NXT

Triple H is 100% correct in saying NXT is a special place. It just has a different feel to it than the main roster. It was also a pleasant surprise to see Kona Reeves considering we haven’t seen him in quite some time, so I haven’t gotten a chance to talk about him on this blog. Let’s see if Triple H could come up with a creative way in the future to make him a champion.

Adam Cole will finally challenge for the NXT Championship. I had a feeling he really has the potential to be a great champion when he first debuted at Takeover: Brooklyn in 2017. He will be able to put on a great match with Johnny Gargano.

I also wish Tommaso Ciampa all the luck in the world on the road to a speedy recovery.

The plans for the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black, at least in NXT may have been revealed this week. It looks like they may win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic by beating The Forgotten Sons, who are not all that impressive in terms of how much the fans respond to them. The situation kind of feels like WWE wanted to come up with a creative way to introduce a new superstar in Jaxon Ryker, so they figured to try and force Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake into a tag team.

Back to Black and Ricochet. They probably won’t win the NXT Tag Team Championships, because the War Raiders are excellent champions, and they probably just participated in their final round of NXT tapings before they are officially called up to the main roster for good.

It’s still so heartbreaking that Tommaso Ciampa was taken out with a neck injury, which unfortunately leaves WWE in a pickle in terms of deciding what to do with the storyline between Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. If he were a major athlete, one more major injury like that and organizations would be hesitant about signing him.

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic got kicked off this week with four great opening round matches. It is disappointing that Tommaso Ciampa will be forced to miss Takeover: New York with a severe neck injury. He will undergo an anterior cervical fusion procedure, which is of particular interest to me because it is a type of spinal fusion surgery, and I have had that procedure done on my entire spine. Enough about me, WWE already has a storyline in place for Ciampa’s return.

I was also surprised to officially learn today – the final date Ronda Rousey is scheduled to work for WWE is the night after WrestleMania.

This week’s episode of NXT was fantastic yet again. Triple H does a great job of pairing two guys or girls together and letting a rivalry develop organically between them rather than forcing it, which Vince McMahon is guilty of from time to time on the main roster. This trend hints that a little bit more patience is employed down in NXT as opposed to the main roster, and this is evident in the budding rivalry between Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic.

Another chapter was written in the best story going on WWE TV between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa for about 2 ½ years. Ciampa, the current NXT champion, proposed that the former North American champion enter the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with him at NXT Takeover: New York and they win the NXT tag titles.

All I can say about Velveteen Dream is that he is the future of the WWE since he is only 23 years old. It totally makes sense to put the North American championship on him considering how much momentum he has accumulated in recent times. I’m a little surprised that Triple H elected to take the belt off Johnny Gargano, since it’s not like he has any negative momentum going. He didn’t do anything wrong to lose his title, Velveteen is just very hot right now. That’s just the way the business goes in wrestling, and I’m sure Johnny knows this. I also feel I need to mention the documentary type special that was put together on the WWE network about Mark Henry. It was really profound and deeply resonated with me. Well done WWE.

It was impressive to see what Ricochet did in the main event of NXT to fight through his knee injury. This is probably the biggest aspect of wrestling that resonates with me: the ability of superstars to fight through injuries to the point where their bodies are doing things that not even their mind should allow. They push themselves to the point where their bodies don’t even seem to be responsible for these amazing feats, and not even their minds seem to be responsible. They are one line on pure heart. This inspires me to do my best every day to live like that as best I can.  I can’t wait for Elimination Chamber.

For NXT, there’s only two things to talk about. Wow! Drew Gulak could start seeing a lot more airtime if he keeps performing like he displayed this week on NXT TV. He’s really establishing himself as a submission specialist, kind of a Daniel Bryan type. Matt Riddle’s pretty good himself too. I feel the need to also say on at least one occasion how commendable Mauro Ranallo’s performance is on a weekly basis on commentary. He may be on NXT, but he is far and away the best announcer in all of WWE. No one is as animated as he is. He’s probably great calling Bellator too.

This week’s episode of NXT really got me excited for Takeover this weekend. I am really excited to see the development of Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel as a tag team. I first saw Aichner wrestle in the cruiserweight classic in the summer of 2016 and I was really impressed with his ability. I saw him wrestle a few matches here and there over the past two years on NXT, but I am thrilled to see that he has finally found his niche. I am not as familiar with Barthel, but he has proven that he’s more than capable of being a suitable partner for Aichner.

I also wanted to add that the storyline between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa is phenomenal. The idea of having them compete as a tech team first as faces, and then having them ultimately reunite as heels is genius. This storyline has been so well done over the past couple of years. Bravo, Triple H.

On NXT this week, the segment that stuck out most to me was the one that opened the show, with Johnny Gargano cutting a promo about how he wants to become a champion in 2019. It ultimately led to a confrontation with Ricochet. I have really enjoyed watching the evolution of Johnny Gargano over the last couple of years. He has always been a very reliable in-ring performer, but over the course of the last few years, he has turned himself into an excellent mic worker. He has also filled out his body a little more, becoming just a little bit thicker and developing a Tom Cruise kind of look to him.

In wrestling, no one really talks much about it but, looks really matters. No one can put their finger on what makes a star likable (not even me), but to go along with the ability a superstar needs a distinct look or a look that kind of reminds you of a legend from say 20 years ago, and Johnny has developed that over the last two or three years.

Thanks for reading and rest in peace “mean Gene.”