worlds of professional wrestling and MMA, making for an incredibly unique concept.

On WWE The Bump, Raw star and two-time NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler revealed that she actually asked for a similar style of match when she was working with the “black and gold brand”:

“The time I was in NXT I was asking for a Lions Den type of match. If you guys think back to Ken Shamrock and whatnot. I think it wasn’t quite as polished. I think the fight pit that happened at NXT is the fully realized polished form of the Lions Den so that’s right up my alley.”

It would have been great to see Shayna in that environment, and potentially we still could if Vince McMahon adopts the concept for main roster shows. The idea of seeing Asuka and Shayna Baszler in a Cage Fight is one that is incredibly exciting.