Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot
Nikki Cross asks Ruby Riot to come out and play, to be friends, to kick off WWE NXT. She does just that and they brawl in the ring. A very unique was to kick off WWE NXT and I enjoyed it. When Asuka is not involved in the show, you better come up with something other than squash matches. Both women are so different. They are more unique than Billie Kay or Peyton Royce. They are great wrestlers, there is no doubt about that. Their unique look is a combination of a grunge and punk. They will not be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon and that is a good thing for the purest wrestling fan. You want to see the skill and intensity of these women on a weekly basis. Some stories work inside of the ring, but this one can work outside just as much. It was shown tonight with their ability to brawl around the ring and arena.
Giving both women multiple segments, which included more brawling before an announced match, is showing us that both can thrive. Both women are taking a prime opportunity to potentially be the successor to Asuka. WWE knows that Asuka is not going to be around NXT forever. Heck, I do not even see her finishing the year with the gold and black brand. Ruby Riot needed more of a spotlight, while Nikki Cross with Sanity had given her a great advantage to enhance her importance on the show. Nikki and Ruby are strong additions to the roster and pushing them now works for a potential championship match in May or August.
Drew McIntyre Wins Again
Can we call Andrade Cien Almas a jobber to the stars? That might be too harsh, but he loses to the “new” guys in NXT. Drew McIntyre is another example of this in a physical and fast paced match. What I like about Drew is his combination of speed and precision. He is connecting on every move with force and power, but also showcasing how agile he can be. The guy looks like a star and his time away is going all good things for him.
I wish the match was longer than 4-5 minutes, especially considering how good of a wrestler Almas. Nigel said it best when he said that Drew McIntyre is on a short and fast track to the NXT Championship. McIntyre brings plenty to enjoy and the match tonight gives us a little more sampling size on what to expect in 2017. It was an average contest, due to the length of it.
