An update is available regarding Fabian Aichner, the former Giovanni Vinci in WWE, signing with TNA Wrestling.
Aichner debuted for the promotion on the May 14 edition of TNA Impact, appearing after Cedric Alexander defeated Leon Slater for the X-Division Championship.
Aichner spoke to The Takedown on SI.com for an interview published on Thursday. The article reveals that Aichner’s deal with TNA keeps him under contract at least through the summer.
“The Takedown on SI has learned that it was far from a one-off appearance, as he has signed a contract with the promotion that a source indicates will take him at least through the summer,” wrote Jon Alba.
Aichner also spoke about having taken a year off from wrestling following his release from WWE in February 2025.
“I think it’s pretty well known that I took a little bit of time off over the last course of the year. It was quite the roller coaster towards the end of his WWE run, and the whole point was to recharge the batteries a little bit. I think that definitely got accomplished,” he said.
“And as it so happens, sometimes things were just pointing to TNA. A friend of mine in Germany pointed out that TNA has been improving their product greatly. I agree with that. So I checked it out.”
Aichner is set to wrestle on the May 28 edition of TNA Impact on Thursday. He’s scheduled to face Eddie Edwards on the show.
The full article from The Takedown on SI.com is available here.
Fabian Aichner is officially set to debut on next week’s TNA Impact episode.
After appearing on last week’s May 14 episode of Impact following Cedric Alexander’s TNA X-Division title win, Aichner is now set to make his debut. Next week, on May 28, Aichner will make his TNA in-ring debut against Eddie Edwards.
In addition to this, next week’s episode will also host two Champions Challenge matches, one for the men’s and one for the knockout division. TNA’s director of authority, Santino Marella, will also face Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo in a singles match next week. Former Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard will also face Harley Hudson.
Tiffany Stratton is rejecting speculation online about a situation between herself and a former WWE wrestler.
During a livestream, Stratton was denying online rumors about various subjects when she brought up one about a former WWE wrestler who was supposedly fired for flirting with her. Stratton took time to deny any such thing happened and wished the best for the wrestler in question.
“You guys. That may be the craziest one I’ve ever heard. That did not happen, that is not true,” she said. “There is no truth to that. I hope he’s doing amazing, I heard he just signed with TNA, and I think he’s gonna kill it. So absolutely no truth to that. That’s a [completely] false accusation.”
Who is the wrestler in question?
Although Stratton did not mention this person by name, former WWE wrestler Giovanni Vinci made his Impact debut on Thursday’s live show, staring down new X Division Champion Cedric Alexander.
Vinci is best known for his run as a member of Imperium alongside Ludwig Kaiser and Gunther. Although not originally called up to WWE’s main roster, he eventually joined his stablemates in 2022. The three remained a unit until 2024, when he was kicked out of Imperium following an assault by Kaiser. He made his debut as a singles wrestler on SmackDown later that year, but was defeated twice by Apollo Crews before being released in February 2025.
He’s been away from the industry for more than a year, but Giovanni Vinci is looking forward to getting back into the ring.
Vinci (real name Fabian Aichner) was released from his WWE contract in February 2025 and hasn’t wrestled since December 2024. He took a step back after his release but reemerged last month with his first social media post since being let go by WWE.
Now appearing on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Vinci opened up about his departure from WWE and his wrestling future. He took some time to recharge his batteries but is excited to start wrestling again.
“I just knew that after the call — because it was such a surreal feeling, man,” Vinci said about his release. “It was like, on the one hand, it sucked that that chapter was over because that’s what I wanted to do since I was 13 years old. But on the other hand, because it was such a roller coaster leading up to that, it felt freeing in a way.
“Like, I told a friend of mine, he asked me if I was okay. I said, ‘Yeah, man, I’m good.’ It’s almost like when you’re in school and school ends and you go on summer vacation. Just all the weight was off because at least I knew. At least I knew. There was no more thinking about it. And really, after that, all I did was, I just knew I was taking some time. Didn’t know how much it was. And, yeah, I didn’t think about how long exactly I was going to be out for. Just like, okay, I’m going to need some space, take some time for myself, figure myself out, and, yeah, enjoy life a little bit.”
Vinci said he was both surprised and not surprised by his release. When SmackDown went to three hours, he hoped there would be more time on the show for him, but WWE didn’t end up doing much with his repackaged singles character after splitting from Imperium.
There is no definitive timeline for when he’ll return to wrestling, but Vinci said he’s had some “really good talks” about it. He is staying ready and believes he has not reached his full potential as a wrestler yet.
“I feel like there’s way more things to do for me,” he said. “I feel like I haven’t reached my full potential yet. I feel like some people know what I can do, but I know I can do a lot more. And I just really, like, yeah, I wanted to take enough time to not come back and go in halfway. So I definitely work out, like I want to wrestle again. I feel like there’s many things still to do. Nothing set in stone yet, but when that opportunity comes, I know I’ll be ready for it.”
When he does return, the 35-year-old Vinci wants to focus on having fun and being authentic. He used to put too much pressure on himself and second guessed himself too often because he was so focused on accomplishing his dream of getting to WWE and succeeding there.
“Whereas nowadays, I just want to have fun, man,” Vinci said. “I want to go out there — because that’s what it’s supposed to be. It’s just fun.
“I want to have great matches. I want to be authentic. I want to tear it up with whoever I’m in the ring with. Just have a good time and enjoy the process. Live in the moment. And I know that’s when great things are going to happen.”
At Saturday’s Clash at the Castle pay-per-view, Giovanni Vinci rejoined Imperium and reunited with his stablemates Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Vinci had left the faction shortly before Gunther and Kaiser were called up to SmackDown this April.
Vinci and Kaiser brawled with Ridge Holland and Butch as Gunther’s Intercontinental title defense against Sheamus began. Officials broke up the brawl and Vinci, Kaiser, Holland, and Butch were sent to the back, leaving Gunther and Sheamus to go at it one-on-one with no one at ringside.
Despite rejoining Imperium, Vinci is still going by the name “Giovanni Vinci.” He previously went by his real name Fabian Aichner until being repackaged in NXT earlier this year.
Gunther retained the Intercontinental title against Sheamus at Clash at the Castle, pinning him after hitting a powerbomb and a lariat. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick near the finish, but his back gave out following all of the punishment he had taken in the hard-hitting match.
Vinci and Kaiser returned to ringside after the match to celebrate with Gunther. When they left, the crowd gave Sheamus a standing ovation.
The recent vignettes for Giovanni Vinci on NXT are for a returning Fabian Aichner.
In recent weeks, videos have been shown of a new star coming to NXT 2.0, highlighting someone that spoke Italian and boasted of being someone of high class. Tonight’s vignette revealed the character’s face for the first time, revealing Aichner. Vinci will be debuting next week on NXT.
Aichner is a former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion with the former Marcel Barthel, now Ludwig Kaiser on SmackDown. Together with Gunther, they were known as Imperium. However, shortly before Kaiser and Gunther were called to the main roster, Aichner abandoned Barthel during a match against the Creed Brothers on the April 5 edition of NXT, splitting up Imperium as Aichner did not appear with them on the main roster.
Signing with the WWE 2016, Aichner was one of the 32 participants to compete in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, where he was eliminated in the first round by Jack Gallagher. He eventually went on to join the Imperium and also made appearances for EVOLVE prior to their shutdown.
Kyle O’Reilly & Von Wagner are getting a Tag Team title shot at NXT WarGames.
NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) will defend their titles against O’Reilly & Wagner at WarGames this Sunday. The title bout was confirmed when O’Reilly & Wagner defeated Legado del Fantasma’s Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde in a number one contender’s match on NXT tonight.
This will be Imperium’s first title defense since becoming NXT Tag Team Champions. They won the titles from MSK in a Lumberjack-O’-Lantern match at Halloween Havoc last month.
Though O’Reilly was initially hesitant to form another tag team after the way that Undisputed Era broke up, his partnership with Wagner began to form following the premiere episode of NXT 2.0 this September. Wagner made his debut on that show and saved O’Reilly from an attack by Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland.
Here’s the updated card for NXT WarGames:
WarGames match: Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne & LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller & Tony D’Angelo
WarGames match: Io Shirai, Raquel Gonzalez, Cora Jade & Kay Lee Ray vs. Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne & Dakota Kai
Hair vs. hair match: Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong defends against Joe Gacy
NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) defend against Kyle O’Reilly & Von Wagner
Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel are the new champions, defeating MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) at tonight’s NXT Halloween Havoc event. After a back-and-forth competitive match, Aichner pinned Lee after he hit a brainbuster on Lee and after both he and Barthel laid out Lee with an Imperium bomb.
MSK held the NXT Tag Team titles for over 200 days, winning them in a three-way tag team match back at TakeOver: Stand and Deliver on April 7 of this year. This is Imperium’s second reign with the titles, winning them for the first time back in April of last year.
Two other titles changed hands on tonight’s NXT. Mandy Rose pinned Raquel Gonzalez to win the NXT Women’s Championship, and her Toxic Attraction stablemates Gigi Dolan and Jacey Jayne defeated Io Shirai & Zoey Stark and Persia Pirotta & Indi Hartwell in a three-way ladder ladder match to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles.
A new title match has been added to the lineup for NXT Halloween Havoc.
MSK will put their NXT Tag Team titles on the line against Imperium’s Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner at Halloween Havoc next Tuesday. The match will be a Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match.
On NXT two weeks ago, MSK retained their titles in a fatal four-way elimination match against The Grizzled Young Veterans, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, and Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams. Barthel & Aichner then attacked MSK after the match was over.
Barthel & Aichner were in action on NXT tonight, defeating The Creed Brothers. MSK attacked Barthel & Aichner after the match and told them that they’d see them at Halloween Havoc.
Tonight’s NXT also featured a match to determine the host for Halloween Havoc. LA Knight defeated Grayson Waller to be confirmed as the host of the show.
The updated card for Halloween Havoc is listed below:
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa defends against Bron Breakker
Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match: NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez defends against Mandy Rose
Scareway to Hell ladder match: NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Io Shirai & Zoey Stark defend against Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta and Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne
Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match: NXT Tag Team Champions MSK defend against Imperium’s Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner
A video highlighting Scott aired on NXT last week. He pointed out that he’s the only person to defeat Santos Escobar in WWE and said he’ll win the NXT Cruiserweight Championship from Escobar the next time they face off.
This will be the first time Imperium have wrestled since retaining their titles against Breezango on the June 17 episode of NXT. Indus Sher came out to ringside during that match, then Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch appeared and brawled with them as Imperium vs. Breezango was going on.
Tonight’s NXT will also feature Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher vs. Dexter Lumis to determine the next participant to qualify for the ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship at TakeOver XXX. NXT Champion Keith Lee will respond to Karrion Kross tonight, Johnny Gargano will face Roderick Strong, and new Robert Stone Brand member Mercedes Martinez will take on Shotzi Blackheart.
A Tag Team title match, Finn Balor in action, an appearance by Rhea Ripley, and a major announcement are set for tonight’s episode of NXT.
Matt Riddle and his temporary partner Timothy Thatcher are defending their NXT Tag Team titles against Imperium’s Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner tonight. After being attacked by them two weeks ago, Riddle & Thatcher accepted a challenge from Barthel & Aichner last week.
Balor is facing Cameron Grimes on tonight’s show. Last week, Balor issued a warning to whoever it was that attacked him in the NXT locker room. He also got into it with Grimes and dropped him with a slingblade and a double foot stomp after Grimes threatened to slap the taste out of his mouth.
We’ll hear from Ripley after she returned for the first time since WrestleMania 36 last week. WWE looks to be building an NXT Women’s Championship feud between Charlotte Flair, Ripley, and Io Shirai.
Plus, WWE has promised that there will be “a major announcement on tonight’s show regarding NXT.” The announcement will be made by Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
Our coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Third week in a row for the commentary team of Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix and Tom Phillips on the call. Safe to say this could be a permanent team
The show is opening with a tag team title match. They did more typical WWE-style ring introductions instead of dimming the lights like they tend to do for title match intros on NXT.
Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) defeated NXT Tag Team Champions Matt Riddle & Timothy Thatcher to win the titles
Barthel pinned Riddle to win the tag team titles after Thatcher walked out on Riddle during the match.
Thatcher and Barthel started the match with some slick grappling. Aichner tagged in, and Barthel began brawling with Riddle at ringside. That drew Riddle away from the corner when Thatcher was trying to make a tag, and Thatcher seemed annoyed Riddle wasn’t there for him.
Riddle eventually tagged in moments later. Barthel got his knees up when Riddle went for a senton, and Riddle looked in trouble as the show went to a commercial break. Imperium was working over Riddle when the show returned from break.
Riddle was trying to create separation when he gave Barthel a monkey flip that sent Barthel crashing into Thatcher, and Thatcher took a bump off the apron. Thatcher grew angry with the second miscommunication of the match. Thatcher walked out on Riddle, and the match became an impromptu handicap match.
Riddle was fighting off a double team, but he was outnumbered. Imperium executed the European Bomb (uppercut Doomsday Device), and Barthel covered Riddle to win the titles.
In a post-match interview backstage, Mckenzie Mitchell asked Thatcher about him walking out. Thatcher was cuting a heel promo on Riddle when Riddle confronted him. They got into a pull-apart brawl. The new has apparently worn off for the Newly-Bros.
Tegan Nox defeated Indi Hartwell
Nox pinned Hartwell after delivering the Shiniest Wizard.
Hartwell gained an early advantage with an aggressive start. Hartwell went for a springboard, but Nox caught her with a gozzle. Nox gave her a chokeslam, and Ranallo called her “Lady Kane”.
Nox with a cannonball in the corner, and she followed with a flying crossbody off the top. Nox delivered the Shiniest Wizard, and covered Hartwell for the pinfall.
After a recap of the angle from last week in the women’s title match, Rhea Ripley in a pre-tape promo said WrestleMania didn’t quite grow her way. She said Charlotte Flair winning the title sickened her. She mentioned Io Shirai not being able to get the job done in defeating Flair, and Ripley said she would be the person to bring the title back to NXT. If Ripley has to beat that into Shirai, then she said so be it.
Ripley warned Flair she isn’t finished with her. As a “stupid old man used to say,” Ripley said talking about Ric Flair, “we’ve only just begun.” Ripley said the NXT Women’s Championship belonged to her.
Riddle was backstage video chatting with Regal, and he said Regal had booked a match with Thatcher for later in the show. Thatcher burst into the room to attack Riddle. He grabbed a monitor and nailed Riddle in the back with it. Riddle was down selling as the scene ended.
Jake Atlas defeated Tony Nese in a Group A match in the Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament
Atlas pinned Nese after a cartwheel DDT. Atlas improved to 2-1 in the tournament, and Nese dropped to a winless record of 0-3.
Nese was playing spoiler as he came into the match with a losing record of 0-2. Byron Saxton interviewed Atlas before the match. Atlas said he hoped Drake Maverick wins to force a tie bewteen them, but Atlas then said he had to focus on his match. Atlas had to “take care of businees” in his match with Nese.
Atlas countered Nese with some flips and a cartwheel. Nese cut him off when Atlas began grandstanding. They traded strikes as Atlas fired up on Nese, and then Atlas hit a step-up enzuigiri for a near fall. Atlas bled slighty from a cut above his eyebrow.
Nese tripped up Atlas when he went climbed the turnbuckles. Nese was talking trash and paid for it was as Atlas knocked him off the turnbuckles. Atlas stood on the top buckle, and he did a cartwheel on the rope into a DDT. Atlas then covered Nese for the pinfall.
Kyle O’Reilly returned the show in the form of a Zoom call with the rest of his Undisputed Era stablemates. Thay joked around, and all four agreed that Roderick Strong should be the one to face Dexter Lumis.
A cool vignette with Karrion Kross & Scarlett hyped their characters. This was tremendous. They looked maniacal as heavy metal music played. They signaled out Tommaso Ciampa so that looks to be their first program.
Another good vignette profiled Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in an interview cut a cocky promo. Scott said if he can’t win a match in the tournament then you should quit wrestling altogether. That was a shot at his opponent’s losing record.
DX — Triple H & Shawn Michaels — were backstage at the Gorilla Position cutting a promo when Road Dogg popped up from behind the monitor. Michaels was wearing a bandana over his face, and Road Dogg was also wearing a face mask — but he took his off. That could be a first for WWE television with the face coverings during the pandemic. They were reminiscing about the anniversary of the first In Your House.
Road Dogg made a joke about pig crap that referenced the Arkansas Hog Pen Match that HHH had with Henry Godwin at an In Your House PPV in 1995. Anyway, since everyone is basically having to stay “in your house”, Triple H said on June 7th that NXT with present TakeOver: In Your House live on WWE Network.
And that was the big announcement.
Cameron Grimes defeated Finn Balor
Grimes pinned Balor after Damian Priest interfered using an expandable baton on Balor. Priest revealed himself as the attacker that had jumped Balor in a previous angle.
Grimes went for the Cave In double stomp at the outset, but Balor sidestepped. Balor was in control for a few moments until Grimes cut him off before a commercial break. Grimes had Balor grounded as the show returned from break.
Grimes dashed a hope spot with a lariat for a near fall. Grimes began to taunt Balor, and Balor fired up on him. Balor with a penalty kick running down the apron as Damien Priest walked onto the set. Balor hit Priest with a forearm smash as Priest climbed over the guardrail.
Balor used a slingblade on the floor, and he rolled Grimes back into the ring. As Balor was getting back into the ring, Priest broke out the expandable baton and hit Balor in the knee with it.
Grimes gave Balor the Cave In, and he covered him for the pinfall.
Priest after the match gave Balor his Reckoning finisher on a steal chair. He choked Balor with the legs of the chair as he indenified himself as the attacker from the angle a few weeks ago.
Editor’s Note: Due to a power outage, the rest of the live coverage is from Josh Nason.
Jack Gallagher (1-2) defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (1-2) in a Group B match in the Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament
Before the match, Scott was hit from behind by Nese and injuring his ribs as Scott was about to enter the ring, getting even for his earlier verbal jabs at Nese’s expense.
Gallagher immediately went on the attack, but could only muster two counts. Scott regained the momentum by ducking a Gallagher haymaker and landing some body shots. Gallagher later ran and flew in the air at Scott while his opponent was in the corner, taking a nasty bump on his head when Scott moved out of the way. Scott hit a beautiful House Call kick, but that could only garner two.
Gallagher caught Scott in a guillotine choke attempt as Scott charged him off the ropes, but Scott powered out of it temporarily, only to be caught by a Gallagher counter knee strike to a suplex attempt. Gallagher followed with a Judas Effect-style spinning elbow strike to pick up the pin and win.
With his first win in the tourney, Gallagher also eliminated Scott from contention in advancing to the finals. This was a fun, short match which sets up Scott vs. Nese in upcoming weeks.
Kayden Carter submitted Aliyah
Carter was working over Aliyah’s lags early looking for submissions. A shoving match led to Carter hitting a nice looking bottom rope dropkick, but her advantage didn’t last long as an aggressive Aliyah took control. As Aliyah was dominating, Robert Stone came out to get a closer look but that eventually led to her downfall.
As she was distracted in trying to impress Scott and adjusted herself on the top rople, Carter brought her down and started laying in chops. Carter eventually locked in her good looking spinning deathlock submission for the tap in a short, but entertaining, match.
Afterward, Aliyah tried to make things good with an unimpressed Stone who removed her hand from his arm and walked away.
Dinner With The Garganos
This was filmed at the Gargano’s dinner table as the two ate dinner and regaled over their recent achievements. The two would talk normally and then, the camera effects would change to a split personality deal to illustrate that they are heels. Gargano did get in a “five stars” reference for Candice LeRae. LeRae talked down Mia Yim and Kacy Catanzaro while Gargano had words for Keith Lee and what happens when fans suddenly don’t like you anymore. There was also the cup used in the Gargano-Ciampa “Final Heartbeat” match under glass on the table. This was ok, but the camera effects didn’t really work.
Matt Riddle pinned Timothy Thatcher
This was obviously set up from Thatcher walking away from Riddle at the top of the show, causing him to lose the NXT tag titles to Imperium.
The early part was a grappling fan’s dream as the two basically had a sparring session of sorts that also included strikes. Both men countered each other repeatedly until Riddle caught Thatcher with a kick that sent Thatcher to the outside which took us to break.
After the break, Thatcher had the advantage with an ankle lock as we were showing that Riddle got his foot stomped on while trying a gut wrench suplex, leading to Thatcher hitting a sweet belly to belly suplex off the ropes. We would later see the foot stomp happen again as Thatcher cut off Riddle’s mid-match surge of momentum.
Thatcher continued to work Riddle on the ground with a knee to the side followed by a chinlock. More grappling, slaps, and submissions attempts followed in this absoutely grueling match.
Thatcher hit a kick gear, but Riddle rallied back to hit a Bro To Sleep. Riddle followed with a Floating Bro that Thatcher reversed into a Fujiwa armbar that Riddle reversed into a powerbomb. Thatcher turned a Riddle taunt into an armbar and eventually a kneebar attempt that looked to be the end. But, while locked in the kneebar, Riddle worked to a position where he was able to pin Thatcher, using his weight against him.
Afterward, Thatcher attacked and repeatedly locked on the armbar again. Riddle kept tapping as Thatcher maniacally looked into the camera so, as Bryan Alvarez says, this feud must continue.
This was an excellent match. If you’re a fan of the Bloodsport events, and even if you like this style in general, you will love this match.
Next Week:
Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai
Roderick Strong vs. Dexter Lumis
Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tourney: Kushida vs. Drake Maverick
Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tourney: El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Akira Tozawa
Matt Riddle and his temporary partner Timothy Thatcher are set to defend their NXT Tag Team titles next week.
It was announced on tonight’s NXT that Imperium’s Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner will challenge for Riddle & Thatcher’s titles on NXT next Wednesday. The match was set up by Barthel & Aichner attacking Riddle & Thatcher during their Newly-Bros Show segment last week.
A promo where Barthel & Aichner issued a challenge to Riddle & Thatcher then aired on NXT tonight. Later in the show, Riddle & Thatcher did an interview accepting the challenge.
Thatcher made his NXT debut three weeks ago and was introduced as Riddle’s temporary partner. In their first title defense, Riddle & Thatcher retained against Undisputed Era’s Roderick Strong & Bobby Fish.
Riddle & Pete Dunne are the NXT Tag Team Champions, but Dunne is currently unable to travel and defend the titles due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Finn Balor vs. Cameron Grimes has also been announced for next week’s episode of NXT.
Balor appeared on tonight’s show and sent a warning to whoever it was that attacked him in the locker room two weeks ago. Grimes then defeated Denzel Dejournette with his Cave In double foot stomp. Grimes got on the microphone after and said he deserves more than he has now. He brought up Balor and said someone must have beat him to it by going after Balor first.
As Grimes was saying that he was going to slap the taste out of Balor’s mouth, Balor came back down and slid into the ring. He challenged Grimes to slap him. Grimes tried to back off at first, then went to attack him. Balor avoided it, gave Grimes a double foot stomp, and hit a slingblade.
Balor then looked into the camera and said there’s a snake hiding in the long grass backstage. Balor promised that he’ll find them and said the best way to kill a snake is to chop off its head.
Finn Balor is set to face off with another one of WALTER’s Imperium stablemates.
WWE has announced that Balor vs. Fabian Aichner will take place on NXT this Wednesday. Balor’s feud with WALTER and Imperium kicked off with an angle where he was attacked by Marcel Barthel and Aichner in February, with them telling Balor that WALTER sends his regards.
Balor defeated Imperium’s Alexander Wolfe on an NXT UK episode last month.
On NXT last week, a video aired where Balor said that — while he and WALTER aren’t able to make their next moves right now — this time will pass. Balor declared that WALTER’s NXT United Kingdom Championship reign is on borrowed time.
WWE following up on Charlotte Flair’s NXT Women’s Championship win from WrestleMania 36 is also set for NXT this Wednesday. NXT’s interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament will begin on the episode as well.
Charlotte defeated Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania to win the NXT Women’s title. Io Shirai is the number one contender to the championship after winning a six-way ladder match on NXT last week.
Group A for the interim NXT Cruiserweight title tournament has Kushida, Drake Maverick, Tony Nese, and Jake Atlas, while Group B has Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa, and Jack Gallagher. Each participant will face the other wrestlers in their group once, and the wrestler with the best record from each group will advance to the finals.
Miles, who is an Army veteran and former University of Maryland football player, was making his NXT debut here and cut a promo before the match. Grimes won quickly with a double stomp.
– Bronson Reed defeated Austin Theory
This was also Theory’s NXT debut. He took the mic before the match and ran down the previous match and Miles for not getting the job done.
They had a good back-and-forth match with some impressive moments by both. Theory hit a great dropkick and standing moonsault. Reed hit his big splash from the top to win it.
– The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) defeated The Outliers (Dorian Mak & Riddick Moss) w/ Robert Stone
– Matt Riddle defeated Jeet Rama
They threw each other around until Riddle hit the Bro Derek to win it.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Danny Burch in a British Rounds match
This was the first British Rounds match in NXT US history.
Ohno explained the rules and they had the basketball scoreboard active for this. We had six rounds that were three minutes each. There was a 30-second break between each round. To win the match, a wrestler must earn two pinfalls or two submissions (or one of each) or win via knockout. If none of that happens after six rounds, the wrestler with the most falls is the winner.
It went to the sixth round before Ohno scored the win. A very unique match for the Florida loop that did have a lot of action along with the suspense.
– Io Shirai defeated Mia Yim
Physical match that will translate well to TV when these two go at it again. They each escaped the other’s finishers, then Shirai was able to score a pin deep in the match.
– Imperium (WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) defeated The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake, Steve Cutler & Jackson Ryker)
Great physical and violent action here, with it building to WALTER facing off with Ryker. It was teased early but didn’t happen until the end when they exchanged big strikes and moves. WALTER destroyed Blake with a powerbomb to get the pin. This was a special one.
