This Week In NXT 3rd Edition: News and Recap
Welcome to the 3rd edition of This Week in NXT. My weekly feature on the black and yellow brand coming out of Florida. I don’t have much NXT news this week. There was a set of tapings recently at Full Sail University for the next few weeks of NXT shows. I won’t give any spoilers away. We’ll have to see how things play out in the coming weeks. Let’s get into the recap.
I was pleasantly surprised to see this week’s show come from Bel Air, Maryland. I know that NXT had a show there last month but I had no idea they were taping matches for the weekly show. NXT has done this in the past after a Takeover event but I wasn’t expecting that from the Bel Air show. I wish they had done that last year when I went to an NXT show in DC. That would have been cool.
The first match of the night was a tag team match between Io Shirai and Candice LeRae vs Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. Candice and Shirai carried this match. Duke and Shafir tried but both are still very green and need a lot of work. It was cool seeing Shirai do a stomp on Jessamyn’s arm just like Shayna does to her opponents. Shayna’s reaction on the ramp as she watched was priceless. The match gets thrown out after interference by Shayna. All five woman ended up brawling up the ramp and into the crowd. That really saved the match. I got a feeling one other person will join Candice and Shirai. I don’t know who but this feud with these ladies is far from over.
They showed highlights from the Velveteen Dream vs Tyler Breeze match from Takeover 25. After that, Velveteen is shown shooting a video talking about it's beautiful, solid, and can go forever. He wasn’t talking about the title. Dream asks if fans are ready for the next Dream experience. He ends by saying dream on. I don’t know what’s next for Velveteen but I can’t wait. He’s really come into his own in recent years.
They showed a vignette for the debut of Damian Priest aka Punishment Martínez. We’ve seen him briefly in NXT under that name but it seems like he’s going in a new direction. Plus WWE likes to own it’s content when it comes to names and trademarks so it makes sense for the change. I know he worked in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. I didn’t see his work there. The times I did see him on NXT I was impressed. I looked forward to seeing what he does with this new gimmick.
The next match of the night was a submission match between Kushida and Drew Gulak. This was another great match with these two. The last match they had was very good. They both went move for move, counter for counter and strike for strike. I love it. If you love technical wrestling than these guys gave it to you. Kushida wins again. That’s two victories over Gulak for Kushida. They shake hands after the match which was good to see. I would love to see more from these guys. Both match’s they had are a match of the year candidates in my book.
Up next we get a video of two of my favorites in NXT Vanessa Borne and Aliyah taking shots at Mia Yim. They don’t feel she is worthy of contending for the NXT Woman’s Title. Borne pulled out some gift for Yim. An English book, fashion bible, and grammar for dummies. These two ladies did not hold back. I look forward to seeing Mia Yim’s response. The HBIC (Head Baddie In Charge) does not play.
In was announced that in two weeks Shayna Baszler will take on Io Shirai in a steel cage match. The NXT Woman’s Title will be on the line. This should be a very good match. I’d personally save it for a Takeover show but it gives some buzz to the weekly show and I’m ok with that. They show also Mansoor winning the battle royal at last week’s Superstar Showdown. That was a great moment for him. He’s really impressed me in the matches I’ve seen him in. I hope that win leads to a big push for him. We shall see.
The new NXT Champion Adam Cole (Bay Bay) will be in the house this week when NXT returns to Full Sail. I’m sure he’ll get a huge pop. I’m curious to see who his first opponent will be. Johnny Gargano is due to a rematch. I say they do a title match on TV and have a new opponent for the next Takeover. That’s how I’d handle the situation.
Our main event this week is a tag match between Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan vs The Undisputed Era’s Roderick Strong and Kyle O’ Reilly. This was a good match. These teams work well together. There’s something about Strong and O’ Reilly teaming compared to when O’ Reilly teams with Bobby Fish. It’s hard to place but the vibe is totally different. In a good way.
We get interference from the Forgotten Sons Jaxson Ryker. He takes out some security on his way to the ring. The distraction was enough for Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan to pick up the huge win. That’s an upset in my book. This will obviously lead to a feud with The Forgotten Sons and The Undisputed Era. I can see Lorcan and Burch go after the Street Profits tag team titles.
That’s it for this week’s NXT. It was a solid show with 3 matches that was the main focus of the night. Like I mentioned earlier, it was nice seeing NXT film some matches for the weekly so in the DMV area (That’s DC, Maryland, Virginia for those who don’t know). NXT referee Jessika Carr got to ref two out of the three matches on the show. That had to be cool for her getting a chance to officiate matches in her hometown state.
If you wanna hear me talk more about the NXT brand, check out the We Talk NXT podcast. It can be found one Podbean and Spotify. My friend Keda and I break down the weekly show plus give news as well. It’s a fun show. I’ll be back later this week with another recap and hopefully some more NXT news. I’ll also be doing Stomping Ground predictions with some of the MSB team. Until then, take care and always remember to Shock The System! (Boom)
