IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: August 21, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

So in a bit of a surprise, this is the start of the last of the one hour taping cycles. It’s also the start of the fallout from Takeover: Toronto and that means things could be in for a shakeup as we move towards Takeover: WarGames III, which is likely to feature Undisputed Era again. That’s not a bad thing as they’re becoming the Horsemen of NXT, but now they need opponents. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at Matt Riddle and Killian Dain brawling at Takeover.

Here’s the Undisputed Era, with new shirts, to get things going. Adam Cole says he did everything he promised to do in Toronto and the fans certainly seem to like him. If there was an NXT Mount Rushmore, it would be his face four times over. Roderick Strong says they all deserves to hold the gold.

The other three got screwed though, with Velveteen Dream pinning Pete Dunne, meaning the North American Title reign is on borrowed time. Kyle O’Reilly shows us a clip of Bobby Fish tagging himself in at Takeover but O’Reilly was pinned. As we ignore the referee not seeing the tag, which usually holds precedence in tag matches, they demand that William Regal come out here and make this right. With that not happening, Cole says they are two steps away from making NXT truly Undisputed.

As the team leaves, here’s Jordan Myles with his Breakout Tournament contract. Cole: “You’re joking right?” Cole threatens to break the smile off of Jordan’s face so Myles should go after Shayna Baszler instead. Or maybe go to NXT UK or 205 Live because they’re not on Cole’s level (I know it isn’t happening but seeing the look on Cole’s face if Walter’s music hit would be glorious). Myles hands the contract to Cole but drops it at his feet, which means the challenge is on.

Bronson Reed wants more in NXT but Shane Thorne interrupts him and the match is made for tonight.

Mansoor vs. Damian Priest

Priest isn’t wasting time this week as he pulls Mansoor off the top for a crash into the buckle before knocking him back into the corner. Mansoor’s forearm has no effect as Priest drops him with a single shot. The chokeslam is escaped and Mansoor gets in an enziguri, followed by a low bridge to the floor. There’s the running flip dive and a slingshot neckbreaker (pretty nice) drops Priest back inside. Priest has had it though and it’s a Razor’s Edge toss into the Reckoning for the pin at 3:14.

Rating: D+. Mansoor has some nice charisma to him and some of the offense looked good. Priest came off like a monster, but egads man you have a toss Razor’s Edge and you use Roll the Dice for a finish? It’s not that complicated to figure this out and hopefully he changes it to what makes sense. Find something else to use on bigger people but don’t use one of the most overdone moves ever for your finisher.

NXT to USA announcement.

Mia Yim vs. Vanessa Borne

Borne start fast with a Samoan drop and stomps away in the corner as we hear about Borne’s love of art. With Yim hanging over the ropes, Borne puts a sticker saying LOWER no the back of her jeans. That fires Yim up so she chops away in the corner, followed by a Cannonball. Protect Yo Neck finishes Borne at 2:50. Anytime Yim wants to go away, I’d be perfectly fine with it.

Post match here’s Shayna Baszler to say Mia took her to places no one has taken her to before. Mia has been to some dark places and now she can stand beside Shayna. Cue the other Horsewomen, with Shayna saying it’s a cold business but nice and warm under the dragon’s wing. Mia would rather fight and the beatdown is on. Do we really have to watch these two fight again?

Next week: Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic.

Video on Lee vs. Dijakovic, which was a heck of a big man fight. They had a history on the indies as well and since NXT does this kind of thing, we get to hear about it. As usual, well done with making a match feel epic.

Shane Thorne vs. Bronson Reed

Thorne’s rage against the Breakout Tournament continues. Some early kicks annoy Reed but Thorne bails out to the floor. Back in and the much bigger Reed sits on Thorne’s back to keep him in trouble. Thorne tries a leapfrog and gets powerslammed down, setting up a facewash in the corner.

A shot to the knee slows Reed down though and Thorne hammers away in the corner and there’s the running Cannonball (Good grief can we get a moratorium on that already? It feels like everyone uses it anymore.). Reed comes back with a Samoan drop into a backsplash (same as the Cannonball) so Thorne rolls outside. Back in and Reed goes up top but gets knocked back down, setting up the running knee to give Shane the pin at 5:15.

Rating: C-. Reed moves well for a big man and I like where he’s going. Thorne on the other hand felt like someone who was there because he had been around forever and they needed to do something with him. I’m not sure what it is but there’s something to him that makes me want to see more, so he’s fine for now.

Here’s Velveteen Dream on the couch. His shirt is $30, his glasses are $10 and retaining the North American Title by pinning Pete Dunne is priceless. The Dream winds up on top of anyone in the locker room because he likes it best on top. That’s where the spotlight is so the spotlight is now on Roderick Strong. If Strong wants a title shot, give Dream an experience he’s never had before.

Myles challenges Cole in two weeks.

Next week: the Street Profits Defend against Fish and O’Reilly.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain

Riddle comes in through the crowd and jumps Dain before revealing taped up ribs. The forearms and strikes knock Dain into the corner and a kick to the head puts him on the floor. The forearm off the steps puts Dain down again but Dain elbows him in the head. Dain’s running crossbody crushes the ribs as he looks more and more like Bray Wyatt every day.

We hit the seated abdominal stretch to stay on the ribs and then Dain just stands on them for a bonus. Dain sits on the ribs (keeping it simple can work well) but Riddle somehow manages a release fisherman’s suplex. Riddle strikes away and gets in an exploder into the Broton. The seated elbows to the face have Dain in more trouble, setting up a German suplex for the double knockdown. Dain is back up with a shotgun dropkick into the corner, setting up the Cannonball (three matches out of four).

Riddle pops up with a Bro To Sleep and a powerbomb into a running knee for two. The spinning Broton hits knees though and Dain sends him shoulder first into the post. Riddle gets dropped onto the steps and a backsplash (two matches out of four) crushes him again. A Vader Bomb off the apron sets up three regular Vader Bombs inside to finish Riddle at 11:20.

Rating: B. Overuse of the same moves aside, this was another case of having two guys hit each other really hard until one came out on top. Dain needed the win to establish himself and Riddle gets to save face because his ribs were banged up. The match was the kind of hard hitting fight that NXT does very well without going to far or over the top with it. Good stuff here and a star is made.

Riddle charges after Dain to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Other than a good main event, this wasn’t a show built on the wrestling. What it was built on was setting up things for later and it did that quite well. I want to see where a lot of these stories go and that’s where NXT shines. This is the farewell tour for the old way of doing things and it’s nice to see them doing it the way they do it best.

Results

Damian Priest b. Mansoor – Reckoning

Mia Yim b. Vanessa Borne – Protect Yo Neck

Shane Thorne b. Bronson Reed – Running knee

Killian Dain b. Matt Riddle – Vader Bomb

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

In an email because reasons.https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-officially-announces-nxt-moving-usa-full-details-included/

You knew this was coming sooner or later and that doesn’t make things any better.  Starting September 18, the show is going to expand to two hours and air live, though it will still be at Full Sail.  Meltzer says it’s worth $50 million a year to WWE so the money makes sense.  However, you know what this means as it’s going to be another place for low level WWE stars to appear over the minor leaguers, because WWE thinks that people who are already on the main shows are more interesting than the top NXT names.  Hopefully that’s wrong, because it sounds like a nightmare otherwise.  And for two weeks, it’s Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday of WWE on USA.  Because that’s what we need.

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: August 14, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

It’s one of those unique fallout shows tonight as we deal with everything from Takeover: Toronto. This time around though we have another big match on the docket with the finals of the Breakout Tournament. This one hasn’t had the best results so far but maybe the finals can make up for it a bit. Let’s get to it.

Here are Saturday’s results if you need a recap.

We open with the traditional recap of Takeover.

Opening sequence.

Breezango vs. Forgotten Sons

This is Fandango’s first match in over a year so he starts against Cutler, who tries a sunset flip. You don’t do that against Fandango, who saves himself through the power of dance. They head outside with the Sons being laid out before it’s off to Breeze back inside. A Jaxson Ryker cheap shot from the floor puts Breeze in trouble and it’s already time to start the alternating beatdown. Breeze fights out of the corner with a kick to Blake’s head but Ryker pulls Fandango off the apron.

That means the big, dramatic ejection and now the hot tag goes through. Fandango snaps off some powerslams and grabs a tornado DDT on Blake. A big clothesline takes Fandango down though and it’s a hurricanrana into the diving headbutt for two with Breeze making the save. It’s back to Breeze as everything breaks down, leaving Fandango to hit the big flip dive. Cutler gets caught with a backbreaker from Breeze and Fandango adds a slingshot elbow for the pin at 5:49.

Rating: C. This was all about getting Breezango’s feet wet again and that’s what they did. The Forgotten Sons already seem to have had their peak and another loss to a former main roster team isn’t going to make things that much worse. Breezango will likely head back up one day, and egads I’m worried about how that is going to go.

We look at Velveteen Dream retaining the North American Title over Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong.

Dunne says Dream stole a pin to retain the title, which kept him from starting his next title run. He’s coming for the title no matter what.

Long recap of the entire Breakout Tournament.

We look at the Street Profits retaining the Tag Team Titles over the Undisputed Era.

The Undisputed Era is screaming for William Regal and insist that the illegal man was pinned.

A replay shows that Bobby Fish did tag himself in so O’Reilly couldn’t be pinned.

Music video on the new Io Shirai, who doesn’t need anyone standing next to her and destroyed Candice LeRae at Takeover.

Video on Shayna Baszler retaining the Women’s Title against Mia Yim. Who is supposed to beat her at this point?

Baszler’s only comments: “And still.”

Long video on Adam Cole retaining the NXT Title over Johnny Gargano in a 2/3 falls match.

Video on the Matt Riddle/Killian Dain brawl from Takeover. They meet next week.

Breakout Tournament Finals: Jordan Myles vs. Cameron Grimes

The winner gets a title shot of their choice at some point in the future. Feeling out process to start with Myles going after the leg. Myles follows up by knocking Grimes to the floor but Grimes is fine enough to hit a forearm to the face. Back in and a hard whip into the buckle drops Myles for two and it’s time to crank on an armbar. Grimes starts in on the leg with a dragon screw legwhip but the leg is fine enough to kick Grimes in the face. A basement dropkick sends him outside for a penalty kick from the apron.

Back in and a high crossbody gives Myles two as they’re really playing up the battle of styles. Grimes is right back with an Orange Crush for two of his own but Myles snaps off a German suplex for another two. The running flip belly to belly gives Grimes two more and he kicks Myles in the head for good measure. Another attempt at the whip into the corner is blocked and we get a finger wave from Myles. The brainbuster plants Grimes and it’s the Midnight Star to give Myles the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t the most thrilling conclusion to a tournament that didn’t have the most thrilling beginning or middle. The problem is still that we don’t know much about these people other than what they did in other companies, where they often didn’t have a great character in the first place. It was a pretty good match but I’m not exactly dying to see Myles get his title shot. Most of the entrants will have nice careers, but this wasn’t the best way to showcase most of them.

William Regal comes out to present Myles with his championship contract to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. These shows are always nice for a breather and after all the wrestling that went on over the weekend, it’s rather necessary as well. The tournament final was fine and it was nice to see Breezango again, but next week can start the build towards the build towards Takeover: WarGames where we’ll likely see the Undisputed Era winning all the titles, possibly in a winner take all WarGames match. Totally run of the mill Takeover fallout show here, meaning your mileage may vary.

Results

Breezango b. Forgotten Sons – Slingshot elbow to Cutler

Jordan Myles b. Cameron Grimes – Midnight Star

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

TakeOver: Toronto
Date: August 10, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo

We’re going north for this one with the second Takeover from Toronto. The second part is rather appropriate as the main event is a rematch (of a rematch) with NXT Champion Adam Cole defending against former champion Johnny Gargano in their second 2/3 falls match. A lot of the show centers around Cole’s Undisputed Era so there is certainly a theme. Let’s get to it.

There is no special narration for the opening video, which is your standard highlight package, though we do watch the crowd watching it from the arena. At least they’re not cutting back and forth between a normal video and the crowd watching shot.

Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Undisputed Era

Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish are challenging for the Era. The Profits won the titles in a four way ladder match in June and the Era say that was a fluke win. The champs have their always high energy entrance as the fans have the red solo cups. Dawkins takes O’Reilly into the corner to start and shouts that O’Reilly thinks he’s a joke. A takedown goes to Dawkins but it’s off to Fish, who gets run over with a big shoulder.

The champs start taking turns on Fish’s arm until a shot to Ford’s face gives Fish a breather. O’Reilly comes in but everything breaks down for a few seconds, with Fish walking into a double flapjack. O’Reilly gets knocked outside and manages to get Dawkins to follow him, allowing Fish to get in a surprise shot to take over for the first time. Some running/sliding knees to the ribs have Dawkins in trouble and O’Reilly adds a Samoan drop.

Mounted palm strikes set up a front facelock but Dawkins wins a slugout with O’Reilly. A backdrop lets Ford come in off the tag and it’s a standing moonsault for two. Ford hits the spinebuster but O’Reilly breaks up a People’s Elbow. Instead, Ford goes with a Rock Bottom for two on Fish. Dawkins gets knocked off the apron, leaving Ford to get caught with an elevated DDT into a wheelbarrow suplex for two.

We settle down to Ford being in trouble, including a superplex from Fish and a top rope knee to the knee. O’Reilly slaps on an Achilles lock with Fish adding a top rope headbutt and the fans are rather nervous. Dawkins comes back in and spinebusters Fish onto O’Reilly for the save. Ford makes the hot tag and everything breaks down.

A spinebuster/super Blockbuster combination gets two on O’Reilly and they’re all down again. The slugout is on with Dawkins and Fish being knocked outside. O’Reilly is sent to the floor as well, meaning it’s a big running flip dive from Ford. Back in and a spear from Dawkins sets up Ford’s frog splash to retain the titles at 15:50.

Rating: B+. I had the Street Profits retaining in my predictions and even I’m surprised that they pulled it off. Every sign pointed to the Era winning the titles here but I’m glad they didn’t. There was no need to have them get the belts back outside of setting up the Era having all of the titles as the Profits needed the win a lot more than the Era. It was a hot opener with an only slightly cooler ending, but the Profits winning is better in the long run.

Ricochet is here.

We recap Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae. Candice had tried to help Shirai win the Women’s Title but Shirai kept coming up short. Shirai snapped and turned on LeRae, saying that she didn’t need anyone’s help. Tonight is about revenge for LeRae and for Shirai to prove herself.

Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae

Candice starts the fight before the bell and it’s Shirai bailing to the floor. That means a baseball slide from Candice but Shirai suplexes her onto the announcers’ table to knock her silly. That’s only good for a nine so Shirai keeps pounding her down for a cocky near fall. The early chinlock goes on until Candice fights up with a headscissors, only to have Shirai land on her feet. A camel clutch goes on for a bit but Shirai misses a missile dropkick.

Candice hammers away in the corner and gets two off a brainbuster, setting up an Iron Octopus of all things. That’s broken up as well so Shirai tries the 619, which is countered into a neckbreaker. Candice is sent to the apron though and now the 619 hits the back of her head. That goes nowhere as Candice sends her outside for a suicide tornado DDT, which looked better than expected.

Back in and a top rope double stomp to the back gets two more on Shirai, who is right back with a Crossface. That’s reversed as well with Candice flipping over so Shirai puts her on her shoulders, only to get reverse hurricanranaed for two. Ms. LeRae’s Wild Ride gets two and the fans declare this to be awesome. Shirai catches her on top with a super Spanish Fly for another near fall and frustrated screaming ensues. A double underhook backbreaker plants LeRae again and the moonsault….gets two? With nothing else working, Shirai grabs a Koji Clutch to knock LeRae out at 15:00.

Rating: B. That was a good change of finisher for Shirai as something like a moonsault isn’t befitting a new heel persona. You need to have her do something a bit more sinister and they had set up all of the neck stuff throughout the match. Candice was always going to come up short here and it wouldn’t have made sense to have her win over the newly heel Shirai. They were both working here though and I was buying Shirai being angrier and more aggressive than usual here.

Here’s an unscheduled Matt Riddle through the crowd to call out Killian Dain for a fight. Dain comes through the crowd and the fight is on with Dain hitting a jumping kick to the head. Referees come out for the save with Dain stomping on Riddle’s bare foot. Riddle doesn’t care and they fight to the stage so Dain goes for the eyes. Some knees to the face put Dain down and Riddle takes care of security, including with a GTS to a guard. Dain uses the distraction to hit a crossbody, only to have Riddle jump on his back for a choke. They dive off the stage with Riddle being crushed through a table to finally wrap up a hot fight.

Evolve Champion Austin Theory is here.

We recap the North American Title match. Velveteen Dream has held the title longer than anyone in its history and Roderick Strong pinned him in a tag match. Then just to mess with what seemed to be an obvious ending, Pete Dunne was added to the mix as a wildcard.

North American Title: Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong vs. Pete Dunne

Dream is defending and goes full Canada with his entrance, complete with an army of Mounties (and yes with the Mountie song of course), who then morph into Toronto Raptors dancers before Dream himself comes out. Strong says the other two don’t matter and it’s Dream being sent outside early on. Dunne clotheslines Strong down and it’s time to go after Strong’s fingers.

Dream is back in and tosses Strong but it’s the big showdown with Dunne. That lasts all of one stare though as Strong comes back in and gets punched in the face by the champ. A Bret Hart pose looks to set up the Sharpshooter but Strong slips away. That just means it’s time for Dream and Dunne to beat him up at the same time, with Dream holding the arm for Dunne’s stomp.

Strong is sent outside so Dream can gyrate the hips, earning himself most of a cross armbreaker. It’s too early for the Bitter End as Dream slips out, only to get crotched against the post (Mauro: “NOTHING BUT NUTS!”). The backbreakers start for Strong and the UNDISPUTED chants get going again. Back in and Dream finally gets the Sharpshooter but Dunne comes off the top with a double stomp to Dream’s back for the save. Dunne starts throwing suplexes and alternates with stomps onto both of them.

Strong and Dream get together to beat him up before fighting each other (duh). Dunne is back up as well and it’s a three way slugout for a triple knockdown. Dream and Strong get their fingers snapped but it’s a Dream Valley Driver to Dunne, an Olympic Slam to Dream and an X Plex to Strong to put everyone down. Dunne catches Dream up top and Strong joins them for an Olympic Slam to Dunne, which brings Dream down with them.

Strong is up first with a backbreaker to Dunne, who tries to grab a triangle. They go into the corner with Dream hitting a springboard Purple Rainmaker to Dunne for the break. You know, because he can do that. Back up and Strong grabs a Stronghold on both of them at once. That falls apart so Dream tries a double Dream Valley Driver, which is a bit too much for him.

Dunne snaps a pair of fingers and hits the Bitter End on Strong but Dream has the referee. The delayed cover is cut off as Dream grabs the referee’s hand at two. Dream gets sent outside as Strong grabs the Stronghold on Dunne. The save doesn’t take long and it’s the Dream Valley Driver on Dunne, with Strong coming back in for End of Heartache. Dream makes another save and steals the pin to retain at 17:25.

Rating: B+. I’m not sure what they’re going to do with the title now as Dream has held the thing for six months and doesn’t really have anyone left to fight for the thing. That being said, NXT knows how to build someone up in a hurry and there is a good chance that they could do just that at a moment’s notice. The cool thing is NXT has all the talent they could need to put together a challenger, but more importantly they know how to do it. The match here was quite good, though it never hit that next level.

We recap Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler. Mia grew up in a horrible situation and had to fight from the streets to get here. Baszler doesn’t think anything of her and thinks Yim is just a thug. Shayna has held the title for a long time now and thinks Yim is going to be just another challenger.

Women’s Title: Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler

Mia is challenging and comes out with a bunch of people in black with their faces covered to not the strongest reaction. Baszler goes to the arm to start but gets armdragged down a few times. Miz traps the arm between the steps and post for a dropkick and Baszler is in early trouble. Back in and Shayna takes her down for some left handed punches and a stomp on Mia’s left arm.

The champ stays on the arm by wrapping it around the bottom rope and then bending it at a rather disturbing angle. A pull of the hair gets Mia out of trouble so Shayna dropkicks her for two. Back up and they seem to get completely out of sync as they run the ropes for a bit. Mia sends her to the floor and shouts OK before hitting a suicide dive. A tornado DDT gets two but Baszler kicks her in the face for two with the fans not even teasing a reaction to the kickout.

Mia goes up top and traps Shayna’s arm for a super Code Blue and another near fall. Shayna pulls her into the Kirifuda Clutch but Mia pulls the bad arm for the break. A stomp on the champ’s arm (Mia: “This is karma.”) looks to set up a cross armbreaker but Shayna rolls over into the Clutch again. Another pull of the arm gets Mia out, only to have Shayna wrap her legs around the neck for another choke and the tap at 14:42.

Rating: C+. I actually sighed in relief when Baszler retained. Mia tries and has a good story but I could never take her seriously with the name Head Baddie In Charge. She never felt like the big challenger who could take the title and I was almost dreading the idea of her taking the title. The problem now though is who can challenge Shayna for the title as she has almost completely cleaned out the division. That’s where they need to bring some people up, and NXT knows just how to do something like that.

Walter and Tyler Bate are here.

We recap Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole. They’ve fought at the last two Takeovers with Gargano winning the vacant title and then losing it to Cole the next time. The idea here is Cole believes he belongs at the top and Gargano wants to earn his legacy by getting the title back. Each fall has a different stipulation: regular match, street fight, weapons filled cage.

NXT Title: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano

Gargano, in Wolverine inspired gear, is challenging and the first fall is a regular match. Cole is roughly 18x more popular than Gargano during the Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start with an early Last Shot and Gargano Escape attempt missing for each. Cole can’t hit the Panama Sunrise either as Gargano sends him outside for a running dropkick through the ropes. Cole’s running knee hits steps and Johnny sends the knee into the apron. Back in and it’s Indian Deathlock to keep Cole’s knee in trouble and an enziguri makes it worse for the champ.

Cole is fine enough to pull Gargano outside for a wheelbarrow suplex onto the apron. Back in and a neckbreaker sets up a triangle choke to Gargano, who gets smart by grabbing the bad leg. An ankle lock is quickly broken up with Cole sending him face first into the middle buckle. The Panama Sunrise still doesn’t work as the leg gives out and Johnny sends him into the corner as well. Gargano’s rolling kick to the head and it’s a fisherman’s driver for two.

Cole misses a superkick in the corner and Johnny stomps on the leg again, setting up the Figure Four. The rope gets Cole out of trouble and it’s a German suplex for two on Johnny. Another Panama Sunrise is countered into a sunset driver to give Johnny two more. Cole STILL can’t get the Sunrise as the leg gives out but he’s fine enough to catch a diving Gargano in a gutbuster.

A Samoan driver gives Cole two and it’s a double clothesline for the double knockdown. Gargano is up first and hits the slingshot DDT for two but the slingshot spear hits a superkick. Cole’s fireman’s carry backbreaker gets two so it’s time for a chair. The referee throws that out and Cole gets in a low blow for two. Cole sits in the chair but Gargano gets up and takes it away, setting up a shot to Cole’s back for the DQ at 20:50.

Gargano shrugs and unloads with the chair as the second fall, a street fight, begins. Cole bails to the floor so Gargano throws the chair at his head and hits the slingshot DDT. They fight into the crowd with Gargano beating Cole all over the place, though he does stop for a picture with a fan’s phone. Gargano hits a superkick and they head back to ringside with Cole being driven through the timekeeper’s area.

They fight onto the announcers’ tables with Gargano backdropping his way out of a Pedigree to send Cole through the Spanish Announcers’ Table in the huge crash. Gargano throws Cole back inside, plus a table and some chairs. The fireman’s carry backbreaker gives Cole two but he stops to wedge a chair in the corner. That’s not a good idea as Gargano lawn darts him into the chair, setting up the Gargano Escape for the tap and the tie at 29:37.

The weapons cage lowers, showing off the barbed wire around the top. There is no escape here and you can only win by pinfall or submission. They slug it out with superkicks slowing down the kendo stick shots, only to have them beat each other senseless with the sticks. Stereo superkicks put both guys down and the fans find this awesome. A reverse hurricanrana sends Cole into a chair for another superkick and a near fall.

Cole gets in a chair shot to the back and a Backstabber with a kendo stick across the throat connects for two. Johnny gets in a blast with a fire extinguisher and hits a tornado DDT onto the open chairs, with Cole’s face hitting the open edge for a rather terrifying landing. Gargano goes up to try and grab a sledgehammer but has to stop for a spinning sunset bomb instead. Cole goes up top and throws a ladder at Johnny, who ducks to avoid a bad case of death.

Now the super Panama Sunrise gives Cole two and another one off the ladder gives Cole two more. The Last Shot in the chair only hits knee though and Gargano grabs the STF with the kendo stick. Cole bites his way to freedom so Gargano sledgehammers him in the ribs. Instead of following up, Gargano loads up two tables and climbs the ladder, only to have to come back down when Cole rolls away.

Instead Gargano hits a super Canadian Destroyer for two as these kickouts are getting comical. Gargano isn’t done and pulls out a bag of tools, including some wire cutters to cut some barbed wire down. Cole climbs onto the top of the cage and gets on the table bridged over the corner, right above the two tables already set up. Gargano puts the wire on his head and they dive off through a table (Mauro: “MAMA F’ING MIA!”), with Cole covering to retain at 51:05.

Rating: A-. This was way past the point of going long for the sake of going long with the kickouts and non-covers being ridiculous more than once. Gargano almost has to go up to the main roster full time now as there is nothing left for him to do. You can find something else for Cole to do as he has a bunch of people to defend against, but after seeing these two fight for about two and a half hours in three matches, I never need to see them together again. Crazy violence (the ending and the DDT onto the chair were nuts) and an awesome match, but it needed to be a good bit shorter.

Overall Rating: A. It exceeded my expectations with only the Women’s Title match not being very good, but it wasn’t really close to some of the Takeovers they’ve done before. What worries me the most are the rumors of the move to Fox Sports 1, as this could be the last of the great Takeovers under the classic formula. We can worry about that later though because this was another excellent show. I’m hoping they get the right amount of time and build to the next one so it can have some fresh matches, but what we got here was quite good and a way to wrap up the summer with a great show, though not as great as before.

Results

Street Profits b. Undisputed Era – Frog splash to O’Reilly

Io Shirai b. Candice LeRae – Kofi Clutch

Velveteen Dream b. Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong – End of Heartache to Dunne

Shayna Baszler b. Mia Yim – Leg choke

Adam Cole b. Johnny Gargano – Crash through a table

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

It’s time to go north of the border for the next edition of one of the best series in wrestling history. Takeover has gone from a few specials for the minor league to some of the most must see wrestling events of the year. This one feels a bit different though as the build towards Takeover: Toronto hasn’t been the strongest in the world. Maybe the card isn’t as strong or maybe it feels a bit rushed, but it hasn’t felt as great on the way up. It’s still worth looking at though so let’s get to it.

Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai

This is a grudge match after Shirai couldn’t beat Shayna Baszler to become Women’s Champion. Instead of blaming herself, she blamed LeRae, who had tried to help even the odds against the Four Horsewomen. Shirai snapped and beat the fire out of LeRae, who came back and did the exact same thing to her. This one is all about the violence and that could make for an intense match.

I’ll take Shirai to win here as she seems like someone who could be quite the challenger for Yim, assuming she wins the title. LeRae vs. Baszler seemed to be the way to go for a long time, but for some reason they never did it on the big stage. Maybe they still could, but I think Baszler is on her way up sooner, meaning that Shirai is a better choice for a challenger and the win here would get here there. LeRae will work as hard as she always does, but Shirai is going to be too much for her.

Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Mia Yim

It makes sense to go here next. Baszler has dominated the NXT women’s division like no one other than Asuka in the title’s history. If she can somehow make it another three and a half months as champion, she will actually surpass Asuka’s record for most combined days as champion. However, in doing so, she has run through almost everyone there is to defeat, save for Yim, who is being billed as the underdog who has fought through everything to get here. That sounds like a setup and I think I know where this is going.

Yim winning the title seems to be the most likely ending here as Baszler may not be long for NXT. There is nothing left for her to do down there other than set records and given that she is in her late 30s, there is no reason to leave her down in NXT any longer. There are all kinds of reasons for her to come up to the main roster and putting Yim over for the title makes a lot of sense. Granted I’ve been saying this for months and have been wrong every time, but it has to connect at some point.

Tag Team Titles: Street Profits(c) vs. Undisputed Era

It’s Roderick Strong/Kyle O’Reilly representing the Undisputed Era here and that means we might be in for a big story. The idea seems to be the Undisputed Era holding all of the titles at the same time and you can’t do that with two of the titles missing. Unfortunately that means we can’t have the Street Profits holding the titles any longer, which is going to take away some of the spark that she show has had. They’re as entertaining as you can get, but I’m not sure what happens here.

The more I think about it though, I don’t think the titles change hands. NXT isn’t the place to have transitional champions and the Street Profits have only held the titles for about two months. I just can’t imagine NXT making the Undisputed Era three time champions, especially for the sake of setting up the group as the Four Horsemen of NXT. Odds are I’m wrong here and it’s more hope than anything else, but I’ll go with the champs retaining.

North American Title: Velveteen Dream(c) vs. Roderick Strong vs. Pete Dunne

This was set up as a singles match with Strong challenging Dream, but Dunne was thrown in to shake things up a bit. That’s exactly the case too, as I would have bet on Strong taking the title but now I have no idea where things are going. I can’t imagine Strong losing, I can’t imagine Dream losing and I can’t imagine Dunne losing. That’s a very impressive way to build to the match and they’ve done it well here.

I’ll go with Strong winning here as the Undisputed Era has to do something and get some extra gold. The Dream is ready to do something else as he has far longer than anyone else in history. Dunne is a complete wildcard though as he’s someone you could see as one of the top stars in the entire company one day. I don’t know if he’s going to be around NXT full time though and that leaves you with Strong, who needs his big singles win. I’ll take Strong here, but I’m completely lacking certainty.

NXT Title: Adam Cole(c) vs. Johnny Gargano

This might be why I’m not wild on the whole show. At the end of the day, we’ve seen this match headlining the last two Takeovers and Gargano has been in the main event scene for going on two years now. Eventually you need something fresh and it doesn’t feel like that is the case at the moment. The match is 2/3 falls as well, making it feel even longer.

I think they’ll stick with Cole here as Gargano is much better as the challenger instead of the champion and tends to lose the big matches. He’s already been there once and that’s about all he needs to cement his legacy. The build for it has been good (the final video from this week’s TV was outstanding) but both guys are ready for something new and there are more challengers for Cole than Gargano. It will be entertaining, but Gargano loses in the end, as he should.

Overall Thoughts

Here’s the thing about NXT: even if the show is one of the weakest in the history of Takeover, it’s still going to be one of the best shows of the year. That’s just how NXT works and they’re incapable of having a truly bad show. It’s going to be a great time and likely a blast, but you never can tell just how things are going to go. I’m more into the show than I was three days ago so the go home episode did well, but they’re going uphill this time around.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-another-major-shift-nxt-heading-fox-sports-1-undergoing-big-changes/

Dang it.You had to know this was coming at some point, but that doesn’t make it any better.  At the end of the day, this adds yet another hour of WWE programming a week, which puts it heads up against AEW and also will lead to WWE “fixing” the product.  You know, the one thing that doesn’t need fixing.

I really hope this doesn’t happen because it’s going to be a nightmare for everyone involved, especially the fans.

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: August 7, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

It’s the go home show for Takeover: Toronto, which is probably the weakest Takeover they’ve done in a long time. The show is likely to be good, though I’m not exactly sure how interesting it’s going to be. We still have this show to help with the build though and they’ve pulled off some great final pushes before. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

William Regal is in the ring for the contract signing for the Tag Team Title match. The Street Profits are out first but before the Undisputed Era joins them, Montez Ford gives the a New Age Outlaws style intro. That brings out “O’Reilly Auto Parts and Lawrence Fishburn Jr.”, with the Profits dancing to their music. Fish, who has to shrug off an AUTO PARTS chant, says the Profits need to cover their ears because Fish says they’re not on their level.

For once their autographs mean something because the Era wants them on those contracts. Before we get there though, Fish says they’re funnier than the Profits too. Kyle tells a joke: “The Street Profits are NXT Tag Team Champions.” Fish: “EVERYONE LAUGH!” Ford talks about how the Era has had their chance by being on TV every week and that they’ve beaten every team in NXT history. So what makes them think that losing is an option for the Profits?

The fans have seen them and believe in them so why is losing an option? As far as they’ve come, losing is not an option for them because all they can do is WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN! The Era is getting a beating in Toronto and that is undisputed. Everyone signs. Ford looked like a star here with an incredibly fired up promo. Couple that with the next level athleticism and he could break out in a hurry.

Video on the North American Title match. Velveteen Dream has been a pretty dominant champion but Roderick Strong beat him in a tag match to earn a shot. Then Pete Dunne was added in as a wild card and instantly felt like one of the biggest stars in all of NXT.

A member of Slipknot talks about the Takeover theme song.

Video on Shayna Baszler vs. Mia Yim. Mia grew up with a hard life and has fought all the way here. Baszler says it takes more than a great story to impress her. Every story with her ends in the same way: tap, nap or snap. Shayna earned her spot based on what she accomplished. Mia is here because a bunch of fans wanted her here. Mia took out the lackeys that gave Shayna an advantage so it’s one on one. Shayna: “Mia doesn’t deserve a title shot. She deserves a prison sentence.”

Joaquin Wilde vs. Shane Thorne

Wilde takes him down and flips over Thorne’s back, setting up some rhythmic shouting. Thorne flips out of a wristlock but Wilde flips up into a standoff. The high angle springboard wristdrag takes Thorne down and Wilde flips up again for two. Thorne is right back with a brainbuster before working on the arm some more. Wilde is right back with a slingshot clothesline and a middle rope elbow to the face. Back up and Thorne goes to the middle rope, earning himself a powerbomb right back down.

The rolling DDT is blocked and Thorne hits him in the face. Wilde loads up a monkey flip but kicks Thorne in the face instead, sending Thorne outside. The suicide dive over the corner takes him down again and it’s a running flip dive to drop Thorne for the second time in a row. That’s good for a nine count, with Thorne sliding back to the floor. Wilde follows him out and gets posted, setting up a running knee to give Thorne the pin at 7:23.

Rating: C. I can go with a Thorn push as I liked TM61, though it will be nice to not have to remember which is which. It’s been a long time since the team did anything so Thorne is basically starting over. That might be the best thing for him as well, as the team wasn’t exactly successful in the first place.

Video on Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae, with Candice trying to give Io a fair shot at the Women’s Title. Shirai lost anyway and beat Candice down, saying she didn’t need help.

Harley Race tribute video.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain

Fallout from Dain attacking Riddle after his last match. Dain seemed to like the idea as he jumps Riddle during the entrance and lays him out against the steps. No match for now.

Video on the Breakout Tournament, with the finals featuring Cameron Grimes vs. Jordan Myles. The finals are next week.

We look back at Fandango returning to reform Breezango.

Tyler Breeze asks Fandango where he has been. Fandango was in deep and realized that his fashion sense was way off. Fandango: “It was whack!” Breeze: “I don’t know what that means.” Fandango: “Bad.” Breeze: “BAD???” They need a makeover, like Breezango reimagined. Breeze likes the idea. Next week: Breezango vs. Forgotten Sons.

We look back at Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano. They’ve fought at back to back Takeovers with Cole winning the title at Takeover: XXV. They’ll be fighting again in Toronto in another 2/3 falls match, with a regular match, a street fight and a third stipulation to be decided if they go to the third fall.

Gargano has been looking at the pictures on the walls of the Performance Center, which have been eating away at him because he isn’t the best. What matters is what you do in NXT and he has something left to do. Some wrestlers talk about how Johnny is an inspiration and he’s been coaching a bit. Johnny says Shawn Michaels is Mr. Wrestlemania and Johnny wants to be Mr. NXT.

We see some clips of Adam Cole’s Bay Bay Championship Celebration Tour, with Cole beating a bunch of challengers because he’s that great. Back at the Performance Center, Seth Rollins gave Johnny a pep talk. Then Cole defended the title some more. Then Gargano talked to Finn Balor, who thinks Gargano is awesome. The fans are split on who will win and Regal won’t give an answer. Various wrestlers aren’t sure on who wins either. The story ends in Toronto.

This was a mini documentary and it did an outstanding job of selling me on the title match. The idea of Gargano wanting to take the respectful route and earn his legacy vs. Cole who thinks he’s earned all of this already was a great way to set up their differences and I’m buying the important of Saturday’s match a lot more. As usual, NXT knows exactly what they’re doing with these things and this was excellent.

Overall Rating: B. I know a lot of people aren’t going to be pleased with the show consisting one one lower card match but that’s not the point of a show like this. The point of this show was to make me want to see Takeover more and it did so very well. This hasn’t been the strongest build to a show they’ve done and giving us an hour long commercial for the show was a good idea. That was more important than having some midcard stories advanced and it’s a good sign that NXT knew what to do. I liked this more and it was what they should have done, because a wrestling show is about a lot more than the wrestling.

Results

Shane Thorne b. Joaquin Wilde – Running knee

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: July 31, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

With less than two weeks to go before the next Takeover, it really feels like this show has snuck up on us. The show should be fun, but it hasn’t had the most amount of time to build up. Last week’s major announcement saw Pete Dunne added to the North American Title scene though and that’s never a bad thing. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Jaxson Ryker vs. Tyler Breeze

Ryker goes with the power to start by throwing Breeze around so Breeze punches away and stomps Ryker down in the corner. That just earns him a release Rock Bottom as Ryker starts in with the power. A backbreaker gets two and then a backbreaker gets nothing as it’s almost all Ryker so far. Breeze hits a quick knee though and a victory roll finishes Ryker at 3:21.

Rating: D+. The fluke ending was a surprise but if it means we don’t have to deal with Ryker as the unstoppable monster for as long, it’s going to be an improvement. Breeze has needed a win like this and it’s nice to see WWE treating him like something that matters instead of a punching bag on the main roster.

Post match the beatdown is on but Fandango makes his return and cleans house.

Breakout Tournament Semifinals: Bronson Reed vs. Cameron Grimes

Reed shoves him down to start and we’re already in the chinlock. Grimes is right back up with a headlock so Reed shoves him off and hits a hard elbow. The clubbing forearms in the corner put Grimes on the floor and Reed is dim enough to chase after him. Back in and Grimes hits a running clothesline before grabbing an armbar. Since it’s just an armbar, Reed is out in a hurry with a powerslam and a Samoan drop. The backsplash gets two with Grimes having to put a foot on the rope. It’s off to a slow motion slugout with Reed taking the straps down but walking into the standing double stomp to give Grimes the pin at 5:55.

Rating: C. I wasn’t a big fan of Grimes when he was in TNA and he’s managing to turn me around a little bit here. I never would have guessed on that one and yet he’s making it work. Reed is someone who can go somewhere with his size and power so he’s going to be fine. This tournament has improved after what seemed to be a dull future. Nice enough match here and Grimes has impressed me.

Quick look at Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole.

Matt Riddle wants Killian Dain to fight him face to face. He’ll get to do that next week.

Here’s a ticked off Shayna Baszler for a chat. Mia Yim has been sending a message by attacking Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke and Baszler has heard it. That’s why Yim has lost before she’s even gotten on the plane to Toronto. Next week, Baszler is putting the street rat to sleep. Cue Mia to say Baszler looks really unfamiliar right now. Mia has nothing to lose so the street right is bringing a fight Shayna can’t rain for. Baszler promises to prove that Mia is street trash and holds up the title. I’d still prefer Candice LeRae in this spot but as long as they don’t call Mia the Blazian Baddie or Head Baddie in Charge, she’s fine.

Candice LeRae wants to face Io Shirai at Takeover. William Regal: “Can’t blame you.” The match is made and Regal asks her to go home.

Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong

Strong takes him to the mat to start but Dunne slips out and it’s a staredown from one knee each. Back up and Strong takes him into the corner for some right hands but you just don’t do that to Dunne. Pete fights out of the corner and stomps on the arm, followed by a kick to the elbow. Strong’s arm is fine enough to catch Dunne on top and hit a torture rack backbreaker to take over.

A regular backbreaker gets two but Dunne is back up with some kicks to the leg. Strong hits a dropkick to cut him off but bangs up his own leg in the process. They head up top with Dunne throwing him down and hitting a middle rope missile dropkick to a kneeling Strong. Dunne flips over Strong out of the corner and hits the X Plex. The PK gets two and Dunne kicks him in the head again.

A sitout powerbomb gets two and they’re both down. Strong heads outside so Dunne goes to the middle rope, allowing Strong to drop him back first onto the apron. The belly to back faceplant gives Dunne two but he’s right back with an enziguri. The Bitter End is blocked and Strong hits the Angle Slam. Dunne grabs a DDT and they’re both down again.

They slug it out with Dunne getting the better of it and heading up top for a sunset bomb….which doesn’t quite work as Strong lands on Dunne instead of the mat. Strong is fine enough to hit a jumping knee to the face and a Tiger Driver 99 for two. The Strong Hold attempt is countered into a triangle choke and Dunne bends the fingers for the tap at 16:03.

Rating: B+. Dunne has as much star power and potential as there is around here and it’s very nice to see him getting a chance in regular NXT. If he’s sticking around for good, it seems like a matter of time before he’s on the main roster and tearing it up there too. This was a rather good performance from both guys with Dunne getting a win to reestablish himself around here.

Post match Velveteen Dream comes in and teases a belt shot to Dunne but smiles at him without really loading it up. Strong stares at Dream and leaves, allowing Dunne to snap Dream’s fingers and hit the Bitter End to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event helped this show a lot as the build to this Takeover is still lacking a little bit. What they have is working well enough but nothing really pops off the page. Dunne helps that a lot because he feels like a bigger star than almost anyone else in NXT. That’s the case because he’s been very well protected over the years and believe it or not, that does wonders for anyone and it’s done that for Dunne. Next week can fix some of the problems, but Toronto just isn’t clicking as well as it could.

Results

Tyler Breeze b. Jaxson Ryker – Victory roll

Cameron Grimes b. Bronson Reed – Standing double stomp

Pete Dunne b. Roderick Strong – Dunne bent Strong’s fingers back

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: July 24, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

The rapid build towards Toronto continues and you can see most of the card already set up from here. The NXT Title match is going to be rather gimmicky and that could make for some fun. Other than that, it seems to be a show heavily focused on the Undisputed Era, which could be a good or bad idea. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of last week’s show, with Johnny Gargano attacking Adam Cole again. This caused General Manager William Regal to make another 2/3 falls match between the two, with Cole, Gargano and Regal getting to pick a stipulation each.

Opening sequence.

Breakout Tournament Semifinals: Jordan Myles vs. Angel Garza

The fans are behind Garza here but there are some Jordan chants. Garza offers a handshake to start but pulls it away to enhance the cockiness. Feeling out process to start and they go into an exchange of arm holds. Myles gets the better of it with an armbar, followed by a heck of a dropkick to give us the big smile. Another dropkick sends Garza outside but the slingshot dropkick is easily blocked as Garza plays some possum. Myles is sent into the steps and barricade, meaning it’s time for GARZA TO TAKE OFF HIS PANTS.

Back in and Garza hits a backbreaker for two and we hit a fish hook camel clutch. Garza tries to crash down onto his back but gets reversed into a sunset flip for two. A superkick takes Myles down again as the cockiness is strong with Garza. Myles isn’t about to be sent into the corner and sends Garza in instead, followed by some rapid fire kicks to the chest. A running discus clothesline in the corner looks to set up a springboard clothesline but Garza dropkicks him out of the air for two. Myles is right back with a low superkick and with a crazed look on his eyes, a German suplex finishes Garza at 8:26.

Rating: C+. I liked the match more than Myles’ previous effort but this still wasn’t the most thrilling match in the world. Also, Myles over Garza? Really? I’m really not sure I get that as Garza has more natural charisma than he knows what to do with. He’s all but guaranteed to be a star around here, though it wouldn’t shock me to see him move up to 205 Live in a hurry.

Shane Thorn of all people storms the announcers’ table to ask why she isn’t in the tournament after being around here for years.

Johnny Gargano says Adam Cole made it personal and this isn’t about the title anymore. His pick for the stipulation: Street Fight.

Xia Li vs. Bianca Belair

Belair drives her straight into the corner to start and a Glam Slam plants Li. The handspring moonsault to the back sends Li to the apron so Belair pulls her right back in. There’s a standing fall away slam but Li gets out of a delayed vertical suplex. Belair runs her down though and the KOD finishes Li at 3:01.

Rating: D+. Total squash here and a better use of Belair than what they’ve done recently. I still don’t want to see her near the title but if she’s gotten a little better, at least it should be a bit easier. Just don’t let her talk and everything should be fine with the whole thing. Mia Yim might need a new challenger if she wins the title and Belair will want revenge on top of everything else.

Video on Killian Dain, including his attack on Matt Riddle last week.

Mia Yim attacked Jessamyn Duke and said something censored while crushing her shoulder in a locker.

Here’s Velveteen Dream, in a Hollywood Hogan inspired jacket, for a chat. The only way he’s losing the title is the day he dies and he wants to go straight to h*** because it would feel like that without the title. He’s heard that Roderick Strong can go all night long as well, but if Strong gets the experience he’s looking for, it won’t end well for him. Dream wants to experience Strong though so here he comes.

Strong knows Dream is scared and can see it in his eyes. All it would take is one match for Strong to take the title so give him what he wants. The title is coming to the Undisputed Era and that is undisputed. Strong drops the mic….and here’s Pete Dunne. Strong comes up to him and gets his fingers snapped, sending him running. Dunne stares at the title and Dream isn’t sure what to do.

Post break Strong demands that William Regal give him a North American Title shot. Regal says he was talking to NXT UK GM Johnny Saint and Dunne is going to be around here for a bit. Strong isn’t happy and Regal makes it worse by announcing Dunne vs. Strong vs. Dream for the title at Takeover.

Kacy Catanzaro vs. Io Shirai

Shirai wastes no time in hitting a dropkick into the corner. The fireman’s carry shoulderbreaker connects but here’s Candice LeRae to jump Shirai at 27 seconds.

Shirai bails before Candice can break her apart with a chair.

Adam Cole likes the way that Takeover is shaping up for the Undisputed Era. They can be draped in gold, which has Cole thinking about Gargano. His stipulation: a one on one wrestling match.

Next week: Tyler Breeze vs. Jaxson Ryker and Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong.

Damien Priest vs. Keith Lee

Anything that involves me hearing more of Lee’s entrance theme is a good idea. The fans sing it after the bell to make it even better. Priest grabs a headlock to start until an exchange of shoulders breaks even. Some kicks to the arms and legs go well for Priest but he has to duck a rather impressive looking spinning kick from Lee (just dang man…..you shouldn’t be able to do that).

Another shoulder works well for Lee but Priest knocks him down again. For some reason Priest tries a suplex, which goes as well as you would expect. Instead he clotheslines the heck out of Lee for two and it’s off to the chinlock. Lee doesn’t waste time getting back up so Priest tries another suplex. This one goes just as well so Priest settles for a high crossbody and his latest near fall. Priest does his archer pose but Lee grabs his hand and starts slugging away.

Lee’s own hard clothesline drops Priest, who comes right back with a Falcon Arrow (makes sense) for two. They slug it out again until Lee hits the big Pounce. Priest tries to leave but gets sent back inside, only to catch Lee with a knee to the face. A big running flip dive is loaded up…..and Lee catches him out of the air. Lee can’t do anything with him and gets kicked into the steps but EGADS LEE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT. Back in and Priest kicks him in the head, setting up the Reckoning for the pin at 9:31.

Rating: B. I had a good time with this one and that’s all it needed to be. Lee does some crazy impressive stuff and Priest is quite the striker and athlete in his own right. It wouldn’t surprise me to see these two fight again and that is a rather nice idea. You had to have one of them lose here and while I would have gone with Priest, there is nothing wrong with having Priest move forward like this.

Overall Rating: B-. What mattered here was keeping the show moving and advanced a bunch of stories at the same time. The interesting thing here though is how many things are going on. Takeover is either going to be more than the five matches or there are going to be a lot of matches on the shows before and after. Either way, things are looking good around here, though maybe not as good as NXT UK. Now who would have seen that coming?

Results

Jordan Myles b. Angel Garza – German suplex

Bianca Belair b. Xia Li – KOD

Io Shirai b. Kacy Catanzaro via DQ when Candice LeRae interfered

Damien Priest b. Keith Lee – Reckoning

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: July 24, 2019
Location: Download Festival, Leicestershire, England
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Aiden English

The build towards Takeover: Cardiff continues as we now have some challengers coming up for Walter. First up is Trent Seven, who is fighting for the injured Tyler Bate, taken out at Walter’s hands. Odds are Bate gets the shot at Cardiff, but that doesn’t mean this is a nothing match. Seven has been awesome as of late and this could be quite good. Let’s get to it.

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

Trent Seven arrives and is ready to knock Walter’s head off.

Opening sequence.

Kenny Williams vs. Noam Dar

Grudge match after a few weeks of issues. Feeling out process to start with Dar taking him down by the arm and grabbing a front facelock. That’s escaped in a hurry for a standoff and some nice applause. They grapple a bit more until Dar tries a school boy, only to have Williams be ready for it and ruffle his hair. Dar bails to the floor and catches Williams with a shot to the head to take over for real this time.

Vic thinks punching Williams in the face to take over was the turning point of the match as we hit the chinlock. Williams gets back up and hits a superkick to start the comeback. Dar is sent outside for the suicide dive and a top rope back elbow to the face keeps Dar in trouble. The springboard spinning crossbody misses though and Dar grabs a fisherman’s buster for two.

The ankle lock is broken up and Williams nails a rebound lariat for a double knockdown. Williams tries to hit the ropes but gets pulled down into the kneebar. That’s broken up as well in a bit of a surprise and Williams loses his shoe. With the referee getting rid of it, Dar kicks him low and nails the Nova Roller for the pin at 10:10.

Rating: C+. I liked this one more than I was expecting to as Williams looks to have the skills to go somewhere and Dar feels like a star. This was a good way to continue the feud and I wouldn’t complain about seeing them fight again. If nothing else, this was a good way to have a story going without a title, which the smaller shows tend to be a lot better at than the major shows.

The Grizzled Young Veterans don’t want to talk. Everyone has come after them and they have won every time because they’re locker room leaders. So what could anyone ask them about?

We look back at Kay Lee Ray surprising Xia Brookside to win the #1 contenders battle royal. She’s getting the title shot on August 31 at Takeover: Cardiff.

Jinny/Jazzy Gabbert/Kay Lee Ray vs. Xia Brookside/Toni Storm/Piper Niven

Ray hides from Storm to start so it’s Jinny taking over to start until Toni shoves her away. It’s off to Jazzy vs. Piper with Jazzy managing to knock her down. Since Jinny is willing to come in and take over, Niven runs her over instead. Xia comes in for a dropkick to Ray but walks into a gordbuster. Jazzy adds a big slam as the fans are staying with this one. That’s enough to bring Kay back in for the choking as Xia is a rather good choice to take a beating like this.

A good looking tornado DDT takes Ray down though and it’s back to Toni. Ray runs off again so Toni settles for a German suplex on Jinny. Everything breaks down and Toni hits a dive onto all three. Niven cannonballs off the apron onto them and Xia hits her own big dive from the top. Back in and Piper crossbodies Jazzy (nearly crushing Toni in the process) but Jazzy is fine enough to catch Xia on top. The middle rope X Factor gives Jinny the pin on Brookside at 7:36.

Rating: C. I can always go for a good six person tag and that’s what we got here. They had enough of the feuds going together at once and Xia has another reason to come after Jinny in the future. Jazzy vs. Piper could be a heck of a hoss fight in the future and Toni vs. Ray is already set. Not bad for less than eight minutes.

Trent Seven vs. Walter

Non-title. Trent dives on him to start and sends Walter into the barricade before the bell. They get inside for the first time to officially start but Trent sends him right back out for a baseball slide. Walter is back up and tries the powerbomb but gets backdropped on the floor instead.

Back in and Seven hammers away until Walter snaps off a German suplex. Seven’s chop to the chest just annoys Walter, who slams Seven right back down. The half crab sends Seven bailing to the rope as Walter is looking disgusted at him for not quitting. A missed big boot in the corner lets Seven chop him in the back of the neck, followed by a heck of a clothesline.

More chops annoy Walter, so he knocks Seven down again. Seven is all but out on his feet but manages a backfist to the face to put Walter on the floor. Walter tries to come back in on the top so Seven chops him even more, setting up a top rope superplex for two. They head outside again with Walter hitting a big boot and this time the apron powerbomb connects.

Seven is done so Walter powerbombs him again for no cover. There’s another powerbomb and cue the rest of Imperium to stare at the stage. Walter hits yet another powerbomb and the referee tells him to finish the match. The fourth and fifth powerbombs connect until the referee FINALLY stops it at 14:14.

Rating: B. This was a rather good storytelling device along with a hard hitting fight. They’re setting up Bate as the last hope to fight Walter and that’s going to be an incredible match, especially when he hits the Tyler Driver. Seven made Walter look like an absolute monster here and it was a rather good piece of business. As usual, Seven is a valuable asset and I’m sure he’ll be back.

Overall Rating: B+. This show hit on all three matches with the midcard feud, the women’s feuds and the big emotional main event stuff all working well. They’re really starting to click around here and Takeover could be an outstanding show given what else is going to be set up for the show. For once I have nearly full confidence in them to not mess this up, and that’s some rare air to be in.

Results

Noam Dar b. Kenny Williams – Nova Roller

Kay Lee Ray/Jinny/Jazzy Gabbert b. Toni Storm/Xia Brookside/Piper Niven – X Factor to Brookside

Walter b. Trent Seven via referee stoppage

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