So Close to an "Instant Classic": Ricochet vs Pete Dunne
Ricochet and Pete Dunne with the classic stare down before their 30 minute bout. Courtesy of the WWE and NXT.
By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)
September 20, 2018
For the first time since Undisputed Era debuted I was finally upset with their excessive, sometimes confusing, heel personas. A match Maruo Rananllo had dubbed as an “almost” Instant Classic, ended due to interference from that damn Adam Cole (BayBay), Kyle O’Riely, and Roderick Strong.
But holy hell was that a superb glimpse into how amazing Ricochet and Pete Dunne could be together. The two men traded not only blows, but also high flying, powerful, athletic, unique, and jaw dropping maneuvers. While one man executed a dead lift into a hold, the other countered the hold by breaking his opponent’s fingers off.
It appeared as though neither man would lose and in the grand scheme of things, it’s certainly better that way. No one wants to see the Bruiserweight lose his streak and Ricochet has only held onto the North American title for a fraction of the length of time he should. The stories and the fans are far more well off with this ending than anything else.
And this match deserved the 30 minutes it was given. It was the first time on NXT that two champions faced off with their titles on the line. To do anything less was a disservice to the momentous occasion, to the in-ring performers and the fans.
After Undisputed Era ruined one of the best matches in NXT history, the War Raiders barely wasted any time to make their mark on the night. The War Raiders chased the trio of heels out of the ring area and held the ring till the credits rolled.
Going forward from this moment, we are definitely seeing the development of our next War Games special event. With the Undisputed Era (somewhat) defending the title as last year’s victors, they’ll surely be staring down some combination of the War Raiders, Ricochet, Pete Dunne and either Mustache Mountain or Lorcan and Burch.
The odd circumstance being created is one in which neither the tag titles nor the North American title will be defended. The NXT roster is stacked at this point, so they’ll have no problem filling out the card, but it’s more of a bummer for the possibility of adding some juice to some of these feuds heading into the next TakeOver.
Im not sure we’re at this point, but there are some very deserving tag teams that could hold onto those tag titles for a month or two, while Undisputed Era is busy. One of those tag teams is getting one heck of a push next week, as they’re being put up against the NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa. I’m talking, of course, about one-half of Heavy Machinery, Otis Dozovic. Getting that push for the tag team is exactly the type of booking Heavy Machinery would need to own the tag team spotlight. I’d say, while next week’s singles match isn’t for the NXT Championship, it could still mean a lot for the Dozer and Tucker Knight going into November.
As always, if you’re not keeping up with NXT programming, you’re only hurting yourself. Week after week this is the best wrestling the WWE has to offer. Considering Ricochet and Dunne had a match of the year candidate end in a ‘no contest’ is further evidence of NXT’s greatness.
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