Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight vs Austin Aries and Roderick Strong
Roderick Strong made his NXT debut as Austin Aries’ mystery partner. The crowd went nuts for Strong as Aries and Dozovic started us off. Aries started the match with a cheap shot to the gut before going for a crossbody but Dozovic caught him in mid-air. He then tagged in Knight as the duo literally squashed Austin Aries who crawled to his corner and tagged in Roderick Strong as the crowd broke into chants of “Roddy”.
Tucker Knight didn’t look impressed with his much smaller opponent and invited him to hit him. The duo chopped each other before the 300-pound-plus Tucker Knight hit him with a dropkick.
Dozovic and Knight looked impressive and hit both Aries and Strong with double-team moves before Aries distracted Dozovic so that Strong could regain the advantage, He tagged in Aries who slapped the big man in the face followed by punches and knees. Strong got tagged back in once again and tried to go for a sunset flip pin but Dozovic blocked and Strong tagged Aries back in. They tried to hot Dozovic with a vertical suplex but he countered and hit a double vertical suplex and he tagged in Knight who hit both Strong and Aries with a double corner splash. Knight went for one too many and got hit as Aries and Strong took advantage.
Strong hit him with a running knee before Aries hit him with a forearm. Strong followed this up with a modified gut-check followed by a boot to the face. Strong went for the pin and Knight couldn’t kick out. Great debut from Roderick Strong.
Austin Aries and Roderick Strong def. Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight
We see footage of Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas turning on his tag-team partner Cedric Alexander next. This is followed by an interview with Almas with Andrea d’Marco translating.
Almas says that he had to take off his mask to be a part of NXT but the respect he showed to NXT and his sacrifice never got reciprocated. He says that he’s worked his entire life to earn respect but he’s received nothing during his time in NXT. Almas ends by saying that he only cares about himself now.
Good segment and it’s clear that a heel turn was good for Almas. His babyface debut run has been a complete flop but he’s way too talented to not get a second chance.
