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NXT returned last night (April 24) with their continued fallout from TakeOver: New York. You can find the results at the live blog here.
Humberto Carrillo def. Jaxson Ryker by DQ
When it looks like the other members of the Forgotten Sons are going to attack Carrillo, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch make the save with some chairs.
This is the first time that Jaxson Ryker really looked dangerous. And Humberto Carrillo was the perfect man to help sell that. Carrillo is actually the same height as Ryker but he was tossed around by the larger man with ease.
If Ryker continues to find this type of aggression, he’ll do quite well as a dangerous heel despite (or maybe because) he’s not flashy in the ring.
I was very happy to see the BritAm brawlers make the save. With Oney Lorcan posed to be a centerpiece on 205 Live, it was possible his NXT days were done. But it’s easy enough to pull double duty since NXT tapes all at once.
And the Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan team is great. With the Viking Raiders soon leaving, it’d be wise to keep them around to help bolster the tag division.
Candice LeRae & Kacy Catanzaro def. Aliyah & Vanessa Borne
This was the more “developmental” match of the show, with three women who still need their time in NXT and one veteran (Candice) who is more established for the others to work with/learn from.
And it was a good showing from everyone!
I had my doubts about Aliyah given how long she’s toiled in developmental, but this new gimmick is working for her. Things seem to be coming together. The character feels very much like Carmella’s early going in NXT, but no character is specifically unique. Aliyah seems to have a good grasp on it.
Vanessa still seems to have the higher ceiling of that pairing. It’ll be interesting to see how these two develop together.
Kacy was the face in peril most of the match and basically just asked to sell most of the time. But she didn’t look lost at all and everything was fluid.
As for Candice, she picked up the win. I would imagine this feud is just to get her established as more than Mrs. Gargano before moving her to more prominent feuds. That could eventually be a title feud, but that’s likely some time from now as Io Shirai and Shayna Baszler are inhabiting the championship scene currently.
The War Raiders def. the Street Profits
This was one helluva match.
The Street Profits jumped the Raiders when they were still walking to the ring and it looked like they could steal one immediately. But the War Raiders (who were referred to as their pre-call up names) fought back and earned the win.
When postulating about to whom they’d drop the titles in the preview, it had slipped my mind that this was all filmed prior to the call ups. So this match had no bearing on their new plans. We’ll have to wait until the next tapings for that.
It can still be the Street Profits who win the belts, but they’d need to turn full heel to do so since they’ve taken a clean loss as babyfaces. And a Profits heel turn is still something that is very possibly going to happen given their booking.
Otherwise, there are the Forgotten Sons and the BritAm Brawlers as options. And unlike the Raiders, NXT knew that Oney was a 205 talent when they taped they remain a possibility.
Or maybe they don’t rush it, and the Raiders hold the titles for a bit longer. Again, it’s possible they can work both brands for awhile. Ricochet and Aleister did.
Johnny Gargano def. Roderick Strong when Adam Cole accidentally struck Strong while Matt Riddle was brawling with the rest of the ERA
After the match, Strong was upset with how it all went down.
The fracturing of Undisputed continues.
The sequence at the end was a bit predictable. The story called for more friction between Cole and Roddy, and Adam accidentally costing Strong the match was the obvious way to go. Not that predictable means bad. It’s an intriguing story, and one I’m very curious to see how NXT decides to tell.
Does it conclude with someone ousted from the ERA? Or is this one long, complicated ruse to help Cole steal that NXT title?
Adding Riddle is a good touch. That was set up with a war of words backstage before Riddle’s photo shoot. (The Bro was very excited to get that photo shoot started in a moment that had me laughing out loud.) It adds another factor that we don’t know where fits in.
Is the end game Riddle feuding with Adam Cole? Is he going to shift heel and feud with Gargano? Is it a triple threat title match? All great options.
This was a strong offering from the yellow brand.
Grade: B+
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