By Liam Croft
In true NXT fashion, the yellow brand followed up a stellar Takeover event with what was essentially a glorified clip show, documenting what happened on Saturday as if their audience hadn't already seen it. I absolutely despise this practice, I see it as lazy and a bit of an insult to those who pay for the network and tune in week in, week out and are expecting new feuds to get excited over. What we got this week was, instead, a match that meant nothing and a pre-recorded main event. With that said, let's jump into the (sparse) action from this week.
Match #1: Ruby Riot v Sonya Deville
The aforementioned "match that meant nothing" was, of course, this one. Both competitors were called up to Raw and SmackDown Live earlier this week, so a victory here didn't really mean anything for either woman. However, the two still put on a highly impressive match that gives me great confidence in their runs on the main roster.
First and foremost, what struck me was Deville's improvement with regards to chain wrestling. She has come on leaps and bounds since joining NXT, and her main roster debut is clear evidence of this. In what is likely to be her last match in NXT, she traded control with Ruby seamlessly. Ruby herself impressed as always, using striking combinations to her advantage before falling victim to Deville's conniving, targeted combat style, with the villain targeting her injured leg.
A highlight of this match was Deville's excellent spinebuster, which appeared to give Deville the advantage- shortly after, however, the clearly hurt Ruby battled back with a stunning DDT to down both women, following up shortly after with a springboard senton using her remaining good leg for leverage. This wasn't enough to score her the pin, and Deville managed to regain control- and almost secured a submission victory- with a nasty looking armbar, before transitioning beautifully into an ankle lock targeting Ruby's fragile limb. Despite the punishment suffered, Ruby made it to the ropes, and finally put the match to rest with an impressive kick.
Match Rating: 6/10. There was some solid wrestling skill on display in this match, but neither woman truly had anything to prove other than that they'd overstayed their welcome in NXT. Moving them up to the main roster seems like the right move, especially with struggling women's divisions on both the red and blue brands.
Standout Star: Sonya Deville. Ruby has already impressed audiences in NXT, but Sonya had perhaps not had the exposure she deserved, and may have seemed like a strange call up choice. However, she is a stellar competitor that has the potential to garner strong reactions from audiences, especially with her MMA background. I can see Lesnar comparisons aplenty in this bright young star's future.
Match #2: Pete Dunne (c) v Johnny Gargano, UK Championship
It may seem strange that one of Dunne's early title defences is against an American competitor, but for a match of this quality, it was certainly worth it.
As you'd probably expect, this match began as a technical display of wrestling prowess. Both Dunne and Gargano are known for their immense grappling skill, and it came as no surprise that they put on a clinic in the early stages of the match.
The match took a brutal turn that is to be expected from Dunne, manipulating the joints of Gargano who couldn't hide his pained expression. Not to be deterred, Gargano fought back in admirable fashion, drawing a huge response from the crowd throughout the contest.
As he battled back against Dunne, Gargano found himself set up for the Bitter End, but pulled out a perfect reversal to score a near fall. As soon as Dunne fought out of the cover, however, Gargano locked in the Gargano Escape in what was perhaps the closest false finish of the contest.
The match showed no signs of slowing down- as the intensity grew, ecstatic chants from the crowd filled the arena, and I struggled to rationalise how this wasn't featured as a bout at Takeover. Gargano set up for his hallmark Slingshot Spear, but was cut off by a strike from Dunne. Capitalising on the reversal, Dunne hit the Bitter End for the 1-2-3, retaining his title in spectacular fashion.
Match Rating: 8.5/10. A very entertaining match from two of NXT's premium talents. It wasn't Dunne's best match, nor was it Gargano's, but it would have been difficult to top their brilliant showings at Takeover: Chicago earlier this year.
Standout Star: Pete Dunne. The breakout UK star shone again, as he tends to in all matches he's involved in, cementing himself as a varied and thoroughly impressive competitor. He remains untouchable, and is likely to remain champion well into Wrestlemania season unless he is dethroned at NXT's next Takeover event, a highly improbable outcome considering the lack of credible challengers he has yet to defeat.
Although I feel the better man won, it is a shame that Gargano has been on such a depressing losing streak in recent weeks. Coming up short to upstart Fabien Aichner and Dunne in such a short space of time would kill the momentum of most stars, but then again, Johnny Wrestling isn't most stars. Expect a comeback story soon for Gargano, leading to a showdown for the ages against former partner Tommaso Ciampa when the latter returns from injury.
Overall Show Rating: 6.5/10. The weekly show after a pay-per-view is a vitally important one. Viewers expect sparks that light fuses of new rivalries and exciting contests ahead of the next big event. With NXT only holding Takeovers every few months, it isn't too detrimental for a weekly show to be so devoid of action; however, are the endless recaps of a show regular audiences have undoubtedly watched truly necessary? It can feel like an insult to paying audiences to serve them up content they watched just 4 nights ago with a slick filter over the top.
The UK Championship bout saved what would have surely been a vastly underwhelming weekly show.
Liam Croft is a contributor to Official Wrestling and their regular podcast, "A Few Good Marks." You'll often find him making questionable pizza topping choices, complaining about 2K development oversights and sacrificing his sleeping pattern to watch NXT.
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