Undisputed ERA have experienced their share of setbacks lately, but Roderick Strong made sure Worlds Collide wasn’t one of them. Strong’s world-renowned ring conditioning helped push The Messiah of the Backbreaker past 19 of NXT UK, 205 Live and NXT’s best and brightest to prevail in the Men’s Battle Royal.
Just as Strong’s victory cannot be disputed, the mayhem that took place before his hand was raised cannot be ignored. The action erupted from the opening bell and rarely let up. The highlight-reel moments came in rapid succession and ranged from the convivial (Eric Bugenhagen gifting Matt Riddle an air guitar so they could rock out together at ringside) to the daring (Dominik Dijakovic inviting the rest of the field to “come and get some” after he eliminated Fabian Aichner and Akira Tozawa).
Superstars from opposing brands came into conflict, creating intriguing standoffs, such as when Riddle and Dave Mastiff plastered each other with strikes. The Forgotten Sons and Joe & Mark Coffey found strength in numbers, while other alliances were strained, as Rinku Singh found out when he was eliminated by his own teammate, the massive Saurav Gurjar. The bodies continued to fly until only four Superstars remained: NXT’s Strong, Riddle and Gurjar and NXT UK’s Tyler Bate.
Collectively identifying the 6-foot-8, 300-pound Gurjar as the next obstacle to be removed, Strong, Riddle and Bate all went after the big man. Gurjar shook them off and even booted The Original Bro over the ropes and out of contention, before Bate channeled his inner Big Strong Boi and muscled Gurjar out of the ring, ending the Indian Superstar’s impressive WWE Network debut.
From there, it was a mad dash between Bate and Strong. Both Superstars tapped into their reserves and clobbered each other with their signature offense as the WWE fans chanted “This is awesome.” After several close calls, Bate, who was on the apron, tried springboarding his way back into the ring, only to be drilled by Strong’s knee strike. The Undisputed ERA member quickly capitalized on the predicament and dropkicked Bate to the floor.
While it’s doubtful that Strong would consider the result a victory for NXT so much as a win for The Undisputed ERA, such semantics matter not. Strong once again shocked the system, but this time the jolt reverberated through the black-and-gold brand and beyond.