WWE NXT Review // 28th March 2018

On 28th March 2018, WWE aired its 293rd episode of NXT, filmed at Center Stage, Atlanta, GA on 7th March. Our main event was a Dusty Classic semi-final as the newly formed team of Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne took on former NXT Tag Team Champions, SaNitY. The show also featured another Dusty Classic Semi in the form of Authors of Pain vs Street Profits as well as action from Lars Sullivan, Dakota Kai, Andrade Almas & Aleister Black. As always, I do ask you, dear audience, was it any good?

On his way to the arena, Tommaso Ciampa is hounded by fans and the press, he complains to William Regal that Gargano has been attacking him in the ring, stalking him at his physiotherapy sessions and at his house. Regal tells him it is becoming a spot of bother and books a match for TakeOver: New Orleans, but as Gargano doesn't work here anymore, it has to be an Unsanctioned Match. If Gargano wins, he gets his job back, if not, he's gone forever.

William Regal Has An Announcement

William Regal welcomes everyone to the arena and then announces that the announcement he announced last week was that NXT is introducing a new secondary men's championship, something to determine who is the best competitor in North America, the NXT North American Championship. As he's talking about this, up turns the man who's won practically everything there is to win in Impact and is now here in NXT, EC3. He talks about how good it is to be here and how he looks forward to making a shit-ton of money for the company and how he has a banger of a theme (he does). He then thanks William Regal for knowing that the best in North America was coming so making a title just for him. Regal tells him that while he has a chance at the title off the bat, he doesn't get anything without earning it, so he'll be competing in a Ladder Match at TakeOver to crown the first champion. EC3 responds it doesn't matter how many men you put in his way, he's still leaving with that champion. This was a really good opening, already cementing EC3 as someone who is going to be important in the yellow brand going forward as well as making another big match for TakeOver.

Charly Caruso is in the NXT Control Centre, giving us a recap of what we've missed so far in the Dusty Classic.

TM-61 are being interviewed back at the Performance Centre about their loss in the first round and how they need to change their attitude as this has halted their returning momentum but they're not down and out because they're the Mighty and the Mighty... get interrupted by a fight breaking out behind them between Shayna Baszler & Ember Moon because Baszler was bullying someone or just generally standing around waiting for Moon to punch her. This was more fun than I've made it sound.

Dusty Classic Semi-Final // Authors of Pain def. Street Profits // Pinfall

Quick squash m8. Ford came in first but quickly bailed when he felt a slap to the face from an Author, Dawkins actually fared a little better, out-striking his opponent and clearing house with a spinebuster to the other, sadly the loss for the team came when Ford, on the outside, got distracted offering his solo cup to Ellering who slapped it away, causing Ford to stalk him up the entrance ramp, opening up a distracted Dawkins to be hit with The Last Chapter legsweep-clotheslin combo. I don't know what they were going for but if the plan was to make Street Profits look like fucking idiots, they achieved it.

We go back to Charly in the Control Centre for an update. Thank you, Charly.

Cathy Kelly is interviewing William Regal about whether any other competitors are officially announced for the North American Title Ladder Match, he confirms Adam Cole will be in it. Velveteen Dream turns up and demands a spot, Regal agrees. This is shaping up nicely, isn't it?

Lars Sullivan def. John Silver // Pinfall

Quicker squash m8. In the battle of Long vs John SIlver, Long won, I think the closest Silver got to any offence was successfully locking-up with Sullivan at the beginning before he realised he had no reversals and Sullivan repeatedly hit murder. Lars eating tiny men is always fun and this did exactly what it had to. Sullivan won with a big diving headbutt and the Freak Accident modified side slam for the pin.

Cathy Kelly is interviewing Regal again when Sullivan walks by, just in time for Regal to offer him a spot in the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match. Lars looks forward to this but before he gets there, he wants Killian Dain . Regal tells him Dain is in the Ladder Match as well but because Regal likes booking matches, Sullivan goes tete-a-tete with Dain next week.

Dakota Kai def...Hey What's That Going On Over There?

Dakota Kai made her way to the ring but before a match could start the cameras cuts to Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega attacking Aleister Black in the car park. Almas battered Black through the arena, nearly drowning him at one point and beating him all the way to the ring, walking away, hoisting his title having got his own back on the Dutch shitkicker for what he said about him at the Contract Signing he never turned up to. This was a great, little segment to build to the TakeOver main event but I have to say, my favourite thing was watching Kai try and sneak away unnoticed in the back of the shot. 

Dusty Classic Semi-Final: Strong X Bitter def. SaNitY // Pinfall

In a move that will surprise no one, this was a really good main event. What was clever was how it played off Strong's past, having feuded along with Tye Dillinger, Kassius Ohno, No Way Jose and Ruby Riott with SaNitY, to build an intensity and animosity as well as a desperation from both teams to succeed, this helped frame the face v face action with some stakes and storytelling to stop it being just a split-support from the crowd. They worked a good, exciting finale to the episode, with all four men looking good and getting in a lot of their signature stuff with Alexander Wolfe getting in another reminder of how overlooked he is considering his incredibly fun performances. It wasn't a match without its problems though, as it lacked a certain sense of drama down the home-stretch that could have done perhaps with a little more in the way of tag work as it felt far more like four singles competitors than two teams though that does play well into the fragile truce between Strong and Dunne, this also felt more like the exhibition 'spotfest' style of tag match at times which while entertaining, did feel a little unnecessary. The finish came as Strong hit End of Heartache on Young before Dunne tagged in and they hit a double team Bitter End. Fun stuff, but still not quite essential. Much like the rest of this Dusty Classic so far, it's had good moments but it's all felt a little too rushed to seem, well, classic.

Cathy Kelly is backstage hoping to hear from William Regal who the sixth competitor is for the ladder match. Regal says she's in luck and he goes to fetch him. Trevor 'Ricochet' Mann would emerge from Regal's office to canned applause, looking like he was buttoning up his suit so what he had to do to get that spot, I don't know. The pre-recorded crowd chant his nickname to end the show.

Finally...

Considering the amount of heavy-lifting this show had to do with setting up the North American Title, the Ladder Match for it, Gargano vs Ciampa, continuing to build to the Tag Title match and also continuing the builds for Black v Almas and Baszler v Moon, it's impressive that the show managed to do all of it without collapsing under its own weight. The problem of this is that so much of it ended up being enjoyable but passable as beyond the opening segment, nothing felt like it got quite enough time to properly build. That said, with four very good sounding matches confirmed and two very good teams in the Dusty Classic final, we could be set for an all-time great TakeOver special.

Written By Jozef Raczka // @NotJoeRaczka

NXT 272 Review // SaNItY vs Authors of Pain

On 2nd November 2017, WWE aired its 272nd episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 4th October. Our Main event was once again, a big TakeOver rematch as the big lads from SaNItY defended their titles against the probably bigger Authors of Pain. The show also saw action from Johnny Gargano against Fabian Aichner and Nikki Cross getting a one-on-one chance at revenge against Taynara Conti. But was it any good?

Nikki Cross def. Taynara Conti (2:35)

Off the bell, Cross is straight in with a running crossbody and grounded strikes, Conti tries to bail but Cross follows, trapping Conti in the apron banner before more strikes, Cross rolls Conti back in who catches the wild Scot with a kick and a mat slam before stomping her out, Cross finds it funny that Conti thinks kicks can stop her and powers back with a clothesline, slam to the turnbuckles, tree of woe stomps to the head, a reverse DDT and the Fisherman's Neckbreaker for the pin. A quick match that did its job giving Cross an undeniable win over the woman that nearly cost her a title shot. Conti is still new but seems to be developing quickly. 

Paul Ellering is doing bouncer duty on the Authors of Pain dressing room. I'm hoping they wear their tactical Ninja Turtles get-up again.

We get a recap of Mercedes Martinez's promo from last week, it's not just on the YouTubes now, lads.

Fabian Aichner def. Johnny Gargano (6:45)

Lock-up to start as the man whose nickname is 'wrestling' gets the best of the encounter, floating over into a drop-toe hold and keep the larger Aichner grounded, Aichner gets Gargano up and throws him to the ropes but Gargano rebounds with a sunset flip for a 2, hitting an on-the-button dropkick before running into a powerslam, Gargano immediately responds with slaps, sending Aichner out of the ring, Gargano goes for a plancha but Aichner catches him slams with shoulder first off the crowd barricade and into the ad-break, back from the break and Aichner has a big Italian bear hug on Gargano, how is that different from a normal bearhug? I don't know but the announcers keep reminding us that Aichner's Italian and so was Bruno Sammartino, knees to the face and Aichner goes for a running strike but misses giving Gargano an opening to hit the rolling floor kick, some neat clotheslines, Aichner tries to respond but goes straight into a beautiful slingshot spear for a 2, some tussling on the apron as the two men try to suplex each other but Aichner settles for a face-first slam on Gargano back into the ring, up top and Aichner goes for a springboard triangle moonsault but Gargano rolls to the apron and hits beautiful slingshot DDT for a very close 2, Gargano slaps Aichner into the corner and goes for a lawn dart but Aichner escapes, Gargano once again with the high-risk manoeuvres gets caught by Aichner into a backbreaker and a powerbomb for another close 2,  Aichner wears down Gargano with Italian uppercuts because as I noted earlier, he's not German, a pop-up backbreaker takes down Gargano and Aichner is up top again, another moonsault this time to the knees, Gargano hits a running kick and goes for the GargaNo Escape but Aichner leverages into a Full Nelson Pin for his first win on NXT. Really strong work for a no-feud, midcard NXT TV match with both men working clean, quick and precise. Johnny is the kind of talent who even though you root for him, he doesn't always need the win and he made Aichner look like a top-tier talent here, which he is. My one worry going forward is the parallels between how the commentary team talked about Apollo Crews & Fabian Aichner, unless it turns out he's an incredible talker, I hope he finds his Titus O'Neill to help him develop character sooner rather than later. 

Drew McIntyre is in William Regal's office, he's signing the contract for the NXT Title match, later tonight, they'll have a contract signing. But he just signed it. I know it's confusing but you know how Drew likes men to look him in the eyes. 

We get an Aleister Black-Velveteen Dream video package. Black talks about how Dream has been vying for his attention and now he has it, he's going to regret having it. I guess their TakeOver match is official now. RIP Velveteen Dream's head. 

The Street Profits are standing around a Maserati talking about how hard work gets you nice cars when up turn Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli to tell them that this is their car and to leave it alone. I know this is meant to be the spark of a feud between these two but I just want to know more about joint car ownership. 

Drew McIntyre is heading to the ring when Andrade Almas jumps him on the ramp and gives him one of the stiffest looking beat-downs on NXT TV. leaving him in a pile of 'ow', Andrade would sign the contract before taking some gum from Zelina Vega to use to stick it to McIntyre's shirt. Lad. 

The Iconic Duo are backstage complaining about how 'crazy Nikki' took Billie Kay's spot in the Fatal Four-Way, they mock Kairi Sane for being a pirate when 'Halloween was yesterday'. Kairi comes past and threatens the Duo with her elbow. Next week - Kairi Sane vs Billie Kay. 

NXT Tag Team Championship: Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar w/Paul Ellering) def. SaNItY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) via DQ (8:30)

Young and Rezar to start, Young is quickly overpowered and pushed to the Author's corner, tag to Akam, Akam begins working over Young but Young pushes Akam to his corner and tags in Wolfe as they work over the young author with double teams till Akam manages to hit a death valley driver to the top left corner on Wolfe, Authors of Pain utilise a similar game plan going for quick strikes and quick tags, keeping Wolfe down into the ad-break, back from the break and Rezar is now tagged in, maintaining a guillotine choke on Wolfe, tag to Akam and a double slam gets them a solid 2, Wolfe plays a good axeman-in-peril, powering his way to his corner but continually being cut off until a double big boot gives him the opening he needs to get that tag and apply heat to it, hitting big open forearms on both authors and a lovely leaping neakbreaker on Akam, Young goes up top, Rezar tries to intervene but takes a mighty German from the German allowing Young to hit the elbow drop for a 2, tag to Wolfe for a diving clothesline, tag back to Young and a Double Neckbreaker for the pin but Rezar breaks up the pin, Rezar hits a lariat on Wolfe, Young with forearms to Rezar, Akam takes out Young and they pick up both members of SaNItY for a Super Collider before hitting the Last Chapter on Young, before they can get the pin, in come The Undisputed Era and with a DQ finish, things go to shit. This was a distinctly average match for the most part, it had some exciting stretches but it did feel like with the angle being played to lead into what would happen after the match, the three teams have been saving their best stuff for WarGames. Hopefully that's true as the only really combustible element in this feud so far has been Roderick Strong. Let's hope they pull it out of the bag. 

The Undisputed Era beat down everyone and everything till Killian Dain hits the ring and temporarily takes out the Era but they respond and beat down the Belfast beast, Roderick Strong hits the ring, putting on the Undisputed armband he was given last week. They hold up one of the Authors telling him to kick him or something but instead Roddy uses the opportunity to elbow Adam Cole in the face and then tries to fight off Fish and O'Reilly, the Authors, now back on their feet, even the odds, as all hell is breaking loose, Regal tell them that this has gone insane and that it needs to stop. There's going to be a match between SaNItY, The Undisputed Era & Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong but only one match can hold them, a match that hasn't been seen for nearly twenty years, the match will be, in WAR GAMES! The crowd goes wild, everyone at home got this spoilt for them about a month ago. 
Thanks, Triple H.

On The YouTubes:

Johnny Gargano asks himself if he still belongs in NXT after another loss, he knows the people still believe in him but he doesn't know what to do. Guess you just have to do the obvious thing, have an ab-off with Shawn Michaels.

This was a perfectly good hour of television, well-paced with a good amount of in-ring action and around the ring storytelling. Gargano and Aichner effortlessly stole the show but the rest of it was still fine. Although, with two more episodes till WarGames, just fine won't quite cut it.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

NXT #270 Review - SaNItY vs Undisputed Era

On 19th October 2017, WWE aired its 270th episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 14th September. Our main event had some trios action in the form of NXT Tag Team Champions SaNItY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) taking on their persecutors, Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly). The undercard saw the second of three qualifying matches for the NXT Women's Title Fatal Four-Way as Ember Moon took on Sonia Deville and Ruby Riot, as well as Aleister Black vs Raul Mendoza and Kassius Ohno vs Cezar Bononi. But was it any good?

NXT Women's Title Match Contendership Triple Threat: Ember Moon def. Sonya Deville & Ruby Riot (7:50)

It's nice that this match has a very different vibe to last week's in that it seemed to be pure pain from moment one (ish), Ruby and Ember attempt to start a three-way test of strength spot but Deville responds by kicking Riot in the gut before taking an O'Conner roll from Moon who is pulled off into a roll-up by Riot for a 2, on their feet and Riot hits a low angle rana on Moon but takes a lariat from Deville for a 2, backup and Riot hits an arm drag before lighting up Sonia with kicks and a running dropkick for a 2, Moon's back in and riot tries to do a headscissors-DDT combo taking out Deville but Moon lands on her feet, the two of them test each other's rope running and flips before agreeing they're both brilliant, Moon goes in with her own kicks but Riot hits a thunderous forearm, Moon goes to the ropes and a springboard crossbody for a 2 count, Sonia's back in and Ember throws Ruby into her before taking them both down with a running knee strike to Sonia but she's not down for long as she goes kicking wild on both opponents standing tall into the ad-break, back from the break and Deville's straight in with a pair of gutwrench suplexes for Moon and a sidewinder for Riot into the corner, Riot jumps to top rope and drives Deville to the corner with deadly nightshade before throwing Moon into her, Riot goes for a running kick on both competitors but Moon ducks as the kick hits Deville, throws Riot out of the ring and covers Deville for a 2, Moon goes to the ropes for another springboard crossbody but Deville spears her out of the air, Riot is back in and the two of them trade running strikes, Deville runs at Riot but Riot sends her through the ropes, she goes to follow with a tope but Deville takes her down with a forearm, Moon tries to sneak attack but Deville drives her into the apron, Deville climbs up and tries to go for an apron diving axe handle landing straight into a kick to the jaw from Moon, Riot follows out of the ring with a top rope crossbody, landing her ankle on the walkway, Riot hobbles over to Moon, rolls her back into the ring and hits her with the Wind-Up Kick off the injured ankle which Moon sells like a bullet made of trampoline hit her, before Riot can cover her, Deville is back in and get an ankle lock on the recent 'injury', Riot tries to rope break but this is a Triple Threat, Riot escapes briefly only for Deville to apply a fully standing ankle lock, before Riot can tap, Ember is up top and she hits a beautiful Eclipse top rope stunner on Deville who bounces out of the ring before Ember takes advantage of the broken Riot and rolls her up for the pinfall. This was dope as hell. All three competitors were made to look like they could have won at practically any moment during the match and for a sub-8 minute match. they really managed to pack in the content. While on the surface, this may have seemed more spotfest than the more psychological affair last week, it did have a fascinating change of style for Moon who utilised a lot of underhanded tactics, making her seem to be giving in to her desperation to be champion. There were occasional moments when it was clear that they were following the standard beats of a three-way dance with a lot of one-on-one encounters that change to a new one-on-one after someone gets thrown out but as a show opener, this was as energetic as you could want.

From earlier today, we get some 'CCTV footage' of Roderick Strong apparently being friendly with Undisputed Era and by 'friendly' I mean they approach him, he looks awkward, they put a t-shirt on his shoulder he looks at them, hands the t-shirt back and give Adam Cole a pat of 'no thanks'. I hope for sonce this isn't heading where we expect.

William Regal is being asked about who will be in the last match for the Women's Fatal Four Way when The Iconic Duo turn up to make sure that Billie Kay is in the match and Regal agrees, announcing a Battle Royal for the final spot. Next Week: Billie Kay & Aaliyah vs The Mae Young Classic.

Aleister Black def. Raul Mendoza (2.10), Quick Squash m8. As the match started, Velveteen Dream hit the ring, trying on Black's jacket for a distraction. You may have guessed from the match time, it didn't keep him down for long. After the match, Black continued to refused to acknowledge Dream's existence, he's still there even if you don't look at him, lad. Mendoza got in a couple of flips so that was nice too.

Drew McIntyre Speaks

WWE.com didn't give me any photos of this interview so instead, I thought we'd all enjoy Aleister Black's best crab walk. So Drew is sat down for an interview, he was his suit on in a nice light blue with a well co-ordinated shirt and a tie-less open collar. He talks about how wild things have been in NXT since he became champ and how it's still weird to him to call himself 'champ', how this was a dream of his, about how he'd set goals and structures up to make his way back to the WWE and how he knew he had to be NXT champion, after he was fired the last time, it took a while to recover, especially considering he'd just moved into a new flat four days prior and had to tell everyone and it had taken a lot out of him but in the long run it inspired him to work harder to get back where he belongs, now, just four months after he officially re-joined, he's now champion and he wants to be an inspiration to everyone who has a dream, at this point Zelina Vega interrupts and kicks out the interviewer, taking over, she states that Drew and Andrade Almas are alike, they both were floundering and they both got second chances, just that Almas' second chance came in the form of Vega, not years away from the company, she wants to know why Drew has been avoiding Almas and if its because he recognises Almas is his biggest threat? Drew sees through her attempts to rile him up and says what he always does, anyone who wants a title shot just has to look him in the eyes, say he wants a fight and he'll give them a fight, he suggests going to Regal and organising the match, Vega says she knows the champ has more sway than her so why doesn't he make the match unless he's chicken (or a turkey, it's nearly Survivor Series, who wouldn't want to see the Gobbeldy-Drew-ker?), Drew responds by saying if Andrade does want the match to come find him, look him in the eye and say it for himself before Vega storms out. This was a nice way of adding some extra shading to Drew's character who, much like Roderick Strong, seems to mostly be a loose extension of his own personality. It also helped build up to a potential NXT Title match for NXT TakeOver: WarGames, especially now we know Adam Cole's getting his title shot the night before, and cemented Vega's position as a steely, determined manager. All round good stuff.

Kassius Ohno def. Cezar Bononi (3.10), Quick but not as much of a squash as you'd expect, m8. Bononi dominated till Ohno came back with a senton, big boots and a Rolling Elbow that Bononi sold like death for the pin. He's still getting there but there's good cause to put money on Bononi in the future. Ohno getting another win here all but guarantees they're building to something at the next TakeOver, in terms of other people who've got similar amounts of TV Time recently, it's almost certainly either Lars Sullivan or Johnny Gargano.

Next Week: The Women's Title Contendership Battle Royal.
PLUS: Johnny Gargano takes on Italy's own Fabian Aichner.

SaNItY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killain Dain) def. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) (9:29)

The Wolfe & The Fish lock-up to start, Wolfe powers Fish to the corner, goes for a clothesline but Fish dodges and begins kicking at the hamstrings but Wolfe hits in square in the jaw like an axe, man, tag to O'Reilly who runs straight into a spinning bodyslam, tag to Young and the tag champs hit a drop toe hold-standing elbow drop combo, they place O'Reilly in the corner, Dain hits a splash and holds O'Reilly in place while Wolfe hits a running uppercut, Young hits a gutbuster and a forearm to the back of the neck earn an early 2 count, running the ropes and a ref distraction by Fish and a kick from Cole get things back in the Undisputed's favour, the three recent signees wear down Young who tries to power back hitting all three with strikes but a roundhouse to the head knocks Young out of the ring and into the ad-break, back from the break and Cole is grounding and pounding Young and he transitions to a grounded headlock, Young is powered to the corner, tag to O'Reilly and Fish is in aswell to hit a double wristbreaker and a double chest kick for a 2 count, tag to Cole who keeps hitting axe handles to ground Young tag to Fish who knees Young in the corner, tag to O'Reilly and both knee him in the corner before hitting a double suplex for a 2, O'Reilly whips Young to the corner and charges at Wolfe knocking him off the apron then at Young who uses the time delay to dodge, going for a tag O'Reilly drags him back with an ankle lock but gets kicked away, tag to Fish who just prevents a second tag but he's taken out with a kick, hot tag to Dain who hits the entire opposite team with clotheslines, a running crossbody on Fish and a front dropkick on O'Reilly, he then hits corner splashes on both men before going for a second on Fish who catches him with an elbow, Fish and O'Reilly both run at Dain, he catches them into a fallaway slam-Samoan drop combo, Dain picks up fish for a forward slam, a senton and a pop-up splash goes for a pin but Cole breaks it up, O'Reilly in to assist but Young and Wolfe hit him with an assisted jumping neckbreaker, Cole, now alone and surrounded, tries to escape but finds himself surrounded by insaniacs, he backs into the ring and is picked up by the hair by Dain and thrown one-handed into the ring but before Dain and Wolfe can execute their double team maneouvre, the Authors of Pain's music hits, causing Wolfe to charge at them as the Authors attack him and Dain, giving SaNItY a DQ victory. This was another solid performance by all involved. As a development of an angle (definitely not spoilers, maybe they're building to a three-way WarGames match...), the ending had a glorious, violent spectacle to it and SaNItY have that great Los Ingobernables-type gang mentality whereby they're only bad guys if you're not with him. The match itself was a tad disappointing, despite some strong teamwork from Fish & O'Reilly, Cole is still yet to impress in NXT doing very little memorable in the match, overall it felt like it just never really got going, but not for lack of effort on either team's part.

The Undisputed Era bail to the ramp, watching in horror as Authors of Pain lay out SaNItY hitting a clothesline-Russian leg sweep combo on Dain & the Supercollider double powerbomb on Wolfe & Young to close out the show.

On The YouTubes:

Ember Moon isn't celebrating until she's won the title, she also would like everyone to know that they should all be worried about her.

A far more enjoyable show than last week's half-hearted effort with the entire undercard presenting one of the most enjoyable 45 minutes of NXT in quite a while. If not for a slightly flat main event, it could have been a lot better, luckily the Authors of Pain turning up and wrecking fools created an entertaining finish and set up more big things for the upcoming TakeOver.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III Preview

It's that time of year again, the biggest show of the NXT year. August 19th, 8pm ET (7pm if you're that one person who watches NXT pre-shows), NXT take over Brooklyn for the third edition of NXT: TakeOver Brooklyn III. Coming to us from the historic (is it historic? It's probably historic) Barclay's Center with Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson and Across the Pond Editor James' fave 'Showtime' Percy Watson calling the action. Advance press claims that for the one person who watches the aforementioned pre-show, they can expect discussion from Corey Graves, Charly Caruso, Lita and Sam Rosenberg aswell as special guests Neville, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sasha Banks and Carmella & interviews from Renee Young. Obviously the thing you're all most excited about - the theme tunes and this year, they've got a pretty bumper crop including one of this writer's current faves - Code Orange.

Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami

Kicks. There will be a lot of kicks. This is not a prediction, this is a fact, these two men will kick each other a lot. There's been very little build-up or real reason for these two men to fight beyond one of them likes kicking things and so does the other and frankly it doesn't need it. Aleister Black has been on a tear since his debut kicking Andrade Almas in the head as he's progressed from kicking random jobbers in the head to kicking anyone from ROH whose joined NXT (Kassius Ohno, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilley) in the head, Hideo Itami has conversely become a bitter, salty dickhead but frankly can anyone blame him? Too much time spent out on injury can do that to a man. It's hard to say who's going to win this one as both men have good reasons why they could: Black has his winning streak to maintain but Itami needs to make a statement to cement him as a contender, not just someone who goes too far and just attacks people instead of actually wrestling a match. Whichever man wins, this has the potential to be the strongest announced match on this card if given long enough to get all those kicks in. There'll be a lot of kicks.

Johnny Gargano Vs. Andrade 'Cien' Almas

Another singles match that has the potential for strong in-ring action but also has basically no reason to be happening. Andrade Almas, alongside his new manager Zelina Vega has returned with a new attitude and actual wins, yes, you heard correctly Almas has won consecutive matches, yet, he has to contend with the returning Johnny 'Wrestling' Gargano, fresh off being betrayed by his former best friend Tommaso Ciampa, has returned and is determined to remind us why he's called Johnny Wrestling. It's because he's really good at wrestling if that's not clear. I don't see them not giving Gargano the win as this is essentially a re-debut for him and as one of the purest babyfaces in WWE, a clean win for him would be a nice way to start the show but Almas could benefit more from a win against someone who matters (sorry, No Way Jose) to avoid getting that 'new top jobber' label from people like me who mistake their opinion for fact. Either way, should be fun.

NXT Tag Team Championship

Authors of Pain vs. SaNItY (Wolfe/Dain)

So this is happening, the nihilist murder babies take on the Rammstein fan club for the right to consider themselves the biggest lads in NXT. After Drew McIntyre defeated Killian Dain for the NXT Championship No.1 Contendership and Nikki Cross missed her opportunity to take Asuka's title, the crusty punks turned their attention to the tag gold with the former WxW and ICW Heavyweight champions Alexander Wolfe and Dain taking the reins as lead by Cross. But what of Eric Young, their mysterious leader, where was he? It was all part of a master plan he was concocting. This master plan it turns out was to turn up out of nowhere and attack them from behind utilising the three lads are better than two rule. Genius. How long did it take you to come up with that one, Eric? Logic would dictate that SaNItY might be in line to take the belts as frankly, what else do you do with the Authors at this point? But then again, SaNItY have been suffering from that Wyatt family booking wherein they struggle to look that effective as they win matches but not feuds. If you are the kind of person who likes watching four big lads do big lad things and also love heel shenanigans, look forward to this one as that's going to be both teams! Who do you root for? I don't know, who cares? Probably not me, moving on.

NXT Championship Match 

Bobby Roode (C) Vs. Drew McIntyre

It's finally happening, the King of the Mountain title match that never was. All we need is a run-in by Mr. Anderson (Editor's Note: KEEEEENNNNNNEEEEDDYYYYY) and the scene would be complete. It's been a quick rise back to the top of the card for Drew McIntyre, having been in the crowd at TakeOver: Dallas in April, now just two big shows later, he's here at the top, farting bagpipes theme and all. It's an interesting method they've taken with pushing McIntyre as it seems the further up he gets, the more humble he is about not wanting to take it for granted like he maybe did last time, about wanting to fight for his place and to keep fighting. Then we have Bobby Roode who keeps telling everyone that it is his NXT, who only competes in big matches now, who is finally starting to get the crowd off his side, even if they join in with his chants and theme music. Bobby doesn't seem ready to give up the title and I don't know if it's time for him to let go of it. As much as Drew is fully prepared to be a top guy, even if I wish he still had the Futureshock DDT at his disposal, I feel like the build suggests that this is just act one of the story. Also, let's not forget the potential involvement of one Mr. Roderick Strong, whose issues with Bobby Roode are far from resolved. Equally as they are clearly priming Ember Moon for a Women's title win and even SaNItY could potentially walk away with golden waists, I can't see all the titles changing hands in the same night. That said, the old school heel style of Roode contrasting with the modern Scottish Strong Style of McIntyre could make for a fascinating collision and whatever happens, a worthy addition to the Brooklyn NXT Championship canon. Even though we all know there's only one match that deserves to be at the top of the card and it involves a certain 505 day champion...

NXT Women's Championship

Asuka (C) Vs. Ember Moon

505 days. 505 days Asuka has been the NXT Womens Champion. Her streak has outshone Goldberg's, with Nikki Cross she's put on the best WWE Womens match this year, what else is there left to do? At this point, the 'how do you beat Asuka?' question is far too big, if she has to be beaten, it has to be by someone worthy of destroying the streak, if she simply absconds to main roster, it essentially devalues the efforts of everyone who tried to take it but if she keeps holding it, well, she's been ready for Main Roster for a while now and the longer she holds it, the fewer trainees can get a chance to test themselves as an NXT champion before they have to jump in the weekly live TV deep end. Yet here we are, watching the NXT TakeOver: Dallas rematch of Ember Moon and Asuka. Certainly the booking has suggested that Asuka could be beaten by Ember: she's had to throw referees to win, at the No.1 Contenders Battle Royal, she had to injure her to stop her getting a shot, I'm not saying they're trying to say Asuka's scared of Ember, but is she? Certainly it seems that the match once again comes down to one factor; Can Ember hit her Eclipse Top Rope Corkscrew Stunner? If she can, we could be seeing a new champion, if that happens, we could be seeing a new addition to the RAW or Smackdown Live Women's division. If not, I guess we wait and see who wins the Mae Young Classic...*

Further Predictions

First off, don't be surprised if we're shown three time ROH Champion Adam Cole (baybay) sitting in the front row somewhere before the main event as that seems to be the new favoured way of announcing big acquisitions. Secondly, it's a big show, who knows Triple H might turn up for the first time on WWE TV since WrestleMania, he was on Jimmy Fallon the other night slamming Jim through a table so he might do his standard 'This. Is. N.X.T' speech before to get everyone excited. Also, who knows? Maybe there'll be a big debut or re-appearance on the show, TM61's Shane Thorne must be close to being on the mend by now? The big question is could there be another match added to the card? Ignoring the standard filming of matches for next week's NXT, every Brooklyn special so far has been six matches and currently, there are only five announced for this one, all of them straightforward one-on-one (or one team-on-one team) encounters, it's also become clear that Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, Tyler Bate and Mark Andrews are in the Americas at the moment. Could we be seeing a UK Title Fatal Four Way added to the card as a surprise? If that happens, will I be able to contain myself? Will I be able to contain myself anyway? Check back soon to find out. 

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

* I mean, we all know it's going to be Kairi Sane right?

WWE NXT #250 Review (31st May 2017)

On 31st May, WWE aired the 250th episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL on 25th May. The show's main event saw Roderick Strong and Kassius Ohno take on the team of Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe, representing SaNItY. In-ring action also came courtesy of WWE UK Champ Pete Dunne, Andrade Almas, Danny Burch and Cezar Bononi aswell as a bit of explanation from Tommaso Ciampa. But first, another new theme tune...

Ciampa explains DIWhy he did it.

We open on a becrutched Ciampa coming to the ring to the complete hatred of the Full Sail crowd, what would follow would be possibly the most satisfying promo in terms of content and delivery in NXT since the days of Kevin Owens. Ciampa covered a lot of ground from calling out Gargano knowing he was still away 'injured' to explaining that he did what he had to in order to remain in our collective memories, blaming Reddit (he didn't say Reddit but I'm saying Reddit) for fan-booking their own new partner for Gargano in the event of Ciampa having injury leave. If anyone's wondering, my choice would of course be The Gronk. He wanted to make sure that people remember him and that if he was going away for a long time, Gargano would be going away for a long, long time. The terrifying thing about this promo is how well justified it was, Ciampa's repeating of the phrase 'best friend' may have leant it, sadly, comparisons to  Owens and Jericho but Ciampa is his own beast. Just as maybe the crowd might start to buy into his portrayal of things, he turns on them again stating that it was his moment, not Jonny's, not theirs, his. He would finish by nearly spitting at the audience that he is 'the most dangerous, sonuvabitch in NXT, I'm professional wrestling, whether you like it or not'. Shit, this was good. Neat, considered, never wasteful and impactful as fuck. It's a shame that actual injuries do mean it's going to be a while before we actually see Gargano v Ciampa but when we do, considering the belter that was their CWC match, I have no doubt it will be beautiful.

• We get a video package for Danny Burch. We don't learn much but it's nice to see him get something.

• We get a medical update, well we learn that Ciampa will be out for a bit with injuries and that Gargano has refused to speak to anyone since the injury.

• Bobby Roode is having a GLORIOUS celebration but we aren't invited. Rude.

Dunne Def. Burch

Percy Watson tries to provide some meaningful commentary on Dunne but sadly forgets that the entrance themes are more important than him in the sound mix. The two men lock up to begin with, Dunne transitions into a grounded armbar, wrenching the wrist, Burch escapes getting in a chinlock of his own, transitioning to a waistlock, Dunne escapes but it's clear Burch has done his research as he uses Dunne's own shtick against him catching him with a finger snap, test of strength, trading slaps and shoulder blocks, Burch nearly has Dunne in a crossface but Dunne wriggles to the ropes, Dunne changes the tides with something as simple as a forearm getting a neat two count, back from the ad break and Dunne is firmly in control with knuckles to the neck, throwing him to the corner, going for a splash, Burch takes him out with a boot and then hits a second rope missile dropkick, trading strikes, an enziguri, an exploder and a right hand earn Burch another two count, dueling two counts as Burch hits a headbutt and a knee strike for two, Dunne hits a snap suplex, running kick and an X-Plex for one of his own, goes for the Bitter End but Burch reverses into a crossface, escape and a big kick by Dunne, bigger clothesline by Burch, Dunne wriggles to the apron, goes for a Springboard but once again forgets his own shtick as Burch punches him out of the air into a draping DDT for another two count, goes for some form of punt but DUnne hits a lovely (and by lovely I mean 'ow, my head' says Burch) turnbuckle German suplex followed by the Bitter End, bang, and the Burch is Dunne. Having a lengthier encounter helped both men, packing their near 8 minutes with enough brutality to suggest a rematch (perhaps on a WWE UK show...?) could be lovely. Dunne looks so much better for having a decent length match instead of a two minute squash and Burch is made to look like a contender.

• After the match, Dunne talks about the title that belongs to him being held by 'some boy' and that it was his pleasure to take it. History will remember that the Bruiserweight started the WWE UK brand. Hard to argue with him.

• Velveteen Dream refuses to be interviewed because the ambience isn't right then he insults the interviewers hair. What a heel.

• Paul Ellering talks some stuff about the book of pain and prophecies and sagas and the coming of a Dovahkiin or something like that, I don't know, I got bored and stopped listening.

Bononi def. Almas

Almas attacked Cezar Bononi from the bell hitting a dropkick, stomping on the back of Bononi, double knees in the corner, more knees, a tasty slap to Bononi's chest, more kicks and a knee to the gut, Bononi fought back with some MMA knee strikes, attempted a suplex only to have it reversed into a backbreaker-elbow combo, back to kicks, strikes, clotheslines and Almas' beloved running shout at the opponent and then slap them with this one sounding like it smarted, Almas went for a suplex only for Bononi to reverse it into a small package for the pin. I get that it is to tell this 'I'm distracted by all the pretty ladies' storyline but if the company really sees potential in Bononi, this might be a win but it did nothing to show him as anything interesting.

• Almas gets into a huff about losing, throws some chairs around but shrugs it like a tranquilo motherfucker and goes off to party. Lad.

• The Iconic Duo are being filmed by a presumably much abused presumed intern, still trying to decide where to put their Iconic Wing in the PC till Ember Moon wanders through to sign the 'I can wrestle stuff again paperwork'. Delightful.

• In two weeks time, we get the rematch of the NXT Women's Title Triple Threat but this time under elimination rules. Also delightful.

• After Itami lost at Chicago, he had a little tizzy and started kicking chairs, throwing bins  and flipping tables! of water! How wasteful, it's almost like he doesn't know that summer's coming up, he's going to feel very silly if there's a hosepipe ban. This all happens much to the shock of Oney Lorcan, Funaki and Kassius Ohno. Ohno tries to calm down Itami who is appears to have all the fucks that Almas doesn't give as he has to be bleeped out for a minute.

• Luckily in the car park, just before filming they handshook it out. I'm glad they're still friends. Next Week: Itami vs Lorcan.

Strong & Ohno def. SaNItY (Young & Wolfe)

Young and Wolfe are accompanied to the ring by Dain, when the match begins, Dain is forced to leave the ring like a sad panda, Young and Strong start off trading shots, a Backbreaker by Strong (surprising) puts the faces in controls, Wolfe tags in, Dropkick by Strong, tag to Ohno, Wolfe and Young utlisie shenanigans to take control, I could tell you what happens next but really it can be summarised as Ohno plays the former WxW, PWG and CZW Champ-in-Peril, being traded between the two heels, hitting a few attempts at a comeback only to be derailed by interference from the big lad from Belfast Dain, When Ohno manages to hit the hot tag, though he does so by breaking convention and standing up to do a normal tag, Strong starts an invigorating comeback sequence including a high-angle Slam to Wolfe and an apron backbreaker to Young, Young get Wolfe in a pin but his foot is on the ropes, a surprise tag to Young leads to Strong falling right into the Wheelbarrow Neckbreaker but Ohno breaks the pin, Dain tries to get involved but No Way Jose comes back to take out Dain and the crowd don;t quite lose their shit but they're pretty excited to see him back, Ohno hits a Rolling Elbow on Wolfe, Strong hits the Backbreaker Lumbar Check on Young for the pin. The lads celebrate at the top of the ramp. It was fine, I guess. I think it felt weird seeing the man FKA Chris Hero playing the underdog role especially when he's capable of so much more. Equally, it now seems clear the SaNItY might be on root to actually be the new Wyatt family by which I mean never allowed to pick up enough wins in a row to become a credible threat. It seems that Killian Dain is being treated as the most important (male) element of the faction which is a shame as Young is a real class act and Wolfe has his moments too. It's hard to fault the actual in-ring action as it was pretty standard, structural fare but really, this group are capable of producing something far more interesting.

Finally...

A superb overall product with some well-considered angle with a big return from No Way Jose and a potentially star-making promo from Ciampa was let down by a disappointing, structurally sound but unexciting main event. I'm glad they're clearly making Strong look so Roderick in order to set him up to be Roode's next contender and despite the matches ranging from ok-to-great, I can't wait for the Tye and Friends vs SaNItY feud to pass. Still, worth giving at least the first half of the show a watch for Ciampa's promo and a continued effort by Pete Dunne to steal all shows he's on.

ATPW Scale Rating: 5/10