3/21/18 WWE NXT Coverage

Mar 21, 2018 - by Michael Riba

The opening credits rolls and then we head into the NXT Arena in Winter Park, Florida, where Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson welcome us to the show. We see that Adam Cole and Kassius Ohno will go one-on-one later tonight.

Tommaso Ciampa makes his way to the ring. The crowd chants “Johnny Wrestling” over and over. Ciampa finally speaks and says that Gargano is gone and is not walking down the aisle. Ciampa throws down the mic and exits the ring. He mouths with the fans and then rips a Gargano sign in half. Gargano shows up in the crowd and then hops the barricade and beats Ciampa down. Security rushes out and pulls Gargano out of the ring. Ciampa yells at Gargano as security takes him away and forces him outside of the arena.

We see the updated brackets for the 2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and then join Charly Caruso, who runs down what has happened so far, including The Authors of Pain, SAnitY, and The Street Profits moving on to the semifinals. Charly informs us that Moustache Mountain has had to pull out of the tournament due to Tyler Bate suffering a knee injury. We see that Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan will take on a mystery team later tonight. We then see a video from Roderick Strong asking William Regal for a chance to enter the tournament. We see that Regal granted Strong his wish, but we still don’t see who Strong’s partner is as we head to a break.

Back from the break, we see that “Lord of Flies” by Cane Hill is one of the official theme songs for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.

We see the Twitter feud between Adam Cole and Kassius Ohno, which led to their match tonight, and then we see a recorded promo with The Undisputed ERA. They mock Roderick Strong for being added to the Dusty Classic and say no one is going to want to team with him. They say whoever wins the Dusty Classic will do nothing but lose to them at TakeOver. Cole then says he will make such quick work of Kassius Ohno that he wants Fish and O’Reilly to stay in the back.

Match #1 – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament First Round Match: Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne
Strong and Lorcan start the match and Lorcan takes Strong down to the mat. Strong turns it around and applies a modified rear naked choke down on the mat. Lorcan gets free and turns it into a headlock of his own. Strong fights back to his feet, but Burch tags in. Burch applies a wrist-lock, but Strong turns it into one of his own. Dunne tags in and applies his own wrist-lock. Dunne begins the joint manipulation on Burch’s fingers, but Burch counters and takes Dunne down to the mat. Burch goes or a stomp, but Dunne moves out of the way. Burch drops Dunne with a drop toe hold and Strong and Lorcan get into the ring and all four men stare down as we head to a break.
Back from the break, Dunne is manipulating Burch’s fingers and then slaps him across the face. Strong tags in and delivers a few kicks to Burch and then delivers a back-breaker. Strong goes for the cover, but Burch kicks out. Dunne tags in and he and Strong slam Burch to the mat and then double-chop him. Dunne goes for the cover, but Burch kicks out at two. Dunne delivers another chop, but Burch cuts him off with a boot and then delivers a dropkick. Strong and Lorcan tag in and they exchange forearm shots and chops. Lorcan delivers a kick to the face and then an uppercut. Lorcan goes for the cover, but Strong kicks out at two.
Lorcan delivers a running lariat and then a block buster and goes for the cover, but Strong kicks out at two again. Burch tags back in and he and Lorcan goes for a double suplex, but Strong lands on his feet and shoves Burch into Lorcan. Dunne tags in and stomps down onto Burch’s arm. Dunne delivers the X-Plex and goes for the cover, but Lorcan breaks it up. Strong sends Lorcan to the floor, but Lorcan drops him with an uppercut. Dunne and Burch exchange slaps in the ring and Burch gets the upper hand. Burch suplexes Dunne and Lorcan suplexes Strong onto Dunne. Burch goes for the cover, but Dunne kicks out at two. Burch locks in the cross-face and Lorcan locks in the single-leg Boston Crab on Strong. Strong kicks Lorcan into Burch to break the hold.
Burch decks Dunne, but Dunne comes back with an enzuiguri. Burch delivers an exploder suplex and Strong tags in. Dunne tosses Burch into Strong, who delivers End of Heartache and gets the pin fall.
Winners: Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne.
We see that Strong and Dunne will take on SAnitY in the semifinals.

We are reminded of tonight’s main event: Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno. We see that Ember Moon will go one-on-one with Aliyah after the break.

We see the first video hype package for Ricochet. It ends with “coming soon.”

Match #2 – Non-title Match: Aliyah vs. Ember Moon
Moon and Aliyah go back and forth for a bit and then Moon drops Aliyah to the mat. Moon applies a side headlock, but Aliyah shoves her away and slams her to the mat. Aliyah goes for the cover, but Moon kicks out as Shayna Baszler joins the commentary team. Aliyah goes for another cover, but Moon kicks out again. Aliyah keeps Moon grounded and goes for the cover again, but Moon kicks out again. Aliyah applies a rear chin lock down on the mat, but Moon gets free and sends Aliyah to the mat. Aliyah comes back with boots to the face and comes off the ropes, but Moon catches her. Moon delivers a Samoan Drop and then kicks up. Moon delivers the springboard clothesline in the corner and then goes up top. Moon delivers the Eclipse and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Ember Moon.
After the match, Baszler stands up from the announce table and Moon sees her. Moon raises the NXT Women’s Championship in the air and invites Baszler into the ring, but Baszler stays put and smirks at Moon.

We see that The Street Profits and The Authors of Pain will meet in the Dusty Classic Semifinals next week, as well as SAnitY vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne in the other semifinal.

Raul Mendoza makes his entrance for a match, but Andrade “Cien” Almas attacks him from behind and shoves him off the stage. Almas and Zelina Vega get into the ring. Almas asks Aleister Black if he thinks he is smart. Almas calls Black out and calls him a piece of shit. Almas tells Black to meet him next week.

We see that Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno is up next as we head to a break.

We see a vignette for Lars Sullivan, who returns next week.

We see that “It Follows” by Cane Hill will be another theme song for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. We are reminded that Andrade “Cien” Almas will defend the NXT Championship against Aleister Black at the event and then see that Black will be back next week.

We see William Regal in his office. He says on next week’s show, he will make an announcement that will change the landscape of NXT forever.

Match #3 – Singles Match: Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno
They lock up and exchange wrist-locks. Ohno drops Cole to the mat, but Cole comes back with a kick to the midsection and one to the face. Cole backs Ohno into the corner and then drops him with a shoulder tackle. Cole runs the ropes, but Ohno leapfrogs and kicks Cole in the chest. Ohno delivers the senton and then delivers a couple chops. Cole comes back with a jaw-breaker, but Ohno dumps him out to the floor and Cole tweaks his knee. It was all a ruse and Cole delivers an enzuiguri to Ohno. Cole beats Ohno down in the ring as we head to a break.
Back from the break and Cole is still in control. He delivers a bicycle kick and goes for the cover, but Ohno kicks out at two. Cole delivers a swinging neck-breaker and goes for the cover, but Ohno kicks out again. Cole knees Ohno n the back and then stomps away on him. Cole applies a rear chin lock and keeps Ohno grounded. Cole delivers a back-stabber and goes for the cover, but Ohno kicks out at two. Cole taunts Ohno and then mocks the crowd, but Ohno comes back and delivers a big right hand that sends Cole to the mat. Ohno knees Cols in the race and then delivers a clothesline and another boot to the face. Ohno delivers a scoop slam and then drops a leg. Ohno goes for the cover, but Cole kicks out at two.
Cole sends Ohno to the apron, but Ohno kicks him in the face. Ohno delivers the Cyclone Kick and goes for the cover, but Cole kicks out at two. Ohno delivers a forearm shot, but Cole fires back with a series of his own. Ohno knees Cole in the face, but Cole comes back with the neck-breaker knee drop. Cole goes for the cover, but Ohno kicks out at two. Cole goes for a Shining Wizard, but Ohno blocks it and drapes Cole over the top rope. Ohno delivers a forearm shot and then a flying elbow shot that sends Cole to the floor. Ohno goes out after him and puts him back into the ring. Ohno goes for the cover, but Cole rolls through and delivers three superkicks and the neck-breaker onto his knee. Cole delivers the Last Shot and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Adam Cole.

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