NXT HITS & MISSES 3/21: Tommaso Ciampa speaks, Adam Cole vs. Ohno, Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament

HITS

Tommaso Ciampa Promo:  Not only did we finally get to hear from Tommaso Ciampa after weeks of not saying anything during his promos, but also we got the long awaited appearance from Johnny Gargano.  This is the Johnny Gargano that we have been waiting for, all fired up and ready to go.  It was a case of the bully finally getting punched in the nose by the tormented.  Week after week we saw Ciampa make his way to the ring, grab the mic and not say anything under the chorus of boos from the NXT crowd.  So this week, he finally spoke, saying, “He’s gone!”, taunting the crowd of their forgone hero.  As Ciampa made his way through the crowd, ripping up poster after poster, he was finally chin-checked by his former partner that he helped to ouster from the NXT universe.  And revenge could not have been sweeter. Behind a poster and mask, Gargano paid some retribution, exploding all over Ciampa and had to be restrained and ushered out of the arena by security.  The usual calm and collected (and at times too calm) Gargano showed another side, one that was full of emotion and fire. This rivalry is far from over, only the beginning of their feud that we do not know where it will continue or conclude.  Unfortunately we have to wait, but it will be well worth it.

Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne (Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament Match): The build up to the match was quite underwhelming as Tyler Bate announced that he would not be able to compete, therefore forfeiting Mustache Mountain’s chances of becoming number one contenders to the NXT tag team titles.  It seemed somewhat lackluster, as Tyler Bate was very nonchalant about the announcement.  And to make matters worse, once again Roderick Strong was shown pandering for another title shot, this time in a tag team format.  But this match surely made up for what was lackluster as it was very hard hitting and technical.  Seems like Pete Dunne has turned face now that he is teaming with Roderick Strong and from the reaction of the crowd, it can be assumed as well.  The newly found team of Strong and Dunne showed a lot of cohesiveness in their interaction with each other in this match.  Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch were no slouches as they gave it all they had. The match was very technically sound with excellent strong-arm holds (not to mention the signature joint manipulation from Dunne) as well as excellently executed forearm strikes (mainly from Lorcan).  It is unfortunate that Lorcan and Burch lost this match as they are a very good tag team and it would be great to see more of them in the tag team division.  Dunne and Strong make a great combination as well, as if they have teamed up before.  This match definitely had the crowd’s attention and it is interesting to see where Strong and Dunne go from here and how far they will go in the tournament.

Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno (Main Event Match):  Even from the promo that aired earlier in the program, Adam Cole showed excellent bravado as he casually wrote off his opponent.  This is the Adam Cole that the wrestling world is used to seeing and it was good to see that he performed on his own, as if he had heard the criticism from critics regarding some of his shortcomings.  He was very cunning and conniving as he faked a knee injury during the match to only take advantage.  But in the mist of that, Cole performed a variety of moves that we were not used to seeing up until this point, but has been known to possess.  Kassius Ohno was his usually hard-hitting self, striking Cole several times with some critical right hands as well as kicks (the kick to Cole in mid air was outstanding).  One of the highlights came when Ohno struck Cole wit hard forearm only for Cole to get fired up and return the favor.  Eventually Cole picked up the win with the Shining Wizard, celebrating arrogantly up the ring entrance.

MISSES

None this week.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: NXT HITS & MISSES 3/14: Takeover hype ramps up, UK Title defense with Dunn vs. Cole, NXT Contract Signing, Lacey vs. Dakota