Top 3 Performers of NXT (April 24, 2019)
This week's episode focused on further fall out from the events of NXT Takeover: New York.
The Forgotten Sons were the first to head to the ring, with Jaxson Ryker once again set for in-ring action against NXT alumni and current 205 Live roster member Humberto Carrillo.
Carrillo was used predominantly as a jobber during his time at NXT, frequently teaming up with fellow Latin American luchador Raul Mendoza.
Carrillo used his speed to get the edge over the bigger Ryker at the start of the match. However, once Ryker caught him, Ryker's power game saw the Forgotten Son's enforcer throw Carrillo around the ring and ringside.
The match was eventually called off with both Ryker and Carrillo being counted out. Ryker attempted to continue his assault on Carrillo, only for Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch to run for the save. This sets up a 3 on 3 tag match between the Forgotten Sons and the team of Burch, Lorcan, and Carrillo.
A backstage segment saw Matt Riddle face off against the leader of the Undisputed Era, Adam Cole. When the action returned to the ring, Vanessa Borne and Aliyah headed to the ring for their match against Candice LeRae and a mystery partner.
The partner was Kacy Catanzaro who made her name on American Ninja Warrior and has been featured heavily on the WWE PC youtube channel through her relationship with Ricochet.
The pint-sized Catanzaro started in the ring against Aliyah. LeRae and Catanzaro eventually picked up the win after Catanzaro managed to get the hot tag to LeRae. She hit the Lionsault on Vanessa Borne for the win.
Backstage, Io Shirai was jumped during an interview by the Horsewoman of NXT after the events of last week's NXT.
Baszler, Shafir, and Duke left the Japanese Superstar lying out after attacking her from behind.
NXT headed back to the ring for the Street Profits against NXT Tag Team Champions the War Raiders. Dawkins and Ford got the jump, attacking the War Raiders from behind and got a quick near fall.
The War Raiders would then establish their dominance, eventually winning after hitting their tag team finisher "Thor's Hammer".
The main event of the night was between NXT Champion Johnny Gargano and Roderick Strong. The match started with a frenetic pace, with both wrestlers exchanging chain wrestling and counters.
Notably, Strong came out sans his Undisputed Era cohorts, building on the growing tension between Strong and the leader of Undisputed Era, Adam Cole.
Later in the match, Cole and the Undisputed Era would come out to distract Johnny Gargano. As they approached the ring, Matt Riddle then out Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish before being clocked by Adam Cole.
Strong then seem to try and grab Cole by the hair, which led to Cole hitting Strong with a jumping roundhouse kick. Gargano then took out Cole with a Tope Suicida before returning to the ring and hitting Strong with the Slingshot DDT for the win.
At the end of the episode, a furious Adam Cole and Roderick Strong were separated in the ring by Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish.
#3 Kacy Catanzaro and Candice LeRae
When Aliyah and Vanessa Borne challenged Candice LeRae, her mystery partner was always going to be a special announcement.
Catanzaro was a great pick, and the agile former American Ninja Warrior athlete worked well with LeRae as another potentially great tag team to add to the growing list of female tag teams in the WWE.
For the match, LeRae was largely protected, spending the majority of the match on the apron while Catanzaro was in the ring with both Borne and Aliyah gaining valuable in-ring experience.
Catanzaro eventually managed to counter a double-team suplex into a double neck breaker and got to her corner, tagging in LeRae.
LeRae hit a quick succession of moves, taking out both Borne and Aliyah before landing the Lionsault to finish, this time bouncing off the ropes cleanly.
While Catanzaro is a future project that WWE is clearly investing a lot in, LeRae is starting to pick up momentum to a potential title run.
Her booking at the start was very stop-start, but hopefully, this latest feud against Borne and Aliyah will be a sign of positive things for the future.