Wrestle Review: The Return Submitted by Andy Sullivan on 04/03/2021 at 12:34 PM
Christian Cage and Frankie Kazarian had a fantastic opening contest on Dynamite Wednesday, I was a little surprised Christian's debut match in AEW was against such a high profile member of the roster. In other AEW news, it looks like we're getting yet another faction. QT Marshall(who they're now calling QT Mar Shall). He laid out Arn Anderson and let Aaron Solo, Anthony Agogo(Olympic boxer and Nightmare Factory student) beat the crap out of Cody, Arn and Lee Johnson, Billy Gunn and crew. Backstage, Jade Cardill jumped Red Velvet as she was being interviewed about what just happened. So I guess add Jade to this squad. So a few weeks ago, we had the debut of MJF's Pinnacle faction. I guess next week we'll have the debut of QT's faction. Since we're giving mid-carders factions(QT is definitely a mid-carder), how about having Scorpio Sky lead a faction next? Boy, they are inching ever closer to becoming WCW 2.0.
Inner Circle returning to beat the crap out of Pinnacle is surely the fuse that eventually explodes in a blood and guts match between these teams, right?
Does Drew McIntyre regain the WWE Championship against Lashley next weekend at WrestleMania? Well, with the head-scratching dissolution of the Hurt Business, it looks like Lashley won't have the help he had when he won the title. Or is this a ruse? We'll discuss that in my WrestleMania preview next weekend. Bobby might actually retain because it looks like he's retained Baron Corbin once as an associate once again. If you recall, they had an ill-fated alliance years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if Corbin costs Drew at Mania.
NXT's Stand and Deliver takes place over two nights: April 7 and April 8. Wednesday April 7 takes place on USA per usual and is headlined by the NXT women's champion Io Shirai defending, and I think losing, the title against Raquel Gonzalez. Gonzalez just seems unstoppable recently. Io has been a defy the odds champion. I don't know if these odds can be defied. Gonzalez threw Io through a wall for God's sake! That's some 1998 Kane stuff! I think we get a new champion Wednesday night.
Walter has been a dominant UK Champion. When his attempts to get Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher to join Imperium failed, Walter and his crew jumped Ciampa on many occasions, leading to a showdown between the two cornerstones of their respective brands. Ciampa loses this match, obviously. I don't know who is beating Walter but it's not Tommasso.
The NXT tag titles were vacated when Danny Burch was injured. MSK, Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma will collide to determine new champions. I think Fantasma takes this, though I'd love to see MSK win the titles. I think MSK will be the chasers for a few months before finally winning the belts this summer.
Leon Ruff, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis and LA Knight collide in a guantlet match where the winner faces North American Champion Johnny Gargano on night 2. I would say LA Knight wins this match but I doubt they'd have heel vs heel. I'm guessing Dexter Lumis wins the title shot.
Night two includes Santos Escobar vs Jordan Devlin in a ladder match to determine the true NXT Cruiserweight Champion. This is reminiscent of WrestleMania X when WWE needed a new IC champion and Razor Ramon won a tournament. Shawn Michaels returned with his IC title and a ladder match to determine the true champion was set. This situation is very similar. It was actually Shawn who brought a ladder to the ring and basically set up this match. Who wins? Much like WrestleMania X, I think the face(Devlin) wins the title. The war rages on throughout the spring and summer.
Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon knocked off Candic LeRae and Indi Hartwell in the Dusty Classic and The Way are looking for revenge and the titles. I think it's too soon to be playing hot potato with the new tag titles. The Way fail in this attempt.
Johnny Gargano defends the North American title against the gauntlet winner from the previous night, who I predicted to be Dexter Lumis. I think it's about time for Dexter to finally win a title in NXT.
Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly meet in an unsanctioned match. Does Roderick Strong get involved? I think not. He's trying to get away from this situation, I think. This match will be crazy! I don't think this solves anything. Cole probably wins here. I sense a future "loser leaves NXT" match between these two.
Night two is headlined by and unbelievable NXT Championship match between champion Fin Balor and challenger who never lost the title, Karrion Kross. Balor has held the title Kross was forced to vacate because of injury for six months. I think Balor somehow retains in an incredible match!
I'll end this week with the blockbuster news that AEW's Chris Jericho will appear on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions on WWE Network(Peacock in the U.S). Steve called Vince to ask. Vince said "do it". Talk about breaking walls down! For those who say "but Vince would never work with someone from another company", they can't factually say that now. Don't get me wrong, they'll still say it. They'll just conveniently forget this as it doesn't fit their "hate WWE" narrative.
Everyone who watches, enjoy both nights of NXT Stand and Deliver. I'll be back next weekend with WrestleMania predictions and more notes.