WWE NXT Review - February 21, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Velveteen Dream def. No Way Jose

Jose rarely shows up on NXT TV these days and his act grew old a year ago, so it was no surprise that the fans in attendance sided with Dream here. This was an impressive performance from Dream while Jose certainly held his own, but the result was what it needed to be. Afterward, Dream called out NXT fan favorites such as Aleister Black, Asuka and Tyler Bate, hinting at a possible future feud with the last individual.

Nikki Cross def. Vanessa Borne

We haven't seen much of Bourne in NXT since the Mae Young Classic, but at least she's improving. It will be a while before she's a real player in the division, but she has shown some signs of potential, which is good. As for Cross, this was another nice showcase for her as she continues to build momentum. She seems to be in a holding pattern since the NXT Women's Championship picture is stacked at the moment and the rest of SAnitY is busy with Undisputed Era.

NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas def. Johnny Gargano (Gargano Must Leave NXT)

After these two contested arguably WWE's best bout so far in 2018 a few weeks back, did you honestly expect them to have anything less than an excellent match here? Similar to at TakeOver: Philadelphia, Gargano played the underdog role to perfection by fighting from underneath throughout while Candice LeRae and Zelina Vega canceled each other out early on. The chemistry Gargano and Almas share is simply off-the-charts and they never fail to produce phenomenal matchups that excel both in the ring and in telling a stellar story. I liked how the finish to this was a bit different than their last encounter with Tomasso Ciampa screwing Gargano out of the title and his spot on the roster because it sets up their likely TakeOver match in New Orleans and puts a ton of heat on Gargano's former friend. Everything about this was wonderful, to say the least.

Overall Show

Needless to say, you absolutely need to go out of your way to watch the main event. Gargano and Almas share a special bond and their series of matches since the summer has been unbelievable. As for the rest of this edition of NXT, it was solid with Dream and Cross picking up key victories in addition to William Regal announcing the return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in two weeks. In short, it's an exciting time in NXT right now.