PWInsider reported on Monday that tomorrow’s episode of NXT will air live. However, the September 20th edition of the show will be taped at the WWE Performance Center on Wednesday, September 14. The show will then resume going live on September 27. Dave Meltzer later confirmed the upcoming schedule.
Tuesday’s episode of NXT will be the one-year anniversary of the launch of NXT 2.0. Two matches will feature a fan vote via social media: Carmelo Hayes defending the NXT North American title against either Von Wagner, Wes Lee, or Joe Gacy, and Pretty Deadly will defend the NXT Tag Team titles against The Creed Brothers in either a tornado tag match, a no DQ match, or a steel cage match.
Here is the lineup so far for Tuesday’s show:
NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defends against either Von Wagner, Wes Lee, or Joe Gacy (a fan vote will determine Hayes’ challenger)
NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly defend against The Creed Brothers (a fan vote will determine whether this is a tornado tag match, a no DQ match, or a steel cage match)
Tony D’Angelo & Stacks vs. Cameron Grimes and a partner to be determined
Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark vs. Kiana James & Arianna Grace
NXT will tape three episodes of television next week.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that NXT will tape three weeks of shows that will air on the USA Network. The August 24 episode will tape the day before at the WWE Performance Center. The episodes set to air on August 31 and September 7 will be taped the following day.
It was reported yesterday by Bryan Alvarez that NXT was looking to return to taping shows, with Fightful Select reporting the same. NXT was most recently taped last month for two weeks, as the show was preempted on USA due to Olympic coverage. The show aired on Syfy instead.
The move comes as NXT has faced an upheaval roster-wise, with 13 on-air talent being released on August 7. Some of those names include Bronson Reed, Bobby Fish, Jake Atlas, and Mercedes Martinez.
NXT’s next major event is TakeOver 36, which will air this Sunday, headlined by NXT Champion Karrion Kross defending the title against Samoa Joe.
NXT is discussing a return to a taped format, possibly as early as after next week’s TakeOver 36.
Our Bryan Alvarez tweeted the news today and Fightful Select also reported the news. Our Dave Meltzer said the idea was discussed, but for now, it isn’t happening.
Whether or not the return to a taped format is temporary or a more permanent measure is unclear. Meltzer said that there is “lots of talk about NXT no longer airing live and doing tapings ahead of time as a cost-cutting measure.”
Of late, some episodes of NXT have been taped, while others have aired live. The show was also temporarily bumped to SyFy as the USA Network featured coverage of the Olympics in Tokyo.
NXT is coming off its best viewership numbers in three months with last week’s show drawing 751,000 viewers on USA. That was the highest total viewer count since the May 4 edition of the show.
NXT TakeOver 36 airs Sunday, August 22, with Karrion Kross defending the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe as the main event.
NXT is going on the road for its first few television tapings of 2018.
The Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, which used to be home to WCW Saturday Night, will host NXT TV tapings on January 4th, February 1st, and February 2nd. Tickets for the shows are set to go on sale on December 1st at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
With those shows taking place in Atlanta, it isn’t clear if NXT plans to tape at venues other than Full Sail University more often next year.
After this weekend’s TakeOver: War Games event in Houston, Texas, the next set of episodes will be filmed at Full Sail on November 29th as NXT begins the build to its Royal Rumble weekend special. Pete Dunne defending the WWE United Kingdom Championship against Johnny Gargano will take place on Saturday prior to the TakeOver broadcast, with that match likely to air in the coming weeks.
– Triple H introduced Mauro Ranallo as the new commentator before the show.
– Bianca BelAir defeated Aliyah in a Mae Young Classic qualifying match
Female referee Jessika worked this match. BelAir (previously Bianca Blair) got a huge reaction instantly for smacking Aliyah with her braided hair. BelAir won with a spear.
– Velveteen Dream defeated HoHo Lun
Velveteen Dream used a flying elbow to get the victory.
– Hideo Itami vs. Oney Lorcan was stopped
Lorcan ran in to fight and caught Itami with a shot, then the referee backed Lorcan away and we saw that Itami was bleeding. The referee and doctors wiped him down and waved the match off.
– Vanessa Bourne defeated Jayme Hachey in a Mae Young Classic qualifying match
Bourne was formerly known as Danielle Kamela and Hachey was Jayme Jameson. This was a quick match that Bourne won to advance to the Mae Young Classic.
– Johnny Gargano made his return to Full Sail and talked about what Tommaso Ciampa did to him. He said that he’s going to get back to wrestling and he has to be at TakeOver: Brooklyn.
– Hideo Itami defeated Oney Lorcan
The match that they were supposed to have earlier got re-taped here. Itami hit a GTS to win one of the best sprints in recent memory. It had great action, then Itami called out Kassius Ohno to talk after the match. Before they could, SAnitY destroyed them both.
– No Way Jose defeated Cezar Bononi
Jose got the victory with his pop-up knockout punch. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Thea Trinidad showed up at ringside, with Almas jumping Bononi and destroying him. He then pointed down Jose before bailing out of the ring.
– Ember Moon defeated Ruby Riot
The crowd was hot for this one, with them doing dueling chants early. Riot hit a top rope rana for a close near fall, but Moon ended up winning with The Eclipse. The crowd was into this one the whole time.
SAnitY worked over Itami throughout. The story was that Ohno was out of position for the tag whenever Itami needed him, so Itami seemed weary of him. Dain hit a running crossbody splash on Itami for the finish. Ohno was frustrated as he looked down Itami after the match. They both then made their way to the back.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Danny Burch
Lorcan submitted Burch with a single-leg crab to win another physical match. Burch wanted a rematch in the future and Lorcan seemed to agree.
– NXT Champion Bobby Roode defeated Roderick Strong to retain his title
The crowd was hot for this one as well. Strong had the early advantage, including when they were fighting outside of the ring. Roode ended up cutting him off and started working over the knee viciously. Strong fired up and fought valiantly, even kicking out of the Glorious DDT.
Strong hit a double knee backbreaker for the visual pin, but Roode had his foot under the ropes so the match continued. Roode then retained after hitting his DDT in the middle. This was a match worthy of a TakeOver main event and it told a great story with Strong’s fiancee at ringside. Strong sat in the corner devastated by the loss.
– Aleister Black defeated Bobby Fish
Ring announcer Mike Rome announced Fish as making his NXT debut and he received a full entrance. The crowd was quiet early and were unsure how to react until Black hit Black Mass for the victory.
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain (w/ Paul Ellering) defeated Heavy Machinery to retain their titles
As expected, they had a physical match. The audience was behind Heavy Machinery with a “Steaks and Weights” chant, but the champions retained with their double team stand-up lariat.
SAnitY’s music hit after the match and they made their way to the ramp and had a staredown with AoP.
– Jeet Rama defeated Johnny Vandal
Rama won this one very quickly.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Killian Dain in a number one contender’s match
Dain had the advantage early. He wore his opponent down until McIntyre fired up and hit the Claymore Kick to win. He will now face Roode for the title in Brooklyn.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Nikki Cross in a last woman standing match to retain her title
This had all types of brutality, with suplexes on chairs, Asuka putting Cross in a trash can and kicking it in, and more. Cross hit Asuka with repeated swinging neckbreakers, though they both kept making the ten count and continuing. Asuka hit four German suplexes in a row and a spin kick, but Cross kept getting up.
The brawl went out of the ringside area and made its way to the production and commentary side. Asuka suplexed Cross off of a ladder and through the commentary table. The champion made the 10 count and retained her title.
McIntyre had his first match in WWE since being released in 2014 at tonight’s post-WrestleMania weekend NXT television tapings at Full Sail University. He took on Oney Lorcan and won the match after hitting his Claymore kick. He used generic rock music for his entrance theme instead of his old WWE music.
After the match, McIntyre cut a promo saying that NXT is where he wants to be and that he’s there to win the NXT Championship.
McIntyre returned to WWE last Saturday, where he was shown in the front row prior to the Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura main event at TakeOver. He confirmed in an interview with ESPN shortly after that he had re-signed with WWE and would be starting with NXT soon.
The return comes after McIntyre had a successful run on the indies and in TNA as Drew Galloway (which is his real name) after being released. He announced in February that he wouldn’t be signing a new contract with TNA.
– Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins defeated Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi
Standing shooting star press by Ford for the pin.
NXT TV tapings —
– They showed Peyton Royce and Billie Kay attacking Asuka in the parking lot before the show started.
– Billie Kay & Peyton Royce defeated Sarah Bridges & Macey Estrella
The Aussies had a lot of heat with the live crowd. They won with a double team finish on Bridges with Royce dropping her on Kay’s knee.
– Asuka ran down after the match while being held back by security to attack Kay and Royce but was roughed up until Nikki Cross made the save. After clearing the ring, Cross attacked Asuka herself.
– Elias Samson defeated Jonathan Cruz
Fans booed Drifter all match until he won with his finish.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Oney Lorcan
Almas got a decisive win with his leg sweep DDT.
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defeated The Revival to retain their titles
Great match with some excellent near falls and a hot finish. DIY won with the double running knee/kick to both men. The Authors of Pain jumped DIY from behind after the match and left them laying.
– Nikki Cross (w/ SAnitY) defeated Kennadi Brink
– Roderick Strong defeated Steve Cutler
Sick Kick by Strong for the win. Post-match, he said he doesn’t care what Almas says (they’re seemingly building to a match between the two) as his goal is the NXT title.
– Tye Dillinger came out to talk about his future. The crowd chanted “Royal Rumble” and “Number 10.” He was then interrupted by SAnitY who had a jacket for him and wanted him to join.
Dillinger dropped it and put the “10” hands in Eric Young’s face, which started a brawl. Big Damo, who was not with SAnitY thus far in the taping, came through the crowd and destroyed Dillinger.
– Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan
Stunner off the top by Moon. They shook hands after but Morgan appeared to be disappointed.
– Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode had a contract signing for their match at TakeOver: San Antonio. Good stuff here. The crowd was into both men and reacted to all their statements.
– Aliyah defeated Mandy Rose by submission.
– No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves
Jose used his half nelson slam for the victory. The Drifter then showed up to massive heat. Jose sang “Just Drift Away” to the tune of his own song and Drifter left angrily.
– Eric Young (w/ Alexander Wolfe and Nikki Cross) defeated Chris Atkins
Young would say “10” when landing strikes as he wants to face Dillinger. Young won with a wheelbarrow neckbreaker.
– TM61 defeated The Revival
Nick Miller won with a roll-up, then The Revival destroyed him. They left Shane Thorne laying with a Shatter Machine and he was tended to by doctors.
– William Regal announced a fatal four-way NXT Women’s Championship match at TakeOver: San Antonio with Asuka defending against Kay, Royce, and Cross. He said that, despite his better judgment, he wants to hear from all four women in the match.
This turned into a wild brawl with Kay and Royce fighting Asuka and Cross before the Aussies backed off, allowing Asuka and Cross to fight. Cross jumped off the top to the outside, taking out Asuka and a swarm of security as Kay and Royce looked on in shock.
Possibly dark match main event —
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & Tajiri defeated Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode
Nakamura pinned Joe with the Kinshasa.
– Chris Hero returned to NXT after the match. The titantron referred to him by his old NXT name of Kassius Ohno. He entered the ring and looked at Nakamura before leaving.
