Original Airdate: January 26, 2019
From
Opening NXT Tag Team Title Match: Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong v War Raiders: The champs
Kassius Ohno v Matt Riddle: Matt sends him to the outside early with a series of strikes, and he chases after him with a dive off the steps out there. Back in, Riddle basically scares him into a senton splash, and he hits an impressive deadlift gutwrench suplex. Wow! Whip into the ropes sends Ohno over the top onto the apron, so Matt tries a sunsetbomb, but Ohno covers his face over with the apron to disorient him. That allows Ohno to take him back inside with a legdrop for two, and he grabs a cravat, before hip attacking Riddle for two. He talks trash, firing Matt up, but Riddle ends up trapped in the corner before he can get much off. Corner big boot knocks Matt to the outside, where Ohno follows to send him into the post, then the steps. Instead of dying, that just fires Riddle up again, and he growls at Ohno on the way back in. Ohno tries to stay calm and suplex him, but Matt counters with a sleeper. German suplex, but Ohno stomps on his hand to block, but Riddle gets him with it on the second try, for two. Riddle starts firing off a series of kicks from there, so Ohno bites at the bare feet, and drills him with a knee. Sitout powerbomb gets two, and a flying moonsault is worth two. Discus forearm, but Riddle dodges, so Ohno hits him with a senton splash again. Another one, but Matt catches him in a sleeper on the landing, and Ohno scrambles into the ropes to save himself. That would have actually made a cool finish. Ohno begs off from there, but Riddle shows him no mercy, and drives a knee ahead of a sleeper suplex. That allows him to trap Ohno on the mat, and it's pounding time until Ohno just taps the fuck out at 9:18. Fun stuff here, and a good chance for the crowd to breathe after the non-stop opener. ** ¼
NXT North American Title Match: Ricochet v Johnny Gargano: Feeling out process to start, with really smooth execution throughout, though not to the point of blatant phoniness. We get one great reversal sequence after another, and one great criss cross after another, to the point where I couldn't even begin to do play-by-play on them unless I paused every three seconds. After a heated sequence, Ricochet offers a handshake out of respect, but of course Johnny takes a cheap shot, so Ricochet knocks him to the outside with a dropkick. The champ dives after him with a springboard moonsault press, but an attempt at a rana off the top on the way back in is brutally countered when Gargano drops him with a hotshot into the top turnbuckle. Nasty, damn! Johnny with a snapmare to set up a seated dropkick for two, and he ties the champ up in a neat looking headvice/armbar combo hold. Ricochet escapes, but Gargano blocks a standing moonsault in dramatic fashion, and he drills him with a modified neckbreaker for two. I'm loving the interesting modifications they're making to standard spots here. Gargano ties him up in a crucifix hold, but Ricochet fights free, so Johnny starts stomping him. Sunset flip, but Ricochet counters to a suplex, only for Johnny to block. Reversal sequence sees Gargano end up on the apron, but Ricochet dodges the slingshot spear, and he hits that standing moonsault this time. That leads to Ricochet-won slugfest, and he starts unloading in the corner, setting up a tiger feint kick. The champ adds a flying uppercut, and uses a northern lights suplex to floatover into a brainbuster for two! The sheer physics of some of these moves is mind boggling! Ricochet goes for another suplex, but Gargano blocks, and he backdrops Ricochet over the top on a charge. He lands on the apron, but Johnny dodges a dive, so Ricochet tries a running rana - only for Gargano to counter with a sitout powerbomb for two! Into the crippler crossface from there, but Ricochet won't tap, so Johnny tries to turn it into a magistral cradle, but Ricochet reverses for two. Reversal sequence sees Johnny try the slingshot DDT, but Ricochet stops him short on the landing, and dumps him over the top for a moonsault press suicida! Right back in for another reversal sequence that sees Ricochet hit a standing shooting star press into a 2nd rope moonsault for two, and he goes to the top to punctuate it, but Johnny grabs him on the way. They both end up on the top for another reversal sequence, with Gargano trying a rana off, but Ricochet landing on his feet! That earns a standing ovation, and rightly so! Gargano hops down and uses an enzuigiri, but it just triggers another reversal sequence, this one won by Ricochet with a pele kick. He tries a handspring from there, but Gargano catches him in the crippler crossface, so Ricochet powers to a vertical base, and suplexes Johnny into the turnbuckles to break! This is just insane! Ricochet goes up, so Johnny rolls across the ring to prevent the move, and he bails to the outside to further distance himself. He hides in the corner to avoid any dives, but that backfires when Ricochet dives OVER the buckles and post with an insane somersault senton! And he doesn't even take a BREATHER after that, rather rolling Johnny right back in to hit with a springboard 450 splash for two! Back to the top for a flying shooting star press, but Johnny lifts his knees to block, and hooks a cradle for two! Ricochet is battered, and Gargano capitalizes with the superkick, but it backfires when Ricochet falls out of the ring as a result of it! Johnny's annoyed, but stays on track with a tope - only for Ricochet to CATCH HIM ON HIS SHOULDERS! He goes for a move, but Gargano counters with a wild inverted rana on the floor, and holy shit, Ricochet's neck should be snapped like one of Razor Ramon's toothpicks right now! Johnny forces him right back in for a slingshot DDT, and we're done at... WHAT THE FUCK, HE KICKED OUT AT TWO! Maybe the craziest part about this is that both guys are barely even sweaty after twenty minutes of blistering pace. Frustrated, Gargano pulls up the mats on the outside to kill this dude, but the referee talks him out of using it, and Ricochet flashes off a cradle for two. He follows up with a discus clothesline, but another crazy dive misses, and Gargano is able to land the superkick again. Crossface, but Ricochet reverses on the way down, but he doesn't quite have it perfectly applied, and Johnny escapes. He hides on the apron, so Ricochet follows, only to get shoved - hard - into the post. They're right over the exposed concrete from earlier, and this time Johnny can't resist - pulling the champ off of the apron, and introducing him to the floor with a suplex! Slingshot DDT hits again on the way back in, and Ricochet is out of gas at 24:34! WOW! Like, WOW WOW WOW! What an insane battle this was! It was a spotfest, but the spots were all amazing and amazingly executed, plus they infused enough story and psychology into the mix to elevate it beyond what most spotfests are. And, perhaps the craziest part is that they barely even broke a sweat! Like, I could easily have seen then go another ten minutes at this pace. What incredible conditioning! This was so good that I actually penciled in my rating about half way through, and crossed my fingers that they don't fuck it up. And they didn't! We may have just seen the match of the year, and it's only January! *****
NXT Women's Title Match: Shayna Baszler v Bianca Belair: I'm still catching my breath after that last one. They size each other up to start, and Belair is really cocky for someone who hasn't really achieved anything yet. She manages to knock Baszler to the outside, but pays the price for having that super long braid when Baszler uses it to smack her into the post. Well, you knew that was bound to happen sooner or later, and it just happened to be 'sooner.' Belair beats the count in, so Baszler punishes her with mounted punches for two, and she starts going after the arm. Belair tries sticking and moving, but that earns her a series of strikes, and Baszler is just toying with her challenger now. She gets a little too prickish though, and a fired up Belair starts making a comeback. Spear gets two, but Bianca's arm is badly slowing her down between moves, and she hits knees on a splash attempt. Baszler capitalizes with a knee strike for two, so Belair tries to trigger a slugfest, but it's a total one-sided affair. Desperate, Belair uses her long braid to whip the champion in the gut, and holy shit, she legit cut her open with that! She's like that villain from The Adventures of Pete and Pete that terrorizes the neighborhood with paper cuts. She goes for a tiger facebuster, but Baszler sends her into the referee to block, and starts pulling at the braid. That backfires when Belair rack slams her, but the referee is still down, so no count. This may be the first time I've ever seen a female ref bump spot. So, with the official down, Baszler's MMA gal pals run in, but Belair fights them off. She goes back for Baszler, but gets caught in the Clutch as she does! It looks like it's all over, but Belair manages to muscle to a vertical base, and she chucks the champion with a suplex to escape. Bianca goes upstairs, but wipes out while trying a flying 450 splash, and it's back into the Clutch for her. That wouldn't have hit even if Shayna didn't move. She valiantly fights to get to a vertical base again, but Baszler has her teeth sunk in, and just keeps grinding until Bianca passes out at 15:14. I didn't really buy Belair as a challenger, and I think Baszler should have manhandled her a little easier, but it was decent. And if that's the likely weak spot for the night, we should still have one hell of a show when all is said and done. * ½
Main Event: NXT Title Match: Tommaso Ciampa v Aleister Black: They CHARGE into a collar-and-elbow tie-up at the bell, and end up spilling out of the ring in it. Back in, Ciampa tries to slap his challenger around, but Black doesn't appreciate that, and schools the champ on the mat. Series of kicks sends Ciampa to the outside, but the champ expects the head fake dive, and rushes in to try and attack, but Black dodges. Black taunts him about it, so Ciampa just straight up kicks him in the head, but Black bounces off the ropes to avoid getting tossed, and Ciampa gets dumped to the outside instead. Black dives with a somersault suicida, and he takes Tommaso in for a series of strikes, until Ciampa is begging off. Black keeps coming with a legsweep and a springboard moonsault press for two, so Ciampa bails, and stalls. He drags a frustrated Black out after him, but that backfires when Black whacks him with a kick anyway, so Ciampa tries to take the leg away by bashing it into the steps. That gets some traction, allowing Ciampa to suplex Black into the steps, leg-first. Back in, Ciampa goes to work on the leg, but an attempt to get disrespectful by spitting some water in Black's face backfires when Black drills him with a hard kick. That hurts the challenger as much as the champion though, and Ciampa is able to throw a dropkick at the knee before Black can capitalize. Ciampa keeps pounding the part, but a trip to the top ends badly when Black throws a desperation enzuigiri, and both guys take a bump to the outside. Back in, Ciampa goes after the leg to try and keep control, but Black is catching a second wind, and fights him off with kicks. Roundhouse kick gets him two, so Ciampa tries a small package for two, but Black blocks Project Ciampa. That leads to a reversal sequence that sees Black block the Project again, and another sequence sees Ciampa try a sunset cradle, but Black reverses for two. Pair of roundhouse kicks into a German suplex gets two, so he tries the Black Mass, but Ciampa counters to a half-crab. Black reverses, but his leg gives out pretty quickly, and Ciampa is able to bail to the apron. Black nails him with a spinning backelbow to send him to the floor, but an attempt to dive after him from the top rope is countered with a nasty cutter on the apron for two! Running kneesmash gets two, and Ciampa decides to try his own version of the Mass, but Black counters with a knee. Ciampa fires his own right back at him, leading to a slugfest, and into them trading big boots. Ciampa gets the better of it with a victory cradle for two, and a pinfall reversal sequence ends in Black throwing kicks, but Ciampa levels him with a lariat. Kneesmash, but Black catches the leg, and sweeps him. He adds a double stomp, but his leg prevents him from executing a brainbuster, and he uses a high knee instead. Another try at the brainbuster works, so Ciampa bails, but Black is right on him with a flying moonsault press. The bad leg slows him down on the way back in though, and Ciampa capitalizes with a pedigree for two. He goes to the outside to pull up the same mats that Gargano did earlier, and I'm loving the symmetry of evil there from the former tag partners. Ciampa goes for it, but gets into an argument with the referee, which allows Black to dive off the apron with a flying kneesmash onto the exposed concrete! Back in, Black manages the Mass, but he's too slow on the cover, and Ciampa is able to get onto his stomach to avoid one. Simple, but elegant, block there. Black with another Mass, so Ciampa tries throwing the referee in the way, and he's able to grab Black with a rope-hung DDT when the challenger stops short. Right into the Project from there, but it only gets two. That was a great, well executed sequence. Back to the pedigree, and he holds on for a second one, and that's enough to retain at 26:31. Good selling from Black, and psychologically sound, but much of it was pretty boring, if we're being honest. This probably would have been better if it shed about seven minutes. Afterwards, Gargano comes back out to meet Ciampa over at the entrance stage, where the two champions stand side by side, hoisting there belts up, in a silently chilling end to the show. *** ½
BUExperience: How much longer do you think before Vince pulls the plug on these because they’re so badly overshadowing the main roster shows?
****
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.