To kick off this new series we have the wonderful Cruiserweight Championship match between Lio Rush and Angel Garza. The cruiserweights look much more at home on NXT over their designated 205 Live slot after Smackdown. The NXT crowd has always produced an excellent atmosphere regardless of who is put in front of them, and this match was no exception. This kind of reaction is exactly what the cruiserweights need to push their performances to the next level.
Rush and Garza stole the show on Wednesday’s NXT with their opening bout. They set the tone perfectly for the rest of the night with their high paced opener, leading to the hard-hitting ladder match at the close. NXT stars usually deliver on a weekly basis, from their big names to their new acquisitions, but it’s nice to see that the upcoming Survivor Series three-way clash between NXT, Raw and Smackdown isn’t distracting management from the rest of the NXT talent.
The cruiserweights are often criticised for lacking selling and storytelling in their matches. Rush and Garza went out of their way to prove the doubters wrong. Garza started the mind games early on by involving Rush’s family, rolling to the outside, hopping the crowd barrier and ripping off his trousers in front of Rush’s wife, keeping it PG, of course. From here on out the action was taken up a notch, with Lio out for revenge, resulting in stiff strikes and impactful power moves.
They gave us what we always look for in cruiserweights with their high flying and creative offense, though they took it a step further with intelligent counters and masterful in ring storytelling. Both paced the match excellently throughout by increasing the intensity as they both started to visibly tire, making for an exciting fifteen minutes.
Rush displayed his unique offense and immense agility, while Garza’s creativity shone through creating GIF worthy highlights such as his rough dropkick counter for the Rebound Stunner and his Moonsault Powerslam.
Apart from an occasional mishit and an odd looking ending, with Garza’s legs on the ropes in a way that didn’t look intentional, we were gifted with a match that stood out above all others this week. Let’s hope for more of the same in the near future.
The finish of the match gave way to a rematch with Garza having a legitimate claim for another shot. This could make for a stellar mid-card slot on NXT’s upcoming WarGames 3, continuing the story of Garza targeting Rush’s family and providing a tremendous advertisement for 205 Live.
Honourable Mentions
– AEW had a couple of contenders on Dynamite with Pac defeating Hangman Page in their rematch from Full Gear, it was just as impactful as the first and furthered their feud into a probable trilogy. The main event delivered with SCU beating the team of Jericho and Guevara, ‘Le Champion’ taking his first pin in the process. Another star making performance from Scorpio Sky and Sammy Guevara that showed what a wonderfully detestable heel he can be.
– NXT’s main event shone after a shaky start. Io Shirai proved her immense talent and Mia Yim took one for the team with some nasty looking bumps in their ladder match for the team advantage at WarGames.
– NJPW’s Night 2 of their World Tag League had Zack Sabre Jr & Taichi defeating Suzuki & Lance Archer in a match that was expected to have stiff strikes and solid technically wrestling, which it delivered on both counts. I can imagine the remainder of the tournament will give plenty more match of the week contenders.
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