7 Ups And 2 Downs For WWE NXT (Mar 3)

Ups...

7. Ciampa & Thatcher Have Their Momentum Halted By Imperium

Soon after a rather moving video package hyping up the recent Men's Dusty Cup winners last week, MSK were viciously attacked by the Grizzled Young Veterans backstage. While at first it looked like this angle was used to set up a "kayfabe" broken hand for Wes Lee, it now appears the high-flying talent is actually legitimately hurt.

So, with that in mind, the pair's NXT Tag Team Championship encounter scheduled for last night was delayed once again, with Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher stepping in to give Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan a non-title reason to lace up their boots.

In the early goings, it seemed like The Kings of NXT were suffering from a lack of homework on their opponents, frequently falling to vicious chops, knees, uppercuts and 'Toothless Timmy's usual array of joint manipulation tactics. Not even a disturbing looking neck injury, seemingly sustained during the taking of a clothesline, could keep Thatch out of the fight.

Yet, as the action was taken to rather intense heights, with both teams tenderising one another with a frightening slap, knee, headbutt sequence, Imperium unexpectedly arrived on the scene and stared a whole through the competition. Because nobody in WWE can resist the sight of a colleague on the ramp, Thatcher was soon caught off-guard with a double-team DDT from the champs as they picked up the victory.

Judging from Thatcher and Ciampa's interview later in the night, it appears Imperium's attempts to throw Timmy's Ringkampf days back in his face had riled up the two, similarly to how Alexander Wolfe reminded Killian Dain of his SAnitY past last week. Could this lead to a potential super-stable in NXT at some point in 2021? You won't see us turning our noses up at that ensemble...