3/27/19 WWE NXT Recap: Who Won the Dusty Classic?

The show opens with a preview for tonight’s main event: Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. The Forgotten Sons in the Finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The opening credits roll, and then Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson welcome us to the show.

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The Undisputed ERA’s music hits, and Adam Cole makes his way to the ring. Cole says he outlasted four of the best in NXT to get a shot at the NXT Championship at TakeOver: New York. He then says he has one million reasons why he will beat Johnny Gargano and calls him out. The crowd dual-chants for both men before Cole tells them to shut up. Gargano says he loves the “Johnny Wrestling” chants, and the crowd begins to dual-chant again. Gargano tells Cole to list all one million reasons, but Cole doesn’t. Gargano says for the first time in NXT history, Cole is speechless. Gargano says Cole is in the fight of his life at TakeOver: New York and he is going to show Cole why they call him Johnny TakeOver. Cole asks Gargano if that is supposed to scare him, because Gargano hasn’t been in the winner’s circle at TakeOver. Cole calls him Johnny Participation and says Johnny Participation cannot beat him two out of three falls, or even one fall. Cole runs down his accomplishes at TakeOver events and says he has earned all of his success in NXT. Cole asks Gargano what he has done to earn the title match at TakeOver. Gargano says he was told in 2015 that he wasn’t good enough for NXT, but he didn’t take no for an answer and fought for a chance. He says after he and Tommaso Ciampa participated in the first Dusty Classic, he was invited back over and over again. He says he has earned everything in NXT. He says he is prepared to fight and he will finally become NXT Champion at TakeOver: New York. Cole walks away, but then says Gargano can fight all he wants. Cole says when they leave the Barclays Center, Cole will be the NXT Champion and here’s why: Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong make their way to the stage. Cole says the NXT Championship Match will be undisputed.

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We see footage of The Forgotten Sons attacking Aleister Black and Ricochet after the latter’s match last week.

We see that “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Billie Eilish is one of the official theme songs for TakeOver: New York.

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Match #1 – Tag Team Match: Aliyah and Vanessa Borne vs. Kacy Catanzaro and Lacey Lane
Aliyah and Lane start the match, but Borne quickly tags in. Borne slams Lane to the mat and goes for the cover, but Lane quickly kicks out. Lane comes back and takes Borne down with an arm-brag to the floor. Aliyah tags in and kicks Lane to the floor. Aliyah delivers forearm shots in the corner and Borne tags back in. Borne pulls Lane by the hair through the ropes and then delivers a headbutt. Aliyah tags back in and they double-team Lane in the ropes. Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke walk to the ring, and Aliyah and Borne leave.
Match Result: No Contest
Baszler, Shafir, and Duke attack Lane and Catanzaro. Baszler locks in the Kirifuda Clutch on Catanzaro, but Catanzaro gets free and takes her, Duke, and Shafir down. Baszler comes right back and locks in the clutch and chokes Catanzaro out. Baszler, Duke, and Shafir walk up the ramp and then to the announcer’s table. Baszler says this is going to keep happening as long as she keeps being mistreated.

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We see Aleister Black and Ricochet warming up backstage. We then see that Matt Riddle will go one-on-one with Kona Reeves up next.

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Match #2 – Singles Match: Kona Reeves vs. Matt Riddle
Reeves slaps Riddle in the face and then connects with a couple right hands and some body shots. Reeves connects with a knee strike and goes for the Hawaiian Drop, but Riddle gets free. Riddle takes Reeves to the mat and connects with the running Broton. Riddle delivers a suplex as The Velveteen Dream’s music hits and the NXT North American Champion gets pushed onto the stage on a couch. Reeves slams Riddle into the ropes and then slams Riddle to the mat. Reeves goes for the cover, but Riddle kicks out at two. Reeves applies a wrist-lock on the mat, but Riddle fights out and gets a two count. Riddle delivers a few palm strikes and then knees Reeves in the head. Riddle delivers another knee strike and then delivers elbow strikes. Riddle locks in the Bromission and Reeves taps out.
Winner: Matt Riddle
-After the match, Dream announces Riddle as the winner and Riddle walks up to Dream on the stage. Riddle steals Dream drink, throws the cup away, and tells him that he will see him in New York.

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We see The Forgotten Sons warming up backstage.

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We see that “Are You Ready?” by Disturbed will be one of the official theme songs for NXT TakeOver: New York.

We see that Bianca Belair and Kairi Sane will go one-on-one next week.

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Match #3 – #1 Contender’s (NXT Tag Team Championship) Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Final Match: Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) (w/Jaxson Ryker)
All four men brawl immediately and then Black and Blake officially start the match. Blake takes Black down with a shoulder tackle and locks in a side-headlock. Cutler tags in and applies a wrist-lock. Black comes back with a kick and tags in Ricochet. Black and Ricochet run the ropes and the four men are at a stalemate. Black and Ricochet send the Sons to the floor and then Ricochet takes them down with a suicide dive. Ricochet tosses Cutler into the ring, but he rolls out the other side. Black stops him on the floor and Ricochet delivers a few chops and tosses him into the ring again. Blake gets into the ring, but Ricochet fights him off. Ryker gets involved and clubs Ricochet in the back. Blake stomps away on Ricochet and then delivers a back-breaker. Blake goes for the cover, but Ricochet kicks out at two.
Cutler tags back in and slams Ricochet to the mat. Cutler goes for the cover, but Ricochet kicks out again. Cutler slams Ricochet into the corner and then applies a rear chin-lock on the mat. Cutler delivers a back-breaker and goes for the cover, but Ricochet kicks out again. Blake tags in and slams Ricochet to the mat and gets another two count. Cutler tags back in and continues to work over Ricochet’s back. Cutler sends Ricochet into the corner, but Ricochet comes back with a dropkick. Ricochet goes for the tag, but Blake pulls Black off the apron. Ricochet fights off both Sons and tags in Black. Black fights both Sons and drops them both with strikes. Black goes for the cover on Cutler, but Cutler kicks out at two. Black sets up for Black Mass, but Blake gets involved. Black kicks Cutler away, but Cutler counters with a back-breaker. Cutler goes for the cover, but Black kicks out at two.
Blake gets invovled, but Ricochet shoves him down and takes him down with a hurricanrana. Blake comes back with a lariat to Richcoet, but Black delivers double knees to Blake and all four men are down. Ricochet tags in and delivers strikes to Blake. Blake fights back, but Ricochet drops him with a suplex. Ricochet goes up top, but Blake moves. Ricochet then sends Black to the floor, but Cutler gets involved. Blake goes up top as well, but Ricochet lands on his feet. Ricochet delivers an uppercut and a palm strike. Blake comes back with elbows, but Black tags in. Black kicks Blake in the face and goes for the cover, but Cutler shoves Ricochet into Black to break it up. Ricochet and Cutler go to the floor and Cutler slams Ricochet into the steps. Cutler tags in and Blake delivers the back-stabber to Black. Cutler comes off the top with an axe handle and goes for the cover, but Ricochet breaks it up.
The Sons double-team Black, but Black knees Blake and kicks Cutler in the face. Black hits Black Mass on Cutler, but Blake takes Black down. Blakc gets his foot on the rope, but Ryker shoves it off and the referee sees it. The referee tosses Ryker and Ricochet tags in. Black hits Black Mass on Blake and takes Cutler down with a moonsault. Ricochet hits the 630 on Blake and gets the pin fall.
Winners of the Dusty Cup and number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship: Ricochet and Aleister Black
-After the match, Black and Ricochet celebrate with the Dusty Cup. War Raiders make their way to the ring. All four men stare each other down and the Raiders raise the titles in the air as the show comes to a close.