Cameron Grimes and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott made a jaw-dropping first impression in their NXT TV debuts, but only Grimes emerged with what matters most: passage into the second round of the NXT Breakout Tournament.

In a dazzling see-saw battle that featured a bevy of creative offensive bursts, the gritty North Carolinian lived up to his reputation of being an “absolute opportunist.” Whereas the fleet-footed Scott stunned Grimes and NXT fans alike with his elastic assault (including a breathtaking hurricanrana that saw Scott leap off the mat and onto the shoulders of Grimes, who was sitting on the top turnbuckle), Grimes relied on a more ground-based, hard-hitting approach. He picked his spots carefully, countering one of Swerve’s highlight-reel salvos with a ferocious sit-out powerbomb for a two-count.

Despite the close call, Swerve still had surprises left up his sleeve. He popped Grimes with a blink-and-you-missed-it kick to the face and then took to the skies with a head-over-heels Fosbury Flop to the floor. Upon returning to the ring, however, Scott was turned inside-out by Grimes’ reversal of a crossbody block and then undone by a leaping double foot stomp that nearly caved in Swerve’s sternum. The stomp was enough to put Scott down for the count and move Grimes to the tournament semifinals.