After last week’s current day strong RAW number following the surprising Dean Ambrose WWE title win, ratings came down for the Monday, June 27th edition of the show on a night without strong television competition.
Raw did 3.09 million viewers, the lowest number on a night without major team sports competition since 1997 . That’s the second lowest numbers outside of football season or major holidays, beating only the 2.96 million viewers drawn two weeks ago against game five of the NBA playoffs.
The ratings pattern showed that people were at a low level of interest going in with a unusually weak first hour. There was some second hour growth, and a small third hour decline. However, it wasn’t the usual big third hour drop so the fans who were there stuck through the show for the most part.
Raw was third for the night on cable, trailing TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles (4.36 million viewers) and TNT’s Major Crimes (3.99 million viewers), barely beating Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor (3.05 million viewers).
Viewership dropped 11 percent from last week, showing the big gain caused by the post-Money in the Bank buzz didn’t sustain.
The Olympic swimming trials on NBC did 5.17 million viewers, so one can argue there was some sports competition, but that was only against the first hour of the show.
– Dolph Ziggler was announcing Superstars with Tom Phillips and David Otunga this week.
– Golden Truth beat The Ascension in about five minutes when Goldust got Victor with the Final Cut.
– Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger with the End of Days in about seven minutes.
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– After Raw, the Club and Seth Rollins surrounded Dean Ambrose when Big Show, Enzo, and Cass came out. It turned into an 8-man tag that broke down into everyone hitting finishers with Big Show pinning Anderson with the chokeslam.
– During Raw, the reactions for John Cena were far and away louder than for anyone else. It wasn’t close.
– The crowd lost steam with Kane being the mystery opponent for Miz and never really got fully back into the show at that point. Given that it was Florida, a lot were expecting Finn Balor or Nakamura since they were both seen around the arena earlier.
It was interesting that they were not offering refunds for Roman Reigns not appearing as if Cena or Austin were pulled from a show in the past, they would offer refunds.
– Shane McMahon was also advertised but wasn’t there.
With the WWE spinning its creative wheels until next month’s brand split, Monday night’s edition of RAW felt very much like a time-filler with little happening of any consequence. Given that there are three shows remaining until Battleground, it’s difficult to avoid the suspicion that things aren’t about to get any more interesting in the short-term either!
— The Hits —
The Highlight Reel
Aptly named for once, Chris Jericho’s regular hosting gig was the clear highlight of Monday night’s show. Sami Zayn showed exactly how much his promo delivery has improved since his NXT debut with a fiery polemic against the jealousy and bitterness of Kevin Owens. Owens’ reply was equally strong, proving that heels are always more effective when they can make a convincing argument in their favour.
Jericho, of course, agreed with Owens’ view that Sami was an unsupportive friend, capping a great segment off with his delicious arrogance. Despite a clean Owens victory in their last singles encounter, this is the one match on the Battleground card I can’t wait to see.
New Day Mocks
Regular readers will know that I view the New Day as a more-miss-than-hit act, but Monday’s roast of the Wyatts, complete with fake Erick Rowan booty and unicorn horn lantern, was genuinely hilarious.
What a shame that Bray had to ruin the segment with his usual overlong speechifying. Still, I am mildly intrigued to see where the writers will take the trance-like state that overcomes Xavier Woods whenever the self-styled cult leader is near.
Becky Lynch
As moribund as the so-called Divas Revolution so clearly is, the Irishwoman’s performances continue to be a consistent highlight.
Becky’s attack on newly-minted heel Natalya was surprisingly entertaining with her threats to “smack the head off” the Canadian a delight for Irish viewers like yours truly. It also helps that the nice-but-dim Natalya, with her bountiful levels of misplaced smugness, is way more of a natural heel to me. And, hey, the inevitable match between the two at Battleground should be pretty good too, right?
— The Misses —
Recycling 2013’s awful Daniel Bryan storyline
I know the bearded one is a big recycling mark, but even he must have cringed at the interactions between new WWE champion Dean Ambrose and Stephanie McMahon. Steph declared the “unkempt and unshaven” Dean’s current status as the “face of the company” to be an “absolute embarrassment” in scenes eerily reminiscent of the Authority’s weekly burials of Bryan three years ago.
Given the champ’s relapse into wackiness this week, including mentions of the “New Day’s time machine” and ramblings about parades, telling your audience that he’s not fit to be the company’s figurehead is probably not the greatest idea in the world.
Back to boring basics in the lower card
After an entertaining show of fire from Titus O’Neil last week, his ongoing feud with Rusev returned to the bottom of the barrel on Monday night. Titus “earned” another title match at Battleground in an extremely unconvincing manner, thanks to a lame countout finish.
Later, Apollo Crews pinned Sheamus in a short tag team match to cancel out the latter’s countout victory on last week’s Smackdown. As per usual, no one gets over.
Vince wants the wave for his very own
In what was surely the worst segment Enzo & Cass have been involved in since their main roster promotion, one of the hottest acts in the company was asked to go out in front of the Tampa audience and request a Mexican Wave.
Forcing inorganic crowd reactions is always the worst, as is the underlying suspicion that Vince McMahon wants to disassociate the wave from boredom in the manner of Randal Graves from Clerks’ obsession with saving a certain racially offensive term. Following up that, and the subsequent jobber squash, with a “long-awaited” Social Outcasts comeback that centred around the hilarious double meaning of the word “hard” was not my idea of a good time by any means.
Predictable marquee matches
First of all, let’s give credit where it’s due: calling attention to the Roman Reigns Wellness violation was as surprising as it was admirable. From there, however, things took a deeply predictable turn with the outcomes of both Battleground main event qualifying matches obvious to anyone who’s watched wrestling for five minutes.
While the long Seth Rollins/John Cena bout was extremely entertaining, particularly for two performers who have looked sluggish since returning from long injury layoffs, the distraction finish caused by The Club was visible from a significant distance.
Further, doing an equally long Ambrose and AJ Styles match to close this three-hour show was an extremely bad idea as the Club interference and Cena distraction combo was arguably even more obvious, rendering the 18 minutes of grappling that preceded it completely pointless.
The Big Takeaway: The show was built around if John Cena or A.J. Styles could win their respective singles matches, they would receive a spot in the main event of Battleground. Cena wrestled Seth Rollins. Styles wrestled Dean Ambrose. Cena and Styles both lost after each inteferred in the other’s matches. Roman Reigns was mentioned in the opening by Rollins, and is still slated for the main event of Battleground. Cena and Rollins had among the best Raw matches of the year. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, billed as the blowoff to the program, is official for Battleground, the only match added to the card tonight.
Show Recap:
Seth Rollins came out and brought up Roman Reigns getting suspended. Reigns’ tweet from last Tuesday apologizing for his actions was shown on the TitanTron. Rollins ran down Reigns’ statement of “owing it” is appropirate because Rollins owns Reigns because he’s beaten him once. He said Reigns doesn’t deserve a second chance or to be in the main event of Battleground. Rollins wanted to face Dean Ambrose one-on-one.
This brought out Ambrose. Michael Cole called him “the Dude.” Ambrose said we all make mistakes, and said he used to be friends with Rollins, that was a huge mistake. He said Rollins wears skinny jeans, which is another mistake. Ambrose said as far as he was concerned, the triple threat match was still on.
A.J. Styles came out and said he agreed Battleground’s main event should be a triple-threat match, but he should be in Reigns’ place. Fans chanted “Yes” to that. Styles brought up beating John Cena is a dream match. Ambrose said Reigns is still in the match. Styles said it should be changed to a Fatal Fourway and have him included. Ambrose said that was fine with him, but Rollins objected.
Cena arrived and said Ambrose was a fighting champion, he was fight a friend, he will fight a foe, he will fight a fraud, but will he fight the franchise? Cena brought up today being his 15th WWE birthday and he lived the last 12 years in Tampa. Cena said the last time he faced Ambrose for a championship, he won. Cena wanted to make it a five-way match. Once again, Rollins objected.
Stephanie McMahon showed up. She said having Ambrose as WWE World Heavyweight Champion was an embarrassment. She announced that Shane McMahon was on vacation and wasn’t there tonight. She arranged Rollins to face Cena tonight. Styles would take on Ambrose. If Cena and Styles are victorious in their respective matches, they will be added to the Battleground main event.
A Brock Lesnar commercial with Paul Heyman doing the voiceover for W2K17 aired. As mentioned earlier on the website, Lesnar will be on the cover.
The Spanish announce team was introduced. JBL chimed in that they tried to explain how Lionel Messi could drill that free kick agains the U.S. last week but miss the penalty against Chile last night. Cole later mentioned that today was the 12th anniversary of JBL defeating Eddy Guerrero for the WWE Championship at the Great American Bash.
Sasha Banks & Paige defeated Charlotte & Dana Brooke via submission (8:38)
Sasha Banks made Dana Brooke tap out to the Bank Statement. Paige made the hot tag to Banks, who delievered a double knee drop against the ropes on Brooke. Outside the ring, Paige laid out Charlotte with a superkick. Banks hit a stiff knee to the face and the bank stabber as a prelude to the finish.
Lana introduced Rusev, which is really all she does now. After that, she’s background scenery.
Titus O’Neal defeated Rusev (C) via countout, so Rusev retained the U.S. championship. (4:08)
They did the same finish that Rusev did with Jack Swagger a month ago, except Rusev lost this time. Titus O’Neal and Rusev clotheslined each other on the floor and O’Neal beat the count back in the ring. Once again, O’Neal showed off a more aggressive edge after what happened to his sons at Money in the Bank. Rusev pulled off a standing dropkick with plenty of air underneath. JBL said it was the biggest win of O’Neal’s career. Looks like they’re building up a blow-off match at Battleground.
Stephanie talked on the phone when she ran into Kane. She wanted to pretend he wasn’t there. Kane thanked her for meeting with him and asked for a chance to run SmackDown. She said she was going to be the one running SmackDown. The Miz and Maryse walked up and said they had been gone for a month and there was no red carpet and a poor limo. Kane brought up he was in a new movie called “Countdown.” Miz said Kane shouldn’t be comparing big budget released to straight to DVD featured. Miz said he was a star and Kane looked like the Devil’s favorite insurance agent. Kane suggested Miz defend the Intercontinental Championship tonight. He cited “Rule G-1 of the WWE Rulebook” and said Miz had gone nearly 30 days without putting up the strap. Stephanie thought that was a good idea, but said Miz’s opponent would be a mystery.
Seth Rollins defeated John Cena, denying Cena a spot in the Battleground main event (16:00)
Cena hit the AA after reversing a crossbody block, but Rollins got his foot on the ropes. He went for another AA, but Rollins escaped, only to have Cena lock in the STF. Rollins nearly made the ropes, and Cena pulled him back into the center of the ring. He was about to clamp the STF on again until Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came down to ringside. Cena was distracted as Styles got on the apron, but Rollins got up and hit the Pedigree for the pin. Maybe the most heat for a Raw match this year. Crowd was roaring with dueling chants before they squared off and all throughout the match. Earlier, Rollins missed a frog splash, Cena went to the top rope, but Rollins recovered to hit a superplex, then turned that into a Falcon Arrow for a great near fall. Cena got near falls after a tornado DDT and the Five Knuckle Shuffle.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass defeated Greg Rains and Cassidy Reynolds (:40)
Enzo Amore said they were riding a wave that will carry them straight to the top. The wave was the people. Amore told the fans to do the wave while the match was going on. Amore pinned Reynolds after the Rocket Launcher.
Social Outcasts came out. Bo Dallas said there was only word to describe Social Outcasts “HARD.” Heath Slater said they were fresh off the set of Marine 5. Curtis Axel told Enzo and Cass to get out of the ring. Cass wondered which one of the three was the hardest. Dallas wanted to get in the ring to show them who was really the hardest. Cass knocke Slater off the apron with a big boot. Dallas and Axel backed off as Cass told them they were SAWFT.
Life Lessons with Bob Backlund featured Backlund reviewing Darren Young’s goals. Young said he wanted to be a singles champion and headline WrestleMania. Backlund said he was a tag team champion with Pedro Morales and said his era was called the Bob Backlund era. He said he wants to make Darren Young great again.
There was a highlight package showing The Big Show, Kalisto, Cesaro, Banks, Becky Lynch and various other stars training with Special Olympics athletes. Those athletes came out on the ramp with Show and Renee Young handling emcee duties. Show has always been underrated as a talker and he was very good presiding over this segment.
Natalya came out for commentary. She said she jumped Lynch at Money in the Bank because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was tired of being a nice person because that only gets you stepped on. Lynch came out for a match with Summer Rae, but before it could start, Lynch went after Natalya, who tried to walk off. Lynch jumped on her again and had to be pulled off by the referee. Natalya went to the back and they forgot about the match.
Former Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was at ringside.
The Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho had Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn as guests. Jericho brought up Ambrose putting 69 thumbtacks in his back at Money in the Bank. They had a long staredown. Jericho brought up that Zayn was the best man at Owens’ wedding, which must have made it hard when Owens stabbed Zayn in the back. Zayn said he wanted to end the program with Owens because it was limiting their careers. He brought up various times where they cost each other chances for championships in the past four months. Zayn wanted to put an end to the feud at Battleground.
Owens stood silent. Zayn said this was the real Kevin Owens, a coward who hides behind lies. Just like the lie he’s been telling for two years about why Owens stabbed him in the back. Zayn wanted Owens to tell the truth, that it drove Owens nuts that Zayn was signed by the WWE first. He told Owens to grow a set, who prompted a small chant. Owens finally said that he’s told Zayn the truth many times. He turned on Zayn because it was the right thing for his career. He said Zayn ruined their friendship because everything they’ve done since they’ve met was done to get to the WWE. Owens said he was happy for Zayn when he got to the WWE. He said Zayn was mad when he won the NXT championship, which proves he was always a better friend to Zayn than Zayn was to him. But that doesn’t matter now. Owens said he would fight Zayn at Battleground.
Jericho put that announcement over and said Owens was right, Zayn was a terrible friend and a terrible example of what it takes to make it in the WWE. Jericho said Owens is still trying to follow his lead, but Zayn hasn’t figured out it doesn’t matter what the fans think. Jericho said he wanted to slap Zayn in the face over it, but he was going to let Owens do it. Jericho said announcing the match on the Highlight Reel puts the match on a higher level, so they were both welcome. Jericho offered to give both men “The Gift of Jericho, Drink it in, Man.” Owens and Zayn both kicked Jericho in the face. Owens and Zayn glared at each other as Owens walked off.
Kane defeated the Miz (C) by countout, so Miz retains the Intercontinental Championship (3:27)
The Demon Kane was the surprise opponent. He was about to chokeslam Miz when Maryse jumped up on the apron. After a few seconds, Kane very audibly said to Maryse “Get down!” At that point, she took a bump on the apron though no one touched her. Maryse wound up selling her right knee. Miz attended to her at ringside and carried her to the back. No heat at all.
Miz and Maryse were in the back. Maryse was still limping when she started laughing. In the shock of shocks, Maryse jumped up and down to reveal she wasn’t really hurt. Miz put her over saying it was the best acting he’s ever seen and it was an Oscar winning performance. They laughed over it. No follow up to this at all, except Miz is hosting an episode of MizTv on Thursday with a guest who isn’t Kane.
Apollo Crews & Cesaro defeated Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio (4:58)
Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus broke up two months ago, but were back tagging here. They did the “faction that just broke up now tagging again” gimmick. They also did the “partners that don’t get along” gimmick. Del Rio slapped Sheamus, then gave him an enzuigiri for some reason. Del Rio watched from the ramp as Apollo Crews pinned Sheamus with the spin-out powerbomb to complete silence.
Ambrose did a promo with Jojo about how the last two weeks have been the best of times. Stephanie walked in and said it was appalling that Ambrose was the face of her company. Stephanie said if Styles wins tonight, she’s one step closer to ending this appaling nightmare. At least Ambrose got the last word, saying “Deep down, she really likes me.”
What appeared to be the Wyatt Family promo was instead the New Day dressed up as Wyatts. Kofi Kingston threw down Erick Rowan’s goal mask and wondered how he breathes in that thing. Kingston said no one wants to hear the Wyatts’ negativity anymore. They need a big ol’ bowl of Booty-Os instead. Big E, who was wearing overalls, a cowboy hat and a ZZ Top-style beard, said the Wyatts smell like a rotten piece of cabbage left beside a Tampa highway. E. said he was born in Tampa at Tampa General Hospital. Xavier Woods was noticeably quiet in all this and wanted to wrap up the segment. Kingston and Big E. wanted to keep going, but the Wyatts came out.
Bray Wyatt screamed “It’s a New Day, yes it is.” Wyatt said the masses line up for the New Day because they tell them everything they want to hear instead of everything they need to hear. Wyatt said his sole purpose was to tell people what they need to hear, because the world isn’t full of rainbows or unicorns. It’s a dark world full of evil. Wyatt said what would the New Day tell the man who lost his job? Kingston said the power of positivity flows through your body and Big E. said positivity was a way of life. Woods looked uncertain.
Wyatt asked Woods if they agreed with him, because it looked like he was shook. Wyatt said Woods could trust him. Wyatt said in this game, there are no winners or losers, there’s only malice and destruction. And in the end, New Day Falls. Woods didn’t say anything as the screen went black.
New Day walked in the back. Young walked up and asked if it was a good day to make fun of the Wyatts tonight. Kingston and Big E. were laughing over it, but Woods never smiled and walked off.
Dean Ambrose (C) defeated A.J. Styles in a nontitle match, so Styles was denied a spot in the main event of Battleground (15:32)
Rollins was on commentary. He said he felt divided because he hated Ambrose but didn’t want Styles to win because it would make the Battleground main event a four-way. Ambrose hit a blockbuster, but came up selling his knee. Styles put on a calf crusher. Rollins was actually rooting for Ambrose to make the ropes, which he did. Ambrose knocked Styles to the floor with a forearm and followed with a tope. Styles hit a Pele kick, but Ambrose hit a rebound clothesline. At that point, Anderson and Gallows came out. Ambrose was distracted and Styles hit a brainbuster for a two count. Cena ran out to brawl with Anderson and Gallows. As Styles was distracted by Cena, Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds for the pin. Rollins stood and applauded the finish.
Anderson and Gallows jumped Cena. Then Rollins went after Ambrose and gave him a Pedigree. The Club pounded Cena 3-on-1. The brawled to the top of the ramp, where Anderson and Gallows gave Cena the Magic Killer on the ramp. Cena had a rough landing, too. Back in the ring, Rollins gave Ambrose another Pedigree, then stood on top of Ambrose with the championship belt.
2K Sports today announced that former WWE & UFC champion Brock Lesnar will be on the cover of WWE 2K17.
The athlete on the cover is a decision based on what 2K considers crossover appeal, but made in conjunction with WWE. They also don’t like to do the same person too often.
The deal also means Lesnar has agreed to be part of a worldwide marketing campaign.
The game will be released on October 11th for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Customers who preorder will get the Bill Goldberg character as well as Monday Nitro and Halloween Havoc arenas on launch day.
“My career has been defined by dominating every opportunity presented to me,” said Lesnar. “I am excited for my newest opportunity representing WWE 2K 17 as the franchise’s ambassador and honored to serve as the WWE 2K17 cover Superstar.”
Lesnar is currently out of WWE storylines as he prepared to return to the Octagon against Mark Hunt on the main card of July’s UFC 200.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose beat Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens in a triple threat championship match
– Enzo and Cass beat The Dudleys
– Goldust beat Fandango. Tyler Breeze ran down to the ring but was quickly stopped by R-Truth
– Big Show and Kane beat Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan
– Becky Lynch and Paige beat WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and Lana
– WWE United States Champion Rusev beat Apollo Crews to retain
– WWE World Tag Team Champions The New Day beat The Lucha Dragons and The Vaudevillains in a triple threat to retain. Simon Gotch was said to be shaken up post match as he possibly caught a kick to the head.
I’m here at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL, for a WWE house show featuring some of NXT’s top talents.
– The Usos beat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
Superfly splash on Karl Anderson for the win.
– Pre taped promo by Samoa Joe and Austin Aries to hype the tag match vs Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura later in the night.
– Baron Corbin beat Zack Ryder
End of Days by Corbin for the win.
– Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura beat Austin Aries and NXT Champion Samoa Joe
Very good action as one would expect. Also, great reactions for Shinsuke and Finn.The finish saw everything break down and Finn hit the coup de grace on Aries for the win. Post match Too Sweets and stereo “YeaOh!”s to celebrate.
– Jack Swagger beat Viktor
Crowd was very into Swagger tonight with USA chants. They got excited for the Patriot Lock when he picked up the win.
– Pre-taped promo with Seth Rollins hyping his title match for later tonight.
– Cesaro beat Alberto Del Rio
Physical match that went outside of the ring to brawl. Plenty of uppercuts by Cesaro and even a short swing. Del Rio tried to set up for his corner stomp but missed, and Cesaro was able to hit The Neutralizer for the win.
– Sasha Banks, Summer Rae & Bayley beat Eva Marie, Dana Brooke & Natalya
Huge ovation for Bayley as the surprise third woman. Plenty of “We Want Sasha” chants, “Hey, We Want Some Bayley”, and big heat on Eva Marie as well. Bank Statement on Eva for the submission win.
– The Shining Stars beat The Prime Time Players
The PTP are reunited! Long match but both teams were over with the live crowd and did some cool spots which included Titus throwing the stars around. Primo rolled up Darren Young and had the tights to steal the win.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose beat Seth Rollins
Great match as they delivered in the main event. Two attempted Pedigrees, trash talk, and heel stalling tactics from Rollins who took the title and proclaimed himself the rightful world heavyweight champion. This match got great reactions and the crowd was into every nearfall and double down. Towards the finish, Seth missed a frog splash and both slowly made their way to their feet, trading punches for the boo / yay reaction.
Seth went for the Pedigree, yet Dean countered and hit the Dirty Deeds to get the win. Place erupted and Ambrose celebrated his hard fought victory. Match of the night.
I’m here in Cocoa Beach FL, where they are expecting approximately 250.
– Liv Morgan beat Nikki Glencross
Fun opener with heel antics by Nikki, telling people to shut up, declaring herself the best in the galaxy, and all while womanhandling Liv. Towards the finish, Liv was able to matrix under a clothesline to begin her comeback, hit a big monkey flip out of the corner, a high spin kick and a standing moonsault for the win.
– Alexander Wolfe beat Kishan Raftaar
Crowd wasn’t in to this as neither are have been on TV that much, if at all. Both guys were heckled with “USA” chants for the two foreigners. Wolfe kept working the armbar and finally put Kishan away with an arm submission.
– Noah beat Steve Cutler
Cutler had the heel advantage early, as Noah just wanted a handshake and to be friends. Crowd chanted BFF to encourage him yet Cutler took the cheap shot. Noah fired up to hit a pop up powerbomb for the win.
– Wesley Blake beat Bronson Mathews
New ambient trance music for Blake who wearing trunks and boot tassels. Headlocks were traded early. Crowd was all giggles as Blake ended up with a wedgie. Blake then settled his trunks, went to the top, and hit a splash for the win.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas beat Angelo Dawkins
A lot of trash talk by Dawkins which prompted loud “WHAT?” chants. Front face lock and headlocks by Dawkins to keep Andrade grounded. The finish saw some flashy moves by Andrade such as a wheelbarrow bulldog and smooth rope running before the running knees to Dawkins in the corner.
– Oney Lorcan beat Tino Sabbatelli
Physical match. We got a lot of aggressive chin locks by Tino. Oney finally fired up and hit the running blockbuster for the win.
– In ring promo by the debuting Binky Blairwho says she’s going to be the “ist” of NXT: prettiest, baddest, etc.
– Daria beat Billie Kay
Billie taunted Daria early with her fancy gloves, so Daria got upset and threw down her own MMA gloves, and the fight was on. After some action, Daria locked in what looked like an triangle armbar for the submission.
– TM61 and Mojo Rawley beat The Authors of Pain and Bobby Roode
NXT Florida debut for Roode who entered to a Queen-esque theme that declared he is “Glorious!”. Roode was a heel and hid behind the Authors at times, worked over whomever he was working with, and looked great doing so. The finish saw TM61 hit their double team spinebuster finisher on Roode with Shane Thorne getting the pin for his team.
I’m here at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL, for NXT’s tv tapings.
– Dark Match: Tye Dillinger beat Kai Katana
Over the knee neckbreaker by Dillinger for the win.
– Bayley beat Alexa Bliss
Bayley wins via Belly to Bayley in a great match. Her post match promo was interrupted by Nia Jax as the build to their eventual rematch has begun.
– Blake & Murphy vs Hype Bros never happened as Rhyno returned to destroy them all
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha in a two-of-three falls match
First fall went well over ten minutes with Jason Jordan catching Dash Wilder with an ankle Lock for the submission. Second fall happened rather quickly thereafter with Scott Dawson catching Jordan in a leg lock submission of his own. Third fall had some amazing nearfall attempts early on. Finally, The Revival hit an apron shatter machine on Gable for the win.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe/s in-ring promo is interrupted by Rhyno. Joe backs away.
– Austin Aries beat Patrick Clark
Aries won with the Last Chancery submission. Post-match, No Way Jose ran down and attacked Aries.
– Andrade cien Almas beat Angelo Dawkins
Running knees in the corner followed by a moonsault for the win for ACA.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka beat Eva Marie
Eva made Dasha Fuentes read a custom ring introduction for her, and it was amazing. The champ wins with the Asuka Lock. Crowd was actualy all over the place for this one.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe beat Rhyno
Physical match to set up Joe vs. the winner of Finn v Nakamura. Joe clamped on the Coquina Clutch for the win after a mean guy match.
– The Authors Of Pain beat American Alpha
– AOP jump American Alpha as they made their way to the ring. They brawled in the ring with Alpha getting the upper hand. All four men were in the ring and a ref called for the bell to start the match. Great action early on with Gable and Jordan suplexing the much larger men all over the place. Dive to the outside by Jordan, to get the place going. Authors took control and hit their double team assisted lariat finisher to win it.
– Bayley beat Nia Jax
Physical match. Bayley took a lot of punishment early on before getting fired up and finally hitting the middle rope Belly To Bayley for the win.
– Shinsuke Nakamura beat Finn Balor
Spotlight introductions. Crowd loves both so a mix of cheers, chants, and even respectful silence early on. Finn showed up Nakamura by Too Sweeting him in the face on a break. Incredible match with all of the key spots. It went a good twenty minutes and Shinsuke won it with the Kinshasa. Post match, they celebrated together, and Finn went around the ring telling fans thank you for their support. This seems like this finally might be it for Balor in NXT.
