NXT 503

April 24, 2019 – Winter Park, Florida

Humberto Carrillo dco. Jaxson Ryker
It’s a little disappointing that after Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler’s shockingly great Dusty Classic finals match, the focus in the group has been entirely on Ryker. This was more of a squash than Ryker’s recent singles matches, though Carrillo got in a bit of fun offense. Ryker beat Carrillo all over ringside, leading to the count out. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch save Carrillo from a worse beating. N/A

Adam Cole’s photo shoot is interrupted by an interviewer who asks if he’s excited to see tonight’s main event. Cole wishes he was fighting Johnny Gargano instead of Roderick Strong, but he knows Strong will put the hurt on Gargano. Matt Riddle comes in for his own photo shoot, and calls Cole jealous of his stable-mate. Cole doesn’t have time for Riddle, so Riddle gets in photo shoot mode like a champ.

Candice LeRae & Kacy Catanzaro def. Aliyah & Vanessa Borne
Catanzaro is a hell of a plucky babyface, and LeRae showed a bit of why she should be getting pushed harder here. That coupled with Borne and Aliyah not embarrassing themselves makes this about as successful as you an reasonably hope for. **

Io Shirai’s interview is interrupted when Shayna Baszler and her goons attack. Then we get another look at Kushida. William Regal is very excited for Kushida’s debut next week. He’s interrupted by NXT UK’s Kassius Ohno. Ohno has been teaching the UK roster how to work the british style, and he wants to fight Kushida in his debut because he knows the Japanese high-flying style so well. Regal is into it.

Hanson & Rowe def. Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford
The commentators finally address that the Street Profits’ cup might be filled with something controversial. I want Ford to be in every match. He makes me smile more often than anyone else on the roster except possibly Riddle. This was a lot of fun, with the Profits surprising the War Raiders before the match to gain the upper hand and then using their speed (and a bit of Ford’s surprising strength) to control more of this match than you might expect. Losing in a non-title match is a bad look, but these two should be at the top of the queue when it comes to who will dethrone the departing Raiders. ***¼

Mia Yim is also interviewed about Baszler, but nobody attacks her. Yim reluctantly praises Baszler’s dominance, and she says she wants another opportunity to beat the champ.

Johnny Gargano def. Roderick Strong
This is the third singles match between these two, as they’ve wrestled in PWG and DGUSA. Those matches considered, Gargano is now 3-0 over Strong. This took a bit to get going, but once they hit the final stretch it was kind of breathtaking. They also fit in a nice little comedy spot centered around how slimy (literally) Strong is. The gaga finish was a little awkward, with Riddle running out to neutralize the Undisputed Era and Cole accidentally hitting Strong after Strong reached out of the ring to touch Cole’s head for no reason. Anyway, this was fun but there’s probably a better match to be had between these two that doesn’t exist mostly to advance a storyline. Strong walks out on his boys after the match. ***½