NXT - 13/05/20
- LDR
- May 15, 2020
- 7 min read
Leading into this week’s NXT, we had a few things to look forward to. Would we see new NXT Tag Team champions crowned after Walter’s henchmen interrupted The Newly-Bros show? Who attacked Finn Balor backstage a few weeks ago? Would Rhea Ripley attempt to claim a title showdown with Charlotte Flair? Who would take the lead in the Interim Cruiserweight Champion tournament? Read on to find out what happened at the Performance Centre this Wednesday Night.
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
NXT opened with a title bout to start things off hot. After Imperium’s assault during the Newly-Bros Show, Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher were out for blood and this one hit hard early. Riddle peppered both Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel with strikes, but the technical prowess of the European tandem allowed them to take control. Riddle was on the receiving end of a long heat segment, trying in vain multiple times to make a tag to his partner. He eventually managed to create some space by hitting Barthel with a Monkey Flip, but accidentally sent his opponent crashing into Thatcher. Thatcher decided that enough was enough, not taking kindly to having someone thrown at him by his own partner, and made a swift exit. Riddle put up a fight but didn’t have enough in him to take on the two men he was now up against alone. After a series of double team moves, Imperium hit the European Bomb to pick up the win and the Tag Team titles.
The main story here was the breakdown of the makeshift tag champions, with Riddle confronting Thatcher backstage and the two swiftly coming to blows. They were pulled apart, but Matt Riddle contacted NXT General Manager William Regal and requested a match with his former partner later in the night. Moments after granting the match, Thatcher appeared from behind Riddle and attacked again, leaving the Original Bro’s status in the air for their bout.
Tegan Nox v Indi Hartwell
Tegan Nox hasn’t really made too much headway since her vicious feud with Dakota Kai, so she was looking to make a statement here against upstart Indi Hartwell. Hartwell wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass her by either, so this was an important match for both women. This one didn’t go to long, but both women looked good, with Hartwell taking control for large portions and Tegan looking like a great babyface in peril. Nox eventually took the win after hitting the Shiniest Wizard for the pinfall.
Jake Atlas v Tony Nese
This was a must win match for Jake Atlas, as any other result would leave him out of the running in the Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament. Nese, on the other hand, already knew he couldn’t go any further, so had a point to prove. Some back and forth action started us off here, with Nese being the power base of the match. Atlas had enough technical skill to stay in the game, frustrating Nese who looked like he was really trying to cause some harm to his opponent. Atlas managed to hit the Rainbow DDT from the top rope to pick up the win and keep himself pushing on towards the title. Atlas looked good again here, with a strong technical game followed by a flashy, cool finisher which makes him an interesting prospect in the Cruiserweight division.
Dinner with the Garganos
Johnny Gargano and Candice Le Rae invited the WWE Universe to dinner with them once again, with a similar set up to what we saw after the One Last Beat match between Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. In the previous segment, the Garganos stated that they would rebuild NXT in their image and would become the first married couple to hold the NXT men’s and women’s world championships simultaneously. This time round, they were taking a more targeted approach, singling out individuals from their respective divisions. Johnny spoke about his recent win over Dominik Dijakovic and how Dijakovic had taken North American champion Keith Lee to his limit, meaning that Lee was nothing. The lesson Gargano said that he had taught was that getting involved in his business “there will be consequences” and that NXT superstars would find out it was the Gargano way or no way at all. Candice, for her part, focused her attention on Mia Yim after Mia got an opportunity to take on NXT Women’s champion Charlotte Flair, while Le Rae only had Kacy Catanzaro for competition. She claimed that Kacy was an example of “what we will do to undeserving NXT imbeciles”. Le Rae refuses to be so pathetic to pander to the WWE universe and that “they deserve nothing, just like Mia”. This heel version of these two characters is far more interesting than Gargano’s last turn to the dark side, so let’s hope this strong booking can be maintained for this character.
Finn Balor v Cameron Grimes
After last week’s confrontation, both men had a bone to pick with the other. We knew that Grimes was not Balor’s assailant, but that he “was beaten to it” by whoever had taken out the Prince. Finn obviously did not take kindly to this and the match was on after a physical altercation
last week. Grimes went for the Cave In early doors, as usual, but Balor was ready for it and managed to take control. Grimes managed to take the lead back from the Irishman, but Balor fought back, eventually taking things to the outside. Damian Priest hopped the barrier but was blasted by Balor, who then focused back on his opponent, hitting the Slingblade on the floor. He rolled Grimes back inside, climbing up on to the apron but – as the ref checked on Grimes – Priest hit Balor in the knee with the nightstick, leaving Balor open to a Cave In, giving Grimes the win. Priest then hit the ring with a chair, dropping the Prince and revealing that he, in fact, was the man that laid out Balor three weeks ago. Priest seems a slightly left field choice for Balor’s attacker, but his reasoning was sound – wanting to cement his legacy by taking out a prince – and it should be a good feud with good matches that could do a lot for both men.
Jack Gallagher v Isiah “Swerve” Scott
Jack Gallaher was another man with nothing left to play for in the Cruiserweight’s tournament, but an attack by fellow beaten man Tony Nese on his opponent gave the Englishman the upper hand early on. As soon as the bell rung, Gallagher hit a vicious kick in the corner and would have had an easy win if Swerve had not been able to get his foot on the rope. Swerve never really recovered in this one, and Gentleman Jack had control throughout, bar some hope spots and Gallagher came away with the win here. Gallagher is clearly going through a transformation from his stuffy “Gentleman” persona to something more akin to a street brawling hard-man and this was a good win for him. Swerve was also (rightly) protected by the pre-match attack, so both men will benefit from this – especially if Swerve uses this to light a fire under himself.
Kayden Carter v Aliyah
Another short and sweet match here in the Women’s division, with the impressive Carter going for a few takedowns early on. Aliyah held her own and both women showed some technical skill with takedowns and reversals, before resorting to trash talk and getting in each other’s faces. Robert Stone, who has recently been eyeing up Aliyah, came down to ringside to scout her further. This caught Aliyah’s attention, clearly keen to impress, but her desire to show off to her potential manager ultimately cost her. Carter took Aliyah down with a death lock style submission and took the win. The story of Aliyah potentially joining the Robert Stone Brand makes a lot of sense, with Chelsea Green being something of a throwback to the Diva’s Era in terms of visual presentation. Both of these women are above the in-ring standard of those days, but there is a place for a Diva’s style character or stable if it is used correctly, something like TNA’s Beautiful People Stable – who ironically had issues with Robert Stone’s former self, Robbie E.
Timothy Thatcher v Matt Riddle
A quick kayfabe aside here, what exactly was the plan for the main event segment of NXT before the implosion of The Newly-Bros in the opener? This is one ongoing frustration I have with booking patterns in WWE, but kayfabe is long dead, so I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with it. Anyway...
After the back and forth attacks throughout the night between these former tag partners, Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher met in the night’s main event. Again, the fire and aggression were evident early on, with both men hitting each other with their hardest shots and MMA style takedowns. Neither man could really gain the upper hand, with counters making this look a lot like a technical MMA style match. Thatcher took advantage of Riddle’s lack of boots by stomping on his bare foot, but Riddle fired back with strikes of his own. Thatcher put Riddle down and managed to lock in a straight-leg kneebar, but the Original Bro managed to push through the pain, both figuratively and literally, to roll Thatcher onto his shoulders and down for the pin. Thatcher was aggressively disappointed, thumping the mat and yelling, before jumping Riddle from behind yet again and locking in a brutal looking armbar as the show went off the air. Riddle and Thatcher’s split looks set to provide some awesome match ups, with a lot of hard hitting between them. Pete Dunne’s eventual return means that The Broserweights can still have some time together without having to keep the tag titles on a makeshift team and Dunne will surely have his own issues with Thatcher, seeing as he was handpicked by Dunne to be his replacement in the team and has cost them the titles and attacked his stallion buddy.
What did you think of NXT this week? What was your favourite match? Who do you think will (or should) win the Interim Cruiserweight title? Who will step up to challenge Imperium for their newly won belts? Let me know what you think on these points and anything else you’d got to say down below.
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