Welcome to my 1st post for SLTDWrestling this is my weekly segment where I will be looking at the best segment in wrestling this week across all promotions. If you feel there’s a segment that warrants my attention contact me on twitter @cs_rose1 and I’ll let you know what I think of it.
This week on the Weekly Spotlight my segment on the week comes from Wednesday night’s NXT and the match between The Velveteen Dream and Finn Balor for a spot in the North American title ladder match. I am a massive fan of The Prince gimmick that Balor has been doing down in NXT since his return to the black and gold brand. I do miss the allure of the Demon at PPVs however so hopefully, we get to see Demon Finn Balor at some point in the near future. It’s not the only “Prince” gimmick in NXT though as it is easy to see that The Velveteen Dream takes inspiration from the artist Prince.
It was a great start to the match back and forth between the two, a hard-hitting affair between the two to start off with while Velveteen Dream mocked Finn with the “too sweet” and giving a shout out to The Wolfpack and a howl down the camera. Balor managed to gain the upper hand while chopping down the slightly larger man working on the left leg of Dream. With Balor gaining the upper hand, Dream hits a knee to the face and follows it up with an Axe kick shades of WWE Hall of Fame Booker T.
The fightback was short-lived however as Cameron Grimes (already qualified) brought himself to the ring in his fantastic top hat and sat atop the ladder with the North American belt in his hands, distracting Velveteen Dream and allowing Balor to take control of the matchup. Grimes presence proved to be a distraction to both superstars however after a lovely sequence where each competitor reversed the signature of the other moves Balor hit a shotgun dropkick and when going for the Coup de Grace, Grimes made his presence felt again allowing Dream to capitalise with a massive superplex in this back and forth contest.
This is where the match descended into what can only be explained as complete anarchy when Johnny Gargano made his way down to the ring, tipping the ladder with Grimes on top into the ring taking out the referee. Bronson Reed started to make his way out to the ring, while in the ring Cameron Grimes was met with a double stomp followed by a fame-asser sending him to the outside.
With both of the participants down Johnny Gargano finds himself between a rock and a hard place as Damian Priest appeared as if from nowhere dispatching of Gargano and hitting Bronson with a kick. Both men are launched to the outside followed by a Topé Con Hilo from Balor onto Bronson & Priest.
Balor was then stopped quickly in his tracks as Timothy Thatcher came out to even the odds following the attack from Balor after their previous match. Thatcher then fed Balor to The Velveteen Dream as he hit the Dream Valley Driver followed by the Rainmaker elbow from the top picking up the pinfall victory and advancing to the ladder match for the North American title.
This also set up the matchup between Finn Balor and Timothy Thatcher at NXT Takeover on Saturday, which as of this writing has just been announced will be taking place.
A fantastic segment and although there was a lot of chaos and interruption in the match, the quality was still there for all to see and has got me interested in the matches for this Saturday’s Takeover even more than I already was.
Honourable Mentions
Smackdown Ending/Alexa Bliss Promo
I have combined these together as they go hand in hand and lead us perfectly into the meeting between Strowman & The Fiend for the Universal championship. I’ve recently found myself abandoning all common sense when it comes to interactions with The Fiend and it has allowed me to appreciate the interactions between him and others like the Swamp match between him and Braun, as well as the attack on Alexa Bliss on Smackdown from a few weeks ago as you can see pictured.
All of this has come to Braun Strowman losing temper and gorilla pressing Alexa, the lights cut out and behind a prone Alexa Bliss stood The Fiend as Braun appeared on the titantron laughing. That part went on a little too long however to me this shows a new sadistic side of Strowman and I cannot wait until it clashes with The Fiend this Sunday at Summerslam.
IMPACT Tag Team Championship: The North vs Motor City Machine Guns
With The North being the longest ever IMPACT tag team champions holding the titles for over 365 days and the Motor City Machine Guns being one of the best tag teams in the world this was always going to be a high-quality match up.
The match was a fast-paced and hard-hitting affair with both teams displaying their cohesion and ability to work as a team. I myself am newer to watching the modern-day IMPACT so was not as familiar with The North as I was with Alex Shelly and Chris Sabin but in recent times watching them I have become a fan of the catalogue of high-quality matches they have been putting on display. The finish came with a Neckbreaker/Splash combination and The Motor City Machine Guns retained their titles for the time being.
A great main event to round off Night One of Emergence and if you ask me it won’t be too long until The North is back at the top of the tag team mountain once again.
There you have it, the very first Weekly Spotlight remember if you feel there’s a moment in wrestling I’ve missed this week get in touch on twitter @cs_rose1 and I’ll have a look and probably tell you you’re wrong.
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