The Big Takeaway: Lacey Evans saw off Dana Brooke in the opener for her third win in a row against Brooke. The team of Titus O’Neil & Heath Slater then defeated Mojo Rawley & Eric Young, leaving Rawley without any kind of a win since May.
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Lacey Evans defeated Dana Brooke (6:00)
Evans and Brooke have had a good little program on Main Event through July and August, with Evans going 3-0 against Brooke. Both Evans and Brooke are certainly improving, but both would benefit from working with stronger opponents.
Of the two, Evans is getting the more even hand. She has been able to work with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Natalya over the last few weeks, while Brooke has been left to take on Sarah Logan, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Riott.
The match was pretty good, with lots of back and forth, but they did quite a neat finish that let Evans heel her way to the win.
Brooke was looking to lock in a submission hold and dragged her by the leg across the ring. Evans clung on to the apron, which the referee had to pay attention to. While his back was turned, Evans gouged Brooke’s eyes and then landed The Women’s Right for the win. Brooke was left looking completely bereft.
Titus O’Neil & Heath Slater defeated Mojo Rawley & Eric Young (3:28)
Rawley’s WWE career continues to stutter. He debuted a new look back in April, sporting face paint and new ring gear after a series of vignettes were aired on Raw. From there he had a run of matches on Main Event. His last televised appearance was at Super ShowDown back in June.
Here, Rawley was wearing more of the blue-lined face paint and looked a little heavier than in previous months. He didn’t work much in the match and only tagged in for O’Neil’s heat segment, which culminated in him taking a clothesline over the top rope.
Eric Young looked very good, doing a flip over the top turnbuckle and a baseball slide under the ropes in quick succession just before the end. Young took the Clash of the Titus from O’Neil at the end for the pinfall.
Ultimately, this was pretty much what you’d expect from this match with these kind of time constraints.
The Big News: Instead of competing for the NXT Championship, Johnny Gargano spent the night in a local medical facility as Tommaso Ciampa laid him out.
The Medium News: Aleister Black beat Eric Young in a substitute main event.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli continued their slow-moving breakup, as Sabbatelli walked out on their tag team match.
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The show began with The Undisputed Era coming to the ring for a promo. Cole pointed out all their championship belts and said this is what happens when you back them into a corner. NXT’s mission has been to prevent this from happening, yet here they stand. Bobby Fish said they were thrown to the wolves at War Games and, again, in New Orleans, but they are one step above everyone else.
Roderick Strong was next, mocking the fans for asking why he joined Undisputed Era. He said for once he did something for himself and made the best decision of his career. He said if he had won the titles with Pete Dunne, how long would it have been until Dunne turned on him since he only cares about the UK Championship? Suddenly, in the middle of the match, he had an epiphany. Why fight by himself and come up short, when they could fight together and take over NXT.
Kyle O’Reilly said they are done being backed into a corner — and no matter what the powers that be do, they cannot be stopped. Times are changing and they are leaving everyone in the dust.
Cole said they will prove it as he defends his North American title by himself against Oney Lorcan. He actually laughed about needing help to beat Lorcan.
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NXT North American Champion Adam Cole defeated Oney Lorcan to retain his title
This was the first televised title defense for Cole. It was more competitive for Cole than he was expecting — as Lorcan went after Cole’s DDP-trademarked taped ribs. Cole sold them for the duration of the match.
The fans liked Lorcan, but no one felt he had a chance to win here. He dropped Cole ribs-first across the top rope and Cole was injured! Oh no, what a horrible thing to happen to him. O’Reilly ran down with a paramedic to check on his leader. Strong gave Lorcan a back suplex on the apron when suddenly — it was a miracle! Cole got up and finished off Lorcan, retaining the title.
After the match, Strong and O’Reilly continued the beatdown. Danny Burch ran down for the save, but he got overpowered by all three men.
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Up next was a video package for Shayna Baszler.
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Last week, Candice LeRae defeated Zelina Vega after a double Gargano Escape, with Gargano doing it to an interfering Andrade “Cien” Almas.
LeRae will wrestle Bianca Belair next week, so we got a video package for Belair.
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Heavy Machinery defeated Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
These two teams squared off two weeks ago, but that match didn’t have a finish due to the War Raiders debuting and destroying both teams.
These teams actually work pretty well together and we had some good four-way brawling to start the match. It broke down into a tag team match with Otis Dozovic playing the role of Ricky Morton tonight. He made the hot tag to Tucker Knight, who ran wild on Moss. Sabbatelli was knocked off the apron, accidentally, by his partner.
Sabbatelli did his best Sid impersonation by reaching for a tag to his ailing partner, before dropping off the apron and walking away. All that was missing was for him to threaten to punch Brutus Beefcake. Anyway, Dozovic beat Moss with The Compactor.
After the match, Heavy Machinery vowed to eat all the steaks and lift all the weights — and then they will kick the asses of the War Raiders.
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We had a video package looking at potential challengers for Shayna Baszler, including Nikki Cross, Aliyah, and Kairi Sane.
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Dakota Kai was interviewed by Cathy Kelley regarding Shayna Baszler earlier today. She refused to talk about Baszler. Kelley kept asking questions and Kai kept deflecting them until Baszler walked in. Baszler intimidated her and informed her that Baszler running the women’s division is Kai’s worst nightmare.
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Kona Reeves is coming.
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Lacey Evans, Vanessa Borne, and LeRae also vowed to defeat Baszler if they get the chance.
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Next week:
TM61 vs. The Street Profits
Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong
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Johnny Gargano came to the ring for his championship match with Aleister Black, when he was attacked by Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa threw Gargano into the stage, but he fought back and delivered a running crossbody off the announce table. Gargano continued to punch away before Ciampa booted him low and shoved him down. The fans chanted that Ciampa tapped out until Ciampa hit the Randy Orton punt to the head of a downed Johnny Wrestling.
Referees finally came out, but Ciampa ignored them and hit an Emerald Fusion through some production tables set up nearby.
The EMTs and medical staff came out to stretcher Gargano away. Kassius Ohno was one of the people helping out. As they loaded Gargano into the ambulance, Black arrived and watched the scene unfold. As the ambulance drove away, the camera zoomed out and there was Ciampa on top of a ring truck.
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Back in the arena, Black stormed to the ring and grabbed a mic. He was prepared to offer a challenge to Ciampa, but SAnitY came out instead. Eric Young said that Gargano’s hope was taken away by chaos. Out of chaos, EY said, we will find hope and we will find sanity. Before Young could continue, Black cut him off and challenged him to an immediate title match.
NXT Champion Aleister Black defeated Eric Young to retain his title
A bell rang and the match was on. The announcers weren’t sure if this was an actual title match, but the bout itself was on. This was a basic match and was probably designed as a sendoff for SAnitY in addition to a showcase for the new champion.
Alexander Wolfe tried getting involved early, but he got kicked out of the ring. Young did not enjoy being kicked in the thigh, but there was nothing he could do to stop it, as Black turned EY black and blue. Young did the Ric Flair corner flip and slid back into the ring, but he got laid out with Black Mass for the pin.
Wolfe and Killian Dain slid in and both took the Black Mass for their troubles.
So, that does it for another episode of NXT. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
The Big News: Thanks almost entirely to Killian Dain, SAnitY defeated The Undisputed Era in a tornado tag team main event.
The Medium News: Johnny Gargano offered to put his NXT career on the line to once again challenge Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT Championship.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss may be breaking up. If you look up “little news” in the dictionary, this would be listed.
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Nigel McGuinness was back from his flu. Just want to point out that Percy Watson announced a five-star match and McGuinness has not.
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The Undisputed Era came out for the opener, in which they would defend the NXT Tag Team Championship. However, as all three members were preening to the camera, SAnitY (their opponents) assaulted them from behind. Security ran out to break everything up as Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly snuck away as Killian Dain laid out multiple security guards.
Mr. William Regal came out next and announced that all six men would take part in a tornado tag match in the main event. So for the second time in a month, SAnitY will not be getting their title match.
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Heavy Machinery defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
SAnitY and Undisputed Era went to the back, so instead we got the next chapter in the ongoing rivalry between Heavy Machinery and Sabbatelli & Moss.
Moss got the heat on Tucker Knight by grabbing his tights from behind and using a lariat to the back of the head. Sabbatelli was greeted with “Tino sucks” chants, which surprised pretty much everyone since the heel duo is used to no reaction.
For some reason, Sabbatelli and Moss tagged each other exceptionally hard. Sabbatelli tried to use a roll-up with his feet on the ropes (which won them their last match), but the referee caught it and he got pinned by Knight after The Compactor.
After the match, Moss walked out on Sabbatelli. Someone should show these guys video tapes of Blake & Murphy and track what happened to that team in the ensuing two years after their break up. Meanwhile, their manager at the time, Alexa Bliss, has won four Women’s Championships on the main roster.
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Out came Johnny Gargano for the first time since his bout at TakeOver: Philadelphia where he came up short in his quest to conquer Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT Championship.
Gargano said he went into Philly more confident than ever. He saw himself winning and coming back here as champion. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, which sucks, but getting this overwhelming positive reaction from the fans and the respect it shows means more. It gave him the inspiration to pick himself back up and continue being Johnny Gargano.
He’ll never forget TakeOver, but will also never forget Tommaso Ciampa hitting him in the back with a crutch. He is coming for Ciampa and was in the middle of challenging him to come out when we were joined by Almas.
Zelina Vega asked him who cares if Gargano won everyone’s respect. There should be a parade with confetti for the champion. Gargano proved nothing — except that he is a loser. Almas has beaten him again and again and again. He is not Johnny Gargano, he is Johnny Loser. The fans began chanting for Candice LeRae, so Gargano mentioned his second favorite part of TakeOver was his wife beating the hell out of her.
Vega got up in Gargano’s face, so LeRae ran out and shoved her down. Almas bailed and the husband-wife duo was left standing tall.
Vega got on the stage and said they’ve beaten him three times. Gargano wants another title shot, and Vega said that if Gargano loses he must leave NXT. Gargano agreed to the challenge.
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Shayna Baszler said she is the most feared woman in NXT. There will not be a rematch with Ember Moon because Moon is scared. Baszler dared the press to go tell Moon she said that.
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Tyler Bate wasn’t happy that he didn’t beat Roderick Strong last week, but he said he’ll be watching when Strong challenges Pete Dunne next Wednesday. He also said he was happy to win Match of the Year last year and can’t wait to have more Match of the Years with everyone in NXT.
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Bianca Belair defeated Jessica Hill
Hill was trained by Dory Funk Jr and went one-on-one with The EST of NXT this week. Belair hit a Burning Hammer and a fallaway powerbomb, called the Alley-Oop, for the win in 30 seconds.
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A video package for Kairi Sane aired. She’s back to being the Pirate Princess, so I guess her enthusiasm for yachts has lessened in the last two weeks.
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Next week:
Aleister Black in action
Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship
Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong for the WWE United Kingdom Championship
Mauro Ranallo encouraged us to set our DVR for the UK title match. I’m not sure if he understands that the WWE Network isn’t on normal television.
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SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) in a tornado tag team match
I’m not sure the order any of this was taped, but the fans were a lot more enthusiastic for these six guys at the start of the show than they were early on in this match. The match began with a wild six-way brawl, and the fans finally woke up five minutes in when Young pulled out the plunder.
As Dain mopped up the ringside area with Fish, Cole and O’Reilly separated Young and Wolfe from the pack and fought them through the backstage area. Fish did hit a beautiful moonsault to Dain. Unfortunately for Fish, his advantage didn’t last long and he began running away to get away from Dain. At this point, the other four returned from the backstage area, so Dain heaved Fish off the stage and onto everyone else.
As the match continued, Undisputed Era had no problem throwing around Wolfe and Young, but spent more time than not in flight when Dain got his hands on them. Cole discovered the best offense against Dain was to move out of the way, which was proven right when Dain went crashing through a table that Cole, seconds earlier, was propped against.
Back in the ring, Wolfe held his own for a second, but got superkicked and laid out with Total Elimination. Young was in with his kendo stick, but he got superkicked and laid out with a brainbuster on Cole’s knee. Dain got back in the ring and single-handedly destroyed all of Undisputed Era, pinning Fish with the Ulster Plantation.
So, that does it for this week. Will SAnitY ever get their title match? Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The Big News: Adam Cole debuted by beating Eric Young in the main event.
The Medium News: #NotMyNXTWomensChampion will be crowned in a fatal four-way match at NXT TakeOver: Houston.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Fast forward through the Liv Morgan match and just assume it never happened.
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The show began with Mr. William Regal announcing that the next NXT Women’s Champion will be determined in a fatal four-way match at TakeOver: Houston. One of the competitors will be Kairi Sane and the other three will be determined in a series of qualifying matches that begin in two weeks.
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SAnitY stormed to the ring after the intro to kick the show off! Eric Young said they wrote the book on making the mark. In this universe, time and space doesn’t exist or matter. What matters is the chaos. The only thing for sure is change, and tonight Young will take Adam Cole (Bay-Bay) to the edge of sanity.
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Lars Sullivan defeated Oney Lorcan
Before the match, Lorcan said he doesn’t like Sullivan and doesn’t like what he did to No Way Jose.
As hard as he tried, nothing that Lorcan did seemed to make a dent on his much larger foe. Lorcan hit a dropkick and a plancha, but neither took Sullivan off his feet. As a matter of fact, Sullivan caught him on the plancha and dropped him face-first on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring.
Lorcan chopped and slapped Sullivan, but he shrugged it off and took Lorcan’s head off with a clothesline. Sullivan then picked up the win with his uranage.
Sullivan was about to do more damage after the match, but Danny Burch ran down and pulled Lorcan to safety.
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Ruby Riot cut a promo and said Nikki Cross is not her friend. She said she doesn’t know why Cross got involved in her tag team match, but she did accept Billie Kay and Peyton Royce’s challenge for a rematch.
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Heavy Machinery defeated Patrick Scott & Demetrius Bronson
Scott made two mistakes. One was to sign for this match, and the other was to hit Tucker Knight. Knight destroyed Scott and he tagged in Bronson. Bronson used to play for the Miami Dolphins, so I already hate him and he fared only slightly better against Otis Dozovic. Scott got involved again and got laid out again.
Finally, Heavy Machinery continued their winning ways with the Compactor.
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Earlier today, William Regal was having a press conference when Johnny Gargano stormed by. Mr. Regal stopped him and told him he’ll have a rematch with Andrade “Cien” Almas in two weeks. He also promised something special for TakeOver: Houston.
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At some other point earlier today, Christy St. Cloud asked Roderick Strong how he’s preparing for his NXT Championship match next week against Drew McIntyre. Strong said he prepares by being the best. McIntyre will try to knock him down and out, but Strong keeps moving forward.
He’s worked his whole life for this and he now knows he is indestructible. McIntyre doesn’t have the tenacity to beat him. Strong said he is coming with everything he has and nothing will stop him until he wins the title.
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Liv Morgan defeated Vanessa Borne
Morgan hasn’t been around in a while. She said she’s gonna keep doing what she’s been doing in an effort to become the next NXT Women’s Champion. Borne, who was in the Mae Young Classic, also wants to be champion.
Borne yells a lot while on offense, and it actually sounded like she was sneezing. This match was awkward at best and at worst it was awful. I don’t know what Morgan has been doing since not being on television, but I don’t know if “practicing wrestling” was it. Anyway, she won with a jumping bulldog.
Mauro Ranallo said he hopes this performance grabs the attention of William Regal. I hope so too, but for a different reason than he meant.
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A recap of last week’s segment with Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream aired. At some other point earlier today, Black was training in the ring when a cameraman asked him what his thoughts were. Black said he’s not going to give “Patrick” attention for throwing a tantrum like a child.
How many segments happened earlier today? Thankfully all these things happened or there would be several holes in the TV show.
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Kassius Ohno defeated Fabian Aichner
Aichner is from the Cruiserweight Classic, where he lost to Jack Gallagher and wasn’t seen in WWE again. He gained about 30 pounds of muscle and would no longer qualify for the cruiserweight division.
Aichner did a springboard dive to the outside that was a thing of beauty, leaping to the top rope in one fluid motion before diving. Ohno went for multiple moves, but each time Aichner would catch him and drop him in some sort of slam.
Aichner went for everything with a double springboard moonsault but ended up with nothing but canvas, which led to Ohno’s comeback. Ohno won with the cyclone kick.
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NXT Champion Drew McIntyre thinks he’s going to win against Strong. Next week may be his first title defense, but it won’t be his last defense.
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We got a video package on Kairi Sane winning the Mae Young Classic.
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Adam Cole defeated Eric Young
Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly came out with Cole. For some reason, the sight of O’Reilly wearing a plain white T-shirt caused girls to squeal.
Cole cut a promo beforehand asking how this place survived without the three of them. He asked the fans to close their eyes, take this moment in and feel it. What we feel, he says, is change and a shock to the system. He announced they are untouchable, unstoppable, and undisputed. This is their era.
The bell rang at 8:54, which told you that this wouldn’t be the longest bout of all time. Cole got frustrated as Young didn’t charge at the bell, so Cole did. Young then ducked a clothesline and it was on. O’Reilly jumped on the apron a minute in, which almost led to a brawl between the excessive members of both groups.
Cole tried to shout “Adam Cole Bay-Bay!” at one point, but Young punched the words out of his mouth, which the crowd didn’t know how to react to as they like playing “sing along.” Young made his comeback, which led to Fish and O’Reilly interfering, officially leading to the giant brawl outside the ring.
Young had Cole laid out for the top rope elbow, but instead dove onto the pile of bodies outside the ring. Back inside, Cole immediately hit a jumping knee for the pin.
So, that does it for this week. Can Roderick Strong become NXT Champion next week? There’s only one way to find out. Until then, make sure to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The Big News: No Way Jose returned and helped Kassius Ohno & Roderick Strong win the main event over SAnitY.
The Medium News: Tommaso Ciampa blamed the fans for replacing him after his pre-TakeOver injury when explaining why he betrayed Johnny Gargano.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Pete Dunne had an excellent match with Danny Burch.
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Remember the new NXT theme song they debuted two months ago? They already changed it.
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Tommaso Ciampa hobbled down to ringside on crutches to kick the show off. A couple fans chanted “Psycho Killer,” but the crowd mostly chanted “Why Tommaso Why?” When he finally got the mic, Ciampa called out Johnny Gargano before mockingly pointing out that Gargano wasn’t here tonight.
Ciampa said that he has learned more life lessons in the last two weeks than he did in the first 32 years of his life. He said he was injured two days before TakeOver and all he heard was questions about if he would wrestle. It took the fans one day to forget about him and replace him in DIY with all these dream tag team partners. Ciampa let it pass by and decided to fight with his best friend.
He said that during the ladder match he felt something pop and realized there was a problem with his knee. He laid there and decided to keep fighting for these people and for his best friend.
At the end of the night, he looked at his best friend and his brother and he realized that Gargano was just like all these people. Just like all the fans were ready to replace him, so was Gargano. Ciampa refused to let that happen, he refused to become an afterthought.
That’s when he made that decision. It’s not his fault. It’s the fans’ fault. It’s Johnny Gargano’s fault. They had something special and the fans ruined that. If Ciampa was going to go away for a long, long time, so was Gargano. TakeOver: Chicago was supposed to be DIY’s moment, but it wasn’t. Instead, TakeOver: Chicago was Tommaso Ciampa’s moment.
He said that he is a 32-year-old man and this wrestling ring is not replaceable and neither is Ciampa. You know what is replaceable? The fans. They were never necessary. They were replaceable. He promised that when he returns he will be the most dangerous son of a bitch in NXT history and said he is professional wrestling whether you like it or not.
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The announcers said Ciampa needed “major knee surgery” and Johnny Gargano has…something. We still do not have a medical report for him.
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Bobby Roode filmed a promo earlier today and said no one is invited to his Glorious Celebration, so he’s going to come back next week. Great. One thing was promoted for this show and it’s not going to happen.
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WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Danny Burch
Dunne got a superstar reaction coming out, as that match with Bate made him a star. Dunne worked Burch’s fingers, so Burch kicked him right in the hand when he got the chance. Burch looked as good as you can expect for someone with no credibility in NXT.
Pete Dunne is just amazing. He gets near falls with a punch to the face and you believe that they may be the actual finish. We went to commercial and came back with Dunne twisting Burch’s head almost completely around. Burch got a near fall with a hard headbutt, but Dunne used a snap back suplex and hit an Ex-Plex, though Burch kicked out.
Burch turned Dunne outside-in with a clothesline and almost picked up the win with a draping DDT. However, the champ hit a German suplex into the corner and won with The Bitter End.
Dunne cut a promo after the match saying that he had to watch a boy hold a championship since January and it was his pleasure to take the title at TakeOver. He stated that the history of the WWE UK division will officially start with the Bruiserweight owning all of it.
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Kayla Braxton interviewed Velveteen Dream. Dream didn’t like the ambiance so he cut a promo about how he was refusing to cut a promo.
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We had a video package, narrated by Paul Ellering, about the last 365 days of The Authors of Pain and now the Book of Dominance has been opened.
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Cezar Bononi defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Despite the constant negative press covfefe, Almas was here to wrestle Cezar Bononi. Percy Watson really has a problem with Almas going out clubbing after the matches. Again, NXT is at 8 p.m. and even if Almas drinks until 4 a.m., he has 16 hours to recover. How much is he drinking?
Almas beat the hell out of Bononi, chopping his chest raw and kicking his leg out of his leg. Bononi made, by comparison, a very weak comeback, which made the result even more ridiculous. Almas used a stiff slap to the face, but Bononi used a small package off a suplex for the upset win.
Almas got really mad for a minute, but then just said “whatever” and calmly walked away. I am sure he recognized that he beat an inferior athlete for five minutes and then lost when he slipped on a banana peel.
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Billie Kay and Peyton Royce have finally returned to NXT. Kay appears to have finally recovered from her neck injury from the time Ember Moon gave her The Eclipse. Anyway, they were very happy and made fun of Moon for being injured. Moon then just so happened to sign her medical release, which scared The Iconic Duo.
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In two weeks, the reigning, defending, undisputed NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will, once again, defend her championship against Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross, but this time it will be an elimination match.
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Hideo Itami was mad after TakeOver, so he threw some chairs around in the locker room. Kassius Ohno and Funaki tried to calm him down, but Itami swore at them and threw water around.
Fast forward two weeks and a WWE cameraman filmed the two of them shaking hands outside. I was convinced Ohno was about to get run over by a car in a “whodunnit?” angle, but we just cut away to the main event.
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Kassius Ohno & Roderick Strong defeated Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe
It was then time for the main event. The referee called for the bell in a way that it looked like he was sending Killian Dain to the back, but, sadly, Dain was still here.
The babyfaces ran wild until Dain tripped Ohno on the apron. Where was the referee you ask? After watching everything happen leading up to the trip, he decided to go talk to Roderick Strong for a few seconds.
Watson said Ohno is the kind of guy who will not stand by and let injustice happen. He will fight for what’s right. There was nothing notable about the heat. It was just a very good tag team match. Wolfe and EY are working well together and Ohno does a good job at being a babyface in peril.
Strong ran wild on the hot tag, including giving Young a back suplex on the ring apron (which is the hardest part of the ring). While Strong was running wild on Wolfe, Young blind tagged himself in.
He got ready to polish off Strong when No Way Jose finally returned and stopped Dain from interfering! Strong then pinned Young with a release suplex into a backbreaker, called End of Heartache. The fans were thrilled to see Jose return and SAnitY was in a state of shock.
So, that does it for an excellent episode of NXT. There were two very good matches, plus that excellent Ciampa interview. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
The final match for TakeOver: Chicago was announced on last night’s go-home episode of NXT TV.
Continuing his feud with SAnitY, Roderick Strong will be facing Eric Young at the show. There was an angle shot to set up the match where SAnitY attacked Strong after he lost to Hideo Itami on last week’s episode.
Strong vs. Young will be the only non-title match at TakeOver, with the WWE United Kingdom Championship set to be defended in addition to all three NXT titles. The show will take place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago on Saturday. The updated lineup is:
NXT Champion Bobby Roode defending against Hideo Itami
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defending against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot in a triple threat match
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defending against Pete Dunne
NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain defending against DIY in a ladder match
The Big News: Tye Dillinger, on his last night in NXT, defeated Eric Young in a steel cage match to finally get past SAnitY.
The Medium News: Hideo Itami did not approve of Bobby Roode’s shenanigans, so he dropped the NXT Champion with the GTS.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Andrade “Cien” Almas is a bully, but he is picking on Drew McIntyre, someone who is bigger than him.
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We kicked things off with the reigning, undisputed NXT Champion of the World, Bobby Roode. Shockingly it only took him two-and-a-half minutes to walk to the ring this week. Mind you this is only for an interview segment. Imagine how long it would have taken him to get to the ring this year at WrestleMania.
Anyway, Roode announced for the second year in a row he made WrestleMania weekend glorious as he single-handedly sold out the Amway Center and he gave 15,000 people the treat of a lifetime and allowed them to watch the biggest box office superstar in the world today. I must have missed when they had a special screening of “The Fate of The Furious” during the show I guess.
Roode did have a problem, though, with the idiots paying tribute to Shinsuke Nakamura last week, especially the pathetic fans singing his theme song. He said you saw everyone on the stage except him, and the reason why that was is because he wasn’t going to listen to the crap that came out of Nakamura’s mouth. He wasn’t going to listen to Nakamura’s lies.
He stated that Nakamura didn’t leave NXT, but Roode beat him so bad that he tucked his tail between his legs and got the hell out of NXT.
He said that none of these people deserve or belong to be in his NXT. From now on they have two choices: either they can jump on board and be a part of Bobby Roode’s NXT or they can hit the bricks like Nakamura.
This brought out Hideo Itami. Roode cockily confronted him, so Itami slapped the taste out of his mouth. Roode laughed and warned Itami about messing with the champ, so Roode took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Roode shouted that this was his NXT — so Itami laid out the champ with the GTS.
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Kayla Braxton introduced Tyler Bate and Jack Gallagher, who will square off next week for the UK Championship. These two extraordinary gentlemen put each other over and shook hands.
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Roode was still laying in the ring after a commercial break. The fans chanted the song Smooth Criminal, but asking Bobby if he was ok.
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Heavy Machinery was in the WWE Performance Center, lifting weights, when Andrade “Cien” Almas bullied Drew McIntyre at 1:15 p.m. McIntyre had nothing to say, so Almas challenged him to a match next week.
This was the second time where people were randomly doing stuff in the WWE Performance Center when Almas bullied someone. Thankfully they have cell phone cameras to film Almas’ bullying.
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Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Danny Burch
Speaking of bullies, Almas stopped bullying people long enough to take on Danny Burch.
Almas was playing his silly games early, which Burch had problems with. However, Burch couldn’t stop himself from playing silly games himself and that would lead to his demise. Almas won a quick one with the running double knees and the hammerlock DDT.
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An Asuka promo aired with every woman featured commenting on how dangerous she is.
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A video package for Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young aired.
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Liv Morgan & Aliyah defeated The Iconic Duo (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay)
The never ending feud between the Iconic Duo and Liv Morgan continues. The feud between these three has been going on since last June, with the heels seemingly holding a 5,000-2 advantage in the win column.
In the interest of fairness since these three have wrestled 5,002 times, they have gotten better at working against each other. The fans still scream “sweet” after someone kicks out at two. Aliyah almost forgot to kick out of a Peyton Royce spin kick and then shockingly picked up the win with a sunset flip.
Royce and Billie Kay threw a hissy fit after the match.
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Set for next week’s show:
Drew McIntyre vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Aleister Black in action
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defending against Jack Gallagher
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Tye Dillinger defeated Eric Young in a steel cage match
For only the third time in NXT history, the cage has been lowered. Samoa Joe beat Finn Balor at NXT TakeOver: The End and then Shinsuke Nakamura beat Joe last December in Australia to retain the NXT Championship.
This match was every WWE cage match you’ve ever seen. Except the one with Bret and Owen Hart. This was a lot of things, it even included blood, but it was not Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (which did not have any blood).
Eric Young decided to pull a Bobby Roode and see how slowly he could walk to the ring. So long, in fact, that Tye Dillinger reached out of the cage and dragged EY into it. Dillinger went for the Tye Breaker early, but EY raked his eyes and threw him face-first into the cold, hard, unforgiving, steel cage.
There was a lot of climbing and a lot of moves off the top rope. There were also a lot of commercial breaks for a match that went less than 15 minutes. This really came off like a show where they had giant holes in it and realized at the last minute they had to be filled in.
Young all of a sudden got superkicked into the cage and was wearing the crimson mask. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is bleeding on WWE TV. They fought near the top of the cage and Young knocked Dillinger off the top of it. However, instead of climbing down, Young dove off the top with an elbow drop, though Dillinger kicked out.
Young then told everyone to say goodbye to Dillinger, so Dillinger recovered and hit the Tye Breaker. Dillinger then tried to crawl out the door, but SAnitY ran down and wouldn’t let him. Kassius Ohno and Roderick Strong were tired of these shenanigans, so they ran down, but got beat up.
Killian Dain tried to climb the cage and get in (instead of going through the door), but Dillinger knocked him down and ended up fighting with Alexander Wolfe on top of the cage. Dillinger looked down at Dain (who finally got in) and Young, then dove off the top onto the heels before crawling out of the cage to victory.
It took until his very last night in NXT, but Tye Dillinger has finally won an important match! Dillinger has finally defeated SAnitY. Ohno and Strong carried Dillinger away, victoriously on their shoulders. The fans chanted “Thank you Tye” as the show went off the air.
That will do it for this week! Until next time, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The Big News: The main event six-man tag ended in a double disqualification and Heidi Lovelace (theoretically under her new name, Ruby Riot) debuted afterwards, taking out Nikki Cross.
The Medium News: After defeating Oney Lorcan in an excellent match, Andrade “Cien” Almas was told he would face Aleister Black at TakeOver: Orlando.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Kassius Ohno and Elias Samson agreed to a loser leaves NXT match.
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Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Oney Lorcan
This match was set up last week when Almas was bullying HoHo Lun and Lorcan made the save for the little guy. These two have wrestled multiple times, with Almas winning on almost every occasion. Will that continue tonight?
Almas tried to avoid Lorcan like the plague until Lorcan tried to dive off of the ring steps outside the ring, but Almas caught him and dropped him with a powerslam to get the heat. Lorcan made a hot comeback and almost got the win with a running blockbuster, but Almas kicked out.
Almas blocked the half-and-half suplex, but got sent flying out of the ring after a series of European uppercuts.
Lorcan didn’t give Almas a breather and dove off the top rope with a senton. Back in the ring, Lorcan hit three running corner forearms and feigned exhaustion before hitting two more and hitting the half-and-half suplex…and Almas kicked out!
After a brief flurry, which included a back handspring kick to Lorcan’s head, Almas hit a vicious knee in the corner and picked up the win with the hammerlock DDT. It built to a damn good match.
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DIY cut a promo about traveling the world together. They wrestled because they loved it and this is what they always wanted to do. They said this was fate that Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa, who never teamed before, ended up getting signed by WWE and eventually becoming NXT Tag Team Champions.
They dedicated the upcoming match to all the fans that helped make them who they are.
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Another video package for Aleister Black aired.
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We finally got a video on Billie Kay, who two weeks ago was injured by The Eclipse from Ember Moon. Not sure if this is just becoming a running joke or what, but instead of updating us on Kay, we got a tweet from Liv Morgan predicting a win by Ember Moon at TakeOver.
Asuka has been undefeated for 17 months and has been champion for just under a year. Zuniga is not ending the undefeated streak.
Asuka was so unconcerned she cut a promo before the match saying “Ember Moon, this is your head” before kicking Zuniga’s off her shoulders. Zuniga tried to defend herself and slapped Asuka, then she tried to run away by bouncing off the ropes and right into Asuka’s hip attack.
Asuka kicked Zuniga some more, hit a delayed German suplex, and would have won with a kick to the head, but she picked Zuniga up at two. We went from kicks to knees as Zuniga got used as a punching bag and finally we got the Asuka Lock and the submission.
Asuka didn’t want to break the submission afterwards, but did when the referee waved his hands. She cut a promo in Japanese after.
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The Revival cut a promo about how they are better than all the best teams in wrestling history. Ultimately they fight for money and they don’t do flips, but they are the only team to lay out the Authors of Pain.
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Next week: Akam vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Dash Wilder.
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We got a lengthy video package building up Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. It included the photo of Roode in Team Canada in TNA, with Scott D’Amore in the background. The video thoroughly recapped both men’s year since NXT TakeOver: Dallas and how it brought them both here.
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Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, and Roderick Strong cut a promo about their six-man tag against SAnitY tonight. They said this is the first time SAnitY doesn’t have the numbers advantage.
No it’s not. They literally had a six-man tag a month ago.
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Heavy Machinery is re-debuting next week.
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Andrea D’Marco interviewed Kassius Ohno last week regarding his loss while he was leaving the arena. Suddenly, Elias Samson appeared and sung that he’ll never win the title.
Ohno said The Drifter needs an ass kicking and Samson said Ohno doesn’t belong here. This led to a challenge for a loser leaves NXT match, which was accepted.
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Aleister Black will debut at TakeOver: Orlando against Andrade “Cien” Almas, which was the subject in Almas’ promo. He said he will make Black believe in him.
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SAnitY vs. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong & No Way Jose ended in a double disqualification
It was then main event time. This was a rematch of the six-man tag a month ago that I guess never happened. We got a six-way brawl outside the ring before the bell rang. This somehow led to the smallest babyface, Strong, in the ring with the largest heel, Killian Dain.
Strong fared better against Alexander Wolfe and was able to tag out. He did get back in later and managed to take out Wolfe and Dain on a giant dive over the top.
Eric Young spent the early part avoiding Tye Dillinger, shouting that Dillinger will get his. He finally cut off No Way Jose after a distraction by Nikki Cross. Jose eventually battled back and made the hot tag to Roderick Strong, who went backbreaker happy.
This broke down into a six-way brawl, which caused the referee to throw it out and declare the match a double disqualification.
The babyfaces got the best of the post-match until Cross jumped on Dillinger’s shoulders. She was taken care of when a debuting woman (Heidi Lovelace) ran in and took her out. The babyfaces sent SAnitY running away as the show ended.
That will do it for this week. Next week is already the go-home show for WrestleMania weekend. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Submitted by readers Gregory Dennis & Shawn Dunagan
– Before the show, ring announcer Andrea D’Marco updated the crowd that The Drifter recently lost to Kassius Ohno in a “Loser Leaves NXT” match and would not be here tonight.
– No Way Jose def. Kona Reeves
No Way Jose worked his tail off to get the crowd into it, but it was an uphill battle. About a third of the crowd responded to Jose out of appreciation for the effort. The rest of the crowd was flat. Jose won clean with his finisher and by the end, he had about half of the crowd warmed up.
– Liv Morgan def. Macey Estrella
This devolved into a clunky comedy match. After a few back-and-forth submission holds, Morgan won clean after a bulldog.
– Kassius Ohno def. Patrick Clark
Clark looks like a cross between Prince and Bootsy Collins. Ohno is originally from Dayton, Ohio (about 60 miles away) so he got a big pop and a “Welcome Back” chant. At Ohio State sporting events, it’s common for someone to yell “O-H” while the crowd follows with “I-O.” Here the someone would yell “O-H” and the crowd would respond with “Oh-No.” Unfortunately, this was the highlight of the match. Ohno won with an elbow to the side/back of the
neck.
– DIY had a promo video discussing the “O-H”, “I-O” chants.
– Despite being told earlier that The Drifter would not be there, out he came wearing an ill-fitting mask. Nobody cared. When he got to the ring, he asked, “Who wants to walk with..The Rambler?” He started singing a song about how Columbus sucks and the crowd should shut up. This did generate some heat from the crowd. Aleister Black’s music hit and the former Tommy End walked out to cut a pretty good promo. A beatdown ensued which turned into…
– Aleister Black def. The Rambler
Short match. Black had most of the offense and finished with a superkick and a pin. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but the super kick spun Sampson’s mask sideways, which was a nice touch. Black looked very good.
The crowd chanted “one more song,” so Sampson continued his ditty about how Columbus sucks and the crowd should shut up before drifting off to the back.
This was a very fun match, and noticably better level of wrestling than we’d seen up to this point. Young plays the role of the crazed lunatic exceptionally well. Ciampa & Gargano did suicide dives and flying knees to the outside despite very close quarters between the ring and a concrete wall. At one point, Ciampa actually botched a spot, but transitioned it immediately into a cool spot like a true vet. This was just an very entertaining pro wrestling match.
At one point, the referee ejected Wolfe from ringside for interfering. Shortly thereafter, Gargano got caught in SAnitY’s corner when Nikki Cross emerged from under the ring and holds Gargano’s arms in the corner while Dain recovered. Dain hit Gargano with a big crossbody into the pin.
As SAnitY celebrated in the ring, Cross demanded microphone and calls out Asuka. Asuka’s music hits and she comes out for what is announced as a title match.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka def. Nikki Cross to retain
Young and Big Dain stayed out and stalked ringside. This was a very good match as Asuka was so quick with her movements and athleticism. At one point, she hit Cross with a dropkick from the top. Cross did get in some offense and did a great job selling. Asuka got Cross in a rear naked choke and Cross tapped, but Young distracted the ref and didn’t see the tap. Asuka released Cross thinking she won. Young & Damo threatened to enter the ring when DIY raced out to clean house. Asuka hit Cross with a kick and pinned her in a very fun match.
After the match, Young and Asuka had a staredown in the ring. DIY distracted Young and with his back turned, Asuka fired up behind him. Young turned into a superkick from Asuka which Young sold brilliantly.
– Tye Dillinger & Shinsuke Nakamura def. NXT Champion Bobby Roode and Andrade Cien Almas
Almas came out to zero fan reaction, but when “Glorious” hit, the crowd came alive. The crowd ate up Roode’s slow entrance. Dillinger came out to a chorus of “ten” chants. Nakamura’s music hit and the place went nuts.
The match started with Almas vs. Dillinger and a lot of chain wrestling. Dillinger tagged Nakamura who immediately went on the offensive. As Almas was selling, Nakamura tried to goad Roode into the ring. Roode teased the crowd and then eventually tagged in. Roode & Nakamura circled the ring and then Roode tagged out without touching one another. Roode then laughed at the crowd, drawing heat.
Dillinger tagged back in and proceeded to get the hell beat out of him for a good 8-10 minutes. Roode and Almas traded off working on Dillinger’s left knee. Eventually, Dillinger escaped. Nakamura got the hot tag. After several near falls, Nakamura hit Almas with his finisher and got the pin.
Overall, it was a good show, but not great. The first half was clearly developmental and the second half was high quality.
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– Venue is a bar that hosts mid-level music acts. NXT has been here on a few occasions including its first show outside of Florida 3 years ago.
There are now five matches officially set for NXT TakeOver: San Antonio as WWE may have rounded out the card on the episode of NXT TV that aired on the Network tonight.
Two matches were announced for the Royal Rumble weekend show. Roderick Strong will make his TakeOver debut in a match against Andrade “Cien” Almas, while Eric Young will have his first match on one of NXT’s quarterly specials as he takes on Tye Dillinger.
After cutting a promo on tonight’s episode about the disappointment he’s faced in the ring lately, Dillinger refused Young’s invitation to join SAnitY before being laid out by Big Damo to set up the match. Strong defeated Steve Cutler and then said in an interview that he came to NXT to win the title.
NXT TakeOver: San Antonio will take place on January 28th at the Freeman Coliseum before the city’s Alamodome hosts the Royal Rumble the next night. The updated card for the show is:
NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defending against Bobby Roode
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defending against Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, and Nikki Cross in a fatal four-way match
NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defending against The Authors of Pain
– Jack Gallagher defeated Noam Dar after a running corner dropkick
– Nikki Cross defeated Daria Berenato after a swinging neckbreaker
– Angelo Dawkins & Kenneth Crawford defeated Tian Bing & HoHo Lun after Dawkins sucker punched HoHo while the ref was distracted, leading to Crawford getting the pin.
– Dan Matha cut a promo on the cruiserweights, but the crowd flooded him with “What!” chants and wouldn’t let him talk. He sent out the Dan Matha open challenge but no one answered it.
– Kona Reeves defeated Gran Metalik after hitting the old Randy Orton overdrive. Kona then attacked Metalik but Metalik overpowered Kona with a fury of moves ending with a head scissors.
– TJ Perkins submitted Steve Cutler
Cutler slowed down the match and argued with the fans. Finally, they started the match and Perkins won with the kneebar.
– Mandy Rose defeated Macey Estrella after the facebuster.
*These could be a mix of TV and dark matches. Not sure which is which.
– Rich Swann vs. Kona Reeves ended in a no-contest
This was my first time seeing Reeves, a tall guy who looks Hawaiian with ‘Aloha’ on his tights. Swann was very over while Reeves got a “Who are you?” chant. The lights turned out during the match, and SAnitY came to the ring. They attacked both of them, and got a hhuge pop from the crowd with “EY” and “Eric Young” chants.
Young took the mic and cut a promo saying they don’t ask for permission, they take it.
– Eric Young and No Way Jose ended in a no-contest
As Reeves and Swann were brought to the back, No Way Jose came to the ring and got a strong reaction. He called out Young and they started a match for that was quickly stopped by Sanity. Nikki Cross went on the top rope and as she went to dropkick Jose on his back, she slipped and fell just before getting to Jose. She got a huge “you f***ed up” chant. She went back up a second time and got a nice dropkick on his back. She then went up a third time and didn’t mess it up but she kind of slipped on Jose’s back upon hitting it.
– Ember Moon, Liv Morgan and Aliyah beat Bille Kay, Peyton Royce and Daria
This was ok. The heat was on Aliyah who got a good reaction from the crowd since she is from Toronto. But, Moon got the best pop of the two. End came with a hot tag to Moon who cleaned the ring. The Aussies tagged Daria and stayed on the outside, leading to Moon hitting a stunner from the third rope for the win.
When former TNA Champions Eric Young and Bobby Roode left TNA in March, the assumption they would head to the land of WWE/NXT seemed pretty obvious. But as we know in today’s wrestling culture, anything is possible when it comes to what goes into that decision making process.
Roode made an on-screen debut during NXT TakeOver during Wrestlemania weekend and Thursday night at the latest set of NXT tapings, Young made his promotional debut by interrupting and confronting NXT Champion Samoa Joe during an interview segment. The two then had a non-title match as part of the first show they taped. If you want the result, click here.
The 36-year-old Young has been a pro since 1998 and is best known for his decade-plus run in TNA that saw him win every male title the company offered and even the Knockouts tag team titles at one point.
Last week, EC3 beat DJZ and Uno lucked out a win over Gail Kim. Davey Richards pinned Bram with a small package, while Shera beat Eli Drake. Bobby Roode worked heel for one match and lost by V1-ing Matt and eating a Twist of Fate, while Godderz cheated to beat Kong, and EY beat Kenny King. In the main event, Lashley beat Drew Galloway. We get a recap of last week’s matches to set up tonight’s matches, including Lashley vs. Shera. A tale of the tape makes them seem very similar. Josh talks about building up a lot of momentum just by winning, which Shera has done. Well, he’s done one of those things. Pope calls him a household name as well. Josh and Pope debate whether it’s the Shera Shuffle or Shera Shake before Josh just decides that Shera Shuffle is trending. Lashley comes out in Wal-Mart workout gear for the World Title Series. Josh talks about Drew and uses the captain moniker for him a ton. Why is Drew the Captain of TNA? Shouldn’t he be the Dollar General?
Mahabali Shera vs. Lashley
Shera dominates Lashley in the corner while a “Maha-bali!” chant breaks out. He gets a Frankenstein’s monster choke in the corner. Shera spends a long time to set up mounted punches, but he eats a powerbomb. Lashley clubs away in the corner. Floatover snap suplex gets 2 for Lashley. Lashley punches him down for an ad break. They brawl on the floor for a bit after the Shera Shuffle backfires. Josh hypes up that that World Title Series is completely on Youtube. Lashley dives off the apron and Shera grabs him and slams him down. A fan in a purple Macho Man shirt is either doing the Shuffle or summoning a genie. Shera lifts him up and lands the scariest press slam in a decade on Lashley. Lashley recovers, spears him, and wins. Josh tells the “young man” Lashley to pack his backs because he’s moving on.
Pope talks about how fast and powerful Lashley is, and that he’s a two-time former TNA World Champion to fill the show with more content that they’ve already talked about. Josh sends us to an “in-depth look at Tigre Uno versus Eric Young”, which doesn’t seem possible. This “world class maniac”-filled video proves that it isn’t. We get a very echo-filled promo of Eric Young saying threatening words. The Knockouts division returns in a cheesecake video for the holidays. We see a preview of a Dixie Carter interview with Josh talking about the importance of the TNA World Title. Matt Hardy vs. Jessie Godderz is previewed with a recap of Jessie beating Kong. Tigre Uno comes out to face Eric Young, who is in fact the bearded terror according to Pope.
Eric Young vs. Tigre Uno
Eric has fashioned his hair into an awful pseudo-mohawk and has gigantic bags under his eyes. EY tells him to leave because it’s his ring and his world. EY calls him a coward, and Uno responds by springboard dropkicking him out of nowhere. A running rana gets 2 for Uno, while EY chops away and yells “LUCHA!” He lands a series of forearms to the back and neck in the corner. One-armed backbreaker by EY gets 2 for an ad break. EY clotheslines Uno while Josh plugs the 2016 Impact tapings. EY tosses him to the floor and punches away. EY goes for a moonsault to mock Uno, but it misses. Uno hits a rana to the floor onto EY. Tigre gets a low blow legdrop off the top for 2. They fight up top and EY eats a super rana for 2. EY blocks another rana with a powerbomb for 2. The piledriver hits and EY wins. He faces the winner of Hardy-Godderz. Josh and Pope recap why EY is a world-class maniac and a bearded terror. Recap of Matt Hardy’s World Title Series matches. We see clips of Dixie talking about having the best women’s wrestlers in the business. EY logically points out that Tigre’s attack to start the match was cowardly, and then the Canadian rants about Uno being “foreign scum” and blames him for possibly ending Uno’s career. Josh and Pope pick the winners in a guessing game. Jessie Godderz comes out to no reaction to face Matt Hardy, who gets an okay one.
Matt Hardy vs. Jessie Godderz
Matt grinds away at the neck, but Jessie tosses him off. Matt grinds away on the arm while Josh talks about how the World Title Series has been compelling and it’s all due to Dixie. Matt lands a series of slams and does the V1 pose before making the mistake of posing like Godderz. Matt gets a Russian legsweep for 2. They fight to the floor and Jessie eats the apron. Jessie shoves Matt’s back into the steps before Jessie dropkicks him and Matt sends his head right into the steps for an ad break.
We come back to see Jessie stomping away on the back. He attacks the back more with forearm shivers. Matt’s knee buckles as he goes for a slam and Jessie gets 2. Bearhug to Matt lasts a while and they talk about it being a setup for the Adonis Crab. Jessie clamps on a reverse bearhug and uses the ropes. Matt elbows out of it, and Matt gets an iffy Side Effect. Matt gets a sleeper slam for 2. Matt gets a snapmare off the top for 2. Flying standing elbow hits for 2. Matt goes for the Twist, but Jessie tosses him into the ropes and gets 2 off a dropkick. Jessie gets a partial dropkick/enzuiguri and goes for the Adonis Crab. Matt gets to the rope, so Jessie stomps away. Matt goes up top, but gets pulled down into a fireman’s carry, which he counters into a Twist of Fate for the win. Pope and Josh talk about Matt Hardy having passion. The Dixie interview is next.
Josh talks about how exciting 2016 is while happy music plays. Dixie said that 2015 was a year with a bit of everything, and the year started off strong with the debut of Drew Galloway. Dixie talks about how she respects Matt for winning the title in his hometown holding his baby high .She brags about the knockouts division and she says that the semi-finals and finals of the World Title Series will be held on the live show in January. Pope talks about Twitter predictions and Bracket Brawl. Because the show needed more filler, we get a recap of the BFG match and World Title Series. Next week, all of Future 4 faces Group X Division. There will also be a four way cage match between guys who aren’t feuding for some reason. We get a recap of tonight’s matches. Davey Richards comes out to face EC3 in the main event. EC3 says it’s time to separate the wolves from the winners. Davey says he’ll kick EC3’s head off his shoulders and says it’s time for the hunt to begin.
EC3 vs. Davey Richards
Josh asks if Davey has ever been this close to the World title and Pope says “not here”. Basic headlock and armwork to start. Davey gets a dropkick and EC3 goes to the floor. Davey gets his leg picked by Tyrus and EC3 attacks for 2. Davey lands a series of nice forearm strikes, but EC3 sidesteps him and sends him to the floor for a Tyrus attack. EC3 elbow smashes his neck on the apron and stomps a mudhole in him in the corner. Davey eats a Bret Hart-style turnbuckle smash and flips backwards. EC3 locks on a chinlock while Josh hypes up EC3 as being unbeaten for “nearly 1,000 days”.
They exchange chops, but Davey misses a corner charge and EC3 gets 2. EC3 traps him in a cravate before we get a punch exchange mid-ring. Pope buries EC3 for having a spray-tan while Josh says he lives in Boca Raton and it’s real. Davey lands a double dive. Make that a triple! Big missile dropkick gets 2. Davey lands a high kick and gets 2 off a snap German suplex. EC3 gets a TKO for 2. EC3 goes up top, but gets stopped by Davey and eats some headbutts. Superplex from Davey leads to another suplex for 2! They go through the motions of countering finishers before EC3’s Rampage powerbomb hits and he hits the One Percenter to win. To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
