On 31st January 2018, NXT aired its 285th episode of NXT, taped at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, on 27th January before NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. Our main event saw former WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate compete with Roderick Strong for a future shot at the title that Tyler lost. We also had in-ring action from TM-61, the Ealy Twins, Nikki Cross & Lacey Evans as well as interviews and 'exclusive footage' from the aforementioned TakeOver event. But was it any good?
We open on a flashy video package recapping the entire TakeOver event, if you didn't see it, expect to see each match recapped over the course of the show anyway.
Nikki Cross def. Lacey Evans // Pinfall
Quick. Squash. M8. Nikki Cross rushed straight at her opponent hitting a crossbody and pummeling her with strikes. Evans would send Cross out of the ring but Cross pulls her out and just keeps on pummeling, eventually Evans would cut off Cross and work a brief heat section till she misses a second rope moonsault until Cross is back on top, laying into her and hitting the Swinging Fisherman's Neckbreaker for the pin. It could have been a lot better but for the time given, both women looked good. Cross has probably become the most over part of SaNitY and hopefully, it won't be long before she's holding gold of her own.
We get video recaps of the four matches that weren't the main event. We also hear from Baszler who claims that she may have not got the title but looking at Moon after the match, she feels more like a winner, and Velveteen Dream who's happy that he won, I think.
Nick Miller & Shane Thorne def. Gabriel Ealy & Uriel Ealy // Pinfall
On their entrance, Shane Thorne jumped into the ring and looked like he had a little stumble, I was worried that he might be about to re-injure himself. Luckily, such fears were unfounded as the former GHC Tag-Team Champions flew right back into competition and literally too as Thorne, seemingly wanting to show people how fully working his legs are hitting a tope con hilo here and a corner cannonball there, Miller also hit a pretty bloody near-perfect moonsault. The Ealy twins haven't been working long and they didn't do much here of anything but they didn't do anything wrong so there's that, plus points here to Mauro for establishing that Gabriel has the right arm tattoo and Uriel the left arm tattoo so now we know. The finish came as they hit Thunder Valley double gorilla press slam for the pin. Not an amazing showing but in terms of reminding us what TM-61 can do, it went a long way.
Post-match: TM-61 are on the mic. They say that he documentary they showed the past two weeks told us who TM61 but they are now so much more, they are the mighty and The Tighty, Sixty-One. Also they don't kneel. Video recap of Gargano vs Almas with the standard 'exclusive footage' which as always, is slow-mo and videos they'd put on their YouTube after, worth a watch anyway because this match is that good. So EC3 was in the front row at TakeOver, so was Trevor 'Ricochet' Mann and War Machine. They'll all be on TV soon enough probably, especially as they were discussed here. Next Week: Adam Cole vs Killian Dain & SAnitY vs Undisputed Era for the Tag Titles.
WWE United Kingdom Championship Number One Contendership // Roderick Strong def. Tyler Bate // Submission
There's not much to say here, it's not that this match wasn't good because it was, but there isn't really a story to discuss here. Both Bate and Strong are very capable of delivering astonishing matches and telling truly astonishing stories in the ring but this was quite simply two men who both wanted the same thing, roughly the same amount but quite simply in this instance, Strong came out on top. As a first-time singles encounter, this showed a lot of promise and some very good chemistry as both Bate and Strong have a similar combination of all-around athleticism and some of the sequences in this match were so well executed, it's hard to quibble yet at the same time, I couldn't help but feel that this was only as good as it needed to be, possibly hampered by being kept short with a TakeOver to film afterwards but certainly lacking a really hot stretch to push it into the upper echelons. The result was the right one, with Strong having worn down Bate's back enough that he couldn't hit the Tyler Driver '97 allowing Strong to hit the End of Heartache backbreak/stabber combination for the pin. The right person won as even though Bate and Dunne put on three classics, it's time to try some new combinations. Could we be about to see the first American UK champion? Let's see...
On The YouTubes
Pete Dunne shrugs off new UK Title Number One Contender, Roderick Strong. Typing or reading this lasts as long as the video.
Finally...
This didn't fully break the post-TakeOver curse, especially not in the same way as the superb Dunne v Gargano match from post-WarGames but it was still fun and it did just enough to suggest bright things are on the horizon in 2018.
On 18th January 2018, NXT aired its 283rd episode of NXT, taped at Center Stage, Atlanta, GA on 4th January. Our main event saw former NXT Tag-Team champions Authors of Pain take on rising stars, Street Profits for a title match at TakeOver Philidelphia. We also had in-ring action from Lacey Evans & Aliyah, Roderick Strong & Fabian Aichner and Heavy Machinery against Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss, but was it any good?
We get some recap footage that once again, this match has been booked because Heavy Machinery were messing with Sab and Moss' jointly owned car, Dosevic and Sab to start, lockup but Dosevic pushes Sab away like a child, dropick by Sab and he throws Otis to the corner but this annoys the thicc lad, Dosevic hits a shoulder barge, run the ropes, leapfrog by Sab is caught for a bodyslam, staggered to the corner and Dosevic hits a big splash and hits a tag to knight who hits a slingshot senton for a 2 before grabbing Sab into a headlock guillotine giant swing, he throws Sab to his corner allowing him to tag in Moss, Knight grabs Moss immediately into another guillotine, throws him to the ropes, Moss fights out with forearms but gets caught in another headlock giant swing, tag to Dosevic, they do a tribute to the Bushwhackers walk and hit a double splash before Dosevic does the worm elbow drop for a cover but Sab breaks the pin, Dosevic picks up Moss in an Argentine carry but Sab grabs his partner by the ankles, pulling him back and off, allowing Moss to hit a chop block and a tag to Sab who works some ground and pound before working some quick tags as they keep Dosevic grounded, Moss gets a rear chinlock on Dosevic, keeping it held for longer than most Lars Sullivan matches, DOsevic eventually powers out with a belly-to-back suplex and crawls back to Knight for a tag, he works a decent hot tag hitting shoulder tackles, hip tosses, corner splashes and a big dropkick sending Sabatelli to the apron, Knight clotheslines Sab off the ring but Moss uses the distraction to roll up Knight, putting his feet on the ropes for leverage he gets a surprise 3 count. So Dosevic hit the big lad worm which was, as always, delightful and if SabMoss are going to hang around, they needed at least one win. Just one. That's what they got here, beyond the aforementioned worm, the match wasn't much to shout home about with SabMoss' heat section lacking any particular response. I hear they've been doing fun work at house shows but without any evidence of that in their television encounters, I remain uninspired. Undisputed Era are hanging about backstage again, Cole says TakeOver is their event, it's been about them for a reason, at Philly he goes on-on-one with Black, there are a million ways he can defeat and mangle Black and he is going to break and embaress him, O'Reilly says it doesn't matter which team wins as everyone wants a shot at their titles as this is their era and we're all just invited, Fish says that all other teams are competing for the right to step up and get dropped by the undisputed tag champs. We get a video package of clips of Cole and Black combined with just straight up clips of insane shit from hardcore matches. No Zandig though.
Roderick Strong def. Fabian Aichner // Submission
Strong is straight in with a headlock but Aichner reverse to a hammerlock with Strong going to a hammerlock of his own, Aichner tries to punch his way out but can't escape, a whip to ropes and Aichner shoulders his way out instead but runs into a leg lariat from Strong for a 2, a knee by Aichner as he takes control and whips Strong to the corner but Strong hits a back elbow by Strong, he takes the moment to jump off the second rope straight into Aichner's arms who slams him straight into the ad-break, back from the break and Strong escapes an abdominal stretch but is right into a back-press slam for a 2, Aichner works corner chops and stomps, dragging him to the centre of the ring, Aichner goes for a bomb but Roddy escapes, lighting up the Italian with chops, a leaping lariat, more chops, a running forearm and goes for an olympic slam but Aichner turns it into an armdrag but Roddy doesn't give him an inch and hits a backbreaker for a 2, he tries to slam Aichner off the ropes but Aichner holds onto the ropes, sliding out of hold hitting a forearm and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a 2, he goes for a springboard but pauses, giving Roddy the time to regain composure hitting a backbreaker and transitioning to a Liontamer hold forcing Aichner to tap.
Let's put things simply, Aichner is too good to be stuck in just 5 minute matches, taking losses on TV, I'm not saying he's ready for a championship but certainly with a good dose of character work, he's going to be someone we'll all be talking about by the time the year's out. We all obviously know Roddy's great and even in short matches like these, knows how to showcase his opponent as well as if not more than himself. This wasn't the best work of either man but for what it was, it was fun. After the match, Strong gets a mic. He says that last week someone came out looking for a fight, and his words have been echoing his head as he feels the same, since joining NXT he's run through the competition like this man, when he stepped in the ring with this force it was like nothing else which makes him happy as he wants to destroy it, he's talking about Lars Sullivan. K.
WHO ARE TM61
TM61 are coming back and their bringing with them the closest thing we're going to get to a Best Friends promo in NXT. This turns out to actually be a really lovely segment, covering their meeting in Explosive Pro Wrestling back in their native Australia through to winning the GHC Tag Team Titles over in Pro Wrestling Noah. While the interplay between Shane and Nick is a lot of fun, this lacks so far the same emotional interplay as previous 'Who Is/Are' segments like the Roderick Strong edition but it's still a very fun way of reintroducing the Aussie lads back. Hopefully, they'll get some good stuff to sink their teeth into when they're back properly.
Lacey Evans def. Aliyah // Pinfall
Aliyah is a heel again, I think, but then Evans also seems to be a heel now, I don't know, lockup to begin as Evans gets a wristlock, Alliyah cartwheels into a wristlock of her own but Evans is back on top throwing down her opponent, Aliyah gets back up but Evans grabs her by the ear and forces her down but Aaliyah turns it to a pin for a 2, Evans picks up Aliyah who escapes with a clumsy backslide a bit of a clothesline and something definable as a roll-up for a 2, Evans jumps the ropes and pulls Aliyah along them before hitting a slingshot elbow for a 2, she slams Aliyah to the corner and works over with forearms and kicks before hitting a handstand bronco buster for a 2, Aliyah tries to fire back with forearms and an uppercut, he hits a second rope diving clothesline and a northern lights suplex for a 2 but Evans is back in with a jawbreaker, Aliyah runs into a forearm and is down, Evans takes advantage, covering for the pin.
I don't know what to think, if this was their way of trying to introduce Evans as a threat, well, she did work on top so there's that but Aliyah seems to be constantly one step behind performers of a similar age and level of experience. There's still time and she seems to genuinely want to get better but there comes a point where you wonder, will it ever happen? Then again I said the same thing about Angelo Dawkins and look at him now... Evans asks how Regal can let low-class trash walk around the locker rooms, it's time a proper sophisticated, powerful women ran the division and she might start by taking out Nikki Cross or Ember Moon or, then Shayna Bazsler turns up and Evans fucks off because she can't be dealing with that, Shayna walks to the ring and locks in the Kirufuna Clutch on Aliyah, refusing to break despite a ref pulling on her, Moon in he ring gear, hits the ring and Bazsler slides out cocky as anything, in a week she's gone from Dunne to Suzuki levels of dickhead, Moon dares Baszler to try bullying her, Moon tells her to get in the ring and they can fight now Baszler tells her she's not got her gear, she'll see her for her title, Moon tells her name her time and place and to bring her gear and she'll kick her ass, Baszler suggests Philidelphia, funnily there's a TakeOver there. Christy St. Cloud is asking William Regal about what just happened, Regal says it's against his better judgement but if it's what Moon wants, she gets a match with Baszler at Philly, up turns Vega, she tells Christy to stay aswell, everybody knows Gargs has 0 chance of winning, the facts are he was carried by Ciamps and Almas has already beat with twice, he has no chance, Dream had a point, he deserves this shot more than Johnny and if Johnny is confident he should put the title opportunity on the line against him, Regal says he wouldn't advise him to do this, Vega calls him a loser, Vega says before leaving that she and Almas are happy to oblige if Regal wants to watch the most embarrassing NXT title match in history. Clearly she hasn't watched Bo Dallas vs Leo Kruger. No Way Jose says 2017 had ups and downs like a rollercoaster but it's just good fun and 2018 is going to be the year of NWJ so get on board, the party guy is back soon.
The commentary lads are chatting when Johnny hits the ring and gets a mic. He says that he just watched the conversation backstage, he hears the buzz, he knows what everyone's saying behind his back, Vega and Dream, maybe even Regal, they doubt he can beat Almas, he is done being doubted, he is not broken, he is not a loser, this is not a fluke, this is his time, his opportunity and no one will stop him, the crowd love him, he asks if they can hear the chants, Dream if he wants the opportunity, Gargano puts it on the line next week, he gets his shot because for the first time in forever he knows who he is, Johnny Gargano, Johnny FREAKING WRESTLING, the next NXT champion. This was impassioned, motivated, focussed and showed a lot of character development. Babyfaces everywhere, take note, this is how it's done. Almas might need the title more than Gargano but I can't see anyone not wanting Johnny to win it after this.
NXT Tag Team Title Number One Contender's // Akam & Rezar def. Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford // Pinfall
AOP ARE IN THEIR TURTLES GEAR, YAY, Ford and Akam start, they lockup as Ford tries to get a headlock but Akam quickly overpowers with a shoulder, a kip-up by Ford but he's hit with another shoulder, thrown to the ropes, Ford runs under a clothesline, jumps but is caught and dropped in the corner, a tag to Akam and they wear down their opponent with strikes for a 2, more strikes and a tag to Rezar who hits yet more strikes and another tag to Akam who applies a full nelson, Ford fades and Akam hits a uranage-esque slam for a 2.5, tag to Rezar and even yet more strikes lead to a grounded full nelson that sends us into the break, back from the break and a cover for a 2, tag to Rezar and a guillotine facelock, this keeps him grounded for quite a while, Ford works back to his feet but Rezar does't break, Ford, unable to break the hold, forces Rezar backwards towards his corner, Rezar releases to knock off Dawkins but Dawkins dodges, Ford rolls under and tags, Dawkins hits both authors getting a dropkick on Akam and double arm strikes on Rezar and a 360 stinger splash, he picks up Rezar and tags Ford hitting a dropkick-spinebuster combo for a pin but Akam breaks it up and levels Dawkins with a clotheslines, he picks up his tag partner and they hit the Supercollider double powerbomb on both and the Last Chapter legsweep-clothesline combo for the pin.
Yeah, this was, it was good enough. It was interesting seeing Street Profits built up so much only to have them work almost completely from below. Authors of Pain are an entertaining act but this lacked a certain amount of excitement. I don't think this is going to hurt Street Profits too badly as basically everyone loses to Authors of Pain but I can't really get too excited about what merely good. Ford continues to be better than what he's given.
On The YouTubes
For reference, here is the Best Friends promo that TM61 may have lovingly 'been inspired' by.
Finally...
If you ever looked up 5/10 in the dictionary...well it wouldn't list this episode because that's normally how dictionaries work but hey, it's an accurate way of describing the episode. Johnny's promo work, the Baszler-Moon encounter and the first part of 'Who are TM61?' were all very well put together, it's just a shame the in-ring action was nothing to shout home about.
On 17th April, WWE aired the 248th episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 19th April. The show's main segment saw Bobby Rode and Hideo Itami meet face-to-face ahead of their NXT Title match on Saturday at Takeover: Chicago. With in-ring action featuring Kassius Ohno, Andrade 'Cien' Almas, Sonya Deville, Lacey Evans, Sean Maluta & Drew McIntyre, could NXT deliver the requisite amount of hype ahead of another big Takeover show?
Before the credits rolls, exclusive footage of Bobby Roode being a dick in the car park. Riveting.
McIntyre def. Maluta
An important streak continues as Sean Maluta is still yet to win a televised match on WWE television. The crowd that are responding are behind Drew. The structure of this match was quite fascinating as Drew would dominate but leave opportunities for Maluta to fight back, only to no-sell or just slightly sell his offence with the former TNA & EVOLVE Champion eventually having bullied Maluta enough that he hit a slightly modified finisher as he did his corner stomps only to hit a Yakuza Kick in place of his previous Big Boot. It did the job of continuing to remind us McIntyre is a big lad but its unclear at this point if the faint apathy to McIntyre's performances is a character trait or just the man feeling bored that they aren't giving him any challenges.
After the match, Kayla interviewed McIntyre on the ramp about Wesley Blake. Apparently, they're going to have a match next week. Hooray.
There's a re-cap of the post-show events of last week with SaNItY attacking Roddy. From there, we go to a promo from Eric Young. It's brief but it establishes its purpose and continues to sell their crust-punk wasteland scavenger vibe well while avoiding the spooky absurdism of the Wyatt Family's laziest promos.
There's a nice Hideo Itami video package to build to his match on Saturday, focusing on his big debut, beating up both of The Ascension.
Following that, a re-cap video of Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne in the UKCT with some new interview footage. Finally, NXT acknowledge that Bate has had his birthday.
The Velveteen Dream.
And another Itami package. This time looking at his first GTS in NXT.
Asuka's interviewed in a taxi. She is cocky about everything and refuses to answer questions. Asuka takes as many pins as shits she gives.
Deville def. Evans
This was set-up as an interesting clash of personae as in one corner is the showboating pin-up Lacey Evans against the no frills MMA fighter, Sonya Deville. Similar to the first match, Deville controlled proceedings from the off, showcasing her shootfighter style with strikes and bodyscissors. Eventually Evans would get a brief comeback only for Deville to cut her off and hit a standing Shining Wizard for the win. With the WWE Women's Classic coming up soon, it's worth noting that it was shiny but not the shiniest. Not a bad match but a very quick one which didn't do much for either women really.
Now That's What I Call Hideo Itami 3: Itami interrupts Roode and hits him with a GTS
Ohno def. Almas
The former Chris Hero took on the former La Sombra in what as far as my research shows, is a first time televised encounter. Ohno modelled a delightful pinstripe Orlando Magic-esque number, Almas was in a white waistcoat with another white waistcoat over it. Lad. Ohno tried to actually wrestle Almas but he's too Tranquilo. The two men ran the ropes, flipping over each other, ...dive out of the ring by Almas, Ohno was about to follow him out with big lad Tope but Almas dodged so instead we got a pretty somersault onto the apron and a big boot to Almas. Cien would take control of the action to send us into the ad-break and when he come back, he's still in control. Nigel McGuinness awkwardly mentions that Cien is Ingobernable, well done Nige. A fine section of Heel control saw Almas hit a slightly sloppy rope-hung armbar, a top rope dropkick into a fujiwara armbar, you see Ohno can't elbow him if his elbow doesn't work. Smart. Corner strikes by Ohno, he would go for the running corner stop and slap but Ohno has watched an Almas match and knew that would happen so kicks him in the chest because he ain't nothing to mess with. A spinning neckbreaker, kip-up, elbow, a rather larger than normal boot & a moonsault attempt by Ohno but Almas got out of the way and hit a elbow drop/backbreaker combo for a two count. The final stretch of the match had a nice, frantic quality as Almas tried to hit a big move to put away Hero, only for him to continually reverse including managing to prevent an attempt at Almas' Hammerlock DDT. Some painful looking strikes from both on the top rope lead to Almas hitting a Tornado Inverted DDT for a one count! Almas is surprised that didn't get him the win pumping kick & two Death by Elbows and it's goodnight Almas. This was Ohno's best NXT match and Almas' best since he faced Cedric Alexander. A nice, crisp strong-style encounter showing the 'new style' of NXT as lead by Nakamura and now shown by others by Black, Lorcan, Itami & McIntyre but with just enough flips to pop Full Sail & piss off Rip Rogers.
On the post-Takeover NXT, Aleister Black will kick someone in the head and Drew McIntyre will kick a specific head in the form of Wesley Blake. If you feel like you've read this before, this is basically the same thing that happened a few weeks ago on NXT but with Almas in place of Blake.
In case you'd forgotten, here's a re-cap package for last week's main event. They're all in on the Itami hype train.
Roode addresses the NXT Universe
Roode came out and did his best Gob Bluth impression as he questions if anyone believes that Itami is going to beat him? The man in the $5000 dollar suit? Come on! Roode does a solid job using old-school heel promo tactics to try and get the crowd against him while also bigging himself up, which is important as it's still quite hard to boo a man with a theme as 'Glorious' as his. Eventually Itami would come out in his fighting pyjamas, perhaps he's planning to Go To Sleep after the show (HAHAHAHA!). Regal would try to hold him back and prevent this from turning into a fight and any injury happening to his security who are just trying to earn a living. Itami escaped from their control, spearing Roode and wailing upon him, the security would restrain him giving Roode time to get away but sadly for the security, Itami had a message to send and beat up the three of them, hitting GTS' on two. Roode came back into the ring for a sneak attack but Itami managed to pick him up for the GTS. A neat segment that achieved its aim of setting up Itami as a worthy challenger to Roode. Of course, we all knew that and it had already been achieved by the No.1 Contender's Match last week but still, it managed to get some heat back on Roode which is definitely necessary.
Finally...
The fact that NXT is able to do as much as it does with only 1/3 of the time of Monday Night RAW or 1/2 of SmackDown: Live is astounding. Not only did this week manage to build up the stakes of its Women's and UK title matches but it legitimised its Main Event further, built to what could be a superb singles encounter between Eric Young & Roderick Strong and even set up matches for the post-Takeover NXT which as you all may know, is normally the holding pattern within which complacency and tedium sits. I did have to mark it down because, beyond Almas v Ohno, the actual in-ring action was relatively uninspiring though it did present enough promise in Evans &Deville to suggest a future rematch with some form of story or stakes behind it could be impressive. Now if only NXT could do something with its Tag division...
