The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic got its 1st round underway with two matches during tonight’s episode of WWE NXT, and now the first side of the bracket is set. The first match of the night was between the new team of Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin, who were set to face the experienced team of Wolfgang and Mark Coffey. Then the team of Axiom and Nathan Frazer would face the team of Hank Walker and Tank Ledger, and both matches had memorable moments. It would ultimately be Breakker and Corbin walking away the victors in their match-up, while Axiom and Frazer would get the win in their match, and now both will face each other in the second round of the tournament. Next week will be the final two matches of round 1.
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Breakker and Coffey started in the ring and exchanged offense, and then Wolfgang tagged in but ended up eating a power slam. Corbin tagged in and knocked Wolfgang around but Coffey tagged in and got the team back in the swing of things, knocking Corbin to the mat with a shoulder tackle. Then Wolfgang tagged in and slammed Corbin onto the top rope before Breakker got thrown out of the ring to the floor.
Back in the ring, Corbin looked to take control against Wolfgang, but Wolfgang held his own with a pair of uppercuts. Corbin slammed him down with a suplex and then tagged in Breakker, but Coffey tagged in right after to keep the former NXT Champion off his feet. Wolfgang tagged in and kept Breakker from tagging in Corbin, shoving him back to Gallus’ side of the ring.
Gallus stayed on Breakker, cutting him off from Corbin and going for a cover, but Breakker kicked out. Coffey was the active man and stomped on Breakker before knocking him down to the mat again. Breakker fought back but was pushed further away from Corbin. A knee strike bought him enough time to tag Corbin in, who went right at Coffey with an array of strikes and stomps in the corner. Corbin and Coffey exchanged more strikes and then Corbin hit a big elbow drop before going for a cover, but Wolfgang broke it up.
Then everyone got some shots in but Corbin got the last laugh with a Deep Six on Coffey. Corbin and Breakker got each other fired up, but before Corbin could hit the finisher Wolfgang pulled Coffey out of the ring. Then Wolfgang dodged a punch from Corbin, causing him to slam his hand into the post. Coffey kept attacking the hand, slamming it into the announce table and then the ring apron, and Breakker seemed worried.
Back in the ring, Coffey worked on Corbin and then tagged in Wolfgang, but despite having to take some additional punishment, Corbin finally tagged in Breakker. Breakker went to work, slamming Wolfgang down and then slamming Coffey hard to the mat. Then Breakker suplexed both of them onto the mat before setting up for a spear, but Corbin tagged him. Breakker hit a spear on Wolfgang and then Corbin hit an End of Days on Coffey, getting the cover and the win. The new team takes out Gallus and moves on in the tournament, where they will face the winners of Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs Axiom and Nathan Frazer.
It was time for the next match, and Walker and Axiom started off the match and Walker caught Axiom with a huge kick to the head. Axiom returned the favor with a dropkick and then he kicked Walker in the leg and tagged in Frazer. Frazer tried to keep the momentum going but ended up getting caught between Walker and Ledger, though he was able to tag in Axiom to turn things around.
Axiom connected with a vicious kick but Ledger shoved Axiom down and then Walker threw Axiom into the turnbuckle before he slammed Axiom to the mat. Ledger tagged in and hit a splash onto Axiom, but Axiom kicked out of the cover. Ledger went to lift Axiom but Axiom kicked Walker and tagged in Frazer, who tried to knock Ledger down with a series of shoulder tackles, and he finally knocked him down with the third one.
Ledger barreled into the corner and ran into a dropkick, but kicked out of the cover. Ledger delivered a slam to Frazer and then they combined to slam him down into a cover, but Frazer kicked out at the last minute. Walker tried to lift Frazer but ended up falling to the outside. Axiom kicked Ledger in the face and then dove into Walker. Frazer dove into Ledger on the other side, slamming him into the announce table. Axiom went up top but missed Walker, who hit a clothesline on Axiom.
Axiom tagged in Frazer and then Frazer went up top and hit the gorgeous finisher and that was enough for the pin and the win. Frazer and Axiom now move on to face Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!
