The last month on NXT...
272 Review // saNItY vs. The Authors of Pain
273 Review // Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole
274 Review // Andrade Almas lays out Drew McIntyre in the middle of the ring
Takeover: WarGames Review // The Undisputed Era vs. saNIty vs. Roderick Strong & The Authors of Pain
275 Review // Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Gargano
On 30th November 2017, WWE aired its 276th episode of NXT, taped at the Aztec Theatre in San Antonio, TX on 17th November. Our main event saw the United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne reforming Flips and Forearms with long-time rival/frenemy Mark Andrews again the team of Tyler Bate and Trent Seven or as we know them, Moustache Mountain. The card also featured Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane taking on The half of the Iconic Duo she hasn't beaten, Peyton Royce & a rematch between Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) and Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss. But was it any good?
Street Profits def. Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli // Pinfall
It was only at NXT 274 that we last saw these two teams and much like that match, it's Dawkins and Moss who start, they lock-up to begin as Dawkins powers Moss to the corner, clean break but Moss slaps Dawkins who pushes Moss out of the ring, it's at this point I need to point out how bad Moss' facial hair is but if we take continuity, it's impressive that he grew it in two weeks, waistlock takedown by Moss but Dawkins responds with two of his own, one more time chants lead to another waistlock takedown, whip and a shoulder barge into a bodyslam from Moss but Dawkins follows with one of each for the goateed dickhead, tag to Ford and Dawkins uses a back body drop to allow Ford to hit an elevated spinning splash but a leapfrog and a slam from Sabbatelli takes him down, I guess Sab is tagged in now, they run the ropes and Ford hits a double dropkick before Moss and Dawkins are back in allowing the Profits to hit a double flapjack sending Moss out of the ring while the audience adore the Profits, giving us a convenient time to go to some ads, back from the break and Ford is about to do a springboard when Sab elbows him off the apron, rolling Ford back in, Sab keeps him grounded and indeed, pounded, whip to the corner and in comes Moss as the former American Footballers hit tandem strikes and flying forearms, Moss taunts Ford by grinding above him, he tries to get up but just gets punched, Moss taunts Dawkins by doing the pudding-stir thing, Ford is back up and tries to escape, hitting some nice slaps but Moss levels him with a running back elbow for a 2, Moss keeps Ford down till he goes for a charge, Ford dodges, using the opening to hit a hot tag to Dawkins as Moss tags in Sab, Dawkins brings the swag like nobody can hitting forearms, dropkicks and a bulldog to Sab, spinning stinger splashes to both men, Sab hits a back elbow and rushes straight into a mega punch from Dawkins for a pin but Moss breakes it up and knocks Ford off the apron, Dawkins fights off both men, throwing Moss out and rolls up Sab for a 2, a quick elbow by Moss staggers Dawkins allowing Sab to pin him as Moss holds down the feet from outside but Drake Wuertz notices and disallows the pin, Ford takes out Moss outside, heads back in, Dawkins tags in Ford and they hit the Spinebuster-Frog Splash combo for the pin .
Street Profits continue to impress with their ability to get the crowd behind them and Ford, if handled right, could be a mega-star in waiting. This as tag matches go, was as standard as they get, not really seeming all that different from the last time the two teams faced each other. It might be that I'm still struggling to be impressed by the heel team but this is a feud that has managed to only really successfully put the winners any higher in my rankings. Let's hope as a rivalry, this is either going to kick up a notch or move on.
Moustache Mountain are backstage being interviewed about their match later with Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews, Trent talks about how just a few weeks ago Peter had a chance to save Wolfgang from the Undisputed Era but just took his title and did one, it didn't sit well with them and they want to teach him a lesson, in regards to Mandrews, well, they aren't even a real tag-team but Moustache Mountain are.
Mandrews is asked why he's teaming with Peter, it's because if they win, he gets a title match. Simple as.
There's a Lars Sullivan hype-up package. He sure is a big lad.
Kairi Sane def. Peyton Royce // Pinfall
The Duo are in matching I Heart Billie/Peyton vests, they're adorable, bit of tussling into a straight forearm from Royce to start and a whip into a hip toss, Royce goes for another but Sane transitions into a wheelbarrow roll-up by Sane for a 1.5, they run the ropes as Sane catches Royce with a headscissors and a dropkick for a 2, a spinning heel kick by Royce gets a 2 but a roll-up by Sane also gets a 2, Royce beats down Sane, leaving her lying on the floor into the ad-break, back from the break and Royce has Sane's head on lock, Sane powers to her feet and rolls up Royce for a 2, Royce puts her down with a kick, she whips Sane to the corner but Sane dodges, hits a gutpunch and a spear , gutpunch and a spear, she follow with forearms and a running blobkbuster sending Royce to the corner for the baseball sliding elbow, goes up top, possibly for a standing elbow drop but Royce dodges and hits a knee strike for a 2, she tries to follow with kicks but Sane catches and lays into Royce with axe kicks, stomps and rolling forearm, Kay is up on the apron but Sane knocks her down and hits the (*sigh*) Insane Elbow for the pin.
Yeah, sure, it's another win. Sane, while hyped up as an insane talent from Japan has been having to work too much of the standard from-below babyface match and has yet to be given a real chance to impress with much of her offence in this match being leverage pin attempts. I wanted to like this a lot more, especially because The Iconic Duo's heel act is superb when on form but this didn't utilise their strengths enough and while it gives another win to Sane, didn't really improve anyone's standings.
Next Week: Ruby Riot v Sonia Deville: No Holds Barred & Andrade Almas has a Championship Celebration.
Tyler Bate & Trent Seven def. Pete Dunne & Mark Andrews // Pinfall
This is surprisingly a first-time recorded match between these four, though F&F have taken on Bate along with fellow UKCT competitor Dan Moloney under their Young Wolves guise in Southside Wrestling previously. Dunne and Bate start and they lock up, Dunne powers to a front chancery, Bate tries to escape but Dunne rolls with, Bate escapes and gets a lateral press for a 1, they break with begrudging respect, Dunne backs off going for a tag to Mandrews but uses it as a fakeout to punch Bate's lights out, like a prick, actual tag to Mandrews who goes for a craat hold, roll through snapmare into flips, yet more flips and a dropkick by Bate, Euro uppercuts force Mandrews to the Mountain's corner to give Trent a tag, fireman carry slam sets up Bate for a shoulder lift reverse meteora and a senton from Trent for a 2, he whips Mandrews to the corner but Mandrews flips away hitting a dropkick for a 2 and immediately going for an armbar, tag to Trent who goes for the fingers in a manner much like a prick, Trent escapes with some of the best chops in the game, he goes for another big chp but as Dunne blocks, he uses the fake-out into a DDT for a 2, Dunne is back up and Trent walks into a back elbow for a 2, tag to Mandrews who comes in but the ref didn't see it and sends Mandrews back, DUnne uses the distraction to hit a thunderous forearm on Trent into the ad-break, back from the break and Dunne is doing what Dunne does and wrenching the fingers, tag to Mandrews and an arm-trap legdrop earns the Welsh high-flyer a 2, back into the transitional armbar and Mandrews powers Trent to the corner but Trent forearms Mandrews away, Dunne tries to tag but Trent blocks him, Mandrews runs back for a monkey flip but Trent catches him, blind tag by Dunne and he hits a backstabber on Trent into an unintentional diving double knees combo, some painful joint manipulation as Dunne kicks at the shoulder joint, tag from Mandrews who takes over on the shoulder, slapping tag from Dunne who tells Mandrews to fuck off out his ring and keeps kicking Seven's shoulder but Wolverhampton's finest powers out and hits a Seven Star Lariat giving him the opening to tag in Bate, who grapples Dunne in the corner with his feet and hits a knee, second-rope diving uppercut and a running corner uppercut, a whip by Dunne sends Bate to the corner, he runs at him but is caught into a delayed exploder suplex and a standing SSP for a 2, picking up Dunne, he goes for a Tyler Driver but Dunne escaps and tags Mandrews who kicks Bate on the apron, flips over him, grabs him into a wheelbarrow roll-up double stomp and a standing corkscrew moonsault for a 2, rushing Bate in the corner he hits another grappling knee before climbing up but Mandrews hits an enziguri before going up top, setting up for a rana but Dunne tags from behind, throw him he says, 'k' says Mandrews as they hit a frankensteiner-tiger driver combo for a 2, Dunne slaps and kicks Bte on the floor till he's picked up and Bate introduces Dunne to Bop-BANG allowing for a tag to Seven for a snap dragon suplex, tag to Bate and they hit a STO-powerbomb combo, Bate gets a jacknife cover but Mandrews breaks it up, Trent goes for a slap but Dunne catches it and throws it at Bate with a slap of his own before hitting a step-up enziguri on Trent but Bate hits Dunne with a rolling kick, Dunne crawls to the tag, Bate tries to stop him getting him in a deadlift, Dunne gets the tag but not before Bate Germans him, Mandrews hits a moonsault for a 2, back up top and he goes for an SSP but Bate dodges as Mandrews lands on his feet running into a long-ass aeroplane swing from Bate, Dunne tags in, rolls up a dizzy Bate for a 2, forearms Bate into the ropes but Bate hits a shoulder rebound forearm and a Tyler Driver '97 for the pinfall.
This could not have really been more fun, there can be gripes about this, namely it could have done with more Trent Seven, it had a lot of Trent Seven but you can never have enough Trent. For the second week in a row, they've let Pete Dunne take the main event and the UK talent has been really excelling with every opportunity they've been given creating a fast-paced, exciting tag match and the storytelling, especially between Dunne and Mandrews was superb with Mandrews trying to win because he wants his title shot but not wanting to go full-heel because, well, he's not there yet. While presumably with a win here and no televised rematch yet, we have to assume there's a Dunne-Bate singles match on the horizon, I'm going to keep saying it, NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, can we please have Dunne v Seven v Bate v Mandrews? Please?
Post-match, Mandrews goes to help Dunne up post-match but Dunne rushes him with a forearm to the back of the head and sulks out like a prick but he's back in and hits a Bitter End before posing with his title, like a prick.
On The YouTubes
Finally...
A mixed bag this week as the first two matches ranged moment-to-moment from serviceable-to-disappointing but that main event was so much damn fun. At this point, I don't know why they don't just go all out and make a weekly show. I know it's because money but still. This was nicely stitched together, taking some house show matches and using them to create space until NXT proper returns next week. Do seek out that main event but maybe skip straight to it.
Review by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)
