Joe Gacy isn’t wasting any time getting back into the ring.
The former Wyatt Sicks member has already been announced for some upcoming indies shows and conventions following his release from WWE, but Gacy, now going by “Joseph Sawyer,” confirmed today that his first appearance will take place for Wrestling Revolver on Friday, July 24. This is the earliest possible show Gacy can work with it being exactly three months removed from his release.
No opponent for Gacy was included in the announcement. The Wrestling Revolver event is named “The Silence of the Lambs” and is being held in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be broadcast live for free on YouTube.
“My first appearance is finally announced,” Gacy wrote. “See me in Nashville.”
AEW star Jon Moxley is among those advertised for the show, along with Mance Warner, Killer Kelly, and Myron Reed.
All of the Wyatt Sicks members — Gacy, Bo Dallas, Nikki Cross, Erick Rowan, and Dexter Lumis — were released from WWE in the company’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts. The group will be appearing together at WrestleCon in Minneapolis this August.
Gacy & Lumis are former WWE Tag Team Champions from their time competing together on SmackDown.
Former Joe Gacy’s first post-WWE match has now been revealed.
In April, just days after WWE WrestleMania 42, the promotion released several upcoming and established names from its roster, including The Wyatt Sicks (Bo Dallas, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis, Nikki Cross, and Erick Rowan), Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and more.
Gacy is now scheduled to be at the Pro Wrestling Junkie show on September 20th in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. As of now, this is the only appearance that has been announced, while the rest of The Wyatt Sicks has yet to make their comeback plans public.
The former WWE faction Wyatt Sicks members have a new name
Just weeks after their WWE release, members of The Wyatt Sicks were announced to appear at the WrestleCon convention in Minneapolis as part of WWE SummerSlam Weekend later this year, using their new names.
Uncle Howdy/Bo Dallas â Taylor Rotunda
Nikki Cross â Nikki Storm
Erick Rowan â Erick Redbeard
Dexter Lumis â Samuel Shaw
Joe Gacy â Joseph Sawyer
đ° TALENT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PWJ PRESENTS: GAMBLE IT ALL 2 !đ°
â ď¸ JOSEPH SAWYER (FKA JOE GACY) WILL BE APPEARING THIS SEPTEMBER âŁď¸
Former WWE superstars The Wyatt Sicks have now been announced for an upcoming edition of WrestleCon with their new names.
WrestleCon recently announced that former WWE wrestlers Wyatt Sicks (Bo Dallas, aka Uncle Howdy, Nikki Cross, Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy) are set to attend the convention in Minneapolis as part of WWE SummerSlam Weekend later this year. Wyatt Sicks, alongside Alba Fyre, Zoey Stark, and other wrestlers, was released just days after WWE WrestleMania 42.
The WrestleCon convention is scheduled to run from Friday, July 31, to Sunday, August 2, and The Wyatt Sicks are scheduled to appear on all three of these dates. Their WrestleCon promotional advert also revealed their new post-WWE names.
âIt was just felt that the group had run its course. Even at first there were those who saw it as a short-term idea. It was basically a tribute to Bray Wyatt and was over big at first but it was limiting how they could be used with that gimmick over the long haul.â
Let them in! This group may be headed in different directions, but we have assembled them once again for the entire 3 day weekend. Group pro photos will be available each day. pic.twitter.com/KZhgpwPvV1
An injury scare involving Joe Gacy reportedly forced changes to Tuesday’s live episode of WWE NXT.
Fightful Select reports that there was concern backstage that Gacy had suffered a concussion in a match against North American Champion Oba Femi on the show. The bout was stopped and ruled a no contest with the referee throwing up the “X” signal that typically indicates a real injury.
An in-ring segment involving Femi and his NXT Stand & Deliver challengers Dijak & Josh Briggs was reportedly changed to a backstage segment, and a planned announcement of a Gacy vs. Shawn Spears match for Saturday’s Stand & Deliver kickoff show was delayed.
The report states that Gacy was able to make it backstage without assistance after being checked in the ring by medical personnel, and that his match with Spears was then announced as planned.
That fact would indicate that Gacy passed a concussion check, but the report does not state that explicitly.
Our coverage of Tuesday’s WWE NXT episode is here.
The updated lineup for Saturday’s WWE NXT Stand & Deliver is here.
Carmelo Hayes is set for his first match since betraying Trick Williams.
WWE has announced that Hayes vs. Joe Gacy will take place on NXT this Tuesday (February 13). The match was booked following a post-show angle where Hayes laid out Gacy last Tuesday.
At NXT Vengeance Day, Hayes turned against Williams by attacking him and targeting his knee with a steel chair. Hayes & Williams had lost to Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals earlier in the night. Williams wrestled twice at Vengeance Day, also unsuccessfully challenging Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship.
Hayes cut a promo on NXT last Tuesday explaining his betrayal. Hayes confirmed that he was also the mystery assailant who attacked Williams in October 2023.
Hayes said he knew he needed to attack Williams when Williams went behind his back and went after the NXT Championship.
âThis was never a collaboration, Trick. You were always my hype man,â Hayes said. âThatâs all it is, and that is all youâll ever be.â
Last Tuesday’s NXT was headlined by Dragunov defeating Dijak in a non-title match. Interference by Gacy led to Dijak losing. After the match, Hayes ambushed Dragunov and posed with Dragunov’s NXT Championship belt.
Dijak defeated Gacy in a no DQ match at Vengeance Day.
It’s also been confirmed that Ridge Holland will face Gallus in a gauntlet match on NXT this Tuesday. Plus, Lola Vice takes on Tatum Paxley.
Here’s the updated card for the episode:
NXT Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo & Stacks defend against Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin
Carmelo Hayes vs. Joe Gacy
Gauntlet match: Ridge Holland vs. Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, Wolfgang)
A no disqualification match has been added to Vengeance Day.
Joe Gacy will meet Dijak after the two ended up getting into a brawl on Tuesday. After being thrown off a dumpster, Gacy later emerged and accepted the challenge for Sunday.
Gacy and Dijak had a meeting on NXT that quickly turned into a brawl. As they were fighting outside of the WWE Performance Center, the two ended up on a platform where Dijak threw Gacy into a nearby dumpster. Later, after new general manager Ava yelled at Dijak over what he had done, Dijak said he wanted Gacy in a no disqualification match for Sunday. Ava did not think Gacy would recover by then, but Gacy popped out of the dumpster and agreed to the match.
Here is the updated lineup for Sundayâs Vengeance Day card:
WWE NXT Vengeance Day, Sunday, February 4, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock/WWE Network —
NXT Champion Ilja Dargunov defends against Trick Williams
NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria defends against Roxanne Perez
NXT North American Champion Oba Femi defends against Dragon Lee
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals: Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs. Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin
No DQ match: Dijak vs. Joe Gacy
Six-person mixed tag team match: The Family (Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo & Adriana Rizzo) vs. OTM (Lucien Price, Bronco Nima & Jaida Parker)
After making a surprise appearance on last Tuesday’s WWE NXT, Mustafa Ali will make his official in-ring return to the promotion this Tuesday against Joe Gacy.
Ali, a free agent in WWE storyline, appeared last Tuesday during the Wes Lee & Tyler Bate vs. The Dyad match. Gacy attacked Lee and Bate after they won which brought Ali out of the commentary booth to even the odds and put this match into motion.
Gacy is coming off a loss in a three-way for the NXT North American title to champion Lee and Bate at last weekend’s Battleground.
This will be Ali’s first match in NXT since an April 2017 house show. He was part of the black and gold brand for a short run from July 2016 through that aforementioned house show match.
Here’s the current lineup for Tuesday:
NXT Women’s Championship number one contender battle royal
Eddy Thorpe vs. Damon Kemp
The Schism (Jagger Reid, Rip Fowler & Ava) vs. Diamond Mine (Ivy Nile, Brutus Creed & Julius Creed)
Two title matches have been added to NXT Battleground.
Tuesdayâs NXT show confirmed that Wes Lee will defend the North American title in a three-way against Joe Gacy and Tyler Bate on May 28. Meanwhile, Noam Dar will defend the NXT Heritage Cup trophy against Dragon Lee.
Gacy and Ava attacked Wes Lee and Tyler Bate backstage on Tuesday, injuring Bateâs arm in the process. Later in the show, Lee came out and called out Gacy. He and Ava appeared on a nearby perch, with Gacy accusing Bate of deceiving Lee, while making it clear he wanted a North American title match. Bate came out and denied he was deceiving Lee, but did say that he too wanted a title match. Lee said he would take on both men at Battleground.
Dar agreed to defend the Heritage Cup trophy during events that took place during an episode of Supernova Sessions. Dar belittled Lee, pretending that he didnât know Lee spoke English. Nathan Frazer came out and said that Lee should get a match for the trophy, and that he should get a match against Dar as well for next week. Dar eventually agreed to both matches.
On NXT Tuesday, The Creed Brothers also issued a challenge to Gallus for the NXT Tag Team titles. However, that match was not confirmed.
Here is the updated lineup for NXT Battleground:
NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker
NXT Womenâs Championship finals: Tiffany Stratton or Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria or Cora Jade
NXT Heritage Cup: Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee
NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate vs. Joe Gacy
Last weekâs WWE Main Event was taped at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, before Raw. It featured NXT’s Cora Jade, the return of Joe Gacy, and wasn’t a standout show.
Dexter Lumis defeated Joe Gacy (5:11)
This was fine, but the crowd wasn’t much into it and thus it felt quite tepid.
Gacy worked Main Event last November against Cedric Alexander and looks fine with main roster company. His match last year was much stronger than this, but it doesnât help that Lumis doesnât sell very much as part of his gimmick when youâre trying to give fresh faces a chance.
Gacyâs gimmick is a little odd for my taste and, although Lumis does seem to be getting over to some extent, he doesnât really do much for me either. Lumis seems to be channeling the Undertaker at times, no-selling certain things and turning around to glare at his opponent with wide eyes.
They worked a pretty standard match, but Gacy does move well for a bigger athlete. His handspring into a clothesline that he used here is a testament to that.
At one point, Gacy appeared to try to recruit Lumis by saying that he could have given him a chance, but Lumis was having none of it and nailed him with a few strikes to the gut.
After Gacy locked in a couple of rest holds, he went once more for his clothesline, but Lumis caught him and finished him with his as-yet-unnamed side slam that looks suspiciously like a Rock Bottom.
Nikki Cross defeated Cora Jade (7:14)
It was good to see Jade make her main roster debut in front of her home crowd, but their match wasnât much to write home about.
At only 23, Jade is still relatively new to this, and she and Cross had a few difficulties towards the end. Having worked a few 205 Live tapings and the odd dark match on SmackDown, this was probably her most notable main roster outing to date.
They gave Jade an inset promo as she made her way to the ring carrying a kendo stick. She said she had been running NXT for a long time and that she was about to become the number one woman in all of WWE. The crowd popped for her as she was introduced as hailing from Chicago.
After some neat early mat work, Cross was slamming Jadeâs head into the turnbuckle when she stopped her and hit her with a high knee that sent her to the floor outside. Jade postured to the crowd and we went to a commercial break.
Jade was in control after the break, but this is where they really lost the crowd. After the heat segment, they didnât really come to life for Crossâ comeback either.
There was a neat spot where Jade reversed a bulldog into a pin attempt, but they lost their way after Cross came off the second rope with a tornado DDT. Jade had Cross in a full nelson and then just dropped on to her back. They conversed on the mat together and then went to the finish.
It looked like Jade was bleeding from the mouth as they teased a superplex. Cross fought her off and came off the top rope with a crossbody to get the win.
Final Thoughts:
It was a nice moment for Jade to get to work in front of a packed Allstate Arena, but she will be disappointed that the match didnât quite work out as planned. These things happen and she certainly has time on her side.
The fallout from NXT Halloween Havoc on today’s episode of Speak Now!
We had a lot of stuff to talk about on tonight’s show including two tag team title matches, Wes Lee as new NXT North American Champion, Ava Raine joins The Schism, JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov in the main event, and more!
It was revealed during a vignette that the two druids that have been competing in tag matches in recent weeks are the former Grizzled Young Veterans, Zack Gibson and James Drake. During the segment, the two were transformed, no longer sporting facial hair and Gibson now wearing contact lenses. They are now going under the names Jagger Reid (Drake) and Rip Fowler (Gibson).
Gacy told them in the segment that their past is now behind him. Reid said they had found redemption, while Fowler said they now can be truly recognized. The segment ended with Gacy welcoming them home.
Gibson and Drake hadnât been on television since the April 19 edition of NXT, when they lost to Legado del Fantasma. After the loss, a vignette on social media aired with the two saying the NXT Universe would no longer see Gibson and Drake.
In recent weeks, Gacy has introduced two hooded figures known as The Dyad. Last week, Gacy revealed their stable name was The Schism, and The Dyad would reveal their identities next week.
In Your House returns for the third straight year as NXT’s latest streaming special takes place tonight.
Five title matches will take place on the show. In the main event, Bron Breakker will defend his NXT Championship against Joe Gacy. The match has a stipulation where Breakker will lose the NXT Championship if he gets disqualified.
Gacy has repeatedly played mind games with Breakker leading into In Your House, claiming that Breakker isn’t capable of controlling his emotions. Gacy will attempt to manipulate Breakker into losing by DQ tonight.
Other title matches on the show will see Mandy Rose defend the NXT Women’s Championship against Wendy Choo, Carmelo Hayes challenge Cameron Grimes for the NXT North American Championship, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne put the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles on the line against Katana Chance & Kayden Carter, and Pretty Deadly defend the NXT Tag Team titles against The Creed Brothers.
Roderick Strong has said that he will expel The Creed Brothers from Diamond Mine if they lose.
Plus, Legado del Fantasma will take on Tony D’Angelo, Stacks & Two Dimes in a six-man tag match. The losing team will be absorbed into the winning team’s faction.
Tonight’s main card begins on Peacock/WWE Network at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There will also be a half-hour pre-show before the event.
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Kickoff show —
McKenzie Mitchell and Sam Roberts were the hosts.
As they previewed the NXT North American Championship match, they were interrupted by Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. Trick hyped up Hayes before Hayes put over Cameron Grimes as a talent — despite that, Hayes said he would walk out tonight as champion.
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Roderick Strong was training backstage. Ivy Nile approached and asked if Strong had calmed down after this past week. He had, but he’s also dead serious about the Creed Brothers not living up to expectations. The Creeds showed up and said they’d make it happen. Damon Kemp said they were ready, and Strong said “they better be.”
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Edris EnofĂŠ and Malik Blade were brought to the desk to talk about tonight’s tag title match, but EnofĂŠ instead opted just to hype them both up. Blade said the Creeds were the hardest working tag team in NXT 2.0. EnofĂŠ said Pretty Deadly were in trouble. Roberts called Pretty Deadly “gorgeous.” Blade asked him “Why you bald?”
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Mitchell and Roberts previewed the NXT Championship match to close the pre-show.
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NXT 2.0 In Your House report —
As they ran down the card, Joe Gacy interrupted. “Were you expecting someone else?” was his question. I don’t know why we would expect someone else, Joe, you’re in the main event. He burned down the In Your House logo and laughed.
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Before the match, a Tony D’Angelo video played where he talked about his responsibilities and power. They want to control the streets.
Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, & Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan defeated Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Cruz del Toro, & Joaquin Wilde) (w/ Elektra Lopez) [13:02]
The losing team must join the winning team’s stable.
Two Dimes and Wilde started off, with the latter landing a dropkick. Stacks and del Toro were next, with the veteran del Toro outwrestling Stacks and hitting a hurricanrana. The leaders, D’Angelo and Escobar, were the last to come in. Escobar took D’Angelo down with a dropkick, but a distraction from Stacks led to the match breaking down into a free-for-all.
During the brawl, D’Angelo and company gained the advantage, but Escobar drove Two Dimes into Legado’s corner, leading to repeated tags and clotheslines. A twisting suplex from del Toro got two. Two Dimes countered a springboard attempt by pushing del Toro out of the ring to the floor, giving his team control of the match.
D’Angelo and friends continued to beat down del Toro with frequent tags and double teams. del Toro eventually rolled past to reach Escobar for the hot tag. Escobar took out all three opponents, then all three members of Legado landed nice-looking dives. He rolled D’Angelo back into the ring and covered for two.
Escobar kept up the attack until Stacks stopped him from hitting a top-rope hurricanrana on D’Angelo. Two Dimes and del Toro faced off, with del Toro missing a phoenix splash and running into a hard lariat. A double team modified High Low from Legado got two.
All six men faced off and brawled in the ring. Eventually it was just D’Angelo and Escobar, taking each other out with simultaneous clotheslines. Elektra Lopez passed Escobar brass knuckles, but D’Angelo got a pipe. Wilde got the pipe and hit Stacks with it, but then D’Angelo got the brass knuckles and hit Wilde with them as a knocked-out Stacks fell onto Wilde for the pin.
Legado del Fantasma are now part of Tony D’Angelo’s family.
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An Alba Fyre video promo played. She talked about her Scottish heritage.
Lash Legend and other roster members were backstage watching. Lash wasn’t impressed. Tatum Paxley was tired of the talk.
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Mandy Rose pulled up to the arena alongside her stablemates and said “Ladies, let’s do this.”
NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships: Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) (c) defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance [10:40]
The champions attacked before the bell, but the challengers quickly regained control with dives. They isolated Jayne in their corner, but Dolin got a blind tag, allowing Toxic Attraction to earn the advantage. Toxic Attraction performed a long beatdown of Chance. Chance started a comeback with an interesting rebound move, allowing her to tag in Carter who ran wild.
Carter landed a thrust kick for two. Dolin cut off Carter’s run, but Carter quickly recovered and she and Chance hit a backstabber into a double stomp for two. Dropping Dolin onto Jayne got two more. Toxic Attraction hit a High Low, but Carter came in to break up the tag. Carter hit an apron cutter on Jayne.
Carter & Chance hit their assisted 450 splash, but Jayne pulled Carter to the floor on the cover attempt. Back in the ring, Jayne struck Carter and Dolin hit kind of a German suplex bridge for the win.
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Pretty Deadly were backstage grooming their hair. They sung that they’d beat the Creed Brothers. Meanwhile, the Creeds were sparring with each other as the Diamond Mine looked on.
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NXT North American Championship: Carmelo Hayes (w/ Trick Williams) defeated Cameron Grimes (c) [14:53]
Both competitors wrestled to a stalemate early on. A big boot from Grimes gave him the first real advantage of the match. Hayes pulled Grimes face-first into the apron, but Grimes cut off a dive with an enziguiri. Back in the ring, Grimes landed a diving crossbody for two. Hayes came back with an apron DDT.
Hayes targeted Grimes’ midsection until Grimes avoided a springboard. Grimes missed a dive of his own and ran into a springboard attack from Hayes for two. Trick got involved and tried to tie Grimes’ arm to the rope with the official distracted, allowing Hayes to hit La Mistica for two. Grimes started a comeback, but Trick tripped him up. Grimes cut Hayes off with an inverted Spanish Fly off the ropes.
They traded strikes in the ring until Grimes fired up with running forearms. After a hurricanrana sent Hayes to the floor, Grimes landed a soccer kick. An around-the-world slam from Grimes got two, then a thrust kick got two more. Hayes countered a reverse hurricanrana and hit a lungblower for two.
Grimes hit his backflip powerslam for two. He called for the Cave In, but ran into a thrust kick before coming back with a reverse rana and a tope con giro. Grimes hit the Cave In on Trick but was sent into the turnbuckle, allowing Hayes to land a top-rope leg drop bulldog for the win.
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Joe Gacy said Bron Breakker’s days as champion were numbered. He’d tear down the present in hopes of building a new future.
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NXT Women’s Championship: Mandy Rose (c) defeated Wendy Choo [11:59]
Rose attacked before the bell and she dominated the early goings with an aggressive attack. Occasionally, Choo would attempt brief comebacks, but Rose would always cut her off.
Choo finally fired up after a cradle, laying in strikes and hitting a lariat and an overhead throw. She hit the naptime elbow, but Rose rolled to the floor, where Choo landed a baseball slide dropkick. Rose countered a cartwheel attack with a spinebuster on the ramp. Choo barely made it back in the ring before the countout.
Rose snapped and tore up Choo’s pillow, infuriating the challenger. Choo attacked with a Thesz press and a Death Valley bomb. She struggled to take off her jumpsuit, revealing a defaced Toxic Attraction T-shirt before cradling Rose for two.
Choo locked on a sleeper, but Rose reached the ropes for a break. She tried to follow it up with a top-rope attack, but Rose pulled her down and hit Kiss the Rose for the win.
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Tiffany Stratton and Roxanne Perez were backstage as the women in the finals of the NXT Breakout Tournament. Stratton was offended and said it was the “women’s” tournament, not the “girls'” tournament. Perez said she worked too hard to lose.
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NXT Tag Team Championships: The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed & Julius Creed) defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) (c) [15:26]
If the Creed Brothers lose, they are out of the Diamond Mine.
Brutus started out with Wilson and beat him down until Wilson used evasive maneuvers to tag in Prince. Julius entered the match and took out both of Pretty Deadly. The Creeds just dominated everything — Pretty Deadly would occasionally try to get under their skin, but the Creeds would stay focused on top.
Six minutes in, Pretty Deadly sent Brutus to the floor and taunted. The Creeds quickly regained control and continued to beat them down. Finally, nine minutes in, Pretty Deadly got their first real offense of the match as they were able to plant Julius on the steel steps.
Pretty Deadly isolated Julius with repeated tags. Julius eventually fought out and reached Brutus for the hot tag. He clobbered away at Prince and took out Wilson before sending the former into the latter with a gutwrench throw. Brutus hit the Brutus Ball, but Wilson came in to break up the pin attempt.
Suddenly, Julius had the title in the ring, but instead of using it, Brutus planted Wilson and Julius hit an insane shooting star press and a sliding D for the win.
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NXT 2.0 (6/7) lineup:
NXT Breakout Tournament finals: Tiffany Stratton vs. Roxanne Perez
Von Wagner vs. Josh Briggs
Alba Fyre vs. Tatum Paxley
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NXT Championship: Bron Breakker (c) defeated Joe Gacy [15:38]
If Bron is disqualified, Gacy wins the championship.
Bron went right at Gacy, who kept trying to get in Bron’s head. Gacy rolled to the floor after taking a spinebuster. On the outside, one of Gacy’s druids got in Bron’s face with a chair. Bron grabbed it, but the distraction was enough for Gacy to send Bron into the ring post.
Gacy targeted Bron’s midsection and neck. We got a long extended heat segment with Gacy on top; Gacy continued to play mind games throughout. Eventually, Bron was able to send Gacy to the floor, but back inside the ring, Gacy leveled him with a lariat for two.
Eventually, Bron stopped a right hand and fired up with a comeback, concluding with a tope con giro. One of the druids hopped on the apron and distracted the official, and with his back turned, Gacy was passed a chair and did the Eddie flop as if he’d been hit by it. The official was about to disqualify Bron, but a second official ran out to stop him and explain the situation.
Bron downed Gacy with a lariat. He then speared Gacy off the apron through the announce table. Back inside, Bron hit his top-rope bulldog for a near fall. The chair got involved once again, and Bron thought about using it, but he instead passed it to the official. As the official got rid of the chair, Gacy hit Bron with a low blow for a close near fall.
By this point, Bron was infuriated. He grabbed the chair again, but instead smacked one of the druids with it and cut off Gacy with an awesome spear. The military press powerslam followed for the win.
Ahead of his rematch with NXT Champion Bron Breakker this Saturday at NXT In Your House, I talked with challenger Joe Gacy about his opponent, negative feedback from fans, and working with Rick Steiner.
Here are some of the highlights of our talk which you can watch by clicking above.
Dealing with negative feedback from fans
The Gacy character has certainly been a talking point among fans. When he was first introduced, he ruffled some feathers with some of the verbiage he used during his promos to the point Fox News wrote an article with the headline that read, “WWE pins woke left with controversial new wrestler.”
It was in Gacy’s promos where he would mention the ring being a “safe space,” “male privilege” and more. Since then, the character has evolved into a more spooky smoke and mirrors type of character, but still tends to be one of the more heavily criticized aspects of WWE NXT 2.0.
How did he handle the social media backlash?
“I love it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Whether you want to cheer me or boo me, I love every moment of it. Just being able to be here and do what I am doing is crazy. The last two years have been crazy, but good crazy. So to be able to get any kind of reaction out of the WWE Universe has been great for me, whether it’s good or bad.”
“I do what I enjoy and what’s good for me. If I followed what a lot of people online say, I should probably hate myself. But I don’t do that so much so it’s okay.”
Character inspirations
“I don’t think I pulled inspiration from much of anything. It might be weird to say that, but it’s kinda always just been there for me. I probably couldn’t put my finger on anything specific, but I grew up a huge movie buff and I’ve watched WWE since I was a kid. I came up watching guys like Mick Foley, I’ve always been a big Mick Foley fan. So I don’t know if that’s something that’s a part of me, it might be. Becoming an adult, I kinda just soaked a lot of things in and I’ve always just kinda had ideas and I’ve always been writing ideas, I used to write stories, so I am always full of ideas and I never stop thinking.”
Becoming a focal point of NXT 2.0
Since the black and gold brand was ditched for the new colorful era of NXT 2.0, there have been a lot of new faces. One of those has been Gacy, who has been featured consistently on the new brand for the most part.
“It’s very exciting. Once I found out that the changeover was happening to 2.0 and there was a group of guys and a group of females that were really gonna start taking NXT into the new era, and realizing that I am one of these people was a huge compliment to me. At the time, I was like, ‘This is gonna be a challenge but I am ready to take it on and go.'”
Feuding with Breakker & Rick Steiner
For the last several weeks, the Gacy/Breakker feud has built up even more. We have seen him play mind games with Breakker by kidnapping his father, Rick Steiner, and scaring him with mementos from his past. This, of course, is all leading up to their title match at NXT In Your House.
“To be able to work with (Bron’s) father, I didn’t expect that. But to be able to work with essentially that family, not only was it exciting but it was a very good learning experience for me. As new as Bron Breakker is, a wealth of knowledge just from his family alone has taught me so much. He’s a very physical specimen as far as being an athlete so it’s a lot of fun to see the things he can do.”
I also asked Gacy what fans can expect from this rematch at NXT In Your House.
“Easy answer would be that you can’t really expect anything. You don’t really know what’s gonna happen, but what I will say is you’re probably gonna see something very, very different.”
The future
“Immediately, what comes to mind is to become the NXT Champion. Maybe I’ll have a new goal after Saturday if I accomplish that goal. I would love to go to Raw or SmackDown and chase my WrestleMania moment. I am always thinking ahead, but right now I am very focused on In Your House this Saturday and winning the NXT Championship.”
With their NXT Championship match at In Your House less than two weeks away, Joe Gacy continued to play mind games with Bron Breakker.
Those mind games caused Breakker to get disqualified against Duke Hudson in the main event of last night’s NXT. After Gacy and his followers got involved in the match, Breakker was disqualified when he hit Hudson with a steel chair.
Earlier in the night, Gacy toyed with Breakker by leaving a Steiner family photo from 20 years ago in the locker room. Gacy also had footage of a high school football game of Breakker’s start playing as Breakker was being interviewed. Breakker said his father promised him that he would be at that game, but he wasn’t able to be there because he was wrestling in Japan.
Breakker and Gacy’s title match at In Your House has a stipulation where Breakker will lose the NXT Championship if he gets disqualified.
Two new title matches for In Your House were set up last night. Mandy Rose will defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Wendy Choo, while Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne will put their Women’s Tag Team titles on the line against Katana Chance & Kayden Carter. Those matches will be made official at a championship summit next Tuesday.
The main event for NXT In Your House was confirmed last night when NXT Champion Bron Breakker accepted a challenge from Joe Gacy.
Breakker declined Gacy’s offer to join his movement and said he’s instead out to make Gacy go unconscious. Gacy agreed to face Breakker again at NXT In Your House — but only if Breakker accepted his stipulation for the title match. If Breakker gets disqualified, he loses the NXT Championship.
Without much hesitation, Breakker accepted.
Gacy said he’s been able to predict Breakker’s every move throughout their journey together, and Breakker’s uncontrollable rage will be his downfall at In Your House.
In Your House is taking place on Saturday, June 4 and will air live on Peacock/WWE Network.
Also on last night’s NXT, Santos Escobar defeated Tony D’Angelo with the help of a pair of brass knuckles, Roxanne Perez and Lash Legend advanced in the Women’s Breakout Tournament, and more.
