Tag: Bobby Roode

NXT & CWC video highlights: Itami returns, Roode debuts, Gargano and Ciampa face off

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NXT —

Hideo Itami makes his return.

NXT opened with Hideo Itami finally making his return after being out of action for over a year with a shoulder injury. Itami’s real life injury was turned into an angle, with him being assaulted by a mystery attacker in the parking lot prior to NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable last year.

Fingers were initially pointed at Kevin Owens, and there was speculation on this week’s show about whether Owens was really responsible for the attack.

Maluta made his NXT debut after losing to Kota Ibushi in the first round of the Cruiserweight Classic. Fellow CWC competitors Zack Sabre Jr., Drew Gulak, and Tony Nese were ringside to watch the match. But it was mostly a showcase for Itami, with him making quick work of Maluta.

Itami did a promo after the match about what is next for him in NXT.

Asuka shows her mean streak.

NXT Women’s Champion Asuka faced off against Aliyah with TakeOver challenger Bayley watching on from ringside. Asuka showed more of a mean streak than she has been showing lately, and Bayley had to step in after the match to make Asuka release a submission.

The victorious Asuka will now set her eyes on her title defense against Bayley in Brooklyn later this month.

Ember Moon is coming.

After last week’s somewhat vague vignette, another aired this week confirming that Ember Moon will soon be making her debut.

Moon will also be in action at TakeOver, making her first televised appearance. She was known as Athena prior to the name change and will look to help restock the NXT women’s division after the brand split depleted some of its roster depth.

The “It Factor” makes his debut.

Despite making cameo appearances at the last two TakeOver specials and wrestling on NXT live events, this was former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode’s official NXT debut.

He cut a promo in front of the crowd, but the initially adoring crowd quickly started to turn against Roode as he got increasingly arrogant and ran down NXT fans throughout the segment.

Cruiserweight Classic —

Rich Swann shines.

After making a couple appearances in losing efforts on NXT TV, Rich Swann got his first showcase on WWE programming in the first round of the CWC against Hong Kong’s Jason Lee. Swann showed his trademark charisma and ability to connect with the audience almost immediately.

Swann will be advancing to the next round of the tournament, where he will take on Lince Dorado.

Noam Dar starts the CWC on the right track.

Noam Dar, a 23 year old international star of Israeli-Scottish descent, made his first CWC appearance in a winning effort against Gurv Sihra of the Bollywood Boyz. Dar will look to stay on the winning track next round against HoHo Lun.

Dar did an interview after his win, talking about what the victory meant to him.

“Gentleman” Jack Gallagher wows the Full Sail crowd.

To the delight of Daniel Bryan and seemingly everyone in the audience, “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher was able to fend off a rigorous challenge from Italian Fabian Aichner to advance to the second round. Gallagher will face Akira Tozawa in what is sure to be one of the round’s most anticipated matches.

Gallagher’s unique style was on display and the crowd at Full Sail was fully into the British star.

Gallagher was interviewed after the win. He thanked the crowd for being so receptive and talked about his colorful ring gear.

Tag team partners collide, with only one advancing to the next round.

Though they may be tag team partners, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa showed no mercy for each other in what might be the CWC’s best match so far. Ciampa was relentless, dishing out violent offense against his partner.

But no matter what Ciampa came at him with, Gargano would not back down. Gargano was able to get the win and the two partners eventually embraced after the match was over. Gargano will face TJ Perkins in the second round.

WWE NXT results: Hideo Itami returns, Bobby Roode debuts

Posted on by Arya Witner

The Big News: Hideo Itami returned after being away for 14 months due to injury.

The Medium News: Bobby Roode debuted to the delight and joy of everyone in the audience — and then he turned heel after five minutes, causing some of the fans to laugh.

The Little Beaver Sized News: The Revival beat TM61, but then got laid out by Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.

*********

Hideo Itami defeated Sean Maluta

The most pushed thing on the show was the opener. 14 months ago Hideo Itami was injured. He was scheduled to face Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze in a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, but was pulled from the match.

The storyline coming off of the injury was that someone attacked and injured him, with fingers pointed towards Kevin Owens. To the absolute shock of me, Tom Phillips actually brought that up and Corey Graves shot it down.

Zack Sabre Jr., Drew Gulak, and Tony Nese were sitting ringside to watch Maluta wrestle, all of whom are competitors in the Cruiserweight Classic.

This was all about Itami. At one point he pulled down his kneepad for a strike, but instead jumped over Maluta and kicked him in the face. Itami had an ugly scar on his shoulder that he had two different surgeries on. Anyway, this was a successful return and Itami won with the running knee.

*********

The Revival cut a promo backstage. They said there is no pressure on them, and it is scientifically proven that they are the greatest tag team in not only NXT history, but on the entire planet.

In walked TM61, who said they have traveled the world and faced the best. They challenged The Revival, who told them to get to the back of the line.

TM61 left, leading to Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa walking in. They claimed that they were the number one contenders, but The Revival doesn’t want to face them. They wondered if The Revival was scared. Dawson said they already promised a match to TM61, so they left the four of them to argue over who gets a title shot.

That somehow set up a title match.

*********

Mojo Rawley and Chris Atkins fought to a No Contest

“Fought” being a relative term.

This is Mojo Rawley’s first singles match on TV in what seems like a very long time. Rawley had the match won with the Pounce in 20 seconds, but the referee had to hold up his count because that was not the finish. Samoa Joe was two seconds late, but he did come down and destroy both men.

After the beating, Joe screamed to the camera that if William Regal isn’t going to consult him about title matches, he is going to destroy Mr. Regal’s television program. Rawley was shockingly allowed a brief comeback, but when he tried leaving, Joe attacked him on the ramp and choked him out.

Growling and spitting into the camera, Joe said this would happen to Nakamura.

*********

Bayley said it’s time to adapt and mentally prepare for this match against Asuka. She is ready to take her title back. Asuka walked up and mocked the idea that she is ready.

*********

NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Aliyah

Bayley came out to do commentary for the next match. I miss the days of William Regal doing commentary about how Bayley is his niece’s favorite wrestler.

Before the match, Asuka took a chair, set it on the ramp, and ordered Bayley to go sit in it and watch the match. Bayley threw the chair away and the match was on from there. Aliyah was a very good punching bag with Asuka showing her no respect. Asuka used an abdominal stretch in the ropes, looking completely bored as she was hurting her foe.

Aliyah got a punch, but got kicked right in the face as she jumped off the middle rope. Asuka won with the Asuka Lock.

Bayley got in the ring to make Asuka let go of the hold after the bell, and we were told that these two ladies will have a contract signing next week.

*********

Last month Oney Lorcan (the former Biff Busick) debuted a new name and defeated the Perfect 10 before never being seen again. He apparently cut a promo after the match saying he needed to go back to his roots in order to compete with the best in NXT.

*********

Ember Moon is debuting on August 20th at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II.

*********

We finally got the debut of former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode. He has a cool theme song, shouting that he is glorious. Tom Phillips actually said he is called the It Factor, which was his TNA nickname.

Roode came out and said he had the privilege of sitting in the front row at TakeOver in Dallas, and he cannot explain the emotion he felt sitting with 10,000 screaming fans. He knew from that moment that NXT was the perfect place for him.

He said there was no other company, no other brand, that revolutionized the business like NXT. Not only are “we” NXT, but so are all the fans. But in order to reach that next level, that’s where he comes in. NXT needs Bobby Roode, all of the fans need Bobby Roode.

NXT has found their international superstar to reach the next level, and that superstar is Bobby Roode.

He vowed to be on billboards in Times Square and said he will make NXT a better place. He said he will soon look into the crowd and see leaders of Fortune 500 companies, not these stupid, stupid fans.

He wants to see nicely dressed people, not people wearing oversized t-shirts and ugly cargo shorts. He is a superstar because he wears custom made suits, nice socks, and a Rolex.

The fans actually laughed when he turned heel, while some others started wooing, since Roode was doing his best Ric Flair impersonation. He finished by saying NXT will be glorious.

The decision to bring in a beloved free agent and immediately turn him heel is a questionable one, but NXT has earned the benefit of the doubt in a way that some other promotions haven’t.

*********

NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival defeated TM61

Yes, that wacky backstage segment where The Revival turned down both teams led to this match.

Slowly but surely The Revival is getting over, as fans don’t sit in complete silence when they come out anymore. The Revival twice got the heat on Shane Thorne, including cutting him off during a commercial break.

The announcers debated over whether or not The Revival is the “winningest” team in NXT history. I should remind everyone that once upon a time, The Ascension were the only real team in NXT, so for almost a full year, they would destroy a jobber team every week.

Nick Miller got the hot tag and no one seemed to care. Unlike when Dash and Dawson faced Gargano and Ciampa, no one believed TM61 would win. Out of nowhere, Dawson won with a DDT.

After the match, Dash and Dawson took the mic to say that it doesn’t matter what part of the world you come from, they are the top guys in NXT.

Out came Gargano and Ciampa, who referred to the Revival as “Arn and Ole.” They then made bad jokes about all the teams The Revival beat, including Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. The biggest reaction to anything in the last 15 minutes was when they mentioned Pikachu, causing a Pokemon chant.

Long story short, Gargano and Ciampa brought up again that The Revival never beat them. We got a four-way brawl with the challengers dumping Dawson out of the ring and then getting a visual pinfall on Dash.

Phillips closed the show by mentioning that Gargano and Ciampa would face off in the first round of the CWC.

We are almost at TakeOver, and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

NXT Louisville, KY, live results: Finn Balor teases main roster debut

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by John Smith & Dan Alegria from the Broadbent Arena 

Arena seats about 6,600, but was half tarped off. Floor and lower bowl were full with maybe 2,000 in attendance.

– No Way Jose defeated Hugo Knox

Jose opens the show to get the crowd going, and gets his usual chants and cheers. Knox cuts a heel promo on some ringside fans, and kept good heel heat throughout the match. Match went a little longer than expected with Knox getting a lot of offense in. Jose wins clean with a full nelson slam.

– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Wesley Blake

Blake came out with new music and new gear, and was introduced as Wesley “Beautiful Blonde” Blake. Almas got a good pop from the Louisville crowd. “Where is Murphy?” chants directed at Blake. Blake gets out of the ring and cuts a promo saying he doesn’t need Murphy and Alexa. Very fun match with Almas flying everywhere really got the crowd going. Blake showed off some power moves, but Almas wins clean with the running knees into a weird looking DDT. 

– Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss

Huge reactions for both. Bayley had a lot of fun with the crowd, leading “Yes!” chants and hugging random people who ran down to ringside. Wrestling was good, but the entertainment value of the match was really high. Bayley wins clean with Bayley to Belly. Alexa attacked her after the match to get some loud boos.

– Hideo Itami defeated Angelo Dawkins

Nobody cared about Dawkins, but Itami got a huge reaction as very few people here expected him to be here. The match started with some comedy between Dawkins and Hideo. Once they got serious, we got good back and forth work. Dawkins got in more offense than Hideo but there was a lot of rest holds. Hideo made a comeback and won clean with the running knee strike.

– NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival defeated American Alpha to retain their titles

This was an outstanding back and forth tag title match with lots of near falls. Crowd was a little down after intermission but came alive for the introductions. Gable and Dash start. Gable being Gable early on, putting on a technical wrestling clinic. Tags by both teams. Jordan and Dawson exchange offense before Jordan takes over. Alpha gets tag team offense in, sending Revival out of the ring. Alpha with a lot of tags, working over Dawson before he makes the tag and Dash. Lots of back and forth work and a lot of tags continue. If I described it, this report would be 5000 words. Absolutely fantastic tag match. Alpha hits their finisher, but Dash puts Dawson’s foot on the rope. In the confusion, Dawson rolls up Gable with the tights for the pin..

– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Billie Kay

Women’s championship on the line. Big reaction for Asuka, no reaction for Billie Kay. Lots of “Asukas gonna kill you” chants. Billie Kay got a lot of offense in, probably more than Asuka. Long match, felt like was around 15 minutes. Billie isn’t great, but she looks like she has a ton of potential. After a weird roll through, Asuka gets the win with the Asuka Lock.

– Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, American Alpha, & Bayley defeated NXT Champion Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival, & Alexa Bliss

The match was originally billed as Joe & Roode vs. Nakamura & Balor. Balor entered last with Joe (heavily taped elbow) and Roode attacking Nakamura during his entrance. When Balor tried to get in, the Revival came in to attack Balor and Nakamura. This led to American Alpha joining the fray. Eventually, Alexa Bliss made her way down to the ring to berate Nakamura, which resulted in Bayley coming down. This led to a 10-person tag.

Balor, Nakamura, American Alpha & Bayley vs. Roode, Joe, The Revival & Bliss

Match was clearly set up to let everyone have a fun match to go home on. Lots of back and forth, everyone getting their spots in. Bayley hit Roode with the Bayley to Belley leading to Nakamura nailing him with the Kinshasa for the win.

After, Balor’s team group hugged and did the too sweet symbol and Nakamura’s pose. Balor took the mic and stated, “He could feel a bit of a ‘draft’ in the room” and that everyone in the NXT locker room aspires to join the main roster. The show ended with Balor and Bayley embracing on the stage and Balor bowing to the crowd.

NXT TV tapings early notes: TakeOver matches made, star debuts

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

It has already been an eventful night at Full Sail University.

Two matches have been made official for the next NXT TakeOver at the tapings tonight in Orlando. As expected, the show on August 20th at the Barclays Center will be headlined by Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka vs. Bayley.

Joe and Nakamura have already worked house shows in singles and tags on the road and from a star power standpoint is the biggest match currently possible for NXT, clearly the top heel against clearly the top babyface.

Asuka and Bayley will be the first televised rematch since Asuka won the title in Dallas. They were holding off the rematch until Brooklyn to create the same dynamic as last summer of going into the Barclays Center with Bayley in the role of the challenger for the NXT women’s championship.

More matches are likely to be official before the end of the tapings.

Former TNA world heavyweight champion Bobby Roode also made his debut in front of the crowd at Full Sail. Roode’s debut has been teased at the last two TakeOver specials and he has wrestled on several live events, including NXT’s tour of the United Kingdom in June.

Former IWGP junior heavyweight champion Kota Ibushi also wrestled on the tapings earlier in the night.

We will have a full report from our NXT reporter JJ Williams later in the night.

NXT Cocoa, FL, live results: Bobby Roode makes his Florida NXT debut

Posted on by JJ Williams

I’m here in Cocoa Beach FL, where they are expecting approximately 250.

– Liv Morgan beat Nikki Glencross

Fun opener with heel antics by Nikki, telling people to shut up, declaring herself the best in the galaxy, and all while womanhandling Liv. Towards the finish, Liv was able to matrix under a clothesline to begin her comeback, hit a big monkey flip out of the corner, a high spin kick and a standing moonsault for the win.

– Alexander Wolfe beat Kishan Raftaar

Crowd wasn’t in to this as neither are have been on TV that much, if at all. Both guys were heckled with “USA” chants for the two foreigners. Wolfe kept working the armbar and finally put Kishan away with an arm submission.

– Noah beat Steve Cutler

Cutler had the heel advantage early, as Noah just wanted a handshake and to be friends. Crowd chanted BFF to encourage him yet Cutler took the cheap shot. Noah fired up to hit a pop up powerbomb for the win.

– Wesley Blake beat Bronson Mathews

New ambient trance music for Blake who wearing trunks and boot tassels. Headlocks were traded early. Crowd was all giggles as Blake ended up with a wedgie. Blake then settled his trunks, went to the top, and hit a splash for the win.

– Andrade “Cien” Almas beat Angelo Dawkins

A lot of trash talk by Dawkins which prompted loud “WHAT?” chants. Front face lock and headlocks by Dawkins to keep Andrade grounded. The finish saw some flashy moves by Andrade such as a wheelbarrow bulldog and smooth rope running before the running knees to Dawkins in the corner.

– Oney Lorcan beat Tino Sabbatelli

Physical match. We got a lot of aggressive chin locks by Tino. Oney finally fired up and hit the running blockbuster for the win.

– In ring promo by the debuting Binky Blairwho says she’s going to be the “ist” of NXT: prettiest, baddest, etc.

– Daria beat Billie Kay

Billie taunted Daria early with her fancy gloves, so Daria got upset and threw down her own MMA gloves, and the fight was on. After some action, Daria locked in what looked like an triangle armbar for the submission.

– TM61 and Mojo Rawley beat The Authors of Pain and Bobby Roode

NXT Florida debut for Roode who entered to a Queen-esque theme that declared he is “Glorious!”. Roode was a heel and hid behind the Authors at times, worked over whomever he was working with, and looked great doing so. The finish saw TM61 hit their double team spinebuster finisher on Roode with Shane Thorne getting the pin for his team.

NXT Bournemouth, England, live results: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe; Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Martin Mathers from the Bournemouth International Centre

– No Way Jose b Angelo Dawson by pinfall

Angelo had to field D’Lo Brown chants all the way through.

– Bayley & Carmella b Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss by pinfall 

– Tye Dillinger b Hugo Knox by pinfall

The entire E block section was covered in 10 signs.

– Andrade Almas b Austin Aries by pinfall

Aries cut a heel promo, but the crowd wouldn’t stop cheering him.

– Shinsuke Nakamura b Bobby Roode by pinfall

Roode’s generic music confused everyone. Nakamura’s reaction blew the roof off.

– NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival b American Alpha by pinfall to retain

Crowd loved AA, Gable especially.

– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka b Peyton Royce by submission to retain

Lots of “Asuka’s gonna kill you!” chants

– Finn Balor b NXT Champion Samoa Joe by disqualification

Crowd was feisty. Plenty of great atmosphere mixed with a few idiots shouting inappropriate stuff. Overall, it was a strong crowd though.

NXT Liverpool, England, live results: Finn Balor & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe & Austin Aries

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by James Ryder

A lot of the upper section was empty. Pre-show, Dasha interviewed some fans asking who they wanted to see tonight. Also, there was a pre-show vote to see a past NXT match: Rollins vs. Mahal, Neville vs. Zayn or Bayley vs. Banks. The latter won the vote so they showed highlights of the match.

Hugo Knox vs Wesley Blake

Fairly basic match. Crowd started chanting in the middle of the match but wasn’t into either superstar much. Knox won with a split leg moonsault on the second attempt after messing up the first one.

Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton vs. American Alpha

Loud pop when American Alpha’s music hit and a loud chant for American Alpha before the match had even started.  Crowd chanted “Jordan give us a wave”. Crowd booed him when he didn’t but when Gable did a takedown in the ring, he waved to a big pop.  After early back and forth action, Gable is worked on until he makes the hot tag to Jordan to a loud pop.

Match then ends quickly after two belly to belly suplexes and two German suplexes. AA wins with the double ankle lock spot and a double tap out.  Post match, The Revival come out and cut a promo putting over the TakeOver title match from last week. They offer AA a tag title match, then change their mind and walk off before running to the ring to attack. AA then hit Grand Amplitude on Dash and count to 3 for a good pop.

Bobby Roode vs. No Way Jose

Roode comes out to generic music which confused the crowd until he walked out and the crowd popped for him. Good reaction for Jose. Crowd was into him. Comedy spots early in the match then mid match, Jose’s music plays and they both dance before Roode attacks Jose.  Jose in control for a short while until Roode makes a comeback and wins with the Double A spinebuster.

Nikki Glencross & Peyton Royce vs.  Carmella and Bayley

Good reaction for Carmella who cut her usual pre match promo. Bayley came out to loud pop, loudest so far. Crowd sang to her then sang Happy Birthday to her.  Peyton and Nikki work over Bayley until she makes the hot tag to Carmella.  Peyton tries to kick Carmella but hits Nikki instead.  Carmella tags in Bayley who pins nikki with the Bayley to Belly for the win.

Tye Dillinger vs. Andrade Almas

Dillinger out to a loud pop and loud 10 chant. He cut a pre-match promo and revealed he was wearing a football shirt belonging to a rival team to a loud chorus of boos. Early part of the match saw the 2 of them play the crowd with the football shirt with Almas making Dillinger stamp on it.  Fairly basic match with the odd high spot.  Almas wins with the running double knees to Dillinger in the corner.

NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

Good reaction for Asuka, but little reaction for Alexa & Nia. Good back and forth action.  Alexa was impressive in the match. Asuka makes a comeback after a few near falls and hits Alexa with a jumping knee and makes her submit to the Asuka Lock for the win.

Finn Balor & Shinuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries & NXT Champion Samoa Joe

Good pop for Balor but really loud for Nakamura with the crowd singing his theme song during his entrance and after his music had stopped.  Another good reaction for Joe as well.  Good back and forth action with Balor getting the hot tag to Nakamura.  The finish comes when Balor kicks Aries as he attempts a suicide dive followed by Nakamura hitting Aries with the Kinshasa followed by Balor hitting him with the Coup de Gras for the 3.

Post match, Balor cuts a promo on Liverpool and puts over Robbie Brookside, saying how he welcomed him to the Performance Centre and helped so many NXT stars and helped NXT as a whole. Balor and Nakamura then pose for the crowd to complete a good show.

NXT Dublin, Ireland, live results: Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode; Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Robert O’Sullivan

– Tye Dillinger v Hugo Knox 

Local crowd promo before match. Great reaction to Tye. Mid promo, it turned into cheap heel ‘your sports team sucks’ promo, but crowd still loved him. Knox wins with split legged moonsault. Knox looked very green, but is massive with a great look and moves incredibly well.

– Wesley Blake v Andrade Cien Almas

Blake’s ring gear is a weird combination of Bayley and Ultimate Warrior. Crowd more into mocking Blake than the actual match, though liked Andrade’s flashy offence. Andrade wins with double knees in the corner.

– Goldberg video game ad plays on the screen. Fans notice that Drake Younger is the referee.

– Sawyer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe v American Alpha

Mad Max style gimmick for the former. Couldn’t believe it was actually Fulton. Alpha are massively over, with the ‘no limit’ & ‘angle theme’ chants before the bell. Chad Gable may be the best pro wrestler I have ever seen. Just so quick,
so smooth in his movements. Seemed even quicker on this house show than he did on television. USA Chant for Alpha in Dublin. That’s how over they were. Alpha win with Grand Amplitude.

The Revival run in afterwards, cut a promo, tease a title match then go to leave. Dash Wilder tries to ambush Alpha, is caught, get him in double ankle lock (each man had an ankle). Heels run to the back.

– No Way Jose v Austin Aries

Aries; ribs still taped. Crowd split on who to like. Aries was as good as he has been in the last few years, seems to have settled into NXT finally. Brief dance off spot to Jose’s music, Aries interrupts & ambushes Jose but gets massive cheers and ‘Thank you Aries’ chants. Any attempts to turn the crowd fail. Aries in control most of the match. Jose does his closing sequence (baseball swings, bulldog etc) for a near fall. No Way Jose wins with schoolboy roll up after Aries missed his discus elbow finish.

– Ad for Mania 33 on the big screen. Described Orlando as a “magical place where anything can happen”. Seemed weird they would play that promo so close to the shooting.

– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka v Peyton Royce

Asuka’s gonna kill you chant. Back and forth match. Asuka does her hip attack then pose sequence early. Peyton still a little rough but has improved immensely. Asuka is much better against someone her own size. Asuka wins with crossface chicken wing. 

– Bobby Roode v Shinsuke Nakamura 

Roode had generic theme & Titantron still. Great reaction for Roode, and there’s no other way to put this, lose their sh*t for Nakamura. ‘Holy sh*t’ and ‘this is awesome’ chants for the entrance alone. F*ck TNA chants. Crowd behind Roode as well, but Nakamura clearly the favourite. Beer Money chants throughout the match. Near fall with the spinebuster from Roode. Dublin crowd are normally appreciative but dead, but not here. Red hot throughout.
Nakamura wins with the Kinshasa.

– Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax v Bayley & Carmella

I never have seen grown men fight so fiercely over pink wristbands in my life. Great chicken fight spot to start off. Great heel facials from Alexa. Same headlock & guillotine spots on Nia as in all of her matches. Bayley wins with Bayley-to-Bayley on Jax.

– NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

Crowd red hot with chants for Finn. Joe hated with a passion. Back and forth match, everything looked great. Muscle Buster blocked, 1916/Bloody Sunday blocked. Joe gets Balor in his choke finish, Finn powers out. Balor closing sequence (sling blade, dropkick etc). Misses the double footstomp, and as he rolls through Joe grabs him & rolls him up for the win. Finn thanked the crowd for all their support.

Notes:

– Nakamura sold out almost immediately. Balor merch sold second to him, though they obviously had a lot of stock.

– Nakamura had the biggest reaction of the night. Some people around me were in tears during his entrance. Balor had a massive reaction
as well, and it was more sustained than Shinsukes, but Nakamura had the better reaction out of the gate.

NXT Belfast, Ireland, live results: Nakamura & Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe & Austin Aries; Bobby Roode

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Matt Sterling from The SSE Arena

– Hugo Knox b Alexander Wolfe w/Sawyer Fulton

Knox is a former soccer player from England who looked decent but needs work. Tremendous body. Crowd chanted for Bailey during the match – didn’t care much about the in-ring action here.

– No Way Jose b Wesley Blake

Jose is super over. He got the crowd to do a Mexican wave after he won, and danced with the referee.

– Bayley & Carmella b Nikki Storm & Peyton Royce

Sloppy match. Bit disappointing from the NXT women. Lots of botched spots. Bayley was the best in-ring trying to cope with three girls who need a lot of work.

– Bobby Roode b Angelo Dawkins

Bobby played the heel, lots of stalling & running away from Angelo. Crowd did the stupid spot where they chant a different number than the referee. Longest match on the show so far. Roode won with a spinebuster — a finish that came out of nowhere.

– NXT Tag Champions The Revival b American Alpha to retain

The Revival worked over Gable for a long time. When Jordan finally tagged in, it was easily the biggest reaction for a hot tag I’ve seen live. All four of these guys have so much talent. Dawson got the pin after knocking Gable into an exposed turnbuckle.

Intermission

– Andrade Almas b Tye Dillinger

Great, fast paced match. Great showing for the former La Sombra.

– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka b Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss to retain

This felt like this had the potential to be great but it was sloppy at times. Seems like they weren’t on the same page. Asuka made Alexa tap with the Asuka lock.

– Shinsuke Nakamura & Finn Balor b NXT Champion Samoa Joe & Austin Aries

This was quite the spectacle to see so much talent in the ring at once, especially at a house show in Ireland. Match of the night. Balor got worked over for a while until the hot tag to Shinsuke. Place went nuts. Shinsuke pinned Aries with the Kinshasa. After the match, Finn and Nakamura did each other’s poses.

Overall, this was an excellent show with great wrestling and a good environment. Arena was taped off – around half the attendance of a WWE show.

NXT Download Festival results: Bobby Roode makes in-ring debut; surprise return

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Photo: Jason Elliott & additional notes from Josh Nason

Bobby Roode made his WWE in-ring debut Saturday at the NXT show at the Download Festival in Derby, United Kingdom, defeating Angelo Dawkins.

Roode had very briefly been advertised for the tour, before it was pulled because they wanted his debut to be a surprise. He had appeared briefly on the last two NXT Takeovers in a backstage segment on Wednesday and in the crowd in Dallas.

It is expected the 39-year-old will work the remainder of the tour.

Here’s what happened Friday:

– Hugo Knox defeated Sawyer Fulton after hitting a split-legged moonsault

– Nikki Glencross defeated Peyton Royce after clamping on a swinging fisherman’s suplex.

– Baron Corbin returned to defeat Angelo Dawkins & Alexander Wolfe in a handicap match via End of Days. Corbin put Wolfe through a table after the match.

Here’s what happened Saturday for the first of two 90 minute sessions:

– No Way Jose def. Alex Wolfe

– Tye Dillinger def. Sawyer Fulton

– Carmella def. Nikki Glencross

– Bobby Roode def. Angelo Dawkins

– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka def. Peyton Royce

– Finn Balor and Hugo Knox def. NXT Tag Champions The Revival in a non-title match

Here are the results for the second 90-minute session:

– Bayley & Carmella def. Nikki Glencross & Nia Jax

– Angelo Dawkins def. Wesley Blake

– Triple H did a promo, talking about the Golden Gods Spirit Of Lemmy Award.

– Alexa Bliss def. Peyton Royce

– American Alpha def. Saywer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe

– Shinsuke Nakamura & Andrade “Cien” Almas def. NXT Champion Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin

Reports from any and all shows can be sent to [email protected]. 

TNA Impact Results 11-4: Eric Young, Bobby Roode, Davey Richards, and Eddie Edwards

Posted on by F4W Editors

Last week, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong main evented the show and Gail advanced in the tournament. DJZ beat the X Division Champion Tigre Uno, while current NXT wrestler James Storm advanced by beating Abyss with his cowbell and hitting two superkicks. Aiden O’Shea beat Crazzy Steve, and Drew Galloway beat Grado. The show begins with a recap of last week’s events. Eddie Edwards faces Davey Richards tonight, while the main event will feature Robert Roode vs. Eric Young, and we’ll get a Jeff Hardy interview. Josh says that tonight is the most pivotal of nights and talks about it being a must-win situation for both Davey and Eddie.

Madison Rayne faces Brooke tonight as well. We see a brief clip of the Hardy interview talking about how he can’t believe he broke his leg after winning the tag titles. Madison Rayne comes out to face Brooke. Madison says that the knockouts started the women’s wrestling revolution and how what Ronda Rousey has done for UFC, they’ve done for wrestling. Madison says if she doesn’t win, it’s over for her with this series. She likes having the odds against her while Brooke just quickly comes down. 

Madison Rayne vs. Brooke 

They start off with a back and forth collar-and-elbow tieup and a “Brooke’s gotta booty” chant starts. Brooke slips out of a headlock and grabs her wrist in an odd spot. Ah – it’s her fingers – she broke some in her last match. Brooke goes down due to the fingers again. Madison chops away and knocks her down with a dreadful forearm. Brooke gets a flapjack and a chant from the fans. Brooke goes up top and gets 2 off the flying elbow. Brooke drops her because she can’t lift her for the facebuster, so Madison hits the Rayne Drop for the win. Madison picks her up and holds her hand high. Eric Young rants and raves about being cheated in the World Title Series and how he makes his own luck. After a break, we see a recap of the last year of the Roode vs. EY feud. Pope and Josh ramble on for a bit while Spud comes down to face Bram in the World Title Series.

Rockstar Spud vs. Bram

Pope picks Bram to win, while Josh mocks him for calling that a fearless prediction. Spud slaps Bram and lands some forearms. Spud would be so great in WWE as Spudley Dudley. Spud bites the thumb to gain a further advantage. Bram sends him down and misses a pair of elbows. Bram slams him down and sends him to the floor onto the steps hard. Bram fish-hooks him and sends him into the ring. Bram misses a Stinger splash and Spud runs wild with corner forearms. Drop toehold leads to a shining enzuiguri. Bram avoids the Underdog and wants the Impaler DDT, but Spud schoolboys him for 2. Bram hits the Impaler for the win, and we see a graphic showing that he’s up 3 points.

Bobby says he could care less what EY says to him, and still blames him for losing the TNA Title earlier this year. He says he’s KOTM Champion and by winning this series, he’ll close out the year with two titles. So I guess the KOTM Title’s importance is now that it’s a bragging right if you win the World Title. We see another clip of Jeff Hardy talking about how great it was to see Matt as World Champion at BFG in North Carolina. Josh uses more WWE speak as the title is in a “state of abeyance” while we learn that Manik vs. Mandrews is up next. Mandrews skates down to the ring while Manik saunters down to one of the better themes in the company right now.

Manik vs. Mandrews

They have a little standoff to start before Mandrews trips him off the ropes. Lots of wacky armbars and cradles here before Mandrews focuses on a hammerlock. Mandrews goes for a reverse rana, but eats a face plant and Manik locks him in a Muta lock surfboard combination before Manik transitions into a straightjacket choke. They exchange more cradles before Mandrews gets 2 off a sunset flip. This is one of the most mat wrestling-heavy matches in this division in quite some time. Manik stands on the elbow and stomps it. Manik eats a backdrop and a dropkick before being hit with a giant DDT. Manik grabs him the tiger codebreaker, but it gets countered. Mandrews goes for a standing moonsault, but eats a knee and gets locked in an armbar. Mandrews takes him down with a Northern Lights suplex and gets a standing corkscrew moonsault and goes up top. Shooting Star Suplex is met with knees before a modified Go To Sleep wins for Manik. This was one of the best X division matches in quite some time – Mandrews has shined quite a bit in each of his World Title Series matches. 

We see a recap of the Wolves beating Brian Myers and Trevor Lee way back… a few months ago in the super-rushed GFW vs. TNA invasion. The Wolves say they’re in wrestling for the competition, and tonight, the best man will win. The Jeff Hardy interview is next. But first, we get EY saying that he’s going to attack Roode at the right time – so him just standing in a hallway is strategy. Jeff talks about the big bump at Lockdown off the cage and how his comeback proved that he could be as good as ever. They show clips of the cage match, but him doing a see-saw dive off the top of it. The Hardys winning the Ultimate X for the tag titles is shown and we see him ride dirt bikes. He says he made three big jumping spots on his property. He did one, then landed a second one, and wanted to topple this third one for years. He says if he’d hit it harder, he could’ve landed it. He was knocked out and his first thought was breaking his leg after the win. We’ll hear more of it later. Next, it’s the battle of the Wolves. Davey comes out first in black, while Eddie is in white. We see Matt Hardy beating Davey and Robbie E beating Eddie.

Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards

They tie-up and go back and forth. They then grab hands and try to win the leverage game. Back and forth monkey flips get quick covers for 2. We get some cool mini-kip ups to bring them to their feet and exchange headlocks. ‘O Connor roll leads to a submission and then a cradle for 2. They each grab one another’s foot in a spot I don’t recall seeing before. They stand off for an ad break . Davey avoids a dropkick and lands one of his own. Eddie gets an inverted atomic drop and a superkick for 2. Eddie lands a running back elbow for 2. Eddie gets a snapmare and chinlock before landing a facebuster. 

Davey lands a running elbow in the corner and a big spin kick to Eddie up top. Davey lands a big superplex, but can’t follow up. They exchange big forearms and Eddie hits an even bigger flapjack facebuster for 2.5. Davey avoids the backpack stunner and lands a big kick and German for 2. In the final minute, we get a series of cradles before a chop exchange. They go for kicks and chops and Davey lands a lariat, but can’t cover in time – it’s a draw so they each get one point. They raise each other’s hands and had yet another fantastic match. Between that and Manik vs. Mandrews, this has been a very satisfying show wrstling-wise. Series recap video shows how Hardy is advancing to the round of 16, and the second part of the Jeff interview is coming up.

We see clips of Davey vs. Eddie and they go to the back with Davey saying that Eddie chopped his claw paint off. Eddie says if he couldn’t get the win, he’s glad they at least got a draw. Davey says that the third person in the ring was the Wolves Nation.  Davey says that the Wolves are an organic team, and we see more clips of Jeff Hardy at BFG. Jeff says he was heartbroken watching Matt give up the tag titles on Impact. Jeff says that sucked, but he was glad to see Matt go for the World Title. He goes through working for EC3 and being humiliated, but gets in a great line about making sure Tyrus watched Sesame Street. He loved seeing Matt win the title at BFG in NC in a repeat of clips they showed earlier today and last week. Jeff says yeah, he was a bit unfair to EC3, but he’s glad that Matt did the brave thing and gave up the title. He’s been banned from every show, but he’ll use that time to heal up and hopefully get in the ring again soon. 

Roode stands around a truck and asks where EY is and he confronts him – EY tells him he already won the fight because he’s got Roode worried about him. Well, that was an unsatisfying way to spend an hour of TV time – but it makes for a fine story point. Josh and Pope play Swipe Left and Swipe Right. Pope predicts Shera to win. Shera is out not doing his dance, but in his blue non-Khoya gear at least. King doesn’t want to take about what Shera has done to him stealing his girls. This is apparently a storyline that’s been happening or something.

Mahabali Shera vs. Kenny King

Shera twirls his mustache while King does pushups. King locks on a headlock , but he gets tackled down. King takes him down with a headlock and gets backdropped hard. Kenny King gets a blockbuster, but Shera goes to the floor. King goes for a tornado dive and mostly misses Shera. Pope says that Shera isn’t dancing in the series because it’s serious business. I greatly appreciate them at least trying to find logical ways to patch things together. King goes for the shotgun knee shot in the corner, but it misses. Shera misses a lariat a mile above King’s head, but lands a better one to send King down. Shera lands a scary suplex holding onto King’s tights for dear life to hang onto him. Shera gets the Sky High to win. Kenny King tried, but he couldn’t do much with Shera, who is far too limited to do be on national TV at this point.

Josh recaps tonight’s matches and Matt Hardy faces Eddie next week. Gail Kim faces Madison Rayne, while Mr. Anderson faces EC3 in the main event. We get another recap of the EY vs. Roode rivalry. Eric Young comes out and they show clips of him in the series and he talks about being a world class pro wrestler. Roode comes out while Josh talks about how Roode demolished Storm in the series, but Storm beat Abyss. Roode poses and we go to a break.

Eric Young vs. Robert Roode

Roode slugs away in the corner and sends him up high for a backdrop. EY is sent to the floor and he bides his time and insults the fans. A little kid in a Superman shirt almost flinches as EY threatens to punch him. EY hops off the top rope and eats a punch to the gut, doing a perfect flip as a result. EY rakes the eyes to avoid a Roode Bomb and lands a neckbreaker. Josh blamed EY for sending TNA on a downward spiral in 2015. Josh recaps all of their epic wars, and leaves out that at least one of them was hyped up as their final match ever. EY gets a chinlock, but Roode fights out and gets a dropkick slightly above the belly for 2. EY charges, but eats an elbow after yelling at the fans. EY takes a big shot and does a delayed Flair Flop. Roode punches away some more, but EY flips to the apron and lands a shoulder to the gut. EY eats a spinebuster for 2. EY avoids the fisherman suplex, while Roode avoids the piledriver. EY rushes in and eats a boot. EY uses the ref to distract Roode and hits a piledriver to win the match. This was technically fine, but nothing special or memorable at all. Josh runs down next week’s card and we see hype clips for its matches.  To see every screenshot taken for the show, just click here.