WWE NXT Review - April 4, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Authors of Pain vs. WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong in the Finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Ended in a Double Disqualification

Although Authors of Pain were on offense for a majority of the match, the pace picked up in the second half once Dunne and Strong began to battle back and it turned into an extremely entertaining opener. Yet again, Dunne and Strong were a tremendous tandem and the crowd bought into each of their nearfalls. Undisputed Era crashing the contest was logical given their issues with Authors of Pain, Strong and Dunne. Their interference ultimately screwed them because now Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly will have to defend the NXT Tag Team Championship in a Triple Threat at TakeOver: New Orleans.

Kairi Sane def. Vanessa Borne

Considering we haven't seen Sane on NXT TV for at least a month or so, it was nice to have her back in action. This was a fairly basic showcase for her as got in all of her signature spots against Borne, but Borne didn't look too shabby, either. She's obviously a work in progress, but at least she was better here than she has been in past outings. Sane will take on Lacey Evan on next week's episode.

Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain Went to a No Contest

I was hoping for a huge hoss battle between these two, and while it didn't last long at all, it was fine for what it was. Perhaps they didn't want to give too much away ahead of TakeOver, but more importantly, the match merely served as a set-up for the face-off with everyone competing in the NXT North American Championship Ladder match on Saturday. The crowd went nuts for Ricochet's Full Sail University debut, and rightfully so because he's a such a star. That six-man matchup is going to kick all kinds of ass.

Overall Show

If you find yourself more excited for TakeOver: New Orleans than WrestleMania 34 this weekend, I can't say I blame you, because this card coming up is stacked from top to bottom. This wasn't the white-hot show it could and probably should have been, but the hype for TakeOver was excellent on the whole between the above-average opener, the awesome video packages, and the final face-off. We could be in for the strongest TakeOver of all-time on Saturday night, so fingers crossed it lives up to the lofty expectations. Then again, when has NXT ever under-delivered?