NXT
Date: December 7, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

We’re done with WarGames and all signs would seem to point to Bron Breakker getting the rematch for the NXT Title at New Year’s Evil. That should be the big title change, but there is still some time to fill on the way there. We’ll start with this week’s show, which will include the reveal of MSK’s Shaman. Let’s get to it.

Here is WarGames if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of WarGames.

Von Wagner vs. Kyle O’Reilly

In a cage after Wagner attacked him after their loss at WarGames. O’Reilly jumps him in the aisle to start and Wagner is in trouble in the corner early on. A running boot in the corner rocks Wagner again and O’Reilly starts working on the arm. Some forearms to the back of the head keep Wagner down and some running knees put him down again. Back up and Wagner knocks him silly with a single shot to take over.

Wagner stomps away against the cage but O’Reilly grabs the leg for a kneebar. Since that doesn’t work, Wagner is back with a running headbutt go the ribs for two. We hit the waistlock to hold O’Reilly in place as the fans get behind him anyway. O’Reilly fights up with some kicks until a clothesline takes him down again. A powerbomb against the cage is broken up with a DDT though and we take a break.

Back with O’Reilly kicking away and hitting some running strikes to drive Wagner into the cage. The guillotine choke is broken up with straight power and they fight to the top with O’Reilly sending him into the cage for the knockdown. There’s the top rope knee for two on Wagner, who is back up with a low blow. The double underhook swinging slam finishes O’Reilly at 14:18.

Rating: C+. There’s a good chance that this is it for O’Reilly and I can’t say I blame him. It is pretty clear that he is not going to get to do much on his own, as he was put into this lame team as a way to get Wagner over. That isn’t exactly interesting, but if O’Reilly wants out, it’s hard to argue against him. The match itself was a good showcase for O’Reilly, even if Wagner shrugged a lot of his offense off and won anyway.

Post match Wagner ties him in the Tree of Woe, with O’Reilly’s face hanging out of the door. A few door slams onto the face should send O’Reilly off to greener pastures in AEW.

We see Johnny Gargano’s post-WarGames promo, where he promised to tell us his future this week.

Joe Gacy is working to change the name of a show that promotes exclusivity. For now though, he is ready for Harland to debut next week.

Here is Bron Breakker to talk about how 2.0 and Black & Gold went to war at WarGames. Black & Gold is tough as nails but he pinned NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa. That makes them 1-1 against each other, so let’s do this one more time for the title. Cue the Diamond Mine, with Malcolm Bivens calling him LeBron Breakker.

Bivens talks about how the team was successful at WarGames and now the weight limit is gone from Roderick Strong’s title. That means he can face the top talent, including Breakker himself. Breakker is ready to fight right now but Strong is going to wait for next week. Breakker accepts because he’ll face anyone to get to Ciampa again. Putting Breakker in the ring with talented people like Strong makes perfect sense and is the smart thing to do with him.

Creed Brothers vs. Brooks Jensen/Josh Briggs

The Grizzled Young Veterans are on commentary and here is Imperium as soon as the bell rings. Jensen takes Julius down to start and chops away in the corner, setting up an elbow to the back for two. Briggs gets in his own elbow but it’s off to Brutus in a hurry, with a release side slam putting him down in a hurry.

A double right hand drops Brutus again but he sends Jensen into the corner to take over. Jensen is tossed outside for a cheap shot….and the Veterans steal a tag rope. Back in and Julius grabs a stretch muffler on Jensen, who kicks his way to freedom. There’s no tag rope though and Briggs can’t tag in, which matters for all of two seconds as Jensen grabs a rollup for the pin at 5:46.

Rating: C-. The tag rope thing was different, though I’m not sure how much of a good thing that is. This Veterans are thieves thing is getting annoying in a hurry, if nothing else because I could go for seeing them be their usual awesome selves instead of whatever this stuff is. Jensen and Briggs getting a push works too, but just let them do their thing instead of all these shenanigans.

Von Wagner doesn’t care about Kyle O’Reilly because his WarGames are just beginning. Wagner leaves as Robert Stone arrives.

Xyon Quinn is ready for Santos Escobar.

Here is Duke Hudson, now with a blond wig. Hudson talks about how everyone was wrong about his hair cut, because he took care of things and now has a full head of hair. Cue Cameron Grimes, so Hudson immediately puts on some head gear. Hudson accuses Grimes of cheating by pulling the trunks, with Grimes talking about how they do things a little different where he’s from. The challenge is issued for one more match with no holds barred. Hudson is in but bails from the threat of a Cave In.

Jacket Time comes in to see Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs. The Grizzled Young Veterans pop up to say Briggs and Jensen only won because of them, but here are Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro, offering concert tickets. Jensen and Briggs leave with them so the Veterans and Jacket Time brawl. Referees break it up and sleepy Mei Ying pops up with a pillow and fountain drink.

Grayson Waller hits on a woman outside, but she’s already going out with LA Knight tonight. Waller swears revenge.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Dexter Lumis

Non-title. Lumis takes Hayes, with his bad ribs, into the corner to start and fires off some knees. There’s a slam to stay on the ribs but Trick Williams offers a distraction, allowing Hayes to…get punched in the face (with the broken hand that was supposed to keep Lumis out for a month).

Back in and Hayes hits a springboard clothesline before working on the bad hand. That doesn’t work so well but Lumis goes after Williams, allowing Hayes to kick him in the face to take over. Back from a break with Hayes working on the hand again, with Lumis bothering to sell it this time. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Hayes spends too much time talking, allowing Lumis to reverse a suplex. The clothesline comeback sets up the Silencer but Williams breaks it up for the DQ at 12:43.

Rating: C-. The stuff with Lumis’ hand brought this way down, as there is only so much you can do when the injury is mostly ignored. Hayes tried to work on it some but Lumis just blankly staring and then doing his usual stuff didn’t help. Lumis is likely going to get a title shot now, but firs the needs to torture Williams a bit first, as that tends to be more of Lumis’ nature.

MSK has found the Shaman and it’s…..Riddle (in a reveal that makes all the sense in the world but still caught me by surprise). They sit down in front of some candles and talk about their history, including how fast they had success. Riddle talks about the Broserweights (and pays tribute to the still alive Stallion Pete). He’s willing to be there with them on their way back to success, but now it’s time to open the bag. More on that later.

Toxic Attraction talks about how they are ready to deal with things on their own, like real women. Now stop drooling.

Persia Pirotta is glad that Indi Hartwell can have her mind back on the team. Hartwell says she is committed to the team but here is Dexter Lumis, with Hartwell jumping into his arms. Johnny Gargano pops up and is glad to have the family back together.

Toxic Attraction vs. Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz

Non-title. Dolin beats on Leon to start and a cheap shot from the apron makes it worse. There’s a Cannonball in the corner and Jayne grabs a chinlock. That’s countered into a running Samoan drop to rock Jayne though and the hot tag brings in Feroz for two off a high crossbody, plus a lot of shouting. Back up and Jayne kicks Feroz in the face for the fast pin at 3:44.

Rating: C-. They kept this short and to the point, as Toxic Attraction gets a win to regain momentum after Sunday. They’re still not exactly smooth in the ring but they have enough heat on them to keep them moving through a match. Leon and Feroz are not too bad as a low level team and their dancing entrance suits them well.

Post match Toxic Attraction throws out the challenge to anyone, so here is Cora Jade, with her arm in a sling. She talks about pinning Mandy Rose a few weeks back and wants another shot, but Toxic Attraction has the numbers advantage. Cue Raquel Gonzalez to clear the ring with a chair.

Tiffany Stratton talks about her time on the United States gymnastics team. A gold medal is nice, but the Women’s Title is better.

Tony D’Angelo is proud of getting Pete Dunne’s mouthpiece at WarGames. Andre Chase comes in to say D’Angelo should have followed his game plan but D’Angelo doesn’t want to hear it. The challenge is made and Chase is cut off in mid-response.

Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Fade are ready for Toxic Attraction. Cue Kay Lee Ray to say she has their backs, along with a bat.

Santos Escobar vs. Xyon Quinn

Quinn chokes him down to start but stoops to look at Elektra Lopez. The distraction lets Escobar fight up, only to charge into some elbows to the throat. Quinn is dropped face first onto the top turnbuckle and some more shots keep Escobar in trouble. Something from the apron is broken up by a Legado del Fantasma distraction though and Escobar gets in a cheap shot. That doesn’t work either though as Quinn knocks him away as we take a break

Back with Quinn having to fight out of a neck crank and armbar with straight power. Quinn sends him into the corner for a running shoulder but Escobar reverses and hits the running DDT. The Phantom Driver is countered though and Quinn powers him into the corner. They fight on top and Escobar hits a super hurricane for the big knockdown. In the crash, Lopez slips Quinn some brass knuckles, but he throws them to Joaquin Wilde. The distraction lets Escobar hit the Phantom Driver for the pin at 10:37.

Rating: C+. Aside from the super hurricane taking a good bit too long to set up, this was a pretty nice back and forth match. I’m not sure I would have had Escobar beat Quin, but at least there was a bit of a distraction finish and the Lopez/Quin stuff can continue. Quin is still one of the brighter spots around here and I could see WWE taking a shot with him in a hurry.

Diamond Mine runs into Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams in the back. Hayes wants Roderick Strong so Bivens issues the challenge. Hayes says Strong isn’t the A Champion and leaves, with Bivens not being happy.

Boa doesn’t like Edris Enofe so they’ll fight next week.

Here is a rather sad looking Johnny Gargano for a chat. Gargano talks about how “Heartbreak” told him he could have as long as he wants and London Has Fallen is on next anyway. Gargano: “I was always a La Femme Nikita guy myself.” He talks about how he has never had the best promos or skills but the fans have always been here for him. Back in 2015, he showed up at a tryout and was told he would never be in NXT.

William Regal saw something in him though and he got a dark match against Apollo Crews. The fans cheered him so hard that they kept bringing him back, and now here he is. The fans chant for Gargano, who talks about every single person in the back who has helped him, including listing off a bunch of coaches.

Change can be scary, but sometimes it needs to happen. Gargano isn’t sure what is next, but he’s starting a new job as a dad in February. His son is going to watch this back one day and thank you all….and here is Grayson Waller to jump him with a chair. The beatdown is on and Gargano is sent into various things, setting up a hard powerbomb through the announcers’ table. I’m guessing it’s paternity leave and then the big comeback match with Waller.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a show where the good stuff was enough to carry the show over the weaker parts. There are still a lot of things that need to be adjusted, but you can also see a bunch of things starting to come together around here. I’m curious to see how they all go, but this show is about as week to week as you can get these days. For this one though, not bad and that’s nice to see for a change.

Results
Von Wagner b. Kyle O’Reilly – Double underhook spinning slam
Brooks Jensen/Josh Briggs b. Creed Brothers – Rollup to Julius
Dexter Lumis b. Carmelo Hayes via DQ when Trick Williams interfered
Toxic Attraction b. Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz – Kick to Feroz
Santos Escobar b. Xyon Quinn – Phantom Driver

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

WarGames 2021
Date: December 5, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett

We’re not at a Takeover, but we’re pretty much at a Takeover. It’s close enough to November so let’s have some WarGames matches, with the men and the women both getting a shot. Other than that, we have a hair vs. hair match, a Tag Team Title match, and a Cruiserweight Title match with only one cruiserweight. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at WarGames and now violent this is going to be.

Team Toxic Attraction vs. Team Raquel Gonzalez

Toxic Attraction: Mandy Rosa, Jacy Jayne, Gigi Dolin, Dakota Kai
Gonzalez: Raquel Gonzalez, Kay Lee Ray, Cora Jade, Io Shirai

We’re in the double cage with Kay Lee Ray and Dakota Kai starting. The first period is five minutes, the rest are three minutes, you can win by pinfall/submission once everyone is in, and Jade falls off of her skateboard on the way to the ring. Ray brings in a baseball bad so Kai brings in a bunch of kendo sticks. They stare each other down for awhile to start until Ray’s bat shot only hits rope.

The weapons are dropped and it’s Ray being knocked into the cage and then sent into said cage as well. They go into the other ring with Ray being sent into the corner but she catches Kai with an enziguri. Kai grabs the bat but Ray knocks it away and drops her onto the kendo sticks bridged across the ropes. The period ends and Cora Jade comes in, with skateboard, to make it 2-1.

It’s Kai getting beaten down and double teamed for a good while as Ray and Jade keep looking at Toxic Attraction. Kai manages to counter a double suplex into a double DDT though and it’s Dolin coming in to help take over. A bunch of kicks have Ray and Jade in trouble until they get in a trashcan for a breather. Kai is put in the trashcan and the KLR Bomb drives Dolin onto her for the big double crash. Io Shirai comes in to make it 3-2 and brings in a bunch of chairs.

The villains get in some shots of their own though and Shirai is sent into the cage. Ray starts fighting back though and faceplants Dolin before Jade hurricanranas (or something resembling one) Kai between the cages. Now it’s Jayne coming in to even it up with a table as this is really not very good so far. Ray gets a trashcan kicked into her to knock her through some tables but Jayne kicks Dolin by mistake. Shirai starts cleaning house and Jayne is laid out on a table.

Jade flip dives off the top of the cage to put Jayne through the table and seems to bang up her shoulder on the landing. Shirai has to pop Jade’s shoulder back into place as the match basically stops until Raquel Gonzalez completes her team. That means Kai’s shovel, but first it’s a fire extinguisher blast so Gonzalez can get in. Gonzalez puts Kai in the trashcan and swings it around to knock people down.

Hold on though as Gonzalez goes to check on Jade, allowing almost everyone else to get on one corner for a Tower of Doom. Shirai moonsaults onto a trashcan with Dolin inside and everyone is down until Mandy Rose comes in to complete the field. Rose comes in and goes over to Jade, grabbing her by the bad arm as she should.

That’s broken up by Shirai and we now get the required big showdown spot as the previous 25 minutes are erased (save for the arm injury). The big brawl is on with kendo stick shots making it worse. Jade is back up with some one armed kendo stick shots but Kai knocks her down. Toxic Attraction holds Jade in place for a running knee to the face from Mandy and a near fall. The rest of Team Gonzalez makes the save and it’s a Chingoa Bomb to Jayne. Everyone is down….and Jade pins Jayne at 31:25.

Rating: C-. This is a good example of the problems with NXT WarGames: the weapons dominated the match, they spent too much time in one ring, the majority of the match felt like it didn’t matter at the end, and then it just ended. This was a match that did not need to be WarGames and would have been much better suited as an elimination tag than anything else. That being said, this could have been WAY worse as it was much more just dull than actively bad. I was expecting a lot worse of a match and they absolutely had a story with Jade’s shoulder injury. Not great, but it didn’t go as far down as I was betting.

Video on Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen. I believe this originally aired a few weeks ago.

Boa says you will fear him. I certainly fear him being on the show.

Team Black & Gold is ready to go to war, though Johnny Gargano thinks this might be his last time.

Tag Team Titles: Imperium vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Von Wagner

Imperium is defending and it’s Barthel and O’Reilly going to the mat to start. Aichner comes in to work on O’Reilly’s arm, setting up some chops in the corner. It’s off to Wagner for some headbutts in the corner before O’Reilly comes in to strike it out with Aichner again. Wagner comes back in to take Barthel into the corner until Barthel kicks his way to freedom. Aichner hits a Regal roll (to much approval from the crowd, likely due to the squat in the middle) on Wagner, who is right back with a clothesline to Barthel.

O’Reilly comes in and knocks Barthel outside before sending Aichner to the floor as well. Aichner is back in to slow down a tag attempt but a backdrop allows Wagner to come back in and clean house. Everything breaks down and O’Reilly knees Aichner off the apron. An Angle Slam gives Wagner two on Barthel but the champs are back up with double running dropkicks to Wagner in the corner. O’Reilly comes in with a top rope knee to Barthel’s knee but Aichner makes the save with a double springboard moonsault.

Wagner and Barthel head outside, leaving O’Reilly to guillotine Aichner. That’s powered up into a suplex, which O’Reilly reverses into a small package for two. Everything breaks down again and it’s a high/low for two on Barthel. Wagner and Barthel go outside again and O’Reilly brainbusters Aichner for two. The triangle choke has Aichner in more trouble but he powers O’Reilly up into the Imperial Bomb to retain the titles at 14:48.

Rating: B. This was a bit of a weird one as it didn’t feel like an important match but they beat the heck out of each other and worked very hard. I don’t think there is much of a future to O’Reilly/Wagner, but they put in the effort in what is probably one of their last matches together. They had me wondering on some of those near falls, but at the same time, the tag division has fallen so far that it’s just hard to care these days.

Post match O’Reilly gets the big THANK YOU chant….but Wagner charges at him, only to get kicked down by O’Reilly. Wagner gets beaten down and O’Reilly throws up the Undisputed Era pose, plus some crotch chops. Then O’Reilly just looks at him before leaving.

Legado del Fantasma is ready for Xyon Quinn.

Video on Ikemen Jiro.

We recap Duke Hudson vs. Cameron Grimes. Hudson isn’t happy that Grimes beat him in poker and then cut part of Grimes’ hair. Now Grimes wants Hudson’s hair, so the loser is bald.

Duke Hudson vs. Cameron Grimes

Hair vs. hair. It’s a brawl to start with Hudson throwing him over the top for the big crash onto the steps. Back in and Grimes charges into a release Rock Bottom out of the corner. Hudson hammers away on the mat before taking Grimes outside for a belly to belly. Back in and an abdominal stretch has Grimes in even more trouble as Hudson stays on the ribs.

There’s a backbreaker to stay on said back but Grimes fights up and sends him into the corner for a break. The flipping powerslam gives Grimes two and a sunset flip is good for the same. A poisonrana plants Hudson hard and a high crossbody gives Grimes two. Hudson loads up a Razor’s Edge but gets sent into the corner for the counter. Grimes grabs a rollup (with trunks) for the fast pin out of nowhere at 10:18.

Rating: C+. They were working while they had the chance here and it’s nice to see Grimes win another match with some stakes. Hudson is someone WWE seems to see something in so Grimes winning before he is crushed in some other way is a good way to go. I’m sure Grimes will get a huge push out of this, because things have gone so well for him in the past.

Post match Hudson tries to run but knocks Grimes out instead. Hudson teases shaving Grimes anyway but Grimes hits the Cave In (points for a good fake out) and shaves Hudson’s hair. Well at least a little bit of it before Hudson bails again.

Video on the Grizzled Young Veterans stealing a delivery driver’s food.

Video on Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter.

Video on Draco Anthony.

New Year’s Evil is on January 4.

We recap Joe Gacy vs. Roderick Strong for the Cruiserweight Title. Gacy thinks the Cruiserweight Title is about weight shaming so Strong is defending the title against someone out of the weight class.

Cruiserweight Title: Joe Gacy vs. Roderick Strong

Strong, with the rest of the Diamond Mine, is defending, though Gacy has Harland with him. Gacy gets taken down to start but comes back with a running shoulder. A clothesline to the back of the head puts Strong down again but he sends Gacy to the apron and strikes away. Gacy loses his shirt, which seems to fuel his comeback, including a suplex for two on Strong.

Back up and Strong manages a super hurricanrana to set up the Boston crab. That’s broken up so Gacy takes Strong outside but has to tell Harland not to end Ivy Nile. A gutwrench powerbomb plants Strong for two but he is right back with a jumping knee to the face. End of Heartache retains the title at 8:28.

Rating: C. So that happened. The Cruiserweight Title has felt worthless for a long time now and in a way I was hoping that Gacy could win it here so they could just drop the thing and move on to something else. I’m not sure if the title is going to get to do anything, but I can’t have my hopes go much lower.

Another Ikemen Jiro video. This time, he’s eating pizza and ice cream. Then his stomach hurts so he runs to the bathroom, where various noises are heard. I would bet at least $14 that this was written for/by Vince McMahon.

Kyle O’Reilly wants Von Wagner in a cage on Tuesday.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. It’s old vs. new for the future of NXT, with Bron Breakker feeling like the breakout star.

Team Black & Gold vs. Team 2.0

Black & Gold: Johnny Gargano, LA Knight, Tommaso Ciampa, Pete Dunne
2.0: Carmelo Hayes, Bron Breakker, Tony D’Angelo, Grayson Waller

In the double cage, five minutes to start and then three minutes each, first fall wins once everyone is inside. Hayes starts with Gargano, who gets to come out to Rebel Heart and gets the big hero’s welcome as he is probably out of here. Gargano also seems to be wearing gear that is a huge mashup of all of his special Takeover trunks and boots for an awesome look. Feeling out process to start with Gargano trying a rather early One Final Beat.

That’s broken up so Gargano hits the slingshot spear to take him down instead. Hayes is sent into the cage over and over again, leaving Hayes down until Waller comes in to get the advantage. The double teaming is on, with Gargano’s nose being busted open somewhere in there. Trick Williams throws in a chair from the floor and hits Waller by mistake, but Gargano survives long enough for Dunne to come in and even things up. Stereo Crossfaces have 2.0 in trouble and Dunne/Gargano kick them in the face at the same time.

Hayes is back up to send Dunne into the other ring but gets knocked out of the air. D’Angelo is in to give the villains the lead again as Williams pulls out a bunch of weapons. It takes so long that Dexter Lumis has enough time to appear underneath the ring and come out to stalk Williams to the back. D’Angelo chains the door shut and the weapons have Black & Gold beaten down even more. LA Knight is in to tie it up but has to climb the cage to avoid the lock.

With that minor inconvenience out of the way, Knight climbs the cage and starts cleaning house with all kinds of weapons. Waller is put into the trashcan and beaten on with various things. Referees grab some boltcutters to get the totally effective chain off the door as the Black & Gold wait for Bron Breakker to get in. Breakker grabs the cutters and finishes breaking the chain (which took a long time), allowing him to come in and clean house. The numbers game take him down until the rest of 2.0 gets back up.

Ciampa finally comes back in and gets to even things up for good. We get the DIY reunion, complete with crutch, and the fans are certainly pleased to see it happen one more time. Gargano and Ciampa get to clean house on Breakker and D’Angelo, at least until Breakker plants Gargano onto Ciampa out of the corner. The beatdown leaves Black & Gold in the middle of the ring but they pull themselves up and charge at 2.0 to set up the big beatdown against the cage. 2.0 is sent through some tables and it’s a Tower of Doom to drop Hayes.

Knight’s bulldog driver gets two with D’Angelo making the save. Ciampa Air Raid Crashes Breakker off the middle rope and onto a trashcan for two and everyone is down again. Knight is laid on a table and Waller hits an elbow off the cage but Dunne make the save this time. Dunne destroys Hayes’ hand with a kendo stick but D’Angelo is up with a crowbar. A crowbar across the throat sets up a super swinging neckbreaker on Dunne for no cover, leaving Ciampa and Breakker to slug it out in the other ring.

Gargano saves Ciampa and there’s One Final Beat to drop Breakker as Ciampa hits Willow’s Bell on Waller. Meet In The Middle drops Breakker for two as Hayes pulls the referee. Hayes hits Gargano low but gets kneed by Ciampa, who is speared through a table by Breakker. The gorilla press powerslam finishes Ciampa at 37:32.

Rating: B-. It was a heck of a fight with some big spots, but like so many NXT WarGames matches, it went on too long and felt like it should have ended at least ten minutes earlier. Breakker winning was the right call and the DIY stuff was great, but ultimately this was a match that needed to be trimmed down. The classic WarGames matches barely broke twenty minutes as they got in their violence and then went to the big finish. This is a bunch of filler until they can do their weapons spots, which makes things feel far longer than they should. Still a positive result, but egads it was long.

Overall Rating: B. NXT is such a mixed bag these days, as you have people working very hard and good matches taking place, but at the same time you have some wrestlers who do not seem to have the brightest future. The show is far from some disaster or even that bad a lot of the time, but it is pretty hard to have been around for the great days of NXT and move on to things like Ikemen Jiro’s stomach issues and Toxic Attraction feeling like a Divas era tribute.

The talent was there and on display here, but what happens when the veterans are all gone because they don’t want to stick around and no one is left to help things? Odds are they’re losing Gargano and O’Reilly soon after this, so what’s left then? The show is still holding it together and as usual, things are better when they focus on wrestling, but the future isn’t exactly looking bright.

Results
Team Raquel Gonzalez b. Team Toxic Attraction – Rollup to Jayne
Imperium b. Kyle O’Reilly/Von Wagner – Imperial Bomb to O’Reilly
Cameron Grimes b. Duke Hudson – Rollup with trunks
Roderick Strong b. Joe Gacy – End of Heartache
Team 2.0 b. Team Black & Gold – Gorilla press powerslam to Ciampa

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

NXT UK
Date: December 2, 2021
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for a big show with the United Kingdom Title on the line as Ilja Dragunov defends against Rampage Brown. Dragunov works well against big powerful bruisers so we should be in for a good one here. Other than that, we have…well probably a bunch of UK wrestlers in a variety of matches. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a video on Brown vs. Dragunov.

Opening sequence.

Women’s Title: Meiko Satomura vs. Xia Brookside

Brookside is challenging after whining her way into a title match (daddy threats were made). Satomura takes her down by the arm to start and a slightly shaken Brookside gets up for a test of strength. A wristlock is broken up with some well timed flipping and spinning so Satomura takes her down by the leg for some cranking. Brookside grabs a headlock takeover but gets reversed into a headscissors.

That’s broken up with a headstand and a bit of dancing so Brookside can hit some knees to the back. You don’t do that to Satomura, who blasts her with a kick to the chest. An armbar sends Brookside straight to the rope and she avoids a running spinwheel kick. Brookside takes her down again for two and the near fall causes a bunch of screaming. Back up and Satomura knocks her hard into the ropes, setting up the Death Valley Driver. Scorpion Rising retains Satomura’s title at 7:58.

Rating: C+. Brookside didn’t feel so much like a threat here as much as she felt like someone who Satomura had to beat into silence. It wasn’t exactly a hard match for Satomura, but it seems that there is more in this whiny daddy’s girl for Brookside. As for Satomura, it’s hard to imagine anyone but Blair Davenport taking the title from her at the moment.

Rohan Raja takes Charlie Dempsey up to the roof, where they call Teoman. Dempsey says he cares about legacy and respect, which he wasn’t seeing from Gallus. Teoman (not heard) approves so welcome to De Familia.

Meiko Satomura is with Emilia McKenzie and says she’s going back to Japan for a few weeks. Blair Davenport comes in to ask who is going to protect McKenzie while Satomura is gone. This doesn’t sit well with McKenzie and a match is set for later.

Saxon Huxley vs. Kenny Williams

Williams throws his coat at Huxley to start and gets elbowed in the face for his efforts. A running crossbody against the ropes has Williams rocked again and a forearm to the back puts him outside. They’re right back in with Huxley choking away and slamming the back of Williams’ head into the mat. Huxley misses a charge though and crashes out to the floor in a heap.

Back in and a top rope crash down onto Huxley’s back gets two so Williams switches to the knee. That earns Williams a heck of a gutwrench toss and something like a chokebreaker, leaving both of them down. A pair of clotheslines set up a gorilla press toss and another backbreaker gives Huxley two. Huxley misses the middle rope elbow though and Williams hits a DDT for his own near fall. Cue the Subculture entrance video though and the distracted Williams gets caught in a fireman’s carry spinebuster to give Huxley the pin at 8:15.

Rating: C. This was the second match between the two and the series is evened up, though I’m not sure where this is going. You could go with Huxley vs. Williams III, but it seems more likely to be about Williams vs. Subculture. Either way, it’s nice to see the rather charismatic Gradwell get a win.

Sha Samuels is running betting odds on the next #1 contender to the Heritage Cup (including names such as Eh? Kid, Tiler Bate, John Coffee, St. Johnny Saint, Doink (The Clown) and Samson Gradwell). Sam Gradwell comes in, doesn’t like that he is last at 4000=1, and offers to beat Samuels next week. He’ll even throw in a ten pound bet at those odds that he can pin Samuels. Deal.

We look at Moustache Mountain becoming the new #1 contenders for the Tag Team Titles.

Pretty Deadly isn’t scared of Moustache Mountain getting a title shot next week. Why should they be worried when they have beaten Moustache Mountain already?

Moustache Mountain talks about the meaning of Moustache Mountain. It’s all about the climb, and now they are ready to reach the peak. Trent Seven makes it clear that he needs to win.

United Kingdom Title: Rampage Brown vs. Ilja Dragunov

Dragunov is defending and the much bigger Brown powers him into the corner to start. Brown misses an elbow though and Dragunov chops away until a shot to the face…just wakes him up. Some heavy forearms stagger Brown and Dragunov grabs a headlock to grind away. Brown powers up again but charges back into a headlock takeover to keep Dragunov in control. Back up and Brown finally sends him outside for a posting to take over for the first time.

It works so well that Brown does it a second time as Dragunov screams a bit. Brown slams him for two back inside and Dragunov’s back is hurt even more as he fails at a slam of his own. A waistlock is broken up so Brown knocks him silly with a headbutt. More shots keep Dragunov in trouble and an Irish whip into the ropes has him dropping down in pain.

Brown tries a powerbomb but Dragunov (very slowly, as it should be) backdrops his way to freedom. Dragunov strikes away so Brown hits him in the face, earning himself an enziguri to send Brown crumpling. He crumples so much that the referee actually calls the match at 8:49, with Dragunov retaining via stoppage.

Rating: B-. I’m never sure what to call a match like this as it was starting to cook before the injury. The referees were kind of inconclusive as Brown’s hand was in the way of the camera, but it looked like the toe of Dragunov’s boot caught Brown in the jaw/side of the head. You could see him going down hard and that’s never good to see. I would assume they had about eight to ten minutes left, as this was the shortest episode in a good while and Dragunov was just starting the comeback. Odds are he was retaining anyway, but a rematch wouldn’t shock me.

Dragunov doesn’t look happy as he celebrates the win. Brown is tended to by the trainer and has to sit down next to the ring instead of walking to the back to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a hard one to grade because they were having a good show that felt big and it was cut off because of an accident rather than their own idea. I can be a lot more forgiving than that and hopefully Brown is ok sooner rather than later. Other than that, this show was big on its own and set up more stuff for the future, which feels so different than what you see in WWE. It furthers my theory that Vince McMahon has forgotten this show exists and that is a great thing for fans.

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NXT
Date: November 30, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett

It’s the go home show for WarGames and that means DOUBLE LADDER MATCHES!!! Yes we’ll be getting the third and fourth ladder matches in WWE in about five weeks, because there is no other way to determine control of WarGames. That stupid coin flip stuff is just too old fashioned you see. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The two women’s teams get in a fight on the way to the ring before the non-participants brawl to the back.

Kay Lee Ray vs. Dakota Kai

Ladder match and Ray rocks her with a superkick to start. They’re on the floor in a hurry with the ladder being pulled out and Kai getting superkicked again. Kai is back with a roll of the dice onto the steps for a breather. Another ladder is pulled out but Ray uses the distraction to cut her off. There’s a big suicide dive to send Kai into the announcers’ table and Ray drops her ribs first onto the ladder.

Back in and Kai sends her into the standing ladder, allowing her to choke away in the corner. Ray knocks her down again and goes up but gets kicked in the face. An Alberto double stomp to the apron rocks Ray again and we take a break. Back with Kai bending Ray’s leg around the rope, only to have Ray escape and KLR Bomb her onto the announcers’ table.

Back in and they climb the ladder with Kai taking Ray down for the big crash. Instead of grabbing the briefcase though, Kai hits another double stomp off the ladder for a scary crash. Ray is right back up and ties Kai in a Tree of Woe in the ladder. A superkick knocks Kai free so Ray can go up and win at 14:08.

Rating: B. These two beat the fire out of each other and it felt like the brutal match it needed to be. It felt like they were fighting for something valuable and it’s great to see Ray getting the chance to shine. Kai was more like her usual self here instead of being a few steps off, meaning the match was better as a result.

We recap Andre Chase and Cameron Grimes getting on each others’ nerves.

The Grizzled Young Veterans try to rob a locker but Ikemen Jiro distracts them. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen come up to scare them off. The fact that WWE thinks the Veterans need some kind of wacky gimmick tells you a lot about where they are at the moment.

Cameron Grimes vs. Andre Chase

Chase goes after him to start but Grimes fights back without much effort. Grimes runs him over, misses something off the top, and hits the Cave In for the fast pin at 2:29.

Post match here is Duke Hudson with FUNNY PHOTOS of the haircuts Grimes could get after WarGames. Grimes goes after Chase to blow off some steam but one of his students makes the save. Grimes promises to shave Hudson.

Edris Enofe talks about making it out of a bad neighborhood and joining the Navy. Now he’s ready to prove himself again.

Team 2.0 is in the ring and don’t care who is going to be facing Johnny Gargano in the other ladder match. They’re all ready to fight but it’s Bron Breakker getting the spot in the ladder match. Breakker is ready but here is Gargano to interrupt. Gargano: “It’s the big bad booty nephew himself!” Gargano doesn’t think much of Breakker having his team out here and challenges him to leave them in the back. Breakker is down and promises pain. It continues to amaze me how out of place Tony D’Angelo feels around here.

Legado del Fantasma is ready to become #1 contenders.

MSK has reached their destination as they have made it to the Shaman’s house. After the GPS insults them, they knock on the door and are greeted by….someone we can’t see.

Legado del Fantasma vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Von Wagner

Wagner throws Mendoza around to start and puts him in the corner for some kicks from O’Reilly. Legado takes over on O’Reilly in the corner but O’Reilly sweeps Mendoza’s leg to get him down. It’s back to Wagner for a waistlock as Xyon Quinn comes out to stare and Elektra Lopez as we take a break.

Back with Wilde chinlocking O’Reilly as Quinn and Lopez have their staredown. Quinn beats up Santos Escobar as O’Reilly fights back up, only to get caught with a springboard flip dive. O’Reilly gets over for the hot tag to Wagner though and it’s time to clean house. Mendoza sends him into the corner and hits a springboard dropkick to put them both down. It’s back to O’Reilly, who is taken down as well, but Wagner gets slapped in the face on the apron. That draws him in to low bridge Wilde outside, leaving Mendoza to get caught with a clothesline/legsweep combination to give Wagner the pin at 12:20.

Rating: C. Well they didn’t make it a triple threat so well done for not going with the likely outcome. Wagner and O’Reilly continue to be that team that NXT seems to want to push no matter what, though I’m not sure I can see them getting the titles. Then again, Wagner turning on O’Reilly after the loss and beating him out of NXT wouldn’t surprise me either.

Imperium is ready but here are Wagner and O’Reilly to yell at them.

Tiffany Stratton is really rich and always has been.

Joe Gacy and Harland are in the ring with three other wrestlers (a smaller guy, a woman and a larger man). From this point forward, the Cruiserweight Title will not be bound by weight limits or gender biases. Gacy is here to prepare for his title shot against Roderick Strong at NXT….Conflict Resolution.

Joe Gacy vs. ???/???/???

Gacy runs the smaller guy over to start and kicks him in the face. A gutwrench powerbomb finishes for Gacy at 1:03. Worry not though as Gacy gives him a hug after the pin. The woman gets to try her luck as this seems to be elimination rules. Cue the Diamond Mine, with Malcolm Bivens offering to let Gacy face Roderick Strong (as I guess the match is a no contest). Gacy wants it to be one on one but Strong jumps him, allowing the larger guy to offer a distraction. That lets Gacy hit his handspring lariat to leave Strong laying. Ten points for anyone who can explain why we’re supposed to cheer for here.

Solo Sikoa is ready for Edris Enofe but Boa interrupts. Sikoa can’t understand him and leaves.

Solo Sikoa vs. Ednis Enofe

Sikoa shoves him around to start and grabs a swinging Rock Bottom for an early one. As Robert Stone is watching in the aisle, Enofe gets in a shot of his own and a standing moonsault gets two. Sikoa kicks him down and drops a backsplash for two, setting up a Superfly Splash for the pin at 4:18.

Rating: D+. It wasn’t a squash, but neither exactly seemed ready to lead things. This was a match between two young guys without much experience on this level and they need ring time. Normally that would be on some much smaller shows to get out there and see what works and what doesn’t, but that’s not the NXT way these days.

Post match Boa comes in and goes after Sikoa, who clears the ring.

Indi Hartwell gets a phone call and is told that Dexter Lumis has disappeared from the hospital. Why someone who appears to be Mei Ying is sleeping on a couch in the background isn’t clear.

Xyon Quinn isn’t worried about Santos Escobar. Elektra Lopez comes up and rubs her handover him, telling him good luck against Escobar next week.

Indi Hartwell/Persia Pirrota vs. Valentina Feroz/Yulisa Leon

Hartwell is all shaken up because of Dexter Lumis disappearing so Feroz and Leon double team her in a hurry. Pirrota tags herself in and wrecks both of them though, setting up a fireman’s carry spun into an X Factor for the pin at 1:49.

WarGames rundown.

We get a vignette from Draco Anthony, who says he’s what NXT needs. His actions speak louder than his words.

Bron Breakker vs. Johnny Gargano

Ladder match. Gargano grabs a headlock to start, earning himself a delayed vertical suplex. Breakker is sent outside for a slingshot dive but it’s too early to get the ladder. Breakker runs Gargano over and brings the ladder inside, only to have Gargano come back with the slingshot spear. The ladder is shoved into Breakker’s face and a dive sends him over the announcers’ table as we take a break.

Back with Breakker knocking him off the ladder but Gargano shoves the ladder over for the save. Breakker is back up to run the ladder over with a flying shoulder, followed by the overhead belly to belly to send Gargano flying. Another belly to belly has Gargano bouncing off of the ladder but he avoids the Breakker Bulldog. Gargano sends him face first into the ladder on the corner but Breakker picks up the ladder.

That earns him a few superkicks and Breakker is down in a heap. Gargano heads up so Breakker is right there to catch him with a super Frankensteiner. Breakker goes up but Gargano is there to meet him, including a briefcase shot to the head. That’s too early though as Breakker pulls him down and into the powerslam. Breakker goes up and grabs the briefcase for the win at 14:11.

Rating: B. Best ladder match I’ve seen in about an hour and a half. Breakker was his usual freak of nature self here as there is something to be said about someone who is just picking people up and moving them around because he can. Gargano did a lot of the work here, as he should have, and they had a good match as a result.

Post match, everyone in the men’s match runs in and the big brawl is on.

Overall Rating: B-. The two ladder matches were more than enough to make this a good show, though there were some problems in the middle. Above all else, this show continues to throw WAY too much at you in a single night with all kinds of characters being introduced. When you add in how few of them seem ready for this level, it can get even worse. The good thing is the top level stuff has gotten better and that’s enough to carry things.

Results
Kay Lee Ray b. Dakota Kai – Ray pulled down the briefcase
Cameron Grimes b. Andre Chase – Cave In
Von Wagner/Kyle O’Reilly b. Legado del Fantasma – Clothesline/legsweep combination to Mendoza
Joe Gacy vs. ???/???/??? went to a no contest when Diamond Mine interfered
Solo Sikoa b. Ednis Enofe – Superfly Splash
Indi Hartwell/Persia Pirrota b. Valentina Feroz/Yulisa Leon – Fireman’s carry faceplant to Feroz
Bron Breakker b. Johnny Gargano – Breakker pulled down the briefcase

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NXT UK
Date: November 25, 2021
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd

Things might be picking up a bit this week as we have another title match. This time around, the Heritage Cup is on the line as Sam Gradwell is challenging new champion Noam Dar. Other than that, we are well on our way to next week’s NXT UK Title match between Ilja Dragunov and Rampage Brown. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Jordan Devlin vs. Mark Andrews

In the back, Flash Morgan Webster tells Andrews to not worry about the missing Dani Luna. Devlin takes him down to start and slaps the back of Andrews’ head for a bit. That’s enough to send Andrews into a frenzy and a bunch of strikes to the face put Devlin down for a change. A hurricanrana gets two on Devlin but he’s right back with a slingshot hilo. Devlin kicks him in the back of the head and stomps away at the back, setting up a backbreaker. A hard clothesline gets two and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Andrews’ back. Andrews fights up and hits a tornado DDT, setting up an enziguri.

Back up and Devlin tries a jumping hurricanrana but gets caught in a sitout powerbomb for two. Devlin gets sent to the apron but slingshots right back in with a cutter for two of his own. Andrews is sat on top but reverses into a super poisonrana, setting up a Code Red for his own near fall. Devlin is sent outside so Andrews can hit a dive for the big crash. They head back inside where Devlin gets in a shot to the face, setting up the Devlin Side for the fast pin at 9:47.

Rating: B-. These are two of the better young stars around here and it is often a good idea to let them have some time to show off a bit. I still think Devlin could be a big star around here but he seems to be stuck around the same spot. Andrews is someone who seems like he is going to be around the same level for good as well, but he has been upgrading it a bit in recent weeks.

Andrews seems a bit banged up.

We look at Charlie Dempsey joining Teoman and Rohan Raja to beat down Gallus last week.

In two weeks: Moustache Mountain vs. Pretty Deadly.

We look back at Noam Dar and Sha Samuels annoying Sam Gradwell.

This week: Noam Dar and Sha Samuels annoyed Sam Gradwell again, this time with a loud party.

Sam Gradwell and Noam Dar/Sha Samuels yell at each other. Johnny Saint actually appears to make the Heritage Cup Title match for tonight’s main event.

Isla Dawn vs. Aleah James

Dawn goes after the arm to start (as a witch tends to do) but Aleah spins around to grab a headlock. James’ throat is snapped across the top rope though and a running kick to the chest gets two. A legsweep takes James down and we hit the cobra clutch. That’s broken up and James grabs a small package for two, which just seems to annoy Dawn. Instead, it’s a fireman’s carry spun into a side slam to give Dawn the pin at 4:19.

Rating: C. Dawn’s fairly slow rise continues as she claims another victim. It took a long time to go anywhere with the witch stuff and her collection deal works well. James is certainly someone I could see then turning into a longer term project as she is showing a good deal of potential.

Post match, Dawn opens her box and returns James’ hair ribbon.

Xia Brookside complains to Sid Scala about her lack of title shot, despite HER DADDY intervening. Scala makes the match for next week, which doesn’t please her either because that’s not enough time to prepare. It’s either then or never, so Brookside begrudgingly accepts.

Moustache Mountain is ready for Pretty Deadly.

Pretty Deadly is ready for Moustache Mountain.

Dani Luna vs. Angel Hayze

Hold on though as here is Jinny to say there is no Dani Luna, who will be gone for a long time. Her business relationship with Joseph Conners is OVER, but she is ready to restart her winning streak.

Jinny vs. Angel Hayze

Jinny drives knees into the ribs to start and hits Hayze in the face for daring to fight back. The chinlock goes on but Hayze fights back up with some strikes of her own. A clothesline cuts Hayze down again and the Makeover gives Jinny the pin at 2:39. Total squash.

Nina Samuels interrupts Meiko Satomura’s training to ask if she’s ready for next week’s title match. Satomura is not amused.

Noam Dar and Sha Samuels cover up the names of the other winners on the Heritage Cup.

Video on Ilja Dragunov vs. Rampage Brown for the United Kingdom Title, with the match coming in two weeks.

Kenny Williams mocks Subculture for being hurt again.

Heritage Cup: Noam Dar vs. Sam Gradwell

Dar, with Sha Samuels, is defending. Round one begins with Dar taking a shot from Samuels’ hip flask and then grabbing a headlock. A pull of hair lets Dar stay in control but Gradwell is back up with a shot to the face. Gradwell grabs him by the ear and hits him in the face, setting up a Samoan driver for the pin and the first round at 2:42.

Round two begins with Samuels carrying Dar to the floor for the bell, but the goldbricking Dar grabs a small package for two. Gradwell isn’t having that and hits a clothesline into a backdrop, with Dar heading outside out of desperation. Dar manages to send him into the apron though, setting up a spinning elbow to the face back inside. The Nova Roller ties it up at 1:35 of the round and 4:53 total.

Round three begins with Dar knocking him down again and working on the arm while kneeing him in the ribs. Gradwell manages to get in a hard knee but Dar pulls him down into a kneebar. A lot of screaming ensues until the round ends to save Gradwell, who was in a lot of trouble.

Round four begins with Dar jumping the injured Gradwell in the corner. Samuels gets in a cheap shot as well and Dar’s running forearm to the back of the head gets two. Gradwell kneels him in the ribs but Dar kicks the leg out again. Another Samuels distraction doesn’t work so Gradwell rolls him up for two, earning himself another kick to the head. The kneebar makes Gradwell tap to retain Dar’s title at 2:54 of the round and 11:55.

Rating: B-. This was a well put together match with Gradwell being the crazed monster who got picked apart by a mixture of Dar and Samuels. Dar is a good choice for the cocky champion that everyone knows they should be able to beat but just can’t pull it off. The match felt like a main event and it was a good way to get Dar’s first title defense down.

Overall Rating: B-. More good stuff from NXT UK as they feel so together with everything they do. Nothing comes off like it is being made on the fly and you get solid action thrown in. The main event and the opener were both rather nice TV matches and Dawn gets to change things a bit. They’ve got some matches set up for the upcoming weeks as well so it’s hard to complain about much here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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NXT
Date: November 23, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

It’s title time as we have a pretty big main event with North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defending against Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne. NXT has a good history of setting up these title matches and then making them work, so hopefully they remember how to make it work. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with Grayson Waller in the ring, talking about how great of an NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa really is. Waller goes on about the fans booing everyone, including John Cena and Roman Reigns, but those two are at the top of the game. It’s like people with 80,000 tweets and 3 followers don’t matter! Cue Ciampa to cut Waller off and we’re ready to go.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Grayson Waller

Non-title. Ciampa isn’t having this and stomps away in the corner. A running knee puts Waller on the floor but he comes back in with a jumping neckbreaker. Now it’s Waller stomping away in the corner until Ciampa is back up with a boot out of the corner. Waller grabs a spinebuster into a modified People’s Elbow, which only hits mat. A clothesline puts Waller on the floor and there’s the throw over the announcers’ table so Ciampa can applaud himself.

We take a break and come back with Ciampa kneeing Waller out of the air, followed by a DDT for two. Waller grabs a spinebuster for two but Ciampa catches him on top. A super Air Raid Crash gets two but Waller catches him with a spinebuster for two. Ciampa is sent outside for the big flip dive but he catches Waller with the Willow’s Bell on the way back in. The Fairy Tale Ending finishes Waller at 13:37.

Rating: C+. This was a good showing from both guys and Ciampa still feels like he’s a few miles ahead of just about everyone else in NXT. He comes off as polished and knowing what he’s doing, while so many others seem to be figuring it out as they go. Speaking of figuring it out, it would be nice if NXT could figure out what Waller is supposed to be and stick with it for more than two weeks at a time.

LA Knight doesn’t think much of Grayson Waller, because the fans were chanting WALLER SUCKS. That’s not an insult, but just a fact of life. Joe Gacy comes in to talk about how bad that is so they agree to meet in the safe space. Knight: “You make it sound like such a perverted thing, you freak.” The match is on for later.

We recap last week’s poker showdown.

Toxic Attraction isn’t looking forward to having to face Cora Jade. Dakota Kai comes up next to them and seems to be a bit crazy. Mandy Rose: “At least she’s on our team.” They find a bunch of destroyed stuff but keep walking, with Kai breaking another glass. Kay Lee Ray pops up with a baseball bat, apparently having smashed everything.

Here is a depressed Cameron Grimes, still with the shorter hair. Grimes talks about growing up in a very small town in North Carolina. Every day, he would have people push him down and tell him he wasn’t good enough. Grimes kept fighting and coming up because he would never quit and now he has made it. The entire time, he kept his hair and beard to remind himself of what he went through. Duke Hudson took all of that away last week and embarrassed him.

Hudson messed up though because he made Grimes angry. He wants Hudson down here right now because the talking is done. Hudson, in a barber’s chair, pops up on screen to ask why Grimes should be mad at him. Last week, Grimes took a lot of money from him and got a free haircut. All Hudson is trying to do is make Grimes a decent human being, so Grimes says come down here and let’s finish this. That’s not happening, so Grimes makes a better offer: let’s go all in, with hair vs. hair at WarGames. Hudson is in, and holds up Grimes’ hair in a bag.

This was a wrestling promo and a classic wrestling setup. Ignoring the poker nonsense, this was someone who has been wronged giving a serious speech about wanting revenge and setting up a big match with some high stakes. That’s how this stuff can work and this was good stuff.

Pete Dunne is ready to win the North American Title tonight.

Indi Hartwell says Dexter Lumis has a broken hand and is out for a month. He can’t even draw, but she’s still ready to have her tag match tonight. This one is for Dexter, but Persia Pirotta pulls her to the ring.

Tiffany Stratton, a rich blonde girl who plays tennis, is coming. I saw her on 205 Live and that’s not a great thing.

Persia Pirotta/Indi Hartwell vs. Kayden Carter/Kacy Catanzaro

Carter and Catanzaro come through the crowd for their energized entrance. Persia shrugs Carter off to start and hands it off to Hartwell, who seems a little distracted. Hartwell shoves her way out of the corner but gets taken down by Carter in a hurry. Catanzaro comes in off a blind tag and is suplexed into a moonsault for two on Hartwell.

It’s back to Pirotta to drop Catanzaro face first on the top, setting up a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Hartwell stops to look at her ring finger before hitting Carter with a side slam. That means another look at the ring finger, allowing Carter to grab a crucifix for two of her own. Carter splashes the distracted Hartwell for the fast pin at 3:35.

Rating: C. Hartwell being distracted because of Dexter is a way to go for her, as the team with Pirotta seems ready to split. To be fair, they have been a team for all of a few months now and that is a long shelf life around here. Carter and Catanzaro seem primed for a Women’s Tag Team Title match and that should be a good thing whenever we get there.

Andre Chase gives his students a tour of Chase University facilities when they run into Cameron Grimes. Chase calls him a teachable moment and Grimes doesn’t seem pleased.

Malik Blade vs. Santos Escobar

Escobar takes him to the mat to start but Blade slips out of a suplex. Blade grabs a sunset flip for two, earning himself a forearm to the face. Back up and Escobar sends him into the corner, setting up the Phantom Driver for the pin at 2:27.

Post match Legado del Fantasma gets in the ring, where Elektra Lopez says Xyon Quinn turned them down. They never needed him anyway, but here are Von Wagner and Kyle O’Reilly to interrupt. They’re here for the same reason: they want the Tag Team Titles (which Legado never mentioned) and Wagner’s foot was on the rope in their match. Imperium pops up to shout about how the little children are fighting among themselves. Imperium announces a #1 contenders match and the winners can get a shot at WarGames.

Raquel Gonzalez barges into the women’s locker room and nearly gets in a fight. Cora Jade tells them to get it together for WarGames, but they need a fourth to go along with Io Shirai. They can figure that out while she goes to fight Mandy Rose.

Tony D’Angelo’s money is on Carmelo Hayes tonight and suggests putting some bets on the match.

Mandy Rose vs. Cora Jade

Non-title. They fight over a lockup to start with Jade grabbing a quick rollup for two. A running knee in the corner is countered into a spinebuster to give Rose her own two though and she plants Jade again for a bonus. Back up and Jade snaps off a running hurricanrana for two, only to miss a middle rope dropkick. Cue Kay Lee Ray with her baseball bat, which is smashed into a variety of things. The distraction lets Jade grab a rollup for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: D+. As soon as Rose told Toxic Attraction to stay in the back and this was non-title, Rose was in big trouble. Those are some nearly guaranteed signs that the champ is in trouble, though what might be a bigger problem is how obvious those signs were. Work on those things a bit, because it makes your booking pretty easy to guess.

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams are ready for the triple threat. Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne are chasing him and he won’t miss.

Joe Gacy is ready to make the ring a safe space. Harland puts his hand on Gacy’s shoulder.

Kay Lee Ray comes up to Cora Jade, Raquel Gonzalez and Io Shirai. Ray will be their fourth member at WarGames, and she’ll be in the advantage ladder match next week too. It has been a full month since a ladder match so at least they’re not wasting any more time.

Joe Gacy vs. LA Knight

Cue Grayson Waller to jump Knight from behind and they fight to the back. No match.

Gacy talks about anger management but here is the Diamond Mine to interrupt. That sends Gacy into a rant about weight shaming with the Cruiserweight Title but Roderick Strong says he’ll face Gacy anyway. Malcolm Bivens says the match will be made, but here is Harland to scare Diamond Mine off. Well at least….actually no, as I can’t think of anything positive in this segment.

MSK continues on their quest but get pulled over for driving seven miles an hour. They’re worried about the contents of their bag but are allowed to go.

Ivy Nile vs. Yulisa Leon

Nile takes her down and does pushups on Leon’s back. Leon fights up and works on the arm but Nile is back with a heck of a clothesline. A triangle choke is eventually broken up so Leon tries a rollup, only to get reversed into a dragon sleeper for the tap at 2:44.

Solo Sikoa talks about everything he has done to get here and he has done it on his own.

The Grizzled Young Veterans are planning something but get broken up by an LA Knight/Grayson Waller brawl.

Boa can’t control his evil but once he does, you will fear him.

Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

Drake gets sent throat first into the middle rope for a pair of right hands to start. There’s a big left hand to put him down again but Zack Gibson asks for some time before a right hand. A blind tag brings in Gibson to jump Jensen from behind and we hit the chinlock. We cut to LA Knight and Grayson Waller STILL fighting in the back as Gibson cuts off Jensen’s tag attempt.

That lasts all of a few seconds as it’s off to Briggs to clean house in a hurry. Drake gets backdropped and claims a knee injury but Briggs has to go after Gibson. Drake’s knee is fine enough to try a kick to the ribs, which is easily caught. Briggs and Jensen go high/low to finish Drake at 4:26.

Rating: C. Briggs and Jensen get to pick up a win and that’s a good thing for them. They have the potential to be a nice tag team but you’re only going to get so far without ever beating anyone. Granted you could say the same thing about the Veterans and in a much bigger way, but the solution for them is to be goofy con artists for some reason.

WarGames rundown.

North American Title: Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne vs. Carmelo Hayes

Hayes is defending. Dunne gets dropkicked to the floor start, leaving Gargano to dropkicks Hayes. Back in and Dunne runs Hayes over, with Gargano taking Dunne’s place. Everyone is back inside so Dunne can half crab them both. That’s broken up as well so Hayes springboard body blocks Dunne for two before hammering on Gargano. Johnny fights out of the corner and this a bulldog/running clothesline combination to take both of them down. Gargano hits a dive each onto Dunne and Hayes, setting up a running hurricane to Dunne.

We take a break and come back with a circle slugout until Hayes gets knocked into the corner. Hayes gets the better of things and sends Gargano to the apron, where scores with the slingshot spear. The Patter End is countered into a DDT for two on Dunne. Stereo kicks to the head rock Hayes but he’s back up to suplex Dunne onto Gargano. Back up and Gargano runs both of them over, setting up the Lawn Dart to Hayes. Dunne comes back in and hits the Bitter End, but here Tony D’Angelo to break up the cover. D’Angelo sends Dunne into the steps and the top rope ax kick gives Hayes the retaining pin at 11:23.

Rating: B-. They had me wondering who was leaving with the title here and Hayes continues to look like a star, so they’re certainly doing something well. Hayes is one of the brighter young stars around and the other two have been made men for a longtime. I liked the match and the ending probably sets up something for WarGames, so they took care of a few things at once.

Post match the big beatdown is on with LA Knight and Grayson Waller joining in. The villains get the better of things and Gargano’s hand is loaded up for the Pillmanization. Cue Tommaso Ciampa with the chair to break everything up. The fans want the DIY reunion and the fans chant for WarGames….but here is Bron Breakker to join the villains. Breakker: “WARGAMES!!!” The brawl is on again as the sirens go off to end the show. I’m really not sure if this should be a WarGames match, but the more appropriate Survivor Series has already passed so this is as good as we’re getting.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling wasn’t great here, but this felt like a show where they had a plan and were starting to execute it. A lot of the random, throwing stuff at the wall feeling was gone and a lot of that probably has to do with having a shot to build towards. This was a glimmer of hope and if NXT is more like this going forward, they have a chance. There is still a lot of fine tuning to go, but at least they got it a lot closer to right this week.

Results
Tommaso Ciampa b. Grayson Waller – Fairy Tale Ending
Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter b. Indi Hartwell/Persia Pirotta – Splash to Hartwell
Santos Escobar b. Malik Blade – Phantom Driver
Cora Jade b. Mandy Rose – Rollup
Ivy Nile b. Yulisa Leon – Dragon sleeper
Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen b. Grizzled Young Veterans – High/Low to Drake
Carmelo Hayes b. Pete Dunne and Johnny Gargano – Top rope ax kick to Dunne

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NXT UK
Date: November 18, 2021
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd

We’re back in England and on the way to a bunch of big TV matches since there has not been any mention of a Takeover in forever around here. The big story at the moment is the upcoming Rampage Brown vs. Ilja Dragunov United Kingdom Title match, which is coming at some point in the future. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

A-Kid vs. Sam Gradwell

They go with the grappling to start with A-Kid taking him down with the headlock takeover. That’s reversed into an armbar but A-Kid flips out and grabs a cravate. Gradwell can’t flip his way out so he goes with a knee brace to the eyes to escape instead. We’re off to a face pull on A-Kid, followed by a heck of a running elbow to the face. There’s an overhead belly to belly for two and Gradwell is getting cocky. The Boston crab goes on but A-Kid slips out and kicks him in the head.

A high crossbody gets two on Gradwell and it’s a double knockdown for a breather. Back up and Gradwell gets pulled down into an omoplata, which is muscled up into a suplex for another break. One heck of a discus forearm puts A-Kid on the floor and a suplex sends him flying again. That’s good for nine so Gradwell hits him in the face for two more. The frustrated Gradwell hits him in the face but A-Kid pulls him into a cross armbreaker for the tap at 10:43.

Rating: B-. The more I watch A-Kid, the more impressed I am. He’s one of those guys who can make anything look smooth and that is always fun to watch. Change his name to something that sounds a bit more impressive and they’ve got something. Gradwell is someone who has all kinds of charisma and somehow stays popular despite not winning much of anything. I could go with the latter changing, but that doesn’t seem likely.

Gradwell looks frustrated and A-Kid looks impressed.

We look back at Rampage Brown wrecking Flash Morgan Webster last week. Webster is on the shelf with a shoulder injury and it’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action.

Ilja Dragunov is ready for his title match with Rampage Brown. Yes Brown is a monster, but Dragunov embraces the pain. Legends are written about the people who make the monsters fall, so long live the Czar. The title match is in two weeks.

Aleah James vs. Nina Samuels

Samuels pats her on the head to start and gets headlocked for her condescending efforts. They trade wristlocks until James snaps off a hurricanrana. Samuels runs her over though and stands on James’ hair, which is not exactly that nice. Three straight backbreakers keep James in trouble and Samuels cranks on the leg so hard that James kicks herself in the back of the head. That’s enough to make James fight back up with some clotheslines and a dropkick but Samuels plants her with a reverse suplex. Back up and James grabs a quick small package for the surprise pin at 4:53.

Rating: C-. James is someone who could be brought up through the women’s division in a hurry and it seems that might be what is on WWE’s minds at the moment. Samuels continues to be one of the established stars who doesn’t actually go anywhere, but who still has enough status that beating her means something. It’s not a great match, but it could moves James forward and that’s what matters.

Sam Gradwell is mad but Noam Dar and Sha Samuels interrupt with their Heritage Cup victory celebration.

Aleah James is very happy with her win but Isla Dawn attacks her and steals something from her gear.

Saxon Huxley vs. Kenny Williams

Huxley throws him around to start so Williams grabs a less than successful headlock. That earns Williams a grab by the throat and some rams into the mat but Williams gets smart by going after the leg. Williams ties the leg in the rope for a running kick before cranking on both arms at once. Back up and Huxley sends him into the corner, setting up a running big boot to the face. A running crossbody against the ropes rocks Williams again so he crawls under the ring and slides back out to post Huxley from behind. Back in and Bad Luck finishes Huxley at 5:53.

Rating: C-. Another not so great match with the rather charismatic Huxley losing to Williams, who is quite the villain. That being said, Williams is currently going by the name The Cockroach and I’m not sure how much of a future that leaves him. He has done well on his own though so maybe he can keep moving forward well enough.

Xia Brookside doesn’t like being told that she is late for training but she has a note from her dad.

Mark Andrews is happy with his win over someone as great as Nathan Frazer. Jordan Devlin comes in and tells him to start acting like more of an ace.

Teoman/Rohan Raja vs. Gallus

Joe Coffey is here with Gallus. Wolfgang throws Raja into the corner to start and it’s Mark coming in for an armdrag into an armbar. A shot to the face allows the tag off to Teoman, who gets armdragged as well. Gallus cleans house with monkey flips to the floor but Teoman ties Mark up in the apron to hammer away.

The villains take over and start the alternating stomps, including a variety to the shoulder. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Teoman runs Mark over for two instead. There’s a kick to the arm to keep Mark down and Wolfgang gets knocked off the apron. Mark doesn’t seem to mind though as he ax handles Teoman down and brings Wolfgang back in to clean house.

Everything breaks down and an enziguri into a Backstabber gets two on Wolfgang. An assisted DDT gets the same but Wolfgang hits a double clothesline. The assisted powerslam is loaded up but here is Charlie Dempsey of all people to jump Joe Coffey. The distraction lets Raja hit a jumping Downward Spiral to finish Wolfgang at 9:31.

Rating: C+. There’s something about Teoman that gets my attention and I like the option of having Dempsey join in. Raja might not exactly be a star but he is a good enough choice for a third wheel. Gallus is going to be fine as they are long since established as stars, so it isn’t like this is some big devastating loss. The Dempsey stuff has my attention though and that’s a good sign for Teoman/Raja.

Post match Dempsey, Teoman and Raja lay waste to Gallus to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. You can kind of tell when the tapings are wrapping up as there isn’t much left to go with on this show. The main event angle was good, but it’s all about waiting for the big stuff to come in the future weeks. I’m looking forward to some of these things, but they need a fresh taping to breathe a bit more life into the show after this one. The good thing is that I fully believe that NXT UK can pull that off, which is very nice to see after so many other shows have no such luck.

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NXT
Date: November 16, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

We’re back to whatever NXT has become but this time it’s all about WarGames. Somehow NXT thinks they have a matchup that will work there, though I’m almost scared to know who is going to be included. Maybe we find that out tonight, plus get what should be an obvious setup for Breakker vs. Ciampa II. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Tony D’Angelo vs. Dexter Lumis

Fallout from D’Angelo suggesting Lumis was about to get whacked. Lumis has a drawing for D’Angelo, showing him asleep in a school of fish. D’Angelo bails away to start and gets caught with a Thesz press. Back up and D’Angelo gets in a few shots of his own to take over and we hit the chinlock. Lumis fights up again but D’Angelo snaps his throat across the top. With Lumis staggered, D’Angelo grabs the easel the drawing is sitting on, which is quickly taken away. That’s all D’Angelo needs as he pokes Lumis in the eye behind the referee’s back. The fisherman’s neckbreaker finishes Lumis at 3:05.

Rating: D+. I’m trying to get into D’Angelo but he’s so straight out of central casting that it’s almost impossible. He feels completely out of place around here and it’s a really jarring thing to see. Having him pin Lumis is a way to go, but egads I’m really not sure how much of a future there is in someone doing the corniest mobster deal imaginable.

Post match here are Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes to go after Lumis. They throw in a Pillmanizing to the hand, with Johnny Gargano getting in for the save a moment too late.

Post break, Gargano says we don’t need to see any replays. He wants Hayes out here right now but gets Pete Dunne instead. Before that can go anywhere, here are Hayes and Williams in the balcony to interrupt. Williams talks trash about Gargano but Dunne wants to know who these people are. Dunne says he’s the same age as Hayes with ten years more experience, plus with a win over him. Hayes doesn’t like this so let’s make it a triple threat match for the title next week. Hayes loads up the Melo Don’t Miss catchphrase but gets cut off by telling him how much he does miss. Gargano says you don’t want to miss the title match.

The Diamond Mine is warming up when Joe Gacy comes in. He likes the idea of a leader and seems to be interested in joining. Malcolm Bivens says the tryout is in a few weeks and that’s going to be 837 dollars. Gacy does at least get a business card.

LA Knight talks about how he has all kinds of things but he’s still the same person without them. He was ready for the NXT Title but then Grayson Waller came in to get in his way. Waller can talk all he wants, but there is one superstar around here and it isn’t him.

Diamond Mine vs. Odyssey Jones/Jacket Time

Strong and Kushida start things off, with Strong hitting Jones in the face on the apron. That’s enough to bring Jones in but it’s off to Julius Creed, who jumps on his back. Jones breaks that up so Brutus comes in and gets flipped over for his efforts. Jiro comes in to start on the arm but it’s off to Strong, who gets to face Kushida

The basement dropkick rocks Strong and Kushida takes out the Brothers for a bonus. A cheap shot from Strong takes Kushida down though and we take a break. Back with Julius working over Jiro and handing it off to Brutus to hammer away. That’s broken up and it’s back to Jones, who gets Olympic Slammed to give Strong two. Everything breaks down and Jones splashes Strong for the pin at 8:39.

Rating: C. I’m still not sure what the point is in having Jones feud with Strong, but at least it is something for both of them to do. Bringing Jacket Time (because their name really is Jacket time) is a good thing, but you’re only going to get so far with these three against a pushed team like the Diamond Mine. The match was fine though, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

The Grizzled Young Veterans have stolen the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles but call Gibson’s grandmother to brag. She’s proud of their win, which should be enough to get him the lion’s share of the inheritance. They even have a board labeled Nana Con. I have no idea why the team needs a gimmick like this, but I don’t get a lot of this NXT.

MSK get to the airport but get caught with, ahem, supplies. Then they take separate flights to meet the Shaman, whoever that is. They get wherever they’re going and are off to find him.

Xyon Quinn vs. Andre Chase

Chase takes him down to start and grabs a running neckbreaker for two. The chinlock goes on but Quinn powers up and throws Chase down with ease. The Jackhammer finishes Chase in a hurry at 3:08.

Rating: D+. This was what it should have been as there was no reason to have Chase be a threat to a monster like Quinn. They have something with Quinn and having him dispatch Chase (with an upgraded finisher) is a good sign for what he’s doing. Now just get Quinn something more serious to do and see what you have with him.

Post match Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde jump Quinn from behind. Quinn fights them off but Santos Escobar comes in to jump him from behind. Cue Elektra Lopez to say no one say no to Elektra Lopez (But didn’t she just say it?). Quinn gets planted on the ramp.

Raquel Gonzalez talks about how much she loved being champion but one shovel to the back took all of that away. Now she has to look at Mandy Rose holding her title, but tonight she’s burying Dakota Kai with that shovel.

It’s time for the Poker Showdown between Duke Hudson and Cameron Grimes. We actually go over the rules for the game and Hudson talks about how luck is for losers. Grimes says he played Hudson and now it’s time for poker. They play out the hand, with the pot getting to nearly $20,000. Hudson requests that the fans be quiet before calling.

The final card is dealt and Grimes goes all in, with Hudson being scared despite having the best hand. Hudson loses it and thinks that Grimes has him beat and folds, with Hudson grabbing the cards to find out he was bluffed (you don’t do that in poker). Grimes thinks it’s hilarious and gets kicked in the head, setting up a powerbomb through the table. Hudson grabs some scissors and cuts Grimes’ beard and hair. This was long but the ending was a step forward for the story.

Kyle O’Reilly doesn’t seem happy with Von Wagner appearing on Smackdown but they’re cool for tonight.

Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Von Wagner

O’Reilly ducks Jensen’s clothesline and kicks away before grabbing a headlock. Briggs tags himself in though and it’s a double shoulder to take him down. We see Imperium watching in the back as O’Reilly gets over for the tag to Wagner. That means the power standoff with Briggs, who can’t shoulder Wagner down. Wagner powers him into the corner so O’Reilly can come back in for the kicks. That earns him a bearhug but O’Reilly slips out, allowing the tag back to Wagner. Everything breaks down and O’Reilly takes Briggs down on the floor. That leaves Wagner to hit a double underhook swinging slam on Jensen for the pin at 4:58.

Rating: C. I was really hoping that O’Reilly and Wagner could be done but NXT sees something in them. I’m not sure what that is, but it seems to be continuing. Jensen and Briggs continue to be the easiest team in the world to set up, yet they have almost no success at all. Is Wagner really that great of a prospect?

Imperium is impressed, but not that impressed.

Indi Hartwell is worried about Dexter Lumis’ hand. Persia Pirotta will wrestle on her own, but she doesn’t seem happy.

It’s time for Lashing Out with Lash Legend (dang it I hoped they had dropped this stupid thing) and this week she doesn’t like Kay Lee Ray. Grayson Waller pops up to be the guest and talks about all of the veterans who have made it this far. Then Waller was a success on reality TV and made a video to get on here. The business has changed because it’s no longer about how many stars you get but how many followers. Lash: “The tea has just been spilled!” This continues to be the dumbest thing on a show full of dumb things.

Persia Pirotta vs. Gabby Stephens/Jenna Levy

Persia cleans house to start as Robert Stone is in the aisle. The jobbers are cleaned out and Pirotta puts them both on her shoulders for a double Samoan drop. A sitout F5 finishes Leavy at 1:49. Total domination.

Stone is impressed.

Dakota Kai seems a bit off but says she needs to purge Raquel Gonzalez. Toxic Attraction pops up to scare her off but here are the Grizzled Young Veterans to give them their titles back.

Tommaso Ciampa is ready to face anyone….and he’ll just address them in the ring.

Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro went to a music festival and danced a lot. They want to bring the party to everyone. More vignettes like this, just to give us an idea of who these people are, even if they’ve been around.

Here is Tommaso Ciampa for a chat. He doesn’t like a lot of these new people, including Grayson Waller mocking old wrestlers working the indies for a hot dog and a handshake. Cue Bron Breakker to cut him off to say Ciampa must be upset over these new talents popping up. Ciampa reminds him of the loss at Halloween Havoc and we even see a clip. Ciampa says Breakker has less than a 33 1/3% chance of taking the title, because he is just a puppy instead of the champ.

Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai

Before the match, Gonzalez points to Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Tamyra Mensah-Stock in the front row. The beating continues in the corner, with Kai smiling while Gonzalez unloads on her. An over the shoulder backbreaker makes it worse until Gonzalez sends her outside. This time Kai gets in a shot of her own and we take a break.

Back with Kai hitting a running boot against the ropes for two. Kai goes up and shoves Gonzalez off for daring to try a superplex. Another kick to the head keeps Gonzalez in trouble but she fights back, albeit with a bottom turnbuckle being pulled off. A Vader Bomb gives Gonzalez two but Kai breaks up the Chingona Bomb.

Instead, Gonzalez grabs a stretch muffler and spins Kai around for a crash. Kai is able to send her face first into the exposed buckle though and now it’s time for the shovel from Halloween Havoc. Gonzalez takes it away without too much effort…and here is Toxic Attraction to jump Gonzalez for the DQ at 11:45.

Rating: C+. This was pretty easily the best match on the show and I think you know where the ending is taking us. How Gonzalez isn’t on the main roster yet is beyond me, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see WarGames as her big NXT finale. Kai’s new character is certainly weird and I’m not quite sure what they’re doing with her. This was pretty good action for a bit though and that’s better than most of this show.

Post match the beatdown is on but Cora Jade makes the save with her skateboard. Mandy Rose cuts that off though and Jade gets beaten down. Cue Zoey Stark, with her leg in a cast, but Io Shirai runs out and grabs the crutch to clear the ring. The big brawl continues as fans chant for WARGAMES as Gonzalez and company clear the ring. Shirai issues the WarGames challenge to end the show, because Toxic Attraction needs to be in ANOTHER dangerous match.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling a lot of this show and that shouldn’t be a surprise. They have certainly settled down, but nothing feels overly big and Toxic Attraction does not feel like they belong in a WarGames match. This show is a bad mixture of goofy and people who aren’t ready yet. That works fine on local TV where you can get away with more, but at two hours a week on the same channel as Raw, it makes for a downright bizarre experience.

Results
Tony D’Angelo b. Dexter Lumis – Fisherman’s neckbreaker
Odyssey Jones/Jacket Time b. Diamond Mine – Splash to Strong
Xyon Quinn b. Andre Chase – Jackhammer
Kyle O’Reilly/Von Wagner b. Brooks Jensen/Josh Briggs – Double underhook swinging slam to Jensen
Persia Pirotta b. Gabby Stephens/Jenna Levy – Sitout F5 to Leavy
Raquel Gonzalez b. Dakota Kai via DQ when Toxic Attraction interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NXT UK
Date: November 11, 2021
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

It’s time to crown some new #1 contenders as we have a four way tag match to find the next challengers for the NXT Tag Team Titles. This show continues to follow the old NXT formula, which allows such a match to feel that important. That’s a heck of a trick and they’ve done it again here. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Nathan Frazer vs. Mark Andrews

This should be good. Andrews takes over on the arm to start and Frazer can’t quite spin out of it yet. Back up and Frazer flips forward to stay on his feet but Andrews armdrags him down. That’s countered into a headscissors, setting up Frazer’s armdrag, which is countered into a headscissors for a standoff. Frazer snaps off a dropkick into a snap suplex for two but Andrews is back up with a running dropkick in the corner.

They fight over a double arm crank until Andrews northern lights suplexes him for two. The Iron Octopus has Frazer in more trouble but he comes back with a swinging suplex. Frazer Sling Blades him down and hits a running shooting star press for two. Andrews slides underneath a clothesline though and hits the enziguri.

The tornado DDT is countered though and a lawn dart sends Andrews hard into the corner. Andrews is able to head fake him to break up a springboard and Frazer is sent into the barricade. Back in and Frazer runs the corner for a springboard Spanish Fly (because he can do that) for two more. The Phoenix splash misses though and Andrews grabs the Stundog Millionaire. Fall To Pieces misses but Andrews manages to counter a cradle for the pin at 10:27.

Rating: B-. This was about having two exciting wrestlers go out there and tear down a good chunk of the house. Sometimes that’s all you need and both of them came out of it looking rather good. Frazer has kind of fallen back a bit after his hot debut, but it’s nice to see him getting to go out there and do his thing. The same is true for Andrews, who hasn’t done much since Subculture began, but at least he won here.

We look back at Rampage Brown answering Ilja Dragunov’s challenge and jumping him.

A-Kid doesn’t like what Sam Gradwell has been saying about him and wants to fight.

Pretty Deadly met the cast of the play version of Magic Mike and trained with them.

Kenny Williams gets caught writing something about Sha Samuels on a wall but gets chased off by a rather angry Saxon Huxley.

Dani Luna vs. Stevie Turner

Luna powers her into the corner without much trouble to start and then does it again for a bonus. For some reason Turner wants to try a test of strength and is taken down in a hurry. A Thesz press gets Turner out of trouble for all of two seconds before Luna spins her over into a powerbomb. Back up and Turner hits her in the face for two, setting up a Rude Awakening for the same. Luna isn’t having that and it’s a World’s Strongest Slam into a running clothesline in the corner. A pump kick into a snap suplex sets up a fireman’s carry flipped into a sitout powerbomb to finish Turner at 5:08.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what the deal is with Turner, as she seems like someone who is ready to become a star, but for some reason she has never really gotten out of the blocks. That being said, I can go with having Luna turning into a powerhouse who wrecks through some women. It’s what she did here and it worked out well enough. Maybe she can even get up towards the title picture down the line.

It’s time for the Nina Samuels Show where Aleah James interrupts her and doesn’t seem to like what Samuels has had to say lately. A match seems to be made for later.

Gallus is ready for Teoman and Rohan Raja…and the cops seem to pull them over.

Blair Davenport interrupts Subculture’s celebration and a match with Dani Luna seems set.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Moustache Mountain vs. Symbiosis vs. Oliver Carter/Ashton Smith vs. Jack Starz/Dave Mastiff

One fall to a finish for a future Tag Team Title shot. Starz and Seven start things off with an early rollup giving us a standoff. Some rolls have Seven a bit perplexed so Starz takes him down by the leg. That’s broken up so it’s off to Mastiff to run Seven over. For some reason Seven tries a slam, earning himself a large crash down onto his chest. Smith comes in to work on the arm until he kicks Seven into the wrong corner.

That means a tag from Primate, who gets caught by the arm as well. Smith comes in to stay on said arm but Mastiff tags himself in for the backsplash to crush Primate. Starz comes back in to knock a bunch of people off the apron until it’s Bate coming in for a headlock. Eddie Dennis gets caught interfering on the floor for an ejection, meaning he misses Tyson T-Bone fall away slamming Mastiff.

A double stomp gets two on Starz but Carter comes back in to pick the pace way up. Some kicks to the face send T-Bone into the corner, where Seven tags himself in. Everything breaks down again and it’s Bate and Carter slugging it out. Seven gets tossed off the top and onto a pile at ringside. Primate follows with a dive of his own but Bate rolls through a high crossbody to set up the airplane spin.

That’s not enough so Bate giant swings Starz at the same time (because that’s something he can do). Everything breaks down again and Carter manages to get Mastiff up in an electric chair for a springboard cutter from Smith. Primate’s top rope headbutt is good for the save and T-Bone powerslams Bate. Another top rope headbutt misses though, leaving Seven to hit the Seven Star Lariat for two on Primate. The torture rack/top rope knee is enough to finish Primate at 14:03.

Rating: C+. Normally I would say there was no doubt here, but there actually kind of was for a change. This time around you could have easily seen Moustache Mountain lose as their issues continue, but that’s not where they went this time. That made for a bit more drama than expected, which is a good little perk. At the same time, Starz and Mastiff continue to be a rather nice team and I could go for seeing more of them.

Pretty Deadly comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. What works here is there are different paths the main event could lead to. You could very well do the title change, but you could also have Bate and Seven fall apart. That’s a sign of a well put together story and NXT UK has figured that out. I’m curious to see where this and other things go, as this continues to be one of the best shows going today.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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NXT
Date: November 9, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

We’re back with more of this show and I’m not exactly sure what that means. Odds are it means more Toxic Attraction though, as the trio has been all over the show almost every single week as of late. Throw in more of the usual suspects and this hasn’t been the most thrilling time in NXT in recent memory. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Kayden Carter/Io Shirai/Kacy Catanzaro vs. Toxic Attraction

They’re starting fast this time. Rose hammers on Carter to start and it’s quickly off to Dolin for more of the same. Carter fights up and brings in Shirai to take Jayne down by the leg. Catanzaro’s sliding trip takes Jayne down and a slingshot flip dive gets two. Jayne takes her into the corner though and it’s Rose coming back in, only to be sent outside for a slingshot corkscrew dive. Carter dives onto Rose and Dolin but Rose cuts off Shirai’s dive.

We take a break and come back with Rose chinlocking Catanzaro while holding a bodyscissors. That’s broken up and the tag brings in Shirai, who gets to take over for a bit. The Moon Over Moonsault connects on Rose as everything breaks down. Carter comes in as well and everything breaks down, with a brawl breaking out on the floor. The distraction lets Dolin pull Carter off the top and grab an abdominal stretch rollup for the pin at 12:05.

Rating: C. This could have been a lot worse and the fans were into it. That’s more than you can say for a lot of things around here so maybe they are making some progress. I’m not sure who is next for Toxic Attraction, but it is pretty clear that they are going to be a thing for a good while on this show.

Pete Dunne doesn’t think much of Tony D’Angelo and he can come get a fight if he wants one. Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes come in, with Williams saying a bunch of stuff that Dunne doesn’t understand. The result seems to be Dunne vs. Hayes for tonight.

MSK is walking to find whoever they’re looking for and finally get there….but the person has moved. They look up the new address, which is 420 miles away. First, they need a change of clothes and a shower, but they’re flying, with references to the Mile High Club. I’m assuming this is just a way to get the team away from the rather annoying NXT fans, which is rather sad if that’s the case.

Kay Lee Ray vs. Sarray

Ray walks through Toxic Attraction, who are still here for some reason. Ray knocks her down to start and hits a big forearm to the face. Sarray reverses a whip into the corner but misses a charge. Back up and Sarray pulls her to the mat for a nasty pull on the leg, only to have Ray make the rope. A fisherman’s suplex gives Sarray two but she misses the running dropkick in the ropes. They head outside with Ray hitting the KLR Bomb onto the announcers’ table. Back in and another KLR Bomb gives Ray the pin at 4:50.

Rating: C-. Pretty quick match here but the main idea was to get Ray back in the ring and winning a match. Ray has all of the potential in the world and it would be great to see her getting to do something more important around here. As for Sarray…I’m still not sure what went wrong but she isn’t looking to be the next big thing around here anytime soon.

Joe Gacy has requested a match with Boa to help him, because he sees the shame Boa carries. He also wants Harland to reach out his hand because he’s doing this for the two of them.

We see some clips of Bron Breakker on the UK tour, where he learned a lot and is ready to take the NXT Title.

Boa vs. Joe Gacy

Gacy knocks him down to start and scores with some shots to the face, setting up a suplex for two. Boa gets a boot up in the corner though….and we’ve got some flickering lights. They seem to recharge Boa, who cokes Gacy into the ropes and that’s a DQ at 3:27.

Rating: D+. So the guy who is subject to a thousand year old witch just got recharged by a red light and choked the woke guy for a DQ. This is one of those situations where you can see just how screwy the whole NXT 2.0 is, but at least the match was short. Nothing to see here, but the Boa attempts continue.

We look at the formation of Jacket Time (Ikemen Jiro/Kushida), which has the Diamond Mine annoyed. It’s time to dominate.

Grayson Waller interrupts Solo Sikoa’s interview but here is LA Knight to annoy both of them. Sikoa wants this settled tonight.

Jacket Time vs. Creed Brothers

Barrett: “Jacket Time is the worst tag team name I have ever heard.” Joseph: “Worse than the Corre with two r’s?” Barrett mutters. Brutus takes Jiro down to start and Jiro’s running shoulder doesn’t make much different. Kushida comes in and is quickly powerslammed and suplexed, but he comes back with a double handspring elbow.

Back with Kushida coming in off the hot tag (see how easy it can be to come back with energy) and house being cleaned. Jiro comes back in with a Swanton for two on Julius but the Ikemen Slice misses. Julius rips off Jiro’s jacket, allowing Roderick Strong to pull Jiro outside. Back in and Julius hits a gutwrench powerbomb for the pin on Jiro at 7:45.

Rating: C. I can’t get my head around the name Jacket Time, but at least the match went as it should have. The Creed Brothers could be something special and that means they shouldn’t be losing a match like this. Thankfully NXT seems to know they have something there and if that’s the case then everything should work out for them.

Post match, Odyssey Jones runs in and helps clean house.

Toxic Attraction isn’t losing their titles anytime soon. Raquel Gonzalez rides up on a motorcycle and says keep her title warm for her.

Gonzalez rides into the arena and says she wants Dakota Kai out here right now. Cue a kind of unhinged Kai to say it felt good to hit her with a shovel, but here is Cora Jade for the pull apart brawl.

Andre Chase’s lesson of the day is Mental Toughness. One student asks about Chase messing up last week so another defends him, with Chase yelling a lot.

The Grizzled Young Veterans distract a food delivery driver and steal his meals, saying they can use this to distract a referee too. Remember when they were loudmouthed heels who were good in the ring and could get crowd hating them after about thirty seconds on a microphone? That’s not good enough around here apparently.

Cameron Grimes vs. Ru Feng

Feng goes right after Grimes to start and stomps away. Cue Duke Hudson to watch as Grimes fights back and knocks Feng into the corner. The Cave In finishes for Grimes at 1:40.

Post match Hudson gets in the ring and demands to know how Grimes was so good last week. Grimes says he won and thinks it’s funny but Grimes calls him an ugly hick who lives under a bridge. That doesn’t seem to bother Grimes, who says he holds it down everywhere. Hudson doesn’t accept that and the challenge is on for next week…in a poker showdown. Deal.

Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller

Sikoa punches Knight into the corner to start but some double teaming puts him in trouble. That doesn’t last long as Sikoa clotheslines both of them but gets punched in the face by Waller. Knight gets sent outside, only to come back in and breaks up Sikoa’s suplex on Waller. A double suplex puts Sikoa down but he counters a double superplex attempt into a double powerbomb. Sikoa hits a running hip attack in the corner on Waller but misses one on Knight. Waller is sent outside but runs back in for the Stunner on Knight. Sikoa sends him outside though and the Superfly Splash finishes Knight at 5:05.

Rating: C. I’m not big on this kind of match as they had three people hitting each other until the right one won. Sikoa is someone who is going to wind up as a force around here and I’m curious to see where he goes. Knight still has star power and I don’t think a loss like this is going to hut him all that much.

Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirrotta are annoyed at not winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles. This sends Hartwell into another speech about how much she loves her husband but Tony D’Angelo interrupts. He’ll see Dexter next week but for now, he hands Indi a dead fish and Persia gets some money.

Tommaso Ciampa was on the UK tour as well and is ready to beat Bron Breakker again.

Elektra Lopez vs. Erica Yan

Lopez runs her over to start and hits a snap suplex, followed by a sitout powerbomb for the pin at 1:24. Total squash.

Post match Legado del Fantasma calls out Xyon Quinn, who is right here to join the festivities. Lopez says Quinn turned a lot of heads last week so the offer to join is tossed out. Quinn thinks she is amazing but he isn’t down with the team. Legado goes after him and gets tossed outside in a hurry. Lopez’s slaps are blocked and Quinn pulls her to him, which she doesn’t seem to mind. The intrigued staredown ensues and Lopez holds Legado back.

Takeover WarGames is on December 5. And who in the world is supposed to be in that???

Kyle O’Reilly isn’t sure what to do with his future, but he thinks he and Von Wagner are a special team (no, they aren’t) and they should go after the Tag Team Titles. Imperium pops up but so does Wagner for the showdown.

Pete Dunne vs. Carmelo Hayes

Non-title and Trick Williams is here with Hayes. Dunne jumps Hayes in the corner to start and stomps away in a hurry. It’s already time to work on Hayes’ fingers but he flips over Dunne and hits a springboard clothesline. Dunne sends him outside and slingshots out to grab Hayes’ arm, setting up the X Plex onto the apron. Cue Dexter Lumis to grab a headset and stare Williams down as we take a break.

Back with Dunne fighting out of an armbar but walking into a Codebreaker (for a big flipping bump) and a near fall. Dunne is back with a quick forearm to knock Hayes out of the air but what looks to be the X Plex is reversed into a twisting suplex. Hayes gets creative by trying the Gargano Escape but Dunne escapes that as well. Hold on though as Williams tries some interference, only to be taken out by Lumis. The distraction lets a gloved hand grab Hayes’ foot. That’s enough for the Bitter End to finish Hayes at 12:35.

Rating: C+. Thank goodness we’re starting to get champions losing in non-title matches around here as that was one of the main roster tropes that hadn’t made its way down here yet. Dunne vs. Hayes could be good on Takeover, but I don’t needs more of this 50/50 stuff. Or the “mysterious” hand popping up for that matter.

It was Johnny Gargano, in Dexter Lumis gear.

Overall Rating: C. The main word I would use to describe tonight is indifferent. The show had its up and down moments, but the biggest problem was that when things would get going, some goofy concept would come up and suck the energy out of the whole thing. As a result, the whole show felt like it was just kind of there all night, with little reason to get invested into almost anything they were doing. Takeover seems to be a stretch at this point, with WarGames (especially minus William Regal to announce it) being even harder to reach. The show could work, but that’s a far cry from what used to be a layup around here.

Results
Toxic Attraction b. Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter/Io Shirai – Abdominal stretch cradle to Carter
Kay Lee Ray b. Sarray – KLR Bomb
Joe Gacy b. Boa via DQ when Boa choked in the ropes
Creed Brothers b. Jacket Time – Gutwrench sitout powerbomb
Cameron Grimes b. Ru Feng – Cave In
Solo Sikoa b. LA Knight and Grayson Waller – Superfly Splash to Knight
Elektra Lopez b. Erica Yan – Sitout powerbomb
Pete Dunne b. Carmelo Hayes – Bitter End

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