NXT TV 3/7/2018

This week on NXT, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic begins. Tommaso Ciampa makes an appearance. Aleister Black battles Killian Dain in the main event.

NXT TV
Date: 3/7/2018
From: Atlanta, GA

Opening Contest: Authors of Pain (Akem & Rezar) vs. TM61 (Shane Thorne & Nick Miller) in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Match: Thorne and Rezar kickoff the match with Rezar working over Thorne and tagging in Akem to drop Thorne gut first down to the mat. Thorne and Miller hammer away on Akem hitting a side Russian leg sweep following a standing moonsault/fist drop combo. Thorne takes AOP out with a twisting dive over the top to the floor. Miller gets a one count on Akem. Akem drives Miller into the corner with a powerslam and Rezar tags in to pummel Miller with right hands. We go to commercial.

Rezar continues to beat on Miller with right hands and tags in Akem to hit a middle rope knee strike and a side slam combo for a two count. Akem continues to work over Miller with strikes to keep him on the mat. Akem has control of Miller on the mat with a cobra clutch. Miller fights out of the hold driving Akem into the corner and plants Akem with a DDT. Thorne and Rezar get the hot tags with Thorne hitting a clothesline and dropkick. Thorne hits a leg lariat in the corner followed by a cannonball splash. Miller hits a sit out vertical suplex but can’t get a three count on the pin attempt. Rezar nails Thorne with a superkick. Akem gets tagged in and they hit a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo but Miller breaks up the pin attempt. AOP get send to the floor as Thorne hit a side suplex. Miller hits a top rope moonsault but isn’t able to get a three count on the cover. Thorne is powerbombed onto the apron. Miller is met with a side Russian leg sweep/clothesline and that’s it. (***. A good tag match as both teams looked pretty good in there. I want to see more of TM61 and I think I could get behind them if they were to be pushed. They are a quality tag team. The powerbomb to the apron was a great spot.)

Backstage, UK Champion Pete Dunne talks to the media after William Regal who was talking to the media about the Dusty Classic. Dunne says that the title will be staying in the UK with him. Roderick Strong enters the scene and tells Dunne he was the better man when they met but they want to meet again. Undisputed Era insult Strong, but Dunne notes that Adam Cole hasn’t won anything. This should lead to a tag match or something, I’m sure.

We hear from Sanity who promote their role in the Dusty Classic Tournament. They are prepared to cause chaos.

Second Contest: Drew Renee vs. Bianca Belair: This goes less than a minute and Belair wins, which is the expected result. She wins with the fallaway powerbomb.

Lacey Evans talks about fighting Dakota Kai next week and she’ll prove she’s the most dominant woman. Shayna Baszler shares some thoughts saying that Ember Moon is afraid of her and not a fighting champion.

Tommaso Ciampa comes out for a promo but the crowd is really chanting for Johnny Gargano so much so that Ciampa isn’t able to say anything. Ciampa ends up leaving the ring and takes a few Gargano signs from the crowd and rips them apart. He also hits the signs with his crutch. The crowd doesn’t stop chanting for Gargano, though.

Main Event: Aleister Black vs. Killian Dain: Dain starts the match with a dropkick sending Black hard into the corner for a near fall in the opening moments of the contest. Dain sends Black into the corner and follows up with a splash. Black avoids another splash and kicks Dain a few times. Black kicks Dain sending him to the floor. Black hits a springboard moonsault to the floor as we go to commercial.

Black continues to beat on Dain with right hands until Dain comes out of the corner with a crossbody for a near fall. Dain continues to beat on Black with stomps in the corner. Dain forearms Black knocking him against the ropes. Dain keeps Black on the mat with an abdominal stretch. Dain knee lifts Black followed by a slam and a big splash for a two count. Dain delivers another splash for a two count. Dain splashes Black’s back for yet another near fall. Dain knee lifts Black against the ropes but Black avoids a suplex. Black ducks wild strikes and kicks Dain a few times. Black forearms Dain and trips Dain followed by a dropkick. Black hits a springboard moonsault for a two count. Dain tosses Black to the apron but Black fights back with a strike and leaps off the top only to be met with a clothesline in midair for a near fall. They begin to trade strikes until Black delivers a kick. Dain catches Black with a spinebuster. Dain slams Black and follows with a senton splash. Dain comes off the middle rope with a splash but Black kicks out. Black counters an electric chair slam and ends up hitting Black Mass for the win. (*1/2. I didn’t really enjoy the match and the fans didn’t seem to care much for it. I kind of figured this would be more of a brawl of a match, and instead I saw a match that didn’t seem to fit the angle. The match didn’t really make me want to see Black challenge Almas for the title now.)

Final Thoughts:
A fine episode for NXT as we had a good tag match and the segment with Ciampa was nicely done as he didn’t even say a word and carried the whole segment. I feel like that’s a rare thing to do. NXT continues to be the easiest TV show to watch under the WWE umbrella.

Thanks for reading.