7/11 NXT HITS & MISSES: The Best Adam Cole has looked so far, Bate throws in the White Towel, Gargano continues to be crazed

HITS

Adam Cole vs. Danny Burch (North American Championship Match): This was a very good, technically sound match.  It could be seen from the onset through the exchange of excellent arm grappling. In my opinion, this might have been the best Adam Cole has performed ever in NXT.  Don’t get me wrong, his performances in War Games and his saga versus Aleister Black were outstanding, but this was different, we actually got to watch Cole wrestle.  His style was very traditional and fundamental, no big moves, just standard classics like good old neck breakers and body slams. He even had a series of moves that concluded the match with fireman’s carry into the neck breaker, followed by the Last Shot and finished up with a Shining Wizard.   He also kept the match at a slow pace that went well with his constant trash talking.  His was somewhat reminiscent of his days in ROH.  Danny Burch was good during the match as well with his usual hard strikes.  His climax might have been when he hit cole with the Tower of London, but after that he never really recovered.  With this win, Cole looks like a strong champion.

Undisputed Era vs. Mustache Mountain (Tag Team Championship Match):  This was an excellent match.  Right after the bell rang, UE went attacked the British Strong Style reps but they soon gained control.  As the match went on, the story developed, Trent Seven was still nursing a leg injury and the UE, like a shark sensing blood, exchanged tags as they exploited Seven’s injury, taking turns either stomping on it or in one hold or another.  The story got deeper towards the conclusion of the match when Seven was in a hold that surely had him in pain.  As Tyler Bate watched on in agony, he just couldn’t take it anymore and threw in the white towel.  Once again the UE has the titles marking a great feat by being two time champions, an accomplishment that only one other team has achieved. What does this mean for Mustache Mountain?  Would there be any animosity moving forward?  

MISSES

None: With two strong matches, definitely a decent show.

Final Thoughts…

Great show with two extremely good matches.  The night definitely belonged to the Undisputed Era.  We also saw an altercation between Candice LaRae and Shayna Baszler and Aleister Black first being confronted by a crazed Johnny Gargano then later attacked by Tomasso Ciampa.  The other two matches of the night were just mediocre – not terrible, but not good either.  Overall, the flow of the show was smart as they lead and concluded on high notes and had all the fluff in between. 

NOW CHECK OUT THE TV REPORT ON THIS EPISODE: 7/11 NXT TV REPORT: James’s report on Adam Cole vs. Danny Burch, Kairi Sane vs. Vanessa Bourne, Moustache Mountain vs. O’Reilly & Strong