NXT, much like Ozzy Osbourne is going through changes. And look, I am going to fight against every red flag going, the raw-like promo parades, weird switcheroo booking and the Von Wagners and focus on the positives.
NXT is truly a developmental show once again and that’s very much fine, and if we still get matches like KUSHIDA vs. Roderick Strong, whilst also promoting a whole BUNCH of new talent, that’s fine.
That’s absolutely… it’s… it’s fine. It’s not quite the appointment viewing that a lot of us are used to (though if we’re honest NXT hasn’t really been that for a little while now) but it is what it is.
However, as we reach this turning point in the history of the brand, after my fantasy booking video about NXT, which hey you should watch please and thank you, let’s finish off our NXT 2.0 coverage by looking back at the very best of the black and gold era.
I’m Adam, hailing from partsFUNknown and here are our Top 10 Best TV Matches From NXT 1.0.
10. Cesaro vs Sami Zayn ⅔ Falls – August 21, 2013
In some people’s eyes, the match that started it all. Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesario as he was then known before his first name was mysteriously outlawed, had a WHOPPER of a feud in NXT, with big Chez repeatedly getting the best of little Sami on what would be a months-long underdog story.
The two had a twenty-minute stormer on the first-ever NXT special called NXT Arrival, the Takeover before Takeovers were a thing, but this is the match that really caught people’s attention, sent rumors of a match of the year candidate being aired on this random developmental show that not many people had heard of, and when those people tuned in, they saw 15 hard-hitting minutes of freakish power from Cesaro and industry topping selling from Zayn, culminating in a staggering spot of Cesaro not quite catching but then just f**king catching him anyway into a eye-watering uppercut and neutralizer.
Beautiful stuff, stuff, full of story, and the standard-setter for NXT, not only as the home of indie quality, but a place that main roster stars could come to get some actual work done.
9. Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler – December 18, 2019
Equal parts amazing match, equal parts amazing moment.
The one single time NXT beat AEW in the key demo during the Wednesday night wars, this was your main event, Rhea Ripley showcasing that BRUTALITY and finally ending Shayna Baszler almost two-year run as THE dominant woman in NXT, pinning her after an avalanche riptide to be crowned NXT Women’s Champion, and there was much rejoicing.
Quite frankly both women kicked the s**t out of each other, Shayna throwing elbows, Ripley using her nightmare legs to big boot Baszler straight into hell, or the Raw Women’s Championship scene as it’s otherwise known.
Savage strikes, Ripley destroying both of Baszler’s ineffectual ponywomen, a fantastic story told around Rhea’s arm, and a BELTER of a kickout after Baszler DDTed her onto a chair.
After the match, as Rhea’s held aloft by the NXT fans, it’s a joyous crowning of a new star, cue worrying music as Charlotte waits in the wings.
8. Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn ⅔ Falls – March 9, 2016
Don’t you like it when your favorite TV show does a bottle episode? But Adam I hear you cry, headbutting your monitor in confusion, what’s a bottle episode.
Well, most episodes of TV are made up of multiple scenes, characters and locations, flitting from one to the other, bottle episodes focus on maybe just one character, one location, one scene, and the entire episode just sticks with it, The Fly episode from Breaking Bad, perfect example, or the one where no one’s ready from Friends, same deal.
Well this is the bottle episode of NXT, one episode, one match from start to finish, Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn, two out of three falls to determine the number one contender to Finn Balor’s NXT Championship, the crazy sons of bitches go 45 minutes.
Joe gets the first fall with the muscle buster, Sami equalizes with the Koji clutch, and the finish of the match comes with the Coquina clutch 45 full minutes later.
There are better matches in NXT’s history with a more rabid crowd, but the two men throw everything at this match and it’s such a standout achievement, worthy of recognition, and a fond remembrance of a time when NXT was the best single hour of wrestling around.
7. Asuka vs. Nikki Cross – June 28, 2017
And talk about underrated classics. The first-ever Last Woman Standing match in WWE history, don’t let Sasha and Charlotte tell you differently, also its WAY more brutal than the one the Queen and the Boss had.
If Nikki Cross hadn’t already convinced you that she was insane with her propensity to run around like one of the witched from MacBeth with her f**king dress on fire, then the bumps she took here SHOULD make that abundantly clear.
Sometimes it’s as simple as Asuka putting a trash can on Nikki’s head and just kicking it as hard as she can, sometimes it’s as horrible as Asuka being powerbombed on a pile of chairs on the outside.
There’s a f**king sickening superplex from a ladder through the announce table.
The fans are annoyingly dead for large stretches of the match, which is a real shame, but even they wake up for some of these high spots, which served as a proper star-making turn for Nikki Cross.
6. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly – July 8, 2021
Fans may have soured on Kyle O’Reilly’s super cool and in no way lame cool guy persona, cruelly booing his big blowoff win against Adam Cole Baby at Takeover 36, but god damn if these two men couldn’t go.
Their two takeover encounters are notable, although both of them are crazy excessive wacky hardcore matches that bury the lede on how technically sound both men are, it often felt like Cole and O’Reilly were almost duty-bound to live up to the carnage of Ciampa/Gargano, but their tv match at the Great American Bash might actually be their best.
Because it’s a regular match, more of a focus on technicality, which is definitely Kyle’s strong suit, and a really strong example of how a blood feud can actually flourish under confined rules.
It’s a belter, both men trading submissions and stiff strikes, each one having every single limb in the purple on 2K by the end of the match, wish the rabid crowd had been a little more into Kyle at the time so they could have lost their mind at the amazing moment O’Reilly kicks out of the first last shot, with all the limbwork stories paying off in the final stretch leading to the last last shot.
5. Undisputed Era vs. The Revival – November 20, 2019
Once upon a time, before AEW was invented, the home of the greatest tag wrestling in the world was NXT.
DIY, AOP, American Alpha, Enzo & Cass, The Revival and the Undisputed Era, to name just a few, it seemed like every single Takeover between 2016 and 2020, they kept finding new ways to raise the bar.
Two of the most accomplished teams, and providing some of the greatest takeover matches ever were The Revival, now known as FTR and the Undisputed Era, now known as Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong.
Like two ships passing each other in the night, the Revival checked out of NXT shortly before the UE checked in, and it was long anticipated dream match, UE vs the Revival, well it actually happened, not at Takeover but on NXT TV, and it f**king ruled.
One of the only times that Revival ever worked face, the best team of one era, faced off against Fish and OReilly, often regarded as the best team within UE.
All dickhead, all seamless transitions, all the time, building to a beautiful crescendo of violence with rare heroism from Dash and Dawson.
4. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs. The Broserweights – January 15, 2020
And sticking with blisteringly good tag wrestling, who doesn’t love a little bit of the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic.
There have been a HUGE amount of beautiful NXT TV tag matches as part of the tournament, American Alpha making a name for themselves getting a 20-minute bout out of the goddamn Hype Bros, DIY vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet, Grizzled Young Veterans vs. UE, but this is a underrated favourite, the odd couple of the Broserweights vs. the happiest boys in all the schoolyard, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster.
Just four dudes who’d wrestled each other a whole bunch on the UK indie scene and beyond, this match just decided to skip the feeling out process and just go straight into silly flips and power moves, and it’s LOVELY.
Mark Andrews’ hot tag is hot enough to melt vibranium featuring a ludicrous sunset flip tornado DDT spot.
Also there’s an electric chair, poisonrana thing which, just… chefs kiss. The match gets a tag team wrestling chant for a reason.
If you’ve forgotten about this match, go and watch it again, it’s just fun. And you’re right lisa, fun IS fun.
3. Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa – July 25, 2018
Hey, you know what didn’t happen very often? The NXT Championship changing hands on TV.
Well obviously before takeovers were invented it did, SHUT UP DAD, but once NXT got its own version of pay-per-view, the big crowning moments were saved for those big shows.
Not so mid-2018, which might just be the best single calendar year in NXT history which is F**KING SAYING SOMETHING.
Ciampa/Gargano was maybe the hottest feud in wrestling at the time, which was a shame for Aleister Black, because he was the poor soul who had custody of Goldie at the time.
Not only did he lose this match but he also lost out on a rematch at Takeover Brooklyn 4 as well. Poor Spooky Laurie.
Anyway this match ruled, Ciampa was the most hated man in the world, no entrance music Ciampa is the GOAT, both men could go for days, and indeed they went for almost half an hour, proper babyface vs proper heel none of these ‘both guys are cool’ indie affairs, F**K TOMMASO CIAMPA.
The fans are rabid for the match by the time Johnny Idiot runs in and accidentally gifts the belt to Ciampa and oh man, the boos when Ciampa wins, no music, just gloating, wonderful telly. And meaning of Jonathan and Tomato Champion.
2. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas – February 21, 2018
Johnny Gargano’s match with Andrade at Takeover Philadelphia is when the Gargano vs. Ciampa singles feud reignites after a terribly timed injury to Ciampa puts it on the back-burner immediately after the betrayal.
At the end of the show, after the five-star match, Ciampa returns to hit Johnny with the crutch, and there was much boo.
Fast forward a few months to the rematch on NXT TV. The most easily emotionally manipulated man in the world, Johnny Wrestling has been goaded into putting his career in NXT on the line for one last shot at the gold, and the match is as wonderful as you’d expect from two men on the in-ring run of their lives.
Another glorious NXT main event running at over 20 minutes, it is wonderful wrestling, smooth as butter, leading to another vicious crutch attack from Ciampa, as Mauro Ranallo is so outraged that he almost screams out his spine.
Unlike Aleister Black, Andrade is able to survive the Ciampa/Gargano feud with his title reign intact, the match ending with a wonderful bit of am dram business, Ciampa waving Johnny Gargano’s career goodbye. The best villainy.
1. Undisputed Era vs Moustache Mountain – July 11, 2018
But when it comes to true emotion, this is the often unsung crowning glory from NXT 1.0.
To date, it’s the only TV match in NXT history to gain the Big Sweaty Dave Massive Muscles Meltzer full five stars if you don’t count NXT UK AND I DON’T.
After winning the NXT Tag Team Championships from UE at the special two-day NXT UK title tournament in 2018, Moustache Mountain put the strap on the line in a rematch against Strong and O’Reilly a month later.
And oh the emotion that would flow. Early in the match, Seven damages his left knee on the ring steps and that’s the whole show. Undisputed Era grind his knee into a fine paste cueing some of the best-selling this side of Ricky Steamboat.
This also leads to a whole bunch of hope spots from Tyler Bate and if there’s a wrestler uniquely brilliant at brief bursts of power it’s Tyler Bate. Big strong boy.
The finish of the match is glorious, ending with O’Reilly first locking Trent Seven in an endless heel hook, and then a double kneebar.
Faced with the prospect of watching his mentor being permanently crippled at the hands of the Undisputed Era, despite Trent pleas to the opposite, Bate throws in the towel, conceding the match in one of the most beautiful, emotionally resonant, and uniquely booked finishes since Kevin Owens wrested the title away from Sami Zayn. Truly exceptional.
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