Previously on the Best and Worst of NXT: Ricochet took on Adam Cole and got beaten down by the Undisputed Era, Keith Lee knocked out Kassius Ohno, and Montez Ford actually murdered a man.
If you missed this episode, you can watch it here. If you’d like to read previous installments of the Best and Worst of NXT, click right here. Follow With Spandex on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter, where everything and everyone is terrible.
And now, the Best and Worst of WWE NXT for February 20, 2019.
Best: How To Do Aleister Black’s Entrance Appropriately
If you watched Raw or Smackdown this week, you might’ve noticed how weirdly bad Aleister Black’s entrance looks on the main roster stage. They have him do his Nosferatu gimmick with the crowd behind him, so the board’s super obvious. Kills the whole vibe for me.
And yeah, we know there’s a board behind him, we aren’t trying to trick ourselves into thinking he has actual magic powers, but NXT shows you how to do it right: amp up the fog, and have the “rise” happen against a mostly black background. You can still see the board if you look, but it just looks so much better.
Black was part of an attempted save during last week’s Undisputed Era nWo-style beatdown, so the logical (and very good) followup is him taking on Roderick Strong, one-on-one. Now that Bobby Fish is back, Roddy gets slotted into his best role ever: least important crony. He’s a million percent the guy you have to run through to get to Adam Cole. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve given Strong a lot of grief in my past however many years of writing wrestling jokes, but he’s awesome in this role, and the matches he’s in that don’t get built around the idea of liking him or thinking backbreakers are cool are choice.
Thankfully Black gets a clean win here, as it would’ve been pretty hilarious to see him go 2-0 on the main roster and then jet back down to Full Sail to get trucked by Mr. ROH. I know these shows happen in different universes, but hell, they had a narrated video recap of Raw and Smackdown on the episode, so that shit’s canon whether you like it or not. The Undies show up after the fall to throw another beatdown, but Ricochet makes the save, because friendship and reciprocity.
Uh Can We Make These Two A New Tag Team
Tell me you don’t want to see Sara Del Rey and Serena Deeb vs. the Sky Pirates at the next TakeOver. TELL ME, YOU COWARDS.
Best: The Eleban In The Room
The match between Mia Yim and Xia Li (who I should remind you is an adverb describing how Robbie Brookside’s daughter wrestles) is just a backdrop for the larger angle, in which Shayna Baszler and the Two Other Available Horsewomen Of MMA have pushed the women’s locker room so far that they’re in revolt. The Horses attack, which brings out a group I assume are now Mia’s posse: Jessie Eleban, MJ Jenkins, and Lacey Lane.
It’s a great use for them, honestly, and it has never made sense that babyfaces wouldn’t align in some way to combat a bunch of heels. Like, Dusty Rhodes never had a faction covered in Dusty Rhodes logos, but if the Horsemen were on his ass he’d have Magnum T.A. and Ronnie Garvin and Sam Houston out there trying to help. Seeing people like Braun Strowman get beat down for several minutes with nobody running out to help them just makes them look like dorks. In this case the Enhancement Gals don’t do very well against Shayna and Marina and Jessamyn, but let’s be honest; Shayna probably could physically garrote them on her own, so they did their best. It’s the thought that counts!
Study Question: What Is JB Thinking Here
My guess is something between, “how are you this beautiful,” and, “I’m surprised you can say words without your head falling off.”
Best: The North American Champion Goes South
And now, your early front-runner for NXT TV Match Of The Year.
If you remember their match from back in September, you know this is going to be a banger before it even starts. What I wrote then:
This is such a perfect pairing for a number of reasons. One, it’s a guy who works an “indie friendly” style but has molded it to fit WWE’s idea of marquee, televised wrestling against a guy who was BORN working WWE’s ideal style, but has done the best thing an indie wrestler can ever do: fully commit to what they’re doing, to the point that it’s undeniable. Two, it’s the perfect time in the story for both men. Johnny Gargano is a beloved fan favorite who has spent the past few months being driven insane by his former best friend, so he’s about to break and everybody knows it. Plus, he’s self-sabotaging and throwing himself off stages to lose championship matches. Meanwhile you’ve got The Dream, who is for all intents and purposes a HUGE heel that can’t stop childishly making fun of everyone he knows or wrestles, who is becoming more and more beloved because he’s so singularly focused. It’s brilliant.
This is the best possible followup. The story is the same for Dream, except that he’s farther along in his babyface development, just won the Powerman 5000 Memorial Worlds Collide Tournament to earn a title shot, and specifically chose Johnny’s North American Championship instead of Ciampa’s Goldie. The story for Gargano is that he’s more and more under the influence of Ciampa, to the point that he’s in his head about it. This is shown, wonderfully, in an earlier segment on the show. Gargano’s getting ready for his match, Ciampa shows up offering his help, and Gargano decides to reject that help to make Candice happy. Or he’s been convinced by her, I’m not really sure what their dynamic is beyond Johnny’s “my wife is fine on her own, I don’t really pay that much attention,” and Candice’s, “WHAT JOHNNY DOES IS THE ONLY IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE.” Candice’s iffy character development is a story for another time.
Additionally,
https://twitter.com/MrBrandonStroud/status/1098654416264138752
As for the match, first of all, look at these two jerks go. They are SO GOOD.
Second of all, NXT once again shows why it’s the best brand WWE produces by miles and miles by tying in the finish of this match to the finish of the first. In the first match, Gargano sets up for his finish in the corner. Velveteen Dream, knowing that Gargano is mentally fragile, starts screaming at him about how he’s a failure. This takes Johnny off his game, and J-Dog waltzes right into a Dream Valley Driver. Peace out Johnny. Here, Dream is beaten to within an inch of his life and can’t really do anything but kick out. It’s all pride and instinct. Johnny sets up for the finish, and Dream starts making “come on, bring it” hands. It’s not screaming JOHNNY FAILURE at him, but it’s enough to put Johnny on guard. He recovers, though, and follows through with the kick.
That moment of hesitation is enough for Dream to scoop him up for the DVD, though, and Johnny’s scouted it (and experienced it) enough to get away. He hits a superkick and stuns Dream, and, assuming that his homework has put him over the top for the finish, hits the ropes.
Then, this.
John Wrestling gets absolutely nuked by Dream’s Ultimate Attack, and it’s enough to score the fall and the North American Championship for Dream. The story now is that Dream can back up what he says — he’s not just all talk, and can win “the big one” and collect championships — and Gargano’s going to convince himself that he failed because he didn’t accept Ciampa’s help. That’ll be enough to push him into Ciampa’s warm, slimy embrace, which would’ve been a fucking awesome moment if Raw and Smackdown hadn’t chapter-skipped ahead.
(It’ll still be pretty great.)
