Tonight is the night! NXT’s big debut on USA Network for 2017’s Holiday Week. A whole new audience of people who can be confused and bewildered by the Full Sail audience, a show that feels exactly the same as every other show. Tonight’s big matchup is Aleister Black versus Adam Cole in the second round of the fatal four-way qualifier tournament, but we have a whole hour worth of show to get through first. Welcome to this week’s Rogues Portal Wrestling NXT recap.
Mean Streak (Andrade Almas (W) vs. Fabian Aichner)
Who is big and strong enough to defeat Fabian Aichner? Who? Nobody currently on the NXT roster, it seems like, but maybe his luck will change tonight. Andrade Almas faces off against Fabian Aichner, who does a springboard DDT just to prove he can. Both of these men are mean, nasty dudes who can take and dish an awful lot of punishment, making this match as exciting as it is painful to watch. Surprisingly, Almas gets the win here … a strangely anticlimactic end to Aichner’s impressive run, but a well-deserved win for the champ.
Sanity Throw Down the Gauntlet
What a bunch of weirdos. I love them. Eric Young announces that next week Sanity plans to finish what they started in Houston — the Undisputed Era better watch out.
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Best Friends Forever (Burch and Lorcan vs. Authors of Pain (W))
Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan’s cute best friends hand gesture is everything to me. Both of them are such awesome wrestlers. I’ll tolerate still having no idea when the next Dusty Classic will be if it means we’ll get to see them continue to help fill out the NXT tag division. They’re facing off against bros and presumed best friends Akam and Rezar. They put on a good show before getting wrecked by the Last Chapter. I still love y’all.
Welcome to NXT, We Got Werewolves (Ember Moon (W) vs. Peyton Royce)
Ember Moon is so happy to have that belt, and I’m so happy she’s so happy. The NXT women’s champion is facing off against one half of the Iconic Duo, who both come out wearing shirts declaring their love for each other. I’m not kidding. Are they BFFs, Mauro? Are they BFFs? Are they BFFs? Mauro… Are they? Marriage equality passed in Australia.
Mysteries aside, this match is great, but there’s a weird lack of urgency that’s permeating the whole show this week. Cool things are happening in the ring, especially Peyton’s amazing rope-based submission move. But the results all feel weirdly perfunctory. About halfway through — the point at which Peyton loudly announces she hates Ember — things begin to pick up a little. Their mutual disdain for each other helps pump up the volume on the rest of the match, til Ember gets the pin with an Eclipse.
Billie Kay immediately seeks retribution, though, gathering a defeated Peyton up to launch an all-out assault on Ember Moon that continues til Nikki Cross decides she’s found her fight of the night. Ember winds up with the belt back in her hands. It’s pretty clear Nikki’s got her sights set on helping Sanity get a championship hat-trick.
Street Profits
Angelo Dawkins goes to fistbump a kid standing in line, and the kid sticks his fist in the air. Shoutout to that kid. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins are such charming and fun performers that you can’t help but buy into the Street Profits. Don’t sell out anytime soon, dudes.
I Got Somethin’ For You (Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black (W))
It’s a stiff kick to the face. Adam Cole and Aleister Black face off tonight in the next round of qualifiers for the number one contendership fatal four-way. Someone tries to get a good terminator beat going on the guardrail during Aleister’s entrance, but then everyone switches to singing along which honestly way cooler. Adam Cole doesn’t need Aleister Black to say his name because he’s got us all well-trained with the fingers in the air.
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If you don’t love watching Adam Cole get the daylights kicked out of him, what’s up with you? What a weaselly little pile of garbage, I say, as a person whose type is “weaselly piles of garbage.” Adam Cole gets in some good offense, but Black Mass ends the match, making Aleister Black the third man to join the fatal four-way match in Philadelphia.
That’s it for this week’s show. Did you dig it? Tune in next week for another rematch between Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. Feel free to follow me @ckayfabe on Twitter for more fun and exciting wrestling content, including live tweets of an upcoming NXT event and maybe even Ring of Honor’s Final Battle this Friday. Tune in next week for another edition of the Rogues Portal Wrestling NXT recap.
