The Big News: Pete Dunne retained his WWE United Kingdom Championship by pinning Tyler Bate in the main event
The Medium News: Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly won the NXT Tag Team Championship by defeating SAnitY.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Lars Sullivan advanced to the fatal four-way number one contender’s next week over Roderick Strong.
**********
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Eric Young & Killian Dain to win the NXT Tag Team Championship
What better way to kick off the show than with a battle for the Tag Team titles? Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe ended the 14-month undefeated streak of The Authors of Pain back at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn to take the titles. Due to the Freebird Rule, Killian Dain is filling in for an injured Wolfe for this title match.
The challengers had their hands full at the start of the match, with Dain running over both men. They continued to be Dain’s playthings until Young tagged in. The former reDRagon worked over EY’s shoulder during the heat. Young, at one point, got close to making a tag, but O’Reilly punched Dain, which led to Dain trying to get in the ring. That distracted the referee and kept EY from making it.
Dain finally got the hot tag, to the approval of the crowd, and he ran over his much smaller foes. Dain tagged back out, which really has been a bad idea the whole match and it turned out to be a bad idea here. Young went to the top rope, but Adam Cole appeared from out of nowhere to trip him up. Cole celebrated until Nikki Cross appeared and took him out to the biggest pop of the match.
Cross got dragged out by referees, chaos broke out with all five men at ringside, and in the confusion Fish and O’Reilly hit Young with the high-low for the pin. We have new champions! The former ROH Tag Team Champions and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions have hit the trifecta. The 13th and new NXT Tag Team Champions are The Undisputed Era.
The kings are dead, long live the new kings.
**********
Heavy Machinery were outside and saw Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli’s Maserati and tried to move it out of the way. Moss and Sabbatelli mocked them for not being able to afford a car like this. This led to a South Park-esque argument where they called each other buddy and pal. It appeared to set up a future match.
**********
Sonya Deville stated that she will defeat Ember Moon next week. She said Moon never beat her and they have unfinished business, which confused the guy interviewing her.
It was then announced that their match next week would be for the NXT Women’s Championship.
**********
Lars Sullivan defeated Roderick Strong to advance to the fatal four-way number one contender’s match
The winner of this will join Johnny Gargano, Killian Dain, and Aleister Black in a fatal four-way match to determine a new number one contender for Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
Strong came out fast at the bell, but Sullivan quickly knocked him down and smashed him, throwing Strong all over the ring. Strong had to fight out of a bear hug at one point. He managed to catch Sullivan in the ropes and hit running clotheslines to both sides of Sullivan, then Sullivan freed himself. Sullivan went up top, but he got caught and hit with a superplex. Strong went for the cover, but Sullivan kicked out hard at one.
Strong kept going but never came close as he got pinned with The Freak Accident.
**********
The Street Profits had another edition of Street Talk. Like last time, they bribed fans with free Solo cups to say how great they were.
**********
WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate to retain his title
This is the third time they are wrestling for the title this year, with the series split at one. Their second match in Chicago was an instant classic and is my personal pick for Match of the Year. They teased giving us a short match as this didn’t start until 8:46 p.m., but the show went almost 15 minutes after the top of the hour.
This was not as good as Chicago, but it was better than their first bout. It was a brutal back-and-forth match between two guys who know each other so well. For the third time, we saw a legitimate athletic competition between two stars. Not future stars, but stars.
A beautiful, fluid wrestling sequence started the match. Dunne, who was in control, decided to unleash his inner villain by fishhooking Bate even though he really didn’t need to. Bate used a punch to the face, which Dunne was angered by, so the champ punched him in the face inside and outside the ring. Dunne tried to stomp on Bate’s fingers on the steps, but Bate turned it around and stomped on Dunne’s fingers. Dunne shook it off and took back over with a suplex off the steps onto the pretty black mats on the floor.
Dunne continued to work on the hand and fingers of Bate, at one point bending his arm down onto the mat and stomping on the elbow, which drove his hand into the mat. Bate started his comeback, including hitting the rolling kick. He went for the Tyler Driver ’97, but Dunne turned it into a triangle, however Bate was able to powerbomb Dunne from that position. Unfortunately he was still in the Triangle, so he somehow lifted Dunne up, carried him to the ropes, and necked him.
Bate broke out the airplane spin, going in each direction and the third spin was the fastest of all of them. He used an exploder suplex from the top rope, then a battle of kicks broke out until before Dunne used The Bitter End for a near fall. Twenty minutes into the match they had more energy than the opening bell. From their knees they began punching each other right in the face, and they both stood up still swinging with their punches getting weaker as they kept going.
Bate used a rolling koppo kick on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring, but he got dropped with an Ex-Plex in the ring for a two count. A minute later, we got a Tyler Driver, but Dunne kicked out of that! Finally Bate went for a German suplex from the top rope, but Dunne over rotated, landed on his feet, and hit The Bitter End for the bitter end. Dunne retained in another amazing bout!
It took 25 minutes, but Pete Dunne is going to end the year as United Kingdom Champion! That does it for this week. Merry Christmas and I’ll talk to you again in seven days!
There will be a steel cage that surrounds two rings.
A member from each team will start the match, with there being three separate shark cages near the entranceway that the other wrestlers are put in before they enter.
After five minutes, the remaining two members from one team will be let out of their shark cage and into the ring. Following that, there will be a three-minute period until the next team’s wrestlers are let in. There will then be a final three-minute period until the last team’s members are allowed to join the match.
The match can be won by pinfall or submission once all of the teams have fully entered.
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly), SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain), and Roderick Strong & The Authors of Pain will be the three teams involved in War Games, which is the first time WWE has used the concept since acquiring WCW in 2001.
The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas will host NXT TakeOver: War Games on November 18th. Other matches that have been confirmed for the show are Drew McIntyre defending his NXT Championship against Andrade “Cien” Almas, Kairi Sane vs. Peyton Royce vs. Ember Moon vs. Nikki Cross for the vacant Women’s title, and Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream.
The show kicked off with the announcement, via Twitter, that Drew McIntyre will defend the NXT Championship against Andrade “Cien” Almas at TakeOver: Houston. They will sign the contract for that match tonight.
Nikki Cross defeated Taynara Conti
This was set up when Conti interfered in a four-way match a few weeks back, initially costing Cross a shot at joining the NXT Women’s title match at TakeOver before she won a battle royal to earn a spot last week. Conti was in the Mae Young Classic and is a judo black belt.
This broke down into a brawl quickly with them fighting on the outside almost immediately. Conti gained control once they got back in the ring with basic kicks and punches. Cross was smiling and begging to get hit more.
Cross took control and beat on Conti in the Tree of Woe. She then hit a draping DDT and a swinging fisherman’s neckbreaker to get the pin.
Mercedes Martinez was interviewed backstage following the battle royal last week. She was asked who would win the title at TakeOver. She wouldn’t give a winner, but she did say that Ember Moon would not win. Perhaps they’re setting those two up to feud following TakeOver.
Fabian Aichner defeated Johnny Gargano
These two were featured in 2016’s Cruiserweight Classic, though Aichner looks to have put on about 25 pounds of muscle since then. Gargano used technical mat wrestling to get the early advantage. Mauro Ranallo noted on commentary that Aichner is just the second Italian-born wrestler to be under WWE contract, after Bruno Sammartino.
Aichner took control after catching Gargano on a pescado and slamming him into an outside barricade. After a commercial break, they went back and forth in the ring with Gargano selling his ribs as the crowd chanted “Johnny Wrestling.”
Gargano got a near fall after hitting his cool-looking springboard spear. Aichner missed a double springboard moonsault and Gargano hit a springboard DDT for another two count. Aichner hit a backbreaker/powerbomb combo but only got two.
Aichner hit another backbreaker but missed a moonsault. He then countered a Gargano Escape into an abdominal stretch pin to get the win. This was a very good TV match. Gargano looked despondent In the ring following the loss.
McIntyre was backstage with William Regal signing the contract for the title match at TakeOver. A promo video also played for Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream in Houston.
Earlier today, The Street Profits were fawning over a Maserati in the parking lot at Full Sail. Turns out, it belonged to Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. They went back and forth verbally, likely setting up a future match between the teams.
McIntyre was out with his signed contract, but he was attacked by Almas before he could get to the ring. Almas signed the contract and then stuck it to the downed body of the NXT Champion with gum from Zelina Vega.
The Iconic Duo were interviewed backstage earlier today. Peyton Royce was upset that Billie Kay won’t be in the Women’s title match at TakeOver. They were making fun of Kairi Sane until she interrupted their interview in her pirate costume and walked away smiling. Sane and Billie Kay will meet on NXT TV next week.
NXT Tag Team Champions SAnitY and The Authors of Pain went to a no contest
Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe were the combination defending the belts this week, with there being loud chants for SAnitY prior to the match. Young started off for his team and Wolfe was holding the tag rope in his mouth, which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.
SAnitY took control early by cutting off the ring until AOP gained the upper hand after slamming Wolfe into their own corner. AOP trapped Wolfe there by mostly using clobbering offense to keep control.
Wolfe eventually got the hot tag after several minutes of that. Young ran wild on both members of AOP, then hit a Randy Savage elbow drop for a near fall. After another two count when SAnitY double-teamed AOP, it became a four-way brawl.
AOP hit the Super Collider and the Last Chapter on Young, but the pin was broken up by The Undisputed Era. Killian Dain came out to help his stablemates until he was quickly downed by the triple-teaming of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly.
Roderick Strong sauntered down to the ring and teased joining Undisputed Era, even putting on their armband, but he turned on them and quickly got triple-teamed. The Authors of Pain came to help him and Cole bailed, quickly followed by Fish and O’Reilly.
William Regal was out and announced the return of War Games for TakeOver. It will be The Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY vs. Strong & The Authors of Pain in a three-team War Games match.
The Big News: No Way Jose returned and helped Kassius Ohno & Roderick Strong win the main event over SAnitY.
The Medium News: Tommaso Ciampa blamed the fans for replacing him after his pre-TakeOver injury when explaining why he betrayed Johnny Gargano.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Pete Dunne had an excellent match with Danny Burch.
**********
Remember the new NXT theme song they debuted two months ago? They already changed it.
**********
Tommaso Ciampa hobbled down to ringside on crutches to kick the show off. A couple fans chanted “Psycho Killer,” but the crowd mostly chanted “Why Tommaso Why?” When he finally got the mic, Ciampa called out Johnny Gargano before mockingly pointing out that Gargano wasn’t here tonight.
Ciampa said that he has learned more life lessons in the last two weeks than he did in the first 32 years of his life. He said he was injured two days before TakeOver and all he heard was questions about if he would wrestle. It took the fans one day to forget about him and replace him in DIY with all these dream tag team partners. Ciampa let it pass by and decided to fight with his best friend.
He said that during the ladder match he felt something pop and realized there was a problem with his knee. He laid there and decided to keep fighting for these people and for his best friend.
At the end of the night, he looked at his best friend and his brother and he realized that Gargano was just like all these people. Just like all the fans were ready to replace him, so was Gargano. Ciampa refused to let that happen, he refused to become an afterthought.
That’s when he made that decision. It’s not his fault. It’s the fans’ fault. It’s Johnny Gargano’s fault. They had something special and the fans ruined that. If Ciampa was going to go away for a long, long time, so was Gargano. TakeOver: Chicago was supposed to be DIY’s moment, but it wasn’t. Instead, TakeOver: Chicago was Tommaso Ciampa’s moment.
He said that he is a 32-year-old man and this wrestling ring is not replaceable and neither is Ciampa. You know what is replaceable? The fans. They were never necessary. They were replaceable. He promised that when he returns he will be the most dangerous son of a bitch in NXT history and said he is professional wrestling whether you like it or not.
**********
The announcers said Ciampa needed “major knee surgery” and Johnny Gargano has…something. We still do not have a medical report for him.
**********
Bobby Roode filmed a promo earlier today and said no one is invited to his Glorious Celebration, so he’s going to come back next week. Great. One thing was promoted for this show and it’s not going to happen.
**********
WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Danny Burch
Dunne got a superstar reaction coming out, as that match with Bate made him a star. Dunne worked Burch’s fingers, so Burch kicked him right in the hand when he got the chance. Burch looked as good as you can expect for someone with no credibility in NXT.
Pete Dunne is just amazing. He gets near falls with a punch to the face and you believe that they may be the actual finish. We went to commercial and came back with Dunne twisting Burch’s head almost completely around. Burch got a near fall with a hard headbutt, but Dunne used a snap back suplex and hit an Ex-Plex, though Burch kicked out.
Burch turned Dunne outside-in with a clothesline and almost picked up the win with a draping DDT. However, the champ hit a German suplex into the corner and won with The Bitter End.
Dunne cut a promo after the match saying that he had to watch a boy hold a championship since January and it was his pleasure to take the title at TakeOver. He stated that the history of the WWE UK division will officially start with the Bruiserweight owning all of it.
**********
Kayla Braxton interviewed Velveteen Dream. Dream didn’t like the ambiance so he cut a promo about how he was refusing to cut a promo.
**********
We had a video package, narrated by Paul Ellering, about the last 365 days of The Authors of Pain and now the Book of Dominance has been opened.
**********
Cezar Bononi defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Despite the constant negative press covfefe, Almas was here to wrestle Cezar Bononi. Percy Watson really has a problem with Almas going out clubbing after the matches. Again, NXT is at 8 p.m. and even if Almas drinks until 4 a.m., he has 16 hours to recover. How much is he drinking?
Almas beat the hell out of Bononi, chopping his chest raw and kicking his leg out of his leg. Bononi made, by comparison, a very weak comeback, which made the result even more ridiculous. Almas used a stiff slap to the face, but Bononi used a small package off a suplex for the upset win.
Almas got really mad for a minute, but then just said “whatever” and calmly walked away. I am sure he recognized that he beat an inferior athlete for five minutes and then lost when he slipped on a banana peel.
**********
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce have finally returned to NXT. Kay appears to have finally recovered from her neck injury from the time Ember Moon gave her The Eclipse. Anyway, they were very happy and made fun of Moon for being injured. Moon then just so happened to sign her medical release, which scared The Iconic Duo.
**********
In two weeks, the reigning, defending, undisputed NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will, once again, defend her championship against Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross, but this time it will be an elimination match.
**********
Hideo Itami was mad after TakeOver, so he threw some chairs around in the locker room. Kassius Ohno and Funaki tried to calm him down, but Itami swore at them and threw water around.
Fast forward two weeks and a WWE cameraman filmed the two of them shaking hands outside. I was convinced Ohno was about to get run over by a car in a “whodunnit?” angle, but we just cut away to the main event.
**********
Kassius Ohno & Roderick Strong defeated Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe
It was then time for the main event. The referee called for the bell in a way that it looked like he was sending Killian Dain to the back, but, sadly, Dain was still here.
The babyfaces ran wild until Dain tripped Ohno on the apron. Where was the referee you ask? After watching everything happen leading up to the trip, he decided to go talk to Roderick Strong for a few seconds.
Watson said Ohno is the kind of guy who will not stand by and let injustice happen. He will fight for what’s right. There was nothing notable about the heat. It was just a very good tag team match. Wolfe and EY are working well together and Ohno does a good job at being a babyface in peril.
Strong ran wild on the hot tag, including giving Young a back suplex on the ring apron (which is the hardest part of the ring). While Strong was running wild on Wolfe, Young blind tagged himself in.
He got ready to polish off Strong when No Way Jose finally returned and stopped Dain from interfering! Strong then pinned Young with a release suplex into a backbreaker, called End of Heartache. The fans were thrilled to see Jose return and SAnitY was in a state of shock.
So, that does it for an excellent episode of NXT. There were two very good matches, plus that excellent Ciampa interview. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
Approximately 200 people were in attendance tonight.
– The Street Prophets (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated The Ealy Brothers
Ford got great height on a frog splash to put away the much larger Ealys. The crowd loves the Street Prophets.
– Cezar Bononi defeated Demitrius Bronson
A gutwrench suplex by Bononi ended this one.
– Lana (w/ Mary Kate) defeated Sarah Bridges
Mary Kate came out before the match and spoke in a Russian accent while introducing Lana. The crowd was split between Lana and Bridges in this one. Lana won with her fisherman spinebuster.
– Sawyer Fulton defeated Brennan Williams
Fulton won his first match back from injury by choking out Williams with a submission.
– Gran Metalik defeated Drew Gulak
As a continuation of Gulak’s 205 Live persona, he was adamant to keep this match on the mat. That worked well because Metalik simply outwrestled Gulak and won with a roll through sit-out pinning combination.
– Buddy Murphy defeated Steve Cutler
Murphy continues to have good matches anywhere he is on the card. He won with a great looking top rope double knee strike.
– Liv Morgan defeated Kimberly Frankele
Morgan did a back bridging roll-up pin to win this one after reversing a roll-up by Frankele.
– Roderick Strong & Heavy Machinery defeated SAnitY
This had real good action all around, with SAnitY keeping the advantage most of the way through. Strong took the hot tag and ran wild, winning it with his suplex back cracker to send everyone home happy.
Tonight’s show was in front of a packed crowd of 400 people.
– Roderick Strong defeated Cezar Bononi
The crowd loved Strong. He hit a Sick Kick to win it.
– Patrick Clark defeated Dan Matha
Matha was actually the face here. He hit a huge Rock Bottom backbreaker, but Clark was able to survive and hit a famouser to win.
– Hideo Itami defeated Oney Lorcan
This was one of the better matches on the Florida loop this year, with hard-hitting chops and strikes. Itami looked great and Lorcan is always the most intense wrestler on the card. Itami won with the GTS.
– Daria Berenato defeated Aliyah
Berenato won with an enzuigiri after they had countered each other with a few near falls.
– Tye Dillinger assisted Kayla Braxton in naming who won the WrestleMania raffle that’s been going on this month down here. After they named the winner, we heard those guitar strings and The Straggler (The Drifter under a mask) taunted Dillinger and the crowd. Riddick Moss then joined The Straggler (or Straggs as he called him) and wanted to take on Dillinger as well. Dillinger then asked if anyone in the back wanted to team with him and that led to the next match.
This was the most exciting match in Florida so far this year. Nakamura tried to remove Straggler’s mask, but there was a second mask underneath, so Nakamura put the mask on himself and proceeded to do some excellent lucha with arm drags, rolls, and he even teased a dive. Moss snatched the mask off Nakamura and Nakamura was devastated. Solid action followed and a Kinshasa won it for the good guys.
– Montez Ford (w/ Angelo Dawkins) defeated Brennan Williams
Williams used nice looking power moves. Dawkins caused a distraction, which allowed Ford to steal a quick pin.
– Ember Moon defeated Kimber Lee
Moon won the match with a sit-out driver of some type.
– No Way Jose, Kassius Ohno & Ruby Riot defeated SAnitY (Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe & Nikki Cross)
This had action all over the place. Riot hit a dive to the outside. Ohno and Dain had a slugfest. Jose took the hot tag and hit his wind-up punch on Wolfe to win and send the crowd home happy.
The Big News: The main event six-man tag ended in a double disqualification and Heidi Lovelace (theoretically under her new name, Ruby Riot) debuted afterwards, taking out Nikki Cross.
The Medium News: After defeating Oney Lorcan in an excellent match, Andrade “Cien” Almas was told he would face Aleister Black at TakeOver: Orlando.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Kassius Ohno and Elias Samson agreed to a loser leaves NXT match.
*********
Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Oney Lorcan
This match was set up last week when Almas was bullying HoHo Lun and Lorcan made the save for the little guy. These two have wrestled multiple times, with Almas winning on almost every occasion. Will that continue tonight?
Almas tried to avoid Lorcan like the plague until Lorcan tried to dive off of the ring steps outside the ring, but Almas caught him and dropped him with a powerslam to get the heat. Lorcan made a hot comeback and almost got the win with a running blockbuster, but Almas kicked out.
Almas blocked the half-and-half suplex, but got sent flying out of the ring after a series of European uppercuts.
Lorcan didn’t give Almas a breather and dove off the top rope with a senton. Back in the ring, Lorcan hit three running corner forearms and feigned exhaustion before hitting two more and hitting the half-and-half suplex…and Almas kicked out!
After a brief flurry, which included a back handspring kick to Lorcan’s head, Almas hit a vicious knee in the corner and picked up the win with the hammerlock DDT. It built to a damn good match.
*********
DIY cut a promo about traveling the world together. They wrestled because they loved it and this is what they always wanted to do. They said this was fate that Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa, who never teamed before, ended up getting signed by WWE and eventually becoming NXT Tag Team Champions.
They dedicated the upcoming match to all the fans that helped make them who they are.
*********
Another video package for Aleister Black aired.
*********
We finally got a video on Billie Kay, who two weeks ago was injured by The Eclipse from Ember Moon. Not sure if this is just becoming a running joke or what, but instead of updating us on Kay, we got a tweet from Liv Morgan predicting a win by Ember Moon at TakeOver.
Asuka has been undefeated for 17 months and has been champion for just under a year. Zuniga is not ending the undefeated streak.
Asuka was so unconcerned she cut a promo before the match saying “Ember Moon, this is your head” before kicking Zuniga’s off her shoulders. Zuniga tried to defend herself and slapped Asuka, then she tried to run away by bouncing off the ropes and right into Asuka’s hip attack.
Asuka kicked Zuniga some more, hit a delayed German suplex, and would have won with a kick to the head, but she picked Zuniga up at two. We went from kicks to knees as Zuniga got used as a punching bag and finally we got the Asuka Lock and the submission.
Asuka didn’t want to break the submission afterwards, but did when the referee waved his hands. She cut a promo in Japanese after.
*********
The Revival cut a promo about how they are better than all the best teams in wrestling history. Ultimately they fight for money and they don’t do flips, but they are the only team to lay out the Authors of Pain.
*********
Next week: Akam vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Dash Wilder.
*********
We got a lengthy video package building up Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. It included the photo of Roode in Team Canada in TNA, with Scott D’Amore in the background. The video thoroughly recapped both men’s year since NXT TakeOver: Dallas and how it brought them both here.
*********
Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, and Roderick Strong cut a promo about their six-man tag against SAnitY tonight. They said this is the first time SAnitY doesn’t have the numbers advantage.
No it’s not. They literally had a six-man tag a month ago.
*********
Heavy Machinery is re-debuting next week.
*********
Andrea D’Marco interviewed Kassius Ohno last week regarding his loss while he was leaving the arena. Suddenly, Elias Samson appeared and sung that he’ll never win the title.
Ohno said The Drifter needs an ass kicking and Samson said Ohno doesn’t belong here. This led to a challenge for a loser leaves NXT match, which was accepted.
*********
Aleister Black will debut at TakeOver: Orlando against Andrade “Cien” Almas, which was the subject in Almas’ promo. He said he will make Black believe in him.
*********
SAnitY vs. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong & No Way Jose ended in a double disqualification
It was then main event time. This was a rematch of the six-man tag a month ago that I guess never happened. We got a six-way brawl outside the ring before the bell rang. This somehow led to the smallest babyface, Strong, in the ring with the largest heel, Killian Dain.
Strong fared better against Alexander Wolfe and was able to tag out. He did get back in later and managed to take out Wolfe and Dain on a giant dive over the top.
Eric Young spent the early part avoiding Tye Dillinger, shouting that Dillinger will get his. He finally cut off No Way Jose after a distraction by Nikki Cross. Jose eventually battled back and made the hot tag to Roderick Strong, who went backbreaker happy.
This broke down into a six-way brawl, which caused the referee to throw it out and declare the match a double disqualification.
The babyfaces got the best of the post-match until Cross jumped on Dillinger’s shoulders. She was taken care of when a debuting woman (Heidi Lovelace) ran in and took her out. The babyfaces sent SAnitY running away as the show ended.
That will do it for this week. Next week is already the go-home show for WrestleMania weekend. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
These teams are always entertaining. Moss and Sabbatelli riled up the crowd, taunting and putting a beating on the crowd favorites. Dawkins and Ford ran wild and hit a double team DDT on Moss to win it.
– Patrick Clark defeated Adrian Jaoude
Jaoude almost had it won with an ankle lock, but Clark was still able to hit a famouser to get the pinfall victory.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Kona Reeves
This was a physical match. Lorcan won with a running blockbuster.
– Ember Moon, Macey Estrella & Aliyah defeated Mandy Rose, Billie Kay & Peyton Royce
Female independent wrestler Kennadi Brink was the referee for this match. The crowd loved the action. The heels worked over Estrella and used distractions to keep the advantage, then the finish saw Moon take a hot tag and hit a big slam on Rose for the win.
– Dory Funk Jr. did an in-ring interview but was interrupted by Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler. They talked up all of the people Funk has trained and then put down that Funk hasn’t helped them one bit. Hideo Itami made the save and put Blake down with the GTS before proclaiming he was back in NXT.
– Austin Aries defeated Tony Nese
The crowd loved Aries and chanted for him throughout. He won it with a rebound elbow off the ropes.
– Johnny Gargano (w/ Tommaso Ciampa) defeated Dash Wilder (w/ Scott Dawson)
The crowd was on fire here, with “You’re a Chicken” chants to Wilder the entire way. Someone even had a “Chicken” sign because this is an Ocala tradition to insult The Revival as such. There were loud “Johnny Wrestling” chants when Wilder had the advantage. Gargano was able to make Wilder submit to a crossface.
– Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose & Liv Morgan defeated SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain & Nikki Cross)
This was a great match. Everyone looked like stars here. It was well paced and built to a parade of finishers, as Morgan hit the STO on Cross, Jose hit the wind-up punch on Dain, and Dillinger connected with the Tye Breaker on Wolfe to win the match and send everyone home happy.
NXT was in Cocoa, Florida tonight in front of a packed crowd of 350 people.
– Heavy Machinery defeated The Ealy Twins
This was a hoss match. The teams clobbered each other until Heavy Machinery finally hit their double team finish to win it.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Dan Matha
Matha had his way with Lorcan early on, but Lorcan fought back with a series of running uppercuts and a running neckbreaker for the win.
– Elias Samson defeated Buddy Murphy
Murphy had new music and an energetic babyface attitude. He’s been great on the live events lately, but The Drifter won after hitting a draping DDT.
– Adrian Jaoude cut an in-ring promo about how he came from a family of fighters. He was interrupted by Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss, who were about to rough him up before Tye Dillinger made the save, leading to the next match.
The crowd was all over Sabbatelli and Moss. The match got a lot of time and the finish saw Dillinger take the hot tag and clean house, leading to a Tye Breaker attempt which was countered into a roll through, which Dillinger countered into a sharpshooter attempt before his leg gave way. The crowd was scared, but Dillinger was able to apply the crossface for the submission victory and a huge reaction.
Asuka took the hot tag and ran wild. Lovelace did her version of a step-up enzuigiri to wipe out Rose and allow Asuka to hit a knockout kick of her own to Evans for the pin.
– Aleister Black defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
Great match; would like to see this one make TV. Heel Almas is excellent and Black has such intriguing combat mannerisms. It was hard-hitting and different than the usual NXT live event match ups. Black won with a spin kick to the head as Almas charged at him with the running knees.
– SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain & Nikki Cross) defeated Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford & Liv Morgan
There was total chaos in this match with action all over the place. Dain was a force when in the ring. Cross hit a fisherman neckbreaker for the win before the faces cleaned house after the match to send everyone home happy.
The Big News: Bobby Roode had his Glorious Celebration after winning the NXT Championship at TakeOver.
The Medium News: SAnitY went 2-0, winning the tag team opener and the six-man main event.
The Little Beaver-sized News: The Revival challenged The Authors of Pain for NXT TakeOver: Orlando.
**********
Nigel McGuinness has officially taken over for Corey Graves. Plus they have already updated the opening video package to include footage from TakeOver.
**********
SAnitY defeated The Bollywood Boyz
The fans cheered for Harv and Gurv Sihra, but they also recognized they were the lambs being led to slaughter. Alexander Wolfe and the very hairy Killian Dain were the representatives of SAnitY. Harv and Gurv both got run over by Dain. Neither had any luck on their own nor when they tried to double team.
Dain used a Wasteland on Gurv and then powerbombed Harv on top of his brother before he finished off The Bollywood Boyz with the One Winged Angel. Wolfe never tagged in and never needed to.
Nikki Cross bellowed to bring her Asuka after the match and then slammed her head into the turnbuckles. Eric Young cut a promo about how he humbled Tye Dillinger and is telling Dillinger he belongs with SAnitY.
**********
Liv Morgan defeated Billie Kay
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce’s ring entrance was absurdly long and Liv Morgan had to stand there and watch. Morgan kicked out of Eat Defeat a minute in. She made her comeback and won with a roll-up when she knocked Kay into Royce, who had jumped up on the apron.
**********
Tye Dillinger was staring off into the distance backstage and said that he was not humbled by SAnitY and will also not be joining them. Dillinger was about to talk about being in the Royal Rumble when SAnitY attacked him! They beat on Dillinger all the way to the ring when Roderick Strong and No Way Jose ran in for the save.
The three of them teamed up to send SAnitY fleeing for the back.
**********
William Regal was backstage and announced Tyler Bate vs. Trent Seven for the WWE UK Championship next week.
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce stormed into the office and demanded a match against Liv Morgan. They wanted a handicap match, but when Mr. Regal made a tag team match (allowing Morgan to team with anyone) they began laughing saying Morgan has no friends.
**********
The Revival defeated Heavy Machinery
Heavy Machinery is Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic, and they have officially re-debuted on TV. They originally wrestled together during the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic after being a regular team on the NXT house show circuit.
Knight and Dozovic towered over The Revival. At one point Knight had Dash Wilder up with a bearhug and then literally threw him into the arms of Dozovic, who had his own bearhug.
The former two-time champs got the heat on Dozovic. Knight got the hot tag and ran wild on The Revival. Knight went to tag out, but Wilder pulled Dozovic off the apron. Knight chased Wilder all around the ring, but when he rolled back in, Scott Dawson kicked him in the gut and pinned him with a DDT.
The Revival cut a promo, reminding people that they are the greatest tag team in NXT. They stated that they were the Tag Team of The Year, which led to a few fans chanting that they deserve it. Revival said DIY never deserved to be Tag Team Champions, which was proven when they got demolished by The Authors of Pain. They said they have carried the tag team division and said that at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, they will make the AOP a footnote.
Before they could leave, out came the new NXT Tag Team Champions, The Authors of Pain. Revival ducked out of the ring, pantomiming that they won’t wrestle until money and the championships are on the line.
As AOP backed up the aisle, The Revival ran in from out of nowhere, attacking Akam and Rezar from behind! They knocked Akam off the ramp, kicked Rezar a few times, and then ran away.
**********
SAnitY vs. Dillinger, Strong & Jose was made for tonight’s main event.
**********
To prepare for his title defense against Trent Seven next week, we got a video package for Tyler Bate.
**********
It was time for the Glorious Celebration! For the first time since becoming the NXT Champion, Bobby Roode has arrived in Full Sail University. Roode must have watched Billie Kay and Peyton Royce’s entrance from earlier as he decided to somehow take even longer walking to the ring.
I just wanted to mention, as a quick trivia note, when the current NXT debuted in June 2012 and crowned their first champion, the TNA Champion was Bobby Roode.
Roode said he is not the guy to walk around and say that he told you so, but then began laughing, saying he is totally that guy. From the moment he stepped into an NXT ring, he told everybody that he was on a completely different level. Night after night, TakeOver after TakeOver, he proved just that.
Roode said Shinsuke Nakamura dominated Japan for a decade (he stopped to tell people what a decade was) and then he came to NXT and defeated every person he got in the ring with…except Roode. Nakamura hit him with everything he had, including the Kinshasa, and despite that he still didn’t get the job done.
He said winning the title was the single greatest moment in NXT history because now they have a real champion. He did a little bit of a Ric Flair strut and said it is no longer “We are NXT,” it is Bobby Roode’s NXT. He finished by saying this NXT is simply glorious.
**********
Next up we got a Trent Seven video package, discussing Mustache Mountain and showing highlights of the UK title tournament.
**********
SAnitY defeated Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong & No Way Jose
SAnitY was in the opener and the main event this week. After each babyface had made their individual entrances, they attacked SAnitY on the ramp.
Jose and Wolfe grabbed each other’s hair and beard, but Jose got the better of their interaction. Young tagged in and Jose again got the better of EY. Finally Dain tagged in and got sustained offense on Dillinger while screaming at the other babyfaces.
Dain tagged out, which allowed Dillinger to make the hot tag to Strong. Strong heaved Wolfe into the air for a backbreaker. Strong went for a Sick Kick on Young, but Dain tripped Strong. Dillinger hit the Tye Breaker on Young but, behind the referee’s back, Nikki Cross gave Dillinger a hurricarana over the top rope.
While that was going on, Dain ran over Strong and Young pinned him, giving SAnitY the win.
So that does it for this week. Thank you all for reading and until next week remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Tonight’s show was in front of a sold-out crowd of 350 people.
– Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins defeated The Ealy Brothers
This match had a lot of banter, with the twins calling their opponents “lightweights” to get them riled up. Ford & Dawkins used a double team elevated DDT for the win.
– Steve Cutler defeated Brennan Williams
Cutler was running down everyone for being cowards before the match. Williams stood up for the people and hit a big back drop suplex. This was a physical match that Cutler won with a stomp off the middle turnbuckle.
– Oney Lorcan defeated Kishan Raftaar
A straight jacket Camel Clutch got the submission win for Lorcan.
– Victoria Gonzalez cut an in-ring promo where she talked about checking goals off her list. The crowd was receptive to her.
– Ember Moon & Daria Berenato defeated Heidi Lovelace & Mandy Rose
Very good action here. Moon changed it up and finished this with a sidewalk slam.
– Kassius Ohno defeated Buddy Murphy
Murphy always delivers on live events, and Kassius is Kassius, so this was TV worthy for sure. Ohno hit his Death By Elbow out of the corner for the victory.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated No Way Jose
This had comedy early until Almas took advantage late and hit the hammerlock DDT to win.
– Roderick Strong defeated Elias Samson
Good match. Strong won with the Sick Kick.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, Tye Dillinger & Heavy Machinery defeated SAnitY in an eight-person mixed tag
Incredible atmosphere, with a huge reaction for Dillinger. The big build ups were for the women to face off and for Young vs. Dillinger. Great stuff, and the crowd was into everything. Dillinger hit the Tye Breaker on Young, then Asuka submitted Cross with the Asuka Lock to send everyone home happy.
