Tag: interim cruiserweight title tournament

WWE NXT video highlights: Interim Cruiserweight title tournament finals

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The final episode of NXT before TakeOver: In Your House was headlined by the finals of WWE’s interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament.

El Hijo del Fantasma won the match and became interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion, but Drake Maverick has still been re-hired by WWE. The show ended with Triple H coming out to the stage and offering Maverick an NXT contract.

The mask kidnappers who have been appearing on NXT surrounded Fantasma near the end of the match but were taken out by a tope from Maverick and then fought off by him. Fantasma then capitalized on the distraction, hitting a superkick and the Phantom Driver to get the win when Maverick got back in the ring.

The final build to Sunday’s TakeOver special included Prime Target special features building up Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream for the NXT Championship and Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Championship. A new match was also added to the TakeOver card, with Mia Yim, Tegan Nox & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez being announced after a brawl between them.

That brawl happened after Yim vs. LeRae ended in a double countout on last night’s show. A mixed tag match between Yim & Keith Lee and LeRae & Johnny Gargano was then made. LeRae got the win by rolling up Yim, who was distracted after Gargano used his car keys to stab Lee in the eye. Lee is defending his NXT North American Championship against Gargano on Sunday.

More coverage from last night —

WWE NXT video highlights —

Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae

Keith Lee & Mia Yim vs. Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae

Karrion Kross will find out that there’s special — and then there’s Tommaso Ciampa

Dexter Lumis would rather draw than talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thUm02Mm6GY

Prime Target: Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Tony Nese

Fandango returns from injury

Number one contender’s tag match: Breezango vs. Lorcan & Burch vs. Undisputed Era

Santana Garrett vs. Aliyah

Prime Target: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai

Bronson Reed vs. Cameron Grimes

Karrion Kross sends a message to Tommaso Ciampa

Interim Cruiserweight title tournament finals: El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Drake Maverick

Triple H offers Drake Maverick an NXT contract

NXT fallout: Drake Maverick gets a standing ovation after the show

NXT fallout: Drake Maverick reacts to his bittersweet night

NXT fallout: Johnny Gargano found the “key” to victory against Keith Lee

NXT fallout: Dexter Lumis’ masterpiece

NXT fallout: Timothy Thatcher calls himself the most dangerous man in NXT

NXT fallout: Robert Stone is despondent after the past two weeks

Cruiserweight tiebreaker match announced for NXT next week

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With a three-way tie in Group A, a triple threat match on next week’s NXT will decide who advances to the interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament finals.

WWE has announced that Kushida, Drake Maverick, and Jake Atlas will face off in a triple threat match on NXT next Wednesday. The winner will advance to face El Hijo del Fantasma in the finals of the tournament.

Maverick defeated Kushida in their Group A match on tonight’s NXT. Kushida focused on Maverick’s arm throughout, but the finish was him going for an armbar and Maverick reversing it into a pin. Atlas watched the match from ringside and rooted for Maverick.

If Kushida won, he would have advanced to the finals. With Maverick winning, Kushida, Maverick, and Atlas all have 2-1 records. Kushida’s wins were against Atlas and Tony Nese, Maverick’s wins were against Kushida and Nese, and Atlas’ wins were against Maverick and Nese.

Maverick’s story for the tournament has focused on him trying to save his job after being released from WWE.

El Hijo del Fantasma defeated Akira Tozawa on NXT tonight to advance to the tournament finals from Group B. WWE hasn’t announced when the finals will be taking place.

Jordan Devlin is the NXT Cruiserweight Champion but is currently unable to travel and defend his title due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher will also face off in a cage fight on next week’s NXT.

Three interim Cruiserweight title tournament matches set for NXT

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Three interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament matches are taking place on NXT next Wednesday.

WWE has announced that Kushida vs. Tony Nese, Drake Maverick vs. Jake Atlas, and El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Jack Gallagher are set for next week’s episode of NXT. Kushida vs. Nese and Maverick vs. Atlas are Group A tournament matches, while Fantasma vs. Gallagher is a Group B match.

In an emotional video he posted earlier, Maverick said he’ll still be in the interim title tournament despite being released by WWE today.

This will be the first time Fantasma has wrestled on NXT television. A video hyping his debut aired tonight.

The tournament kicked off with Akira Tozawa defeating Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in a Group B match on tonight’s NXT.

Everyone in the tournament will face the other wrestlers in their group one time. The wrestler with the best record in Group A will then face the wrestler with the best record in Group B in the finals.

Any ties will be broken by head-to-head record.

Jordan Devlin is the NXT Cruiserweight Champion but is currently unable to travel and defend his title due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NXT interim Cruiserweight title tourney Group B announced

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The upcoming NXT interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament is set to kick off live this Wednesday and after the Group A participants were announced earlier Sunday, Group B has also been revealed.

  • Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
  • El Hijo del Fantasma
  • Akira Tozawa
  • Jack Gallagher

Tozawa is the only former NXT Cruiserweight Champion in Group B mix. This will be Fantasma’s NXT TV debut, but he had been working on house shows under his new name of Jorge Bolly. Bolly (pictured above) worked for both AAA and CMLL and worked for Lucha Underground under the name King Cuerno. 

In a change from traditional tournament format, the eight challengers will be split up into two groups with everyone in each group facing off against each other, gaining points for wins. The Group A and Group B winners will then face each other to crown the interim champion. The first slate of matches has yet to be announced.

Current Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin is unable to travel due to bans surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

WWE reveals format for interim NXT Cruiserweight title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament will feature a departure from the traditional single-elimination format.

It was announced today that eight wrestlers will be taking part in the interim Cruiserweight title tournament. They’ll be split into groups of four, with everyone facing the three other wrestlers in their group. The wrestler with the best record from Group A will advance to face the wrestler with the best record from Group B in the finals.

WWE wrote that any ties will be broken by head-to-head record.

The full groups will be revealed on WWE.com and WWE’s social media accounts tomorrow.

With NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin unable to travel and defend his title amid the coronavirus pandemic, the interim title tournament was announced by NXT’s on-screen general manager William Regal during an appearance on WWE’s The Bump this week.

Devlin tweeted after Regal made the announcement: “First things first, absolutely shocking and disrespectful decision by @WWE management. Secondly, you can crown a fraud champion and give him a little replica of my title, but everyone around the world knows who the REAL NXT Cruiserweight Champion still is.”

The interim title tournament will kick off on NXT this coming Wednesday.