NXT
Date: May 11, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix

It’s another double title night as we have two titles on the line. As a bonus, one of the matches, in this case Kushida defending the Cruiserweight Title against Santos Escobar, will be two out of three falls. That’s nice enough, but will it be nicer than Raquel Gonzalez defending the Women’s Title against Mercedes Martinez? Well yeah it probably will but that’s beside the point. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap/preview.

Karrion Kross vs. Austin Theory

Non-title and Scarlett/Johnny Gargano are here. Theory is rather worried to come in but Gargano talks him into it, meaning the stalking can start fast. A clothesline doesn’t do much to Kross but his clothesline takes Theory’s head off. Kross looks annoyed at Theory and tosses him with a Doomsday Saito. Gargano offers a distraction though and Theory rakes the eyes to take things outside.

A DDT on the floor drops Kross but Theory breaks the count at nine for some reason. Kross gets posted and Theory hits a rolling clothesline as we hear the Bronson Reed gets a North American Title shot against Gargano next week. Kross comes right back with another Doomsday Saito and Theory is out, even as Kross hammers away at the back of the head. The Krossjacket choke finishes Theory at 6:03 as Kross stares at Gargano.

Rating: C. I would have bet on total destruction here but Kross got in enough offense to make it work. Theory is someone who could be a star if he was given the right kind of presentation as the talent is certainly there. That being said, there was no reason for Kross to break a serious sweat here and that did not take place, so they did it the right way.

Post match Finn Balor pops up behind Karrion Kross to say he doesn’t wait in lone. The match is on at some point in the future.

Earlier today, Leon Ruff asked William Regal for a match tonight but was turned down because of the beating he took last week. Ruff wrecked Regal’s desk but Angry Daddy Regal got serious and told him to get out.

Breezango vs. MSK

Non-title. Lee and Breeze start things off with Breeze taking him down and strutting a bit. Back up and Lee drops him with a shoulder before flipping over Breeze to show off as well. Their stereo superkicks connect with each other’s feet and we get the wincing standoff. Lee comes in and takes Breeze down, setting up some dancing. Fandango comes in and runs the ropes to go over both of them before colliding with Breeze.

Back up and Breeze runs the ropes as well, with the referee dropping down and then leapfrogging over him, allowing Carter to hit a dropkick. Back from a break with Fandango dragging Lee over to the corner, where Breeze slingshots him….into Fandango. That’s enough for the hot tag to Carter and the push moonsault gets two.

Fandango makes the save and it’s time for the four way slugout. Breezango gets the better of things but Carter catches Fandango on top. A running knee puts Fandango on the floor and Carter hits a middle rope moonsault to take out both of them. Back in and a running dropkick in the corner sets up the spinebuster/Blockbuster combination to finish Breeze at 10:49.

Rating: C+. The match was pretty good but e pluribus gads Breezango is one of the least interesting things NXT has had in a long time. The interest goes away as soon as they are shown doing almost anything and that has been the case for a long time. MSK is very good at what they do, but my goodness they are not an interesting team to watch. I’m not sure how to fix that, but being a bit more serious would be a good start.

Post match Breezango teases turning on MSK but shake hands in peace.

Johnny Gargano goes into William Regal’s office and wants to know why he made the match against Bronson Reed. Of course Regal doesn’t hate him, because Gargano is the North American Champion and has his own headband! Gargano doesn’t seem convinced and storms off.

Commentary talks about Takeover: In Your House II when Ever-Rise pops up behind them. Those guys have grown on me so much.

Here is Pete Dunne, with Oney Lorcan, to talk about Finn Balor getting the next shot at Karrion Kross. Dunne can’t blame him because Kross knows how tough Dunne really is. The open challenge is on and here is Leon Ruff to jump Dunne from behind.

Pete Dunne vs. Leon Ruff

Oney Lorcan is here with Dunne. Ruff starts fast and hammers away but Dunne counters a jump out of the corner. Dunne starts working on the hand but Ruff snaps off a hurricanrana. One heck of a clothesline cuts Ruff off though and it’s right back to the hand cranking. A big stomp on the arm makes Ruff scream and it’s time to bend the arm around the rope.

Ruff manages an enziguri out of the corner and a missile dropkick to put Dunne down. Dunne pops back up with a dropkick and then knocks the middle rope twisting cutter out of the air. A Figure Four necklock with some elbows to the head have Ruff knocked silly and the referee stops it at 3:03.

Rating: C+. I continue to marvel at how much Ruff has gotten out of this run and jobbing to Dunne after getting in a few shots is not a bad role to have. That being said, Dunne looks primed to become the next big thing around here and is starting to feel more like his NXT UK version. That is a great thing for everyone around, because that Dunne is one of the best in the world.

Post match, Dunne breaks the fingers for a bonus.

Legado del Fantasma promises to get the Cruiserweight Title back tonight.

Frankie Monet debuts in two weeks.

Also in two weeks: Kross vs. Balor II for the title.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Martinez vs. Raquel Gonzalez

Gonzalez, with Dakota Kai, is defending and gets knocked down to the floor to start. Martinez scares Kai over the barricade and dives off the apron to take Gonzalez down. We take a break and come back with Gonzalez hitting a heck of a clothesline for two. The chinlock goes on but Martinez punches her in the face for the break. Well that works. Something like ground and pound has Gonzalez in trouble and it’s off to a sleeper.

Gonzalez rams her into the corner for the break but gets forearmed hard in the face. The hanging DDT (or maybe a fisherman’s buster) out of the corner gives Martinez two and they head to the apron, with Martinez hitting a spear. Back in and Gonzalez flips her throat first onto the top, which puts Martinez on the floor again.

This time Gonzalez posts her but Martinez comes back in with some forearms to the face. A clothesline cuts Martinez down for two and a backbreaker is good for the same. The lifting powerbomb is countered though and Martinez hits a running knee to the face. There’s the fisherman’s buster for two on Gonzalez, followed by some knees to the face. Gonzalez is right back with a big boot (because knees to the face can be shrugged off) into the lifting powerbomb to retain at 11:58.

Rating: B. This was about two strong, hard hitting women hitting each other in the face over and over again and that’s what they did. I’m not sure if there was any real drama over a possible title change here, but Gonzalez getting a nice win and making the powerbomb look good in the process is smart. Good stuff here, limited selling of shots to the face aside.

The Way seems to have attacked Bronson Reed.

Here is Isaiah Scott, who introduces his new group, which seems to be called Hit Roh (pronounced Row), featuring AJ Francis, Ashante Adonis and Briana Brandy. The three of them put a chair in the ring for Scott, who talks about the mistakes he has made in NXT. He has been thinking that he is a dangerous man, and now it is time to have some people who think like him.

First up is Francis, now known as Top Dollar. He is the top in everything and raps a bit about how great he is. Brandy dubs herself B Fab and talks about how she is the mind of the team. She put money on Leon Ruff’s head so Dollar dropped him. Scott dubs the team as NXT’s new problem. If it gives Scott something to do, that is some awesome news.

We go to an auction for a house, with Cameron Grimes showing up and bidding eight million dollars. Ted DiBiase pops up and bids TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS, sending Grimes into hysterics all over again. These things continue to be gold.

Zoey Stark used to be a fan of Toni Storm but then she went all nuts. Storm doesn’t like her because Stark lives in the gym and works hard to be here.

Oney Lorcan vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Pete Dunne is here with Lorcan. This is fallout from earlier when Lorcan said O’Reilly couldn’t beat anyone, which had O’Reilly thinking Lorcan had been in the sun too long. Kyle dives for the leg to start but gets caught in a front facelock. O’Reilly escapes a headscissors so Lorcan takes his head off with a clothesline. The triangle choke over the rope has Lorcan in trouble until O’Reilly has to go after Dunne. Lorcan gets in a cheap shot from behind and we take a break.

Back with Lorcan hammering away, including some shots in the corner. O’Reilly hits a running knee to the knee though and some more knees to the chest have Lorcan in trouble. A belly to back suplex sets up a quickly broken kneebar, so O’Reilly hits the brainbuster. The top rope knee to the back finishes Lorcan at 8:58.

Rating: B-. Lorcan is one of those guys who can go out there and have a fine match with anyone, meaning it felt like O’Reilly had to do something to win here. That’s what you need in a match like this, as you can pencil in O’Reilly vs. Dunne for Takeover. Good match, with that top rope knee getting turned into a pretty serious finisher.

Post match Pete Dunne comes in for the big beatdown but Bobby Fish returns for the save. O’Reilly is glad to see him but they agree to go their own ways because they have their own things going on. That’s good, as there is absolutely nothing left for them to accomplish as a team.

We get a superhero movie trailer style vignette for the Way.

Bronson Reed is sick of the Way so next week, the title match against Johnny Gargano is inside a cage.

Cruiserweight Title: Santos Escobar vs. Kushida

Escobar is challenging and this is 2/3 falls. The brawl starts in a hurry and Kushida is sent outside, where Legado del Fantasma tries to jump him. Cue MSK immediately to take them out though and all four are ejected. Kushida hits a big flip dive from the top to drop Escobar and we take an early break.

Back with Escobar working on a half crab before putting Kushida on top. A fireman’s carry drop puts Kushida ribs first into the turnbuckle and we hit most of a Boston crab on the steps, with Kushida’s throat going into the post. Back in and the surfboard has Kushida in trouble, followed by a reverse chinlock to work on the back even more. Escobar stomps in the corner but a superplex is countered into a sunset flip for two. Back up and Escobar grabs the Phantom Driver for the pin and the first fall at 10:57. Commentary says we’re going to a break but hang on as Kushida grabs a cross armbreaker to even things up at 11:23.

Now we take the break and come back with Escobar snapping Kushida’s arm across the top and hitting his signature suicide dive tot he floor. Back in and Kushida counters the double underhook gutbuster and takes Escobar down for a breather. Kushida kicks him to the floor and takes Escobar down by the arm, only to miss the running kick to the arm back inside. Escobar rolls him up for two and counters the Hoverboard Lock into a small package for two more.

They go into the pinfall reversal sequence, with Kushida’s cradle (that he used to win the title in the first place) getting two. A double clothesline puts them both down though and we need a breather. Back up and Escobar takes him to the top, only to get pulled into the Hoverboard Lock. Kushida rolls it into the middle of the ring but Escobar makes the rope anyway. A suplex sends Escobar into the corner and a bridging northern lights suplex retains the title at 22:14.

Rating: B+. These guys work very well together and it is nice to see Kushida get a win after a big match like this. That being said, the ending was rather abrupt and I was almost expecting some kind of shenanigans. I’ll take Kushida retaining the title clean though, as it makes his title reign feel that much more established. I’m not sure what is next for Escobar, but having the goons with him should keep him fine for a long time. Good wrestling match here, and sometimes that is what you need, especially if it makes the Cruiserweight Title look important for a change.

Overall Rating: A-. This was almost Takeover-esque with some of the matches working very well. Granted this show did start off a little bit slowly, but once it got on a roll, it was on a roll in a big way. I liked this one a lot and they made me care about things I likely wouldn’t care about otherwise. Very good show here, and a nice example of what NXT can do when they are focusing well, including setting up stuff for the next few weeks. That’s quite a use of two hours.

Results

Karrion Kross b. Austin Theory – Krossjacket choke

MSK b. Breezango – Spinebuster/Blockbuster combination to Breeze

Pete Dunne b. Leon Ruff via referee stoppage

Raquel Gonzalez b. Mercedes Martinez – Lifting powerbomb

Kyle O’Reilly b. Oney Lorcan – Top rope knee to the back

Kushida b. Santos Escobar 2-1

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

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NXT
Date: May 4, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

The big story this week is the return of Finn Balor for the first time since he lost the NXT Title to Karrion Kross back at Takeover: Stand & Deliver. That alone should be interesting as we get to see what is next for him. In addition, the Women’s Tag Team Titles are on the line as Ember Moon/Shotzi Blackheart defend against the Way. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap sets up tonight’s Women’s Tag Team Title match, plus Isaiah Scott vs. Leon Ruff.

Isaiah Scott vs. Leon Ruff

Falls count anywhere. Ruff charges into an elbow to the face to start but he’s right back up with a failed crucifix bomb attempt. Instead Scott knocks him down but the JML Driver is countered with Scott being knocked to the floor. The suicide dive is blocked as well and Scott slams him back first into the apron. Scott sends him into the barricade and hits a heck of a delayed top rope superplex for two (Ruff being small can make for some great crashes).

Ruff is sent outside where he counters a kick from the apron to tie Scott’s legs in the ropes. That means a running dropkick to knock Scott to the floor as well, but Scott is fine enough to chop Ruff out of the air. Scott whips out a toolbox and we take a break. Back with Ruff hitting a flip dive off the stage to take Scott down again. They go back into the ring with Scott reversing another superplex into the super crucifix bomb for two.

To get even scarier, Ruff busts out a poisonrana off the apron to the floor. Scott catches him against the barricade though and hits the Confidence Boost on the floor for two. Ruff comes back with a toolbox shot to the knee and puts on a kneebar with I believer a wrench to crank on the leg even more. That’s broken up so Ruff hits the great looking spinning cutter out of the corner. Scott it sent outside again and another diving cutter connects but Ruff climbs up onto the set. The big dive lands on…..AJ Francis, who catches Ruff and throws him down rather hard. Back in and the JML Driver finishes Ruff at 15:24.

Rating: B. This got some time and had the right result, with Ruff getting in everything that he could for a long time. Ruff is someone who has made the absolute most out of his TV time as he has gone from a guy who was just there to a former North American Champion who can put on some rather good matches. I had fun with this and Ruff got to showcase himself again before the right person won.

Post match, Ruff celebrates with his entourage, including Francis and an unnamed man and a woman.

The Way comes in to see William Regal, but he’s busy talking to Scarlett. Austin Theory looks at her and says those are the biggest he’s ever seen and knows they have to be real. Her nails of course.

Asher Hale vs. Cameron Grimes

Hale is Anthony Henry of Evolve fame. Grimes runs him over to start and goes to the hard strikes in the corner. Hale’s kick to the leg earns him an uppercut back down but a dragon screw legwhip slows Grimes down. A missile dropkick gives Hale two but Grimes knees him down. The swinging sitout Side Effect sets up the Cave In to finish Hale at 3:04.

Rating: D+. Not quite a squash here but what matters here is Grimes getting more TV time and capitalizing on his momentum from the Ted DiBiase stuff. I’m not sure what is coming next from the two of them but at least Grimes is getting to do something great. I love NXT making something for him and turning it into something interesting, which you don’t get to see very often.

Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro aren’t worried about Tian Sha because they want the Tag Team Titles. Frankie Monet comes in and thinks they’re so adorable.

Cameron Grimes celebrates with Ever-Rise. They aren’t thrilled when he goes to the VIP room. NXT has a VIP room?

Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Timothy Thatcher/Tommaso Ciampa

Before the match, the Veterans rants about how much they don’t like Thatcher or the shoes off deal. Thatcher and Ciampa interrupt the catchphrase though and we’re ready to go. Ciampa and Drake lock up to start with Ciampa taking him down for a headscissors. Thatcher comes in to send Drake into the corner for the tag off to Gibson, who comes in to lock up for a bit.

That means Thatcher can take him to the mat and start working on the shoulder before switching to a chinlock. Drake’s save is cut off and Ciampa takes him down, meaning the rapid fire forearms to the chest put the Veterans on the floor. We take a break and come back with Drake pulling on Thatcher’s ear and handing it off to Gibson for a cravate. That’s broken up and it’s back to Ciampa for the chops in the corner (with Thatcher holding the tag rope in the air and standing on the apron like a statue).

Ciampa hits a running knee to Drake’s head for two, steps on and bites his finger, and hands it back to Thatcher. Everything breaks down again with Drake and Thatcher crashing out to the floor. Thatcher wins a strike off with Gibson but can’t get the Fujiwara armbar. Instead, Gibson plants Thatcher with a DDT for two but someone steals Barrett’s shoe somewhere in there and throws it inside. Ciampa offers a distraction and Thatcher hits Gibson in the head, setting up the Fujiwara armbar for the tap at 14:27.

Rating: C+. Good fast enough paced match here with both teams looking good, even if the shoe thing was a bit of an eye roll inducer. I could go for Thatcher/Ciampa as a high level team as it isn’t like they can’t hang in the ring. There are enough teams out there to make things interesting and hopefully both of these teams get some more TV time in the near future.

Joseph to Barrett: “Your shoe’s off! YOU HATE GIBSON!”

The Way yells at William Regal about the upcoming North American Title defense against Bronson Reed. It’s still on, as is Austin Theory vs. Karrion Kross next week.

Isaiah Scott and company brag about his win and leave the building.

Video on Sarray and Zayda Ramier.

Here are Karrion Kross and Scarlett for a chat. Kross says he isn’t going to be afraid of anyone and wants to give the people what they want. Let’s give them a fight so we’ll start next week against Austin Theory. Cue Kyle O’Reilly to say Kross is the NXT Champion and that is the match O’Reilly wants. He thinks Kross wants it too….but here is Pete Dunne to interrupt. Dunne asks if they are having a laugh and starts to throw his hat in the ring but here is Finn Balor to cut him off as well.

Balor goes after Kross and gets knocked down so Dunne goes after Kross as well. Kross sends him outside and kicks O’Reilly into the corner. Balor shotgun dropkicks Kross into O’Reilly in the corner as security comes in. A Kross clothesline drops Balor and a security guard gets suplexed. Kross is left alone but here is the Way to jump him from behind. Theory gets suplexed but some superkicks put Kross down for a few seconds. Gargano adds a belt shot to finally leave Kross laying. This did a rather nice job of making Kross look like a monster and lining up the challengers.

During the break, Gargano and Theory (favoring his shoulder) left, despite Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae having a match later.

Zayda Ramier vs. Sarray

They trade headlocks to start with Sarray knocking her down off a running dropkick. Back up and Sarray gets pulled into an STF to put her in some trouble. That’s broken up and Sarray pulls her into something like a Muta Lock. Since that can’t last long, Sarray hits a running dropkick against the ropes and a missile dropkick puts Ramier down again. Sarray snaps off a hard t-bone suplex for the pin at 4:39.

Rating: C. This was a much more impressive match from Sarray, who didn’t exactly impress me last week. They had more of a squash this time around with Ramier only getting in a little offense before getting crushed in the end. What matters is Sarray looked better, though there is still a long way to go with making her a star around here.

Walter yells at Imperium via video in German. Alexander Wolfe isn’t happy and walks off.

The Diamond Mine is still coming.

Sarray checks on Zayda Ramier when Toni Storm and Zoey Stark get in a staredown. Storm storms off and Stark checks on Ramier as well.

Jake Atlas vs. LA Knight

Knight says the fans just saying his catchphrase doesn’t make them cool. As for Atlas, Knight is going to hit him so hard that Atlas is going to need an atlas to tell him where he is. Knight gets taken down into an armbar to start but sends Atlas into the corner for some stomping. Atlas nails a running dropkick to send Knight outside but the suicide dive is cut off with a forearm. A slingshot shoulder drops Atlas but he is back with a German suplex for two. Atlas kicks away but Knight ducks a big one and hits the bulldog driver for the pin at 3:05.

Rating: C-. Not much to this one but Atlas got in some offense before Knight won, as he should have. Knight has all of the charisma that you could need and he is backing it up well enough in the ring. All they need to do is having him talking and doing well enough with the wrestling, which is what we got here. In addition: NXT is smart enough to put people on shows like this and keep them in fans’ minds until they have something to do. That can be rather important long term and it doesn’t happen enough today.

Indi Hartwell is panicking over not getting Dexter Lumis back but Candice LeRae hides a drawing he has left her. She also closes the blinds because Dexter is looking in (into the women’s locker room that is).

Toni Storm talks about how Zoey Stark is the flavor of the month but she is rapidly losing that flavor. Storm bought her into this business and now she is going to take her out. I miss these “talk to the camera” promos as they don’t happen enough these days.

Here is Legado del Fantasma for a chat. Santos Escobar talks about tradition and says last week was part of a premonition. He is going to regain his Cruiserweight Title and he’s doing it soon. Joaquin Wilde says MSK won the Tag Team Titles but they didn’t beat Legado del Fantasma. Raul Mendoza issues the title challenge but here is Kushida on screen to issue a challenge to Escobar for a Cruiserweight Title match next week. Escobar says he’s on. It’s great seeing Kushida finally getting to do something.

We get a sitdown, split screen interview between Raquel Gonzalez and Mercedes Martinez. Raquel says the title means she is the baddest woman in this division and she has pure power. Martinez talks about how she has been around for a long time but Gonzalez isn’t intimidating her (Gonzalez: “Not yet.”).

They promise to beat each other up next week and Martinez says she paved the roads that Gonzalez has come down. Gonzalez: “Am I not gritty?” Martinez calls her cookie cutter but Gonzalez says she has accomplished in a year than Martinez ever did. Gonzalez says Martinez is the next challenger, but she won’t be the last. That was a good closing line and Gonzalez sounded a lot more natural than Martinez here.

Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon find Frankie Monet’s dog in their tank. The dog is sent on but the tank is now unusable due to, uh, various things now in it.

Cameron Grimes is going to the VIP room but he isn’t on the list. The entire room has been rented out, and here’s a long white limo. Ted DiBiase gets out and says he has bought the whole club. DiBiase hits the catchphrase and laughs before going inside. Grimes: “THAT WASN’T EVEN FUNNY!” It was a little funny.

Next week: Kushida vs. Santos Escobar for the Cruiserweight Title in a 2/3 falls match, plus Raquel Gonzalez defends the Women’s Title against Mercedes Martinez.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: The Way vs. Ember Moon/Shotzi Blackheart

The Way is challenging in a street fight so they start fast, with Barrett saying where we’re going with this one, we don’t need rules. They go straight for the weapons, with LeRae pulling out a bunch of chairs but Moon (in street clothes for some reason) kicks her down. Some trashcans are thrown in and Indi is double teamed in the corner. A basement dropkick sets up Blackheart’s running backsplash and Moon puts a trashcan over a seated Indi.

That sets up the stereo basement dropkicks for two with LeRae making the save. Candice gets dropped with a double trashcan lid shot and it’s time for another table. Hartwell breaks that up and drops Blackheart onto the apron before setting up four chairs at ringside. Moon puts her face first into the chairs and Hartwell is set in a chair on the four chairs. Blackheart’s dive is cut off with a blast from a fire extinguisher though (as it could have been rather nasty otherwise) and we take a break.

Back with Moon dropkicking LeRae down and sending her shoulder first into the post. The Dominator/sliding neckbreaker combination gets two on Hartwell and LeRae is laid onto a ladder bridged between the ring and apron. Blackheart’s top rope backsplash drives her through, leaving Moon to drive Hartwell through a table in the corner for two. Back up and Hartwell kicks a ladder into both champs and then holds up a ladder with Blackheart laid across.

That lets Candice hit a Lionsault onto Blackheart onto the ladder but Moon is back up to kick away. A spinebuster onto the ladder plants Moon for two but Blackheart is back up to send Hartwell into the barricade. Hartwell is put onto the announcers’ table for the BIG splash off of the tower and they’re both done. LeRae plants Moon back inside and Hartwell is somehow back up to put Moon through a table on the floor. That leaves LeRae to hit Blackheart with brass knuckles. The Wicked Stepsister onto a chair finishes Blackheart for the pin and the titles at 15:38.

Rating: B. This was a wild fight and that’s what they needed to do here. The women’s tag team division isn’t a strong one in the first place so going with the title change here was the right move. Moon and Blackheart were thrown together for the tournament so there was no need to keep them together long term. The Way at least feels like a regular team (they even have a name) so let them get a bit more established to build up the titles somewhat. Also, well done on not having Dexter Lumis involved here. He and Hartwell are kind of interesting, but this wasn’t about that story.

Overall Rating: B. The opener and main event were both very good, stuff was announced for later, and the two not so great matches were about three minutes long each. This is where NXT tends to shine: building up a lot of different stuff, almost like a buffet, rather than one big main course and hoping that’s enough. Nothing stands out above the rest, but it makes for a better show with a solid average throughout rather than being so up or down. Rather effective effort here, as they used the tried and true NXT formula.

Results

Isaiah Scott b. Leon Ruff – JML Driver

Cameron Grimes b. Asher Hale – Cave In

Tommaso Ciampa/Timothy Thatcher b. Grizzled Young Veterans – Fujiwara armbar to Gibson

Sarray b. Zayda Ramier – T-bone suplex

LA Knight b. Jake Atlas – Bulldog driver

The Way b. Ember Moon/Shotzi Blackheart – Wicked Stepsister onto a chair to Blackheart

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

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

AND

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

NXT
Date: April 13, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett

We’re officially on a new night now and that means things should be getting all the more interesting. This is also coming off of Takeover: Stand & Deliver and we have quite a few changes to deal with tonight. The good thing is Raw left a pretty low bar for this show to clear. Let’s get to it.

Here are both nights of Takeover if you need a recap.

Here are Karrion Kross and Scarlett to interrupt. Kross says time comes for everyone and promised to get the title back. Finn Balor went on a tear as NXT Champion but he couldn’t control Kross and Kross controls everything. He is going to hold this title until he says otherwise because no one is going to out train or out wrestle him. It doesn’t matter what you have done before or how many zeroes are on the end of your check, because everyone pays the toll. They went with the straightforward push here and it worked pretty well.

We get a video on Takeover (which starts with Michael Cole sounding like he is talking about Wrestlemania so we might have seen a bit of a production botch there).

Tag Team Titles: MSK vs. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick

MSK is defending. Dain takes Wes Lee down to start and it’s quickly off to Maverick for a missile dropkick. Lee gets Maverick into the corner without too much trouble though and it’s Carter coming in with a Bronco Buster. Carter is sent outside though and we take a break. Back with Carter German suplexing Maverick but it’s quickly back to Dain, meaning the double teaming begins.

The champs manage to knock Dain down and the Final Flash gives Lee two. Carter comes back in and tries a sunset flip, but Dain picks up Lee and Falcon Arrows him while also sitting on Carter’s chest. Dain tries to powerbomb Maverick onto Nash but only hits the mat, allowing Carter to come back with a springboard twisting cutter. Dain is sent outside, leaving Maverick to take a Hart Attack with a Blockbuster. Carter dives onto Dain (while almost leaving it short and barely clearing the apron) as Lee pins Maverick to retain at 10:25.

Rating: C. Completely fine match here and a good way to check off MSK’s first title defense. It played to the formula of Dain being the (mostly) unstoppable monster so MSK went after Maverick in a smart move. They could hold the titles for a nice reign and have the exciting matches they are capable of, which will work out rather well for a lot of teams.

Post match MSK leaves and here is Imperium (minus Walter) to lay out Dain.

Robert Stone (in his bedazzled gloves) is trying to get a Women’s Tag Team Title shot for Aaliyah and Jessi Kamea but Mercedes Martinez comes in, demanding her money. She grabs Aaliyah by the throat but Kamea comes in to issue the challenge for tonight.

Long video on the ridiculously long Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole Takeover main event.

We get some post match footage of the two of them being taken away on stretchers, with Cole shouting at O’Reilly as they were wheeled away. William Regal shakes his head as they are taken towards the ambulance.

Mercedes Martinez vs. Jessi Kamea

The rest of the Robert Stone Brand is here with Kamea, who jumps Martinez to start. The forearms to the back and choking on the ropes don’t do much to Martinez, who is right back with a jumping knee to the face. The Air Raid Crash finishes Kamea at 1:52.

Post match Martinez grabs Stone and chokes him against the barricade, where he finally pays her off from a few weeks back. Martinez goes to the announcers’ table and says she’s coming for Raquel Gonzalez. That’s good enough to make my eyebrows go up.

The Way still thinks William Regal have it out for him but they are ready for their eight person tag. Indi Hartwell wants to take care of some, ahem, business with Dexter Lumis. Everyone puts their hands in for THE WAY….and then Austin Theory walks the wrong way.

Isaiah Scott is in his studio and doesn’t think much of Leon Ruff. It is time for him to move on but he can’t do that. Tonight, they are done.

Here is Legado del Fantasma for a chat. Santos Escobar talks about how the team came together a year ago and the cruiserweights have become must see as a result. His father was a champion, he is a champion and his son will be a champion, so tonight it is an open challenge for a title shot.

Cruiserweight Title: Kushida vs. Santos Escobar

Escobar, with Legado del Fantasma, is defending. Kushida, now in trunks instead of jeans, dropkicks Escobar to the floor before the bell. Back in and Kushida knocks him to the floor again but the threat of a dive has Escobar backing up. Instead, Kushida poses as we take a break. Back with Kushida in trouble on the floor and being sent into the steps for his efforts. Escobar gets creative by putting on a Liontamer on the steps, with Kushida almost grabbing the post to hang on.

They get back in with some Kawada kicks giving Escobar two and the armbar goes on. Escobar switches to a double arm crank but Kushida fights up and strikes his way to freedom. The hiptoss into the basement dropkick gets two and Kushida kicks him in the arm. Escobar is sat on top for a running kick to the arm and a butterfly superplex brings him back down.

Another suplex gives Kushida two but Escobar blocks the Hoverboard Lock. They trade kicks to the head and they’re both down again. Back up and Escobar grabs a Backstabber but they go into a pinfall reversal sequence with Kushida getting a rollup for the pin and the title at 11:04.

Rating: B-. They surprised the heck out of me here and it was quite the good match to get us there. I’ve been a big Kushida fan for a good while now but I haven’t been thrilled with how he has done in NXT. At some point he needed to win something and that is what he did here. I’m not sure how much of a future he has as champion, but winning and losing it fast is better than nothing.

Tommaso Ciampa says he and Timothy Thatcher didn’t win every fight in the Dusty Classic but they won every battle. Thatcher likes the new challenges and says they’re coming. Ciampa throws down his chair and leaves.

William Regal congratulates Kushida on his win but here is Jordan Devlin to say that was a nice win over Escobar….but all Escobar did was climb a ladder. Devlin is still the best wrestler around here and would take the title if he wasn’t heading back to the UK. He’ll be back though, and Kushida says anytime.

Here is Dakota Kai to introduce new Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez. Raquel talks about how she has been working harder and training more than ever before. Kai noticed that and gave her chance, which is why she debuted in Portland and went on to win the title. Io Shirai was a great champion, but the Raquel Gonzalez has begun.

The lights go out and here is the debuting Franky Monet, complete with dog, to interrupt. She introduces herself as La Reina Loca and says this place is now shinier, bougier and a whole lot better. Gonzalez says if Monet ever interrupts her again, she’s shove the dog up Monet’s something in Spanish (I think you can figure it out). Monet calls her something in Spanish and promises to see Gonzalez every Tuesday.

That’s enough for Monet….and here’s Rhea Ripley for a surprise. She comes to the ring, stares at Gonzalez, and clinks the titles together. We get the big congratulatory hug but now it’s Bianca Belair coming in as well as I feel like I’m writing some fan fiction. They pose together and we see a photo of the three of them in NXT as they all pose with their new titles. This was really, really cool and a special moment.

Pete Dunne says he had a classic at Takeover and if anyone wants to come at him, bring it on. For now though, it is time for him to go get a title.

Video on Sarray, who is coming to the women’s division. She debuts next week.

William Regal is happy Sarray is coming but has to go into his office to talk to Roderick Strong and Strong’s wife Marina Shafir. Strong hands him an envelope, which seems to be his resignation. Strong says he’s done and Regal says he is welcome back anytime.

Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah Scott

Ruff starts fast and sends him to the floor where he snaps Scott’s arm to make it worse. Back in and Scott’s arm is fine enough for a slam and a middle rope elbow to a seated Ruff’s back gets two. Ruff is back up with some running shots to the face and a stomp….mostly misses but it was close enough to be passed off as a running knee.

Scott catches him with a middle rope Russian legsweep though and Ruff heads outside. A kick to the face from the apron drops Ruff and we take a break. Back with Scott chopping away but Ruff fights up and gets to the top for the cutter. Scott bails to the floor but Ruff is right there with the big flip dive (and sticks the landing). They go back to the apron and then up top with Ruff snapping off a heck of a super hurricanrana.

Scott is back up with a fireman’s carry but Ruff turns it into a headscissors into the corner. Another hurricanrana gets a VERY close two on Scott but another super hurricanrana is countered into a face first drop onto the top turnbuckle. A flipping slam (kind of a half nelson flipped forward, kind of like a smaller One Winged Angel) finishes Ruff at 11:07.

Rating: C+. I had a lot of fun with this one and it was really just some of the botches that held it back. The thing that keeps catching my attention here is how much Leon Ruff has gotten out of this run. He basically stumbled into the whole thing and while he is not going to be some big star or a main eventer, he is getting every single thing he can out of this chance. Good for him for going from nothing to something, as not everyone gets to do that. Scott winning is a good sign for his future, and I’m curious to see where he goes next.

Zoey Stark is proud of her win over Toni Storm but Mercedes Martinez comes in and asks why we’re talking about a rookie. Tensions are teased.

Walter narrates a video about Imperium, promising that the group will expand and continue to dominate, because the mat is sacred.

Isaiah Scott implies that it is over with Leon Ruff….who jumps him from behind and sends Scott head first into the lockers. Ruff rolls an anvil case at Scott’s head and says that it isn’t over until he decides it is. Well that was out of nowhere.

Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon/Dexter Lumis/Bronson Reed vs. The Way

The Way has some issues figuring out their posing before the bell. Theory drives Lumis into the corner to start but Lumis hits a Thesz press into some right hands. That’s enough for Theory to bring in LeRae so Blackheart joins her. LeRae gets taken down and it’s off to Moon so Gargano comes in….and gets knocked down by the women. Lumis comes in and stares at Hartwell but LeRae breaks that up as we take a break.

Back with Reed running Theory and Gargano over, setting up a double splash in the corner. The double Samoan drop gets two and all four women come in for the brawl. Hartwell spinebusters Moon and LeRae superkicks Blackheart. For some reason, LeRae dives at Reed, who literally brushes her off after she crashes to the mat. Theory dropkicks Reed and the women start hitting some dives onto the men. Blackheart has Reed throw her onto the pile at ringside for the big crash.

Back in and Lumis Silences Gargano, with Hartwell not breaking it up. Instead she drops down next to Lumis, who checks on her, allowing Theory to hit Lumis in the head. Hartwell throws Theory outside and drops down in front of Lumis again, so Lumis carries her off, with Hartwell smiling at the camera and giving a thumbs up.

Reed punches Theory in the face and Moon climbs onto Reed’s shoulders for the Eclipse on Theory. LeRae sends Moon to the floor though and Gargano crotches Reed on top. Reed drops Gargano onto Theory so LeRae goes up and loads up a superplex on Reed. After LeRae winds up hanging out of the air, Blackheart breaks it up, leaving the Tsunami to finish Theory at 11:04.

Rating: C+. This was one of the most against the grain matches in recent memory and I think I liked it. They kept things moving, they did about half a dozen different things throughout, and the action never got that ridiculous. It really wasn’t like most NXT matches but it kept me interested and the Hartwell thing was so over the top that it worked in the end. Certainly not a great match, but it was fun and that is what they were trying for here.

Reed poses with the women while the Way is in shambles to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I don’t know if it was Raw being so bad or this show being that much better, but I had a blast with this one. It felt like stuff happened and they hit the ground running, but above all else, this show came off like someone (or likely a few people) had a plan and executed it. You do not get that on Raw most of the time and they could absolutely learn a few lessons from NXT. This show was all kinds of fun, and the trio of new champions posing with their titles was a genuine feel good moment. This is how you follow up a big show and it made me want to watch more going forward.

Results

MSK b. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick – Spinebuster/Blockbuster combination to Maverick

Mercedes Martinez b. Jessi Kamea – Air Raid Crash

Kushida b. Santos Escobar – Rollup

Isaiah Scott b. Leon Ruff – Flipping slam

Bronson Reed/Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon/Dexter Lumis b. The Way – Tsunami to Theory

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

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AND

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Takeover: Stand & Deliver Night Two
Date: April 8, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett

We’re back here after a heck of a first night and the card here might look even better. The main event is the showdown over the NXT Title as Finn Balor defends against Karrion Kross, who never lost the title in the first place. Other than that, we have multiple title matches and an unsanctioned match between Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole. Let’s get to it.

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

Kickoff Show: Breezango vs. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick

The winners get a future Tag Team Title shot against MSK. Breeze grabs Dain’s wrist to start and brings in Fandango, who is knocked away without much effort. Dain isn’t having any of this and runs Fandango over before handing it off to Maverick for…we’ll call it dancing I guess. Fandango manages a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two on Maverick and it’s back to Breeze for the same off a suplex.

Maverick is driven into the corner and Breeze knocks him down with a right hand. A legdrop gets two on Maverick and we hit the chinlock. Maverick fights up and slips over for the tag to Dain, meaning house can be cleaned. A fall away slam/Samoan drop plants Breezango for two as everything starts to break down. Dain is finally sent outside but Maverick catches Fandango up top for a super hurricanrana. That lets Dain come back in and powerbomb Maverick onto Fandango for the pin at 8:37.

Rating: C. Pretty standard match here and while Maverick and Dain aren’t likely to win the titles, I’ll take them over the rather middle of the road Breezango. There is no reason to give them another shot at the moment, as the team hasn’t done much of anything since losing the titles. Maverick and Dain are at least fresh, and MSK surviving the monster is a good way to get their reign started.

Poppy sings a song to open things up.

Cruiserweight Title: Jordan Devlin vs. Santos Escobar

Ladder match to unify the two titles. They go straight to the slugout at the bell but Devlin can’t hit the early Devlin Slide attempt. Devlin sticks the landing on a tilt-a-whirl attempt so Escobar elbows him in the back. That’s fine with Devlin, who knocks him down to set up a standing moonsault. Escobar is knocked outside and that sets up an Asai moonsault to drop him again. It’s time for the first ladder and thankfully Devlin is ready for the attempted baseball slide.

Devlin knocks Escobar down with the ladder instead and goes for the belts but Escobar is back in for a hard ram into the ladder instead. A whip into the corner into the ladder has Devlin crashing out to the floor. Escobar hits some running knees against the barricade and the cockiness is ramping up. It’s time for another ladder, with Escobar leaning it up against the barricade. Back in and Devlin tries to stop Escobar from getting the titles but Escobar is ready for him with a ladder shot.

A running dropkick sends the ladder into Devlin’s ribs in the corner and let’s get another ladder. This one is sat on the top rope but Escobar spends too much time talking trash and slapping Devlin in the face, meaning it’s Escobar being sent into the ladder instead. A dropkick to the banged up ribs puts Devlin down again though as the fans are behind Escobar. For some reason Escobar catapults Devlin at the ladder and he manages to get his hand on the titles, allowing him to dive down with a DDT to lay Escobar out again.

Devlin is sent outside though and Escobar’s suicide dive sends him into the standing ladder. Back in and Escobar’s double underhook is countered into a backdrop onto the ladder and they’re both down again. The Devlin Slide is countered into a jumping knee to the face but Devlin is right back with the Spanish Fly. The slingshot cutter drops Escobar again and a ladder is set up in the corner. For some reason Devlin climbs there and, after knocking Escobar down, hits a great looking moonsault from the very top of the ladder.

That’s enough for Devlin to go up but here is Legado del Fantasma to turn the ladder over (with Devlin falling to the floor in a hurry, which looked rather scary). After the beatdown, Escobar sends Legado to the back and goes up, but Devlin throws a ladder at him for the save. The super Spanish Fly off the ladder leaves them both laying again. They both go up and slug it out on top of the ladder until Escobar knocks him off and through the ladder in the corner. That’s enough for Escobar to pull down the titles and win at 18:07.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and that’s what you want out of a ladder match. You could feel the energy here and they were going with the classic formula of a lot of flips and dives off of the ladder. Sure a lot of it didn’t make sense (such as where Devlin put the ladder in the first place) but egads it was a fun spectacle, which is what you’re going for in a match like this. The ladder exploding at the end was a great visual too and it capped off a heck of a fun match.

Post match Escobar celebrates with Legado and his son in a nice moment.

MSK is proud to win the Tag Team Titles but don’t agree on who wins between Finn Balor and Karrion Kross.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: The Way vs. Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon

Blackheart and Moon are defending and come out in their tank because that’s what they do. It’s a brawl to start until LeRae starts hammering on Blackheart. Some pulling of the hair lets LeRae take her down and we hit the armbar. Hartwell comes in for some shots of her own but it’s quickly back to LeRae for a few more stomps. Shotzi manages to kick her down though and the hot tag brings in Moon to clean house. She throws in a SUCK IT (for Road Dogg) and nails a running splash in the corner to LeRae.

Hartwell’s distraction breaks up the Eclipse though but Blackheart comes in to turn it into a Tower of Doom. We settle back down to Hartwell spinebustering Moon for two but Shotzi comes back in for a suicide dive onto the Way, which does not exactly land very well. Moon dives onto LeRae and it’s a Dominator/sliding cutter combination to give Blackheart two back inside. LeRae knocks Moon off the apron and it’s a flapjack/Downward Spiral combination for two on Blackheart. Moon tags herself back in though and it’s a double Eclipse to set up Trip to the Ball Pit to retain the titles at 10:23.

Rating: C. These titles still don’t feel important, but it was absolutely the right call to have the champs retain. You need to establish the titles a bit before you have another title change and Moon/Blackheart are fine enough for the current champs. This was fine for a pretty big TV match, but it’s not like the titles have any kind of history or importance so far. That can come later, but it makes for some pretty uninteresting early title matches.

We recap Bronson Reed winning the Gauntlet Eliminator to become #1 contender to the North American Title.

Gable Stevenson (with Stephanie McMahon), an NCAA Heavyweight Champion in wrestling and an Olympian, is here.

North American Title: Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano

Gargano is defending and has Austin Theory with him. Reed cartwheels away from him to start and Gargano seems a bit stunned. A fall away slam sends Gargano flying but he manages to get in a shot to the head. The slingshot spear….bounces off of Reed, who chops Gargano down with ease. Back up and Gargano gets smart by going for the knee to knock Reed outside.

The baseball slide takes Reed down but he pulls the slingshot dive out of the air. Gargano sends him ribs first into the announcers’ table (which is moved by the impact) and it’s time to head back inside for the left hands in the corner. A middle rope splash crushes Reed again and Gargano grabs a cobra clutch. Gargano goes up again but dives into a powerslam to give Reed a breather. A chokeslam plants Gargano and Reed muscles him up for a suplex into a Death Valley Driver.

Reed takes him to the corner for a superplex but Gargano reverses into a Backstabber for two. A missed backsplash lets Gargano grab a crucifix for two more but Reed gets him into an electric chair. That’s countered into a poisonrana, sending Reed out to the apron. One Final Beat onto the ramp is countered into a Razor’s Edge over the top and back inside for the big crash. The Tsunami only hits mat though and Gargano nails a low superkick for a close two. Reed blasts him with a clothesline so Theory gets up to block another Tsunami attempt.

Gargano tries a super hurricanrana but Reed jumps down instead (that seemed like a botch but Reed saved it in time) and plants Gargano with a powerbomb. Theory puts Gargano’s foot on the ropes and Gargano heads to the floor, allowing Reed to CRUSH Theory with a suicide dive. Back in and an Air Raid Crash gets two on Gargano so Reed goes up again. Reed debuts and misses a moonsault though, allowing Gargano to hit One Final Beat….and one more Final Beat to retain at 16:12.

Rating: B. Who knew Reed had this in him? This was a cool idea where the face was the monster and trying everything he could to overcome the odds. The problem is that Gargano is awesome at Takeover and that makes it rather hard to actually beat him. Gargano is in a weird place where there is little for him left to do in NXT but it would seem to be a career crushing promotion. Hopefully he drops the title in a big moment, as he probably will, but I’m not sure how it goes after that.

We recap Karrion Kross vs. Finn Balor for the NXT Title. Kross was forced to vacate the title due to an injury and Balor won it, meaning it’s time for a showdown.

Oney Lorcan, Pete Dunne and Danny Burch are here.

NXT Title: Karrion Kross vs. Finn Balor

Kross is challenging and has Scarlett with him. They stare each other down to start and Kross shoves him around with ease. Balor goes after the arm and gets kneed in the ribs for his efforts. A headlock works a bit better for Balor but Kross shoves him around with straight power….so Balor slaps him in the face. Balor gets driven into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs but Kross misses a charge. That lets Balor pull the arm around the top rope and the armbar goes on.

Kross powers up again and ties Balor in the Tree of Woe for a running knee to the ribs. Balor is back with another armbar but the powerbomb counter is countered into a DDT to the arm. A hammerlock has Kross’ arm in more trouble and Balor takes him into the corner. Balor hits a spinning kick to the ribs and Kross crumples to the mat. That’s fine with Balor, who hammers away at the ribs until Kross kicks him in the ribs. Kross loads up an Oklahoma Stampede but Balor reverses into a Nightmare on Helm Street to put both guys down.

Kross is back up to hit a powerbomb for two more and can’t believe the kickout. Balor is right back on the ribs and shoulder with the abdominal stretch, followed by the Sling Blade to drop Kross again. Back up and Kross runs him over again but charges into the Pele kick. The shotgun dropkick sends Kross into the corner and the Coup de Grace connects….but the cover is reversed into a choke.

Balor rolls out and hits the jumping double stomp, setting up something like an abdominal stretch on the mat. Kross reverses that and unloads with forearms to the back of the head. A German suplex drops Balor again, followed by the Doomsday Saito. The running forearm to the back of the head gives Kross the pin and the title back at 17:09.

Rating: B+. This took some time to get going but by the end they had the right idea with Kross just being able to be violent enough to put Balor away. It was a clean win as it should have been with Balor giving it everything he had but not being able to put Kross away. I’m glad to see Kross win the title back because he never lost it, and hopefully this is enough to send Balor back up to the main roster, assuming he wants to go.

Franky Monet’s dog finds her again.

Santos Escobar is proud of his win and is ready to expand his legacy.

We recap Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Cole turned on the Undisputed Era and broke up the team by attacking O’Reilly. This did not exactly sit well and O’Reilly is ready to beat him up as revenge for everything that Cole has caused him to do since the team began. The match is unsanctioned, meaning anything goes.

Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Anything goes and they both have new music. They stare each other down to start and O’Reilly slugs away to start as we’re off in a hurry. A running big boot in the corner hits Cole and they’re on the floor in a hurry. O’Reilly sends him into various things on the floor and they head back inside, only to have Cole knock him off the top and back to the floor in a crash. Cole gets in a whip to the barricade and loads up a bunch of chairs.

Some of the chairs are sent inside and another one, with the Undisputed Era logo on the back, is cracked down onto O’Reilly’s back. They head inside again with Cole hitting a neckbreaker onto a chair and glaring down at O’Reilly. The neck crank goes on before Cole plants him again and tells O’Reilly to get up. That’s fine with O’Reilly, who hits a jumping knee.

Cole pump kicks him in the face but O’Reilly is right back with the Muay Thai knees. O’Reilly knocks him to the floor and sits him in a chair for the running knees from the apron. Back in and O’Reilly busts out a chain but gets caught in a hanging neckbreaker onto said chain. They grab the chain and slug it out with O’Reilly getting the better of things and loading the chain around his leg. The Figure Four, with the chain around the leg, has Cole in even more trouble until he turns it over. O’Reilly turns it right back over and the chain is tied to the top rope.

Back up and O’Reilly gets a running start but Cole uses the chain to clothesline him down. A German suplex drops O’Reilly and he lands in a chair, allowing Cole to hit a Shining Wizard for two more. They head outside again with Cole trying the brainbuster onto the steps but O’Reilly reverses into a guillotine. With Cole out on his feet, O’Reilly knees him in the chest but takes too long loading up his own brainbuster. Cole drives him into the barricade, only to get knocked down again.

O’Reilly loads up the announcers’ table and they slug it out on top until O’Reilly hits a brainbuster (THUD) onto the table. Cole staggers beyond the barricade and grabs a TV monitor to blast O’Reilly in the face. It’s back inside with Cole busting out a toolbox, including a wrench. That’s blocked as well so O’Reilly hits a rebound lariat. O’Reilly ties the chain around Cole’s arm and tries a cross armbreaker, followed by a triangle choke.

Cole breaks that up and they sit in some chairs and slug it out, including trash talk for a bonus. A low blow cuts O’Reilly down and Cole superkicks him for two. With nothing else working, Cole wraps the chair around O’Reilly’s neck and shoves there referee down for daring to break it up. The Panama Sunrise connects but there is no referee. They go up the ramp with Cole throwing a chair at O’Reilly’s head for a nasty crash. Cole drives him into the barricade but O’Reilly is back with a guillotine choke….and they go crashing through the ramp.

Cole is up first and kicks a hole in the side of the ramp to pull O’Reilly back out. O’Reilly gets in the ring and falls right back out, allowing Cole to hit the brainbuster onto the steps. That gets two back inside as this is full on ridiculous Cole Takeover match. The Last Shot misses though and O’Reilly pulls him into a heel hook. Cole is in trouble but wraps the chain around his hand to knock O’Reilly cold.

Another Panama Sunrise is countered and O’Reilly hits his own fireman’s carry neckbreaker. The knee pad comes down and a Last Shot to Cole….gets two. Oh come on already. O’Reilly loads up a Pillmanization on the ankle but Cole gets up and catches him with a chair on top. A chair is turned upside down but O’Reilly gets in his own low blow. O’Reilly wraps the chain around his leg and drops a knee to Cole’s neck to drive it into the chair for the pin at 40:18.

Rating: B. Yeah it was a good brawl and they beat each other up but GOOD GRIEF STOP LETTING COLE GO ON FOREVER LIKE THIS. There is a place for a long match but you could have probably cut out nearly twenty minutes of this thing and had just about the same match. This just kept going and I was getting annoyed at it for going on so long. It felt like they had a long checklist of things that they had come up with and needed to get through instead of doing what made sense for the match. I really didn’t have fun with this one and it was ALL because of the length.

Cole gets taken away on the stretcher and O’Reilly just stares at him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. That main event sucked the life out of this show for me and that is not a feeling I’m used to around here. This show probably should have been done fifteen minutes earlier and that is a much bigger problem when you are on your second two plus hour show in a row. It’s still very good and I liked it a lot, but enough with the long main events. Everything else made sense and went the right way with some awesome matches though, and it’s another awesome Takeover to go with what we had last night. I don’t need another two night Takeover, but for a one off, it went very well.

Results

Santos Escobar b. Jordan Devlin – Escobar pulled down the titles

Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon b. The Way – Trip to the Ball Pit to Hartwell

Johnny Gargano b. Bronson Reed – One Final Beat

Karrion Kross b. Finn Balor – Running forearm to the back of the head

Kyle O’Reilly b. Adam Cole – Middle rope knee with a chain

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

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

AND

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

This is a different kind of Takeover as the whole thing is spread over two nights. That has caused a few issues with the build to the show as it is a little bit difficult to focus on two shows at once. Throw in the fact that this means we have twice as many matches as usual for a Takeover and I’m not sure how something like this is going to go. Then again, you don’t bet against Takeover so let’s get to it.

Night One

Kickoff Show: Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark

Stark continues to be one of the more interesting cases in NXT at the moment as it is clear that they see something in her (because it’s there) but she keeps losing to one big name after another. At some point that is going to stop working out for her and the stock is going to drop, meaning she needs to win something. I’m just not sure if she is going to get that win here.

I think I’ll go with Storm to win here, as she has been kind of floating since the feud with Io Shirai, meaning she is going to need something to get her back on track. Beating Stark is not exactly the kind of thing that is going to be the big saving grace for her, but it is going to help her out a bit. Stark is going to get a win of her own someday, though I’m really not sure when that is going to be the case.

Tag Team Titles: MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma

This is for the vacant titles thanks to Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch being injured. We’re starting off with a confusing one here too as I have no idea who is winning the titles. You really could go with all three as possible winners and that is a great thing to see. MSK would seem to be the likely winners here as they were guaranteed a title shot thanks to winning the Dusty Classic….but things have changed since then.

As much as I want to pick Legado as the team who could pick up the titles because the other two seem like the likely winners, I’ll go with MSK winning the titles here for a nice feel good moment. I’m not sure if that is the best idea though as the Veterans need to win something after coming up short time after time, but MSK seems popular enough that a win would be a nice energy boost to the show.

Gauntlet Eliminator: Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah Scott vs. Bronson Reed vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis vs. LA Knight

This is something similar to a Royal Rumble, but you are eliminated by pinfall or submission and the winner gets a North American Title shot against Johnny Gargano on night two. In theory that eliminates the heels from getting their shot, but stranger things have happened around here. I would assume that we only have three potential contenders, and only two of them are interesting.

Unfortunately I think we’re getting Lumis here, as he has been tied up with Gargano and the Way for a few weeks now. Reed is the most interesting choice and Ruff has a history with Gargano, but Lumis makes the most sense here. Grimes is on a roll and could feud with a few people in the match. Scott is already feuding with Ruff and Knight….well I’m not sure you can call his stuff with Reed a feud just yet. Lumis goes over here and moves on to the title shot on night two.

Pete Dunne vs. Kushida

Yes please. I think I might need a bit more than that, but this one feels like possibly the most intriguing match on the entire card. Kushida is someone who is capable of busting out a great match at the drop of a hat and Dunne is Dunne, so how can this one be bad? These two have been having issues for weeks now and that sounds like a good enough reason for the two of them to spend fifteen minutes trying to break the other’s arm off.

While Kushida needs a win to get some footing underneath him, Dunne is a far bigger star and is going to win here. He is someone who could become a top star around here in the blink of an eye and it makes sense to have him go over here. This very well could steal the show and the entire Takeover, but it is more about getting us to the inevitable, which is Dunne getting the win.

United Kingdom Title: Walter(c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Speaking of matches that could steal all of Takeover, we have these two who are more than capable of doing just that. This time around it is for Walter’s title, as his seemingly never ending reign continues. Now the problem with this one is they have announced Walter’s next title defense, but that isn’t exactly the point here. What matters is Walter is back in the ring and that is a great thing for everyone.

Of course Walter wins here, because they aren’t going to end the epic title reign on a different continent in a match that feels a bit thrown together. Walter is someone who can have a classic with anyone he faces and if we get the old Ciampa here, these two could do something incredible. I know Ciampa isn’t as great as he has been before, but even a mostly there Ciampa is a sight to behold.

Women’s Title: Io Shirai(c) vs. Rhea Gonzalez

This is an interesting one as the champ issued the challenge for a change. You might not realize it but Shirai has been champion for about ten months now and has all but cleared out the division. Thankfully NXT is good at bringing in fresh talent and that is exactly what they are doing with people like Gonzalez (among others). This was the main focal point of last week’s NXT and it feels like a main event.

I’ve been betting that Shirai will lose the title for the better part of ever now and I’ll do that again here, as there just aren’t many people left to take it from here (save for maybe Xia Li, but I’m not sure how much someone with her current gimmick needs the title). They need to pull the trigger on someone eventually (though Shirai is doing fine in this role) and Gonzalez makes more sense than probably anyone else. Gonzalez wins here and ends a sneakily epic reign from Shirai.

Night Two

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon(c) vs. The Way

These titles are still brand new and one of the best ways to make them mean something is to have them on the line. Granted there still are not very many established teams to go after them, but at least the Way has a name. Blackheart and Moon don’t feel like long term champs, but losing in one of your first defenses seems like a quick drop (pun intended), even at a show like this.

Now the question is will they drop them here and I’ll go with not yet. I think the Way does get the belts eventually, but it isn’t happening so soon. It is just a little too early for the titles to change hands twice and NXT would be smart to have the titles sink in with Blackheart and Moon for a bit. The Way isn’t a team that needs to have multiple titles, so hopefully the titles don’t change here, because they really don’t need to yet.

North American Title: Johnny Gargano(c) vs. Gauntlet Eliminator Winner

This is a follow up from the previous night as the winner of the Gauntlet Eliminator (Lumis, assuming my completely accurate picks are right) gets a shot at Gargano. I’m not sure how much I like this idea as it can make for a hard match to set up in advance, but at least they have something going here between Gargano and Lumis. That sets up a rather scary possibility of even more of a focus on Lumis, though they have pulled back a bit in recent weeks.

I think I’ll go with Lumis winning here, as it has been teased long enough that it probably needs to just happen already. Gargano is fine in his role as champion, but it feels like he has held the title for the better part of ever at the moment. The title probably needs some fresh blood and while Lumis isn’t the most exciting or interesting blood, he certainly would be fresh. Now just get it over with already.

Cruiserweight Title: Jordan Devlin(c) vs. Santos Escobar(c)

It’s a special situation as both are champions, meaning there are two titles. Since Shawn Michaels is helping to run NXT and it has been at least a month since the last one, it is time to put the belts above the ring and have a ladder match. That makes things both a little more interesting and less interesting at the same time, as I wasn’t sure who was going to actually take the fall here. Throw in the ladder though and things are a little bit different. Someone has to stick around though and I think I know what that means.

I’ll go with Escobar to win here, as not being able to pull down a title from above the ring is not going to crush his momentum. Devlin still seems to be the guy who is going to go after Walter (and likely take the title from him) so getting him away from the Cruiserweight Title is a necessary step. I’m also not sure I can imagine him sticking around in America and NXT UK doesn’t need a Cruiserweight Title so let Escobar have it for good.

Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly

This is unsanctioned and I believe the words “oh boy” are appropriate. These two have some great chemistry together and it should be awesome to see them beat the living fire out of each other. I know the working theory is that it should be time to see Cole go to the main roster and while I’m not sure I believe that is the case, getting beaten by O’Reilly in a big blowoff feud would be a great way to go.

So yeah give me O’Reilly here, mainly for the reason that Cole absolutely does not need to win this match. O’Reilly has yet to have the big singles win and Cole has won everything he needs to win in all of NXT. I wouldn’t mind seeing Cole show up on the main roster as a post WrestleMania surprise, but I’m hoping that we see him go down to O’Reilly after one heck of a fight.

NXT Title: Finn Balor(c) vs. Karrion Kross

We’ll wrap it up with another match that could go either way. In theory the loser here should be on their way to the main roster, as Balor has already been a main roster star and Kross was pretty much ready for the main roster the day he debuted. I don’t know how well the gimmick would work there, but at least it would make sense to have Kross and Scarlett up there. Someone has to lose though and that makes it hard to figure out.

I actually think I’ll take Balor to win here, as NXT is going to want to keep some star power down there because the show moving over to another night. Hopefully the match is the hard hitting struggle that it should be, but I have no idea who goes after the title once Balor retains. Granted he probably doesn’t win here because it is a complete coin flip, but yeah we’ll go with Balor here.

Overall Thoughts

I’m not completely sold on the idea here as it feels like a pair of shows put together rather than one great Takeover. That could mean a bit of a downgrade, but if there is one thing that I have learned about Takeover over the years, it is that NXT knows how to figure out a way around anything. There is enough good stuff on the card to believe that they could pull it off and hopefully that is the case here.

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NXT
Date: March 31, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

It’s the go home show for Takeover and that means we should be in for one of NXT’s specialties. They know how to hype up a show rather well and they can do it in a hurry, which is what they have to do here. I’m not sure how well that is going to work as they have to do it for two shows at once, but NXT has pulled off almost everything else. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the headline matches for Takeover.

Cameron Grimes vs. Roderick Strong

Strong’s heart does not entirely seem to be in this one, which is fallout from Grimes offering to restart the Undisputed Era and getting dropped by Strong as a result. Before the match, Grimes says strong is leaving a lot of money on the table with that Undisputed Era intellectual property out there. This time Grimes is ready though, complete with a GRIMES THE SYSTEM shirt. We also get a GRIMES THE SYSTEM intro but Strong runs him down to start the brawl in the aisle.

They get inside with Strong taking him down and hammering at the ribs at the opening bell. Back up and Grimes gets chopped in the corner but grabs the eyes for a breather. Strong isn’t having any of that and puts Grimes against the rope for a heck of a chop. A clothesline puts Grimes on the floor and Strong rams him into a few things, only to get distracted by an Undisputed Era shirt in the crowd. Grimes rams him into a light post and we take a break.

Back with Grimes cranking on the neck and hitting a running forearm for two. Strong fights out of an armbar and grabs a Rock Bottom backbreaker. Grimes is sat up top for a top rope superplex but Strong needs a second to follow up. Now it’s the running forearms against the ropes but Grimes is right back with the flipping belly to belly (that thing always looks cool) for two. Strong suplexes him down again but Grimes (intentionally) drops an Undisputed Era elbow pad. The distraction lets Grimes hit the Cave In for the pin at 11:46.

Rating: C+. I liked this one a good bit, though it was better a few years ago when Johnny Gargano had the exact same problem about letting go of DIY. Still though, years between an angle is better than the days that WWE goes at times so I’d call it an improvement. Grimes winning is good, even if it required a bit of cheating. Strong needs to get his head on straight and that could be an interesting way to go for a bit.

Video on Karrion Kross training, including a variety of martial arts. Kross is ready to end Finn Balor by cutting the ring off and hitting him really hard. Balor can’t run forever.

Walter is ready to end Tommaso Ciampa.

NXT is moving to Tuesday!

The WWE Network is moving to Peacock!

Here is Legado del Fantasma, with Santos Escobar issuing an open challenge because he wants to prove his greatness to Jordan Devlin. Cue Tyler Breeze to say Escobar has had everything handed to him but Breeze has worked for everything. Challenge accepted.

Santos Escobar vs. Tyler Breeze

Non-title. Escobar wastes no time by sending him into the corner, only to have Breeze come back with a dropkick. Breeze knocks him into the corner as well and then out to the floor for a crash. Back in and Escobar drops him onto the ribs, only to have Breeze come back with an enziguri. Breeze has to take out the rest of Legado but stays on the ground as we take a break.

Back with Escobar hammering away and slapping on a surfboard. That’s broken up and Breeze manages a hurricanrana. Breeze works on the leg for a bit, including a spinebuster into the Sharpshooter. That’s broken up as well and Escobar counters the Unprettier. A leg lariat sets up the Phantom Driver to finish Breeze at 10:40.

Rating: C. Just a match to give Escobar some momentum going into Takeover and that is fine. I’m curious to see which way they go there but either option is a possibility. Then you have Breeze and….my goodness I’m not sure what to do with him. He has just been so far down for so long and there is no reason to believe things are ever going to get any better. It’s a shame as I’ve always liked him, but how much further can you really go?

Post match here’s the returning MSK to go after Legado del Fantasma and clear the ring. The Grizzled Young Veterans come up on screen to say they’re winning the Tag Team Titles at Takeover.

Johnny Gargano goes on a rant about the Gauntlet Eliminator and calls William Regal Cuckoo Bananas. Austin Theory is way too happy and suggests the Fingerpoke of Doom. Gargano: “That killed the business.” Theory: “But we’re still here.” Gargano: “LET’S DO IT!” The women want their Women’s Tag Team Title shot and are ready to earn it tonight.

And now….a dog is walking and looks at the Performance Center. That dog looks rather familiar.

Last week Raquel Gonzalez took out Io Shirai, who hates Gonzalez as a result.

The Way vs. Gigi Dolin/Zayda Ramier

That would be Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell for the Way, with Gigi kicking Indi around to start. A side slam gets Hartwell out of trouble and Candice comes in for some shots of her own. Hartwell comes back in but gives up the hot tag, allowing Ramier (Booker T. student) to come in and pick up the pace. A spinebuster cuts Ramier down and it’s the Wicked Stepsister into a springboard elbow to the back to give Hartwell the pin at 3:08.

Rating: C-. I’m sure this is going to set up the Way for a title match but as usual, it isn’t a good sign when a single win is enough to warrant you a pretty big title shot. It isn’t like there is anything to the division at this point so the Way is good enough for the shot, though I’m not sure how much drama there is going to be. Dolin and Ramier looked fine in defeat here, but it wasn’t about them here.

Post match Candice rants about how no woman deserves to be a champion more than her. The Way is coming for the titles at Takeover…..so here are Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in the tank to interrupt. Trash talk ensues and the challenge is accepted, leaving Shotzi to shoot a foam missile at Hartwell. That’s rather violent.

Io Shirai comes up to Raquel Gonzalez in the back and says Gonzalez can’t kill her. The brawl is on and Shirai gets dropped in a hurry.

The dog has made it inside and runs in slow motion. Beth: “Ok what’s with the dog?”

Roderick Strong leaves, saying he is done. He seems to be out of the battle royal tonight too.

Raquel Gonzalez vs. Zoey Stark

Dakota Kai is here too. Gonzalez powers her around to start but Stark manages to flip over her out of the corner. There’s a dropkick into the corner but Gonzalez counters a monkey flip with straight power. A faceplant gets two on Stark and we hit a fairly lengthy chinlock. Back up and Gonzalez charges into a superkick, allowing Stark to hit a running knee. Gonzalez is sent outside but pulls the dive out of the air.

That earns Gonzalez a posting but a Kai distraction….earns Kai a clothesline over the barricade. Back in and another knee gives Stark two more but she gets caught on top. The powerbomb out of the corner is blocked though and Stark hits a spinning Blockbuster for two more. Gonzalez has had it though and tosses Stark down, setting up the powerbomb for the pin at 4:54.

Rating: C+. This is a tricky one as this match did a great job of making Stark look competitive, but I’m not sure how good of an idea that was at this point. Do you really want your #1 contender having trouble a week before the biggest match of her career? It certainly was an entertaining match but I’m not sure if it was the smartest.

Post match Io Shirai comes in for another brawl and Gonzalez has to bail.

The dog goes upstairs and runs through one of the training rooms.

Kushida is ready to win to go to Takeover but Pete Dunne comes in to say prove it. That seems fine with Kushida.

We get the Prime Target video on Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Cole says they have fifteen minutes and sits down. O’Reilly talks about how they have known each other for about eleven years and knew there was a connection. Cole says they have been either friends or opponents since then, complete with a New Japan photo of them kicking each other in the face.

We see the Undisputed Era forming and all of their success and O’Reilly talks about how much better they all became. Cole however is the same evil man who walked into NXT three and a half years ago and O’Reilly has to convince himself that the last three years meant nothing. If there was the slightest chance that they could be cool again, O’Reilly wouldn’t put Cole down. Cole talks about how O’Reilly is a lapdog and we see William Regal making this an unsanctioned match at Takeover. They both promise to end each other. A lot of this was made of clips from last week but DANG WWE knows how to nail these things.

Kayden Carter/Kacy Catanzaro vs. Xia Li

This is supposed to be a tag match but Li is on her own. Kayden hammers away to start and takes Li into the corner so Catanzaro can get in her own shows. The running corner clothesline gets two but Li takes Catanzaro to the floor for rams into various hard objects. Back in and Catanzaro manages a spinning Codebreaker (that’s a new one) but hold on as Carter goes up to the throne, where she is quickly choked out by Mei Ling. (Well what else was she expecting?). That leaves Li to kick Catanzaro in the head for the pin at 3:08.

Rating: D+. The match was just there as a backdrop for Ling to show her power off. I’m not sure where this is going but it has certainly been one of the more unique stories NXT has had in awhile. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Carter join the evil now, because WWE likes having people join the dark side. Still though, good enough angle to go with a not very good match.

Io Shirai goes after Raquel Gonzalez again but this time gets thrown through a wall (for a great visual). Gonzalez: “STAY DOWN!”

The dog finds a woman in high heels and a message saying “See You April 13, Franky.” That’s an interesting way to set up a reveal.

Tommaso Ciampa talks about how Walter has reminded him of his own journey. Sometimes you need to be reminded of who you are, because people have been saying he has changed. And yeah, he has, and he still feels all of his supporters. At Takeover, he is chasing his dragon and climbing to the top of the dragon’s mountain to chop the dragon’s head off. Ciampa has been there before and knows what it is like to fall all the way back down. That changes a man and he knows what it takes to get back. The Blackheart still lives and he is taking the United Kingdom Title so Walter can learn how far of a fall it is. Intense stuff from Ciampa.

Takeover rundown.

Finn Balor knew he would face Karrion Kross one day and the time is now. The ring is his life and his stamina has always been his strength. He doesn’t get worn down and no matter how much Kross wants to keep the pace, Kross is drowning in the deep water.

Barrett and Joseph are in the ring to explain the rules of the main event.

Battle Royal

Isaiah Scott, Dexter Lumis, Leon Ruff, LA Knight, Bronson Reed, Pete Dunne, Kushida, Austin Theory, Cameron Grimes, Tyler Rust, Jake Atlas

The final six will be the six in the Gauntlet Eliminator on night one, with the order of elimination determining the order of entrance (the winner here comes in #6, the runner up comes in #5 etc.). The winner of that gets a North American Title shot on night two. Scott comes out first but Ruff jumps him from behind and the fight is on outside. We take a break and come back with the start of the mat, meaning it’s time to have everyone (save for Lumis) fight on the ropes early on.

Scott dropkicks Atlas out and Rust follows him to clear the ring out a bit. Kushida works on Grimes’ arm near the apron and Theory is knocked to the floor but he lands on his back. He can’t get up….until he nips up…..to his feet for the elimination. Reed throws Kushida over the top but can’t get him out. Grimes and Knight can’t get rid of Reed, so Kushida hits a double handspring elbow to Grimes and Knight.

Dunne grabs Ruff’s arm and Kushida kicks Grimes’ arm, meaning it’s time for Dunne vs. Kushida. They slug it out until Kushida cartwheels out of a cross armbreaker. The Hoverboard Lock goes on but they fall over the top for the double elimination. That leaves us with the final six, meaning that Knight, Scott, Lumis, Ruff, Reed and Grimes are moving on to the Gauntlet Eliminator.

We take a break and come back (with Dunne vs. Kushida being added to night one) with Lumis still having barely moved as Johnny Gargano is on commentary. While Gargano makes references to Edge’s theme songs, Reed dumps out Ruff and then Scott to get us down to four. Knight and Grimes get together to go after Reed, with Lumis finally moving to help get rid of him.

Lumis stands in the middle now…and Grimes busts out some money to try and buy them off. Knight thinks it’s a good idea but Lumis hits Grimes in the face and it’s a double toss to get rid of him. We’re down to Lumis vs. Knight and Knight isn’t sure what to do here. Some right hands have Knight in trouble and a backdrop puts him down. Knight sends Lumis to the apron and a neck snaps rocks him again. A missed charge sends Knight through the ropes (not an elimination) and he pulls Lumis down for the win at 13:00.

Rating: C. This was a battle royal and I’m not sure what else to say about it. Knight winning is fine as it’s not like this is going to be the big definitive result that determines the gauntlet. This makes as much sense as any other heel winning and Knight needed a little something for his first big win around here.

Post match Knight gets in Gargano’s face but here’s Shirai AGAIN to call out Gonzalez one more time. The brawl is on and the women’s locker room is here to break it up. Shirai beats more of them up and the springboard dive takes out Gonzalez and more. A lot of yelling at the downed Gonzalez ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show had a heck of a trick to pull of and it worked well enough….I think. It certainly wasn’t a great night and they have had better go home shows before, but the made me want to see Shirai vs. Gonzalez through sheer will power. Throw in what should be an amazing fight between O’Reilly and Cole, plus the rest of the cards looking fine and I think they’ll be good to go, though the double shows are taking away some of the spark.

Results

Cameron Grimes b. Roderick Strong – Cave In

Santos Escobar b. Tyler Breeze – Phantom Driver

The Way b. Zayda Ramier/Gigi Dolin – Springboard elbow to Ramier’s back

Raquel Gonzalez b. Zoey Stark – Lifting powerbomb

Xia Li b. Kayden Carter/Kacy Catanzaro – Spinning kick to Catanzaro’s face

LA Knight won a battle royal last eliminating Dexter Lumis

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NXT
Date: March 24, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix

We are two weeks away from Takeover and that means it is time for NXT to do what it does best by hammering home the big push towards the special. This time around that means we are going to be seeing William Regal dealing with Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly for getting into a fight earlier in the week. I think you know where this is going. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Karrion Kross attacking Finn Balor, his partner last week, and setting up their Takeover main event for Balor’s title.

Adam Cole came to work today, flanked by security.

Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez vs. Zoey Stark/Io Shirai

Gonzalez shoves Stark away to start and says this is her house. The armbar goes on to keep Gonzalez in control until Starks flips her way to freedom. Stark works on her own armbar and hits a running kick in the corner, followed by a knee to the face. Gonzalez isn’t having that and blasts her with a clothesline and hands it off to Kai, who is dropped onto Stark for two.

Stark takes her down for some right hands to the head though and Shirai comes in for the first time. Kai’s pump kick misses and Shirai stomps her down in the corner, setting up the slingshot double knees to the chest. Gonzalez’s distraction lets Kai roll her up a few times, only for Shirai to show her how it’s done with her own near fall. It’s back to Stark for a running uppercut in the corner but Kai pulls her down by the hair. Gonzalez comes back in but gets kneed in the chest in a hurry. Kai tags herself in for a reverse powerbomb/enziguri combination for two.

We take a break and come back with the double tag bringing Kai and Shirai, one of whom cleans house (I’ll let you guess which). There’s a pair of 619s to the villains and a missile dropkick puts Kai down. Stark adds a springboard dropkick of his own, followed by Stark’s slingshot dive onto Gonzalez. Stark posts her as well but misses a 450 back inside. Instead, Gonzalez powerbombs her down, knocks Shirai off the apron and hits another powerbomb for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: C. They accomplished a few things here, including making Gonzalez look like a killer. Shirai is going to be in trouble she she has to defend the title and that is a good thing for Takeover. Stark continues to look very good in the ring just by rubbing elbows with stars but she is going to have to win something at some point.

Post match Gonzalez and Shirai pull themselves up for the staredown. Kai offers a distraction though and Gonzalez lays her out with a big boot. The powerbomb onto the announcers’ table leaves Shirai laying.

We look at Adam Cole coming to Kyle O’Reilly’s Brazilian jiu jitsu training center and getting in a fight. William Regal has promised punishment.

O’Reilly arrives with security and Roderick Strong tells him to take out Col. O’Reilly doesn’t seem to want the help or advice. Strong looks sad and says O’Reilly and Cole can both go to h***.

LA Knight isn’t worried about Bronson Reed tonight because Reed made a mistake last week.

Jordan Devlin knows tonight’s match is huge because it involves someone who has been a top star in Japan, England and America and is universally respected. That is quite the star, and tonight he is facing Kushida! Devlin likes Kushida, but he is going down tonight.

Bronson Reed vs. LA Knight

Reed shoves him around to start and then sends Knight flying with a backdrop. A powerslam sets up the chinlock on Knight and there’s an elbow to the face to take him down again. The chinlock keeps Knight in trouble before Reed switches to a double arm crank. Make that a waistlock but Knight fights up and makes it over to the apron. There’s a neck snap to slow Reed down and Knight stomps away.

Knight’s rhythmic pointing takes us to a break and we come back with Reed fighting out of a chinlock. That’s broken up so Knight stomps him down into the corner and slowly hammers away. A missed charge into the corner lets Knight hit a jumping neckbreaker for two more. Reed fights up again and shrugs off a kick to the face, meaning it’s time to run Knight over again. The chokeslam plants Knight again but he’s up in time to break up the Tsunami. Reed shoves him off though and finishes with the Tsunami at 12:09.

Rating: C-. It’s interesting that they are having Knight lose so soon, but more important than that is Reed, who is looking like a heck of a monster face. That Tsunami is one of the best looking splashes I’ve seen in a long time and I’m curious to see where Reed can go from here. He needs a big win, but giving him this kind of a squash is a good sign for his future.

We look at Danny Burch’s injury, causing the Tag Team Titles to be vacated. As a result, MSK, the Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma will face off for the vacant titles at Takeover.

Video on Walter, who is a monster and coming to NXT, at least for the time being. Other wrestlers talk about how worried they are because of him.

Oney Lorcan vs. Karrion Kross

Kross has Scarlett with him and Lorcan goes straight at him to start. Lorcan gets in a few shots to the face and they head outside, with Kross driving him into the barricade. Back in and Kross kicks him outside again, this time for a suplex on the floor. They head back in again with Lorcan’s chops earning him….a third trip out to the floor, just in case the first two didn’t connect.

Lorcan manages to dropkick him into the corner but Kross explodes out of the corner with a clothesline for two. We take a break and come back with Kross firing off shoulders in the corner. A cross armbreaker doesn’t get Lorcan anywhere as Kross breaks out and hits a t-bone suplex out of the corner.

The neck crank goes on as Kross talks about being glad Danny Burch was hurt last week. Lorcan gets fired up and avoids a charge to send Kross shoulder first into the post. A DDT on the arm has Kross panicking a bit so Lorcan wins a slugout by taking out the leg. The Blockbuster misses though and Kross kicks him in the face. The Doomsday Saito into the running elbow to the back of the head finishes Lorcan at 9:17.

Rating: C+. This was the perfectly logical match to have and as usual, Lorcan’s offense can work on anyone while still looking good. That is what we had here and Kross survives anyway, as he also gets a boost on the way to Takeover. I’m really not sure what they are going to do with Kross, but I am starting to get the praise.

Post match Kross says he would like to take a moment to address the actions of Finn Balor. Last week, Balor’s actions included malice. Kross promises pain because there is no stopping what is next, which is him. Cue Finn Balor, who says Kross showed him his weakness last week. Balor says Kross fight with emotions last week and that makes him sloppy and vulnerable. At Takeover, Balor is going to exploit those weaknesses and walk out NXT Champion because Balor can’t control himself and will drown without emotions. The staredown is on.

William Regal announces his plans for the North American Title match at Takeover. Next week there will be a twelve person battle royal with the final six remaining going on to a gauntlet eliminator match at Takeover Night One. The winner of that will move on to get the shot at Gargano on Night Two.

Kushida has accepted Jordan Devlin’s challenge for tonight.

Yesterday, Drake Maverick got on Imperium’s nerves and got a match with Walter as a result.

Walter vs. Drake Maverick

Non-title and Walter hits a powerbomb into the half crab for the immediate stoppage at 27 seconds.

Post match Imperium poses but here is Tommaso Ciampa to interrupt. Ciampa isn’t wasting time and challenges him to a UK Title match at Takeover. The brawl is on and Walter takes Ciampa’s necklace, which incenses him. One heck of a chop leaves Ciampa laying and Walter accepts the challenge.

Pete Dunne is ready to dominate the locker room and wants the North American Title.

Jessi Kamea is injured so Robert Stone pays off Mercedes Martinez to take her place. Mercedes agrees but wants the other half after the match. Stone agrees, but after Mercedes leaves, admits he has no more money. Oh dear.

A panicked Johnny Gargano goes to see William Regal and recaps the NXT Title situation for Takeover. Regal tells him to chill.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon vs. Mercedes Martinez/Aaliyah

Martinez and Aaliyah are challenging and have Robert Stone in their corner. Martinez throws Moon around to start but she snaps off a headscissors. Blackheart gets in the figure four necklock over the rope but Stone gets up on the apron to throw a quick fit. That’s enough for Martinez to get in a clothesline on Shotzi, followed by a fireman’s carry gutbuster.

Aaliyah comes in and even kicks Moon off of the apron without much trouble. It’s back to Martinez, who is quickly send into the corner, allowing the hot tag. House is cleaned in a hurry and a powerbomb gets two on Aaliyah. Blackheart plants Martinez with a tornado DDT and the Eclipse finishes Aaliyah at 4:02.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what you were expecting here but it was only so good. This was mainly there to give the new champs their first defense. It wasn’t exactly a great match and the Eclipse at the end didn’t look great, but they kept it moving and didn’t try to stretch out into some unnecessary drama.

Cameron Grimes comes in to see Roderick Strong and suggests they restart the Undisputed Era. Strong hits him in the face.

Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart are proud of their win when the Way comes in. The challenge is issued and accepted.

Takeover rundown.

Jordan Devlin vs. Kushida

Non-title. Devlin takes him down in a hurry and hits a standing moonsault for an early two. That’s fine with Kushida, who hiptosses him into a basement dropkick before starting in on the arm. Kushida cranks on it with his feet and then his arms before sliding between Devlin’s legs to the floor, Devlin is waiting with an Asai moonsault (that was as crisp and well timed of a sequence as I have seen in a good while). We take a break and come back with Devlin holding a chinlock but getting caught with a jawbreaker. Kushida hits him in the face and bulldogs the arm down but the Hoverboard Lock is countered into a cradle for two.

Devlin nails his slingshot cutter, though he is still badly favoring the arm. Said arm gives out on the Devlin Slide attempt so Kushida goes up top. Devlin catches him with forearms but here is Legado del Fantasma for the distraction. Kushida gets in a kick to the head and superplexes him into the cross armbreaker. Legado pulls Devlin to the floor, which isn’t enough for a DQ. Devlin dives back in and sends Kushida into Legado, setting up a bridging O’Connor roll (meaning no need to use the bad arm) to pin Kushida at 9:26.

Rating: C+. Is it any surprise that these two could have a good match together? This was a rather nice display from both as Kushida took apart the arm but Devlin is on another level at the moment and took out the cruiserweight legend. I’m really not sure where they go with the unification match, but Devlin winning would not surprise me as he seems to have a lot more upward potential.

Post match Kushida goes after Legado and takes down Wilde and Mendoza. Santos Escobar gets in the ring for the staredown with Devlin….and we have a Shawn Michaels. He slides a ladder in the ring and points, leaving both guys to hold up their titles.

Adam Cole runs into Shawn as he leaves and glaring ensues. I’d be down for that.

We get the big showdown between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly, with William Regal in charge and a lot of security. Regal rants about everything that has gone on between the two of them, even down to having the police involved. He has a contract for the two of them to be in an unsanctioned match in the co-main event for Night Two of Takeover so he would like them to sign in peace.

Cole takes the pen but has a story first. He asks Regal to imagine he was blind but then one day could see everything. That is what you call a revelation and Cole had one of those when he saw O’Reilly joining forces with Finn Balor. He thought O’Reilly had lost his mind but then it all came clear.

O’Reilly is just a lapdog on the sidelines but that is not Adam Cole. He is nothing like O’Reilly, who has lost sight of what the Undisputed Era was about. The team was about being the best and that is Cole. Does O’Reilly think he would be here without Cole? There is no team without Cole because he had the title run and sold the shirts and without him, O’Reilly is nothing. Everyone but O’Reilly knows that Cole wins at Takeover so Cole signs.

O’Reilly says they have known each other for a long time and didn’t care who they stepped over on their way to the top. Then O’Reilly grew up and started taking some accountability for his actions. There are no more sneak attacks or 4-1 beatdowns and since then, the team became better. They became stars but only one of them became a better person. Cole is the same a****** who came here three and a half years ago and that makes O’Reilly believe the Undisputed Era meant nothing. He wants to believe they can be cool again but now he won’t hesitate to put Cole down for good.

Cole used his friends to get to the top and O’Reilly is not surprised. No one is going to be surprised……LOOK ME IN THE EYES…..when O’Reilly beats Cole into a pulp. O’Reilly goes to sign, with Cole calling it a death warrant. The contract is signed and the table it turned over but they are held apart to end the show. Awesome promos from both guys with both of them making sense and selling how much they want to hurt the other.

Overall Rating: B. They hit the gas on the build towards Takeover here and that is the kind of show where NXT tends to shine. There are a lot of things to cover on the way there with a pair of shows but this one did a nice job of setting things up in a hurry. Next week will be the big hard sell for the shows, but they did a rather nice job here of making me want to see Takeover. Well done, as this was right in NXT’s wheelhouse.

Results

Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez b. Io Shirai/Zoey Stark – Powerbomb to Stark

Bronson Reed b. LA Knight – Tsunami

Karrion Kross b. Oney Lorcan – Running elbow to the back of the head

Walter b. Drake Maverick via referee stoppage

Shotzi Blackheart/Ember Moon b. Mercedes Martinez/Aaliyah – Eclipse to Aaliyah

Jordan Devlin b. Kushida – Bridging O’Connor roll

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

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NXT
Date: March 17, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

We’re on the road to Takeover and this time around that means we have twice the usual amount of matches to set up. The end of last week’s show set up a pair of matches for Takeover and I’m curious to see what else they have for the show. Throw in a few more title matches to be set up and we could be in for a nice pair of shows. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at last week’s main event, followed by Kyle O’Reilly laying out Adam Cole and Karrion Kross confronting Finn Balor. There are your Takeover main events.

Here is Finn Balor, who says he is still champion. He has defeated everyone and at Takeover, Karrion Kross’ time is up. Cue Kross and Scarlett, with Kross saying this could never happen until the settled their other affairs. This had to be one on one because that is all that matters around here. The people need to know who the real champion is around here, as do the two of them. Balor says Kross doesn’t have what it takes to beat him so Kross promises to choke him out.

Scarlett says that she has already seen this in the cards: two champions, both draped in gold clashing. Cue Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch to say that Pete Dunne is going to be champion anyway because he’s the best in the world. Scarlett issues a challenge for the Tag Team Titles tonight but the champs don’t seem sure. That’s fine with Scarlett, who talks them into the match and we have a main event.

Austin Theory vs. Dexter Lumis

During the entrances, the rest of the Way talk to Theory on a tablet, with Johnny Gargano reminding him of what Lumis said about Theory’s abs. The bell rings and we take a break less than thirty seconds in (gah). Back with Theory hitting a fall away slam but having to elbow his way out of the Silence. Lumis is right back with a spinebuster and the jumping legdrop gets two.

A pop up uppercut rocks Theory again and there’s a slingshot suplex to make it worse. Lumis misses a dive off the top though and Theory hits a running forearm for two. What looks like a powerbomb is broken up and Lumis offers him a hand up. They stare each other down and Theory hugs him, earning himself the Side Effect into the Silence for the knockout at 9:49.

Rating: C-. This was the next step on the way to Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis at Takeover and in that vein, it worked out fine. It wasn’t a particularly good match but Lumis was doing a bit better with the storytelling here. You can do that in silence perfectly well, but Lumis is rarely the strongest in that area. I’m still not wild on him, though at least this was a bit better.

Tommaso Ciampa does not like Imperium jumping him last week and suggests that he took out Alexander Wolfe. The team won’t be standing after tonight.

Here’s Adam Cole for a chat. Cole is sick of Kyle O’Reilly, who he used at first but now O’Reilly is completely worthless. Last week O’Reilly came at him so Cole calls O’Reilly out here right now. Cole gets William Regal instead and it turns out that O’Reilly is not here due to his neck getting hurt again last week. O’Reilly pops up on the screen to say that he will deal with Cole in time, because Cole tried to end his career. This is not the Cole that he has known for eleven years and revenge is coming. Cole says if Regal won’t tell him where O’Reilly is, he’ll find him on his own.

We recap the Women’s Tag Team Titles being awarded and lost last week.

Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon still can’t believe they’re the champions but now it’s time to take care of business. The Robert Stone Brand comes in to challenge them for next week and it’s immediately accepted.

Jordan Devlin arrives in a very nice car.

Breezango vs. Legado del Fantasma

Fandango and Mendoza slug it out to start with Fandango hitting a clothesline to the back of the head. Another one to the front lets Breeze come in for two but Mendoza is back for a knee to the face. It’s off to Wilde into a basement crossbody for two but Breeze is right back to send Wilde into the corner. A jawbreaker rocks Fandango though and there’s the mocking of the dance. Fandango reverses a superplex attempt into a super gordbuster, only to get kicked out to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Fandango making the hot tag to Breeze to clean house via a stream of forearms. A half crab has Wilde in trouble and pulling it back to the middle makes it worse. Wilde escapes so Breeze catapults him over the top but Fandango misses a dive onto Mendoza. The Supermodel Kick gives Breeze two with Mendoza making the save. The Unprettier is broken up though and the Russian legsweep/running kick to the face finishes Breeze at 9:52.

Rating: C. Breezango continues to feel like such an unimportant team despite being former Tag Team Champions. This should wrap up the feud though as Jordan Devlin being back should let Legado need to be there to help Santos Escobar. The match was fine too with most of the action working well enough.

Post match Santos Escobar asks where Jordan Devlin is. Cue Devlin to say this is what a champion looks like. Escobar can drop his replica because the real champ is here to call him out. Escobar talks about redefining what it means to be a cruiserweight time after time. Devlin only has that title because everyone has forgotten about him. The challenge is made and Devlin hits a headbutt into the Devlin Side.

Adam Cole is going to find Kyle O’Reilly.

Cameron Grimes is on vacation, including swimming underwater while taking pictures and still wearing his hat.

Sarray is coming. I believe that has been in the works for about a year now.

Zoey Stark vs. Dakota Kai

Raquel Gonzalez is here with Kai. They fight over a lockup to start and take it to the mat before fighting over a top wristlock. Kai flips out but can’t get out, instead getting taken into a headlock. Stark takes her down into a hammerlock to crank on the arm. Back up and Kai sends her into the corner for the running knee to the face and two of her own. Stark jumps over her in the corner and sends Kai outside for the big slingshot dive. We take a break and come back with Kai hammering away for two but Starks grabs a neckbreaker.

A half nelson suplex lets Stark nip up but Kai catches her with the pump kick. They head to the apron with Stark hitting her own kick to the face. Kai gets sent inside, where she is able to superkick Stark out of the air. The running boot in the corner gets two off a heck of a kickout but Stark is back with a knee to the face. That lets her go up top, only to get kicked back down. The Go To Kick finishes Stark at 12:37.

Rating: C+. I like both of these two a good deal and it was interesting to see Kai do this well without Gonzalez getting involved. Stark continues to have a lot of potential and having her in there against some bigger names helps a lot. She needs to win something, but there is still a lot of time to get to that.

Post match Gonzalez and Kai yell at Stark but here’s Io Shirai to stare at Gonzalez and hand her a contract.

William Regal is interrupted because of something that has happened with Adam Cole.

The Grizzled Young Veterans say that MSK made a mistake and vengeance is coming.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Marcel Barthel

Ciampa jumps Fabian Aichner at ringside to start as Barrett thinks Alexander Wolfe and Timothy Thatcher have gone fishing. The bell rings and Ciampa hammers away but gets taken down into a headlock for some shots to the face. Ciampa fights up but Barthel steps on the knee to make it a chinlock. Back up and Barthel goes up, only to get dropkicked out of the air. Ciampa fights up and makes the comeback, including knocking Aichner off the apron. A running forearm drops Barthel and Willow’s Bell is good for the pin at 4:31.

Rating: C-. This was all about getting the two sides in the ring for a change. Ciampa vs. Imperium with Timothy Thatcher thrown in somewhere could be rather interesting. It is a different kind of feud for him and if it gives us some fresh matches and a way to get more Imperium on a bigger stage, everything will be fine.

Post match Ciampa is pleased….until Walter arrives. The rest of Imperium goes after Ciampa but alter walks him out with a chop into the powerbomb.

William Regal goes to the parking lot where Kyle O’Reilly is being arrested. Adam Cole shouts that O’Reilly tried to run him off the road but is being arrested too.

LA Knight is ready for his debut so he can prove that he is a megastar. Bronson Reed glares from behind.

LA Knight vs. August Grey

Knight runs him over to start and hits a slingshot shoulder. Grey’s O’Connor roll is broken up and Knight nails a powerslam. Cue Reed with Knight’s jacket, which he tears apart while trying to put on. The distraction lets Grey get a rollup for two and a neckbreaker puts Knight down again. Grey’s springboard spinning crossbody misses and a headlock driver finishes Grey at 2:22. Knight did his thing and the charisma alone will carry him a long way.

Raquel Gonzalez is happy with the contract to face Shirai but Dakota Kai comes up to say they need to face Shirai and Zoey Stark last week. They have lost twice in a row as a team and need to remind everyone who runs this place. How much running can you do of a division with about four teams that has been around for a few weeks?

Xia Li says resistance will not be tolerated and obstacles will be removed.

William Regal is ticked off and has a solution for Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly next week.

Tag Team Titles: Karrion Kross/Finn Balor vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch

Kross and Balor are challenging and have Scarlett with them. Kross throws Lorcan to start so it’s off to Burch, who is slammed face first into the mat. The bearhug goes on but a shot to the head breaks that up. The champs try a double suplex but Kross suplexes both of them instead, with Burch landing HARD on his shoulder. The referee checks on him and Kross has to just stand there as we take a break. Back with Balor armdragging Lorcan and grabbing the armbar.

Lorcan fights up and sends Balor into the corner for some chops. We hit the chinlock as we see the medic looking at Burch on the floor. Balor fights back but Lorcan is up to knock Kross off the apron. Some chops put Lorcan outside for the Sling Blade on the floor and there’s the John Woo dropkick, sending Lorcan crashing into Scarlett. Kross grabs Balor and sends him into the barricade before throwing him inside. Lorcan hits the running uppercut for the pin on Balor (who was out on his feet) at 10:59.

Rating: C+. This was much more angle than match and given how things went with Burch, this was fairly impressive. The entire point was to have Kross attack Balor and Scarlett served as his trigger. I didn’t think they would change the titles as it would be very un-NXT to do so, but now I don’t know where the titles are going if Burch is badly hurt.

Post match Kross destroys Lorcan before destroying Balor even worse. Kross chokes him out and drops the title on him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Definitely not their strongest show but you can see where a lot of Takeover is going. They only have a few weeks left to set the show up and that is the kind of schedule that usually works well for NXT. This was a pretty off week for them, but given the amount of Coronavirus cases, that might not be the biggest surprise.

Results

Dexter Lumis b. Austin Theory – Silence

Legado del Fantasma b. Breezango – Russian legsweep/running kick to the face combination to Breeze

Dakota Kai b. Zoey Stark – Go To Kick

Tommaso Ciampa b. Marcel Barthel – Willow’s Bell

LA Knight b. August Grey – Headlock driver

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch b. Finn Balor/Karrion Kross – Running uppercut to Balor

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

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AND

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NXT
Date: February 24, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph

It’s time for a night focusing on revenge, as Karrion Kross is going to get to destroy Santos Escobar for Escobar running his mouth, plus the fallout from Adam Cole attacking Kyle O’Reilly last week. The latter is likely to be a much bigger story but both have my interest. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at Karrion Kross being ready to destroy Santos Escobar.

Dexter Lumis vs. Johnny Gargano

Non-title. The Way fires up Gargano in the back before the match and Austin Theory doesn’t quite get it. The rest of the team is here with Gargano so the numbers advantage is strong. Gargano bails straight tot he floor to start and his slingshot back in is knocked out of the air without much effort. The rest of the Way accidentally distracts Gargano and it’s a Thesz press into some right hands to give Lumis two. A rather delayed suplex drops Gargano again and he heads outside for a breather.

This time a shot to the ribs staggers Lumis and Gargano sends him head first onto the floor. That just earns Gargano a hot shot onto the apron as much like almost everyone else, Lumis is just too confusing. Theory and Indi Hartwell try to offer a distraction and get stared down, leaving Candice LeRae’s hurricanrana off the apron to be blocked with ease. Gargano uses the distraction to nail a suicide dive though and we take a break.

Back with Lumis fighting out of a camel clutch and driving Gargano into the corner. Lumis punches him down a few times and nails a slingshot suplex. A belly to back into a nipup into a legdrop gets two on Gargano, who misses his rolling kick out of the corner. The Gargano Escape is countered into the Silence which is countered into a crucifix to give Gargano two.

They trade shots to the face and Lumis snaps off a spinebuster for two more. The top rope double stomp misses so Gargano nails him with a superkick for two. Gargano orders Theory to send in a chair but Lumis steps on it to cut that off. A kick to the head knocks Lumis down and while he gets his leg checked out, Theory grabs the chair to hit Lumis…but gets stared down instead. Gargano is sent into Theory and the Silence knocks Gargano out at 13:36.

Rating: C+. And yes the story will continue as NXT pushes Lumis for whatever reason they have. With so many other talented people they have sitting around, this is the best that they can do? I’m not sure what to expect from the story going forward, but hopefully it doesn’t wind up with Gargano dropping the title to him, because…just no.

William Regal looks for someone in the parking lot but no one is there.

Video on MSK, who started as opponents and then came together as a team and won the Dusty Classic. Nash Carter’s dad passed away in high school and he wanted to make his dad proud, which is why he has “Legacy Lives On” tattooed across his chest. Now they wan the Tag Team Titles.

MSK is ready for an interview but gets jumped by the Grizzled Young Veterans. Wes Lee’s hand is crushed with a chair and referees come in to break it up.

Earlier today, Leon Ruff was cleared to wrestle when Malcolm Bivens popped up from his hiding place in the trainer’s room. Bivens wants Ruff to face Tyler Rust tonight and you know Ruff is game.

Tyler Rust vs. Leon Ruff

Malcolm Bivens is here with Rust and says Ruff is in trouble. Ruff comes out but here’s Isaiah Scott to jump him from behind. After ranting about how he is sick of people like Ruff getting a chance, Scott hits a nasty AA onto the apron, with Ruff’s back bending in a rather scary visual. Bivens declares Rust the winner despite the lack of a match.

Yesterday, William Regal offered Zoey Stark a non-title match with Io Shirai. Sure.

Stark is ready to….have her promo cut off by technical difficulties that leave us looking at Shirai.

Cameron Grimes watches clips of Ted DiBiase offering people money for various tasks. Grimes likes the idea and tries the same thing with a guy standing nearby….who does it just fine and gets $1000. The guy says it was easy when Grimes didn’t cheat like DiBiase. Grimes knew he should have watched the whole thing! This is as gold as you can get around here.

We see stills of Adam Cole attacking Kyle O’Reilly last week, which will put O’Reilly out of action with herniated discs. He should be out for 4-6 weeks at the moment.

Io Shirai vs. Zoey Stark

Non-title. They lock up to start with Shirai grabbing the arm with Stark flipping up, only to get armdragged back down. A kind of weird looking backdrop sets up a bit of miscommunication as they seem to be trying to figure out what to do. The Octopus has Stark in trouble and Shirai takes her down for the running basement dropkick. the 619 is blocked and Shirai is sent to the apron, where she blocks a charge with a kick to the face. One heck of a running kick to the head knocks Shirai off the top though and we take a break.

Back with Stark kicking the leg out to cut off a comeback and hitting a sliding kick to the head for two. Stark jumps to the top but misses a 450, meaning stereo crossbodies put them both down. A half and half suplex gives Stark two and we hit the chinlock. Shirai blocks a kick and nails a flapjack, followed by the 619 into the missile dropkick. There’s a double underhook backbreaker for two and Shirai can’t believe the kickout. Stark is right back with a German suplex for her own two but Shirai sends her face first into the corner. The running knees set up the Over the Moonsault to finish Stark at 12:50.

Rating: B-. Stark has come off like a complete star in her two matches so far and I think NXT knows what they have with her. Having her in a non-title loss like this where she made the champ sweat is a good thing and more importantly it’s a positive sign for her future. Hopefully we get to see more of her in the future because she has done rather well so far.

Respect is shown post match but here’s Toni Storm to interrupt. She’s no Zoey Stark because last week she kicked Shirai’s head off and Shirai did nothing about it. Shirai had to pin Mercedes Martinez at Takeover because she can’t beat Storm. Shirai says she’ll fight Storm anywhere anytime but Storm says she’s scared. Storm tells her to go find William Regal and get the match made, which seems to work for Shirai.

The Way is leaving before Dexter Lumis finds them. Johnny Gargano asks Austin Theory why he didn’t hit Lumis with the chair. Theory says Lumis is just misunderstood, sending Gargano over the edge into a rant about how crazy Lumis is for kidnapping multiple people. Indi: “I think he’s kind of hot.” Candice: “WHAT THE…..” Gargano has to cover her mouth and promises to fix this because Theory is going to therapy. Ok a Dr. Shelby cameo could help a lot.

Video on Xia Li marking Kacy Catanzaro.

Cameron Grimes has finished the Ted DiBiase video and now he’s ready to try this again. He tries it with three people but one of the women (who seems to be former WNBA player Anriel Howard) accuses him of copying DiBiase. She stands up and is a good bit taller than him, which doesn’t bother her. The dribbling begins but she dribbles between her legs at eight to win the money. Grimes: “TED DIBIASE! THIS AIN’T OVER!” These things are gold.

Kacy Catanzaro vs. Xia Li

Kayden Carter is here with Catanzaro and Boa is here with Li, as Tian Sha watches from the stage. Catanzaro starts fast with a headscissors but gets dropped face first onto the turnbuckle. Li stomps her down in the corner and there’s a snap suplex for two. The chinlock goes on but Catanzaro fights out and grabs a sunset flip for two. A kick to the ribs sets up another chinlock but Catanzaro fights out again.

The stomping in the corner has Li in trouble and there’s a flipping kick to the back. They head to the floor with Catanzaro going into the barricade. Catanzaro’s leg winds up on the steps and Li stomps down HARD on it, with the knee going in a VERY wrong direction. Screaming ensues but Li throws her back inside anyway, where the referee stops it at 4:41.

Rating: C. I know the story is completely over the top but it is also one of the more interesting things that NXT has done in a while. I’m curious to see where this is going to go and that is more than I can say about a lot of things that take place in NXT these days. Li is a completely different kind of star and I want to see how things continue. Nicely done, though hopefully Catanzaro isn’t gone for a long time because she was getting better.

Post match referees check on Catanzaro as Carter goes up to yell at Sha. With Boa standing in the way, Sha signals to Li, who kicks Catanzaro in the head.

Regal is still waiting in the parking lot. It seems that he is waiting on Santos Escobar, which does make sense.

Video on Raquel Gonzalez/Dakota Kai vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler for the Women’s Tag Team Titles next week. Jax and Baszler don’t seem intimidated.

Cameron Grimes finds someone else to try the basketball idea, which the guy thinks is like Ted DiBiase. After one dribble, Grimes punches him n the face and says DiBiase can kiss his grits. He throws the money around and leaves it on the ground because Grimes is a goof. An entertaining goof, but a goof.

Kacy Catanzaro might have a broken leg.

Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to James Drake as Drake and Drake Maverick as Maverick. Before the match, the Veterans announce that Wes Lee has a broken hand and they have been fined, but it’s cool because they know they’re the better team. Dain dropkicks Drake into the corner to start and it’s off to Maverick to work on the arm. Everything breaks down and Dain shoves both Veterans over the top and out to the floor. Then he throws Maverick onto both of them and we take a break.

Back with Maverick being thrown into the wrong corner to keep him from getting over to Dain. Maverick knees Drake in the back though and crawls between Gibson’s legs for the hot tag. House is cleaned in a hurry with Dain getting annoyed at Drake for jumping on his back. That means a Samoan drop/fall away slam combination to the Veterans at the same time, setting up a backsplash for two on Drake.

There’s a double suplex to the Veterans again and it’s off to Maverick for a high crossbody. Some dropkicks have the Veterans in trouble but a blind tag sets up a middle rope dropkick/Downward Spiral combination. Dain is taken to the floor and knocked down but Maverick hits Gibson with a bulldog. Gibson pulls him off the top though and Ticket To Mayhem finishes Maverick at 8:22.

Rating: C. Maverick and Dain are still a fun odd couple but you can only have them lose so many times. The good thing is that the Veterans won because I never get tired of those guys. They work so well together and it’s great to see them doing their thing and hopefully moving back up the ladder sooner rather than later.

Legado del Fantasma arrives.

Post break, Killian Dain carries Drake Maverick to the trainer’s room but they run into Alexander Wolfe, who says Dain used to be a monster. Dain ignores him and gets help for Maverick. Was it that bad of a beating?

Karrion Kross vs. Santos Escobar

Non-title and no DQ but we cut to the parking lot where Kross attacks Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde. That brings Escobar out of his car and the brawl is on. They fight over to a truck with Escobar managing to drop the door onto Kross’ shoulder to make him scream. Kross fights back but the rest of Legado comes in to keep up the brawl. Escobar hides in the truck’s cab so Kross fights off the goons and finds a pickax to swing at the door.

That’s enough to bring Escobar out and the three on one beats Kross down again. The arm is sent into the truck and they head inside, with Escobar heading to ringside while Kross throws the other two through the Plexiglas. The staredown is on and Escobar realizes that he’s in major trouble. They get inside with a big boot dropping Escobar for one but Kross has to deal with Wilde. That’s enough for Escobar to get in a chair shot, followed by rams into the post and steps.

We take a break and come back with Escobar hitting a running basement dropkick in the corner as Scarlett is not pleased. The shoulder is wrapped inside of a chair and sent into the post to put Kross down again. A DDT onto the chair is good for two back inside and there’s a dropkick to the arm. They’re already back on the floor with Kross trying to fight back but getting knocked down by the arm again.

Back in and the armbar goes on before Escobar tries Three Amigos. The first two connect but the third is countered into some suplexes from Kross. They’re outside again but this time, Kross pulls him hard into the post. A suplex and a powerbomb get rid of Wilde and Mendoza, leaving Kross to Doomsday Saito Escobar through the announcers’ table. Another Doomsday Saito sets up a running forearm to the back of the head to finish Escobar at 15:36.

Rating: B. This took a bit longer than it needed but Kross as the unstoppable monster was the right way to go. There’s something interesting about him as the monster face rather than a villain and while that wasn’t quite the case here, he was definitely feeling different than usual and I was digging where they were going. Throw in Escobar being treated like a star as well and this was a very different main event which worked rather well.

LA Knight says he’ll debut on his time.

Here’s Adam Cole to look at a clip of his attack on Kyle O’Reilly last week. Now that footage makes him sick to his stomach. At first he was mad at O’Reilly for getting title shot after title shot but now he is ashamed. He knows O’Reilly can’t be here but he should be, and Cole promises to do everything he can to make it better. Cole sounds near tears but here is Roderick Strong to say Cole wrecked everything.

The Undisputed Era was based on trust and Cole broke it. Strong says O’Reilly is going to heal and Cole might not survive what is coming for him. Cue Finn Balor for the brawl with Cole but Strong tries to break it up, allowing Cole to hit a superkick. Strong and Cole head back inside, where Strong runs him over with a clothesline. Cole begs off and asks for mercy, with Strong dropping to his knees and saying he loves Cole too. They hug….and Cole hits him low. Cole calls Strong stupid to end the show. This was rather good and Cole sold the heck out of it.

Overall Rating: B+. This one was a bit of a different kind of show but I liked almost everything they did. Between Kross looking like a monster, the Veterans winning, the great closing segment and Grimes rapidly becoming the most entertaining thing in wrestling, I liked a lot more of this than I didn’t. Awesome show this week and they have a lot of different ways to go on the way forward.

Results

Dexter Lumis b. Johnny Gargano – Silence

Io Shirai b. Zoey Stark – Over the Moonsault

Xia Li b. Kacy Catanzaro via referee stoppage

Grizzled Young Veterans b. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick – Ticket to Mayhem to Maverick

Karrion Kross b. Santos Escobar – Running forearm to the back of the head

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

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AND

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

NXT
Date: January 20, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

We less than a month away from the next Takeover and that means it is time to start setting the stage. However, that does not exactly seem to be the case here, as the focus is going to be on both of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classics. Yes both of them, because we are going to have a women’s edition this year as well. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at last week’s first round Dusty Classic matches, plus at what is coming tonight. In addition to the tournaments, we also have the return of the Fight Pit between Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher.

Beth Phoenix is back in person and we even have some streamers.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Kushida/Leon Ruff vs. The Way

That would be Johnny Gargano/Austin Theory. Theory powers out of Ruff’s headlock but gets staggered by a dropkick. Ruff’s crucifix bomb is broken up but Theory misses his dropkick. Kushida comes in to work on the arm, including tying it around his legs and snapping it back. It’s off to Gargano to change things up though, including taking Kushida down for some knees to the back.

Theory’s rolling dropkick puts Kushida down again and a double back elbow drops him again. Kushida slips out of a suplex though and the hot tag brings in Ruff to clean house. Theory isn’t having that and snaps off a torture rack powerbomb for two as we take a break. Back with Ruff fighting out of a chinlock but getting taken right back down with a neckbreaker. Kushida gets knocked off the apron though and it’s a backbreaker into a neckbreaker for two on Ruff.

Theory sends Ruff into the corner but Ruff comes out with a spinning middle rope cutter. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Kushida so house can really be cleaned, including a tornado DDT on Gargano on the floor. Back in and Gargano hits his rolling kick to the head but Kushida is right back with the cross armbreaker. Theory makes the save and a leg trap brainbuster onto the knee gives him two on Kushida. Another tag brings in Ruff, who dives onto Theory at ringside. Gargano kicks Kushida in the head but gets hiptossed into a basement dropkick. An arm trap northern lights suplexes finishes Gargano at 14:47.

Rating: B. The ending was surprising but the best thing here was that this turned into a heck of a match and never looked back. Kushida vs. Gargano is all but locked in for Takeover and that is going to be a heck of a showdown when we finally get the chance to get there. The Way being out so soon is surprising but it sets up something a little more interesting down the line, which is always good to see.

Pete Dunne talks about how Finn Balor is NXT Champion but Dunne built an entire brand on his back. He is the real threat to Balor’s title and the one who can take away his legacy.

Malcolm Bivens comes out of William Regal’s office and praises Tyler Rust, who comes out of Regal’s office as well. Rust has gotten a match tonight, against Bronson Reed. Bivens really does not seem pleased but says Rust is going straight to the top.

Karrion Kross vs. Ashante Adonis

The Doomsday Saito into a pair of running forearms to the back of the head finish Adonis at 1:18. Total destruction as usual.

Post match the medics and Adonis’ partner Desmond Troy come out to help, with Kross choking Troy out.

Video on MSK, with the two of them talking about how hard they have worked to get here. Did they explain what MSK stands for yet?

Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez are ready to destroy Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Imperium vs. Lucha House Party

Barthel takes Dorado down to start and grabs a butterfly suplex. The hammerlock goes on and Dorado is sent throat first into the middle rope. Dorado gets over for Metalik, who comes in with a splash off of Dorado’s shoulders for two. Aichner comes in to take Metalik down with a backbreaker for the save as the power takes over. The reverse Sling Blade gets Metalik out of trouble though and Dorado comes back in, only to have Aichner cut off the suicide dive. Dorado gets slammed on the floor and Metalik gets caught in the Tree of Woe.

That means the double dropkick and we take a break. Back with Dorado fighting out of a cravate and grabbing the Golden Rewind. Barthel puts on his own chinlock before putting Dorado on the top. You don’t do that to Dorado, who takes Barthel down and gets over for the next hot tag to Metalik. A rope walk hurricanrana into a springboard moonsault press gets two on Aichner for a good looking near fall.

Barthel catches Metalik’s dive so Dorado runs in with a dropkick for the save. Metalik slips out of the suplex though and a missile dropkick/sunset bomb combination gets two more on Aichner. It’s back to Dorado, who gets crushed by Aichner. A facebuster drops Aichner and a hurricanrana sends Barthel into him for a big crash. With Aichner out on the floor, Metalik hits a huge top rope moonsault to take him down again. Back in and Dorado’s shooting star finishes Barthel at 14:40.

Rating: B-. They got me with this one as I wouldn’t have bet on Imperium being eliminated n the first round. In addition to the surprise, they had a good match with the technical style meshing well with the lucha stuff. This was quite the impressive surprise as they’re doing some rather nice stuff with the tournament so far tonight.

Post match Alexander Wolfe pops up to stare Imperium down.

We see the official weigh-in for the Fight Pit, with Tommaso Ciampa at 201 and Timothy Thatcher at 225. They nearly got in a fight here as WWE continues to try to tap into interest in the upcoming huge UFC show this coming weekend.

Here’s Beth Phoenix to talk about various women who played a part in the Women’s Revolution. Women’s wrestling has grown a lot because the fans wanted it to become bigger, and tonight it’s time to make history again. Therefore, it’s time for the first women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Mercedes Martinez/Toni Storm vs. Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter

Carter and Storm start things off with Carter working on a wristlock. Storm reverses into one of her own so Carter switches over into a headlock. A shoulder puts Carter down and there’s a dropkick for two. Martinez comes in for a side slam and it’s off to Catanzaro, who is taken down in a hurry. The chinlock goes on with a knee in Catanzaro’s back before Martinez blocks a tornado DDT attempt with straight power. A powerslam gets two on Kacy and we take a break.

Back with Martinez sending Kacy flying with a choke suplex and taking her up top. The superplex is countered into a super hurricanrana to drop Martinez but Storm comes back in to cut off the tag. That lasts for all of three seconds as Carter gets the tag to start cleaning house. A running dropkick in the corner hits Martinez and a low superkick drops Storm.

Another kick to the face sets up a basement dropkick for two on Storm as everyone is back in. Cue Io Shirai to pull Martinez to the floor and throw her over the announcers’ table though, leaving Carter to trip Storm down. That lets Catanzaro go up for a REVERSE BLACK ARROW (How do you even do that?????) and the upset pin at 12:51.

Rating: C. I’ve watched a lot of wrestling in my day and it’s hard to make my jaw drop. That crazy finisher (it started like a moonsault but she did a corkscrew in the air and landed back first on Storm) made it work though and I had to watch it a few times. Catanzaro hasn’t had the most success in NXT but if she can polish that up (the landing wasn’t the smoothest), she’ll be fine at least for a little while longer.

Finn Balor comes in to William Regal’s office to demand Pete Dunne. Balor wants to deal with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch too though, so Regal says find a partner. Regal seems to have an idea.

Isaiah Scott stops Bronson Reed on his way to the ring for some advice we can’t hear.

Ashante Adonis is hurt but a very excited Carter and Catanzaro come in to celebrate.

Bronson Reed vs. Tyler Rust

Rust has Malcolm Bivens with him. During the entrances, we hear what Scott said: don’t ever be in his business again. Rust grabs the wrist so Bronson cranks on the hand to counter with ease. A rather large headlock has Rust in trouble and a big shoulder puts him on the floor. Rust slides back in and is quickly caught in a gorilla press gutbuster. That’s enough to send Rust outside for some advice from Bivens, which seems to be “snap the arm across the top rope”.

Rust cranks on the arm as we cut to a split screen with Io Shirai and Toni Storm being help apart in the back. Reed shrugs it off and hits a running splash in the corner, setting up the chokeslam for another near fall. Rust manages a Samoan drop out of the corner for his own two but Reed shoves him off. The backsplash crushes Rust and the Tsunami REALLY crushes Rust for the pin at 4:49.

Rating: C. The more I see Reed in the ring, the more I like him and the idea of Reed vs. Scott works rather well for me. If nothing else, it is nice to see NXT taking two young, talented wrestlers and giving them the chance to become bigger stars by having a feud. Rust continue to look good, but he needs a win.

Finn Balor needs a partner and seems to have an idea because someone owes him a favor.

Post break, Balor goes in to see the Undisputed Era and looks all of them over. Balor says they’re all grown men and looks at O’Reilly, saying he knows why he’s here. Balor asks if O’Reilly is in and, after a long stare, O’Reilly says he is. They’ll see each other next week, with O’Reilly calling Balor champ as the tension is rather high.

Here is Legado del Fantasma for a chat. Santos Escobar says he is the champion of champions because he doesn’t have to conquer a curse and doesn’t have a glass jaw. Some people try to act like a champion like Karrion Kross but he couldn’t even make it through his first title defense. Escobar has beaten everyone to come after him, including the Lucha House Party.

The rest of the team has won their first round Dusty Classic match, putting them one step closer to the Tag Team Titles. Cue the Lucha House Party, who will face Legado in the second round, for the brawl. Escobar bails but Curt Stallion comes in to take him out. The good guys clear the ring with Stallion knocking Escobar off the apron. Commentary is confused by why Stallion is here, apparently not watching 205 Live enough to know Stallion has been #1 contender for over two months now.

Drake Maverick gives a fired up promo about how he and Killian Dain are going to win the Dusty Classic. Dain: “That was pretty good!” A slap on the back has Maverick in pain and he still doesn’t even have Dain’s number.

Curt Stallion, identified as #1 contender (McKenzie Mitchell pays attention), is ready for Escobar, who comes up to say the title match is next week.

Also next week: Kyle O’Reilly/Finn Balor vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch for the Tag Team Titles.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa

This is inside the Fight Pit, which is a special cage around the ring with a platform around the top of the cage where the wrestlers can walk. There are no ropes in the ring and you win by submission or knockout only, though the fall must take place on the mat rather than on the platform. This looks really cool and it feels like a special match. They start on the platform for some stalking but then start slugging it out.

Ciampa even tries to throw him over the top and out to the concrete but Thatcher drives him face first into the barricade. Thatcher’s front facelock suplex drops Ciampa, who is right back up with a running kick to the face. Some chops against the barricade seem to annoy Thatcher so he forearms Ciampa in the face. Ciampa kicks him down again and catapults Thatcher throat first into the barricade.

Back from a break with the two of them on the mat with Thatcher being sent into the walls. That’s only good for a five and the Fairy Tale Ending is countered with a ram into the steel. Thatcher tries to wedge Ciampa’s hand into the gap between the walls but settles for a suplex into a keylock instead. Now it’s bending the fingers back and slamming them off the mat for some rather evil pain. Ciampa is right back with a shot to the leg and the half crab goes on.

That’s broken up as well and Thatcher kicks him into the wall again. The sleeper goes on so Ciampa kicks him low for the break, setting up Willow’s Bell, using the referee as a rope for a funny/smart moment. They slug it out again with Thatcher going into the steel, setting up the Fairy Tale Ending. The rear naked choke goes on but Thatcher picks him up for a ram into the steel. Thatcher grabs a sleeper but stops to put Ciampa’s leg through the corner gap. A stretch muffler finishes Ciampa at 14:03.

Rating: B+. This is the kind of thing that I can always go for as not only is the match unique, but they beat the heck out of each other the whole time. They built up the idea of going down into the pit feel like an epic battle and Thatcher, now 2-0, has a signature match for whenever he is in a bigger feud. These guys beat each other up and this was every bit as good as I was expecting it to be.

Post match Thatcher is VERY happy with the win but stops to stare at Ciampa in a show of respect to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. If they had a slightly stronger middle of the show, this would have been an all timer for NXT. The main event felt important and like the kind of epic match that would have fit in very well at something like New Year’s Evil, which is not something you see on television very often. Then you have the tournament matches (and there were a lot of them), all of which were good to very good with some surprise endings. I loved this show quite a bit and it’s nice to be able to say that about NXT, even once in awhile.

Results

Kushida/Leon Ruff b. The Way – Arm trap northern lights suplex to Gargano

Karrion Kross b. Ashante Adonis – Forearm to the back of the head

Lucha House Party b. Imperium

Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter b. Mercedes Martinez – Reverse Black Arrow to Storm

Bronson Reed b. Tyler Rust – Tsunami

Timothy Thatcher b. Tommaso Ciampa – Stretch Muffler

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

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

AND

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