IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: April 29, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips

The shows are continuing under the same format they’ve had for weeks now: continue on like nothing has changed and hope for the best. Things might have to change though after last week’s real life situation with Velveteen Dream, which could change a lot of the plans going forward. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group B: Isaiah Scott (0 – 1) vs. El Hijo de Fantasma (1 – 0)

Fantasma wastes no time in going for a rollup and takes Scott down a few more times. Scott nips right back up into an anklescissors though and Fantasma needs a breather on the floor. That’s fine with Scott, who follows him to the floor and is promptly enziguried straight back down. They wind up standing on the middle rope at the same time so Scott grabs a jumping hurricanrana for two. A kick to the face puts Fantasma on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Fantasma hitting a basement dropkick to put Scott in the corner, setting up some running knees to the chest. Fantasma’s frog splash gets two but Scott muscles him up with a German suplex. They head outside with Scott’s big dive missing, allowing Fantasma to hit his running dive. The Phantom Driver is countered and it’s a crucifix to give Scott the pin at 11:23.

Rating: C+. That’s a good decision as Scott gets to be back in the hunt here, making me wonder what might happen with the rest of the tournament. Hopefully things keep going as I’m liking the format so far. They need to do something like this to fill in a bunch of time as they can only do so much with such a limited crew.

Group B

Akira Tozawa – 1 – 0

Isaiah Scott – 1 – 1

El Hijo de Fantasma – 1 – 1

Jack Gallagher – 0 – 1

Post match, Scott says he’s ready to go and he needs this more than anyone. Nothing but respect for Fantasma of course.

Dominick Dijakovic didn’t like the sound of Johnny Gargano rebelling against the establishment. It was the same establishment that got him into about a million straight Takeovers, but now Johnny hates it anyway. Next week, let’s see if Johnny can back it up against someone twice his size.

During the break, the masked men tried and failed to kidnap Fantasma again.

Candice LeRae vs. Kacy Catanzaro

Johnny Gargano handles Candice’s entrance (Gargano: “From Riverside, California, but currently residing in my heart, my favorite wrestler, Candice LeRae!”) and it’s glorious. Kacy gets taken into the corner for a clean break and then grabs a wristdrag on LeRae. A drop toehold takes Candice down again but she blocks a spinning splash with some raised knees. The chinlock goes on and a wheelbarrow faceplant drops Kacy again. The Gargano Escape is blocked so Candice elbows her in the face. A curb stomp (the Wicked Stepmother) finishes Kacy at 4:04.

Rating: C-. This was a good way to debut Candice and it’s fine to have her take some punishment to start. There is no reason for Candice to suddenly be dominant and amazing and they didn’t do that here. She can win over a lower level star like Kacy and this was a fine way to debut her under her new (and possibly awesome) persona.

Post match Candice slaps on the Gargano Escape as Gargano is rather pleased.

Damian Priest knows Keith Lee is injured and it’s time for him to become North American Champion.

Here are Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher for a chat. Riddle knows people have been complaining about NXT throwing people together in tag teams but he and Pete Dunne were a real team. The two of them are a real team too and Riddle already knows him like the back of his hand. Therefore, it’s time for the first episode of the NEWLY BROS SHOW, with Byron Saxton as host.

Saxton goes way over the top and makes some jokes about Thatcher hurting people, complete with a laugh track. Riddle on the other hand like drinking pina coladas in the rain. Now for the game though, where they’re asked a question and one answers out loud and the other writes the answer down. If the answers match, they get a point. First question: what did Matt have for breakfast?

Question #3: as a wrestler, where is the craziest place you’ve ever done it. Thatcher says he’s had a triple threat in a laundromat and Riddle’s card says “threesome on a washer”. That counts so we’ll move on to the speed round. Riddle: “Uh, speed isn’t really my thing.” Cue Imperium to jump the champs from behind and Riddle is taken out. The European Bomb drops Thatcher and Imperium poses with the titles. They’re better than Bivens’ guys at least.

Today is Make-A-Wish Day.

Adam Cole isn’t happy with it but he’s defending the NXT Title against Velveteen Dream next week. That’s when it’s Dream over. There’s your answer about Dream’s status in WWE’s eyes, barring a big bait and switch.

Mia Yim vs. Charlotte

Non-title. Charlotte backs her into the corner to start and it’s already a clean break. The feeling out process continues until Charlotte is whipped into the corner. A Flair Flip puts her on the apron but she is right back with a shoulder to the ribs. That’s fine with Mia, who strikes away and hits a Cannonball in the corner. The tornado DDT gets two on Charlotte but she’s right back with a whip into the ropes. Mia steals Andrade’s gimmick by posing in the ropes and avoiding a charge to send Charlotte outside. The dive is blocked though we take a break.

Back with Charlotte stomping away and bending Mia’s neck around the rope and then slowly stomping away. Mia fights back and gets a quickly broken Tarantula, followed by Soul Food. Charlotte gets the backbreaker out of the corner, only to get caught in the Code Blue for two. That just earns her a Boston crab, with Mia kicking out into a rollup for two. A big boot gives Charlotte the same but the Figure Eight is blocked. Protect Yo Neck is countered as well though and it’s the Figure Eight to make Yim tap at 10:50.

Rating: C+. They were trying here and that made for a good match. I’m not sure if it’s just not hearing Mia called the HBIC every few seconds or something similar, but the match was easier to watch. Charlotte had to sweat a bit here and the whole thing was a nice enough piece of business.

Post match Io Shirai comes out and says next week, Charlotte is hers.

Karrion Kross is here next week.

Kacy Catanzaro’s neck is banged up. Gargano and LeRae come in to say this is the new NXT. Kayden Carter stands by and doesn’t seem pleased.

We’re still not sure who attacked Finn Balor but he’ll be here next week.

Dexter Lumis vs. Shane Thorne

Thorne slugs away to start and Lumis seems to enjoy it. A Thesz press has Thorne in trouble but he’s back up with a kick to the head in the corner. Lumis shoves off a tornado DDT attempt but Thorne rakes the eyes. Thorne’s running dropkick in the corner just annoys Lumis, who plants him with a spinebuster. The Side Effect into the head and arm triangle finishes Thorne at 3:30.

Rating: D+. Lumis is a weird case as he’s very creepy, but we also have Kross coming in to fill the creepy void. Then again there is a certain charisma to Lumis that makes him feel like a major threat and that’s a very good thing. Granted how much can you get out of a three and a half minute squash?

Last week, Jake Atlas gave Drake Maverick a pep talk after the loss. Maverick seemed touched.

Keith Lee is ready for Damian Priest.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group A: Tony Nese (1 – 0) vs. Drake Maverick (0 – 1)

Maverick tries a wristlock to start and gets blasted into the corner with a forearm. Nese forearms away in the corner and there’s a running kick to the back. More shots to the ribs and back have Maverick cringing all over again and Nese snaps his throat across the top. Back from a break with Nese talking a lot of trash as Maverick crawls to the corner to get up.

A ram into the corner wakes Maverick up though and Nese starts taking some steps backwards. Maverick unloads in the corner and hits a basement dropkick, only to get caught with a release German suplex into the corner. A cutter out of the corner gives Maverick two but he misses a top rope elbow. Nese gets crotched on top to break up the 450 though and a super bulldog gives Maverick the upset pin at 10:03.

Rating: C+. In the words of Jerry Lawler at Survivor Series, I want to believe, I’m trying to believe. They have the potential to put together one of the best Cinderella runs in a good many years with Maverick and this gives him the breathing room that he might need. It’s a crazy long shot, but there is a chance that he could pull it off and that’s a great feeling to have.

Group A

Jake Atlas – 1 – 0

Kushida – 1 – 0

Drake Maverick – 1 – 1

Tony Nese – 0 – 2

Post match Maverick says he knew he could do it and next up is Kushida. He isn’t leaving yet because he loves this.

Video on Priest vs. Lee. They’ve been fighting for months and will continue to do so tonight, with the title on the line.

Next week: Io Shirai challenges Charlotte for the Women’s Title, Dominick Dijakovic vs. Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole defends the NXT Title against Velveteen Dream.

North American Title: Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest

Priest is challenging. They run the ropes to start and Lee crashes down onto his back, followed by a right hand to knock Priest out of the air. A clothesline puts Priest on the floor and Lee follows, where he goes behind the barricade, gorilla presses Priest, and throws him onto the apron. Good grief that kind of stuff never gets old. A missed charge sends Lee through the barricade though and we take a break.

Back with Priest hitting a running hip attack in the corner but neither can hit a vertical suplex. Instead it’s a hangman’s neckbreaker to drop the champ but he’s back up with a Pounce into the corner. The big spinebuster drops Priest to the floor again and of course Lee hits a slingshot corkscrew dive. Back in and a hard clothesline drops Priest again but he’s right back up for the slugout. Lee breaks up the chokeslam attempt but Priest muscles him up for the Broken Arrow.

That’s enough to send Lee rolling to the floor and Priest hits the big dive over the top. Back in and top rope spinwheel kick give Priest two more so he goes outside. You don’t do that to Lee, who apron superplexes him back in for the big near fall. Priest pops up with a chokeslam for two more so he loads up the baton. This time Lee knocks it away and hits the Grizzly Magnum. Back to back Spirit Bombs retain the title at 14:37.

Rating: B. Most of the time, if you see a match or one close to it done this often, it’s going to lose some of its luster. That has yet to be the case with Lee vs. Priest/Dijakovic and I’m not sure what it would take to stop being this much fun. These guys beat each other up and it never stopped looking cool no matter what they did here. Another very entertaining match from these two because they can do things that no one else can pull off.

Overall Rating: B. Another good show here as things are starting to get into a rhythm. That is the best thing that can happen with these shows as NXT thrives when they have a goal in sight and work towards it. Next week will be a big time show with the two title matches and some other interesting things. They’ve got something with a few of these ideas and if they stay at them, the whole thing will be just fine.

Results

Isaiah Scott b. El Hijo de Fantasma – Crucifix

Candice LeRae b. Kacy Catanzaro – Wicked Stepmother

Charlotte b. Mia Yim – Figure Eight

Dexter Lumis b. Shane Thorne – Head and arm triangle choke

Drake Maverick b. Tony Nese – Super bulldog

Keith Lee b. Damian Priest – Spirit Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: April 23, 2020
Host: Andy Shepard

It’s another special show this week and that is going to likely be the case for a long time. As usual, there is a theme to this one and this time around it’s all about Walter vs. Tyler Bate. They had my Match of the Year in 2019 so watching the whole thing again sounds like quite a good idea. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Shepard welcomes us to the show and hypes up the match a bit.

We get a long video on Tyler Bate. His mom talks about how he grew up as a huge fan and they had to go to every wrestling show. Trent Seven met him at a training seminar when Bate was very young but he knew what he had. Bate signed with WWE when he was 19 and he shocked the world by winning the United Kingdom Title (he looks about fifteen there). Bate has been here for three years and is still trying to figure out who he is as a wrestler and as a person. Bate and Seven don’t think much of Imperium and are ready for a fight.

We see Walter training in Germany where he talks about how true he is to himself, which makes him different. What has Tyler Bate done since he won the title? He looks like a boy and that’s how Walter is going to treat him.

We see Walter at the WXW training school where he trains wrestlers to take everything seriously.

Now we get to the big angle to set up the match, with Imperium costing Moustache Mountain their Tag Team Title shot and destroying Bate. Walter talks about how Bate was trained the wrong way and couldn’t handle it. Seven went to war with Walter to avenge his friend but got beaten down as well. Now it’s time for Bate to fight the giant, who stands for greed and everything he and Trent don’t agree with. Walter came in here and took over everything Moustache Mountain built.

From Takeover: Cardiff.

United Kingdom Title: Tyler Bate vs. Walter

Walter is defending and there are no seconds here. Bate ducks an early shot and starts going after the knee as the fans sing a lot. A test of strength goes to Walter but Bate powers up to send him into the ropes. Walter’s headlock grinds Bate down a bit as the songs are now rather anti-Walter. Bate is right back up with a delayed slam though and Walter needs a breather on the floor. The suicide dive is blocked though and Walter’s big chop sets up an apron bomb.

A big boot rocks Bate hard and a toss powerbomb….is left short, sending the back of Bate’s head into the post. After a check from a trainer, Bate is back in to get beaten up more as his back is giving out. As the fans chant some rather mean things about Walter, Bate collapses while trying a fireman’s carry. Walter pulls on the arms and puts a boot in the back as the slow grinding down continues.

A running seated splash gets two on Bate and the big chops knock him into the corner. Bate looks a little dead but manages to pull himself up, only to get laid on the top turnbuckle. Walter knocks him to the apron but Bate gets him up for a fall away slam to the floor in an impressive toss. Back in and Bate’s middle rope uppercut is chopped out of the air, setting up the big Boston crab. Make that a Liontamer into a Crossface, with Walter pulling backwards for a change of pace.

Bate finally makes the rope and somehow manages to block a suplex, setting up one of his own to bring the fans back into it. A bunch of clotheslines don’t put Walter down but a rolling Liger kick staggers him into an exploder suplex. Bate nips up and Nigel can’t believe what he’s seeing as a standing shooting star press gets two. The Tyler Driver 97 is blocked a few times and a running dropkick sends Bate into the corner.

Bate manages to counter the powerbomb into a sunset flip for two more. They get to the top with Bate loading up a superplex….and looking down at the floor. Walter isn’t having that and chops him down but Bate is back up with a finger snap. That means an exploder superplex for two as the fans are dying on these near falls. The slugout goes to Walter but he charges into Bang and falls onto Bate…..who is face down on the mat so there is no cover.

Walter is back up with an exploder suplex of his own but Bate manages the airplane spin until Walter makes the rope. That’s fine with Bate, who puts him into a torture rack for the Burning Hammer. Bate can’t cover so Walter rolls outside, meaning it’s a suicide dive from behind. The no hands dive drops Walter again and Bate manages a bridging German suplex for two. The Tyler Driver 97 is countered into a backdrop for two but Bate bridges up into the Tyler Driver 97 for two, sending Nigel over the moon in shock.

Spiral Tap gets two more so Bate unloads with rights and lefts, sending Walter into the corner to cover up. A chop cuts him off and a big boot knocks Bate silly, setting up the sleeper. Bate stands up with Walter on his back (because he just can) and drops back but Walter puts the hold right back on.

Bate gets up AGAIN and gets to the apron where he pulls Walter over the top and elbows his way out. Walter grabs him right back for a sleeper suplex onto the apron to kill Bate dead. The top rope splash….gets two and the fans are alive again. Another sleeper suplex gets another two and Walter powerbombs him….for one. Walter chops him down and hits a heck of a lariat to FINALLY finish Bate at 42:11.

Rating: A+. And that’s your match of the weekend with Bate looking like he could somehow survive out there until finally coming up short. This felt like it was half as long as it was and even though I didn’t buy Bate as having a chance coming in, I was buying that he might hang on and survive in the end. It’s going to take something special to take Walter down and as special as this was, I’m not sure who is going to do that. This was an incredible story that made you believe the impossible could happen, which is as hard of a thing to do as you can get. Watch this and have some fun.

Imperium comes out to pose and leaves Bate to get the big hero’s ending with Seven and Dunne coming out to help him up.

Walter calls it a successful mission.

Bate says sometimes things don’t work out but there will be a next time.

Overall Rating: A+. Well that still works. It’s one of the best matches WWE has had in years and I had a blast watching the whole thing. Despite being one of the strongest guys in WWE, Bate is still a great underdog against a monster like Walter. Throw in the segments at the beginning and you have a great hour long package here. Check this match out if you haven’t before and see if you don’t get sucked into it a good bit.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: April 22, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re at an interesting point here as they are having to come up with some more stories without a full crew. It certainly seems that Adam Cole is gone for the time being, meaning we need to find a way to fill time until Velveteen Dream can challenge him. Dream has something to do tonight though, as he faces Finn Balor. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Something has happened to Finn Balor in the locker room and he’s out of the match against Dream.

Here’s Dream to say new levels and new devils while doing Balor’s finger guns. In his experience, sometimes you are just dealing with the same new demons. Now he has been stood up by a demon….and here Adam Cole to interrupt. A lot of people have been assuming that the winner of Dream and Balor would be the new #1 contender and now Balor is nowhere to be found.

Cole knows what Dream is trying to do but he’ll never be the NXT Champion because Cole is his reality. Cue Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong to jump Dream from behind and the beatdown is on. Cole joins in but Keith Lee comes in for the save. Tag match abounds more than likely.

Shotzi Blackheart/Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez

Blackheart is in her tank so Phillips gets in the line of “Well isn’t that a pretty picture: Shotzi rolling down the block in a Panzer.” That’s a line from the Santa Clause and I would not have bet on hearing that on this show so well done on the awesome reference. Shotzi armdrags Kai down to start and the reverse Sling Blade puts her in the corner. Nox comes in for her reverse Cannonball and the villains are sent outside, allowing Shotzi to hit a big dive to drop them both.

Back from a break with Gonzalez holding Shotzi in a cross between a Gory Stretch and a torture rack. Shotzi is sent into the corner and Kai comes back in for two. A kick to the face allows Shotzi to make a tag and it’s back to Nox to strike away at Gonzalez. Nox’s headbutt just hurts herself but she avoids a charge in the corner. There’s a high kick to rock Gonzalez again and everything breaks down. Kai kicks Nox to the floor and Gonzalez powerbombs Shotzi for the pin at 7:44.

Rating: C. Shotzi is one of those people who has so much energy that you can’t help but watch her (the green hair helps too). The charisma and action make her that much better and she could be something with more polish. Gonzalez getting a win makes sense as she’s one of those monsters who can hurt a lot of people in a good way.

We look at Drake Maverick’s tear jerking video where he announces he has been released while still being in the tournament. In another video, Maverick talks about how he’s done but wants to go out as champion. If that original video was a work, I will buy a hat so I can tip it to WWE.

Video on Jake Atlas.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group A: Drake Maverick (0-0) vs. Jake Atlas (0-0)

Feeling out process to start with Maverick being sent to the apron. A dropkick sends Atlas into the ropes and a hurricanrana takes him to the floor. Back in and Atlas whips him hard into the corner but Maverick avoids a charge. A knee to the head sets up a Tequila Sunrise before Atlas gets sent outside. Drake hits a suicide dive and a top rope elbow for two back inside. Sliced Bread is broken up though and Atlas hits a superkick. A super cartwheel DDT finishes Maverick at 6:22.

Rating: C. Maverick is as good of an underdog as you can get and seeing him give everything he has to stay around is going to be a heart wrenching few weeks. Odds are he doesn’t win anything in the tournament, but they could have an amazing story if he gets to the finals somehow. I don’t think it happens, but dang it could be fun if he does.

Group A Standings

Jake Atlas – 1 – 0

Kushida – 0 – 0

Tony Nese – 0 – 0

Drake Maverick – 0 – 1

Post match, Atlas says one down and two to go as a disappointed Maverick leaves.

Video on Damian Priest, who still wants the North American Title.

Kushida wants the title.

Nese wants the title back.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group A: Kushida (0-0) vs. Tony Nese (0-0)

Nese goes with a waistlock to start and muscles him down, only to have Kushida reverse into a front facelock. That’s reversed into a leglock but Kushida switches into a crossface chickenwing. Nese breaks that up as well and hammers away until Kushida knocks him out of the air. Kushida’s handspring is cut off though and Nese sends him into the barricade. Back from a break with a chop off on the mat and Nese being sent to the apron.

Kushida kicks him in the arm a few times but it’s good enough to get Kushida up in a pumphandle. It’s not good enough for the slam though as Kushida grabs the Sakuraba Lock. That’s reversed into a northern lights suplex to give Nese two so he goes up, only to get kicked in the face. Nese knocks him down and hits the 450 for two more, meaning frustration is setting in. Another trip to the top doesn’t go well for Nese, as Kushida catches him and pulls him down into the Sakuraba Lock for the tap at 11:09.

Rating: B-. Nese was bringing it here and it was a good thing to have him in there against someone as talented as Kushida. I know Kushida hasn’t exactly lit NXT on fire but he’s still talented enough to bring out the best in someone like Nese. This was a nice surprise and I’m starting to get some nice hopes for the tournament.

Group A Standings

Jake Atlas – 1 – 0

Kushida – 1 – 0

Tony Nese – 0 – 1

Drake Maverick – 0 – 1

Matt Riddle says he misses Pete Dunne but he’s glad to be teaming with Timothy Thatcher again. Thatcher likes the idea of making someone tap. Riddle says every time he looks in Thatcher’s blue eyes, he reminds him of Stallion Pete. Thatcher: “My eyes are brown.” Riddle: “I know bro.” Riddle has something planned for next week.

We get a Killer Kross video, as narrated by Scarlett Bordeaux.

Commentary officially acknowledges Karion Kross and Scarlett for the first time.

Johnny Gargano, sitting at a dinner table, talks about his fairy tale coming true when he married Candice LeRae. Then he got another fairy tale by becoming the first Triple Crown Champion and the heart of NXT. No one believed he would be the better man by beating Tommaso Ciampa. Candice, now with silver hair and black lipstick, brings him dinner as Johnny rants about how NXT has become a toxic wasteland.

The fairy tale was believing that if you do the right thing, you will be awarded. Sure he signed everything and did everything the company asked but Ciampa got everything handed to him. Johnny is tired of waving the NXT flag on top of a mountain of unappreciation. Candice sits down and talks about going through the same thing. She was everyone’s big sister and did the right thing, but where was anyone when she needed them?

It’s insane to do the same thing over and over and expect different results, so Candice is changing things. Now she is going to be out for herself first, just like Johnny. They have been stabbed in the back again and again by people they thought they could trust. From now on, they can trust each other and it’s time to rebuild NXT in their image. It’s their way so they need to win the titles. I was digging this as the two of them both sound a lot more natural this way.

Io Shirai wants to show Charlotte how great she is and win the title. She bows to no one.

Drake Maverick says he’s fighting his opponent and himself. Maybe everyone was right about him.

Mia Yim vs. Jessi Kamea

Rating: D+. This was little more than background noise as the announcers talked about Mia vs. Charlotte. Mia was her usual adequate self here but she is still someone who has yet to click with me. Her work is fine but there is nothing about her that really makes me care. That being said, she isn’t the top challenger or anything like that so it’s not some big tragedy.

Post match here’s Charlotte to says he hopes Mia wants the match too. Mia says she would be honored to be in the ring with Charlotte, who says she never had her chance to thank Mia for her first match in NXT. Mia has always been a good hand and next week, Charlotte can help make her a star.

Jack Gallagher talks about how he’s here to be a champion and not a joke anymore. He’s a gentleman outside the ring but when you see those tattoos, you know it’s war paint.

Robert Stone lounges in the pool while Chelsea Green is in a swimsuit photo shoot. He talks about how close she was to being the new #1 contender but stops to direct her. Chelsea dives into the water and swims over to him. As Chelsea has a seat, he says no one has her combination of all the skills, including Rhea Ripley. Chelsea says she put everyone on notice and is the next Women’s Champion. Stone: “Yes you are.”

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group B: Jack Gallagher (0-0) vs. El Hijo de Fantasma (0-0)

This is Fantasma’s debut. They lock up to start and Gallagher gives us a clean break out of the corner. A hammerlock takes Fantasma down but he powers out of a chinlock without much trouble. Now it’s Fantasma grabbing his own chinlock until Gallagher powers up for a Wasteland. They head outside with Gallagher sending him into the barricade but Fantasma catches him with a kick to the head. A fake out into a slingshot dive drops Gallagher again and we take a break.

Back with Gallagher scoring with some kicks to the spine, followed by the armbar. Fantasma breaks that up and hits some clotheslines, plus a jumping superkick to send Gallagher outside. The big suicide dive nails Gallagher again so he goes for the mask to provide a distraction. Gallagher’s big headbutt gets two so he goes after the mask again, earning himself some knees to the face. A Samoan driver finishes Gallagher at 11:40.

Rating: B-. Another good one here as Fantasma gets to win after a test in his debut. That’s a smart way to start as a simple squash isn’t all that interesting and of course you don’t want him losing. Gallagher is someone who can work well with anyone and that is what he did here. Nice work.

Group B Standings

Akira Tozawa – 1 – 0

El Hijo de Fantasma – 1 – 0

Jack Gallagher – 0 – 1

Isaiah Scott – 0 – 1

Post match Fantasma thanks the fans at home and he’s ready to become Cruiserweight Champion.

Fantasma is at his car when the van from the previous few weeks shows up. The masked men jump him but he fights them off and they drive away. Fantasma doesn’t know who they were.

Keith Lee/Velveteen Dream vs. Undisputed Era

Cole/Strong for the team here with Fish in the corner. The Era’s cheap shots at the bell don’t work and Fish is ejected before he can interfere. The distraction works well though as it’s Damian Priest sneaking in to hit Lee in the throat with his baton. Dream waves down medics (but gets referees) as Cole is all smiles to take us to a break.

Back with Dream on his own and Strong grabbing a front facelock. Cole pump kicks him into an Angle Slam for two and it’s time for the backbreakers. The seated abdominal stretch stays on the ribs….and suddenly Dexter Lumis is on the apron. Dream escapes a suplex and hits the Dream Valley Driver, allowing the hot tag to Lumis. House is cleaned in a hurry as Fish comes back out. Dream tags himself back in as Lumis dives onto Fish and Strong. The Purple Rainmaker finishes Cole at 9:43.

Rating: C+. Well that was a surprise and that’s the kind of thing they have to do at the moment. NXT needs to switch things up a little bit and use the talent they have available. Lumis is different enough to make a quick impact and that’s what they did here. The ending and the surprise made this a good enough main event, while also helping to set up Priest vs. Lee next week. Nice, efficient match, as NXT knows how to do.

Overall Rating: B-. This was an entertaining show with a bunch of stuff going on at once, all of which feels like it’s going somewhere. They set up some stuff for next week and the future, which is something that NXT does as well as anyone else. Solid effort here with some good enough wrestling and a more streamlined format than we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Results

Shotzi Blackheart/Tegan Nox b. Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez – Powerbomb to Blackheart

Jake Atlas b. Drake Maverick – Super Cartwheel DDT

Kushida b. Tony Nese – Sakuraba Lock

Mia Yim b. Jessi Kamea – Protect Yo Neck

Velveteen Dream/Dexter Lumis b. Undisputed Era – Purple Rainmaker to Cole

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: April 16, 2020
Host: Andy Shepard

The hiatus continues and this time around we have a new theme with Superstar Picks. It’s exactly what it sounds like with wrestlers picking their favorite matches to air. In theory that is going to be a lot of stuff from NXT UK but I don’t know if that is guaranteed. Let’s get to it.

There is a crawler acknowledging the death of Howard Finkel. That’s certainly better than nothing and about all they could do given the time situation.

Opening sequence.

Andy welcomes us to the show and explains the idea.

Dave Mastiff’s pick is from Madison Square Garden, August 30, 1982.

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid

It’s Vince alone on commentary as Tiger sweeps the leg to start, earning himself an elbow to the face. An elbow drop misses so Tiger kicks him hard into the corner. A very spinning takedown takes Kid down and we hit the leg crank as you can tell the fans are impressed with this stuff. Back up and Dynamite grabs a slam to set up a middle rope knee for two, followed by the chinlock.

Tiger bounces out of a headscissors so Kid grabs a suplex to put him right back down. They’re right back to their feet and Mask sends him to the floor, setting up a Tiger Feint Kick (actually at 6:19 on the video’s timer) to really pop the crowd. Back in and Dynamite takes him down for a leg crank, followed by an enziguri for Tiger daring to get back up. The Swan Dive misses though and Mask hits a moonsault for the pin at 6:36.

Rating: B. The important thing to remember here is the date as this was nearly forty years ago and they were flying around like you would see in a cruiserweight match today. This stuff was just not happening in America (or almost anywhere) at this point and they would do even better stuff in Japan. I can see why this was selected though and it’s very easy to see why this would influence a generation or several.

Kenny Williams is from NXT UK TV, May 8, 2019.

Tag Team Titles: Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Amir Jordan/Kenny Williams

Jordan and Williams are challenging. Before the match, Gibson says the title match isn’t happening because Jordan is injured. The fans need to put their shoes back on and head home because the fairy tale ending isn’t happening tonight. Williams comes out to accuse the champs of attacking Jordan so he has a replacement partner.

Tag Team Titles: Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Kenny Williams/Noam Dar

Williams and Dar are challenging. The fight is on in a hurry with all four heading outside. Back in and Dar knocks Gibson into the corner with a northern lights suplex getting two. Drake comes back in for a running dropkick to Dar’s head and it’s a forearm to put him on the floor again. We settle down to Dar getting beaten down with Drake driving a knee into the ribs to keep him in trouble.

A diving save cuts off a hot tag attempt and for once it doesn’t go through a few seconds later. Dar gets in a clothesline and dives over but Gibson pulls Williams to the floor at the last second. The third attempt works a bit better and now it’s Williams coming in to clean house in a hurry. A bulldog sends Drake head first into the corner and a tornado DDT makes it even worse.

The champs head to the floor for a springboard trust fall from Williams, followed by a top rope back elbow for two on Drake. It’s back to Dar for a kick to Gibson’s knee into the ankle lock but Gibson is too close to Drake for the tag. That’s fine with Dar, who ankle locks Drake with a grapevine. Williams does the same to Gibson at the same time but Gibson kicks and punches his way to freedom.

Everyone is down until Drake gets a half crab on Dar’s recently repaired knee. Williams grabs the hand to block the tap and then kicks Drake in the face for the save. A running clothesline has Gibson in trouble but he’s right back with a middle rope Codebreaker to Dar. Williams’ wheelbarrow faceplant gets two on Gibson but Drake breaks up the Nova Roller. That leaves Williams alone against the champs, with Drake hitting a running dropkick in the corner. Helter Skelter into the 450 retains the titles at 13:30.

Rating: B. I wasn’t expecting much from the match in the first place but they made a very smart change by swapping Dar in for Jordan. This was a serious match and there was no room for Jordan’s dancing in the middle. Dar isn’t my favorite guy in the world but he was working well here and the match was rather good as a result.

Ligero has an interesting pick from NXT UK TV, October 3, 2019.

Kay Lee Ray vs. Tegan Nox

Non-title. Ray takes her into the corner to start and of course we don’t get a clean break. Nox gets in a slap of her own and Ray bails to the floor for a breather. Back in and Nox runs her over again, setting up a high crossbody for two. A departing Ray has to be thrown back in but she gets in a shot to the knee in a rather dastardly move. The seated abdominal stretch doesn’t exactly follow up on the knee but makes Nox scream anyway. Ray rolls her into a kick to the chest for two more as Nox keeps checking her knee.

Now it’s off to the other knee as Nox tries to adjust her brace. A gordbuster of all things gives Ray two but she misses a charge into the post to give Nox a breather. The knee is too banged up at the moment though so it’s a lot of clapping while Nox tries to get up. The slugout goes to Nox and she kicks Ray’s leg out for a change. An enziguri from the apron sets up a Molly Go Round (Nox was mentioned as being a Molly Holly fan) for two but Ray is back up with a superkick.

The Gory Bomb is countered into a rollup for two on Ray and Nox superkicks her for the same. Ray is right back up with a tornado DDT for her own two and it’s off to a guillotine in the middle of the ring. Ever the face, Nox powers up with a spinebuster but Ray puts it right back on. This time Nox manages to get to the rope for the break and busts out a chokeslam of all things.

It takes a little too long for Nox to get up top though and Ray crotches her down, only to get caught in the Canadian Destroyer for another near fall. The Shiniest Wizard gets the same with Ray having to get her foot on the rope. They head to the apron and Nox’s running knee goes into the post to crush the dreams. The Gory Bomb finishes Nox at 13:29.

Rating: B-. The storytelling was strong here and Nox is very good as an underdog face. It’s easy to get into what she’s doing as anyone can sympathize with someone who almost lost their career because they got hurt. Ray was great here by going after the knee and showed a side of herself that she hasn’t done before, which made for a rather good story.

A-Kid’s pick goes in a bit of a different direction from NXT TV on December 25, 2013.

Antonio Cesaro vs. William Regal

Cesaro easily powers Regal down but the Englishman counters into a cross arm choke. He leans backwards to put Cesaro over his knees while still choking, only to be flipped forward to escape. Back to the test of strength before Regal counters a front facelock into a dragon sleeper. Cesaro flips him forward in a kind of reverse suplex for two but Regal gets him down into the corner and does his “distract the referee while kicking the opponent in the face” spot.

Regal is taken out by referees but Cesaro goes after him and extends a hand. Regal stares him down and shakes hands as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: B. This is the kind of thing that I could go with for a long time: opening up the vault and just throwing stuff out there. I’d love for there to be some kind of a show like this on the Network (you might even say it’s uncovering gems that have been hidden from sight) every week, and that might be what we’re getting around here for the time being. NXT UK doesn’t have a ton of history so mixing it up a bit is a good idea. Anyway, this was an entertaining watch and I like that they threw in some surprises instead of the stuff you probably would have guessed. Good stuff here, and all they can really do right now.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: April 15, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

After today’s record setting number of releases, it might be nice to have things get back to normal, meaning we’re in an empty arena with a different set of commentators. Last week saw Johnny Gargano win the final battle against Tommaso Ciampa, but the question now is what happens with Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux, who were watching at the end of last week’s show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s ladder match and Gargano vs. Ciampa showdown.

Finn Balor vs. Fabian Aichner

Marcel Barthel is here with Aichner. Balor headlocks him to start but Aichner reverses into one of his own as they’re going technical to start. Aichner tosses him into the corner and slowly stomps away but Balor is back with a basement dropkick. Balor sends him outside and into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Barthel grabbing the leg so Aichner can get in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Some hard whips into the corner make Balor’s back even worse and Aichner gets two off a clothesline. Balor hits a Sling Blade but has to deal with Barthel, allowing Aichner to hit a toss powerbomb. The running knee to the steps only hits steps though and Balor Sling Blades Barthel. A dropkick sends Barthel through the barricade and Balor avoids a moonsault back inside. The John Woo dropkick sets up the Coup de Grace and 1916 to finish Aichner at 11:48.

Rating: C+. Balor’s path towards Walter continues and that could make for a heck of a fight as soon as we eventually get there. It was a good enough back and forth match as well, with the two of them beating on each other until Balor finally came through in the end. Imperium continues to be some very good villains and hopefully we can get to the big showdown with Walter soon enough.

Video on Raquel Gonzalez vs. Tegan Nox, which takes place later tonight.

Charlotte talks about how awesome she is and how she has dominated the past, present and future of wrestling. She has already defeated the past and present, but what about the future? Charlotte wants to face Mia Yim, who was actually her first opponent in NXT. Now she wants Mia to have the first title shot. Then it’s on to anyone else William Regal lines up and Charlotte will beat them all. Io Shirai wasn’t mentioned by name.

Xia Li vs. Aliyah

This was supposed to take place a few weeks back but Io Shirai jumped Xia. A kick to the chest puts Aliyah on the floor to start but she uses a referee distraction to kick Li down as well. More kicks and a chinlock keep Li in trouble but Aliyah misses a charge into the corner. A running fish and dropkick both drop Aliyah again and the spinning kick to the back gives Li the pin at 3:15.

Rating: D+. This was more competitive than I would have bet on but it told a decent enough story: Li is better and a dangerous striker who shrugged off whatever Aliyah had and beat her in the end. You don’t need a complicated match structure every time and this was a good example.

Video on the tournament for an Interim Cruiserweight Championship. It’s a round robin format for a change with the winners of the two four man blocks meeting for the title.

Interim Cruiserweight Title Tournament Group B: Isaiah Scott (0-0) vs. Akira Tozawa (0-0)

They fight over wrist control to start with Tozawa flipping out of a wristlock and snapping off a hurricanrana, with Scott landing on his feet. A chop makes Scott stand up straight and a pump kick puts him on the floor. Scott is back up with a rather missed headscissors to the floor (his feet grazed Tozawa’s face and Tozawa flipped forward anyway) to send us to a break.

Back with Tozawa’s running flip dive off the apron taking Scott down and a missile dropkick gives Tozawa two. The Octopus goes on but Scott breaks out in a hurry, meaning Tozawa goes to a guillotine instead. Scott muscles him up into a suplex for another break before muscling him up into a German suplex. The House Call gets two but Tozawa sends him hard into the corner. Trouble in Paradise drops Scott again and the top rope backsplash gives Tozawa the pin at 11:26.

Rating: C+. They were hitting each other rather hard here and the ending was a surprise. I can go with Tozawa winning, though having him beat Scott clean is a little surprising. That being said, it is a round robin tournament so the loss isn’t game over. I like Scott a lot and hopefully he winds up going somewhere soon.

Tozawa – 1-0

Scott – 0-1

Post match Tozawa says he’ll keep winning.

Video on Hijo del Fantasma, who is coming to become the new Cruiserweight Champion.

Tegan Nox vs. Raquel Gonzalez

Gonzalez has Dakota Kai with her and starts fast by lifting Nox up by the arm. A shoulder drops Nox again and Gonzalez holds the arm just to be safe. The backbreaker drops Nox again and we hit the chinlock with a knee in the back. That’s broken up so Gonzalez sends her into the corner, allowing Kai to get in a cheap shot for two. Cue Shotzi Blackheart to take care of Kai so Gonzalez goes after Shotzi, allowing Nox to grab the rollup for the pin at 3:15.

Rating: C-. Not great here but I like the idea of setting up some new names in the women’s division. With Charlotte on top of the division, she is going to need some new challengers and Nox challenging Charlotte, who might have to focus on those knees, could be great. You can pencil in the tag match too and that’s fine.

We get a biography video on Keith Lee. He has been doing this for a long time now and stood out in Evolve because he was a bigger guy who could do a lot of impressive things. Now he’s here doing the same, and has gone on to appear at Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. Then he won his first singles title to start the year because his time is just starting.

Dexter Lumis vs. Tehuti Miles

Miles continues to get some big intros, complete with a cool hat. Lumis stands in the middle to stare at him and Miles isn’t sure what to do. A hard forearm to the back drops Miles as the slow, creepy beatdown is on. Some dropkicks stagger Lumis but he hits a spinebuster into a head and arm choke (called the Anaconda Vice) for the tap at 1:45. Lumis’ blank stare is still good.

Adam Cole is not here for his scheduled showdown with Velveteen Dream. Whether he accepts it or not, Dream does not deserve a shot at the title and what matters at the moment is protecting Cole’s reality. The reality of the world right now is no one deserves a shot at the NXT Title.

Here’s Velveteen Dream and he’s looking a bit upset. He says this was typical Cole and of course he doesn’t believe Cole. Dream does respect Cole for thinking of himself as the mastermind and leader of the Undisputed Era. The one thing Cole is is the last remaining champion of the Undisputed Era.

Cole might even be the best NXT Champion of all time, but he needs to understand the words Dream Over. Cue Finn Balor, who says he doesn’t know or like Dream but he doesn’t like hearing anyone else being called the greatest NXT Champion of all time. Ignorant comments will get you a date with the Prince. Dream says Balor can be a gentleman and pick him up next Wednesday.

Malcolm Bivens is interested in the main event because the winners are losing the Tag Team Titles to his men.

Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era vs. Matt Riddle/???

Riddle is defending with a mystery partner chosen by his regular partner Pete Dunne. That partner would be….the debuting Timothy Thatcher. It’s Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong for the Era here for a different pairing. Riddle and Fish start things off and the trash talk is on in a hurry. Fish gets annoyed so they go to the mat in a hurry where he can’t get a rollup. Instead, Riddle slams him down to send Fish bailing as we take a break.

Back with Thatcher tying Strong up and grabbing a bow and arrow to induce screaming. Strong gets out and brings Fish back in to grab Thatcher’s leg and stomp down on it to take over. Thatcher reverses into a hold of his own and drags Fish over to Riddle. That means a suplex into a running kick to the chest for two, followed by the Broton for a bonus. The rolling gutwrench suplexes have Fish rocked and Thatcher adds his own to Strong.

An assisted moonsault gives Riddle two but Thatcher gets pulled to the floor. That lets the Era take Riddle into the corner so Strong can hit a backbreaker. The double teaming continues on the floor….as Dexter Lumis is watching from the top of the arena. An assisted Angle Slam plants Riddle and we take another break.

Back again with Fish hammering away at Riddle and grabbing the front facelock. Riddle finally gets in a fisherman’s suplex for the hot tag to Thatcher. Some spinning belly to belly suplexes have the Era in trouble and a Fujiwara armbar sends Strong bailing to the ropes. Fish comes in for some strikes to slow Thatcher down and a running forearm gets two. A knee to the face gets the same but Riddle breaks up the High/Low. The Fujiwara armbar is enough to retain at 22:12.

Rating: B. Thatcher debuting was quite the surprise but he turned out well enough and that’s all you can ask for. It’s a long form title match that was probably supposed to be the Takeover match against the Grizzled Young Veterans (or a triple threat) and it’s nice to have that big match feeling like this. Riddle continues to look good and it’s not like the Era is going to put in a bad performance.

Post match, Thatcher doesn’t dance.

Tommaso Ciampa says he is done with all of this and yes, Johnny Gargano was the better man. He gets jumped from behind though, sending the camera flying, and it’s Killer Kross, who says tick tock. There is also a woman’s boot shown standing next to Ciampa.

Overall Rating: B. This was a pretty good show where the individual parts don’t add up to the whole picture. The point here was getting things to feel normal again and that’s what they did here. They covered a lot of things all around the card here though with a bunch of stories being advanced and some matches being set for the next show. I liked a lot of where this show was going and hopefully they can continue that in the future.

Results

Finn Balor b. Fabian Aichner – 1916

Xia Li b. Aliyah – Spinning kick to the back

Akira Tozawa b. Isaiah Scott – Top rope backsplash

Tegan Nox b. Raquel Gonzalez – Rollup

Dexter Lumis b. Tehuti Miles – Anaconda Vice

Matt Riddle/Timothy Thatcher b. Undisputed Era – Fujiwara armbar to Strong

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: April 9, 2020
Commentator: Andy Shepherd

Wrestling has entered a new stage of the Coronavirus pandemic as a WWE show has officially run out of new material. For the foreseeable future, NXT UK is going to be nothing but Best Of shows. This could be interesting, but I’m not sure how long this is going to work given the promotion’s limited history. They’ve surprised me before though so let’s get to it.

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

We open with the introduction of NXT UK with HHH and William Regal being very happy.

Shepherd gives us a quick welcome and we’re ready to go.

From the NXT UK Championship Tournament Day One (January 15, 2017).

Quarterfinals: Jordan Devlin vs. Tyler Bate

We look at Bate winning the tournament.

From the UK Title Tournament (June 25, 2018).

United Kingdom Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Jack Gallagher vs. Zack Gibson

Gibson, a bald guy with a beard, is loathed by the crowd. They go straight for the wrist battle and Gallagher bounces out of a headscissors. The fans sing a song that I can’t understand and Gallagher turns into a conductor before being taken down by the arm. That goes nowhere so Gallagher spins him down into a rollup for two, much to the fans’ amusement. Gibson gets serious with a hard clothesline as the chants continue.

We hit a cobra clutch for a bit before Gibson goes with right hands to the face instead. A crossface chickenwing keeps Gibson in control until Gallagher fights up and actually wins a slugout against the much bigger Gibson. Gallagher’s suplex and knee shot get two but he gets caught on the ropes, setting up a middle rope Codebreaker for two. Gibson counters the running corner dropkick into a powerbomb but gets pulled into a triangle choke.

That’s broken up with a toss to the floor so Gallagher slingshots back in, landing with a sleeper on Gibson in a sweet sequence. Gibson makes a rope so Gallagher goes with the running corner dropkick for two more. That’s not cool with Gibson, who sends him shoulder first into the post to cut him down again. Gallagher hits another dropkick but a Swan Dive hits the shoulder, setting up a seated armbar (Shankly Gates) to make Gallagher tap at 13:28.

Rating: B. They were starting to roll with Gallagher as the scrappy face (a role he could use again back in 205 Live) against the rather nasty Gibson with all of the submissions. Gibson won clean here too, which is a smart way to put him over as a big threat around here. That’s the point of putting main roster people in there and it worked quite well.

Gibson would go on to win the tournament.

Then NXT UK expanded with different divisions.

From the NXT UK TV debut (October 17, 2018).

Mark Andrews vs. Joe Coffey

Coffey is a big guy who has his brother Mark in his corner. The brothers were rather violent back at the UK Title Tournament shows back in June so they’re certainly villains. Coffey powers him to the mat to start and gets two off a test of strength grip. The much smaller Andrews gets in a shot to the face and a springboard hurricanrana has the fans right back into things.

Coffey is right back up with some hard shots to the face and just plows through Andrews with a shoulder. A swinging butterfly suplex gets two and we hit a cross arm choke to keep Andrews in trouble. Mark Coffey is about to get in a cheap shot but gets caught, leaving Joe to run Andrews over instead. Back in and Andrews slugs away for all he’s got, capped off by an enziguri to put Coffey down.

A double stomp to the ribs sets up a standing corkscrew moonsault for two and Andrews is running out of steam. Coffey has had it with Andrews and hits a pop up powerslam for two of his own but the Stundog Millionaire gets Andrews out of trouble for the moment. Mark Coffey saves Joe from the shooting star so Andrews dives onto both of them for the big crash. Back in and Mark Coffey offers another distraction, allowing Joe to hit a hard belly to belly into a discus lariat for the pin at 7:37.

Rating: C+. Good choice for an opener here as you need something entertaining to get the fans into the feel of the show. The Coffey Brothers are going to be solid heels as they’re bigger than most of the people on the show and work well together. On the other hand you have a high flier like Andrews, who is always going to be worth a look. Nice match here and it even sets up some stuff going forward. Not bad at all and a smart move to put Joe over someone who has been on the main roster.

Post match the double beatdown is on but Flash Morgan Webster makes the save with his helmet as payback for the brothers beating him down back in June.

From the UK Championship Special (May 19, 2017).

Trent Seven vs. Pete Dunne

The arm is good enough for a dragon suplex onto the apron and both guys are left in a heap on the floor. They both dive in at nine and Dunne manages to flip out of a dragon superplex, only to eat a huge lariat for a very delayed two. The Seven Star Lariat is broken up though and we hit another double wristlock. Trent slips out again but walks into the Bitter End to send Pete to Chicago at 14:47.

Video on Pete Dunne’s UK Title reign, capped off by Walter’s debut and the WHOA moment.

Overall Rating: A-. I never know what to say for something like this as they can pick and choose their better stuff here. What we got was certainly good and it was an entertaining selection of choices, but it wasn’t like there was any real flow to it, with matches kind of jumping all over the place instead of being in chronological order. Either way though, it was a fun hour and twelve minutes so what more can you want?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: April 8, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentator: Mauro Ranallo

We’re in the marathon taping session now and this time around we have a big double main event. This week’s show will feature the six woman ladder match to crown a new #1 contender, but the real big match is the final showdown between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano in a battle years in the making. Let’s get to it.

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

As you might have expected, the opening video is all about Gargano vs. Ciampa.

Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai vs. Io Shirai vs. Chelsea Green vs. Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae

Ladder match for the #1 contendership and Robert Stone and Raquel Gonzalez are here too. It’s a brawl to start with Kai being left alone in the ring. Gonzalez throws in a ladder but a bunch of the women take her out and triple team Kai in the corner. Green gets caught on the apron for a series of forearms to knock her down as well. It’s time for the first ladder as Stone tries to set up a table on the floor.

LeRae and Shirai fight over trying to drop each other onto the ladder until Green comes in with a double bulldog. Back from a break with Kai and Nox slugging it out until Nox gets in a chokeslam. Green gets shoved away so Nox climbs but has to deal with Nox again. LeRae and Green come in to take both of them down, only to have Yim and Shirai do the same.

Another ladder is set up, but everyone keeps pulling each other down. Soul Food drops LeRae but Green gets her leg caught in a ladder in the corner, leaving Yim to have to crush it with a chair. Shirai sends Yim face first into the ladder in the corner but Gonzalez shoves Shirai’s over. That’s fine with Shirai, who lands on the top rope and springboards down onto everyone else.

Back from another break with Nox sending Gonzalez and Yim off the top and through the table at ringside. Shirai knocks Kai off the top and through the ladder (always looks good), only to get dropped by Candice. Stone helps Green go up but LeRae and Shirai break that up too. Shirai shoves Candice off the top and onto the ladder in the corner (egads), allowing her to pull down the briefcase for the title shot at 16:40.

Rating: B. The lack of fans hurt things but there were some nasty bumps here. Shirai getting the title shot is a good way to go as her match against Charlotte could be great. They needed some fresh challengers in here and this is as good of a choice as they had. The rest can get back to where they need to go in the future, but Shirai was the right choice here.

We look back at Imperium attacking Finn Balor two months ago. Then Balor beat Alexander Wolfe and bailed before Imperium could take him apart.

Balor wants Walter.

We look at Indus Sher attacking Matt Riddle two weeks ago.

Killer Kross vignette.

We look at Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde being kidnapped by masked me.

Indus Sher vs. Ever Rise

Martel’s wristlock on Rinku has no effect so it’s off to Parker to drive him into the corner. An enziguri staggers Rinku again and a slingshot elbow to the back gets one. Rinku clotheslines Parker’s head off though and that might be it for the upset bid. There’s a double toss to send Parker flying and Rinku stomps away. Rinku knocks Martel off the apron and it’s off to Saurav for a big boot. A rope walkless Demolition Decapitator to Parker is good for the pin at 4:30.

Rating: D. Oh no on this one. Indus Sher were every slow, generic, monster heel team that you can think of and that’s not a good thing. I don’t know if they think so much of Rinku’s status (he was the subject of the movie Million Dollar Arm, which was mentioned several times) but my goodness this really did not work. It’s one of the worst things I can remember NXT doing in a good while as this was a complete miss.

Adam Cole says he’s for real and Velveteen Dream is a flash in the pan, twice.

Video on Charlotte defeating Rhea Ripley to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.

Charlotte talks about her dad teaching her that the man makes the suit. In her case, the woman makes the title. She’s done everything there is to do and now she is going to elevate this title. Rhea Ripley was good, but just like everyone else, she bowed down to the Queen.

Ripley says Charlotte was better than she expected.

Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae arrive at the empty building for the final battle with Tommaso Ciampa. The ominous music plays as Candice gets back in the car, but comes back out to give Gargano….something in a small package.

We go to an empty arena (like, more empty than usual as this is feeling cinematic). HHH is in the ring and says it starts and ends in this ring. In between, nothing else matters and there is a referee here to call things. After this, there is no between the two of them. HHH leaves and the door closing means it’s on.

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Ciampa kicks the chair away and they talk trash to each other before slugging it out. Gargano gets hammered down in the corner but a whip over the corner puts him in trouble. The slingshot spear is cut off with a knee to the face and we take an early break. Back with Ciampa kicking him in the arm and stomping away while shouting about the two of them being brothers. A catapult sends Gargano into the bottom buckle as the lack of commentary is really jarring.

They have stopped with the cinematic stuff for the most part, but the camera cuts are fast and furious. Gargano gets in a shot to the face though and sends the injured knee into the post. The fight goes to the floor with Gargano hammering away with left hands but Ciampa suplexes him into the post. Ciampa takes too much time bringing a table over and gets dropped again, allowing Gargano to mock him from the apron. It’s time for weapons with Gargano unloading with both a trashcan lid and the accompanying trashcan.

Back in and Gargano blasts the knee with the chair before sitting down and telling Ciampa to get back up. A chair to the back puts Ciampa back down and the chair is wedged in the corner. As expected, that means Gargano goes head first into it instead and they’re both down. Back from another break with Gargano’s slingshot dive being knocked out of the air with a trashcan lid shot. The chair goes around the neck and Ciampa sends it into the post, allowing Ciampa to get in his applause.

Ciampa pulls out a crutch for the sake of the callback and it’s time to choke away, while shouting in Gargano’s face of course. Gargano comes back with a fire extinguisher but he can’t powerbomb Ciampa through a table. Ciampa can powerbomb him through one instead and they both need a quick breather. With Gargano down, Ciampa cuts up the ring and, despite the referee telling him that it’s too far, the pad is pulled back to expose the wood.

Gargano gets through a side door so Ciampa follows, only to get hit in the knees with an anvil case. Some left hands put Ciampa in front of a wheel on a semi truck but the anvil case misses. Ciampa gets on top of the truck (popular trope this weekend) and calls Gargano up to join him. In pure wrestler logic, Gargano follows him and gets his face pulled back because Ciampa is rather violent. That’s reversed into the Gargano Escape on top of the truck, but Gargano misses the low superkick.

The regular superkick works and a second actually puts Ciampa down as we take another break. Back again with Gargano staggering back into the arena and Ciampa slowly following behind. Gargano puts him through a table as the cinematics have been cranked up again. They’re back in the ring now with Gargano stomping him down and shouting THIS IS IT. What looks to be a super White Noise off the top to the exposed boards is instead reversed into a super White Noise onto the floor with Gargano getting the worst of two bad landings.

That gives Ciampa the first near fall of the match and we take another break. Back again with Ciampa bringing in the crutch but Gargano bends it around his neck ala New Orleans. This time though Ciampa breaks it up with the trashcan lid, only to have Gargano BLAST him with the lid. Some kicks to the head rock Ciampa again but Gargano can’t follow up. Instead, Gargano calls him a failure as a husband, friend and a father. The big crutch shot misses so Ciampa unloads on him with it instead.

We take ANOTHER break (this has to be a record) and come back with Ciampa choking with the crutch but a thumb to the referee’s eye sends him to the apron. Ciampa’s running knee takes the referee out and Gargano knocks Ciampa outside too. Back in and Ciampa plants him again so Gargano grabs Ciampa’s hand. Ciampa pulls it away and pulls himself up with the top of the broken crutch so they can hit stereo shots to knock each other down. Cue Candice and she isn’t sure what to do.

The guys get up as Candice asks Gargano what he’s doing. She asks Ciampa if he’s happy for taking away her husband. Candice kicks Gargano low and leaves but Ciampa doesn’t follow up. Ciampa shows mercy and tries to help Gargano up, saying he’s sorry. Ciampa gets up but here’s Candice to kick him low as well, with Gargano revealing that he’s wearing a cup. Gargano: “You lose.” The Fairy Tale Ending on the exposed boards finished Ciampa at 52:37.

Rating: D+. And that’s being generous as I actually let out a heavy sigh when this FINALLY ended. These two are capable of having an incredible match with each other (best match I’ve ever seen live when I was there in New Orleans) and this wasn’t it. This felt like something they put together spot by spot as a big list of options instead of something they actually planned to do and then no one told them to cut it down.

There was no drama, I never got interested, the way it was shot was annoying and we’ve seen all of this before. It just kept GOING, with no one telling them to wrap it up already and that’s not a good feeling. You really could have cut out about half an hour of this thing and it would have been the same story and match, which is never a good sign. I can’t believe how disappointing this was and really, they didn’t need to go back to it after New York didn’t work.

As for the end of the feud, egads man. This never felt like the big, final battle but rather just a really long one that they happened to have. I love the whole feud and if it had wrapped up with Gargano winning the title in New York last year, it was an all time classic. This had its moments (both of them turning into what the other was to start, some of the looks of hatred when the other wouldn’t stay down, neither of them being willing to admit they couldn’t do it), but almost no match needs to go this long and this one certainly didn’t. We’ve seen it done better and more efficiently and they had nothing to make up for that here.

A very happy Gargano staggers away with Candice as Ciampa can’t get up. The two of them leave the arena, pass a car with people sitting in it (not identified but Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux would make sense) and drive away to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. If that ladder match hadn’t been there, this would be the absolute worst thing NXT has ever done. What makes it interesting though is that they didn’t so much fail completely but rather totally missed with the big match. It was clear that they had a concept and went with it, but it wasn’t the right concept. That’s the kind of mistake that NXT NEVER made before and that scares me for the future. You can feel so much of the main roster pressure, the need to beat AEW and the extra hour weighing on them and I’m going to be really sad if they can’t find a way out of it. Total misfire this week so watch AEW.

Results

Io Shirai won a ladder match by pulling down the briefcase

Indus Sher b. Ever Rise – Middle rope elbow/backbreaker combination to Parker

Johnny Gargano b. Tommaso Ciampa – Fairy Tale Ending onto exposed boards

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: April 2, 2020
Location: Coventry Skydome, Coventry, England
Commentators: Andy Williams, Nigel McGuinness

Unless there are some matches that aren’t listed, this is it as far as original episodes go for the time being. It’s a shame too as you could have imagined a match taking place over Wrestlemania weekend or something and then the huge Takeover: Dublin show. As for tonight though, it’s a big battle royal to crown a new #1 contender. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video is ALL about the battle royal as everyone wants to win the match and become #1 contender. As they should.

Opening sequence.

Kay Lee Ray/Jinny vs. Dani Luna/Piper Niven

Despite Dani’s protests, Piper and Jinny start things off….but Piper tags Dani in anyway. Jinny’s running crossbody doesn’t work but Ray comes in for a cheap shot to put Dani down. Ray pulls Piper off the apron and has to run away, allowing Jinny to knock Dani down for two. Some double teaming in the corner keeps Dani in trouble and Ray’s gordbuster gets two.

Ray forearms her in the chest as we hear a voiceover from Nigel about Wrestlemania being a two night show. Jinny grabs an Octopus Hold but has to let go as Dani powers towards the corner. A few forearms allow the hot tag to Piper and it’s time to run Jinny over. A buckle bomb sets up the Cannonball but Ray breaks up the Vader Bomb. Everything breaks down and Piper gets sent into the steps, leaving Luna to get Gory Bombed for the pin at 7:10.

Rating: C. Nice energetic match here and that’s the best thing that they could have done. Piper vs. Ray seems to be coming sooner or later and that’s the most logical match they have. Luna has gotten a nice little push as of late and while the loss didn’t help her here, she has some potential and could go somewhere in the future.

Next week: the Rise of NXT UK. Looks like a history special.

Video on Gallus.

Xia Brookside vs. Amele

Amele works on a wristlock to start but Xia takes her down into a crossbody for two. The armbar keeps Amele down but she’s right back up to work on the arm again. Another armbar works on Xia’s arm this time until a flying mare and jawbreaker get Xia out of trouble. Some running knees in the corner set up the Broken Wings for the pin on Amele at 2:59.

Battle Royal

Ashton Smith, Ridge Holland, Kassius Ohno, Alexander Wolfe, Dave Mastiff, Oliver Carter, Travis Banks, Ligero, Saxton Huxley, Joe Coffey, Jordan Devlin, Ilja Dragunov, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Noam Dar, Kenny Williams, Tyson T-Bone, A-Kid, Amir Jordan, Flash Morgan Webster

The winner gets a UK Title shot at some point in the future. Ohno backs away from Holland and Mastiff to start and is promptly ganged for the early elimination. Huxley throws out Williams and it’s Webster and Kid throwing each other to the apron for no avail. Coffey gets rid of Webster and Jordan headscissors Huxley out. Kid is thrown onto Huxley’s back but chokes him out and climbs back in for a clever save.

T-Bone is out next and Coffey seems to be favoring his leg. A chokebomb plants Banks and Mastiff gets rid of him, meaning it’s time for everyone to fight near the ropes. Mastiff gets rid of Jordan (Nigel: “Jordan with a mere ten minutes in the match!”), followed by Holland powering out Carter (with a huge overhead belly to belly) and Smith back to back. Ligero is thrown onto the two of them, leaving Mastiff vs. Holland. As usual, Dar messes things up by interrupting the showdown but here’s Joseph Conners to distract Holland so Coffey and Dragunov can get rid of him as well.

Coffey and Dragunov have the big slugout for a double knockdown, leaving Moustache Mountain to hit stereo airplane spins on Dar and Kid. Seven drops Bate (with love of course) but Coffey tosses Seven from behind. Bate manages to get Mastiff on his shoulders but can’t keep him up so it’s time for everyone to pair off. Kid hits a springboard clothesline on Coffey but gets headbutted out by Devlin. A Rock Bottom puts Dragunov onto Coffey and Devlin moonsaults onto both of them, only to have Dar throw Devlin out.

Mastiff is waiting on Dar though and it’s a big backsplash to crush him hard. Everyone gets together to get rid of Mastiff though and we’re down to Coffey, Dar, Bate, Dragunov and Wolfe. Bate gets rid of Dar (the fans sound VERY pleased) and everyone takes a corner. Coffey swings Dragunov for a long time before crushing Bate in the corner. A running tackle crushes Bate and Dragunov at the same time but Wolfe sends him to the apron. Wolfe kicks Coffey out and we’re down to three.

Bate and Dragunov double team Wolfe but some heel miscommunication lets him take them both down, including a heck of a German suplex to drop Bate on his head. Bate staggers Wolfe though and Dragunov clotheslines him out, leaving Bate vs. Dragunov. They tease some eliminations until Bop and Bang drops Dragunov in a heap. A suplex plants Dragunov again but Bate walks into a hard clothesline.

The 6 1 Line plants Bate again and they’re both down for a bit. Bate unloads with rights and lefts until an enziguri takes him down again. They both go over the top and out to the apron so Bate loads up a rather illogical superplex. Dragunov throws him back in and hits a top rope backsplash but can’t hit Torpedo Moscow. Bate gets sent over the top but holds on with one hand, allowing Dragunov to hit Torpedo Moscow for the win at 28:40.

Rating: C+. The length was a bit of a problem but they kept things energized for a good chunk of the time. The ending was the best part and Dragunov is the best choice for the title shot. Odds are that was set for Dublin and they can go back to it whenever things are back to normal. A lot of people looked good in this though and that’s what matters in a match like this.

Overall Rating: C. The show itself was built entirely around the battle royal and the other two matches were just kind of there. It was nice to have the two other matches be all about the women because they weren’t going to get a place in the rest of the show. This was a good way to go out, but it feels like a season finale on a lower level indy company than what we have here. Then again, it’s not like anything going on today makes sense so that’s about as good as they could have gotten.

Results

Kay Lee Ray/Jinny b. Dani Luna/Piper Niven – Gory Bomb to Luna

Xia Brookside b. Amele – Broken Wings

Ilja Dragunov won a battle royal last eliminating Tyler Bate

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: April 1, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Sam Roberts

It’s a taped show this week and likely will be for a good while to come. This time around we are going to have a rather stacked card, capped off by the triple threat match for the North American Title. Other than that though, all roads lead to next week with the final showdown between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the triple threat match.

Velveteen Dream vs. Bobby Fish

Fish kicks away to start but Dream clotheslines him down. A knee drop gets two and there’s a little gyration for a bonus. Back up and Fish kicks him into the corner, only to get popped in the face. A top rope ax handle has Fish in trouble and Dream hammers away in the corner, only to get sent outside. Fish whips him into the barricade and we take a break.

Back with Fish kicking the knee out and then kicking away at it even more as you can’t fault his logic. A slingshot hilo gets two and we take another break. Back again with Dream not being able to hit the Dream Valley Driver and having to fight out of a sleeper. Now the Dream Valley Driver can finish Fish at 15:46. The part after the second break was barely a minute long.

Rating: C-. This never got off the ground and I’m not sure why. The second break really didn’t feel necessary and the match was just going through the motions until the ending. That can get annoying in a hurry and I’m not sure what they were going for here. Dream seems destined to go after Adam Cole and the NXT Title but he needs something better than this.

Post match Dream says he’s coming after Cole.

We look at Matt Riddle getting beaten down by two unnamed monsters last week. Malcolm Bivens was introduced as their manager.

Bivens is glad his reputation precedes him. He introduces them as Rinku and Sarif, both of whom hit people really hard. The two of them rant a bit.

Dexter Lumis vs. Jake Atlas

Lumis stares at him to start and hammers away in the corner. A springboard armdrag doesn’t get Atlas very far as Lumis is right back with forearms to the face. Atlas snaps off a running hurricanrana but Lumis knocks him down again and rips at his face. The neck crank makes it even worse but Atlas fights up with a neckbreaker to the floor. The suicide dive drops Lumis but he’s right back with a Side Effect. A head and arm choke finishes Atlas at 3:25.

Rating: C-. Lumis’ facials and presence alone should carry him a long way, but it would make sense to show him being creepy outside of the ring. He has a great vibe to him but let us know a bit about him. He’s the kind of guy who can get to a different level of disturbing and some vignettes would help that a lot.

Killer Kross video.

We look at part of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa brawling at the Performance Center two weeks ago.

#1 Contenders Qualifying Match: Gauntlet Match

Xia Li is in at #3 and slugs away in a hurry before we take a break. Back with Xia hitting a running dropkick, only to miss a spinning kick to the head. Shotzi grabs an Edge-O-Matic and a seated Cattle Mutilation gets rid of Li at 9:49. Aliyah is in at #4 and grabs a backslide for two, setting up a battle over a small package.

Blackheart reverses that into a reverse Koji Clutch but Aliyah is out in a hurry. A running kick in the corner drops Shotzi for two, only to have her come back with a German suplex. The same Cattle Mutilation finishes Aliyah at 13:16. Kayden Carter is in at #5 and dropkicks Shotzi down for a fast two. Shotzi gets crotched in the corner so Carter can hit another running dropkick for another two and we take another break.

Back again with Shotzi hitting a running DDT out of the corner, setting up a top rope backsplash to get rid of Carter at 18:20. Dakota Kai, with Reina Gonzalez, is in at #6 to complete the field and start stomping away at Shotzi. Some forearms to the chest get two on Shotzi and a cheap shot from Gonzalez gets the same.

The chinlock doesn’t last long so Kai kicks her into the corner instead. Shotzi is back with some clotheslines and a belly to back suplex to send Kai outside. You don’t make Shotzi wait though as she hits a suicide dive onto both of them. Gonzalez gets sent into the steps but the delay lets Kai hit the Go To Kick for the pin at 24:03.

Rating: C. I thought they might find a way to send Kai on to the ladder match as soon as I saw her lose three weeks ago. She seems ready to move towards the title picture and having her against Rhea Ripley after WrestleMania is something that could work out rather well in the end. Either way, we could be in for a heck of a ladder match, which is what matters most. Good enough stuff here with Shotzi coming out looking rather positively as well.

Video on Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte. I really could see that going either way.

Joaquin Wilde vs. Kushida

Kushida goes straight to the front facelock and even slaps Wilde on the back for a bonus. What looks to be a rollup winds up as a surprise cross armbar attempt but Wilde is out in a hurry. A wristlock doesn’t work either as Wilde reverses down into an armbar. That’s broken up as well and Kushida armdrags him down for the basement dropkick.

Back from a break with Wilde kneeing him in the face and stomping away in the corner, only to have Kushida kick him in the arm. Kushida rather loudly asks if Wilde is ok, allowing Wilde to come back with a jawbreaker. That just earns Wilde the cross armbreaker for the tap at 8:45.

Rating: C+. I can go for more of Kushida, even if he is a shell of himself after his time in New Japan. That being said, he can still more than go around here and hopefully he can do something around here in the absence of so many other people. Wilde continues to be a solid talent who needs a story to give him something to do.

Post match we get a rather tense handshake with Wilde seemingly wanting a rematch.

Video on Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa. Their final showdown is next week.

During the break, Wilde was attacked and thrown into a van by masked men ala Raul Mendoza a few weeks back.

North American Title: Damian Priest vs. Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic

Lee is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. We get the Big Match Intros, complete with tales of the tape for all three in a nice bonus. They all slug away at each other to start and it’s a triple shot to the face to put everyone down as we go to a break. Back with Priest hitting a Downward Spiral on Dijakovic as Lee is down on the floor. Lee gets back in though and catches Priest on the top for a slugout.

Dijakovic gets Lee in an electric chair so Priest can hit a spinwheel kick (it works in No Mercy, it works here) to put everyone down at once. Back up and Lee gets caught with a double chokeslam, leaving Priest to muscle Dijakovic up into a Razor’s Edge. Dijakovic gets launched over the top onto Lee and that means a running flip dive to take both of them down again. Back from another break with Priest hitting the sitout chokeslam for two on Dijakovic but the Reckoning is easily blocked.

Dijakovic tries the suplex toss into Lee, who catches Priest in the air. Then Lee swings Priest around into Dijakovic a few times, because that’s the kind of thing Lee can do. The Spirit Bomb gets two on Priest with Dijakovic making another save. Lee chokeslams/spinebusters the heck out of Dijakovic but Priest catches him with the spinning kick to the arm.

The super hurricanrana brings Lee down and Dijakovic drops the top rope elbow. A double cover gets two on Lee and everyone is down again. Priest and Dijakovic go to the apron so Lee chops both of them but they shove him off the top for the huge crash. Dijakovic’s corkscrew moonsault gets two so Priest busts out his baton. Lee Pounces him to the floor though and it’s the Big Bang Catastrophe to Dijakovic to retain the title at 19:33.

Rating: B. It’s another entertaining fight between these three and odds are this was going to be a Takeover match but my goodness they need to find something to do with the crowd noise. This was like watching an amazing dress rehearsal and having no one there to cheer for them. It was rather entertaining and they beat the heck out of each other, but the lack of crowd reactions really took away some of the energy they should have had.

Overall Rating: C+. This show got better as it went on and is miles ahead of Raw and Smackdown at the moment, but it’s still just not all that great. The main event did a lot of good for it though and hopefully we get somewhere with the bigger Takeover matches over the next few weeks. Now just find a way to get the energy back and things will be a little better in a hurry.

Results

Velveteen Dream b. Bobby Fish – Dream Valley Driver

Dexter Lumis b. Jake Atlas – Head and arm choke

Dakota Kai won a gauntlet match last eliminating Shotzi Blackheart

Kushida b. Joaquin Wilde – Cross armbreaker

Keith Lee b. Dominick Dijakovic and Damian Priest – Big Bang Catastrophe to Dijakovic

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: March 26, 2020
Location: Coventry Skydome, Coventry, England
Commentators: Andy Williams, Nigel McGuinness

Things are starting to pick up a bit around here as they seem to be building towards Takeover: Dublin, but now that show is not going to be taking place which leaves them in a weird place. They have a few weeks left taped and that could help them out a lot in the near future. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video hypes up tonight’s Cruiserweight Title match between champion Jordan Devlin and challenger Travis Banks.

Opening sequence.

Imperium vs. Ashton Smith/Oliver Carter

That would be Fabian Aichner/Marcel Barthel. Barthel grabs Carter by the neck to get out of an armbar and takes him down to crank on the leg. Aichner comes in to snap off an armdrag into an armbar on Smith but a flying mare gets him out of trouble. Carter comes in to clean house, including something like Private Party’s Silly String into a splash. A kick to Aichner’s face gets two with Barthel making the save.

The stereo kicks in the corner rock Carter and we get the Imperium pose. The chinlock keeps keeps Carter in trouble until he flips over Aichner and brings Smith in to clean house. A quick sitout AA gets two and the European Bomb is countered into a hurricanrana for two. Aichner plants Smith with a spinebuster though and now the European Bomb can finish Carter at 8:32.

Rating: C+. Some of those near falls were better than I would have bet on as Carter and Smith had some good energy to carry the match that much further. Imperium should be on their way towards the Tag Team Titles again soon as there isn’t much for them to do with matches like this for the time being. Nice enough match though.

Gallus plays cards and talk about winning the battle royal to crown a new #1 contender next week.

Moustache Mountain and Alexander Wolfe want to win the battle royal too.

Pretty Deadly annoy Carter and Smith after their loss. Carter and Smith say they’ll win the battle royal too.

Aoife Valkyrie vs. Nina Samuels

Valkyrie grabs a headlock to start so Samuels reverses with a headscissors. Samuels survives a backslide attempt by grabbing the rope, followed by sending Valkyrie into the ropes as well. A surfboard has Valkyrie in trouble but she runs Samuels over with ease. Valkyrie hits a running dropkick to put Samuels on the floor but Samuels comes back in with a fireman’s carry. That’s broken up as well with Valkyrie flipping over her and hitting a spin kick to the head. The top rope ax kick to the back of the head gives Valkyrie the pin at 4:46.

Rating: C-. That might have been the best Valkyrie match I’ve seen so far as she seemed a bit more crisp than usual. What mattered was having her look like someone above most of the rest of the division as she could be a player, but she needs to get a little more interesting first. Samuels is fine for a jobber to the stars.

We recap Piper Niven running off Kay Lee Ray last week.

Piper knows Dani Luna didn’t need help last week, so it can be a tag match next week.

We look at Mark Andrews being attacked last week.

Flash Morgan Webster will find out who did this.

A-Kid vs. Noam Dar

They fight over arm control to start until Kid nips up into a headscissors for a nifty counter. Back up and Dar hits a dropkick to stagger Kid so they can hit the mat again. Dar avoids the Octopus and they take turns sweeping the leg. A rapid fire pinfall reversal sequence gets a bunch of ones so Dar gets cocky and kicks him in the chest. The armbar goes on again, with Dar switching into a cross armbreaker. That’s countered into a triangle choke, which is released as well so Kid can kick him in the head. What looked to be a low blow rocks Kid though and the Nova Roller finishes Kid at 6:39.

Rating: C. Not bad again here with Dar being a lot better as the cocky heel. He can go well enough in the ring and has proven that several times, but I still can’t bring myself to be convinced of his star power. A-Kid seems like a solid prospect and could be a nice addition to the roster in time.

Post match Dar brags even more.

Video on Walter.

More people are ready to win the battle royal.

Cruiserweight Title: Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks

Devlin is defending and we get Big Match Intros. As tends to be the case around here fairly often, they fight over arm control to start, with the fans not being sure who they like best. Banks wristlocks him into the corner and gets two off a quick cradle, which is enough to send Devlin bailing to the floor. Back in and Devlin’s Rock Bottom is countered but a suicide dive misses, sending Banks shoulder first into the barricade.

That’s almost good for a countout but Banks makes it back in. That earns him a chinlock, followed by the Spanish Fly for two. There’s a jawbreaker to cut off Banks’ next comeback attempt but Banks Hulks Up off some kicks to the face. A kick to the leg sends Devlin into the corner and a Cannonball makes it even worse. Some YES Kicks keep Banks in trouble and there’s a Shining Wizard to put Devlin outside.

Now the suicide dive can connect but the Slice of Heaven misses so Devlin can kick away. A pinfall reversal sequence gets a few near falls but an exchange of headbutts put both of them down again. Banks heads up but has to knock Devlin down, setting up the Alberto double stomp. Devlin is right back up with the slingshot cutter for his own near fall as frustration is setting in. The Slice of Heaven connects for two but Devlin grabs a rollup and the rope to retain at 14:57.

Rating: B. That was a hotter main event as these two work well together. Devlin is starting to come into his own as a star and he was doing that again here. It was a good match with Devlin looking like he was in trouble before retaining. There isn’t much of a division over here but Devlin bouncing around to face challengers could work out well for him in the end.

Overall Rating: C+. This worked well enough, even though the fans weren’t exactly thrilled. That’s been the case with almost every show on this taping cycle and there is no reason to believe that won’t be the case for however many episodes they have left. Hopefully things pick up a bit, with the battle royal sounding like it could be a big deal if they give it time. Pretty good show this week with the main event being a highlight.

Results

Imperium b. Ashton Smith/Oliver Carter – European Bomb to Carter

Aoife Valkyrie b. Nina Samuels – Top rope ax kick

Noam Dar b. A-Kid – Nova Roller

Jordan Devlin b. Travis Banks – Rollup while grabbing the rope

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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