The March 10, 2021 of NXT was a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE which took place at the Capitol Performance Center in Winter Park, Florida.
Summary[]
On the heels of last week's controversial WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Match, NXT General Manager William Regal unveiled NXT Women's Tag Team Titles and crowned Dakota Kai & Raquel González as the first-ever champions. Kai & González were almost immediately visited by their first challengers, Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon, and Regal made the first defense of the titles official for later in the evening.
Toni Storm disrespected Io Shirai right off the bat, and the bout quickly turned into a fiery slugfest. The former NXT UK Women's Champion looked to put Shirai away early with a potential Storm Zero on the ring apron before Shirai countered with a brutal back body drop on the hardest part of the ring, then followed with a spectacular moonsault to the outside.
As the action returned to the ring, this time Storm countered a second possible moonsault and planted Shirai with a sit-out powerbomb for a near-fall. Storm again came up just shy of victory moments later, dropping Shirai with Storm Zero for a two-count. One mistake proved devastating for Storm, as Shirai countered her diving headbutt with a crossface in the center of the ring, leaving Storm with no choice but to tap out.
Pete Dunne dismantled Jake Atlas with his signature joint manipulation, zeroing in on Atlas' left arm, hand and digits. Though Atlas fired back with a spirited rally to put Dunne on his heels, The BruiserWeight was simply too much to overcome, forcing Atlas to tap out, then daring any Superstars in NXT to step up and face him.
Unlike their last encounter at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon were able to dictate the pace of this bout and used their high-octane offense to prevent Dakota Kai & Raquel González from ever finding a rhythm.
González saved Kai from Blackheart's cover following a brutal double-team wheelbarrow slam, then countered Moon's attempt at the Eclipse. But Blackheart sent Kai into both of them, causing them to crash to the outside. With González out of the picture, Blackheart caught Kai with a bridging matchbook cover for a three-count, shocking the newly crowned champions and swiftly ending their reign.
Kayden Carter was seemingly ready for Xia Li's attempt to ambush her immediately, but she eventually succumbed to Li's vicious strikes. Kacy Catanzaro, who suffered a partially torn LCL two weeks ago at the hands of Li, put her crutches to use, leveling Li in the back with one for a disqualification. Payback was sweet for Catanzaro, who continued to batter Li with the crutch until Boa entered the ring and snapped the crutch in half. Mei Ying sent her ominous hand signal to Boa before Carter struck him in the back with the other crutch, allowing her and Catanzaro to escape Tian Sha.
Legado del Fantasma and Grizzled Young Veterans had much more to worry about than each other. Two "astronauts" arrived with shades of Breezango's entrance a week earlier, only to reveal themselves as MSK. Nash Carter & Wes Lee's presence stunned GYV enough for Joaquin Wilde to catch James Drake with a sunset flip for the win.
MSK weren't done though, as Lee smashed Zack Gibson's hand with his astronaut helmet, fitting retribution for his fractured hand thanks to GYV.
Meanwhile, Breezango came for payback as well, ambushing Legado del Fantasma and returning the favor after being attacked last week.
Finn Bálor is still the NXT Champion due in part to a ghost from Adam Cole's not-so-distant past.
A "big fight" feel was undoubtedly in the air at the Capitol Wrestling Center, with Bálor motivated not only to preserve his title, but finally get a piece of Cole after the former NXT Champion had repeatedly gotten the better of him in recent weeks. Cole even attempted to do to Bálor what he did to put O'Reilly on the shelf, setting up for a suplex on the steel steps, only for Bálor to counter with a suplex on the unforgiving CWC ramp.
Cole later regained control, only to be left in disbelief several by Bálor's resilience. The Prince kicked out of a Last Shot and a Panama Sunrise, spurring Cole to attempt another Last Shot. However, Bálor countered and sent Cole flying out of the ring. That was where Cole shockingly came face to face with O'Reilly.
With Cole frozen, Bálor hit a tope con hilo before spiking him with a devastating 1916 DDT on the floor. Back inside the ring, Bálor followed with the Coup de Grace to make the victory almost academic.
O'Reilly wasn't done with Cole, however. With The Panama City Playboy disingenuously begging for forgiveness, O'Reilly blocked a low blow attempt, tore Cole's Undisputed ERA armband off and rained down lefts and rights, brutalizing his former best friend all over the Capitol Wrestling Center until referees could hold him back.
Meanwhile, Bálor turned around in the ring to find himself face to face with Karrion Kross, who no doubt was fixated on The Prince's NXT Championship — a title Kross never lost before being forced to relinquish it last summer.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Io Shirai (c) defeated Toni Storm to retain the NXT Women's Championship (11:58)
- Pete Dunne (w/ Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan) defeated Jake Atlas (4:23)
- Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart defeated Dakota Kai & Raquel González (c) to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship (12:16)
- Xia Li defeated Kayden Carter by DQ (2:09)
- Legado Del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) (1:41)
- Finn Bálor (c) defeated Adam Cole to retain the NXT Championship (20:06)
Other on-screen talent[]
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Image Gallery[]
