Fresh off their victory at Stand & Deliver, where Hank Walker and Tank Ledger (Team Cornbread Power) dethroned Frazer & Axiom in a match that looked like “ballet but angry,” the new NXT Tag Champs have been called into action. And not by just anyone — but by Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs, aka the emotional con men of the Performance Center.
It all started with a tug-at-the-heartstrings moment on tonight’s “WWE NXT,” as Inamura told GM Ava that his time in NXT was ending and he just wanted one more shot at tag gold before heading back to Pro-Wrestling NOAH. Ava, clearly moved (or just tired of everyone monologuing in her office), granted them the title match.
Then she walked out of frame.
And like a bad soap opera twist, Inamura laughed. Briggs laughed. The audience gasped.
It was a work the whole time. Beautiful. Disgusting. Effective.
Briggs & Inamura previously failed to capture the gold at Vengeance Day, and then again in a recent gauntlet match — one that Hank & Tank won, setting the stage for their breakout win. But the third time’s the charm if you’re willing to cry fake tears and manipulate authority figures like it’s high school student council elections.
With Inamura’s tenure in NXT supposedly ending, this could be their last shot — or just the latest swerve in a saga that somehow combines international diplomacy and body slams.