Hello, it’s me TWB, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone who is Team SLTD. Today I am going to bring you my matches of 2018.
Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas Vs Johnny Gargano – NXT Philadelphia
Johnny Gargano has been my MVP of 2018 for certain, every Takeover match he has had has been a classic and his recent tweak to his character has played out phenomenally well.
The first match of his that’ll appear on this list is from the first Takeover of the year in Philadelphia, as Johnny Wrestling took on Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas, this match had everything, a great story where everyone was rooting for Gargano, fantastic in-ring action it was simply brilliant. I remember being awake at around 3 am standing up in my room, praying that Gargano would win, I’m not quite sure how I didn’t wake up my family up. The selling by Gargano in this match was incredible, the facial expressions of him getting hit by the running double knee into the ring post were absolutely heart-breaking
NXT North American Title Ladder Match – NXT New Orleans
This was a perfect way to start a Takeover, six men fought for the right to be the inaugural NXT North American Champion is probably my favourite ladder match in a very long time. In this match we saw the debuts of EC3 and Ricochet, I’m sure we all expected Ricochet to do some insane spots and he sure did.
Heading into the match Undisputed Era’s leader Adam Cole knew he had to pull double duty which of course is a treat for all the Adam Cole fans like me. I watched this match with a friend of mine and we were both rooting for Cole but didn’t expect him to get the victory, so when we saw him push Ricochet off the ladder and climb to get the win, we both stood up and straight away did the ‘Adam Cole Bay Bay’ taunt.
Despite Cole winning, all of the competitors looked strong, you had Lars Sullivan look like a monster, Velveteen Dream being the flamboyant showman who hit a beautiful Purple Rainmaker off the top of a ladder, Killian Dain being Sullivan’s main enemy in the match, EC3 who showed off all the charisma that he has, Ricochet who was insane in this match hitting big moves left, right and centre. Lastly the heel that secretly we all love Adam Cole who has everything, the in-ring skills, the character and personality of a major superstar.
I hope we see Cole and his Undisputed Era gang join the main roster in 2019 and become a success.
Johnny Gargano Vs Tommasso Ciampa – Unsanctioned match – NXT Takeover: New Orleans
The Johnny Gargano and Tommasso Ciampa feud that has dominated NXT throughout 2018 has been fantastic, with tons of twists and turns.
In the first of their matches in 2018 Gargano and Ciampa tore the house down in the main event of Takeover: New Orleans. The stipulation was if Gargano lost he would leave NXT for good, I anticipated Gargano to lose and join the main roster post Wrestlemania. However, not for the first time, I was proven wrong and Gargano would get the emotional victory over Ciampa in a hard-hitting and brutal matchup.
Undisputed Era Vs Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan – NXT Takeover: Chicago
Going into this match not many fans inside the Allstate Arena knew who Lorcan and Burch were but as the match between them and Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong went on, the crowd began to get invested in the match and they began to support the baby-face team.
I’m a sucker for NXT tag team title matches at Takeover’s whether it be American Alpha vs. The Revival or DIY vs. Revival I just adore how the matches are booked and how incredible the action is. Lorcan and Burch put up a great fight but fell short in a stunning match which despite defeat made two new stars.
Ricochet Vs Velveteen Dream – NXT Takeover: Chicago
This whole storyline between two of the most charismatic wrestlers in NXT was superb, Dream saying anything Ricochet can do the Dream can do better.
This led to one of the best spots on NXT TV when Ricochet decided to do a flip 450 over the ropes and landed on his feet to have a face-off with his rival. The whole idea of Ricochet being a prince and Dream being the king was great and their back and forth on Twitter added to their feud.
The eventual match didn’t disappoint either as Dream dressed up like Hollywood Hogan and they even had a Rock/Hogan style staredown. Ricochet got the win in probably the best non-title and non-stipulation match of 2018.
Shayna Baszler Vs Toni Storm – NXT UK at Royal Albert Hall
This match will probably slip up the radar from a lot of top 10 lists, but for me this was probably the best NXT Women’s title match in 2018.
I’ve enjoyed women’s matches in 2018 but in particular on Takeover’s the matches have never really had much time, and it has even felt that it has been sandwiched in between two big matches and nothing has been able to eclipse Bayley Vs Sasha or Ember Vs Asuka matches.
This match between Toni Storm Vs Shayna Baszler during the NXT UK shows at the Royal Albert Hall had no real timing constraints and it was refreshing to see Baszler face someone new and brought a different style. Throughout the match I began to think that Toni could even pull out a shock title win. However, she would pass out to the Baszler Coquina Clutch like submission move. I’m a fan of Toni Storm and was pleased to see her win the Mae Young Classic.
I am hoping to see her more on NXT in 2019 and potentially have a rematch against Baszler and maybe defeat her for the NXT Women’s Title.
Undisputed Era Vs Moustache Mountain – NXT TV 11th July 2018
This was simply brilliant. Moustache Mountain had won the Tag titles at the Royal Albert Hall show, but within a few weeks Undisputed Era had the belts back as they regained them on an episode NXT in a tag team classic.
Throughout the match Strong and O’Reilly worked on Trent Severn’s knee, and it led to Bate throwing in the towel for his mentor. The idea of Bate throwing in the towel is a really unique finish and brings realism to the match and made Moustache Mountain look more sympathetic babyfaces.
It was rated highly by Dave Meltzer and I could see why, if anyone hasn’t seen this match then I fully recommend it.
Adam Cole Vs Ricochet – NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4
Just the spot of Cole superkicking Ricochet mid moonsault makes me put this match on this list.
Being a fan of these two made me very excited for this match to happen, the action was fast paced and enthralling throughout. I always watch Takeover’s live and this match almost made me wake everyone up in my house especially after the superkick spot, personally I think Cole has the best looking superkick in the business. Unfortunately, Cole lost the match and his title but I couldn’t think of a better champion in Ricochet.
Johnny Gargano Vs Aleister Black – NXT Takeover: WarGames 2
I thought this was probably the best match on the WarGames Takeover, Gargano newly turned heel who attacked Black and put him out for 3 months was still, Johnny Freakin Wrestling as he pulled out so many incredible moves and developed his character throughout the match just showed how all-round amazing he is.
Black I think had his best match ever in NXT, looked great and the hard-hitting moves looked fantastic especially on Gargano who sold it all beautifully. The one move that’ll stay in my memory is when Gargano went for the suicide dive but got caught mid-flight by a V-Trigger style knee by Black.
I’m biased when it comes to Gargano but I really do believe that whoever he steps in the ring with he brings the best out of them, he’ll probably go down as one of the best NXT superstars ever.
WarGames Match NXT Takeover: WarGames 2
This was excellent, Undisputed Era took on the baby-face quartet of War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne, in a high octane, high risk and high-intensity WarGames match. Everybody knows what those 8 guys are capable of. I have previously mentioned we all knew Ricochet could do something mental, and that’s exactly what he did, as he hit a Reverse Senton off the WarGames structure where he turned in the air dozens of times, it was an excellent spot that will be in video packages for upcoming WarGames matches for years to come.
Much like the NXT North American Ladder Match, everyone in this match looked strong, all 8 got their big spots in the match, with Hanson having a breakout performance. Adam Cole once again shone in a big match situation, let’s face it him and almost everyone in this match are ready for the main roster. The baby-face team got the win, after Pete Dunne hit a Bitter End and Ricochet hitting a Springboard 450 onto Cole.
So, these are my top 10 matches from NXT in 2018, what are yours? Let me know in the comments
Follow me @callumowen98 on Twitter, like SLTD Wrestling on Facebook, and I hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas Holidays, until next time Happy New Year from everyone here at SLTD Wrestling, and I’ll be back in 2019.
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