NXT: Sanity and Undisputed era collide in the ATL
NICK TYLWALK - SLAM! Wrestling
NXT hasn't quite made its way home yet to Full Sail University. Tonight, the scene is the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, where the tag team titles will be on the line. Let's go live to the WWE Network and see what transpires.
Match 1 - Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly (champions) vs. Sanity (challengers) - NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Sanity isn’t even introduced before they come out of the shadows and assault the champs, and a flock of black-shirted security guards hits the ring to try and restore order, despite the fans chanting “let them fight.” William Regal comes to the stage and vows that this feud needs to end tonight. To that end, the main event will pit all of Undisputed Era vs. all of Sanity in a six-man tornado tag team match.The champs and Adam Cole seem a little more upset about that than Sanity, unless they’re still just ticked about getting jumped. As one would be.
Match 2 - Heavy Machinery vs. Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli
These two teams collided last month, with Moss and Sabbatelli using some underhanded tactics to steal a win. Moss ends up getting double teamed early and has to do a quick kickout. Then it’s Tucker Knight who falls victim to tandem offense, with the crowd giving it to Sabbatelli. But the match really picks up when Otis Dozovic tags in and hits the Caterpillar, and the ref sees Sabbatelli’s efforts to once again use the ropes to win the match. A moment later, Heavy Machinery uses an assisted powerslam called the Compactor to pin Sabbatelli.Things get even worse for Tino after that, as he extends a hand to his partner and sees Riddick just walk away from him.
For the first time since his loss to Aldrade Almas, Johnny Gargano addresses the NXT fans. Even though he said it sucked to lose at NXT TakeOver, he still feels good now because he knows he won the fans’ respect (like he didn’t have it already!). He’ll never forget that reaction, nor will he forget being turned on by Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano says he’s coming for his former partner, but his rant is interrupted by the arrival of Almas. The NXT Champion comes to the stage, gives Johnny Wrestling the thumbs down sign and slowly makes his way into the ring. Zelina Vega mocks Gargano for earning “respect,” opining that he didn’t prove anything except that he’s a loser. Johnny fires back that his second favorite part of TakeOver Philly was when his wife hopped over the barricade and beat the hell out of her. Candice LeRae makes another appearance to shove Vega down, and the heels retreat to the stage. When Vega expresses her frustration about their inability to get rid of Gargano, it leads to an interesting proposition: Almas will give Gargano one more title shot, but if Johnny Wrestling loses, he leaves NXT for good.
Shayna Baszler insists she’s still the most feared woman ever in NXT, but she doesn’t think she’s going to get a title rematch because Ember Moon is scared of her. She tells the gathered reporters to tell Moon she said that. Elsewhere backstage, Tyler Bate congratulates Roderick Strong (via an interviewer) on his chance to compete for the United Kingdom Championship, but also says he shouldn’t be counted out as he plans on doing great things in 2018.
Match 3 - Bianca Belair vs. Jessix Hill
The announcers put over Hill as a five-year veteran of the wrestling business, but this feels like tonight’s squash match. Sure enough, the Alley Oop sends Hill to defeat in about two minutes. Maybe less.
A short video package shows us some Kairi Sane highlights, and that’s never a bad thing.
Main Event - Sanity vs. Undisputed Era - Six-Man Tornado Tag Match
This one probably won’t be too difficult to recap, as it’s merely a big brawl taking place both inside and outside the ring. Sanity goes for foreign objects to do some damage, but O’Reilly hits a big running knee off the apron to smash Alexander Wolfe, who is sitting in a chair. As Cole and Eric Young fight to the back, Fish nearly gets a pin with a moonsault on Killian Dain. Fish gets a kendo stick but finds it’s of little use against Dain, and even fleeing to the stage seems in vain. Indeed Dain, whips him off the stage, and Fish hurtles down into all four of the other competitors. After a commercial break, Wolfe hits a sitout powerbomb on Cole, who is saved by one of his teammates. Dain breaks up a pinfall attempt on Wolfe, and all of a sudden the high impact moves and pinfall breakups are coming fast and furious. Another sequence of moves sees Dain send Cole off the apron to the floor, but he misses a rolling senton and sends himself through a table in the process. All three members of the Undisputed Era are in the ring against only Wolfe, but he gets the tag team champs to smash into each other and kicks Cole in the face -- only to get one right back. Young returns to the ring with a kendo stick, Cole hits him with a superkick, and the fans are on their feet. Somehow, Young kicks out of another high impact move, and Dain returns to the ring to take on all of Undisputed Era. He proves up to the challenge, dropping Cole and O’Reilly before pinning Fish with the Ulster Plantation. Chalk one up for the Beast of Belfast and Sanity as a whole, and Mauro Ranallo wonders when the group will get another tag team title opportunity. It’ll have to wait for another week, as we’re out of time. See you in seven.
Nick Tylwalk has been with SLAM! Wrestling since the dawn of time, or at least since before the turn of the century. He spends his days overseeing FanSided's Entertainment efforts, but he'll always make time to sneak away for some wrestling.