Further development evolved for the Robert Stone this week as they may have set their eye on a new prospect in that of Indi Hartwell. The Australian native had a match tonight against Shotzi Blackheart. Blackeart has been living rent free in the head of both Stone and Aliyah after she ran over Stone with her tank last week. The brand tried to recruit the Ballsy Badass last week and it didn’t go so well.
The match between Hartwell and Blackheart was rather short as it culminated into Stone making his way out to the ring. As he hobbled his way to the ring, visibly still “injured” from the tank running him over, this caused enough of a distraction for Hartwell to take advantage.
Blackheart still seemed to be in control even with the referee distracted by Stone who was on the apron on the opposite end of the ring. She hits a step up knee followed by a DDT. As Blackheart climbs to the top turnbuckle to attempt to put away Hartwell, Aliyah knocks her off. Hartwell follows up with a kick to get the pin and the win. This marks her first televised win.
After the match Stone and Aliyah are smiling as they head up the ramp. Could Hartwell be a new member of the Robert Stone Brand?
The second women’s match of the night was the advertised title match between champion Io Shirai and challenger Tegan Nox. Yet again, the women are the main event.
Highlights of this bout include a near fall from Nox as she catches Shirai off an Irish Whip in the corner. She catches her after Shirai hits a diamond crossbody. Nox hits a bridge to get a near fall. Later on, Nox is thrown into the ring steps as Shriai misses a running meteora.
A chokeslam attempt from Nox leads into a counter that Io takes advantage of and hits a butterfly backbreaker onto her own injured knee. Nox rolls her up for a near fall, however. Near falls continue as Shirai gets a bridging German suplex for two and Nox gets her caught up in the tree of woe. This allows her to hit an inverted cannonball in the corner for a two count of her own.
As the match comes to its conclusion, Shirai hits the Bullet Train into a Tiger Feint Kick. She follows it up with a missile dropkick for a near fall. Nox avoids a Tiger Driver and plants a sit-out facebuster.
Tegan then counters a Tiger driver into a sit-out facebuster before hitting a Molly-Go-Round. This still wasn’t enough as she gets a near fall. Nox has a hard time believing that wasn’t a three count and she didn’t just secure her first title. Shirai hits a Shotei followed by a moonsault to get the pin and retain her title.
Shirai’s victory celebration was halted once she made it to the stage as Dakota Kai emerged with a swift kick to the champions face. It is clear who wants a shot at that gold next.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week:
WINNER: Indi Hartwell
Picked up her first televised win and may be entered into a stable – things are looking up for Indi. I have been skeptical about the Robert Stone Brand because it never seems to fully go somewhere to me. However, if they finally add a second person then I can see good things coming from another tag team in that of Aliyah and Indi.
WINNER: Io Shriai
This win was pretty obvious and I would have been shocked if they gave this to Tegan so soon into Io’s reign. It was a good match with both women looking good, but with Io pulling out the win it lands her in the win column this week.
WINNER: Dakota Kai
Captain of the sneak attack. She clearly isn’t happy that Tegan got this chance over her and her time seems to be next.
LOSER: Shotzi Blackheart
Shotzi always has a problem picking up wins. She tends to generally look good even in defeat, but this time it was definitely to put over Indi. Maybe she will get together with Tegan again to face Indi and Aliyah next?
What did you think of this week’s NXT? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
