Qualifying matches for NXT’s number one contender’s ladder match will resume tomorrow night.
Candice LeRae vs. Kayden Carter and Xia Li vs. Aliyah have been announced for this Wednesday’s episode of NXT. The winners will qualify for the number one contender’s ladder match that was originally supposed to take place at NXT TakeOver: Tampa.
Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox have already qualified for the ladder match. WWE announced today that — starting on April 1 — matches that were planned for TakeOver: Tampa will air on NXT television over the next few weeks.
LeRae had originally been scheduled to face Mercedes Martinez in a qualifying match on NXT last week.
Li defeated Aliyah on NXT in November, with WWE doing an angle where it was said that a spin kick from Li broke Aliyah’s nose. This will be Aliyah’s first match on NXT TV since then.
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley is defending her title against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36. The winner will defend their title against the ladder match winner at some point in the future.
WWE is also hyping that Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano will have to answer to Triple H on NXT tomorrow following their brawl at the Performance Center two weeks ago.
Kassius Ohno beat Ligero after trying to tear off his mask and hitting the rolling elbow. Kay Lee Ray beat NXT’s Xia Li, but not before staring down Toni Storm, who was out to cut a promo before the match. Moustache Mountain beat Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in a great, fast-paced main event.
Full rundown:
Nigel and Vic talked about tonight’s main event, before we went straight to our first match.
Kassius Ohno pinned Ligero in 10:08 after a rolling elbow to the back of the head
The story here was that Ohno was the bigger and stronger guy and decided the action in the ring for a long time. As Ligero was looking to finally gain the advantage, Ohno resorted to unfair tactics to take the victory. The crowd hated Ohno and were into Liger, but not as much as back in the UK.
Ohno told Ligero to show him what he got and slapped him a few times. Ligero tried a few spots, but Ohno countered, avoided or overpowered Ligero. The Leeds Luchador finally got the advantage off a head scissors that sent Ohno to the outside and followed up with a somersault senton off the apron. He miscalculated on the follow-up though and Ohno once more took over. Finally, Ligero, who was almost out on his feet, managed to catch a kick by Ohno and came back with leg kicks and a running knee to the face and hit a splash from the middle of the top rope for a near-fall.
Ligero went for Sliced Bread off the top but Ohno turned it into tombstone attempt, but Ligero rolled through for another near-fall. As Ohno fled to the outside, Ligero hit a somersault over the top rope, then hit Sliced Brea off the ring steps. Both narrowly made it back into the ring, but as Ligero went for a cutter through the ropes, Ohno caught him, started to tear his mask off and as Ligero was looking to put it back on, Ohno hit the rolling elbow to the back of the head for the victory.
— Jordan Devlin was pissed off that his match with WALTER next week was a non-title match, because Johnny Saint wanted to protect WALTER for “the rematch of the century” against Pete Dunne
— A highlight video for “The Hunt” aired; they’ll be in action next week.
— Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner walked through WrestleMania Axxess and complained about fans thinking they could be champions and how back in the day, you had to work for the privilege of winning a title. They repeated once more their mantra of “The Mat is Sacred” (identical to RINGKAMPF’s motto of “Die Matte ist heilig”).
Toni Storm came out to cut a promo in the ring. She said it was awesome to represent the NXT UK brand on the most important weekend of the year. She talked about all the great women on the brand and said she’s be the champion for a very long time. As she was ready to walk backstage again, Kay Lee Ray’s music hit and she stared Toni down as she made her way to the ring.
Kay Lee Ray pinned Xia Li in 5:25 after the Widow’s Peak
Xia Li got to show off some good offense, but this pretty much was the Kay Lee Ray showcase, as she clearly is being groomed for a title match against Toni Storm.
Li made her NXT UK debut here and Nigel talked about her background as a practitioner of kung fu and how she defended her family back in China after her father’s death when she was in her teens.
Both women traded offense right away but Kay Lee got the better of it quickly. Kay Lee Ray kept the upper hand after some mind games backfired, but Li got to show off some of her kicks, Ray hit a crescent kick and drove Li into the post, then followed up with kicks and strikes in the corner. Li eventually got to show some offense, hitting a snap mare off an atomic drop attempt, a kick to the back and a hard kick to the chest. She missed a double foot stomp though and Kay Lee Ray picked up the win with the Widow’s Peak.
— Piper Niven was signing autographs and was asked about Rhea Ripley, She said that while Rhea was a great athlete, she was looking forward to how she would react to someone a little too big to push around.
— The Grizzled Young Veterans were upset backstage, throwing Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams’ gear out into the hallway, raging on about how they were locker room leasers and Jordan and Williams could get dressed in the hallway.
Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) beat Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 12:28 when Seven pinned Webster after a combined Burning Hammer/flying knee drop
These two teams had a tremendous, fast paced match that had great aerial offense, mat wrestling and a good amount of drama. The crowd was into both teams and it was a great showcase for all four men,
Bate and Andrews started out with Andrews gaining the upper hand off an arm bar but Bate worked his way out of it and they traded holds and counter-holds. Both men tagged out and Webster tried tackling Seven off his feet, but failing miserably. He switched tactics and used his athleticism to take Seven down. Seven feigned a chop and as Webster ducked, he hit a quick DDT. After tagging again, Bate hit a somersault senton off the top onto Andrews and Seven worked him over some more, doing a good job of isolating him from being able to tag out.
Finally Webster made it back in, immediately hitting a springboard dropkick on Bate and a springboard moonsault on Seven. The offense didn’t take long though as Bate staged his own comeback, culminating in a double airplane spin/giant swing,. Bate got thrown tot he outside, but caught Webster off a plancha and did another airplane spin on the outside. An exploder later, Seven was back in, but Mark Andrews slid under Moustache Mountain and hit a double Pelé kick on both men, then Andrews and Webster hit stereo somersault planchas to the outside. Andrews then hit an assisted 450 onto Seven for a near-fall.
Moustache Mountain hit a combined slingshot lariat/dragon suplex on Andrews, but Webster came off the top with a somersault senton to break up the pin. Bate missed a slingshot lariat when Andrews slid under him, then hit a reverse rana, assisted by a running knee from Webster. Seven quickly tagged back in and hit a Burning Hammer, assisted with a flying knee drop by Bate on Webster to pick up the win.
Both teams shook hands after the match.
Next week:
WALTER faces Jordan Devlin in a non-title match and The Hunt will be in action.
In 2018, we saw that from the top of WrestleMania down to the Performance Center tryouts, nothing compares to top tier athletes in pro wrestling.
The percentage of talent who actually become great wrestlers is still incredibly low. There aren’t many Ronda Rouseys out there with the love of WWE to dive into this world, yet, in 2018, we saw a special group on the Florida tour that showed flashes of brilliance. These are a few of those names to watch in 2019 as NXT continues to refine these incredible people into, hopefully, larger than life superstars.
Kacy Catanzaro
An instant hit with her showing in the Mae Young Classic, the former American Ninja Warrior star has adapted her college gymnastics expertise into her in-ring style. A successful rookie year in terms of attention along with the foundation of wrestling with and against some great talent on the NXT Florida loop sets the stage for her future. There aren’t many talents with twenty three matches in to a career that you can compare to “Mighty” Kacy.
Stacey Ervin Jr.
In 2018, the live event legend of Stacey Ervin grew at a rapid pace. We always read about new recruits and what they excel at. Mr. Ervin just to happens to be one of the greatest gymnasts to ever try to cross in to the world of professional wrestling. Fourteen matches in to his career, Stacey has already faced veterans such as Tony Nese, Kassius Ohno, and a major test for any athlete in the profession, Ricochet, in the main event of an Orlando live event. There is no limit to what Ervin can do in the ring; it’s just a matter of time to see his progression.
Xia Li
A two time Mae Young Classic competitor and one of the best kept secrets of the P.C. in that time, Li was part of a major Chinese recruitment class a couple years ago and has become a standout in just a few televised appearances along with quality showings on the Florida events. With a fighter’s presence and a flashy charm I’ve seen Florida crowds go wild for and the barrage of kicks she has in her arsenal, a TV run should be on the way soon.
Raul Mendoza and Humberto Carrillo
You’ve probably seen each of these young luchadors on TV doing enhancement work, Mendoza (fka Jinzo) was part of the Cruiserweight Classic and has always showed flashes of brilliance against much more established opponents. Carrillo was a very under the radar signing and the former Ultimo Ninja is in his early 20s. These two have found something special on the Florida live event tour. Whenever the NXT tag team division needs a jump start or if 205 Live wants some fresh speed lucha action, these guys are money.
All 32 wrestlers have been confirmed for this summer’s Mae Young Classic.
The final five participants were announced for the tournament today, with Sienna, Xia Li, Rachael Ellering, MJ Jenkins, and Zatara rounding out the lineup. Tapings for the tournament will be held at Full Sail University next Wednesday and Thursday, leading into the finals taking place at WWE Evolution on October 28.
Sienna was announced by her real name (Allysin Kay). She is a former two-time Knockouts Champion in Impact Wrestling and recently left the company when her contract expired while she was out of action with blood clots in both of her lungs.
Li and Ellering are both returning from last year’s Mae Young Classic. Li is from China and made her in-ring debut in the 2017 tournament, losing to Mercedes Martinez in the first round. She’s under WWE contract and wrestles on NXT house shows in Florida.
Ellering is again going by “Rachel Evers,” which is a reference to her trainer Lance Storm’s real last name. She defeated Marti Belle in the first round last year, with Dave Meltzer reporting that WWE changed the finish midway through after Belle had originally been booked to win. Ellering lost to Abbey Laith in the second round and has wrestled outside of WWE since the tournament.
Jenkins was signed by WWE as part of the most recent group of wrestlers to report to the Performance Center. She wrestled on the indies before joining WWE and was formerly part of the Impact Wrestling roster.
Zatara is a masked wrestler from Santiago, Chile. She is 26 years old and started wrestling in 2008.
The full Mae Young Classic 2018 lineup is listed below. Taynara Conti won a qualifying match at July’s NXT television tapings but has yet to be officially announced by WWE.
