NXT Detroit Delivers: Gargano & LeRae, Black VS Dream, and Otis Steal The Show

Triple Z was live at NXT Detroit. The show had an interesting mix. Overall the show delivered. 

Lars Sullivan defeats Kassius Ohno

Before the show even started. WWE played the "Then. Now. Forever" clip they show before television events. One fan shouted "OH NO WE'RE STUCK WATCHING RAW?" The crowd erupted in laughter. The fans were on fire that night.

​I'm not a Kassius Ohno fan. He seems super overrated. I don't think I've cared about him since his first run in NXT. Maybe even far enough back to when he fought CM Punk in that pull barn. Lars Sullivan has the skills. I wouldn't be surprised to see him rushed to the main roster soon. Vince loves his big guys. Overall the match was great and started off a good card. 
Who's over more? Kassius Ohno
Most Main Roster Potential: Lars Sullivan

Dakota Kai defeats Lacey Evans

Kai and Evans can wrestle. Lacey Evans has a great character. Dakota Kai brought the intensity in this matchup. Terrific match, very surprising these two were on the road trip though. 
Who's over more? Lacey Evans
Most Main Roster Potential: Lacey Evans

SIDENOTE: Last time NXT came to Detroit they brought all their top people. This time it felt like they experimented a bit. I mean how do you not bring Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon, Sanity, Authors of Pain, and Roderick Strong on this road trip? 

Angelo Dawkins defeats Cezar Bononi

This is what I was trying to get at with the sidenote above. NO ONE KNEW WHO CEZAR BONONI IS. Except for one guy in the crowd chanting that we would know him if we watched NXT. Okay yeah sure bud. I get it he showed up on NXT once or twice. Why is he on the tour? I get the point of NXT is to prepare and develop the superstars of tomorrow but shouldn't he be competing at the local NXT events first? NXT Detroit lost an opportunity to see someone else. Which is a shame. Bononi all in all was alright. Nothing that caught my eyes. Angelo Dawkins on the other hand. He had the look, the gimmick, the mic skills, and the in-ring knowledge to back it all up. The Street Profits have a bright future in NXT. Dawkins cut a promo where he shouted "Detroit" and the crowd would cheerfully respond with "Basketball." Dawkins couldn't of asked for a better scenario that night. Other then of course being in action with his tag partner. 
Who's more over? Angelo Dawkins
Most Main Roster Potential: Angelo Dawkins

Adam Cole defeats Christopher Dijak

Dijak competing was also fascinating. Most of us know him from Ring of Honor so it made sense he was on the tour. NXT has to take advantage of its natural wrestling talent. Especially the ones who are use to performing in front of a indy-like crowd. Dijak is a monster. Once he reaches main roster Vince will drop the "Christopher" and he will just be known as Dijak. It's cleaner and WWE loves single names. 

Adam Cole is incredibly over. Very glad he was at the show. Dijak and Cole went on to have a fun match. Both competitors looked very good.

Who's more over? Adam Cole
Most Main Roster Potential: Christopher Dijak 
(Surprised? Dijak is a monster. WWE loves their monsters.)

The Undisputed Era defeats Heavy Machinery

Heavy Machinery are over. The fun duo has a lot of potential to go far. The Undisputed Era still have it.  Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly received help from Adam Cole to win their match. This group should dominate NXT for a long time. I still fear their main roster potential though. We have seen a lot of NXT greats fall flat. 

Otis Dozovic is a star. His worm was incredible. Dream match for Heavy Machinery would be The Revival. Two old school teams meet. 
Who's more over? The Undisputed Era
Most Main Roster Potential: Heavy Machinery

Shayna Baszler defeats Kairi Sane by DQ

Let me start off by saying Shayna Baszler is so bad. Like this match was so boring. Poor Kairi Sane did her best to make it work. The crowd went in complete silence. How does a fired up Detroit crowd just die? Make Shayna Baszler compete. Then Dakota Kai saved us all as she came in and attacked Baszler due to a previous attack earlier in the night. Sane has SmackDown written all over her. Sane could also still have a prosperous career down in NXT. All depends on what they want to do with her. By far this was the worst match of the night. Which was a surprise due to the crowd being in love with Kairi Sane. 

NXT needs to figure out Shayna Baszler though. 
Who's more over? Kairi Sane
Main Roster Potential: Kairi Sane

Aleister Black defeats Velveteen Dream

This match makes up for the amount of NXT talent that didn't appear on the card. A rematch from NXT TakeOver War Games. Dream came out to a huge pop. So did Aleister Black. The two had a absolute stellar contest that resulted in Black coming out on top. Fun psychology and crazy moves made this another classic. 

Velveteen also cut an amazing promo about Detroit sports prior to his match. 


Who's more over? It was a tie. 
Main Roster Potential: Tie

Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae defeat Andrade Almas & Zelina Vega

Johnny Gargano may be WWE's second coming of Daniel Bryan. Gargano may be a even better version. Gargano has a innovative in-ring style. Charisma is also on his side. Candice LeRae is fantastic. She should be next in line to hold the NXT Women's Championship. Gargano and LeRae could easily become WWE's It couple. If WWE was truly forward thinking. They have to play the hot NXT act every year. WrestleMania 35 could be Roman Reigns (who has held the title for a full year) taking on underdog Johnny Gargano. Gargano wins, and a life time achievement is accomplished. A phenomenal celebration would ensue. Next night on RAW. Enter Tommaso Ciampa. You repeat a big NXT feud again. Although WWE has tons of talent. If they kept playing the hot talent from NXT fans wouldn't get bored. 

Although I had high praise for Gargano/LeRae. It doesn't mean Almas and Vega aren't as impressive. Zelina Vega turned Almas around. The once joke of NXT became the rightful champion. Saving us from a boring reign of Drew McIntyre. THANK YOU ALMAS.  The duo is ready for main roster but I have no problems having them dominate NXT. The actual match that night was everything you wanted in a Tag Team match. Great storytelling from all of them. Mixed Tag Matches are another thing NXT can do better than main roster. Facebook has to get involved in order to have mixed tag matches. 

After the main event. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae shook people's hands and took pictures. True blue babyfaces. LeRae could be the most over Women's wrestler in 2019. Not to mention that she can go toe to toe with the men. 

The future is bright for these four. 
Who's more over? Johnny Gargano
Most Main Roster Potential: Candice LeRae

The event had all the action, emotion, and excitement you want out of a pro wrestling event. Despite some NXT stars not showing up, but the show still delivered. NXT realistically could tour the midwest every single year and they would sell out. WWE please take note. 

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