cactus Posted April 8, 2018 Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 I didn't give this my full attention, so take my rating with a grain of salt. Almas is good, but the addition of Zelina Vega has perfected his act. She has the crowd fuming whenever she gets involved, right up until that perfectly executed finish where she gets her comeuppances. Almas hits a brilliant corkscrew plancha here. That reaction got when Black kicked out of Alma's finish was magical, I really thought that was it. ★★★★¼ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted April 8, 2018 Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 Honestly so much better than I was expecting. Not a big fan of Black but Almas x Vega is an absolutely exceptional act. I do appreciate how Black just went for it straight out of the gate. Shows that babyface shine isn't entirely dead yet. Vega gets involved early and consistently which beautifully plays into that wonderful finish. Just a simple, excellent title match from both guys. Even still, Almas gets my props here because he is just exceptionally silky smooth in the ring but still adds a lot of urgency and energy to his stuff. It's that urgency lacking from other high fliers his size. Great stuff. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted April 8, 2018 Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 Almas continues to shine in big matches - awesome performance by the man, all of his offense looked superb. Every hold, every strike, every big spot. All he did ruled. Black really didn't do anything for me w/ his stuff though, it's all Almas that I enjoyed in this one. It's a good match, but the structure of it never fully clicked with me, just felt like a cool match w/ Almas showcasing his greatness. Black offered absolutely nothing. *** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richeyedwards Posted April 8, 2018 Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 Almas is great, he has the ability to do really silky smooth movements and sequences without ever looking choreographed, he has an amazing urgency to it which is rare to see in a high flyer. His control sequences are also well done not just time filling measures as it often feels in a majority of modern main events, he is a big improvement over the joe, finn, roode and nakamura reigns, he also has vega who is great working as hard as the wrestlers at ringside without taking away from the work in the ring. Black was good nothing on almas, but he was good not a none factor for me but he was third in the match behind almas and vega. They had a shorter title match than they have on these big shows before and it was better for it, Black is a man better suited to shorter displays of violence and he got that in this match, getting his bursts of offense in but being cut off by the reversals of almas and the interference of vega. I really hope that the finish of this match leads to vega and almas breaking up as a due as they are perfect for each other. This was a fine way to end almas' all to short title reign **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted April 9, 2018 Report Share Posted April 9, 2018 Certainly feels like these two will square off again, and possibly trade the belt a bit like Nak/Joe did. Almas was amazing and the pace was perfect, with the interference spots coming at great times and never making Black look foolish. And the selling was fine as well - if the move barely hit (like the tope con hilo at the end), Almas absolutely should be ready to DDT him when he comes back through the ropes. I thought those little touches were great. Would have bought that as the finish, but going for the cheating one more time only to backfire works to pay off the earlier stuff. This was tremendous ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 10, 2018 Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 What the fuck was that finishing stretch ? Almas & Vega, state of the art pro-wrestling. Black was only great. MOTYC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted April 11, 2018 Report Share Posted April 11, 2018 Almas might be he best wrestler in the world. Black is very very good too. This match had wonderful excitation and told a great story. It would be up there with my MOTY contenders if it wasn't quite so pacy. It just felt like some it needed some time to breath to create that drama that Almas and Gargano were able to create. Still a current top 10 match for me on the year just based on it being very tight and compelling from start to finish. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted April 11, 2018 Report Share Posted April 11, 2018 Loved this match. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Just so much intensity and urgency throughout. Black is out for payback and he takes it to Almas immediately. Luckily for Almas, Zelina is there to even up the odds. Tremendous bomb-throwing match competed at break-neck speed. And it never seemed excessive or unbelievable. They both made you think "Yes, I'm in pain. But I've got to put him away NOW". Zelina continuously interfering only for it to backfire in the end made for an incredibly satisfying conclusion. Legitimate MOTYC. ****3/4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Badger Posted April 11, 2018 Report Share Posted April 11, 2018 I don't follow NXT but, from an in ring perspective, this was pretty good. Everything was well executed but, I didn't get a real sense of intensity except when they were throwing strikes. If they kept it a little simpler in terms of spots or at least picked the top 10 to do and filled in with more good hits this would have been a great match. Vega was awesome from what I saw. These spots were crucial and memorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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