Another fantastic video package to open the show: the War Raiders introduce the names of the 4 remaining teams in the Dusty Classic, interspersed with clips of how those teams won last week. War Raiders conclude by saying none of those teams are ready for war.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final Matchup: Moustache Mountain vs. Forgotten Sons

Highlights include:

Cutler and Bate start this match off. Plenty of striking between the two until Blake’s tagged in. He hits a neckbreaker for a 2 count.

Cobra clutch wears Bate down in the middle of the ring, but Bate flips out of a suplex attempt, rolls and tags in Seven. Seven handles himself well. Chops on both Cutler & Blake. DDT on Cutler. Blake surprises him but he’s countered by Seven for a powerslam and 2 count.

Hidden tag on the apron. Cutler chopblocks Seven, attacking a weak point for him, and he continues to focus on hurting that left knee of Seven.

Spinning toe holds by Blake now. Seven yells out in pain on multiple occasions. He and Blake reverse a figure-four back and forth, until Blake gets the rope break.
Double clothesline! This leads to the hot tag for both teams. Bate with a big back body drop, followed by a dropkick. Fireman’s carry and airplane spin on Cutler. Blake jumps on from the top rope and Bate’s spinning BOTH MEN!

Bate misses the shooting star press from the apron, but nips up for an exploder suplex and a shooting star press on Blake. He rolls Blake into the ring for a corkscrew senton! 1-2- count’s interrupted by Cutler.

Tag to Seven. Combo right hand dragon suplex! Ryker pulls Blake’s leg for a rope break. Splash to the outside on Cutler & Blake by Bate.

Moustache Mountain are thwarted from a double team finisher. Bate and Seven both get distracted by Ryker in separate moments. Blake intercepts Seven’s through the ropes splash, kneeing Seven in the head. Inverted DDT/Stomp by Forgotten Sons and that gets them the win.

Winners: Forgotten Sons via pinfall in 9 minutes

1 cool point for both teams. Forgotten Sons played their game plan perfectly. Ryker seemed like an afterthought until the very end of the match where his distraction techniques were timed perfectly to throw Bate and Seven from getting the win.

Always enjoy seeing how strong Bate is in the ring, lifting two men and spinning them is no easy feat. A tournament like this benefits teams who wouldn’t otherwise get the shine in a championship feud or storyline, and Forgotten Sons are going to be a great foil for whomever comes out of the other bracket.

Cathy Kelley interviews Matt Riddle backstage about his encounter with nXt North American Champion Velveteen Dream last week. He’s interrupted by Adam Cole who says, sooner rather than later, that title will be wrapped around HIS waist.
Riddle says Cole is good, but why don’t they meet in the ring…bro?

#2- nXt Women’s Championship #1 Contenders Match: Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai

nXt Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler comes out and she’ll be on commentary for this match.

Highlights include:

Baszler insists it doesn’t matter who wins, the result will be the same.

Nifty tumbling sequence from both women ends with a dropkick by Shirai, sending Belair sprawling to the ramp. Crowd loves it.

Belair catches Shirai by the legs on the outside, lifts Shirai up and over her shoulders, face-first into the steel steps. This eventually leads to a 2 count.
Standing moonsault by Belair for another 2 count.

Springboard dropkick by Shirai where she actually held her footing on the top rope for a few moments. Excellent strength there.
Belair whips Shirai in the back with her lengthy braid, which prompts boos from the crowd.

Up on the top rope, beauty Frankensteiner by Shirai on Belair. Moonsault attempt runs into the double knees of Belair. Nasty spear and both women are out on the mat.
This prompts the champ to come down to the ring. Baszler pulls Shirai to the floor and then tries to cinch in the Kirifuda clutch on Belair.

Kairi Sane rushes down from the entrance ramp and she also gets stuck in the Kirifuda clutch. Baszler puts Sane to sleep and then Shirai unloads on her with punches. She throws the champ to the outside and checks on Sane.

Baszler rushes in and taps Shirai out as well. The referee pleads with Baszler to stop, but she keeps it locked in until Shirai is unconscious.

Winner: No Contest in 7 minutes

1 cool point for Shirai for her moveset, and not for that mistake of turning her back on Baszler to tend to Sane. 1 cool point for Baszler to effectively eliminate her competition. Seeing the devastation around Baszler at the end of that match gives a clear cue that there’s a fatal four-way on the horizon.

Again, highlights from the Keith Lee/Dominik Dijakovic match, two weeks ago, are shown. Dijakovic’s interruption of Lee and Performance Center trainees, from last week, is also shown, with a reminder that they will wrestle next week.

Cathy Kelley catches up with Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler backstage. Baszler says no one is ready to compete with her. Kelley has word from nXt General Manager William Regal that she will face Shirai, Belair and Sane at Takeover: Brooklyn. Baszler’s not impressed.

Main Event- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final Matchup: #DIY vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black

Highlights include:
#DIY is in matching ring attire tonight.

nXt Champion Tommaso Ciampa and Black are first in the ring this evening. Not much of note transpires and Ricochet and Gargano are brought in. Ricochet shows off his athleticism, flipping out of a head-scissors and rolling and tumbling his way into a dropkick on Gargano. He even springboard dropkicks Ciampa.

Black and Ricochet both do the cross-legged sitdown in the centre of the ring as they watch #DIY, on the outside, regrouping.

Quick tags by Ciampa and Gargano, isolating Ricochet in their home corner. Neckbreakers on repeat. Ciampa mocks Black with a cross-legged sitdown.

Strong side headlock by Ciampa, following continued beatings from Gargano. Ricochet reaches for the tag but is inches away from Black’s outstretched hand. Boots to the face by Ciampa and Gargano on Ricochet.

Running knee strike by Ciampa for a 2 count.

Ricochet defends himself and successfully tags in Black, who begins bulldozing Gargano with clotheslines, kicks and knees. Springboard splash on both guys by Black.
Knee in mid-air by Black, as Gargano flew from the apron.

Black deadlifts Gargano. Standing switch. Tag to Ciampa. Black rushes in and gets booted in the face. This sets up a potential double kick, but Ricochet pulls Gargano to the floor.

Tower of London on the apron by Ciampa on Black! Slingshot DDT by Gargano! 1-2- noooo! Black kicks out. Gargano latches on to Black, spins around and locks in the Garga-No Escape. Ricochet tries to break that submission, but Ciampa intercepts him and applies his own neck submission.

Ricochet lifts Ciampa on his shoulders and drives him into the other 2 guys, breaking the submission hold! “nXt” chants arise from that giant effort.

Gargano’s knee appears injured and he’s sitting at ringside. Ciampa checks on him, re-enters the ring and Ricochet tags in.
Haymaker right hand by Ciampa, quickly followed by a loud knee strike. Ricochet with a rainbow kick on Ciampa in reply!

The match slows right down. Gargano tries to stand but can’t, so it’s on Ciampa to go it alone. Black tags in. BLACK MASS! He tags in Ricochet. 630 SPLASH! 1-2-3!

Winners: Ricochet & Aleister Black via pinfall in 13 minutes

Post-match, Candice LeRae runs down to ringside to tend to her husband. Ciampa also goes over to Gargano and they help Gargano up to his feet. Gargano hobbles up to the entranceway, but falls down. Ciampa helps him up and then tries to throw Gargano into the big screen.

Gargano stops him, smiles and then throws Ciampa. Superkick to Ciampa on the stage. LeRae is happy. So are the fans as the show ends.

2 cool points for Black and Ricochet. It’s odd seeing Black so fired up, but given recent events in the WWE Universe, I suppose #DIY has brought out that aspect of his personality. This might be as good as it gets for vengeance, spoiling the #DIY reunion tour and keeping he and Ricochet on track for a potential Dusty Classic win. Great seeing the two of them building chemistry, and man, oh man, Ricochet continues to impress with his seemingly effortless flips, twists and rolls.

Peace!

Follow @JCoolLOP

Catch up on nXt results: nXt Results- March 6, 2019 (Dusty Classic First Round Matches)

nXt Results- February 27, 2019

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