The finals for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic are set and the two teams that will battle to win the trophy and title opportunity are Io Shirai & Kay Lee Ray vs. Wendy Choo & Dakota Kai.
On this week’s NXT, the semi-final matches took place. To kick off the show was Wendy and Dakota taking on Cora Jade & Raquel Gonzalez. Both teams are fairly new to each other, but Cora and Raquel could have been seen as the odds on to win. Through the majority of the match, Cora was kept away from her corner so she was unable to tag in Raquel for the help she needed.
The dynamic of the match drastically put Cora further in trouble when Toxic Attraction attacked Raquel at ringside. While Wendy was preoccupied with Cora at the far side of the ring, which had the referee’s attention, Raquel was appraoching Dakota on the outside. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne appeared and took out Raquel at the knee with a weapon. Despite Raquel being checked out by medical and cleared to continue, it was difficult for her to even make her way back on the ring apron for Cora’s tag.
Once Raquel was able to get back into the match, she couldn’t capitalize on her one-armed powerbomb. She buckled at her injured knee which led to Dakota and Wendy showcasing their teamwork. Dakota hit a stomp from the top rope to get the pin and the victory on her former teammate and co-winner of last year’s Dusty Classic.
Later in the night, the second semi-final match took place between Io Shirai & Kay Lee Ray against Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter.
In a fast-paced match, the KC’s came incredibly close to advancing. After a tag team maneuver resulted in Kay Lee Ray’s shoulders pinned firmly to the mat, Shirai saved her partner and the match at the very last second. Shirai would take out Carter by throwing her into the steel steps leaving Catanzaro alone in the ring. KLR and Shirai would hit a slam followed by a moonsault to get the pin on Catanzaro and the victory to move to the finals.
After the match, the NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose was up in the Toxic Lounge giving applause to KLR & Shirai. She was blindsided by Cora Jade who was heated after what Toxic Attraction did to Raquel Gonzalez earlier in the night.
A third match took place this week with Fallon Henley earning her first singles victory since signing with WWE. She faced Tiffany Stratton who has been picking up many wins since her debut.
The match was a solid outing by both women but it would be Fallon who took advantage of a sneak attack by Sarray. Stratton insulted and attacked Sarray last week which led to the Warrior of the Sun wanting some revenge. As the match ends, a cloud of smoke appeared on the stage which distracted not only the competitors but the referee. Sarray hit Stratton in the ropes giving Henley the opportunity to hit the running knee and the pin.
In a backstage interview, Stratton alluded that she and Sarray will have a match next week.
Henley was seen after her win celebrating with Briggs & Jensen on the ramp. Later on, Briggs & Jensen along with Henley were accusing Legado del Fantasma of being the ones who took out the Creed Brothers earlier in the night.
“Lashing Out with Lash Legend” returned with Nikkita Lyons as her guest. Legend spoke about Lyons parents and ended up insulting her mother in the process. Tensions continued to rise as Legend says she knows why Lyons is always trending when she shows up on NXT. Legend made claims that Lyons has butt implants but Lyons says she is all-natural. The two get in each other’s face to end the segment.
Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta may be heading towards a break. The team has had a rough go of it as of late and a lot of their troubles can be attributed to Duke Hudson. They were unable to capture the tag team titles against Toxic Attraction last month and were eliminated in the first round of the Dusty Classic.
Backstage, Pirotta claims to have been carrying the team throughout Indi’s relationship with Dexter Lumis. Hartwell says that she has been tag team champion without Pirotta so that doesn’t seem to be the case and reminds Persia that she was the one who was pinned last week. The two will decide who is better next week as they go one-on-one.
What did you think of all the women’s matches and segments on tonight’s NXT 2.0? Check back in with Diva Dirt for all of your further news and results from the women of NXT.
