On tonight’s episode of NXT, we kick off the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which will finish up at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. Also advertised for tonight is the debut of Dan Matha. With TakeOver still several weeks away, how will tonight affect the night before Survivor Series?
The Bollywood Boys (Harv & Girv Sihra) vs. The Authors of Pain (w/Paul Ellering) – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match
The Bollywood Boys first appeared on WWE television in the Cruiserweight Classic, but they both unfortunately lost in the first round. They look to be more successful tonight, which will be no easy task considering their opponents.
The Authors of Pain have dominated so far in their NXT run, and with The Bollywood Boys being about half of the size of them, this bodes well for the Paul Ellering led team.
After hitting Perfect Symmetry on Gurv Sihra, The Authors of Pain effortlessly advance to the second round, where they will either face Tony Nese and Drew Gulak, or No Way Jose and Rich Swann. Winners: The Authors of Pain | Eliminated: The Bollywood Boys
Rich Swann vs. Patrick Clark
Rich Swann is also competing in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but tonight he competes in singles action. This is Swann’s first NXT match in a long time, and he returns with a ton more credibility since being a part of the Cruiserweight Classic and the Monday Night Raw cruiserweight division. This is an unusual match for Swann, since his opponent is nowhere near being a cruiserweight.
Rich Swann hits a forceful spinning kick to the jaw of Patrick Clark, then follows it up with a standing moonsault to pick up the victory. Winner: Rich Swann
Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay) vs. Danielle Kamela
Peyton Royce, who has not been on NXT in quite some time, returns to action to face a new recruit in Danielle Kamela. Last week, Liv Morgan lost in very quick fashion to Asuka, and later in the night was made fun of by Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. Perhaps a feud is brewing between Morgan and these two apparent allies.
Danielle Kamela, who was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, barely gets in any offense on Royce. The self-professed “venus fly trap of NXT” hits a fisherman suplex on Kamela to pick up the victory. Winner: Peyton Royce
Dan Matha vs… nobody
For the last few weeks, we have seen video packages anticipating the debut of Dan Matha. The 6-foot-8 former football player looks intimidating, but he never gets to have his match. Instead of whoever his opponent was supposed to be, Samoa Joe rushes to the ring and lays Matha out. After Matha and the Ealy Brothers last week, Samoa Joe continues to threaten William Regal to give him Shinsuke Nakamura or this will keep happening.
Video Package
Next week as part of the Tag Team Classic, Bobby Rood and Tye Dillinger (known as Glorious 10) will face the debuting team of Sanity, who are completely unknown so far.
Andrade “Cien” Almas & Cedric Alexander vs. The Revival – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match
It makes sense for the NXT Tag Team Champions to be in a tag team tournament. They have shown over the last year that they are experts in tag team wrestling. Corey Graves even mentions on commentary that including the Raw tag team division (which includes The New Day and Gallows and Anderson, among others), he believes that in his opinion, The Revival is the best tag team in the world.
While The Revival have had great tag team success, Cedric Alexander and Andrade “Cien” Almas should not be overlooked. Almas signed with NXT after great success in Mexico, and has had a fairly good start to his NXT run. Cedric Alexander has more wins than losses in WWE, but he has been incredibly impressive in what we have seen so far.
Almas and Alexander work surprisingly well together, but the synergy of The Revival still comes out on top. After Alexander tries to take on Wilder and Dawson at the same time, the NXT Tag Team Champions hit the Shatter Machine out of nowhere to advance to the second round. Winners: The Revival | Eliminated: Andrade “Cien” Almas & Cedric Alexander
After the match, Almas is clearly frustrated with the loss, and snaps. Almas assaults Cedric Alexander, leaving him laid out at ringside before walking to the back.
