This was a totally different match than we are used to in Florida. They hit huge moves, a spinning heel kick by Martinez looked great, and the finish saw Martinez hit a destroyer on Riddle — who staggered in to the buckles. With his last bit of energy, Riddle hit a knee strike and collapsed on Martinez for the three.
– Mia Yim & Keith Lee defeated Chelsea Green & Riddick Moss
Great mix of comedy and action. Yim was all over the place with a big dive to the outside and hit a tilt-a-whirl DDT on Moss before Lee hit the Spirit Bomb for the three count.
– Deonna Purrazzo defeated Xia Li
Purrazzo has a new look with a purple hair tint. She submitted Li with a Fujiwara armbar.
– EC3 & Heavy Machinery defeated The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake, Steve Cutler & Jaxson Ryker)
The three members of NXT’s graduating class finished off the Forgotten Sons and then thanked us all for supporting them. EC3 made the joke that you could see Heavy Machinery soon — tomorrow in Orlando — to a good laugh. The three went around ringside celebrating to close the show.
With a promise to change things up, WWE announced tonight that five NXT superstars are being called up to the main roster in the near future.
During Raw, it was announced that the following five wrestlers would be called up. What brand or when exactly they’ll debut isn’t known:
Lacey Evans, who has feuded with Kairi Sane in the past on NXT television and had recently been scoring wins against the likes of Candice LeRae and Dakota Kai.
Heavy Machinery, the team of Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovich who have been wrestling together as a unit since 2016. They’ve wrestled against the likes of War Raiders, Authors of Pain, TM-61 and the Undisputed Era.
Nikki Cross, who used to be affiliated with Sanity before they were called up to SmackDown earlier this year. She is coming off a feud against Bianca Belair.
EC3, who has competed for the NXT North American title in the past and is coming off a feud against Lars Sullivan. He was formerly known as Derrick Bateman during his last run with the WWE that ended in 2013.
These call-ups are in addition to Lars Sullivan, whose vignettes have been airing since Survivor Series.
Mendoza ran wild on both Barthel and Aichner after a hot tag before winning with a driver.
– Punishment Martinez defeated Rick Boog
The South of Heaven chokeslam got Martinez the win.
– Mia Yim defeated Jessamyn Duke
Yim won with a low angle Seoul Food.
– Aleister Black defeated Jaxson Ryker by DQ
Johnny Gargano caused the disqualification. Black recovered and hit the Black Mass on Ryker.
– Matt Riddle defeated Kassius Ohno
Great action here, with a roll-up finish to leave more out there for the future. Riddle hit a delayed German suplex during the match, Ohno used a cyclone kick, and they had strike exchanges. These two are great together.
– Lacey Lane defeated Reina Gonzalez
Lane hit a flatliner to win a hard-fought match.
– Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong) defeated Otis Dozovic, Tucker Knight, Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan
There was comedy early with Heavy Machinery having their way with Undisputed. An airplane spin with jump rope action was a sight to see.
Undisputed scored the win and continued their beatdown before being run off so the good guys could celebrate with the crowd to close the show.
Babatunde ran wild and slammed Jaoude for the win.
– Matt Riddle defeated Luke Menzies
Menzies tried to slow the pace with holds and an abdominal stretch, Riddle was able to line up a knee strike to put him down.
– EC3 defeated Mansoor
EC3 got the victory after hitting the One Percenter.
– Mia Yim & Io Shirai defeated Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir by DQ
Baszler was originally set to face Yim one-on-one but wasn’t medically cleared after being cut last night in Ocala. She said her girls were ready though, and they surrounded the ring and jumped Yim before Shirai made the save and ran wild.
Yim and Shirai had the advantage until Baszler caused the disqualification. After the match, Yim challenged the Horsewomen for a trios match at the next Largo show.
– Heavy Machinery & Keith Lee defeated Kona Reeves & The Mighty
They did a lot of taunting and comedy stalling early. The crowd loved Heavy Machinery and Lee throughout. Otis Dozovic hit the caterpillar and Lee helped Tucker Knight set up the Trash Compactor for the finish.
Following the match, Lee even did the caterpillar as the crowd celebrated.
Approximately 300 people were in attendance as NXT came to Daytona last night.
– Raul Mendoza won a battle royal
Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega cut a promo and made a championship match against Mendoza for Saturday’s show in Orlando.
– The Street Profits defeated The Ealy Brothers
– Dakota Kai defeated Reina Gonzalez
– No Way Jose defeated Buddy Murphy
– Big Boa defeated Chad Lail
– Killian Dain defeated Babatunde Aiyegbusi
– Shayna Baszler defeated Rhea Ripley
– NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Heavy Machinery
Adam Cole caused a distraction to allow The Undisputed Era to get the win. They attacked Heavy Machinery after the match until Johnny Gargano comes out to help Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic.
A six-man tag with Cole, Fish & O’Reilly vs. Gargano & Heavy Machinery is set for Saturday.
The Big News: After defeating Heavy Machinery in the main event, The Authors of Pain were confronted by an unlikely set of new challengers: SAnitY.
The Medium News: Speaking of SAnitY, Killian Dain will face Drew McIntyre next week, with the winner facing Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Bobby Fish debuted in a losing effort against Aleister Black.
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The show began with an excellent video package recapping the breakup of DIY back at NXT TakeOver: Chicago. This segued to the announcers opening the show and recapping last week where Roderick Strong lost his NXT Championship match. We will be joined by the NXT Champion, Bobby Roode tonight.
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Aleister Black defeated Bobby Fish
The former Tommy End kicked the show off tonight, as he was here to go one-on-one with the debuting former ROH TV and Tag Team Champion, Bobby Fish. Fish got a decent reaction, but nothing in the same league as some of the other debuts we’ve had over the years.
Fish was allowed to look competitive in this match, as it went through a commercial break. This was one of those matches where it was painfully obvious that Percy Watson is the sore thumb at the announce table. Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness were just reciting factoids about Fish off the top of their heads, while Watson was nervously reading them off his notes.
Anyway, despite the big debut, no one believed Fish was going to win this one, but they definitely tried hard enough to make you think otherwise. The fans woke up for Black’s comeback, specifically his Asai moonsault and a jumping knee to Fish. Black then picked up the win with Black Mass.
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Hideo Itami and Kassius Ohno argued backstage after their match last week, with Itami blaming Ohno and “people like Ohno” for their loss to SAnitY. Ohno said he went out of his way to try to get Itami out of the funk he’s been in since Chicago, but no more.
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The Street Profits did a series of Snapchat videos to build to their NXT debut soon.
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Two weeks ago, Kayla Braxton tried to interview Velveteen Dream while he was leaving the arena. Dream refused to be interviewed and told Braxton to figure something else out.
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Vanessa Borne defeated Jayme Hachey in a Mae Young Classic qualifying match
Who will join the group of 32 in the Mae Young Classic tournament? Will it be Vanessa Borne or Jayme Hachey? Borne previously competed under her real name of Danielle Kamela and Hachey is the former Jayme Jameson.
These two had a mid-level NXT women’s match. It was not remarkable by any means, but not offensive either. Borne won with a spinning suplex.
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Drew McIntyre was leaving after NXT last week when he was attacked by Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain. Wolfe yelled “tick tock” and said that McIntyre’s time as being undefeated is running out.
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Back in Mr. Regal’s office, he was having a meeting with NXT Champion Bobby Roode. Regal mentioned both Killian Dain and Drew McIntyre. Roode said he could beat both of them any day of the week, but recommended McIntyre wrestle Dain and see what happens. He was then offended that Mr. Regal would imply that Roode would want the two of them to take each other out.
Regal ended up making that match for next week, between Dain and McIntyre and the winner will challenge Roode next month at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
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For the first time in 53 days, Johnny Gargano returned to NXT. He came to the ring to the loudest ovation of the night. When the music ended the crowd erupted into chants of “Johnny Wrestling.”
Gargano said he missed that and said the fans and the ring are irreplaceable. He used to be excited when he heard his music because the fans would see something special, but now all he can think of was what happened in Chicago.
He has spent all these days going over everything in his head, but he will never understand what happened. However, he is not here to dwell on the past, but he is here to look towards the future. He can’t control what happened, but he is here and is in front of all these people.
He said that no matter what, he wanted to be at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. He said he needs to be Johnny Gargano again, but he also needs to be Johnny Wrestling. The promo ended with what I presume is his new theme song, as he came out to the DIY theme.
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Ember Moon will wrestle Ruby Riot next week.
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NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain defeated Heavy Machinery to retain their titles
The Authors of Pain debuted 13 months ago and since then they have never lost a single match in NXT. Heavy Machinery re-debuted four months ago and, likewise, have never lost a single match. Streaks are about to end.
This match was everything it was promised to be. It was four 300-pounders slugging it out in their quest for championship gold. The first big spot of the match was Rezar being knocked off his feet by his challengers, which led to a four-way face-off and the commercial break.
Back from commercial, the champions cut off Tucker Knight for the heat, but a missed middle rope move by Rezar led to Otis Dozovic getting the hot tag. It broke down into a four-way, as Dozovic and Knight suplexed and slammed AOP around with such ease. They beat on the champs in a way that no one ever has before.
Heavy Machinery went for The Compactor on Akam, but Rezar broke it up with a boot to Knight’s face. That was the final swing of momentum, as the Authors of Pain quickly put Dozovic away with The Last Chapter.
Can any team stop the Authors of Pain? Well…if two can’t stop them, maybe three can. SAnitY came out and stood on the ramp as papers fell from the ceiling. The crowd didn’t know what to make of it, but the announcers sold it as pages from Paul Ellering’s book that he reads from.
So, that does it for this week. Thank you for reading, and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
– Triple H introduced Mauro Ranallo as the new commentator before the show.
– Bianca BelAir defeated Aliyah in a Mae Young Classic qualifying match
Female referee Jessika worked this match. BelAir (previously Bianca Blair) got a huge reaction instantly for smacking Aliyah with her braided hair. BelAir won with a spear.
– Velveteen Dream defeated HoHo Lun
Velveteen Dream used a flying elbow to get the victory.
– Hideo Itami vs. Oney Lorcan was stopped
Lorcan ran in to fight and caught Itami with a shot, then the referee backed Lorcan away and we saw that Itami was bleeding. The referee and doctors wiped him down and waved the match off.
– Vanessa Bourne defeated Jayme Hachey in a Mae Young Classic qualifying match
Bourne was formerly known as Danielle Kamela and Hachey was Jayme Jameson. This was a quick match that Bourne won to advance to the Mae Young Classic.
– Johnny Gargano made his return to Full Sail and talked about what Tommaso Ciampa did to him. He said that he’s going to get back to wrestling and he has to be at TakeOver: Brooklyn.
– Hideo Itami defeated Oney Lorcan
The match that they were supposed to have earlier got re-taped here. Itami hit a GTS to win one of the best sprints in recent memory. It had great action, then Itami called out Kassius Ohno to talk after the match. Before they could, SAnitY destroyed them both.
– No Way Jose defeated Cezar Bononi
Jose got the victory with his pop-up knockout punch. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Thea Trinidad showed up at ringside, with Almas jumping Bononi and destroying him. He then pointed down Jose before bailing out of the ring.
– Ember Moon defeated Ruby Riot
The crowd was hot for this one, with them doing dueling chants early. Riot hit a top rope rana for a close near fall, but Moon ended up winning with The Eclipse. The crowd was into this one the whole time.
SAnitY worked over Itami throughout. The story was that Ohno was out of position for the tag whenever Itami needed him, so Itami seemed weary of him. Dain hit a running crossbody splash on Itami for the finish. Ohno was frustrated as he looked down Itami after the match. They both then made their way to the back.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Danny Burch
Lorcan submitted Burch with a single-leg crab to win another physical match. Burch wanted a rematch in the future and Lorcan seemed to agree.
– NXT Champion Bobby Roode defeated Roderick Strong to retain his title
The crowd was hot for this one as well. Strong had the early advantage, including when they were fighting outside of the ring. Roode ended up cutting him off and started working over the knee viciously. Strong fired up and fought valiantly, even kicking out of the Glorious DDT.
Strong hit a double knee backbreaker for the visual pin, but Roode had his foot under the ropes so the match continued. Roode then retained after hitting his DDT in the middle. This was a match worthy of a TakeOver main event and it told a great story with Strong’s fiancee at ringside. Strong sat in the corner devastated by the loss.
– Aleister Black defeated Bobby Fish
Ring announcer Mike Rome announced Fish as making his NXT debut and he received a full entrance. The crowd was quiet early and were unsure how to react until Black hit Black Mass for the victory.
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain (w/ Paul Ellering) defeated Heavy Machinery to retain their titles
As expected, they had a physical match. The audience was behind Heavy Machinery with a “Steaks and Weights” chant, but the champions retained with their double team stand-up lariat.
SAnitY’s music hit after the match and they made their way to the ramp and had a staredown with AoP.
– Jeet Rama defeated Johnny Vandal
Rama won this one very quickly.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Killian Dain in a number one contender’s match
Dain had the advantage early. He wore his opponent down until McIntyre fired up and hit the Claymore Kick to win. He will now face Roode for the title in Brooklyn.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Nikki Cross in a last woman standing match to retain her title
This had all types of brutality, with suplexes on chairs, Asuka putting Cross in a trash can and kicking it in, and more. Cross hit Asuka with repeated swinging neckbreakers, though they both kept making the ten count and continuing. Asuka hit four German suplexes in a row and a spin kick, but Cross kept getting up.
The brawl went out of the ringside area and made its way to the production and commentary side. Asuka suplexed Cross off of a ladder and through the commentary table. The champion made the 10 count and retained her title.
Approximately 200 people were in attendance tonight.
– The Street Prophets (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated The Ealy Brothers
Ford got great height on a frog splash to put away the much larger Ealys. The crowd loves the Street Prophets.
– Cezar Bononi defeated Demitrius Bronson
A gutwrench suplex by Bononi ended this one.
– Lana (w/ Mary Kate) defeated Sarah Bridges
Mary Kate came out before the match and spoke in a Russian accent while introducing Lana. The crowd was split between Lana and Bridges in this one. Lana won with her fisherman spinebuster.
– Sawyer Fulton defeated Brennan Williams
Fulton won his first match back from injury by choking out Williams with a submission.
– Gran Metalik defeated Drew Gulak
As a continuation of Gulak’s 205 Live persona, he was adamant to keep this match on the mat. That worked well because Metalik simply outwrestled Gulak and won with a roll through sit-out pinning combination.
– Buddy Murphy defeated Steve Cutler
Murphy continues to have good matches anywhere he is on the card. He won with a great looking top rope double knee strike.
– Liv Morgan defeated Kimberly Frankele
Morgan did a back bridging roll-up pin to win this one after reversing a roll-up by Frankele.
– Roderick Strong & Heavy Machinery defeated SAnitY
This had real good action all around, with SAnitY keeping the advantage most of the way through. Strong took the hot tag and ran wild, winning it with his suplex back cracker to send everyone home happy.
Tonight’s show was in front of a sold-out crowd of 350 people.
– Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins defeated The Ealy Brothers
This match had a lot of banter, with the twins calling their opponents “lightweights” to get them riled up. Ford & Dawkins used a double team elevated DDT for the win.
– Steve Cutler defeated Brennan Williams
Cutler was running down everyone for being cowards before the match. Williams stood up for the people and hit a big back drop suplex. This was a physical match that Cutler won with a stomp off the middle turnbuckle.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Kishan Raftaar
A straight jacket Camel Clutch got the submission win for Lorcan.
– Victoria Gonzalez cut an in-ring promo where she talked about checking goals off her list. The crowd was receptive to her.
– Ember Moon & Daria Berenato defeated Heidi Lovelace & Mandy Rose
Very good action here. Moon changed it up and finished this with a sidewalk slam.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Buddy Murphy
Murphy always delivers on live events, and Kassius is Kassius, so this was TV worthy for sure. Ohno hit his Death By Elbow out of the corner for the victory.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated No Way Jose
This had comedy early until Almas took advantage late and hit the hammerlock DDT to win.
– Roderick Strong defeated Elias Samson
Good match. Strong won with the Sick Kick.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, Tye Dillinger & Heavy Machinery defeated SAnitY in an eight-person mixed tag
Incredible atmosphere, with a huge reaction for Dillinger. The big build ups were for the women to face off and for Young vs. Dillinger. Great stuff, and the crowd was into everything. Dillinger hit the Tye Breaker on Young, then Asuka submitted Cross with the Asuka Lock to send everyone home happy.
NXT was in Jacksonville, Florida last night in front of approximately 300 people.
– Ember Moon and Aliyah tied in a women’s battle royal
The other entrants were Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Daria Berenato, Sarah Bridges, Mandy Rose, Heidi Lovelace, Liv Morgan, Macey Estrella, and the debuting Victoria Gonzalez — a 6-foot-1 former Texas independent wrestler who auditioned for the most recent Tough Enough.
The finish was to set up another match later in the show as Cross, who was eliminated, returned to toss both Aliyah and Ember Moon over at the same time.
– Aleister Black defeated Wesley Blake
Flying knee by Black to win a good match. Black is now wearing combat shorts, which is a new look for him.
– Steve Cutler defeated Cezar Bononi
Cutler hit a second rope stomp to get the win.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Kona Reeves
This was another good match. Lorcan won with the running blockbuster.
The crowd is loving Ford and Dawkins lately on the Florida loop. This was an entertaining and athletic match.
– Roderick Strong defeated Patrick Clark
Sick Kick by Strong for the win.
– Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss cut a promo in the ring where the crowd booed them down after being insulted. They got a lot of heat.
– Ember Moon defeated Aliyah
Moon hit her top rope stunner for the victory. Aliyah has been improving quite a bit lately.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & Heavy Machinery defeated Elias Samson & The Revival
This had all of the entertainment and work you’d expect from these men in a main event. Heavy Machinery played along with Nakamura’s lead. Revival used all their tactics and The Drifter was despised, of course.
Nakamura hit a Kinshasa on Samson for the official win while Machinery also had Revival pinned at the same time. The winners celebrated to send the crowd home happy with a YeaOh.
NXT was in Tampa tonight to close out the year on the Florida loop in front of 250 people.
– Adrian Jaoude defeated Steve Cutler
Jaoude hit the Perfect Plex to get the three.
– Nikki Cross defeated Macey Estrella with a spinning neckbreaker.
– Gran Metalik defeated Kona Reeves
Reeves had Metalik on his shoulders for a Samoan drop but it was countered into a DDT for the win.
– Dan Matha cut an in-ring promo issuing a challenge to Roderick Strong which was answered.
– Roderick Strong defeated Dan Matha
Matha had control all through the match until Strong low bridged him on the ropes, did a flurry of running kicks, and finally hit the sick kick to get the win to a big reaction. Very good match.
– The Authors of Pain defeated Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford
A double team lariat scored the win for the AoP.
– Daria Berenato defeated Mandy Rose
Good back and forth match as these two have wrestled a lot lately. Berenato won this one with a spinebuster.
– SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe & Big Damo) w/ Eric Young and Nikki Cross defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight)
Cross ran distraction allowing Damo to get the pin after their double team finisher. SAnitY then laid a beating on Heavy Machinery until Roderick Strong made the save to send everyone home happy.
NXT was in Winter Haven, FL tonight in front of approximately 250 people.
– Angelo Dawkins & Kenneth Crawford defeated The Bollywood Boyz
Dawkins punched one of the Sihra brothers as a cheap shot to allow Crawford to steal a pin.
– Daria Berenato defeated Mandy Rose
A spinebuster got the win for Berenato.
– Steve Cutler defeated Adrian Jaoude
Cutler won with a new front slam finish.
– TJ Perkins defeated Gran Metalik
Perkins won with the kneebar in a good match.
– Lana defeated Sarah Bridges
This was a shorter match than last night. Lana won with her fisherwoman sit-out spinebuster.
– Cedric Alexander defeated Dan Matha
This was a big vs. small match as Matha is a large man. Alexander kept fighting off all of Matha’s power moves and was finally able to hit his lumbar check for the impressive victory. He was interviewed after the match and proclaimed he’s coming for Rich Swann’s cruiserweight title.
– SAnitY (Eric Young & Big Damo) w/ Alexander Wolfe and Nikki Cross defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight)
Cross and Wolfe ran distractions when possible. Dozovic was going for a Vader bomb when Cross distracted him allowing Young to get his feet on the ropes to steal the win in a physical match. Heavy Machinery cleared house after to send everyone home happy.
