Brian Kendrick will be out of action for a bit after suffering a broken nose and orbital bone on Monday night.
Kendrick was accidentally hit in the face by a GTS from Hideo Itami at the end of their match on Raw. WWE put out a video before SmackDown noting that Kendrick had been injured, with Dr. Chris Amann telling WWE.com that a CT scan confirmed Kendrick suffered “an orbital wall fracture and a minimally displaced nasal bridge fracture.” Amann said that it appears Kendrick won’t need surgery since the orbital fracture didn’t cause any muscle or nerve entrapment when it penetrated the maxillary sinus.
No timetable for Kendrick’s return was given in the article, though Nigel McGuinness said Kendrick would be out for two months on 205 Live last night.
Itami faced Jack Gallagher (Kendrick’s tag team partner) last night and won by submission instead of using the GTS. The match against Kendrick was Itami’s third since being called up to the cruiserweight division.
Though he was scheduled to debut on 205 Live this week, Hideo Itami ended up arriving on the WWE main roster one night earlier.
Itami debuted on Raw tonight and made the save for Finn Balor after his handicap match against Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas. The Miztourage got disqualified and were beating down Balor before Itami came out, and Itami & Balor then faced Axel & Dallas in a tag team match. Itami pinned Axel after hitting the GTS.
Balor similarly made his NXT debut in 2014 by helping Itami even the odds against The Ascension. While Itami interacted with non-cruiserweights in his first match on Raw, it was made clear that he’ll still be on 205 Live tomorrow and will be part of the cruiserweight division.
As he usually does when wrestlers from NXT get called up, Triple H posted a picture with Itami after tonight’s match. He wrote, “It’s been a long, hard road full of setbacks and adversity…which makes it even better to welcome @HideoItami to #205Live. #GTS #WeAreNXT”
Itami made his last appearance for NXT at a house show in Largo, Florida this past Saturday night. He defeated Fabian Aichner in the main event, then the locker room emptied and raised Itami on their shoulders ahead of his debut.
With approximately 300 people in attendance, NXT’s last house show in Florida for 2017 took place in Largo last night. The show saw Hideo Itami say goodbye to NXT ahead of his call-up to the cruiserweight division.
– Danny Burch defeated Dan Matha
– Shayna Baszler defeated Jessie Elaban
– Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Cezar Bononi
– Adrian Jaoude defeated Shane Thorne
– The Authors of Pain defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
After Itami won, the locker room came out to raise him on their shoulders as this was his final appearance for NXT before joining the cruiserweight division and debuting on Tuesday’s episode of 205 Live.
Hideo Itami will be arriving on 205 Live next Tuesday.
After a few weeks of hype videos, one final video was shown last night and announced that Itami would be making his debut next week. On commentary, Nigel McGuinness called Itami one of the most intimidating opponents that he’s ever faced.
Itami has been wrestling on NXT house shows while waiting to debut on 205 Live, but he hasn’t appeared on television since losing to Kassius Ohno in a no disqualification match that aired in September.
Though Itami is getting called up to the cruiserweight division, it won’t be the first time he’s wrestled on the main roster. He was previously included as a participant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 in 2015 after signing with WWE the year prior.
Before Itami arrives on 205 Live, there will be a number one contender’s match between Cedric Alexander and Drew Gulak on Monday’s episode of Raw to decide the next challenger for Enzo Amore’s Cruiserweight Championship.
The cruiserweight division is about to get a boost in the form of an arrival from NXT.
Following the call-ups of Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan for WWE’s women’s divisions over the last two days, it was revealed that Hideo Itami would be coming to 205 Live soon. That was announced in a video package tonight, with Nigel McGuinness hyping up Itami’s addition before it aired. No exact date was announced for when Itami would be debuting on the show.
Itami joining the cruiserweight division had been anticipated for a couple of weeks following a report from PWInsider. Itami wasn’t featured on the two most recent sets of NXT television tapings and lost a no DQ match to Kassius Ohno in his last appearance on TV.
After signing with WWE in 2014, Itami’s career has been regularly hindered by injuries. He returned from a neck injury in March, later challenging for the NXT Championship against Bobby Roode at TakeOver: Chicago and facing Aleister Black at TakeOver: Brooklyn.
Approximately 300 people were in attendance last night.
– No Way Jose defeated Jason
Jose hit the pop-up punch to win and then celebrated in the crowd with a conga line.
– Mandy Rose defeated Aliyah
After a back-and-forth match, Rose won with the Angel’s Wings.
– TM61 defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
This was a good one, with TM61 using the Thunder Valley Slam for the finish. Lorcan was on fire, doing a dive to the outside, hitting running uppercuts, and bringing the fight at all turns.
– Kona Reeves (w/ Ming) defeated Rocky
Rocky, who is another one of WWE’s Chinese recruits, was making his in-ring debut. Reeves won after a distraction by Ming.
– Buddy Murphy cut an in-ring promo, thanking us for absolutely nothing. Before he could continue, Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner, and Christopher Dijak interrupted and offered him a chance to join them. SAnitY then arrived and challenged them to a match.
– SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) defeated Buddy Murphy, Fabian Aichner & Christopher Dijak (w/ Marcel Barthel)
Dain took the hot tag at the end and ran wild, destroying everyone and pinning Dijak.
– Dan Matha defeated Raul Mendoza
Mendoza got a few hope spots, but Matha was too much for him here.
– Liv Morgan defeated Sonya Deville
Morgan hit a side codebreaker to win.
– Johnny Gargano defeated Hideo Itami
They had a good match here. Gargano countered the GTS into the Gargano Escape for the submission victory.
There were approximately 300 people in attendance tonight.
– No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves (w/ Ming)
Jose hit a pop-up punch to win it.
– Sarah Logan defeated Billie Kay
A roll-up stole the win from Kay.
– Chad Lail defeated Donovan Dijak
Dijak got a big reaction, but Lail won with a spike DDT.
– Nikki Cross defeated Liv Morgan
Cross won with a fisherman’s neckbreaker.
– The Undisputed Era defeated Heavy Machinery & Kassius Ohno
This was a wild match, ending when Cole pinned Ohno after a shining wizard. The match went off the rails after a fan got involved and Kyle O’Reilly had to kick him before security caught up to the fan.
– The Street Profits defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
Montez Ford got the pin with a frog splash.
– Adrian Jaoude defeated Fabian Aichner
Jaoude submitted Aichner with an armbar. Jaoude has a new look with a shaved head, black belt, and white karate gear.
– The Street Profits defeated Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
The crowd was pretty into the Street Profits here. They were a good opening act, going into the crowd after an getting a kid celebrating her birthday to do their dance. Angelo Dawkins didn’t do much, but Montez Ford seems to be a good worker.
– Lars Sullivan defeated Oney Lorcan
People were super into Lorcan and didn’t really know Sullivan. By the end, they were impressed with Sullivan and his power. There was one point in the match where Lorcan went for a dive outside, but Sullivan caught him and threw him into the ring post. Sullivan won with a slam variation.
– Kairi Sane & Dakota Kai defeated Peyton Royce & Billie Kay
Sane was treated like a star. She hit her elbow drop for the win, which was cool to see live.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Roderick Strong
The crowd was really into this and the near falls it had. It was an excellent match, with Almas winning with his finisher.
– The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) and SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) went to a no contest
Undisputed Era got a huge pop, especially for Adam Cole. He came across as a mega star and got multiple “Adam Cole Bay-Bay!” chants. SAnitY also had the crowd behind them at times.
– Johnny Gargano defeated Raul Mendoza
Gargano got a huge pop and won with the Gargano Escape. People had no clue who Mendoza was, but he won them over with some impressive offense.
– Sonya Deville defeated Liv Morgan
There wasn’t much to this, though Deville has upside as a wrestler.
– NXT Champion Drew McIntyre defeated Hideo Itami to retain his title
McIntyre retained with the Claymore. The match was really good and went about 16-17 minutes. Itami hit the GTS at one point, but McIntyre ended up on the outside.
Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly came down to lay waste to McIntyre, which brought out Gargano, Lorcan, and the Street Profits. Undisputed Era got the better of them until SAnitY came down and helped the faces clean house, with McIntyre hitting the Claymore on Cole. The crowd was hot for this.
– Sarah Logan and Ruby Riot beat Sonia Deville and Mandy Rose
Great match. Mandy did Omega style running knees during the match. Finish looked weak (Riot with an enzuigiri to Rose), but a amazingly great match.
– Lars Sullivan beat Oney Lorcan
Five minute match, David and Goliath style. Lars won with his choke slam variant.
– Killian Dane beat Kassius Ohno
Dane won with the Vader bomb. Good match, went about 8-10 minutes.
– NXT Women’s champion Asuka beat Ember Moon and Nikki Cross in a Triple Threat match to retain her title
Lots of near falls and impressive, impactive moves. Went about 20 minutes
William Regal came out during intermission to thank the fans for attending. No Way Jose came out and danced with Regal, referee Drake Wuertz, and the ring announcer.
– Sanity (Eric Young/Alexander Wolfe) beat Authors Of Pain by DQ in an NXT tag title match
Good heat the entire match. EY did an elbow drop for a near fall and Akim pulled the ref out of the ring for the DQ.
– Johnny Gargano beat Hideo Itami
Gargano submitted Itami with the STF . Incredible match. Itami played full heel here, and got incredible heat. Went about 20-23 minutes
– NXT Champion Bobby Roode, Tino Sabatelli, and Riddick Moss beat Drew McIntyre, Roderick Strong and Aleister Black
Really good main event. This gave Moss and Tino a chance to work a lot with the three faces. Roode pinned Drew with a schoolboy. After the match, Drew challenged the three heels to a Sacramento Street Fight. The heels ran to the ring but Roode stopped and the faces beat up Tino and Moss.
Another match is official for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
It was announced today that Aleister Black would be facing Hideo Itami at the special. The match was set up on last night’s episode of NXT TV after Itami demanded respect and tried to take over the ring before Black’s match with Kyle O’Reilly, with Black then laying out Itami with Black Mass when he tried to attack him from behind.
WWE then uploaded video of a post-show angle where Black and Itami brawled in the parking lot after Itami tried to ambush him. Itami had been feuding with Kassius Ohno before the program with Black began.
Bobby Roode defending his NXT Championship against Drew McIntyre, Ember Moon challenging Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship, and The Authors of Pain putting their tag titles on the line against SAnitY (Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe) are also official for TakeOver: Brooklyn at the Barclays Center on August 19th.
Though it hasn’t been revealed on TV yet, Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas is set for TakeOver as well.
