One week after being indefinitely suspended, Bron Breakker may already be on his way back.
On Monday’s Raw in Belfast, Adam Pearce met with Paul Heyman and The Vision. Pearce said that he wanted to bring Breakker to Raw next week so they could sit in the same room and iron things out. Heyman said Breakker would be there, but then mocked Pearce by telling him to be on his best behavior.
Breakker and Pearce got into it last week after Breakker attacked Dragon Lee and Penta during a match. As the General Manager of Raw confronted him, Breakker went on a rampage, attacking officials and even shoved Pearce, who informed Breakker in a backstage segment later that he was suspended indefinitely following the altercation.
In a four-way match, The New Day, Alpha Academy (Otis & Akira Tozawa), Los Americanos, and American Made (Brutus & Julius Creed) will battle it out to determine a new number one contender for the World Tag Team titles, which are currently held by the Usos.
WWE Raw (January 26):
Bron Breakker returns from suspension
Four-way number one contender’s match for World Tag Team titles: The New Day vs. American Made vs. American Alpha vs. Los Americanos
The Creed Brothers are looking to make their WWE Raw debut.
On Saturday, Chad Gable issued an open challenge for any team to face Alpha Academy on Monday’s show. On Sunday, Julius Creed accepted on behalf of him and his brother.
The Creed Brothers have wrestled on WWE Main Event and in a dark match at a SmackDown taping, but have not wrestled on WWE Raw or SmackDown.
WWE Raw on Monday will take place at the Bon Secours Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. According to WrestleTix, 9,756 tickets have been distributed to the event as of Thursday. It will be the go-home edition of Raw before WWE Crown Jewel on Saturday.
WWE Raw October 30 lineup:
Seth Rollins vs. JD McDonagh
DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
In addition to the reveal of John Cena’s title challengers for the Elimination Chamber, Tuesday night saw WWE add three other matches to the card for the upcoming pay-per-view.
It was announced on Talking Smack that Naomi would challenge Alexa Bliss for her Women’s Championship at Elimination Chamber on February 12th. Naomi pinned Bliss in a tag team match earlier in the night to set up her challenging for the title. That was the second time Naomi went over the champion this week after also pinning Bliss at the Royal Rumble.
The SmackDown tag titles will be on the line at Elimination Chamber as well, with American Alpha defending against the rest of the brand’s tag team division.
The Usos, Heath Slater & Rhyno, The Ascension, Breezango, and The Vaudevillains will be the teams challenging American Alpha for their titles. The tag team turmoil match will begin with two teams facing off, then another will be added after each fall until there’s only one team remaining.
Prior to those announcements being made on Talking Smack, it was revealed on SmackDown that Nikki Bella would face Natalya at Elimination Chamber.
Before the PPV, Cena will face Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton in a non-title match on next week’s SmackDown.
Date: January 10, 2017 Location: Raising Cane’s River Center Arena in Baton Rouge, LA
The Big Takeaway —
Alexa Bliss will defend her Women’s championship in a steel cage match against Becky Lynch next week on SmackDown. American Alpha successfully defended the tag team titles against the Wyatt Family, thanks to a mistake by Luke Harper. The Wyatts showed more dissension, but did not break up. Finally, John Cena pinned Baron Corbin clean in the main event.
Show Recap —
Ambrose Asylum
The show started with a dramatic recap of the storyline involving Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Renee Young and Maryse. Ambrose was introduced as the new Intercontinental champion and he came out for the Ambrose Asylum. The set is the same as before, except now there’s an alligator head where Mitch the plant used to be. He named it Maryse. He wanted a live alligator but they couldn’t get the permits. Ambrose also announced himself as an entrant for the Royal Rumble.
The Miz and Maryse came out as his guests. Miz said Ambrose was tainting his title, and also added himself to the Rumble match. Miz said Ambrose coerced the referee last week, but instead of suing him, he said Ambrose could just hand the title back to him. The crowd chanted “No” as Ambrose pretended to consider it. Ambrose said he did have something that belonged to Miz and gave him back the Miz Participation Award. Ambrose led the crowd in applause and a “You tried” chant.
Miz attacked him and held him back so Maryse could slap him, but Ambrose ducked and she slapped Miz instead. Ambrose gave Miz a Dirty Deeds. Crowd chanted for Ambrose who gave the Participation Award to Maryse.
They recapped the Nikki Bella-Natalya storyline. Nikki was shown backstage walking toward Gorilla as the SmackDown theme played when she was suddenly attacked from behind by Natalya and the music abruptly stopped. With Nikki down, Natalya sad, “See ya out there Nikki.” This was well done, aside from Nikki’s selling.
Natalya vs. Nikki Bella
The match didn’t happen. Nikki didn’t come out right away when her music hit, but she eventually did. She stormed to the ring and tackled Natalya, leading to a brawl. Natalya tried to escape through the crowd but Nikki pulled her back in. As Nikki continued the attack, referees ran down to break it up and the crowd chanted “Let them fight.”
Natalya chop blocked Nikki’s bad leg (the one she attacked before) and applied a Sharpshooter outside the ring. This was well done too. Also, Nikki has new shorts and they seem even shorter than her other ones. She kept propping them up during this segment.
Dasha Fuentes asked Dolph Ziggler about turning on Kalisto and attacked Apollo Crews. She said Kalisto demanded a match with him, and said the fans want an explanation for his actions. Ziggler looked somewhat remorseful and just left without saying anything.
They announced Ziggler will be on Talking Smack tonight with Renee Young and Shane McMahon.
Kalisto defeated Dolph Ziggler
There were dueling chants of “Let’s go Ziggler” and “Lu-cha, Lu-cha,” which was pretty wacky. They went back and forth for awhile until Ziggler dropped him over the top rope. Kalisto fought out of a chinlock and used a hurricanrana, but Ziggler came back with a dropkick. Ziggler went for a nonchalant cover, but Kalisto reversed into a crucifix pin for the win.
Afterwards, a frustrated Ziggler clotheslined Kalisto and beat on him as the crowd booed. Ziggler grabbed a steel chair and crushed Kalisto with it a couple of times. Apollo Crews ran out for the save but Ziggler cut him off easily and attacked him with the chair too. Some fans chanted “Yes” again of course. Ziggler hit Kalisto one more time with the chair. This was another good segment, aside from Crews getting cut off way too easily.
Backstage, Jason Jordan told Fuentes that Bray Wyatt thinks of himself as the “alpha and omega” but they disrespectfully disagree. Chad Gable said they beat the Wyatts before and they’ll do it again.
Renee Young (wearing leather overalls) asked John Cena about Baron Corbin. Cena noted that Corbin and AJ Styles calling him a has-been. Cena said it “has been” a long time since he had to prove himself, but tonight, Cena “has been” fired up and would take down Corbin. Recognize John Cena, because his time is now.
They ran a promo for Total Divas focusing on Paige’s injury.
Tag Team Championship: American Alpha defeated Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton (w/Luke Harper)
They worked over Gable for a while until he made a hot tag to Jordan. Jordan showed off his strength hitting suplexes to both Bray and Orton, but the Wyatts took control again after a distraction from Harper. Gable made the hot tag and hit Orton with a diving crossbody, Northern Lights suplex and German suplex. Bray broke up the cover and sent Jordan out of the ring, then Gable sent Bray out of the ring.
Harper distracted Gable, allowing Orton to nail a draping DDT (Orton’s set up for this knocked Harper off the apron.) As Orton stalked Gable, Harper jumped back on the apron for some reason, leading to an argument with Orton. Gable shoved Orton into Harper and applied an O’Connor roll for the pinfall win. Good match that went 15-16 minutes. Second time Gable has pinned Orton.
Orton and Harper argued afterwards. Harper tried to kick Orton but caught Bray instead. Bray got up, said something to each man, then walked out on them. The post-match had good heat. American Alpha retaining didn’t seem to get a big reaction, and it’s probably time they move away from the Wyatts.
They aired a video package of Cena’s 2008 Royal Rumble victory. I like these features over the usual numbers video.
They plugged WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.
Backstage, Becky Lynch showed Daniel Bryan footage from last week. Bryan asked if La Luchadora might be Eva Marie, but Lynch said she’s way too vain to wear a mask. Alexa Bliss happened to be near by and joined the segment. Bliss said she was trying to find out the identity of La Luchadora, which is why she went undercover last week. Bryan told her she would have to defend the title against Lynch again next week, and to ensure no interference, it would be a steel cage match. Bliss was pissed.
Carmella (w/James Ellsworth) defeated CJ Lunde
Carmella won quickly with her finisher, which followed a badly botched downward spiral… or something. Ellsworth interfered a couple of times as well. This segment sucked, mostly for JBL making cracks about Lunde’s (Thunderkitty’s) appearance. He couldn’t understand why she was there. I mean, she’s a wrestler, presumably.
Backstage, Carmella told Ellsworth she had something special for him. He thought she was going to kiss him and said he’s been waiting 32 years for this. She actually planned on taking him on a shopping spree, which sounds like a comedy segment for next week.
Elsewhere, Baron Corbin told Fuentes he doesn’t blame John Cena for saying his time is now, but these aren’t his glory days, they’re his end of days. AJ Styles showed up and got a big pop. Styles said tonight was Corbin’s tonight, but suggested Corbin do his best AJ Styles impression and beat up John Cena.
Noam Dar plugged his match with Cedric Alexander on 205 Live.
John Cena defeated Baron Corbin
AJ Styles was on commentary. Corbin got in his face a couple of times, which Styles didn’t understand because he was rooting for Corbin. Cena went for a shoulder tackle, presumably to start his usual comeback, but Corbin no sold it and nailed a slam for a two count. Corbin followed with a sidewalk slam, which Mauro Ranallo called a Deep Six. Styles corrected him and said it just looked like a sidewalk slam.
Cena came back with a tornado DDT, five knuckle shuffle and AA for the win. Match was about 11 minutes and was just ok. Cena posed for the crowd as Styles stood on the announce table holding up his title.
Final Thoughts —
While this show wasn’t as good as the last few weeks, this was a perfectly fine edition of SmackDown. I also had no problem with Cena beating Corbin clean. Corbin isn’t going for the world title anytime soon and losing to Cena doesn’t hurt him. Also, if I checked this right, Cena only had 5 wins in 12 televised matches in 2016, so as strange as this is to say, Cena could use the win.
SmackDown promised a big end to the year on last night’s final episode of 2016, and the show delivered with three title matches in addition to the return of John Cena. AJ Styles successfully defended his title in the main event, which officially set up Cena facing him for the title at the Royal Rumble after Cena made the challenge earlier in the night.
Two more title matches have been set for next week’s year-end edition of SmackDown.
As was announced on tonight’s episode of the show, The Wyatt Family will defend their titles against American Alpha, The Usos, and Heath Slater & Rhyno in a four corners elimination match next week.
The Hype Bros won a battle royal last week to become new number one contenders for the titles, but Zack Ryder was forced to undergo knee surgery due to an injury suffered during the match.
Becky Lynch will also get another shot at Alexa Bliss as she challenges for the SmackDown Women’s Championship next week. Lynch, while disguised under a mask, defeated Bliss in a non-title match tonight.
The final SmackDown of 2016 will also feature a triple threat match for the WWE Championship with AJ Styles defending against Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. Ziggler was originally scheduled to face Styles in a singles match on the show, but he put his title shot on the line against Corbin in the main event of tonight’s SmackDown. That match ended in a double countout, and Daniel Bryan made the triple threat for next week.
SmackDown seemingly plans to close out the year with a bang in Chicago, Illinois next week. The return of John Cena to WWE TV is also scheduled for the show.
While continuing the build to this Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view, last night’s SmackDown featured Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt taking on American Alpha with the winners earning a tag title shot at the PPV, AJ Styles ruining James Ellsworth’s appearance on The Ambrose Asylum, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss signing the contract for their match at TLC, and more.
Date: November 29, 2016 Location: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC
The Big Takeaway —
Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton defeated American Alpha in a really good main event. They will face Heath Slater & Rhyno at TLC for the tag titles.
Also, AJ Styles killed James Ellsworth, and Dean Ambrose is pissed.
Show Recap —
Renee Young, wearing a leather jacket, greeted us in the ring for a Women’s championship contract signing and introduced both women. The SmackDown set is filled with chairs and ladders and tables. Bliss kicked Renee out of the ring and insulted her fashion sense. She called Lynch’s successful title defense dumb Irish luck.
Lynch said Bliss reminded her of her 4 year old cousin because she’s obsessed with glitter and complains a lot. Lynch signed the contract while Bliss mocked her for trying to be a role model. Lynch reminded Bliss she had a headline match at WrestleMania, was SmackDown’s first women’s pick, and the champion, while Bliss has actually accomplished nothing.
Bliss acted like she was about to puke because Lynch makes her sick and said she would pour ice water on Becky’s hot fire. Bliss signed the contract while mocking Lynch’s speech and said she grew up on a potato farm. Lynch attacked her and set up a table for an Exploder off the top, but Bliss fought her off and pushed Lynch through the table.
They announced Ambrose Asylum with guest James Ellsworth for tonight.
Dolph Ziggler & Kalisto defeated Baron Corbin & The Miz (w/Maryse) via DQ
They went to commercial like 30 seconds into the match. Corbin took control immediately on Ziggler and sent him to the outside. Miz tried tossing him into a ladder for some reason, but Ziggler countered into a jumping DDT. Corbin tried to attack him too, but Ziggler countered and hit a superkick. Kalisto made the hot tag and ran wild on Miz.
Miz cut him off with a big boot and attacked Ziggler (not the legal man) outside the ring, launching him into the barricade. Kalisto hit a suicide dive on Corbin, Miz tossed Kalisto back in the ring, Maryse dumped the ladder on Ziggler, and Kalisto hit the Salida Del Sol on Miz. Kalisto had Miz pinned, but Corbin hit him with a chair for the DQ.
They mentioned earlier that it was JBL’s 50th birthday.
American Alpha were getting ready backstage when Dasha Fuentes asked if they were ready for the unpredictable Wyatts. They quipped that Jason Jordan can make the Wyatts levitate with suplexes and Chad Gable could make their lights go out. All Jordan and Gable care about are the tag titles and they claimed to be the top team on SmackDown. They finished by saying the Wyatts better run.
Elsewhere, Bray was about to deliver a message to American Alpha, but Orton delivered the message instead. Basically, he said they would do what it takes and asked Luke Harper if he was willing to do the same. Bray told Harper to take care of Kane tonight.
Carmella came to the ring for a match but first, she had a message for Nikki Bella’s boyfriend, John Cena. She wanted to apologize to Cena because she was going to hit Nikki in her chest so hard with a chair that her “Bella twins” would pop out. She said some other stuff when Nikki ran out (to her music). She wildly attacked Carmella until the referee held her off long enough for Carmella to escape. This was dumb.
They aired a video package of Ellsworth’s ladder match victory over AJ Styles last week.
Ambrose Asylum with James Ellsworth
Ambrose has the same cheesy set as before, minus a plant. He introduced Ellsworth and people chanted his name. His t-shirt is too big. Ambrose told Ellsworth he needs new boots, and asked if he ever imagined being here. Ellsworth said he couldn’t have imagined this 6 months ago, but he kept coming back and now he’s a WWE superstar.
Ellsworth thanked Ambrose and would do anything he needed. Ambrose struggled to come up with a compliment, but concluded that Ellsworth must have good karma from a previous life. He also figured Ellsworth could thank him by washing his car or picking him up a 6-pack. Ambrose moved on and asked who Ellsworth was rooting for this Sunday. Ellsworth said it would be on honour to face Ambrose, but he has beaten AJ Styles three times. That brought out Styles.
Styles basically said this segment sucked. Styles said Ambrose would be better off with a ventriloquist’s dummy and at least the dummy has a chin. Ambrose informed Styles he lost to this dummy three times. Styles flipped his wig and said it was all Ambrose’s fault. Styles demanded respect from Ambrose, and if he didn’t get it, he would beat it out of him. Styles said he would finish Ellsworth after he destroys Ambrose.
Ambrose said championships are won with the mind as the crowd loudly chanted “AJ Styles.” Ambrose blew through it, got in Styles’s face, and said Styles would be looking up at him as he takes the WWE Championship. Styles pushed Ellsworth into Ambrose who fell into the ladder. Styles then dropped the steel steps on Ambrose. Ellsworth stood up to Styles, but Styles just knocked him down easily and dropped a ladder on him.
Ellsworth managed to find himself leaning upside down against the side of the ring, so Styles cracked him over the back with a chair. Styles then gave Ellsworth a Styles Clash off the steel steps and onto the floor, which looked scary as hell. The referees tended to Ellsworth, who is already dead. This wasn’t much of a segment until the very end.
Paramedics took Ellsworth out on a stretcher. After a break, they wheeled him into an ambulance. Ambrose was with them, and admitted this was his fault. He said he would fix this.
Kane defeated Luke Harper
This was the second match of the show. The previous one ended over 45 minutes ago. As usual, they went to break quickly into the match. Harper was in control and the crowd chanted “Let’s go Kane.” Kane made a comeback in slow motion, including clotheslines and a sidewalk slam. Harper cut him off with a dropkick, but Kane came back with a powerbomb for two. Kane missed a flying clothesline and Harper hit a superkick for a nearfall. Kane hit a superplex and each guy traded strikes, but Kane got the better of it and hit a weak-looking chokeslam for the win. About a 10 minute match and it wasn’t good.
The voiceover guy read an ad for Roadblock. The graphic read “Roadblock: End of the Line,” but he only said “Roadblock.”
Backstage, Renee caught up with Becky Lynch who was icing her back. Lynch said she has a spine bruise but would defend her title no matter what. Renee informed her that Bliss has challenged her a tables match. An emotional Lynch said she didn’t care what the match was and would get her revenge on “that little bitch.” Renee was stunned. This was good.
Tag Team Titles Number One Contenders Match: Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton defeated American Alpha
Heath Slater and Rhyno watched from the back. Rhyno was eating chips. Not that it matters, but Jordan doesn’t look so big standing next to Randy Orton. Jordan had the better of his opponents for a while until Bray cut him off. They worked him over until Gable hit a blind tag and nailed Orton with a crossbody. Gable then applied an armbar over the ropes, but after letting go, Bray knocked him off the top to the outside.
The heels worked over Gable after a break. Bray tossing Gable around was quite a bit of fun. The crowd chanted “RKO” during Orton’s turn, presumably to get him back on the good side. Orton hit a beautiful superplex, leading to both sides tagging out.
Jordan made the hot tag and tossed Bray around, including hitting an overhead belly-to-belly. Gable took out Orton with a cannonball outside the ring and Bray nailed Jordan with a running body block. Jordan hit a German suplex and fired up, but the lights went out and Luke Harper appeared.
Bray grabbed Jordan for a Sister Abigail, but Gable blocked it. They set up for Grand Amplitude, but Orton popped in the ring and nailed Gable with an RKO. Bray dodged a running shoulder block from Jordan and hit Sister Abigail for the win. Really good match that went about 16 minutes.
Fuentes caught up to Slater and Rhyno backstage and asked how they would get ready for the Wyatts. Slater said the Wyatts need to get ready for them. Styles interrupted and said nobody cared about them. Rhyno crumbled up his chips and got in Styles face. Styles seemed amused until Ambrose suddenly ran in and wildly attacked him. Slater and Rhyno cheered on Ambrose who beat the crap out of Styles as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts —
The main event was excellent and gave American Alpha a chance to shine despite the loss. Hopefully this helps them get back on track. Styles destroying Ellsworth was great and the closing angle with Ambrose was good too. Nothing else on the show was particularly good, however.
Despite winning their semifinal match on Tuesday night, American Alpha won’t be competing in Sunday’s SmackDown tag tournament finals at Backlash.
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan announced on Talking Smack that Chad Gable will be out 2-4 weeks with a MCL sprain after being attacked by The Usos on SmackDown. The injury is part of the storyline.
After making quick work of The Usos in their semifinal match, Gable and Jason Jordan offered a handshake to their opponents, but The Usos instead turned heel and laid them out. They isolated Gable’s knee, hitting a splash from the top rope on it.
The Usos will get a chance to redeem themselves in the tournament as they’ll face The Hype Bros at Backlash. Whichever team wins that match will fill the spot vacated by American Alpha and face Heath Slater and Rhyno later in the night for the newly created SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Slater and Rhyno defeated The Hype Bros on SmackDown to earn their spot in the finals.
Heath Slater is one win away from joining the SmackDown roster.
In the semifinals of a tournament to crown the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Slater and Rhyno defeated The Hype Bros to earn their way into the tournament finals on Sunday at Backlash. Rhyno picked up the win for the makeshift team after hitting the Gore on Zack Ryder.
Despite being a free agent in storyline, Slater was allowed to enter the tournament if he could find a partner. But he would only officially join the SmackDown roster if he won the entire tournament.
Slater and Rhyno are scheduled to face American Alpha for the titles at Backlash. American Alpha quickly defeated The Usos on SmackDown to earn their way to the finals, but The Usos turned heel and attacked Chad Gable and Jason Jordan after the match. And after Gable suffered a storyline leg injury during the attack, his status for the match is in doubt.
Renee Young later gave an injury update on Gable, saying he was questionable to compete in the title match on Sunday. Young teased that Shane McMahon would possibly provide further update on Gable’s condition when he joins her and Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack later.
UPDATE: It was revealed on Talking Smack that American Alpha will not compete in the match on Sunday, and Gable will be out 2-4 weeks after suffering a kayfabe MCL injury. McMahon and Bryan announced that The Usos will face The Hype Bros at Backlash, with the winning team going on to face Slater and Rhyno for the titles later in the night.
The current card for Backlash is:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose defends against AJ Styles
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Bella vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss in a six-pack challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos or The Hype Bros in the finals of a tournament to crown SmackDown Tag Team Champions
Intercontinental Champion The Miz defends against Dolph Ziggler
The Usos vs. The Hype Bros for a spot in the finals of the SmackDown tag tournament
After Sami Zayn and Neville vs. The Dudley Boyz was added to the SummerSlam kickoff show on Friday afternoon, another match was later set featuring SmackDown’s tag division.
American Alpha, The Hype Bros, and The Usos will team to take on Breezango, The Ascension, and The Vaudevillains.
The match is a repeat of their encounter from last Tuesday’s SmackDown go-home show, which saw American Alpha pick up the win for the babyface team. Recent weeks have featured multi-team brawls with each vying for division supremacy, but SmackDown still remains without a tag team championship.
The match is the 13th announced for SummerSlam and the second specifically announced for the kickoff show.
The updated card for SummerSlam is:
Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler in a championship match
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in a championship match
United States Champion Rusev vs. Roman Reigns in a championship match
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Apollo Crews in a championship match
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) in a championship match
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
Cesaro vs. Sheamus in the first match of a best-of-seven series
Becky Lynch, Naomi, & Carmella vs. Natalya & Alexa Bliss
Sami Zayn & Neville vs. The Dudley Boyz on the SummerSlam kickoff show
American Alpha, The Hype Bros, & The Usos vs. Breezango, The Ascension, & The Vaudevillains
Editor’s Note: Thanks to Drew Hall and Randall Black for also sending in results
– No Way Jose defeated Hugo Knox
Decent little opener, though a little on the long side. Crowd was pretty into the match, No Way Jose got the wave started on a couple of occasions.
– Angelo Dawkins defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Dawkins won with a sit-out powerbomb. Seriously. Hometown pop for Dawkins. Almas worked heel for about half the match once it became clear that fans were behind Dawkins. They teased a heel turn at the end for Almas, but he shook Dawkins’ hand and left so that he could celebrate.
– Bayley defeated Billie Kay
Match started off with Bayley wearing Kay’s lace shawl like a horse tail and then playing keep away with her velvet gloves. Lots of comedy early. Pretty good match once it got going. Crowd was hot for Bayley.
– Bobby Roode out to note the fat, ugly, Kentucky rednecks in the crowd. He is the superstar who will bring NXT mainstream acceptance. We will aspire to wear expensive suits and jewelry like him. Tonight starts the new era of NXT. His era will be glorious.
– Finn Balor defeated Bobby Roode
Balor won with Coup de Grace. Good match. Crowd was into both guys. “Thank you, Finn” and “See you Tuesday” chants after the match.
– Hideo Itami defeated Wesley Blake
Crowd loves Itami; apathy for Blake, despite new music, gear, and “Beautiful” moniker. Early on, “Beautiful” Blake grabs the mic and chides Hideo for not wrestling. He calls himself the most feared striker in NXT and talks up his jiu-jitsu. Total goofball heel work, trying to trade kicks with Itami and failing.
Crowd chants “Bayley wants her boots back.” Itami dominates and the crowd eats it up.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss
Asuka won with the crossface chicken wing. Really good back and forth match, crowd was into the near falls and largely pro-Alexa.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & American Alpha defeated NXT Champion Samoa Joe & The Revival
Nakamura pinned Dash with a Kinshasa. Match started billed as an NXT Championship match, but Joe said he would never defend his title in a place like Northern Kentucky. The Revival jumped Nakamura from behind, but American Alpha makes the save.
Great house show match, lots of fun spots, including American Alpha and Nakamura doing a triple facewash. American Alpha worked over by the heels for most of the match, Nakamura finishes the match on a hot tag.
The Big News: The Revival defeated American Alpha in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
The Medium News: Rhyno returned and seemed to be really angry that Blake and Murphy tried to team again.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Bayley and Nia Jax agreed to one more match.
Bayley pinned Alexa Bliss
This match was set up last week when Alexa beat Carmella and made a challenge to Bayley, who is fully recovered following her match with Nia Jax.
Bayley gave Alexa a lot, establishing her as more than just another girl on the roster. Alexa used a really nice punch to the face to take over, with Bayley selling it as possible death. Alexa went for Twisted Bliss, but Bayley cut her off and Alexa actually came back with a Code Red for a near fall.
The finish saw Alexa go for the Vader Bomb, but Bayley got her knees up and won with the Belly to Bayley.
After the match, Bayley said she was ready to take her title back. Nia Jax came out in “normal clothes” to confront her. They stood face to face and Bayley challenged her to one more match. Nia agreed and it is on.
*******
We had a TM61 video package.
*******
Dash & Dawson said they will beat American Alpha tonight and have no fear in losing their belts so soon after regaining them.
*******
The Hype Bros vs. Blake & Murphy ended in a No Contest
Blake and Murphy are teaming again. Remember when I said like two months ago that they would break up at least five times before it counted?
Blake and Murphy literally couldn’t even agree on who would start the match. They argued mid-ring as Mojo Rawley tried to get them to wrestle. However, before we saw any wrestling, Rhyno appeared out of nowhere to Gore Blake, Rawley and Ryder. Murphy got away scot-free.
Yes, this really happened.
*******
We got the video package for next week’s Finn Balor-Shinsuke Nakamura match. I got half a second of screen time when they showed Nakamura’s entrance in Dallas. Tye Dillinger, Neville and American Alpha talked about what a dream match it would be.
This was the first thing they have done to make me excited for the match since the original angle announcing it.
*******
American Alpha said they will execute their game plan to win the belts back.
*******
Samoa Joe will be on NXT next week, apparently for the first time since Takeover. Is it sad that I didn’t notice?
*******
Rhyno was walking around Full Sail University (literally) and a cameraman ran up to ask why he was back. Rhyno snorted at him and walked away.
I have a theory that Rhyno has no clothes. All that he owns are his wrestling singlets, a few hoodies and Rhyno t-shirts that companies have been nice enough to give him.
*******
NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival took 2 out of 3 falls from American Alpha
This is the third time these two teams have wrestled. American Alpha won the first at NXT Takeover: Dallas, while The Revival evened the score at Takeover: The End. With a win, Alpha would become the second team to win the NXT Tag Team Titles twice.
The start of the first fall saw the champs work over the knee of Jordan, which is backwards because normally they get the heat on Gable. Jordan’s knee slammed off the ring post and both members of the Revival took turns using leg and knee holds.
Gable was able to get the hot tag and suplexed Dash and Dawson all over the place. Everything was going great for him until Dash pulled down the top rope, causing Gable to go flying over it and crashing on the ground outside.
Despite beating on him for close to 10 minutes, the Revival just could not put Gable down for the first fall. Gable showed resilience as Jordan managed to recover from the earlier attack on his knee.
Jordan got the second hot tag of the first fall and went all suplex crazy on both men again. Jordan got a near fall on Dash with a spear. The first fall finally ended with Dash tapping to Jordan’s ankle lock.
The second fall saw Dawson and Jordan reverse roll-ups on each other until Dawson got on a reverse figure four for the tapout, showing that Jordan’s knee didn’t fully recover from the beginning of the match.
The third fall started with more roll-ups. Alpha went for Grand Amplitude, but it got broken up. Revival went for Shatter Machine, and that got broken up too.
Gable got a tag, but was hit with a knee to the face as he tried getting into the ring. Gable and Dawson fought on the apron until somehow the Revival hit the Shatter Machine on it.
By the way, shouldn’t it have hurt the Revival just as much since they bumped on the apron? Anyway, they rolled Gable in, pinned him and retained the titles.
So that does it for this week. Next week it is the much anticipated showdown between Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
The Big News: Chaos reigned supreme in the tag team division with three teams vying for the titles, but The Authors Of Pain seem more content with destroying American Alpha than trying to capture gold.
The Medium News: Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura are friends…but have no problem ripping each other’s heads off in 2 weeks.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Gargano & Ciampa are now on a full fledged winning streak, having defeated The Hype Bros in the main event
Alexa Bliss pinned Carmella
NXT’s pixie-sized Diva is here to kick off the show this week against the most fabulous girl on the show. Alexa is so short…(How short is she?)…Alexa is so short that when she is standing on top of a fallen Carmella, she is still shorter than the referee.
This match was solid, yet unspectacular. They have both improved to the point that it is not embarrassing to see them on tv. The only rough spot was when Carmella was standing on the apron, Alexa reached over the top rope to throw Carmella down, which was difficult since Alexa is barely taller than the top rope.
Alexa threw a temper tantrum when she didn’t get a pin. My grandmother would have threatened to put her over her knee for that. Carmella used a kick to the head and a Bronco Buster, but still almost lost to a roll up. Finally, Alexa won with Twisted Bliss, which is the new name for the Sparkle Splash. That makes sense since she no longer dresses like a pixie cheerleader.
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We got “exclusive comments” from Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura talked about how well he knows Finn Balor, and about how he supported Balor when he left Japan and watched him every week on NXT. He reiterated that he wants to become an NXT icon and in order to do that, he has to beat Balor. He vows to give us something sensational in two weeks.
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Bayley cut a promo backstage saying it feels amazing to get back in the ring and get a win last week. She feels 100% and is ready to get her championship back. Alexa Bliss walked up and said she deserved the title shot more and if Bayley wants a title shot, she has to go through her.
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Andrade Cien Almas defeated Noah Potjes
Noah Potjes had one previous match on NXT: a tag match last month where he was only called Noah and now, not only did he get a last name, but he got to walk down the ramp and get a ring introduction on tv!
Andrade looked good here, including a spot where Noah shot him off and ducked down, but when he came off the ropes, Almas hit a really nice dropkick to his fallen foe. Almas won with the running double knees in the corner.
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Austin Aries said he is the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived and since the moment he walked into NXT, the fans should have felt privileged to see him compete. No Way Jose hasn’t done anything in his career and hasn’t beaten anyone, but the fans explode because he shakes his butt. He attacked Jose because of the fat, pasty, ugly fans and vowed that everything that happens now is our fault.
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Finn Balor did his own backstage promo. He reiterated what Nakamura said earlier about them being friends. He came to NXT two years ago and never thought he’d see Nakamura again, but he got goosebumps when he found out his friend had signed with NXT. Balor said they may have faced each other in Japan, but this feels different, this feels special.
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Next week: Bayley vs Alexa Bliss
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Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated Hype Bros
A month ago, Gargano & Ciampa won a match. Two weeks later, they won again, making it two in a row. If they beat the Hype Bros tonight, they will be on a winning streak. Their quest for a third straight win didn’t start well when Rawley literally caused Gargano to fly across the ring, crashing painfully to the mat.
Ryder tagged in and immediately got taken down and beaten on by Gargano and Ciampa. A wild free for all broke out, culminating with Rawley hitting a nice clothesline outside to Gargano. Mojo used a Pounce on Ciampa and they set up the Hype Ryder, but Gargano broke it up and took Mojo’s head off with a super kick.
After an exciting series of near-finishers and roll ups, Gargano & Ciampa got their elusive winning streak with the double kick to the head.
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After the match, Ciampa and Gargano took the mic to announce they wanted a title shot at The Revival, who they defeated a month ago.
This brought out American Alpha, who were champions until just three weeks ago. Gable said they are not next in line, American Alpha is. Jason Jordan vowed revenge on The Authors Of Pain and they will show The Revival that they are the alphas of NXT. Is it sad I forgot all about The Authors Of Pain?
Out came The Revival, who told them that as champions, they drive the car and man the ship. They are calling the shots and feel neither team deserve title shots. They also said they dictate the terms.
This brought out William Regal, who pointed out that he dictated the terms. Mr. Regal did say Ciampa & Gargano deserve a title shot, but before that happens, it will be Revival vs American Alpha in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the titles next week.
The babyface teams shook hands and Gargano & Ciampa left. The Authors of Pain suddenly hit the ring and laid out Gable & Jordan. Gargano & Ciampa ran down and also got beat up. American Alpha made a comeback, leading to Jordan actually suplexing one of them, but ultimately both got laid out with the combination legsweep/clothesline. Paul Ellering came out on the ramp and beckoned his boys away as the show ended.
That does it for this week. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
