4/18 NXT HITS & MISSES: Ricochet vs. Fabian Aichner, Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dane, Zelina Vega vs. Candice LaRae

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HITS

Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain (No Disqualification Match): This match was a long time coming as the paths of these two behemoths had crossed before. The first time was during the fatal 4-way qualifying match to see who would go on to face the previous champion Andrade “Cien” Almas, to where Killian Dain hit a flying splash that sent Lars Sullivan through the announcer’s table. The two did not forget this meeting as they faced off during the six-man ladder match at NXT Takeover: New Orleans for the new North American Championship. They gave each other everything they had during this match, but that did not extinguish this grudge. This past Wednesday saw the feud come to a head to where they faced off in a no disqualification match. One could possibly see the outcome as it was recently announced that Sanity was called up to the main roster and to join Smackdown Live. But that did not stop this match from being ferocious. Even though it started off slow with the two giants exchanging heavy blows, it soon picked up when weapons were injected into the mix, namely chairs and tables. We also saw some highflying action as Sullivan crashed into Dain outside of the ring from the top turnbuckle. We also saw blood as Dain was cut from his mouth and bled pretty extensively. When it was all said and done, Sullivan picked up the win with the Freak Accident to Dain on top of two chairs. Overall, the match could have had a faster pace and should have been longer. In fact, this match would have been better on a pay per view event, but with Sanity moving up the roster, there was no time for that to happen, but it served as a good ending to a feud that put Lars Sullivan over as the giant of NXT while Dain managed to still hold the respect as a top in the ring competitor to move on to higher pastures.

Candice LaRae vs. Zelina Vega: This was another match that served as a sendoff as well as it was recently announced that both Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega were moving on to Smackdown Live. But this did not stop from Candice LaRae from extracting revenge on the woman that was a constant thorn in her husband Johnny Gargano’s side. This was a very entertaining match as the two wrestled a very good bout while both of their counterparts were in their corner. This began when Almas distracted LaRae while she was on the top rope ready to leap but instead was knocked off by Vega. This brought Gargano out to even the odds. The match continued with some nice in the ring action in the forms of chops and locks, but it was LaRae who was the victor when she locked Vega in the GargaNoEscape. Almas tried to interfere to only meet the same fate when Gargano put him the same hold. It was good to see the loud mouth Vega get her just desserts and for LaRae to pick up an impressive win. It will be exciting to see what shenanigans that the two new main roster members will get into and who they would possibly feud with. Gargano congratulated LaRae on her win, but then turned his sights to challenge the newly crowned champion Aleister Black for the NXT title. Black then made an appearance to accept the challenge and one would have to wait until next week to see what the outcome will be. It is guaranteed to be impressive as Gargano has been the only member of the roster to pin Black, which makes one wonder, will we see a new champion?

Ricochet vs. Fabian Aichner: This was the Full Sail in the ring debut of Ricochet. The crowd was definitely into it, as he did not live down to expectations. He was his usual self, hitting some fast paced highflying moves on Fabian Aichner. Ricochet was not the only one to get some offense as Aichner hit Ricochet with some powerful blows that did stagger him somewhat. But Aichner was not able to fend off the onslaught of the Future of Flight as finished off the match with an impressive 630 Senton that kept Aichner down for the three count. The King then thanked the crowd as he went up the entrance ramp only to prove that he will be a force to be reckoned with in NXT.