The NXT Thread: It Must Breakk You [Archive]

Uncle Sam

03-09-2018, 03:34 AM

Reposting my midnight ramblings for the great unwashed to enjoy:

The way I'd do it - because I'm someone who can't keep their dumb ideas to the themselves - is to really sell it as an unsanctioned match. So Ciampa asks for the match, Regal says no, absolutely not. So Ciampa says he'll be there in New Orleans and Gargano better be there because there's going to be a fight either way. Ciampa comes out and starts talking shit, Gargano runs out of the crowd, they brawl, security comes out to pull them apart. Regal sends out the roster to do a proper pull-apart, only the roster beats up the security guards and lets them fight (the implication being they think Ciampa's a piece of shit and they want to see Johnny get a piece of him), and they have something between a regular match and a lumberjack match and a street fight as Regal seethes. You can probably do a screwy finish from there and an exasperated Regal sets up a proper match down the line, with Gargano allowed back in NXT for one night only or something dumb like that.

I think where they're going with this, and maybe this is just my headcanon, is that Ciampa has cost Gargano everything, but is still unsatisfied (because revenge is a hollow pursuit, natch). The people still love Johnny Wrestling; Ciampa hasn't really accomplished anything. Ciampa will drive himself crazy. He therefore thinks the only way to get real satisfaction is to demolish Gargano with his own hands.

Gargano is noble because he's refused to live in the past. He was initially held back by the shackles of anger and thoughts of revenge but achieved inner peace and that allowed him to progress beyond his wildest dreams. Ciampa isn't only shackled by his past but is defined by it, and he'll never be happy regardless of how much damage he does to Johnny, but he's so blinded by revenge that he thinks the hole inside of him can be filled if he just causes enough hurt.

To date, Johnny hasn't really DONE anything to Ciampa, and was even happy to let Ciampa's transgressions slide. Ciampa's just a mad cunt. Put that in a video package.

klunderbunker

03-14-2018, 08:49 PM

NXT
Date: March 14, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s another big night as we have four weeks left before Takeover: New Orleans. That means knocking out more matches in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but on top of that we have some build towards a title match. This week NXT Champion Andrade Cien Almas and Aleister Black will sign the contract for Takeover: New Orleans which could be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I'm Pi-Ning For Takeover (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/14/nxt-march-14-2018-im-pi-ning-for-takeover/)

A11

03-15-2018, 09:15 AM

Has ricochet showed up yet?

klunderbunker

03-15-2018, 11:52 AM

Has ricochet showed up yet?

Not yet but the match has been taped.

smarkmouth

03-15-2018, 12:56 PM

Pete Dunne might be my favourite in all of WWE right now. Great ring work backed up by knowing his character as well as the best of them.

And in Ciampa's defense, I usually react the same way when people overuse emojis.

smarkmouth

03-16-2018, 05:25 PM

Unfortunate news for Moustache Mountain fans. The injury bug caught up with Tyler Bate, removing him from the tournament. No word yet (outside of spoilers, I assume) if Trent Seven will have a new partner, if the team will be replaced entirely, or Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan will move to the semi-finals on MM's forfeit.

Unless the replacement is a real surprise, at least my heart is a little less torn by the result of the match.

klunderbunker

03-21-2018, 08:05 PM

NXT
Date: March 21, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re in the home stretch towards Takeover: New Orleans and you can guess most of the card. NXT knows how to set up things down the last few weeks and I have no doubt that they’ll pull it off again. We also have more from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which could be a lot of fun by the end. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Speak, And He Will Come (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/21/nxt-march-21-2018-speak-and-he-will-come/)

TheManTheyCalledNorCal

03-21-2018, 08:28 PM

YES LARS IS BACK NEXT WEEK

God, him challenging Black for the NXT title is probably my most anticipated match of 2018.

Tremendous fucking job of this angle with Ciampa and Gargano. They need to give credit to Uncle Sam, who literally pitched this angle almost to the letter.

NXT, land of dreams coming true.

klunderbunker

03-28-2018, 08:15 PM

NXT
Date: March 28, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re almost to New Orleans and that means we’re getting closer to the official announcement of Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano. Earlier today, WWE posted a video of Gargano coming to Ciampa’s house at 3am, prompting Ciampa to say he would have to talk to William Regal about this. That’s a very encouraging line. Let’s get to it.

Just Like the Old Days (of AWESOME) (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/28/nxt-march-28-2018-just-like-the-old-days-of-awesome/)

Black Anaconda Vise

04-02-2018, 04:19 PM

So during Axxes, there are 4 different tournaments going on for a shot at the NXT Tag Team, womenâ??s, and North American Championships, as well as the UK championship.

Thereâ??s also two pretty interesting inter promotional matches that are going to happen...

KASSIUS OHNO VS KEITH LEE AND KASSIUS OHNO VS WALTER!!!

FunKay

04-03-2018, 04:11 PM

klunderbunker

04-05-2018, 12:52 PM

NXT
Date: April 4, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the final show before the big night in New Orleans and as usual, things continue to change around here. Last week saw the announcement of the six man ladder match for the North American Title and this week we have the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Things are picking up at the right time so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

NXT Needs a Hero (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/04/05/nxt-april-3-2018-nxt-needs-a-hero/)

smarkmouth

04-06-2018, 08:56 AM

If you haven't seen it, please go back and watch the Cruiserweight Classic episode with Gargano vs Ciampa. Before the match they are interviewed face to face. I don't know if the foreshadowing is intentional, but it's there! Hell of a match, too.

Uncle Sam

04-06-2018, 04:47 PM

I've already seen it, and I would refresh myself, but I'm worried I might spoil my appetite.

Jack-Hammer

04-06-2018, 07:41 PM

Triple H revealed the new North American Championship in a short video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJExbQZ4OZs

Odd looking title frankly - like a hybrid of the Cruiserweight Championship and RAW Tag Team Championships and the end result is a title that looks more at home on a boxer than a wrestler. Very old school. I'm sure it'll grow on me.

When you look at the symmetry, or lack thereof, it is reminiscent of a boxing championship belt, now that you mention it. Triple H seems to have a broad stance when it comes to the looks of championships in that he likes to try combining old school designs with those that are more modern or outside the box. The NXT Tag Team Championships are updates on the original design, the NXT and NXT Women's Championships definitely were influenced by the Big Gold Belt but kept the NXT center plate design similar to the original title, the Cruiserweight Championship incorporates the main roster style side plates while having an old school globe grid featured on the center plate while the CW Tag Team Championships are rumored to have much the same.

There are much better pics of it available at WWE.com and the title's already starting to grow on me.

smarkmouth

04-08-2018, 09:34 AM

Was last night a turning point for NXT?

We all knew the stakes going into Gargano vs Ciampa. Had Gargano lost, he'd be banished from NXT for good. Kind of a silly stake when you take it at face value. "Loser leaves town" means very little when WWE has four brands that that function as their own program. But look a little closer. Johnny was fighting for his NXT position. Vis a vis, Johnny was fighting to stay in the "developmental" brand and not "get called up" to Raw, Smackdown or 205Live.

I think those quotation marked phrases are now obsolete.

To a degree I think many of us sensed that to be true, but Johnny fighting to stay on the yellow brand validates that. This could have easily been a straight up grudge match. Johnny never had to forfeit his NXT career in the first place. Why raise the stakes in a match that NXT diehards were chomping at the bit to see without the extra bells and whistles? The fact that they tacted this stipulation on tells us something, doesn't it?

klunderbunker

04-13-2018, 01:49 AM

Takeover: New Orleans
Date: April 7, 2018
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

As is so often the case with Takeover, the card for this show looks incredible. As isn’t so often the case with Takeover, Wrestlemania looks very good as well. I don’t remember the last time WWE outdid NXT but maybe that can be the case tonight. You know, assuming NXT falls apart at one of these for the first time ever. Let’s get to it.

I Don't Believe It (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/04/13/takeover-new-orleans-i-dont-believe-it/)

Jack-Hammer

04-13-2018, 10:21 PM

I read a little while ago that King Dave awarded 5 star ratings to the NXT North American Championship ladder match and the "unsanctioned" Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa match. These two bookended NXT TakeOver: New Orleans last Saturday and these two matches in particular have been constantly talked about. The build to the ladder match wasn't anything to write home about but the match itself was a wild, chaotic spectacle that's easily the best ladder match in quite some time. Gargano vs. Ciampa just had everything any sane fan could want in terms of action, storytelling, psychology and drama.

This marks the 2nd and 3rd times NXT has garnered 5 stars from Meltzer, with the 1st being Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano from TakeOver: Philadelphia this past January, and this is the first WWE event to ever have more than 1 on the same card. If this keeps up, people might think Meltzer's love affair with New Japan is on the rocks as he's only given them a couple of 5 star ratings in 2018 thus far.

ShinChan

04-14-2018, 12:41 AM

Uncle Sam

04-14-2018, 04:33 AM

Those matches were spectacular but you can't tell me they were significantly better than Banks/Bayley, Neville/Zayn or even Revival/DIY.

The_Reptile_

04-14-2018, 11:40 AM

I can believe Gargana/Ciampa, but the ladder match? Really? Like.

No, seriously, really?

Jack-Hammer

04-14-2018, 02:39 PM

Both NXT and NJPW Have 3. In 2018.

My bad. I didn't know about Ospreay vs. Scurll.

Jack-Hammer

04-14-2018, 02:48 PM

Those matches were spectacular but you can't tell me they were significantly better than Banks/Bayley, Neville/Zayn or even Revival/DIY.

I'm starting to think that in order for Meltzer to consider "blessing" a bout with his 5 star rating, it has to go a minimum of 25 minutes. Of course, Meltzer's methodology, at times, only makes sense to himself and is hardly consistent.

Uncle Sam

04-16-2018, 05:14 AM

My only real issue with Meltzer stems from the use of the phrase of "five star match." If Dave Meltzer gives a match five stars, it's not "a match that Dave Meltzer gave five stars," it's "a five star match," full stop - as if the rating is some objective, scientific measure and not just one man's opinion.

I could justify giving those three matches five stars. Absolutely no problem with that. I was in the arena live for Gargano/Almas, and I felt lucky to have witnessed it - not because Dave Meltzer gave it five stars, but that it was thrilling enough that I even managed to tune out the drunk cunt next to me who kept elbowing me every five seconds to tell me Tommaso Ciampa was going to interfere.

The implication that NXT only started having stone cold classics in the last few months, and didn't start with, say, the very first match of the TakeOver era (and arguably before even that) is bogus.

klunderbunker

04-18-2018, 08:39 PM

NXT
Date: April 18, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

We’re out of New Orleans and back home now, albeit without a few names. Over the last week and a half, the Iconics, Ember Moon, Sanity and Andrade Cien Almas/Zelina Vega have moved up to the main roster, meaning it’s time to start rebuilding things. It’s also time for the fallout from Takeover so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Tie A Black And Yellow Ribbon Around It (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/04/18/nxt-april-18-2018-tie-a-black-and-yellow-ribbon-around-it/)

klunderbunker

04-25-2018, 08:20 PM

NXT
Date: April 25, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

After a few weeks of insanity on the main roster, it’s rather nice to see how things are going down in NXT. This week we have the first defense of the North American Title as Adam Cole defends against Oney Lorcan, but there’s a slightly bigger title match. Tonight we have Aleister Black making his first defense of the NXT Title against Johnny Gargano. The shenanigans should be high with this one. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

No Man Is Ever Truly Evil....But He Comes Close (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/04/25/nxt-april-25-2018-no-man-is-ever-truly-evil-but-he-comes-close/)

klunderbunker

05-02-2018, 08:24 PM

NXT
Date: May 2, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

It’s back to Full Sail and that means a nice relief from the breakneck pace of the last few weeks of Raw and Smackdown. At least they’ve set some stuff up in advance and this show will likely deliver some entertaining stuff. There are three matches announced for tonight, including Roderick Strong vs. Pete Dunne. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Another Thing WWE Can't Do (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/02/nxt-may-2-2018-another-thing-wwe-cant-do/)

Jack-Hammer

05-03-2018, 01:56 PM

smarkmouth

05-05-2018, 12:09 AM

While I'm not gonna write him off yet, I can't say that Kona Reeves impressed all that much. He has a strange look, which can work to his advantage or disadvantage. He has a weird physique in that it's kinda sorta muscular in some areas, skinny in others and chubby in others as well. Because of this weird body, and those yellowed teeth, he doesn't quite have the chops to call himself "the Finest." He doesn't look intimidating or powerful enough to be a powerhouse and he seems to be too slow to be a high flyer. His work in the ring last night was pretty dirt basic and the crowd couldn't have cared less.

To be fair, however, I don't always believe in first impressions. There might be a lot more to than we were able to see in the brief few minutes on NXT last night. I do like that he showed some personality and aggressiveness but, as of right now, he strikes me as a really, really poor Samoan version of EC III.

I agree. His look and his demeanor are very much at odds, as if James Ellsworth were playing The Rock. My own first impression is that this has to be deliberately ironic, as he pretends to have it but leaves us unsure whether he can even spell it. This isn't a heel who we hate because he has it all, but one who we hate because he pretends to have it all. We all know someone like that, don't we?

So, Dakota Kai, huh? I think the majority of us are in favour of long-form storytelling in the wrestling medium. Seeing Dakota play up sympathetically fearful of bully Baszler is definitely the wrestling equivalent to a epic novel's prologue, right? I'm excited to watch this one unfold, and hope that the plan is to take their time on this one.

jmt225

05-05-2018, 01:54 AM

Kona Reeves definitely needs to have his teeth whitened if he's going to be taken seriously in a role like this.

He also needs to get injured so he can shred up like Ciampa and Gargano did when they were out.

Uncle Sam

05-05-2018, 04:24 AM

Kona Reeves scares me more than a thousand Bray Wyatt DEHs. His head is too small for his body. It's like if someone tried to genetically engineer a more gangly Bo Dallas.

So, Dakota Kai, huh? I think the majority of us are in favour of long-form storytelling in the wrestling medium. Seeing Dakota play up sympathetically fearful of bully Baszler is definitely the wrestling equivalent to a epic novel's prologue, right? I'm excited to watch this one unfold, and hope that the plan is to take their time on this one.

I don't know how you got hold of a copy of my dissertation 'From Leo Tolstoy to Leo Kruger: NXT and Its Inspiration in Russian Literature' but I'd thank you not to plagiarise.

smarkmouth

05-09-2018, 08:01 PM

The visible injuries are making him even more menacing. He is checking his eye socket for blood during the match. Tommaso Ciampa is not a heel, he is a supervillain.

klunderbunker

05-09-2018, 08:12 PM

NXT
Date: May 9, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

We’re in that odd period of NXT as we’re too far away from the next Takeover to really start building there but too far from the previous Takeover to deal with fallout. NXT is capable of pulling off something in the meantime though and that should be more than enough to bridge the gap. Let’s get to it.

Just Change That One Thing (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/09/nxt-may-9-2018-just-change-that-one-thing/)

Jack-Hammer

05-11-2018, 05:24 AM

Ciampa has like 4 or 5% body fat and he weighs...what? 190, 195 lbs.? He doesn't have a ton of size but he doesn't have to; the way he carries himself, his demeanor, his lean build, those veins sticking out like earthworms under his skin, the knee brace, etc. all add up to this rugged, feral looking predator who looks like he'd be more at home swinging a battle axe into somebody's face than having a conversation with a beautiful woman.

Another good show from NXT this week and we can now see a bit more of what NXT TakeOver: Chicago II during MITB weekend is gonna look like.

We're almost certainly gonna get Gargano vs. Ciampa II and if the sequel is half of what we got in New Orleans, it'll still be a MOTY contender, especially if it's given the time and the build over the next 5 week or so can keep the intensity high or if it's even upped.

The storyline with Dakota Kia and Shayna Baszler is a lot of fun to watch as both are really good in their respective roles. The appearance of Nikki Cross doing her crazy chick cackle offers possibilities as well in that it leaves me to wonder if she's another rival for Kai to deal with in the NXT Women's Championship picture or if she's an ally.

We've also seen the start of Ricochet and the Velveteen Dream, which has all kinds of potential written all over it. I thought Ricochet did a nice job on the mic this week; you can tell that it's not his strongest suit and that he's probably not ready for lengthy promo segments on a regular basis, but I thought he did well and he certainly did better than I expected. Dream just oozes charisma and personality, more so quite possibly than just about anyone else in all of WWE, so this could be a lot of fun.

As for the NXT Tag Team Championship, it seems sorta wide open at this point. My guess, and that's all it is, is we might see O'Reilly and Strong defend the titles against Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan. On paper, it sounds like a huge mismatch given that I don't think Orcan and Burch have won a match as a team, but they're a couple of guys that NXT fans really enjoy seeing work inside the ring. Their brief interaction with Pete Dunne and their own troubles with the Undisputed Era is what gives me a feeling they might go in this direction. It's too soon for War Raiders, as they're still getting established, the Street Profits are a strong possibility but their complete lack of interaction with the tag champs casts a shadow of doubt. TM-61 look to be in the midst of a heel turn themselves and are in the process of getting re-established.

As for the NXT Championship, it's truly wide open at this point. My guess is that Black's opponent will be someone from the NA Championship ladder match from TakeOver: New Orleans. Even though Adam Cole is NA Champion, which would seem to knock him out of the running, they do have a strong enough history to support it. It looks like Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream is being built up so that takes them out. EC III is a possibility, though he's literally brand new and in the middle of being established. Still, NXT has done a lot more with a lot less. Black's already defeated Killian Dane and Lars Sullivan is waiting in the wings. If the purpose is to sort of give Black sort of a hold over match, yet one that will still be very strong, then Cole is a great choice while Sullivan offers Black a challenge in that, if I'm not mistaken, Lars Sullivan is undefeated in singles matches.

At any rate, as is often the case, TakeOver looks to be shaping up to be another classic, must see show.

Uncle Sam

05-14-2018, 09:39 AM

I've cancelled by Network - WWE made the mistake of being mind-numbingly boring and offensive simultaneously - so if you could all just keep me updated until I renew just before the next TakeOver, which is... like, two weeks? Don't want to be out of the loop. Cheers.

klunderbunker

05-16-2018, 08:17 PM

NXT
Date: May 16, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

We’re a month away from Takeover: Chicago and that means we need a card. If there’s one thing NXT is capable of doing, it’s putting together a card in a hurry. There’s a bunch of stuff already set up and that’s enough to build a show in just a few weeks. If nothing else you can probably set up Gargano vs. Ciampa II. Let’s get to it.

Take Two Of These And Call Me At Takeover (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/16/nxt-may-16-2018-take-two-of-these-and-call-me-at-takeover/)

Jack-Hammer

05-16-2018, 08:34 PM

NXT continues to do what it does best: make the most of the time it has to deliver the most consistently entertaining hour of pro wrestling on TV.

The interaction with Ciampa and Candace was a good next step in this escalating feud. They didn't give too much away here, which is exactly what was needed as there's still plenty of time so there's no need to go overboard with a single segment. I like that they haven't tried making Candace be an emotional basket case as she comes off more as someone that's become reluctantly resigned to the fact that someone very close to her family is pretty much gone. I hope there's more going down between them in the coming weeks; I know that this won't happen WWE can't get away with any portrayal of male on female violence, but the simplest thing in the world to just jack this program up would be Ciampa laying Candace out.

Lacey Evans is coming along, slowly but steadily. She's carrying herself with a lot more confidence and she's finding her stride. I think she needs a better finisher than just a hard right cross, though calling it "the Woman's Right" is clever. Kairi Sane interacting with her should be a solid little feud that'll probably see Sane ultimately come out ahead but will simultaneously elevate Evans because...well, NXT is just really good at that.

The match between Ricochet and Velveteen dream was designed to progress a storyline and angle along while simultaneously whetting our appetite for when these two have a real match. Well, mission accomplished. Dream just oozes charisma and it's hard to believe how smooth Ricochet's moves are, though it was also fun to see Dream basically keeping up with him in a nice show of gamesmanship. Lars Sullivan interfering was out of left field but he looked dominant. The announced handicap match with Sullivan taking on Dream and Ricochet would normally have me a little concerned; if this went down on the main roster, you just have to know that Vince would probably just have Sullivan decimate both guys just for the sake of building up Sullivan. However, this is happening in NXT and I have a feeling something will go down that'll ultimately wind up making everyone involved look good.

Kona Reeves was the low point of the show for me. I'm just not feeling this guy with the whole poor man's Rico Suave thing. There's just nothing special about him and his work inside the ring is maybe half a step or so above average. Hell, I found myself much more impressed by Raul Mendoza.

The six man tag team main event was a fun way to close the show and it all but guaranteed that Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch will be challenging Strong & O'Reilly in Chicago for the NXT Tag Team Championship. A lot of energy, a fun crowd, some hard hitting action and I think fans were genuinely a bit surprised to not only see Lorcan, Burch & Dunne score the win, but they were surprised that Orcan & Burch actually scored the pin. Hell, this might be the first time I've seen either one of those two win a match, at least outside of wrestling against each other.

I give tonight's show a solid B-, might've been a little higher without Kona Reeves or, at least if they tried something different with him.

klunderbunker

05-23-2018, 07:58 PM

NXT
Date: May 23, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

The build to Chicago is slowly taking form with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch looking likely to challenge for the Tag Team Titles. Other than that, we really don’t have anything set up yet. That being said, NXT has an amazing track record of being able to catch up in a hurry so it’s not like they’re in any real trouble. Let’s get to it.

Evil Never Dies (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/23/nxt-may-23-2018-evil-never-dies/)

Jack-Hammer

05-23-2018, 08:45 PM

NXT is consistently entertaining. They do the big things right and they do so many of the little things right and tonight was no different.

Heavy Machinery vs. TM61 as a solid outing. HM is a fun tag team, they're kinda goofy but not so goofy that they come of as comedy fodder. TM61 looks to be slowly finding themselves and there's nothing wrong with taking some time; hell, taking things slowly, letting them develop naturally and see where they go is one of NXT's top qualities. I thought both teams looked good here, TM61 did a solid job of playing the strategizing, athletic heels taking on the big powerhouses. The ending comes with Otis going for a Vader bomb on Thorne, he eats a kick from Miller to knock him off the turnbuckles, Thorne cradles him up and they use the ropes to get the win a bit past the 7 minute mark. **3/4

Kairi Sane vs. Lacey Evans was surprisingly good. Evans has really made some good strides in the past few weeks, she comes off now as a more complete wrestler rather than just some chick wearing ring gear inspired by 1940s pin up girls. Sane as an energetic babyface just works and they'll have no trouble inserting her in the NXT Women's Championship picture once they decide to. Both women looked good here, but I have to say that I'm just not all that crazy about Evans' finisher, the Woman's Right. It's basically just a hard right hand/forearm and it just seems like it'd be well suited as the move to set up a finisher. She scores the win via the Woman's Right, giving each of them a win over the other. ***

They do a brief little backstage interview with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch after their win, with Pete Dunne as their partner, over the Undisputed Era. They seem to be the next logical challengers for the UE's NXT Tag Team Championship and, as I've said before, it seems like something of a mismatch but Lorcan and Burch are two guys that NXT fans like seeing and like cheering for.

Ricochet and the Velveteen Dream vs. Lars Sullivan went better than I'd hoped. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect here; I'd hoped that they'd do something to ultimately make all three guys look good while simultaneously giving us a glimpse of their near futures but I was worried that they might just use the match to catapult Sullivan while simply using Dream and Ricochet as fodder. Thankfully, we got the former rather than the latter, the latter is something that would've almost certainly happened on the main roster. The match was smartly wrestled and told a good story with Dream & Ricochet functioning well as a team, getting to show off some of their stuff, while Sullivan got to look like a badass. Sullivan looked tough but not so tough that it made you think that neither Dream or Ricochet would have a chance in a 1 on 1 match; not that such a match is necessary at this junction but Sullivan wasn't such a monster that either of these men would've looked completely outclassed. The ending comes shortly after Ricochet lands a springboard 450 on Sullivan and Dream immediately afterward puts Ricochet in the rolling Death Valley Driver, calling him pathetic before bailing. Sullivan recovers and hits the Freak Accident for the win. You have to think Sullivan is heading towards a match with Aleister Black and Dream letting his ego get in the way before screwing over Ricochet all but locks in their match for the TakeOver in Chicago. ***1/2

The last segment featured Johnny Gargano coming out with Candice LaRae to address the fans, with Gargano wearing a neck brace. After moping about the ring for a few minutes, Gargano soon fires up and calls out Tomasso Ciampa, who does come out to the ramp, all while Candace is trying to talk Gargano out of it. I thought she did a good job of showing concern for her man, so much that she'd rather hurt his pride a little than see him suffer more "injury" at Ciampa's hands as he's not physically ready. She runs out of the ring and brings back a number of referees who hover around Gargano, who eventually slides out under the ropes as Ciampa enters the ring from the opposite side. Gargano climbs up onto the apron only for Ciampa to knock him off, causing him to slam into Candice and come down on top of her onto the steel ramp way. Personally, I'd have preferred it if Ciampa had started smiling this sick smile at what'd happened rather than adopting the expression that maybe he'd gone too far as it'd just fit in with Ciampa's sociopathic hatred of all things Johnny Gargano. However, even though it's NXT, it's also still WWE and they're going to avoid doing anything that makes it even remotely seem like WWE has no issue using male on female violence to help sell the product. Katy Sagal won a Golden Globe several years back for an episode of Sons of Anarchy in which she was gang raped by a bunch of skinheads but, apparently, no degree of condoning any shred of male on female violence is to be tolerated as WWE would be crucified.

Still, the final segment was more than effective in building up the needed intensity for Gargano vs. Ciampa II, which you just know is coming at TakeOver: Chicago. Good stuff tonight and I thought it was a very good B+ show.

smarkmouth

05-25-2018, 02:46 PM

Gargano climbs up onto the apron only for Ciampa to knock him off, causing him to slam into Candice and come down on top of her onto the steel ramp way. Personally, I'd have preferred it if Ciampa had started smiling this sick smile at what'd happened rather than adopting the expression that maybe he'd gone too far as it'd just fit in with Ciampa's sociopathic hatred of all things Johnny Gargano.

Honestly, I think I preferred what happened. Taking joy in seeing Candice hurt tells a good story, but what's going to happen (not a spoiler, just my prediction) is even more sociopathic. Ciampa is going to spin this to be Johnny's fault, that his behaviour was selfish is what got Candice hurt. And like all the best villainous motives, there's a hint of truth to it.

On the subject of this rivalry, WWE has teased the next Ciampa/Gargano match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8F5Ut9kziI

I'm really loving Burch and Lorcan. I think they're poised to be the sentimental favourite NXT tag team, a void left by the aforementioned Gargano and Ciampa. It's a shame that they haven't had a chance to be showcased earlier. You'd think they'd start to have a presence shortly after their handful of one on one encounters that transitioned into this team. But, better late than never, I supose.

Handicap match was very good! As Jack-Hammer said, the match was very well balanced. It really told a story that you don't generally expect out of a handicap match.

klunderbunker

05-30-2018, 08:08 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

Maybe She Is Crazy (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/30/nxt-may-30-2018-maybe-she-is-crazy/)

Uncle Sam

06-01-2018, 03:48 AM

If only because this moment deserves to be recorded in this thread for posterity:

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1002254510692200453

Yer Maw

06-01-2018, 05:02 AM

That is the coolest thing I've ever seen in wrestling.

klunderbunker

06-01-2018, 07:32 AM

Totally awesome. Dream's face sells it very, very well.

mrluck_07

06-01-2018, 08:04 AM

Totally awesome. Dream's face sells it very, very well.

It really did. Like he couldn't believe what just happened.

ShinChan

06-01-2018, 08:18 AM

Is it wrong to expect another match like Black/Dream from Ricochet/Dream?

Jack-Hammer

06-01-2018, 10:11 AM

Is it wrong to expect another match like Black/Dream from Ricochet/Dream?

I don't think so and I think many are expecting something along those lines. Nobody was really expecting the awesomeness that was Black vs. Dream, I think most of us felt that it would be a solid to good match only to find out that Dream was one of the best kept secrets in wrestling. The kid knows psychology, he understands it and he puts it to use. He knows how to tell a story with everything he does in the ring or with his facial expressions or body language, he can be surprisingly technical if that's what the match calls for and his got the athleticism to hang with anyone in NXT. That's not to say that Black wasn't responsible for the match being so great as he certainly was, it's just that we already knew how good Black was but this was the first time I think we'd really, truly seen what Dream is fully capable of.

In a match with Ricochet, I see an easy 4.25 to 4.5 star match out of them, especially if Triple H tells them to go out there and let it all hang out. This is a strategy that seems to be par for the course when it comes to TakeOver matches and I think that will be the case here.

From what I understand, the final card is rumored to look like this:

NXT Championship - Aleister Black VS Lars Sullivan
NXT Women's Championship - Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross
NXT Tag Team Championship - The Undisputed Era vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan
Chicago Street Fight - Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Singles Match - Ricochet vs. The Velveteen Dream

I've also read rumors of there possibly being a champion vs. champion match between Pete Dunne and Adam Cole, which would be like the cherry on top of an already stacked card.

Uncle Sam

06-05-2018, 09:39 AM

Dream wasn't so much a secret as that was his first major program. Unless we were working in the Performance Center, how were we supposed to know he'd be that good?

klunderbunker

06-05-2018, 01:56 PM

Dream wasn't so much a secret as that was his first major program. Unless we were working in the Performance Center, how were we supposed to know he'd be that good?

I saw him last January at a house show against Eric Young and was rather impressed. He was still Patrick Clark then.

klunderbunker

06-06-2018, 08:16 PM

NXT
Date: June 6, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

It’s rubber match night as we have the unlikely third match between Lacey Evans and Kairi Sane. Evans has come out of almost nowhere with a gimmick that makes you want to see someone take her head off while Sane has gone from what looked like a very fun woman full of potential to just another name on the roster. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Take Notes (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/06/06/nxt-june-6-2018-take-notes/)

klunderbunker

06-13-2018, 08:13 PM

NXT
Date: June 13, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

It’s the go home show for Takeover: Chicago and that means it’s time to put the final touches on everything. The five match card is already set and this week’s show will feature a focus on the NXT Title match between Aleister Black and his monster challenger Lars Sullivan. The match doesn’t need a lot of focus but at least they can have something to get us to Takeover. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Sweet (Go) Home Chicago

Jack-Hammer

06-13-2018, 09:02 PM

It gets sorta redundant giving NXT props week in and week out as I honestly can't remember the last time I saw an episode that wasn't good, not that I'm complaining mind you. Even the weaker episodes manage to accomplish something and tonight's go home show for TakeOver: Chicago was no different.

The War Raiders continue to impress and showcase their reputation as one of the best hoss tag teams of the last 10 years or so. Their match against the Mightly could be a lot of fun.

Really nice video segments providing final hype for Gargano vs. Ciampa and Baszler vs. Cross.

I thought EC3 vs. Kassius Ohno was a good, 3 star bout. It may have lasted only about 5 minutes, but it was an action packed and highly physical 5 minutes, which helped make the match seem longer in a good way. Ohno is basically the gatekeeper of NXT and continues to look good in defeat. I'm okay with him in this role as I look for him to be one of the top guys behind the scenes in NXT in a couple of years. EC3 doesn't have a solidified feud as of yet, which is fine as he's still so brand new, so this was a good credibility win for him.

Bianca Belair is someone who continues to impress me. Like the Velveteen Dream, it's hard to believe that she's only been wrestling for a couple of years. She sort of reminds me of Sasha Banks in terms of her confidence, but Bianca comes off as more of a legit, athletic badass with the attitude to go along with it. Her match with Dakota Kai next week could be a chance for both ladies to impress.

Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O'Reilly was a very good, hard hitting, action packed 3.5 star main event. While there was never really any danger of Dunne losing, the action was crisp, both men worked really well together and their technical stuff was a nice little treat. I always have a lot of fun watching Dunne manipulate the finger and wrist joints, though it still makes me cringe a little as to just how easy he could fuck somebody up. Also, just throwing it out there, am I the only one who flat out loves the look of the UK Championship? Because the belt has an actual center plate, a take on the British Coat of Arms, instead of the WWE logo, it just looks more majestic. I kind of wish that Dunne would get his own personalized side plates but, at the same time, the default plates really do help make the look of the belt pop.

The ending with Lars Sullivan laying out Black was a solid way to close the show. While I think Black retains, this is an opportunity for Sullivan to prove himself. Sullivan hasn't really wrestled in any long, 1 on 1 matches and I'm hoping we'll get to see some good time to see how good he might actually be.

It'll be hard to top TakeOver: New Orleans, but I think Chicago has a solid chance of it with Gargano vs. Ciampa II and Ricochet vs. Dream. A Strong B+ for tonight's go home show.

smarkmouth

06-14-2018, 02:12 PM

Seems Mauro Ranallo will be missing NXT TakeOver due to boxing commitments, and Vic Joseph will be rounding out the team. A little interesting, because when Nigel missed the last event, Mauro and Percy worked as a two man booth. Mauro has been replaced to keep a three man booth going. I don't blame them. I love Nigel, but Mauro's absence will be felt at this special.

That being said, Vic, Nigel and Percy work well on 205 Live. I welcome Vic. It won't quite be the same, but Vic will do great.

Yer Maw

06-16-2018, 09:04 AM

Looking forward to takeover tonight, even though I'm not excited for all the matches. Gargano/Ciampa and Ricochet/Dream will be amazing but don't have high hopes for the rest.

smarkmouth

06-16-2018, 09:41 AM

I wonder if we're going to see any new champions. All the reigns seem too fresh to spoil so soon, but I'd only be moderately surprised if Aleister loses to Lars. Aleister's going to be a licence to print money on the main roster, and Lars makes a better champion for a contender like Gargano.

desert safari deals

06-17-2018, 03:23 PM

Like it, love it to much .......

a0161613

06-17-2018, 04:57 PM

It was a great show, especially as it didn't expect it to be. I didn't think it would over deliver for what looked like a pretty weak card.

mrluck_07

06-17-2018, 09:58 PM

TakeOver was pretty solid. I dug the Hogan tribute by Dream. Although the Women's Title match was underwhelming I liked the angle of Bazler retreating from Cross. The Street Fight was great. Gargano losing it after discovering his ring was gone was ace as was Ciampa coming back for the surprise win.

BestSportsEntertainer

06-18-2018, 02:41 AM

Some wrestling "fans" (if you could even call them fans) are complaining about the match between Ciampa and Gargano at Takeover: Chicago. They've claimed it was either too long or too unbelievable or had a weak finish.

I really don't know what to say to those people other than go watch something else. Seriously that was an amazing match. I know wrestling is subjective, and people enjoy different things. However if you can't enjoy that match, then what can you enjoy? It had everything you could want and then some. Some people just aren't ever going to be happy.

Sorry for the rant, but if you watch an instant 5 star classic and still aren't happy, then you'll never be happy.

Uncle Sam

06-19-2018, 08:02 AM

I preferred the Dream match but I could see a case for both.

klunderbunker

06-20-2018, 08:01 PM

NXT
Date: June 20, 2018
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s another slow down week as we’ll be looking at what happened this past Saturday plus the two matches taped before Takeover went on the air. Therefore it’s not going to be the most important show in the world, but after everything WWE has had going on this week, a little break sounds like just the ticket. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Last Train From Chicago (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/06/20/nxt-june-20-2018-last-train-from-chicago/)

klunderbunker

06-27-2018, 07:35 PM

NXT
Date: June 27, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

Not The Grocery Store! (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/06/27/nxt-june-27-2018-not-the-grocery-store/)

Jack-Hammer

06-27-2018, 08:14 PM

I thought tonight's show was a lot of fun and already gave some hints as some of what might go down for Brooklyn III.

Black vs. Ciampa could be fun, though I'm not sure if they'll wind up meeting on an episode of NXT, in which Gargano costs Ciampa the match, if they meet in Brooklyn III and Gargano costs Ciampa or if they meet at Brooklyn and Ciampa wins the title. I'm mostly hoping for the third option as having the big blow off for their program involve the NXT Championship seems fitting. If the plan is to put their final bout off for a bit, say until the TakeOver during Survivor Series weekend, then that works. Some nice intensity was shown by Gargano during his backstage interview later in the show, though it has me wondering if he's going to go on something of a losing streak again similar to what we saw last year.

I still see nothing special whatsoever about Kona Reeves. He's dirt basic inside the ring and considering the gimmick he has, he's just not remotely good looking enough to pull it off. As I've said in the past, he has kind of a weird body in that he's kinda sorta muscular in some areas, a little chubby in some areas and skinny in other areas. I'm wondering if he's a member of the Anoa'i family, otherwise I can't see why he's getting any real TV time.

Candice LeRae vs. Lacey Evans was a solid, **3/4 star match with some good heel tactics from Evans and Candace as a spunky, fiery babyface. She's a cute little thing and you don't really realize how tiny she is until she's paired up with someone like Evans.

The main event was originally supposed to be the new NXT Tag Team Champions, Mustache Mountain, take on a few jobbers before said jobbers were jumped by the Undisputed Era. The UE was about to launch a 3 on 2 beatdown until Ricochet hit the ring to even things up and a six man tag match was made. The match was a lot of fun with a ton of energy that the life crowd ate up. The Undisputed Era picks up the win via Cole pinning Ricochet after Ricochet eats a version of the End of Heartache in which he's slammed into the ring apron. A fun ###1/2 star bout.

As to what might be on the table for the next TakeOver event, the seeds for Black vs. Ciampa for the NXT Championship may have been planted though it's early to tell. I don't see Mustache Mountain keeping the tag titles for long and I figure they'll drop them back to the UE before long so the tag match is still open. However, in the roughly 2 months until Brooklyn III, I expect that the War Raiders may be positioned to be the next challengers. I also got the feeling of Cole vs. Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship could be in the cards for Brooklyn III.

Another good hour of NXT, I give it a B, maybe a B+.

#AbsoluteUnit

06-27-2018, 08:22 PM

I don't like seeing Lacey Evans lose. Call me a sore loser all you want. I don't know why, but she is a favorite of mine.

klunderbunker

07-04-2018, 07:50 PM

NXT
Date: July 4, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re well on the way to Takeover: Brooklyn with the NXT Title match pretty clearly set and that’s going to make for some interesting weeks ahead. NXT knows how to build up a card in a hurry and I’m looking forward to see what else we get on the upcoming show. Things are good around here and they could get even better so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Celebrating Independence From The Main Roster (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/04/nxt-july-4-2018-celebrating-independence-from-the-main-roster/)

smarkmouth

07-09-2018, 01:45 AM

Shayna is great, but she cut the same promo that Bianca Bel Air did from her honeymoon. I think it's obvious who had the better of the two.

Dijak and Dream was way more physical than I expected. I like Dijak's voice as he trash talked during the match. Hope his promo matches that intensity.

I can't remember a character arc as strong as Gargano's for the life of me. This is absolutely literary, dare I say biblical. I love that his transformation into Ciampa continues. Being Ciampa cost Johnny his match against the genuine article, but the Ciampa-viciousness secures Johnny a win against EC3. As beautiful as all that is on it's own, it induces goosebumps when you consider Johnny's theme music. Be yourself, can't be no one else...

klunderbunker

07-11-2018, 08:23 PM

NXT
Date: July 11, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s rematch night and in this case we have a title on the line. This time around it’s about the Tag Team Titles as new champions Moustache Mountain defends against former champions the Undisputed Era. Other than that we’re still in the early stages of the build towards Takeover: Brooklyn so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

They're Coming Home (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/11/nxt-july-11-2018-theyre-coming-home/)

Jack-Hammer

07-11-2018, 08:54 PM

Par for the course for NXT tonight, meaning it was another very solid hour of wrestling in which everything had a place and there was a place for everything.

Adam Cole vs. Danny Burch was a fun opener. As with most situations concerning Burch or Lorcan, you never get the feeling that their opponents are in real danger but Lorcan and Burch go at it with such enthusiasm that you can't help but get sucked in. Some fun, physical action from both men here and it was a nice little novelty to see Cole pick up a win without any other UE members at ringside. **3/4

There was a nice, brief scuffle between Shayna Baszler and Candice LeRae as Candice was giving an interview, Shayna interrupted and said Candice should be happy being her hubby's sidekick and it was on. Nice intensity from the two as security separated them.

Kairi Sane vs. Vanessa Borne was a solid outing overall. Sane continues to connect with fans and you can tell that she seems more comfortable with herself and goes beyond just doing her typical poses an mannerisms. Vanessa Borne has improved but she needs more work. Sane picks up the win via the Anchor, which is a great looking half crab that genuinely looks kinda painful, causing Borne to tap. **3/4

There's a brief walking interview with Aleister Black before he runs into Johnny Gargano. Gargano has this intense, haunted look on his face and he does a good job of conveying his obsession with Tommaso Ciampa by repeatedly telling Black that Ciampa can't become NXT Champion. Black kind of soothingly placates Gargano before going inside, where he's jumped by Ciampa and nailed with a hanging DDT from a table onto the concrete floor. Personally, I think Black is at his best when he says as little as possible, it just fits him in my opinion, while Ciampa continues to be a raging asshole and Gargano is sliding closer to the abyss as his focus on Ciampa stays at the forefront of his character.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Mustache Mountain vs. The Undisputed Era - This match was a helluva lot of fun with a ton of action, an excited crowd and a damn fine bit of storytelling. Trent Seven did a great job of selling the hell out of his left knee throughout the match while the UE came off as vicious, ravaneous heels who'll do anything to get back the titles they lost by feverishly targeting the injury. Tyler Bate continues to impress as he's a great mix of athletic ability, power and technical knowhow all rolled into one. He's so fluid that you forget he's only in his very early 20s. The ending comes with O'Reilly repeatedly locking in a series of leg locks with Seven managing to escape each time, struggle to get the tag only to be cut off and put back into another leglock. Seven sells the anguish and when it becomes obvious that he simply won't tap, Bate struggles to decide whether or not to literally throw in the towel due to concern over his friend and mentor, something that the NXT commentators frequently hammer into the fans as they watch. Eventually, Bate can't stand to watch Seven suffer and tosses in the towel somewhere past the 17 minute mark. The UE celebrate as Bate helps Seven in the aftermath. I get the feeling we could be headed for a rubber match between these teams at TakeOver: Brooklyn and, if so, that's fine with me as they have the sort of chemistry that reminds me of the Revival's feuds with American Alpha and #DIY. ****1/4

I thought the main event put tonight's show over the top. Everything on the show was solid, but the main event gave it that extra push that it needed to go from being just slightly above average. Based on how things are looking right now, we're getting Baszler vs. Sane for Brooklyn III, possibly UE vs. MM III at Brooklyn III and you just have to sense that Gargano is going to do something to prevent Ciampa from winning the NXT Championship when he faces Black in a few weeks. A solid B overall.

smarkmouth

07-11-2018, 09:26 PM

In regards to the championship picture, I hope they're heading towards Gargano vs Ciampa vs Black. The Gargano/Ciampa rivalry still has plenty of momentum that could easily carry them to Survivor Series weekend, so a triple threat would be a nice "soft-interlude" to the epic conclusion.

The tag team championship match, wow. That finish was spectacularly dramatic. I was a little annoyed that Tyler wasn't breaking the hold. Yes, I know the ref was getting more firm with the rules towards the end, but a ref being a stickler for such a thing is so rare it's almost alien. I'd like to have seen them laying it on a little thicker. Maybe make the same authoritative stance against UE earlier in the match or something.

Yes, that's nitpicky, and I have to concede that the last agonizing moments of the match made me forget all about my gripes.

klunderbunker

07-18-2018, 08:10 PM

NXT
Date: July 18, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

Tonight we get to see one of NXT’s best features in action. The main event of this week’s show is a triple threat match for the #1 contendership to the Women’s Title. Around here, that’s something that can headline a show without blinking an eye. On any other show, such a thing would be insane. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Women's Night (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/18/nxt-july-18-2018-the-womens-night/)

Jack-Hammer

07-21-2018, 08:40 AM

We've got Black vs. Ciampa next week and I've done my best to avoid spoilers but if you've visited a wrestling website in the past couple of days, there's no avoiding it as some articles flat out state what happened without you even having to click on them. If it winds up being a triple threat match for the NXT Championship at Brooklyn, then I'm fine with it because NXT almost never goes the three or fourway route when it comes to the NXT Championship. Hell, it doesn't really do it that often for any title. I still see the feud between Gargano and Ciamp ultimately ending up being for the NXT Championship, which is appropriate as I think it's been the best feud in all of wrestling all year.

As for the women, we've got Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane for the NXT Women's Championship after her win in a #1 contenders match this past Wednesday. I don't see Sane picking up the win, though I could be wrong as Kairi has the chops to do it, as she did it in last year's Mae Young Classic finals.

Based on Ricochet's words, we're all but certainly getting Adam Cole defending the NXT North American Championship against Ricochet, which should be a lot of fun.

Even though it's something of a rarity, I think we're going to get a third match between Mustache Mountain and the Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Team Championship. These two teams have crushed it in their last two encounters, including what may possibly be the best match in the history of the NXT show on the WWE Network. I don't think I've seen two teams with this much chemistry with each other since the days of the Revival and American Alpha.

As for the fifth on the card, that's pretty wide open. Since EC3 and Kona Reeves interacted, I was afraid they were going to be on the Brooklyn card but they'll be on NXT next week instead, thankfully. Seeing the two side by side just make Kona Reeves look like an extremely poor imitation of what EC3 is all about, the similarities in their characters was even mentioned, at least on the surface. EC3 has a much better look, a much better physique, a whiter smile, etc., hell, he's just a much better looking guy all around and he's a lot better in the ring that Reeves, who is just this side of very average.

Based on what LOOKS to be how things are shaping up, this'll probably be the first TakeOver since Philadelphia back in January where the NXT Championship "feels" like it's the actual main event in terms of overall quality. Not that the NXT Championship matches haven't been high quality, but it's been damn near impossible for them to match up with the intensity and storytelling of Gargano vs. Ciampa.

klunderbunker

07-25-2018, 08:16 PM

NXT
Date: July 25, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

That One Show They Always Do (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/25/nxt-july-25-2018-that-one-show-they-always-do/)

Jack-Hammer

07-25-2018, 08:50 PM

More NXT goodness on top of goodness as things just keep rolling along.

Adam Cole vs. Sean Maluta was little more than a squash, which is okay as it got Cole on screen that the fans eat the guy up. He brags for a bit about this and that, out comes Ricochet to ultimately challenge him for a title match at TakeOver: Brooklyn. You can tell Ricochet isn't really in his element when it comes to promos, but he's solid and the fans like him so that's ultimately what matters. They mouth back and forth for a bit with Cole declining that he has anything to prove before leaving. O'Reilly and Strong come out to join him and they're about to make their way down to whoop up on Ricochet before the War Raiders show up, scare them half to death and they leave out through the crowd only to run into Mustache Mountain, where they get pasted briefly before fleeing. Within the first 12 minutes or so of the show, it looks like we've already got two matches set up for Brooklyn with Cole taking on Ricochet for the NXT NA Championship and either Mustache Mountain, the War Raiders or both going after O'Reilly and Strong for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Nice stuff.

There's a brief contract signing segment in William Regal's office between Shanya Baszler and Kairi Sane, who looks pretty damn scrumptious, as Sane earned the right to face Baszler in Brooklyn for the NXT Women's Championship. Baszler is such a bitch, which is a great thing for a heel to be as she comes off super confident, smarmy and is a great bully. She strikes me as the type who'll flounder under all the promo restrictions of Vince once she makes it to the main roster. She and Sane go back and forth a bit before both sign their name and Baszler splits.

Lacey Evans vs. Tenilla Price is basically a showcase for Evans, which is fine. Evans continues to improve in the ring as she establishes herself as a good, solid heel personality, I just think she needs a better finisher than a punch.

Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship is a fantastic outing with both men delivering a hard hitting piece of drama. I kind of rolled my eyes a little at the ref bump, but changed my mind on it as it wasn't you rstandard bump where the ref is barely touched and acts like he's in a coma. In this case, he was accidentally rammed into by Ciampa and knocked off the apron onto the concrete floor after Ciampa had pulled it up with the intention of delivering the hanging DDT to Black. As the ref is down, Black delivers Black Mass and has Ciampa down for about a count of 11 or 12. Ciampa tries to cheat by using the belt against Black but Johnny Gargano comes out to stop him and they play tug of war with the belt, which Gargano wins but winds up accidentally striking Black with the belt before he's then knocked out of the ring by Ciampa. Ciampa then delivers sort of a sit out Pedigree/Implant Buster finisher as the ref climbs back into the ring and makes the three count. This marks the first time since late 2016 that the NXT Championship has changed hands on an episode of the show. I loved the camera showing the reactions of various members of the crowd with some being pissed, some being shocked and some looking on the verge of tears. Ciampa is the best heel in all of wrestling right now, in my opinion, and this sets things up for a possible three way for Brooklyn. ****1/2

The first half of NXT was basically NXT setting things up, using its time wisely and generally just being solid as usual while setting up what much of TakeOver: Brooklyn will look like. The second half of the show was event was a TakeOver level match that led to a memorable and buzzworthy title change. You get the sense that it will wind up being Ciampa defending against Black and Gargano in Brooklyn with Ciampa retaining, maybe Gargano facing off against Black to determine who faces Ciampa in which Gargano wins and it sets up the Gargano vs. Ciampa rubber match to possibly end the feud with Gargano ultimately defeating the vile Ciampa, ending their epic program and becoming NXT Champion. All in all, I give tonight's show a solid A.

Jack-Hammer

07-26-2018, 11:14 AM

There are some rumors going about that WWE is considering increasing the number of TakeOver specials to eight beginning next year. It feels like an edict that's come down from Vince himself, if it's true, which means it'll happen if that's what Vince wants. Vince rarely steps in and usurps Triple H's authority in NXT but when he does, that's ultimately it as he will always and truly have the final say over anything WWE related and NXT is WWE related. I'm beyond thankful that Vince mostly lets NXT alone to run so smoothly so I'm not sure how I feel about adding more TakeOver specials. What we've come to expect from the TakeOver shows the past few years have been PERHAPS the most consistently high quality and entertaining ppvs in all of wrestling and the way they have them set and spaced out now just seems perfect; WWE now considers MITB to be one of THE top shows they do along with the original Big Four and they have TakeOver specials during each of the weekends those shows take place and it just works. I'm worried that they'll have to get in a hurry, rush things and try to cram things just to get something on the shows. Right now, Vince is very much in the mind set of more is better, such as extending the times of ppvs and packing said shows with matches, despite all the complaints and evidence to the contrary. Vince told everyone this morning that HIS company already made $474 million the first 6 months of the year, so of course he ain't gonna listen to what we say.

klunderbunker

08-01-2018, 08:09 PM

NXT
Date: August 1, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

Last week, evil won. Tommaso Ciampa defeated Aleister Black to become the new NXT Champion, thanks to an accidental belt shot to Black’s head at the hands of Johnny Gargano. That is Gargano’s, as well as a lot of other people’s, worst nightmare and it’s going to make for an interesting future. Let’s get to it.

The Cowardly Lion Would Wreck Thanos (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/08/01/nxt-august-1-2018-the-cowardly-lion-would-wreck-thanos/)

Jack-Hammer

08-03-2018, 01:15 PM

The likely main event for TakeOver: Brooklyn may not happen as I read a little while ago that Aleister Black is out injured and that the injury was severe enough to require surgery, at least according to Dave Meltzer. The injury is said to have happened during the main event match this past Saturday in Las Vegas during a match with Tommaso Ciampa and Black was crotched by Ciampa. The report says that Black will be okay but that the situation was described as "quite scary" when it happened.

Even though nothing has been officially announced, it seems obvious that they were building to a triple threat match between Ciampa, Black and Johnny Gargano for the main event at TakekOver: Brooklyn. Exactly what "crotched" means in this case could be that Black was crotched on the top rope and didn't land right or that Ciampa delivered a low blow that legitimately landed. TakeOver: Brooklyn is only about 2 weeks away and if Black did indeed suffer a crotch injury severe enough that he's had to have surgery to fix it, then I wouldn't expect him to be back so soon. Of course, that could all just be me assigning more severity to the injury because of the location and that it might not actually be that severe, comparatively speaking, but it's all up in the air at this point.

It seems too soon for Gargano and Ciampa to have their next 1 on 1 bout since Ciampa just won the title a week ago and it's too soon to take the title off Ciampa. If the triple threat can't happen, a plan could be for Ciampa to announce that he's not going to defend HIS NXT Championship in Brooklyn and that Johnny Gargano doesn't deserve an opportunity, which could be confirmed by William Regal with Regal pointing out that Gargano's interference cost Black the title in the first place and that he doesn't believe in rewarding such behavior with a title opportunity. Of course, this leaves a big hole for Brooklyn but if they absolutely have to go with Ciampa vs. Gargano, maybe Black could make an appearance and wind up costing Gargano the chance of winning, furthering things between them, maybe setting up the threeway match for TakeOver: WarGames and putting off the real title match between Ciampa and Gargano until the TakeOver during Royal Rumble weekend.

smarkmouth

08-03-2018, 04:05 PM

It seems too soon for Gargano and Ciampa to have their next 1 on 1 bout since Ciampa just won the title a week ago and it's too soon to take the title off Ciampa. If the triple threat can't happen, a plan could be for Ciampa to announce that he's not going to defend HIS NXT Championship in Brooklyn and that Johnny Gargano doesn't deserve an opportunity, which could be confirmed by William Regal with Regal pointing out that Gargano's interference cost Black the title in the first place and that he doesn't believe in rewarding such behavior with a title opportunity. Of course, this leaves a big hole for Brooklyn but if they absolutely have to go with Ciampa vs. Gargano, maybe Black could make an appearance and wind up costing Gargano the chance of winning, furthering things between them, maybe setting up the threeway match for TakeOver: WarGames and putting off the real title match between Ciampa and Gargano until the TakeOver during Royal Rumble weekend.

A good adaptive scenario, but we can't forget that they've pretaped everything between now and Brooklyn, so if Black can't compete I think they will announce it the night of TakeOver in order to let the build play out.

It is early, but I think they're stuck with Gargano vs Ciampa for Brooklyn(Black removed by Mr. Regal at the topmof the show) , but it's definitely not the last chapter. I'd like to see it set up as a one on one match with no stipulation unlike their last two encounters. Let the angle of Johnny becoming Ciampa continue to develop, in the shape of Johnny getting himself disqualified for getting violent. Hell, maybe even Johnny wins, but a post match beatdown to Tomasso forces the ref reversing the decision.

From then, let Johnny Gargano pick up the pieces of himself en route to TakeOver during Rumble weekend.

klunderbunker

08-08-2018, 08:23 PM

NXT
Date: August 8, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for a big match this week with Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano. These two have a shared enemy in Tommaso Ciampa, who won the NXT Title thanks to Gargano accidentally knocking Black out. We’re very close to Takeover and that means we need a main event, which is likely to be announced tonight. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

And For Once It Makes Sense (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/08/08/nxt-august-8-2018-and-for-once-it-makes-sense/)

Jack-Hammer

08-09-2018, 05:54 PM

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2018/0809/644640/big-change-to-the-wwe-nxt-title-match-at-takeover-brooklyn-iv/

This was posted just a few minutes ago in regards to the main event for TakeOver: Brooklyn III. Aleister Black is officially out of the main event due to the groin injury he suffered in a recent house show match against Tommaso Ciampa. As a result, the NXT Championship match will now be between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano under Last Man Standing rules. So, as of right now, the final card for TakeOver: Brooklyn III appears to be this:

NXT Championship: Last Man Standing Match - Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT North American Championship: Adam Cole vs. Ricochet
NXT Women's Championship: Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane
NXT Tag Team Championship: The Undisputed Era vs. Mustache Mountain
Singles Match: EC3 vs. The Velveteen Dream

The NXT Championship match is up in the air at this point as to who wins. MAYBE the plan was for Ciampa to retain over Black and Gargano in a triple threat match, eventually move onto the rubber singles match with Gargano with Gargano winning the title and closing the door on his feud with Ciampa. With Black being out injured, MAYBE they've decided to just go ahead and move things up with ending the program with both men moving onto other things rather than prolonging it. It'll make Ciampa the shortest reigning champion in history but if the overall payoff is for Gargano to finally get his revenge by beating Ciampa AND by doing so for the NXT Championship, then closing the book on their program might be the best way to do. After all, there's no word on when Black will be returning and there's no shortage of viable challengers for Gargano as champion.

I think Ricochet will walk out of Brooklyn as the new NXT North American Champion. He's already really over with fans, there are reports that he's really helping boost NXT's ticket sales and Adam Cole is someone who is among those viable challengers to Gargano as NXT Champion, if that's the route they're ultimately going to take.

As for the NXT Women's Championship, Sane or Candice LeRae are probably the strongest options at this point to dethrone Baszler as champion at this point. Sane and Baszler hold victories over each other and Baszler defeated LeRae recently in a good, hard fought match so I think there's a good chance of Sane coming out on top next Saturday. Also, within the next month or so, we'll probably begin seeing an infusion of fresh female talent into NXT featuring women from the Mae Young Classic.

I expect Strong and O'Reilly to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship against Mustache Mountain, but both teams will deliver another outstanding classic outing like their previous two encounters. MM winning the titles as part of the UK Championship tournament card was done for the sake of the card and to generate a nice surprise for the English fans and the return match they had about 6 weeks ago may well have been the greatest match in the history of the NXT TV show. MM is a fun team, but the Undisputed Era has Heavy Machinery, the Street Profits, the Mighty and the War Raiders especially waiting on them.

EC3 vs the Velveteen Dream looks like the "weak" match on the card, though that's just because it's not for a title. EC3 has been on a roll lately, but I think Dream needs the win here more. Dream has delivered some amazing performances at past TakeOver events, especially being part of the NXT NA Championship ladder match at TakeOver: New Orleans and what many believe was a career defining performance against Aleister Black at TakeOver: WarGames, but he's up short in these big matches. His biggest win in NXT is probably his win over Kassius Ohno at TakeOver: Philadelphia back in January and that's not as big of a deal as it would've been 18 or so months ago when Ohno returned to NXT as he's put over a lot of other wrestlers since then as NXT's unofficial gatekeeper.

klunderbunker

08-15-2018, 08:18 PM

NXT
Date: August 15, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

It’s the go home show for Takeover: Brooklyn and we now have a new main event of NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano in a Last Man Standing match. The big question now is who attacked Aleister Black, who was originally in the match but was found unconscious in the parking lot last week. Odds are that one is going to take some time to find out though so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

They're Going Home (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/08/15/nxt-august-15-2018-theyre-going-home/)

smarkmouth

08-16-2018, 07:48 PM

I love how they're deploying this Whodunnit in regards to Black's injury.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoYRUEwFFEw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mctZToOp0U

They brought all hands on deck to make everyone look like a suspect, and have begun some "investigative" journalism to figure out the culprit. We got UE fleeing the scene. Heavy Machinery are being a couple of Logan Pauls hovering over Black's unconscious body. Velveteen's upset about something. Lots of cool little easter eggs all over these. This is the kind of peripheral media storytelling I can get behind.

Rating my own suspects from Likely to Interesting:

Lars Sullivan - Also presently injured from his recent match with Aleister Black.
Matt Riddle - Hell of a debut.
Neville - Shut up and let me dream.

klunderbunker

08-22-2018, 08:44 PM

NXT
Date: August 22, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

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

Anyone Want To Beat This Guy? (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/08/22/nxt-august-22-2018-anyone-want-to-beat-this-guy/)

Jack-Hammer

08-23-2018, 10:09 AM

Solid post TakeOver show and I have a feeling that they're already laying some of the groundwork for WarGames in November. Bianca Belair continues to shine and it's always a treat watching Pete Dunne do his thing. It's been announced that Pete Dunne and Ricochet will team up next week to take on Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong; the next batch of NXT tapings should take place tonight so we'll ultimately see next week. The WarGames match, in my estimation, will look like the Undisputed Era vs. British Strong Style, which consists of Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven, vs. the War Raiders & Ricochet.

klunderbunker

08-29-2018, 08:19 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

Whodunneit? (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/08/29/nxt-august-29-2018-whodunneit/)

klunderbunker

09-05-2018, 08:37 PM

NXT
Date: September 5, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

Every now and then you get a dream match, but this time we have a Dream match. The big main event this week is Velveteen Dream vs. Johnny Gargano after Dream interrupted Gargano’s promo/therapy session last week. Other than that we might be getting some more information about who attacked Aleister Black. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Dream Match (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/05/nxt-september-5-2018-the-dream-match/)

klunderbunker

09-13-2018, 04:54 AM

NXT
Date: September 12, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

We’re still in the hunt for Aleister Black’s attacker and that can make for some interesting television. Other than that though, the big story seems to be Johnny Gargano finally cracking and not being able to keep going as Johnny Wrestling due to losing everything that matters to him, including the fans’ support. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Oh That's Going Somewhere (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/13/nxt-september-12-2018-oh-thats-going-somewhere/)

smarkmouth

09-14-2018, 10:58 AM

Merchandise, music, and serving as the face of NXT; we've all been busy watching Gargano become Ciampa that we've ignored Ciampa inherit everything Gargano wants to be.

ShinChan

09-14-2018, 12:35 PM

Merchandise, music, and serving as the face of NXT; we've all been busy watching Gargano become Ciampa that we've ignored Ciampa inherit everything Gargano wants to be.
Well done bro.

I wish I could understand it myself. But still thanks.

Jack-Hammer

09-20-2018, 04:24 AM

To kick things off for this week's NXT episode, we saw Dakota Kai & Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lacey Evans & Aliyah. I thought it was a solid 2.5, maybe 2.75 star, 7.5 minute bout in which the ladies got to show some of their stuff. These four going at it over the next few months should be a solid mid-card feud for the women, Purrazzo is still finding her legs in NXT, Dakota Kai continues to be an adorable, scrappy babyface that puts me in mind of Bailey in a lot of ways, Aliyah showed off her new heel persona and Lacey Evans continues to grow on me. The heels worked quite well together and I dug the aggression, I'm still not overly wild about Evans "Woman's Right" finisher as it's basically just a punch to the face, it's just too simplistic and just seems more in line with something that Shayna Baszler. Still, via a blind tag made to Evans by Aliyah just before Dakota puts her in an O'Connor Roll, the heels win via Evans hitting the Woman's Right. Solid overall.

Up next is a recap of Nikki Cross and Bianca Belair from last week and a follow up interview from Belair backstage just after the match. I sorta liked that Bianca wasn't quite as cocky as she usually is, it was subtle and far from anything over the top but just that little bit worked given her place on the roster because Nikki's level of crazy rocking her a little feels appropriate. I liked their match last week and I'm expecting more out of the follow up.

Jaxon Ryker, AKA Gunner from TNA, vs. Humberto Carrillo was a solid squash for Ryker, though it was odd that his Forgotten Sons brethren weren't at ringside. Ryker slams Carrillo here and there for a bit before hitting a slingshot powerbomb for the win. It was solid enough, but not nearly as impressive as watching Lars Sullivan doing it.

We get another segment in William Regal's office, interviewing Candice LaRae about what she might know about who attacked Aleister Black. Candace, naturally, points the finger at Tommaso Ciampa even though Regal is reluctant to believe that Ciampa did it and mentions to Candice the various emotional issues of Johnny Gargano as of late. It's an intriguing whodunit so far and part of the reason why is that they're not running it into the ground; if this was on the main roster, you'd probably have 2 or 3 segments every week shown on TV or there'd be times that the entire show would be wrapped around the notion and they'd burn through 3 months worth of potential angles inside of 3 weeks. It'd get to the point where we'd be so sick of it that I'd want to stand up at a house show or Raw taping with a megaphone screaming "It was me!!! I'm the one who took out Black. I was also the other man on the grassy knoll in Dallas back in '63 and I also shot JR!!!" As to who the culprit turns out, my guess it might be someone new to NXT like Matt Riddle or Keith Lee.

The main event was the first champion vs. champion match in NXT history, Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne, with both the WWE UK and NXT North American Championships on the line. This was a fucking stellar main event, just really incredible work from these two kids as they just delivered an epic 22 minute bout that just had pretty much anything any remotely reasonable wrestling fan could ask for. Initially, they started out with Dunne and Ricochet doing some mat wrestling and trading submission holds, which again shows that Ricochet is and can be more than just a flippy guy and I liked the story of Ricochet trying to match Dunne here but ultimately regretting it as maybe Dunne was a little too good here, so he'd eventually have to change his tactics to employ more of his own athleticism and striking ability to make things more even. Watching Dunn manipulate the fingers and wrist of an opponent always makes me cringe as it could be so very easy to really do some damage to somebody. I mean, just a few more pounds of pressure or maybe pulling back on an angle at just a few more degrees could just obliterate someone's fingers and Ricochet did a very nice job of selling the effects throughout the match as, at various points, Dunne would go back to doing things like even stomping on his fingers. The crowd at Full Sail was on its feet from bell to bell and I enjoyed it so much that I'm sorely tempted to go full 5 stars on this. The end comes after both guys are just down on the mat after having just spent about 22 minutes just kicking the crap out of each other and the Undisputed Era comes out and begins beating them down, only for the War Raiders to make the save and run the UE off. The fans applauded the efforts of both men, rightly so, as each eyed the other across the ring, exhausted but also out of respect. The only thing that might give me pause on giving this a full 5 star rating was because of the ending; had we gotten a decisive winner then I don't see how there could be any doubt. The ending didn't hurt the match, it's just that a match like this ending with a clear winner would have left no real doubt. Also, it was all part of maybe setting up WarGames a little bit down the line and because NXT doesn't do stuff like this often at all, it's just one of the many little details that NXT nails and just helps it come off as a much more well rounded product than the main roster. So yeah, all in all, this was easily a 4.75 star bout, possibly even a 5 star if you just enjoyed it enough. This could have headlined any TakeOver special or ppv and ultimately, what it did more than anything is make me want to see these two go at it again later on down the line with a decisive winner.

For the most part, the show was the typical solid fair for the show while the main event has to be one of the top matches of 2018 in any promotion that I've seen this year and I've seen lots of great stuff from WWE, NXT and New Japan. I give the show an A.

klunderbunker

09-23-2018, 04:43 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

It Lives Up To The Hype (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/23/nxt-september-19-2018-it-lives-up-to-the-hype/)

klunderbunker

10-03-2018, 08:27 PM

NXT
Date: October 3, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

As usual, NXT knows how to build towards the future and that’s what they’ve done here. Next week we get the triple threat match for the North American Title and the week after that it’s the War Raiders getting their shot at the Tag Team Titles. Other than that, it’s time to continue searching for Aleister Black’s attacker and Lars Sullivan vs. EC3. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

How Much Mileage Does This Thing Get? (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/10/03/nxt-october-3-2018-what-kind-of-mileage-does-this-thing-get/)

Skairipa

10-04-2018, 01:11 AM

Lacey Evans has a terrible finisher and should not be beating Candice Lerae. Other than that fine episode.

smarkmouth

10-04-2018, 12:40 PM

Jack-Hammer

10-04-2018, 02:28 PM

I'm not a huge EC3 fan. He's got a great character, but that character doesn't translate in the ring. I'm not familiar enough with his heel work to make the full assessment, but that's where I stand on his NXT run. That being said, last night's match with Lars was great! Short and sweet, but as KB reviewed, a lot of mileage came out of it.

From what I understand, EC3 is far better as a heel and I could see a heel turn happening down the line. When he first arrived, he came off more like this cocky, rich playboy kinda guy and that's always something that lends itself more to being a heel. On the mic, he can be a lot of fun but I've never been a mega fan of his work inside the ring; he's solid in the ring but he doesn't bring anything special and there are a ton of men on the main and NXT rosters who can easily do just as well ring wise. To be perfectly honest, he's someone that I think is mostly there just so fans who don't really know who he is find out what he brings to the table and that he'll wind up on the main roster within another 6 months or so. I just don't see him being a major force in NXT but he's someone Vince could fall in love with based simply on his build alone.

Where do you all think they're going with Nikki Cross? Does she actually know who attacked Aleister Black? More importantly, if she does know, what's her role after the big reveal?

Well, that's part of the fun of Nikki's character, how good NXT booking is and how they've been able to turn a lousy turn of luck in Black getting injured into an intriguing whodunnit. On the main roster, they'd do a storyline like this, quite probably, with multiple segments on both Raw and SmackDown that would almost always go much longer than needed. They'd probably try to cram several months worth of segments that have a much too polished, over the top corporate feel into the span of a few weeks. Using Nikki's character in this way gives the possibility that maybe she really does know, maybe it's just the nonsensical ramblings of a schizo, maybe what she "knows" is something completely unreleated to the Black attack but we're led to believe it does have something to do with it because she started with the "I know" stuff while being questioned about the attack and asked if she knows anything. Even though Nikki is "crazy", her craziness and what it has to do with the whodunnit to Black is being done in a slow, subtle way that doesn't involve beating fans over the head with it constantly, which is a subtlety that's all but gone on the main roster as long term storytelling is something that Vince isn't often invested in anymore.

As for the show itself, it's redundant to say but NXT just keeps rolling along with one good show after another.

I thought Candice LaRae vs. Lacey Evans was a fun match, maybe right at the 3 star mark. Evans has come a long way with her character and in-ring work while Candice is a cute as a button babyface that you just like to cheer for, though I would prefer her to have more of an edge, maybe a little bit of a chip on her shoulder. I'm not all that wild about the Woman's Right finisher, I get what they're going for and it seems to be working among a lot of NXT fans in that they're now popping whenever she uses it, but it's just not really my cup of bourbon.

The Forgotten Sons are coming along nicely for what they are and the fans are already responding positively to them. The six man squash worked well and I remember thinking that it was an efficient use of time because a six man squash gave the chance for all of them to show what they can do in one match rather than each of them having singles matches or whatever.

Johnny Gargano vs. Tony Nese was a great 3.75 to 4 star 10 minute outing. Nese is someone that has a great look and his hybrid in-ring style is a lot of fun to watch. I think that if he had a real character that was more than just an incredibly fit guy who knows how incredibly fit he is could really help him out. He got in a ton of offense and looked great while Johnny Gargano came off looking more like the Johnny Gargano that's "Johnny Wrestling" and it fits in with the storyline of Gargano having trouble walking the line between who he is and, possibly, who he feels he needs to be in order to truly get to where he wants to be: the NXT Championship.

EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan had a tough act to follow and I think that maybe it should've gone on before Gargano vs. Nese but both worked a really physical 7 minute match where they just beat the shit out of each other. Sullivan's back was bruised and had what looked to be a good 8 to 10 inch scratch down it from the stairs while EC3 wound up with a cut underneath his left eye and what looked to be a bloody lip. I thought it was a great 3.25 star effort that told a great story of 3 just goind head long at Sullivan, giving him everything he had right from the start, brawling with him but with Sullivan just simply being too much for 3 to handle by taking that approach. One thing I wish Sullivan wouldn't do is a diving headbutt and I'm surprised that both NXT and the main roster allows it to be used, which they really shouldn't and that's especially in Daniel Bryan's case.

As is usually the case, they used every second of airtime in a meaningful way whether it be Nikki Cross doing her thing, Bianca Belair responding, Ciampa giving another fun interview or hyping matches in upcoming episodes over the next few weeks. A strong B+ show for me.

klunderbunker

10-10-2018, 07:51 PM

NXT
Date: October 10, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

It’s title night around here with the North American Title being defended in a triple threat as champion Ricochet defends against both Adam Cole and Pete Dunne. That alone should carry the show as far as it needs to go but NXT should have more than enough to make a full night of awesome wrestling. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I Know What They Did This Week (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/10/10/nxt-october-10-2018-i-know-what-you-did-this-week/)

Jack-Hammer

10-11-2018, 07:30 AM

More goodliness from the black and gold brand this week, which is par for the course.

Long promo segments are something of a rarity in NXT, but they're often quite fun, especially when the wrestlers are out there using their own words, employing more of their own character personality. Ciampa and Dream had an entertaining exchange and Nikki Cross' part in all this has been fun as she's really good with her character and improvising mannerisms. It looks like they're setting up Ciampa vs. Dream for WarGames, which is fine with me though I don't know where that leaves Johnny Gargano at the moment. Maybe he'll be left off the card this time as his story, right now, seems to be "getting back" to being who he was before Ciampa got into his head.

Keith Lee vs. Kona Reeves was what it needed to be. I would've been fine with a straight out squash but Reeves getting in some offense via some heelish shenanigans is okay too. Every time I see Reeves, I can't help but think how strange he looks. He's almost like a Polynesian/Samoan or whatever Frankenstein, just without the stitches, as it looks like his entire form is made up from parts of different people. Parts of him are sorta muscular while others are skinny, some are a little chubby and some just hang there in between skinny and chubby without any tone whatsoever. Lee's got some impressive athletic ability for a man his size but, truth be told, I haven't seen anything out of him in NXT, or anything else I've watched, that Big E himself can't do just as well or better.

The main event was another strong TV outing for NXT as this triple threat match would've been right at home headlining any TakeOver. I gave it 4.5 stars though I did think it was a little too spot heavy at times; there were several instances where they were just busy setting up these big stunts. Still, these three are so smooth in whatever they do and it was such a fun mesh of Styles. Ricochet's agility is inhuman, Cole's sort of a jack of all trades with a ton of charisma and Pete Dunne is a great technical striking guy who has his own different type of charisma that Vince probably wouldn't know what to do with. Ricochet retaining and getting a pinfall on Dunne made the match feel like more of a bigger deal and it still protects Dunne as it's a triple threat. In some way, shape or form, I expect all three of these men to be involved in the WarGames match.

So we got an entertaining promo segment, an enhancement match that did what it needed, build for some more good matches coming up and a super hot main event. Based on how things are looking right now, you can probably pen Kassius Ohno taking on Matt Riddle at WarGames as well. Strong B+ show.

klunderbunker

10-17-2018, 08:12 PM

NXT
Date: October 17, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for another title match because NXT is smart enough to set these things up in advance. This time we have the Tag Team Titles on the line as the Undisputed Era puts the titles on the line against the War Raiders. That sounds like a recipe for destruction but NXT likely has a few tricks up its sleeve. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

They're Doing It. Again. (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/10/17/nxt-october-17-2018-theyre-doing-it-again/)

klunderbunker

10-24-2018, 08:14 PM

NXT
Date: October 24, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s a big night this time around as Aleister Black now knows who attacked him. Therefore, it’s highly likely that we find out tonight too, which should be a heck of a moment. There are several suspects out there and a lot of them are strong possibilities. Other than that though, it’s time to get ready for the next Takeover. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Big Reveal (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/10/24/nxt-october-24-2018-the-big-reveal/)

Jack-Hammer

10-27-2018, 10:06 AM

Based on how things are looking right now, I think TakeOver: WarGames will wind up looking something like this:

NXT Championship - Tommaso Ciampa vs the Velveteen Dream

NXT Women's Championship - Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair/Lacey Evans/Nikki Cross (possibly all of them in a Fatal Fourway)

Singles Match - Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano

Singles Match - Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno

WarGames - War Raiders, Ricochet & Pete Dunne vs. The Undisputed Era

The only real question, at least for me, is the Women's Championship match. Bianca Belair, Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans have been the most prominently featured women in NXT the past few months so it's likely to be one of them. A fourway match is possible though, I suppose, as it's something that doesn't happen very often in NXT.

As has always been the case, it looks like a really good card on paper and the matches everyone will be counting on will be the NXT Championship match, Black vs. Gargano and WarGames.

smarkmouth

10-27-2018, 12:39 PM

The closing segment was one of the best things NXT has produced. A big chaotic brawl is rarely as interesting as that. Even Raw's "pull apart brawls" used to be pretty cool but now seem a little paint-by-numbers. The focus on the title picture, Nikki running out like a spastic harbinger, Black wrecking the guards and Lars (with some of the best looking Black Masses he has pulled off yet), the cameraman falling over, and the dramatic reveal. Just fantastic from top to bottom! Rarely is so much thought put into that much chaos, resulting in a dynamic segment that is both impactful and informs several storylines at once.

smarkmouth

10-29-2018, 02:43 PM

Storm Trooper

10-30-2018, 12:44 AM

Shayna Baszler defeated Kairi Sane to recapture the NXT Women's Championship last night at Evolution. Unless I'm mistaken, NXT has taped all of it's episodes until Survivor Series Weekend. Anyone catching the logistical problem this presents? Curious to see how they handle it, but more excited to see Kairi/Baszler V. Gotta be a gimmick match, yeah?

I do not recall the spoilers for the tapings, but it isn't really an issue. The matches taped were probably without Baszler/Sane, and they'll use backstage stuff (not taped during the taping) to make the title match. When you consider the likely match is Baszler/Sane with a gimmick (and Io Shirai in Kairi's corner), they don't need anything in-ring.

It's not even the first time this happened. Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor at a Live Event in Lowell, MA after a taping. They just mentioned it the first TV after the event (commentary is often added post-taping), and showed a lot of it the following week. They will do the same here, albeit they likely won't air the match, as it is already available on the Network.

They have the same issue with the Street Prophets and Fabian Aichner. They're the EVOLVE Tag Champs and EVOLVE Champion now, and won't have the belts for next few weeks TV.

Jack-Hammer

11-01-2018, 11:03 AM

After last night and some announcements today, much of the TakeOver: WarGames card has been set.

NXT Championship - Tommaso Ciampa vs. the Velveteen Dream

WarGames - Pete Dunne, Ricochet & the War Raiders vs. the Undisputed Era

Singles Match - Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano

There's talk that a Baszler vs. Sane match is scheduled but Baszler injured her ankle at Evolution and is set to be re-evaluated within the next few days. Initial reports stated that was walking on crutches after Evolution but that the crutches were precautionary and that she's not expected to miss much, if any, time.

While it hasn't been announced, you can also pretty much bet that Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno will be added to the card.

smarkmouth

11-07-2018, 08:08 PM

I'm only just now realizing that Jackson Ryker is Gunner from TNA.

klunderbunker

11-07-2018, 08:14 PM

NXT
Date: November 7, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

There are two shows left before Takeover and after last week’s show, we now have the big namesake match set up. There should be some interesting things before we get there as the card needs to be pushed hard as we head towards Los Angeles. Tonight we have Lars Sullivan wanting to destroy Velveteen Dream for daring to take a step towards the NXT Title. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

An Audience Of One (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/07/nxt-november-7-2018-an-audience-of-one/)

klunderbunker

11-14-2018, 07:54 PM

NXT
Date: November 14, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the go home show for Takeover: WarGames II and the card seems to be mostly set. This time around there might only be four matches, but one of them will be 2/3 falls and another is WarGames so things should be fine. Tonight is the big final push towards the show and that should make for a fun show. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

They Made War Sound Fun (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/14/nxt-november-14-2018-they-made-war-sound-fun/)

klunderbunker

11-21-2018, 08:17 PM

NXT
Date: November 21, 2018
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

After everything that went down on Saturday, it’s time for a little breather. That tends to be the best thing that you can get the week after Takeover and that’s even better the day before a holiday. There are some matches from before Saturday’s Takeover, which are often pretty entertaining in their own right. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Thanksgiving Present (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/21/nxt-november-21-2018-the-thanksgiving-present/)

Jack-Hammer

11-25-2018, 03:34 PM

NXT UK is already set to have its first TakeOver event on January 12, 2019 in Blackpool, England.

While it feels too soon for the brand to have its first big show, it could still be a huge success. Some are okay with NXT UK airing two episodes per week, some aren't but I don't know if they'll continue airing two episodes once everything is all caught up with the tapings. For instance, the finals of the NXT UK Woman's Championship tournament are set to air during one of this week's episodes and said match was part of tapings that took place just over three months ago. There should be another set of tapings soon that will air on a basis similar to the original NXT now that they've got everything set up for NXT UK television.

There'll probably be a UK and UK Women's Championship match and possibly the start of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament, or however they're going to decide the inaugural champions. My initial feeling is that this won't be on the same level as we've become accustomed to in regards to TakeOver events from NXT OG, but it'll be another strong step in the right direction for the brand.

klunderbunker

11-28-2018, 08:07 PM

NXT
Date: November 28, 2018
Location: San Jose State University Event Center, San Jose, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

It’s a special show this week as the talent was given a week off from tapings with this show filmed before Takeover: WarGames II. As usual, NXT knows how to set things up in advance and odds are we’ll have a good night of wrestling, even if we don’t have a lot of angle advancement to look forward to. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Add It To The List Of Things They Do Well (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/28/nxt-november-28-2018-add-it-to-the-list-of-things-they-do-well/)

Ollie

11-29-2018, 02:27 PM

I liked the Mighty's turn a while back but they seem to have lost some steam since then. Burch and Lorcan are, against the odds, now pretty over, and I could go for them getting a run. Although they already came up short against TUE, perhaps it might be better to put another team up at the front of the division for now.

klunderbunker

12-05-2018, 08:04 PM

NXT
Date: December 5, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re back to Full Sail this week after taking last week’s show off for the sake of a week in San Jose, California. You could get some fun stuff this time around as well and a lot of that is due to starting the build towards Takeover: Phoenix. There are a bunch of ways the card could go and each one of them could be a lot of fun. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

There Is Much To Be Learned From Full Sail (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/12/05/nxt-december-5-2018-there-is-much-to-be-learned-from-full-sail/)

klunderbunker

12-12-2018, 08:13 PM

NXT
Date: December 12, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

Last week’s show saw the main event scene get a shot in the arm as Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black agreed to keep things going inside a steel cage, much to Tommaso Ciampa’s delight. Ciampa continues to be a great devil on the shoulder and someone who could be on top of the company for a long time to come. As for tonight though, Ricochet is in action against a mystery opponent, which could mean a lot of things. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Homecoming (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/12/12/nxt-december-12-2018-homecoming/)

smarkmouth

12-12-2018, 11:51 PM

I popped huge for Tyler Breeze. Ricochet defending against WWE main roster stars en route to Mania weekend would be a damn good storyline. Dillinger, Mojo, Harper, maybe capping off with a non NXT name like Orton at TakeOver. Excuse me while I daydream.

ShinChan

12-12-2018, 11:58 PM

Jack-Hammer

12-15-2018, 09:22 AM

It looks like the Mighty have gone the way of the dinosaurs as Nick Miller requested and was given his release from NXT. Miller recently returned to Australia for the birth of his baby and has apparently decided to stay. I've personally enjoyed the Mighty's matches, but they seemed destined for the mid-card doldrums in NXT and that probably wouldn't have changed when/if they made it to the main roster considering how we've seen teams like AOP and the Revival utilized. Shane Thorne is still signed with NXT and MAYBE he's someone that could move up in the singles ranks over time; at 6'2 and about 225-230 lbs., he has a good look, is pretty athletic and has some decent charisma though, as I said, it'll take a while before anything, if ever, really comes of him I think as NXT simply has so many talented guys in Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, the Undisputed Era, the Velveteen Dream, Ricochet, British Strong Style whenever they drop by, etc..

smarkmouth

12-15-2018, 07:49 PM

It was getting to be sink or swim time for the Mighty. Their stay in NXT was extended by Shane Thorne's injury while left them completely unexposed. Seriously, I don't even think Miller got any TV time that whole time. As noted, Thorne's got a good look to him, and this might be the best thing for his own career to start fresh as a singles guy. I'm glad Miller was able to leave on amicable terms with the WWE, though. Sounds like the door is open, and if NXT gets footing in Australia (alleged goal of Triple H), a reunited Mighty Don't Kneel is a nice in-ring catalyst for that.

klunderbunker

12-19-2018, 08:01 PM

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

We’ve got a pair of big matches this week, starting with Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke making their in-ring debuts against Io Shirai and Dakota Kai. Other than that though we have Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black inside of a steel cage. You don’t get these things very often in NXT and that alone makes it feel more special. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Don't Be Surprised When You Get What You Want (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/12/19/nxt-december-19-2018-dont-be-surprised-when-you-get-what-you-want/)

smarkmouth

12-19-2018, 08:22 PM

Bold prediction; Mania weekend TakeOver's main event;
DIY vs Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream. No titles. Just top tier storytelling.

Storm Trooper

12-19-2018, 08:43 PM

Bold prediction; Mania weekend TakeOver's main event;

I'm fine with that, as long as you take the title off Ciampa and put ut on someone not in the match. Like Adam Cole or Matt Riddle.

klunderbunker

12-26-2018, 08:02 PM

NXT
Date: December 26, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

It’s the last show of the year and this time, it’s not going to be a Best Of show, which you almost expect at this point. Instead we have a Tag Team Title defense with the Undisputed Era defending against Heavy Machinery in what feels like a farewell match. Still though, it should be a good, entertaining match so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Not A Case Of Who Cares (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/12/26/nxt-december-26-2018-not-a-case-of-who-cares/)

klunderbunker

01-02-2019, 09:14 PM

NXT
Date: January 2, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s getting close to Takeover time and the show is starting to come into focus. With some of the matches already set, the rest of the card can be put together over the next few weeks. As tends to be the case in NXT, you can probably guess what’s coming but the journey is the most entertaining part. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

In Case You Forgot The Brilliance (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/01/02/nxt-january-2-2019-best-of-2018-in-case-you-forgot-the-brilliance/)

klunderbunker

01-09-2019, 08:26 PM

NXT
Date: January 9, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

It’s time for the final push towards Phoenix with three weeks left before the big show. The main event is already set and you can probably guess some of the other matches from here. That means it’s time for the really good shows as NXT knows hot to get things ready in a hurry, which is what we’ll be getting both this week and next. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Woven Together Very Nicely (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/01/09/nxt-january-9-2019-woven-together-very-nicely/)

klunderbunker

01-16-2019, 08:33 PM

NXT
Date: January 16, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

We’re almost to Phoenix and things continue to get more and more interesting around here. That’s one of the best things that you can have happen to you at the right time and since it’s NXT, they know exactly how to do so. Keep building things in the NXT way and everything will be just fine. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Calm Before The Desert (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/01/16/nxt-january-16-2019-the-calm-before-the-desert/)

klunderbunker

01-23-2019, 08:21 PM

NXT
Date: January 23, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the go home show for Takeover: Phoenix and that means it’s time for the big final push. That’s one of the places where NXT excels and that should be the case tonight. The card is all but set and we get to see the last touches they put on the matches. I’m sure there will be some good wrestling to go with that so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I'll Take All Of This (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/01/23/nxt-january-23-2019-ill-take-all-of-this/)

klunderbunker

02-13-2019, 08:35 PM

NXT
Date: February 13, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re coming up on the build towards New York and that’s going to be a big night, with some of the card starting to come into focus. The big story continues to be Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa, but Velveteen Dream is getting involved as well, which could make for some very interesting curves. He does certainly know how to shake things up. Let’s get to it.

When The Stars Are Away, It's Still A Good Show (I Can't Rhyme) (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/13/nxt-february-13-2019-when-the-stars-are-away-its-still-a-great-show-im-bad-at-rhyming/)

klunderbunker

02-20-2019, 08:38 PM

NXT
Date: February 20, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

I’m not sure what to think about this show as it could go in two very different directions. The major announced match is Johnny Gargano defending the North American Title against Velveteen Dream with two endings having been taped. On the other side though, WWE has promised a major announcement, which doesn’t bode well since the four biggest names from the show have appeared on this week’s Raw and Smackdown. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Choose Your Own Ending (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/20/nxt-february-20-2019-choose-your-own-ending/)

klunderbunker

02-27-2019, 08:29 PM

NXT
Date: February 27, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s tournament time as the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic starts up next week. The question becomes what happens with everyone involved here, as there is often a case of big names teaming up to compete alongside the regular teams. It’s hard to make a tag team tournament interesting but NXT has done it before. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

New York State Of Mind With A Dusty Twist (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/27/nxt-february-27-2019-new-york-state-of-mind-with-a-dusty-twist/)

Jack-Hammer

03-07-2019, 06:32 AM

Last night's episode of NXT was nothing short of outstanding. Generally speaking, NXT has been the most reliable 50-60 minutes of wrestling on TV, it's on a streaming service but you know what I mean, for years and last night's show was devoted to the first round of the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel was a fantastic, 4 to 4.25 star, 8.5 minute sprint with nonstop action that made all four men look great. There were a few points in the match where Black & Ricochet looked to be in danger of losing and even though the "European Union" lost the match, they received a major rub in the process.

Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. the Forgotten Sons had a difficult task following this match, but still delivered a very good 3.25 star outing. I'm not all that crazy about the Forgotten Sons, but they're pretty solid overall as a team. I'd have rather seen Burch & Lorcan advance but as with the previous match, they looked good in a losing effort.

Mustache Mountain vs. the Street Profits was also a lot of fun. Montez Ford is someone who has the personality and charisma to be a singles star and, frankly, I think Angelo Dawkins is just kind of holding him back. At any rate, this was another run 3.5 star outing with Mustache Mountain picking up the win. The only little issue was the ending where Trent Seven is supposed to deliver a Burning Hammer when Tyler Bate lands a diving knee off the top; Seven didn't have the strength to successfully perform the move on Dawkins and it looked kinda sloppy. Seven is a fun babyface who knows how to tell a story and can sell the hell out of someone's offense, but he needs to work on his conditioning as he's just not in good enough shape to physically keep up with a lot of these guys.

The final match on the show was #DIY vs. the Undisputed Era, Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish, and it delivered in a big way. A fantastic 4.5 star outing that would've been right at home on any ppv, TakeOver or what have you. Very physical, lots of great action, believable near falls all over the place and #DIY gaining the victory at about the 15 minute mark. Ciampa & Gargano, before the match and after, still sold just a little bit of tension, it wasn't anything remotely overt but it was just enough to keep in mind that they're likely to implode not too far down the line.

On top of some great in-ring action, NXT also set up a couple of non tournament matches, both of which probably have TakeOver: New York as the overall destination. In two weeks, Io Shirai faces Bianca Belair in a #1 contender's match for Shayna Baszler's NXT Women's Championship, a title match that'll probably take place at TakeOver. We also saw a fun little promo segment featuring Velveteen Dream, basking in the glory of his first championship, before being interrupted by Matt Riddle. They have a nice little back and forth with Riddle challenging for the NXT North American Championship, which will also probably go down at TakeOver: New York. Oh and they even addressed the match between Keith Lee & Dominick Dijakovic by showing a follow up of Dijakovic showing up at the WWE Performance Center wanting to finish what they started with the two being separated before anything could happen.

So yeah, needless to say, last night's episode of NXT was an A+, almost like a miniature 72 minute TakeOver.

klunderbunker

03-13-2019, 08:21 PM

NXT
Date: March 13, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re less than a month away from Takeover: New York and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is already off to a fast start. Last week’s show was almost entirely devoted to the tournament, meaning tonight should have a little more variety to it. You can imagine a lot of the Takeover card already but some of the matches will be probably be confirmed this week. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

What Could Have Been (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/03/13/nxt-march-13-2019-what-could-have-been/)

Jeff Deliverer of Mail

03-13-2019, 09:01 PM

That was a hell of a tag team contest.

klunderbunker

03-20-2019, 08:15 PM

NXT
Date: March 20, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re on the final taping cycle with three shows left before Takeover: New York. Last week’s big story saw Johnny Gargano finally outsmart Tommaso Ciampa after DIY was eliminated from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Unfortunately a neck injury is going to put Ciampa on the shelf for a long time so now we have to find out what is being done to replace the most obvious title change ever. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Plan B (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/03/20/nxt-march-20-2019-plan-b/)

Jack-Hammer

03-21-2019, 02:27 PM

As of right now, the card for TakeOver: New York looks like this:

NXT Championship 2 Out Of Three Falls Match - Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
NXT North American Championship - The Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle
NXT Women's Championship Fatal Fourway Match - Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair
NXT Tag Team Championship - The War Raiders vs. The Winners Of The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classiv
WWE United Kingdom Championship - Pete Dunne vs. WALTER

For whomever doesn't win the NXT Championship, I think it's time for WWE to seriously think about bringing that guy to the main roster.

It's too soon for the Dream to drop the NA Championship, in my opinion, and Riddle won't be hurt by the loss. He's already established as a huge fan favorite in NXT and losing to the Dream in a competitive match can only elevate him.

The NXT Women's Championship, at this point, is Io Shirai's to lose I think. Baszler's done all she can as Women's Champion, as has Kairi Sane, who is said to be the next in line going to the main roster, and Belair has come a helluva long way but I don't think it's her time.

My guess is that the War Raiders will wind up taking on Aleister Black and Ricochet as the Forgotten Sons just don't really have the fan support right now. Some more development needs to happen with them as characters, in my opinion, and, frankly, at this point, Black and Ricochet are simply the more exciting opponents.

The WWE UK Championship match MIGHT wind up being the worst match on the card this time around, which is highly unusual to say regarding any match with Pete Dunne involved. For one thing, it sort of feels like it's been shoehorned into this event and neither guy has had any face time in NXT during this program. They've had plenty in NXT UK, so that might not be an issue if you regularly watch both shows. However, for me personally, I have to say that I'm just not all that impressed with WALTER. It's not that he's bad or anything it's just that there's...well I just haven't seen anything that I find particularly special about the guy. It's not like he does something that I haven't seen numerous other hoss types in NXT or on the main roster do, some of whom have done it much better, and as far as his looks go....well I'm not exactly a proponent of lookism in wrestling, but the guy doesn't even look physically impressive. He's billed as this mega beast all over Europe but he ultimately looks like a pasty, chubby, 275 lbs. 30 year old guy with no muscle tone whatsoever. He's also got the whole stoic, silent monster thing happening and that can work but, to me, you're someone who needs to have the aura, the look to really make that pop and WALTER just doesn't have that in my eyes. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised here, I'm hoping so. At any rate, I expect Dunne to drop the title to WALTER as WALTER is quite porbably the highest profile wrestler in Europe right now and Dunne has been UK Champion for almost 2 years.

Overall, it looks like it'll be a really fun show, which that's par for the course for the TakeOver events. Quite possibly, in fact almost for certain, they'll probably accomplish more in 2.5 hours than the 7+ hour marathon that will be WrestleMania.

klunderbunker

03-27-2019, 08:27 PM

NXT
Date: March 27, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

A lot of things changed last week and while that was the kind of thing that had to be done, NXT managed to do it very well, setting up what should be a heck of a match at Takeover. Tonight should be some of the hard selling for Takeover and that often makes for some of the best TV around here. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Made From Scratch (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/03/27/nxt-march-27-2019-made-from-scratch/)

klunderbunker

04-03-2019, 08:18 PM

NXT
Date: April 3, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

This is where NXT tends to shine (among other places) as we have the final show before Takeover: New York. The card is set but now it’s time for the final push towards Friday (yeah Friday again) and that should be awesome. As for tonight we have Bianca Belair vs. Kairi Sane in a match that is going to end in interference. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Get Your Checklist Ready (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/04/03/nxt-april-3-2019-get-your-checklist-ready/)

klunderbunker

04-10-2019, 08:33 PM

NXT
Date: April 10, 2019
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for the fallout show from Friday with a show taped prior to the show we’re recapping. Tonight we’re looking at a bunch of clips from Takeover: new York plus a trio of matches that took place before the show went on the air. These shows are usually very light and there’s no reason to believe that this should be any different. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I Think We All Needed A Break (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/04/10/nxt-april-10-2019-i-think-we-all-needed-a-break/)

klunderbunker

04-17-2019, 08:23 PM

NXT
Date: April 17, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

It’s time to get back home after New York after another incredible Takeover. With last week’s recap edition out of the way, things are back to normal here as we start the long build towards the next Takeover in a few months. The big draw is Johnny Gargano’s first comments as NXT Champion and you can hear the chants from here. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

They Take Over TV Too (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/04/17/nxt-april-17-2019-they-take-over-tv-too/)

Jack-Hammer

04-18-2019, 05:25 AM

While NXT is usually quite good, last night's show was exceptionally put together that featured a hell of an opening match, setting up matches for the next couple of weeks that include a tag title match & the debut of Kushida, possibly the beginning of a program between Dijakovic & Velveteen Dream for the NA Championship and a very good main event that saw the goodbye of Kairi Sane before she went to the main roster.

KB's review, which I read just a few minutes ago, sums things up better than I can as I'd just be repeating stuff. NXT is so different than the main roster sometimes that it's not even funny. NXT is a brand with consistent focus on what they want to see happen which, in turn, leads to consistent booking, consistent storytelling, consistent momentum and a flat out smoother ride for the viewer to enjoy.

klunderbunker

04-24-2019, 08:22 PM

NXT
Date: April 24, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

Things are getting interesting around here as Johnny Gargano is still dealing with the Undisputed Era. That could make for some fun matches going forward and we’re starting those tonight with Roderick Strong getting a non-title shot at the champ. Other than that, we could be in for the first steps towards Velveteen Dream vs. Dominik Dijakovic for the North American Title. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Keep Planning Ahead (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/04/24/nxt-april-24-2019-keep-planning-ahead/)

smarkmouth

04-24-2019, 09:08 PM

Yaz

04-25-2019, 02:36 AM

I'd like to say something. This has been percolating in me for a while, and I think I'm ready to say it. I think WWE has it's next Kurt Angle hanging around in NXT. And I think it's Montez Ford.

I don't mean to say that his style is a reflection of Kurt. Chad Gable is the man who better fits that bill. But Montez is performing at a VERY HIGH level in any given match. He doesn't know anything lower than 110%, which is strikingly akin to how Angle performed for a better part of is career.

Best frog splash since Eddie, too.

Montez is an absolute athletic freak and he deserves better than a mostly comedy team. I'd love them to acknowledge he and Belair's IRL marriage and have them be a power couple because they are both athletic specimens, probably the two best athletes in NXT.

Jack-Hammer

04-25-2019, 05:56 AM

Montez Ford is hands down the star of the Street Profits. The guy's insanely athletic and beyond loaded with charisma, he just lights up the ring with energy whenever he's in there. The Street Profits are a solid team that could be better but, when you get right down to it, Angelo Dawkins, in my opinion, is holding Ford down. Ford's got way too much ability to be wasted in a mid-card tag team that's probably never going to be a dominant, main event level tag team.

One thing I wish NXT would do more often, and it's one of the few complaints I've got, albeit a minor one, is that they don't acknowledge some of the stuff some talent accomplishes as part of NXT's working arrangement with companies like Evolve, ICW, Progress and wXw. For instance, the Street Profits had a roughly 6 month reign as Evolve Tag Team Champions end about 5 weeks ago. However, this might be an order Vince has handed down; even though he almost entirely leaves NXT alone, he does, on rare occasions, make decisions that Triple H has to live with. Vince likes to pretend that WWE is literally all that's out there as far as the existence of pro wrestling, however ludicrous the idea is, and maybe he doesn't even like mentioning other companies WWE works closely with. He's been going back and forth for years on some of these companies airing their stuff as part of the WWE Network and, so far as I know, it's still in limbo.

At any rate, in regards to Ford, I'd be perfectly happy seeing him go the route of a singles wrestler, or do some sort of power couple angle with Bianca Belair. They've got the ability and charisma needed to make it work, and we know NXT has the creative chops, patience and focus to hold up its end of things. I'm not hating on Dawkins, he's pretty solid overall but he's been in NXT for like 5 or 6 years now. He's pretty athletic, but he's not some athletic freak like Ford, Ricochet, Carillo and a few others nor is he a particularly intimidating hoss like War Raiders, or whatever their name is gonna wind up being as, allegedly, WWE has changed it yet again, Dijakovic, Keith Lee or Lars Sullivan. He's too big to be a high flyer and not big enough to be a real powerhouse.

Storm Trooper

04-26-2019, 07:00 AM

Montez Ford is awesome. I love the Street Profits (Met them at Axxess they seem to be just as much fun off camera as they are on).

While Dawkins may be holding down Montez Ford, remember that there's money to be made in a breakup angle. Have them fail to get to the belts, and around Summerslam Weekend have Ford turn on Dawkins. That leads to a singles feud (which Ford wins because he's awesome), and he works his way up the card whlie Dawkins falls to the undercard.

klunderbunker

05-01-2019, 08:23 PM

NXT
Date: May 1, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

Things are staying interesting around here and tonight we have the latest import in the form of Kushida, who makes his in-ring debut. As usual he gets to face Kassius Ohno, which should work out well for everyone involved. Throw in the Undisputed Era having some issues and we could be in for a good night. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Nice To See You Japanese Favorite/The Velveteen Dreamiest (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/01/nxt-may-1-2019-nice-to-see-you-japanese-favorite-the-velveteen-dreamiest/)

Jack-Hammer

05-02-2019, 03:33 AM

Good shows from both NXT and NXT UK.

NXT UK continues to improve and looks, at least to me, like it's becoming more and more like the original each week in that it's able to put on a good, compelling and interesting show even when the show doesn't feature the top talent. I thought both the Banks vs. Mansoor and Niven vs. Gonzalez matches were good to solid 3 and 2.5 star outings; Banks is one of these guys that's grown on me with his tenacity and Piper Niven is fun, I like her demeanor and she's pretty athletic for a bigger gal. Walter vs. Jordan Devlin was a very physical, hard hitting 3.75 star outing that shows just how good these David vs. Goliath matches can be when creative isn't just focused on making Goliath of the match look good while David is ragdolled all over Creation. I still say that there are several already on the WWE and NXT rosters who can do any and everything Walter can do, can do it better and look more intimidating doing it. With that being said, I have to say that I continue to enjoy his matches as he does have a fun, rough and rugged style to go along with his look that puts me in mind of old school brawlers like Stan Hansen and Devlin continues to shine as a top talent on the UK brand.

NXT featured its usual goodness with good wrestling, storytelling, continuity, setting things up for future episodes, etc.. The Forgotten Sons, while still not hugely dynamic, are growing on me as they seem to be evolving somewhat and they delivered a good 3 star outing with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, a team I think'd be better off in NXT UK. They did a nice little job in possibly teasing something with Bianca Belair and Mia Yim, who could be a good test for Bianca, and setting up tensions between the eventual 1 on 1 clash between Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai. Dominick Dijakovic vs. Mansoor was a bit of a surprise as I expected an outright squash but we got a good 2.75 star, 5 minute match that saw Mansoor looking pretty good and getting in a lot of physical shots. Dijakovic is one of those guys I mentioned earlier who, in my opinion, can do anything that Walter can and then some, and the follow up with Velveteen Dream was the usual fun stuff from Dream. The main event featured Kassius Ohno, in his role as the gatekeeper of NXT, and the debuting Kushida. If you were expecting some warp speed clash for Kushida's debut, you were probably disappointed but I have to say it was a refreshing 3.5 star outing for me as it was nice to see Kushida in a really physical, hard hitting bout giving as good as he got from a wrestler a good 7 or 8 inches taller and about 85 pounds heavier. Again, it was something of a David vs. Goliath match where David looks as good as Goliath and doesn't come off as "lucky" by just squeaking past the obstacle by the skin of his teeth.

So yeah, overall, I thought both shows yesterday were hovering round a solid B with both shows accomplishing things, delivering fun wrestling content, and moving along at a brisk pace.

klunderbunker

05-08-2019, 08:26 PM

NXT
Date: May 8, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

We’re suddenly racing towards Takeover, which is less than a month away thanks to the schedule changes. In this case we’ll be seeing Matt Riddle vs. Adam Cole as part of the ongoing Johnny Gargano/Riddle vs. Undisputed Era issues. The Takeover card needs to start filling in but NXT knows how to do this in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

There's Certainly A Dispute (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/08/nxt-may-8-2019-theres-certainly-a-dispute/)

klunderbunker

05-15-2019, 08:06 PM

NXT
Date: May 15, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for a fresh taping cycle and that means a few fresh things around here. First of all we have to deal with the Tag Team Titles, as the Viking Raiders are now on the main roster, meaning they aren’t likely to be able to defend the titles around here. Oh and Takeover is in two and a half weeks so we need some matches. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Get It, Got It, Good (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/15/nxt-may-15-2019-get-it-got-it-good/)

smarkmouth

05-16-2019, 07:04 AM

If this is the end of the Raiders on NXT (as suggested by them laying down the titles and taking a bow), then I feel tonight was a rare misstep by the yellow brand. I'm not suggesting that the Raiders had to lose the titles but even a victory leading to them relinquishing the titles as originally planned at the top of the show would have been better than a DQ finish.

If I can climb into my armchair for some booking, I'd have liked to see more of the episode dedicated to this match. Have the Forgotten Sons cause the DQ finish, but then have the Raiders demand the match restart with the Sons added. Then have Oney and Burch come to battle the Forgotten Sons, leading to ANOTHER DQ finish. Raiders say fuck it, they'll face all three of them. Then the Raiders can win or lose, but either way they continue to look like beasts.

klunderbunker

05-22-2019, 08:25 PM

NXT
Date: May 22, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness

We’re somehow less than two weeks away from the next Takeover (thanks Saudis) so things need to hurry and get ready now. Last week saw the NXT Title and Women’s Title matches being set up, along with what seems to be the Tag Team Title match being set up. That leaves a few things needing to be done, which should be taken care of tonight. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Well Of Course They Can (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/22/nxt-may-22-2019-well-of-course-the-can/)

Jack-Hammer

05-23-2019, 07:48 AM

So the final card for TakeOver XXV looks like this:

NXT Championship - Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
NXT North American Championship - Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze
NXT Women's Championship - Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai
NXT Tag Team Championship Latter Match - The Street Profits vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. the Forgotten Sons vs. the Undisputed Era
Singles Match - Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong

All in all, it should be another great show that'll outdo the overly bloated main roster shows with its, often, questionable booking.

Gargano and Cole delivered a classic in New York, so there's no need to think it won't happen here.

Dream vs. Breeze might be the weakest match on the card, but it should still be a good one off title defense. Dreams program with Dominic Dijakovic is on hole since he suffered a knee injury, so Dream against "an NXT OG" could be fun.

If the women's match is given time, it could be really good. I think it's time for Baszler to drop the title, and I would've said move to the main roster in the past but I'd rather she stay in NXT and actually be used.

Given that I figured all these teams would ve involved in this match, I was really hoping and glad they decided to make this a ladder match. It's wide open really, though I think the Street Profits should pick up the titles here.

Riddle vs. Strong should be one of those singles bouts where the two of them just beat the crap out of each other. Both guys can deliver in the ring, so I'm expecting a hard hitting, physical bout that Riddle probably wins.

klunderbunker

05-29-2019, 08:33 PM

NXT
Date: May 29, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo

It’s the go home show for Takeover and that means we should be in for some nice final push segments towards the show. The card feels a little thrown together but that has never stopped NXT from making these things work before. If they do things right, we could be in for another classic. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I'm Not Sure About This One (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/29/nxt-may-29-2019-im-not-sure-about-this-one/)

klunderbunker

06-05-2019, 08:07 PM

NXT
Date: June 5, 2019
Location: Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

It’s a special show this week as we get the mostly recap show from Takeover. That’s fine as they haven’t had time to do a new set of tapings yet, but we’ll also have the two matches taped before the show. It might not make for the best show in the world, but it’s a fine enough way to go about doing things until we can get to what really matters. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

We Need More Biff Fans (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/06/05/nxt-june-5-2019-we-need-more-biff-fans/)

klunderbunker

06-12-2019, 08:22 PM

NXT
Date: June 12, 2019
Location: APGFCU Arena At Hartford Community College, Bel Air, Maryland
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

We’re on the road again for the first regular show as we head towards Toronto in August. I’m not sure what to expect going forward, but we have about two months before the next Takeover, which should be enough time to set up something great. Hopefully things get back to normal around here, though even their off weeks are still good. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

They're Coming For Canada (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/06/12/nxt-june-12-2019-theyre-coming-for-canada/)

Jack-Hammer

06-13-2019, 07:37 AM

Both NXT and NXT UK are delivering. NXT OG is still consistently better, in my opinion, but NXT UK looks to have found their rhythm over the past several months by, in many ways, copying the original NXT formula.

Aside from the consistency in booking being superior to the WWE main roster, FAR superior at that, both shows do something, again, that the main roster just doesn't and that's make the most of their time. That's not to say that every minute of NXT or NXT UK is epic or anything, but everything that happens does have a purpose whether that's showcasing the talent in a squash that isn't being done as time filler, promo segments as time filler, segments or matches used to set up future storylines or progress current storylines or introduce viewers to talent they haven't seen before. It also helps that you're not being beaten over the head with the same handful of wrestlers week in and week out while leaving everyone else flapping in the breeze.

klunderbunker

06-19-2019, 08:13 PM

NXT
Date: June 19, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

We’re back in Full Sail for the first real fallout show from Takeover and that means one thing: the Undisputed Era is going to get to have their big moment. Therefore, expect a lot of BAY-BAY’s and a tease of what is to come at Takeover: Toronto. I know it’s a pretty quick turnaround but the Summerslam show usually feels like their biggest of the year. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

It's Pretty Undisputed (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/06/19/nxt-june-19-2019-its-pretty-undisputed/)

Jack-Hammer

06-20-2019, 06:05 AM

Another good show from the Black & Gold brand last night.

The long format they used for the opening promo is something we see a whole lot of on Raw and SmackDown. The difference is that it felt novel here, it's not something that NXT does very often at all and it felt fresh. It also makes sense with Dream and Riddle coming out as Cole has had issues with both these guys long before he became NXT Champion, but Tyler Breeze feels forced to me. I like Breeze, but he just seems to be outclassed when you consider his far both Dream and Riddle have come; also Dream has gold, Riddle will have gold at some point while Breeze sorta comes off like a hanger on. At this point, I'm just not buying him as a credible threat to Adam Cole as NXT Champion. It was still a good segment overall though.

Damien Priest vs. Raul Mendoza was a good debut for Priest, who was well received by fans. It wasn't an outright squash as Mendoza got in some solid offense and while an outright squash might've been more appropriate, Mendoza is a guy that's fun to watch inside the ring and putting him in a match without a chance to see some of that does seem like a waste. Priest needs a new finisher, however, as Cross Rhodes just doesn't have the sort of impact for someone like him. A chokeslam, Last Ride powerbomb or something along those lines is much more fitting and impactful but, overall, a successful debut.

The video package to hype Baszler vs. Shirai II inside a steel cage on next week's show was really well done, as you might expect. The problem with a steel cage is that there'll be some sort of interference, cages aren't the impregnable structures they used to be and all promotions are guilty of hurting that mystique. Still, I have faith that NXT will pull it off in a way that feels fresh and impactful.

The Taynara Conti vs. Xia Li match wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but there was some good energy here and the crowd was into seeing both women do their thing. Conti has come a long way in selling herself as a character, doesn't hurt that she's a cute little thing either, but the match was rough at times. Conti has definite timing issues and the match was choppy sometimes.

They announced a single elimination tournament called the NXT Breakout Tournament that will feature 8 NXT wrestlers who haven't been on TV, yet who're almost certainly TV ready, with the winner getting a title shot at a championship of his choosing. What was unusual bout this is that they announced both the new NXT names for the wrestlers and their previous names on the indie scene in smaller print below. Some familiar faces were there, along with a few who may not be so familiar but have generated a lot of buzz, including Jordan Myles (ACH), Joaquin Wilde (DJZ/Zema Ion), Cameron Grimes (Trevor Lee), Isaiah "Swerve" Scott (Shane Strickland) and Angel Garza (Garza, Jr.). Could be a lot of fun if these guys get time to show some of what they bring to the table.

The six man tag main event was a lot of fun with the crowd hanging onto everything that went down. The ending made a lot of sense too as the heels needed to pull off a win and Strong pinning Dream, after Tyler Breeze had been tossed into him before Strong hit his finisher, was a nice touch as I think he needed a little boost. They teased some friction between the babyfaces, or rather there was tension due to Dream pushing them away, which makes sense as they're not allies so much as rivals who've gone after Dreams NAC in the past.

Overall, a very solid B to B+ show. As is the SOP, they made full use of the time they had to have every segment or match serve a purpose, storylines were progressed, new talent highlighted and thigns set up for the next couple of shows. Again, I have no idea why the main roster can't do this sort of thing.

klunderbunker

06-26-2019, 08:21 PM

NXT
Date: June 26, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

We’re rapidly approaching Takeover: Toronto and that means things need to start coming together in a hurry. One such match that needs to be taken care of is a big main event on this week’s show as Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defends against Io Shirai in a cage match. Let’s get to it.

Bask In Its Glory (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/06/26/nxt-june-26-2019-bask-in-its-glory/)

klunderbunker

07-03-2019, 08:13 PM

NXT
Date: July 3, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

Things took a bit of a turn last week with Io Shirai turning full heel on Candice LeRae. That could make for some interesting changes as we head towards Toronto with that match being a potential TV main event between now and then. Other than that it’s time for more of the Breakout Tournament so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Very Pleased To Meet You Both Again (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/07/03/nxt-july-3-2019-very-pleased-to-meet-you-both-again/)

klunderbunker

07-10-2019, 08:29 PM

NXT
Date: July 10, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

With about a month to go before Takeover: Toronto, it’s time to start getting things set up for the big show. In this case, that includes more instances of Adam Cole being a jerk about pizzas as we wait for Johnny Gargano to show up again and deal with him. As for tonight though, we have Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch getting a shot at the Tag Team Titles. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Slippage (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/07/10/nxt-july-10-2019-slippage/)

klunderbunker

07-17-2019, 07:25 PM

NXT
Date: July 17, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

It’s weird to say this but NXT is in a little bit of a funk. I don’t know if it’s the Breakout Tournament or Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole III not being the most inspiring story in the world, but the last few shows haven’t been the most thrilling the world. They’re not bad by any stretch, but when your standards are this high, anything but great is jarring. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Oh That's Better (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/07/17/nxt-july-17-2019-oh-thats-better/)

Jack-Hammer

07-18-2019, 07:22 AM

Gargano vs. Cole III has been officially announced for TakeOver: Toronto II. The rubber match will be a 2 out of 3 falls match in which Gargano and Cole each pick a stipulation for the first two falls while William Regal, if the match goes past the first two falls, will pick the stipulation for the third fall.

Their matches at the last two TakeOver events have been fantastic, legitimate MOTY contenders no matter which way you slice it and I've little doubt the third match will be as well. Now, this match will almost certainly go all three falls though it's also possible NXT might throw a bit of a curve and have the winner take two straight falls but it's unlikely; not as unlikely as the sun not coming up tomorrow but pretty damn close.

In any event, I think Cole will retain here and we'll soon see Johnny Gargano finally make his way to the main roster. It'll definitely be bitter sweet as Gargano has been the heart & soul of NXT for a long while and has set standards of excellence for the black & gold brand. On the main roster, Gargano will have an opportunity to perform on a much bigger stage and bank some serious money but with the main roster's creative process being more of a crapshoot than it's ever been, there's a real chance we won't see anything from Gargano remotely approach the greatness we've seen from him in NXT; that's something that's been more common with NXT call ups the last few years.

'Ravishing' Ned Flanders

07-18-2019, 03:45 PM

On the main roster Gargano is fucked. They can't showcase the people there now outside of the same few.

Cole has a better shot on the main roster if one of them has to be called up.

klunderbunker

07-24-2019, 08:03 PM

NXT
Date: July 24, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

The rapid build towards Toronto continues and you can see most of the card already set up from here. The NXT Title match is going to be rather gimmicky and that could make for some fun. Other than that, it seems to be a show heavily focused on the Undisputed Era, which could be a good or bad idea. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Keeping Up With The Englishes (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/07/24/nxt-july-24-2019-keeping-up-with-the-englishes/)

mrluck_07

07-27-2019, 07:31 PM

On the main roster Gargano is fucked. They can't showcase the people there now outside of the same few.

Cole has a better shot on the main roster if one of them has to be called up.

Much better shot! He's got mic skills and personality along w/ the in-ring ability.

klunderbunker

07-31-2019, 08:13 PM

NXT
Date: July 31, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

With less than two weeks to go before the next Takeover, it really feels like this show has snuck up on us. The show should be fun, but it hasn’t had the most amount of time to build up. Last week’s major announcement saw Pete Dunne added to the North American Title scene though and that’s never a bad thing. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

When It's Said And Dunne (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/07/31/nxt-july-31-2019-when-its-said-and-dunne/)

klunderbunker

08-07-2019, 08:25 PM

NXT
Date: August 7, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

It’s the go home show for Takeover: Toronto, which is probably the weakest Takeover they’ve done in a long time. The show is likely to be good, though I’m not exactly sure how interesting it’s going to be. We still have this show to help with the build though and they’ve pulled off some great final pushes before. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

There Is More To Wrestling Than Wrestling (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/07/nxt-august-7-2019-there-is-more-to-wrestling-than-wrestling/)

klunderbunker

08-14-2019, 08:06 PM

NXT
Date: August 14, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

It’s one of those unique fallout shows tonight as we deal with everything from Takeover: Toronto. This time around though we have another big match on the docket with the finals of the Breakout Tournament. This one hasn’t had the best results so far but maybe the finals can make up for it a bit. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I'll Have The Usual (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/14/nxt-august-14-2019-ill-have-the-usual/)

Jack-Hammer

08-21-2019, 07:30 PM

I think NXT should move Shayna on from Mia. I just don't think Mia is all that special, certainly not remotely as much as I've seen her hyped to be, and their title match at TakeOver: Toronto has to be among the worst Women's Championship matches in NXT history. It was decent but the bar has been raised quite high, as has been the case for TakeOver events, and this match didn't belong. The problem is that there really isn't anyone to challenge her right now among the babyfaces; Candice LeRae is a possibility but she needs to put together a solid string of high profile wins and her last match, which was her first ever TakeOver match, saw her put in a great effort, but a losing effort, against Io Shirai.

Maybe Baszler vs. Yim II will be better, we can only hope as it looks like that's where we're heading before long.

klunderbunker

08-21-2019, 08:22 PM

NXT
Date: August 21, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

So in a bit of a surprise, this is the start of the last of the one hour taping cycles. It’s also the start of the fallout from Takeover: Toronto and that means things could be in for a shakeup as we move towards Takeover: WarGames III, which is likely to feature Undisputed Era again. That’s not a bad thing as they’re becoming the Horsemen of NXT, but now they need opponents. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Last Time (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/21/nxt-august-21-2019-the-last-time/)

Jack-Hammer

08-22-2019, 06:54 AM

As with AEW on TNT, you have to expect NXT will have a loaded s how for it's USA debut. With access to so many different wrestlers from its own brand, Raw, SmackDown and NXT UK, there's potentially endless scenarios that could come about.

However, just out of curiosity, what do YOU think should be the main event for NXT's USA Network debut episode? NXT has gone the old school way, and the proper way in my opinion, of establishing a hierarchy as far as championships go so I think it'd seem only logical, not to mention sending the right message, to have Adam Cole defend the NXT Championship against a top level talent. The episodes of Raw and SmackDown before NXT could be used to announce and get some hype/build for the upcoming match by featuring Cole and his opponent on both programs.

Jack-Hammer

08-28-2019, 08:09 PM

I thought this week's episode of NXT was a killer. Excitement and interest from beginning to end.

Io Shirai wins a squash match handily that highlights this new sadistic streak of hers. I was also glad to see Candice LeRae come out to attack her, after she'd started beating down her defenseless opponent, as this means there's more to come from them. I thought they stole the show at TakeOver: Toronto and would love to see them go at it again.

They did some really nice video segments and interviews featuring Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne, I'm perfectly fine with Dunne staying around NXT for a while though I don't know where Gargano is going. He's done everything there is to do in NXT and while you hate the risk of him heading to Raw or SmackDown, due to fear of Vince just misusing the hell out of him, it's still probably time for him to move somewhere else.

Keith Lee vs. Dominic Dijakovic was a spectacular hoss fight featuring two big mean beating the hell out of each other and showing off some great athleticism. Dijakovic's out there doing back flips over the top rope and countering powerbomb attempts by flipping and landing, mostly, on his feet while Keith Lee overpowers him at various points during the match and actually performs a Spanish Fly on Dijakovic off the top. Pretty damn sick looking. The end comes a little before the 11 minute mark with Lee once more perched on the top rope, maybe looking to set up a moonsault, which Dijakovic hit on him earlier, while selling the effects of DD's offense. Dijakovic clips his knee and hoists him off the top turnbuckle into the Torture Rack position to deliver Feast Your eyes for the win. ****1/4

Shayna Baszler comes out with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir but are soon interrupted by Rhea Ripley from NXT UK. Ripley rips into her for a bit, calls her a bitch, and declares that even if she has beaten every woman in NXT, which she has, that she hasn't beaten her. Works just fine for me as these two could deliver a very fun, very physical outing. Still don't believe she's dropping the title, I see them waiting on that for a while longer, possibly for Candice LeRae or someone completely new.

The main event featured the Street Profits defending the NXT Tag Team Championship against Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly of the Undisputed Era. As expected, it was a strong, energetic tag team match with all four men working hard to deliver a great bout. While not on the level of their last encounter in Toronto, it was still a helluva TV main event. After managing to hit their finisher, Fish and O'Reilly pick up the clean win and make history as the first 3 time NXT Tag Team Champions. ***3/4

So yeah, some great wrestling, some interesting stuff going on in the women's division and further ground laid for future programs. Show definitely gets an A this week in my eyes.

klunderbunker

08-28-2019, 08:21 PM

NXT
Date: August 28, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

We’re down to three weeks to go before the big switch over and tonight we have what might be the last title match on the hour long version. That would be the Street Profits defending the Tag Team Titles against the Undisputed Era as the Era’s quest for all the gold continues. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

As Good As It Gets (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/28/nxt-august-28-2019-as-good-as-it-gets/)

klunderbunker

09-04-2019, 08:37 PM

NXT
Date: September 4, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

We’re running out of hour long shows around here with just two weeks to go before the big move to USA. Since NXT likes to cover a lot of things, we’re getting one more NXT Title match out of the old format as Adam Cole defends against Breakout Tournament winner Jordan Myles. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Checking All The Boxes (http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/09/04/nxt-september-4-2019-checking-all-the-boxes/)

#AbsoluteUnit

09-05-2019, 04:17 PM

I'm pumped to see Rhea Ripley next week!

klunderbunker

09-11-2019, 08:17 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

Please Don't Go? (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/09/11/nxt-september-11-2019-please-dont-go/)

Jack-Hammer

09-12-2019, 08:53 AM

Last night saw the end of an era in which NXT will air exclusively on the WWE Network. It expands to two hours next week with the first hour being shown on the USA Network while the second hour is shown on the network. It'll be the same format for the 9/25 episode of NXT as well due to the USA Network showing a two part series finale of the show "Suits." Both hours of NXT will be shown on USA beginning October 2, the same night AEW debuts on TNT.

If NXT does well in the ratings, Triple H remains in control and all that other good stuff, the one slight problem is that now we'll have to deal with an NXT that has to go to commercial during matches. They have to take commercials obviously, it'll just take a little getting used to.

Some other things that are changing could involve the TakeOver specials. According to a report from earlier this week, there won't be a TakeOver during the Royal Rumble weekend. For the last few years when it comes to the original big four WWE PPVs, you'd have TakeOver on Saturday, the WWE PPV on Sunday, Raw on Monday and SmackDown on Tuesday. This time around, there's going to be a Worlds Collide special featuring wrestlers from NXT, NXT UK, 205 Live and maybe some main roster participation. There will still be TakeOver specials but the report says the new schedule isn't finalized and some reports state that WWE feels NXT TakeOver events don't really have to be part of the big four event.

#AbsoluteUnit

09-12-2019, 10:26 AM

This time around, there's going to be a Worlds Collide special featuring wrestlers from NXT, NXT UK, 205 Live and maybe some main roster participation.

I'm going to take a hard pass on that. Nothing against the guys who'll be on the show, but I wasn't a fan of the first WWE Worlds Collide show.

By the way, continuing on that this is an NXT Thread, Rhea vs Shayna should've gotten more time last night, and not end in a lame DQ.

Storm Trooper

09-13-2019, 03:03 AM

I'm going to take a hard pass on that. Nothing against the guys who'll be on the show, but I wasn't a fan of the first WWE Worlds Collide show.

By the way, continuing on that this is an NXT Thread, Rhea vs Shayna should've gotten more time last night, and not end in a lame DQ.
She's gonna probably be inserted intot he multi-person match for next week, and she will end up getting the shot at the Takeover. Where she wins the belt.

I was heavily debating a travel package for the Rumble, but now I'm just gonna buy everything a la carte. I highly expect this Worlds Collide to be a major event (maybe NXT vs. NXT UK with the big stars) but the lack of knowledge about this is rather disappointing.

Jack-Hammer

09-13-2019, 07:57 AM

I'm going to take a hard pass on that. Nothing against the guys who'll be on the show, but I wasn't a fan of the first WWE Worlds Collide show.

My guess is that there's a strategic reason for this and that it has something to do with AEW. There's been talk of NXT doing six TakeOver specials next year and it wouldn't surprise me if WWE purposely decides to hold TakeOver specials on the same night AEW will do a PPV. The purpose in that would be to try to cut AEW off at the knees where you'll be paying $50+ for AEW as opposed to a $10 monthly fee for the WWE Network where you'll get all the TakeOver specials.

That's pure speculation on my part, I could be completely wrong but it does strike me as something I could see Vince doing. Whether AEW wants it or not, they have a fight on their hands and Vince is taking it directly to them, though it might blow up in his face if fans really just connect with AEW.

By the way, continuing on that this is an NXT Thread, Rhea vs Shayna should've gotten more time last night, and not end in a lame DQ.

NXT does a slow burn all the time, it's one of the many things that's made it so much fun to watch. They ultimately did what they meant to by establishing Rhea as someone that's gonna be hard for Shayna to deal with. In most cases, and I think Mauro might have touched on this, Shayna's not only had the technical superiority against her opponents, but also the power advantage and that's not the case here. She's got the edge technically while Rhea comes off as this hard hitting scrapper. As to their DQ ending, I would've preferred them to just be really going at outside the ring, the ref counts them out, they just keep at each other, they're separated, they break loose and keep at it, etc. but what's most important to me is that they protected both women. NXT strenuously protects its champions, you almost never see a champion get pinned in non-title matches or come off looking weak as a means of setting up a future championship match. Neither came off as having a particular advantage over the other when Shafir and Duke interfered, so it still worked just fine for me.

Since Rhea did technically lose, I'd like to see her be left out of the multi-woman match and maybe use that to build something of a chip on her shoulder. Rhea shouldn't be a "good girl" as everything about her look and demeanor screams full fledged heel or tweener. Build her up for a while longer, let Baszler, most likely, get by whomever her next opponent is and then give Rhea her moment.

Psykohurricane

09-13-2019, 05:48 PM

For people living in the U.S, this will be the start of a interesting time for wrestling next week. NXT move to cable television and try to get more fans watching the product in the same way. Then in Three week, AEW start airing on TNT and try to be competition for WWE. This is a weird move as they are alienating their international fans just so they could counter program AEW.

This is the thing thought, just like the monday night wars, only U.S. wrestling fans gets to experience it as fans outside of the U.S. couldn't care less about this since we're not on getting AEW and NXT will still be playing on the Network the following day so it's just a matter of changing are viewing pattern.

As far as Takeover specials are concern, i kinda see it this way, i feel like they have the thinking that with the new mainstream exposure to the product, maybe the brand will become strong enough to not have to piggyback off the IWC audience that goes to the big 4 ppv and maybe by exposing it to another audience, they might not get a repeat of what happened in toronto for the last takeover special when they pretty much gave away ticket to make sure the arena was packed.

I don't know what the endgame is and how this will all plan out but something is for sure, while i doubt that WWE is seeing AEW as competition, they are still fighting to get the attention of the IWC audience they have and right now, that's what the wrestling business is. Their not fighting to get to casual fans or the forgotten fans to watch their show but they are fighting to keep us watching and that's pretty much why for us, it's a interesting time in wrestling but outside of our group, nobody cares about wrestling and won't for a very long time.

mrluck_07

09-13-2019, 08:52 PM

For people living in the U.S, this will be the start of a interesting time for wrestling next week. NXT move to cable television and try to get more fans watching the product in the same way. Then in Three week, AEW start airing on TNT and try to be competition for WWE. This is a weird move as they are alienating their international fans just so they could counter program AEW.

This is the thing thought, just like the monday night wars, only U.S. wrestling fans gets to experience it as fans outside of the U.S. couldn't care less about this since we're not on getting AEW and NXT will still be playing on the Network the following day so it's just a matter of changing are viewing pattern.

As far as Takeover specials are concern, i kinda see it this way, i feel like they have the thinking that with the new mainstream exposure to the product, maybe the brand will become strong enough to not have to piggyback off the IWC audience that goes to the big 4 ppv and maybe by exposing it to another audience, they might not get a repeat of what happened in toronto for the last takeover special when they pretty much gave away ticket to make sure the arena was packed.

I don't know what the endgame is and how this will all plan out but something is for sure, while i doubt that WWE is seeing AEW as competition, they are still fighting to get the attention of the IWC audience they have and right now, that's what the wrestling business is. They're not fighting to get to casual fans or the forgotten fans to watch their show but they are fighting to keep us watching and that's pretty much why for us, it's a interesting time in wrestling but outside of our group, nobody cares about wrestling and won't for a very long time.

This would make a lot of sense. Wild thing is there are ppl who watch the main roster who don't NXT and they aren't casuals.

klunderbunker

09-18-2019, 09:35 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Big Stage Awaits (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/09/18/nxt-september-18-2019-the-big-stage-awaits/)

A11

09-19-2019, 07:07 AM

I like the idea of moving takeovers away from the big 4. Means there's potential for Mania over two days instead of the 23 hours it currently goes for

Jack-Hammer

09-19-2019, 09:03 AM

I thought NXT's premiere on USA last night was a huge success overall. Even when factoring in the two hours and transition to the Network for the second hour, the show flew by and was very easy to watch. The length of the show was never a big concern of mine, I knew NXT would expand to 2 hours at some point, I was worried more about Vince getting his fingerprints all over it. It could still happen if NXT doesn't deliver good numbers after a while, but last night definitely wasn't one of the shows.

Lots of good wrestling action including a great 3.75 star sprint from the ladies to determine a new #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship. Candice winning was the right call and I'm glad they didn't just go ahead and add Rhea Ripley to the match; Candice is really the only major female player in NXT to not have a shot at Shayna so let her have it, which has been announced will be on the October 2nd episode of the show, then build Rhea up a little more and let her have her moment at War Games.

Still not really into Cameron Grimes all that much, but he did make something of an impression with a quick squash win.

Setting up another bout between Dijakovic and Keith Lee for next week was a nice little treat. They've torn it up the first two times they've gone at it and I've little doubt this'll be any different.

The NXT North American Championship match was another fun 3.75 star bout that I think could've been a little better without the ref bump and the predictable ending that went with it. However, last night was also about delivering a moment and this is the first time in NXT's history that any certain group has controlled all the male championships and it's not as if the UE isn't doing or hasn't been doing a great job.

the second hour was also a lot of fun as it was a treat to see Imperium out there and Walter received a helluva response from the Full Sail crowd. Walter looks like a more traditional old school tough guy, he doesn't look all super buff or anything like that but he just looks like someone you don't wanna fuck around with. Also am I the only one who gets this image of Imperium standing in the center of the ring wearing Waffen SS uniforms rather than track suits. I mean they couldn't go down that road for obvious reasons but the "uniform" and identical appearance in dress does suggest a more military type code, as does Walter's stance. I mean...c'mon, we've all seen WWII set movies in which some hateful Nazi bastard is standing in some resplendent uniform, maybe wearing a long black trench coat and a hat, standing straight with his hands clasped behind his back while surveying the surroundings, it's exactly the image Walter especially evokes. Kushida coming out was unexpected, but a nice surprise as a bout between them a bit later down the line could be a lot of fun.

Pete Dunne vs. Arturo Ruas was a fun 3 star outing, a nice little physical match with a mix of styles. I still cringe a little whenever I see Dunne manipulate someone's fingers as I know how easy it'd be for him to really fuck somebody up.

Oney Lorcan vs. Lio Rush in a CW Championship #1 contender's match felt totally out of left field, but it was a lot of fun all the same. A nice mix of brutality and athleticism to deliver a strong 3.5 stars for me and the fact that Rush is so small made Lorcan's offense come off as even more effective; also, I have to get it off my chest in that there ain't no damn way that boy is 161 lbs.. I know they use work weights and that's fine, but ain't nobody believin' that kid is anything heavier than 145 or so. Rush winning the match gives him a future Cruiserweight Championship match against Drew Gulak, which will again be a nice mesh of styles that'll be more appreciated under the NXT banner, which is where is probably should have been in the first place.

The main event of Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dane in a street fight was more about delivering a spectacle than anything else, which is fine as it generated buzz with half the locker room going at it. it had the sort of chaotic energy that felt proper closing out this first new episode in this new era of NXT. Later on, footage was released of William Regal looking all bent out of shape as he addressed Riddle and Dane. They meet again in a singles match on next week's episode as well with the winner becoming the new #1 contender for Adam Cole's NXT Championship.

So yeah, some fun promo stuff that didn't eat up a lot of time, making use of your time well to set up matches for the next little bit via video packages, in-ring promos or other matches, payint attention to continuity, several strong matches in which the outcomes felt like they mattered and an energetic crowd that was lively from start to finish. NXT delivered a strong show last night, an A- show in my eyes, and now we can only hope that fans get behind seeing it on TV.

Psykohurricane

09-19-2019, 12:56 PM

To tell you the truth, i haven't watch NXT in over a year, mostly because i saw that the product was starting to look like the main rosters stuff as being repetitive and predictable, but i was curious last night and even through i didn't have access to the first hour of the show because i live in Canada and USA isn't available here, i was still able to watch the second hour of the show and i got to say this, if they continue booking the show like this, their a really good chance that i will added this show to my schedule when the replay aired on the WWE network because this was 10 times better then the last NXT show is watched back in 2018.

They didn't try to have long matches, they introduced new characters and tried to tell more of a story throughout the night then focusing on in ring was the big problem for me at the time. The show felt freash and the un predictable ending of the show made for a better product. This shift in presentation made remember the early days of NXT when they wouldn't put all the focus on the same guys over and over again and it felt natural. Plus adding the cruiserweight and NXTUK divisions to the show is helping as well so i probably watch the show next week to see if they continue in that direction and after that i might just continue watching if it's something i enjoyed.

Jack-Hammer

09-19-2019, 04:32 PM

The show did what I think WWE and USA will consider to be very good numbers last night. It was ranked #4 in the key male demographics last night and drew in 1,179,000 viewers.

So, they drew strong in their targeted demos and the show drew almost 1.2 million viewers, which has to be seen as positive when you consider that it's a wrestling show that doesn't have the usual faces like Reigns, Rollins, Bryan, Strowman, Lesnar, Styles, etc.. and Wednesday night is pretty tough when it comes to other shows. The first hour that aired on USA went head to head against shows like Basketball Wives and Tucker Carlson but it was still one of the highest drawing shows on cable yesterday.

Despite what AEW has said before, I have a feeling that NXT and AEW might cut into each other's audience. Much of AEW's proposed format is what NXT has already been for years and I can easily see people flipping back and forth between them.

klunderbunker

09-25-2019, 09:11 PM

NXT
Date: September 25, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

Well it was a good run while it lasted, but things have to come to an end at some point. This will be the last week that the show is split between USA and the WWE Network. Therefore, this week’s show is going to be setting up next week’s two hour USA debut and that means we should be in for the usual big night. The big announced match is Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain in a street fight to crown a new #1 contender. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Experiment Ends (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/09/25/nxt-september-25-2019-the-experiment-ends/)

klunderbunker

10-02-2019, 11:50 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Counter Shot (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/10/03/nxt-october-2-2019-the-counter-shot/)

Jack-Hammer

10-03-2019, 01:26 AM

After having watched both shows, I watched NXT first and then saw the replay of AEW, and I have to give the edge to NXT tonight but that's not to say AEW put on a bad show. Nobody could watch either show tonight and objectively say that either one was bad; one show may have had someone you liked better on at a certain time or you may have liked a certain match better but, in the grand scheme of things, just about everything worked on both shows. The only way I can see anyone saying that either show sucked is if they're just being trolls because if you didn't enjoy tonight's shows, then you just may as well stop watching wrestling altogether because I have absolutely no earthly idea what it is that's going to entertain you. If you're looking for two shows where there's little to no filler, where they can use vignettes and promos that last no more than 7 to 10 minutes to tell you what's going on & who the wrestlers are and physical, athletic in-ring action then you should've been tickled pink tonight. Otherwise, just go and watch your garbage wrestling deathmatches in your best friend's backyard or some condemned gas station where the wrestlers beat each other with fluorescent light tubes and you run risk of catching Hepatitis due to them bleeding all over you.

For NXT, it's mostly what we've become used to over the last 5.5 years: a brand that knows how to deliver a quality wrestling product while making the best possible use of the time they have available to them
For AEW, it's mostly what I think most were expecting: an overall solid introduction to a brand new wrestling promotion featuring only a few familiar faces that also made good use of the time they had.

The biggest complaint I had regarding AEW was the commentary, I don't know the frig this Excalibur guy is but he just really, really kept getting off the mark sometimes. For instance, he started talking about how one of the wrestlers was into Dungeons & Dragons and sort of assigning strength stats to said wrestler or whatever. Anyway, he just really, really seemed like the odd man out in there with two veterans like Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. While it's always nice to hear Jim Ross, he seems so subdued now, he doesn't have nearly the sort of spark that he once had. While Mauro may go a bit over the top sometimes, Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuinness act as a good counter balance to that.

Overall, I thought NXT put on the stronger matches in most cases though, again, there weren't really any bad matches on the card but I felt AEW's main event was far weaker as they telegraphed too much having Moxley interfere and take Omega out of the match. Also, and this isn't any sort of major complaint or anything of that nature, I had to laugh at AEW's Women's World Championship belt as I had no idea it was so tiny. I mean, this was my first really good look at it and it looked really small even with Riho holding it and it would've looked like some toy belt that comes with a wrestling action figure if a woman of any physical size gets hold of it. It looked like it wouldn't even fit around Nyla Rose's arm.

As clichÃ© as this might sound, due to wrestling journalists, wrestlers themselves and executives saying it, wrestling fans were the winners tonight. Not every show will be as loaded as this, that goes for both shows, especially NXT as there's literally dozens of wrestlers who can be pulled from all over WWE to work NXT on USA some weeks, but that's okay as you can't just leave it all out there every single week. With that being said, however, you're pretty much guaranteed to get overall more wrestling content on these shows than Raw or SmackDown because neither AEW or NXT have monthly PPV events to sell. The last I heard, AEW only wants to run four PPVs next year and, unless things change, NXT only has five TakeOver specials, or that's been the case for the past few years, so don't be at all surprised to see a lot of PPV worthy matches pop up a lot on both NXT and AEW.

klunderbunker

10-10-2019, 12:37 AM

NXT
Date: October 9, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

We’re into the second week of head to head and that could mean some interesting developments. Above all else, it should be interesting to see how the show adjusts after getting flattened in the ratings last week. Maybe it was a one off surprise due to the debut, but it could be the start of a trend and that could mean some changes. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Round Two (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/10/10/nxt-october-9-2019-round-two/)

Jack-Hammer

10-10-2019, 01:45 AM

This week's episode of NXT started off with the NXT Cruiserweight Championship match with Drew Gulak defending against Lio Rush. I'm hoping they get a new belt to reflect the name change. Anyhow, this was a fun 3.5 style bout with a nice mix and clash of styles here with Gulak doing his ground & pound bit while Lio Rush is fast and agile as all hell. The match had some nice physical action, Rush sold Gulak's offense well and looked resilient taking most of his best shots. You could sense that the title was gonna change hands when the match was announced last week and that's what happened here as Lio Rush becomes NXT Cruiserweight Champion. I've said for a long time the Cruiserweight Division should've just been part of NXT to begin with as it'll simply be appreciated more under the NXT umbrella.

They showed a few cool video packages on Finn Balor and Tegan Nox afterward. I haven't had much of a chance to see much of Nox's work, I'd heard good things about her before she was injured during the second Mae Young Classic and I'm interested in seeing what she can do. Balor coming back to NXT may seem like a step down but with WWE's creative quality being such a crapshoot, maybe it's for the best as you at least know he'll be used in quality ways in NXT.

Rhea Ripley vs. Aaliyah was a less than 90 second squash, which is all it needed to be. Ripley looks great and comes off like a star, and props to Aaliyah for selling the hell out of that Cloverleaf that Ripley put her in. Ripley got on the mic and essentially called out Baszler, which works just fine for me as I think whey'll wind up clashing at TakeOver: WarGames.

Breezango vs. the Forgotton Sons was originally supposed to be Breezango vs. Ever Rise but the Sons took them out. The match was only about 4 minutes long and I figured it was a 2.5 star effort. Neither team feels like an upper tier level team, so this was fine for me with the Sons getting the win.

They show a brief video package of Keith Lee, and one of Dominik Dijacovic later on in the show, with each man hyping their rubber match on NXT next week with each promising victory. They've had really fun matches and, after this, I think they need to cool it and not run it into the ground.

Boa vs. Cameron Grimes barely gets stated before Grimes delivers standing double stomp. This makes the 2nd or 3rd time they've done that, which the move does look pretty cool, though I'm not sure I'm sold on Grimes.

Roderick Strong vs. Isaiah "Serve" Scott was a really fun 3.75 star outing. Some nice, hard hitting physical action here as Scott looled strong against the North American Champion, so much that Strong needed a little distraction from the UE to break Scott's momentum at the end. The match went about the 10.5 minute mark. I'm wondering if they may have some plans for Scott in the future as he's really over with the fans and is fun to watch.

Velveteen Dream interrupts the Undisputed Era's celebration in the ring with his usual double entendre. He makes a challenge for the NXT North American Championship, which is later confirmed for two weeks time, and shows a picture of Strong nude lying on a sofa with the championship covering his junk, only for Dream to digitally remove the title and showing what's meant to be a blurred micro penis which, as expected, infuriates Strong.

Tommaso Ciampa then comes out dragging a crutch behind him and packing a steel chair, so the UE clears the ring with Ciampa addressing Cole by simply saying "Goldie? Daddy's home" and the crowd cheers. Afterwards, Angel Garza is backstage hitting on the female interviewer who is waiting for Ciampa, only for Garza to poke fun at Ciampa's looks in Spanish before being laid out. Garza is a talented, charismatic kid who my 13 year old niece thinks is luscious, which of course means he's a rotten son of a bitch and I want Ciampa to rip out his liver and eat it.

Dakota Kai vs. Bianca Belair was a fun 3.25 star outing for the ladies. It was more competitive than I was expecting and I was a little surprised to see Bianca pick up the win here. Dakota is over and comes off as generally more serious since her return, so maybe they're just waiting for another time for her. After all, she did just recently get back. The match was a little choppy in a couple of spots but the ladies worked hard and the fans were into it. Bianca hits her KOD finisher for the win around the 10.5 minute mark. Bianca gets on the mic and addresses Rhea Ripley's comments earlier, stating that if she wants a shot at Shayna Baszler, she has to go through her. Ripley vs. Belair could be a really fun, physical #1 contenders match. I'd rather they went down that road rather than a triple threat against Baszler.

They show some video featuring comments from Damien Priest & Pete Dunne, setting up a match between them for next week. I'm not totally sold on the Damien Priest gimmick, but he does look comfortable in it and it's got more depth to it than just him being this one dimensional destroyer such as he was in his Punishment Martinez days.

Kushida vs. Walter as a great, phsycal, hard hitting 4.25 star bout that pretty much cemented my like for Walter. When I first saw the guy in NXT UK, I wasn't all that impressed but I have to admit that I've become a genuine fan after seeing all these great matches he's had against Pete Dunne, Trent Sevel, Tyler Bate and now Kushida. The match took a few minutes to get going but once it got going, things were just super. Kushida looked tough taking Walter's big offense while Walter also looked resilient managing to get out of Kushida's submission attempts, usually by brute force. Basically, for about 17 minutes they hit each other with just about all they've got before Walter hits the big powerbomb, which still doesn't finish off Kushida. Walter then picks him up and delivers a big ripcord lariat that puts him down, which is a tactic we've seen Walter do before and it adds a nice bit of spice to his matches: when he can't finish a guy off after hitting everything, he just hits a big, nasty clothesline.

So next week's show will feature the rubber match of Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijacovic, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Angel Garza and I think Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest.

As with AEW, this week's NXT wasn't quite as good as last week's though it was still a good show. I still give NXT the nod this week, though it's a closer race this week with NXT getting a B-. Again, another Wednesday night of quality wrestling all in all.

klunderbunker

10-17-2019, 12:44 AM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

For the First Time So Far (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/10/17/nxt-october-16-2019-for-the-first-time-so-far/)

Jack-Hammer

10-17-2019, 10:36 AM

As far as which was better between AEW and NXT this week, I felt it was too close to call. I thought both put on really good, quality shows. I felt both put on quality wrestling and continued build towards the future: AEW towards Full Gear and I get the feeling we're seeing more stuff set up in NXT for WarGames.

NXT had a few more matches on their card than AEW but they were mostly squash matches used to position the stars, set things up for the near future or rebound from recent losses: Tommaso Ciampa looked great in his return and while it may not have been a full blown squash, it didn't need to be as Angel Garza has too much talent and potential to be totally buried. Io Shirai looked great and a future bout with Rhea Ripley? Yes please. Matt Riddle looked impressive against Bronson Reed, including some impressive power displays, it's nice to see Tegan Nox back and hopefully her knee continues to hold up and Killian Dain decimated Boa just at he should have.

As for the rest of NXT: Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Imperium was a really fun, physical 3.5 star outing that was mostly about 9 minutes of two teams just beating the crap out of each other. Both teams looked good and either could be potential title contenders. Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic was another strong, 3.75 star outing for the two big men. The match was a little different from their previous ones, which was fine as it's never a bad thing to show you can be different from what people expect, which has been part of the point of the series of matches between them. I also thought Dijakovic did a really good job of selling his left arm throughout. The interference from Roderick Strong to set up a triple threat match for his NA Championship felt a little hackneyed as we've seen it so often in various companies but it worked. Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest was a strong main event, a 3.75 to 4 star outing for me as it was 14.5 minutes of the big, athletic powerhouse vs. the smaller, savage scrapper. This was Priest's best outing in NXT to date, which is no surprise as it's hard to have a bad match against Dunne, but Priest held his own and looked like a star. The ending involving the "Ballseye", to quote Mauro, was a nice touch and the execution with the ref legitimately not being able to see it due to literally having just squeezed herself out from between the two in the corner not a second before was nicely done. It protected Dunne and kept Priest undefeated.

Over on AEW, I basically had only a couple of complaints about much of anything and it's pretty minor: The Cody video package was nicely done as a while, though I found myself not really caring for the most part as I've no real interest in Cody as AEW World Champion. I mean, Cody is essentially in a Triple H type of position and none of us were excited when Trips won the WWE Championship again a few years back. It was cool seeing DDP in the video, guy looks essentially the same now as he did 20+ years ago and is probably as healthy as healthy as anybody half his age in AEW or WWE, but the little comment about this possibly being Cody's first World Championship didn't sit well with me. I don't know if DDP just forgot about it, or was unaware of it, but Cody did hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for 50 days last year and spent roughly 6 months of 2017 as ROH World Champion. I can understand if it was a mistake from DDP but if he was told not to bring those runs up, then it's the sort of revisionist bullcrap people always give Vince grief over.

As for the wrestling action: SCU vs. the Best Friends was a good 3.25 star bout, though I'm not overly fond of either team. I kinda like the BFs hugging gimmick as it reminds me fondly of Team Hell No. All in all, just a good 10 minute bout with the more established team of Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian moving on in the AEW tag title tourney semi-finals. Santana & Ortiz looked dominant in their squash match debut, as they should have. The AEW Women's World Championship match between Riho & Britt Baker was, for me about 2.75 stars. It was pretty decent, but I'm just not feeling Riho. I just feel there are much more interesting women who could've been the company's first champ and I can't get over the notion that a big reason why she's the champ is because of Kenny Omega, who is said to be very hands on with AEW's women's division, as she's a protÃ©gÃ© of his. The Lucha Bros. vs. the Jurassic Express was only about 2.5 stars for me as I just look at the JE as a joke more than anything else, especially Marko Stunt as the guy looks like he's about 12 years old while Jungle Boy, AKA Luke Perry, kinda sorta looks like he might be 16. The Lucha Bros. looked strong, as expected, but I just didn't buy into Stunt and...well...Boy as viable challengers for them, certainly not guys that had to struggle for 11.5 minutes to beat. Jon Moxley & Pac vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Page was a great bout, a very strong 3.75 star to 4 star outing as it was a fun, fast pace, physical bout that continues the inevitable meeting of Moxley and Omega, which I have a feeling Uncle Dave is just waiting to spray his shorts over. The barbed wire stuff was a little goofy, but I like that it was set up for Moxley to turn on Pac and leave him and dry to take the loss. The AEW World Championship Philadelphia Street fight between Chric Jericho & Darby Allin I felt was about 3.25 stars, a good match but it never got into high gear as I never bought into Darby as a serious challenger. As of right now in his career, Darby just doesn't feel like he has the grapes to be at this level and this is a good example of why AEW needs a mid-card title at some point. They made good overall use of the stipulation, though I think they're already overdoing stuff with Jericho needing to be saved by Hager. To me, it didn't make Allin look strong so much as it made Jericho look weak.

All in all though, both shows delivered and continue to be an overall joy to watch. I gave NXT a B while AEW also got a B, MAYBE, just MAYBE a B-, but, to me, it was a little too close to call.

klunderbunker

10-24-2019, 01:03 AM

NXT
Date: October 23, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things should be interesting this week as the show is in a bad ratings fight against Dynamite, though this time around isn’t going to matter that much as the World Series is going to massacre both shows. The big match tonight is Roderick Strong defending the North American Title against Keith Lee and Dominick Dijakovic. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Dang. Ok. (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/10/24/nxt-october-23-2019-dang-ok/)

Jack-Hammer

10-31-2019, 02:33 AM

Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai was another strong, physical outing from these two. While not quite as good as their match at the last TakeOver, this was still a high quality bout that had both women looking like stars. I like how the match played out in that it seemed to be pretty much even throughout with the ending coming about more as a result of, seemingly as a result of I should say, luck or accident than anything else. Candice goes for the springboard moonsault only for Io to roll out of the way, causing Candice to land square on the steel chair that Io herself had brought into the ring but the ref had taken away from her and hadn't had a chance to toss out of the ring. The post match saw Rhea Ripley interfere to keep Io from going to town on Candice and, eventually, I expect we'll see Rhea vs. Io to see who gets the next shot at Shayna Baszler at some point. ***3/4

Finn Balor's promo was exactly what it needed to be. Balor showed real personality, a nice cocky heel confidence, basically said I'm the baddest and best thing going, all but challenged Johnny Gargano and left it at that. I like that he didn't waste time and that he didn't answer all the questions, such as whether or not he's allying himself with the UE, and that's a cool way to end a promo. A long segment is needed sometimes but we see it far, far, far too much on Raw and SmackDown. Most of the time, the message can be delivered and whatever is being sold can be sold within 3 to 5 minutes if it's worth fans investing in and this is. I don't have to have a guy standing out there for 15 minutes telling me how good he is, how much of a badass he is, how he's on top or popping off one liners left and right most of the time; as I alluded to, it's fine every once in a while but I prefer promo segments more on the short and sweet side these days.

Bronson Reed vs. Shane Thorne was a pretty physical, really well paced sprint that lasted about 5 minutes. No time was wasted as both of these guys are pegged as two young guys looking to prove something to themselves and everyone else, so the relentless pace, trading shots and displays of power and athletic ability played well into that. For instance, it was fun seeing Thorne hit the Saito Suplex on Reed as it's always impressive watching a guy perform a power move on someone that's a a legit 100 pounds heavier. The match ends with Thorne going for a hurricanrana attempt off the top rope, after intercepting Reed who'd gone up there first. He leeps up for the move, Reed swats him aside and delivers a big splash from the top for the clean win. Short, sweet, entertaining. ***

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: The Kabuki Warriors vs. Tegan Nox & Dakota Kai was a lot of fun for me. This match got about 17 or so minutes and it was nice to see Asuka and Kairi back in matches where they have the time to show off their abilities. Nox and Kai came off well as a couple of plucky babyfaces who're easy to cheer for. A nice little mix of modern and old school for this match as both teams utilized a faster, more intense pace at times while Askua & Kairi used a good deal of the match to work on Dakota Kai's knee. As usual, the babyfaces eventually rally, things start to break down and there's mass confusion. The end comes with Kairi Sane distracting the ref with Asuka spraying the green mist immediately into Dakota Kai's eyes. As Kai falls face first onto the mat, rubbing her eyes and face, Asuka keeps Tegan Nox distracted while Kairi climbs the ripes and hits the InSane Elbow for the win. Covering Kai's face so the ref couldn't see, and the commentators drawing attention to that, was a nice little touch that helps push things along for Asuka and Kairi as heels. As I've said lots of times, a lot of little things here and there can add up to a whole lot. ***1/2

The post match stuff with Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir attacking Nox and Kai, resulting in pretty much the entire locker room emptying was fun. We don't often see a lot of big female brawls so this felt fresh and the live crowd ate it up. William Regal came out to stand on the balcony screaming for everyone to separate and said that all this would be handled at WarGames, which popped the crowd, so it looks like we'll be getting a men's and women's WarGames match. It was announced later in the night that Rhea Ripley and Shayna Baszler were going to be the captains of the respective teams, though they stayed mum on how many would be on each team and who they'd be. I see them going for a four on four bout with it ultimately being Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair & Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir & Io Shirai.

Tyler Bate vs. Cameron Grimes was a nice mix of speed, strength and physicality from both guys. I'm coming around on Grimes as he's gotten a chance to showcase more of what he brings to the table in the last few matches he's worked. Tyler Bate is someone who has a bright future, he's so young but he's so well rounded and can work so many different styles with equal ability. The only thing hurting him in WWE is the fact that he's about 5'9" and weighs about 175 lbs., though when I say WWE, I mean mostly Vince McMahon. Even though he's only in his early 20s, he comes off extremely mature and works like someone that's in their mid 30s who's been wrestling for the better part of 20 years. The match goes to just a bit before the 10 minute mark as Killian Dane is at ringside and provides a momentary distraction on Bate, which puts him off his game long enough to where he runs into Grimes' double stomp finisher for the win. Afterward, Dane beats up on Bate for a bit and told him to deliver a message to Pete Dunne, which I'm guessing will take place a WarGames. ***1/4

Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Matt Riddle & Keith Lee was a lot of fun. You basically had the classic, cohesive tag team against a couple of singles stars who don't have the cohesive chemistry of the established tag team but make up for it with different types of freakish athleticism. Lee just does things that a 325 pound man shouldn't be able to do while Riddle displays the sort of strength you expect more from a 300 pound powerhouse. Lots of good paced, physical action though I'd have been happier seeing Lee teaming up with Dijakovic for this match with their past matches making them grudgingly respect one another. Still, Riddle's a lot of fun to watch as well and all four men worked hard. I could've done without the cliched ending of Strong and Cole trying to run interference. The end comes with Riddle working over Fish in the ring as O'Reilly sneaks up from behind him, hitting him with Total Elimination to pick up the win a little before the 15 minute mark while Lee is distracted on the outside beating up more on Strong and Cole. ***1/2

The post match beating saw Ciampa show up and the faces eventually cleaning house. Ciampa addresses Goldie, the NXT Championship, and tells it that it'll have to wait a bit longer because Daddy's going to war, which pops the crowd.

All in all, another strong show from NXT featuring quality wrestling action, some good video packages on Mia Yim and Angel Garza, a brief but compelling in-ring promo segment from Finn Balor, setting things up over the next weeks to come with some matches that includes a rematch between Pete Dunne and Damien Priest, the announcement of the first women's WarGames match, a look at most of the competitors in said match and the same with the men's match. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking NXT TakeOver: WarGames looks something like this:

Men's WarGames Match: Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, Velveteen Dream/Dominic Dijakovic vs. the Undisputed Era
Women's WarGames Match: Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir
Singles Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor
Singles Match: Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dane

There'll be at least one other match on the card, but I'm just not sure what it'll be just yet. They may also add some sort of stipulations to the matches as it'll be strange with this being the first NXT TakeOver with no championships being defended, unless Regal makes the men's WarGames matches some sort of winner takes all sort of deal.

Overall, I give last night's episode of NXT a solid B. I caught the replay of AEW when it aired about 12:20 AM EST and I thought NXT blew it away as this was the worst for AEW Dynamite so far. I just wasn't feeling a lot of the talent in most of the matches they had and I'm struggling to make myself care about Cody vs. Jericho, especially considering that AEW looks to be going the route of doing its own little bit of revisionist history by pretending that Cody isn't already a former NWA and ROH World Champion. Cody was NWA WHC for about 1.5 months and spent a good 6 months as ROH World Champion, plus the guy's a top executive of the company so that also just makes me lose interest.

klunderbunker

10-31-2019, 04:04 AM

NXT
Date: October 30, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo

Things changed in a big way last week as Finn Balor turned on Johnny Gargano, likely setting up a heck of a showdown in Chicago. Other than that, it’s time to start setting up Takeover, which means it’s time to start setting up WarGames. They have a lot of ways to get there and I’m curious to see which they pick. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Antebellum (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/10/31/nxt-october-30-2019-antebellum/)

Jack-Hammer

11-06-2019, 02:35 PM

A few more of the participants in the women's WarGames match have been announced. On Rhea Ripley's team, we have Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae while Bianca Belair and Io Shirai have been announced for Team Baszler.

While I haven't seen a whole helluva lot of her, I have to say that I'm not overly impressed so far with Tegan Nox. Nice looking gal, killer smile and pretty decent in the ring but, as the Street Profits might say, I've yet to see the smoke from her. You know, what makes her special or stands out from the rest of the crowd.

klunderbunker

11-06-2019, 11:19 PM

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

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

Click on the link below for the full review.

Cracking Good Fun (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/11/07/nxt-november-6-2019-cracking-good-fun/)

klunderbunker

11-14-2019, 01:34 AM

NXT
Date: November 13, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

We’re still on the way to Survivor Series and hopefully things can get back to where they were last week. At the same time though, things are starting to move towards Takeover, so we’re going to be seeing a ladder match for the advantage in the women’s WarGames. The lineups still need to be locked in though so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Riddle Of The Little Putz (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/11/14/nxt-november-13-2019-the-riddle-of-the-little-putz/)

Jack-Hammer

11-14-2019, 04:30 AM

I thought this was another great showing for the black and gold band. A combo of great action, storyline movement, a little bit of mystery and continued hype for Survivor Series.

NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza (8.5) - A great opening match with the sort of fast paced action that I think most people want when they hear of a "cruiserweight match." They didn't go for the feeling out process or cautiously check their opponent, they went right at it especially after Garza did his pants thing out in the crowd right beside Rush's wife and kids. The match became game of "nice job, but I can do better" and it goes along with the match and provides the furtherance of a story. Both these guys' personas revolve around having big egos and little things like Garza "disrespecting" Rush's family laid the foundation. The fans were really digging this one and hung on every near fall, especially with each of them hitting their finisher once. The end comes with Rush hitting a modified splash from the top, the ref is out of position and doesn't see Garza's foot on the ropes. Rush retains, Garza was protected, has a legit gripe so we'll probably see a sequel. I'm down with that.

At various points over the course of the show, female wrestlers are shown outside Full Sail and in the back to have been rendered unconscious. At first, it's Tegan Nox and Rhea Ripley while, later on, it's Candice LeRae, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, which also has a brief cameo appearance by Scarlett Bordeaux as she's checking on LeRae. Simple, effective whodunnit.

Xia Li vs. Aliyah (NA) - This match only went about 2 minutes, barely 2 minutes, and not enough went down to really rate anything. Aliyah is basically the stuck up pretty girl while Li is essentially the personality limited martial arts gal. Li gets the win after nailing Aliyah with a nasty kick that basically busts her nose like a ripe tomato.

The Finn Balor promo segment was a lot of fun as they did squeeze in a lot of stuff without making any of it seem rushed. That's what happens when you get a nice, steady build of something over the course of 5 or so weeks instead of trying to jam 5 or so weeks worth of stuff into 2 weeks. Before Balor says too much, Matt Riddle hits the ring and attacks him from behind since Balor had been out there essentially calling the current crop of NXT guys pussies. After Balor is knocked over the security railing, he takes off with Riddle calling him a "putz", which may be a first in wrestling. Anybody know if Riddle has any Jewish ancestry since Putz is Yiddish for penis, pecker or any other slang term for a man's junk. The UE comes out after Riddle only for Ciampa and Keith Lee to join in. Some nice mic work from Lee as he challenges Adam Cole with Roderick Strong taking up for Cole in a nice little bit of toadying. Cole "deserves" a "night off" but Strong takes up the challenge.

Roderick Strong vs. Keith Lee (8.0) - Really fun match between two guys who have really different styles, but they mesh them well and each is willing and able to make the other look like a star. For instance, it's impressive to see Rodering Strong, who is probably right around 200 lbs. at the most deliver an Angle/Olympic Slam to Keith Lee, who I'd say is a legit 320 lbs. Strong also manages a great looking Superplex on Lee for a good near fall. Strong also sells the crap out of Lee's offense, such as Lee genuinely tossing him around with no effort whatsoever or Strong flipping inside out whenever he's hit by a particularly strong shot. It's not exactly traditional to see a guy go in there and slug it out with a guy that's a good hundred pounds heavier, but I like seeing that at times because just because a guy is smaller, especially in real life, doesn't mean that guy isn't tough and can't give as good as he gets, or sometimes even better. Besides, the old chestnut of going after the big super heavyweight's knee is overly done anyway in my eyes. The UE comes out to ringside only to be blindsided by Ciampa and Riddle, Riddle is then hit from behind by Finn Balor while the rest of the UE focus on Ciampa. Back in the ring, Strong hits the Angle/Olympic Slam I mentioned earlier but Lee endurs it and winds up hitting the Supernova for the win about the 17.5 minute mark. Champions losing nontitle matches by being pinned usually irks me, but this is only the 2nd time that I've seen it happen in NXT throughout this entire year, with the first being a six man tag team match in which Velveteen Dream was pinned by Strong and said defeat was used as the groundwork for Strong getting a title shot several weeks later in which he successfully captured the title. It's easy to forgive because it'll probably be another 6 months to a year before it happens again whereas this sort of thing has been known to go down several times in a month on Raw or SmackDown. This will probably be used to set up a title shot between the two sometime after WarGames, which suits me just fine. As the UE and Balor have the numbers advantage, her comes Dominick Dijakovic, who single handedly takes out all the UE members and forces them to flee. The fans let out a WarGames chant, Ciampa shakes his heand while he shares an intense staredown with Lee, but they eventually shake hands.

It's revealed later on in the night that Matt Riddle is out of the WarGames match, tht Dijakovic is replacing him, which still leaves a mystery partner to be revealed, and that Riddle will take on Finn Balor in a singles bout at WarGames.

Isaiah Scott vs. Bronson Reed (7.5) - Very solid match from two of the up and comers of NXT. Again, you have a case of a guy who's hovering around 200 lbs. taking on a guy that's a good hundred or so pounds heavier, yet he hangs in there and gives as good as he gets. To me, in most situations, it makes for a more entertaining match as you often have both guys come out looking quite good and that was the case here. Reed's a big, thick guy who looks like he does a good deal of powerlifting while Scott is freakishly agile. Towards the center of the match, maybe a bit afterward, Reed heads up to the top for what I figure is a splash only to be stopped. Scott climbs up to, I presume try a Superplex eventually only for Reed to turn him around and put him in the Tombstone position while standing up on the second rope. Scott wriggles out of the Super Tombstone and swings around into a Tornado DDT off the ropes for a fun near fall. Eventually, the bout ends with Scott namaging to deliver the House Call, AKA Swerve Kick, to the back of Reed's head when he's on the mat, giving him the win about the 12 minute mark. Not as good as his match with Dijakovic, but still quite good and he won this one.

Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dane doesn't get started as Damien Priest attacks Dane from behind as he's coming down the ramp on his way to the ring. Dunne then gets out of the ring and begins brawling with Priest. Security comes in and pulls everyone apart once Dane gets back into things. Dane and Dunne are pulled outside by the security while Priest mauls a couple of security guys in the ring. He then delivers a running Razor's Edge to won of them over the top rope, which takes everyone down. As Dunne and Dane get back to their feet, Priest does the running flip dive over the top and takes them both out. He then leaves after having laid both of them out. Looks like we're getting a triple threat match for WarGames.

Ladder Match: Mia Yim vs. Io Shirai (9.0) - I might be ranking this one a little too high, but I just really enjoyed it as the women of NXT have especially been killing it. Everyone's been doing a great job in NXT during the WarGames build, but the women have just shined like gold AND diamonds. This match was no exception as they beat the crap out of each other, as you might expect. I wasn't a big fan of Yim but she's come into her own more over the past few months and her matches with Io Shirai have easily been her best in NXT, in my opinion. We get all the various ladder spots and shots you expect, though they just seem all the more devastating to me as we don't often see women in this sort of setting. I mean, Mia Yim and Io Shirai are both about 5'6" and 5'2" respectively while weighing 130 lbs. and 115-120 lbs.? Someone that small smacking into the ladder and hearing that loud crack makes the impact look and sound all that more devastating. The ending comes soon after Dakota Kai comes out to check on Yim, as she was headbutted out onto the floor, only for Io Shirai to hit a big moonsault that takes both of them out. Shirai tries to climb back up the ladder only for Dakota to powerbomb her, giving Yim time to recover and make the climb. A big surprises comes about as Kay Lee Ray, NXT UK Women's Champion, suddenly hits the ring and shoves the ladder over with Yim close to the top. Yim sails over the top rope and crashes through a ladder that'd been set up stretching from the edge of the apron to the security railing, great looking spot. Shirai then climbs up and claims the briefcase, giving her team the advantage of being able to have a new member of their team enter the WarGames match first. After the match, Bianca Belair comes down to the ring and celebrates, so I'm guessing this means that Ray is part of Shayna Baszler's team at WarGames. Speaking of which, the show goes off the air with Shayna walking down the ramp only to be jumped from behind by Bayley. With the NXT Women's Championship laying on the ramp, Bayley delivers that modified bulldog she's been using as her finisher, driving Shayna face first onto the title before she runs off to end the show.

Overall Score: 8.5/10 - A great show this week with NXT continuing to make me want to see WarGames more than Survivor Series, which is par for the course when it comes to NXT and WWE PPVs. It feels a little strange that this will be a PPV in which none of the NXT championships will be defended, but I think they've made up for that by amping up the physicality and seeming hatred between the various opposing forces that'll be fighting at TakeOver: WarGames. We still don't know who the fourth member of Team Ciampa will be, though they'll probably be revealed next week as either Johnny Gargano or Velveteen Dream. Might even be someone from NXT UK or, just possibly, even from Raw or SmackDown like Cesaro or something as a nice surprise. At any rate, another Wednesday, another strong outing for NXT.

klunderbunker

11-21-2019, 01:41 AM

NXT
Date: November 20, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

In a rare situation, this is the go home show for both Takeover: WarGames and Survivor Series. Takeover’s card seems to be set, but there are five spots each for both the men’s and women’s Survivor Series teams. There is a good chance that we will not know any of the members until Sunday, which could make for quite the show. As for tonight, HHH has said the doors are open so it’s guest stars time. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

How To Save Raw And Smackdown (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/11/21/nxt-november-20-2019-how-to-save-raw-and-smackdown/)

klunderbunker

11-28-2019, 03:17 AM

NXT
Date: November 27, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things took quite the turn for NXT over the weekend as they won the battle for Brand Supremacy on Sunday at Survivor Series, defeating both Monday Night Raw and Smackdown in the process. They’re celebrating with a Tag Team Title match as the Undisputed Era defending against Keith Lee and Dominick Dijakovic. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Victory Lap/It's Bright And Now (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/11/28/nxt-november-27-2019-the-victory-lap-its-bright-and-now/)

klunderbunker

12-05-2019, 01:38 AM

NXT
Date: December 4, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things got more interesting last week with Finn Balor going after Adam Cole, though it isn’t clear if they’re going to be alone, as Tommaso Ciampa was in the mix too. They have something interesting with the NXT Title picture and that is going to make for some fun shows as we get ready for Portland. Granted that’s a long way off though and a lot could change by then. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Bask In Its Glory (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/12/05/nxt-december-4-2019-bask-in-its-glory/)

klunderbunker

12-12-2019, 04:03 AM

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

It’s the next to last show of the year with one more show to go after this in 2019. That show is going to need a main event and we’ll be setting that up tonight with a triple threat match for the #1 contendership to the NXT Title. In other words, it’s Keith Lee vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor, which should tell you everything you need to know. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

I Don't Like This Feeling (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/12/12/nxt-december-11-2019-i-dont-like-this-feeling/)

klunderbunker

12-19-2019, 03:11 AM

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

It’s a double title night here with both the NXT Title and Women’s Title on the line. First up Adam Cole will defend against Finn Balor and odds are the main event will see Rhea Ripley challenging Shayna Baszler. NXT knows how to do these big shows so it should be interesting to see how things go. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

An All Timer (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/12/19/nxt-december-18-2019-an-all-timer/)

Jeff Deliverer of Mail

12-19-2019, 08:07 AM

Shiiiit, I badly wanted to watch this show but I didn't have the channel it was on. Looks like it was way better than AEW was.

klunderbunker

01-01-2020, 01:14 AM

NXT
Date: December 25, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida/Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix
Hosts: Pat McAfee, Cathy Kelly, Sam Roberts

It’s a Christmas night show because that’s something we needed this year. Last week’s show was a huge one with Rhea Ripley finally ending Shayna Baszler’s crazy long Women’s Title reign in a great moment. In addition to that, Johnny Gargano returned and annihilated Finn Balor to set up a huge match probably in the near future. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Your Late Christmas Present (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/01/nxt-december-25-2019-your-late-christmas-present/)

klunderbunker

01-02-2020, 12:46 AM

NXT
Date: January 1, 2020
Hosts: Pat McAfee, Sam Roberts, Cathy Kelly

It’s a special edition this week with both the Year End Awards as well as the unveiling of the NXT Matches of the Year. That means things should be interesting and showing some high quality wrestling since a lot of those matches are going to come from Takeover. I can always go for that so let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

All The Gold (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/02/nxt-january-1-2020-best-of-2019-all-the-gold/)

klunderbunker

01-09-2020, 08:14 AM

NXT
Date: January 8, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

It’s back to Full Sail for the first time this year after things went in a bit of a different direction last week. This time around it’s time to crown a new #1 contender to the North American Title. In addition to that, it’s time to start the annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which can be a bit hit and miss. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Fight For The Right To Be North American Champion (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/09/nxt-january-8-2020-fight-for-the-right-to-be-north-american/)

klunderbunker

01-16-2020, 01:52 AM

NXT
Date: January 15, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

We’re coming up on Worlds Collide, which is actually looking like a pretty good show in lieu of a traditional Takeover. I’m not sure what to expect from this one, but we will be getting the rest of the first round of the Dusty Classic, plus probably the start of the build to the next Takeover. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

A Collision Sounds Good (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/16/nxt-january-15-2020-a-collision-sounds-good/)

klunderbunker

01-23-2020, 01:43 AM

NXT
Date: January 22, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo

It’s the go home show for When Worlds Collide but it’s also time to start building things up for Takeover: Portland. I’m not sure where everything is going for that show, but tonight we have more from the Dusty Classic and the North American Title on the line with Roderick Strong defending against the banged up Keith Lee. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

One At A Time (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/23/nxt-january-22-2020-one-at-a-time/)

klunderbunker

01-29-2020, 10:35 PM

NXT
Date: January 29, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo

Itâ??s a big night around here as Worlds Collide is behind us. That means it is time to move forward towards Takeover: Portland and that means we need to finalize the card for the big show. We do a lot of that this week with the Dusty Classic wrapping up to set up the Tag Team Title match, plus finding out who will challenge Adam Cole for the NXT Title. Letâ??s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

The Dusty Finish (https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/29/nxt-january-29-2020-the-dusty-finish/)

Jack-Hammer

02-02-2020, 09:23 AM

As of yesterday, it looks like the final card for TakeOver: Portland has been set:

NXT Championship: Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa
NXT Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
NXT Tag Team Championship: The Undisputed Era vs. The Broserweights
Grudge Match: Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
Street Fight: Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai

Looks like it should be another good lively show. On the surface, Nox vs. Kai looks to be the weakest but that doesn't mean it will be as they may wind up tearing the house down. In most cases, even "weak" TakeOver matches are still better than most of the stuff you'll see most other places.

I could see Cole dropping the title back to Ciampa. By next Sunday, he'll have been champ for 260 days though it also wouldn't bother me to see Cole hold it a bit longer. At any rate, probably sometime this year, Cole will be headed to either Raw or SmackDown where the quality of how he'll be used will be a roll of the dice.

Ripley will retain, though it should be a good match. If rumors are true about her facing Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, then they're gonna be keeping her looking as strong as they can.

I see the UE dropping the titles to Riddle and Dunne. Sure, Riddle and Dunne are one of those "thrown together" teams that we see sometimes but they've been working out pretty damn well. As with Cole, Fish, O'Reilly and Strong will probably be headed to Raw or SmackDown before too long.

Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano, I'm not sure on this one as I could see it going either way. I'm leaning more towards Balor winning here and eventually challenging Ciampa for the NXT Championship a bit later on.

As for Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai, I see Nox getting the win here seeing as how she lost to Dakota on this past Wednesday's episode of NXT. They may have only fought for about 3.5 minutes but they definitely packed a ton of stuff into the time so I'm expecting more of that for this bout. They may end the feud here with both of them having a win over the other or they may wind up setting up a rubber match for the next TakeOver or sometime over TV in the nest month or so.