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Breeze looks small next to Crews. It’s a shame he is not 20 pounds bigger.
Early on, it was a show of Crews’ strength and power. But Breeze then dumped Crews the bottom rope to the floor and went out after him. Crews tried to power out but took a flying bump, back first, into the side of the ring. Back in the ring, Breeze went to work on the back. … The crowd was split, with both guys having fans. Tyler got a two off of back jacker. … Breeze locked in a Sharpshooter as Crews was still selling the lower back. He got out, but Breeze kept working it. Breeze is so, so good. Breeze then ran into Crews Kick Out Of Nowhere and it looked awesome. That evened things up a bit but Breeze was still largely in control until he jumped into a powerslam from the top for a two count. Both guys look really good. Crews did the Gorilla Press and went for the standing moonsault but Breeze grabbed the leg. Crews broke out and did it but landed on Breeze’s knees for a two. Crews powered out, nailed a big kick and dumped Breeze on his back for the pin.
Excellent match. As I said both guys looked great!
They showed Itami and Funaki in the crowd.
They showed Bayley in the back, looking concerned. That is what she does.
We recapped Finn Balor's injury. He will, however, compete tonight. They recapped how we got to the final of the Dusty Rhodes Tournament That match is next.
Damn, before the match they aired a clip of Dusty saying let’s get to it. It brought a tear to my eye. RIP Dream.
Corbin was out first, followed by Rhyno. Joe was out first. Then, Balor came out for his team, but he was a different man. He was favoring the leg and the Balor Beast was clearly not there. The heels got introduced first, they were booed. Joe and Balor got cheered. Balor is selling the leg well. His facials are great. Finn is going to start the match. The announcers are selling how it’s nuts. Oh man, if they win they can make Finn a legend.
Finn didn’t do a whole lot, but the announcers sold it as it gave the faces an advantage. Wow, booking that makes sense. DAMN! Joe then came in. … They were paying a lot of homage to Dusty early. He deserves every bit of it. … The story was that Joe hurt his lower back, but he was gutting it out and they were selling he couldn’t tag Finn. Finally, Joe made the tag Finn came in, looking good until Rhyno came up from behind, when he wasn’t the man, and took out Balor’s knee. Corbin then worked the knee over on the post. Oh yeah, they are booking Balor as a superhero. I love it. … The fans are totally behind Balor as Corbin works him over. Corbin got a near fall. Corbin kept working over Balor until he hit the Slingblade out of nowhere. Hot tag made to Joe! Joe is refreshed. He is clearing house until Rhyno hit the gore, but Balor made the same! Big DDT on Corbin before he could hit the End Of Days. Joe hit the Muscle Buster after tagging Balor, who came off of the top with the Coup De Gras. You winners of the Dusty Tournament, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe.
This match was F’N awesome, and not because there were 9,000 moves. There were a lot of moves, but it was about the story. The story was awesome. NXT just showed the main roster creative team and the boss himself that when you tell a story and get people to invest in it, they will buy it. This match was awesome.
After the match Dustin and Cody Rhodes (and his wife Eden), plus their sister and Dusty’s wife, came into the ring while the fans chanted for Dusty. Cody then took the mic and frankly, did a speech I want you all to watch. Cody said that tonight we are all Rhodes’. They then played Dusty’s music. The fans chanted “Thank You Dusty”. Joe and Finn paid homage to the family and showed genuine appreciation for the trophy.
That whole thing was PERFECT. It’s exactly what the business is all about. If we had more of this on Monday and Thursday, we would see over four million people watching again in no time. At the end of the day, this had every element that makes the business what it is. Every…..single…..one.
Please click to page three for more thoughts on tonight's show.
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