PWP Nation contributor Doug Turrington details three things we learned from the March 27, 2019 episode of NXT
With the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals and a face-to-face encounter with Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole announced for the black and yellow brand, it promised to be another great episode of NXT.
With less than two weeks until NXT’s crown jewel, NXT: Takeover New York, what did we learn?
#3 – “Johnny Wrestling” is back
After gaining the upper hand against Tomasso Ciampa following their loss in the Dusty Classic, it finally looked like “Johnny Wrestling” was back. After his pre-Takeover promo with Adam Cole, it’s undisputed. (Sorry, Adam.)
The promo started with dueling “Johnny Wrestling” and “Adam Cole” chants, but halfway through Johnny’s fiery promo (reliving his journey through NXT) the chants went from 50/50 to 90/10. Usually, when that many people are playing along at Full Sail, you’re doing something right.
#2 Kacy Catanzaro has a great oppurtunity in front of her
Kacy Catanzaro already has a following from her days as an American Ninja Warrior, and she continues to be one half of NXT’s current cutest couple with her boyfriend, Ricochet. However, her unique abilities, size, crossover appeal and organic backstory could develop into a massive babyface role, long term. She has the athletic abilities of agile, high fliers like Rey Mysterio, the daredevil attitude like Jeff Hardy and that instant likeability factor like Candice LeRae. It’s a rare mix.
It wouldn’t necessarily make sense to strap a rocket to her, but rather let her slowly gain that Kofi Kingston/Becky Lynch/Daniel Bryan long-term appreciation. She’ll continue to get better and continue to develop her character. She can’t be too vanilla character-wise, but she doesn’t need to be given some random gimmick either. It’ll take time, but in 4-5 years, she could be one of the top babyfaces in the women’s division.
#1 Ricochet and Aleister Black will face the War Raiders at TakeOver
After a slobber-knocker of a match with The Forgotten Sons, Aleister Black and Ricochet are your new Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners. The unlikely pairing really has come into their own as a team and complement each other well. Both have such a deep arsenal of offense that it always seems like another impressive move is around the corner.
The War Raiders will be a big test, though. The colossal tag team hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with their run to this point, so it would seem a little premature to have them drop the titles to the guys who are primarily single’s wrestlers. This should be another notch in the belt of the War Raiders establishing themselves as an unstoppable duo. NXT doesn’t tip their hand too much with heel turns, so there isn’t much evidence that it will happen, but will we see Black possibly go heel? It seems more likely we’ll see Ricochet and Black part ways cordially, but you never know.
NXT is set to have an electric Takeover event next Saturday, and after last night’s show, it continues to look even better.
Follow me on Twitter: @DougTurrington
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