Three teams advance in the men’s Dusty Classic, two more matches scheduled

The first night of action from the sixth Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is in the books. Two teams who are among the favorites to win it all advanced, and a debuting team made a big splash to join them in the second round. Jan. 13’s NXT also featured the announcement of two more first round bouts on next Wednesday’s show.

First, Grizzled Young Veterans outlasted a game Ever-Rise to break my heart. Matt Martel took Ticket To Mayhem from the runners-up from last year’s tournament. Martel and Chase Parker still rule in my book, but Zack Gibson & James Drake are moving on.

The former Rascalz debuted as MSK and sent Isaiah “Swerve” Scott & Jake Atlas packing. You can read more about that here, and look forward to the fallout from the Scott & Atlas pairing. Bronson Reed had to break up a brawl between the two outside the Performance Center after their loss.

In the main event, Undisputed ERA picked up a win over Breezango - but they lost a man in the process. Determined to stake his claim to a shot at NXT champion Finn Bálor, Pete Dunne led Tag champs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch in an assault on this match. Kyle O’Reilly & Bálor managed to fight it off to allow Adam Cole & Roderick Strong to beat Tyler Breeze& Fandango. In exchange however, the heel trio targeted their injuries from their title fight last week, leaving O’Reilly bleeding from the mouth and cradling his jaw, and Finn holding his wounded arm.

There’s a lot going on! And that’s before we even get to next week’s Imperium vs. Lucha House Party and Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory vs. Kushida & Leon Ruff first-round action!

Buckle up.