The crowd was strongly behind Strong throughout the match and chanted his name multiple times. Velveteen Dream wore a Chicago Cubs shirt to the ring to draw heat. The crowd was very engaged, with this being a good way to start the card. There was a quick pace to the match and both wrestlers were very crisp.
– Ruby Riot & Liv Morgan defeated Sonya Deville & Bianca Belair
There wasn’t much of a response for Deville or Belair, though Morgan got a decent pop and Riot was the clear crowd favorite. They had a standard tag match, with the heels cornering Morgan until she made a hot tag to Riot. Riot pinned Belair to get the victory.
– Johnny Gargano defeated Killian Dain
Gargano was obviously hugely over, with the crowd chanting “Johnny Wrestling” for him on multiple occasions. Dain didn’t draw much heat but did well in playing the part of the intimidating heel. They had a good match, though the crowd was desperate for Gargano to pull off more high-risk moves.
– Aleister Black defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Black got a huge pop during his entrance. The match had a lot of hard striking from Black and Almas playing his arrogant heel persona. The audience was quieter for this than the first two singles matches, but they popped hard for Black doing his moonsault from the middle rope. He eventually hit Black Mass to win.
– SAnitY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) defeated Heavy Machinery
Heavy Machinery were over with the crowd, getting chants of “we want bear hugs” quite often. SAnitY isolated Otis Dozovic for much of this one as Young drew a lot of heat from the crowd. Young pinned Tucker Knight for the finish, then Heavy Machinery got a large ovation as they made their exit.
– Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose
Moon was extremely over here. The crowd chanted for her as soon as she entered the ring, though Rose didn’t get much of a reaction. Both performers put on a good match and got a fairly equal amount of offense. Moon won by submission.
Roode got the biggest pop of the night for his entrance, which wasn’t much of a surprise. The quality of the match exceeded everything else on the show as well. Itami got in tons of really stiff looking strikes on Ohno, with the crowd popping for them. McIntyre got the least time in the ring out of the four.
The crowd was super engaged from start to finish. While Itami was down outside of the ring, McIntyre made a quick tag to Ohno, who finished off Roode and got the pin. Roode grabbed the mic and called Ohno a fluke after the match, challenging him to a title match at their show in Green Bay on Friday.
Roode then made some disparaging comments about Milwaukee and left.
The Big News: Kassius Ohno took a hard kick to the groin, getting a disqualification win over Hideo Itami in the process.
The Medium News: After destroying former TNA Knockout Lei’D Tapa, Ember Moon was officially named number one contender and will face Asuka at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
The Little Beaver-sized News: SAnitY confronted The Authors of Pain and got their butts kicked.
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Ember Moon defeated Lei’D Tapa
Lei’D Tapa becomes the most recent former TNA employee to appear on NXT television, as she went one-on-one with the woman who is arguably the top contender to the reigning, defending, undisputed NXT Women’s Champion, Asuka, Ember Moon.
Tapa came out strong and fast, but Moon quickly turned things into her advantage, using, among other things, a tornado vertical suplex, and she picked up the win in less than two minutes with The Eclipse. This match almost lasted as long as Tapa’s run in TNA.
Moon grabbed the mic after the match and declared that she wanted Asuka at TakeOver: Brooklyn. She announced that she is standing right here and will give Asuka all that she desires in regards to a worthy challenger and competition.
Moon said she is not afraid and she will defeat the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow, closing up by asking Asuka if she was ready for Ember Moon.
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Roderick Strong went to Twitter after he lost his title match and told Bobby Roode that that was not the last he’ll see of Strong.
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We got an Aleister Black video package.
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Up next, the undefeated, undisputed, NXT Tag Team Champions, The Authors of Pain were scheduled to destroy Timothy Bumpers & David Ramos. However, it never quite got that far.
Nikki Cross met AOP on the ramp and stood in front of them as Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain stormed to the ring through the crowd and destroyed AOP’s intended opponents. Akam and Rezar stomped to the ring and we had a brawl between the four men.
The SAnitY duo got a brief flurry, but ultimately the tag team champions stood tall, making Dain and Wolfe slink off. Wolfe did cackle at them from the ramp, but this is far from over.
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The Street Profits cut another Snapchat promo. For the first time we actually got names for them. If you read the NXT live event reports you already know this, but for those who don’t, they are Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. Dawkins used to be an NXT jobber and was best remembered as the guy who wore two headbands for some reason.
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Two months ago, Andrade “Cien” Almas lost to Cezar Bononi but did not care until last week. Thea Trinidad was given the name of Zelina Vega. Anyway, No Way Jose chased off Almas last week, which led to a confrontation between Jose and Vega earlier today when he was arriving at the arena.
Vega said she admired Jose, but unfortunately for him he got involved in her and Almas’ business and he cannot dance around the fire that he just set.
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Velveteen Dream defeated Cezar Bononi
Bononi won one match two months ago, lost a second match last week, and now has his own music and titantron. I guess losing to Jose is the equivalent of paying your dues?
Bononi looked really good here. He has great size, power, and is a heck of an athlete. Despite all that, he got dropped with a rolling Death Valley Driver and the Purple Rainmaker for the pin.
Kayla Braxton tried to interview Velveteen Dream after the match, but he refused to do so in front of the ugliness of the fans. If you recall, Dream wouldn’t cut promos previously because of the horrible ambiance of the backstage area. So the stage has terrific ambiance, if only they had better looking fans, I guess?
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William Regal was backstage and he made Asuka vs. Ember Moon official for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
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We were then joined by Drew McIntyre, who is the number one contender and is headed to Brooklyn to challenge Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship in just a little over three weeks. McIntyre won last week against Killian Dain using the Claymore Kick.
McIntyre said he doesn’t go backwards and is not concentrating on his previous failures. He said it wasn’t until he was gone from WWE that he woke up and realized he needed to be the hardest worker in the entire world. He grew and became more successful. Every company he went to became bigger and better in part because of his hard work. That hard work brought him back to NXT.
He said everyone in NXT are equals and they walk side by side. Everyone…but one. And that one is Bobby Roode. When McIntyre looks in Roode’s eyes he sees the look of entitlement. This is not Bobby Roode’s NXT, this is all the fans’ NXT. McIntyre got the entire crowd on their feet and announced that Roode is not NXT, but we are NXT.
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Roode will reply to Drew McIntyre next week, plus Johnny Gargano will finally return to the ring as he faces off with Raul Mendoza. During the main event they also announced Asuka will finally return.
Speaking of Mendoza, he cut a promo saying he’s been training just as hard as Gargano and maybe next week is not so much about Johnny Gargano, but about Raul Mendoza.
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Kassius Ohno defeated Hideo Itami by DQ
After a night full of two minute matches and promos, it was nice to take a deep seat for the main event. These two have had differences dating back to Itami’s attitude change after losing to Roode at TakeOver: Chicago. Finally, Ohno got tired of listening to Itami’s griping and here we go.
They always say that you will hit your friends harder than you will hit people that you don’t like. With that in mind, these two must be the best of friends. Ohno and Itami did not appear to be pulling much as the sound of flesh on flesh echoed throughout the arena as Itami finally took over by knocking Ohno out of the ring and to the floor.
They chilled out afterwards as a wrestling match broke out. Itami got the heat until diving off the top rope and falling into a chop from Ohno. Ohno literally ran wild with a series of clotheslines and a cyclone boot to the jaw.
Itami battled back and hit a nice corner dropkick to Ohno. He went for a Go to Sleep, but Ohno got out and hit a big boot. Ohno went for a rolling elbow, but Itami…kicked a field goal with Ohno’s groin for the disqualification.
Itami snapped upon learning the decision and destroyed Ohno with kick after kick. Itami laid him out with two different GTS’, and I think their friendship is officially over. Itami dragged Ohno outside the ring and dropped him face-first on the ring steps.
What happened to the Hideo Itami we knew and loved? Maybe we’ll get our answers next week. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Itami won with the Go to Sleep. Jericho got a great reaction but immediately turned heel on the crowd and did his best to get booed. Itami got a good reaction.
The crowd has adopted the “one fall” chant that’s done in the UK and elsewhere.
– Titus O’Neil defeated Bo Dallas
This was a quick match, with O’Neil playing a total babyface.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno to retain their titles
Everyone got a good reaction and there were “ECW” chants for Rhyno. Rhyno also got a “holy sh*t” chant for a dive over the top. Cesaro & Sheamus tried to be heels, but the crowd loved them.
– Enzo Amore and Big Cass came out separately and basically did their segment from Monday’s Raw. Everyone loved Amore and didn’t buy Cass’ apology one bit.
– Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz & Samoa Joe
Ambrose pinned Miz. There was lots of crowd work from Miz. The audience liked Ambrose and Joe, but Rollins got the biggest star reaction so far.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax & Emma
Asuka tapped out Emma to win it for her team. Banks and Bliss got star reactions. Jax also got a pop when she was tagged in.
– Finn Balor defeated Karl Anderson
They worked a solid match. There were “Bullet Club” chants from the crowd at the start.
– Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt
There were chants for Braun Strowman and Undertaker at the beginning. Reigns was heavily booed and got no love in Singapore. Wyatt was the babyface.
NXT comes to Chicago for its latest big show as the Allstate Arena hosts TakeOver: Chicago tonight.
There are four title matches scheduled, with Bobby Roode vs. Hideo Itami for the NXT Championship set for the main event. Itami won the title shot by defeating Roderick Strong on television and this will be perhaps the biggest moment of his WWE career thus far.
Elsewhere on the show, Asuka defends her NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot. And the NXT tag titles will be up for grabs as DIY challenge The Authors of Pain in a ladder match.
With Jim Ross joining Nigel McGuinness on commentary for one match, the WWE United Kingdom Championship will be defended as Tyler Bate once again faces Pete Dunne. Strong will also continue his feud with SAnitY and its leader Eric Young.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.
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Eric Young (w/SAnitY) vs Roderick Strong
Strong picked up a somewhat surprising win after a third jumping knee and a releasing suplex into a backbreaker.
Strong ran in through the crowd during his entrance, posting Killian Dane and giving Alexander Wolfe a backbreaker on the dasher boards. Strong shined on Young and had the advantage until Dane ran him over on the outside of the ring, which Tom Phillips claimed the referee didn’t see, even though the referee was watching until a second before the point of impact. Phillips also claimed that Strong was attacked before NXT TakeOver: Orlando and hadn’t been seen in weeks after (that was No Way Jose).
Strong took over with a dropkick when Young jumped off the ropes, but Young gave him the Wheelbarrow Neckbreaker outside the ring for a near-countout. Strong made his comeback, kicking Dane off the apron and throwing Young into Wolfe. Young climbed to the top rope, but took a Nestea Plunge to Wolfe and Dane when Strong hit a jumping knee, which led to the finish.
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Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdon Championship
Jim Ross got his own entrance and a standing ovation as he joined the broadcast table for this bout.
A fantastic, show-stealing match. If you have never seen either of these two wrestle, you owe it to yourself to check this match out. In one match they made the UK Title mean more than the Cruiserweight Title does.
The finish saw Bate go for a pescado, but Dunne stepped aside and threw him into the black mats, before winning the title with the Bitter End in the ring.
Early on the fans chanted for both, but Dunne’s fans lasted longer, with chants for Bate dying off. By the time the match ended they were chanting “UK” and “Fight Forever”. That’s not to say they were against the champion, as they cheered for him just as well. Dunne was working the joints of Tyler’s fingers and tried to stomp on them, but Bate moved out of the way. However Bate was dropped on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring, with an X-Plex.
Dunne went for an X-Plex in the ring, but Bate landed on his feet and hit a standing Shooting Star Press to Dunne, which led to a very close near fall. Bate went for a second one, but got caught in a Triangle Choke. From the Triangle Dunne threw punches and elbows at Bate, but instead of tapping, Bate lifted him and dropped him with the one-armed power bomb. Bate used an exceptionally long and fast Airplane Spin and collapsed on top of Dunne for a 2 count.
Bate came off the middle rope, but got caught with a forearm and laid out as Dunne hit a X-Plex into a Sit Out Power Bomb for what everyone thought was the finish, but it wasn’t. The crowd exploded as they got to their feet swinging away at each other. We had a series of moves where one would be hit, fall off the ropes and come back with another move and the other one would fall off the ropes and come back with their own. Dunne went for the Bitter End, but Bate turned it into a DDT. Bate then hit an Asai Moonsault to the floor and a Corkscrew 450 Splash in the ring, but Dunne kicked out of that. Bate went for a dive, which led to the end.
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Asuka vs Ruby Riot vs Nikki Cross for the Women’s Title
Asuka retained the title by pinning both Ruby and Nikki with a running low dropkick to the face.
The story of this match is Asuka’s confidence has almost completely turned into cockiness. Her moves, while just as crisp as before, were done almost with a sense of boredom. Early on the fans were into Asuka and Ruby, not so much for Nikki (outside of her entrance), but really got into Cross when she caught Asuka in the ring apron and waylayed the champ with forearms. They tried a different 3-way spot where Nikki had laid out Ruby, but Asuka nailed a Missile Dropkick on Cross, but landed in a splash on Ruby.
Asuka was outside the ring and Cross dove off the apron, but got caught with a nice looking knee to the face. Ruby later on went for a top rope legdrop, but Asuka moved out of the way and locked on the Asuka lock. She would have had to tap, but Cross broke it up. Nikki then laid out Ruby on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring.
They did the normal triple threat spot where each lady would be laid out outside of the ring and the other two would square off. No one believed Nikki or Ruby would win, but they still enjoyed what was a good match.
Ember Moon was shown watching in the stands during the match.
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A commercial aired for Rocket League, where a girl playing soccer goalie appears to dive head-first into a moving vehicle.
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The Velveteen Dream Patrick Clark re-re-re-redebuts this Wednesday.
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Bobby Roode vs Hideo Itami for the NXT Championship
Interesting match order. Also interesting to note that they showed the original angle where Itami was injured and you were led to believe that Kevin Owens did it. Also that angle happened two years ago today.
Bobby Roode continues his quest to break all time records for the longest walk to the ring in wrestling history, as tonight’s entrance clocked in at a tremendous 4 minutes, 25 seconds.
The finish saw Itami go for his second GTS, but Roode blocked it on the way down and hit two Glorious DDT’s to retain the title in an excellent title match that exceeded expectations.
Itami teased the Go To Sleep in the first 30 seconds of the match, but Roode was able to get out of it. Itami dropped Roode early and then dropped several knees. Hideo lowered his knee pad, which led to Roode covering up, so Itami just booted him in the mouth. Roode took over with the Buff Blockbuster. Roode concentrated on Itami’s shoulder, including using elbows to the shoulder, which the announcers didn’t notice.
Hideo would get spurts of offense, but Roode would quickly cut him off. This continued until Roode mocked him and Hideo began his comeback with a hard slap to the face. Turn about was fair play, as Roode slammed his own shoulder into the ring post, so he had a bruised wing. Itami used a Fujiwara Armbar and a Falcon Arrow, but Roode escaped both times.
Both men tried several times to go for their respective finishers, but one way or another neither would hit. Roode tried to send Itami into the steps, but they reversed it. Hideo then went for a running dropkick, but Roode moved and Hideo went crashing into the steps, possibly injuring his ankle. Back in the ring, Itami got the best of the YAY! BOO! punch spot, but injured himself on a running corner dropkick. Roode saw this and hit a Glorious DDT, but Itami kicked out. Itami finally hit the Go To Sleep, but Roode fell out of the ring, which seems to happen in every Bobby Roode title match. Itami slapped Roode like Roode owed him money before the finish.
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Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Kassius Ohno and Pat Patterson were all shown at ringside.
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Authors of Pain vs #DIY for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a Ladder Match
Authors of Pain retained the titles in a violent ladder match. There have undoubtedly been better ladder matches, but I have rarely screamed like I did when Johnny Gargano took a double team ladder shot right to the face. The match itself was excellent, but it will be remembered for the show closing angle.
Early in the match Ciampa & Gargano brought a giant ladder from up the aisle, which led to Gargano doing a Suicide dive through the ladder and onto the AOP. They went for a Hardy Boyz Poetry in Motion, but Gargano was caught and thrown on top of the kneeling Ciampa. Akam and Rezar teased being too big to climb the ladders, which is ridiculous since Big Show has been in several ladder matches without problems.
We got several creative climbing spots where AOP would pick up a ladder and Ciampa would run up it, or when the Authors went for a Super Collider, Gargano & Ciampa were almost high enough in the air to get the belts. Authors of Pain set up two long ladders from the ring apron to the dasher boards, but DIY used knees to lay the champs across them. There was a ladder in between the two ladder bridges, so DIY climbed it for a double dive off the tops of the ladder. Ciampa hit his on the money, but Gargano and Akam bounced off the ladder, without it breaking clean.
DIY had the titles won, but Paul Ellering ran in to stop Gargano from climbing. Gargano superkicked Ellering, which caused the AOP to freak out briefly. It didn’t last long, as Ellering was propped up against the dasher boards encouraging his team on. Akam and Rezar went for a ladder shot on Ciampa, but Gargano shoved him out of the way and took a brutally hard ladder shot to the face. That looked worse than anything Sheamus did to Jeff Hardy.
Rezar climbed, but Ciampa was able to rip him off with a German Suplex, which caused Rezar to fall into a ladder, exploding it on impact. Akam went to do the Terry Funk airplane spin with the ladder, but he got superkicked to his knees and DIY hit their double team knee strikes to him. They teased that as the finish, but AOP grabbed them, hit a double team power bomb and a Super Collider before finally climbing the ladder and claiming their championship belts.
The Chicago crowd gave DIY a standing ovation after the match, chanting “DIY”.
They teased ending the show with DIY embracing on the ramp, but instead, Ciampa attacked Gargano and turned heel. Ciampa threw Gargano face-first into the set before giving him a running knee. The fans, who were chanting “Psycho Killer” minutes earlier, booed as Ciampa laid Gargano out with a lifting knee strike to his now-former best friend.
Ciampa took Gargano to the top of the announce table, but dropped him with a White Noise off the stage and through some production tables set up off stage. The fans were simultaneously booing his dastardly deeds and cheering for how cool they were.
The Big News: Hideo Itami laid out Bobby Roode for the second time with a Go to Sleep, just three days before their title match at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.
The Medium News: Kassius Ohno beat Andrade “Cien” Almas in a match between two men who will not be on TakeOver.
The Little Beaver-sized News: This really was a poor build to TakeOver, huh?
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Bobby Roode arrived at Full Sail University earlier today and yelled at the man carrying his bags to go faster.
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Drew McIntyre defeated Sean Maluta
Last week McIntyre was confronted by Wesley Blake, which theoretically set up a match this week. However, in case you are confused, Maluta and Blake are two different people.
The fans recognized that Maluta had no chance in this match and did not care at all for his offense. He hit a Codebreaker off the middle rope and it barely got the fans to raise their eyebrows. McIntyre got a welt under his eye, perhaps from a punch, perhaps the Codebreaker, but won with a Sick Kick.
Kayla Braxton came out and asked McIntyre if he’s concerned about having the attention of Blake. Shockingly, McIntyre was not concerned, however he did challenge Blake to a match next week.
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We got exclusive footage from after NXT last week, where SAnitY attacked Roderick Strong after his match with Hideo Itami. Backstage, Strong told Mr. Regal he wanted SAnitY.
This led to an Eric Young promo where he called Strong crazy for challenging them to a fight at TakeOver. Young accepted the challenge, so we have a match for Saturday.
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We got a video feature for Itami, showing his debut at NXT TakeOver: Fatal Four-Way in September 2014 where he single-handedly beat up The Ascension. That was a bigger deal then since it was the same night they lost the tag titles after 364 days.
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We got a video package for Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne, showing clips of their match from the UK Championship tournament finals in January. Shockingly, they had new interviews with both men. I am so used to watching the same two video packages that I nearly had a heart attack.
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“The Velveteen Dream” Patrick Clark is still on his way. He has a long way to go to match Nia Jax’s record for the longest build up to their debut.
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Another Itami clip aired, this time showing him beating Tyler Breeze at the WrestleMania 31 weekend NXT show.
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Asuka was being driven to the arena earlier today and being asked stupid questions. She acknowledged they are stupid questions and kept saying “next question.” Asuka arrived at Full Sail and took a selfie with the fans. That was nice of her.
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Sonya Deville defeated Lacey Evans
Lacey Evans, who is a former military member, was here to face Sonya Deville, who used to be Daria Berenato of Tough Enough fame.
The fans were not into this match except to yell “sweeeeeeet” after every two count.
Deville used a takedown and locked on a body scissors. She just bullied around Evans, who is much bigger than her. Evans finally blocked a strike and hit a bad looking punch to take over. Deville came back and won with a step-up enzuigiri.
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We jumped forward to Itami returning to NXT last month and laying out Bobby Roode with a Go to Sleep.
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This Saturday at NXT TakeOver: Chicago:
NXT Champion Bobby Roode defends against Hideo Itami
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defends against Pete Dunne
NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain defend against DIY in a ladder match
Roderick Strong faces Eric Young
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defends against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot in a triple threat match
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Kassius Ohno defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
It was then time for the main event of the show. Ohno’s gear was based off the Orlando Magic’s jerseys from the early 1990s. Ohno ran wild for three or four minutes to kick off the match, but Almas got the heat when Ohno caught himself on a dive attempt when Almas moved, but Almas booted him right in the mouth.
Nigel McGuinness said you can call Almas “ingobernable,” which was a nice wink to the people who knew and for those who didn’t, he explained that meant “ungovernable.”
This was a good back-and-forth match. There is something still missing with Almas. He’s so much better as a heel, but there’s just something not there.
Almas hit the double knees in the corner, but instead of going for a cover, he picked Ohno up, which led to his undoing. Ohno fired up after an inverted DDT, hitting a pump kick and two rolling elbows to pick up the win.
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Itami had yet another video, this one looking at his match with Strong from last week.
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We were joined by the “Glorious” NXT Champion, Bobby Roode, to end the show this week. Roode did not take his time to walk to the ring, getting it done in only 40 seconds.
Roode said that he is a man and can admit that Itami knocked him out with a Go to Sleep a few weeks ago. Mind you, he told the story that he was in the ring minding his own business when Itami walked out and did it unprovoked.
Roode said that will never happen again, and this Saturday he won’t be standing in the middle of the ring in a custom-made suit, he’ll be in his gear and prepared to do what he’s done to everyone. That’s beat them, embarrass them, and make an example out of them.
He brought up Itami constantly getting injured and being out for a long time to the point where Roode didn’t even know he worked there anymore. Roode said Itami will have to go back to Japan and tell his wife and kids that he failed again. But this time he failed because of Bobby Roode.
Itami came out and was dressed like someone who just wrestled an hour ago. Mr. Regal and a bunch of security tried to convince him to leave, but Itami flew past them to get to the ring.
Itami beat on Roode until security pulled him off. Roode ran for cover as Itami laid out two of the security guards with a Go to Sleep. Roode rolled back in for the sneak attack, but Itami cut him off with a Go to Sleep!
That does it for this week. This Saturday is NXT TakeOver: Chicago, and until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The former Daria Berenato hit a sliding knee strike to get the victory.
– Yanbo Wang cut an in-ring promo, saying that we can call him Boa. He was interrupted by Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler before Heavy Machinery made the save.
– Heavy Machinery defeated Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler
An assisted front slam with a pile on won this for Machinery.
– Jeet Rama defeated Kona Reeves
Reeves hit a slam to pick up the win.
– Roderick Strong & Buddy Murphy defeated Cezar Bononi & Lars Sullivan
The big men got the heat on Murphy to build to the hot tag for Strong. He ran wild and eventually applied a Liontamer on Bononi for the submission. Sullivan destroyed Bononi for losing after it was over.
The Big News: Hideo Itami defeated Roderick Strong in a physical main event and will now challenge Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.
The Medium News: DIY will challenge the Authors of Pain in a ladder match for the NXT tag titles in Chicago.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Ember Moon was officially pulled from TakeOver after her shoulder injury last week.
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Aleister Black defeated Cezar Bononi
The show kicked off this week, appropriately enough, with the fourth match in the televised NXT career of Aleister Black. Cezar Bononi is very tall, but that just means he has more body to kick.
Bononi actually got a little bit of offense before Black caught him with a jumping knee to the face. He followed that with a knee to the back and Black Mass for the win.
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We saw highlights of last week’s clustersmurf of a number one contender’s battle royal, which concluded with Asuka interfering and causing it to end prematurely. They showed Ember Moon taking a bump to the outside, which injured her.
Then Mr. Regal told Asuka she’d face all three women she injured and Asuka seemed concerned. However, due to Moon’s injury, it will now be a triple threat match at TakeOver: Chicago.
Moon vowed to be better than ever when she returns.
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They announced Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE UK Championship at TakeOver and used that to show a video package for Dunne.
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Next up was a Ruby Riot video package. This was also good and showed pictures and videos of her as a child and brought it around to her today. She was sitting at a tattoo parlor and explained that each tattoo tells a story about her. She said that the NXT Women’s Championship will be her validation.
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A sit-down interview with Nikki Cross was next. She refused to allow the sound guy to put a microphone on her and instead she held the clip mic in her hands and talked right into it. She then played with the boom mic. I believe this was done to show how crazy she is.
She didn’t need a microphone as she was content with screaming into the camera and asking where her championship was.
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Drew McIntyre was being really tall backstage. He said he is disappointed he is not included in the number one contender’s match tonight. He talked about taking what he wants.
Up walked Wesley Blake, of all people, who told him to leave.
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The Velveteen Dream (Patrick Clark) is coming.
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DIY were in the ring for a promo as we came back from commercial. They said the Authors of Pain may be the biggest and baddest, but they have what DIY want. Tommaso Ciampa pointed out they never got their fair title rematch. Johnny Gargano reiterated what they said last week about the line for title shots starting behind them.
Out came Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli. No, really. They said they want a title shot and the line starts behind them. DIY said they just crossed the line and threw Moss and Sabbatelli out of the ring.
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DIY defeated Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
That led to an impromptu tag team match, playa! Moss and Sabbatelli attacked Ciampa from the start and got the heat. Sabbatelli is a second round NFL draft pick and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Apparently he also drives a Maserati and that is supposed to get him big heat.
Anyway, Ciampa reversed a suplex attempt and tagged Gargano. Gargano ran wild on both heels and hit all his big moves, including the spear through the ropes on Sabbatelli. DIY picked up the win with their running double knee.
Mr. Regal came out and was about to make a tag team title match for TakeOver when Paul Ellering came out and said the AOP will end DIY’s career. Regal said that was a chance he was willing to take, so Ellering said DIY’s blood would be on his hands. Regal replied to that by making AOP vs. DIY in a ladder match at TakeOver.
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Kassius Ohno was backstage looking almost as tall as McIntyre. He said he fell down but is going to stand back up. Up walked Andrade “Cien” Almas, who called Ohno “perro” and Ohno ripped on him for partying after the shows. Anyway, they made a match for next week.
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Up next was a Tyler Bate video package. We sure do love our video packages tonight, eh?
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Roderick Strong said this upcoming match is why he’s here and what he’s worked for. Hope he doesn’t blow it!
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Hideo Itami said he respects Strong, but he’s going to make him Go to Sleep.
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Hideo Itami defeated Roderick Strong in a number one contender’s match
The match started slow, with the men grappling over a test of strength. That led to a series of reversals and Itami hoisted Strong for the GTS, however Strong got out of it and we reset.
Itami got the advantage and used mind games and the bottom of his foot to keep Strong down. Strong came back and served up a large plate of chops in the corner and slapped on an armbar on the arm attached to the shoulder that Itami had surgery on.
They ended up outside and Strong heaved Itami back-first into the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring. Itami made his comeback and went all kick crazy. Strong hit the Olympic Slam for a two count and got another one after a backbreaker.
They hit the heck out of each other on the top rope and Itami ended up hitting a falcon arrow. Somehow, someway, Strong kicked out!
Strong connected with a few more hard shots, but Itami dropped him with a knee strike. Itami hit a corner boot and a corner dropkick before dropping him with a Go to Sleep for the win. Strong had pulled himself to his feet and almost dared Itami to do it.
After the match, Itami dragged Strong to his feet, shook his hand, and raised it, allowing Strong to bask in the standing ovation they got.
This was a tremendous main event and now Itami will challenge the “Glorious” NXT Champion Bobby Roode at TakeOver: Chicago.
Believe it or not, next week is the go-home show for Chicago. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Image: @PadsFan25. Report submitted by reader Marco Bautista.
– No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves
There was a big pop for Jose and he pumped up the crowd. Reeves got big heat as well. Jose danced throughout the match, eventually winning with his pop-up punch finisher.
Both of the faces got pops, but the heels got surprisingly little reaction. Evans was impressive with her moves and showed character.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Oney Lorcan
This was the match of the night. It was a physical back-and-forth match with a few close near falls. Ohno ended up winning with an elbow strike, and both wrestlers got good pops.
– DIY defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
Sabbatelli and Moss cut a good heel promo on the city before this started. All four showed off at the start and they had a good match from beginning to end. DIY won with their finisher.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Patrick Clark
McIntyre got a good reaction, while Clark didn’t really get much. This was another stiff match with chops and kicks. McIntyre won with a Claymore kick.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Sonya Deville to retain her title
The fans were very into Asuka. They had an MMA type of match with many submissions and kicks. It lasted seven minutes, with Asuka winning with a running kick.
Dillinger got one of the biggest pops of the night, with it maybe only being surpassed by the crowd singing Roode’s theme. It started with Dillinger and Roode doing their signature taunts. Roode tried to get heat by telling the crowd to shut up, but he ended up getting a pop for it.
This was a solid match. Dillinger and Itami hit their finishers and Itami pinned Almas.
Dillinger said after the match that as far as he knows this was his last night in NXT. He gave a farewell speech. The crowd chanted “US champ” at one point and he called out Kevin Owens. The whole roster that was there came out to give him a curtain call to end the show.
– Lacey Evans & Ruby Riot defeated Mandy Rose & Bianca Blair in 10:37.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Oney Lorcan in 8:52.
– DIY defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss in 10:17.
Sabbatelli and Moss cut a promo before the match saying that they’re an elite tag team and Triple H is spending big money for them to be in the NXT tag team division.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Patrick Clark in 8:39.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Sonya Deville in 8:35 to retain her title.
– Tye Dillinger & Hideo Itami defeated NXT Champion Bobby Roode & Andrade “Cien” Almas in 17:22.
The main event was supposed to be Roode defending his title against Dillinger, but he got the mic and said that NXT is his show and he wouldn’t defend it in a dump like Phoenix. He said that he has a partner and Dillinger better have one too. Almas came to the ring as Roode’s partner.
Dillinger responded by saying that he knew Roode would pull something like this. He said that Roode is going to get his ass kicked for talking trash about Phoenix and introduced Itami as his partner.
The Big News: Asuka will face Ember Moon, Ruby Riot, and Nikki Cross in a fatal four-way at NXT TakeOver: Chicago after she didn’t allow a finish in the number one contender’s battle royal.
The Medium News: Roderick Strong will face Hideo Itami next week, with the winner challenging Bobby Roode at TakeOver.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Heavy Machinery cut a bad promo and were mocked by DIY for it.
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Killian Dain defeated Danny Burch
SAnitY kicked off the show this week. Killian Dain was here to face Danny Burch. Burch went from NXT jobber to released to brought back for the UK title tournament after a run on the indies and now was back to jobbing on NXT.
Burch charged into a lockup, but Dain powered him into the turnbuckles. Dain overpowered Burch all through the match, including using the Wasteland. Burch started a comeback, but Dain nailed him with a running dropkick and he picked up the win with the Ulster Plantation (One Winged Angel).
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A video package for the re-debuting Patrick Clark aired. He called himself the Velveteen Dream.
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Heavy Machinery defeated Ricardo Watts & Hector Kunsman
Otis Dozovic weighs 340 pounds “on a good day” (whatever that means) and single-handedly outweighs their opponents. The result was never in doubt. Kunsman got heaved across the ring with a suplex and then Heavy Machinery did their falling body slam/splash finish on both men at once.
They cut a promo after the match, saying they love to eat and lift weights. They got the fans to chant “steaks and weights.” They want the Authors of Pain. So much for a slow build.
Tucker Knight cut most of the promo, while Dozovic growled into the mic.
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Bobby Roode gave advice to Kona Reeves before the next match.
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DIY cut a promo backstage and said Heavy Machinery are big and mocked their entire promo. They said they are still owed a fair “one-on-one” rematch and the line for title matches starts behind them.
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Hideo Itami defeated Kona Reeves
Reeves attacked Itami before the bell, which got big heat from the crowd. The bell finally rang and Reeves was on the attack. Reeves got Itami down, but instead of following up the attack, he mocked Itami, so Itami kicked every exposed part of his body.
Itami got tired of kicking Reeves, so he pinned him after a Go to Sleep.
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A video package for Drew McIntyre aired, showing him in his Chosen One gimmick from 2009, skipping the 3MB era, and skipping ahead to the last month or so.
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Up next was part two in the “Who is Roderick Strong?” video series. It’s still really good:
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William Regal and Bobby Roode were backstage. Mr. Regal went to tell him his TakeOver opponent, but Roode cut him off. Roode said that Hideo Itami is dangerous and doesn’t deserve to face him.
Mr. Regal agreed that he needs to earn the opportunity, and said next week Itami will face Roderick Strong and the winner faces Roode at TakeOver.
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An Aleister Black video package aired. He’ll be wrestling next week.
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A number one contender’s battle royal ended in a no contest when Asuka attacked the three remaining competitors (Ember Moon, Ruby Riot, and Nikki Cross)
Half of the women in this match have rarely, if ever, appeared on NXT before and a couple were from outside of WWE. The order of elimination was: Victoria Gonzales, Bianca Blair, Rachael Evers (Ellering), Sarah Bridges, Sonya Deville (the former Daria Berenato), Lacey Evans, Kimberly Frankele, Candice LeRae, Aliyah, Liv Morgan, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce.
Kay and Royce were working together from the beginning. Gonzales went after the Iconic Duo at the start, but it didn’t work. Evans kicked Cross in the butt to try to eliminate her. That didn’t work, shockingly enough.
Kay and Royce eliminated several together. Shockingly, the eight women who have very rarely, if ever, been on the show, were the first eight gone. Moon single-handedly eliminated Kay and Royce even when it looked like they would have Kay interfere after being eliminated.
Riot, Cross, and Moon were the last three, and they went for several minutes by themselves. Moon hit Cross with the Eclipse, but couldn’t get her up and out. Riot and Moon looked really good together and will one day have a good match. Moon went up top for another Eclipse, but Asuka appeared!
The referee called for the bell while Asuka destroyed the three remaining women and screamed that no one was ready for her. Moon took a nasty bump out of the ring that looked like a suicide dive into the guardrail. Moon may have injured her shoulder.
Who is going to face Asuka at NXT TakeOver: Chicago after she ruined the battle royal? Mr. Regal came out and announced a fatal four-way for TakeOver as the show went off the air, with Asuka facing Moon, Riot, and Cross.
That does it for this week! What will happen next week as we are on the road to Chicago? Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Riot got the hot tag and won the match for her team.
– Dylan Miley defeated Cezar Bononi
This was pretty much a squash match.
– Killian Dain defeated No Way Jose
SAnitY stayed in the ring and challenged anyone to fight, with DIY answering the challenge.
– DIY defeated Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe
Dain and Nikki Cross were thrown out from ringside. DIY picked up the pinfall victory over Young in what was the match of the night. Dain and Cross came back out to fight after it was over, but No Way Jose and Ruby Riot soon followed to chase them from the ring. There was then a dance party, which included the victors and the ref.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Patrick Clark
I was surprised to see Dillinger still on tour, but he was really over with the crowd. He picked up the win in an entertaining match.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Sonya Deville to retain her title
Sonya Deville is Daria Berenato’s new ring name. This was a well-worked match, with Deville getting some time on offense to make it an entertaining title defense for Asuka.
– Hideo Itami & Aleister Black defeated NXT Champion Bobby Roode & Andrade “Cien” Almas
This was a nice match. Itami worked a lot with Roode. He got a hot tag to hit the GTS while Black hit a kick to pick up the victory. Itami and Black played up an uneasiness with each other during the match with some aggressive tags and shoving, but they sat in the ring together after the victory and shook hands.
– SAnitY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) defeated The Singh Brothers (Bollywood Boyz) and Street Prophets (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) in an elimination match
The Singh Brothers kept shouting things about Jinder Mahal being champion soon, which led to a huge “Jinder sucks” chant. The Street Prophets eliminated The Singh Brothers when Ford hit his running shooting star press for the pin. SAnitY then picked up the win after the usual distractions from Killian Dain and Nikki Cross.
– Oney Lorcan came out for a promo and started to offer his t-shirt to the crowd, but was interrupted by Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli. They told him it wasn’t his promo anymore and tossed him out of the ring.
Lorcan kept coming back in only to get thrown out until he ducked a clothesline from Sabbatelli, who hit Moss instead. Lorcan then hit a running uppercut to Sabbatelli and his neckbreaker on Moss to send them packing.
– Adrian Jaoude defeated Cezar Bononi
Jaoude submitted him with a guillotine choke.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Dylan Miley by DQ
They had a solid big guy match. Miley grabbed Ohno by the throat and put him on the top turnbuckle and continued to choke him. The ref tried to break the hold, but Miley shoved him to the ground, causing the DQ. Three more refs came out to stop Miley as he raged over the loss.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Mandy Rose
This wasn’t a bad match. Rose worked well and Asuka played a tweener with a more aggressive style than usual. The champion won with a head kick.
– Jack Gallagher defeated Ariya Daivari
A corner dropkick by Gallagher ended this one.
– Lana (w/ Bianca Blair) defeated Liv Morgan
The lights went off, and when they came back on, Lana was in the ring with a chair and did her dance routine. Morgan was setting up for her finisher when Blair got on the apron. Morgan dropkicked her off, which allowed Lana to hit a roundhouse kick and pick up the win.
– Hideo Itami & No Way Jose defeated Patrick Clark & Andrade “Cien” Almas.
They had a fun match. Itami was setting up for the GTS when Almas ran in. Almas got caught with a pop-up punch from Jose, and Itami hit the GTS on Clark to get the win. No Way Jose then convinced Itami to dance with him to end the show.
This had great action, which built to Strong getting a hot tag and connecting with a suplex back cracker to win.
– Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar
This 205 Live prelude was a good, fast-paced match.
– Lana (w/ Mary Kate) defeated Ruby Riot
Lana used Mary Kate as a distraction and scored a roll-up. She was using her ballroom dancing heel persona tonight, which is what may be coming to SmackDown soon.
– NXT Champion Bobby Roode defeated Hideo Itami to retain his title
Roode hit a low blow when the referee wasn’t looking and then his DDT for the win.
