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This week's WWE NXT saw the final of the fourth ever Dusty Rhodes Classic between the Forgotten Sons and the tag team of Ricochet and Aleister Black. The episode saw a face-off between Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole in the lead up to their 2 out of 3 falls match for the NXT title.
Adam Cole started the episode; Cole won the fatal five-way match on the previous week's episode of NXT to challenge Gargano for the vacant title. If Cole is successful at Takeover: New York, he will be NXT's first Triple Crown champion as he was already the first NXT North American titleholder, as well as having held the NXT Tag Team titles as a part of Undisputed Era.
Johnny Gargano would join Adam Cole in the ring, at Cole's invitation. The crowd duelled chants of "Johnny Wrestling" and "Adam Cole", which went on for several minutes uninterrupted.
Cole would go against the crowd, saying he didn't need the crowd's support, while Johnny Gargano said that he loved the fan support. Cole took down Gargano, bringing up the fact that despite Gargano loving being called "Johnny Takeover", he hasn't had the greatest of records in NXT's event.
While Gargano spoke passionately about his struggle to get signed at NXT, and his struggle to get to the top of NXT. In comparison to Adam Cole, who debuted at Takeover: Brooklyn the previous year and was signed as a big scoop. As Cole walked back up the ramp, he stopped to deliver a final message, basically promising Gargano that he wouldn't be coming to Takeover: Brooklyn alone. As he said this Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong came from behind the curtain to stand at the top of the ramp.
The first in-ring action of the episode saw Aliyah and Vanessa Bourne face off against Lacey Lane and Kacy Catanzaro. Catanzaro came into the WWE with huge fanfare having dominated previously on American Ninja Warrior, and has been featured predominantly appearing at the Royal Rumble and in several videos on WWE Performance Centre's youtube channel following her relationship with fellow NXT Superstar Ricochet. Lacey Lane started in the ring with Vanessa Bourne. Lacey showed that Kacy was not the only athletic member of her tag team.
The match was going well but they would be joined by the team of Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir, and the NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler. Baszler locked Catanzaro in the Kirafuda Clutch, but the smaller superstar flipped her way out of Shayna's clutches. She almost seemed like she was going to get out safely before Baszler caught her again and knocked her out. Baszler would have words with NXT Commentator Percy Watson on her way out and demanded respect as the champion.
The next match of the night saw Matt Riddle warming up for his North American title match at Takeover: Brooklyn, with a match against Kona Reeves. The Self-Proclaimed "Finest" Wrestler hasn't been seen in the ring for action for quite some time. Riddle gained the advantage, hitting Reeves with a Deadlift Gutwrench Suplex. Riddle was then distracted as his Takeover: Brooklyn opponent, the Velveteen Dream, was pushed on to the top of the ramp while his music played.
The distraction allowed for Reeves to gain the advantage, hitting Riddle with a Back Suplex. Riddle fought back and would lock Reeves in the Bro-mission. Reeves would quickly tap out giving Matt Riddle the submission victory. Riddle would then make his way to the top of the ramp and confronted the Velveteen Dream, promising the Dream that he would see him in New York.
The main event of the evening was the final of the Dusty Rhodes Classic between Black and Ricochet against the Forgotten Sons team of Wesley Blake and Steven Cutler. The Forgotten Sons spent much time on the outside of the ring, often trying to regroup and escape from Ricochet and Aleister Black. The Forgotten Sons would eventually gain the upper hand and isolate Ricochet in the ring, as well as targetting the high flyers lower back. Black and Ricochet almost had the win after the duo hit a Face Buster and Big Boot, only for Cutler to push Ricochet onto Aleister.
Later in the fight, the Forgotten Son's enforcer Jaxson Ryker would push Black's foot off the rope during a pin attempt. The referee saw this and would send Ryker away from ringside, much to the chagrin of the Forgotten Sons. Black would then slip out of Blake's attempt to hit him with a Razor's Edge. Black would then hit Blake with a Black Mass and Ricochet would follow it up with a 630 Senton for the win. Ricochet and Black were presented with the Dusty Rhodes Classic trophy and will face War Raiders at Takeover: Brooklyn for the NXT Tag Team titles.
#3 The Forgotten Sons
The Forgotten Sons have unfortunately been absent most weeks from NXT, but they received a giant push during the Dusty Rhodes Classic, getting victories over the Street Profits and Moustache Mountain on their way to the final. The wins and even this week's match against Ricochet and Aleister Black showed how much talent the team has to offer. Given the vacuum of tag teams that NXT has seen of late, Forgotten Sons are certainly one that can fill the void.
The final of the Forgotten Sons was a true opportunity for them to position themselves higher up the order against a team that is seen as being a class above. The Forgotten Sons matched Ricochet and Black for the majority of the match. At certain points throughout the contest, they could even have realistically won it, especially when the team targetted Ricochet's back with a series of Back Breakers and the interference by their enforcer Jaxson Ryker.
However, once Ryker was removed from ringside the writing was on the wall as they succumbed to the combination of a Black Mass and 630 Senton from Aleister Black and Ricochet respectively.
#2 Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle has put on great matches since signing to NXT last year, and this week's victory over Kona Reeves was another one. While the match looked like it was going to be straight-forward for the King of Bros, the Velveteen Dream's music hit mid-fight and the current North American champion was wheeled out to the top of the ramp on a sofa.
While Matt Riddle bullied the taller Reeves, who once again displayed a few in-ring issues, for almost the entirety of the fight. Reeves did gain the upper hand after Riddle was distracted by his Takeover: Brooklyn opponent's appearance, but was not able to solidify it into anything more significant than a few pinfall attempts.
Riddle would regain the momentum after the distraction, and locked Reeves in the Bro-Mission for the victory. While Riddle has looked a legitimate threat, this was the first time that Riddle seemed to be vicious and malicious at the end of the match, seemingly sending a point with the Velveteen Dream watching on.
The post-match confrontation between Riddle and Velveteen Dream at the top of the ramp was another good step in the build to their match at Takeover.
#1 Ricochet and Aleister Black
Ricochet and Aleister Black have become the Finn Balor and Samoa Joe of this year's Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament, and much like Balor and Joe, Black and Ricochet have won the tournament over more established tag teams. Ricochet did most of the heavy lifting in this match, as the Forgotten Sons isolated the high flyer and performed a series of Back Breakers on him.
While Ricochet controlled the skies for the team and took most of the Forgotten Sons offense, Aleister Black brought the team back into the fight with his striking and his own high flying ability. Black would hit his Springboard Moonsault and Meteora on both members of the Forgotten Sons at different points in the match, both of them landing perfectly.
At the end, Black and Ricochet finished the fight off with Black hit a Black Mass and Ricochet coming in with the 630 Senton as the exclamation point to win the match as they were crowned the winners of the fourth Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, joining the likes of Balor and Samoa Joe, the Authors of Pain, and the Undisputed Era.
The victory also sets up a shot for the NXT Tag Team Titles at Takeover: Brooklyn which gets both Black and Ricochet on the card with them otherwise not written into feuds outside the tournament. However, as good as the pairing has been for both performers, there is a hope that the partnership doesn't go on for too much longer and both can go back to being singles competitors again.
