IMG Credit: WWE

Back in 2017, NXT shocked a lot of wrestling fans by announcing the WarGames was making its WWE debut at the November Takeover, which happened to be called Takeover: WarGames. Then they had the match….and it wasn’t exactly WarGames with a weird three way format that only kind of worked. The problem was fixed the following year with a much more traditional format, but since WWE can’t keep things the same, we are up for a different format this year with TWO WarGames, including the first women’s WarGames match. The card is shorter than the usual Takeover, but that makes sense. Let’s get to it.

Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dain vs. Damien Priest

This, which was originally announced for this week’s TV, is now taking place here with the winner moving on to Survivor Series for a shot against NXT Champion Adam Cole. That could go multiple ways, but with Cole in WarGames and having wrestled in a ladder match on Wednesday, it would be a big stretch to have him lose to anyone (barring some form of interference from the Undisputed Era, which would be pretty lame).

I’ll take Dunne to win here and go on to become NXT Champion. Yeah that sounds like the easy way to go, but at the same time, Dunne is someone that could easily become a top guy. The Undisputed Era holding all four titles is not something that can last forever and after having them exposed to the main roster with so much success, how much longer can you really keep them together down in NXT? If Cole can beat Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan, it’s a bit much to believe that he belongs in the third brand. So yeah, Dunne wins and becomes champion in my prediction almost guaranteed to go wrong.

Matt Riddle vs. Finn Balor

Riddle is taking the place of Johnny Gargano, who was injured at Balor’s hands. That’s such a major perk of NXT: they have the kind of roster where one star is out so they can just pop another one in like it’s nothing. That kind of thing is so valuable to them and almost no one can come close to doing that. There isn’t much of a personal issue here, but it’s Balor’s first major match since his heel turn and you know what that means.

On paper, this should be Balor’s all day, but you never know what you might get. My guess is Balor, but Riddle getting one of the biggest wins of his career isn’t out of the question either. I would go with Balor winning to establish him as something bigger though, especially with the big showdown with Gargano coming sooner or later. If you have Balor lose here, what is the point in having Gargano beat him later? Balor wins here, and likely by cheating to show how he’s fully evil now.

Women’s WarGames

So this is a first and we even have the lineups set in advance for this one (Rhea Ripley/Mia Yim/Tegan Nox/Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler/Io Shirai/Bianca Belair/Kay Lee Ray). This match has been built up well enough, though I’m not sure how much sense it makes to put them inside of WarGames. It would seem more suited for something like a street fight, but I’ll take what I can get. Letting them have weapons would make sense, as Shirai can certainly swing a kendo stick. I’m curious to see how this goes, but I’m not sure how well it is going to work.

I’ll take Team Ripley to win as Ripley seems primed to be the next person to go after Baszler. She doesn’t have to beat Baszler herself, but that swinging Cloverleaf is one of the coolest looking finishers going today. Have her slap that on Belair for the win and then move on to FINALLY (and I do mean FINALLY) take the title off of Baszler. Just let everyone get some time to shine and everything should be fine.

Men’s WarGames

This one is about who will be the final member of Team Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa/Keith Lee/Dominik Dijakovic/???) as they face the Undisputed Era. Triple H has hyped up the final member of the team being a big deal but I don’t think it’s going to be Triple H himself. The question now is who gets the big spot, which is more intriguing to me than who wins. I’m not sure who it is going to be, but that is the more fun part.

I’ll certainly take Team Ciampa to win as there is little point in having the all champions team go over here. That brings up the big question of the mystery partner and I’ll take….let’s go with Sami Zayn. It would be a surprise, the place would be rather pleased and it would fit well. Either him or Isaiah Scott, who has been treated as a big deal. Or maybe they have a fresh name coming in, though that isn’t something NXT does very often. And no, it won’t be CM Punk, even in Chicago.

Overall Thoughts

The car has one fewer match than usual but come on. It’s TWO WARGAMES matches, which has never actually happened before in any major company. They have title implications plus the question of the mystery entrant, which really could be quite a number of people. I’m excited to see the show and the fact that I’ll be in the arena has nothing to do with that, I assure you.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: November 6, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things have changed in a hurry with this show as it is suddenly a show being treated like it belongs on the main roster. NXT has invaded Monday Night Raw and Smackdown and the question now is will those shows wind up here. It’s a nice feeling to not know what’s coming, though we also have to set up this month’s Takeover. Let’s get to it.

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

We open in the back with the OC attacking the Undisputed Era.

The OC comes into the arena with AJ Styles not being so impressed with NXT. They’re taking over NXT tonight and that is undisputed. Cue Tommaso Ciampa (Fans: “DADDY’S HOME!”) to say he’s been asked about being promoted tot he main roster for years. Instead, he welcomes the OC to the main roster. Ciampa doesn’t like them being in his ring but AJ points out that he’s here all alone. Cue Matt Riddle and Keith Lee with the challenge being made and accepted. Nigel says we could have a cracking main event. Yes cracking.

Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest

Rematch from two weeks ago when Priest cheated to win. Neither can hit their finisher or a kick to the face to start and we take a break. Back with Priest striking away and hitting a Falcon Arrow for two. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Dunne fights up with the X Plex. Dunne starts striking away including a dropkick to the knees but he can’t hit a German suplex.

Neither can Priest though as Dunne flips out and kicks him in the head. The moonsault to the floor hits Priest as well and they’re both down. Priest is back up with a chokeslam onto the apron, though Dunne is fine enough to hit a sitout powerbomb for two back inside. The Bitter End is broken up though and Priest kicks him in the head.

Dunne heads outside and it’s a big flip dive from Priest as we take another break. Back again with stereo kicks to the head giving us a double knockdown. South of Heaven is broken up so Priest settles for a Razor’s Edge toss powerbomb for two more. Dunne gets tired of getting beaten up though and cranks on the fingers, setting up a cross armbreaker with more finger cranking for the pin at 15:11.

Rating: B-. The two commercials hurt things a bit here though having both of them getting to show off made up for a lot of it. Dunne evens things up and there is a good chance that we’ll be seeing a third match. Priest has already gotten his big win out of the thing and that is what matters most here. Dunne is going to be a big deal so giving him the win to at least even it up for now gives me a good reason to believe his time is coming.

Post match Killian Dain runs out and beats up Dunne, including knocking Priest to the floor. Priest goes after Dain as well but gets sent into the steps, setting up the Cannonball to crush him again.

We look at the WarGames teams, with Rhea Ripley picking Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae and Shayna Baszler picking Bianca Belair and Io Shirai.

Dakota Kai is ready to stand up to Shayna Baszler tonight because she isn’t scared anymore. She’s going to prove why she belongs in WarGames.

Santana Garrett vs. Taynara

This is something of an audition for the final WarGames spots. Taynara takes her down by the arm to start but Garrett is right back with some armdrags into a Russian legsweep for two. A hard running knee to the face gives Taynara two and it’s time to kick Garrett in the face. Taynara starts cranking on the arm but Garrett gets up and hits a few forearms. Garrett misses the handspring moonsault and it’s a hard kick to the face to put her away at 4:07.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go very far but it was the standard veteran gets to beat a plucky rookie, which is an acceptable way to go. Taynara is someone who has enough capital that you can buy her winning and it’s not like Garrett got squashed in any way. Good enough debut from Garrett here, who has the experience and look to keep her relevant for a long time.

Video on Tony Nese.

Video on Angel Garza.

Survivor Series rundown, which looks pretty decent.

Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title and the rest of the Horsewomen are here with Baszler. Kai shoves her in the face and teases a kick before stopping for a quick mocking. Now the kick to the face sets up an armdrag and a flying mare of all things. A running kick to the face puts Baszler outside but she catches a charge to send Kai crashing into the post.

Back in and Baszler starts in on the braced knee, including a bunch of stomps to send us to a break. We come back with Kai hitting a double stomp to the chest out for he corner but hurting her leg again. A pump kick rocks Baszler again and a running knee to the face gets two. Kai goes up top but gets gutwrench superplexed back down for a crash and near fall.

A headbutt rocks Baszler and the running kick in the corner puts them both down. The Kawada kicks put Baszler in more trouble but she’s fine enough to hit a good looking jumping knee to the face. The Kirifuda Clutch is broken up but the second attempt goes on and the arm is trapped to make Kai tap at 11:14.

Rating: B-. Kai looked completely different than her earlier matches with Baszler here and that’s what they were going for. The history here is something that played well into the rebuilt Kai, who I wanted to be the one to come back and take the title from Baszler. Either way, Kai has a good future going at this point and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Post match the Horsewomen are in for the beatdown but it’s Team Ripley for the save. Io Shirai cuts off Candice LeRae though and the rest of Team Baszler is down for the beatdown. Cue Mia Yim with the kendo stick for the save though, including some shots to Baszler.

We recap NXT invading Smackdown and Raw.

Tommaso Ciampa isn’t worried about finding a fourth member for his WarGames team (I don’t remember that being confirmed before) against the Undisputed Era. As for tonight, if anyone wants to come after them, the front door is open.

Video on Isaiah Swerve Scott, who says Swerve is confidence.

Tony Nese vs. Angel Garza

The winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at some point in the future. Garza goes after the arm to start but it’s an early standoff. With that not working it’s time to start on the leg but Nese manages to get on top for a fast two and it’s another standoff. This time Nese takes him down by the arm for all of a few seconds, meaning it’s Garza snapping off a running hurricanrana.

That means it’s time for GARZA TO TAKE….a chop to the chest to prevent his disrobing. Garza puts him on the top and hits an enziguri, only to have Nese try a sunset bomb. That’s blocked and NESE TAKES OFF GARZA’S PANTS! Garza gets in a kick to the face and we take a break. Back with Garza hitting another kick to set up the moonsault to the floor. Nigel: “A thing of beauty from the most beautiful man in the world!”

Nese’s sitout pumphandle powerslam gives him his own two but Garza is back up with a reverse Project Ciampa. It’s Nese’s turn to knock him down and this time it’s a 450 for two with Garza getting a foot on the rope. They chop it out again until Garza flips around into a sitout powerbomb for his own near fall. A double underhook drop down (think a Bubba Bomb but with Nese turned the other way and with a butterfly instead of a full nelson) called the Wing Clipper finishes Nese at 11:19.

Rating: C. Garza winning is the right call and it makes more sense to push the NXT guys over the 205 Live guys. Point blank, most of the people on 205 Live are there for a reason and while Nese is good, he doesn’t feel like someone who would be a star around here. I’m still not sure how much longer 205 Live can last, but I’ve been saying that for two years now so what do I know.

Post match Lio Rush comes out and Garza slaps him in the face. Their title match is next week.

Rhea Ripley picks Mia Yim for the fourth spot on her team. She tells Dakota Kai that she just didn’t make the cut. Kai walks away in near tears.

Takeover rundown, which is just WarGames at the moment. Both Baszler and Ciampa’s teams still need fourths, and that previous segment seems like a clue.

Dominick Dijakovic vs. Isaiah Scott

This could be interesting. Scott starts dodging early on but jumps into a fireman’s carry. It’s too early for Feast Your Eyes so Dijakovic hits some standing knees to the back before tossing him to the side. The toss suplex gets two on Scott and a backbreaker lets Dijakovic hit a falling middle rope splash for two more. Scott gets in a quick Downward Spiral and a Release German suplex offers a surprise power display.

A DDT out of the corner gives Scott his own two and it’s time to go up, only to have Dijakovic nail a superkick. Feast Your Eyes is broken up though and Scott hits an enziguri to a kneeling Dijakovic. The cyclone boot staggers Scott though and a chokebomb gets two. Scott is fine enough to come back with a reverse hurricanrana to send Dijakovic to the apron for the big top rope double stomp. A big kick to the face gives Scott two more so he tries the rolling cutter but Dijakovic counters into Feast Your Eyes for the pin at 7:16.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and a great way to showcase the different styles. Scott can work with anyone and Dijakovic is such a freak that he can as well, despite his huge size. Really good stuff here and Dijakovic seems ready to move up to the next level at any given time. Scott needs to win a bigger match at some point, but he’s far from losing steam otherwise.

Next week: the Cruiserweight Title match plus Yim vs. Shirai in a ladder match for the WarGames advantage.

OC vs. Tommaso Ciampa/Matt Riddle/Keith Lee

The brawl is on before the bell until it’s AJ vs. Ciampa to get us going. Ciampa is knocked outside early on and the slingshot forearm hits Riddle on the floor. Back in and Willow’s Bell gives Ciampa two and it’s off to Lee vs. Gallows. A hard shoulder rocks Gallows and a pretty slow motion Pounce puts him on the floor.

Back in and Gallows kicks him in the ribs, as does the now legal Anderson. Lee goes simple with a crossbody and we take a break. We come back to Ciampa in AJ’s chinlock and Gallows driving in elbows to the neck. Ciampa fights up but Gallows is smart enough to knock Lee off the apron in advance. Anderson dives into a jumping knee to the face and the hot tag brings in Riddle.

Jumping knees and shoulders abound, followed by the string of Brotons. The Final Flash into the Bro To Sleep into a bridging German suplex gets two with Anderson making the save. Ciampa breaks up the Magic Killer to Lee, who curls Gallows just to show off. AJ’s tornado DDT plants Lee (Mauro: “Like a palm tree!”) and a brainbuster gets two on Riddle. There’s the Pounce to AJ but it takes out the referee at the same time.

Riddle tries a running flip dive but gets caught in the ropes and nearly lands on the apron for a bad crash. Ciampa loads up the Fairy Tale Ending but here’s Finn Balor. That’s enough for AJ to hit the Pele on Ciampa and 1916 plants Riddle on the floor. AJ throws up Too Sweet to Balor, who points the finger guns back at him. Cue Adam Cole to break up the Styles Clash to Ciampa and hit the Last Shot on Ciampa. Cole stares Balor down to end the show, meaning we’ll say it was a no contest at 13:25.

Rating: B. I’m not sure where this is going but it was enough good action and more importantly, the NXT guys were going step for step with the WWE talent and no one took a fall at the end. The match was entertaining and they gave enough of an ending to make me want to watch next week. I’m not sure where they’re going with WarGames and that makes for an interesting ending, especially when you tie in the invasion stuff.

Overall Rating: B. Heck of a show here again as they set up/advanced the big matches at Takeover and tied in the Survivor Series invasion stuff at the same time. I’m not sure what else they are going to have for the rest of the card, but we could be in for a shorter show due to two matches taking up sixteen people. There is still room for a lot of stuff though and under the right circumstances, we could be in for another classic, depending on how the WarGames matches go.

Results

Pete Dunne b. Damian Priest – Cross armbreaker

Taynara b. Santana Garrett – Kick to the face

Shayna Baszler b. Dakota Kai – Kirifuda Clutch

Angel Garza b. Tony Nese – Wing Clipper

Dominick Dijakovic b. Isaiah Scott – Feast Your Eyes

OC vs. Tommaso Ciampa/Keith Lee/Matt Riddle went to a no contest

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: October 16, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a big night as we have the return of Tommaso Ciampa to in ring action. That’s quite the get for NXT, as they are in for a fight against Dynamite. There are only so many people you can throw out there and Ciampa is already a legend around here. Speaking of legends, the advertisements for the show have featured Finn Balor so we could be in for another major appearance. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Angel Garza

Ciampa gets the hero’s return welcome. They start fast with Ciampa running him over but they both miss kicks to the ribs, allowing Garza to kneel for a handshake over. Ciampa kicks that away but gets enziguried for his efforts. Back in and the Fairy Tale Ending is blocked and Garza dropkicks him in the corner for a trip to the floor.

That means a big flip dive but hang on, because GARZA HAS TO TAKE OFF HIS PANTS. Ever the pants fan, Ciampa snaps and stomps away in the corner, before stomping on the Mexican flag in the corner, including a kneeing knee. He even loads up the Fairy Tale Ending on the flag but stops to hit the Willow’s Bell (hanging DDT) to finish Garza at 3:17.

Rating: C. The stuff with the flag was a little weird but at least they didn’t go into anything too strange and it didn’t become a mess. It’s good to have Ciampa back and there was no reason to have him break a major sweat in his first match back. I’m a bit surprised by having Garza be the one to take the fall here, but Ciampa is what matters the most.

Post match here’s the Undisputed Era to stare Ciampa down. Ciampa grabs his chair and crutch but hang on a second as Kyle O’Reilly goes over to the announcers’ table and throws Mauro a USB drive. The Era walks out without saying or doing anything else.

Post break we see what is on the USB, which shows the Era in the back, having laid out the Velveteen Dream and Strong BREAKING HIS SUNGLASSES.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Imperium

Marcel Barthel/Fabian Aichner for Imperium and they have Alexander Wolfe as a bonus. Aichner literally throws Burch into the corner to start so Burch runs him over with a shoulder. It’s off to Lorcan for a double elbow so Barthel comes in, only to dive into a headbutt from Burch.

It seems to mess with Burch even more though as Barthel hits a sliding dropkick in the corner as we take a break. Back with Burch hitting Aichner in the face and bringing Burch in for the house cleaning. Uppercuts into a slingshot dive to the floor sets up a big dive onto both of them. Back in and Burch German suplexes Aichner, followed by a powerbomb into a jackknife cover for two.

The assisted elevated DDT is broken up by Barthel so it’s Lorcan and Aichner chopping it out. Barthel dives on Burch on the floor, leaving Aichner to hit a double springboard moonsault for a close two on Lorcan. That leaves Lorcan to get beaten up with a series of strikes and the European Bomb gives Barthel the pin at 8:32.

Rating: B-. This was about four people beating the heck out of each other and that’s exactly what we got. Lorcan and Burch are not looking like a team who will ever win the titles, though that tends to make them guaranteed champions around here. Imperium being on both NXT and NXT UK adds a fresh change of pace around here and it’s an interesting twist.

Video on Johnny Gargano. He has wanted to wrestle forever and is living his dream by staying in NXT.

Gargano isn’t sure what to think about Ciampa being back and won’t know what to think until they see each other face to face.

Io Shirai vs. Kayden Carter

Carter starts fast but flips around once too often and gets shouldered down. Something like a sunset flip gives Carter two and Shirai bails to the floor. That doesn’t go well for Carter as Shirai hits her in the face, setting up a springboard missile dropkick for two back inside. Carter sweeps the leg though and a kick to Shirai’s chest staggers her a bit. A low superkick gets two on Shirai but she’s right back with a hard release German suplex. The moonsault finishes Carter at 2:37. That was a rather entertaining match for so little time.

Post match, Shirai says she only wants Shayna Baszler and not Rhea Ripley or Bianca Belair. Cue Ripley and Shirai is looking a bit nervous. Rhea is ready for Belair next week but she’ll shut Shirai up too. Shirai teases a fight but bails instead.

We look back at Killian Dain distracting Boa so Cameron Grimes could beat him in about five seconds. Dain destroyed Boa after the match for a bonus.

Boa wants revenge on Dain.

William Regal says Velveteen Dream is out of action for the time being due to the attack. Therefore, Strong needs a new #1 contender so Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic is now for a title shot.

Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic

The winner gets Strong for the North American Title next week. The exchange of shoulders goes nowhere to start so they try it again for the same result. They try a test of strength with Lee going to one arm and lifting him into the air in a nice power display. Lee shoulders him down and stays on the arm with a splash for two.

Back up and Dijakovic gets in a clothesline with the good arm and we take a break. We come back with Lee hammering away in the corner before tossing him across the ring. The Pounce gives Lee two and Dijakovic’s sitout chokeslam gets the same. Dijakovic can’t hit a superplex though as Lee shoves him down and hits a middle rope splash onto the arm. The Spirit Bomb sends Dijakovic rolling out to the floor but he’s right back with the cyclone boot for two back inside.

That means it’s Lee’s turn so he muscles Dijakovic up (on the third time in a crazy strength display) for a suplex and the big crash. Lee loads up what looked to be a Vader Bomb so Dijakovic gets him in an electric chair, which is countered into a reverse hurricanrana for the big knockdown. They get to the corner with Lee loading up a super powerbomb, only to have Strong come out and hit both of them at the same time for the no contest at 15:23.

Rating: B. It was good, but they were under the pressure of their previous outstanding matches and it didn’t hold up as well as they were shooting for. What we got was good, though the ending is the same heel idea that has never worked before and hopefully they get to the point and do the triple threat. We don’t need to see these two again in another singles match for a long time though, because the impact isn’t as strong anymore.

Hold on though as Regal wastes no time in saying that isn’t going to work and next week it’s a triple threat match for the title.

Matt Riddle vs. Bronson Reed

Riddle’s shoe flip misfires this time for a somewhat funny moment. We get a quick bit of respect before Riddle hits him in the face. The Final Flash sets up the running forearms in the corner and a t-bone suplex makes it even worse. Reed runs him over though and drops a backsplash for a fast two.

Riddle is right back with a powerbomb and the second Final Flash for two of his own. The Floating Bro is countered into a sitout powerbomb to knock Riddle silly and the straps come down. Reed tries a suplex but Riddle reverses into a sleeper. That’s escaped as well and Reed tries to jump over Riddle in the corner, only to get caught on Riddle’s shoulder in a rather nice power display. The Bro Derek finishes Reed at 3:04.

Rating: C. This was a fired up Riddle, who threw everything he had at Reed and took the big guy down. Reed looked good as well though as you can always use a monster who can move. It was more about Riddle here though and this should get him back on tract after the loss to Cole.

Video on Bianca Belair, who is ready to beat Shayna and is tired of people jumping in front of her.

Kushida has a fractured wrist and will be out for a month.

Taynara vs. Tegan Nox

Nox starts fast with a kick to the face for two but a bicycle kick puts her on the floor in a heap. Back in and Taynara gets in some rolling judo throws into some running knees in the corner for two. Nox is right back up and a running knee and a chokeslam, followed by a Willie Mack style reverse Cannonball. The Shiniest Wizard finishes Taynara at 2:55. Mauro:” Tegan Nox it out of the park!” She did look good here and just seeing her getting to wrestle again without having her knee explode is a good sign.

Post match Dakota Kai comes out to hug Nox but here are the Horsewomen to interrupt. Baszler doesn’t like the idea of Nox jumping into the title picture because she’s running out of limbs to rehab. When she does something important, come see the champ.

Finn Balor talks about needing a new path to take so he’s taking the one he took before. He’s in the ring next week.

Boa vs. Killian Dain

Rating: D+. Just a squash here for the most part with Dain dominating, as he should. Boa is someone with a good look though he is just one of the warm bodies around to take beating at the moment. That can change in the future though and he looked good for the first thirty seconds or so.

Pete Dunne comes out for his match but gets in a staredown with Dain. For some reason Dain thinks it’s a good idea to point his finger at Dunne, who snaps it to send Dain running.

Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest

Priest goes with an elbow to the face to start before winning a battle of the kicks. With that not working for Dunne, he grabs the finger and gets in the stomp to the arm to take over. They head outside with Dunne working on the arm even more, including another stomp on the steps. Priest kicks him off the apron though and a right hand puts Dunne down again as we take a break.

Back with Dunne hitting a superplex and striking away with lefts and rights. An enziguri sets up a middle rope dropkick to the knee and Priest heads outside again. That doesn’t go well either as Dunne hits the middle rope moonsault for another knockdown. Back in and a Liger Bomb gives Dunne two more so he loads up the stomps, only to get kicked in the head.

Dunne can’t get a cross armbreaker so he tries a triangle, which Priest counters into a rollup with feet on the ropes for two. Priest sends him shoulder first into the post and gets two of his own off a Razor’s Edge (somehow without a Razor Ramon reference from Mauro). Dunne is sent outside for a crazy running flip dive from Priest, followed by the South of Heaven chokeslam for another near fall.

They slug it out with Priest turning him inside out with a clothesline. The Reckoning is blocked but Dunne can’t hit the Bitter End. Another chokeslam is countered with an enziguri so Priest hits a spinning kick to the head. They’re both down but Dunne gets up first, only to have his moonsault hit knees. Dunne slips out of a powerbomb though and cranks on the finger, with the referee getting between them. That’s enough for a low blow from Priest and the Reckoning gives Priest the pin at 14:20.

Rating: B. This worked very well with two guys beating the heck out of each other and one of them taking the shortcut to win in the end. Dunne doesn’t lose anything here and you can almost guarantee a rematch here, perhaps in the form of a tag match with Dain joining Priest against Dunne and….Riddle maybe? If that’s still a thing?

Overall Rating: B-. The main event helped a lot here but the show hasn’t felt quite as special since the show moved up to two hours. The shows are still quite good though and we are getting some big stuff in the future, though it doesn’t have exactly the same spark that it had for all those years. Good show here, though it was missing a little something.

Overall, AEW wins this week but as usual it’s just by a hair. They had a tighter show with better matches up and down the card. The big tag match on Dynamite was the best thing all night and I liked how they were setting up Full Gear. NXT worked rather well too, though it lagged a few times and it hurt things just enough to give Dynamite the win.

Results

Tommaso Ciampa b. Angel Garza – Willow’s Bell

Imperium b. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan – European Bomb to Lorcan

Io Shirai b. Kayden Carter – Moonsault

Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic went to a no contest when Roderick Strong interfered

Matt Riddle b. Bronson Reed – Bro Derek

Tegan Nox b. Taynara – Shiniest Wizard

Killian Dain b. Boa – Seated abdominal stretch

Damien Priest b. Pete Dunne – Reckoning

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: October 2, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuiness

As big of a night as it is on the other show, this one is huge in its own right with the first full two hour broadcast on USA. The card is completely stacked with three title matches for a new Takeover level show. I’m not sure what to expect from this show but NXT knows how to bring it on the big nights. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video talks about how this is the exclusive brand of wrestling and if that’s what you’re looking for, welcome home (nice touch).

NXT Title: Matt Riddle vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending and has a broken bone in his wrist. Riddle goes straight for the armbar to start in a smart move but Cole is straight over to the rope. Some rolling gutwrench suplexes give Riddle one and he kicks Cole outside without much effort. Cole is fine enough to hit a jumping kick to the head to stagger Riddle though and Cole sends him into the steps for a bonus.

Back in and the fireman’s carry backbreaker gives Cole two and we hit the figure four necklock. Riddle fights up and hits some running forearms in the corner, setting up the standing moonsault. That doesn’t connect so Riddle hits a Broton into a running kick to the chest for two. The Final Flash into the fisherman’s buster gets the same and a dead lift German suplex gets the third two.

Riddle puts him in a fireman’s carry but Cole slips down into a Backstabber for the double knockdown. Cole gets smart by stomping on Riddle’s bare feet before superkicking him in the face. Riddle is fine enough to hit a knee before tossing Cole onto the back of his head with a release German suplex. Cole is right back up with the brainbuster onto the knee for two more and they’re both down to a huge NXT chant.

Back up and Riddle kicks him in the face but can’t hit something on the apron. Instead Cole kicks him to the floor but dives into a knee to the face. Back in and the Floating Bro hits knees, setting up Cole’s Panama Sunrise for two more. Another Panama Sunrise is countered into a Bro To Sleep and a powerbomb. Another Floating Bro connects for a very hot two and Riddle is stunned at the kickout.

Riddle tries a flip over the ropes but gets superkicked, setting up the second Panama Sunrise. The Last Shot misses and the Bromission goes on in the middle of the ring. Cole flips back and stacks him up for two, only to get pulled into the Fujiwara armbar. That’s escaped as well and Cole gets in a cast shot, setting up the Last Shot to retain at 13:49.

Rating: B. Good match here, even if some of the submission escapes were a bit of a stretch. What we got was some high enough quality stuff though and the always hot Full Sail crowd helped make it even better. I’m a bit surprised Riddle lost, though I’m certainly not surprised that Cole cheated to win, which protects Riddle enough.

Post match Cole poses….and here’s Finn Balor. He soaks in the cheers and stares Cole down before declaring that as of now, he is NXT.

Shayna Baszler watched Candice LeRae’s match at a house show last week and LeRae isn’t surprised. LeRae is ready to win the title.

Here’s Velveteen Dream, surrounded by an army of women, for a chat on the stage. Dream talks about the experience and how the Undisputed Era tried to steal it. He’s never had a problem with taking on more than one man at a time so he has a challenge for Roderick Strong. If he accepts, the next thing he knows it’s going to be dream over, and a snap takes the lights off.

Next week: Drew Gulak defends the Cruiserweight Title against Lio Rush. The title is officially the NXT Cruiserweight Title.

Video on Lio Rush.

Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim

Shirai starts fast and takes it to the floor with a kick to the face staggering Mia. We go picture in picture for a break and come back with Shirai hitting a running dropkick to the side of the head for two, meaning it’s time for some frustration. A flapjack into a handstand double knees to the chest gets two more but Mia is back with a suplex. Some shots to the face and a clothesline give Yim two but some kicks to the chest cut her off.

A 619 into a springboard missile dropkick get two more on Yim, who is right back with Code Blue. Shirai bails to the floor for a suicide dive and we go picture in picture again….which switches to a full commercial and then back to picture in picture again. Anyway we’re back with Yim hitting a superplex for two. Shirai is done with this though and kicks her in the face, setting up the moonsault for the pin at 14:43.

Rating: C+. It was a good, hard hitting match but I still cannot bring myself to care about Mia. I don’t know if it’s the bad nicknames or the character but it’s really not clicking at all. Hopefully this loss seems to indicate that she is going down the card, which almost feels like a relief at this point. She’s not terrible, but I can’t get into anything she does.

The Outsiders are here.

The Street Profits arrived earlier today. Of note: Bianca Belair is mentioned as Montez Ford’s wife, I believe for the first time on television.

Video on Tegan Nox’s injury and long time recovery.

Shane Thorne vs. Johnny Gargano

Johnny teases a kick to the face so Shane goes to the safety of the mat instead. Gargano rolls him up for two and tries the Gargano Escape to send Throne to the ropes. Back from a break with Johnny hitting the rolling kick to the head before sending Thorne outside. The suicide dive is blocked so Johnny tries it again and knocks Throne down in a crash.

The slingshot spear gets two but the slingshot DDT is countered. A Cannonball into a heck of a powerbomb gives Thorne two so he kicks Gargano in the head. That’s fine with Johnny, who snaps off a reverse hurricanrana. The low superkick (ala his half of Meet in the Middle) gives Johnny the pin at 8:53.

Rating: C. Just a match here as it’s almost strange to see Gargano winning a short match instead of some epic. I don’t think anyone was really expecting Thorne to take off as the next big thing so a short match with Gargano was about as good as he was going to get. What we got here was fine enough, though I’m not sure what Gargano can do next.

Women’s Title: Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler

Baszler is defending. Feeling out process to start with Candice knocking her to the floor. The slingshot dive takes us to an early break and we come back with Candice being knocked off the top. Baszler crushes the arm in the steps and it’s time to crank away back inside. Candice is right back up and hits a DDT onto the apron, setting up the suicide dive to drop Baszler again.

A second and third dive connect as well and Candice heads up top, only to get superplexed right back down as we take another break. Back again with Candice snapping off a German suplex and grabbing her own Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler is out of that in a hurry and grabs her own clutch out of the corner, which is reversed into Ms. LeRae’s Wild Ride for two more. The Lionsault misses though and now the real Kirifuda Clutch goes on. Candice flips around a bit and almost breaks it but has to tap at 14:50.

Rating: B-. I am genuinely at a loss for who is supposed to take the title from Baszler. They’re going to have to import some names at this point with Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai being too fresh off of injuries to go to so soon. Rhea Ripley has already had her match so maybe….Toni Storm? Perhaps? I mean is there anyone other than someone from NXT UK?

Stephanie McMahon, Mark Henry and Alundra Blayze are here.

Video on Kushida vs. Walter, which takes place next week.

Pete Dunne vs. Danny Burch

Dunne nips out of a wristlock to start as they fight over early arm control. Burch avoids having his fingers stomped and reverses an armbar into a quickly broken Crossface attempt. A missed right hand gives us a staredown until Dunne blasts him with a clothesline. Back from a break with Burch getting the better of a slugout as someone is bleeding from somewhere. Dunne hits a Batista Bomb for two but Burch headbutts him into a powerbomb of his own. The top rope hanging DDT gets two but Dunne has had it and snaps the fingers. Dunne grabs the Bitter End for the pin at 7:13.

Rating: C. Good, hard hitting brawl here as I’m still trying to get my head around the idea of Dunne as a regular wrestler instead of the big specialty star. Burch is very good for a spot like this as he can wrestle against anyone and has good enough matches to keep himself solid despite almost never winning anything.

Post match Dunne poses but Damian Priest runs in and lays him out.

Cole tells the Undisputed Era to forget about Balor and go keep the Tag Team Titles.

We look at the Street Profits winning and losing the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era vs. Street Profits

The Profits are challenging and Wale raps them to the ring. Dawkins wrestles O’Reilly down to start before running him over with a shoulder. That means an early standoff and the champs bail to the floor. We take a break and come back with Ford getting taken into the champs’ corner. Ford get knocked down so O’Reilly dances a bit, allowing Ford to nip up. That earns him another beating though, including a slingshot hilo to give Fish two.

Some forearms to the face keep Ford down as the heat segment rolls on. Three Amigos give Fish two and it’s a double kick to the chest for two more. We take another break and come back again with Fish kicking Ford down again. Ford finally gets in a Rock Bottom but Fish is right there to pull Dawkins off the apron. Some rolling butterfly suplexes keep Ford in trouble and we hit the abdominal stretch.

Ford finally gets out and dives over for the hot tag to Dawkins, who runs through a double kick to the chest. A clothesline drops Fish and Dawkins bulldogs O’Reilly onto him for a cool spot. Everything breaks down and Dawkins’ spear is blocked with a knee to the face, allowing O’Reilly to come off the top onto Dawkins’ knee. The kneebar goes on and Fish adds a guillotine to Ford.

That’s broken up as Ford drives forward for the double escape and everyone is staggered. Ford hits a splash onto Fish’s back but an electric chair is broken up. The champs tease leaving so Ford hits a running flip dive over the post onto all three. Cue Roderick Strong to grab Ford’s foot so Dawkins spears him down. The distraction is enough for the High/Low to retain the titles at 20:06.

Rating: B. These four have chemistry together but it was pretty clear that the Profits were going to be the short term, one time champions. There’s nothing wrong with that and it makes sense to have them lose here. I’m not sure who is next to go after the titles, though Breezango would seem like a logical way to go.

Post match the Era celebrates with Cole coming out to the stage to pose….and here’s Tommaso Ciampa to circle Cole and look at the title. The place goes nuts and singes along with Ciampa’s song as the staredown ends the show. Well he’s the biggest face in the company now. Maybe? Dang it’s cool to have two huge names appear on one night like that.

Overall Rating: B+. Yeah they brought the big time atmosphere as they always do and had the wrestling to back it up. What matters most here though is the two major returns as NXT’s main event scene is instantly energized again, which is a place where WWE has a major advantage: with so much talent on all of their rosters, they can swap people in and have fresh matches and moments for years. “Hey here’s a former World Champion who is a god in NXT. Oh and to close out the show, one of the most popular stars NXT has ever seen.” Not bad for two hours and there happened to be an awesome show in between.

Having seen both shows, NXT was a better (though not much better) show but this really isn’t a fair comparison. NXT has a long history, established stories and a far deeper roster with WWE support. Coming into tonight, AEW has about as much total time on air as WWE produces in about two weeks. The comparisons can come in a few months when AEW has gotten its footing, but NXT won by a bit tonight, though you can’t go wrong watching either show.

Results

Adam Cole b. Matt Riddle – Last Shot

Io Shirai b. Mia Yim – Moonsault

Johnny Gargano b. Shane Thorne – Low superkick

Shayna Baszler b. Candice LeRae – Kirifuda Clutch

Pete Dunne b. Danny Burch – Bitter End

Undisputed Era b. Street Profits – High/Low to Ford

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: September 18, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time to make this show live and double the length as well because of course it is. This is the first episode of the anti-AEW defense system and that means we’re in for a stacked show. That would include Velveteen Dream defending the North American Title against Roderick Strong and a street fight between Matt Riddle and Killian Dain. Let’s get to it.

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

An extreme closeup of HHH opens the show, with the boss talking about how this is the present and the future. He’s ready to show us what this is and we get a first person trip through the curtain to see the arena.

Mauro welcomes us to the show and the arena looks more vibrant than usual, though it may be the difference between a laptop and a TV.

Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair vs. Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae

One fall to a finish and the winner gets a shot at Shayna Baszler at some point in the future. Candice goes right after Shirai to start but Io gets sent outside. Belair’s handspring moonsault gets two on Candice with Mia making the save. Shirai’s springboard missile dropkick gets the same on Belair with no one making a save. Belair slams Candice on the floor so Mia dives onto both of them, setting up the huge top rope moonsault from Shirai to send us to a break (that’s going to take some getting used to).

Back with Belair getting the worst of a Tower of Doom, followed by Candice grabbing a Black Widow on Belair until Shirai makes the save. Candice suplexes Shirai to the floor but walks into a reverse Alabama Slam into the buckle. Mia breaks up the KOD and hits Code Blue for two on Belair with Shirai making a save.

Belair spears Shirai and Yim down, setting up the KOD for two on LeRae. Protect Ya Neck sends Belair outside but Shirai sends Candice to the floor as well. Running knees in the corner rock Candice but Mia sends Shirai outside. Candice spikes Mia with a reverse hurricanrana and adds a Lionsault for the pin and the title shot at 9:59.

Rating: B-. This worked well with everyone working hard and some good near falls throughout. Candice winning is the absolute right call as she hasn’t gotten a shot at the champ yet and is the better of the two faces in the whole match. It would be a great underdog story to see Candice win the title and that’s how you want to present things from here. Great way to open things and show what NXT is about too.

Post match Shayna Baszler and her cronies come out to stare Candice down.

Quick Adam Cole video.

Video on Dominick Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee and their instant classic last month. They meet again next week.

Video on Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain to set up tonight’s street fight.

Sean Maluta vs. Cameron Grimes

Standing double stomp finishes Maluta at nine seconds.

Video on Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong.

Video on Damien Priest.

North American Title: Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong

Strong is challenging. Dream takes him into the corner so Strong shoves him away, meaning it’s time to grapple to the mat. A clothesline puts Strong on the floor but Dream is ready for a springboard, sending Strong outside for some ranting and a break. Back with Dream hitting a dropkick for one and hitting an ax handle to put Strong on the floor. That means another ax handle but Strong is right back with a suplex onto the barricade.

Back in and we hit the chinlock, followed by another backbreaker for two. Dream is back up and tries the Sharpshooter but get knocked to the floor instead. A right hand sends Strong into the steps and we take another break. Back again with Dream slugging his way out of the top rope superplex and hitting another ax handle. The Dream Valley Driver gets two but Strong pulls him to the apron. A kick to the face has Dream hanging over the middle rope and Strong ties the arms in the ropes.

Strong hits a series of running shots to the face and it’s another backbreaker into a tiger bomb for two. The Strong Hold goes on so Dream makes the slow crawl to the ropes. Cue the Undisputed Era and of course the ref gets bumped. There’s another Dream Valley Driver but Dream has to knock the Era off the apron. End of Heartache gets a great near fall and Dream hits another Dream Valley Driver. Cole superkicks Dream off the top though and it’s another End of Heartache to give the Era all the titles at 22:30.

Rating: B. I know it’s all about the moment but the match never hit that other gear that Dream matches can get to. Maybe it was the obvious ending but other than that near fall off the first End of Heartache, there wasn’t much here to get excited about. You can see where they’re going with WarGames, but this Undisputed Era Holds All The Titles deal isn’t all that interesting.

We move to the WWE Network and recap the title change.

We recap the four way. Baszler vs. LeRae is in two weeks.

Pete Dunne vs. Arturo Ruas

They trade arm holds to start and it’s an early standoff. With the wrestling out of the way, it’s time for a slugout with Dunne nailing a clothesline. Dunne misses the stomp to the arm and Ruas cartwheels over for a kick to the face. Ruas is back with more kicks to the chest and another to the knee keeps Dunne down.

Another kick is blocked by a grab of the knee for some toe manipulation. The dragon screw legwhip sets up more strikes to Ruas, followed by the stomp to the fingers. The X Plex gets two on Ruas, who is right back with more strikes to the face. Dunne enziguris him and grabs the triangle, meaning it’s time to bend the fingers back for the tap at 6:41.

Rating: C+. The technical stuff was good here though I’m still having issues getting used to seeing Dunne having regular matches. The fact that he is around regularly now is a great sign for the future as Dunne has seemed ready to break through every ceiling there is in WWE and having him presented more often is a great thing.

Xia Li vs. Aliyah

Li goes straight to the kicking to start and Aliyah gets knocked down in a variety of ways. A kick to the leg sets up a spinning kick to the back of the head to finish Aliyah at 1:50. That was quite the surprise as I was expecting Aliyah to get beaten up until she won with a cheating rollup or something. Well done on going with a surprise.

Denzel DeJournette vs. Kushida

Hold on though as here’s Imperium, minus Walter, to beat down Denzel. The fans want Walter and here he is to a MONSTER pop. Walter introduces the team and promises to make anyone who disrespects them pay the price to the ring general. Cue Kushida, who says this is his time. The rest of the team is cleared out but Walter rips off Kushida’s vest. That earns him a kick to the face but Kushida is smart enough to bail. This is where NXT can shine: take two stars you wouldn’t expect to see go at it and then pair them together. It helps when you have several all star teams worth of talent at your disposal.

Lio Rush vs. Oney Lorcan

The winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at some point in the future and hokey smoke Rush is allowed to exist again. Lorcan hits some running elbows in the corner and gets two off a Blockbuster. As the announcers explain that Lorcan is angry that Rush is getting this spot (explaining things we wouldn’t otherwise know as commentary should do), the half and half is blocked and Lorcan is sent outside. Three straight suicide dives hit Lorcan but he’s fine enough to whip Rush hard into the corner. Another shot to the face puts Rush on the floor but he’s right back in, allowing Lorcan to hit a gutwrench powerbomb for two.

The half crab works on Rush some more and a chop sends Rush to his knees. Rush is right back with a bottom rope springboard into a Stunner for a VERY close two but he tweaks his knee on a frog splash attempt. Lorcan is right on the leg and powerbombs him into another half crab. Lorcan switches into an STF but somehow Rush makes it over to the rope for another break. For some reason Rush slaps him in the face and Lorcan is all fired up, only to run into a standing Spanish Fly. The Dragon’s Call finishes Lorcan at 10:15.

Rating: C. It’s hard to imagine Rush not winning the title to kick the title’s run on NXT off in a hurry, though I’m not sure how wise it is to have Rush go away for six months and then hand him a title as soon as he gets back. Maybe that won’t be the case, but it’s hard to imagine Gulak retaining the title again.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain

Street fight. Dain goes right at him to start and the fight is on with Riddle not being able to get much in. The Broton hits knees and it’s time for the weapons in a hurry. They fight into the crowd with Dain hitting his own backsplash and they brawl into the back. Riddle gets thrown into the side of a production truck but knees Dain. They fight over to Walter, who jumps Riddle despite not being touched.

Imperium, the Street Profits and the Forgotten Sons (who we saw during the brawl) all get in on it and it’s time to head into the arena again. Pete Dunne and maybe Danny Burch are in there as well with security breaking up Riddle and Dain. Security gets beaten up as well and more wrestlers get involved until Dain is left alone in the ring. That means a suicide dive onto a bunch of people to end the show. I won’t bother rating the match as it was just a few minutes before everyone else got involved, but that was certainly a hot angle.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a hard one to grade as it felt like two big episodes put together with some interesting stuff throughout. The problem though is the double length takes away a lot of what made NXT feel so special. It always had this feeling of getting a little taste and leaving you wanting more. Maybe it’s having so much content on Wednesdays but a lot of that feeling was missing here. I’m sure I’ll get used to it and they’ll get the hang of the feeling, but this felt long instead of special, which makes the show more like every other wrestling program around rather than the special one it became. It’s sad, but that’s wrestling.

Results

Candice LeRae b. Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and Mia Yim – Lionsault to Belair

Cameron Grimes b. Sean Maluta – Standing double stomp

Roderick Strong b. Velveteen Dream – End of Heartache

Pete Dunne b. Arturo Ruas – Bent fingers

Xia Li b. Aliyah – Spinning kick to the head

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain went to a no contest

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: September 11, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

This is where things wrap up for the old era of NXT, with the show moving over to the USA Network next week (for half of it at least as the second half will be airing on the WWE Network for the first two weeks). We’re going out with a champion in action as Shayna Baszler faces Rhea Ripley in a non-title match. Let’s get to it.

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

Rhea Ripley arrives.

Opening sequence.

Damien Priest vs. Boa

Boa tells Priest to run the ropes so Priest knocks him into the corner with raw power. The toss Falcon Arrow sends Boa flying and a discus clothesline cuts off the comeback bid. The cyclone kick and the Reckoning finish Boa at 2:32. Total squash.

Here’s Johnny Gargano to a hero’s welcome, meaning we have to pause for a very long JOHNNY WRESTLING chant. Johnny has heard all of the rumors and everyone is wondering what the future holds for him. The last time he was in this ring, he got knocked cold and woke up to an arena chanting THANK YOU JOHNNY. They built this arena together and Gargano has been around for a long time. He has seen a lot of people coming and going and he has made his decision on his future.

Cue Shane Thorn to interrupt though because he’s sick of Johnny Time. This place is going to be better without him so take a bow and take a walk. Gargano goes to leave but says he isn’t going anywhere and knocks Shane down. Johnny writes NXT and does the NWO 4 Life sign to a roar. That’s probably the best thing for him as he would be banished to nothing on Raw or Smackdown.

Video on the Forgotten Sons.

Pete Dunne vs. Angel Garza

Garza holds up his hand to Dunne before realizing that is a very bad idea. Hold on as Garza….doesn’t get to take off his pants as Dunne pulls him down by the leg. Dunne goes for the fingers but misses the stomp on the arm. Garza offers another handshake but manages to sucker Dunne to the floor. With that out of the way, GARZA CAN TAKE OFF HIS PANTS!

Dunne drops him with a forearm so Garza hits him right back to leave Dunne on the floor. That just earns Garza some chops to the chest and an enziguri in the corner. A big kick to the head gets two on Garza, who rolls Dunne up for the same. Dunne gets caught in the corner for a running dropkick to the leg but Dunne is back with a nasty kick to the head. Garza kicks him in the ribs and tries a moonsault, which is caught in the triangle choke. The finger snap finishes Garza at 8:03.

Rating: C+. This is the kind of match that you almost never see from Dunne as he is so well known for the big epics instead of a regular TV match. Dunne looked rather good, but it’s a weird spot for him to be in as he’s such a big star coming out of NXT UK. Garza got in some offense here and certainly didn’t get squashed, so he probably is in line for a nice spot around here.

The Street Profits are proud of being in Madison Square Garden this past Monday. It’s not the same without the Tag Team Titles though, meaning the challenge is on for next week on USA.

Raul Mendoza vs. Cameron Grimes

Mendoza starts fast with La Majistral for two and a hurricanrana but Grimes dropkicks him out to the floor. Back in and the armbar goes on but Mendoza is back up with an enziguri in the corner. A rope walk dropkick into a running shooting star press gives Mendoza two. Mendoza heads up but has to bail out of the Phoenix splash, allowing Grimes to hit his standing double stomp for the pin at 3:50.

Rating: C. Grimes is someone who did nothing for me in TNA so it’s nice to see what he can do elsewhere. This wasn’t a great match by any stretch but I’ve gotten more out of him here than I ever did elsewhere. Mendoza continues to be one of the most guaranteed completely acceptable performances around here and someone who gets in a good deal on almost every match he has. If they ever need to push him, it wouldn’t be much of a jump whatsoever.

Candice LeRae complains to William Regal about Io Shirai being rewarded for everything she does. Regal agrees and makes next week’s #1 contenders match a four way. If Ripley wins tonight, it might be a five way.

Video on Dakota Kai.

Next week: Strong vs. Dream for the North American Title and Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain in a street fight.

Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Baszler takes her to the ropes to start so Ripley trips her for the early surprise. A standing armbar works a bit better for Baszler until Ripley slams her down for the break. Ripley misses a big boot though and Baszler kicks the leg to tie it in the ropes. Baszler grabs the Kirifuda Clutch in the corner so it’s broken in a hurry, allowing Ripley to dropkick her off the top. Ripley follows her out for an electric chair drop onto the steps. Cue the Horsewomen for a distraction so Baszler can get in a knee. A chair is tossed in but Ripley takes it away and hits Baszler for the DQ at 5:27.

Rating: C+. You can probably pencil in a title match either on USA or at Takeover: WarGames and that’s a good way to go. Baszler has cleaned out the division at this point so bringing in some fresh talent is far from a bad idea. I wouldn’t be shocked if next week’s match became a five way with Ripley winning just to get things to the point faster. Ripley looked like a monster here and is more than ready to at least challenge for the title.

Post match it’s a big staredown.

The Undisputed Era takes credit for NXT moving to USA and promises to fulfill the prophecy next week. Strong says he’ll take the North American Title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a bit of an odd show as it was much more of a commercial for next week than anything else and in that regard, it worked well. As a show of its own it was nothing of note with only the main event match having any storyline advancement. I’m almost scared of what is going to happen in the next few weeks but there is nothing that can be done about it at this point. Hopefully it still works, because I would hate to lose one of the best weekly shows ever.

Results

Damien Priest b. Boa – Reckoning

Pete Dunne b. Angel Garza – Finger snap

Cameron Grimes b. Raul Mendoza – Standing double stomp

Shayna Baszler b. Rhea Ripley via DQ when Ripley used a chair

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

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

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

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

Hidden Gems #11
Date: 2007, 2011, 2016, 2017

Since it took me the better part of forever to get through with the Christmas stuff, I might as well pick up the pace a little bit here. This time around it’s just a collection of matches and with this, I’ll have everything from 2007 until the present, at least until they add even more stuff to this amazing lineup of stuff. Let’s get to it.

Jamin Olivencia vs. Tommaso
Date: March 10, 2007
Location: Davis Arena, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Dean Hill, Kenny Bolin

From Ohio Valley Wrestling. Jamin is an OVW legend and this is Tommaso’s (Ciampa of course) debut. Just to mess with me, Tomasso has hair and they go with a lockup onto the mat. A rollup gives Tommaso two and Jamin gets his own for the same. Jamin’s shoulder gets two more and it’s off to a headlock for some of the most obvious spot calling I’ve ever seen. Back up and Tommaso hits a Samoan drop and a whip into the corner for two each. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Olivencia gets up an elbow in the corner. Jamin’s top rope elbow misses though and it’s a reverse DDT to finish Olivencia at 3:31.

Rating: C-. There was nothing great or even noteworthy here but they were working at a fast pace and had a lot of energy. Having Tommaso win is a good way to set him up for the future, though he wouldn’t be in OVW for very long. This is another historical curiosity and that’s what this series specializes in.

To FCW!

Grand Royale
Date: January 16, 2011
Location: FCW Arena, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Matt Martlaro, Byron Saxton

The winner gets a Florida Heavyweight Title shot against Masion Ryan, Rotundo is Bo Dallas, Orlov is Alex Kozlov and the other names you don’t know aren’t important enough to talk about. This is a different kind of match as everyone stands on the floor to start and a bell rings. Everyone tries to get in and whoever is in after thirty seconds has a battle royal.

A bunch of them get in and Li is thrown out almost immediately. That leaves twelve names in the ring and a battle royal breaks out. Maddox is sent over the top and grabs the post as Sandow is sent out. The near eliminations continue as Maddox saves himself again. For some reason Hunico tries a springboard and gets knocked out for his efforts. Steamboat is put out and Leakee is sent out after him.

We take a break and come back with Rotund eliminating Mahal, which saves Cannon at the same time. Maddox follows him out as the fans are behind Cannon. We’re down to Woods, Rotund, Cannon, Raines, Rollins and Owens. Rollins is sent out in a hurry and Cannon clotheslines Owens out.

Woods and Cannon fight on the ropes while Raines and Rotundo do the same on some other ropes. Everyone heads to a corner until Woods starts going after Raines. The yet to be named Honor Roll misses Raines, who puts Woods out. Cannon dumps Rotundo but gets tossed by Raines for the win at 15:42.

Rating: D. This was just a battle royal and not a very good one. The problem is that the match didn’t really age well as a lot of the names aren’t that well known and we were never given a list of who was in there, meaning it was a lot of figuring it out as the match went on. It certainly wasn’t great, though the fans stayed into it, which you have to expect in a match like this.

We’ve hit two big developmentals so let’s head down to NXT for the next three matches.

NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Eric Young vs. Samoa Joe
Date: October 30, 2016
Location: Palladium Theater, Los Angeles, California

Nakamura is defending and this is an NXT house show so no commentary, though it’s shot like the TV show. Joe gets a nice pop, likely because he’s from Los Angeles. Or because he’s Samoa Joe. Nakamura on the other hand gets a roar and a superstar pop because he was still awesome at this point. If nothing else, it’s cool to see the full Nakamura entrance again. After some Big Match Intros, we’re ready to go.

Nakamura and Joe go nose to nose but Young breaks it up in what might not be his smartest move. Young locks up with Nakamura in the corner and gets the wavy arms treatment and a COME ON as Joe stands back and watches. Young yells at Joe instead and gets punched out to the floor, leaving us with the showdown the fans want to see. Joe works on a wristlock but Young pulls Nakamura outside and screams at him a lot.

Back in and Young hits Joe in the face, earning himself an enziguri in the corner. The Facewash makes it worse but Nakamura is back in for Good Vibrations on Joe. Young gets some much weaker Vibrations of his own but it’s Joe coming in with the snap jabs. That’s broken up again as Young takes Joe’s place and the fans switch between TNA and SUPER ERIC chants.

Joe is back in and kicks the super out of Eric until Nakamura comes back in, meaning it’s Eric heading outside this time. The knees in the corner rock Joe but he’s fine enough to powerslam the returning Young for two. The STF into the Crossface requires a save from Nakamura but Joe blocks the reverse exploder. Young is back up with a belly to back suplex and the top rope elbow for two on Nakamura, though the fans weren’t exactly buying the near fall.

Nakamura gets caught on top but is fine enough to reverse the MuscleBuster into a sunset flip. Joe isn’t happy with being countered and Rock Bottoms Nakamura out of the corner, setting up the non-finishing version of the Koquina Clutch. The backflip rollup gets Nakamura out of trouble and it’s the middle rope knee for Young. With Joe knocked outside, Kinshasa to Young retains the title at 15:07.

Rating: B-. This was straight out of the triple threat playbook with two in and one out for the most part but it still worked well. What mattered here was giving the fans the thrill of seeing Nakamura and Joe while Young was there to take the fall. I don’t think anyone ever really bought the title as being in jeopardy and that isn’t surprising given where this was and the kind of audience they were in front of. Still good though and it’s cool to see a different version of NXT.

Post match Nakamura and Joe go nose to nose but Joe leaves so Nakamura can celebrate for a good while. Nakamura thanks the fans to wrap it up.

Bobby Roode vs. Kota Ibushi
Date: October 30, 2016
Location: Palladium Theater, Los Angeles, California

Same show obviously so no commentary again. Roode gets quite the reception here (duh) but Ibushi gets the “oh dang we’re really seeing this guy” reaction. Just because he can, Roode throws his robe on the ring announcer’s face. They circle each other to start but Roode hits the GLORIOUS pose to offer some frustration. Roode takes him down and does the pose again as they’re taking their time to start here.

A shoulder puts Ibushi down and we hit the BEER! MONEY! Chants. Ibushi knocks him outside and strikes his own GLORIOUS pose, which is just too far for Roode (it’s all he’s got so you have to protect it). That just earns him a hurricanrana to the floor but Roode breaks up a springboard attempt to put Ibushi on the floor. The referee starts the count and EGADS I had forgotten how annoying the “fans count ten on every count” thing was.

Back in and Roode drops a knee to the face, followed by a middle rope elbow to the back of the neck. As usual, Roode doesn’t do anything flashy but he does it so efficiently that it works. A big clothesline takes Ibushi down and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up through the power of CHINLOCKS CAUSE COMEBACKS and it’s time for the slugout, with Ibushi hitting a dropkick for the double knockdown.

Some kicks to the chest drop Roode and it’s the running shooting star press for two. A springboard missile dropkick sends Roode outside and that’s just not a good place to be. The perfect springboard moonsault takes him down again with the fans insisting that Roode didn’t make the count back in. Speaking of back in, they head back in and Roode grabs a heck of a spinebuster for two. Fans: “THIS IS GLORIOUS!”

A rollup with feet on the ropes gives Roode two but Ibushi is right back with the sitout Last Ride for the same. The fans want them to fight forever because apparently they have that much time to watch these two kill each other. The Phoenix splash misses though and Roode drops him with the Glorious DDT for the pin at 16:14.

Rating: B. I liked this one better than the triple threat as Roode is so efficient in the ring and took Ibushi’s high flying down through better technique and relying on what worked for him. I know Roode isn’t the most consistent performer but the more I watch him, the more I can see what people find appealing about him. He’s not going to get the big push, but he’s perfect for something like this or a midcard push somewhere down the line.

We’ll head to the UK to wrap it up.

United Kingdom Title: Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews
Date: June 8, 2017
Location: Brighton Centre, Brighton, England

Dunne is defending and there is no commentary again. This is shot differently though as it’s one or two handheld cameras, meaning we keep seeing shots running around the ring to get a better angle. It’s so strange to see that on a WWE show. They fight over the arm to start until Dunne takes him down and cranks on the leg. Just to show off a bit, Dunne pulls on the arm at the same time.

A rope grab gets Andrews out of trouble and it’s a basement dropkick to put Dunne on the floor. That’s a very bad idea as he forearms the heck out of Andrews and cranks on the arm again. We run around the ring to get a shot of Dunne stomping away in the corner and then working on a hammerlock. There’s a stomp to the arm and the BRUISERWEIGHT chants continue.

Andrews’ legs are fine enough for a hurricanrana to the floor, setting up the big running flip dive. Back in and Andrews hits a jumping double stomp to the ribs but Dunne shrugs off the forearms. A tornado DDT works a bit better for Andrews but Dunne is right back up with kicks to the head. The slugout is on with Dunne getting the better of it, only to have the X Plex countered into a hurricanrana. Stundog Millionaire rocks Dunne again but Fall To Pieces misses. The Bitter End retains the title at 9:38.

Rating: C+. They were working but I don’t think anyone was buying the idea of Andrews as a threat to the title. Dunne had only been champion for a few weeks at this point so he wasn’t losing here. Andrews is the kind of high flier who can get the fans behind him but Dunne is a different kind of wrestler and not losing in this spot.

Overall Rating: C. This was a total mixed bag with all kinds of matches up and down the list. Developmental is a different world from the main roster as you get to see these people trying and seeing what they can do without all of the restrictions that the main roster puts on them. It makes for some fun matches and situations as these shows have their own worlds and continuities. I had a good time with this, though the matches were all over the place both in star power and quality.

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:

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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