Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Continues
Another week of NXT and another few matches for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. No Way Jose and Rich Swann paired up to kick off the night against Tony Nese and Drew Gulak. As you have seen on WWE RAW, three of these guys are going to be around for a while in the Cruiserweight Division. Jose and Swann started things off very fast, butGulak pulls Swann down in a sunset flip. Rich Swann connects onto Drew Gulak with a dropkick. Here comes Jose, who hits a few clotheslines and gets the crowd fired up. Nese gets into the ring and is able to hit a beautiful dropkick and ground Jose for the time being. Nese cartwheels off the apron and superkicks Swann. Jose lands multiple clotheslines on Nese and gets a two count out of them. Gulak gets involved and punches down Jose a few times, but Jose is able to hit a big knockout punch. Swann hits the ring and sends Nese to the outside, followed by a triangle senton to the outside. No Way Jose is able to hit the Jose Bomb onto Gulak to pick up the win.
I really enjoyed this match tonight, especially the fluent teamwork from Swann and No Way Jose. They worked really well together and their energy is infectious. Rich Swann has such a natural charisma and his athleticism can take him places. I do think No Way Jose was the guy who desperately needed this win and needed something positive. With losing to Austin Aries and Bobby Roode in multiple weeks, you needed to make sure the crowd still enjoyed him AND took him seriously in the ring. His talent is unquestioned and this could be a fun pairing for the time being. This was some good action to kick off WWE NXT tonight. Entertaining and simple tag team wrestling.
The Debut of Roderick Strong
Thirteen years in Ring of Honor and Roderick Strong has debuted in NXT. Another strong signing by WWE, Strong makes his debut in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match with Austin Aries. If you do not know the history between the two, do some research. Roderick Strong, a man who is 5 foot 10 and 215 pounds, is so similar to the style lof Austin Aries. As a memeber of Generation Next, he was able to learn his craft with some of the most talented guys in pro wrestling. When you see someone with 13 years of wrestling experience, you think that he is nearing the end of his career. Not with Strong, who could have bright days ahead by being only 33 years old. His debut was not extremely hyped or promoted. It was not rumored for weeks and months, but was more organic. Not EVERY debut needs to be like Nakamura or Roode. What I liked most was that he had a comfort zone from day one in NXT and it showed. Their victory is just the start of something, something that could eventually lead to them being NXT Tag Team Champions.
