Spring Breakin’ recap and reactions (Week 1): Whoop that Dragon

NXT has a new champion!

Trick

NXT does a lot when it comes to character and world building. They successfully make their little part of Florida feel like a living, breathing ecosystem with its own rules and regulations. It’s also a part of the globe where alumni are always welcome. They used both of those strengths to their advantage during Spring Breakin’ when creating a larger than life atmosphere for the NXT championship match between Trick Williams and Ilja Dragunov.

Apparently, the stakes being as high as they were wasn’t enough, so they brought back the Creed Bros., Ivy Nile. New Catch Republic, Johnny Wrestling, and even a brief shot from World Heavyweight champ Damian Priest. WWE keeps pounding us over the head that this is a new era; putting all these cats together for this event signified that better than words ever could. They wanted to remember when and bear witness to a momentous occasion.

And that’s exactly what they got.

Now, the requisite caveat that Trick Willy still isn’t the most polished guy in the ring, but he’s engaging as hell. He can handle something like speaking to his ailing mother and make it completely authentic. When he talked about fearing no man and being okay with whatever happens after the match, win or lose, I believed it. He’s got just enough humility to offset his brashness so that he doesn’t seem arrogant. Putting it more simply, Trick is human.

But as he said, this was his last shot. He wrestled like a man who knew that when he reached into his bag for moves out of Ilja’s playbook. Trick not only hit the champ with an H Bomb, but also a Torpedo Moscow. He Rock Bottomed the Mad Dragon through the commentary table. He took multiple big shots from the champ, including two H Bombs off the top rope, and lived to tell an incredible tale.

For Ilja’s part, he did most of the heavy lifting here but also made Trick look incredible. He talked a lot of trash and made sure everyone knew he saw Trick as his equal. Which isn’t easy to do when wrestling someone who is 0-3 against you.

The little bits of storytelling went a long way for me here. Besides the aforementioned H Bomb and Torpedo Moscow from Trick, he overcame moves that finished him off prior. And on that last big top rope H Bomb, Ilja hurt his hand, a callback to his encounter with Tony D’Angelo. That old injury, which was only a few weeks ago, delayed a pin attempt which probably cost Ilja the match.

Finally, much like their Vengeance Day encounter, it came down to the two men charging at each other from opposite sides of the ring. This week, however, Trick struck first with his namesake knee, and Orlando erupted like the Magic finally won a championship.

Trick is the guy in NXT. During a time of transition around the company, this is the one thing that felt elementary for a long time. How will it go? I have no idea. But I’m looking forward to watching it play out. I hope Trick gets better in the ring, even if it’s a little bit. And I believe he will because he’ll get more reps. He already has the thing most wrestlers would kill for, which is an undeniable charisma that makes fans stand up and root for him. It’s that same charisma that made an entire audience yell, “Whoop that Trick,” and made a publicly traded company produce a shirt that says, “Trickin’ Ain’t Easy.” Anyone who knows the history of those sayings and what they really mean understands just how insane it is that those are things.

I guess when you’re Trick, life is good. And right now, it seems really easy.

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B-Sides

Baby

Roxanne Perez called the NXT Women’s championship her baby. Well, mama retained after going through a match that exceeded my expectations. I mean, it leapt over my expectations the way Superman leaps tall buildings in a single bound. These women started the show and made sure they set the tone for the Spring Breakin.’

It started smartly with Tatum Paxley showing Lyra Valkyria some affection while Roxanne did the smart thing and played the background. Lyra attacked Tatum because, well, yeah, that affection was weird. Roxanne only got involved to breakup an early pinfall attempt, which kinda told the story and foreshadowed the ending. Anyone who reads this space knows I love a good foreshadow; it’s a storytelling hallmark I adore in any medium. There’s something extra sweet when it involves wrestling.

Once the match got going, we got our fair share of one-on-one but it really shined when all three women duked it out. Lyra Power bombed both women off the top rope. Roxanne tried locking Tatum in a crossfire to no avail, but Lyra ran right into her clutches in a smooth transition. Tatum broke up that submission attempt with her own submission on Roxanne, which turned into a pin attempt. They moved fast and furious without nitro or Coronas (I apologize for nothing).

But the real star here, despite the result, is Tatum. She’s spent most of the past few months doing unhinged things and playing Lyra’s sidekick. This match showed she’s got the skills to backup the crazy. She looked dominant at times and almost got the W. In fact, I picked her before the match to walk way with the championship. I almost looked like a genius until Roxanne intervened.

Like I said, they foreshadowed the ending in the beginning. Roxanne went for a Pop Rox on Tatum. When that didn’t work, she walked right into Lyra’s roundhouse kick. Roxanne rolled out the ring and Tatum took control. She hit a beautiful Sunset Flip off the ropes for an almost three count. She followed that with a Pumphandle Cali Roll, then hit Lyra with a gorgeous 450 Splash off the top rope. Out of nowhere, Roxanne interrupted the pin attempt and rolled Tatum over for the pin. She stole the win and barely walked away with her championship. My words probably didn’t do it justice but the video up top says it all.

Dope match. Can’t say enough about it. I figured Roxanne might get drafted, and maybe she still will, but she’ll have that championship she calls her baby in her clothes for quite some time. When/if she loses it, I say give it to Tatum.

Hip to Be Square

What I love about Jaida Parker is that all her matches look and feel like fights. Every move is violent and she packs so muah aggression in every step. Why am I bringing her up? Because she and Fallon Henley wrestled in a previously unscheduled match. They got into it in the locker room because Jaida, like a few others, took lots of umbrage with Fallon’s attempted leadership.

Fallon has some of that same aggression too, so this created a methodically paced match with two people who wanted to hurt each other. Ms. Henley even got in OTM’s face, truly showing her attitude and that she’s fed up with everyone coming at her sideways just for existing. This was the perfect environment for both men but Jaida shined simply utilizing moves that fit her personality. She grinned Fallon down with grounded offensive moves and did everything in her power to slow down Ms. Henley.

And eventually she did with a vicious whip that bounced Fallon’s head off the middle ropes, then followed it with a hip attack. That’s a serious combo because those ropes are more like cables, so I appreciated that finish in what it said about Jaida’s character.

Solid match that elevated Jaida. It keeps Jaida’s momentum going heading into the Women’s North American championship…whatever they decide.

Operation Surprise Party

I really liked this. Nattie got a chance to show her toughness, Lola sounded and looked comfortable in her natural environment, and we got a nice surprise with Shayna Baszler.

The main thing it did, however, was make Nattie & Karmen Petrovic look credible in a setting that belongs to Lola & Shayna. It gives the match juice, which every match requires.

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Singles

• The D’Angelo Family handed the No Quarter Catch Crew an L in a match that started as a brawl and ended as a wrestling match. Tony pinned Charlie Dempsey, which I’m sure puts him in line for a Heritage Cup match. You know what? I wouldn’t mind seeing Tony with that.
• Sol Ruca slayed her demon. The Beach Brawl between her and Blair Davenport was fun, violent, and silly. Just like any of the characters in Jaws. Sol is another one who has some momentum with this new championship on the horizon. Blair might be on her way out of NXT and onto bluer or redder pastures.
• Lexis King got in Baron Corbin’s face backstage, so obviously they fought each other like adults. Lexis cheated for the win, which is huge for him. It also means either Baron is on his way out of the territory or this is Lexis’ next feud. I hope it’s the former. With the Wolf Dogs done in Florida, I want to see them resurrected elsewhere.

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A Spring Breakin’ that truly felt like new beginnings. No Bron Breakker, no Carmelo Hayes, and a new NXT champion. This was a solid show with an incredible opening match. Week two probably won’t hit the same emotional highs and certainly won’t have the same stakes. Well done, everyone. Take a bow.

What say you, Cagesiders? What do you think of the Trick Era and what do you hope it brings us?