NXT HITS & MISSES 2/13: Cole vs. Ricochet, Undisputed Era, Dijakovic, Aliya vs. Conti, Street Profits, Carillo

Hit: Dominik Dijakovic vs. Shane Thorne

Honestly, I am kind of confused on if Dominik Dijakovic is a heel, but Shane Thorne definitely was the heel in this match as exemplified in his persona and mannerisms.  The commentators played him up as someone who doesn’t play by the rules and his ring style showed this with his aggression.  He definitely received the heel heat treatment from the fans as they were obviously behind Dijakovic in this match.  For a big man, Dijakovic moves very agile with ease and mixed with his power moves, will be a forced to be reckoned with, so the slow build up for him is only fitting and will serve him well in the future.  It’s just up in the air if he will be a heel or face as the crowd is into his character, but he might be better purposed as a heel.  Only time will tell.

Hit: Undisputed Era Segment

Very interesting segment as the UE has not had a good start in 2019.  Nothing is going as Adam Cole has predicted, but the year has only begun.  Cole has not been successful in his attempts in regaining the North American title and Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong lost the tag team titles at the last Takeover.  This is not to mention that Bobby Fish has not been successful in singles action as of late either.  This was addressed in this segment, but they also spoke of some small changes with O’Reilly and Fish back together as a tag team and Cole and Strong focusing on singles competition.  This is a great move as O’Reilly and Fish are a world renowned tag team and Cole and Strong are very strong singles competitors.  So with their refocused, there is a strong possibility that Cole’s prediction will come to fruition before the year is up, and with their new attitude, will probably bring a more sinister focus from the stable.

Hit: Street Profits vs. Humberto Carrillo & Stacey Ervin, Jr.

Great start to the match as Kassius Ohno came out to interrupt to speak on his disdain of the Full Sail crowd, but what was more entertaining is how he was laid out by Keith Lee.  Keith Lee was hilarious as he gloated afterwards and the Street Profits entrance as they mocked Ohno put the icing on the cake.  It was a great match as the Street Profits showed more aggression as the commentators noted which is nice to see that they are not always fun and games but have somewhat of a serious side to them.  Carrillo was a highlight in the match with his impressive moves that always wows the crowd, just as he has been doing on 205 Live.  Ervin was good too as shown with his outrageously good moonsault that seem he had air time for days.  It was good to see the Street Profits pick up the win to further solidify their place within the tag team divisions to which they spoke of, only to be interrupted by the rest of the tag team roster coming out to stake their claim.  It is great to see that some focus being put on the entire tag team roster to set the stage for some competition.  The War Raiders laying out everyone else after being attacked by the UE made them seem more formidable as well.  

Hit: Taynara Conti vs. Aliyah

This match was decent, two mid card performers in the women’s roster competing, with Vanessa Borne coming out to assist Aliyah with the win.  Overall, just mediocre, but served as a set up for Shayna Baszler and her crew of Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke to lay out all the competitors to put the locker room on notice of their dominance.  Baszler is always great to watch and will do wonders once she moves up to the main roster.

Hit: Adam Cole vs. Ricochet

Wow, these guys never have a bad match together as their chemistry is off the charts!  Their ring styles go really well together as Cole is more traditional and Ricochet is a high flyer.  Cole’s charisma was on full display that served the match well.  Ricochet sold the injury to his knee that showed his resilience and made his acrobatic moves mean more when they were delivered.  As Ricochet picked up the win, it once again took the wind out of the sail for Adam Cole and his ambition for him and his crew to be dominant in NXT, but the beat down afterwards showed their more ruthless side that will serve them well in the future.  For real though, can Aleister Black please be moved to the main roster, not now, but right now!  There is no need for him to still be there, especially after his lost to Tomasso Ciampa at Takeover: Phoenix.  By him remaining in NXT is only diminishing his character and the slaughter after the match did not help.