Last Month in NXT
Standout Superstars
Tommaso CiampaWe kick start today's blog post off by taking a look at the man that for me has been one of the most entertaining and consistent superstars on the roster, Tommaso Ciampa. The story the WWE have told between Cimpa and Gargano has been fantastic. Very well done it's one I can barely falt. The two have fantastic chemistry but it's their ability to sell their character and story so well that has been so massively captivating. After losing to Andrade Cien Almas at the end of last month Gargano was forced to leave NXT and the weeks that followed would see Ciampa come out to the ring and attempted to speak his thoughts and opinions however a deafening reaction from the fans week in and week made the task very difficult. However, saying that, Ciampa was able to bring so much character and leave us all feeling a certain kinda way. He was intense and convincing and when he did eventually speak it pure gold that came out of his mouth. From ripping up fan signs to his passionate promo he was a standout star this month without even competing. Things were rounded up perfectly when Gargano made a surprise appearance attacking Ciampa leaving everyone excited for the next chapter in this brilliant feud.
Pete Dunne
The next name will come as no surprise but of course, we have to talk about Pete Dunne. He has been one of the most consistent superstars on the NXT roster this past month. He has found himself involved in the tag team division after making an enemy out of the Undisputed Era. He was able to keep hold of his United Kingdom Championship in a singled match against Adam Cole but the most interesting factor this month has been his growing relationship with Roderick Strong. The pair has now found themselves apart of the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic where they have already scored a v victory over Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Dunne is a consistent face on the roster right now and has been playing a big part over the last month!
Adam Cole
For me, the man of the month has been Adam Cole. I just haven't been able to get enough of him. Booked amazingly well Cole has delivered not only in the ring but on the mic just as he has done from day one. His singles match against Kassius Ohno was one of the best matches of the month and allowed him to gain even more momentum as well as another strong match against Pete Dunne for the United Kingdom Championship. A week later Cole stood out once again and has been announced as one of the participants in the huge six man ladder match where he looks to make history and become the first ever NXT North American Champion and so it looks as though another big month is on the horizon for Adam Cole BayBay.
Standout Moments
NXT Championship Contract SigningOne of my personal favorite moments of the past month was the contract signing for the up and coming NXT Championship match between Aleister Black and current title holder Andrade Cien Almas. Now, on the night of the signing, the champ failed to make an appearance and instead it was Zelina Vega who took on the role and what a damn good job she did. We all know by now that Zelina is a very strong mic worker and this really did show in this segment in particular. She was out there alone, face to face with Aleister Black and she took control. Black of course also had a brilliant showing. We got to see a brand new side to his character that was super entertaining and went down so well. To his digs at Zelina's height to his natural sheer intensity, he was brilliant on this night and this segment was such a key step in the build to the NXT Championship match. We also saw Candice LeRae make an appearance on the same night looking to seek some kind of revenge for her husband Johnny Gargano. Attacking Zelina Vega the whole thing worked amazingly well and I was entertained from start to finish with the WWE connecting these two stories perfectly well together.
New Title and New Arrivals
In last weeks episode of NXT general manager William Regal revealed he has a big announcement to make this week and boy was it a big one. Now, by this time we all knew what it was and what went down at the tapings, however, seeing it all come together just gave me chills! Now, I am writing this one week before the actual last episode of NXT so to avoid any spoilers skip this part of the post! Okay, so on last nights show William Regal announced that there would be a brand new championship debuting at the next NXT Takeover special in under two weeks as we have already touched on. The segment would further reveal EC3 as the first participant in the six-person ladder match to determine the first champion. This was, of course, EC3's first NXT appearance following the news he had signed with the company and the crowd reaction spoke volumes. The WWE have barely made any changes to his character and every single second he was on screen was pure gold! Throughout the night the likes of Velveteen Dream and Lars Sullivan were added to the match and on next weeks show Richocet is set to make his NXT Debut.
Standout Matches
Pete Dunne vs Adam ColeWe've already mentioned that both Pete Dunne and Adam Cole have been brilliant standouts outs this month over in NXT and so it comes as no surprise that their singles match against one another makes the list in terms of standout matches of the month. Dunne has defended his title successfully against a number of stars since taking the title and this month it was time for him to challenge yet another American star in Adam Cole. Both going down as two of the best heels on the roster today this made for a very interesting and entertaining contest full of character and fantastic wrestling. It was a strong title defense with booking that made perfect sense.
Adam Cole vs Kassius Ohno
Yep, it's yet another Adam Cole match. Told you he was a big standout of the month. March was the month of Adam Cole. He just kept delivering week after week and his greatest performance came from a singles match against Kasius Ohno taking place just last week. While the pair didn't have the best chemistry in the world but they are hands down two of the best performers on the roster and they proved that right here. Very quickly we found ourselves witnessing hard-hitting action between two rather different talents. With Ohno having a much great height and weight advantage but also working his way around the ring at surprising speed Cole was faced with a real challenge but he was able to keep on top of things. The back and forth action left us all wondering just who was going to get the win and while Ohno is in much need of momentum Cole is the one the WWE are pushing much right now and so it came as no surprise to see him capture the victory. This was an at times an intense yet fun match that really showed these two stars to be two of the best pure wrestlers on the roster today.
And that was last month in NXT! I know this time around things were not as neat as always but I really wanted to get this post up before prediction week! As always, any recent blog posts will be linked below and you can tell me what you thought of the last month in NXT by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.
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This Weeks RAW and Smackdown LIVE Highlights
Ten Things That Must Happen at Wrestlemania 34
Last Week in Wrestling
10 WWE Superstars We Want to see Face Daniel Bryan (Part 1)
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