The call-ups from NXT continued on the post-WrestleMania edition of SmackDown.
After Ember Moon, No Way Jose, and The Authors of Pain arrived on Raw, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay made their SmackDown debuts tonight. While they were known as the Iconic Duo in NXT, they’re being called “The Iconics” on the main roster.
Royce and Kay interrupted Charlotte Flair during an in-ring promo where she was talking about her match against Asuka from WrestleMania 34 and questioning who was next. They told Charlotte they could make her title disappear and that the Asuka match wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t iconic either.
They attacked Charlotte, which led to Carmella cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase as Royce and Kay headed to the back. Carmella pinned Charlotte to become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Ahead of being called up to the main roster, Royce and Kay hadn’t appeared on NXT television over the last few months. Royce was one of the six NXT wrestlers who took part in Sunday’s WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, but Kay wasn’t an entrant in the match.
Six wrestlers from NXT appeared in tonight’s WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
Peyton Royce, Kairi Sane, Taynara Conti, Kavita Devi, Bianca Belair, and Dakota Kai were the six who took part in the match. The latter five were also in the Mae Young Classic last summer, where Sane defeated Shayna Baszler in the finals.
Devi, who is from India and reported to the Performance Center earlier this year, lost to Kai in the first round of the Mae Young Classic. WWE’s clip of their tournament match currently has 21 million views on YouTube. Conti represented Brazil in the MYC and came out with the country’s flag tonight.
Despite Royce’s inclusion, her Iconic Duo partner Billie Kay wasn’t in the WrestleMania 34 battle royal.
The NXT representatives worked together, with Belair hitting a 450 splash and Sane doing her Insane Elbow. But it came down to Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Naomi. Bayley and Banks teamed up near the end and went to slap hands when they thought they were the only two left, but Bayley threw Banks out of the ring. Naomi then reappeared, hit the Rear View, and eliminated Bayley to win the match.
Last night’s estimated attendance in Citrus Springs was 150 people.
– Velveteen Dream defeated Wolfgang
– Dakota Kai defeated Reina Gonzalez
Shayna Baszler came out to beat up Kai after the match. After that was over, she said it’s exactly what will happen to Ember Moon at TakeOver: New Orleans.
– Chris Dijak, No Way Jose & Trent Seven defeated Wesley Blake, Steve Cutler & Chad Lail
– Ricochet defeated Raul Mendoza
– The Authors of Pain defeated TM61
– Buddy Murphy defeated Mark Andrews
– Candice LeRae & Kairi Sane defeated The Iconic Duo (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay)
This was the first in-ring action for Royce and Kay since November of last year.
– WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Marcel Barthel to retain his title
There were 350 people in attendance at last night’s house show.
– The Street Profits defeated The Ealy Brothers
– Liv Morgan defeated Bianca Belair
– Kassius Ohno defeated Babatunde Aiyegbusi
– Roderick Strong defeated Buddy Murphy
– Peyton Royce (w/ Billie Kay) defeated Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, and Kairi Sane in a fatal four-way match
These are the same four wrestlers who will be involved in the fatal four-way for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: War Games later this month.
– Johnny Gargano defeated Fabian Aichner
– Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler defeated Heavy Machinery
The Big News: Andrade “Cien” Almas improved to 2-0 against Johnny Gargano as he pinned him once again in the main event.
The Medium News: Peyton Royce advanced to Houston and the fatal four-way match for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Nikki Cross was assaulted by Taynara Conti at the request of The Undisputed Era, which cost Cross her chance to get into the Women’s title match at TakeOver.
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Peyton Royce defeated Nikki Cross and Liv Morgan to earn a spot in the NXT Women’s Championship match at TakeOver: War Games
The winner of this match will join Kairi Sane in the fatal four-way match to determine the new NXT Women’s Champion at TakeOver: War Games next month.
The match started with Cross screaming at Royce, and this led to Cross grabbing Morgan’s arm and using a double clothesline to send Royce out of the ring. We settled down into a normal three-way from there. The crowd didn’t care for this at all, making very little noise for the most part. Royce used a reverse Octopus on Morgan that Cross broke up and caused Royce to almost land on her head.
They did a stacked-up superplex where Morgan got the worst of it. Suddenly, The Undisputed Era sent Mae Young Classic competitor Taynara Conti down to the ring and she interfered and ultimately cost Cross the match. Royce pinned Cross with a fisherman’s suplex.
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Velveteen Dream defeated Lio Rush
This was Rush’s real NXT debut. He attempted to debut last week against Aleister Black, but Velveteen Dream attacked him from out of nowhere, which brought us to this match.
Rush used his small size to his advantage as he dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and dodged around Dream during the early part of the match. Unfortunately he didn’t dodge quick enough for long enough as Dream knocked him down and took over. Rush showed just enough to impress people who didn’t know him, but he went down for the count to a Purple Rainmaker.
After the match, Dream looked into the camera and mouthed a message to Aleister Black to say his name.
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Lars Sullivan defeated Danny Burch
This match was set up two weeks ago when Sullivan defeated Oney Lorcan and Burch ran in for the save from a post-match attack. Sullivan took almost all the offense and, again, was never taken off his feet by any offensive move given to him. Sullivan won with his side spinebuster.
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There will be an exclusive interview with NXT Champion Drew McIntyre on next week’s episode.
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The Street Profits defeated Damien Smith & Markos Espada
The Profits are easily one of the most over acts on NXT and this match was over as quickly as it began. We had a lot of shenanigans and non-action before Smith was a victim of the combo spinebuster/frog splash. I don’t believe Espada ever tagged in.
The Street Profits celebrated their win in the audience.
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Next week:
Ruby Riot vs. Sonya Deville vs. Ember Moon in a Women’s title qualifying match
SAnitY vs. The Undisputed Era
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Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Johnny Gargano
These two men wrestled at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, with Almas winning that match after Zelina Vega threw a DIY T-shirt into the ring to distract Gargano.
This was a good match and these two men have excellent chemistry together. Almas got the heat when he dropped Gargano with Christian’s reverse DDT, but on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring. Gargano was on top of his game here as even when Almas would do something like counter Gargano’s slingshot spear, Johnny Wrestling would backdrop him over the top rope.
Gargano kicked out of several big moves, which frustrated Almas. Gargano was so tired that after hitting a superkick he collapsed onto Almas for a two count. Almas went for a top rope hammerlock DDT, but Gargano blocked it and then Almas blocked the sunset flip powerbomb. However, Gargano got on the Gargano Escape.
Vega freaked out and took off her leather jacket — to reveal a DIY T-shirt. Gargano didn’t fall for it, but Almas did get the ropes. They exchanged roll-ups until Almas was able to send him into the bottom turnbuckles. Two running knees to the back of the head was more than enough, but Almas still finished him off with a hammerlock DDT.
So, that does it for this week. We are one week closer to Houston, but what will happen next week? Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Approximately 350 people were in attendance last night.
– Demetrius Bronson defeated Chad Lail
Bronson rolled him up for the win.
– Raul Mendoza defeated Brennan Williams (w/ The Ealy Brothers)
A springboard corkscrew splash won this one for Mendoza.
– Adrian Jaoude defeated Marcel Barthel by DQ
Barthel beat him down in the corner and didn’t break when the referee told him to. Barthel tried to sneak attack after the match, but Jaoude was able to come out on top.
– Cezar Bononi defeated Kona Reeves (w/ Ming) by DQ
Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler attacked Bononi and did a promo asking for a match. That challenge was answered by The Street Profits.
– The Street Profits defeated Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler
Angelo Dawkins hit a spinebuster to pick up the win.
– Shayna Baszler defeated Zeda
Baszler won by submission with a rear naked choke. Taynara Conti came out after to cut a promo about her being a real black belt and asked for a match with Baszler.
– Shayna Baszler defeated Taynara Conti
Baszler won quickly with another choke.
– Velveteen Dream defeated Nick Miller
Velveteen Dream won with a roll-up while holding Miller’s tights.
Last night’s show was sold out and there were 350-400 people in attendance.
– Raul Mendoza defeated Cezar Bononi
– Bianca Belair defeated Zeda
Belair squashed her in five minutes or less, with the crowd cheering Belair because she was so dominant. Zeda didn’t get any offense.
– Marcel Barthel defeated Jeet Rama
– Peyton Royce and Billie Kay came out for a promo. They got a big reaction when they entered and there was so much heat that it took them a few minutes to start the promo. The crowd booed every time they would raise the mic. They said they had a surprise partner for the six-woman main event later.
– The Street Profits defeated Demetrius Bronson & Fabian Aichner
There was a big pop when the faces made their entrance.
– Adrian Jaoude defeated Chad Lail
– Velveteen Dream defeated Nick Miller
Dream won with his feet on the ropes. This got a lot of time and may have been the best match from Miller on the Florida loop. The crowd was dead at the start, but they were on their feet by the end chanting “This is awesome.”
– Kairi Sane, Liv Morgan & Aliyah defeated Peyton Royce, Billie Kay & Shayna Baszler
Sane hit her elbow drop on Kay for the win. The few minutes that Sane and Baszler were in the ring together were magic, with Baszler hitting a knee to the shoulder. Sane was over huge.
The former Daria Berenato hit a sliding knee strike to get the victory.
– Yanbo Wang cut an in-ring promo, saying that we can call him Boa. He was interrupted by Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler before Heavy Machinery made the save.
– Heavy Machinery defeated Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler
An assisted front slam with a pile on won this for Machinery.
– Jeet Rama defeated Kona Reeves
Reeves hit a slam to pick up the win.
– Roderick Strong & Buddy Murphy defeated Cezar Bononi & Lars Sullivan
The big men got the heat on Murphy to build to the hot tag for Strong. He ran wild and eventually applied a Liontamer on Bononi for the submission. Sullivan destroyed Bononi for losing after it was over.
The Big News: Kassius Ohno re-debuted and got the upper hand on the glorious NXT Champion.
The Medium News: Pete Dunne beat Mark Andrews in a match that was even better than the Tyler Bate-Trent Seven match last week.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Peyton Royce won an opportunity for Asuka to kick her head off her shoulders.
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Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan and Ember Moon in a triple threat match to earn a championship opportunity
Liv Morgan cannot throw a good punch. She either needs to never throw another punch on television again or do what The Rock did and practice throwing hundreds of punches at the mirror until you get better.
Billie Kay ran interference for her girl and a distraction led to Royce throwing Moon into the ring steps. Moon tried to get back in at one point, so Royce ran after her to knock her off. Unfortunately the referee wandered in front of her, so Royce had to literally run around the referee to knock Moon off.
Royce beat on Morgan for most of the match. Morgan made her comeback and hit a bulldog, but Moon returned to break it up. We got a tower of doom spot, where Moon gave Royce a sunset flip powerbomb off the middle rope at the same time Royce gave Morgan a superplex. I have seen that spot mistimed so many times by people far less green, but these three pulled it off flawlessly.
Moon went for the Eclipse, but Kay ran in and Moon gave it to her instead. Morgan threw Moon outside the ring, but then got pinned by Royce after a knee and a Perfect Plex.
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We got a video package for Mark Andrews and then Pete Dunne, who will be wrestling tonight.
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Another video package aired for the re-debuting Kassius Ohno. After he got fired last time he went on a winning streak on TV. Also seeing Ohno makes me miss Richie Steamboat, as those two had a really good feud going on back when no one else watched NXT.
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Shinsuke Nakamura is training for his comeback.
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Pete Dunne defeated Mark Andrews
The fans popped for the appearance of Dunne, the only real heel in the UK tournament. The Bruiserweight is here to face the former TNA X Division star. Dunne took Andrews down and began bending his wrist backwards and his fingers in directions that fingers are not supposed to go.
Andrews threw Dunne outside and went for a moonsault off the apron, Dunne caught him but Andrews turned it into a hip toss. The fans appreciated it and chanted “Mandrews,”
which was his nickname in TNA and the UK (and the announcers did not acknowledge).
Andrews went for the moonsault a second time, but this time Dunne just stepped aside and punched Andrews in the face. Dunne stomped on Andrews’ fingers before dropping him with the Hex Plex on the ring apron (which is the hardest part of the ring).
Andrews made his comeback and went for a springboard move, but again Dunne punched him in the face and hit a Hex Plex inside the ring, however Andrews kicked out. Dunne went for the Bitter End twice, but Andrews got out of it first and hit a reverse hurricanrana the second time.
Dunne went for another Hex Plex, but Andrews turned it into a hurricanrana for a near fall, which got the fans chanting “This is awesome.”
The third try at the Bitter End led to a small package for a near fall. Andrews hit the Stundog Millionaire and went for a shooting star press, but Dunne got his knees up. Finally, Dunne hit the Bitter End on the fourth try and picked up the win!
Despite being a despicable heel, Dunne shook the hand of Andrews after. I thought this match was better than the critically acclaimed Tyler Bate vs. Trent Seven match last week.
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Billie Kay and Peyton Royce were giggling backstage when the new NXT announcer alerted them that Royce will face Asuka next week for the title. Royce said she’d be champion now if not for that damn Nikki Cross. However she will win and take the title down under.
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Patrick Clark of Tough Enough fame will be wrestling next week.
Also the undefeated, undisputed NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain will defend against DIY
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The new NXT announcer stalked Tye Dillinger earlier today and asked about SAnitY. Dillinger said he now has backup in Roderick Strong and No Way Jose, so he invited SAnitY to try them again. Remember when they had a six-man tag a few weeks ago and SAnitY won? I guess we’re gonna have another one.
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NXT Champion Bobby Roode defeated No Way Jose
Roode continues to set records for how long he can take to walk to the ring, as tonight’s walk was easily longer than several matches on Raw this week. Heck, there were episodes of TNA Impact back in the Vince Russo era where Roode’s entrance tonight was longer than any match on those shows.
While I typed that Jose used dance as an offensive weapon until Roode got tired of his offbeat shenanigans and cut him off. It’s kind of weird that in the last segment Dillinger built up Jose as quality backup and here he is losing in the main event. With that said, Roode did his best to make Jose look like a contender. Roode came off the middle rope, but Jose hit his wind-up punch, however Roode fell out of the ring.
Jose threw Roode back in the ring, but when Jose came in after him, Roode came alive. He dropped Jose with the Glorious DDT for the pin.
Roode chop blocked Jose’s knee after the match and slapped on a single-legged crab. Jose tapped out, but Roode did not care. The referee waved his arms around, but Roode ignored that too. However, Kassius Ohno ran down to the delight of the fans!
Roode grabbed his title and ran away as Ohno stood tall. Roode asked him from the ramp who the hell he thought he was. Ohno said Roode knew who he was and said he was in NXT before and he has some unfinished business. He wants and needs the NXT Championship.
Roode said he was a fighting champion and teased getting into the ring for a title match right now. Ohno turned around to take off his jacket, so Roode chop blocked Ohno and attacked his knee.
Roode went for the single-legged crab, but Ohno kicked him off and beat down the NXT Champion. Ohno’s sneaker came off during this, so Ohno picked it up and threw it at Roode.
Roode ran off, knowing that his title reign just got more challenging. So that will do it for another exciting week of NXT. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
The Big News: Asuka and Nikki Cross laid each other out in the final segment before their fatal four-way match at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio.
The Medium News: Ember Moon cemented her status as next in line, destroying Liv Morgan.
The Little Beaver-sized News: We’re going to get a feud with No Way Jose and Elias Samson.
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Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan
Liv Morgan couldn’t just allow Ember Moon to challenge the winner of Saturday’s fatal four-way Women’s Championship match last week, so Morgan is here to be destroyed in the opener. She lasted longer than the 28 seconds she lasted against Asuka, so good for her.
At one point they ended up in a small package ball and proceeded to roll all over the ring, which at least got a little bit of a response from the crowd. Moon hit a knee to the face and a fallaway slam before locking in the crossface.
A couple fans tried to get behind Morgan, which was enough for her to get out of it. Morgan made her comeback and locked on a guillotine, but Moon picked her up and heaved her over the top rope like a 100 pound sack of potatoes.
Moon threw her back in the ring, hit The Eclipse, and picked up the win. After the match, Moon shook Morgan’s hand before leaving.
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Andrade “Cien” Almas cut a promo for his match with Roderick Strong at TakeOver, saying he will kick Strong in the face.
Strong walked up, taking offense, and daring Almas to kick him in the face. Cien walked off…but then attacked Strong from behind. Almas screamed at Strong in Spanish as he left the former ROH champion lying.
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We got a video package for DIY vs. The Authors of Pain. I think this is going to be a better match than people think.
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No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves
This match was set up last week when Jose and Reeves had a backstage confrontation. They challenged each other to meet in the ring and then apparently got lost on the way, because we never saw them again. Luckily this week they were pointed in the right direction and we got our match!
Corey Graves accused Kona Reeves of catfishing, where he makes an online profile of someone else in order to meet people. Reeves took the advantage by dancing a little to get Jose to drop his guard, then Reeves took him out. Jose made his comeback, missed the windup punch the first time, but hit it the second time for the win.
Jose tried to be interviewed after the match, but Elias Samson strummed out into the arena. As always, it’s hard to hear what The Drifter says because he gets booed too much. Jose cut him off and told him his music sucked. Jose came up with a song, set to the No Way Jose theme, singing Just Drift Away.
Samson got mad, but then he got punched in the face and walked away.
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In a pre-taped promo, Tye Dillinger said he is going to beat Eric Young no matter who he brings to the ring at TakeOver.
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Eric Young defeated Chris Atkins
Atkins is from Australia and is a good looking guy. Young is from Canada and I am sure there are women who find him attractive. If he has a wife, she is probably one of them. Damo’s new name is Killian Dain. Yeah, Damo sounded better.
Atkins got no offense. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Young picked up the win with the wheelbarrow neckbreaker after a middle rope elbow.
Young cut a promo after the match, saying Dillinger made the wrong choice last week when he was offered a spot in SAnitY. Dane did a running senton to Atkins after.
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We were shown video of TM61’s win over The Revival last week, including Revival injuring the knee of Shane Thorne after the match. They said Thorne will be out for 7-9 months.
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Up next was a video package for Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode in the NXT Championship match this Saturday. They traced it back to Nakamura’s signing last year and brought it all the way to the match this weekend.
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This Saturday, live on the WWE Network, at 8 p.m. ET, it is NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, with this lineup:
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship
Asuka vs. Peyton Royce vs. Billie Kay vs. Nikki Cross for the NXT Women’s Championship
DIY vs. The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Roderick Strong
Eric Young vs. Tye Dillinger
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The main event segment was a face off featuring the four ladies in the four-way. It started with Peyton Royce and Billie Kay saying that they proved they can beat up Asuka and they owe the crazy one (Nikki Cross) a beating.
Cross walked to the ring with her full entrance and then Asuka ran to the ring, causing Royce and Kay to scatter. While Cross and Asuka argued, they were attacked by the other two, but Cross and Asuka sent them both out of the ring.
Security ran down to get between Asuka and Cross, but they beat the heck out of the much larger men. Asuka laid out Cross with a spin kick, so security dragged Asuka out of the ring. Cross, not wanting to be outdone, did a crossbody off the top rope onto the pile. Kay and Royce were shown looking concerned as the show ended.
So that does it for this week, check out TakeOver this Saturday! Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
