SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
•Beth Phoenix Sells Edge’s “Injury” – HIT: The announcers kicked off the show with Mauro welcoming Beth Phoenix to the booth after a crazy Rumble weekend for her family. She somberly said that Randy Orton destroyed what should have been an amazing weekend for her and her husband and that Adam (Edge) told her to go to Full Sail tonight. Beth’s acting aside, I liked that they at least acknowledged the story. I have a soft spot for Edge and Beth, especially after getting a peek into their lives through Edge and Christian’s now defunct podcast. Was very glad to see them each in high profile spots in the Rumble.
•Finn Balor vs. Trent Seven – MISS: A WWE.com exclusive, after Worlds Collide, Finn Balor attacked Seven in the parking lot for helping out DIY earlier in the night. Seven was looking for revenge. Balor entered first and attacked during Seven’s entrance, well before the bell could even ring. For the beginning of the match, Finn turned the powerhouse of Moustache Mountain into a Moustache Mole Hill. Before the first commercial break, I think Seven may have landed two punches on Balor. If that. Seven did manage to get the upper hand during the break and was in control of the match when we returned to Full Sail. Inevitably, Balor turned the match around and picked up the W. A solid opening match, but I will admit that I was wondering what AEW was doing on TNT as this match progressed. I didn’t expect a Seven win here considering he’s much lower on the card than Balor. I think the discrepancy in card placement kind of took me out of the match a bit. It wasn’t a bad segment, but it wasn’t anything to write home about either.
•Shotzi Blackheart vs. Deonna Purazzo – HIT: I don’t know which “Tank” entrance was better. Rusev’s Wrestlemania entrance, or Shotzi in a kid sized, power wheels tank tonight? Regardless, I’ve been watching Shotzi Blackheart very closely the last few weeks considering that I don’t really know a whole lot about her, and I love what she’s brought to the table thus far. In the ring with a talent like Purazzo, I had a feeling this would be a good match. Shotzi was booked strong, kicking out of Purazzo’s first few pin attempts at or before the one count. This was a short and decisive win over Purazzo, furthering my prediction that NXT has high hopes for this green-haired spitfire.
•Bask in Keith Lee’s Glory – HIT: Keith Lee addressed the crowd for the first time since his NA Title win and his impressive Royal Rumble outing. He cut a great promo calling himself a prophecy ender before Damian Priest made his way to the ring. I think somebody needs to show Priest how to hold a microphone. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anyone hold a mic in such an… odd way. Priest laid claim to the title before Dijakovic came out and did the same after calling Priest a bootleg Marilyn Manson. As Priest and Dijakovic went at it in the ring, Lee got out of dodge.
•Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic – HIT: Apparently, this was the next match anyway as a ref ran to the ring and rang the bell. The announce said that Regal made this match “Official”, but it seemed a little weird to me that this match was made so quickly. I kind of wish that there was a different angle to start Keith Lee’s first feud. We’ve seen the whole “New champion addresses the crowd; umpteen challengers emerge from the back” trope so much over the years that it felt a little flat. That said, this match was actually pretty good. A lot of times, two big men in a match against one another isn’t quite as good as you may think it could be. Priest and Dijakovic put on a hard hitting and high-flying match and kept the crowd engaged throughout.
•Ciampa Might Be Going To Jail – HIT: After the commercial break, we were shown a shot of Undisputed Era, minus Cole, laid out in a hallway backstage seemingly lifeless. Ciampa emerged from around a corner holding a steel pipe. He grabbed a folding table and walked to the ring. He set the table up as the crowd chanted “Psycho Killer!”. Cole then found his partners as Ciampa spray painted a yellow X on the table. Ciampa cut an emotional and heartfelt promo about kicking Cole’s butt before putting him through the table and demanding a TakeOver Portland title shot. Regal emerged from the back with the contract which Cole took to the ring before attacking Ciampa. Ciampa countered, and as he said he would, he powerbombed the NXT champion through a table. He picked up the contract and the crowd chanted “Use the blood!”. Busted open, hard way, during Cole’s attack, he wiped the blood off of his head and “signed” the contract with it before picking “Goldie” up, cradling it. Ciampa’s edge is back! His detraction to “goofy DIY member” for Worlds Collide was fun, but this is the Ciampa we’ve wanted!
•Teagan Nox vs. Dakota Kai – HIT: After Nox’s attack on Kai at Worlds Collide, Nox stole her knee brace back. She brought it to the ring with her. Before Kai’s entrance, the Kai’s War Games attack on Nox was played over and over on screen. The bell rang and the two went at it, brawling before Nox got the upper hand. This may as well have been a Falls Count Anywhere match to start. They fought all over the arena before the ref counted to 10 on more than one occasion. I really liked the way this match was laid out. Nox used the knee brace as a weapon with a LaRae distraction to pick up the win. She didn’t win clean meaning this feud is far from over.
•Chelsea Green vs. Kayden Karter – HIT: Green’s NXT debut here, though she did have a very quick outing during the Royal Rumble. I think this was a great showing for both women. Kayden Karter picked up her first win on NXT TV and the much-hyped Chelsea Green spent too much time pandering to the crowd costing her the win. I think I like this. With Green’s loss, there are a few different stories they could tell with Robert Stone trying to get his “client” to focus, all the way to him dumping Green from his “brand”. Nice to see Karter get a win. I think she’s improved quite a bit since the Mae Young Classic and she could be a great midcard act going forward.
•DUSTY CLASSIC FINALS – Broserweights (Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle) vs. Grizzled Young Veterans (Zach Gibson & James Drake): I’m still surprised that this match took place tonight and not at Worlds Collide. But, I can’t be too upset because this was easily the match of the night for me. As I’ve said numerous times before, I love a good tag team match. Both teams came away from this match looking good as far as I’m concerned. GYV are on the next level as a team. Beautiful tag offense as well as tag psychology. I don’t claim to be an in-ring psychology expert by any stretch of the imagination, but they play their roles as heel tag team experts so very well. Throughout the match, GYV worked as a team to take their opponents down. Dunne and Riddle, while they did have some tag offense, acted more like two singles guys than a cohesive team. Which is fine considering that they are two singles guys. I think it played into the story of the match very well. GYV is the team that eats, sleeps and rides together. Clearly, they should be on the same page and work together like a cohesive unit. Dunne and Riddle, while they made it to the finals, still had to prove themselves as a tag team. Prove themselves they did! They go on to Portland to challenge Fish & O’Reilly for the NXT Tag Titles.
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