Timothy Thatcher & Tomasso Ciampa vs Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan
NXT 3/3 kicked off with the NXT Tag Team Champions, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, take the ring as we see picture-in-picture of Tomasso Ciampa and MSK talking with the champs. It seems that Ciampa and recent tag partner, Timothy Thatcher, will be taking on the champs for the titles while Wes Lee of MSK heals his broken hand.
Lots of mat work, hard hitting, and double team maneuvers but that should come as no surprise with these four. At one point, Thatcher goes down on the outside with the referee checking on him but the show goes on. At one point, Thatcher is about to make the hot tag to Ciampa but instead directs his attention to the entrance ramp. Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe of Imperium stand there watching as Lorcan & Burch tag up, drag Thatcher to the middle of the ring and hit an assisted DDT. Imperium shakes their heads in disapproval at Ciampa and Thatcher.
Winners and still champions: Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
Roderick Strong is in the ring, insisting Adam Cole get his ass down to the ring immediately. Ask for Adam Cole and Finn Bálor appears. Roddy says that Undisputed Era were doing just fine until Finn started getting involved. Finn says that problem is his title so he challenges Adam Cole to take it from him next week. The Irishman then tells Roddy that he’s just a follower and until he gets greedy, he’ll never reach championship heights. Roddy responds with a flurry of punches that bring refs and other officials out from the back to separate them.
At a Central Florida Psychiatric Center, The Way is on the couch and Austin Theory has started to notice that they aren’t at Chuck E. Cheese. Dr. Linda Nicoli tells them that she usually sees her clients one-on-one but Johnny Gargano tells her that Austin needs his family for support. Austin claims that he wasn’t “kidnapped” but that he and Dexter Lumis were just hanging out. Judging by Indi Hartwell’s asides and her doodling, she wouldn’t mind either situation if Lumis was involved. Johnny loses it on Dr. Nicoli for “therapy-ing” on him and loses it on Indi for “ruining Christmas.” He’s sent out of the office by Dr. Nicoli.
Cameron Grimes starts to hypothesize other names for the Capitol Wrestling Center in homage to his newfound wealth. William Regal says that Grimes’ knocking out a crew member is a problem. Grimes says that he has “kiss my grits money.” Regal says money isn’t the issue but that Grimes may have one with Bronson Reed later tonight.
Aliyah vs Ember Moon
Aliyah is accompanied by Jessi Kamea and Robert Stone while Ember rides down on Shotzi Blackheart’s tank. Aliyah is in survival mode early on and gets a bit too full of herself when she scores a solid forearm. Ember gives her a free one and then responds with a shot that drops her flat. Robert Stone and Kamea try to get involved but Shotzi dives onto both and The Eclipse puts Aliyah’s lights out.
Winner: Ember Moon
McKenzie Mitchell tries to get a word with Timothy Thatcher about Imperium but Tomasso Ciampa tells her that they’re going to let sleeping dogs lie.
Toni Storm’s history with Io Shirai and Shirai’s dislike of the brazen Aussie are both highlighted in a video package for their match next week.
Dakota Kai & Raquel González vs Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
The Captain of Team Kick. The Towering Texan. The Queen of Spades. The Hole Damn Show. The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. It is on.
Nia exerts her full physical dominance over the much smaller Dakota. When Baszler tags in sets up her signature arm break, it sparks something in the little Kiwi. She frustrates Shayna repeatedly and resists submissions until Raquel can come in and wreck shop. Raquel brings Dakota back in but, after a nice kick in the corner, she gets ladyhandled for a bit and her knee takes the toll. The challengers, especially the hobbled Kai fight valiantly but, after the referee is knocked out, Shayna locks the Kirifuda Clutch in on Dakota Kai.. but she’s not the legal competitor! Adam Pearce and the new ref don’t know that and call for the bell when Dakota is non-responsive. Somewhere out there, Dusty is looking on and chuckling to himself.
Winners and still champions: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
Back at Dr Nicola’s office, Austin is trying to explain Dexter Lumis’ personality but Johnny’s eavesdropping and texts to Candice get her and Indi thrown out. Dr Nicola asks Austin what really happened during those lost three days.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott is in the studio. He’s working hard… unlike the supposedly oh-so-lucky Leon Ruff. Swerve says that he’s savage and that he just doesn’t care anymore.
LA Knight makes his way to the ring for the first time in NXT. He’s waited a long time but this isn’t his dream. This is his business. He’s not going to beat Gargano or O’Reilly or Finn Bálor with flash or pizazz, he’s just going to beat the hell out of them. LA Knight sticks around for Bronson Reed’s entrance until the big Aussie is in the ring.
Bronson Reed vs Cameron Grimes
Grimes has his new tune playing for his entrance and makes it rain on his way to the ring. He tries to buy his way out of the match but Bronson pastes him one right in the mouth. Grimes tries to win by attrition but a medley of kicks is met with a standing clothesline that spins him like Romanian gymnast. Turns out that Grimes has an LA Knight in shining armor. Knight yanks Bronson from the top turnbuckle and he’s a sitting duck for Grimes’ Cave In.
Winner: Cameron Griiimes. Cameron Grimes.
William regal appears to be in a heated discussion with Adam Pearce, possibly over the ending of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match earlier.
Kayden Carter gives us an update on Kacy Catanzaro’s ACL injury and her vitriol for Xia Li over it.
We take a look back at last week and the carnage that Karrion Kross unleashed on Legado del Fantasma.
Apparently, Austin Theory had a lot of fun sitting in a windowless room, eating cereal and watching cartoons with Dexter Lumis. Dr Nicola reveals that she had already spoken to Dexter Lumis and that he couldn’t wait to get rid of Austin. Dexter hates everything about him and that causes Austin to break down in tears. The Way arrives to retrieve him and Johnny slips cash to the actor playing the psychologist. It was all a ruse to reprogram Austin! Oh, those wacky Garganos!
Breezango vs Ever-Rise
Ever-Rise are in the ring when Breezango (adorned in astronaut gear) get attacked on the entrance ramp by Legado del Fantasma. The Quebecois duo are backing up the ramp with enthusiasm when Santos Escobar arrives to drive their heads into the ring steps.
Result: No contest
Escobar insists that no one mistake last week’s defeat at the hands of Kross as weakness. If they do, they face the same fate as Ever-Rise and Breezango.
McKenzie Mitchell is with William regal who confirms that his conversation with Adam Pearce regarded the women’s tag match. He says that he will make an announcement next week that changes the landscape of NXT.
Finn Bálor vs Roderick Strong
The main event of NXT 3/3 sees these two go back-and-forth on the technical end of things but Bálor starts to make it a fight, getting the better of Roderick. The violence awakens something in Roddy and he starts to give as good as he gets, including some of his signature backbreaker work. In the end, the over-aggression bites him in the behind. Finn manages to trick him into the corner. Dropkick. Coup de Grâce. 1916.
Winner: Finn Bálor
Adam Cole comes out to observe the winner and the champ points his guns right at Cole as NXT 3/3 comes to a close.
Five Takeaways from NXT 3/3
- Raquel González looked really good tonight. She had the majority of the offense for her side and a lot of the total ring time. The grooming process to (hopefully) make her a main eventer has definitely shown returns. Being paired with Dakota Kai hasn’t been all one way, either. The callback to Dakota’s previous interactions with Shayna Baszler showed an evolution to the Kiwi’s character and her place on the card.
- Even if you’re already tired of Cameron Grimes’ millionaire gimmick, you’re benefiting from it as it’s used to bring LA Knight into NXT proper. I detest gatekeeping but, if you can’t appreciate the former Eli Drake and his Rock-esque delivery, you are very very sus to me now. I don’t know if Bronson Reed is the guy to start with right now. His star is on the rise and, though LA Knight has taken similarly-sized stars for a ride on The Gravy Train, Bronson might be a brick too thicc.
- Taking out four with three and making a formal declaration is exactly what Legado del Fantasma needed to get some of their shine back. No tag team or cruiserweight is safe. Play on players.
- One of the things I liked about Lucha Underground and one of the points raised by the few advocates of Vince Russo was that a show is better when everyone has a reason for being there. The Robert Stone Brand always loses but they’re always there representing. If Swerve isn’t wrestling, he gets a minute-and-a-half to let you know what he’ll be like when he does.
- There’s a “big announcement” coming next week. In addition to both the men’s and women’s main titles being defending, this announcement could be an attempt to boost ratings as a “last hurrah.” Unconfirmed rumor has it that, in light of NBC Universal Sports folding into existing properties, that NHL hockey will be finding a home on USA Wednesdays. NXT has been hard up to reach the 1 million viewer mark since their early debut episodes. If they can do it next week, maybe they won’t move. Maybe they will but will be taking the same level of support and hype to Tuesday nights.
