We recently reported how this week is a historic one for women's wrestling. Not only did the women main event Raw, in the first ever Women’s Gauntlet match, the women of SmackDown Live made history as they crowned the first undisputed Miss Money in the Bank in the main event segment too.
Good things always come in threes, and Asuka took on Nikki Cross in the first ever Last Woman Standing match in history, in the main event segment of this week’s episode of NXT. What a battle it was. Let’s discuss the match, and much more in our weekly dose of ‘5 points to note’ from NXT!
#5 Three title matches in three weeks!
Gone are the days when title matches would be reserved exclusively for NXT Takeover Specials, with the odd title match taking place in the weekly television show. NXT realises that the brand does not have the same star power that it once did, and therefore, has blessed us with three title matches over the next three weeks.
While it is unlikely that we will see even one title change on television (no, we’ve not read the spoilers yet), it just makes the episodes feel far more important. We were blown away by just how physical the match between Nikki Cross and Asuka was this week, we’re intrigued to see how the personal rivalry between Bobby Roode and Roderick Strong plays out in the coming weeks and we learned this week that Heavy Machinery will square off against The Authors of Pain, in two weeks.
This is a great way to make the television show feel special, and we applaud NXT for taking this bold step.
#4 An uneasy alliance for a common goal
We’ve sensed tension between Hideo Itami and Kassius Ohno of late, with the former’s recent change in attitude. This week, in a rather controversial match that began with Oney Lorcan bloodying Itami’s nose causing the other to take a ‘time-out’, and ended with Lorcan asking for some ‘time-out’ and yet having to eat a GTS and subsequently, a pin thanks to Itami; the Japanese legend came out looking heelish once again.
Hideo Itami summoned Ohno out at the conclusion of his match, and as the two men squared off, they were jumped by Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain of SAnitY.
The heart of the matter is that WWE could be using the tension between the two men to create a long-term tag team unit, with the same initial uneasy dynamic between Cesaro and Sheamus. Both men are away from the title picture for the time being at least, and this could be a great way to bolster the slightly understaffed tag team division again.
We will see these two men team up to take on SAnitY very soon, and that should shed more light on this matter.
#3 A crazy confrontation before the match
We saw Asuka being interviewed as she arrived at Full Sail University when she noticed her opponent Nikki Cross on the windshield of her car. Asuka watched in shock as security dragged the crazed member of SAnitY away from her, snarling and spewing venom as she was restrained.
The mind games began much before the match did, and added a deranged quality to the actual contest. It is easier to buy into the idea of Cross as a lunatic, as opposed to say, Dean Ambrose, because of her histrionics and her unpredictable ways.
We also liked how she was a part of the Itami-Ohno segment before Wolfe and Dain rushed the two men from behind.
#2 The new voice of the yellow brand
Much of the sports entertainment fraternity was up in arms, as Mauro Ranallo relinquished his position as the voice of SmackDown Live not very long ago, allegedly because of tensions with fellow announcer, JBL.
Ranallo walked away from his dream job to greater glory, and he will be calling the legendary McGregor vs. Mayweather fight in due time. Triple H recently announced that Ranallo would replace Tom Phillips as the voice of NXT, and boy, are we glad to see him back where he belongs.
NXT may be a better fit for Ranallo considering that he’ll be far away from JBL and the style of wrestling is far better suited for his flamboyant style of calling matches. Mamma mia, Mr Ranallo!
#1 Two women made sports entertainment history
Asuka and Nikki Cross knew that they had a chance to create history, and both women stepped up and delivered! This was a physical match with chairs, trash cans, a mindblowing powerbomb on a pile of steel chairs and a brutal table spot.
At the end of the contest, Nikki Cross, defeated, smiled from the corner of her mouth, knowing that she had created history with the undefeated NXT women's champion. We salute both women and thank our stars to be wrestling fans at a time like this, when fantastic matches like these happen on the weekly NXT show, almost on a weekly basis.
A small step for NXT maybe, but this was a giant leap for women’s wrestling.
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