This Week In NXT 4th Edition: News and Recap
Welcome to the 4th Edition of This Week In NXT. This is the place where I discuss each week what’s going on in the world of the NXT. This is my favorite brand to talk about. If you're not watching, you are really missing out. I got a little news before I get into the recap. Let’s get started.
NXT Champion Adam Cole (Bay Bay) recently had an interesting quote he gave to talkSport.com regarding being called up to the main roster.
“It’s tough to word it. I believe and I know a lot of the guys there in NXT do to, we absolutely love it. We’re not thinking ‘gosh, I can’t wait to get to the main roster’. We’re enjoying what we are doing, the stories we are telling. But, of course, a lot of us eventually as well want to take the step to Raw or SmackDown, but the big thing is I don’t look at it as you’re moving up or you’re upgrading, it’s just another brand you’re going to. That’s how strongly me, Johnny [Gargano], Ciampa and everyone else feels about NXT.
“A lot of our guys, and don’t get me wrong, you could put them on any brand and they’d be successful, but NXT fans are definitely — they’re starting to morph and become one — but they are a little different than the Raw and SmackDown fans. Some characters or guys may work better on other brands.”
I found this very interesting. Obviously, like any wrestler in WWE, your goal is to get to the main roster. You wanna be featured on Raw and Smackdown on a weekly basis and eventually have your Wrestlemania moment. The way things are going now with NXT becoming more than just developmental as well as how recent call ups have been used I can’t blame him for feeling like this. I’m honestly scared to see guys get the call up now. Look at how EC3 is being used. Tyler Breeze (who ended up going back to NXT), Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, Apollo Crews, and the list goes on.
Now you have had some success stories. Elias has done way better than I ever expected on the main roster. He definitely switched up his character a bit. Alexa Bliss has done well. Charlotte Flair is another success story. We all know why that is tho. At the end of the day, I hope the talent is treated better when they debut on the main roster. In the meantime, the best thing I say is for them to stay in NXT with Triple H calling the shots.
Tommaso Ciampa is continuing his road to recovery. He posted another video on his Twitter page. Ciampa is now 15 week’s post op and the workouts seem to be increasing. He’s lifting heavier dumbbells and looks to be in fantastic shape. This is amazing news. I posted the tweet below so you can all see it. I wish him all the best. Now let’s get into this week’s recap.
NXT returns to Full Sail this week. The show kicks off with a great opening segment with some of the biggest names on the roster. Up first was the Undisputed Era. They are all wearing their new yellow shirt. I’m a have to get me one of those. Adam Cole talks about how he told the NXT universe that his guys would all be wearing gold in 2019. He had a message for all the champions. They better shine their belts up real nice so they look good for Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’ Reilly. No one, not even Triple H and William Regal can touch them right now Cole says to the crowd.
Out comes the North American champion Velveteen Dream. No one can touch you he says. I can. He tells Cole he looks good with the gold but he looks better with it. He would love to hold both the NXT and North American title. Then out comes Matt Riddle. He says that he has beaten both Roderick Strong and Adam Cole. Riddle also mentions that he is insanely good looking and is a stallion.
All of a sudden Tyler Breeze comes out. He thinks it’s funny that the Undisputed Era is taking credit for the change in NXT when Tyler was one of the ones there before all of those guys paving the way. He talked to Regal and he announced the main event for the evening. Tyler Breeze, Velveteen Dream, and Matt Riddle vs any three members of the Undisputed Era. I really enjoyed this segment. It showcased some of your top stars on the brand. It was well executed.
Next up we got a video package highlighting the feud between Io Shirai and Shayna Baszler. They will meet for the title in a steel cage on next weeks show. That will be a good match. The ongoing feud with these ladies has been a good one. Shirai will eventually win the title. Will it be next week? We shall see.
Our first match of the night was between Raul Mendoza vs Damian Priest. I liked Priest’s entrance. The flaming letters on the titantron was a cool effect. As far as the match goes, Priest was dominating early on with a series of strikes. Mendoza got some offense in as the match went on. He did a nice walk across the top rope followed up with a kick to Priest. They landed on the outside. Priest slams him on the ring apron. They get back in the ring. Priest picks up the win with a roundhouse kick followed up by a twisting cutter. The match was pretty good. I look forward to seeing what they do next with Priest. He has the potential for sure.
This was a pleasant surprise. William Regal announced that there would be an NXT Breakout Tournament starting next week. Some of the talent who hasn’t appeared on TV will have an opportunity to compete for a title match of their choosing if they win. The participants are as follows:
Jordan Myles (Formally known as ACH)
BOA
Cameron Grimes (Formally known as Trever Lee)
Isiah “Swerve” Scott (Formally known as Shane Stickland)
Dexter Lumis (Formally known as Sam Saw)
Bronson Reed (Formally known as Jonah Rock)
Angel Garza (Formally know as Humberto Garza)
Joaquin Wilde (Formally known as DJZ)
I’m really looking forward to this. I know a few of these guys from Impact Wrestling. This is a golden opportunity for these guys to shine and show what they got. They should do one for the woman too. I’m sure that could be in the works.
We got another video package talking about Mia Yim. It gave a little background on her. From her time in the indies, growing up in LA, being in the Mae Young Classic, to finally signing with NXT. It was very well done. WWE always does well with their productions for these kinds of things. Mia will definitely be in the NXT woman’s title picture moving forward.
The ladies were in action up next. Taynara Conti vs Xia Li. We have seen these two on TV before. The last time was when they teamed up to take on Vanessa Borne and Aliyah. This match didn’t do much for me. The chemistry was off with these two. They tried but it wasn’t enough for my liking. Xia Li picked up the win. Both ladies could use some more work at the performance center. I wish them well.
The Street Profits showed up for a very special edition of Street Talk. Angelo Dawkins said the next week they will take on The Forgotten Sons in a non title match. The showed the guys celebrating with the NXT universe. It looked like they were outside of Full Sail University. I’m happy for these guys. I hope they get a long run with the belts.
Above is the bracket for the NXT Breakout Tournament. The first match announced will be Angel Garza vs Joaquin Wilde. I’ve seen Wilde before as DJZ but I’m not familiar with Garza. I’m not sure if that’s the only match we get next week, but the tournament will kick off next week. Good luck to all who are involved.
Our main event of the night is The Undisputed Era (Cole, Fish, Strong) vs Matt Riddle, Tyler Breeze, and The Velveteen Dream. This was a good match. Matt Riddle continues to impress me with his offense. The Undisputed Era always works well together like a well-oiled machine. You could definitely see some ego getting in the way on Breeze’s team with some of the tags. It ultimately cost them. Roderick Strong gets the win by pinning the North American champion. That should put him in the title picture against the Dream. They should do a triple threat match. Tyler vs Strong vs Riddle. The winner gets a North American title match. I can see that happening.
That’s it for this week. The latest episode of the We Talk Next podcast is out. I’ll post the link below so you all can check it out. Check out the show on Podbean and Spotify. Until next time, take care and continue to support the black and yellow brand.
WE TALK NEXT EP 13 6/9/19|, let’s play it!
https://www.podbean.com/ei/pb-b447a-b53a7e
Twitter: @MoneyMakerChris @WTNetwork1
Instagram: @DCsportsfan86
