NXT Halftime Heat (February 2019)

 

Original Airdate: February 3, 2019

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph and Shawn Michaels

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole v Ricochet, Aleister Black, and Velveteen Dream: The ring looks absolutely MASSIVE in the tiny Performance Center, to the point where it's even a little off putting. But, it does kinda have that mid-90s RAW vibe, like from '94-'95 when they'd tape in school gyms, and such. Gargano and Ricochet start, and it doesn't take long to turn into an extended reversal sequence. Ricochet wins the first one with a headscissors takedown and a dropkick, but a charge in the corner triggers another reversal sequence, and Johnny gets the better of it this time. Tag to Cole, and he holds Ricochet in a wristlock, but naturally Ricochet has plenty of flips ready to escape. Tag to Black, leading to a reversal sequence, ending in Black throwing a kick combo for two. Suplex, so Cole rakes the eyes to block, and passes to Ciampa. Criss cross goes Black's way with a big boot, and it's over to Dream to throw a pair of shoulderblocks. Dream challenges Ciampa to a 3-point stance showdown, but Ciampa takes a cheap shot. Uh, duh. Dream fights him off anyway, and we get a sequence with all three babyfaces teasing (and then pulling back from) dives. Unfortunately for Dream, all that ends in Ciampa pulling him to the outside for a drop across the guardrail, and the heels take over on Dream as they head back inside. Cole tries a dive off the middle, but lands in a superkick to allow the hot tag to Ricochet. He flies around on all three heels, and hits a standing moonsault on Cole for two. Reversal sequence allows Adam to turn it around with an enzuigiri, and he tags Gargano, but Ricochet manages to avoid getting trapped in a submission, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Black hits Ciampa and Cole with a flying moonsault press on the outside, but then gets hit with a tope from Gargano, and everyone takes turns doing dives in the aisle. Black gets Johnny inside with a bridging German suplex for two, but an attempt at a tandem suplex with Dream is cut off by Ciampa. That leads to a cool sequence where everyone trades rapid fire signature moves, ending in Dream dropping Gargano with a roll of the dice for two. Dream tries a combo with Ricochet, but Gargano blocks, and sends Ricochet back flipping through the air with a clothesline. Gargano and Cole gang up on Ricochet, but he's just too fast for them, and he's springboarding all over the damn place. This all ends in a big slugfest from all six guys at center ring, until Cole and Ricochet are left alone, and Adam hits a Canadian destroyer for two. Ricochet is still alone, so all three heels hit simultaneous superkicks on him, and fuck, he's lucky his damn head didn't explode like a watermelon there. Only gets two when Black saves, however. Everyone trades superkicks from there, resulting in Cole left alone for all three babyfaces to take turns hitting with their finishers - Dream's flying elbowdrop capping it off at 16:16. Total spotfest, but just what it needed to be for this type of show. *** ¼

BUExperience: I can’t believe it took them twenty years, but I’m glad they brought the Halftime Heat concept back. Nothing essential here, but fun, and probably had fewer shirtless men than that official Halftime Show.