– The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) & Oney Lorcan defeated The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) & Chad Lail
Very basic opener, but The Street Profits get better every time I see them live. Lorcan did a dive onto Blake and Cutler and then the Profits hit their spinebuster/frog splash combo.
– A vignette aired on the tron with Zelina Vega telling Andrade “Cien” Almas that tonight in Bel Air was his last chance to win the NXT Championship and take it to SmackDown.
The crowd loved Sane and LeRae. This was a basic and back-and-forth match, which was won by Evans when LeRae was coming off the top rope and she caught her with a punch.
– EC3 cut a promo on the tron where he was in downtown Baltimore. He called the city a dump before saying he was making an open challenge tonight
– EC3 defeated No Way Jose
EC3 won with a fireman’s carry into a cutter. He jumped out of the ring and headed to the back immediately afterwards, with Jose getting to have a bow/curtain call as the fans chanted “Thank you Jose!”
– Johnny Gargano’s music hit and the place went nuts, but then it stopped and Tommaso Ciampa came out to nuclear heat. He called the fans puppets and said Gargano wasn’t medically cleared to be there, but that Ciampa would knock out any opponent who came out to face him.
– Tommaso Ciampa defeated Kassius Ohno
They had a great back-and-forth bout which saw them kick out of tons of big moves. Ohno even got to kick out of a loaded punch from Ciampa before being finished off by a running knee to the back of the head (Ciampa’s half of the DIY finish).
– After intermission, they showed a backstage segment where Velveteen Dream confronted Ricochet and called himself the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and implied he was from here. Ricochet reminded him that Dream is actually from Washington D.C.
– Ricochet defeated Velveteen Dream
This was the match of the night. They worked slow at the start, then moved onto showing that they were evenly matched athletically. After plenty of near falls, Ricochet won with the 630 senton.
– NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Nikki Cross to retain her title
They told a good story with Baszler trying to grapple early and Cross being too crazy and wild to contain. Baszler worked over her arm for most of the match before Cross made a comeback. Baszler retained with a sit-out suplex into the rear-naked choke.
– As they were starting to announce the main event, Gargano ran in from the crowd with a soft neck brace on. He said he didn’t care if he was medically cleared or not, he wanted to fight Ciampa. Ciampa came out and they brawled until wrestlers and referees came down to break it up.
They would each break free and try to get at each other again. Ciampa eventually went to the back and Gargano, LeRae, No Way Jose, and Lorcan stayed in the ring and raised each other’s hands as Gargano’s music played. The place went nuts for Gargano, who had never appeared in Bel Air for NXT before.
– NXT Champion Aleister Black defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) to retain his title
Another very good match — tons of near falls and Vega interfering to get the heat. The finish came when Almas grabbed the NXT title belt and went to hit Black with it, but Black hit the Black Mass kick and won. The crowd really reacted to Black like a star before, during, and after the match.
Overall, this was probably the best NXT show top-to-bottom that they’ve put on in Bel Air (this was their fourth time coming to the APG Credit Union Arena). A really excellent show all around.
As part of a dizzying numbers of roster changes over the past two weeks, former NXT champion Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas and manager Zelina Vega will be coming to WWE SmackDown.
The two announced their arrival via a cell phone video that aired in the second hour of Tuesday’s Superstar Shake-Up finale on SmackDown.
The 28-year-old Almas rose to prominence in Mexico and NJPW as La Sombra before signing with WWE in November 2015. Starting in NXT, he lost his mask and had his name changed to Manny Andrade. That lasted for a month before his name changed to his current moniker.
He had a 140-day run as NXT Champion, defeating fellow main roster talent Drew McIntyre last November before losing the title to Aleister Black just over two weeks ago at TakeOver New Orleans. He made his official main roster debut in the 2018 Royal Rumble match.
The 27-year-old Vega (fka Thea Trinidad) signed with WWE in June 2017 after a few spot appearances over the last few years. She was sent to NXT and soon became a part of the Almas act, helping add some life and dimension to the character. She accompanied Almas to the ring for his WWE appearance in this year’s Royal Rumble.
Bing and Rama won by disqualification when Lars Sullivan hit the ring after a few minutes and gave the Freak Accident to Rama first, then gave one to Bing.
The crowd chanted one more time, so Sullivan then went to the back and brought out Aichner to give him a Freak Accident. Barthel escaped, thus starting a show-long angle where Sullivan hunted Barthel.
– Shayna Baszler defeated Zeda
Baszler squashed Zeda in a few minutes by tapping her out. The crowd loved Baszler and the fans were chanting “Shayna’s gonna kill you” before the match even started.
Following the match, as Baszler was almost at the curtain, she turned around and hit the ring, putting Zeda to sleep. Ember Moon made the save. Moon referenced Baszler’s promo from the night before in Tampa and challenged Baszler to a fight, but Baszler retreated to the back to the crowd’s displeasure.
Moon making the save received a huge pop. She had her arm all taped up and was selling the angle from this past week’s TV episode.
– Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Jason
This went a few minutes before Jason passed out in a torture rack-type maneuver. Aiyegbusi always receives an initial “Ahhhh” when he comes out because of his size and people not seeing him on TV.
Barthel hit the ring running from Sullivan after the match. He escaped Sullivan’s grasp, but it led to Sullivan and Aiyegbusi brawling for a minute or so. Sullivan then delivered the Freak Accident to the crowd’s delight. Sullivan is essentially being booked as the Braun Strowman of Florida.
Both faces received good reactions and the Brazilians continue to improve. The heels surprisingly received a lot of boos.
– Aleister Black defeated Raul Mendoza
Black beat him with the Black Mass after Mendoza went for a springboard plancha but was caught with a knee strike. This was the match of the night, with Black receiving a superstar reaction.
– The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake) defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins), Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) and The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar)
This was a number one contender’s match to determine who would face Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for the NXT Tag Team Championship next Friday in St. Augustine. This match received the only “This is awesome” chant of the night.
Towards the end, Barthel came running out of the curtain and slid into the ring. Sullivan followed, and Barthel soon realized he was trapped and couldn’t escape. The crowd chanted “Yes!” and Sullivan delivered the Freak Accident.
Everyone was down except Ford, who stood on the ropes and watched Sullivan carry Barthel to the back. Blake, who had been out of the ring for about five minutes, slid under the ropes and rolled up Ford with a handful of tights. The crowd hated the fact that the Forgotten Sons won.
– Nikki Cross defeated Dakota Kai
Cross pinned Kai with her spinning neckbreaker. This was the best women’s match I’ve seen at the Florida house shows this year. They had great chemistry, and the crowd loved both but Cross was super popular.
– NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated No Way Jose in a non-title match
Almas pinned Jose with the hammerlock DDT. After Jose was introduced, Vega interrupted the ring announcer and introduced Almas herself.
The story of the match was Jose countering Almas every time he tried to do his running knees in the corner. The first time Almas tried it, Jose hit him with an inside-out clothesline. The second time Almas attempted it, Jose moved, knocked Almas to the outside, and hit a plancha before returning him to the ring for a TKO and a near fall.
Almas finally hit it at the end and followed with the DDT to win.
NXT returned to Center Stage in Atlanta on Thursday night for the post-TakeOver: Philadelphia television tapings.
The show was sold out. Unlike the last tapings, there weren’t any backstage promos shown between matches to help our understanding of the stories being told. There will be another night of tapings at Center Stage on Friday.
Dark match —
– The Street Profits defeated Fabian Aichner & Raul Mendoza
The Profits are at the point that when the beat drops on their music, the crowd automatically reacts. This was a quick match, with Angelo Dawkins hitting a spinebuster variation on Mendoza and Montez Ford following up with a frog splash for the finish.
NXT TV tapings —
– NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. SAnitY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) never got started
Fish and O’Reilly came out with Adam Cole for their announced title defense against SAnitY. As all three of them faced the stage, Young, Wolfe, and Killian Dain ran in through the crowd and attacked them from behind.
Twenty or so security guards and referees broke them up. William Regal then announced that the main event of the first episode of the tapings will be The Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY in a tornado tag match.
– Heavy Machinery defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
There were some “Steaks and weights” chants to start things off, and the crowd loudly chanted “Tino sucks” whenever Sabbatelli was in the match. There was a spot that played off their last meeting where Sabbatelli and Moss cheated, but the referee caught them this time.
Late in the match, there seemed to be some dissension teased between Sabbatelli and Moss. Moss tagged in Sabbatelli by chopping him. Later, when it was clear Sabbatelli should have made a tag, he walked to Moss in the corner before turning around and continuing on, much to Moss’ frustration.
Heavy Machinery won with the Compactor slam finish. After the match, Sabbatelli was on the ground and stuck out his hand to have Moss help him off the mat — but Moss backed off.
– Johnny Gargano entered for a promo. He said when it comes to Tommaso Ciampa, he has bit his tongue since TakeOver: Chicago — but now he is coming to fight Ciampa face-to-face.
Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega interrupted him. Vega cut a great promo about how Gargano is 0-for-3 against Almas and he is so bad that even his best friend left him. The crowd started chanting for Candice LeRae, and she came out and beat Vega up.
Vega and Almas retreated to the stage, then Gargano said he wants one more shot. Vega said they’ll give him a title shot, but if he loses — Gargano is out of NXT. Gargano accepted and LeRae freaked out over the thought of her husband being fired. Almas vs. Gargano will be the main event of the February 21st episode.
– Bianca Belair defeated an enhancement wrestler
Belair destroyed her quickly and won with a reverse powerbomb. The crowd is starting to react to Belair more.
– SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) in a tornado tag match
The tag titles weren’t on the line. This went 15-20 minutes with two segments and was a fantastic brawl. There were several “NXT” chants and it received a standing ovation after.
For the finish, Dain hit the One Winged Angel on Fish. Before that, Fish and O’Reilly used their finisher on Wolfe but couldn’t win. Cole also hit a neckbreaker on his knee on Young but couldn’t win. Other highlights included Dain throwing Fish off the stage onto the four other men, O’Reilly doing running knees off the apron onto Wolfe (who was sitting on a chair), and Dain doing a front flip into a table.
O’Reilly possibly hurt a part of his lower extremities near the end of the match. There were kendo sticks, chairs, and tables used, and this was a very entertaining bout.
– TM61 defeated an enhancement team (John Skyler & a partner)
TM61 won with their Thunder Valley finisher. There were lots of signs for them in the audience and they received a great ovation.
– WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Roderick Strong to retain his title
They had a fantastic match with tons of near falls before Dunne retained with the Bitter End. It wasn’t quite at the level of Dunne vs. Tyler Bate from Full Sail two months ago, but it was still better than most NXT TV main events.
There were dueling chants of “Let’s go Roddy” and “Bruiserweight” throughout. The story of the match was Dunne methodically working over Strong’s right hand. He destroyed Strong’s hands on the steps and tried it again on the other steps, but Strong gave him a backbreaker on the steel.
The pain in Strong’s hand is what led to the Bitter End. The crowd gave both men a standing ovation following the match.
– Aleister Black came out to cut a promo. He said the devil that drives him is the NXT Championship. Dain interrupted him, saying “The devil isn’t on your back, I am. I won’t stop until the NXT Championship is around my waist.”
Black responded with, “You crossed me, so now you must fade to black.” They had a staredown, which seems like it may possibly lead to a number one contender’s match.
– Shayna Baszler defeated NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon by DQ
Moon retained the title with the disqualification. At the last set of tapings, the crowd loved Baszler. But tonight, she was the most booed performer on the show.
The match was built around Moon’s arm still being injured, though she spent the first minute or two kicking the living hell out of Baszler. Baszler spent the whole match attempting the armbar to no avail. Moon went for The Eclipse, but Baszler rolled out of the ring in front of the announce table.
Moon hit a suicide dive that drove both of them onto the table. They recovered, with Baszler attacking the arm. She ripped off the guardrail banner and went to break Moon’s arm with an armbar between the guardrail, but Kairi Sane appeared and attacked Baszler for the DQ.
She speared Baszler, with Baszler then retreating. After the match, Sane helped Moon to the back — but Moon looked her deep in the eyes knowing Sane will eventually be seeking a title match.
– Velveteen Dream defeated No Way Jose
Dream received the loudest ovation of the night, getting tons of “Velveteen” chants throughout the match. He won with the Purple Rainmaker.
Dream proclaimed himself as the NXT Superstar of the Year, the NXT Male Superstar of the Year, the winner of the Match of the Year, and so on. He said there was a reason his name was on the lips of everyone in attendance.
– Nikki Cross defeated Vanessa Borne
Borne has added a whip to her gimmick. She also licked Cross’ ear during a submission hold, which got a reaction from the crowd.
– Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake defeated an enhancement team
Cutler and Blake are now going by the “Forgotten Sons” and have new gear. They cut a promo after the match about how they’re the outcasts of society and the forgotten sons.
They also said they’re entering the 2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which was news to everyone in the crowd.
– NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Johnny Gargano (w/ Candice LeRae) to retain his title
With Almas retaining, Gargano is forced to leave NXT in storyline. The match went 16 minutes and was great, but it obviously wasn’t near the level of their TakeOver bout.
Two minutes in, Gargano went for a suicide dive on Almas — but Vega stepped in Gargano’s way. LeRae jumped in the ring and dove onto Vega, with Gargano then doing a diving flip off the apron onto Almas. Later in the match, Almas put Gargano in the Gargano Escape — but Gargano returned the favor by attempting Almas’ DDT finisher.
Almas went for his double foot stomp on Gargano to the outside near the end, but Gargano did a sit-up and flipped Almas back-first onto the apron and down to the floor. Once Almas got in, Gargano hit the springboard DDT for a huge false finish.
At the end, Almas ran into referee Drake Wuertz, then turned around into the Gargano Escape. As the referee was down and Almas was about to tap, Ciampa ran in (he didn’t limp but was still in is knee brace) from the crowd and nailed Gargano across the back with his crutch. Almas hit his DDT finisher and the referee counted the pin. There was even hesitation in the referee’s final count because he knew the ramifications.
The entire crowd, including the NXT announcers, then gave Gargano a standing ovation. Gargano sat in the middle of the ring looking heartbroken. LeRae came back and they hugged while sitting down in the middle of the ring. The crowd was chanting “Thank you Johnny” and “Please don’t go.” I even saw a child crying in the audience.
They made their way up the stage and Gargano hugged his wife again. William Regal came out and embraced Gargano. As they hugged, Ciampa reappeared from across the building and smiled as he waved goodbye.
The cameras went off the air as Ciampa exited the crowd.
After the cameras were off the air and the announcers left their booth, Gargano got on the mic and thanked the fans. He then closed the show by saying he was going to celebrate his tenure in NXT by going out to the fans who made his career there so special. LeRae and him went in the crowd for a good 10 minutes and took a million selfies and signed everything presented to them.
After they exited, Mike Rome announced that the 2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic begins at tomorrow’s tapings.
Royal Rumble weekend kicks off tonight as the Wells Fargo Center hosts NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
Johnny Gargano challenging Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT Championship will headline the show. Gargano defeated Kassius Ohno in a qualifying match and went on to win a number one contender’s fatal four-way to earn his way to TakeOver. On Wednesday’s go-home show, he defended the title shot against Velveteen Dream and stood tall over Almas.
In the show’s other title matches, Ember Moon will defend her Women’s Championship against Shayna Baszler and Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly will put their Tag Team titles on the line against The Authors of Pain.
Adam Cole and Aleister Black are set to face off in an extreme rules match. Plus, Velveteen Dream takes on Ohno.
There will be an hour-long pre-show starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time, which includes the NXT year-end awards, and our coverage of the main card begins at 8 p.m.
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NXT Year End Awards:
Rivalry Of The Year: Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream (Dream guaranteed a 30 second knock out of Kassius Ohno during TakeOver) Male Competitor Of The Year: Aleister Black Breakout Star Of The Year: Aleister Black Female Competitor Of The Year: Asuka Match Of The Year: Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne from NXT TakeOver: Chicago Overall Competitor Of The Year: Asuka
Announced off-air:
Tag Team of the Year: SAnitY Future Star of NXT: Cezar Bononi TakeOver of the Year: NXT TakeOver: WarGames
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Nigel McGuinness is sick and will not be here tonight, so the commentary will only be Mauro and Percy.
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Paul Heyman narrated the pre-show video package.
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NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated The Authors of Pain to retain their titles
O’Reilly pinned Akam with a schoolboy during a chaotic finish. AOP hit the Super Collider, but before he could be slammed down, O’Reilly gave Akam a Hurricarana, which sent Akam into Rezar which knocked Rezar out of the ring.
This was a really good opener, with Rezar and O’Reilly working really well together especially. This was AOP’s first major regular tag team match as babyfaces and considering neither have had to sell much in the past it went really well.
Akam sold his knee as injured to let Undisputed Era get the heat. Fish gave Rezar a spear through the rope and to the floor, which took him out for several minutes. Rezar tagged in and at one point gave Fish a Fallaway Slam, while falling backwards on O’Reilly, who was on his back.
Crowd got into the match late after not making much noise early.
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War Machine was shown in the crowd, called that by Mauro Ranallo.
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Velveteen Dream defeated Kassius Ohno
Velveteen Dream won with a Rolling Death Valley Driver (that he needed two tries to lift Ohno) and a Purple Rainmaker (top rope elbow). Dream actually dove from the ring post and not the top rope.
This was one of those good news/bad news situations for Velveteen Dream. The good news is he did hit a knockout blow in 30 seconds. The bad news is he celebrated and never made a cover, so he didn’t actually win in that time. As for celebrations there are people who won the main event of WrestleMania who didn’t celebrate as big as Dream did when he hit his knockout blow.
It should be noted the fans booed when Ohno got up and gave Dream an Elbow Strike, as Dream has been the most over person on the show so far. This match wasn’t as good as the opener, but had much more heat. At one point Dream was supposed to catch Ohno for his rolling Death Valley Driver, but Ohno’s momentum was such that Dream couldn’t catch him.
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Maria Menunos was shown at ringside.
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NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defeated Shayna Baszler to retain her title
This was a very different Women’s Title Match. Unfortunately this crowd didn’t seem to understand what they were watching. The finish saw Baszler work the armbar for close to 4 minutes with Ember scratching and clawing to get out of it. Finally Moon was able to use Shayna’s own momentum against her and pin her with a cradle to retain the title.
Shayna did a UFC-like entrance where they showed her walking from her locker room all the way through the backstage area and to the ring.
This was a fight from the get go and Baszler early on used the same stomp to the bent elbow that she did to Dakota Kai. Shayna’s offense revolved around armholds, which the fans mostly seemed to think was a series of rest holds. Ember sold the arm and elbow perfectly.
Ember hit The Eclipse, but due to selling her arm and elbow she couldn’t make the cover. They called the medical staff down to see if she could continue, but they let it go. The first time Baszler got on the armbar, Moon was near the ropes.
After the match Baszler jumped Ember in the aisle and locked her in a Rear Naked Choke.
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Ricochet was shown in the crowd, called Trevor “Ricochet” Mann.
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Aleister Black defeated Adam Cole in an extreme rules match
Black pinned Cole with Black Mass when Cole went after him with a chair in an excellent weapons match.
This was a brutal, slightly bloody affair which featured run-in’s by Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and all of SAnitY.
Cole went for a baseball bat-like swing with a chair at Black’s face early. Thankfully this wasn’t The Rock and Ken Shamrock, so Black ducked it. In perhaps the best timed weapon shot ever, Black went for his Quebrada and Cole hit him with a Kendo Stick shot to the abdomen. Cole busted his hand open somehow and the match was temporarily stopped so the medical crew could clean it up. Black picked up Cole in an Electric Chair position and threw him into a ladder set up in the corner. Black ended up taking the same bump Chris Jericho took at WrestleKingdom, this time he got superkicked and fell backwards off the middle rope and through the tables at ringside. Black gave Cole an Attitude Adjustment on top of two chairs, which were back-to-back, which played off the angle on tv where Cole did that to Black. The crowd chanted “You deserve it” which was funny.
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly ran in for interference. Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe of SAnitY ran down to attack the tag team champs. That was playing off Undisputed Era’s backstage attack on SAnitY before their tag title match earlier this month. Killian Dain did a Suicide Dive to all four of them to take everyone out of the picture.
Black put Cole through the announce table with Double Knees when he jumped off a case at ringside, which led to the finish.
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Former TNA Champion EC3, called that, was shown at ringside. Once upon a time he was Derrick Bateman on the never-ending (but amazingly awesome) NXT: Redemption.
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NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Johnny Gargano to retain his title
Almas won an amazing main event with a draping Hammerlock DDT after using the running Double Knees to Gargano when he was propped against the ring post. The match started slow but built to one great match.
Almas came out in his La Sombra mask and with a masked Mariachi band. Candice Lerae was shown at ringside, cheering her husband on.
Both men missed moves off the ring apron early on. Almas, with a moonsault, landed on his feet, but Gargano went for a flipping dive and when Almas moved Gargano crashed on the black mats. Gargano hit his Slingshot Spear, but no one bought it as the finish. He then rolled out of the way of a Moonsault, but when Almas landed on his feet he immediately hit a standing moonsault, which popped the crowd. Almas went for a Hammerlock DDT off the top rope, a version of which injured Drew McIntyre, but Gargano got out of it.
Having wrestled each other on tv twice before, these men were well aware with each others spots and were constantly reversing each others moves and a hot series near the finish led to a standing ovation. Gargano used a Slingshot DDT on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring. Gargano got a pair of near falls with a small package and a superkick, which had the crowd screaming. Almas gave Gargano the double footstomp while he was draped across the turnbuckle, which led to him falling outside the ring. Gargano had the match won with the Gargano Escape, but Zelina Vega grabbed his hand before he could tap out and Almas used an eyerake to get out of it. Gargano used a Suicide Dive, but Vega used a Hurricarana to send him into the ring steps. Back in the ring Almas hit his Hammerlock DDT, but Gargano kicked out. Vega tried interfering again, so Candace Lerae jumped the guardrail and attacked her! Lerae chased Vega out of the arena. Another Gargano Escape and Almas barely got his foot on the ropes before the finish.
Gargano got a standing ovation when leaving, when he was attacked by Tommaso Ciampa! Ciampa, returning from injury, struck Gargano with his crutch. The show went off the air with Lerae tending to her fallen husband.
This show probably won’t be remembered as one of the best TakeOver’s, but is well worth checking out.
After a new number one contender was decided at this week’s NXT television tapings, WWE officially announced the series of matches that will lead to the next challenger for Andrade “Cien” Almas’ NXT Championship.
One thing of note from WWE’s announcement was that the eventual winner wasn’t included. Four matches took place at the tapings to determine who would advance to a fatal four-way number one contender’s match, with Johnny Gargano defeating Kassius Ohno and going on to win the four-way. An angle should take place over the next few weeks to have Gargano replace Velveteen Dream against Ohno and end up challenging Almas at TakeOver: Philadelphia next month.
WWE released a video with William Regal saying Drew McIntyre won’t be able to get his rematch against Almas due to the bicep injury McIntyre suffered at TakeOver: War Games. The matches he announced were Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, Killian Dain vs. Trent Seven, and Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan. Black, Dain, and Sullivan advanced to the fatal four-way along with Gargano.
Velveteen Dream wasn’t featured on Wednesday’s tapings. In something that could play into the angle with Gargano, who has been on a storyline losing streak, taking his place, Regal called the eight wrestlers he announced people whose body of work over the past year has proved their worth.
Seven “earned” his way into the qualifiers by winning a battle royal at last night’s NXT house show in Lakeland, which took place after he lost to Dain on Wednesday. Gargano wrestled Pete Dunne in the main event of that show.
Almas vs. Gargano for the NXT title was the only match confirmed for TakeOver: Philadelphia at the tapings. The special will take place at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27th as part of Royal Rumble weekend, with NXT having one more taping before that date to further build up the event.
The Big News: Andrade “Cien” Almas laid out Drew McIntyre in the closing segment, possibly injuring the champ’s knee going into their title match.
The Medium News: In a match that will be filmed before TakeOver, Johnny Gargano will challenge for Pete Dunne’s WWE United Kingdom Championship on next week’s episode.
The Little Beaver-sized News: The Street Profits continued their undefeated streak, ending Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss’ winning streak at one.
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I am back from Australia! The trip was amazing and I wish I didn’t have to come home. I want to thank Paul Fontaine and Dave Bath for the excellent job they both did at filling in for me the last two weeks. Let’s see if I remember how to do this.
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The Street Profits defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
It was Solo Cup time as The Street Profits kicked things off this week. Their foes this week are Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss. While I was away, these four men had a confrontation in front of Sabbatelli & Moss’ Maserati, so that leads to this bout.
This was The Street Profits’ first non-squash match since their push began, and they were running wild until Moss distracted Montez Ford, giving the heels the advantage. Angelo Dawkins got the hot tag, which woke the crowd back up momentarily until he missed a corner splash, but Dawkins hit a forearm out of nowhere to pick up the win with a pin on Moss.
I don’t know if this match was heavily edited, but that finish really did come out of nowhere.
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We had a video package for the upcoming Aleister Black-Velveteen Dream match.
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Lars Sullivan defeated Raul Mendoza
This Saturday at NXT TakeOver: War Games, Kassius Ohno has a death wish as he goes one-on-one with the undefeated (in singles competition) Lars Sullivan. Mendoza cut a really good promo two months ago and has yet to be given promo time (or a win) since.
Mendoza lit Sullivan up with kicks early on and came off the top rope with a move, but Sullivan used the Vladimir Kozlov headbutt to the chest to cut him off. Sullivan squashed Mendoza with two corner splashes and then hit a powerslam before finishing him off with The Freak Accident.
Not only does the winning streak continue, but so does Sullivan’s streak of not being taken off his feet by his opponent.
After the match, Sullivan grabbed Mendoza for more punishment, but Ohno jogged to the ring. Sullivan laughed at Ohno and walked away.
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William Regal was making jokes with the cameraman when Johnny Gargano came into his office and said to not give up on him. Mr. Regal told him that he’ll challenge Pete Dunne for the UK title next week.
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The video package for War Games aired next.
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Ember Moon defeated Mercedes Martinez
Two weeks ago, Martinez declared that Moon would not win the Women’s title at TakeOver. Not sure how she arrived at this conclusion, but Moon took offense and here we are.
This was a more competitive match than perhaps you would expect since Moon is three days away from challenging for the title. Martinez caved in Moon’s chest with a chop that reverberated from Orlando to Ontario and then broke out a combo Eddie Guerrero/Davey Boy Smith tribute with a Three Amigos where the last suplex was a delayed vertical.
Moon made her comeback, hitting a beautiful suicide dive outside the ring, but Martinez cut her off when she went for The Eclipse and hit a running Diamond Cutter from the top rope. A minute later, Moon fought back and finally hit The Eclipse for the win.
Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, and Kairi Sane all came out to stare at each other after the match.
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Live on the WWE Network this Saturday night, it is NXT TakeOver: War Games, featuring:
The Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY vs. Roderick Strong & The Authors of Pain in the first-ever WWE War Games match
Kairi Sane vs. Peyton Royce vs. Ember Moon vs. Nikki Cross for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship
NXT Champion Drew McIntyre defending against Andrade “Cien” Almas
Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream
Kassius Ohno vs. Lars Sullivan
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Also, next week on NXT:
WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defending against Johnny Gargano
Sonya Deville vs. Ruby Riot
At least five lengthy video packages recapping every single moment of TakeOver, along with post-match interviews
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The main event segment of the show saw NXT Champion Drew McIntyre come out for a promo building up his title match this Saturday night. McIntyre gave Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega credit for Vega’s plan working, but now they’re in trouble because reality is setting in that Almas has to face him.
Vega has been rambling on about success and about mountains, but Almas will find out soon enough that McIntyre is the bloody mountain. McIntyre invited Almas out to face him like a man to prove something, not to McIntyre or Vega, but to himself. He dared Almas to come out and face him like a man…unless Vega isn’t going to let him off the leash.
Out came Almas and it…was…on! McIntyre got the best of him until Vega dove off the top rope. McIntyre caught Vega and looked befuddled before Almas clipped his knee from behind. Almas stomped away at McIntyre’s knee as Vega dropped the championship onto McIntyre’s prone body.
Is Andrade “Cien” Almas our next NXT Champion? There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to check out NXT TakeOver: War Games this Saturday night. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Tonight’s attendance was approximately 300 people.
– Montez Ford w/ Angelo Dawkins defeated Patrick Clark
Good match. The crowd was into it and all over Clark. Ford hit a standing shooting star press for the win.
– Daria Berenato & Mandy Rose defeated Liv Morgan & Aliyah
Berenato hit a spinebuster on Morgan to get the victory.
– Tye Dillinger tried to cut an in-ring promo but was interrupted by Wesley Blake. Blake proceeded to call everyone “garbage,” even individuals in the crowd. He called everyone garbage over and over. Dillinger then put Blake down with a superkick and left the mic on him gently before leaving to a big pop.
– Tian Bing defeated Akira Tozawa
This was stiff, with hard kicks by Bing and hard chops by Tozawa. It was starting to get rolling but Tozawa took a rough bump and Bing proceeded to thrust kick him instantly to pin him and get out of there.
– Steve Cutler defeated Cezar Bononi
Physical match. Cutler got the win with a big stomp off the ropes.
– Oney Lorcan & Jack Gallagher defeated Tony Nese & Noam Dar
I believe this was the NXT Florida debut of Tony Nese, and this match was a lot of fun. All the Gallagher comedy spots and the physical Lorcan spots worked well. Gallagher hit the running dropkick in the corner to get the win for his team. The crowd loved this one.
– Billie Kay defeated Macey Estrella with a big boot.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Huge pop for the former Chris Hero. This was a great match that was TV worthy in every way. There was athletic stuff, hard hitting stuff, counters, near falls, and finally Ohno bashed Almas with the neckbreaker to set up the elbow smash to the back of the head to win it.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated SANITY
Fun main event match. Everyone worked well and we had some strong interactions between Big Damo and Nakamura. Nakamura hit the Kinshasa on Alexander Wolfe to send everyone home happy.
Shane Thorne won with a roll-up at 7:21. Sabbatelli had good heat with the crowd in what was a basic tag match to start off the night. TM61 were cheered heavily due to being Australian.
– Patrick Clark defeated Wesley Blake
The crowd was quiet for most of the match. There were chants of “Tyler Breeze” at Blake due to his appearance. The crowd fired up towards the end and Clark won with the top rope elbow drop at 6:10.
– Ember Moon defeated Aliyah
This was a good, fun match. Neither worked the face/heel dynamic and both were getting chants. They worked really well together here and Moon won with the diving top rope stunner at 10:24.
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated The Revival to retain their titles
The Revival got cheap heat before the match for faking the t-shirt throw into the crowd. A lot of playing to the crowd at the start of the match. Both teams took it pretty easy in this one, but it was still an enjoyable match. Johnny Gargano made Dash Wilder tap to the Gargano Escape to retain the titles at the 14:31 mark.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce to retain her title
Basic match. The crowd sung the Australian national anthem during the middle of the match. Asuka won with a kick while Royce was sitting up on the mat at 10:40.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Akira Tozawa
Really fun match, it was the match of the night for me. The crowd was chanting throughout the match. Tozawa was really over with the crowd and got a reaction for nearly everything he did. He did two suicide dives to Almas which was the best action of the night. Almas won with the hammerlock DDT at 13.02.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Tye Dillinger & Buddy Murphy defeated Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode & Elias Samson
The Drifter did his guitar stuff before the others came out. He started playing an ACDC song, then stopped and said that it sucked. Lots of comedy in this match with Murphy and Roode doing most of the work. Joe and Nakamura didn’t really do much, but it was a fun main event. Nakamura got the pinfall with the Kinshasa at 17:40.
Buddy Murphy went around the ring to take photos with the fans to end the show.
NXT was in Tampa, FL tonight in front of approximately 250 people.
– Jack Gallagher defeated Tozawa
This was the NXT Florida debuts for both CWC alums. It was an entertaining match that did all the comedy early, the hog tie spot, Gallagher standing on his head on the buckles, then they really got going. The finish was Gallagher winning with the corner dropkick.
– The Bollywood Boyz defeated Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi
Another NXT Florida debut with The Bollywood Boyz, who won with a double superkick on Jaoude.
– Macey Estrella defeated Sara Bridges
The former Crazy Mary Dobson made her NXT FL debut as well tonight. Estrella won via submission.
– Big Damo defeated HoHo Lun
A classic big vs. small match where Damo toyed with Lun until hitting his huge side slam finish.
– Kishan Raftaar defeated Blake
Raftaar caught Blake with a roll-up for a surprise win.
– Tommy End defeated Murphy
Physical match, End jumped Murphy before the bell and the ref had to regroup to ask Murphy if he wanted to wrestle. End won with a jumping knee to the face.
Mada, formerly of Tough Enough, cut an in-ring promo where he badmouthed America and talked about being from Egypt and his desire to make all our favorites suffer.
Long back and forth match that picked up for the finish. Crawford hit a standing SSP for a near fall, but Sabbatelli and Moss hit a double team Gory Bomb for the finish.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Gran Metalik
Great match, there was back and forth action and both looked amazing. Metalik hit a dive to the outside, and Almas hit the running knees for a near fall. Metalik went for the driver to finish it off but Almas escaped and rolled Metalik up with his feet on the ropes to steal the win. Metalik ran off Almas after the match to send everyone home happy.
This was the most amazing comedy match of the year in NXT. They all refused to wrestle the one-on-one combinations at each time and would tag out. Crawford and Sabbatelli would always go for the same move and end up connecting to a double down. Dawkins and Moss were getting into it while Crawford yelled and went wild on the apron.
Once Sabbatelli and Crawford got in, they compared abs before a marathon rope running session. Moss and Dawkins both connected with a strike and doubled down with Moss having an arm over for the pin. Crawford half passed out over the apron and took a sip from his party cup before they made their way to the back.
– Elias Samson defeated Adrian Jaoude
Swinging neckbreaker for Samson got the win after they worked a tough match.
– Liv Morgan defeated Macey Estrella
STO by Morgan for the win.
– HoHo Lun cut an in-ring promo where he said how beautiful Florida is. He was then interrupted and cornered by SAnitY until Heavy Machinery made the save.
– Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) defeated SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton) via DQ
This was wild and had non-stop action. They battled all over the place until Nikki Cross caused the DQ. HoHo Lun then made the save to help run SAnitY off and celebrate to close the show.
The Big News: Andrade “Cien” Almas turned heel on Cedric Alexander after the duo lost their tag team main event.
The Medium News: The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic kicked off with The Revival and The Authors of Pain picking up victories.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Samoa Joe destroyed the debuting Dan Matha and gave William Regal one week to give him Shinsuke Nakamura.
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The Authors of Pain defeated The Bollywood Boyz in a first round Dusty Classic match
Straight out of the CWC, Harv and Gurv Sihra are here to go two-on-two with the undefeated Authors of Pain. This was not the night for the duo from India, but they did get a little bit of offense in along the way.
Akam and Rezar made short work of the former GFW Tag Team Champions, finishing them off with the combo side Russian leg sweep/lariat, which is called The Last Chapter.
In the next round, they will face the winner of No Way Jose & Rich Swann vs Tony Nese & Drew Gulak.
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Rich Swann defeated Patrick Clark
Clark held up his side of the match and didn’t look totally out of place, but between the two of them it’s obvious the right person is on Raw right now. Swann hit a superkick and won after a handstand into a standing moonsault.
I love Rich Swann’s theme.
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We saw video of Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas from a few weeks ago and how it now leads to them as teammates in the Dusty Classic against The Revival tonight.
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Last week, Liv Morgan was getting checked on in the trainers room when Billie Kay and Peyton Royce walked up and made fun of her.
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Peyton Royce w/Billie Kay defeated Danielle Kamela
NXT has put the two Australian women together here, as Royce and Kay are friends. Kamela was both a dancer and a cheerleader before trying out at the Performance Center. Kamela has a lower center of gravity, which made her fall hard when Royce kicked her in the face.
This was a very basic match. The fans got behind Kamela when she was being held in a chinlock, but this was not her night. Royce won with a knee to the side of the head and a fisherman suplex. Tom Phillips called it a northern lights suplex, and Corey Graves said Mauro Ranallo wouldn’t have screwed that up.
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Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger cut a promo backstage, with Roode not allowing Dillinger to talk at first and then doing his Glorious pose when Dillinger tried talking.
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The debut of Dan Matha didn’t happen
Dan Matha actually doesn’t look nearly as ripped when walking to the ring as he did in video packages.
We were spared from seeing his debut by Samoa Joe running out and beating the crap out of Matha, much to the fans delight. At first all we saw were fans laughing and looking off to the side, then Joe came out and destroyed him.
Not that I was looking majorly forward to this debut, but it seems weird that they built it up for weeks just for him to be a guy taken out by Joe in 30 seconds.
Anyway, Joe cut the promo he has every week where he orders William Regal to give him Nakamura or the title, finally giving him one week to make a decision.
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No Way Jose & Rich Swann cut a promo saying they became a team because the NXT Universe wanted them to be partners. They ended their promo by singing “Can you handle this? No way Jose.”
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Sanity is coming next week. That’s good. Sometimes we all need help. Wait…wrong kind of Sanity.
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NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival defeated Cedric Alexander & Andrade “Cien” Almas in a first round Dusty Classic match
Alexander and Almas worked well together, but The Revival are a really good team. It was last year in the Dusty Classic that they got the start of their push, making it to the semifinals before losing to Samoa Joe & Finn Balor.
Revival got the heat on Almas, specifically targeting his left shoulder. Dash and Dawson really have perfected that “80’s tag team” gimmick, but are not doing it in a gimmicky way, if that makes sense. They are a modern tag team that uses 80’s psychology in their matches.
Alexander got the hot tag and took out both men, and he probably would have fared better in a handicap match, as Almas was more of a hindrance than a help. At the end of the day, the champs picked up the win, pinning Alexander with a Shatter Machine.
The Revival will now face the winners of Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. HoHo Lun & Bin Wang in the next round. I don’t know if that match has been taped, but I think it’s safe to assume Gargano & Ciampa will be advancing.
Almas snapped after the match, turning heel by attacking Alexander! I guess he read what I wrote and decided to take it out on Alexander. Almas dropped Alexander face first on the ring steps before walking out to a chorus of boos.
That does it for this week. Next week Sanity debuts, Joe gets his answer from Mr. Regal, and the Dusty Classic continues. Until then remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Image: WWE. Results courtesy of David Stepp. An estimated attendance of 300 people.
– Noah Potjes defeated Patrick Clark
Potjes used the Overdrive/Playmaker to pick up the win.
– Aliyah defeated Mandy Rose
Aliyah used a Northern Lights suplex for the win.
– Kenneth Crawford & Angelo Dawkins defeated The Ealy Twins
Crawford got the win with a standing SSP.
– Cedric Alexander defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Alexander hit the Lumbar Check for the win.
– Billie Kay defeated Liv Morgan
Kay won after using the torture rack.
– In-ring promo with Beautiful Blonde Blake. He asked Charly Caruso to leave his ring as there was only room for one beautiful person. The promo was about how beautiful he was.
– Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton w/ Nikki Cross defeated Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi
Wolfe and Fulton won with their double team finish, which is something like a Magic Killer yet ends in a suplex rather than on the side. Cross was chaotic at ringside, wanting to fight anyone she could and had to be restrained by her own stablemates.
