NXT recap and reactions: For all the dogs

Lyra Valkyria gets a new challenger, Chase U is back in business, and we got new tag team champions on this week’s NXT.

Wolfpack

Rough night for the D’Angelo Family. First, Adrianna Rizzo loses her match against Jaida Parker. Then Tony D’Angelo & Stacks lose the tag championships to the Wolf Dogs. If there’s any silver lining it’s that Jacy Jayne, on behalf of Chase U, gave Adrianna a fat brown envelope filled with cash.

But let’s get to the tag match. The story going into this one, besides the obvious, revolved around two things: Baron Corbin finally saying “Wolf Dogs” and Bron Breakker helping his partner get his first championship in six years. Baron promised if they win the chip, he’ll say Wolf Dogs at least once. Baron took him up on that offer and they hit the ring.

This was physical. Of course it was. Look at the two teams and understand there’s no way to make this a simple wrestling match. I dug the opening with Tony D & Stacks taking it to the the imposing Dogs. In a match like this, showing the supposedly weaker team has the muscle to hang with the powerhouses is necessary. Tony looked good going blow for blow with Bron, which showed just how far the Don’s come since the NXT 2.0 days. Baron did his thing too but he mostly played the desperation card here.

At least one time where Tony D had Bron dead to rights in the middle of the ring, Baron lunged himself out of nowhere to save the match for his team. It’s even more impressive because the man was pancaked on the ring floor after getting launched into the ring steps. That little moment illustrated everything about why the Wolf Dogs caught fire: Fans love their strength, power, and passion. They want to win and never say die.

I’m not sure where the Family goes from here. I can see them possibly going at it with OTM again although Adrianna and Jaida’s match left no room for a return match; Jaida beat Adrianna fair and square. There’s also the possibility of a rematch with the Wolf Dogs. Baron & Bron got the titles but now they need some competition. Before they get to Chase U or OTM, dancing with The Family might make sense.

All in all, this was a dope match with a satisfying ending. My only gripe is that Baron didn’t say the magic words! I suppose that’s our treat next week, so I’m not too sad about it.

All praise the Wolf Dogs!

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B-Sides

Take a Knee

I keep wondering what’s the ultimate goal with Von Wagner. And it’s not his fault at all.Let’s take this week’s tag match for example. Von & Mr. Stone faced Noam Dar & Main Man Mensah. Von & Mr. got the drop on their opponents in a beautiful sneak attack that disrupted Noam’s cucumber spa session and involved Stone’s kids. All of that packed the goofy lovability that the Von Wagner/Stone act does really well. Stone even looked pretty good for a guy who doesn’t get in the ring that often.

But then they took the L…again. That’s two weeks in a row and what feels like the umpteenth time that Von sits on the wrong side of the win column. And in the middle of this losing streak, Byron Saxton had the unmitigated audacity to say Von looks prime for a championship run. Seriously? On what planet?

That aside, the opening match was fun. They used Stone perfectly (in spurts), Oro & Noam took punishment incredibly well, and got the cheap victory when Oro hit the big man with a chop block to the knee.

I also loved Lexis King running up on the losers later and lambasting them for their losing ways. He’s 1000 percent right that Stone’s kids deserve better.

Yup, I said it.

Animal

Let me set the stage for this one because this Ridge Holland angle just won me over. Ridge took on Gallus by himself. Not just one member but all three. And all he needed was a pinfall victory over one member to win the match. If this were the Hunger Games, the odds were not in his favor.

And yet, he survived. The match went to a no contest because as Claire pointed out in her blog, no one cared about the rules. But it’s what happened after the bell rang that caught my attention: Ridge took out every member of Gallus by himself. And then he sat in the corner shocked and stunned at what he did with a chair.

Ridge keeps running away from who he truly is, which is to say, a monster. Ridge Holland is the Incredible Hulk! This is the kind of thing Bruce Banner would do. He’d wreck a bunch of people as the Hulk then spend the rest of the issue running away from the fact that he’s the Hulk. That’s why he isolates himself from everyone and everything; he’s afraid of himself.

Ridge lives in fear of the devil inside and I’m down for that ride.

Straight Jacket

Sometimes an angle and a song work together perfectly.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Joe Gacy happened because the former attacked the latter when NXT went off the air last week. Melo was on a rampage and Joe got in the way. Heels doing heel things always hits my spot.

I like Joe and Melo together. They’re polar opposites through technique and character, which made for a fun match. Melo often found himself caught off guard by Joe’s shenanigans, which included him scurrying under the ring and coming out the other side. Melo takes himself so seriously in that ring while Joe, well, doesn’t. It got under the former A-Champ’s skin but not enough to stop him from getting the W. He also had some words for Ilja Dragunov, making it even more clear what he wants.

But yeah, that’s not the main story here. Post-match, Dijak jumped Joe with a nightstick and then, well, the video speaks for itself.

As I said before, the Dijak character is corny as hell but he rocks in the ring. I’m guessing a straitjacket match between these two is in the future and I can’t wait for it. The more violent the better.

Soundtrack to Confusion

So Tatum Paxley and Lyra Valkyria are friends now? I’m just confused.

Tatum went one-on-one with Lola Vice as Lola went for a little payback for Vengeance Day. During the match, Lyra showed up and offered Tatum her support.

It didn’t help since Lola got the fairly quick W, but I guess Tatum is cool with it since Lyra carried her out of the ring?

I’m just confused.

This dovetailed into a confrontation between Shotzi and the NXT women’s champ, so at least we got that.

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NXT was fine this week. No Ilja meant no immediate follow-up to everything happening with Melo. And with Trick still off television, that meant the show really had nothing happening regarding the NXT championship or the territory’s hottest angle. They compensated with solid matches and satisfying storytelling for the most part. And I didn’t mention it but Lexis King and Oba Femi going back and forth entertained me. Oba granted Lexis a championship match, so the mystery lies in just how does Lexis make it competitive?

But I digress. Giving the Wolf Dogs the win at the end certainly went a long way, and it leads into a pretty stacked show next week.

What say you, Cagesiders? Who should the new tag champs face first?