IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: September 19, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for one of those huge matches that you actually get around here with North American Champion Ricochet facing United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in a title for title match. What more could you ask for from a show? Well given that it’s NXT, I have a feeling we’ll get a few other bonuses. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening talks about the title (Titles?) match and treat it as a major deal, which it really is.

Opening sequence.

Dakota Kai/Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lacey Evans/Aliyah

Fallout from an argument last week. Evans and Purrazzo start things off with Purrazzo taking her down off a headlock. Evans manages to slip out but Purrazzo pops to her feet with ease and offers a little bow. It’s off to Aliyah for some kicks to the ribs as Purrazzo gets taken into the corner. The villains stay on the ribs but Purrazzo spins out of a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a failed Fujiwara armbar attempt.

Aliyah forearms Purrazzo into the corner and screams a lot, which is more than most of her matches tend to have. Evans adds a slingshot Bronco Buster as the dominance continues. A kick to the arm knocks Purrazzo away from the hot tag attempt but Kai comes in to break up a cover anyway. Instead Aliyah goes with an armbar until Purrazzo kicks her away and makes the hot tag to Kai. That means kicking abounds but a blind tag brings in Evans for the Woman’s Right to knock Kai cold for the pin at 7:36.

Rating: C. Not a great match or anything but it keeps Evans strong and that’s exactly the point here. The more I see of Kai the more I believe she could be a huge star but the less likely it seems that NXT is going to push her. Still though, entertaining little match, and that’s all this needed to be.

Velveteen Dream is glad that he defeated Johnny Gargano and denies attacking Aleister Black.

The Street Profits are ready to get back at the Mighty.

We look back at the end of last week’s Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair match with Cross attacking her after the match.

Belair seemed shaken up by the loss but reminds herself that she’s undefeated.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Jaxson Ryker

Ryker throws him into the corner to start and stomps away as we seem to be firmly in squash territory here. The chinlock goes on early and doesn’t last long, allowing Ryker to ax handle him out of the air. A slingshot powerbomb finishes Carrillo at 2:14. Nice squash.

Candice LeRae offers William Regal her version of what happened the night Black was attacked. She thinks it sounds like Tommaso Ciampa though. Ciampa has been cleared, so Regal asks about Gargano being the attacker. LeRae says Gargano had asked her to wait while he got cleaned up and they left together. Regal doesn’t seem convinced but lets her go for now.

We recap Ricochet vs. Dunne. They both wanted the other’s title and then Ricochet accidentally ran over Dunne in a tag match. The match was set.

Video on Keith Lee. He talks about being limitless, which is both physical and mental. Because of that, his future in NXT is limitless as well. Bask in his glory.

Clip of EC3 accusing Lars Sullivan of attacking Black and being destroyed for his efforts.

North American Title/United Kingdom Title: Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne

Both titles are on the line and the fans are split, as you had to expect. Ricochet’s armdrag just earns him a headscissors counter and we’re at an early standoff. An exchange of wristlocks has Ricochet in trouble as the fans start to get more behind Dunne. It’s time to start cranking on the wrist as is Dunne’s custom but Ricochet reverses into something like a standing Crossface. A leglock keeps Dunne in trouble and it’s off to an exchange of leg cranking on the mat.

Ricochet manages to get the shoulders down, only to have Dunne reverse into what appears to be Jamie Noble’s old Trailer Hitch (a modified Indian deathlock). A surfboard keeps Ricochet in trouble until he bends back into a cover for two. More mat grappling goes to Ricochet (I’m as surprised as you are) with Ricochet working on the arm and shoulder. Dunne has had enough of that and forearms the heck out of Ricochet, who goes right into the flipping to set up a dropkick.

That means a suicide dive to the floor as Ricochet is much more comfortable with the accelerated pace. Back in and Dunne goes for the leg, but uses it as a diversion to kick him in the hand again. Dunne stays on the arm as he continues to break Ricochet down. The wrist and fingers are bent horribly (Mauro: “Pete Dunne must have something against piano players.”) and Ricochet is in trouble in the corner.

The jumping stomp to the arm misses though and it’s a rolling clothesline to drop Dunne. A 619 in the corner sets up a springboard elbow to the jaw for two as the pace picks up again. Dunne is fine with that as well and moonsaults over him in the corner but Ricochet flips out of the X Plex. A running shooting star to the back gives Ricochet two and the fans are rather impressed.

Another flip is reversed into a cross armbreaker though and Dunne works the hand over even more. Ricochet’s knees are fine enough to smash into Dunne’s face but Dunne forearms him out of the air. The X Plex connects for two and they’re both down. Dunne gets kicked to the floor though and Ricochet tries a step up moonsault, only to get caught in an X Plex onto the apron.

Back in and the Bitter End is reversed into a reverse hurricanrana for two and Ricochet can’t believe the kickout. They trade kicks to the head until Dunne turns him inside out with a clothesline. The Bitter End is reversed again and a handspring into a tornado DDT gives Ricochet a crazy close two. Both guys go to the top and Dunne works on the arm again, only to get pulled down with a super hurricanrana.

Rating: A. It takes something special to make you forget the most obvious ending in the world and that’s exactly what they did here. You knew they weren’t going to have either guy lose the title here and that left them with a very limited path to get to that extra special level that these two could reach.

However, that’s EXACTLY what they did with an incredible chess match with Ricochet trying to wrestle with Dunne but then going with the high flying that got him to where he is today. Dunne was ready for it though and Ricochet had to gut through it, showing the heart of the champion that Dunne didn’t seem to think he had. Insanely entertaining match and a great story told throughout.

The War Raiders hit the ring to make the save and the champions give a respectful stare to end the show. I think you know where this is going.

Overall Rating: A-. It helps when a third of your show is spent on an incredible match. This was one of those shows with a dream match instead of the run of the mill episode and egads did they nail that one big match. The rest of the show wasn’t great, but really, does it matter with a main event like this?

Results

Lacey Evans/Aliyah b. Deonna Purrazzo/Dakota Kai – Woman’s Right to Kai

Jaxson Ryker b. Humberto Carrillo – Slingshot powerbomb

Pete Dunne vs. Ricochet went to a double DQ when the Undisputed Era interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-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: August 29, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

Every now and then you get a match that sounds so awesome on paper that it has to be great no matter what they do. That’s what we have tonight in the form of Pete Dunne teaming up with Ricochet to face the Undisputed Era in an all champions match. Other than that, the hunt for Aleister Black’s attacker continues. Let’s get to it.

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

William Regal is outside his office where a bunch of people are working. Tonight, he’s starting the investigation into who attacked Black. They’re being very smart by not just having Tommaso Ciampa do it and making an angle out of that. On the main roster, it would have been “Aleister is injured and he’ll be back in a little while.” Here, it’s turned into a big angle because it’s an opportunity presented to them. I know WWE loves to tout its own brilliance, but if you’re handed something like this, run with it and enjoy the free chance.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Johnny Gargano on a crutch for a chat. Gargano says the fans have always had his back and a JOHNNY WRESTLING chant cuts him off. He doesn’t deserve that right now and it’s a dueling YOU DESERVE IT/NO YOU DON’T chant. Johnny made a lot of promises like bringing the NXT Title back but he didn’t live up to his words. He lost both the match and himself and now he doesn’t know what to do.

After everything he’s been through, he doesn’t know what’s left. In Brooklyn, he became Tommaso Ciampa and now he’s in Gargano’s head. Johnny doesn’t know how to get him out and he has to be better for everyone. As Gargano is about to snap, here’s Regal to interrupt. Regal gets straight to the point: did Johnny attack Aleister Black? Gargano says you tell me so Regal asks him again.

Cue the Velveteen Dream to say he’s tired of hearing Woe Is Johnny. Tonight shouldn’t be about Johnny because it should be about the experience. It’s the experience that stole Brooklyn and tonight should be about the Velveteen Dream instead of Johnny Failure. That’s not cool with Johnny, who says his knee is just fine and throw the crutch at Dream. Regal says they fan fight next week. I completely support this.

Dakota Kai vs. Aaliyah

They lock up to start with Aaliyah using the hair to take her down. Kai kicks away and gets one off a double stomp but Aaliyah is right back up. Some shots to the back set up a camel clutch as the fans are split on Aaliyah here. Aaliyah runs her over for some more right hands, followed by the bodyscissors. Kai powers up and drives her into the corner for the break and hits some running kicks to the face. A hair takedown drops Kai again though and Aaliyah calls her stupid. That’s just rather mean so Kai hits her sunset flip Backstabber for the pin at 5:13.

Rating: C. I liked this more than I was expecting to as Aaliyah has found something with the aggression. She’s been around for a long time now and this is the closest she’s gotten to being anything. Kai is still around but she’s nowhere near as hot as she used to be. Not a bad little match though and Aaliyah looked stronger than usual.

Regal clears Dream in the Black situation for now. The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler, Wesley Blake and Jaxson Ryker) come in and say a security guard saw them in the parking lot at the time of the attack. That’s ok with Regal, who says they’ll have a tag match next week. Of note: Regal has his brass knuckles in a display on his desk.

Lars Sullivan seems to have attacked EC3.

Regal asks Nikki Cross what she saw from the roof during the attack. She says she saw it and knows who the attacker was but stops to answer the phone. The phone wasn’t ringing, but Cross talks into it anyway. Bianca Belair storms in to complain about being kept waiting and yells at Nikki for trying to touch her hair. Belair deserves a title shot and tells Regal to let her know the right decision when he’s done with his pet. She leaves and Regal says he has lots more questions for Cross. As usual, Cross comes off as actually nuts instead of the scripted nuts.

Raul Mendoza vs. Lars Sullivan

Sullivan is taking EC3’s place. Mendoza jumps Lars before the bell and gets destroyed, including a pop up powerslam. The Freak Accident leaves Mendoza laying. No match.

Tommaso Ciampa is in the back and says when he left about a year ago, he promised to come back as the ultimate SOB. He’s exceeded his own expectations though and is the greatest sports entertainer of all time. The title is his proof and it takes someone special to climb to the top of the mountain. It takes something even more to stay there though and that’s why he’s the main event.

Keith Lee vs. Luke Menzies

Menzies has some size to him and used to play professional rugby. Lee wastes no time with the hurricanrana and tells Luke to stop so he can bask in the glory. A few right hands have Lee rocked but he runs through Menzies in an impressive pounce. The Spirit Bomb (sitout Last Ride) is good for the pin on Menzies at 3:02.

Rating: C-. Lee is a crazy talented guy and there’s little reason to not push the heck out of him in short order. You don’t have someone who can do hurricanranas and sitout Last Rides and not do something with him. Thankfully NXT seems to get that idea and there’s some serious potential there.

Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan are back in two weeks.

Ricochet/Pete Dunne vs. Undisputed Era

Non-title. Actually hang on as Adam Cole wants Ricochet and asks Kyle O’Reilly to sit this one out. Fans: “EVERYBODY!” Dunne clotheslines the heck out of Cole to start and goes for the fingers, meaning it’s off to Ricochet vs. Strong. With Cole shouting that his loss was a fluke, Strong sends Ricochet face first into the middle buckle to take over. Ricochet is right back with a jumping neckbreaker to Strong and a rolling clothesline to Cole.

Since Dunne is fine with letting Ricochet do this on his own, Strong sneaks in with a backbreaker to take over. Cole hits a neckbreaker of his own and Strong adds a gutbuster to keep Ricochet in trouble. Strong grabs a cobra clutch as the fans are split between Ricochet and Cole. It’s back to Cole, who simplifies things with a chinlock. Ricochet fights up and kicks Cole away, allowing the hot tag off to Dunne.

Everything breaks down and it’s an X Plex to Strong but the Bitter End is broken up. Dunne’s triangle attempt is countered into a failed Stronghold attempt, with Dunne hitting a sitout powerbomb for two instead. Strong takes out Ricochet but Dunne takes out Strong, followed by the middle rope moonsault to take the Era out. That leaves Ricochet alone but he dives onto Dunne by mistake. O’Reilly throws Dunne back in and the Last Shot gives Cole the pin at 9:51.

Rating: B-. Well of course this was pretty good and setting up Ricochet vs. Dunne is a great idea. There are multiple options for where this story could go with Cole seeming to be a challenger as well. No one seems capable of beating Dunne one on one so doubling up on the challengers is as good of an idea as they have.

Ricochet gets beaten down as well but the War Raiders chase the Era off to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a show where they were setting up things for the future instead of doing things now and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m really interested in seeing where the Whodunit story goes as there are almost endless suspects, including people who might not have even been around when the attack happened in the first place. Other than that we could be in for some very good TV in the next few weeks as there’s no Takeover for nearly two months, meaning a lot of this will play out on the regular shows. In other words, things are going to be getting even better.

Results

Dakota Kai b. Aaliyah – Sunset flip Backstabber

Keith Lee b. Luke Menzies – Spirit Bomb

Undisputed Era b. Pete Dunne/Ricochet – Last Shot to Dunne

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: August 22, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

This is another one of the special post-Takeover shows and that means we’ll be seeing a lot of Takeover instead of what we usually see around here. We do however have Pete Dunne defending the United Kingdom Title, which is a pretty good backup plan instead of a regular show. Let’s get to it.

Here are the Takeover results if you need a recap.

We open with the traditional long Takeover recap.

Opening sequence.

Bianca Belair vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Purrazzo has wrestled all over the indies and had a few appearances with NXT a few years back. The fans seem very pleased to see her as some early headlock takeovers are escaped with a nipup and a handstand. A headscissors into a Fujiwara armbar doesn’t work so Purrazzo tries it again, only to get caught in a gutbuster to put her in trouble. Belair crashes down onto Purrazzo’s back and we hit the full nelson.

Back up and some elbows to the ribs have Purrazzo in more trouble as the EST chants begin. Belair’s standing moonsault misses and a basement dropkick connects. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but Belair fights up and hits a torture rack into the faceplant (kind of a reverse Samoan driver) for the pin at 5:40.

Rating: C-. This was exactly what it needed to be with the fans getting a little taste of Purrazzo as Belair goes over strong in the end. Purrazzo is going to be fine around here with her skill level (at 24 years old) and charisma so everything is going to be fine. Belair is likely coming for the title sooner rather than later.

Video on EC3 vs. Velveteen Dream.

Velveteen Dream puts a crown on Cathy Kelly and asks what she’s doing on Wednesday. She can find out what he’s up to next on this week’s show.

EC3 says he and Dream are yin and yang but Dream was the better man tonight. He’s here for victory after victory, not victory after loss. All of the matches where he’s lost before are not over because they don’t end until he wins. That’s the top 1% mindset. When asked about the Aleister Black attack, he remembers the chaos but wants to know why no one is noticing Lars Sullivan standing around. Oh and he’s not Keyser Soze.

Video on the Undisputed Era retaining the Tag Team Titles on Saturday.

Video on Adam Cole losing the North American Title to Ricochet.

Ricochet talks about Cole running out of places to hide when Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly come in. Violence is teased but Pete Dunne scares them off. Dunne says he’s not Ricochet’s friend, but Ricochet has something he wants. That sounds fine to Ricochet. This feels like the groundwork for WarGames.

There is some new footage of Black’s attack. It’s not clear who did it, but Nikki Cross was watching from the roof.

Video on Zack Gibson, who is quite the talented brawler.

Video on Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler. The more I think about that match the more I like it.

Baszler, with the Four Horsewomen, says she beat herself and Kairi didn’t win anything.

Long video on Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa.

United Kingdom Title: Zack Gibson vs. Pete Dunne

Dunne is defending and gets a roar from the crowd. The fans chant for the UK as Gibson works an armbar to start. Dunne flips him down to break a wristlock but Gibson hits him hard in the throat to take over. That just earns Gibson a hammerlock and Dunne cranks back on the fingers to make it worse. With that not working, they lock legs and stand on their heads to slap each other in the face. British wrestling is weird at times.

Dunne gets the better of it and kicks the arm but Gibson hits a hammerlock faceplant to take over. A belly to back suplex sets up another armbar as Gibson really isn’t hiding his style here. The cobra clutch goes on for a few moments until Dunne has had enough and forearms him in the face. A moonsault over Gibson sets up an enziguri and the X Plex sets up a quickly escaped cross armbreaker.

With Gibson bailing to the floor, Dunne moonsaults down onto him for the big crash and a double knockdown. Back in and a sitout powerbomb gets two, only to have Gibson kick a moonsault out of the air for the same. Dunne blocks another chop though and stomps on the hands. Stereo enziguris give us a double knockdown though and let’s pause for the standing ovation.

Dunne is up first and tries a superplex but Gibson twists it into one of his own. The Shankly Gates seated armbar goes on so Dunne lunges for the rope. Gibson pulls him back so Dunne bites the rope for the break. Dunne’s mouthpiece gets knocked out so Gibson goes to throw it out, only to have his finger snapped. The Bitter End retains the title at 13:38.

Rating: B. So uh….who is supposed to beat Dunne? He’s been champion longer than CM Punk was and while people give him a run for his money, you could see him holding the title indefinitely. I mean, other than Cole (if they’re coming up on the WarGames match that seems to be the case), is there anyone who seems likely to do it? Anyway the match was more good stuff from these two, though it would be nice to have the NXT UK people beat someone other than themselves.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event is more than watchable and carries enough of the show but these things are always hard to rate. It basically comes down to the strength of what is being recapped and since Saturday’s show rocked, it’s kind of hard to find something to complain about. We’ll be back to normal next week and that’s perfectly fine.

Results

Bianca Belair b. Deonna Purrazzo – Torture rack faceplant

Pete Dunne b. Zack Gibson – Bitter End

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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

You can tell it’s serious when you get to part four. This show has become NXT’s flagship event of the year, even beating the annual Wrestlemania weekend show. They’ve had to change the main event around due to an injury, but since NXT is the charmed/prepared promotion, they’ve managed to switch the match up into something that may work even better. Imagine that: a promotion actually having a backup plan and making it a good one. Let’s get to it.

Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Kairi Sane

The more I think about this one, the less sure I am about anything. In theory, Baszler is holding onto the title for the sake of eventually dropping it to a fired up Dakota Kai. However, Kai hasn’t exactly done much as of late and that part of the story seems to be over. Maybe they’re going with the long game, but every week that goes by makes it seem less likely. So where do we go from here instead?

Well I think it’s going on to find someone else to take the title from Baszler, because I don’t see Sane doing it. Sane has defeated her before in a good match last year, but I don’t think she wins the rubber match. Baszler is awesome at the moment and whoever takes the title from her is going to get a heck of a rub. The thing is Sane is already over and doesn’t need the title, though she does need something. I just don’t think it happens here as Baszler retains the title.

Velveteen Dream vs. EC3

I know I’ve said this a lot, but Dream needs to win this match. The problem is, you can only say that so many times before it stops mattering. At least that’s the case most of the time, but Dream has a special kind of charisma where his wins and losses almost don’t matter. He’s at the point where he’s the gatekeeper to the higher levels of NXT and while that’s a good spot to be in for the sake of security, you can only be there for so long without winning something of note.

That being said, I’ll take him to win here in the upset. EC3 is still pretty new around NXT and that would make him the likely candidate to pick up the win, but I think Dream finally gets the big win (beating Kassius Ohno seven months ago doesn’t count). You can easily make this a cheating win for Dream, who needs to do something to cut off all of the face reactions he’s receiving. EC3 can bounce back and even win the rematch, but Dream has to get something and soon.

North American Title: Adam Cole(c) vs. Ricochet

It’s kind of amazing how similar Ricochet and Dream are, especially when they’re so different on the surface. It turns out that they’re in a similar situation though as Ricochet needs a win as well, but it’s not as bad as Dream’s situation. Ricochet is clearly destined to be a big star on the roster (both developmental and main) but in a way it’s the Andre the Giant syndrome: if you put the title on him, you have to take it off of him. Having him lose clean would be a bad idea but here, you have the option of the Undisputed Era helping Cole retain.

That’s what I think happens here. Ricochet can have his day later on (and you know that’s coming, perhaps against Tommaso Ciampa should he retain) but for now, Cole retains and loses to someone else in a few months. Just have the Undisputed Era help him (Bobby Fish doesn’t have a match later in the night) and everything falls into place. This is the one that I’m the least sure about, but it’s going to be a fun match regardless of the finish.

Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era(c) vs. Moustache Mountain

Speaking of the Undisputed Era, they’re defending in the match that is likely to blow the roof off of the Barclays Center. These two have had two rocking matches already and there’s a great chance that they’re going to do it again on the biggest stage they’ve had yet. They’ve already traded the titles so a title change is certainly a possibility.

That being said, I don’t think it’s going to be a reality. Moustache Mountain is a great team but they’re going to be over no matter what they do. Undisputed Era is a team that is defined by the amount of gold that they have and keeping the North American and Tag Team Titles would be a great way to show that off. Throw in some cheating and everything will be fine, including a prodigy like Tyler Bate. The question here is how great can this match be and the answer, much to my delight, is likely quite.

NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa(c) vs. Johnny Gargano

Last Man Standing and EGADS there are some possibilities here. This was originally going to be a triple threat match also including Aleister Black, but that left you with the pretty obvious ending of Ciampa retaining by pinning Black. Now though, you have SO MANY CHOICES. Do you have Gargano lose and join up with Ciampa? Do you have Gargano finally win the title to end the feud? Do you go to a double knockout and allow them to do the triple threat later? Does Candice LeRae turn on Gargano and join Ciampa? Any of these is a very possible and rather interesting option.

I’m going with….Ciampa retaining but you again I’m not even remotely sure. There are too many ways to go to know something like this for sure and that’s what makes this so much fun. The one thing I know for sure is that these guys are going to beat the living heck out of each other than that’s what they specialize in doing. Throw in the possibility of it tying into whoever attacked Black and this is the most interesting thing on the show by a wide margin.

Overall Thoughts

This is another show where the card looks great and there isn’t a single thing on there that makes me think it’s going to be bad. NXT knows how to tear the freaking house down and I have no doubt that they’re going to do it all over again here. This show should be a complete blast and if the previous Brooklyn events are any indications, we’re in for a fun night all around.

Oh and no Matt Riddle. Just a hunch that is likely to be wrong.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: Major League Wrestling

MLW One Shot
Date: October 5, 2017
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 200
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

So every week, I’ve been covering the MLW TV show called Fusion. The thing is, the TV show wasn’t the first iteration of the (reincarnated version of the) promotion as they also had a bunch of stand alone events. I might as well knock off that handful of shows as well, starting here with their return event. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence, which is just a bunch of clips.

Tama Tonga vs. Martin Stone

Stone is NXT’s Danny Burch. Tonga (of Bullet Club) jumps him during the referee’s weapons check (points for having one of those) and pounds away, only to have Stone come back with a quick suplex. Tony mentions Stone mocking the Bullet Club with some hand gestures, which just makes me confused about Tony knowing what the Bullet Club is. An armdrag gets Tonga out of trouble and he pulls Stone off the apron to make things even worse. Some forearms to the face put Stone on the floor where Tonga grabs a fan’s beer for some refreshment.

Back in and Stone gets driven hard into the corner but comes right back out with a middle rope dropkick. Stone starts striking away as well but makes the mistake of headbutting a Tongan. Something like a reverse Cross Rhodes gives Tonga two and they botch what looked to be a lawn dart into the corner. An Alabama Slam gets two more (shades of Cody for a nice touch) and the Gun Stun (RKO) finishes Stone at 6:48.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here as it’s really just a match between two international guys that you might have heard of. Stone is an NXT guy but it makes sense to have the New Japan guy win here. The Bullet Club is the biggest deal outside of WWE in wrestling at the moment and giving them a win, even if it’s just in a one off appearance, it makes sense.

Stone gets a nice ovation.

Mike Parrow/Saieve Al Sabah vs. Seth Petruzelli/Rhett Giddins

Parrow is a monster, Petruzelli is the NXT striking coach and a former MMA fighter and the others are unknowns. Giddins, a big old guy in his own right, stares Parrow down to start and punches him in the jaw for good measure. Parrow tells him to bring it and we’ve got an old fashioned hoss fight. A Rough Ryder puts Parrow down so he German suplexes Giddins near the ropes in a crash that could have looked better. Al Sabah comes in and gets hit in the face as well, meaning it’s off to Seth (Like I’m typing that last name over and over.) for a running knee to the face.

Parrow isn’t cool with this standing still and powerbombs Seth into the corner to take over. The heels keep working Seth over as the announcers are trying to find something to talk about here as there’s no story and we don’t really know anything about anyone in the match. Seth kicks Al Sabah away and hits something like a Sliced Bread on Parrow, allowing the hot(ish) tag to Giddins. A cutter gets two on Al Sabah and everything breaks down. Al Sabah misses a moonsault and gets pulled into a cross armbreaker to give Seth the submission at 5:35.

Rating: D+. All four looked fine but there was no chemistry and not much of a story going on. In other words, it felt like a tag match that was thrown onto the card as a way to get everyone on the card and there’s nothing wrong with that. The four of them could be fine with some better direction but there’s only so much you can get when no one has a character or any sort of a character.

Post match Parrow powerbombs Al Sabah for a great looking bounce.

The announcers plug the MLW Radio network.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Jimmy Yuta

Friedman is a less toned and tanned EC3. Before the match, he has a speech for us in case we’re deaf, dumb blind or poor. I’m not sure what the point of this is if they’re deaf but wrestling heels have a tendency to be stupid. Yuta, a pretty standard looking cruiserweight, grabs a rollup for an early two and they wrestle to the mat for a standoff. That’s enough to make Friedman want a handshake but Yuta is smart enough to be ready for the kick to the ribs. Friedman: “PUT THE FOOT DOWN!”

Yuta obliges and goes with a springboard armdrag instead. The nitwited referee gets in Yuta’s way though and Friedman forearms him in the face to take over. Friedman starts in on the arm with an armdrag of his own but stops to yell at the fans a bit. Yuta fights up for a nice high crossbody and a double springboard hurricanrana sends Friedman face first into the middle buckle in a good looking crash.

They head to the corner but Yuta’s arm gives out again, allowing Friedman to come off with a hard stomp to bang it up even further. A pumphandle driver (ala Pentagon) gets two and Friedman freaks at the kickout. Yuta takes him down for some terrible right hands so Friedman claims a broken jaw. The goldbricking allows a low blow and the small package gives Friedman the pin at 6:41.

Rating: D. Friedman is a good heel character but everything else about him is kind of a stretch. He doesn’t have a great look and while his talking is fine, it’s not exactly a complete package. Then again, anything would be better than more of Yuta’s right hands, which really did look terrible. I mean, not Shane McMahon but still not exactly acceptable.

UFC fighter Tom Lawlor is ready to face Olympic wrestler Jeff Cobb. As usual, Lawlor is a rather solid talker.

Barrington Hughes vs. Markos Espada

Hughes is well over 400lbs and barely fits in his singlet. A corner splash before the bell is good for the pin on Espada at 7 seconds.

We see the replay of the full match multiple times.

Ricochet knows Shane Strickland is good, but he’s not Ricochet good. Strickland doesn’t like the lack of respect from Ricochet, who he’s known for a long time. Ricochet said “who” when asked about Strickland on Twitter and Strickland wants to kick him in the mouth. Not bad for an angle for a one off show actually.

Darby Allin vs. Jason Cade

Allin has half of his face painted white for a demonic look. He sits in the corner ala Raven before the bell but pulls himself up ala Diamond Dallas Page to start things off. A springboard out of a lockup (that’s a new one) takes Cade down so he hits Allin in the face instead. Allin takes him down by the arm and flips over into a Fujiwara armbar. Back up and a high angle springboard armdrag keeps Cade in trouble as Allin is doing some nice high flying to start.

Cade’s comeback puts Allin on the floor and there’s the required big flip dive. Back in and we hear about Norman Smiley’s amazing training abilities, unfortunately with the hardcore stuff included. Allin shows off again with a springboard off the bottom rope into a crossbody to a seated Cade. A Codebreaker gets Cade out of trouble but Allin just dives at him to knock Cade off the apron in a big crash.

Tony brings up the apron being the hardest part of the ring, but this is different: theirs is EVEN HARDER than most aprons! Well what in the world are they supposed to do now? How could they possibly survive??? Back in and Cade gets two off a fisherman’s buster and a Death Valley Driver into the corner gets the same. Those are some big moves to only get two each. Cade’s Five Star hits knees and Allin grabs something like a twisted Figure Four but spins around and lays back on Cade (the Last Supper) for the pin at 8:33.

Rating: C+. Allin felt like someone who is trying to be revolutionary and does have a bunch of unique looking stuff but it wasn’t anything that blew me away. The face paint made me think more “another one of these guys” than anything else, which isn’t the best thing in the world. Cade was a fine high flier but I’ve seen him do far better than this.

Video of Ricochet….shopping? He’s a big shoe fan and apparently this show is a fan of vignettes instead of more wrestling. Strickland on the other hand is training more and more.

Larry Zbyszko is in the crowd.

Mia Yim vs. Santana Garrett

Santana is in the Wonder Woman style gear, which is starting to lose some of its charm. A headlock takeover is countered into a headscissors to give Mia some control for a good two seconds. Some rollups get one each as it’s a fast paced technical start. Double nipups give us a standoff and Mia is looking impressed for the first time. A Russian legsweep gives Garrett two but Mia cranks it up a bit with a kick to the head.

Mia goes full heel here, despite the fans seemingly being behind her, by raking the eyes and then kicking Garrett in the back. Garrett gets in some forearms but another kick to the back puts her down all over again. Yim slaps on a surfboard for some painful looking stretching and Garrett can barely sit up after the hold is broken. The cockiness sets in though and it’s Garrett getting back up, with stereo kicks to the face giving us a double knockdown.

Back up and Garrett wins a slugout, followed by a tornado DDT for a pretty close two. A handspring elbow into a horrible bulldog gets two more with commentary acknowledging that it wasn’t going to be enough. Yim is right back up with a German suplex but Garrett pulls her off the top. A handspring moonsault is enough to give Garrett the pin at 12:28.

Rating: C. Both of them are very talented and that made for a good match here. Yim going heel here was the better way to go as she can play the role naturally, even if the fans were read to cheer for her. Garrett is someone who could be a big star in one of the major promotions but for some reason it has never quite clicked. It’s not like she doesn’t have a lot of time to go somewhere though.

We look at Hughes’ win again, this time with a clock. That’s a gimmick that has worked before and it can work again here.

MLW will be back with Never Say Never.

Tom Lawlor vs. Jeff Cobb

Lawlor is a former UFC fighter and has a pair of goons with him. Cobb (better known as Lucha Underground’s Matanza) on the other hand was an Olympic wrestler who has put on about 70lbs of muscle since his amateur days. They go to the mat to start with Lawlor being outwrestled, which seems to come as quite the surprise.

Cobb takes him to the mat again but this time Lawlor reverses into a front facelock. They get up and Lawlor starts boxing, which is way beyond Cobb’s abilities and a rather smart idea. Cobb goes back to what works with a heck of a suplex and then puts Lawlor on top for an impressive dropkick. A very delayed superplex gets an also delayed two on Lawlor so Cobb hits a moonsault but his standing shooting star is pulled down into a guillotine.

Lawlor switches into a cross armbreaker but Cobb is too close to the ropes. A suplex puts Lawlor down as Cobb is bleeding from the nose. They both get up and it’s Lawlor winning a slugout before trying the cross armbreaker again. Cobb powers out again, but Lawlor reverses into a rollup for the pin at 9:27.

Rating: C+. The more I watch this promotion, the more I’m getting behind the concept of their TV show. The show is called Fusion, with the name talking about all the different styles coming together. That’s what we saw here, with a wrestler against an MMA fighter, which made for a fun match. Lawlor has been the highlight of the promotion since it came back and this was a great starting point. Cobb is a talented guy who hasn’t gotten the big break yet, at least outside of Lucha Underground.

A replay shows Lawlor either raking the eyes or rubbing something on Cobb’s face like a good cheater should. Post match, Team Filthy gets in the ring to hold up a poster of Lawlor’s sponsors, including a condom company. Lawlor says that he won the match so the fans can keep their mouths shut. He’ll be looking for the top challengers and wants to face the top UFC name around here in Matt Riddle.

Sami Callihan has no comment. The interviewer acts like it’s a surprise to see Callihan, even though the announcers said we were going to him. Eh chalk it up to a first show mistake.

Sami Callihan vs. MVP

Sami is in jeans and throws some chairs into the ring to start. During MVP’s entrance, Callihan sits in a chair at ringside and throws a beer at him. Sami tries a cheap shot during the entrances so MVP kicks him to the floor and hits a dive. So he doesn’t respond well to being jumped from behind.

Back in and MVP crossfaces him a few times but Sami gets in a clothesline to take it back outside. The required suicide dive takes MVP down again and Sami buries him underneath a pile of chairs. They both have a seat in some of the chairs and slug it out for a little twist on the trope. A suplex puts MVP onto the chairs and Sami shouts a lot, followed by a pull of the ear.

MVP is back up fast enough to send him head first into a chair and boots him in the face for good measure. Another boot with Sami in a chair has him down as I wonder how high the referee’s count should be at so far. Sami pulls the referee in front of another kick and gets in a chair shot….before telling the referee to start counting. There’s something funny about counting after they’ve been brawling for five minutes.

MVP rolls back in so Callihan tries a Ballin splash but hits knees. Another slugout goes to MVP and now the Ballin elbow connects. Callihan’s knee to the head looks to set up the Stretch Muffler but MVP is next to the ropes. MVP slaps away and grabs a fisherman’s suplex for the pin at 11:59.

Rating: C. The ending was a little flat with such a simple wrestling move ending the brawl but the intensity on the way to the finish makes up for the problems. It makes sense to have Callihan stick with the brawling instead of trying to have a match and this was very well suited to his style. Not a great match, but a good fight.

Post match MVP is in the back being happy with his win when a woman comes up and offers him a business card.

One more video on Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland, including some praise for Ricochet from Dave Meltzer. They both want to push each other but they might not be friends after this match.

Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland

I know Ricochet is the bigger star but Strickland carries himself like a star in his own right and that makes for a special feeling. We get the Big Match Intros and the announcer actually gives a description of their appearance. Good idea if the people don’t know these guys. Ricochet takes him into the corner for a friendly slap to the chest, suggesting that they have a lot of time to work with here.

Strickland tries to do the same thing but Ricochet slips out to the apron in a pretty smart move. Back in and Shane takes it to the mat by tying up Shane’s legs. That’s reversed into an armbar as Tony talks about JR teaching him to strive to be the best, which is true of wrestlers as well. Ricochet pulls him by the long hair (not the best feature for a wrestler to have) and they get up, with Shane untying his hair.

The tie is flicked at Ricochet and you KNOW it’s on now. They hit the “you can’t touch me” sequence with a series of flips and misses, including the Benadryller (fireman’s carry into a kick to the head) being dodged off a nip up. Ricochet is stunned so Shane sits down and tells him to bring it. Back up and Shane punches him in the face as the match shifts gears in a hurry.

Ricochet accidentally rolls into an armbar and Shane goes even harder by pulling Ricochet’s arm back with his leg. A stomp to the arm gives us a cringe inducing sound and we hit a modified Rings of Saturn. Ricochet gets up and grabs the rope so Shane kicks him in the bad arm to cut him off again. One heck of a running dropkick knocks Shane into the ropes, earning Ricochet a nice round of applause. A springboard flip splash crushes Shane and Ricochet bends him around his back for another painful looking hold.

Ricochet scores with a spinebuster and the People’s Moonsault (exactly what it sounds like) as Tony gives a good explanation of why Ricochet isn’t annoyed at the kickout (mind games instead of going for an actual pin). A short DDT sends Shane flopping around on the mat for two more but he’s right back up with the rolling cutter. Shane suplexes him into the corner for two but misses a 619 to the ribs.

Ricochet shows him how it’s done (to the face) and a springboard uppercut puts Shane down again. The fans are behind Ricochet now, despite him being the heel for twenty minutes plus so far. Shane double stomps him for two of his own but gets his head clotheslined off for a double knockdown. They trade some hard forearms to the jaw until Ricochet sends him flying with a release (maybe not intentionally) German suplex. Shane catches him on top and superkicks him into a spike DDT, followed by the top rope double stomp for a very close two.

They take some time to get up and Ricochet is right there with a reverse hurricanrana. The springboard 450 gets two and a reverse inverted DDT driver (it’s cooler than it sounds) does the same but Ricochet can’t follow up. With Shane on his knees, Ricochet spits in his face. That’s fine with Shane, who knees hi hard in the face to even things out. Something like a keylock goes back to the arm but Ricochet powerbombs his way to freedom. Shane pulls him right back into it though and Ricochet taps at 33:58.

Rating: A-. This was the best of both worlds: the great wrestling and high flying spots to go with the story of Shane trying to prove that he’s the better man. Ricochet is a top level guy (in NXT pretty soon thereafter) and having Shane go over him completely clean is the right idea. They were one upping each other over and over here until Shane capitalized on the one thing that held Ricochet back. Great match, and the kind of match that this show needed.

Ricochet nods at Shane as he leaves.

After the copyright, we get a video saying Jimmy Havoc is coming to Never Say Never Again.

Overall Rating: B. I had a really good time with this show and that’s the kind of response that this show needed. Nothing was bad (some wasn’t great but there’s a big gap between bad and not very good) and the show moved by quickly. There was a great main event to go with it and you can see the star power in Strickland. I’m already a fan of the promotion but this would have been enough to make me keep watching. The idea of the mixture of styles was on full display here, giving you the something for everyone vibe that you don’t get often enough. Well done, and they’ve already kept it going.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: July 25, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a big match night as we have a rare NXT Title defense. Aleister Black is putting the title on the line against Tommaso Ciampa, who would make a rather terrifying champion. We’re less than a month away from Takeover: Brooklyn IV and that means it’s time to start putting things together. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the setup for Black vs. Ciampa, with both of them talking about being the devils of NXT. Ciampa says he needs one chance to win the title and his ascension will be complete.

Opening sequence.

Adam Cole vs. Sean Maluta

Non-title. Maluta goes straight for a rollup before switching to a neckbreaker to bang Cole up. That’s about it for Maluta’s offense as Cole kicks him in the ribs and superkicks him out of the air. The Last Shot puts Maluta away at 2:15. Just a squash.

Cole passes and leaves so Ricochet calls him a coward again. That’s too far for Cole so he goes back to the ring but Ricochet is ready for him, sending Cole back to the floor while Ricochet flips into the superhero pose. That brings out Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong but the War Raiders are right behind them. Was there any reason to not push them straight to the title picture? Actually there is, as Moustache Mountain pop up to chase the champs into the crowd. I could go for moustaches vs. beards for the title shot. Going from one Takeover match to three in about fifteen minutes is pretty nifty work.

Earlier today, William Regal (welcome back) held the contract signing for Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane. Baszler didn’t want to call this a rematch because not only has she beaten Sane since the Mae Young Classic but she’s not the same person. Sane hasn’t done anything since then and things are going to change. Sane signs and says they both know she can win. Baszler sneers that off because Sane is just a fake pirate. She signs as well and seems rather annoyed at what Sane said.

We look back at Velveteen Dream walking out on EC3 during the UK show.

Tenilla Price vs. Lacey Evans

I can’t find anything about Price but she gets an entrance. Lacey throws her into the corner for the slingshot Bronco Buster but a moonsault hits knees. That’s it for Price as the Woman’s Right is good for the pin at 2:04.

Bianca Belair is injured but doesn’t need to explain anything. She’s still way ahead of everyone else and she’s un-de-feat-ed, which she says four times in less than thirty seconds.

Candice LeRae tries to go after Shayna but gets held back.

NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black

Ciampa is challenging and still has no music. He even breaks up Black’s pre-match poses like a real villain. They lock up hard to start with Black getting the better of a technical exchange on the mat. It’s almost weird to see Ciampa wrestling but it makes sense because his hatred is at Johnny Gargano alone. A small package gives Black two as they’re still firmly in first gear. The hanging DDT is quickly broken up and Black hits his first kick to the chest to keep Ciampa down.

More kicks have Ciampa on the floor and Black moonsaults into the seated position so he can mock Ciampa’s wave. Back in and Ciampa gets in his first real shots to put Black on the floor for a whip into the steps. Now it’s Ciampa’s turn to mock Black’s pose because what’s good for one devil is good for another. Ciampa stays on the back with a backbreaker and an abdominal stretch.

Nigel is right there to talk about how this will weaken the Black Mass because it’s based on core strength because Nigel actually knows how to analyze a match. A Texas Cloverleaf switches over to the legs but Black is in the ropes pretty quickly. Black is fine enough to escape a super White Noise and a collision gives us a double knockdown, continuing the odd theory of one move balancing out a long stretch of offense.

More kicks have Ciampa in trouble and the standing Lionsault gets two. A hard kick to the head is good for the same and some kicks to the chest (Black: “TWEET ABOUT THIS!”) rock him even more. He’s fine enough to hit a top rope DDT for two but Black is right back with kicks to the head. A big spinning kick to the head sets up a German suplex for a near fall and Ciampa bails to the floor. Black misses a moonsault though and Ciampa sends him into the cameraman.

Back in and the hanging DDT gets a VERY close two so it’s time to pull the ring mats up. The referee starts yelling so Ciampa comes back in, only to be shoved into the referee, knocking him to the floor. Black Mass connects but there’s no one to count. Ciampa goes for the eye and grabs the title but here’s Gargano to superkick him. Gargano tries to take the belt away, sending it square into Black’s head. Ciampa sends Gargano outside and a lifting sitout Pedigree (Christopher Daniels’ Angel’s Wings, a FAR better finisher than that lame neckbreaker Ciampa was using) finishes Black at 22:18.

Rating: A-. It’s basically Shawn/Bret/Undertaker at Summerslam 1997 and that’s not a bad place to be. You could easily get to a triple threat from here and for once I like that idea instead of going with the trilogy. Black vs. Gargano could be awesome on its own and you could really milk the build to Gargano vs. Ciampa III where Gargano goes back to his normal self (how fitting of a first line to his theme music: “Be yourself, can’t be no no else.”) to defeat the evil once and for all.

The match itself was a great piece of drama with Black knowing he had the big weapon ready to win in the end but getting caught by outside interference and Ciampa being evil enough to take him down. Black is kept very strong as he knocked Ciampa cold and didn’t lose clean, making this another near perfectly booked match.

The lack of music makes it all the more eerie and thank goodness the fans boo him out of the building instead of the YOU DESERVE IT stuff. Ciampa poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. Sweet goodness they know how to do this stuff. This was a tremendous episode from a storyline advancement perspective as we now have a big time main event plus several other midcard feuds ready to go. You can pretty easily see the Takeover card from here, which says a lot given how little of it was set coming into tonight. The main event is great and worth seeing, but now I’m a lot more interested in Takeover than I was. They always have that one show to draw you in and that’s what they did here.

Results

Adam Cole b. Sean Maluta – Last Shot

Lacey Evans b. Tenilla Price – Woman’s Right

Tommaso Ciampa b. Aleister Black – Lifting sitout Pedigree

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: June 27, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time to start getting ready for Brooklyn as the next Takeover is only about a month and a half away. The big story this week is the return of NXT Champion Aleister Black, who will be making his first comments since retaining over Lars Sullivan in a brutal match at Takeover: Chicago II. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Moustache Mountain has won the Tag Team Titles from Undisputed Era at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament event. They’ll be in action tonight.

Here’s Black for a chat. Black talks about the adversity he faced in Chicago in the form of Sullivan. That man did things Black didn’t think was humanly possible, but Aleister made him fade to black. Cue Tommaso Ciampa (again with no music) to say it’s time to stand face to face with the devil. Black can dress things up all he wants but he’s the NXT Champion. In Black’s case, the title makes the man instead of the other way around. That same night in Chicago, Ciampa beat Johnny Gargano WITH HIS HANDS TIED BEHIND HIS BACK.

Now it’s time to focus on the title because Black has something Ciampa wants. Black threatens to kick his head off but Ciampa wants him to think before he speaks. See, when Ciampa beats him, the title goes away but so does Black’s mystique. Ciampa sits down on the stage, does the evil wave, and promises to make the title reign fade to black. This was the logical progression for Ciampa and him winning the title would be a great moment.

We see an X-ray of Sullivan’s head, showing that he wrestled half of the match against Black with a broken jaw.

Vanessa Bourne had a press conference earlier today and wanted to know why Kairi Sane dresses like a pirate. Why don’t more people want to be like Sane? Tonight, Sane is in for a beating and Bourne will be the new poster girl for NXT.

Kona Reeves vs. Max Humberto

The fans are behind Humberto, even knowing his name. We hear about Reeves being mentored by fellow Hawaiian Don Muraco, which isn’t a name you hear dropped very often. Reeves headlocks him down and pounds the chest with some forearms. Back in and a boot to the face drops Humberto, setting up the Hawaiian Drop for the pin at 2:49. Total squash and Reeves still does nothing for me.

Clip of Moustache Mountain winning the titles.

Candice LeRae vs. Lacey Evans

LeRae starts fast with some armdrags but a pull of the hair lets Lacey send her shoulder first into the post. The arm gets twisted down to the mat as the pace slows in a hurry. We hit the seated cobra clutch and the fans are already clapping for Candice to get back up. Candice fights out and grabs a neckbreaker and nails some right hands of her own. An Unprettier (called a Vertebreaker by Mauro) sets up a very high Lionsault to give Candice the pin at 5:38.

Rating: C+. Candice is rather spunky and knows how to do a comeback, which should make it very easy to push her as a big time face around here. Throw in her husband’s popularity and it should be even easier. The Lionsault looked great and that’s a pretty nice win considering how hard Evans has been pushed in recent months.

Johnny Gargano is shaken up after Chicago but he’s watched it again to see what Ciampa did. He doesn’t care where it happens, but he’s going to fight Ciampa again, whether it’s next week or in a grocery store because this ends when Ciampa does.

Heavy Machinery cooks some food and wants the Mighty.

Next week: Gargano vs. EC3.

LeRae is worried about Gargano but she wants the Women’s Title.

Moustache Mountain vs. Dave Dixon/Carl Axelrod

Dixon and Axelrod have a Titantron and theme song, but they also have a beatdown from behind at the hands of the Undisputed Era. No match.

Kyle O’Reilly says the titles only changed hands because of the home field advantage so they’ll be cashing in their rematch soon and taking the titles back. The beatdown is teased but here’s Ricochet for the save.

Ricochet/Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed Era

Bate wristlocks O’Reilly into a wristlock to start and it’s quickly off to Ricochet for a slingshot hilo. The Seven Stars Lariat is blocked and it’s off to Cole, who gets chopped down to one knee. A DDT gets two on Cole and the assisted backsplash crushes Strong and Cole. Ricochet gets in a moonsault onto the same two and it’s Strong taking the beating this time. Bate comes back in but a distraction lets Strong hit a half nelson backbreaker to take over.

It’s off to the chinlock for a bit before Cole hits a snap suplex for two. The Era starts in on the arm with Cole sliding in with a knee to the shoulder and, as you might expect, a shoulder breaker. Bate scores with an exploder suplex and brings in Ricochet to clean house. A springboard elbow to the jaw gets two on O’Reilly but the guillotine choke has Ricochet in very quick trouble.

Somehow he’s able to make a tag to Seven, who breaks the hold with a full nelson on O’Reilly. The Era has had enough of Seven and it’s a fireman’s carry backbreaker into a running knee to the face. Seven is fine enough to clothesline the heck out of O’Reilly and bring Ricochet back in as everything breaks down. Cole and Ricochet kick each other in the head and everyone is down.

Two pairs fight on opposite apron, leaving Cole and Ricochet to hit each other in the head a lot. The High/Low doesn’t work on Ricochet (because of course he can flip out of it) and there’s the 630 to Cole for two with O’Reilly making a very timely save. A release suplex onto the apron cuts Ricochet off though and Cole gets the pin at 13:28.

Rating: B-. Very fun match with Ricochet doing his superhero style flipping and diving and the Era getting a pin, although not on the champions, to keep them hot on the trail for the titles. Moustache Mountain can do more than their usual match and as long as you can let Bate go nuts out there every now and then, the team is going to be fine.

Overall Rating: B. Solid effort this week with two good matches and the big title feud being set up at the beginning. In other words, they set stuff up for next week and beyond while doing things to entertain us at the same time, all in about fifty minutes. Cut out the Reeves match and put in pretty much anything else and this is a near classic episode, but as it is we’re stuck with just a rather good one.

Results

Kona Reeves b. Max Humberto – Hawaiian Drop

Candice LeRae b. Lacey Evans – Lionsault

Undisputed Era b. Ricochet/Moustache Mountain – Release suplex onto the apron to Ricochet

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Takeover: Chicago II
Date: June 16, 2018
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s time for a sequel and that means things might not be quite as good as it was before. However, the card looks very strong here with all five matches having the potential to steal the show. The main event will likely be Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano II in a street fight, which is completely different than an unsanctioned match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video focuses on pain, which every match on tonight’s card has felt in one way or another. As you might have guessed, the video shifts into focusing on Gargano vs. Ciampa, which is pretty easily the biggest thing on the card.

The announcers welcome Joseph for the night as Mauro Ranallo is off covering Showtime Boxing.

Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era vs. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan

Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly are defending and have Adam Cole in their corner. The fans are behind the champs here (well duh) as Strong headlocks Lorcan to start. It’s off to O’Reilly for a headlock takeover and some right hands to Burch’s head but Burch easily wins a slugout. Everything breaks down and Kyle gets suplexed onto Strong before the champs are sent to the floor.

That’s enough for the hot tag off to Lorcan and it’s time for the running uppercuts. Lorcan nails a big running dive over the top and alternates chops to both champs. The double elevated DDT gets two on Strong but a Doomsday Device is broken up with Lorcan being shoved hard onto the apron. O’Reilly scores with an enziguri on Burch and the cross armbreaker goes on. Somehow that’s rolled over so Burch can grab a rope and the fans are NOT happy that he survived. Geez guys give the bald guys a chance.

The High/Low is broken up and Lorcan is back up with a double Blockbuster off the apron. Now the Doomsday Uppercut gets two as Cole pulls Strong out at the last second. That means an ejection and the fans now hate the referee too. Strong saves another elevated DDT but Lorcan suplexes his way out of a guillotine choke.

A blind tag brings Strong back in so Lorcan powerbombs him down as the referee tells them they have one minute left. The champs get caught in a double submission with O’Reilly having to kick Lorcan off a half crab to break up Burch’s Crossface. A slugout actually goes to the champs and the High/Low ends Lorcan at 15:59.

Rating: B. This was getting close to the great level and that’s a very solid place for an opener. They were also smart to let the fans cheer for the Undisputed Era early on as you know they’re going to be the most popular guys on the card all night long. Burch and Lorcan looked great here and they might have their day later on. This was all it needed to be though and you can probably have War Raiders waiting on the champs in Brooklyn.

With the champs gone, Lorcan and Burch get the standing ovation.

Kairi Sane is here.

We recap the Velveteen Dream vs. Ricochet. The idea here is Ricochet gets a lot of attention due to being an athletic freak and it’s not cool with Dream that someone else is getting this kind of attention. Dream has said that anything Ricochet can do, he can do better. This caused Ricochet to hit a big flip dive the top to the ramp, leaving Dream speechless.

Velveteen Dream vs. Ricochet

Dream is in full Hogan gear, with bandanna and a DREAM STILL OVER shirt, plus all the mannerisms, including the posing and swinging his arms back and forth. I saw Dream at a house show earlier this week and he was doing some Hogan offense so suddenly this makes a lot more sense. He also has some tights on that look a lot like Ricochet’s Prince Puma gear from Lucha Underground. Ricochet on the other hand now has full on superhero gear, complete with a cape designed to look like wings. The fans are behind Dream here and seem rather pleased when he strikes his pose.

They hit the mat with Ricochet grabbing a headscissors, making Dream lose his bandanna in the process. Dream’s running headscissors doesn’t work as Ricochet lands on his feet, meaning it’s time to start the flips. Ricochet flips off the ropes and moonsaults into his pose, frustrating Dream all over again. A springboard is broken up though and Ricochet lands throat first on the top rope to really cut him off. Back in and Dream drops him throat first across the ropes again, followed by a slow motion slingshot flip splash. A hip swivel neckbreaker gives Dream two and he wants the Bingo hall guy to get up.

Ricochet gets sent to the floor and a running springboard flip dive drops him again. Back in again and a chinlock doesn’t get Dream very far as the chant switches to BOTH THESE GUYS. Ricochet fights up and scores with a suicide dive, followed by a spinning flip dive over the top to really wake the fans up. The springboard back elbow and standing shooting star gives Ricochet two but he gets crotched on top. That means a super Death Valley Bomb for a very near fall as Dream was banged up off the landing.

Ricochet heads up again but this time it’s Dream suplexing him off the top and out to the floor in a very painful looking crash. The fans are VERY pleased and it’s even better when both guys dive back in at nine. Another Death Valley Bomb gives Dream a close two but his snap DDT is broken up. Ricochet’s back gives out on a suplex attempt so they trade kicks to the face instead. Now the DDT gives Dream two and the fans give both downed guys a standing ovation.

Dream says that he’s homegrown and Ricochet belongs in a Bingo hall so Ricochet comes back with a Death Valley Bomb of his own. Ricochet goes up, strikes Dream’s pose, and hits the Purple Rainmaker for a very close two. With Dream still rocked, Ricochet goes up for one of the longest shooting stars I’ve ever seen but it only hits knees. Ricochet is down in the other corner so Dream tries a Coast to Coast Purple Rainmaker but only hits mat (though he more than had the distance). The 630 gives Ricochet the pin at 22:18.

Rating: A. Can we get Dream a statue already? For someone who came over from Tough Enough, I don’t remember the last time he didn’t knock a big match out of the park. Throw in the great gear and story being told here of Dream doing everything Ricochet could do until he made the same mistake in the end and he’s just amazing. Ricochet shows that he could do more than fly too, which is a positive sign for someone so known for one style. Great match and another star making performance for both guys.

We recap Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross. Baszler took over the division by being a bully who broke all the rules. She bullies Dakota Kai so the insane Cross came to Kai’s defense and showed Baszler what it really meant to break the rules. Cross is just so out there that Baszler might not be able to handle her.

Women’s Title: Nikki Cross vs. Shayna Baszler

Baszler is defending. Shayna has her fists up to start but Cross stands there with her arms at her side. Cross tells Baszler to do it, motioning for the Kirifuda Clutch. Then she gets down on all fours to chase Baszler around and the champ is confused. Cross turns her back and offers a free chance, only to cut Baszler off with a growl. The first choke has Baszler in trouble and Cross ties her up in the ring skirt for some forearms to the back.

They fight on the ramp and this time Baszler drops her back first to slow Cross down for the first time. Back in and Baszler tries to smother Cross so Nikki comes up smiling. Well of course she does. The crowd is distracted by something as Baszler knees her in the face, only to have Cross block the second one.

The Clutch is reversed with a belly to back suplex and Cross kicks away in the corner. A layout reverse DDT (not the Slop Drop Nigel) on the apron gives Cross two and a handing swinging suplex gets the same. Shayna reverses another suplex into the Clutch and Cross is in trouble in the middle of the ring. Cross fights a lot but starts smiling before passing out at 9:26.

Rating: B-. Well that was disturbing, though completely the right way to go. Cross is so completely insane that it makes sense for her to enjoy being choked out in a loss. It was straight out of Raven vs. Chris Benoit at Souled Out 1998 and that’s what I was hoping to see coming into this. Not a great match, but I’m curious to see who goes after Baszler next as the division is absolutely stacked right now.

EC3 is here.

Keith Lee (making his debut) is here.

We recap the NXT Title match. This is a pretty basic idea as champion Aleister Black has been able to take care of anyone with Black Mass but Lars Sullivan is too strong for it to have much effect. Sullivan has dominated him for the most part and Black has to find a way to survive.

NXT Title: Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan

Black is defending and gets to do his rising up entrance. They stare each other down for a good while to start until Black starts in with the strikes. Both finishers are blocked early on so Black knocks him to the floor for a running forearm. Black comes off the apron with a Meteora but gets his head knocked off back inside. A running knee to the head gives Black one and it’s off to a Fujiwara armbar as they slow things down a bit. Black’s right hand is twisted around and a clothesline only hurts Black’s arm.

They head outside again and Sullivan catches Black’s middle rope moonsault (egads) and drops him face first onto the apron. Back in and we hit the chinlock to give them their first actual break. Black escapes a pop up powerslam but his rollup is countered into a World’s Strongest Slam for two. Now the pop up powerslam gets two more so Sullivan goes up, which can’t end well. Black kicks him in the head so Sullivan just smacks him in the face to put Black back down.

The top rope headbutt hits a raised knee, which thankfully hurts Black’s knee. I’ve never gotten why raising your knees doesn’t cause you damage right back so it’s nice to see for a change. Black’s knee is fine enough to speed up the strikes and the standing Lionsault gives the champ a near fall of his own. Black Mass is blocked again so Sullivan goes after the knee again. We hit a Brock Lock for a good while until the Freak Accident is countered into a DDT for a double knockdown.

Sullivan is up first and gets two more off the top rope headbutt. Black avoids a charge and stomps on the back but misses Black Mass by a good six inches. That gets two anyway, but no reaction as they couldn’t hide how off that was. Another jumping knee to the face sets up Black Mass (to the arm) but Sullivan gets up anyway. With Sullivan on his knees, Black Mass catches him on the top of the head to retain Black’s title at 14:29.

Rating: B+. Missed Black Masses aside, this was a heck of a fight with Black throwing everything he had at the monster in something close enough to Vader vs. Sting to be the classic formula. Just having Black go at him that hard and finally pull it off in the end was the right call and Sullivan can be back with some dominant squashes so he’ll be fine. This is a classic story and it’s always going to work if you can make the fans get behind the underdog, even if that’s the champion.

We recap Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano. They used to be best friends but last year, in this building, Ciampa stabbed him in the back out of jealousy. Gargano defeated Ciampa in an incredible unsanctioned match in New Orleans but Ciampa couldn’t let it die. Therefore, more attacks ensued and it’s time for a street fight rematch. The other important note is Johnny’s wife Candice LeRae, who got caught in the cross hairs and doesn’t approve of Johnny being in the fight again.

Gargano is walking through the back when Candice comes up to him and gives Johnny the broken crutch from New Orleans. Candice: “Kick his a**!”

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano

Street fight. Ciampa has his own crutch and they’re both in street clothes. They swing the crutches at each other to start before just going with the punches. They’re on the floor in a hurry with Gargano throwing him over the announcers’ table and then fighting into the crowd. Gargano finds a USE THIS SIGN JOHNNY and bashes Ciampa in the head with it, revealing a stop sign inside. A high crossbody off a platform crushes Ciampa again and it’s time to go back to ringside with Gargano throwing some weapons inside.

Ciampa shrugs off the left hands for some rolling German suplexes to work on Gargano’s bad neck. Gargano knocks him to the floor again and scores with a suicide dive. A whip into the barricade gets Ciampa out of trouble and it’s time for a chair and a trashcan lid. The chair gets wrapped around Gargano’s head and Ciampa sends it straight into the steps. Ciampa pelts the trashcan at his head and Johnny is bleeding from the hand. It’s handcuffs time and you can tell the fans are nervous about where this is going.

Ciampa can’t get them on so Gargano goes with the slingshot spear instead. Gargano takes his belt off and gives Ciampa the whipping that he deserves. The trashcan goes over Ciampa’s head for the low superkick but of course it’s too early for a cover. Instead Gargano puts the trashcan in the corner, allowing Ciampa to hit Project Ciampa. The knee to the face gets two and a running knee into a trashcan lid into Gargano’s head knocks him even sillier. They head to the apron and White Noise onto the steps gives Ciampa another close two.

We need more weapons so Ciampa pulls out….bolt cutters? He starts cutting the ropes that hold the mat to the bottom of the ring and pulls the canvas and mat away, revealing the plywood. Ciampa puts him on the top and tells Gargano that he deserves this, but a super White Noise is countered. Gargano can’t get a sunset bomb, even as he pulls Ciampa’s pants half down. Instead he settles for a superkick to bring Ciampa back down and it’s time for a slugout.

Ciampa hits a crutch shot while Gargano gets in a trashcan lid shot, knocking them both down at the same time with Gargano falling on top for two. Gargano tries a slingshot dive but goes straight into a trashcan lid shot to the head. The running knee (the bad one mind you) hits the steps and Ciampa is in trouble again. He takes the brace off so Gargano hammers away at the knee, even beating on it with a chair. Ciampa is fine enough to kick Gargano into the chair in the corner and the Gargano Escape has Gargano in big trouble.

That’s let go as Ciampa wants the STF with a crutch like Gargano used in New Orleans. With that not working either, Ciampa fixes his knee brace as Gargano is getting to his feet. A crutch shot to the back of the neck only gets two and Ciampa is getting even madder. Gargano is almost out on his feet so Ciampa takes him up the ramp while shouting about how they used to be friends. It’s time for Gargano to say goodbye to everything and Ciampa sends him into the set, just like he did last year.

Ciampa says it’s never enough and takes him on top of some equipment, above a pair of tables. He even takes off Gargano’s wedding ring, spits on it, and throws it away. That fires Gargano up enough to hit his own White Noise through the tables and they’re both done. Fans: “MAMA MIA!” Medics come out to put a neck brace on Ciampa as Gargano sits from above and watches the stretcher come out. The fans tell Gargano to DO IT but he just watches as Ciampa is put on a table.

Gargano looks at his ring finger and that’s enough to send him after Ciampa again. He wheels Ciampa back down to ringside and slaps on the Gargano Escape for the tap but there’s no referee. Instead Gargano beats up some guys in suits for trying to make a save and cuffs Ciampa’s hands behind his back. Six straight superkicks set up another Gargano Escape so here are a bunch of guys to break it up. The referee is finally back as Gargano beats up the suits, but Ciampa catches him with a hanging DDT onto the exposed boards for the pin at 35:22.

Rating: A+. That ending was sick with the thud being as cringe inducing of a sound as I’ve heard in a long time. Ciampa winning was the right call of course and it was an incredible fight until we got there. The first match was more about just having the two of them hit each other as much as they could but this was all about the violence and the weapons, with Gargano going so far over the line that he got caught in the end, which adds another layer to the story. I have no idea what they have planned for the final match, but they’ve got their work cut out for them.

The fans are STUNNED at the ending and you can feel the air go out of the place. Ciampa can barely move but gives an evil smile as he pulls himself up the aisle using the stretcher. He waves goodbye to Gargano as the fans swear at him a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: A+. The two creepy smiles carry this one as far as it needs to go and the matches were as great as they could have been. This was much more about the violence and the action and that’s exactly what we got all night long. It’s another incredible show as NXT had its foot on the gas all night long. I know I keep saying they can’t get better than this, but I’m getting tired of being wrong. Bring on Brooklyn, as things might even be better there if that’s possible. Another incredible show, as you kind of have to expect.

Results

Undisputed Era b. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch – High/Low to Lorcan

Ricochet b. Velveteen Dream – 630 Splash

Shayna Baszler b. Nikki Cross – Kirifuda Clutch

Aleister Black b. Lars Sullivan – Black Mass

Tommaso Ciampa b. Johnny Gargano – Hanging DDT

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

I took in the NXT house show last night in the Broadbent Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. The arena isn’t the biggest in the world with a capacity of 6,600. It was cut in half for the sake of the show and the seats off the floor were mostly empty. The floor was full, but the arena still didn’t look great and the lights were kept low all night. I’m not great at judging attendances but there couldn’t have been more than a thousand people there at the very most.

Unfortunately there was a bad wreck on the interstate and traffic caused me to arrive twenty minutes after the show started as it took forty five minutes to drive about three miles. Therefore, I missed the opening two matches, which included:

1. War Raiders b. TM61

2. EC3 b. Fabian Aichner

I arrived just at the end of the EC3 match and could hear the bell on the way to my seat.

3. Kairi Sane/Candice LeRae b. Aliyah/Vanessa Borne – Insane Elbow to Aliyah. 11:44. C.

The crowd was very hot for this with LeRae getting a strong CANDICE WRESTLING chant but they got even hotter for Sane, who came off like a major star. If nothing else she has a great entrance with the pirate motif working very well. This was a longer match than I was expecting with a lengthy heat segment on LeRae. It was also very formula based with LeRae and Sane taking over to start until LeRae got beaten down for several minutes. The hot tag brought in Sane and LeRae cut Borne off, leaving Sane to win with the elbow. Aliyah is rather enjoyable as a heel but I was a fan of hers for a long time. Maybe it’s the right move.

4. North American Title: Adam Cole b. Raul Mendoza – Last Shot. 11:52. B-.

This was probably the match of the night with Cole getting to show off a lot of what made him popular in the first place and Mendoza getting a little chance to shine. The bigger problem was Cole vs. the crowd, as they were cheering loudly for nearly every single thing that he did. Cole tried everything he could to get them to boo him, from not throwing his shirt to the crowd after seeing which side could make the most noise to running the ropes several times before stopping for a chinlock. The latter just earned him a HOLY S*** chant for a funny moment.

Mendoza got to show off as well here, and it’s clear that he has some talent. There’s always room for a high flier who can make a spirited comeback and that’s what Mendoza got to do here. Of course Cole retained in the end with the Last Shot and the fans were very, very pleased, but Mendoza gave a more than respectable showing of himself and hopefully someone was paying attention.

5. Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era b. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan – High/Low to Lorcan. 13:30. C+.

It’s always cool to see a dress rehearsal for an upcoming Takeover match and we got to see three of them in one night. Lorcan and Burch were game challengers here and did what they could, but the match never kicked into the higher gear that you might expect it to. What we got was certainly fun though and the Era continues to look more and more like a polished team every time they’re out there. All those years in Ring of Honor are paying off and it makes for a useful situation. Not a bad match, but I’d hope for more on Saturday.

There was actually a post match angle which wound up on WWE’s YouTube channel:

Velveteen Dream got a quick promo on the video screen, saying that it didn’t matter if you were a Louisville Cardinals or Kentucky Wildcats fan, you all sucked. While he wanted to fight Ricochet, he’ll have to settle for beating someone else up tonight as Ricochet is being held out due to injury (not mentioned).

Twenty minute intermission. At the end a fan got to play the What Happens Next game and won a Raw: The First 25 Years book.

6. Velveteen Dream b. Kassius Ohno – Purple Rainmaker. 13:47. C.

Now this was a weird one, mainly for one place. First of all, the fans loved Dream, giving him one of the biggest reactions of the night. The match was about all you would expect, with Ohno hitting him really hard (and loud) and Dream doing all his shenanigans to try and play some mind games. The first odd moment was near the beginning, when it turned into a very random Hulk Hogan tribute match. Ohno knocked Dream down and did the hand to the ear to all four ropes but missed a legdrop. Dream hit one of his own, then dropped two elbows before raking Ohno’s eyes with his boot in another Hogan trademark.

Ohno did hit a Hero’s Welcome (a rolling cutter, which he shouted by name before hitting it) and did all of his other usual stuff. He also banged up Dream’s knee but Dream was perfectly fine enough to hit the elbow for the pin. That’s exactly the kind of thing Ohno is great at: making someone else look good and then taking the loss which doesn’t do him any real damage.

Post match Dream told everyone to buy the Network so they could see him do this again on Saturday. Ricochet came out and said that he wanted to see Dream take the spotlight, so let’s see a flip. Dream played to the crowd a lot and loaded one up but Ricochet came in and scared him off. After being chased off, Dream said that Saturday will be a one star match and that one star was him. As he was leaving, Dream said if you wanted to see him do a flip, it would be 9.99. Ricochet said nothing was going to stop him from being in Kentucky and nothing would stop him from being in Chicago to punch Dream in the face.

7. Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler b. Nikki Cross – Kirifuda Clutch. 9:21. C.

This was about one thing: Cross is a psycho who messes with Baszler’s mind. There really is something to be said about how nuts she comes across as, which adds a lot of fun to her character. Baszler tried to use her skills and work her over but Cross kept going nuts and throwing Baszler off. In the end, Baszler got the Clutch for the knockout, but Cross didn’t tap in a smart move. She’s not the kind of person to tap out and they went with the more appropriate passing out, hopefully with a smile on her face at the time.

8. Aleister Black b. Lars Sullivan via DQ when Sullivan shoved the referee. 13:20. C+.

Black was in more of a traditional face mode here as he wasted no time in throwing all of his strikes at Sullivan. This included a few kicks to knock Sullivan to the floor but a moonsault got caught in midair. Sullivan worked on the leg to take away the kicks but the Freak Accident was countered into a DDT. He beat on Black some more but couldn’t put him away, eventually grabbing a chair instead, leading to shoving the referee down for the DQ. I’d assume an actual finish in Chicago, but this was energetic while it lasted and they worked well enough together. Black kicked the chair into his face post match to end the night.

Overall, this was your run of the mill NXT house show. It wasn’t great and for the most part, none of the matches really jumped off the page at me. However, it did a good job of making me want to see Takeover on Saturday and really that’s what these shows are for: to get you to want to see the bigger events. Most of the big names were there and if Ricochet had been healthy, I would have gotten to see four of the five matches on Saturday’s card. I had a good time and counting parking, the whole night was only $30. It was a fun time and if you like NXT, you’ll have a good time going to one of the shows.

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: May 29, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s time for a big fight here, though it might not be the definitive fight. The big match on the card this week will see Shayna Baszler defending her title against Dakota Kai. Dakota has been running scared of Baszler but Nikki Cross has been poking her head around things lately, which offers a very odd twist to the whole thing. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Johnny Gargano seemingly considering retirement last week when Tommaso Ciampa interrupted and another fight almost began. During the melee, Johnny’s wife Candice LeRae was knocked down by mistake, seemingly freaking Ciampa out in a rare occurrence. Both are banned from the arena tonight but are set for a street fight at Takeover: Chicago, provided they both sign contracts.

Here’s Aleister Black for a chat. He says all it takes is one shot for his opponents to fade to black and here’s Lars Sullivan to interrupt. William Regal has made Sullivan #1 contender to the NXT Title for Takeover: Chicago. For sixteen years, Black has made people fade to black but he’s never faced anyone like Sullivan. Black can ignore his emotions all he wants but he can’t ignore what’s going to happen to him in Chicago. The fight is almost on and Black Mass is casually blocked, followed by a Freak Accident to leave Black laying. For a one off title match (which this will likely be), this was fine.

War Raiders vs. George Hickson/Cody Vincent

Rowe headbutts Hickson down as the RAIDERS chants begin. It’s off to Vincent, who gets pummeled in the corner just as badly. Shotgun knees into the Bronco Buster crush Vincent and a springboard clothesline/German suplex combination knocks Hickson silly. Fallout ends Vincent at 2:49. Total squash.

We recap Kai vs. Baszler. Kai wants to be Women’s Champion but Baszler sees her as weak and toys with her like the bully that she is.

Lacey Evans is ready to win the rubber match with Kairi Sane next week.

EC3 vs. Fabian Aichner

EC3 takes him into the corner for what he calls the top 1% forearm. An elbow to the jaw into a gutwrench suplex gives Aichner two but his springboard is broken up pretty easily. EC3 goes out to get him but here’s Gargano through the crowd to grab a mic and say his contract is signed. The distraction lets Aichner hit a crazy high crossbody to the floor for two back inside. Not that it matters as EC3 grabs the One Percenter (TKO) for the pin at 2:41.

Video on Bianca Belair, who was a natural athlete from childhood. We see some clips of Belair’s athletic accomplishments, with her saying that she never tried because she was that much better than everyone else. After being an All American in college, she got into competitive CrossFit and that got her into NXT. She’s here to be the best because she always has been.

Ricochet vs. Chris Dijak

This is Dijak’s TV debut. The much bigger Dijak (stands about 6’9) takes Ricochet into the corner but gets kicked in the head for his efforts. Dijak bails to the floor and still catches the suicide dive with a chokeslam onto the apron. Back in and Dijak hits a springboard elbow but misses a moonsault, allowing Ricochet to roll some vertical suplexes. The 630 ends Dijak at 2:08. Dijak looked great while it lasted.

Post match Ricochet says Velveteen Dream wants the spotlight and really, he deserves it. The thing about spotlight is it shows your flaws and last week, Dream showed what he really was. Ricochet mentions Chicago but here’s Dream to interrupt. Dream says tonight was Ricochet’s spotlight but last week was their spotlight. Last week Dream showed that he can do anything Ricochet can do but better.

That sounds like a challenge to Ricochet so Dream says it’s on for Chicago. Dream says whatever Ricochet can do, he can do better so Ricochet gets a running start and flip dives (no hands of course), landing perfectly on his feet right in front of Dream. That’s a bit too much for Dream, who looks impressed. Fair enough as that looked awesome.

Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler vs. Dakota Kai

Kai is challenging. Baszler backs her into the corner to start and Kai is intimidated but still comes out ready to fight. That earns her a quick takedown and Baszler starts in on the leg. The ankle gets twisted around and stomped again as this is one sided so far. Baszler tells her to try some kicking so Kai tries a right hand, only to get pummeled even more. An ankle lock goes on but Kai actually makes a rope. The hold goes on again but Kai hits a quick kick for the break. More kicks, including a running kick in the corner have Baszler in trouble, only to have Kai get caught in the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 5:34.

Rating: C. This felt like another part of a bigger story, assuming they go with Kai as something important in the division. I’m not sure that’s where they’re going, but it’s certainly a story that has some potential. You let her grow up and come back later on for the big Takeover match and money can be made.

Post match Baszler puts the hold on again but Nikki Cross comes in to scare the heck out of Baszler, who backs off. That’s not it though as Cross runs up and steals the title, laying it on the mat as an offer for Baszler to come get it. Baszler comes to get it but Cross snatches it up again. Cross wants a title shot TONIGHT and seems to ask Kai for approval. She hands Kai the title so Baszler goes after it, earning herself the Purge with Kai counting a pin. Cross celebrates with the title in the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They added two matches to Takeover and planted the seeds for a third with Baszler vs. Cross. I’m a lot more interested in Takeover than I was coming in and that’s a very nice thing to be able to say. The wrestling wasn’t the point here and that’s often the case around here. Let the stories be told and the whole thing will take care of itself. Another good show here and I want to see Cross vs. Baszler, among other things. Well done.

Results

War Raiders b. George Hickson/Cody Vincent – Fallout to Vincent

EC3 b. Fabian Aichner – One Percenter

Ricochet b. Chris Dijak – 630

Shayna Baszler b. Dakota Kai – Kirifuda Clutch

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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