As The Road to NXT TakeOver: New York draws near, Aleister Black & Ricochet collide with #DIY and Moustache Mountain battle The Forgotten Sons in The Dusty Classic Semifinals. Plus, Bianca Belair & Io Shirai compete to determine who will challenge Shayna Baszler for The NXT Women’s Title.
Aleister Black & Ricochet Prepare For Semifinals Action Against #DIY:
What will happen when the all-star alliance of Aleister Black & Ricochet collides with a newly recharged #DIY in The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semifinals?
Black & Ricochet overcame the dynamic force of Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel in the first round, while NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano got back to their old ways with a victory over Undisputed ERA’s Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly. Both teams now find themselves one victory away from stepping into the final round of The Dusty Classic, which begs the question: Who will advance?
Black & Ricochet have made headlines across NXT, RAW & SmackDown LIVE as one of the best things going in The Tag Team division. For Ciampa & Gargano, a pair with enough history to fill an ESPN “30 for 30” special, their experimental reunion has proven to be successful, thanks to wins secured across the red, blue & black-and-gold brands.
In a collision that could alter the trajectory of both teams, the pressure will approach boiling levels when they lock up inside the squared circle for an explosive showdown.
It’ll be do or die when Black & Ricochet battle #DIY on the road to The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Final & NXT TakeOver: New York, where the winner of the tournament will face NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders.
Io Shirai & Bianca Belair Vie For NXT Women’s Title Opportunity:
Two questions await The No. 1 Contender’s Match between Io Shirai & Bianca Belair tonight. Will Belair still call herself “un-de-fea-ted ” after the smoke clears? Or will Shirai take flight with an NXT Women’s Title opportunity at TakeOver: New York? Either way, expect a score to be settled when Shirai & Belair step inside the squared circle.
The root of their rivalry began to sprout on The Feb. 6th edition of NXT, when Shirai scored the pin over NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler in a Six-Woman Tag Team Match that saw Shirai team with Belair & Kairi Sane. The EST Of NXT had much to say about Shirai snagging the three-count, especially after she missed that opportunity in her NXT Women’s Title Match against Baszler at TakeOver: Phoenix. After weeks of testy exchanges concerning Belair’s & Shirai’s claims to a championship match, NXT General Manager William Regal came up with a solution, pitting them in a No. 1 Contender’s Match to determine the next challenger for The Queen Of Spades at TakeOver: New York.
Will “The Big Strong Bois” Overcome “The Savages Of NXT?”
Trent Seven & Tyler Bate bested Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins in an exhilarating matchup during last week’s first-round bout. However, the battle-tested duo will face as tough a challenge as they’ve seen when they step up against the brute and grizzled force of Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake.
Constantly operating with a chip on their shoulders, The Forgotten Sons have earned a reputation for leaving wreckage whenever they step into a ring. That much was certain during their chaotic First-Round Match against Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, which culminated in Cutler & Blake unloading a cache of punishing tandem offense that left their opponents sprawled across the canvas. Do Moustache Mountain have what it takes to bypass the threat of Cutler & Blake and advance to the next round of the Dusty Classic? Or will The Forgotten Sons make this another successful Do Unto Others tour stop? Find out tonight on WWE NXT!
Source: WWE.com