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Tag: Finn Balor

  • NXT Columbia, SC, live results: Nakamura bleeds; Finn Balor & Austin Aries team up

    Submitted by James Gates

    No Way Jose d. Steve Blake

    Jose got the crowd going with chants early on. He and Blake worked the crowd for a good 3 minutes before they locked up. The crowd chanted Jose to the tune of Sami Zayn’s Ole, and “Hey, we want some Jose”. Jose was a good comedy character and did some comedy spots with Blake. The match was good for an opening match to get the crowd going. Jose won with a wind up baseball pitch punch to Blake’s head.

    Riddick Moss d. John Skyler

    Riddick came out with the mic and cut a generic “this town sucks” promo. Skylar came out and is from Columbia, SC, apparently. He was mildly over throughout the match. No mention of why Patrick Clark got swapped out. The match was very bare bones like a tryout match. At the start, Riddick wanted the ref to take his vest off. He turns his back and Skyler takes it off for him, then poses with it. He then teases a toss the vest to the crowd spot, then tosses it to Riddick and dropkicks him to start the match. The match was very basic, but Riddick got the majority of the offense in. Riddick pinned Skyler while holding onto the ropes. I don’t know how the ref didn’t see it, since from my angle it looked like he was looking right at it. 

    Carmella d. Peyton Royce

    Carmella cut her standard promo before the match. She said that she wasn’t the Queen of Staten Island today, but the Queen of Columbia. This match was slow and painful. Crowd wasn’t really into it. Lots of holds, lots of slow kicks from Royce. Carmella eventually won in a short match.

    Elias Sampson d. Alex Riley

    Elias comes in from the crowd to boos. He gets in the ring and cuts a short promo about the city. He then starts playing for a couple of seconds before being interrupted by Alex Riley. This match had the longest chinlock spot ever: at least 8 minutes of Samson putting a chinlock on Riley. They teased Riley breaking from it multiple times to no avail. The crowd was really turning on the match until the very end of the chinlock spot where they started getting into it. Then, Riley broke out and the crowd really didn’t react that much. It was like they wanted to see how long the chinlock was gonna last. This match was decent and Samson gets a lot of heat. Riley is overlooked by the crowd. Samson wins with his neckbreaker finisher.

    NXT Tag Champions American Alpha d. The Revival

    This was by far the best match and the one the crowd reacted to the most. AA come off as stars and were so hot with the crowd throughout the entire match. The match itself was almost like a repeat of the Takeover match, with the same spots being repeated, like Dash and Dawson holding onto each other while they get German Suplexed. It was still very fun.

    During the match, either Dash of Dawson inside cradled Gable and pinned him. The crowd was stunned silent for about 3 seconds until Drake reversed his decision when he realized the wrong Revival member was in and kept the match going. AA then did their spots and hit Grand Amplitude for the win. Crowd is ecstatic.

    NXT Women’s Champion Asuka d. Eva Marie

    Eva was booed coming out, but during the match, she was cheered quite a bit. However, it felt more like the crowd was cheering Eva to spite the fans who were booing her. There was a “You Can’t Wrestle/Yes She Can” dueling chant going on with both sides equally loud. Eva worked heel throughout the match. She got a lot of offense in, it was pretty much evenly split. The match was decent. Eva didn’t botch any moves. Asuka put a lot of work in though wrestling circles around eva. Asuka won when she transitioned the armbar into the Asuka lock.

    Shinsuke Nakamura d. Manny Andrade

    Manny came out first and got a pretty mild reaction while Nakamura came out like a star, People overwhelmingly cheered Nakamura. The match was really good but was short because it was a house show. I think it went no longer than 12 minutes. As the match went on, there’s blood on the side of Nakamura’s head, and the match is stopped. The doctors came out to work on Nakamura causing the crowd to chant “PG Sucks” among other things.

    They worked on Nakamura for a long time, and I thought he might actually not be okay. Then Nakamura started thumping his foot against the ring to get the crowd going and then he went after Manny. He didn’t seem affected by his time on the ground. Manny did a lot of lucha moves that got under Nakamura’s skin throughout the match. When Manny would hit a lucha move, Nakamura would immediately go outside and sell for a bit.

    Manny did a moonsault off the stage ramp onto a standing Nakamura on the floor. Manny didn’t much of a reaction until he did the Kota Ibushi spot. The moonsault off the rope that misses and then follows up with another moonsault. It got a nearfall and the crowd popped and chanted for Manny. Nakamura then quickly cut him off and hit the Kinshasa for the win. It was a good match that could’ve been a lot better if given the time.

    NXT Champion Finn Balor and Austin Aries d. Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger

    Tye comes out first and starts talking about Columbia and himself and how he’s a perfect ten. He hypes up Corbin as his partner. Corbin comes and keeps his shirt on. He kept his shirt on for the entirety of the match despite the pleas from the crowd to take it off. Finn and Aries hit the ring and Finn cuts a promo hyping up Corbin on his debut and winning the Battle Royale. He then says that he’s gonna throw Corbin over the rope tonight in Columbia.

    The match starts and it revolves around whether Corbin or Finn will throw the other over the top rope. Corbin throws Aries over very early on, grabs the mic and says to Finn, “See how easy it was for me to throw that little guy over the top rope, now im gonna do it to you”. The match is good, Tye takes around 70% of the offense for Finn/Aries. Finn and Aries trade getting the heat from Corbin throughout the match. Then Finn hits slingblade on Corbin and Corbin staggers to the rope. Finn then finally clotheslines Corbin over the rope. Aries dives outside onto Corbin.

    Finn hits the Sling Blade on Tye, then hits the Blood Sunday for the win. Finn then gets the crowd to sing Nah Nah Nah Nah Wave Goodbye to Corbin. After the match, Aries and Finn get the ref (not drake) to toss Tye over the rope and he does to much applause. This was a really good show overall, wish some matches got more time than others.

  • NXT Concord, NC, live results: Finn Balor & Nakamura team up

    Submitted by Jason Sitek

    No Way Jose defeated Riddick Moss

    Both guys are pretty green, but this was a prelim house show match. Jose got some solid chanting, and has a Latin baseball player’s walk-up music. Lots of dancing and then he won the match with a baseball pitching wind-up punch.

    Elias Samson defeated John Skyler

    As soon as Samson’s music hit, the place starts booing. He cut a promo and sang a song but the sound at floor level was not great, so you could not really make anything out. Skyler is from Concord but fans were more focused on booing Samson.  Lots of “drift away” and “you can’t wrestle” chants.

    Alex Riley defeated Blake

    No Murphy or Alexa with Blake who is pretty dead without them. Lots of “Where’s Alexa?” chants. Alex Riley smiled at the “young Triple H!” chants, commenting on his look, but that’s about the only good thing to say about this. Riley won the match, but I’m not sure anyone was the better for it.

    Eva Marie defeated Carmella

    Carmella out first to a huge pop. Eva came out to tremendous heat and boos, but you can tell the crowd loves booing her and she loves getting that reaction. Lot of knee-in-the-back rest holds from Eva to Carmella. Carmella got her comeback, but Eva got the win by keeping her feet on the bottom rope. Carmella left, but came back and hit her finisher on Eva to pop the crowd.

    NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated The Revival

    Gable is great, but I was most impressed by Jordan, Dash, and Dawson. Revival got lots of heat on Gable and were bantering back and forth with the crowd.  They were sarcastic and heelish, and it was great. Jordan got his babyface comeback and took off the shoulder straps, then later in the match emphatically put them back on and immediately got fired up and took them back off — to the roar of the crowd. 

    Spot of the night was a new one for this match-up (from what I can tell) where Gable was in the corner and one member of Revival tries to schoolboy him, but Gable has his arms around the other Revival member and suplexes him. Alpha wins, but no signature finisher.

    – Short promo from Tom Phillips and Dasha Fuentes about merch & and then intermission.

    Austin Aries defeated Manny Andrade

    Manny out to generic Latin music and very little reaction — but that would change by the end of the match.  Most people, including NXT fans, may not know who Manny is/was and how good he is. Very quiet during the first half of the match, but some of the best wrestling of the night. Aries had the crowd support at first but credit to him for getting Manny over.  By the time this match was done, Manny was the star leaving the ring.  Aries pinned him but helped up him and pointed at Manny in a way that let the fans know the former La Sombra is the real deal.

    NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce

    Peyton Royce out with new heel music, attire, and heel mannerisms. She has a small flower she carries with her and smells from time to time.  Asuka was out but had no belt. Eva Marie came out before the match got underway, carrying the “belt” underneath a blanket, challenging Asuka to a match for the title at NXT Columbia the next night. 

    The crowd loved Asuka, and was really one of the best on this show tonight. Peyton got a lot of offense in, but Asuka tapped her out to the Asuka Lock.  Asuka then asked for a mic and in confident English said “Eva, I’m going to kick your ass.”

    NXT Champion Finn Balor/Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Tye Dillinger/Baron Corbin

    Wildly entertaining man event. Dillinger out first and the “10” gimmick is over. He cut a promo about how this crowd/show is a 4 but since he’s a 10, he’ll give them a perfect match and perfect victory.  Corbin out next and the banter was excellent.  Nakamura out third and the crowd made known who they came to see. The entire arena could not have been more excited to see him live. Finn Balor still wildly popular as NXT champ and cheered but not as big as Nakamura. Corbin worked the match with his shirt on and bantered with the crowd, rubbing his fingers together to show the only way he’d take it off would be for money.

    Finn was up first and the crowd erupted when he tagged in Nakamura.  Tye and Baron tagged in and out to delay eventually facing him. Lots of the usual Nakamura spots like the vibrating stomp, knees and kicks, but you don’t even care if you’ve seen it before because it’s so great live. His facial features sell it even further.

    Since Concord is just outside of Charlotte, the Flair chops were used heavily. Finn hit Tye with chops and then went FULL-Flair and started strutting and WOO!-ing.  He sold it like he had dreamed of working the Carolinas as Flair as a kid. The Flair spots culminated in a perfect Flair-flop from Dillinger and the crowd laughed uproariously and applauded.  Nothing bad but nothing memorable from Corbin.  After some grappling, Nakamura hit Tye with a knee strike from the top rope and tagged Finn who hit the Bloody Sunday for the pin.

    Finn and Nakamura celebrated, and then Balor grabbed the mic and cut a promo. He was very passionate and said that after ‘Mania there were a lot of tired, sore, and even some homesick wrestlers, but crowds like tonight make them want to go out and not let anyone down.  The crowd appreciated the candor.  He then handed the mic to Shinsuke who said he only had one thing to say: “YEAOH!”  — and the entire crowd did it with him.

    Fun moment after the match: Finn grabbed a fan’s sign and held it up to all sides of the ring.  The sign read “WHERE ARE DOC AND KARL?” 

  • NXT TakeOver Dallas live results: Nakamura debuts; Finn Balor & Bayley defend their gold

    Friday’s NXT TakeOver: Dallas show on the WWE Network is one of the biggest the brand has produced up to this point with three big main events that sound great on paper, and should be great in execution.

    If given time, the top three matches have a chance of being some of the best matches this weekend will provide:

    – Reigning champion Finn Balor will defend the NXT title against Samoa Joe, a rematch from TakeOver: London event.

    – Women’s champion Bayley defends against Asuka, who has a ton of momentum since debuting.

    – Sami Zayn, who is making what will most likely be his last appearance on the NXT brand, will square off against a debuting Shinsuke Nakamura, who stunned the world by signing a WWE contract a few months ago after having a great run in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

    – Austin Aries will take on the man who attacked him in his debut, Baron Corbin

    – Apollo Crews faces off against “The Drifter” Elias Sampson

    – NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash and Dawson) defend against American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan).

    Join us at 10 PM EST for our coverage!

    Apparently, the Apollo Crews/Drifer match was bumped to dark match status. Apollo won in what was said to not be a very good match.

    In case you were wondering, no, we didn’t have Triple H open this broadcast.

    NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival (Dash and Dawson) (c) vs. American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable)

    Crowd was really hot for this. Gable worked a lot of the match, and was the one being worked on as Jordan was waiting for a tag. They worked on him forever, though there were a few clever spots like Dash going through the ring and taking out Jordan just as Gable was going for a tag. They completely messed up a spot where the Revival were going for a powerbomb/clothesline off the top rope combo but didn’t get Gable up all the way and it looked really bad, and on top of that Dash went for a cover when he wasn’t the legal man and they just stood there for a few seconds, lost. “Botchamania” chants after that one. It picked right back up after that as Jordan was tagged and they went for a bunch of fun near falls that the crowd ate up. Gable had a bunch of clever nearfalls, he’s such a terrific athlete. They did a phantom tag as Gable had Dawson in the corner. Jordan surprised him with a spear, Gable tagged back in and hit their drop/suplex bridge finisher to win the titles. Good match despite the botch with some great heat.

    Jim Ross, Michelle Beadle, Funaki and, most interestingly, Kota Ibushi were shown in the crowd. Announcers specifically mentioned the cruiserweight tournament when talking about Ibushi.

    Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries

    Corbin has a cool new jacket. I know Aries is on the small side anyway but Corbin absolutely dwarfed him in comparison. Aries started off hot but Corbin cut him off and got the heat on him. He’s really found himself in terms of agressiveness which I think he didn’t have even going back a few months ago, he continue to improve well. Aries made a comeback but Corbin laid him out with the deep six (spinning side slam) on the outside. He went for the End of Days but Aries countered with a roll up into a bridge and got the win. Right finish as it protected Corbin and Aries got the needed win in his debut. Pretty good match.

    Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Crowd went ballistic the minute Nakamura came out. Song, entrance, everything fit him and was instantly over. Crowd is SUPER into this, far beyond anything else on this card so far. Good back and forth between both throughout. Nakamura was extremely comfortable doing his own thing and did all of his trademark spots. He’s one of the best in the world in terms of charisma and presence and it was completely represented here Zayn did the big running senton to the floor. Great back and forth sequence. Nakamura’s nose was busted open. “We want strong style” chant. More back and forth until Nakamura hit the spinning clothesline, like from the G1 final from a few years ago. He transisitoned into a triangle. Zayn tried to counter but Nakamura escaped. Zayn got in the koji clutch but Nakamura countered out of it. Zayn went for the helluva kick but Nakamura  escaped and hit the reverse exploder and went for the boma ye but Zayn countered. Just great back and forth and the heat was incredible. Nakamura hit the knee strike to the back of the head then pinned Zayn with a high knee strike to the face for the win. Absolutely incredible match that is a surefire match of the year candidate. I think Nakamura’s going to be just fine in WWE.

    Nakamura and Zayn shook hands after the match. Zayn stood in the ring as people were chanting “Ole” and “Thank You Sami”. He left to his own music to a big reaction. 

     NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Asuka

    Both women worked really well with one another and everything looked right on the money. A lot of back and forth. Asuka went for a kick but Bayley immediately latched on a kneebar in a cool submission. She worked on both Asuka’s knees. Asuka came back with the flying armbar and went into the seated position but Bayley countered with a roll up. Asuka latched on the Asuka lock, taking her to the floor. Bayley fought and fought, but eventually passed out and Asuka got the win, becoming the new Women’s champion. Crowd was stunned by this but ultimately cheered Asuka. Tough to follow the previous match but this was really good.

    Bayley looked dejected after the match. Asuka left the ring, stared at Bayley, then headed up the ramp, posing with the title.

    They showed Bobby Roode in the audience, so at the very least he’s on the radar.

    NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) vs. Samoa Joe

    Balor came out with a chainsaw, I guess since it’s in Texas. Maybe he borrowed it from Dean Ambrose and will give it back after the match. Balor did a flying senton to the floor and Joe’s eye was immediately busted open big time, blood everywhere. It was actually from a headbutt sequence at the start of the match. Joe did a sick suicide dive to the outside. They had to stop the match several times as Joe’s eye was still bleeding, which the crowd didn’t like, chanting “Bulls***” and “F*** PG”. I don’t think it’s a PG issue but rather a a medical/commission issue. Some good back and forth once that was all cleared up. Balor went for the coupe de grace but Joe cut him off and hit the muscle buster for a nearfall.  Balor got back up and hit the coupe de grace then tried to follow with the Bloody Sunday DDT but Joe came back with the kokina clutch. They did the Piper/Bret finish from Wrestlemania 8 where Balor used the turnbuckle as leverage and bridged himself over Joe on the floor, pinning him. Heat and intensity was there, and it wasn’t bad but the constant stoppages hurt it from being really great.

    Joe looked both stunned and angry after the match, and simply left with Balor celebrating in the ring as the show ended. Another great NXT Takeover event, watch the Zayn/Nakamura match above everything else but each match was good to great in it’s own right.

  • NXT Venice, FL, live results: Finn Balor teams up with the Hype Bros

    Submitted by Louis Izzo

    – Josh Woods def. Alexander Wolfe

    OK opener. Wolfe didn’t do much besides a basic assortment of strikes of chinlocks, but it looked good. Woods got a decent pop for being from Florida.

    – King Constantine def. Blake (w/Murphy)

    Comedy squash with comedy provided mostly from B&M. Blake had Murphy with him, no Alexa Bliss. Constantine dominated, no-selling most of the way, and finished with a chokeslam into a back breaker.

    – Patrick Clark & Kenneth Crawford vs. Dhinsa and Selmani

    Sorry for not having names, but the female ring announcer butchered them all and I don’t recognize any of them from TV. Hopefully another report will help identify them.

    – Alex Riley defeated Elias Sampson with a roll up

    Sampson ran down the local crowd to draw heat, but the fans that reacted were still 50/50 on him. Not much to this, with lots of resting. Faces for the night are batting 4 for 4.

    – Carmella defeated Emma in an OK match

    Carmella’s ring entrance and mic skills are great, but her offense is terrible, especially the punches. Emma worked the crowd a lot by doing lots of hair pulls.

    – Apollo Crews pinned Riddick Moss

    Another average match. Moss spent most of the match bickering with the crowd and doing this goofy power walk. Crews won with his signature power bomb.

    – Asuka defeated Billy Kay

    Physical match. Nothing great, but Asuka’s strikes looked good, and BK had some decent, if unspectacular, offense.

    – NXT Champion Finn Balor and the Hype Bros def. The Vaudevillains and Tye Dillinger

    First few minutes was Mojo running around crazy, and then each face took turns beating down the heels. Zack Ryder played the face-in-peril before making the hot tag to Balor, and after a hot sequence with Riley and Mojo hitting their signature spots, he finished Tye with the 1916. Really good match to end the show. 

    – WWE.com promoted Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin, Bayley, Enzo and Cass, and all of them were nowhere to be seen tonight. The only advertised names that appeared were Balor, Crews, and Carmella.

  • NXT Coral Gables, FL, live results: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe; Sami Zayn, more

    Photo: @TripleH

    Notes from Ernie Quincosa from University of Miami’s BankUnited Center

    – Sami Zayn beat Baron Corbin

    They kicked this house show off with a match that could have been near the top of the card. Crowd was pretty hot for Sami and heckled Baron throughout. Typical Sami Zayn match, Baron got quite a bit of offense in, more than Sami, and looked much much more experienced than he has recently, he came across to me as a main event of NXT caliber heel for the first time. Sami won with a Heluva Kick to the corner and a pin.

    – Carmella and Aliyah beat Emma and Billie Kay

    Match was flat. People tried to get behind Carmella and booed Emma, but this was the quietest they were all night. Everything looked very soft and not very stiff, but all the women in the match did look like great athletes. Emma and Billie Kaye worked over Aliyah and Carmella got the hot tag and submits Billie Kaye with her neck choke finisher.

    – Rich Swann beat Riddick Moss

    Crowd liked Rich Swann but kept heckling through the match.  Very back and forth match, and Swann won with a 450 splash. Riddick Moss seems to be improving, and Rich Swann seems like a solid baby face.

    – NXT Tag Champions The Revival vs. American Alpha ends in a draw

    This felt like a dry run of a pay-per-view match. Match started slow with Chad Gable getting a lot of shine. Revival tries to cheat, start cutting the ring in half with Gable. Jordan gets a very hot tag and goes to town with the spot where he pulls his singlet straps down, pulls them up, and pulls them back down. Crowd loses it. Match ends with pinning trade-off between Dawson and Gable, ending in a double pin. Referee calls the match a draw, Jordan asks The Revival to go five more minutes and they refuse and try to jump American Alpha. Jordan and Gable get a come back and hit Grand Amplitude, then soak in the applause from the crowd.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Nia Jax

    Big contrast between this match and the earlier women’s match. Every time Nia hit Bayley, the crowd gasped. Nia dominated Bayley for most of the match, until Bayley had a comeback and hit the Bayley-to-Belly suplex and pinned Nia. 

    – Manny Andrade beat Tye Dillinger

    Surprisingly, it seemed like a good amount of the crowd knew of La Sombra, and there were multiple Sombra chants during the match. Manny seemed VERY popular with the crowd, which garnered multiple chants in Spanish. A lot of the crowd was Latino, but it’s also important to remember Miami has a lot of Cubans and Central Americans, and not so many Mexicans specifically. This match got the first (and possibly only) “This is Awesome” chant of the night. Dillinger and Andrade went back and forth, lots of chops and reversals in this match. Much more high-flying than I’ve seen in an NXT match before. Andrade won with a very impressive moonsault from the corner to standing into a standing moonsault.

    – NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Samoa Joe

    This was more or less the same match these two have had before. The pacing was a little different, however. Samoa Joe seemed like a monster throughout the match, dominating Finn early with a very physical style. Finn won with a brainbuster, however he was not able to lift Joe all the way up and so it ended up being more of a face slam. Samoa Joe was very popular with the crowd, who sang happy birthday to him during the match without prompting. After the match, Finn led the crowd into singing happy birthday to Joe again, and then sang “Danny Boy” for the crowd, it being St. Patrick’s Day. 

  • 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.

  • NXT Jacksonville, FL, live results: Finn Balor teams up with American Alpha

    Submitted by Ross Blair, live from the Maxwell Snyder Armory Thursday

    – Mojo Rawley def. Alex Riley

    Crowd favorite Rawley got the fans “hyped” in a decent opener against Riley. Both men had equal offense, and Mojo got the pin after he spun around and clocked Riley with a big right hand.

    – Liv Morgan defeated Daria the Jersey Devil

    Daria had MMA attire and the slugfest match came off more like an MMA match than a pro wrestling contest. It worked here. This was Morgan’s third consecutive appearance at this venue and, judging from the ovation she got, I’m probably not alone in saying she’s my favorite newbie in the NXT women’s division. Morgan pinned Daria after a standing moonsault…a deviation from her last two appearances, which ended with moonsaults of the top rope.

    – Tucker Knight pinned Angelo Dawkins

    Knight won with a Thesz press. Knight has new attire, a singlet, which greatly improves his look as it hides his gut.

    – Enzo Amore & Colin Cassidy (with Carmella) defeated Blake & Murphy (without Alexa Bliss)

    Enzo got double teamed for the majority of the match, followed by a hot tag to Big Cass and a pinfall victory after the popular duo’s rocket launcher finisher.

    – Levis Valenzuela Jr. pinned Riddick Moss after a wind-up knockout punch

    Moss was greeted with chants of “You’re OK” and “Welcome Back” as he made his entrance. The final image of the previous Jacksonville show was Moss receiving medical attention after the 6-man main event he was in ended prematurely when he had his bell rung after a suplex-gone-wrong. Moss did some mic work to turn around the sympathy he got from the fans & regain his role as a heel: “The last few weeks haven’t been easy, but all your support has been the only thing…that has completely annoyed me! I don’t need any of you!”

    – Six-foot-seven former collegiate football player Dan Matha debuted in an interview segment. He touted to announcer Tom Phillips that he is an “A+ player” and an apparent heel: “If you’re not a girl or a dumbbell, I don’t have time for you!”

    – Nia Jax def. Aliyah

    Jax got a big pop as she entered the ring to face the ridiculously smaller Aliyah in actually a very entertaining David & Goliath matchup. The crowd moaned in unison after Jax menacingly said “say hi to Aliyah”, followed by grabbing her by the hair & spinning her halfway across the ring. Aliyah did a good job appearing nervous during her brief moments of offense. Jax playfully said “bye bye” before finishing her with a Samoan drop.

    – NXT Champion Finn Balor & American Alpha (Jason Jordan/Chad Gable) def. NXT Tag Champions The Revival (Dash & Dawson) & Baron Corbin

    Balor got a huge pop in his long awaited return to Jacksonville. Excellent match. Gable got triple teamed for much of the contest. The finish came when Gable & Jordan had both Dawson & Wilder in ankle locks as Balor came off the top rope with his foot stomp to pin Corbin.

    Notes:

    – A return date to Jacksonville of April 23rd was announced.​

    – Manny “La Sombra” Andrade (joined by Mandy Rose & Steve Cutler) made his meet & greet debut. He is apparently conquering the English language as he fit right in during the NXT pre-show ritual of autographs and pictures with fans. Unfortunately, he was not on the actual card.

  • NXT Columbus, OH, live results: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe; Bayley vs. Emma

    Image: JJ Williams

    I’m here at the Arnold Classic for the NXT show in Columbus, Ohio tonight in front of a sold-out house. 

    Asuka beat Alexa Bliss 

    Big reaction for Asuka and also a good one for the hometown girl Bliss. This was all Asuka, nailing the Yes Kicks and finally applying the Asuka Lock for the submission.

    Johnny Gargano and Tomaso Ciampa beat The Vaudevillains

    The Vaudevillains were obviously the heels tonight. There was a lot of ‘Johnny Wrestling’ chants and the match built to a hot tag. The big finish saw Johnny as the legal man get the pin after double low angle superkicks on Gotch.

    Apollo Crews beat Tye Dillinger 

    Dillinger’s first match back from injury got a great reaction then he did some heel mic work pre match to give Apollo a big entrance. Very good match including NXT chants from the crowd. Big Apollo Slam for the win.

    Eva Marie and Nia Jax beat Billie Kay and Peyton Royce 

    Major heat on Eva. Nia hit a big Samoan Drop and allowed Eva to get the pin. 

    Sami Zayn beat Baron Corbin 

    Great reactions for both in their own ways as Baron soaks in the booos and Sami is beloved. Slow start to the match with Baron winning a test of strength, then hitting some great looking punches with Sami just making the count of ten. Big fired up comeback by Zayn including a dive off the entrance way a blue thunder bomb and after nearly connecting once before, hits the Helluva Kick for the win. 

    GM William Regal welcomes us back from intermission and speaks highly of the roster. An NXT chant leads to him giving us what we want, more NXT action. 

    NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha 

    Excellent match. The heels used the ring and worked the ref to keep Gable isolated until the big hot tag to Jordan. As per usual, Jason Jordan has the best hot tag in wrestling. The straps came down, then went back up, then back down. That’s how wild he ran. Suplexes, dropkicks, backdrops. Alpha had Revival set up for the German yet Dash held Jordan’s feet, then pulled Jordan out of the ring and held Gable’s feet during a sit out pin by Dawson to steal the win. Post match, we had “Yay – Booo” spots when the champs and challengers lifted their arms. 

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Emma 

    Superstar reaction for Bayley. Emma got a lot of punishment in early and the crowd just chanted and sang for Bayley. Good action here with Bayley firing up after refusing to feel the pain of being rammed in to the turn buckle padding. Belly To Bayley for the win. 

    NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Samoa Joe 

    Huge reactions for both men, dueling chants at times. Finn took a lot of punishment from the big man. These two always work great together. Finn hit the running dropkick and the Bloody Sunday ddt for the win. No top rope stomp tonight. Post match, Finn celebrated with the crowd and put up the gun sign.

  • NXT Philly live results: Austin Aries teams with Finn Balor; Sami Zayn battles A-Ry

    Submitted by Richard Kelly

    Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. The Vaudevillains

    Fun little comedy match, not a lot to it. The two teams did the chicken fight spot with Enzo on Cass’ shoulders and English on Gotch’s shoulders, and then Enzo and English had a fake boxing fight in the middle of the match with Gotch and Cass as the corner men. Got a nice “This is boxing” chant, rather than the “This is wrestling” chant. Cass got the hot tag, they won with the Rocket Launcher. 

    Carmella vs. Peyton Royce

    Carmella isn’t very good, Peyton Royce got very little reaction but wrestled very well. Crowd wasn’t too into this, Carmella won with a Bronco Buster and then her flatliner/headscissors combo for the submission win. 

    Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson

    Drifter got booed to high heaven. Before the match started, he made the announcer hold the microphone so he could play his guitar and sing a song; I heard none of it because the crowd was booing and chanting “Shut the f*ck up” very loudly. Crews is great and why he isn’t a top guy on Raw is beyond me. This was an okay slow paced match, Crews won with his backdrop powerbomb. 

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

    Bayley was insanely over. She went out into the crowd twice before the match started to hug people and play with the fans. Fans did all of the Bayley songs that all of the other crowds have done, but I found it lame and annoying. This was a decent match, comparable to their TV match from a month or so ago, Bayley won with a Bayley to Belly out of nowhere. 

    Sami Zayn vs. Alex Riley

    Sami was over like crazy, Riley was booed like crazy. Not much to this match at all. Riley got the heat, Sami made his comeback, won with the Helluva Kick. My section had a great time heckling Alex Riley.

    Asuka vs. Eva Marie

    Eva was also booed to high heaven and tried cutting a promo, but again I couldn’t hear anything over the boos. She is very very bad live. Yikes. She did a few suplexes that looked fine, but everything else she did, moves, strikes, selling, etc, was all bad. And I don’t know who decided to give Eva a 7 minute heat segment in like an 8 minute match, but that was not a good decision. Crowd had fun chanting “Is this wrestling” and “You still got it” to Eva, but I was very bored by this. 

    Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor & Austin Aries

    Joe and Corbin were out first and then Aries’ music hit and the place went crazy. I’ve not seen Aries wrestle much ever, but wow is he good. Him and Joe worked well together, Corbin did a good job with everyone. Corbin almost botched a tilt-a-whirl powerslam spot but saved it. Finn got a hot tag, and they did the spot where Joe has the choke, goes to lay down but Finn rolls out of it and hits a standing double stomp, but then sold the ankle after the move, so good little touch there for him if that was a sell job. Aries got the hot tag after that, cleaned house, and then Balor won after hitting a Bloody Sunday on Corbin for the win. They posed together after the match. This was definitely the best match of the night. 

    Final Thoughts:

    Overall, it was a house show. A little disappointed no American Alpha or Dash and Dawson, and a little upset Sami didn’t wrestle someone better and have a better match, but it was fine. Last year in May in Philly, Bayley was over, but she was just a girl on the roster. Now, she has such an overarching fanbase and is so popular with everyone, including children. And she’s a great wrestler who is really developing a sense with the crowd and how to work with other people. She’s really a superstar. I’d say half the people tonight have so much talent and are capable of being megastars on the main roster. Just remains to be seen what they do with it. 

  • NXT Nashville, Tennessee, results: Finn Balor ankle injury

    Editor’s Note: Finn Balor suffered an ankle injury in doing the double foot stomp finisher against Samoa Joe. There is no update past that he left the arena on crutches.

    Submitted by Lou Pickney

    Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss

    Asuka won by submission with the Asuka Lock. Asuka received a strong ovation, and Bliss plays the heel role really well.  Bliss got most of the offense in what was a slow-paced but fun opener, though at one point Asuka slapped her hard across the face.  Asuka has amazing natural charisma, connecting with the crowd without saying a word.

    Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa vs. Blake/Murphy

    Blake and Murphy won with the combo suplex/top rope frog splash on Gargano. The crowd cheered Gargano and Ciampa wildly and really didn’t like Blake and Murphy, including the poodle braids or whatever it was in Blake’s hair.  Gargano and Ciampa got most of the offense before the finish.  Solid match.

    Nia Jax vs. Billie Kay

    Nia Jax won with a leg drop in a nothing match. Kay is gorgeous and athletic, but with the lumbering, plodding Jax in there, you couldn’t hope for much from this match.  Luckily they at least kept it short.

    Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn

    Zayn pinned Corbin after hitting the Helluva Kick.  The fans popped big-time for Zayn, who carried Corbin to an excellent match.  And, to his credit, Corbin took a couple of bumps over the top rope that were impressive.  After teasing a pair of planchas early, Zayn hit Corbin outside the ring off the stage area (where the entrance was) with a flip dive to the floor.  Corbin had several great near falls on Zayn and played the heel role well.

    Intermission — Eden Stiles plugged the merchandise, not that she needed to as fans were crowded around it wanting to buy to an almost comical level.

    NXT Tag Champions Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson vs. Chad Gable/Jason Jordan

    Gable and Jordan won via DQ when one of the D&D team pulled the ref out of the ring as he was about to make a three count.  Gable is as great as advertised, but I was really impressed by Jordan, who is showing considerable improvement.  This ended up being the longest match of the night, and the crowd loved American Alpha and didn’t need much convincing to boo Dash and Dawson. One of D&D screwed up a move early and landed ass-first on Jordan’s head as he laid prone on the mat.  Luckily he seemed to be okay after it, not looking groggy or whatever, but it was the lone legit scare of
    the night.  I would have noted which one landed on him if I hadn’t immediately been more concerned with Jordan’s well-being. Gable and Jordan doing the Rockers/Rock and Roll Express double dropkick is a great spot, by the way.

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Emma

    It’s Bayley (as they actually called her in the ring introduction) won by pinfall after the Belly to Bayley.  As the match began, the smarks in the section next to mine went from tolerably amusing to annoying, cheering for Emma and yelling things like “Bubbles” loud enough to distract the crowd from the match. One especially really loud guy screamed for Emma to “burst her bubble” and a bemused Bayley looked over in the crowd.  I shook my head and pointed at the guy who shouted it, lest she think it was me being disrespectful. On the upside of crowd stuff, the balcony started singing “Just a Friend” by Biz Markie (a song from 1989), replacing baby with Bayley in the chorus. After the match, Bayley did her best to hug the handful of young kids at ringside.

    NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe

    Balor retained his title, pinning Joe after the Coup de Grace.  Balor was doing the Too Sweet thing like crazy as he approached ringside from the stage, then did the gun hand motion that had seemingly the entire house chanting “Bullet Club” very loudly. The annoying smarks tried to start a TNA chant that was quickly booed down.  Match was fine, solid execution as you would expect. After the match, Finn got on the house mic and mentioned that he had wrestled around the world, including spending “a few weeks” in Japan which was clever.  He said he wasn’t kissing ass, but that he’s proudest of what he has done in NXT. He then did the New Age Outlaws gimmick “If you’re not down with that…” and even did the DX-style crotch chop.

    – Eden then plugged Raw on 2/29 one last time and wished the fans a good evening.

    OVERALL:

    – Before the show, ring announcer Dasha Fuentes played a trivia game with two kids for tickets to the 2/29 Raw show in Nashville. The answers were all NXT wrestlers. Some jerk in the balcony yelled out “Chris Benoit” as an answer and got summarily booed and shouted down by the audience. One of the kids hilariously guessed Bull Dempsey on one of the questions, which popped those in the crowd who knew he had been released today.  Another guessed Ultimate Warrior on a question, which amusingly led Eden to remind them that they were talking about NXT wrestlers. In the end, both kids ended up with tickets.

    – Most of the audience was young males, some families and kids but not many. There were a good amount of women there too.

    – Fun show, definitely got my $65 worth for my seventh row seat.  That actually was my first time at the War Memorial Auditorium ever, and it’s amazing that it isn’t used for non-WWE TV tapings of some sort since it has an ideal capacity for a mid-major promotion, a great setup with the balcony area like the Manhattan Center in some ways, and an overall awesome vibe.