{"id":87097,"date":"2019-10-04T14:57:23","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T19:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=87097"},"modified":"2019-10-04T14:57:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T19:57:23","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-10-2-cole-defends-against-riddle-velveteen-dream-experience-baszler-vs-larae-for-womens-title-street-profits-challenge-oreilly-fish-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/10\/04\/nxt-hits-misses-10-2-cole-defends-against-riddle-velveteen-dream-experience-baszler-vs-larae-for-womens-title-street-profits-challenge-oreilly-fish-more\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES 10\/2: Cole defends against Riddle, Velveteen Dream Experience, Baszler vs. LaRae for Women&#8217;s Title, Street Profits challenge O&#8217;Reilly &#038; Fish, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-394328052\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Before we get into this week\u2019s Hits and Misses, I invite all of you to check out this week\u2019s episode of PWT Talks NXT! Alongside Kelly Wells and Tom Stoup, I made my PWTorch Dailycast Debut! We recorded the longest episode in the history of the podcast and had some fantastic dialogue about the show.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opening Video Package &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> Oct. 2 has been circled on our calendars for quite awhile and I can 100 percent definitively tell you that in the lead-up to tonight, I would have never guessed that Corey Taylor from Slipknot would open the show. Odd choice of voiceover host aside, I think this was a powerful package to open what could arguably be one of the most important nights in NXT history.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Adam Cole vs. Matt Riddle for the NXT Championship &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> I think this was absolutely the right call to open the show. NXT diehards have wanted to see this match for quite some time, and I think there is enough hype around it where a certain percentage of people may DVR AEW\u2019s Dynamite to check this match out live. I was on the edge of my seat nearly the entire bout. Now, I do have to slip in the fact that I worry a bit about diminishing returns on executing so many \u201cfinishing move level\u201d moves in such rapid succession without selling. It makes the impactful moves seem less powerful and special overall. BUT! Given the circumstances of the night, I don\u2019t blame them for going all out. Cole going over was where I figured they would go considering UE holds all of the NXT gold, but Riddle had me convinced he may upset Cole towards the end. Balor\u2019s return to the black and gold brand was unexpected and a very welcome addition to the roster as far as I\u2019m concerned. Cole vs Balor should be off the charts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Velveteen Dream Promo challenging Strong for North American Championship &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> A promo! Finally! Personally, I loved his entrance on the super-comfortable looking sofa surrounded by women. Maybe I\u2019m a little bit old school, but would Arthur Fonzerelli have been the same if the women didn\u2019t swoon over him at the snap of a finger? At the high risk of sounding misogynistic, I\u2019m okay with a little bit of sexualization in the product as long as it is done tastefully and without bra and panties matches. The promo itself really highlighted Dream as the attraction he can be, and really psyched me up for the Strong vs. Dream rematch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> I absolutely love the intensity of both of these outstanding performers. Shirai and Yim DE-LIVERED in a hard-hitting match that screamed \u201cour female talent is just as incredible as the men\u201d. They both put in so much credible offense, I genuinely could not predict the winner. Shirai as a heel has to be one of my favorite things that NXT has to offer right now\u2026 she\u2019s just SO GOOD! I am also a sucker for a well-timed, well-placed and well-executed moonsault and Shirai has one of the best going. There is also an immense upside in Mia Yim as well. I was first introduced to her during the inaugural Mae Young Classic, granted she didn\u2019t really catch my eye until the 2nd Classic. Ever since, at least for me, she\u2019s been one of my favorites to watch in the women\u2019s division.\u00a0Mauro had a call worth pointing out: \u201cMore fun than playing games on your phone, We Are NXT!\u201d To me, that says, \u201cHey, if you have nothing better to do, we\u2019re slightly more entertaining than Angry Birds.\u201d I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the message that they want to parlay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnny Gargano vs. Shane Thorne &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> A fantastic technical match between two incredible athletes. Thorne has had a chip on his shoulder after being excluded from the Break-Out tournament, and I\u2019m very impressed with what we saw from him in this match. He wrestled with an intensity and viciousness that I don\u2019t recall seeing out of him in prior bouts. Gargano going over was probably the right call, especially to give the NXT audience a warm and fuzzy feeling on a very important night. However, I hope that this loss doesn\u2019t hinder this recent push for Thorne, I\u2019ve been digging it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shayna Baszler vs. Candice LaRae for the NXT Women\u2019s Championship &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> I made my case on PWT Talks NXT that I thought this match should have closed the show. However, in retrospect, it makes sense that the tag team match went on last to set up Cole and Ciampa. That said, this is a match that I\u2019ve been looking forward to since it was first teased. Like her husband, Gargano, Candice is that scrappy underdog who we are to believe may dethrone the Queen of Spades, making for a great story if told well. That spot where Baszler put LaRae\u2019s hand in the stairs was brutal looking and pretty unique, I loved it. LaRae got a bit more offense in towards the beginning of the match than I expected but Shayna still looked like the beast that she is as the match went on. She tried fighting back over and over again, but ultimately LaRae was no match for Baszler. Even so, I think that Candace put up one hell of a fight and should surely help cement her (though, let\u2019s be honest\u2026 she\u2019s already there) at the top of the division for as long as she remains on the NXT roster.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pete Dunne vs Danny Birch &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> If you\u2019ve been reading past issues of NXT\u2019s Hits &amp; Misses, you\u2019ll know that I\u2019m high Danny Birch and I\u2019m VERY high on Pete Dunne. Danny Birch is such a great wrestler, but he really needs to find a way to connect with the audience a bit more than he has. His win\/loss record is most likely to blame for the lukewarm reactions, but even so, I would love to see so much more out of Birch. His past few appearances have been some of the quietest of the show. That\u2019s not to say that the crowd wasn\u2019t into this match, but for how good Birch is technically, I\u2019d love to see him get the Full Sail arena to really pop. Priest\u2019s interference after Dunne\u2019s win was a nice touch and I can\u2019t wait to see what the two of them will bring to the table when they do finally clash.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-456072832\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish &amp; Kyle O\u2019Riley) vs. Street Profits for the NXT Tag Championships &#8211; HIT:<\/strong> Maybe I\u2019m weird, but The Street Profits entrance really reminded me of Sandman\u2019s entrance at One Night Stand. Not nearly as extreme, of course. But coming out through the crowd to a sea of red solo cups was so wonderfully reminiscent of the mob of crazed ECW diehards surrounding Sandman. Dawkins really stood out to me in this match. I\u2019ve always liked his body of work, but he really looked like a credible powerhouse after a hot tag from Ford. Granted, all four men in this bout are absolute workhorses in their own right. I had a feeling we\u2019d see some interference from Undisputed Era, so that was expected. What was a little less expected (though I had hoped it would happen and had read rumors that it may) was the return of Ciampa. Undisputed Era may hold all of the NXT Gold, but for how long? Ciampa wants his NXT Championship and the look in his eyes showed that he\u2019d plow through Cole to take it back. I know that this is a feud that I\u2019ve been dying to see and judging by the reaction of the Full Sail crowd, they have been too.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED NEXT:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/09\/26\/nxt-hits-misses-9-25-tale-of-the-tape-riddle-vs-killian-ripley-vs-carter-kushidas-mystery-partners-grimes-vs-mendoza-keith-lee-vs-dijakovic\/\">NXT HITS &amp; MISSES 9\/25: Tale of the Tape, Riddle vs. Killian, Ripley vs. Carter, Kushida\u2019s mystery partners, Grimes vs. Mendoza, Keith Lee vs. Dijakovic<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3908403691\"><div id=\"pwtor-3661590218\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Before we get into this week\u2019s Hits and Misses, I invite all of you to check out this week\u2019s episode of PWT Talks NXT! Alongside Kelly Wells and Tom Stoup, I made my PWTorch Dailycast <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/10\/04\/nxt-hits-misses-10-2-cole-defends-against-riddle-velveteen-dream-experience-baszler-vs-larae-for-womens-title-street-profits-challenge-oreilly-fish-more\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES 10\/2: Cole defends against Riddle, Velveteen Dream Experience, Baszler vs. LaRae for Women&#8217;s Title, Street Profits challenge O&#8217;Reilly &#038; Fish, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/10\/RiddleMattJoshParry_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87102,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87097\/revisions\/87102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}