Last week on NXT: Bianca Belair had to use her hair for leverage in a win over Mia Yim. The Viking Raiders got jumped by The Forgotten Sons. Raul Mendoza picked up a surprise victory over Riddick Moss. Adam Cole lost to Matt Riddle after Roderick Strong tried interfering on Cole’s behalf, leading to some dissension in the Undisputed Era.
The show opens with Beth Phoenix being welcomed to the broadcast team. We are told that Percy Watson has chosen to leave his position. Just like Alex Riley!!
Cold Open
They are now called Erik and Ivar and are Viking Raiders. The disconnect between WWE and NXT is now over in this regard. The Raiders take some time to talk to Full Sail. They call out William Regal to join them in the ring and Mr. Regal obliges. They then relinquish their championships to the dismay of the crowd. Before Regal can say anything, the swag is brought out by The Street Profits, nobody can bring the swag like the Profits. Angelo Dawkins has a headband on that says “Big Bonanza” but it looks like Big Bonar when the camera is positioned in a certain way. Basically the Profits challenges The Viking Raiders RIGHT HERE TONIGHT! Montez Ford is amazing, that is already known. His mic skills though? OUT OF THIS WORLD! On top of that after The Street Profits challenge The Viking Raiders, Angelo says “If that is your real name.” Which was hilarious because of all the name changes The Viking Raiders have gone through.
Replay of Riddle vs. Cole with Roddy’s screw up interference. A Roddyless Undisputed Era are interviewed outdoors by Queen Cathy. Adam Cole says he doesn’t know where Roddy is. Bunch of dudes are running in the background and Th Era keeps looking over their shoulders. Strong shows up without an Undisputed Era shirt on. Roderick shows up with a flip flop. He tells Cole they are stronger when they are on the same page, Adam is happy and everyone accepts Roddy back to the clique.
Cezar Bononi vs. Keith Lee
- No YouTube video for this bout.
- Cezar has a very heavy rock theme song. I guess it fits him but the dude has an undercut with a mustache and is from Brazil, I don’t think some rock music really works for him.
- “OOOH BASK IN HIS GLORY” from Full Sail as Keith Lee conducts them with his fingers.
- “Keith LEE woop woop” chant breaks out after the bell rings. Keith is able to shoulder block Bononi down right away and hit two open hand overhead chops.
- Cezar is attacking Keith with a bevy of strikes. His stomach is tatted up and it says “Bad to the Bononi” which is the worst tattoo ever.
- Keith is dominating this match though, he hits a huge pounce on Bononi and follows that up with a Spirit Bomb (sit out last ride powerbomb)
And I’m Like… That was a quick squash match that made Keith Lee look like a got dang star!
We are shown a video from last week when Io Shirai attacked Shayna Baszler at the Performance Center. Queen Cathy gives us an update that at NXT Takeover XXV Shayna will defend against Io Shirai. Forgotten Sons are upset that the Street Profits are being handed a tag title match. They are gonna ask Regal why they aren’t in the match, and if he doesn’t have a good answer they will show why they shouldn’t be forgotten.
Kushida vs. Kona Reeves
- Kona Reeves won’t ever get the World Championship on the main roster, but he is great overall. His confidence bleeds through the television, he is so easy to hate and his theme song bangs. I kinda love how there is an unexplained hatred for him.
- Kushida has a countdown to his entrance. Like Jim Cornette believes anyone that comes out of a box is over. I think anyone who comes out to a countdown is over.
- Kushida is taking Kona to school but Reeves is able to keep the pace and get beat up properly.
- Drew Gulak’s manly ass shows up and stands on the ramp watching the match. Kushida takes notice, is momentarily distracted, but goes right back on the attack.
- Kona is able to power out of a hammerlock and bodyslams Kushida into the turnbuckle. Kona is vicious in his attacks.
- Kushida keeps attempting the Hoverboard Lock, Kona fights out for a bit but Kushida is able to lock it in and win the match.
And I’m Like… Drew watched the whole match and looked unimpressed, even after Kushida jumped off the top rope to the outside. This feels like a showcase for Kushida to lead into his first feud. NXT is going by very quickly but they are covering a lot of ground.
Bianca Belair grabs Queen Cathy and walks her down a backstage hallway. They run into Mia Yim who was just leaving William Regal’s office. Belair says Mia is annoying and she already “took care” of Yim. Mia says she talked to Regal about getting a match with Bianca. Belair goes into Regal’s office and slams the door.
Matt Riddle is shown backstage with his ribs all taped up DDP style. Riddle was talking to Gargano, Gargano got interviewed and said Riddle will be alright and he is angry. Gargano also said it’s him vs. Adam Cole at Takeover XXV.
Vanessa Borne w/ Aliyah vs. Jessie
- Jessie was on the Mae Young Classic and her gimmick was “Nerd” now she skips out to some bassy dance trap music. So I guess her character changed, but we don’t know what it is.
- The match is kind of basic but Jessie is doing everything very well. The fans boo Vanessa when Borne is on offense and Jessie is able to build sympathy with her facial expressions very well.
- Vanessa wins the match in under five minutes.
And I’m Like… This establishes Vanessa as he better of the two between her and Aliyah. Jessie has a long way to go but after some character development she could be quite a person to cheer for. This NXT episode is mainly squash matches, but I am enjoying it.
NXT Tag Team Championship
Viking Raiders(c) vs. Street Profits
- The crowd has tons of red Solo cups in support of the Profits. It’s fantastic.
- It’s amazing how The Street Profits are now the top of the tag division in NXT. With this being the Raiders last match, it’s a new era upon us for NXT Tag Teams.
- The Raiders start the attack early, remembering the last time they wrestled the Street Profits. Profits are being taken to the woodshed. That is until an amazing dueling cartwheel spot with Hanson and Dawkins.
- Street Profits are able to hit a sky high followed by a top rope frog splash and almost got the win.
- This match has ALL THE URGENCY!
- The Forgotten Sons come down rather quickly and cause the disqualification. The crowd is heated and a huge brawl breaks out. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch show up to fight too!
- The Profits come out of the brawl by taking out The War Raiders. The Raiders take their aggression out on Oney and Burch.
And I’m Like… So the tag rankings are Street Profits, Forgotten Sons and Burch and Lorcan. Not sure where Undisputed Era fit in. I’m pretty sure the tag team championships are relinquished now? The Viking Raiders laid the belts down and bowed? Weird job from NXT here. They usually do so well in letting the fans know what is going on on the show.
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