NXT 402

July 19, 2017 – Winter Park, Florida

Ember Moon def. Ruby Riot
This gets a 6 on the Contrived Eclipse Scale, but that aside it was actually a damn good match. Riott and Moon put on a tighter match than anyone in the women’s division has probably since Bayley left. ***¼

Oney Lorcan def. Danny Burch
Is it just a happy coincidence that Lorcan puts up one finger and Burch puts up two during their entrances?  If you want to see two guys get themselves over simply by beating the crap out of each other in a short match, look no further. Lorcan busted Burch’s nose, so that’s becoming a thing for him. After the match they shake hands and Burch asks for a rematch. The crowd is really into it, and so am I. ***

No Way Jose def. Cezar Bononi
Bononi is coming off of a surprise win over Andrade Cien Almas, but unfortunately for him there’s no storyline reason for him to lose to Jose. This was borderline not a squash because Bononi got to do a couple things here, but let’s be real. After the match, Almas comes out flanked by Zelina Vega and attacks Bononi. Jose makes the save N/A

Drew McIntyre def. Killian Dain {Number One Contender Match}
Both guys are undefeated in NXT going into this. Well, McIntyre lost in 2012 but he’s got a kayfabe clean slate now. They’ve had five singles matches against each other in the United Kingdom, and McIntyre came out on top in four of them. The first half of this match was pretty boring, but they really earned my respect with the second half. The crowd didn’t come around, but between Dain’s insane resilience and McIntyre selling his shock at said resilience, I got sucked in. I’d like to see them go at it again, so maybe I’ll seek out some of their matches in the UK. ***