Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell were able to compete on Monday night’s Raw after navigating significant travel issues.
The group dealt with delays and multiple flight cancelations until finally opting to make the five-hour drive from Dallas, Texas to North Little Rock, Arkansas. They arrived late Monday afternoon in time for the episode.
Gargano & Ciampa and LeRae & Hartwell won tag matches on Raw. Gargano & Ciampa defeated Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh, while LeRae & Hartwell defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven.
The travel issues were caused by winter weather and extreme cold. In a post on social media, Gargano detailed the experience:
9:30pm – Supposed to take off to Little Rock, ARK but de-icing terminal is frozen.
10:30pm – Deplane because all flights might be canceled.
11:00pm – Get back on the plane because we’re going to take off!
11:45pm – The crew timed out so now our flight is canceled.
Monday
12:00am – Wait in a line to get our plane ticket re-issued while calling various hotels because it’s after midnight and you can’t book them online anymore.
1:15am – Got our tickets for an 8:19am flight Monday morning.
1:45am – Arrive at our Dallas hotel.
6:45am – Wake up and find out our flight is delayed until 10am.
7:45am – Get a 30 minute workout in.
9:00am – Go back to Dallas Airport.
10:00am – New flight is now canceled.
10:30am – Drive 5 hours to Little Rock, ARK.
4:15pm – Get to Little Rock, ARK (Simmons Bank Arena)
7:15pm – #DIY gets the win against Dom and JD followed by Candice and Indi getting the win against Piper and Chelsea.
Gargano & Ciampa and LeRae & Hartwell are both being set up as potential Tag Team title challengers. The Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles are held by Damian Priest & Finn Balor. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance are the current Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Cody Rhodes will respond to Shinsuke Nakamura next week.
Rhodes on Raw this past Monday declared for the Royal Rumble when suddenly, a Shinsuke Nakamura video aired. Nakamura revealed that Rhodes was the person who he has been alluding to in recent weeks regarding a future opponent. Rhodes turned around and walked right into Nakamura giving him the mist.
Imperium will face DIY on Monday in a two-out-of-three falls match. The two teams have been trading wins and losses in recent weeks. This past Monday saw both teams take part in a tag team turmoil match that would determine the next contenders for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles. Both eventually lost to The Creed Brothers, who earned the tag team title match.
Later in the show, Gunther berated both Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci, telling them to go to Raw GM Adam Pearce and resolve the DIY situation.
Shayna Baszler will also take on Nia Jax. Baszler had strong words for Jax in a promo backstage on Raw, which led to Baszler’s tag team partner Zoey Stark to challenge Jax to a match, which Jax ultimately won. Stark was also unsuccessful at Survivor Series, losing to Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley.
Here is the lineup for next Monday’s show:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Jey Uso
Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn
Two-out-of-three falls: DIY vs. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci)
Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa reunited as DIY in the closing segment of Monday’s WWE Raw episode.
Gargano made his return to WWE Raw for the first time since May in saving Ciampa from a beatdown at the hands of Imperium in Raw’s final segment as the duo reformed their DIY tag team.
Ciampa had just unsuccessfully challenged Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship in Raw’s main event when Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci began a two-on-one attack against the former NXT Champion. Gargano’s music then hit and he hit the ring for a spear on Kaiser, and hit hit both Kaiser and Vinci with superkicks.
Gargano & Ciampa then set Vinci up for their Meeting in the Middle tag team finisher, but the show ended before the duo could be shown connecting with the move.
Prior to Monday’s return, Gargano’s last in-ring appearance on WWE TV came on the May 15 Raw where he competed in a battle royal. He has since wrestled on four house shows, with two in July and two in September, all in losing efforts against Omos.
As DIY, Gargano & Ciampa are former NXT Tag Team Champions, holding the titles in 2016 and 2017.
A big tag match between two of the top teams in NXT/NXT UK history has been added to the card for Worlds Collide.
DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) will face Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) at the Royal Rumble weekend special. It’s taking place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday, January 25 and will air live on the WWE Network.
After Ciampa and Gargano reunited on NXT tonight, the Worlds Collide match was set up by a tweet from Seven: “See @JohnnyGargano and @NXTCiampa are mates again. @Tyler_Bate… Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could stay mates long enough to fight us? Moustache Mountain vs #DIY? What do you say @RealKingRegal? Possibly #WorldsCollide?”
Gargano saved Ciampa from an attack by Undisputed Era on NXT tonight. After Seven’s tweet was shown, Gargano & Ciampa did an interview and accepted Moustache Mountain’s challenge “for old times’ sake.”
Here’s the updated card for Worlds Collide:
Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong) vs. Imperium (WALTER, Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner & Alexander Wolfe)
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defending against Toni Storm
DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano) vs. Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate)
Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Angel Garza defending against Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and two NXT UK wrestlers in a fatal four-way match
Evans owns her character. She could probably use more ring work, but WWE is more character driven so she could do well. Aaliyah has improved a lot, but her and Li were clear weak spots in this match with how limited they are as characters and performers.
Sane and Li won after an Insane Elbow. Li was noticeably limping and was helped up to the middle turnbuckle by Sane to celebrate the win. Sane also helped her to the back.
– Keith Lee defeated Dominik Dijakovic
Lee is such a character. They started slow with lots of power lock-ups and headlocks to shoulder blocks trying to out-muscle each other. The crowd wasn’t very into it at first, but they won everyone over once they picked up the pace. Both are incredible athletes.
Lee hit the Spirit Bomb to win.
– Brennan Williams defeated Kona Reeves
Reeves is a great heel. The crowd wasn’t into this, but Reeves grabbed a mic and ran down the city of Atlanta and venue for not being up to his finest standards. When everyone booed, he put his white and gold Beats headphones back on and smiled, making a gesture about how he couldn’t hear us.
Early in the match, Reeves threw Williams through the ropes into the ring post. Williams apparently bumped his head as the referee stopped Reeves while Williams was being looked at. The match continued and you could see a bit of blood on Williams’ forehead, but he seemed fine.
– EC3 & War Raiders (Hanson & Rowe) defeated The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong)
There was a funny moment where EC3 did the War sign and wanted to trade forearm bumps with Hanson and Rowe. EC3 hit the One Percenter on Fish for the win.
After the match, EC3 grabbed a mic and asked for them to cut his music. He wanted to do the War thing one more time. They played the War Raiders’ music and EC3 started head banging and air guitaring it up before throwing his horns and chanting “War” with Hanson and Rowe. Good stuff before intermission.
– NXT North American Champion Ricochet defeated Shane Thorne to retain his title
Standard stuff from both, with Ricochet hitting Vertigo to win. No 630 tonight.
– Bianca Belair defeated NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley in a non-title match
Not a great match from these two. Belair owns her character, but this match didn’t make her look ready for the TakeOver spotlight. This was the worst match of the night as neither were on top of their game and botched a few spots.
– Aleister Black & Velveteen Dream defeated DIY (NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano)
Gargano came out first — and the crowd completely lost it when Ciampa’s music hit. After Black made his entrance, a loud “Velveteen” chant started before he came out.
The yin-and-yang chemistry between Dream and Black was very entertaining. Dream was always showboating, while Black just deadpanned him. The crowd started chanting “Say his name” — to which Dream gave a Hulk Hogan ear wave toward Black. Black just rolled his eyes and took off his jacket. Funny stuff.
Ciampa and Gargano were not on the same page to start as Gargano wouldn’t extend his hand for tags, causing Ciampa to forcefully tag him in. There was a funny moment when a fan yelled out “We want Johnny Bad Ass.” Ciampa immediately yelled this back to Gargano: “See, they don’t want Johnny Wrestling, they want Johnny Bad Ass.”
The finish came as Dream and Black both connected with superkicks to Ciampa. Gargano tried to respond by superkicking both Dream and Black. They both sidestepped, causing him to kick Ciampa twice. Dream then hit a horrible looking Black Mass, followed by Black hitting the real thing for the pin.
Dream was proudly demonstrating his version of Black Mass after the match. Black mocked how bad it was before showing him how it should look. Dream faked hitting Black with it, then laughed about it before hitting his pose and spin. Black motioned for everyone to get their cameras ready as if he was going to pose and spin — but he only teased it before dropping down into his seated pose. Dream then stood behind him and posed again.
After all of this, Dream got a mic and thanked the crowd before starting an “ATL” chant. He then ended the night by leading the crowd in a “We are NXT” chant.
The main event was worth the ticket price alone. Riddle vs. Cole was the next best thing, followed by the six-man tag match.
NXT comes to Chicago for its latest big show as the Allstate Arena hosts TakeOver: Chicago tonight.
There are four title matches scheduled, with Bobby Roode vs. Hideo Itami for the NXT Championship set for the main event. Itami won the title shot by defeating Roderick Strong on television and this will be perhaps the biggest moment of his WWE career thus far.
Elsewhere on the show, Asuka defends her NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot. And the NXT tag titles will be up for grabs as DIY challenge The Authors of Pain in a ladder match.
With Jim Ross joining Nigel McGuinness on commentary for one match, the WWE United Kingdom Championship will be defended as Tyler Bate once again faces Pete Dunne. Strong will also continue his feud with SAnitY and its leader Eric Young.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.
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Eric Young (w/SAnitY) vs Roderick Strong
Strong picked up a somewhat surprising win after a third jumping knee and a releasing suplex into a backbreaker.
Strong ran in through the crowd during his entrance, posting Killian Dane and giving Alexander Wolfe a backbreaker on the dasher boards. Strong shined on Young and had the advantage until Dane ran him over on the outside of the ring, which Tom Phillips claimed the referee didn’t see, even though the referee was watching until a second before the point of impact. Phillips also claimed that Strong was attacked before NXT TakeOver: Orlando and hadn’t been seen in weeks after (that was No Way Jose).
Strong took over with a dropkick when Young jumped off the ropes, but Young gave him the Wheelbarrow Neckbreaker outside the ring for a near-countout. Strong made his comeback, kicking Dane off the apron and throwing Young into Wolfe. Young climbed to the top rope, but took a Nestea Plunge to Wolfe and Dane when Strong hit a jumping knee, which led to the finish.
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Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdon Championship
Jim Ross got his own entrance and a standing ovation as he joined the broadcast table for this bout.
A fantastic, show-stealing match. If you have never seen either of these two wrestle, you owe it to yourself to check this match out. In one match they made the UK Title mean more than the Cruiserweight Title does.
The finish saw Bate go for a pescado, but Dunne stepped aside and threw him into the black mats, before winning the title with the Bitter End in the ring.
Early on the fans chanted for both, but Dunne’s fans lasted longer, with chants for Bate dying off. By the time the match ended they were chanting “UK” and “Fight Forever”. That’s not to say they were against the champion, as they cheered for him just as well. Dunne was working the joints of Tyler’s fingers and tried to stomp on them, but Bate moved out of the way. However Bate was dropped on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring, with an X-Plex.
Dunne went for an X-Plex in the ring, but Bate landed on his feet and hit a standing Shooting Star Press to Dunne, which led to a very close near fall. Bate went for a second one, but got caught in a Triangle Choke. From the Triangle Dunne threw punches and elbows at Bate, but instead of tapping, Bate lifted him and dropped him with the one-armed power bomb. Bate used an exceptionally long and fast Airplane Spin and collapsed on top of Dunne for a 2 count.
Bate came off the middle rope, but got caught with a forearm and laid out as Dunne hit a X-Plex into a Sit Out Power Bomb for what everyone thought was the finish, but it wasn’t. The crowd exploded as they got to their feet swinging away at each other. We had a series of moves where one would be hit, fall off the ropes and come back with another move and the other one would fall off the ropes and come back with their own. Dunne went for the Bitter End, but Bate turned it into a DDT. Bate then hit an Asai Moonsault to the floor and a Corkscrew 450 Splash in the ring, but Dunne kicked out of that. Bate went for a dive, which led to the end.
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Asuka vs Ruby Riot vs Nikki Cross for the Women’s Title
Asuka retained the title by pinning both Ruby and Nikki with a running low dropkick to the face.
The story of this match is Asuka’s confidence has almost completely turned into cockiness. Her moves, while just as crisp as before, were done almost with a sense of boredom. Early on the fans were into Asuka and Ruby, not so much for Nikki (outside of her entrance), but really got into Cross when she caught Asuka in the ring apron and waylayed the champ with forearms. They tried a different 3-way spot where Nikki had laid out Ruby, but Asuka nailed a Missile Dropkick on Cross, but landed in a splash on Ruby.
Asuka was outside the ring and Cross dove off the apron, but got caught with a nice looking knee to the face. Ruby later on went for a top rope legdrop, but Asuka moved out of the way and locked on the Asuka lock. She would have had to tap, but Cross broke it up. Nikki then laid out Ruby on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring.
They did the normal triple threat spot where each lady would be laid out outside of the ring and the other two would square off. No one believed Nikki or Ruby would win, but they still enjoyed what was a good match.
Ember Moon was shown watching in the stands during the match.
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A commercial aired for Rocket League, where a girl playing soccer goalie appears to dive head-first into a moving vehicle.
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The Velveteen Dream Patrick Clark re-re-re-redebuts this Wednesday.
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Bobby Roode vs Hideo Itami for the NXT Championship
Interesting match order. Also interesting to note that they showed the original angle where Itami was injured and you were led to believe that Kevin Owens did it. Also that angle happened two years ago today.
Bobby Roode continues his quest to break all time records for the longest walk to the ring in wrestling history, as tonight’s entrance clocked in at a tremendous 4 minutes, 25 seconds.
The finish saw Itami go for his second GTS, but Roode blocked it on the way down and hit two Glorious DDT’s to retain the title in an excellent title match that exceeded expectations.
Itami teased the Go To Sleep in the first 30 seconds of the match, but Roode was able to get out of it. Itami dropped Roode early and then dropped several knees. Hideo lowered his knee pad, which led to Roode covering up, so Itami just booted him in the mouth. Roode took over with the Buff Blockbuster. Roode concentrated on Itami’s shoulder, including using elbows to the shoulder, which the announcers didn’t notice.
Hideo would get spurts of offense, but Roode would quickly cut him off. This continued until Roode mocked him and Hideo began his comeback with a hard slap to the face. Turn about was fair play, as Roode slammed his own shoulder into the ring post, so he had a bruised wing. Itami used a Fujiwara Armbar and a Falcon Arrow, but Roode escaped both times.
Both men tried several times to go for their respective finishers, but one way or another neither would hit. Roode tried to send Itami into the steps, but they reversed it. Hideo then went for a running dropkick, but Roode moved and Hideo went crashing into the steps, possibly injuring his ankle. Back in the ring, Itami got the best of the YAY! BOO! punch spot, but injured himself on a running corner dropkick. Roode saw this and hit a Glorious DDT, but Itami kicked out. Itami finally hit the Go To Sleep, but Roode fell out of the ring, which seems to happen in every Bobby Roode title match. Itami slapped Roode like Roode owed him money before the finish.
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Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Kassius Ohno and Pat Patterson were all shown at ringside.
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Authors of Pain vs #DIY for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a Ladder Match
Authors of Pain retained the titles in a violent ladder match. There have undoubtedly been better ladder matches, but I have rarely screamed like I did when Johnny Gargano took a double team ladder shot right to the face. The match itself was excellent, but it will be remembered for the show closing angle.
Early in the match Ciampa & Gargano brought a giant ladder from up the aisle, which led to Gargano doing a Suicide dive through the ladder and onto the AOP. They went for a Hardy Boyz Poetry in Motion, but Gargano was caught and thrown on top of the kneeling Ciampa. Akam and Rezar teased being too big to climb the ladders, which is ridiculous since Big Show has been in several ladder matches without problems.
We got several creative climbing spots where AOP would pick up a ladder and Ciampa would run up it, or when the Authors went for a Super Collider, Gargano & Ciampa were almost high enough in the air to get the belts. Authors of Pain set up two long ladders from the ring apron to the dasher boards, but DIY used knees to lay the champs across them. There was a ladder in between the two ladder bridges, so DIY climbed it for a double dive off the tops of the ladder. Ciampa hit his on the money, but Gargano and Akam bounced off the ladder, without it breaking clean.
DIY had the titles won, but Paul Ellering ran in to stop Gargano from climbing. Gargano superkicked Ellering, which caused the AOP to freak out briefly. It didn’t last long, as Ellering was propped up against the dasher boards encouraging his team on. Akam and Rezar went for a ladder shot on Ciampa, but Gargano shoved him out of the way and took a brutally hard ladder shot to the face. That looked worse than anything Sheamus did to Jeff Hardy.
Rezar climbed, but Ciampa was able to rip him off with a German Suplex, which caused Rezar to fall into a ladder, exploding it on impact. Akam went to do the Terry Funk airplane spin with the ladder, but he got superkicked to his knees and DIY hit their double team knee strikes to him. They teased that as the finish, but AOP grabbed them, hit a double team power bomb and a Super Collider before finally climbing the ladder and claiming their championship belts.
The Chicago crowd gave DIY a standing ovation after the match, chanting “DIY”.
They teased ending the show with DIY embracing on the ramp, but instead, Ciampa attacked Gargano and turned heel. Ciampa threw Gargano face-first into the set before giving him a running knee. The fans, who were chanting “Psycho Killer” minutes earlier, booed as Ciampa laid Gargano out with a lifting knee strike to his now-former best friend.
Ciampa took Gargano to the top of the announce table, but dropped him with a White Noise off the stage and through some production tables set up off stage. The fans were simultaneously booing his dastardly deeds and cheering for how cool they were.
The condition of Tommaso Ciampa is up in the air, but all things considered, the news was positive as X-rays showed he didn’t suffer a broken ankle last night.
During the match in Highland Heights, Kentucky, with Ciampa & Johnny Gargano vs. Alexander Wolfe & Eric Young, Ciampa suffered what appeared to be a left ankle injury about four minutes into the match.
He said that as of this moment, the plans for tomorrow night’s Ciampa & Gargano vs. Authors of Pain ladder match in Chicago for the NXT tag team titles are still on. But he said that it’s up to the medical side if they will clear him tomorrow.
Levesque said that right now they don’t have a specific backup plan in place. He noted that both Gargano & Ciampa worked a lot around the Chicago area so the match was a big deal to them and he’d hate for them to miss the opportunity.
Image: @briantheguppie. Report submitted by reader Zach Jones.
– No Way Jose defeated Wesley Blake by DQ
Jose was cheered heavily and there were lots of chants throughout the match. Blake was booed and he was treated like a proper heel. The match ended in a DQ win for Jose after Blake choked him on the ropes with his shirt. The match was short and the crowd was irritated with the weak finish.
Jose got his heat back by wailing on Blake after the bell rung. Jose posed at the end in Blake’s jacket while his own theme played.
– Sonya Deville defeated Lacey Evans
The crowd didn’t seem to know who they were. They got a decent amount of applause, though. Deville hit her finisher on Evans after about 12 minutes or so for the clean win. It was a decent match and the crowd was fine with it.
– DIY cut a promo for their match later. The crowd was very into them.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Patrick Clark
McIntyre was heavily recognized and cheered. He got a big pop. The crowd was fine with Clark and his shtick, with them even cheering it some. He got on the mic to say that Kentucky sucked, which even drew a “Patrick Clark” chant. McIntyre booted him for the pin in just under nine minutes, getting a big reaction in the process.
– Aleister Black defeated Oney Lorcan
Black got a big response. The crowd liked his flips and persona of sitting in the ring. He hit his finisher around 3:30 for the win.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot to retain her title
Cross and Riot got decent reactions, but Asuka got a huge pop. It might have been the biggest of the night. She’s a star. Asuka pinned Cross in just under 10 minutes, with Riot almost breaking up the pin attempt after getting knocked down.
– DIY vs. SAnitY ended in a no contest
DIY got a big pop and there were plenty of chants for them. Eric Young was very vocal and got some decent responses as well. The match was ruled a no contest after the ref put up the “injury X” after about five minutes. Trainers came out to check on Tommaso Ciampa’s leg.
Young cut a promo after this, challenging anyone to take on Killian Dain. Kassius Ohno came out and a three-on-one brawl broke out with Ohno getting mobbed.
– Killian Dain defeated Kassius Ohno
Ohno had to overcome the beatdown and showed flashes of doing it before a slam by Dain ended the match after about 13 minutes. SAnitY tried to continue attacking Ohno after, but No Way Jose came back out to make the save. He hugged Ohno and raised his hand.
Roode got perhaps the biggest pop of the night. There were lots of “Bobby” and “Glorious” chants and the crowd sang his theme. He is very over as champion. Everyone else only got a decent reaction.
Itami teased a GTS and then hit it on Almas for the pin at around 21 minutes. Roode was taken out by Strong after he tried to use his belt on Itami. The crowd was very into the match. Itami got cheered for winning, but Roode was clearly the star.
Welcome to My Favorite Wrestler (This Week). Each week, the Wrestling Observer team chooses, you guessed it, their favorite wrestler of the week. The only criteria are that the reasoning for the choice must be because of something the wrestler did within the last seven days.
There’s not a lot on the news front this week. A bunch of guys left TNA, and another bunch of guys came back. WWE has been building up to Fastlane and WrestleMania, EVOLVE crowned a new champion, and ROH came to Japan for the Honor Rising shows from Korakuen Hall. Here are our favorite wrestlers this week. Who’s yours?
Satoshi Kojima
By Zach Dominello
In a world full of Nintendo Switches and Netflixes, it’s easy to take the simple things for granted, like the sunrise, the air we breathe, or most importantly, bread. Thankfully, Satoshi Kojima has taken to Twitter to profess his love for the often underappreciated food group, and it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread:
I love how he ends his series of tweets in the most Japanese way possible — with an apology. Kojima’s lariat may be his bread and butter, but his Twitter game has been amazing recently. His occasionally incomprehensible slice of life tweets read more like poetry than status updates:
I hope these gems are being collected to be released in book form somewhere down the line. In the meantime, New Japan’s merch team had better jump on this:
I sleep now.
The person who eats five a day of bread is a member of a BREAD CLUB.
Zack Sabre Jr. is my favorite wrestler this week after ending the 596-day title reign Timothy Thatcher had as EVOLVE Champion. He also enjoyed being the recipient of the Bryan Danielson Award for Best Technical Wrestler in the 2016 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards, which were released this week on our website.
Sabre has long been one of the best workers in the world, and while his style is one that not every fan enjoys, I personally enjoy watching him work inside the ring. He puts up consistently good matches in EVOLVE, PWG, and other independent promotions around the world. He was showcased in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic last year, and will be working for New Japan this year. His reign at the top of EVOLVE has just begun, and he’ll be headlining their events over WrestleMania weekend.
For now, though, him ending Thatcher’s reign has sewn up his standing as my favorite wrestler this week.
By Alan Boon
My favorite wrestler this week is also Zack Sabre Jr. Not only is he the new EVOLVE Champion — he dethroned Timothy Thatcher at EVOLVE 79 after almost 600 days of Thatcher holding the title — but he also worked such an intense, intriguing contest that even those EVOLVE fans with little time for Thatcher (and there are more than a few) were drawn into an engaging battle.
Sabre Jr. started and ended the weekend with losses, to new sensation Keith Lee at EVOLVE 78 and to the littlest big man in the game, John Silver, at Beyond’s Under Construction, but showed a killer instinct in his match with Thatcher that he’d been lacking.
Sabre Jr. closed his title-winning night with a short speech to the crowd. “Professional wrestling is for everyone, this Earth is for everyone. Thank you, New York, politics speech over.” Wrestling is art, and all art is political. We’ve got an outspoken champion to carry that message now.
By Joseph Currier
For all of the complaining I’ve done about Timothy Thatcher’s title reign in my recaps, it would’ve been difficult to envision a better ending to it than what happened at EVOLVE 79. The moment was nearly perfect. The match was nearly great. And Zack Sabre Jr.’s speech after was the best part of the whole thing. He’s easily my favorite wrestler this week.
DIY
By Arya Witner
My pick for this week is the former NXT Tag Team Champions, DIY. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa have long since cemented their reputations as top workers. However, it takes you to another level to not just get one great match out of The Authors of Pain (TakeOver: San Antonio), but they got two (this week’s episode of NXT).
NXT has become a weird hodgepodge of some of the best workers in the world and some of the greenest workers in the world. When you get a combination like that, sometimes match quality literally goes all over the place. The Authors of Pain haven’t had a lot of great matches, but somehow, some way, Ciampa & Gargano have solved the mystery of them.
Matt Riddle
By Mike DellaCamera
I planned to write about the newly crowned EVOLVE champion, Zack Sabre Jr — who incidentally I got to see in person the following day at Beyond Wrestling. But since my fellow contributors already sang the well-deserved praises of the technical wizard, I’ll go with someone else who was on the same Beyond card — Matt Riddle.
Riddle is a borderline incomprehensible mix of pure talent and charisma. The fact that he just finished his first full year as a pro wrestler is, legitimately, mind blowing. For someone who, for all intents and purposes should be completely untreatable to the fans (a former UFC fighter, wrestling prodigy, annoyingly good looking), he has an incredible and organic connection to the crowd. When his music hits, whatever building he’s wrestling in explodes. I’ve been able to see him wrestle for three different promotions, and it’s the same thing every time.
People gravitate towards transcendent talent; they have a certain gravity surrounding them that just feels different from everyone else. It’s special, it’s different. All of this says nothing about his matches, which while they can be on the shorter side, are never a letdown. If the King of Bros is wrestling near you, run, don’t walk, to see him in person.
TK Cooper
By Alan4L
I’m not sure there’s a more eye-catching young heel in wrestling right now than New Zealand’s TK Cooper. One third of the South Pacific Power Trip in PROGRESS, TK has exploded into the new year with some great performances in the Electric Ballroom.
His act is so great as the brash, dungarees wearing, punchable face of the SPPT. With his girlfriend Dahlia Black by his side (and often on his lap) and his tough as nails buddy Travis Banks watching his back, TK has a great dynamic going on around him.
But he’s really started to come into his own with his own performances. In the incredible match against Team Ringkamp at Chapter 43, TKC was throwing himself around like a madman and taking the best shots that “Der Ringgeneral” WALTER had to dish out — the youngster had a death wish. Cooper is destined for big things.
The Big News: The Revival were the ones left standing after the Authors of Pain vs. DIY NXT Tag Team Championship match.
The Medium News: Asuka and Ember Moon appear to be on a collision course.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Bobby Roode will make his first NXT title defense in two weeks against Kassius Ohno.
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Patrick Clark defeated Sean Maluta
It was Tough Enough vs. Cruiserweight Classic here. Clark refused a handshake at the start, so Maluta kicked his butt from the bell and almost picked up the win with a shining wizard before being cut off. Clark hit a few moves and got his first win with the famouser.
This show is so packed with stuff that we didn’t get a replay and seconds after the match we immediately cut to commercial.
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SAnitY were being kept warm by a fire in a barrel. Eric Young said they know Tye Dillinger’s fate and now he is reaching up and bringing his friends down with him. He called Dillinger a disease and pleaded to let Young get rid of him.
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NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce (w/ Billie Kay) to retain her title
The undefeated, undisputed, reigning, defending NXT Women’s Champion is here to put her undefeated streak and the championship gold (well, silver) on the line against the alumnus of the Storm Wrestling Academy.
Royce gave it the old college try, but Asuka destroyed her at the bell, using the running hip attack in the ring. Royce rolled to the apron for a breather, so Asuka gave her another hip attack and Royce crashed to the mats outside. Royce did get the heat when she pulled Asuka shoulder-first into the post.
Royce worked on Asuka’s shoulder, which she sold constantly while making her comeback. Asuka used what was basically a hip toss into a nasty looking knee to the face. Asuka used the second shining wizard of the night, but like with Sean Maluta, it did not lead to a pin.
Royce got a near fall with a running elbow drop and spin kick to the face. However, Royce faced the same result everyone does, she tapped out to the Asuka Lock.
Billie Kay attacked Asuka after the match and we got a two-on-one beatdown, including the heels yanking her arm and shoulder into the ring post. Ember Moon ran in and made the save, taking out both Kay and Royce on her own.
Asuka and Moon nodded at each other and then had a staredown with Asuka holding the belt over her head.
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Up next was a recap of the Bobby Roode/Shinsuke Nakamura/Kassius Ohno story. This led to an announcement that Bobby Roode will defend the NXT Championship against Kassius Ohno in two weeks.
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Paul Ellering hyped up his Authors of Pain backstage.
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A video package for Wolfgang aired. He was also in the WWE UK Championship tournament and was actually my pick to win it.
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Shinsuke Nakamura will be back in the ring next week.
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WWE is releasing a brand new book, looking at the history of NXT. I may be a doubting Thomas, but I doubt they will have a full recap of the greatness that was NXT: Redemption.
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DIY defeated NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain by DQ
It was now time for the main event! DIY won the NXT Tag Team Championship back at TakeOver: Toronto, but their title reign did not last very long, dropping the straps at TakeOver: San Antonio. In nine months, The Authors of Pain have won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and now the NXT Tag Team Championship.
Tommaso Ciampa was fast from the start, sending Akam outside the ring, but he got caught on a dive and ran back-first into the ring post. Ciampa took one heck of a beating, but fired back with some hard strikes to Rezar, but the big man no-sold them and the champs laid him out again.
Johnny Gargano eventually got the hot tag and ran wild on both men. Gargano flipped and flew and seemed poised to regain the titles. Gargano used his slingshot DDT for a near fall. Ciampa tagged back in, hit a discus clothesline, and slapped on the over-the-top armbar, but it got broken up.
Rezar went for a superplex on Ciampa, but Ciampa slid underneath and the challengers teamed up for a powerbomb. Akam broke up DIY’s attempt at their finish, however DIY slipped out of the Super Collider and locked on a double submission. Suddenly, The Revival ran in from out of nowhere (the backstage area) for the disqualification.
The Revival saved the titles for AOP, laying out Ciampa with the Shatter Machine. AOP didn’t appreciate this, so they attempted to lay out The Revival, however the Top Guys laid out Akam and Rezar, including giving Akam the Shatter Machine.
Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder have been left standing here tonight, but what does that mean for the future? Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Good reaction for Ohno, who did his best to make Clark look good. Eventually, Ohno made a comeback with a bunch of elbow strikes, then hit his rolling big boot for the win.
– Mandy Rose defeated Daria Berenato
Rose, who is from a couple hours downstate from here, did a pre-match promo heeling on Albany. Not much to the match. Berenato hit a spear, but Rose got her foot on the ropes, then rolled Berenato up and used the ropes for leverage to get the win.
– Steve Cutler defeated Oney Lorcan
Some good stuff from Lorcan, including a big running European uppercut that knocked Cutler to the floor, followed by a flip dive off the top rope. At some point, it looked like Cutler got busted up hardway.
Lorcan hit a bunch of running hip attacks in the corner, but Cutler countered one with a big clothesline, hit an underhook backbreaker for a near fall, and won with the Boston Crab.
– Aleister Black defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
A lot of the crowd didn’t seem to know much about Black, but the former Tommy End popped the crowd with some of his big spots, including a triangle moonsault to the outside. Almas’ heel charisma seems to resonate better live than it does on TV.
Almas hit a nice bridging German suplex for a near fall. After Black blocked the hammerlock DDT, Almas went for the double knees in the corner, but Black popped up and hit a jumping knee strike for the win.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Ember Moon and Nikki Cross in a triple threat match to retain her title
Good reactions for all three women. Cross does a great job portraying her unhinged character, and Moon had a few impressive athletic moments. Moon was going for the corkscrew stunner on Asuka, but Cross came in and went for a superplex, only for Asuka to powerbomb both off the top rope, then hit a roundhouse kick on Cross to retain the title.
– SAnitY (Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe w/ Eric Young) defeated Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins
Ford and Dawkins were the surprise hit of the night, getting “Red Shoes” and “White Shoes” chants. Ford, in particular, looks like he might have some real potential. Some fun exchanges between Ford and Wolfe based around both mocking each other through dancing.
There were a couple sloppy spots, including Ford botching a running flip off of Dain in the corner, but things picked up before the finish, which came after a distraction from Young and a combo powerslam/running boot by SAnitY for the win.
SAnitY beat down Ford and Dawkins after the match. Young got on the mic and said there wasn’t a man, woman, or child in the building that could beat him, bringing out Tye Dillinger to the biggest reaction of the night so far and lots of “10” chants. SAnitY jumped Dillinger three-on-one, but Ford and Dawkins evened the odds and ran off Dain and Wolfe, leading to the next match.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Eric Young
Very good match. It had some “10” based comedy early. Young took control with a lot of neckbreaker variations. Young got a near fall after a top rope elbow drop, then went outside and grabbed a chair, but Dillinger cut him off with a superkick and followed up with the Tye Breaker for the pin.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & DIY defeated NXT Champion Bobby Roode & NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain
Nakamura and Roode were both massively over, with the crowd singing along to their entrance themes. Big response for DIY as well. The match had a lot of Roode avoiding getting into the ring with Nakamura early.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa got in some good double team offense on the Authors early, before the heels cut them off and went to work on Ciampa. They teased the hot tag to Gargano, but the ref was distracted and Gargano got booted off the apron.
Nakamura finally got the tag and ran wild, hitting most of his signature spots on Roode. Gargano recovered and hit his slingshot spear from the apron, and Nakamura got the win with the Kinshasa on one of the Authors.
Nakamura cut a brief post-match promo thanking the crowd, then posed with Gargano and Ciampa, including a triple “YeaOh!” Nakamura took his bow at the top of the ramp, and DIY spent a long time interacting with the ringside crowd and taking a ton of pictures.
Reports submitted by readers Michael Nolan, Danny West, and Kee Min
Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, and Tye Dillinger were serving hot chocolate out in front of the venue on a frigid night. The venue is an old theater. It was a really unique place to see a wrestling show with the ring on the stage.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Patrick Clark
– Daria Berenato defeated Mandy Rose
– Oney Lorcan defeated Steve Cutler
Lorcan won by submission.
– Aleister Black defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
This was a fun match. Black was over with the crowd and won with a spinning heel kick.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Ember Moon and Nikki Cross in a triple threat match to retain her title
Asuka pinned Cross after a kick to the head to get the win. Asuka and Moon were very over.
– SAnitY (Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe) defeated Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford
Ford stood out and was one of the most over guys of the night. The crowd chanted about his red shoes for the rest of the show. This led to SAnitY attacking Dawkins and Ford. Eric Young had a huge amount of heat. Tye Dillinger came out to take on SAnitY, which led to a match with Eric Young.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Eric Young
Dillinger won with the Tye Breaker.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & DIY defeated NXT Champion Bobby Roode & NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain
Nakamura won the match for his team after hitting the Kinshasa on Rezar.
This was a good match. Black won with a flying knee. He was back to wearing his trunks after sporting combat shorts previously.
– Mandy Rose defeated Heidi Lovelace
Rose got the win with the Angel’s Wings slam.
– Brennan Williams defeated Kishan Raftaar with a side slam.
– Liv Morgan cut a promo in the ring about Daria Berenato. Morgan called Berenato a “lousy Ronda Rousey.” She said that Berenato “wasn’t tough enough for Tough Enough.”
– The Revival defeated Heavy Machinery, Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford, and SAnitY in a fatal four-way elimination match
Great work by everyone here. It was a long match that got plenty of time. The Revival ran all their distractions and did double team work.
Revival and SAnitY were the last two teams. Scott Dawson hit a superplex on Alexander Wolfe. Nikki Cross tried to get involved but was almost knocked off the apron, which gave enough time for Dash Wilder to make it in for the Shatter Machine.
– Elias Samson defeated Oney Lorcan
The Drifter played a song for us about how awful Fort Pierce is before the match. Lorcan was jumped before the bell rang and Drifter kept the advantage most of the way. Lorcan later took Samson’s guitar and teased breaking it to a huge reaction. Lorcan tossed the guitar and rolled up Samson for two. Samson then hit a spinning neckbreaker for the win.
– Daria Berenato defeated Macey Estrella
Before the match, Berenato responded to Liv Morgan’s promo from earlier, mentioning Hooters, and that the next time she saw her it was on. Berenato got the victory with a spinebuster.
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY & Tye Dillinger defeated The Authors of Pain & Wesley Blake
The crowd went crazy for Dillinger as the third man. DIY had “10” signs of their own to join in the fun. The audience chanted “Royal Rumble” at Dillinger and “ DITye” for the team.
Dillinger hit the Tye Breaker on Wesley Blake to win the match for his team. They celebrated and Dillinger bowed to the crowd, then shook hands with his partners before leaving.
The crowd loved Gallagher. He won with a corner dropkick.
– Lana defeated Kimberly Frankele
This was Florida loop Lana. She was dancing, having fun, and a total babyface. Kimber Lee worked only her second match in the promotion here under her real name. Good match considering Lana’s in ring-experience. Lana won with her fisherman spinebuster.
– Steve Cutler defeated Adrian Jaoude
Physical match between two strong PC standouts. Cutler won it with a stomp off the second rope.
The crowd loved this. The work was fast-paced and these two teams are great together. Ford and Dawkins hit a double team DDT on Sabbatelli to win it.
– Roderick Strong defeated Elias Samson
Strong hit a Sick Kick for the win. The crowd was not supportive of The Drifter here in Orlando.
– Billie Kay & Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan & Aliyah
Kay and Royce used a double team finish to score the win.
– Heavy Machinery cut an in-ring promo where Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic said they’re hungry for competition.
– Aleister Black defeated Patrick Clark
A flying knee ended this physical match.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated Beautiful Blonde Blake & The Authors Of Pain
There was all types of action here, setting up for a Nakamura hot tag. He ran wild and threw one of the Authors around. Blake made a sneaky tag but still got laid out with the Kinshasa to send everyone home happy.
Metalik won with a top rope dropkick after Lorcan tried a top rope dragon suplex.
– SAnitY defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight)
Lots of love for Eric Young from the crowd. EY won with his wheelbarrow neckbreaker after a running dropkick by Big Damo behind the ref’s back.
– Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose
Moon won with her beautiful top rope stunner.
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated The Authors of Pain to retain their titles
Gargano pinned one of the AOP after a double team knee strike.
– Elias Samson defeated Patrick Clark
The Drifter reminded everyone that he broke his leg the last time he was in Nashville. He then had a song he wanted to sing, to which the crowd chanted “break a leg.” He sang a song, then beat Clark with the Roll of the Dice.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross to retain her title
Asuka submitted Royce to retain.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & Roderick Strong defeated Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode
Big reactions for Roode and Nakamura. Nakamura pinned Joe after a Kinshasa.
