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  • WWE NXT results: American Alpha vs. Vaudevillians, Shinsuke Nakamura debuts

    The BIG News: Sami Zayn will face the debuting Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover: Dallas

    The Medium News: Bayley will defend her championship against Asuka at the afore-mentioned Takeover: Dallas show

    The Little News: American Alpha became the new #1 Contender’s to the NXT Tag Team Title and will theoretically face The Revival at Takeover: Dallas

    Sami Zayn is out to kick off the show. I wonder when they taped this segment since theoretically it was taped minutes after the last show ended, but Sami looked refreshed.

    Zayn put Joe over, but said his focus is still the same and his goal is to still become a 2x NXT Champion. One thing does bother Zayn and that’s that he does not have a match at Takeover: Dallas.

    This brought out Mr. William Regal, who agreed that Sami deserves something special at Takeover and he deserves to face one of the best in the world. Mr. Regal announced Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura for Takeover. Now I can officially say how much I am marking out.

    They had a video with Nakamura saying he will see Zayn at Takeover. The fans chanted “Holy sh*t” as the announcers put over Nakamura huge.

    The Hype Bros defeated Angelo Dawkins & Kevin Crawford

    They announced American Alpha vs Vaudevillians for later. They did that last week and instead the opening match went 45 minutes. I will go out on a limb and say this match will not go that long.

    Dawkins and Crawford looked good working with Ryder. Mojo still hasn’t improved to do more than just the basic Mojo spots. Mojo did break out a discus punch to the face and the Bros won with a Hype Ryder in decidedly less than 45 minutes.

    -Dana Brooke and Emma were walking backstage when Deonna Purrazzo suddenly appeared. Emma told her the beating she’s going to get tonight is worst than the one Asuka gave her. Deonna said she would win and the heels laughed at her.

    Emma submitted Deonna Purrazzo

    Could they please change Deonna Purrazzo’s name? This match was not very good and downright clumsy at times. I know it’s important to get new girls on tv, but I feel bad if Purrazzo is the best of the next group of girls.

    The entire match seemed to telegraph a flash pin for Purrazzo. Emma hit several big moves and wouldn’t go for falls and act so cocky. Plus the announcers were blatantly pointing this out. It was all set up for Purrazzo to pin Emma, but before that happened Emma submitted her with the Emma Lock.

    Tommaso Ciampa defeated Jesse Sorensen

    Ciampa stampeded to the ring and got there before the ring announcer even introduced him. Ciampa ran across the ring and hit move after move on Sorensen. Ciampa hit a running knee in the corner and a discus clothesline for a 2 count.

    They went to the mandatory rest hold before Sorensen made his comeback. Sorensen went for the 10 punches of doom, but Ciampa tripped him up and kneed him in the head. On the mat Ciampa hit several knees to the head before submitting Jesse with a rolling armbar.

    Bayley & Asuka defeated Eva Marie & Nia Jax

    Izzy, the little girl who dresses like Bayley, was now moved to dead center in the front row, as opposed to by the ramp. I only noted that because Bayley didn’t go over near her and the announcers didn’t even bring it up. Nia started the match, Eva tagged in and quickly got caught in the ring with Asuka. I never felt so bad for Eva as Asuka beat the heck out of her.

    Nia blind tagged herself in and they got the heat on the champ when Nia laid her out with a Samoan Drop. Eva did that wacky stretch where you pull your opponents arms behind her back with your knee pressed into the back, but Eva forgot the second part.

    Eva slapped Asuka on the apron and then Nia accidentally legdropped Eva. This was not Eva’s night. Eva got a kick to the back of the head by Asuka before being pinned with a Belly to Bayley Suplex.

    – After the match Mr. Regal walked out, congratulating both Bayley and Asuka on winning before booking them against each other for Takeover.

    – We had a split screen interview where the announcers interviewed Austin Aries. Aries said he is happy to be here, but it’s too bad his debut got ruined by Baron Corbin. Aries said he told Mr. Regal, who apologized, that he should feel sorry for Baron. Aries said Baron will soon find out why Aries is the greatest man who ever lived.

    In a NXT tag team #1 Contender’s Match, American Alpha defeated The Vaudevillians

    Main event time! One of these two teams will become the #1 Contender’s to the NXT Tag Team Championship while the other team will move to the back of the line. Corey Graves alerted us to Dan Gable recently giving props to Chad Gable.

    Gable and Gotch worked really well together and made me wish I could see a match just between the two of them. Coming back from commercial the heels had cut off Gable and were wearing him down. The crowd wasn’t dead for this match, but they weren’t as psyched as they have been for Gable in the past.

    Jordan hot tagged in and suplexed everyone on their heads. Gable tagged himself in and had English pinned with Chaos Theory, but Gable broke it up. Jordan gave Gable a belly to belly overhead suplex on the floor and American Alpha won with Grand Amplitude.

    That does it for this week! Takeover is now 16 days away and the card is fricking amazing. Until next week when Asuka faces Emma, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.

  • WWE NXT results: Samoa Joe vs Sami Zayn, 2 out of 3 Falls

    The Big News: It took him 45 minutes, but Samoa Joe defeated Sami Zayn and became the #1 Contender to the NXT Title.

    The Medium News: Mr. Regal also announced that Austin Aries would wrestle Baron Corbin at Takeover.

    The Little Beaver Sized News: Bayley did not get hit in the head by an asteroid.

    The first show at Full Sail in a month kicks off with NXT General Manager William Regal coming to the ring. Mr. Regal was angry at Baron Corbin for attacking Austin Aries last week. He would have suspended Corbin, but Aries asked him not to and instead made Aries vs Corbin at NXT Takeover: Dallas.

    -They announced American Alpha vs The Vaudevillians in a #1 Contender’s Match and Bayley & Asuka in a tag team match. Spoiler Alert: they do not happen.

    1.) In a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match to determine the #1 Contender to the NXT Championship, Samoa Joe defeated Sami Zayn two falls to one.

    The show is completely backwards, the main event is on first. Larry Zbyszko, Mauro Ranallo, Adam Jones, Michael Hayes, Sasha Banks and Hideo Itami were all shown sitting ringside watching the show. Itami looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world as opposed to watching this match.

    Back in January we had a Triple Threat match with these two men and Baron Corbin. Then after a double submission we got a one on one match, which ended in a double pin. Now, can we finally see these two men finish a match?

    We got a commercial break before the introductions to the match, which was literally the point when I realized they were going a full hour.

    They started slow, even slower than they started a few weeks ago. Neither man taking the advantage and both men grappling and angling to be the one to take over. Joe used a headlock to gain the advantage, with a couple side headlock takeovers and then leaning all 280 pounds down on Zayn. However Sami used his speed and technique to get out of it, taking Joe down with armbars.

    We came back from commercial and Joe has officially taken over, using a jumping elbow drop and then a back elbow to the mush. Joe used the face wash kick and Zayn checked to make sure his nose was still there. At one point it looked like Joe was going for a flapjack, but Zayn flipped over at the last second for a belly to belly overhead suplex.

    Zayn made a comeback and was able to get out of a Muscle Buster, but he immediately got kicked in the head. Zayn at this point was just taking a beating. He would get to his feet, hit a single punch or kick and then get slammed down. The booking of this match was brilliant as Joe beat Zayn from head to toe and Zayn kept getting back to his feet.

    Zayn was able to send Joe flying out of the ring and hit his sitting Asai Moonsault to the floor! Zayn rolling Joe back in and got a near fall with a dive off the top rope. The first fall passed 20 minutes when Zayn went for a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Joe shifted his weight and fell on top for a 2 count. An exciting series of counters led to a Joe corner Uranage and finally getting the first fall with a Muscle Buster.

    The second fall started with Joe flying across the ring and going for another Muscle Buster, but Zayn blocked it. Joe continued the beating he was giving Zayn until a series of headbutts led to a Missile Dropkick to Joe. Samoa Joe is wearing a crimson mask! Well a crimson trickle. Joe saw the blood and became more vicious. Joe missed a knee drop, so Zayn almost won with a crucifix.

    Joe’s beating continued outside the ring and they teased a count out on several occasions, including with an STO on the floor. Zayn used the energy from getting back in the ring to fire into yet another comeback, hitting a huge suplex and a flip dive over the top rope. Back in the ring Zayn used an STO and the Koji Clutch for the tap out! It’s all tied at 1!

    At the start of the third fall they announced that the other matches would be rescheduled for another time. Joe kicked out of a Blue Thunder Bomb and then a sunset flip power bomb. Sami even broke out his awesome move where Joe is outside the ring and Zayn runs across the ringside area, dives over the bottom rope, through the ring and hooks Joe with a Tornado DDT.

    Joe blocked the Halluva Kick and turned it into a power bomb, turning it into a Boston Crab and then a Crossface. Joe pulled back the other arm too, but Zayn was able to get his foot on the ropes. 40 minutes into the match and Joe was now trying to win the match by knockout, using all of his strikes to knock Zayn down. Zayn had one last gasp and locked on the Coquina Clutch! Sami Zayn is using Samoa Joe’s own submission hold against him! Joe got his foot on the rope, but when he got up he got the Exploder Suplex in the corner!

    Zayn went for the Helluva Kick, but Joe sidestepped him and locked on the Clutch! Zayn was just inches from the ropes and scratching and clawing, but Joe changed it slightly, wrapping his leg around Zayn’s arm. Sami was inches away from the ropes, coming oh so close, but he passed out! Zayn was inches away from a rope break, but he couldn’t make it!

    Samoa Joe is finally your #1 Contender. It took over 3 matches over 5 weeks and then it took 45 minutes to get it done. We now know that at NXT Takeover: Dallas on April 1, Finn Balor will defend the NXT Title one more time against Samoa Joe.

    After all that, that does it for this week. Thank you all for reading and until next week make sure to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • WWE NXT results: Great matches made for the future, okay matches happen in the present

    It’s a show where the future sounded so much better than the present. Bayley and Carmella team up to battle Eva Marie and Nia Jax. Plus, what will Mr. William Regal have to say about the controversial finish to the #1 contender’s match last week?

    • The Big News: Samoa Joe will wrestle Sami Zayn in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match in 2 weeks.
    • The Medium News: Finn Balor will wrestle Neville next week
    • The Little Beaver Sized News: A brand new star will also debut next week.
    • The News Even Smaller Than Little Beaver: On the show that actually aired this week, Eva Marie won the tag team main event, pinning Carmella.

    American Alpha defeated Blake & Murphy

    38 days away from NXT Takeover and we kick things off with American Alpha. We are still at the CFE Arena in the University of Central Florida, for the third week here. The fans still liked Jordan & Gable, but this was already the second time they saw them, so it wasn’t as much love as before. Plus this was minutes after the Samoa Joe-Sami Zayn match that aired last week, so the fans were kind of tired.

    Gable was single handedly destroying both Blake and Murphy. Jordan tagged in long enough for a double dropkick, but other than that the first half of the match was just Gable schooling both men. We went to commercial and came back with Jordan in control. It took almost 7 minutes, but the heels finally cut off Gable for the heat after using double team shenanigans.

    Blake and Murphy continue to work good together. Jordan got the hot tag and hit several suplexes on both men. The good guys picked up the win with Grand Amplitude.

    – After the double pin finish from last week, Mr. William Regal announced a 2 out of 3 Falls match with Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn in 2 weeks. He also announced that a brand new talent would debut next week.

    – Sawyer Fulton sang while “highlights” of his matches aired. He can still be boring even in highlight form.

    Apollo Crews pinned Christopher Girard

    Apollo Crews is back. He has become so directionless since losing at Takeover: London. That loss was such a big deal. Girard looked good in his NXT debut, but the announcers were pointing out his size (or lack thereof) as they said he wasn’t much bigger than Gillberg.

    This was not just a squash match, as Girard got a full entrance and had a competitive match with Crews before going down in defeat. Crews hit his toss Powerbomb to pick up the win.

    – Bayley and Carmella were backstage with Alex, who called them “Baymella”, which was gag worthy. Bayley put over her partner and Carmella said one day she is coming back for the championship. Bayley was happy Asuka helped out, but it’s obvious she’s coming after the championship.

    – Earlier this week, Enzo Amore arrived at the WWE Performance Center when he was attacked by Dash & Dawson. It was shot purely with security cameras, so it looked grainy and definitely not HD, but it looked more real.

    Tommaso Ciampa submitted Bull Dempsey in a Loser Goes To WrestleCon Match

    Actually the winner may be there too, I haven’t checked the list lately.

    Bull needed the referee’s help to get his shirt off because it was so tight. Ciampa was not amused. Dempsey was content to do jumping jacks, as opposed to sports entertaining, so Ciampa made him pay for it. At one point it looked like Dempsey hit the Bossman Slam, but Bull was the one selling, so they sold it like Bull’s shoulder was hurt. It reminds me of Spike Dudley’s Acid Drop where you didn’t know if he hit the move half the time until someone sold it.

    Ciampa won with a rolling armbar. At least Bull lost. You might recall Kassius Ohno started getting a pretty good push after he was released.

    – Samoa Joe cut a promo saying he made NXT hot just by being here. It’s a shame for Sami Zayn to get beaten on for 2 falls instead of 1. Alex then asked Sami Zayn about it. Zayn said he’s been in plenty of 2 out of 3 Falls matches and he’s ready to do what he’s gotta do to become a 2-time NXT Champion.

    Nia Jax & Eva Marie defeated NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & Carmella

    Main event time! These four ladies have been in each others way going back to November when Bayley wrestled Eva Marie for the first time ever. This continued through Takeover, into the battle royal last month and Carmella’s title match 2 weeks ago.

    For everyone that has such high hopes that WWE’s Diva Division is going to get a total makeover, just remember that Eva Marie is still pegged as the next breakout Diva.

    The faces schooled Eva, who screamed for Nia’s help. I want to point out, in the interest of fairness, that Eva has improved ever so slightly. She used to show absolutely no expression during the match and at least now she yells in pain while selling. That’s a step up..

    Nia stayed in the match as much as possible, tagging Eva in for very specific spots and moments, things she couldn’t mess up. Bayley got the hot tag, which woke the crow up and did her entire comeback on Eva.

    Bayley had the match won with the Belly to Bayley, but Nia dragged Bayley off and headbutted her. Carmella tagged in and it became the Nia Jax Show. Nia attacked Carmella, gave a body attack to Bayley and dragged Eva over to her corner for the tag. Nia hit three legdrops on Carmella before Eva tagged herself in and got the pin!

    – The show ended with Rich Brennan interviewing William Regal and Finn Balor. Mr. Regal told Finn that he is closing in on the record for longest reigning NXT Champion. mr. regal finished the show by telling Finn that next week he will face the longest reigning NXT Champion ever….Neville! That should be one amazing match and we have two straight weeks of amazing matches coming up.

    But until next time, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • NXT Palatka, FL, live results: Bayley vs. Liv Morgan; Dash/Dawson vs. Hype Bros

    Photo: @JJWilliamsWON

    From the Armory with estimated 150 in attendance. Good crowd tonight.

    Hugo Knox beat Sawyer Fulton

    A lot of kids were cheering for Hugo tonight with his dancing and party boy style. Sawyer was out with longer hair and a skunk trail. March was mostly Fulton wearing Hugo down until some flashy moves by Knox, a big dropkick and winning with a sunset flip.

    Carmella beat Peyton Royce

    The usual antics of these two with some comedy where Carmella took Peyton’s flower and moonwalked away from her. Carmella won with her STO and leg headlock for the submission.

    Elias Samson beat Tucker Knight

    Samson was out to sing a song about how he started in Palatka and how he wants to leave this crappy town. Knight entered to his live event fans singing songs for him about his silver boots. Samson was annoyed with people other than him singing so he was heckled with Drift Away chants. Finish saw Elias use the ropes to cheat and steal the pin.

    Apollo Crews beat Alex Riley

    This was a very good match where  crowd was split. Dueling chants and pockets of fans cheering for both. Riley was on top of his game tonight, responding to hecklers with “I main evented WrestleMania 27!”. Was all Riley early, even connected on a superkick for a strong near fall late. Apollo fought back, fired up and hit his big slam for the win. Post match Riley asked for a handshake, Apollo accepted and Riley also raised Crews’ arm. 

    Enzo Amore & Big Cass beat The Vaudevillains

    Vaudevillains enter first with their new/old heel music, Enzo and Cass received the largest reaction thus far and do their usual mic work. The heels worked over Cass a lot in this one so we got a chance to see an Enzo Amore firey comeback. He ran wild with a lot of running and knock down moves, was able to get Cass back in to finish the Vauds off before Enzo got the assisted splash for the win. 

    Levis Valenzuela beat Angelo Dawkins

    Dawkins controlled most of the match and talked a lot of smack to no one in particular. Crowd was not familiar with Valenzuela so they weren’t sure how to react. Levis waged his come back and hit the wind up punch for the win. 

    – In ring promo with Manny Andrade who, in Spanish, says he wants to be the NXT champion someday. 

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Liv Morgan to retain

    A clean wrestling match between the two friends. The kids in the crowd were starting their own Bayley chants and overall, the crowd was very into Bayley’s offense. Liv had some athletic moves of her own including the Matrix and some roll through pin attempts. Finish saw a Belly To Bayley for the pin followed by Bayley embracing Liv in a show of sportswomanship. 

    NXT Tag Team Champions Dash & Dawson beat The Hype Bros to retain

    The people were, in fact, hype for this match. Dash & Dawson were taunting fans at ringside with Mojo then putting the fans over. Classic heel work by the champions cutting off the ring and keeping Mojo and later Zack isolated. A big comeback by the hypes including a Broski Boot and an attempted Hype Ryder before the champions stole the pin with a roll up on Mojo while Zack was tied up in the ropes. 

  • WWE NXT recap for 1/13/2016: Samoa Joe, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin all compete plus Bayley!

    Check out WrestlingOutsiders.com for 100% free MMA and Pro Wrestling podcasts!

    The Big News: All three participants in the triple threat #1 Contender’s Match had singles matches this week and all three came out victorious

    The Medium News: Bayley and her #1 Contender Carmella continued the build to their title match by teaming up to defeat Emma and Alexa Bliss.

    The Little Beaver Sized News: Rich Swann debuted, in a losing effort to Baron Corbin.

    1.) Sami Zayn submitted Adam Rose

    All three men who will compete in the #1 Contender’s Match next week will have matches tonight, so of course we kick things off with Sami Zayn! This is Zayn’s first match in Full Sail since May. The last time Rose was here on NXT he didn’t allow his music to be played, which got him heat. Now he just let it play while he implied he hated his own theme.

    Rose got just enough offense so that this wasn’t a total squash. One person in the crowd tried to get a “Leo Kruger” chant going, but everyone else ignored it and chanted for Sami. Rose hit a Diving Headbutt, which you could tell he was afraid of the landing as he braced himself to the point that it looked ridiculous on slow motion replay. Out of nowhere Zayn hit the STO and slapped on the Koji Clutch for the submission.

    -Alex interviewed Johnny Gargano about his match with Samoa Joe. Gargano pointed out that Joe has been upset about not winning the NXT Title at Takeover and has been taking it out on everyone. Gargano said he is all heart and as long as there is a heart beat he will not back down.

    -Gable and Jordan were outside the arena, talking about being the Alpha Males of NXT. After talking back and forth they named their team American Alpha and said they will beat Blake & Murphy next week.

    Jordan finally said the “Ready, Willing and Gable” line.

    2.) Apollo Crews pinned Tye Dillinger

    This is a rematch of Crews debut back at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. Dillinger, despite being the Perfect 10, didn’t win 5 matches in 2015. Him and Jason Jordan broke up as a team 10 times and then he has lost almost every match since becoming the Perfect 10.

    Crews picked Dillinger up for a suplex. In his efforts to get out of it Dillinger dropped knees down to Crews’ head, but Apollo still dropped him with the suplex. Apollo went for a Springboard WhatAManeuver, but Dillinger tripped him up and hit a nice looking Suicide Dive. Back in the ring he even got a near fall with a Running Twisting Knee to the face. The announcers talked about how no one had ever kicked out of that move. You know, the one he has used maybe one other time. Whatever. Crews won with a twisting sit out power bomb.

    After the match Crews talked about not liking matches that end in DQ, so he wants a match with Finn Balor.

    -Alex was trying to interview Blake and Murphy, but they were ignoring him. Alexa took over and said Blake & Murphy blew it in London, saying they are so much better than what they showed then.

    -A short video package for The Vaudevillians aired. They were angry young men.

    3.) Baron Corbin pinned Rich Swann

    It is the debut of Rich Swann, who got some screaming and hollering from the fans. The announcers mentioned that he was one of the top independent wrestlers in the world. Swann looked really good in the match. At one point he took a backdrop and did a full flip, landing flat on his face.

    Swann did his best to avoid Corbin like he had the Plague and chopped Baron down with kicks. Swann came off the top rope, but Baron avoided him and hit something that looked more like a Black Hole Slam for the win.

    -Alex interviewed Bayley and Carmella. Carmella was happy about being #1 Contender and getting to wrestle her friend. I smell a heel turn. Bayley just started talking about their upcoming tag match when Dash & Dawson came up and made Carmella go crazy when pointed out that Enzo & Cass can never win the big one.

    4.) Bayley & Carmella defeated Alexa Bliss & Emma

    Emma and Alexa attacked Bayley before the bell, attacking her ribs before the match even started . Despite that Bayley still started the match despite being injured. This was an alright match, but was almost a handicap match. They got the heat on Bayley. When Bayley scratched and crawled and dragged himself to the corner Alexa knocked Carmella off the apron.

    Bayley made her own comeback, which got halted when Dana Brooke interfered to give the heels back the advantage. Finally Bayley was able to avoid her foes and make the tag. Carmella went nuts on both girls and made Alexa tap to a leg scissors.

    -Alex interviewed Finn Balor. Balor accepted Apollo Crews challenge to a non title match.

    5.) Samoa Joe submitted Johnny Gargano

    The fans chanted Johnny Wrestling until half of the crowd decided to chant for Joe. Gargano got a little bit of offense, so Joe went outside the ring. Gargano went to run down the apron at him, but Joe tripped him up and Gargano crashed face first on the apron.

    Gargano made a brief comeback, including hitting a slingshot DDT, but ended up kicked in the face and locked in the Coquina Clutch for the tap out. Good match, but not nearly as good as the Ciampa match a few weeks ago.

    The announcers ended the show by wishing good luck to Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin, putting over that they have to face a monster next week.

  • NXT Chicago, IL, live event results: (evening show): Finn Balor vs. Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin

    Submitted by George Atsaves

    Standing room only crowd. Super lively crowd, lots of chants all night.

    – NXT Tag Champions Dawson and Wilder beat Ezno and Cass when Enzo got pinned via roll up. Good match, Dawson and Wilder are great heels. Enzo was super over. Cass is ok as a “house of fire” babyface but he missed a few spots.

    – Carmella submitted Alexa Bliss with her leg choke thing. Bliss is great, crowd loved to hate her. Match was fine.

    – Elias Sampson and his guitar beat Bull Dempsey. Sampson sang a song about how much Chicago sucks. Decent match: two standard mid card guys doing mid card things.

    – NXT Divas Champion Bayley (so so over) beat Nia Jax with the Belly to Bayley. Pretty similar to the London match, but no chokehold.

    > Intermission. They were selling autographed 11x14s and tons of shirts.

    – Sami Zayn def. Tommaso Ciampa in an incredible match that felt like a typical ROH match. Highlights include Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb and Tommaso hitting a power bomb into a backstabber.  Zayn won with the corner kick.  After, he and Tommaso hugged and Zayn gave him the ring.

    – Eva Marie over Peyton Royce.  I know it is the gimmick and she’s kinda over (not as over as Zayn, Finn nor Bayley) but Eva just can’t wrestle.  She’s not even passable.  Poor Royce was dragging her around.  Eva’s timing was off all match and it showed.  Crowd stopped caring halfway through.

    – NXT Champion Finn Balor over Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin. Before the match, Balor did the Bullet Club guns to Crews and Corbin.  Loud Bullet Club and Too Sweet chants, which Finn encouraged.  Finn even did the “gun gesture to a prone opponent” like Kenny Omega did to AJ Styles the night after WK 10.  Standard triple threat where one guy sold on the outside while the other two went at it.  Finish was pretty good – Corbin hit his spinning slam on Crews, made the cover only for Finn to hit the double foot stomp for the win. After, Finn celebrated with Bayley (who had a Balor Club shirt and was Too Sweeting everyone at ringside) and they brought some kids in the ring to take pictures.

  • NXT Green Bay, WI, house show results: Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn, Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

    Submitted by Josh Hayes and Vash

    NXT Tag Champions Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder vs. Enzo and Cass

    Enzo and Cass are just the perfect act to kick off a show. Crowd loved them, and did Enzo’s introduction right along with him. Match itself was a solid opener, with Enzo being the babyface in peril for most of the match as he worked to make the hot tag to Cass. In the end though, Dash rolled up Enzo and used the ropes for leverage to get the win. But after the match, Enzo and Cass fought them off to make the crowd happy.

    Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Sampson

    Elias Sampson won. Nothing much of note in the match itself, but Bull wore a cheese head hat to the ring, which led to a spot after the match where Sampson acted like he was going to put the cheese head on to get a pop but then he just stopped, spat in it, and threw it out of the ring and left. Then Bull retrieved it and looked at it for a while and so, since it’s cheese, the crowd chanted for him to eat it. So he bit it and the crowd cheered. 

    Tomasso Ciampa vs. Tye Dillinger

    Good match, but the crowd wasn’t that into the match itself. They were more into doing the 10 chant. Tye Dillinger won, meaning yes, three matches in and a face had yet to win a match at this point. But that was about to change.

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

    Please indulge me while I state the obvious: Bayley should be on the main roster, as she is a megastar. She was the first person to get a loud pop when her music hit since Enzo and Cass in the opener. The crowd did the usual Bayley chants and songs. She responded to the “Bayley’s gonna hug you” chant by hugging the ref, and the crowd then chanted “one more time” so she did. And here’s how over Bayley is — after all the usual singing and chanting died down and the match was really getting started, one (1) guy shouted “BAYLEY YOU SUCK!” and the entire crowd boo’ed that guy out of the building. He got what he wanted.

    Good but basic match, with Bayley doing all her usual spots, which is what the crowd wanted to see, especially the Belly-to-Bayley Suplex, which is what won the match. At one point where, if I remember the pretense right, Alexa was almost counted out, but when she got back in the ring, the crowd started chanting 10 again. So Bayley just did Dillinger’s Perfect 10 shuffle with the cartwheel and everything.

    > Intermission

    Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews

    Crews was really over during his entrance, but he seemed to be a little less over during the body of the match, until he made his comeback at least, and won. Corbin was boo’ed at first but then people in my section started getting into him. There was a portion of the match where Corbin threw Crews out of the ring, and Crews lied outside for a while before getting back into the ring, only to be thrown right back out. Then after spending a lot of time outside the ring again, Crews got back in and threw Corbin out. Seemed like a good spot on paper (perhaps) but crowd seemed kinda bored during this long-ish period of non-action.

    However, immediately after that, Crews hit a big assai moonsault which was the first real high spot of the show, and from then on the match was really good. Crews is great at making comebacks. Corbin went for the End of Days at one point, but Crews did a back-flip over his arm, took him down, and hit a standing moonsault, followed by a standing shooting star press to get the win. Probably the best pure match up to that point. 

    Eva Marie and Nia Jax vs. Carmella and Peyton Royce

    Eva was hated as usual. In fact, every time she tagged in, the entire crowd immediately gave thunderous boos. She probably had the most heat on the show. Eva and Jax won when Jax pinned Peyton. I know it’s a house show and all, but on a show where a bunch of heels won, it was weird that the new #1 contender to the Women’s Title didn’t get the win. 

    NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn

    In this face vs. face match, Finn played the role of the subtle heel. Although the crowd in my section at least seemed to be more behind Finn anyway. He did a LOT of Bullet Club pistol gestures for what it’s worth. At the beginning of the match, there was a dueling chant, but eventually the crowd just started chanting “Both these guys”. Another chant-related thing happened when just a few seconds after they locked up for the first time, a small portion of the crowd started the “this is awesome” chant. I thought there was no way that would catch on yet, since it had just started. But it did pick up a little bit of steam as the chants got somewhat louder. But then thankfully someone chanted the obvious: “It just started”, and that became a dueling chant. It should be noted that later on in the match, the “this is awesome” chant occurred again, as well as “this is wrestling” but it was more warranted that time.

    Anyway, the match itself was probably the match of the night. Although I got the sense that by their standards it was probably really basic. No false finishes except for one where Sami hit the Blue Thunder Bomb for a 2 count. They told the story of Sami taking a beating but still getting back up. Finn knocked him down once, started to go to the top rope, but then he would notice Sami getting to his feet so he’d get back in the ring and knock him down again. That happened a few times until Sami fired back with a flurry of punches of his own and made a comeback. They ended up brawling outside the ring and Sami went for the Torpedo DDT, but Finn hit him with a pelee kick and Sami ended up knocked out draped over the bottom turnbuckle. So then Finn went up to the apron, casually pushed Sami’s limp body back into the ring, went up top and hit the Coupe De Grace for the win. After the match, they shook hands and Sami raised Finn’s arm.

    Notes:

    Bayley and Apollo Crews and maybe a few others that I didn’t notice spent a lot of time after their matches taking pictures with fans in the front row as well. NXT is a very enjoyable experience live. If you’ve never been to one of their shows, you’ve probably heard people say that before, but it’s completely true. I had a blast. Crowd was hotter than most Green Bay crowds I’ve been in. The show itself, while very good, was a bit strange in that a lot of heels went over which seems to go against what they usually do at house shows.

  • WWE NXT results: Women’s #1 contender battle royal, Sami Zayn returns to Full Sail

    Before starting, please check out WrestlingOutsiders.com for 5 days of free wrestling and MMA podcasts every single week.

    • The Big News: In two weeks Samoa Joe, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin will square off in the triple threat #1 Contender’s match.
    • The Medium News: Carmella won a battle royal to become Bayley’s next challenger.
    • The Little Beaver Sized News: Asuka kicked Eva Marie’s head clean off her shoulders.

    After a 2 week break, let’s see if I remember how to do this.

    *****

    Rich Brennan and Byron Saxton are gone, Tom Phillips is here and Corey Graves never left. The show starts with the return of Mr. William Regal! Mr. Regal thanked the fans for making NXT the fastest growing promotion in the world before announcing a battle royal with the winner getting a shot at the Women’s Championship.

    Mr. Regal introduced Sami Zayn before leaving. This is Sami’s first appearance in the NXT Arena since NXT Takeover: Unstoppable in May. He got quite the reaction coming out, with a standing ovation and chants of “Welcome back” and an extended “Ole” song.

    Sami loved being back and announced that he is here to be the first ever 2x NXT Champion, which led to chants of “two times”. This brought out Samoa Joe, who is not happy about losing to Finn Balor at NXT Takeover: London.

    Joe stated that he is happy Sami is back and he can appreciate Zayn wanting to be champion, but he doesn’t deserve the title match. The last time Sami was in the ring he had to be saved by Joe after a beating by Kevin Owens. Joe pointed out that Finn Balor said he did not beat Joe, he survived. Joe finished by saying that if Sami wants to not get injured again he will leave the ring.

    That brought out Baron Corbin. Corbin agreed with Joe and said Zayn belongs in the back of the line. At Takeover he beat Apollo Crews, while Samoa Joe failed in his shot at the gold. While Sami was at home he was passed by someone hungrier and more durable. Corbin proclaimed himself to be the uncrowned NXT Champion.

    Joe pointed out he choked out Corbin in Brooklyn, so he doesn’t belong in this conversation. Joe threatened Sami again before leaving. Sami said he was standing in the ring and Baron attacked him from behind as Joe walked away. Baron went for End of Days, but Sami got around it and booted Corbin out of the ring. Joe teased attacked Zayn from behind, but stopped when Zayn turned around.

    – Bayley cut a promo saying that she survived the match with Nia Jax and honestly didn’t know she still had all that in her. She is jealous because she loves battle royals and may give the winner a hug.

    -They announced the 2015 NXT Awards:

    • Tag Team of the Year: Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
    • Female Competitor of the Year: Bayley
    • Male Competitor of the Year: Finn Balor
    • Takeover of the Year: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn
    • Match of the Year: Bayley vs Sasha Banks from Brooklyn
    • Overall Competitor Of The Year: Finn Balor

    All the winners got a plaque with a golden ring bell and hammer on it.

    Tommaso Ciampa submitted Danny Birch

    20 minutes in and we get the first match of 2016. Tommaso Ciampa, complete with correct spelling of his name, one on one with Danny Birch. Birch didn’t get an entrance, but he got a bit of offense. Ciampa hit a really nice draping STO, which should have been his finish, but Birch kicked out. Birch got a near fall with a punch to the face. No, really. Ciampa picked up the win with an armbar after rolling over Birch’s back. That looked really nice.

    – Enzo and Cass said they will not forget being injured by Dash & Dawson. Enzo said real G’s never lose and real men don’t hide behind women. They vowed to finish the business between them.

    -A promo package for Billie Kay, Deonna Purrazzo and Emma, all of whom said they would win the battle royal. The highlight was Billie starting her promo by saying “In case you forgot, I am Billie Kay”. I guarantee 90% of the people watching had no idea.

    -Mr. Regal announced Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin in a #1 Contender’s Match in 2 weeks.

    NXT Tag Team Champions Dash & Dawson defeated The Ascension

    The Ascension continue to be God’s to the NXT crowd. I always think it’s funny how much they put over their Tag Title reign when there were literally no other teams for about 6 months and the gimmick was every week they would take on a different jobber team.

    Viktor started the match by beating the living crap out of Dash Wilder. Honestly he probably beat the dead crap out of him too. Dash got tired of being stiffed, so he leveled Viktor with a couple blows too. The champs got the heat on Viktor while the announcers talked about Enzo & Cass being tag team of the year. Konnor got the hot tag and used the Dusty Rhodes flip, flop and fly routine on Dawson.

    We had a Pier 6 break out before Dash & Dawson got the win with their finish.

    – Nia Jax was being worked on by the trainer and the trainer did not clear her to compete in the battle royal. Mr. Regal refused to let her join while Eva Marie was quite happy that her largest opponent (even though she is a friend) wasn’t in the match.

    – Carmella, Peyton Royce and Alexa Bliss all said they would win the battle royal. Carmella spent Christmas in a tanning bed.

    Elias Sampson pinned Corey Hollis

    Elias Sampson does not use public transportation. Seriously that is the tidbit we got from Corey Graves. Corey Hollis is the foe this week. Hollis looked at him like “Dude, remember when we were nameless jobbers together?”

    This is Sampson’s second match since being repackaged. The first one saw him beat Bull Dempsey in a bad match no one cared about. This one saw him win with a swinging neck breaker in a meh match that a couple people cared about.

    After the match Sampson announced that what NXT needs is what he is.

    – Alex Reyes interviewed Finn Balor about the upcoming #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match. Balor said the Joe match was physically and mentally draining. Joe is a monster, but as champion he never rests and faces every challenger. He said all of the three challengers plead a good case as to why they should get the title match. As far as he is concerned the title will stay with him regardless who wins.

    – Cameron, Aliyah (making her debut), Liv Morgan and Asuka all said they will win the battle royal.

    Carmella won the #1 Contender’s Battle Royal, last eliminating Eva Marie

    Emma, Alexa, Carmella, Eva Marie and Asuka were the only ones to get an entrance. Eva pouted when her music was cut off for Asuka’s. Eva took offense to Asuka walking by her, so when the bout started Eva had something to say, so Asuka kicked her head off.

    This was an over the top rope battle royal, so Eva was allowed to roll under the bottom rope and have emergency head re-attachment surgery before continuing. Aliyah, in her debut, was the first one out. That was followed by Deonna Purrazzo, who can go lose a battle royal in TNA now, Cameron, Liv Morgan, Bliss, Emma, Royce, Kay, Asuka and Eva Marie.

    Morgan lifted Cameron up for a power bomb, but dropped her, so they went right back to the spot, which led to Bliss throwing them both out. Bliss should have been the favorite since she is shorter than the top rope, but she didn’t make the final four. Eva stayed on the floor the entire match until Asuka eliminated everyone else in the ring. Eva threw Asuka over the top rope to the floor, but she forgot one person. Earlier Carmella was knocked to the floor and the entire crowd knew what was going to happen. Sure enough Carmella got in and threw out Eva Marie to win!

    After the match, Bayley ran down and hugged her new #1 Contender as the show ended.

    So that does it for this week. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.

  • NXT announces Bayley title match, Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe for January 22nd

    Fresh off her successful title defense submission victory over Nia Jax at NXT TakeOver: London in December, NXT Women’s Champion Bayley now has her next challenger set: Carmella. 

    NXT announced Thursday night via Twitter that title match will take place at their Friday, January 22nd event at the CFE Arena at the University of Central Florida. 

    Additionally, Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn will hook it up to determine the new No. 1 contender to NXT Champion Finn Balor. On the aforementioned London show, Balor successfully defended his belt against Joe in the main event via pinfall. Zayn returned on that same show after a long layoff following shoulder surgery, and will be looking to regain the title he lost to Kevin Owens.

    The event is part of an aggressive January calendar for the popular WWE-created brand where they will run 15 total shows, including several on the same night in two locations.

    In a coincidence, Bayley tweeted out Thursday that today marks her fourth year in NXT.

  • WWE NXT Breaking Ground Episode 9: Countdown, Bayley at a PPV

    Breaking Ground Episode 9: Countdown

    By Ryan Pike

    Key Takeaway: TakeOver: Respect draws near as we follow several NXT personalities as they prepare for the big event. The focus on TakeOver adds some much-needed urgency to the show.

    Recap: As with the past few episodes, this edition of Breaking Ground wasn’t focused on one or two competitors, but the episode’s focus on the road to TakeOver: Respect helped make up for it.

    Bayley visits Natalya at “Night of Champions” and picks her brain a bit about the upcoming Iron Man match. Natalya reassures her that she’s the right person to lead the way for the young NXT female locker room as champion. Later, Bayley shoots promos for the match and gets a bit choked up as she discusses the importance and historical nature of the bout, which they emphasize is the first time females have main-evented a live WWE special. When she arrives at Full Sail for the event, Bayley seems a bit relieved that the day has arrived – she mentions how she’s been constantly running around preparing and promoting the event (and while she does this in voice-over, she is constantly shaking hands with different people at the arena backstage who greet her) that she’s a bit wired at this point. In a cool moment in this episode, Bayley gets a chance to play with her own action figure as Mattel comes to do facial scans of other NXT stars.

    Nia Jax is getting ready for her TV debut (which was taped after TakeOver, but appears in this episode because of narratives). Her mom has flown in and helps her prepare. Nia has no idea what to do for her entrance. Her mom advises her not to over-analyze her entrance and just enjoy the moment when she walks out there. Her mom mentions what she has already overcome, and Nia tells the story of getting in an accident with a drunk driver in August 2014 (with The Rock’s mom with her in the car). In a funny moment, Rhyno and Baron Corbin joke around with her about being nervous about her debut, sharing horror stories of their past debuts. (Rhyno came out during the commercial break because he thought the generic rock music was his entrance music, advising her to “remember her music.”) She likes her new gear. Her debut happens, the crowd reacts well to her. She tears up discussing how much it all meant to her having her mom there. (Weirdly, she has a talk with her mom outside the venue wearing her more recent gear with the cool shoulder-pads.)

    Sami Zayn begins doing conditioning in-ring with Tye Dillinger. He goes through a series of holds while a trainer assesses him. He notes afterwards it’s unclear if he’s going up to the main roster or not, as it wasn’t clear to him if his Montreal match with John Cena was a full call-up or a one-off.

    In a strange quirk, last week’s cliffhanger with Dana Brooke getting injured is not really followed up on. They establish that she was hurt and injured some muscle in-between her pectoral and her shoulder, but she decided to work through it as the trainers felt whatever damage had been done wouldn’t get worse. She does get choked up a bit chatting with Jason Jordan prior to Takeover, but she gets to make her TakeOver debut with Asuka regardless.

    In lesser news: Tino Sabbatelli gets video feedback from Adam Pearce and Matt Bloom, and does extra work in the ring at the Performance Center with the hopes of working his way back up from the beginners class to the touring roster. Tyler Breeze and his girlfriend adopt a stray dog that followed him to the Performance Center. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable order custom track suits for their TakeOver match, but they don’t arrive in time.

    And the beginning of “TakeOver: Respect” is this episode’s big cliffhanger, as we’ll follow up on that event in next week’s season finale.

    Final Thoughts: A fairly strong episode of Breaking Ground, if only because of the focus on TakeOver and the time it spent with personalities like Bayley, Nia Jax and Sami Zayn who the show has spent time with and given reasons for viewers to care about.