The Big News: Kassius Ohno used the 51 weeks of anger and vitriol that he built up, but still came up short as Tommaso Ciampa stood victorious in their main event.
The Medium News: War Raiders destroyed Heavy Machinery in the finest three minutes of big guy fighting you’ll see.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch called Pete Dunne a piece of garbage, but Dunne still agreed to team with them against Undisputed Era.
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The show began with Ricochet coming out for his first in-ring promo since joining NXT. He said that no matter where he’s been around the world, he wanted to make sure everyone remembered him. His mission at WrestleMania weekend was for everyone to be talking about him. He plans on taking over NXT.
He said you can call it confidence or cockiness, but each and every time he steps into the ring, he proves there is one and only Ricochet. There is one and only thing on his mind and that is the NXT Championship.
This brought out, not the NXT Champion, but Velveteen Dream. Dream, who apparently has been trolling Ricochet on Twitter, asked who was giving Ricochet the authority to make this challenge. Dream told him to take a step back before mocking Ricochet’s “One and Only” nickname. Dream said Ricochet makes this look good, but there is one man and one experience and that is Velveteen Dream.
Dream told him no matter how many flips or flops he does, Ricochet better make sure to land in the back of the line, behind The Dream.
Ricochet laughed at the idea that Dream deserves a title shot. Ricochet said he may be new, but he knows who Velveteen Dream is. He mentioned Dream’s biggest success of the year, which was getting Aleister Black to say his name, but Dream may not remember that because Black had just knocked him out. Ricochet told him to enjoy the spotlight while he can, because he is here to steal the show and the spotlight.
Dream was aghast at this and said “the candy doves” may believe Ricochet, but he can do anything Ricochet does and do it better. Ricochet challenged him to do it. Dream tried a sneak attack (from the front) but stopped himself when Ricochet cocked his fist. Dream slithered out of the ring and proved he was better than Ricochet at running away from a fight.
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EC3 defeated Raul Mendoza
EC3 returned to the ring to go one-on-one with Mendoza. The last time EC3 wrestled on NXT television was way back on May 17th, 2013 when he lost to then-NXT Champion Big E Langston.
Mendoza hit a nice looking springboard missile dropkick early but got cut off with a DDT. He made a brief comeback but got cut off again and was nailed with a running knee lift and a TKO, giving EC3 the victory.
Cathy Kelley ran to the ring to interview EC3, who blew off losing the ladder match at TakeOver. He said he has the mind of a genius and the body of a deity and said the only thing you’ll see from him going forward is victory after victory until NXT is re-branded as NX3. He said he is the best here, the best there, and the best anywhere.
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Last week, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch confronted Pete Dunne. They said they didn’t like Dunne and called him a piece of garbage before asking him to be their partner against Undisputed Era. You know, when you want a favor from someone, try not to talk crap about them.
Scratch that, it apparently works, as Dunne agreed to team with them. A six-man tag was set for next week.
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Dakota Kai defeated Vanessa Borne
This match was set up last week when Borne called Kai a “scaredy cat.” Them’s fighting words!
Borne clubbered on Kai early to deafening silence, so Borne screamed at the fans to cheer for her. The audience did a combination of “No” and “Boo” before going silent again. They kind of started to cheerlead for Kai to make her comeback, but they spent most of this match sitting on their hands. Kai used a flipping backstabber, which looked pretty cool, for the pin.
She got to celebrate for three seconds before Shayna Baszler’s music preceded an appearance by the Women’s Champion. Kai, who had almost a full minute to run in the opposite direction, was frozen in fear as Baszler made it to the ring. Baszler backed her into the corner, before turning her attack on Borne, who was getting to her feet. Baszler locked on the Kirifuda Clutch and Kai, who could have tried to break it up, ran away.
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Cathy Kelley was smiling at the camera, waiting to interview Kai. Kai suddenly flew into the camera, so Kelley asked her why Baszler is so successful at playing mind games with her.
Baszler appeared and dared Kai to kick her. Kai did not, so Baszler mocked her and walked away.
Nikki Cross was hanging out nearby, cackling at this turn of events.
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War Raiders defeated Heavy Machinery
These four men would probably get along really well. I imagine them sitting down together to eat a bunch of steaks before going off to lift a bunch of weights. Instead, they are colliding in a battle of mean guys.
The match began as a four-way brawl, with both sets of men crashing their full weight into each other. War Raiders got the best of things as it broke down into a tag team match. Hanson threw Rowe into Otis Dozovic, who was in the corner. Dozovic heaved Hanson across the ring with a suplex before making the tag to Tucker Knight.
Hanson did a suicide dive to Dozovic as Rowe hit a hard knee strike to Knight’s face. War Raiders hit Fallout for the quick, dominant victory.
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The Street Profits were not happy that TM-61 cheated to beat them last week, so we got a video of them training on a basketball court. Keep in mind they are training like this because TM-61 cheated, but they spent the video talking about how they wanted to beat Undisputed Era for the Tag Team titles.
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Tommaso Ciampa defeated Kassius Ohno
Ohno was so mad that Ciampa turned on Johnny Gargano 51 weeks ago that Ohno challenged Ciampa to a match last week. It didn’t help matters that Ciampa cost Gargano his NXT title shot two weeks ago. You know, after Ciampa cost Gargano multiple title matches earlier this year. I guess Ohno is okay with three betrayals, but that fourth one crosses the line. Ciampa is still the biggest heel on the roster and still has no theme music, which is good. Ohno stormed to the ring and started the match hot.
Ohno beat on him in and out of the ring until Ciampa tripped him up on the ropes. Ciampa used a running knee to the face and hard stomps to the back of the head. The veins in Ciampa’s head were popping as he slapped on a side headlock. Ohno used his fist and elbow to make his comeback and almost literally shoved his foot down Ciampa’s throat. They sold that Ohno hit an elbow to Ciampa’s eye and followed it up with a bare knee drop to the eye area.
Ohno used a weird move that started as a sort of headlock while Ciampa’s legs were wrapped around him and then turned it into a drop of some sort. Ciampa took over and distracted the referee while digging his finger into Ohno’s eye. Ohno tried to make another comeback, but he got a running knee to the back of the head for a near fall. Finally, Ciampa put Ohno away with his flipping neckbreaker.
Perhaps Ohno can try again in 52 or 53 weeks.
After the match, Ciampa took off his knee brace and used it to pull back Ohno’s head like Gargano did to him at TakeOver. Ciampa yelled that he broke Gargano’s body and Candice LeRae’s heart and that the Gargano fairytale is over.
Ciampa backed his way up the ramp and into darkness as the show came to its conclusion. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
While he’ll be using a different name this time, the former Chris Hero is headed back to PROGRESS Wrestling for one of their biggest weekend’s of the year.
PROGRESS announced NXT’s Kassius Ohno as the latest entrant for this year’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament today. It will take place at Alexandra Palace in London on May 5-7, with the winner receiving a future title shot.
As Hero, Ohno also appeared in the 2016 edition of Super Strong Style 16. He lost to Tommy End (now Aleister Black) in the semifinals.
This won’t be the first time that Ohno has wrestled for a WWE-friendly promotion since returning to NXT. He made an appearance for ICW last September and was defeated by Joe Coffey.
With one more entrant still to be announced, Pete Dunne, Keith Lee, Zack Sabre Jr., Doug Williams, Angelico, Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, Chuck Mambo, Chris Brookes, Jordan Devlin, Joey Janela, TK Cooper, David Starr, Tyler Bate, and Ohno make up the field for this year’s Super Strong Style 16. Travis Banks won the tournament in 2017 and went on to win the PROGRESS Championship from Dunne.
WWE’s first matches of WrestleMania week in New Orleans took place yesterday at the first session of Axxess.
First round matches in the United Kingdom, North American, and NXT Women’s and Tag Team title invitational tournaments took place. The tournaments will continue later today, with the semifinals and finals scheduled for Saturday’s three sessions. The winners will challenge their respective champions at Axxess on Sunday.
Yesterday’s matches also included WWN Champion Keith Lee making a cameo and defending his title against Kassius Ohno. There was a hard cam and two mobile cameras taping at least some of the matches.
– WWN Champion Keith Lee defeated Kassius Ohno to retain his title
Lee hit a pounce, a Spirit Bomb, and ended up winning the match with a jackhammer.
– Tyler Bate & Trent Seven defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss in an NXT Tag Team invitational first round match
– Fabian Aichner defeated Jason Kincaid in a North American invitational first round match
Kincaid is another wrestler from WWN who was appearing at Axxess.
– Nikki Cross defeated Aliyah in an NXT Women’s invitational first round match
– Lio Rush defeated Buddy Murphy in a UK invitational first round match
– The Street Profits defeated Cezar Bononi & Adrian Jaoude in an NXT Tag Team invitational first round match
Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins will face Bate & Seven in the next round.
– Drew Gulak defeated Dan Matha in a UK invitational first round match
– Akira Tozawa defeated Kona Reeves in a North American invitational first round match
This set up Tozawa vs. Aichner for Saturday’s semifinals.
– Buddy Murphy & Kalisto defeated TJP & Jack Gallagher
Murphy wrestled part of the match in a Kalisto mask until it was taken off.
– Kairi Sane defeated Bianca Belair in an NXT Women’s invitational first round match
This was a real solid opener, with Hanson pinning Nick Miller after Thor’s Hammer. TM61 continue to do their tweener heel gimmick. War Machine’s music isn’t known by the entire state, but they’re getting monster pops when they come through the curtain at Florida house shows.
– Buddy Murphy defeated Dijak
Murphy pinned Dijak (announced as that) with his spinning Death Valley Driver. This match was a sprint with a ton of amazing strikes by both guys. Murphy did two near-10 counts, which the crowd almost bit on. Really good match for six or seven minutes.
– Ricochet came out and cut a promo about how he’s going to win the NXT North American Championship. Long way to go on the mic, but the crowd appreciated him appearing.
– Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Fabian Aichner
Babatunde won with a pop-up lariat. The intensity he brings with his limited move set is very over with the audience in terms of being a monster heel with power moves and aggression.
– The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) defeated The Street Profits
Blake pinned Montez Ford after Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss interfered and Sabbatelli pushed Ford off the top rope as he was going for a frog splash. This was The Street Profits’ first match since losing to The Authors of Pain at Full Sail and their first real match since Ford got hurt.
This had the most heat of any match on the show with the crowd hating Cutler and Blake. The entire crowd just kept calling The Forgotten Sons chickens the entire match. It was so bizarre, but Ford took it to another level by making chicken sounds every time he grabbed a headlock. Very entertaining match.
– Kairi Sane defeated Taynara Conti
Sane won with the top rope elbow, which is the first time in she’s used it on a house show in a while.
– Aleister Black defeated Kona Reeves
They did the match they’ve been doing the past three weeks where the bell rings and Black stands still in the ring for minutes. Meanwhile, the heel cuts a promo, goes back and forth several times to the outside to argue with fans, then after three times of going to the outside, the heel charges at Black and gets hit with the Black Mass.
Much like the previous two times this match was done (March 17th vs. Reeves in Largo, March 23rd vs. Marcel Barthel in Lakeland), Zelina Vega came out and sat in front of Black. She cut her typical promo about NXT TakeOver: New Orleans and left the ring.
Andrews pinned Moss with a roll-up after countering the assisted Gory Bomb finisher Moss and Sabbatelli do. Andrews got beat up for most of the match before getting the hot tag to Ohno. Decent bout.
After it was over, Blake and Cutler made it four-on-two and beat down Ohno and Andrews. This brought out The Street Profits to get their revenge on their opponents from earlier, as well as Sabbatelli and Moss. Ford and Andrews hit their finishers.
Ohno danced with The Street Profits and did a reverse worm to a massive pop. He then asked for the mic and said him and Angelo Dawkins were in NXT five years ago and where they’re at now compared to then is night and day. He said that the fans are what makes NXT what it is and the brand would be nothing without the fans.
The Big News: Adam Cole defeated Kassius Ohno all by himself in an exciting main event.
The Medium News: Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne replaced Moustache Mountain and defeated Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
The Little Beaver-sized News: A fan named Johnny Gargano jumped the barricade and attacked Tommaso Ciampa before being heaved out of the arena.
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Hey, we’re back in Full Sail!
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Tommaso Ciampa walked out to start the show. The Full Sail crowd had the same reaction the Center Stage fans did, booing him vociferously and chanting about how much he sucks. There were about a dozen fans who tried to get a chant for Ciampa going, but they were overwhelmed by chants for Johnny Gargano.
Much like the last two weeks, the fans were not interested in what he had to say, booing louder and louder every time Ciampa held the mic up. Finally, Ciampa shouted that Gargano was gone and was never coming back. He didn’t get to say anything else as the fans drowned his voice out with louder boos before Ciampa left the ring.
On his way around, he grabbed several Gargano signs from fans and ripped them up. One girl actually looked like she was going to cry, and then a little old lady stood up to him. Finally, he ripped the sign out of the hands of another fan, who took off his lucha mask — and it was Johnny Gargano!
Gargano leapt over the barricade and beat Ciampa like Ciampa owed him money. Security ran in and dragged Johnny Wrestling away and threw him out of the building.
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Charly Caruso announced that, due to Tyler Bate being injured, Moustache Mountain have been removed from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Bate’s knee injury has sidelined him for two weeks, and that is what led to the team pulling out.
Roderick Strong went to Twitter to plead with William Regal to put him in the Dusty Classic. Mr. Regal granted the request, and it’s now up to him to find a partner.
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Adam Cole and Kassius Ohno argued on Twitter and now they are wrestling this week.
Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly joked about Strong getting into the Dusty Classic. After that, they turned their discussion towards Kassius Ohno. Cole said this was a day off and he was so confident in victory he told the other two to stay backstage.
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Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic first round match
Strong is teaming with his one-time foe, the reigning WWE United Kingdom Champion. Lorcan and Burch have been teammates for around nine months and have had as much televised success as a team as they had as singles.
This was a shockingly even match as Dunne and Burch worked very well together. Dunne went for a leapfrog, but Burch tripped him up and turned it into a submission hold and we had a stand off as all four men went face to face. After a commercial break, Strong and Dunne had the heat on Burch, but the fans were into both teams. Lorcan eventually got the hot tag and ran wild on Strong, getting one near fall after another.
Dunne had the match won with an Ex-Plex, but it was broken up. Burch and Lorcan locked on a dual submission, but Strong kicked Lorcan off, and he fell into the Dunne/Burch pile.
Finally, Strong pinned Burch with a release suplex into a backbreaker.
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A video package for Ricochet aired. They used the never-aired match from the Center Stage tapings to showcase him.
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NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defeated Aliyah in a non-title match
It’s time for Aliyah’s once-every-two-months match on NXT where I keep assuming she is better than she really is for some reason. She’s going up against the champ herself, who is 17 days away from facing Shayna Baszler for the second time when it’s Moon-Baszler II for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: New Orleans.
Aliyah, who apparently took a class called Circus Skills at university, has improved at least some after two years of training. Baszler came out to do commentary for the match. She put her feet up on the announce desk and looked quite comfortable watching this bout. Anyway, Moon used a Samoan drop as a shoutout to her TakeOver opponent before using a front springboard punch to the face and The Eclipse for the win.
Baszler started screaming that Moon was helpless before standing on the announce table to have a staredown from 50 feet away.
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Raul Mendoza came out for a match when he was viciously assaulted by El Idolo! The NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas finally became annoyed with what Aleister Black said about him and Zelina Vega last week. He called out Black, calling him a piece of sh*t.
Apparently Black isn’t here this week and Almas was okay with this.
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Lars Sullivan is coming back next week. Black will also be on the show.
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Backstage, Regal announced that next week he will be making an announcement that will change the landscape of NXT forever. I bet he bought a stallion that the wrestlers will ride on the way to the ring! Okay, that’s probably not happening.
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Adam Cole defeated Kassius Ohno
It was time for the main event. Cole was taking Ohno lightly as he left Fish and O’Reilly backstage. The funny part is Cole brings those two out for his jobber matches, so in storyline Cole has less regard for Ohno than the lowest of the low. Ohno now wears a boxing robe to the ring too.
An early sequence saw Ohno break out a leapfrog, which is not easy. Seconds later, when Cole went for a leapfrog, Ohno just booted him right in the chest. And then tragedy struck as Cole tweaked his knee outside the ring. Oh no! This is horrible for Adam Cole. He may not be able to continue — wait, its a miracle. Cole is okay! He leapt up and kicked Ohno right in the head before demonstrating to the crowd that his knee was fine.
Ohno got his second wind and was building momentum. He got the world’s longest two count on a cyclone kick. I think it made the referee dizzy. Cole went bat crap crazy and exploded with a series of forearms and a brainbuster across his knee. Ohno blocked the Shining Wizard, then hit a roaring elbow and a diving elbow, which caused Cole to fall outside the ring.
Ohno got Cole back in the ring, but that was his undoing. Cole hit multiple superkicks and The Last Shot (Shining Wizard) as he picked up a big win on the road to TakeOver.
So, that does it for this week. Until next week, thank you for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Approximately 250 people were in attendance last night.
– Heavy Machinery defeated The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler)
Otis Dozovic pinned Cutler and Blake simultaneously after a double Compactor slam to end an entertaining opener. Both teams were very over in their respective roles.
– Vanessa Borne defeated Jessie Elaban
Borne submitted her with a half Boston crab.
– Lars Sullivan defeated Brennan Williams
Sullivan pinned Williams in five minutes after a Freak Accident slam.
– Shayna Baszler defeated Abbey Laith
Baszler choked out Laith in three minutes. At one point, she delivered forearms and knee strikes that were so stiff the crowd was yelling “Throw in the towel” and “Stop the match.”
Baszler received a huge reaction when she came through the curtain and would stop between submissions and say “This blood is on your hands Ember” and “Stop running from me Moon” during the match.
– Adam Cole defeated Kassius Ohno
Cole pinned Ohno after reversing a powerbomb and hitting a superkick and a Shining Wizard. This went 11 minutes, was the match of the night, and was one of the first times I can recall Cole working a singles match on a Florida house show.
These two have great chemistry and it was one of the best matches I’ve seen on the Florida loop so far in 2018.
– Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss defeated TM61
TM61 are now introduced as “The Mighty TM61.” Sabbatelli pinned Nick Miller with a handful of tights.
Throughout the match, Sabbatelli and Moss continued to tease breaking up with slapping tags and accidentally knocking each other off the apron.
– Kairi Sane defeated Rhea Ripley
Sane pinned Ripley after the flying elbow. Both of these acts were very over, and Ripley does a phenomenal job as a heel working the crowd. This match was really good and should be on TV tomorrow, but it was marred by two separate men in the audience yelling racist things at Sane.
This was one of the best women’s matches on the circuit in a while.
– Sabbatelli and Moss came back out and bragged about how rich they are and how stupid fans are for thinking they were going to break up earlier against TM61. Sullivan’s music hit and both men ran to the curtain, only to be blocked off by TM61 to a huge pop.
TM61 threw them back in the ring, and Sullivan gave them a double Freak Accident. The crowd chanted “One more time,” so Sullivan gave another one to Sabbatelli. Moss contemplated saving him but ran to the back instead. Sullivan then brought him back out and delivered a Freak Accident to roaring approval. This is becoming one of the more entertaining repeated segments on the Florida loop.
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) defeated The Street Profits to retain their titles
O’Reilly pinned Dawkins after Undisputed’s Total Elimination variation in 14 minutes. Percy Watson announced before the match that William Regal had made this an NXT Tag Team Championship bout. The Street Profits had the titles won after a spinebuster/blockbuster off the top combination, but Cole ran out and distracted the referee.
Ford then knocked out Cole with a penalty kick on the apron before being superkicked by O’Reilly, leading to the finisher on Dawkins. Good match.
Editor’s note: The following references results from tonight’s episode of NXT television.
Triple H revealed the final match for Saturday’s TakeOver card on a conference call with the pro wrestling media this afternoon.
In a match that Triple H said has the potential to steal the show, Kassius Ohno will be facing Velveteen Dream at TakeOver: Philadelphia. This will be the second straight TakeOver that both have appeared on. Ohno lost to Lars Sullivan and Aleister Black defeated Velveteen Dream in Houston last November.
Johnny Gargano defeating Velveteen Dream to retain his shot at Andrade “Cien” Almas’ title is set to air on tonight’s episode of NXT television.
Triple H noted that TM61 will make their return on Saturday’s pre-TakeOver TV tapings, with Roderick Strong and Nikki Cross also set to appear.
Here’s the updated card for TakeOver: Philadelphia:
NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas defending against Johnny Gargano
NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defending against Shayna Baszler
Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black in an extreme rules match
NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defending against The Authors of Pain
Submitted by reader Austin Chlapecka from NXT’s house show in Memphis, Tennessee on Friday night
– Heavy Machinery defeated Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler
This was a fun match with lots of crowd interaction, including Heavy Machinery laying it on thick with the comedy.
– Bianca BelAir defeated Aliyah
Aliyah probably got the least offense of anyone all night.
– Kassius Ohno cut a promo about Memphis wrestling history and said he wants to make history by becoming champion tonight. Zelina Vega rejected the idea, but Vic Joseph announced that fans can vote to decide on Twitter.
– Buddy Murphy defeated Brennan Williams
Murphy won, but Williams showed a lot of athleticism.
– Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated The Street Profits
Both teams were very over with the crowd. Ford is an electric performer — he has unlimited potential with his charisma and athleticism. This was a solid match, and the Undisputed Era won by grabbing Ford’s tights while pinning him.
– Aleister Black defeated Kona Reeves
Reeves actually got in a decent amount of offense, but Black won this one.
– NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defeated Vanessa Borne to retain her title
Borne held her own relatively well despite the experience gap. Following the match, BelAir came down and called out Moon for a title match in Little Rock.
– NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Kassius Ohno to retain his title
They had the match of the night. It was hard hitting and told a good story. Almas retained when Ohno was distracted by Vega accidentally dropping flour that she planned to throw at Ohno on the apron.
Ohno closed out the night by thanking the fans for showing up.
Submitted by reader Chris Murray from NXT’s show in Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday
– Heavy Machinery defeated Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake
– Aliyah defeated Vanessa Borne
– Ohno cut a promo, saying he’s disappointed with himself recently and vowing to compete for the NXT title. Vega answered the challenge. She said Ohno hasn’t earned a title shot, but he can have a non-title match tonight.
– Kona Reeves defeated Brennan Williams
– Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated The Street Profits
– Aleister Black defeated Buddy Murphy
This was the best match of the night.
– NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defeated Bianca BelAir to retain her title
Following the match, Aliyah made the save for Moon after Borne attacked her.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) in a non-title match
Ohno winning led to an impromptu title match.
– NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Kassius Ohno to retain his title
Vega hit a flying head scissors and Almas connected with the hammerlock DDT to retain.
The Big News: Johnny Gargano ended his losing streak and submitted Kassius Ohno in the main event in an excellent bout you should go watch.
The Medium News: Gargano is now part of a fatal four-way match that will determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship, held by El Idolo himself, Andrade “Cien” Almas.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Killian Dain isn’t doing the One Winged Angel anymore, but he still beat Trent Seven.
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The show began with Mr. William Regal announcing the method in which we will determine the number one contender for Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. We will have four singles matches and the winners will have a fatal four-way match. The winner of that match will challenge Almas for the title in Philadelphia.
Tonight’s matches are Killian Dain vs. Trent Seven and Kassius Ohno vs. a mystery opponent. It was supposed to be Velveteen Dream, but Regal said he was injured back at TakeOver: War Games.
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We started the show with the championship celebration of the 14th and current NXT Champion — Andrade “Cien” Almas — and Zelina Vega. Vega said this will be an historic championship reign. She ordered us to respect the man, embrace the legend, and rise for your NXT Champion. Almas yelled that he told us he would be NXT Champion. He stated that “We are NXT” but he is the new NXT Champion and he has no respect for the former champion, the now injured Drew McIntyre.
That’s it. No one came out and no angle came of this. This actually happens after most new NXT Champions. They usually kick off the first show of the next set of tapings with some sort of statement.
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Earlier today, Lars Sullivan was harassed by reporters. He said Roderick Strong is handsome and he is not. Strong talks about his family, but he has no family. He said he’ll beat Strong in two weeks and then go to Philadelphia to become NXT Champion. He stated that winning the title will show the world that he is the superstar he was always meant to be.
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Killian Dain defeated Trent Seven to qualify for the number one contender’s fatal four-way match
Seven qualified for this by winning a battle royal at a house show in Lakeland, Florida (which happened after the TV tapings). Dain qualified by being big and scary and never beaten in a match.
Seven put up a good effort, but no one thought he had a chance of winning here and they were right. Dain won with the Vader Bomb, which he is now using instead of the One Winged Angel.
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The Undisputed Era were hanging out backstage and Adam Cole was talking to the camera. He made a WWE boo boo by looking right at the camera. Cole said he will be wrestling Aleister Black next week. He said Black is not on his level and he will prove it.
Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly said that in two weeks they will win the tag team titles from SAnitY. They finished up by saying they rule the system.
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Sonya Deville defeated Ruby Riott in a no holds barred match
It was a battle between Raw and SmackDown. Absolution and The Riott Squad. Just like last time when it was purely coincidental, both wrestlers were wearing the wrong brand’s colors as Riott rocked the red while Deville was in blue. Deville used an ankle lock for the first big spot of the match. Due to it being a no holds barred match, Riott making the ropes did not cause a break. That was alright because she somehow flung Deville’s face into the middle rope to get out of it.
This was not the no holds barred match that most people think of, as this was more about both using submission holds with the other needing to fight out of them since there were no rope breaks.
Riott had her leg worked on the entire match and ignored it long enough so she could run across the ring and dive through the ropes with a suicide dive. However, Deville ignored that and as Riott rolled in Deville locked in a leg triangle and choked her out.
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Ember Moon was meeting with the press backstage and told them she will be the greatest NXT Women’s Champion. In walked Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, who pointed out that Moon pinned Nikki Cross to win the title and thus Royce deserves the chance to beat her up. Royce and Kay both said that they’ll face her next week.
Moon told them to make up their minds over who will face her in a match and bring it on. They agreed to let Royce do it after Moon left.
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Pete Dunne will defend the United Kingdom Championship against Tyler Bate in two weeks in the third battle of these two men. To prepare for this match, you should go watch their match from TakeOver: Chicago.
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In case there is confusion with all these matches announced for the next two weeks.
Next week:
Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black (winner qualifies for the number one contender’s fatal four-way match)
Ember Moon vs. Peyton Royce
In two weeks:
SAnitY vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate for the WWE United Kingdom Championship
Lars Sullivan vs. Roderick Strong (winner qualifies for the number one contender’s fatal four-way match)
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Johnny Gargano defeated Kassius Ohno to qualify for the number one contender’s fatal four-way match
Ohno’s mystery opponent turned out to be Johnny Gargano. Not sure why they bothered with the whole mystery opponent thing. I imagine they could have just said Gargano and not bothered saying Velveteen Dream was injured and no one would have thought twice about it.
I should point out that including Dream, five out of the nine participants in this tournament lost their last televised match.
The fans were really into this, as they did the loud dueling chants before it started. Ohno took over with a hard elbow to the mouth that caused Johnny Wrestling to fall outside the ring as we went to commercial. Ohno followed the elbow with a big boot right to the jaw and nose that gave us a teeny tiny spot of blood coming from Gargano’s nose.
Gargano came back with one punch that missed Ohno by three feet and several forearms that landed solid. Ohno got in a hard punch that sent Gargano to the apron, but Gargano hit his slingshot spear for a near fall. Ohno came back and went for a tope over the top rope, but Gargano moved, so Ohno landed on his feet. Gargano charged across the ring and dove through with a suicide dive that he turned into a tornado DDT!
Ohno did everything he could to put Gargano away. He hit every running kick and knee and boot and Gargano kept getting his shoulder up to the continued frustration of Ohno. Finally, Ohno went for the rolling elbow, but Gargano superkicked him in the elbow. Gargano kicked him down to his knees and locked on the Gargano Escape for the win in an excellent match.
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Before finishing up, I wanted to remind everyone that NXT will also be on the USA Network next week. You can still watch it on WWE Network, but you could avoid any potential buffering by watching on USA. You are going to get to see Peyton Royce on the USA Network!
Until next week, watch Gargano vs. Ohno and then join us on the USA Network and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Rounding out the lineup for the show, Kassius Ohno vs. Lars Sullivan was confirmed for TakeOver: War Games on last night’s episode of NXT TV.
Ohno vs. Sullivan was set up at the most recent NXT tapings but wasn’t officially announced then. Ohno asked William Regal for the match in a backstage segment on the episode that aired this week, with Ohno saying he wanted to get back into the NXT Championship picture by defeating Sullivan — who has been positioned as a dominant force.
This will be Ohno’s second TakeOver match since returning to WWE in January. Sullivan has yet to appear on the main card of one of the specials.
The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas will host TakeOver: War Games on November 18th. As was previously noted, Johnny Gargano challenging for Pete Dunne’s United Kingdom Championship will take place before the broadcast starts and should end up airing on TV. Here’s the full card for the show:
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) vs. The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong in a War Games match
Kairi Sane vs. Peyton Royce vs. Ember Moon vs. Nikki Cross for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship
NXT Champion Drew McIntyre defending against Andrade “Cien” Almas
Approximately 350 people were in attendance as NXT came to Orlando last night.
– No Way Jose defeated Marcel Barthel
Jose won with his pop-up punch.
– Sonya Deville defeated Sarah Logan
Deville got the submission with an armbar.
– Buddy Murphy defeated Babatunde Aiyegbusi
Murphy was able to slam his much larger opponent and pin him.
– Lio Rush defeated Fabian Aichner
One of Rush’s kicks put Aichner away.
– The Street Profits defeated Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler
Montez Ford got the pin with a frog splash.
– Nikki Cross defeated Sage Beckett
Cross used a crossbody off the top to get the victory.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Jason
A roll-up by Lorcan ended this one.
– Liv Morgan defeated Bianca Belair and Mandy Rose in a triple threat match
Belair took the pin here.
– The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated NXT Champion Drew McIntyre, Johnny Gargano & Kassius Ohno
Fish scored the pin on Ohno, but then all hell broke loose. Andrade “Cien” Almas showed up to attack McIntyre and Lars Sullivan came out to attack Ohno in a wild brawl.
Image: @JonZai1. Report submitted by reader Noah Torriecella.
– The Street Profits defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
The Street Profits were extremely over. Most of the match was the heels working on Montez Ford, who just oozes charisma. Angelo Dawkins got the hot tag and the Profits won with a spinebuster and frog splash.
– Marcel Barthel (the former Axel Dieter Jr. in wXw and PROGRESS) came out for an in-ring promo. He said that he came to America to make it better and that no one can do what he does on the mat. Oney Lorcan then interrupted him and challenged him to a match, but Barthel refused and said he has the perfect opponent for Lorcan.
– Lars Sullivan defeated Oney Lorcan
This was similar to the match they had that recently aired on NXT TV. Sullivan won with a diving headbutt.
– Ruby Riot defeated Sonya Deville
Most of the match was Deville working on Riot’s knee, but Riot won with a diving senton.
– Heavy Machinery defeated Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake
This was a fun comedy match and Heavy Machinery got a good reaction. They won with their double team strongest slam.
The Undisputed Era attacked Heavy Machinery after the match, leaving them laying and cutting a promo. Adam Cole said that we would see that they are untouchable and undisputed later in the night.
– Velveteen Dream defeated Roderick Strong
They had a very entertaining match with lots of back-and-forth action. Velveteen Dream countered Strong’s slam with an arm drag first and then a poke to the eye. Dream ended up winning with the Purple Rainmaker.
– No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves
Jose went into the crowd for his entrance. Reeves spent time outside the ring mocking Jose during the match, but Jose won with his pop-up punch. Jose briefly danced with referee Jessika Carr after the match.
– Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose
This was short but entertaining, with Moon hitting a superkick for the win.
– The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated NXT Champion Drew McIntyre, Kassius Ohno & Johnny Gargano
The main event was the match of the night by far. Gargano also got the best reaction of the night.
The Undisputed Era cheated throughout the match. Gargano made the hot tag to McIntyre at one point, with Cole and McIntyre having a quick staredown before Cole tagged out. McIntyre then ran through Fish and O’Reilly.
Things began to break down with the faces delivering stereo chops to The Undisputed Era on the outside. For the finish, Fish made a blind tag in, Gargano hit O’Reilly with a slingshot spear, Cole took out Gargano and McIntyre took out Cole, and Fish rolled up Ohno and got the pin with a handful of tights.
As Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly were celebrating, Heavy Machinery returned to join in on sending The Undisputed Era packing to close the show.
