NXT 277 Review // Johnny Gargano vs. Kassius Ohno

On 7th December, WWE aired its 277th Episode of NXT, filmed at Full Sail University in Winter Gardens, FL on 29th November. The main event of the show saw Kassius Ohno taking on Johnny Gargano for a spot in the NXT Championship Number One Contender's Fatal Four-Way. The show also featured another qualifier for the aforementioned match in the form of Trent Seven taking on SaNItY's Killian Dain & Ruby Riott taking on Sonia Deville in a No Holds Barred match. But was it any good?

We Open on an announcement from William Regal. Regal says that in light of Drew McIntyre's injuries at TakeOver: WarGames, there will be four singles matches, the winners of those will go on to compete in a Fatal Four-Way for the Number One Contendership to Andrade Almas' NXT Championship. Tonight there'll be Trent Seven vs. Killian Dain & Kassius Ohno vs. a mystery opponent after Velveteen Dream also sustained injuries at WarGames.

Andrade Almas [La Sombra]: A Championship Celebration

Almas and Zelina Vega come to the ring looking like the title has been there's this entire time, Vega says that the audience are all witnesses to the beginning of a historic reign, that we should respect the man, embrace the legend and rise for the for the NXT Champion, this provokes mostly boos but some people rising and chanting 'si' for the champ, Full Sail boos the heels, Almas takes the mic and tells us that he told us he would be champion and now he is, he then says I am the champion half a dozen times, he beat Drew and he hurt Drew, he's sorry for that, he then says a bit in Spanish before reminding that this is NXT that he and Vega are NXT and he is the champion, El Idolo.

While the belt couldn't look more right on Almas' shoulders (except perhaps around his waist, when did that go out of fashion?), it seems a mistake to let Almas take the lead on this promo. He's not the worst, even considering it's his second-language but you have Vega there to act as his manager, let her manage. Still, some solid stuff here and Almas has been so good this year that even if he's a heel, he does deserve it.

Lars Sullivan is interviewed backstage by the litany of floating hands, he's asked about his qualifying match against Roderick Strong, he puts over Strong as a competitor and says that Roddy is really handsome, Lars isn't, Roddy fights for his family, Lars doesn't have a family, he only cares about winning that match and then winning the fatal four-way and winning the NXT title, when asked what winning the title would mean to him, it would prove no one can stop him and when he wins the title, everyone will see that. 

NXT Championship Number One Contender's Tournament Semi-Final // Killian Dain [Damian O'Connor] def. Trent Seven // Pinfall

Trent Seven had a pre-match promo on the YouTubes where he talked about how he won a Battle Royal in order to earn his shot in this match. Killian Dain on the other hand, appears to have earned this match purely by virtue of being a big lad.

This is only the second ever match between the two former ICW Heavyweight Champions with the first, back in April 2016 at ICW Fight Club, ending in a victory for Dain. Trent runs straight in, lighting up Dain with slaps, Dain hits Seven with a forearm and a John Woo dropkick, he keeps Trent grounded with corner stomps before hitting a forearm and a body slam for a 1, locking in a grounded cravat, he keeps down Trent till he can fire back with further slaps, he goes for the Seven Stars Lariat but Dain kicks it away, Trent runs straight into a running crossbody for a 2, back on his feet and Trent gets straight in with a Seven Stars Lariat for a 2, Trent tries to pick up Dain but Dain is too damn big and gets Trent in a fireman's carry of his own, hitting a wasteland, a senton and a Vader bomb for the pin.

This was a fun, little encounter with both men bringing an intensity that you don't often get in these shorter matches. While it was obvious that Dain was going to win as the full-time talent, I don't know whether it was necessary to have Dain kick out of the Seven Stars as it didn't make Dain look significantly better but it may have devalued Seven a little. I am definitely biased as I've made it clear, I don't think you can ever have enough Trent Seven but I'll be interested to see if Dain can step up to the opportunity he's given

The Undisputed Era are backstage, Cole is talking about how he told us that he'd win, this is the episode where everyone loves to say told you so, anyway next week he has a qualifier for the NXT title against Aleister Black and he's noticed Black has been on a tear and the only reason he hasn't lost yet is because he's never faced Cole. Fish and O'Reilly also talk about how next week they want to take a shot at the NXT Tag Team Belts.

No Holds Barred: Sonya Deville [Daria Berenato] def. Ruby Riott [Heidi Lovelace] // Referee Stoppage

So they're really going all-in on this second 'T' in Riot huh? The two women sell the blood feud between them as they run straight for each other with Deville grabbing Riott into a waistlock takedown, she picks her up for a second and hits a gut wrench suplex, Riott gets a quick roll-up but Deville kicks out at 1, Riot hits a big combo throwing a roundhouse and a back kick, a back elbow and a suplex but Deville is straight back up and trapping Riott in the ankle lock, Deville takes advantage of the No Holds Barred rule as Riott crawls to the ropes but there aren't rope breaks, Riott crawls to the top rope and pulls Deville into deadly nightshade sending us to the ad-break, back from the break and Riott has Deville in a seated submission but Deville uses her free arm to gouge Riott's eyes for an escape, Deville hits grounded kicks to the ribs and forearms, Riott manages to knee her way out but from standing, Deville takes her back down with a leaping lariat for a 2, Deville locks Riott in a side triangle, twisting round her arms to keep her from escaping, eventually Riott elbows her way out again and Deville tries for another leaping lariat but Riot catches her with an STO, Riott hits strikes, a forearm, a back elbow and a knee strike, she slides over the ropes, hitting a middle shoulder barge and a slingshot side facebuster for a 2, Deville rolls out of the ring and Riott follows with a crunchy tope suicido onto the ramp, rolling Deville back in, Riott climbs in gingerly and gets caught with a vicious roundhouse and is trapped in a rope-hung triangle choke, passing out to give Deville the win.

This was another excellent match from the two of them and seemingly, their actual farewell match. While it was well-laid out with Deville once again taking advantage of Riott's injured ankle as well as the less restrictive rules of the match stipulation and Riott once again playing the superb fighting-from-underneath babyface, it would be a satisfying next chapter in these two's feud if they were just in NXT but with Deville positioned as one-third of the heel trio up on RAW and Riott as the leader of Smackdown's trio, it seems an odd choice in terms of continuity to have the leader of one beaten by another's underling. It's not even like they have the excuse of having filmed this match before both women were called up as this takes place after. If this is the last we see of these two between the yellow ropes, I wish them both luck up in the big rooms and if they continue to perform like this, I'm sure they'll be great.

Ember Moon is backstage being interviewed about her title win, she says that it is a dream come true and that she wants to take this momentum and be the greatest NXT Women's Champion of all time, up come Peyton Royce and Billie Kay of The Iconic Times to ask her who she actually pinned to win her title, reminding her it was in fact Nikki Cross, Ember can't be bothered to deal with their shit so she asks them which one of them wants a match next week, ignoring the fact that in NXT continuity, Moon pinned Cross but Sane pinned Royce so Sane should have a match first. Anyway, they eventually agree Royce can have a go first.

In two weeks: Tyler Bate gets his WWE UK Championship rematch, just a mere seven months after he lost his title. We see a recap of the WWE UK Championship Tournament Final because even a good episode of NXT needs some padding.

We get a mysterious promo for someone coming 'SOON'. The O's in 'SOON' were stylised like spades so I'm assuming it's Queen of Spades and Mae Young Classic Finalist, Shayna Bazsler.

William Regal meets with Kassius Ohno, presumably to explain to him the updated rules for the War Games match. Everyone must know!

Next Week: Adam Cole v Aleister Black & Ember Moon v Peyton Royce.

NXT Championship Number Contender's Tournament Semi-Final // Johnny Gargano def. Kassius Ohno [Chris Hero] // Submission

Surprisingly, considering how much both men have worked for the same companies, this is only a third-ever time match, having had contests in AAW and Dragon Gate USA with Gargano coming out on top in both prior match-ups. This is one of those matches where the atmosphere is already there before both men have even shook hands, which they do to start us off, they go in for a lock-up but Ohno just throws aside Gargano, they lock-up again and Gargano reminds us once again why he earnt the last name 'wrestling' by transitioning to a hammerlock with Ohno trying to power into a rear headlock but as soon as he can, Gargano is back on the hammerlock, Ohno breaks and the two men run the ropes, flipping over each other and generally being a good pair of wrestle boys, Gargano goes to the ropes and tries to hit an early slingshot spear but Ohno catches him, ties him up in the ropes and slaps his chest tae fuck sending us to the ad-break, back from the break and Ohno is kicking Gargano in the corner, he picks up the former NXT Tag Team Champion into a thunder slap before cravat rolling him into a pair of knee drops, Gargano tries to elbow his way into control but this only serves to make Ohno angrier who nearly kicks his head off for a 2, Ohno goes for a senton but Gargano gets his knees up, the two trade strikes, Ohno goes for a suplex but Gargano escapes, further strikes, Ohno goes for a running boot but can Gargano rana? Yes, Garganocanrana sending ohno out of the ring, Gargano goes to follow but Ohno rolls back in and runs at the ropes straight into a slingshot spear for a 2.9, Gargano tries to keep down the larger Ohno with kicks but Ohno just laughs them off, going for the rolling kick, Ohno ducks the leg, stands up and gets the senton for a 2, giving time for Gargano to get to his feet, Ohno considers showing mercy before hitting a big fucking boot to Gargano's jaw sending him out, Ohno goes to follow, flipping over the ropes, but Gargano slides back in and hits a tope con DDT on the ramp, back in the ring and Gargano hits a step-up enziguri but Ohno immediately responds with a cyclone kick for another 2.9, in the corner, Ohno hits yet more elbows before picking up Gargano into the electric chair, Gargano lays into Ohno's head before victory rolling for a 2.5, to his feet and Gargano rests on the ropes, big mistake as he takes a bicycle kick and a northern lariat for a 2.99, my fucking god, Ohno means business as shown by pulling down his sleeves, Ohno goes for Death By Elbow but Gargano hits him with a SUPERKICK, and another, and a third SUPERKICK PARTY, he runs at Ohno getting a headscissor takedown into the GargaNo Escape and there is indeed no escape for Ohno who taps out, giving Gargano his first televised victory since August.

This was bloody marvellous, when I say this is the best non-TakeOver NXT match of the year, I say so without even a hint of hyperbole. This wasn't a Kassius Ohno match, this was a true Chris Hero match with the big man using his power and striking acumen to bully the smaller man, playing something of a subtle heel in this David vs. Goliath encounter. The layout of the match was simple but like a lot of the best matches this year, it has shown that the simplest and often most effective storytelling that wrestling can employ is that these two men both have the same goal and will come as close to killing each other as needs must in order to get it. While this was a great performance from both men, I do wonder where does this leave Ohno now with two consecutive big losses. Hopefully, the knockout artist's time will come. For now, let's just enjoy this match for what it is, true violent art.

On The YouTubes

The Street Profits have a talk show now. Yup. It is what it is.

Sonia Deville tells Christy St. Cloud that the best part of being on RAW is not having to deal with her. Bit harsh.

Finally...

NXT has been on a hot streak for a while with a must-see main event match seemingly every week and this edition was no different with all involved delivering, even Killian Dain, a performer I have been traditionally underwhelmed by. While there was some questionable booking to the ending stretches of the first two matches, there's nothing less than enjoyable here and that final match, that fucking final match. Just, if you are reading this and haven't seen it, go watch it, now. What are you waiting for?

Article By Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

NXT 275 Review // Pete Dunne vs Johnny Gargano // United Kingdom Championship

272 Review // saNItY vs. The Authors of Pain 

273 Review // Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole

274 Review // Andrade Almas lays out Drew McIntyre in the middle of the ring

Takeover: WarGames Review // The Undisputed Era vs. saNIty vs. Roderick Strong & The Authors of Pain 

On 23rd November 2017, WWE aired its 275th episode of NXT, taped at the Toyota Centre in Houston, TX before NXT TakeOver: WarGames on 18th November. Our main event saw the United Kingdom Championship on the line as the 'Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne defended his title against the man we know as 'Johnny Wrestling', Johnny Gargano. The show also featured recent main roster call-ups Ruby Riot (Heidi Lovelace) & Sonia Deville doing battle and lots of footage from the TakeOver event. These post-shows tend to normally be very much padding and bullsh*t, but could this break the curse?

Ruby Riot [Heidi Lovelace] def. Sonya Deville [Daria Berenato] // Pinfall

This has retroactively become a double farewell match it seems as both women are now on the main roster. Lock-up to begin as Deville powers to the corner, Riot pushes Deville away and they go back into lockup with the two jostling for control till Riot hits a double arm drag to separate, going in for a third lock-up, Deville rushes into a waistlock takedown, powering into an O'Connor roll for a 1, leg sweep by Riot and a cover gets her a 1, back up and Riot powers up with arm drags and kicks, Deville whips out and hits a front chop block to take down Riot for an almost 2 count to send us to the ad-break, back from the break and Deville is exercising control with corner shoulder tackle and big overarm strikes, Riot rolls out with Deville following, Riot gets a small package for a 2 but is back up into a spinebuster for a 2 for Deville, Deville pushes Riot back down for another pin but only a 1 this time, Riot gets back up but is immediately hit with a roundhouse, grounded, Deville begins working over the previously injured ankle, nearly bending it round her entire body, Riot escapes, in the corner, goes for deadly nightshade but Deville throws her over the ropes, Riot catches her with a forearm on the apron and a slingshot flatliner, both take their time to get back up as they trade chops, Riot hits a series of lariats but Deville forces her to the ropes, going for a running strike, Riot catches her with an STO and a single-leg springboard senton for a 2, picking up Deville, she leverages her weight to send her knee into Riot before locking in a triangle armbar, as Riot's about to escape, Deville transitions to a drop toe hold, Riot is fading but crawls to the ropes, the ref forces Deville to break, she argues with the ref, as she's distracted, Riot hits a sudden Riot overhead wind-up Kick for the pin. This was superb work from both women with the previously injured ankle playing well into the storyline as Deville went for that most classic of heel tactics, isolating a weakness and exploiting it, it lacked a really good near-fall down the home stretch to sell the drama but it did have the extended crawl to the ropes which could function as such. The true shame of this match is how good Riot is as an empathetic babyface that they debuted her on main roster as a heel (especially when paired with Morgan and Logan, both faces as well). While I'm sure she'll be great in the role, it still seems like a shame in the main roster landscape which lacks unsullied faces that they would change one of the strongest they have. Still, good luck to both of them, even if just taken on the basis of this match, I expect very big things.

We get recaps of Aleister Black v Velveteen Dream & Lars Sullivan v Kassius Ohno. There's also an interview with Sullivan that, if you read my TakeOver review, you'll have already seen on the YouTubes. 

We get a recap of the Women's Title Fatal-Four Way. There's also an interview with Ember Moon that, if you read my TakeOver review, you'll have already seen on the YouTubes. 

We get a recap of the NXT Title Match. There's also interviews with Almas, Vega & McIntyre that, if you read my TakeOver review, you'll have already seen on the YouTubes. 

We get a recap of the WarGames match, complete with previously promised 'exclusive footage' that amounts to mostly a few clips of audience people freaking out and Dustin Rhodes & Arn Anderson being a pair of proud Dads. This wasn't on the YouTubes last week.

Last week, after they beat Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli, The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) celebrate on top of Moss & Sabbatelli's shared car. They tell them to get off the car, the crowd around the car boo them. As per normal, everyone talks over each other.

Next Week: Street Profits takes on Moss & Sabbatelli. Again. Also Kairi Sane takes on the half of the Iconic Duo she hasn't beaten yet, Peyton Royce. 

United Kingdom Championship // Pete Dunne def. Johnny Gargano // Pinfall

I still don't understand why they're trying to pretend this is happening the week after TakeOver, we can all see the second ring, still, let's not let that ruin what's another bloody corker of a match. We open on the two men testing each other's wrestling acumen as they switch through so many holds, I can't be bothered to write it out, needless to say, it was lovely stuff, Dunne ends the technical opening section with a whirlwind forearm, collapsing Dunne to the corner, Dunne keeps him down with kicks and strikes, Dunne goes for a running strike but Gargano dodges and hits a low running rana sending Dunne out of the ring, Gargano jumps the ropes and hits the apron back kick and a cannonball, Gargano goes to throw Dunne back in but instead decides to hit an outside tornado DDT but Dunne has other plans and turns it into an x-plex on the apron into the ad-break, back from the break and Dunne is keeping Gargano grounded and bending away at his fingers as the commentary team put over Dunne's attempt to neutralise the GargaNo Escape, can't lock a crossface with broken fingers, stomps to the shoulder as Dunne releases and pulls Gargano into a standing finger wrench, he twists the elbow round before applying bodyscissors, allowing Gargano to turn it into a buckle suplex, Dunne gets up and charges but Gargano, dodges, trips him and gambols through hitting a rolling kick, back up, Gargano goes to the ropes and hits a slingshot spear for a good 2, Dunne rolls out and Gargano follows with a tope con DDT, he rolls Dunne back in, he goes for a slingshot DDT but Dunne catches him into the x-plex for a 2, kicking Gargano directly in the head, he picks up Gargano for the Bitter End but is caught with a spiked DDT, Gargano rushes hitting a headscissor takedown into the GargaNo Escape, just as Dunne seems to be fading, out comes the mouth-guard and Dunne bites his way through the previously injured fingers to escape before picking up Gargano for a Bitter End but it gets turned into a roll-up for a 2, back to standing and Dunne hits a forearm and an enziguri which Gargano follows up with a discuss clothesline, he notices the mouthguard on the ground and throws it to the side hitting a SUPERKICK for a 2.99 count, they trade strikes with Gargano punching Dunne to the ropes, Dunne throws him over the ropes as Gargano goes for another slingshot spear, or shlingshlot spear as Mauro calls it, but Dunne knows what's coming, catches Gargano with a forearm, allowing him to hit the Bitter End for the pin. Holy, forearms Batman, this was mighty good. The more technical start worked well as there was no reason for these two to hate each other but also, Pete Dunne the character is an egotistical nutcase who of course he'd want to try and prove he could out-wrestle the man named 'Johnny Wrestling', and then when he couldn't, he punches him in the head. This is as even a match as you could hope for and it even did the true wonder of a TV Title match of actually making you almost believe that Gargano could somehow win. As much as both men threw everything they could into this, you still felt like they left enough out of it that down the line, a rematch between these two could be even better. Further editions of the United Kingdom Open Challenge please.

On The YouTubes:

Tyler Bate, having rejected his previous tag partner Trent Sevenc to re-team with his original partner, Trent Seven, approach Peter about having forming some form of 'British Strong Style' tag team, whether it's a trios team or Peter with a partner, who knows? But those three as a trio? It'll never work.

Johnny doesn't want to be told it was a good effort, he prides himself on what he does but that his purpose isn't to lose in great matches, he doesn't feel anything anymore and he wants to work out how to feel again.

This is as good as you're going to get from the post-TakeOver NXT. Yes, the majority of it was adverts, padding and footage that was posted on the WWE YouTube page after Saturday's show but the matches for once felt like they had actual stakes and manages to give us what is one of the best TV matches of the year in the form of Dunne v Gargano. For once, the next round of NXT tapings have to actually live up to this episode, instead of making up for it.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

SmackDown 953 Review // Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Kofi Kingston & Big E // Lumberjack Match

The first SmackDown after Survivor Series 2017 had Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn all over the episode, as the fallout from their interference in the show's main event began. The show's main storyline was whether the duo would be fired by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, with the duo featuring in the main event, a Lumberjack match against Kofi Kingston & Big E from the New Day, whilst the show's other big story included the debuts of Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan and their appearance during a SmackDown Women's Championship match between champion Charlotte Flair and Natalya. But was it any good? Let's take a look!

Daniel Bryan intervened before Shane McMahon could fire Kevin Owens [Kevin Steen] and Sami Zayn [El Generico]

Then...

Lumberjack Match // Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Kofi Kingston & Big E // Pinfall

As an opening segment, Daniel Bryan saving Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn from being fired and setting up a Lumberjack match main event did it's job. It had elements of drama and built well to Bryan's interruption of Shane McMahon, gave us a main event to look forward to, as well as a storyline that would run throughout the show in multiple backstage segments. That being said, not everything hit it's mark. The main thing that didn't work brilliantly was McMahon coming out and talking up how well SmackDown performed at Survivor Series, despite losing the Series 4-3. Honestly, (and here's a niche reference) it reminded me of my football team, Walsall's manager, Jon Whitney during post-match interviews, trying to make excuses and putting elements of performance over results. McMahon came across as a bit of a loser and he would've been better off flying into calling out Owens and Zayn to get over how furious he was at their interference. Zayn however was on excellent form as he hammed it up, clearly enjoying his recent character shift, whilst getting a strong reaction when being told to "Shut up" repeatedly by Daniel Bryan.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn petitioned Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode to help them out in the Lumberjack match with both men telling them where to go...Shane McMahon complimented Daniel Bryan on booking the Lumberjack match, before leaving with his backpack, with the expectation that Bryan would be firing Owens & Zayn after the match was over...Owens and Zayn continued to look for allies and seemed to have some support after speaking to Rusev and Aiden English...Owens & Zayn then interrupted Dasha Fuentes' interview with Bryan, telling the SmackDown General Manager if he fired them tonight then it would be the biggest mistake he'd ever made...

A solid main event, that soldiered along with a simplistic story and featured a wild finish. The idea that the lumberjacks were willing to attack Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens, but that Big E and Kofi Kingston had a pass was put over early and continued to be the theme throughout. It was a logical narrative, following up from Survivor Series, but it could have been improved by using Rusev and Aiden English as rebellious lumberjacks, because having Owens and Zayn fighting against the entire roster risked turning them babyface, through the sheer odds stacked against them by those in charge. Whilst the commentary team was saying weird things like "Sharks don't have hands, Saxton", the tag team action was decent and basic, highlighted by Big E's wonderful hot tag sequence, all belly to belly suplexes and big splashes. The finish seemed to come out of nowhere though with Kingston sending Zayn to the outside onto a group of lumberjacks and after a Baron Corbin punch aimed for Zayn connected with Bobby Roode, a mass brawl broke out and rolled through the ring with everyone seemingly getting involved and when the dust settled, Zayn took advantage and got a roll-up on Kingston for the win. Thinking about it there was more than a few similarities between this finish and the one seen on RAW in Manchester a few weeks ago when The New Day's invasion caused Cesaro & Sheamus to walk out with the RAW Tag Team Championships! 

After the match, The New Day circled on Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, but after Owens escaped through the crowd after a little help from Rusev, Zayn ended up taking the brunt of the attack, as The New Day got their revenge and seemingly brought their involvement in the storyline to an end...The show closed with Kevin Owens on his knees backstage begging Daniel Bryan for his job, before getting booked in a match with Randy Orton (who Shane McMahon had mentioned he'd had to send home because he was so furious with Owens & Zayn in the opening segment) for next week.

Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot [Heidi Lovelace] and Sarah Logan [Crazy Mary Dobson] caused chaos during the SmackDown Women's Championship Match

Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot and Sarah Logan made their SmackDown debuts attacking Naomi and Becky Lynch in a violent backstage segment, that concluded with Lynch getting sandwiched in between a double door...Natalya told Dasha Fuentes that the only change that matters in WWE is the title change that will happen later tonight and also called Ric Flair a "hot mess"...

Before Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot and Sarah Logan interfered, Charlotte Flair and Natalya were actually having a pretty good SmackDown Women's Championship, in front of a crowd that was invested in Flair as the champion. A wicked sitout powerbomb, a long spell in the sharpshooter for Flair and a cool combination backbreaker and flatliner into the top turnbuckle combination from Charlotte, lead us into a Natalya spilling to the floor following a spear and the introduction of the three most recent NXT graduates as they jumped Natalya on the floor.

After the match, Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan battered Natalya on the outside, before turning their focus to Charlotte Flair, taking turns to hit some signature offence on the SmackDown Women's Champion, in a mirror image of Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville's appearance on RAW the previous evening.

Jinder Mahal tried to get a leg up on AJ Styles

It was no surprise to me that out of all of the losers from Survivor Series, AJ Styles did the best job of addressing his loss in a promo. Styles talked about how despite the praise he'd received for his effort in the match, there were no prizes for second place. It was refreshing to see acknowledgement of disappointment and it makes Styles even more of a likeable babyface, whilst a reference to Rocky II and a potential rematch with Brock Lesnar means that if that match comes around again it will feel even more electric than the first time round. Jinder Mahal decided to turn up on the screen and tell Styles that he was "up here" again, despite Styles already staring at the ramp...someone should really tell Mahal that the screen isn't on the ceiling. Mahal's promo was shaky and garbled, but the long and short of it was that we're getting Styles vs. Mahal for the title at Clash of Champions on 17th December. I was hoping we'd get the rematch on television and a bigger, more interesting clash for the final PPV of the year,. but what are you gonna do? The segment concluded with the Singh Brothers attempting to attack Styles from behind, only for the WWE Champion to easily fend them off, nailing Samir Singh with a crowd-pleasing Styles Clash.

Shelton Benjamin def. Jey Uso // Pinfall

For a match that went less than five minutes on television, I thought this was a great outing from Shelton Benjamin and Jey Uso. The bout featured some hard strikes, a massive leaping knee from Benjamin to knock Uso off the top rope to the floor, as well as a good series of near falls after Chad Gable and Jimmy Uso started scrapping at ringside, before Benjamin was able to pick up the win with Paydirt after Uso missed a Superfly Splash.

The Usos turned up later on to shill some merch, ahead of Black Friday...

The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Hype Bros // Pinfall

For the final time, the Bludgeon Brother received a short vignette, before the message "Tonight" appeared on screen...

Harper and Rowan murdered Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley, picking up a quick squash win with a two-man crucifix powerbomb on Rawley.

Finally...

It was cool to have storyline flow throughout a show this week, with the various backstage segments with Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon complimenting the moments that book-ended the show involving those guys and The New Day. The addition of Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot and Sarah Logan shakes up the Women's division on the blue brand, although the similarities between Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville doing the same on RAW are obvious. The two shorter matches were fun with Jey Uso and Shelton Benjamin doing well with their time and The Bludgeon Brothers looking impressive in their intense and dominant debut. Even though I'm not thrilled by the prospect of another Jinder Mahal PPV title match, I wouldn't say there was anything on this show that I actively disliked as a whole segment, being able to find more than a few things I liked about everything that went down this week. With just three more episodes before Clash of Champions I'm looking forward to seeing how the brand goes about fleshing out that card with only AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal currently scheduled.

Review by James Marston 

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)

NXT #268 Review - Drew McIntyre vs Roderick Strong

On 5th October 2017, WWE aired its 268th episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 14th September. We were graced with an NXT Championship match this week as big Drew McIntyre took on on tiny boots Roderick Strong in a rematch from NXT #261. In other rematch news, we also saw the Iconic Duo of Peyton Royce & Billie Kay take on the uneasy partnership of Ruby Riot & Nikki Cross as well as first-time action from Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane and Mae Young Classic failed-to-qualifier Aaliyah, but was it any good?

Ruby Riot & Nikki Cross def. The Iconic Duo

Exactly like the first match these four had, Riot starts off alone leaving us all wondering if Cross is once again going to join the action (from the headline above, you might have guessed, she will) Kay starts for the Iconic Duo, lock-up to begin, Kay takes control, Riot powers out and Kay runs away to tag in Royce, Riot takes down Royce with an arm drag and a slam, Kay tries to use the numbers game but Riot takes her out as well and hits a top rope backwards senton for a 2. Royce scurries over to Kay for a tag, Riot rolls her up for another 2. Riot goes for some kind of rana but Kay slams her down for a 2 of her own. A series of short tags follows as The Duo work over the back, Royce is the legal woman as they hit a double team manoeuvre for the SHOCK ARRIVAL OF NIKKI CROSS. Riot fights back, Royce tags out as Riot powers to her corner for a reluctant tag to Nikki who runs wild over both of the Duo before hitting a reverse DDT for a 2. Royce leaps on Riot and more double teams happen on Cross but Riot makes the save giving Cross a chance to do more mental shit, tag to Riot who hits a double missile dropkick and her Wind-Up Pele Kick finish on Kay for the pin. This was good, the first match was good, this was just as good. Really, though, what did this achieve? It was the same match pretty much except for this time Kay was pinned instead of Royce. So Riot now has two victories over both of them. It feels like this is the same one character beat they've been playing out since Brooklyn. These four are all capable of a lot more, please give them something to do. Someone?

There's a recap of last week's Sullivan v Lorcan match. Lars is in the PC being interviewed after Danny Burch has challenged him. Sullivan responds that the one thing everyone should know is that he is always in control. He says people are afraid of him and they should be. So he accepts the challenge but warns Burch to stay in control of his fear. Big words from a big lad.

Zelina Vega is interviewed about next week’s Gargano vs. Almas match. She runs down Gargano, and says Almas will beat the golden boy again, getting him closer to the NXT Title.

Recap of Adam Cole vs Eric Young last week. In two weeks, trios action as SaNItY (Young, Wolfe & Dain) face The Undisputed Era (Cole, O'Reilly, Fish)

Next up is another NXT debut as Lio Rush takes on Aleister Black. Rush had a little chat on the YouTubes before the show.

Aleister Black vs Lio Rush Never Happens

Lio Rush, who if you don't know is a 22 year old recent signee who's only been wrestling three years but is already a two time CZW Wired Champion and a CZW Heavyweight Champion, comes out to a moderate pop of recognition from the crowd, as Aleister Black, who even in the smallest of matches gets a hero's welcome, makes his way to the ring, in comes The Velveteen Dream who begins stomping out (his former partner from MCW where they held the Tag Team Championships) Rush. He hits a clothesline and goes up top and hits a thunderous Purple Rainmaker elbow drop, Black heads towards the ring as Dream gives him a bit of 'come on then', as Black slides in Dream slides out, Black falls into his meditative position, Dream tells him to say his name but Black isn't saying shit, 'acknowledge me, you will say my name' screams Dream to no response from everyone's favourite tatooed Dutchman. While only a short segment, this deserved more than just the bullet point treatment as it not only successfully built towards Dream vs Black at the next TakeOver but played well on our expectations as in the form of O'Reilly and Fish, Black has been responsible for two previous ROH competitors debut TV matches, putting Rush into this position not only gets more heat on Dream as he ruins what could have been a great encounter but also plays well on Dream's own past as well what with the aforementioned Tag Team run, especially worth considering with the third Dusty Rhodes Classic potentially on the way.

Kairi Sane def. Aliyah

More elbow drops on the way as Kairi Sane's here, I can't remember if Aliyah had an entrance. Lock-up to begin and the two trade standing switches, Sane easily outwrestles Aaliyah and levels her with a rebound forearm strike, Aliyah fights back with kicks and a neck breaker for a 2. She hits a nasty pendulum backbreaker, holding it down for extra wrenching on the back, Sane comes in with knees but misses a spear and hits the post, Aliyah tries to work over Sane but she manages to hit the spear, she lands chops, a corner spear and a basement forearm before she goes up top for the (sigh) Insane Elbow drop for the pin. Perfectly adequate in ring action with Sane treated like a damn star but we really can't keep calling it the Insane Elbow, call it the Ship's Anchor, call it Hoisting the Flag, call it Shiver the Timbers, I don't know, something nautical just make it have something to do with Kairi Sane and not just The Insane Elbow, that's just a shite name. Get your act together, WWE Writing Staff.

Next week: Cross, v Morgan v Royce for a spot in the Women's Title match at TakeOver: WarGames. & The big rematch from what was possibly the best match of TakeOver Brooklyn III as Johnny 'Wrestling' Gargano takes on Andrade 'Cien' Almas.

NXT Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) def. Roderick Strong

McIntyre takes a knee, it's not clear if in protest or just so that he's not towering over poor, little Roddy for the spotlight shot. Lock-up to begin and to no-one's surprise, McIntyre has the power advantage and ragdolls Strong away, Strong looks to grapple down the big Scotsman but McIntyre shoulder blocks him down to send us off quickly to an ad break. Back from the break and Strong is still trying to control proceedings, he hits a dropkick but McIntyre responds with slaps and a belly-to-belly throw as things head to the outside, McIntyre slams Strong onto the barricade and slaps him some more but Strong retaliates with knee strikes before hitting an apron assisted high knee, McIntyre tries to fight back but takes a backbreaker onto the steel steps for his effort. Back in and Strongs hits a further backbreaker for a 2. He then hits yet another backbreaker for another 2. Strong tries to keep McIntyre down with kicks and stretches but he can't keep big Drew down forever and is slammed to the turnbuckles, McIntyre hits a corner splash and goes up top but Roddy follows with a leaping dropkick hitting Drew in the head from the top rope for a convincing 2 count. Strong once again tries to ground McIntyre but he gets up and they trade strikes, Strong hits a large forearm but McIntyre suplexes him straight into another ad break. Back from the break and McIntyre is hitting boots and throws all over the shop, getting a 2 count off a reverse Alabama slam. McIntyre goes for a Futureshock DDT but Roddy reverses it into an Angle slam, more back-and-forth, McIntyre hits a spinebuster for a 2. Roddy is put up top, he slides out and tries to hit a sunset flip but settles for an enziguri into a suplex for a 2. Back-and-forth leads into a hinted at tiger bomb for a 2, McIntyre responds with a headbutt to take both men down, McIntyre picks up Roddy and takes him to the top for a giant Celtic Cross (it's like an Air Raid Crash, but it's not called that) but Strong gets his foot on the ropes before three. McIntyre goes for the Claymore but Strong puts his educated knees to good use and hits a Sick Kick for another close 2. Strong is taken aback that his special kick wasn't enough, Strong goes for an apronicanrana but is caught into a ringpost bomb, back inside the ring and McIntyre hits the Futureshock DDT but Strong refuses to be dead so McIntyre hits the Claymore for the pin. This was exactly the type of match I hoped McIntyre would be having in NXT. He's so much better when he has an opponent who can work at his speed and when they started sprinting, the action only really let up for the ad breaks. This isn't so much their fault but the booking didn't quite work to convince Strong could take the title as there hasn't been an NXT Men's Singles title change on standard television since Bo Dallas back in 2013. Still, the action came stiff, thick and fast with Strong not losing one iota of credibility in loss but McIntyre gaining so much. As to where he goes from here (*cough* please be Andrade Almas *cough*), let's see...

After the match, McIntyre & Strong would shake hands like the manly man they are. As McIntyre posed in the ring, The Undisputed Era would comfort Strong as he walked up the ramp to the perplexion of Drew. Is Strong going to join the UE? Is this going to be the same plot as AJ Styles & The Club? I still hope not.

On The YouTubes:

Kairi Sane is interviewed about having a Fatal Four Way, she's so happy to be part of NXT, and she's so excited to be the next NXT Womens Champion, bon voyage.

Liv Morgan knows opportunities like this (the Triple Threat next week) don't come around often, she's going to take the momentum of beating Vanessa Borne last week and go on to win that Fatal Four Way.

It will be an odd day when an episode of NXT with a title match that gets to run through two ad breaks and has a nice, clean finish isn't at least a bit satisfying and today is not that day. Up until the title match, everything had a hint of wheels being spun, the undercard matches were strong (it's nice that in a one hour show, NXT has time for two different women's matches. Take note, RAW) but not incredible and the Velveteen Dream-Aleister Black interactions are interesting but unlikely to be remembered as classic segments. Luckily Drew vs Roddy was the kind of match that McIntyre needs to be working with the just over 15m time limit working better for him than a 20m+ ever does. There's some good stuff at work here. Big question though, did Hideo Itami die from that Kassius Ohno low blow? He hasn't been seen since.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)