Great night of pro wrestling.
Pre-show was OK. Samoa Joe is a much more interesting analyst than you normally get on these.
Liked Aleister Black just taking ALLLL the awards. That guy is ready for prime time.
Also liked Pete Dunne just calling out Brock Lesnar. Talk about prime time.
Zelina Vega was amazing on the panel too, what a professional.
Enjoyed the Paul Heyman intro for the sow, cutting a promo like he’s backstage in front of a “PRESS” door in 1994 ECW, except he can’t shit talk McMahon or Turner.
1. NXT Tag Team Title: Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) [c] vs. The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering
Hey this was a Good Match. Found more enjoyment in the story they chose to tell than the actual match while I was watching it. Side note: does Paul Ellering not get enough credit for how amazing of a presence he is standing by his guys? Anyways, this was filled with Undisputed Era stalling and bumping and using kicks and submissions to take down The Authors. I liked O’Reilly’s attempts at standing out – strumming the championship like a guitar, Flair flopping off the apron. It eventually settled into leg work on Akam which was OK, and then Rezar pulling out some power spots before the rollup finish. Good. ***
War Machine!
2. Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream
Velveteen Dream’s entourage was awesome, the KO stuff at the start was awesome, Dream’s spray-painted boxing trunks and wild man sell of everything early was awesome. The middle – not so much. A few too many rest holds, a few too many Dream flubs. Ended hot though, as they do. And dear god were some of those Ohno elbows crazy. **3/4
3. NXT Women’s Title: Ember Moon [c] vs. Shayna Baszler
Oh this was GREAT. Just told a simple story and executed it perfectly. Ember got a little run, and then Shayna started bringing the nasty arm work and bitchiness. Shayna Baszler as Minoru Suzuki is very good. Moon hit the Eclipse but was too hurt to recover, then Shayna locked in an armbar and Ember’s selling was amazing… and amazing… and it just kept being amazing, with Ember struggling FOREVER which got the crowd going wild and chanting EMBER!, leading to her pulling out the shock cradle win. Simple, effective, awesome. ****
Shayna choking Ember out post-match was AWESOME.
Ricochet!
4. Extreme Rules: Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole
Even with the referee wearing gloves and attending to the widdle bitty cuts they got, this delivered. It delivered on the violence, it delivered as a fun as hell brawl that eventually got epic, it delivered with a bunch of bumps that just made me flip out. Black took the match’s big bumps so perfectly and delivered on the intensity, while Cole finally showed why he’s here with a pretty amazing acting and selling job.
SOOOO many great spots here – the kendo stick showdown, the lionsault into the kendo stick, the build to the table and ladder bumps, Cole’s insane ladder bump on his ass, Black’s perfectly taken double table bump to the floor, the crowd buzzing as Cole switched up the chairs so the victim would land back-first on the edge of two chairs – then taking the insane DVD bump back-first on the edge of two chairs, O’Reilly/Fish interfering, SAnitY making the save, Killian Dain’s tope, Black’s double knees through the table that could’ve looked terrible but looked amazing. And a PERFECT Black Mass to finish it. At the end of this match, there were no ECW chants – it was N-X-T. God bless. ****1/4
EC 3!!! Now with a space between C and 3!!!!!!!
5. NXT Title: Andrade “Cien” Almas [c] w/ Zelina Vega vs. Johnny Gargano
Oh this was the BEST match. This was amazing. Wow. I loved this thing. Johnny Gargano is on another level as not just a great impressive wrestler who does things that make ya go WOW, but as a babyface you completely buy into because he hits his big spots at all the right times and sells his ass off and also just seems like a genuinely swell person. And Almas, man. This guy is just an absolute wrestling freak.
This was just non-stop professional wrestling greatness from the bell – amazing smooth intense hold-trading leading into beautiful fluid hyper-speed counter and strike-filled aggressive intense pro wrestling leading into a wildly dramatic finish with some all-time great near falls. This was a CHAMPIONSHIP match, man. Just an onslaught of great pro wrestling, all that I love about this sport of kings and con men.
It had the athleticism – the amazing ability it takes to perform the maneuvers these guys do and do it fast and make it seem legit and have a crowd biting on everything.
It had the presentation – Almas’ Lucha mask, Vega screaming shit on the outside in her bright red outfit, Candice LeRae Gargano at ringside, Johnny’s bloody mouth that eventually dried up and looked decayed, and the scary unseen presence of CIAMPA looming the entire time.
And it not only had the awesome, but it had the art. This wasn’t just a lot of amazing stuff, it was a lot of amazing stuff built to and executed well, a lot of amazing stuff told within the confinements of this amazing story of both guys fighting for control and Johnny being the slightly outmatched underdog and Almas being a dickhead who can actually go.
This thing just blew my mind early and kept doing it: the incredible matwork and hold-trading that was just on another level from anything you usually see in WWE, the high-speed dodging and countering as they battled for an opening (check Almas’ missed moonsault on the floor > Johnny jumping onto the apron > Almas trying to grab Johnny’s legs and Johnny jumping up a couple times to avoid it > Johnny charging at Almas and brutally missing a somersault dive off the apron).
Every bump and strike had a little extra on it. There were some absolutely wild elbow exchanges here, both guys just throwing shots like they’re auditioning for Wrestle Kingdom 13. Almas’ spinning reverse elbow had me jump out of my damn seat, and it was followed up by a superkick from Johnny that would have made me jump out of my seat if I wasn’t already standing up. I mean this was a WAR, man.
Loved Almas countering the slingshot spear by just slamming Johnny’s face in the mat, the tornado DDT on the APRON, Almas doing a backflip bump off of Johnny’s lariat, the HUUUUGE dropkick in the corner by Almas, the amazing near fall off of Johnny’s inside cradle, the even more amazing near fall off of Johnny’s superkick. I can’t believe they actually delivered on the double stomp on the outside too.
Despite all the insanity, my favorite moment of the match might have been Johnny’s thousand yard stare after the double stomp, only for Almas not to wait for any OK from the ref and just grab Johnny by the head and viciously chuck him into the apron.
And then it kept going: Almas’ vicious double knees, Johnny slapping Almas full force, the REVERSE RANA, Johnny’s tope to the god damn back, Zelina Vega interfering and the near fall off the hammerlock DDT which might have been the greatest near fall of all time. Crowds chant This is Awesome a lot these days, but you know you’re seeing something special when instead of that they just chant YES in such unison that the roof might just legitimately blow off the arena.
And then CANDICE LERAE ATTACKED ZELINA VEGA!!!! The CHAOS, baby! They got a HUGE near fall off a slingshot tornado DDT, and I don’t mean oh the crowd bit on that I mean everybody was legitimately absolutely convinced that this match was over and Johnny Wrestling was winning the NXT Title. The Gargano Escape was dramatic as all hell, only for Almas to get his foot on the ropes because even though Zelina Vega is his advocate who gets him to high places he is a CHAMPION who stays in those places.
The finish was brilliant too and tied together the story they were telling all match – Johnny is basically concussed but just keeps fighting, while Almas is cagey and mean as hell. They end up on the apron and Almas pushes the back of Johnny’s head into the LED post. Johnny, with his thousand yard stare and caked blood covered lips, looks just wrecked. And Almas finally just kills him dead with a TOP ROPE hammerlock DDT.
At the end of the day, it’s really simple: Johnny’s selling and Almas’ desperation = DRAMA!!! EXCITEMENT!!! WRESTLING!!! *****
Oh, and fuck Tommaso Ciampa.
This show started good not great, but the last three matches here are absolute keepers. Shayna and Ember had a perfect match for their position, Black and Cole had a blast of a brawl, and Johnny and Almas had the best NXT match ever. Yeah I said it. 9/10
