NXT – September 26, 2018: Pull That Machine Up Here
IMG Credit: WWE
NXT
Date: September 26, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo
The road to WarGames continues and you can see most of the card from here. At the same time though, we’re also trying to find out who attacked Aleister Black. The investigation has been going on for weeks and it should be about time we know whodunit, especially with Takeover starting to come into focus. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Here’s William Regal to talk about what he’s found in the Black situation but the Undisputed Era cuts him off almost immediately. Adam Cole thinks Regal is going to come out here and not do his job and that’s on Regal. It’s also in the past and now Regal’s responsibilities is to make sure that such a thing doesn’t happen again. On top of that, what is Regal going to do about the War Raiders? Regal finds it interesting that the three of them interrupt him when he’s talking about the investigation.
The three of them get in the ring and accuse Regal of trying to get away from the War Raiders. Cole wants to know why Ricochet has been ducking him or why Pete Dunne got a title shot. Regal says Dunne asked for a shot and Cole gets a little more serious. There’s no title shot for Cole right now because it wouldn’t be fair. However, in two weeks Cole can have his rematch in a triple threat match with Ricochet and Dunne. As for the War Raiders, they’ll get their title shot in three weeks.
Johnny Gargano is in a good mood and ready to face Tony Nese next week. He’s apologized for his failures and for the man he was becoming. Next week, he starts back down the right path. Johnny goes over to Candice LeRae when Lacey Evans comes in to say Candice should have been fighting next to him. Gargano has to hold Candice back.
Video on Lars Sullivan.
Velveteen Dream isn’t going to talk about Johnny Gargano or Aleister Black, though he seems to accuse Tommaso Ciampa of being the attacker. He’s not a snitch though and the writing is on the wall.
Lars Sullivan vs. Victor Orchant
Forearms to the back set up a pop up powerslam as the fans chant for the jobber. A pair of beals sent Orchant to the floor but here’s EC3 from behind for the DQ at 1:28.
EC3 actually wins the post match brawl and knocks Sullivan to the floor.
Regal has narrowed down his list of suspects but Nikki Cross comes out of his office. She wants to face Bianca Belair again and Regal says he’ll consider it. Cross won’t let him into his office and keeps saying “I know”. She leaves and Regal seems to think she’s a bit out there. Nobody knows what Nikki knows.
Street Profits vs. The Mighty
The Mighty have the Profits’ cup and jewelry from a few weeks back. The Profits are serious this week, which you don’t see every day. Thorn laughs at them to start so Ford knocks him senseless with a single right hand (that looked GREAT) to start things off. Ford hammers on Miller to start things off and a spinning Stinger splash makes things even worse. A double bulldog takes the Profits down and Ford adds a big dive to the floor.
Back in and Dawkins charges into a boot in the corner as Percy says this issue is about the “principalities” of the thing. Nigel: “What does THAT mean?” Total silence from Percy, as there should be there. Dawkins slips away and brings in Ford to clean house. They head outside though and Thorn dropkicks the steps into Ford’s knee to take over.
A double Russian legsweep sets up a clothesline for two on Ford and it’s off to a leglock. That goes nowhere so it’s a double clothesline for the double knockdown but Miller pulls Dawkins off the apron. Ford flips out of a suplex but tweaks the knee, allowing Thorn to roll him up for the pin at 7:41.
Rating: C. Both of these teams are kind of floundering at the moment and it’s a good idea to have one of them get a clean pin here. I could have gone for more of the Profits but it seems that their time is over. The Mighty don’t do much for me but at least they’re getting a win here to hopefully get somewhere.
Kairi Sane vs. Vanessa Borne
Non-title. Borne gets serious by STEALING KAIRI’S HAT and throwing it away. Kairi blocks some strikes and takes her down by the knee but a swinging suplex gives Borne two. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Sane is back with a DDT. The spear sets up the Insane Elbow to finish Borne at 3:06.
Rating: D+. Not quite a squash but Sane was never in any real danger and destroyed her in the end. Borne is still someone who could be a player in the division and losing clean to the champ isn’t going to really hurt her though at some point she needs to actually win something of note.
Post match here’s Shayna Baszler to say she’s coming for the title. She’s invoking her rematch clause so Sane says we’ll do it at Evolution.
Keith Lee wants competition and goes in to see Kona Reeves. Kona doesn’t think much of him because Lee interrupted his interview prep. Lee: “You’re the man with the finest set of losses in NXT.” A match is made for next week.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Otis Dozovic
Non-title. Dozovic runs him over with some shoulders and throws Ciampa over the corner to the floor. Back in and a spinning slam plants Ciampa again, followed by a backdrop to the floor. That means a Worm from Dozovic as Ciampa isn’t sure what to do. Dozovic makes the mistake of going outside and Ciampa slams him head first into the ramp to take over for the first time.
Some hard forearms to the back of the head have Dozovic in trouble and there’s a braced knee to the head for two. Another knee to the face gets another two and we hit the sleeper. You don’t jump on the back of a monster though and Dozovic drops backwards onto Ciampa for the crash. Some clubbing shots to the face and a hard clothesline give Dozovic two so Ciampa goes for a walk.
Cue Tucker Knight to cut him off though and Dozovic suplexes him on the floor. A big elbow gets two back inside so Ciampa rakes the eyes. He still can’t hit the Fairytale Ending though so Dozovic gives him a sitout powerbomb for two instead. Ciampa is fine enough to hit a hanging DDT onto the apron though and the regular version is enough to finish Dozovic at 9:39.
Rating: B. This is a great example of a match that had no business being anything worthwhile whatsoever and turning into something very entertaining. Dozovic got a lot out of this and Ciampa had to sweat a bit for a win because he underestimated Dozovic coming in. Why can’t we get something like this on Raw every now and then? Like AJ Styles vs. Luke Harper or something. Let them have some fun and see what talent is out there.
Overall Rating: C+. Good show here as you can see WarGames from here and a lot of interesting stuff is coming up as well. With stuff like Black’s attacker likely being revealed soon and the impending arrival of Matt Riddle, we could be in for some very entertaining shows in the next few weeks.
Results
Lars Sullivan b. Victor Orchant via DQ when EC3 interfered
The Mighty b. Street Profits – Rollup to Ford
Kairi Sane b. Vanessa Borne – Insane Elbow
Tommaso Ciampa b. Otis Dozovic – Hanging DDT
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You keep saying we can see War Games from here, but I don’t think it’s that clear yet. At first I thought it would be The Era vs Raiders and Ricochet vs Dunne and Moustache Mountain. But we haven’t seen seven and bate in weeks. Perhaps Fish is ready to go and it’s all four members of The Era vs the Raiders, ricochet and dunne?
And besides EC3 and Sullivan I don’t know where the rest of the card is going.