There really wasn’t that much to review this week on RAW and Smackdown. The storylines that unfolded were mediocre or expected to say the least; the impending push for Elias to have a possible run at the Intercontinental Championship and another Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass showdown was imminent.
But on NXT, there were at least four matches booked or could be conceivably booked for NXT: Takeover Chicago II, but I did have an issue with how one segment broke down during the show. Here are my thoughts on the May 30th episode of NXT:
Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream and Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan (NXT Championship)
I have no doubt these matches would be spectacular, and in Black vs. Sullivan you are going to see one of those matches were a contrast in styles will be displayed (Black’s speed vs. Lars’ power). But I think one thing that is overlooked is that these two matches exemplify an interesting dichotomy within NXT itself: talent drawn in from the independent scene and talent developed within WWE itself at the Performance Centre.
Aleister Black spent years on the independent circuit around the world as Tommy End before setting foot in a WWE ring, and Ricochet was best known for his performance as “Prince Puma” in Lucha Underground in addition to competing in the indy scene. Sullivan is a complete product of the Performance Centre, and Dream as well (although the latter had some minor indy exposure; “Patrick Clark” was first known for his participating in WWE Tough Enough).
If NXT is doing some kind of minor competition between homegrown talent and independent stars they are pulling in to the company, it would be an opportunity to highlight that contrast as the NXT brand evolves and finds how bringing indy stars in and training their own talent are working. Both kinds of wrestlers have value, but not all of them shine through in the end.
I doubt that will be the case with these four as Takeover Chicago gets closer.
Johnny Gargano’s strange interruption during EC3 match
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umtau-Jb6X4[/embedyt]
NXT is known for surprise appearances or situations, but I thought this was awkwardly done, especially in the middle of a match that was going on. As you can see from the clip above, EC3 was in the middle of a match with Fabian Aichner when Johnny Gargano suddenly stormed out from the audience and proceeded to announce that he and Tommaso Ciampa in a Street Fight for Chicago before leaving the ringside area again.
I’m not sure if that was necessary. Just a few minutes before, they had already announced that the two former NXT tag team champions would be competing in a Street Fight, so I think the point was already made. It would have been better to save the time for another Ciampa/Gargano confrontation for next week.
This rivalry also looks as though it is transcending beyond the boundaries of NXT and could move on over to continue on the main roster. For many fans, they certainly hope it does.
Nikki Cross vs. Shayna Baszler
It’s probably a good thing that Nikki Cross didn’t get drafted along with the rest of Sanity to Smackdown, as latest developments revealed that WWE creative doesn’t have anything planned for the group. However, NXT certainly has plans for Cross as it appears the Psychotic Scot is poised for another shot at the NXT Women’s Championship.
After Shayna Baszler’s successful defence against Dakota Kai, the former MMA fighter proceeded to lock in her submission hold again on Kai until Cross came down and pulled the champion off, then proceeded to steal the title and daring the champion to re-enter the ring to retrieve her title.
Once Baszler reentered the ring, Cross took the title from her again and demanded a title match immediately, saying “You (Baszler), me, this (the title), TODAY”, and then, even stranger, told Kai to act as the referee. Cross then proceeded to hit Baszler with her finishing manoeuvre, the Purge (a fisherman’s neck-breaker), before running away with the NXT women’s title, to the actual champion’s disbelief.
Obviously, Baszler is still the champion, but it seems this storyline is going in the route of a challenger holding the actual belt like Dean Ambrose and Jinder Mahal did with the WWE title a few years ago. At least they’re giving Cross a push: the crowd reaction was quite evident that she has gotten over with the NXT universe.
But could Cross win the title? At this point, it’s too soon to tell. Shayna’s been a dominant champion thus far, but Cross looks like she could be an opponent that Baszler is unprepared for due to her “unpredictability”.
As it stands, with the way things are unfolding now, NXT Takeover Chicago is going to have some stellar matches.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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