With one more spot remaining going into the episode, the lineup for the men’s Elimination Chamber will be finalized on Raw next week.
Finn Balor, Matt Hardy, Apollo Crews, and Bray Wyatt will face off in a fatal four-way for the final spot in the Chamber match. All four of those wrestlers lost their initial qualifying matches. Kane, who was defeated by Braun Strowman in a qualifier, was involved in an injury angle after his loss.
The winner of the fatal four-way joins Strowman, John Cena, Elias, Roman Reigns, and The Miz in the Elimination Chamber. Elias will be the last person to enter the Chamber during the match after defeating Cena and Strowman in a triple threat on Raw tonight by stealing the pin from Strowman.
The men’s Elimination Chamber will decide Brock Lesnar’s challenger for WrestleMania.
Alexa Bliss will also defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville in an Elimination Chamber match at the February 25th pay-per-view. Asuka vs. Nia Jax has been announced as well, with the stipulation being that Jax will be added to the Raw Women’s title match at WrestleMania if she wins.
The Big Takeaway: Accompanied by Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke stole a win against Mickie James. In a strong performance, Akira Tozawa got his win back from Tony Nese in a rematch of their 205 Live bout from the previous week.
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Dana Brooke (w/ Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews) defeated Mickie James (4:37)
Brooke has been at the side of Titus Worldwide for the last few weeks here on Main Event, so it was interesting to see her take to the ring instead this week with both O’Neil and Crews at her side. James, who hasn’t appeared on Main Event since July, took the fall having last scored a singles win in October.
The match really wasn’t particularly good until the second half. Brooke dominated the first part of the bout with chinlocks and rest holds, but James eventually took over with a more impressive and interesting move set. James locked in a tarantula at one point and looked to be in line for a win when Brooke had to roll outside for a breather, only to be berated by O’Neil and Crews.
The finish saw Brooke block a roll-up attempt that allowed Brooke to flip over James and apply a weak-looking bridging pin to essentially steal the win. Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness played up the coup on commentary and had kept putting James over as a former six-time champion.
Titus Worldwide made off like bandits, even doing a lap of honor around the ring, while James was left to look on.
Akira Tozawa defeated Tony Nese (5:49)
On 205 Live the previous week, Nese picked up the win over Tozawa after some fierce back and forth, eventually finishing Tozawa with a running knee. The rematch on Main Event saw them face off on a show that Tozawa is yet to lose on.
Once again these two were excellent together. The whole match was a back and forth where you felt that either man could come out on top. They built to a point where both had dominated moments and equaled each other and both went for a big boot and both landed it. They looked glassy-eyed — but it was Tozawa who got up first.
Nese tried a roll-up and a pumphandle slam but Tozawa was quick enough to escape them. Eventually, Tozawa was able to strike Nese with a windmill kick to leave him prone by the corner. Tozawa hit the Drop Zone for the win in what was a really strong bout. It would be good to see these two get more time together on WWE television.
With Enzo Amore not in the tournament, Apollo Crews will be teaming with Nia Jax in WWE’s Mixed Match Challenge.
That pairing was announced today after Kurt Angle tweeted earlier in the week that Amore would have to be replaced. Amore missed Raw last Monday, where he was supposed to defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Cedric Alexander, due to being hospitalized with the flu and wasn’t on 205 Live on Tuesday.
Even though the decision was made to take Amore out of the tournament, Dave Meltzer noted in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Amore has been cleared to wrestle. The storyline in the video where Jax’s partner was revealed was that she was disappointed to be teaming with Crews and appeared to be annoyed with Titus Worldwide.
After Rusev & Lana were announced yesterday, it was officially confirmed that another married couple would be paired together as Jimmy Uso is set to team with Naomi.
Braun Strowman & Alexa Bliss, Bobby Roode & Charlotte Flair, and Finn Balor & Sasha Banks have also been announced for the mixed tag team tournament. The 12-episode series premieres on Facebook Watch at 10 p.m. Eastern time on January 16th.
Here are the other wrestlers who will be taking part in Mixed Match Challenge:
Raw —
Alicia Fox
Asuka
Bayley
Goldust
The Miz
A male wrestler who will be selected by fan vote
SmackDown —
Becky Lynch
Carmella
Natalya
Sami Zayn
Shinsuke Nakamura
A member of The New Day (to be determined by fan vote)
The Big Takeaway: Prior to his injury on 205 Live on Tuesday, Kalisto beat Ariya Daivari on Main Event. Apollo Crews, who is now accompanied to the ring by Dana Brooke and Titus O’Neil, left Curt Hawkins 0-146 going into the holiday period.
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Kalisto defeated Ariya Daivari (6:04)
After the unfortunate events from Tuesday night’s 205 Live that ended in Kalisto needing stitches and an MRI when a fan threw a bottle of water at him, it was good to see Kalisto’s Monday night Main Event match result in a great performance and a win.
Daivari and Kalisto worked together well here and built a match that looked like it could go either way. When Daivari successfully hit a huge Persian Lion Splash for the second time, you could have been forgiven for assuming that the match was done at the five-minute mark. When Kalisto kicked out, it proved a nice wrinkle in the storyline of the match.
The finish saw Daivari trying to bully Kalisto, towering over him and trash-talking him until Kalisto leapt up and flew into the Salida del Sol to get the win. This loss leaves Daivari, a man with very few wins under his belt since joining WWE, without a win since August.
Apollo Crews (w/ Dana Brooke and Titus O’Neil) defeated Curt Hawkins (5:05)
Hawkins may just be becoming the new Gillberg after all, as his losing streak continued here against Apollo Crews — an opponent who he has lost to frequently over the last few months. Crews came out with the addition of Dana Brooke in his entourage. Brooke was sporting professional attire: business suit, glasses, and clipboard.
On the bell, Hawkins looked disgruntled at the presence of both Brooke and O’Neil and shouted that they should be sent “to the back!” Hawkins is making the most of his streak: after some back and forth, he actually laid down in the ring and urged Crews to get it over with. Of course, he was playing possum and Crews fell for it, allowing Hawkins to dominate the middle section here.
The match went through a commercial break and they really made it look as close as they could. Hawkins kicked out of a standing moonsault and Crews kicked out of a second rope powerbomb. Finally, Crews dug deep and nailed Hawkins with a running single leg high knee and his spin-out powerbomb for the win.
Until next time, wishing you a wonderful holiday period with your families and loved ones.
A member of the WWE main roster is set to wrestle for PCW (Preston City Wrestling) in February.
PCW announced today that Apollo Crews would be taking part in their Road to Glory 2018 tournament on February 10th. PCW noted that Crews is returning for one night only and thanked WWE, Triple H, and William Regal for allowing him to do so.
When he was still known as Uhaa Nation before heading to WWE, Crews held the PCW Heavyweight Championship from November 2014 to March 2015. He joins Zack Sabre Jr. as the first two wrestlers who have been confirmed for the tournament.
A few WWE wrestlers have appeared for UK promotions this year as WWE continues to develop working relationships overseas. Kassius Ohno and Noam Dar have appeared for ICW, while Jack Gallagher and Dakota Kai were featured on PROGRESS Wrestling’s two shows in the United States this summer.
The Big Takeaway: Gran Metalik defeated Brian Kendrick in a fun opener that was well told. Apollo Crews beat Curt Hawkins as Hawkins and Titus O’Neil nearly came to blows. Hawkins is now at 132 straight matches without a win.
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Gran Metalik defeated Brian Kendrick (5:42)
Kendrick is without a singles win since August and lost here in a good match that was told in three parts. Metalik took the early going, using his pace and aerial ability to stun Kendrick and get the crowd involved and engaged in the match. A huge suicide dive from Metalik launched Kendrick into the air and on to his back.
But after baiting Metalik outside, Kendrick took over in the second third and slowed things down with rest holds. It was here that Metalik was a little too cartoonish in his selling and it took away from the main thrust of the match.
The final part saw both men kick out of each other’s finishers, with Metalik using his rope-walk elbow drop and Kendrick trying for the Sliced Bread #2. After Metalik looked beaten when his top rope dive was turned into a powerbomb, he kicked out and managed to reverse Kendrick into a Metalik Driver for the win.
Apollo Crews (w/ Titus O’Neil) defeated Curt Hawkins (4:22)
Crews beat Hawkins with relative ease here to bring Hawkins’ losing streak count to 132. Assuming that this keeps going at the rate of one per week, we would hit 150 by WrestleMania weekend. If they make fans aware of it, they could at least give him a match on the card to see if he could curb it. Not to make the most of a streak as long running as this would seem misguided.
The match was just as most of these Hawkins’ squashes have been. The difference here was O’Neil in the role of Crews’ manager. Hawkins is always good, despite the losses every week, and this week he continually trash talked O’Neil. Before the break, the mind games got to O’Neil and he got up on the apron to square up to Hawkins but eventually thought better of it.
Crews was impressive, flipping around and showing off his agility and selling well for Hawkins. He took an enzuigiri and a flapjack from Hawkins for a near fall but turned the tide quickly and finished things off with a spin-out powerbomb for the win.
Rounding out the card for tonight’s pay-per-view, WWE added Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews to the Extreme Rules pre-show this afternoon.
Kalisto defeated Crews on Raw two weeks ago in a match that was part of a storyline where Kalisto was disappointed in Crews for being involved with the Titus Brand. Titus O’Neil then got a win over Kalisto on last week’s Raw by holding onto Kalisto’s tights while pinning him.
Both Kalisto and Crews arrived on Raw as part of the roster shakeup in April.
There are now seven matches set for tonight’s PPV. The lineup is:
Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt in an Extreme Rules fatal five-way number one contender’s match
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Bayley in a kendo stick on a pole match
Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose defending against The Miz (Ambrose will lose his title if he gets disqualified)
Raw Tag Team Champions The Hardys defending against Cesaro & Sheamus in a steel cage match
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Austin Aries in a submission match
Sasha Banks & Rich Swann vs. Alicia Fox & Noam Dar in a mixed tag team match
WWE didn’t wait until tonight’s Raw to start announcing wrestlers who will be switching brands in the “Superstar Shakeup.”
In a video that was posted this afternoon, WWE announced that Apollo Crews is moving to Raw in the shakeup. Crews then cut a brief promo about switching shows and being on Raw with Kurt Angle as general manager.
Vince McMahon made a rare appearance on television on last week’s Raw after WrestleMania to announce the shakeup, but most of the details about its logistics still remain unknown.
WWE.com previously revealed that Raw and SmackDown would be allowed to make “trades, deals, and other moves that they feel fit” to improve their rosters, though it wasn’t indicated that anyone is going to SmackDown in a trade for Crews.
The shakeup will continue on SmackDown tomorrow. Dave Meltzer noted in yesterday’s Daily Update that most of the moves were being kept secret, including from talent.
Video of Crews being announced as the first person to switch brands is available below:
Date: December 20, 2016 Location: Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI
The Big Takeaway —
SmackDown was an eventful show. AJ Styles easily defended his WWE world championship against James Ellsworth and destroyed him afterwards. Natalya revealed it was her who attacked Nikki Bella at Survivor Series, and the Miz informed the world that Renee Young and Dean Ambrose are, in fact, an item. (Details below.)
They strongly pushed next week’s SmackDown show in Chicago. AJ Styles will now defend his title in a triple threat against Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin after the latter two fought to a double countout. Also on next week’s show, Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton will defend the tag titles in a 4 corners elimination match and Alexa Bliss will defend the women’s title against Becky Lynch.
John Cena returns next week as well in the building he made his debut.
Show Recap —
WWE World Championship: AJ Styles defeated James Ellsworth
Huge pop for AJ Styles. They announced James Ellsworth without mentioning where he’s from or how much he weighs. (They mentioned both for Styles, as usual.)
As Styles yelled that he deserves better than this, Ellsworth tried to catch him off guard with a superkick, but Styles blocked it. Styles hit him with combination strikes, then nonchalantly pinned Ellsworth for the win. Match was a minute or less. This was the perfect ending to this story.
Afterwards, Styles attacked Ellsworth and dropped him back-first on the corner of the announce table, which led to “Yes” chants. He then tossed Ellsworth onto the steps and into the steel frame under the ring. He was about to leave, but went back down to suplex Ellsworth into the barricade.
As they placed Ellsworth on a stretcher, Styles grabbed a mic and said he could finally move on to 2017. He didn’t need anything for Christmas because he already has the world title. This brought out Ziggler, who reminded Styles of their title match next week. As they carried Ellsworth out on a stretcher, Styles claimed he forgot, and informed Ziggler that the best thing he does is be a loser.
Ziggler thought that was funny considering it took Styles four tries to beat Ellsworth. Styles said beating Ziggler would be easy. They got face to face, which brought out Baron Corbin. Corbin said Ziggler will lose next week, because that’s what he does. He added that Ziggler doesn’t steal the show, he steals opportunities. He attacked Ziggler, who tried to fight back, but Corbin finished him off with End of Days. The crowd chanted “one more time.”
Backstage, Daniel Bryan told Ziggler not to let Corbin get under his skin, but Ziggler wanted a match tonight. Bryan agreed, but if Ziggler lost, Corbin gets the title shot instead. Bryan gave Ziggler a chance to change his mind, but he didn’t.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (w/Maryse) defeated Apollo Crews
Crews was all over Miz before, during and after a commercial break. After Crews hit an Olympic Slam for a near fall, Maryse got on the apron. The referee kicked her out even though she didn’t appear to do anything. Crews followed with a schoolboy for a near fall, and a high back suplex for another near fall. Miz inadvertently bumped the referee, who went down just for a moment, allowing Miz to poke Crews in the eye and hit a Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
After the match, Renee Young jumped in the ring to ask Miz about Dean Ambrose and Miz’s apparent obsession with him. Miz said Renee was the one who was obsessed with Ambrose, stating “after all, you’re the one sleeping with him.” Big crowd reaction for that. Renee slapped Miz and stormed off.
They updated us on Zack Ryder and announced a 4 corners elimination match for the tag titles next week in Chicago. It’ll be Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton vs. American Alpha vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos.
They played a return video for John Cena next week.
Natalya came out and called out Nikki Bella. (Natalya actually came out and began talking, but they cut to commercial break. So she jumped the gun or they mistimed this.) Nikki came out, but Carmella interrupted. She exposed some nasty things Natalya said about Nikki. Nikki asked if it was true that Natalya attacked her. Natalya told Carmella, “you caused all this,” chased after her and tossed her into the Christmas decorations on the stage.
Natalya grabbed a mic and admitted that it was her who attacked Nikki and called her a bitch. Natalya was pissed that Nikki and Brie got all the opportunities because they were pretty and got their own spinoff reality show. She said her cat had more charisma than Nikki and called her a bitch again. Natalya finished off by saying that John Cena would never marry Nikki. Nikki is sad now. Natalya was pretty good here.
Alexa Bliss limped into Daniel Bryan’s office. Bryan told her she would be defending her title next week against Becky Lynch. Bliss didn’t like that. Bryan was told by the trainers that she’s cleared to wrestle tonight, and put her in a match. She didn’t have to wrestle, but if she doesn’t, she’ll be stripped of the title. Bliss stormed off and Bryan noted that her leg looked just fine.
Dean Ambrose defeated Luke Harper (w/Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton)
Harper had control after a break and launched Ambrose like a lawn dart into the middle turnbuckle. Ambrose fought back and attempted a flying elbow drop off the apron, but Harper moved and Ambrose landed on Bray and Orton instead. Ambrose kicked out of a sit-out powerbomb and followed shortly after with a la magistral cradle for the win. Not a great follow-up for Harper after last week’s performance, but Ambrose needed a win.
Bray and Orton jumped in the ring immediately afterward to beat down Ambrose. Orton finished him off with an RKO and the Wyatts posed. The Wyatts disappeared after the lights momentarily went off. The Miz and Maryse came out as Ambrose struggled to his feet, but Miz nailed him with a Skull Crushing Finale. The crowd booed as Miz and Maryse kissed.
La Luchadora (Becky Lynch) defeated Alexa Bliss
La Luchadora wore a full blue body suit with a purple (magenta?) mask. She used some wacky offense as the crowd chanted “Si! Si! Si!” They traded moves leading to La Luchadora applying a Disarmer for the submission win. La Luchadora ran around the ring celebrating the win. She jumped back in the ring and took off her mask to reveal it was Becky Lynch. It was mostly obvious this was Lynch, but this was still well done.
Ryan Phillippe from the TV show Shooter was walking backstage looking for Randy Orton but bumped into Mojo Rawley instead. They were interrupted Curt Hawkins who informed Rawley he will never be a tag champion. Rawley said he would punch him out in their match.
Mojo Rawley defeated Curt Hawkins
Phillippe was on commentary and plugged his show. He wanted to know where Orton was, but JBL said he better not go looking for him. Ranallo messed up Hawkins’ name for the second straight week. Rawley won quickly with a running punch in the corner.
Backstage, Dasha Fuentes informed us that Ellsworth was taken to a local medical facility, which the crowd cheered. However, Ellsworth was still there. He came out of the trainer’s room behind her, arm in a sling and wrapped up from head to toe. She tried asking him a bunch of questions, but he was very obviously in too much pain to answer. Carmella entered the scene and told Fuentes to leave him alone. Carmella offered to take care of him and they left together.
WWE World Title #1 Contender’s Match: Dolph Ziggler DCO Baron Corbin
Styles replaced Tom Phillips on commentary. Styles let us know it was Ranallo’s birthday soon (tomorrow) and he doesn’t look a day over 60. JBL and Ranallo informed Styles of the athletic backgrounds of Corbin and Ziggler, and Styles sarcastically thanked them for the info.
Corbin dominated for a while until Ziggler managed to hit a fameasser for two. (The camera cut to Styles in the middle of the count.) Ziggler slipped out of a powerbomb into a jackknife cover for two, and Corbin followed with an STO for two. Ziggler then kicked Corbin’s leg out of leg and hit a Zig Zag, but Corbin kicked out. Corbin followed shortly after with a Deep Six for a near fall.
Corbin then tossed Ziggler into the barricade a couple of times. Ranallo said Corbin should be cognizant of the referee’s count, but it was hard to tell what it was because the crowd was chanting “ten.” Corbin then launched Ziggler into Styles, which was a pretty stupid thing to do. This led to a double countout.
Styles got up and killed both men with a steel chair. He hit them both repeatedly and left them laying. Daniel Bryan announced a triple threat match for the title next week.
Final Thoughts —
The ending was weak, but this was an entertaining show and the best SmackDown show in a few weeks at least. I liked the payoff to the Styles/Ellsworth program and they really did a good job pushing next week’s show, which looks to wrap up a few things before they start building to the Rumble.
This went about 12-15 minutes. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan got some stuff in early before Breezango took over on offense. There was a slow build to some inventive ways to try and get the hot tag by Gable. Jordan finally came in and American Alpha went over.
– Luke Harper defeated Mojo Rawley
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defeated Carmella, Natalya, and Nikki Bella in a fatal four-way match to retain her title
The match started with everyone beating up Bella. Carmella and Bella ended up in the ring for the first part. Bella showcased some good offense. Bliss kept trying to get in and kept getting booted out of the ring.
Bliss eventually hit her finisher on Natalya, then rolled up Carmella and used a handful of tights to win.
– Apollo Crews defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz w/ Maryse in a non-title match
Miz claimed that he signed a contract saying that he doesn’t have to defend the belt in places like Hamilton. He did say that he’s being generous for the holiday season and was going to beat up Apollo Crews and present him with the Miz Participation Award.
Maryse got thrown out after trying to interfere and Crews hits a sit-out powerbomb for the win. This was the longest match of the night. It had some slow sections but the crowd loved it.
Crews ripped up the Participation Award and threw it at Miz after the match.
– Rhyno & Heath Slater defeated The Vaudevillains and The Ascension
This had some interaction between the heels but it was mostly Rhyno and Slater fighting them off until the end. The finish came when Slater finally made the hot tag. Rhyno tore through everyone and hit the Gore on Aiden English for the win.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto
Crowds with a lot of children always go crazy for Kalisto and this was much of the same. They had a good little match. Kalisto showed off his abilities to their fullest but Corbin went over after rallying late and blasting him with the End of Days after kicking out of a Salida del Sol.
– Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt in a Hamilton street fight
The crowd was ready for some tables and chairs from the moment this was announced as a street fight. Earlier billing on the website had Ellsworth as the ring announcer for this but he was absent at the start.
Very good back and forth, just straight up wrestling until Wyatt rolled out around the six minute mark and grabbed a kendo stick. Luke Harper eventually hit the ring and distracted Ambrose, allowing Wyatt to put him through a table. Ambrose looked down and out but Ellsworth ran in, slid into the ring, and pointed at both Wyatt Family members before giving them a crotch chop.
Wyatt clocked Ellsworth with a kick to the head which put him down and out on the apron, but that gave enough time for Ambrose to recover and hit Dirty Deeds for the win.
I’m on site at NXT Largo tonight, expecting a sell out of approximately 300.
– Alex Reyes welcomed us to the show and introduced us to NXT’s newest ring announcer Andrea DiMarco (aka Andrea Ocampo) who was the on-air reporter for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
– Carmella and Liv Morgan beat Emma and Billie Kay
Very impressive showing by Carmella tonight, countering holds, escaping moves, and taking the hot tag. After Morgan was being worked over by the heels, there was a miscommunication where Emma was knocked off the apron which allowed Carmella to hit a superkick, bronco buster, and her submission leg scissor for the win over Billie Kay.
– Riddick Moss beat Alex Riley
Hard-hitting match with Riley hitting a spinebuster and a big top rope elbow drop for nearfalls. Riddick got his feet on the ropes for a roll-through dirty pin.
– American Alpha beat Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe
This was a showcase match for Alpha. The heels worked over Gable leading to the big hot tag for Jordan: suplex, spear, straps down, assisted German for the win.
– Dylan Miley beat Patrick Clark
Almost all Miley here. He worked the arm, slams, and hit a big diving headbutt off the top for the win.
– The Hype Bros beat The Vaudevillains
There were a lot of silly antics by the Vauds to try and get under Mojo’s skin. Zack wanted nothing to do with any of their nonsense. Vauds worked over Ryder to get to Mojo’s hot tag. Ran wild with shoulderblocks, but he Vauds almost cut him off. Ryder hit the Hype Ryder for the win.
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Aliyah
Good match here, Aliyah worked over Bayley’s arm, kept her grounded most of the match. Bayley fired up after being hit in to the turnbuckles pads then ran wild, big suplex, back elbow, and finally a Belly to Bayley for the win.
– In ring promo with Dhinsa and Selmani, they vow to destroy all other tag teams.
– No Way Jose FKA Levis Valenzuela beat Manny Andrade
New music and officially billed as “No Way Jose” tonight, good action between the two, Andrade is excellent and did some flashy moves such as a moonsault then a standing moonsault for a near fall and some crisp arm drags early in the match. The finish saw NWJ hit the big punch for the win.
– Enzo, Big Cass & Apollo Crews beat NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival & Baron Corbin
Crowd was all over Baron and The Revival tonight, the heels worked over Enzo and Apollo mostly during this match, good action all around and always seemed like the brink of chaos. The finish saw Big Cass take the hot tag, run wild and bring Zo back in for the rocketlauncher finish.
I’m here at the Arnold Classic for the NXT show in Columbus, Ohio tonight in front of a sold-out house.
Asuka beat Alexa Bliss
Big reaction for Asuka and also a good one for the hometown girl Bliss. This was all Asuka, nailing the Yes Kicks and finally applying the Asuka Lock for the submission.
Johnny Gargano and Tomaso Ciampa beat The Vaudevillains
The Vaudevillains were obviously the heels tonight. There was a lot of ‘Johnny Wrestling’ chants and the match built to a hot tag. The big finish saw Johnny as the legal man get the pin after double low angle superkicks on Gotch.
Apollo Crews beat Tye Dillinger
Dillinger’s first match back from injury got a great reaction then he did some heel mic work pre match to give Apollo a big entrance. Very good match including NXT chants from the crowd. Big Apollo Slam for the win.
Eva Marie and Nia Jax beat Billie Kay and Peyton Royce
Major heat on Eva. Nia hit a big Samoan Drop and allowed Eva to get the pin.
Sami Zayn beat Baron Corbin
Great reactions for both in their own ways as Baron soaks in the booos and Sami is beloved. Slow start to the match with Baron winning a test of strength, then hitting some great looking punches with Sami just making the count of ten. Big fired up comeback by Zayn including a dive off the entrance way a blue thunder bomb and after nearly connecting once before, hits the Helluva Kick for the win.
GM William Regal welcomes us back from intermission and speaks highly of the roster. An NXT chant leads to him giving us what we want, more NXT action.
NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha
Excellent match. The heels used the ring and worked the ref to keep Gable isolated until the big hot tag to Jordan. As per usual, Jason Jordan has the best hot tag in wrestling. The straps came down, then went back up, then back down. That’s how wild he ran. Suplexes, dropkicks, backdrops. Alpha had Revival set up for the German yet Dash held Jordan’s feet, then pulled Jordan out of the ring and held Gable’s feet during a sit out pin by Dawson to steal the win. Post match, we had “Yay – Booo” spots when the champs and challengers lifted their arms.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Emma
Superstar reaction for Bayley. Emma got a lot of punishment in early and the crowd just chanted and sang for Bayley. Good action here with Bayley firing up after refusing to feel the pain of being rammed in to the turn buckle padding. Belly To Bayley for the win.
NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Samoa Joe
Huge reactions for both men, dueling chants at times. Finn took a lot of punishment from the big man. These two always work great together. Finn hit the running dropkick and the Bloody Sunday ddt for the win. No top rope stomp tonight. Post match, Finn celebrated with the crowd and put up the gun sign.
The Big News: Samoa Joe turned heel at the end of an excellent NXT Title match between Finn Balor and Apollo Crews. Baron Corbin got more heat than he has ever gotten in his life when he ran in to make the DQ.
More Big News: Seth Rollins may have been injured during a WWE Live Event tonight. I am sure people who know much more about this stuff than I do will keep you up to date.
The Medium-sized News: Despite losing a #1 Contender’s Match 2 weeks ago, Dash & Dawson were announced as being #1 Contender’s and will face The Vaudevillians next week.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Both Cameron and Eva Marie returned and wrestled on this show.
Asuka submitted Cameron
Asuka is here to kick off NXT, going one on one with Cameron, of all people. Cameron has fallen off the face of the Earth and has now resurfaced here on NXT. During her hiatus Cameron dyed her hair the exact same purple of her hair.
Cameron nearly wanted to run away 30 seconds into the match when Asuka snapped off a Hurricarana and turned it right into an Armbar. Cameron did battle back and broke out her Split Legdrop, but unlike that time she did it on Raw, Asuka was on her back, so Cameron didn’t look stupid in demanding a count from the ref. Asuka threw her body at the face of Cameron before finishing off the former Funkadactyl with the Asuka Lock.
– Carmella tried cutting a promo giving us the status of Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady when Dash & Dawson walked in and bragged about taking them out. They are sorry they didn’t take them out sooner and next week they get a shot at The Vaudevillians for the NXT Tag Team Titles. I should point out that it was just 2 weeks ago when Dash & Dawson lost a #1 Contender’s Match. Anyhoo, Dash & Dawson left a wheelchair for The Vaudevillians, saying they will need it after next week.
– Earlier today, Jason Jordan & Chad Gable said they aren’t where they need to be. Gable made Jordan feel better by pointing out they are still on the way up. Gable referred to them as the World’s Greatest Tag Team, but Jordan cut them off. Jordan said they should challenge the best tag team in NXT history. Gable pointed out they couldn’t wrestle themselves, so Jordan instead issued a challenge to The Ascension. Chad challenged them to come back if they are Ready, Willing and Gable.
Bull Dempsey has crappy new entrance music and if you remember how bad his music used to be, this is really saying something. Angelo Dawkins came out to theme music for the first time ever. His and Fulton’s Titantron is less creative than David Flair’s famous one was. This was literally just their names over and over and over again. There wasn’t even a disappointed Ric Flair in there.
Dawkins kept Bull in a chinlock forever until Bull decided it was time to Hulk Up. Bull used a series of punches and won with the sitting splash off the top rope, which used to be Doink’s Whoopee Cushion. I remember when he showed that move to the kids on Tough Enough and I remember saying Bull had never used that move in his life. After the match, Sawyer Fulton was upset, so he left the ringside area. Yes, I am sure they will be so much better apart than they have been together.
-The Vaudevillians were quite offended that Dash & Dawson left them a wheelchair. They plan on beating their toughest challenge to date and use this to become one of the greatest teams in NXT history.
– Apollo Crews was sitting in his locker room with a bunch of children’s drawings hanging up next to him. He got up, stared at Finn Balor’s championship (which was conveniently near where he was sitting) and left.
– Bayley has tag team partners for the 6-person tag team match against Blake, Murphy & Alexa. Remember when I knew it would be The Vaudevillians? It was so much worse. It was the Hype Bros and next week they will be having a tag match.
Eva Marie pinned Marley
On the same show, we have both Eva Marie and Cameron. They did not name Eva’s opponent, so I did some research and my good friend Steve Juon stated that her name was Marley. I will avoid making jokes about her name. This match was a lot better when Marley was on offense, mind you it looked like she kicked Eva right in the face. But don’t worry because Eva then kicked her in the face and while Marley was on her knees, Eva gave her an STO for the win.
– Emma stated that she is not scared of Asuka, instead saying she doesn’t respect Asuka smiling at her. Both Emma and Dana stated that they have nothing but respect for Asuka, but were offended by Asuka patting Dana on her head. Emma said she will give Asuka a proper welcome.
Apollo Crews defeated NXT Champion Finn Balor by DQ
Main event time! They did the big main event intros, but this time they turned off all the lights in the arena except a blue spotlight in the middle of the ring where champion and challenger stood. This is Balor’s first tv defense since NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, but in the meantime he won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Samoa Joe. Meanwhile Apollo Crews has been undefeated since debuting that night in Brooklyn.
Crews began the match by taking it right to Finn. Crews hit every big move in the first 2 minutes, but then ran right into Finn’s foot, which slowed him down. Crews tried to comeback with a sunset flip, but Balor kicked him with both feet in the face. Crews then replied by kicked Balor right in the head and ascending to the middle rope, which caused Finn to jump into the air and kick Crews in the head, sending him toppling to the arena floor.
These two men are not shy about hitting each other as Finn gave Apollo a chop that Apollo is still feeling, 2 weeks after the show was taped. Apollo hit the Gorilla Press Slam, but Finn got his knees up on the standing moonsault. Finn hit the running dropkick to the corner, but Apollo moved from the Coup De Grace. Apollo kicked Finn in the face, which turned Finn around and Balor hit the Pele Kick!
The two men laid there for a good 30 seconds when Baron fricking Corbin ran in to attack Apollo for the DQ. That caused a crap ton of heat from the audience. The fans went silent as Baron’s attack continued on both men until Samoa Joe ran in for the save. Of course Joe did not run in for the save. Instead Baron ran away and Joe took Finn’s head off!
The fans exploded as Joe pounded away on the NXT Champion with stomps and punches. Joe tore at his hair and then placed Finn on the turnbuckles. Joe grabbed Finn’s face, yelling “I did this to you!” before dropping him with the Muscle Buster. Joe grabbed the NXT Championship and dropped it on Finn’s body before leaving.
Apollo Crews should give Tyler Breeze a phone call. Breeze became #1 contender in May 2014 and got his title shot a few months later. That match ended in a DQ when Tyson Kidd ran in to attack Adrian Neville. Let it be known, that well over a year later Tyler still never got a one-on-one rematch for the championship.
But with that out of the way, that does it for another week of NXT. This show you can skip half of it, but as long as you watch the main event then you will be quite happy. Until we meet again, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Welcome to my 5 year anniversary doing NXT reviews for WrestlingObserver.com! The very first match I reviewed was Kaitlyn vs Maxine, which won the 2010 Worst Worked Match Of The Year Award and somehow I came back for more!
-The show opened with a video package for the battle royal from last week. They actually aired almost every elimination, including about 20 seconds on the last two, before showing Apollo Crews standing victorious as your new #1 contender.
Asuka submitted Billie Kay
Asuka kicks things off this week. I haven’t had the chance to write this yet, but she has awesome theme music. Her foe this week is Billie Kay, whose claim to fame is she has the longest legs in NXT. I do like how they are long enough to touch the ground.
Billie grounded Asuka and Asuka stood up and smiled at her before slapping on a rolling arm bar, hitting a German Suplex and then a running knee to the head. Asuka finished things off with the Crossface Chicken Wing with a body scissiors, called the Asuka Lock.
-Last week Baron Corbin and Rhyno’s alliance sadly fell apart during the battle royal, so tonight they will go one on one in the main event.
-A Baron Corbin video aired. It’s actually the same one they aired months ago.
-Tyler Breeze cut a selfie promo on Samoa Joe. Breeze took offense to being eliminated last week and said that if he isn’t #1 Contender then Joe will never be. Breeze did challenge him to a match by threatening to slice off a couple pieces of bacon.
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady defeated Dash & Dawson
Dash and Dawson do not get an automatic title shot after defeated The Vaudevillians during the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Instead they have to defeat a certifide G and a bona fide stud and his 7 foot tall friend.
The heels got the heat on Enzo the entire 2 minute match, working on his knee. Dawson knocked Colin off the apron, turned around and got small packaged by Enzo for the win.
After the match Dash & Dawson immediately took down Enzo, beat him down and then beat down Colin. They actually hit their double team Flapjack/Codebreaker on Colin.
-A Rhyno video aired. It included footage of him in the early-2000’s as ECW Champion, Hardcore Champion and US Champion and brought it full circle to him Goring the world while Paul Heyman’s 2001 commentary screaming “GORE GORE GORE” aired.
Quick joke. What candidate did Rhyno vote for in 2000? Al GORE! GORE! GORE! Okay I’ll stop now.
-Eva Marie is still on vacation. She hopes we all miss her and never forget about her.
James Storm pinned Danny Burch
Turns out Danny Burch is with a u. For some reason I have always been spelling it Birch. The former TNA World Heavyweight Champion is making his debut. They acknowledged he was in WCW for a cup of coffee, but said he spent the last 15 years on the Independent scene. The fans gave him quite the ovation and the announcers put him over big. The fans chanted “You belong here”.
Storm looked good here, winning the match with the 8 Second Ride. Let it be known his debut was better than Chris Harris’ WWE debut. He did scream “Sorry about your damn luck” at Burch afterwards.
-Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews for the NXT Championship in 2 weeks, which led to an Apollo video package. This was a really good video package, including talking about him being an Ultimate Warrior fan and begging his Mom to buy him a toy belt. They also included footage of him in Evolve.
-A Nia Jax video aired. It will not be 8 weeks until her next match, it will only be one.
Alexa Bliss pinned Peyton Royce
I haven’t heard such a quiet crowd in NXT history as I did for Peyton Royce’s entrance. Despite their apathy there were about 10 people trying to start a Peyton Royce chant.
Alexa Bliss is so short (how short is she?). Alexa Bliss is so short that she stood on Peyton at one point and was barely a hair taller than the referee. Peyton kicked Alexa a lot, but it just led to Alexa doing more offense. Bliss did a standing Moonsault, but ended it with double knees to the gut. She did win with the Sparkle Splash.
After the match Alexa cut a promo on Bayley, saying that Alexa is what everyone strives to be and she was made to be NXT Women’s Champion.
-Next week: Samoa Joe vs Tyler Breeze
Baron Corbin pinned Rhyno
Main event time. These two sports entertained at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable in May, which was Corbin’s best (and longest) match until the Joe match in August.
Rhyno beat on Baron until Corbin rolled outside the ring. Rhyno ran after him, but Corbin shoved him and eventually threw him into the ring steps to take over. Rhyno almost didn’t get back in the ring before the 10 count. Back in the ring Corbin hit every move that never beats anyone and then got frustrated when Rhyno didn’t lose to them.
Corey Graves made a comment about how Mike Tyson came out of nowhere to win the Heavyweight Boxing Championship, which is complete bs. Tyson made quite the name for himself and was pretty well known before he went for the title.
Rhyno made his comeback, hitting his belly to belly suplex and the Double A Spinebuster for a near fall. He went for the Gore, got kicked in the face, hit it a second time and somehow Corbin kicked out at 2. Rhyno went for another Gore, but Corbin turned it into End of Days for the win.
-The show ended with Samoa Joe cutting a promo on Tyler Breeze backstage. Joe called him a desperate man and in his desperation he cost Joe his rightful title shot. He said Tyler had the audacity to call him out and Joe asked him to take the very best picture he could because after next week he will never look the same again.
A great promo to end the show and we are done for the week. Thanks for checking things out, see you next week and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
