WWE NXT Review - March 20, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Triple H Announced That Tommaso Ciampa Has Relinquished the NXT Championship

It's rare Triple H appears on NXT TV, and while William Regal also would have been a good person to make this announcement, I understand why Triple H would have wanted to do it himself. After all, no one is probably more gutted than him that this story that has been building between Ciampa and Johnny Gargano for almost two years will not be culminating the way he hoped. That's definitely disappointing, but at least they're making the most of a bad situation by having Gargano go for the gold anyway against one of NXT's finest talents.

Adam Cole def. Ricochet, Matt Riddle, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream and Aleister Black in an NXT Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 5-Way Match (Non-title)

I was stoked that this match received as much time as it did and wasn't rushed in the slightest. It was all action from start to finish with everyone shining at one point or another, so the layout was strong and the crowd ate up everything they did. Cole going over makes perfect sense considering Black and Ricochet are already locked up in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic while Riddle and Dream appear to be in the middle of a feud of their own. Cole vs. Gargano is a fresh matchup that could very well go either way in New York.

Overall Show

I love the occasional one-match shows NXT puts together, especially when that one match is fantastic. Triple H's promo explained the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the NXT Championship picture, a segment that was immediately followed by some quality video packages and a hell of a main event. Needless to say, this was an excellent edition of NXT TV that has me extremely excited for TakeOver in a little over two weeks.