By Mark Rodriguez
So my new work schedule came in and it looks like I'll be missing RAW and Smackdown like I used to before. Luckily I can always watch NXT on the WWE Network whenever, so I will try to keep up with them and see what's going on. Let's see what happened today.
First Match- Matt Riddle VS Punishment Martinez
Both men would start with an intense grapple until Martinez would shove Riddle off him. Martinez would get out of Riddle's Sleeper Hold attempts and the King of Bros would unleash a series of kicks on him. When Matt tried to follow up, Martinez would send him down with a Cyclone Kick and try to go for the pin. Riddle would hit him with a chop and Martinez would swat him back down with a Clothesline. Punishment Martinez would withstand Riddle's series of strikes until a Roundhouse Kick to the side of the head knocked him down. Riddle would lock him in the Bro-mission Hold and win by tap out.
As Riddle left the ring he is suddenly blind-sided by Kassius Ohno, with a spinning elbow that sent him to the floor. Kassius walks off with a satisfied smirk as Matt Riddle is down and out.
Wow, I heard that Ring of Honor's Punishment Martinez was coming over to NXT and this was his debut match against the still relatively new (to WWE anyway) Matt Riddle. Riddle is incredibly talented as he has cool submission moves and martial arts moves. Martinez shows off his power, especially when he takes a lot of hits from Riddle and just smacks him down with one of his own. I feel Riddle is too much of a favorite to be losing matches so soon after his debut, I'll wait to see when Martinez will return.
NXT announces that next week Ricochet (the current NXT North American Champion) will be defending his title. Also there is a Fatal Four Way Match for # 1 Female Top Contender at NXT Takeover Phoenix. So far Bianca Belair is the first one in the match after she defeated Deonna Purazzo.
Second Match- Humberto Carrillo & Raul Mendoza VS The Forgotten Sons
Mendoza and Carrillo would showcase their athleticism on Cutler and Blake. Mendoza would run and jump off of Carrillo to attack Blake, but Blake would catch him and slam him on top of his tag partner. This would let the Forgotten Sons pull Mendoza into their corner where they would stomp and kick him down. Cutler would bounce Mendoza off the ropes and slam his back into his knee and go for a submission hold. Mendoza would pick up Cutler and slam him to break the hold and both men would tag their partners in.
Carrillo would take down the Forgotten Sons and hit Blake with a standing Moonsault. His pinfall attempt would be broken up by Cutler but Mendoza would come in to toss him out of the ring. Mendoza would go for the suicide dive but Cutler would actually swat him out of the air. Cutler would grab onto Carrillo while Blake would get onto the turnpost and jump off, hitting him with The Stomp. They pin Carillo and score the win.
Pretty good much. I do enjoy the energy and athleticism that Carrillo and Mendoza bring to a match. The Forgotten Sons though are just out to hurt people. While I've seen people catch someone attempting some sort of jumping move in mid-air... I have never seen anyone swat or push aside someone while doing a suicide dive. I mean, other than the person missing their mark, that's usually a done deal that it will send the opponent down. Also having one person hold the opponent while their buddy does a Stomp from off the ropes is a hell of a finisher. Good match.
Third Match- Dakota Kai VS Shayna Baszler- non title bout
Dakota would use her speed to land some hits on Shayna and make her roll out of the ring. Dakota would try to hit Shayna with a running knee, but she would catch her and shove her into the ring post, making her fall in a heap out of the ring. Shayna would get Kai in an armlock, teasing that she will break it like she's already done once before. She would try to stomp on Kai's hand but she would get out of the and try for a roll up pin. The Queen of Spades would grab her into another arm hold and injure her left arm.
With Kai down and in pain, Shayna would kick her and taunt her. Kai would fight back and deliver several kicks to the face and also hit her the NXT Women's Champ with two Running Boots to the face. She would miss the third attempt would now give Baszler the chance to hit her with her own Running Knees to the face. Dakota Kai would kick out of the pinfall and hit Shayna with a jumpkick to the face. She's hit him with a flying stomp off the turnbuckle but couldn't get the pin. Both women would fight on the ropes but Shayna would leap off with a Gutwrench Suplex, taking them both out for a brief moment. Dakota would try to kick the hell out Shayna, but the Queen of Spades would grab her in a submission move. Dakota Kai would pass out as she tapped out, which allowed Shayna Baszler to score the win.
Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir would start attacking Dakota Kai until suddenly Io Shira appears to even the odds. The Genius of the Skies would take down Shayna's buddies and then send the Champ to the mat with an uppercut. Jessamyn and Marina would yank Baszler out of harm's way before Dakota would hit her with a running kick. Shirai and Dakota watch as the Horsewomen retreat.
Pretty good match. Baszler has been picking on Dakota for a while, so it was good to see Dakota turn her fear into rage and really bring the fight to her. I'm not sure why this had to be a 'non-title match'. I mean Baszler won in the end anyway so what's the difference. It seems Baszler now has the rest of the Horsewomen (minus Rousey) by her side. I'm glad to see they stayed out of this match, but I wonder when they'll step into the ring. Good match and maybe once Shayna is 100% done with Kairi, Dakota can get her revenge and win the title.
Tomasso Ciampa segment-
Ciampa, the current NXT Champ, just having defeated Velveteen Dream at the previous Takeover insults the fans for not believing in him despite his victories. Alistair Black shows up and declares his right to challenge Ciampa for the title.
Johnny Gargano rushes in and says he's not finished yet with Alistair after their previous Takeover match. As Black and Gargano get in each other's faces, Ciampa tells them they should finish their feud at Takeover Phoenix but in a steel cage. Both men agree to the idea and Johnny rubs the fact that he jumped Black in the parking lot and put him out of action for three months in his face. Johnny ducks out of the way of Alistair's Black Mass and gets out of the ring, taunting him. Black takes his anger out on Tommaso Ciampa and hits him with Black Mass and tells Johnny to expect the same.
My Overall Opinions-
Pretty good episode and it shows I missed out on some things, namely Deonna Purazzo and Io Shirai being in NXT already. I was glad I was able to catch Punishment Martinez' debt match on NXT.
There were pretty good matches. Riddle and Martinez put on a good show. The tag match was fun and I love seeing Carrillo and Mendoza do all their flips. I loved seeing Dakota actually take the fight to Baszler rather than it being a squash. I'd love to see a match between Kairi, Dakota and Shirai facing off against Baszler, Jessamyn and Marina.
I was just confused as to why they did this match since they still have 3 matches to go to decide who will be in that fatal 4-way match, and Takeover is said to be 3 weeks away, and this Baszler VS Kai match didn't count towards that.
The steel cage match sounds awesome, though I'm surprised Johnny didn't throw Ciampa into the mix. Though I guess we've seen those two wrestle more than enough times already.
Oh well, good episode all around. Next week EC3 faces off against Bobby Fish and we also find out who Ricochet will defend his title against.
So my new work schedule came in and it looks like I'll be missing RAW and Smackdown like I used to before. Luckily I can always watch NXT on the WWE Network whenever, so I will try to keep up with them and see what's going on. Let's see what happened today.
First Match- Matt Riddle VS Punishment Martinez
Both men would start with an intense grapple until Martinez would shove Riddle off him. Martinez would get out of Riddle's Sleeper Hold attempts and the King of Bros would unleash a series of kicks on him. When Matt tried to follow up, Martinez would send him down with a Cyclone Kick and try to go for the pin. Riddle would hit him with a chop and Martinez would swat him back down with a Clothesline. Punishment Martinez would withstand Riddle's series of strikes until a Roundhouse Kick to the side of the head knocked him down. Riddle would lock him in the Bro-mission Hold and win by tap out.
As Riddle left the ring he is suddenly blind-sided by Kassius Ohno, with a spinning elbow that sent him to the floor. Kassius walks off with a satisfied smirk as Matt Riddle is down and out.
Wow, I heard that Ring of Honor's Punishment Martinez was coming over to NXT and this was his debut match against the still relatively new (to WWE anyway) Matt Riddle. Riddle is incredibly talented as he has cool submission moves and martial arts moves. Martinez shows off his power, especially when he takes a lot of hits from Riddle and just smacks him down with one of his own. I feel Riddle is too much of a favorite to be losing matches so soon after his debut, I'll wait to see when Martinez will return.
NXT announces that next week Ricochet (the current NXT North American Champion) will be defending his title. Also there is a Fatal Four Way Match for # 1 Female Top Contender at NXT Takeover Phoenix. So far Bianca Belair is the first one in the match after she defeated Deonna Purazzo.
Second Match- Humberto Carrillo & Raul Mendoza VS The Forgotten Sons
Mendoza and Carrillo would showcase their athleticism on Cutler and Blake. Mendoza would run and jump off of Carrillo to attack Blake, but Blake would catch him and slam him on top of his tag partner. This would let the Forgotten Sons pull Mendoza into their corner where they would stomp and kick him down. Cutler would bounce Mendoza off the ropes and slam his back into his knee and go for a submission hold. Mendoza would pick up Cutler and slam him to break the hold and both men would tag their partners in.
Carrillo would take down the Forgotten Sons and hit Blake with a standing Moonsault. His pinfall attempt would be broken up by Cutler but Mendoza would come in to toss him out of the ring. Mendoza would go for the suicide dive but Cutler would actually swat him out of the air. Cutler would grab onto Carrillo while Blake would get onto the turnpost and jump off, hitting him with The Stomp. They pin Carillo and score the win.
Pretty good much. I do enjoy the energy and athleticism that Carrillo and Mendoza bring to a match. The Forgotten Sons though are just out to hurt people. While I've seen people catch someone attempting some sort of jumping move in mid-air... I have never seen anyone swat or push aside someone while doing a suicide dive. I mean, other than the person missing their mark, that's usually a done deal that it will send the opponent down. Also having one person hold the opponent while their buddy does a Stomp from off the ropes is a hell of a finisher. Good match.
Third Match- Dakota Kai VS Shayna Baszler- non title bout
Dakota would use her speed to land some hits on Shayna and make her roll out of the ring. Dakota would try to hit Shayna with a running knee, but she would catch her and shove her into the ring post, making her fall in a heap out of the ring. Shayna would get Kai in an armlock, teasing that she will break it like she's already done once before. She would try to stomp on Kai's hand but she would get out of the and try for a roll up pin. The Queen of Spades would grab her into another arm hold and injure her left arm.
With Kai down and in pain, Shayna would kick her and taunt her. Kai would fight back and deliver several kicks to the face and also hit her the NXT Women's Champ with two Running Boots to the face. She would miss the third attempt would now give Baszler the chance to hit her with her own Running Knees to the face. Dakota Kai would kick out of the pinfall and hit Shayna with a jumpkick to the face. She's hit him with a flying stomp off the turnbuckle but couldn't get the pin. Both women would fight on the ropes but Shayna would leap off with a Gutwrench Suplex, taking them both out for a brief moment. Dakota would try to kick the hell out Shayna, but the Queen of Spades would grab her in a submission move. Dakota Kai would pass out as she tapped out, which allowed Shayna Baszler to score the win.
Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir would start attacking Dakota Kai until suddenly Io Shira appears to even the odds. The Genius of the Skies would take down Shayna's buddies and then send the Champ to the mat with an uppercut. Jessamyn and Marina would yank Baszler out of harm's way before Dakota would hit her with a running kick. Shirai and Dakota watch as the Horsewomen retreat.
 |
| Holy crap, I didn't know Io Shirai was in NXT already! |
Pretty good match. Baszler has been picking on Dakota for a while, so it was good to see Dakota turn her fear into rage and really bring the fight to her. I'm not sure why this had to be a 'non-title match'. I mean Baszler won in the end anyway so what's the difference. It seems Baszler now has the rest of the Horsewomen (minus Rousey) by her side. I'm glad to see they stayed out of this match, but I wonder when they'll step into the ring. Good match and maybe once Shayna is 100% done with Kairi, Dakota can get her revenge and win the title.
Tomasso Ciampa segment-
Ciampa, the current NXT Champ, just having defeated Velveteen Dream at the previous Takeover insults the fans for not believing in him despite his victories. Alistair Black shows up and declares his right to challenge Ciampa for the title.
Johnny Gargano rushes in and says he's not finished yet with Alistair after their previous Takeover match. As Black and Gargano get in each other's faces, Ciampa tells them they should finish their feud at Takeover Phoenix but in a steel cage. Both men agree to the idea and Johnny rubs the fact that he jumped Black in the parking lot and put him out of action for three months in his face. Johnny ducks out of the way of Alistair's Black Mass and gets out of the ring, taunting him. Black takes his anger out on Tommaso Ciampa and hits him with Black Mass and tells Johnny to expect the same.
My Overall Opinions-
Pretty good episode and it shows I missed out on some things, namely Deonna Purazzo and Io Shirai being in NXT already. I was glad I was able to catch Punishment Martinez' debt match on NXT.
There were pretty good matches. Riddle and Martinez put on a good show. The tag match was fun and I love seeing Carrillo and Mendoza do all their flips. I loved seeing Dakota actually take the fight to Baszler rather than it being a squash. I'd love to see a match between Kairi, Dakota and Shirai facing off against Baszler, Jessamyn and Marina.
I was just confused as to why they did this match since they still have 3 matches to go to decide who will be in that fatal 4-way match, and Takeover is said to be 3 weeks away, and this Baszler VS Kai match didn't count towards that.
The steel cage match sounds awesome, though I'm surprised Johnny didn't throw Ciampa into the mix. Though I guess we've seen those two wrestle more than enough times already.
Oh well, good episode all around. Next week EC3 faces off against Bobby Fish and we also find out who Ricochet will defend his title against.
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave your thoughts on this article!