Just a night before the Royal Rumble, NXT brings the show to Philadelphia and proves yet again that they can entertain in the same way that the main roster talent can.
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) vs. The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly)
Winners: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly
AOP dominates the beginning of the match, tossing around two thirds of the Undisputed Era as they do with most of their opponents. Throughout the match, however, Fish and O’Reilly begin to take turns tagging in and out as they attack Akam’s knee and legs. Rezar and Akam get back in the game, and the teams go back and forth for a few more minutes.
AOP hits the Super Collider and they slam Fish and O’Reilly together, but O’Reilly counters and sends Rezar out of the ring, getting the roll-up pin on Akam. The Undisputed Era reigns supreme, and could very well take over NXT.
Both teams really showed what fantastic tag team wrestling looks like. I wouldn’t be surprised if Akam and Rezar made their main roster debut come Monday or Tuesday. They’re a dominant team who doesn’t need to talk (Paul Ellering could do that for them) but could still be intimidating if they had to speak—they proved this on NXT last week.
Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream
Winner: Velveteen Dream
On the pre-show Velveteen Dream vowed that he would knock out Ohno (known as the knock-out artist) in under 30 seconds. He comes out to the ring and receives a purple mouthpiece from a woman in purple and shirtless man holding a fuzzy white pillow This match was just thrown together without any build to it, but I am sold on this alone.
The match begins, and the fans start counting. Dream actually knocks Ohno out with a punch within 30 seconds, but spends too long celebrating and veteran Ohno comes back and beats him up.
With plenty of showboating, Velveteen Dream gets a rise out of the crowd, and this is no surprise. Dream is insanely entertaining, winning or losing. He hits not one but two Death Valley Drivers and one Purple Rainmaker, getting him the victory.
NXT Women’s Championship Match
Shayna Baszler vs. Ember Moon
Winner: Ember Moon
In her hyped NXT debut, Baszler didn’t disppoint, but didn’t seem to be super impressive either. She is the bully the entire match, emphasizing her brutal character. Whether she’s fantastic as a wrestler or not, she makes it clear that she isn’t someone you want to mess with. Moon helps her out a lot, really selling the hard kicks, hits, and holds.
Ember Moon goes for her signature move off the top rope and seemingly hurts her arm when she hits Baszler. She avoids the medics who come out to the ring and is captured in the Kirifuda Clutch, straining that injury even more. Ember Moon gets her leg on the rope, so the Queen of Spades brings her to the center of the ring. After moments of being captured in the devastating maneuver, she flips it into a roll-up pin, retaining her title.
As Ember Moon exits, Shayna Baszler attacks her from being with the Kirifuda Clutch, hurting her arm even more. The fans seem to not like or respect her very much.
Extreme Rules Match
Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole
Winner: Aleister Black
The mere charisma of these two garnered its own “this is awesome” and “EC-dub” chants before the match even starts. They don’t take their time to get to the chairs and kendo sticks, and Cole smacks Black with the stick as he goes for a springboard moonsault off the ropes. Cole talks lots of smack as he uses the kendo stick over and over to his advantage.
After some more back and forth, Cole tosses Black a steel chair as black stands on the second ropes. Cole super kicks the chair and sends the Dutch Destroyer through two tables. The ring is cluttered with various weapons, and when Black is laid out in the ring, Adam Cole sets up two chairs back to back. Black picks up Cole and sends his back through them.
When Aleister Black is about to get the pin, Cole’s buddies from the Undisputed Era save the match. Before Fish and O’Reilly send Black through the announce table, sAnity attacks the team and lays them out by the entrance ramp. Cole takes advantage and tries to put Black through the table, but Black delivers a counter and send Cole through the table with a double knee to the chest. To finish him off, Black delivers a Black Mass to Cole and secures the victory.
This match easily stole the show. We knew these two could put on great matches, but with their combined in-ring capabilities as well as the several weapons used throughout the match, they could’ve changed their careers forever. The instant classic wasn’t a surprise—these two won’t be the same after this match.
NXT Championship Match
Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Winner: Andrade “Cien” Almas
The bout begins at a fast pace, and as the two go back and forth, Almas works on Gargano’s back, but Gargano finds the resilience to fight back. It’s easy to tell how much this match means to both Almas and Gargano, and even Almas’s businesss partner, Zelina Vega. Vega’s sells constant distress when Johnny Wrestling capitalizes.
The crowd chants for NXT, applauding the endurance of these two men. The fans love the quickness and agility in this match, and I don’t blame them. Gargano locks in the Gargano escape, but Vega pulls Almas out, causing a distraction. Vega gives Johnny Wrestling a hurricanrana into the stairs and sends him back into the ring, allowing Almas to deliver a hammerlock DDT. Somehow, Gargano kicks out.
Zelina Vega goes for Gargano again when Gargano’s wife (and new Performance Center signee) Candice LeRae hops over the barricade and attacks! LeRae takes Vega out of the arena, and the playing field is leveled. Almas delivers a DDT on the top rope, getting the pin afterward.
As Candice helps her husband out of the arena, he looks out to the fans one more time. Tommaso Ciampa slams his back with a crutch and stares down at his former partner. He slowly walks away as he ends the show by attacking Gargano for a second time.
Just as fans thought that Gargano may make it to the main roster with Candice, it looks like he may be sticking around. If NXT does this right (which I fully believe they could), Gargano vs. Ciampa could be the next Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. This was a fantastic way to round out NXT’s first pay per view of the year.
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