NXT is back in Full Sail University this week after wrapping up their fourth NXT Takeover event from Brooklyn, New York a few weeks ago. Now that the show is back in Orlando, a renewed focus on rising NXT talents, starting new feuds, and the mystery over who attacked Aleister Black have begun. William Regal spoke with Cathy Kelley backstage before NXT began and informed viewers that he is now launching a full investigation in order to find out who put Black out of action.
Johnny Gargano came down to the ring with no entrance music while using a crutch. Gargano injured his knee during his Last Man Standing match against Tommaso Ciampa at Takeover, costing him the chance to win the NXT Championship in the process. Gargano was met with a positive reaction and he said that he did not deserve the chants of applause from the fans. Gargano says that he appreciates the fans for always having his back but he does not know where to go now. He acknowledged that he let Ciampa get into his head and that he even sort of became him during Takeover. Gargano feels that he made some broken promises and that he has no idea what’s next for his career at this point.
Out comes William Regal who asks Gargano if he was the one who attacked Aleister Black in the parking lot of Full Sail. Johnny does not answer but instead asks Regal to look into his eyes and decide for himself. Before that happens, The Velveteen Dream emerges and says that tonight’s NXT should not be about a loser like Gargano, and especially someone not even in the building like Aleister Black, but it should be all about himself. He got on the ring apron and referred to Gargano as “Johnny Failure,” which immediately caused Gargano to go after Dream. Regal breaks up the fight and tells Gargano to leave the arena and for Dream to come to his office backstage. He promises to make a match official for next week in order for these two to settle their differences.
Aliyah vs. Dakota Kai –
Aliyah is back on this show with a brand new and much more aggressive attitude than she has shown in the past. In fact, Aliyah took a large percentage of this match getting some punches in on her opponent early and taking complete control after Kai missed a dropkick.
The announcers mentioned that Kai is looking to build herself back up after being defeated by Shayna Baszler during her shot for the NXT Women’s Championship a while back. Aliyah gave her some boots to the back and dragged her face against the ring canvas before going for a pin attempt. After hitting a Thesz Press, Aliyah then put Kai in a body scissors for an extended period of time. It looked as if there was no way for Kai to get out of this one, but using her great strength, the New Zealander lifted Aliyah up and rammed her into the corner of the ring in order to break the hold and to separate her.
Kai was then met with a kick in the corner which almost put the former Mae Young Classic competitor away. Aliyah was able to slam down Dakota and began doing whatever it took to win the match, including hair pulling and harder strikes. In the end, Kai was able to fight back and dish out some of her kicks before getting the win with a backstabber.
Winner: Dakota Kai
The Velveteen Dream finalizes next week’s match against Johnny Gargano and leave William Regal’s office. The Forgotten Sons trio, consisting of Wesley Blake, Steve Cutler, and Jaxson Ryker, are then called into Regal’s office. They were all present during the attack, but they denied having any involvement. They complain that they’ve been trying to get Regal’s attention but they have got it now for all of the wrong reasons. Regal dismisses them from the investigation but then announces that they will receive an opportunity to compete against an unannounced team on NXT next week.
Before his scheduled match against Raul Mendoza, EC3 was found laid out backstage. The suspect here was clear as Lars Sullivan could clearly been seen in the background.
Nikki Cross was asked about the attack by William Regal next. She said that she saw the attack and called it “beautiful.” When pressed for an answer, all Nikki could do was spin in her office chair and play around with Regal. She answered a nonexistent phone call for the General Manager until Bianca Belair walked in. Belair encouraged Regal to put more of a focus on her since she is undefeated and back to competing. Cross asked Bianca if she wanted to play, but Belair dismissed her and walked out of the room. Nikki asked Regal if he had more questions, to which Regal pointed out that he still had several more. A strange segment.
Raul Mendoza comes down to the ring but EC3 does not appear. Instead, Lars Sullivan returns to Full Sail for the first time since his rivalry against Aleister Black earlier this year. Unlike whoever attacked Aleister Black, Sullivan immediately confessed to beating up EC3 backstage. Sullivan said that Mendoza was standing in his territory. Mendoza tried to duck Sullivan and hit a springboard moonsault, bur Lars instantly sent him down and began to punch him repeatedly. Sullivan got Mendoza up for two Freak Accidents and is officially back in business.
Tommaso Ciampa cut a promo backstage using his own camera to talk about the promise that he made when he received his injury last year. Ciampa said that he has fulfilled that promise and is now better than ever and also the NXT Champion. He says that he has not just climbed the mountaintop, but he has built a nest there. Ciampa says that NXT belongs to him now and that there is no one in NXT who will be able to stop him any time soon.
Keith Lee vs. Luke Menzies –
Recent NXT signee Keith Lee is back in his second match on NXT programming. In contrast with his debut match against Marcel Barthel, this bout was far less competitive. Lee started the match off strong right out of the gate by dodging his opponent and hitting him with a hurricanrana, definitely an impressive maneuver for a man of his size. He then continued his onslaught by dishing out some punches to Menzies.
Next, Menzies got the chance to fire back and show off what he is capable of, but the outcome was never really in any doubt here. Lee dodged a running strike from Menzies and took him down with an enormous shoulder tackle. Up against the corner, Lee slapped Luke’s chest with both hands and then set up for a powerbomb. Lee got Menzies up and sent him crashing down so hard that the former Rugby player bounced back up in the air. Lee earned himself another win with that one.
Winner: Keith Lee
Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are back on NXT next week. They have been missing in action ever since Lorcan received a broken orbital bone at NXT Takeover: Chicago earlier this year.
New NXT Women’s Champion Kairi Sane is back on NXT next week, but her role was not specified.
Johnny Gargano vs. The Velveteen Dream is also official for next week’s episode of NXT.
Ricochet & Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole & Roderick Strong –
Kyle O’Reilly opted to watch this match from ringside since Cole was so eager to get his hands on Ricochet after losing the North American Champion to him at Takeover. Ricochet and Dunne started off the match dominantly with each of them getting a few shots in. Dunne was able to grab Cole and bend the fingers back, which he has become notorious for. Ricochet tags in next, but Adam Cole instead decides to have Roderick Strong handle him instead.
Ricochet was able to outrun Strong and tire him out before nailing him perfectly with a dropkick. It seemed as if the impromptu tag team of Ricochet and Pete Dunne were unstoppable, or at least they were until Strong was able to get Ricochet into the corner of the ring and make the tag to Cole. They both attempted to lay the smackdown on Ricochet, but he fought them off and was able to dispose of them temporarily. Ricochet and Cole continued to lay into each other for a few moments before Roddy was able to make a blind tag and get himself back in the mix.
Strong continued to work with Ricochet and did all that he could to prevent him from making the tag to Pete Dunne. Cole continues to work over Ricochet in the center of the ring as soon as he gets involved again, but the new North American Champion was eventually able to power his way out and finally dash over to tag in Dunne. The UK Champion comes back into the ring like a house of fire laying waste to The Undisputed Era with step-up enzuigiris and stiff kicks.
Dunne hit a sitout powerbomb and went for a pin on Strong, but the match kept going after Cole was able to break up the pin. After missing a superkick, Cole was attacked by Dunne while Ricochet tried to take care of Strong. The Undisputed Era regrouped outside of the ring by the ramp until they were struck by a middle rope moonsault from “The Bruiserweight.”
Up next, Ricochet has got Cole and Strong in his sights and tries to go for a dive outside of the ring. Unfortunately for him, both men were able to dodge the dive just in time, which caused Ricochet to strike his own tag team partner outside of the ring. A superkick from Cole kept Ricochet outside while Dunne was brought back in the ring. Adam Cole lowered a kneepad and connected with a Last Shot knee strike to defeat Dunne and Ricochet.
Winners: Adam Cole & Roderick Strong
After the match is over, The Undisputed Era decide that they are not finished beating down Ricochet and Dunne, so they storm back down to the ring and continue the beating. Kyle O’Reilly is now involved, making the fight 3-on-2. Rowe and Hanson of The War Raiders ran down to the ring and made the save. They attacked The Undisputed Era and sent them running to the back, making it very clear that The War Raiders are interested in taking O’Reilly and Strong’s NXT Tag Team Championships.
It’s always great to see the likes of Ricochet, Pete Dunne, and Keith Lee wrestle, but next week’s show definitely sounds like one immensely loaded hour of television. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are back and hopefully will be able to pick up where the left off as a top tag team in NXT. Meanwhile two of the best in NXT today square off when Johnny Gargano takes on The Velveteen Dream. Both are eager to win and impress, so this definitely sounds like one match that should not be missed. That all takes place on next week’s episode of NXT. I’ll see you NXT time!
Comments are closed