Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Io Shirai and Dakota Kai vs Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir

Here's the match video of Io Shirai and Dakota Kai vs Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir from this week's episode of NXT. This is Jessamyn and Marina's NXT TV debut. Before this they were helping Shayna Baszler with some of her matches. This was my first time seeing them in the ring. Both are former MMA fighters and pals of Ronda Rousey. Nigel McGuiness said that they all became friends on TUF 18. While that is true of Shayna and Jessamyn, Ronda's friendship with Marina goes back to their amateur MMA days. Io is wearing new boots. For the first part of the match, Dakota is getting the crap beat out of her. When Io finally gets the tag, she cleans house using her signature moves and she pins Marina after the moonsault. So there isn't much to the match. I thought Jessamyn looked pretty good. She seems to be picking up pro wrestling well. She was a terrible MMA fighter. Marina wasn't in the ring for very long. She doesn't seem to be as advanced as Jessamyn. As an MMA fighter, Marina either knocked out her opponent or got knocked out. There was no middle ground. It remains to be seen if she develops an aptitude for pro wrestling. On next week's NXT, Io will be in a four way match with Bianca Belair, Mia Yim and Lacey Evans. The winner gets a shot at NXT Women's champ Shayna Baszler. Since this match was taped, Dakota Kai suffered a knee injury at a house show. She could be out for a while. Enjoy the video!