– Tough Enough’s Sara Lee made an appearance. She came out with Solomon Crowe & Hugo Knox to mingle with fans for the pre-show autograph session.
– Hugo Knox (dancing wildly — I guess like a Euro party raver) pinned Angelo Dawkins after a flying crossbody and sunset flip.
– Gionna Daddio & Adrienne Reese defeated Emma & Aliyah when Daddio pinned Aliyah after a good looking top rope moonsault.
– Next up was the double interview debut of top shelf indy wrestlers turned NXT newbies Rich Swann & Biff Busick. Ring announcer Dasha Fuentes welcomed “NXT’s latest signee” Swann, who quickly introduced his “good friend who I’ve travelled around the world with: Christopher Gerard,” not mentioning his apparently dropped ring name of Biff Busick. Gerard announced his quest for NXT championship. Swann interjected that he wants the NXT title, and “we may be friends outside the ring, but inside the ring we are competition,” followed by a nose-to-nose stare down.
– “The Drifter” Elias Sampson pinned Levis Valenzuela. Sampson established himself as the heel before the bell rang by serenading the crowd, guitar in hand, with a tune he titled “Jacksonville Is A Joke”.
– Solomon Crowe pinned Josh Woods after a spinning heel kick and brainbuster.
– The Vaudevillains got the win over Tino Sabbatelli & Steve Cutler when Aiden English pinned Sabbatelli after the whirling dervish.
– Enzo Amore pinned Tucker Knight.
– Billie Kay, managed by Sylvester Lefort this night, got an upset victory over Nia Jax. Kay, who spent the majority of the match on defense, rolled up Jax from behind with a schoolboy. Jax left both Kay & Lefort laying after a pair of Samoan drops.
– Chad Gable & Jason Jordan def. NXT Tag Team Champions Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson by DQ. Wilder pulled the ref out of the ring to break up a Gable pinfall before the count of three. A tremendous match as all four men brought their working shoes. The crowd chanted “save the Gable” as a parody of Xavier Woods’ “save the table” whenever Gable was in trouble. Enzo came out to help clear the ring and to end the show with three most over babyfaces of the night raising each others’ hands in victory.
It’s the Thursday edition of the Bryan & Vinny Show, Contemporary Thursdays, which we celebrate, in part, by celebrating Granny’s EIGHT-SIXTH BIRTHDAY. Also, Raw from Monday night, NXT with Samoa Joe’s heel turn on Finn Balor, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
– Enzo Amore def. Angelo Dawkins with a DDT off the middle rope. Sloppy in parts as Dawkins missed some boots in the corner by a mile.
– Billie Kay (w/ Sylvester LaForte) def. Gionna Daddio. Daddio had Kay pinned with a jumping enziguri but LaForte put Kay’s foot on the rope. Daddio went after Sylvester and got pinned with a roll-up. They played the wrong music at the end. Gionna got stiffed in the nose mid-match, requiring the ref to get the gloves out.
– Riddick Moss def. Josh Woods with a neckbreaker. Woods is an ex UCF wrestler doing an MMA gimmick, wearing the shorts with logos on it.
– Next came a wacky segment. Levis Valenzula Jr. came out to dance and say how happy he was to be here. Emma came out to say that dancing got her nowhere. Valenzuela danced anyway, and developmental guys came out, including Josh, Sara Lee, Mada and Patrick from Tough Enough, and did a conga line around the ring.
– Solomon Crowe def. Tino Sabatelli. Tino is ex-Bucs player Sabi Piscatelli and was pretty good in the ring for a beginner. Good charisma and has a build like Orton from the mid-2000s (similar trunks too).
– Jason Jordan and Chad Gable def. Marcus Louis and Sawyer Fulton. Louis has a new gimmick where he shook hands with Gable and then enjoyed smelling his hand. Yup.
– Bull Dempsey def. Alexander Wolfe
– Nia Jax def. Aliyah. Jax played heel and won when Aliyah jumped off the top rope and got power bombed.
– The Vaudevillains def. NXT Tag Team Champions Dash and Dawson by DQ in a title match. English and Gotch hit their finisher but Dash pulled the ref out of the ring during the count for the DQ. Enzo came back out to save the Vaudevillans from a beat down to end the show.
Bull Dempsey beat Tino Sabatelli with the seated splash off the top
Tino entered as the heel here, giving people dirty looks, and taking a knee and putting his fist to the ground pose in the center of the ring before the match. Even match, Bull took some hard shots before firing up for the win.
Asuka beat Peyton Royce via Asuka-Lock
Peyton entered first with new gear and a better than you attitude about herself tonight, she did a splits on the apron roll in to the ring, asked for the microphone and cut a short heel introduction promo about how she is “The Venus Fly Trap” of NXT. Asuka entered to a great reaction, she has a star aura about her. Well worked match, a couple fun Asuka comedy spots mixed with serious action. Hopefully we see more of these two in the future.
Riddick Moss beat Levis Valenzuela Jr.
These two have been working around the state lately, Levis has so much charisma while Riddick shows a lot of solid WWE Style wrestling ability, he’s under control and everything he does is done well.
Indian music hit as three men in all black made their way to the ring, they were Sunny Dhinsa, Gzim Selmani and Lovepreet Sangha. Heel promo about how they want us to stand up and show our respect, one of which said he came from a rich oil family. They received the WHAT? treatment from the crowd.
Tye Dillinger beat Hugo Knox with the exposed knee facebreaker after Hugo missed his split leg moonsault
This was a fun match, Hugo’s dancing and party boy personality is easy to enjoy, and Tye can work as a heel whenever he chooses yet his Perfect Ten gestures still get a positive reaction. After the bell rang, Dillinger said this would be no dance contest, so of course this made Hugo demand a dance contest. They took turns twerking and dancing before Dillinger took a cheap shot on Hugo to get the match going.
NXT Tag Team Champions Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson beat Jason Jordan and Chad Gable
Champs won with the assisted codebreaker type maneuver they are using these days. Very good match, as Gable & Jordan have broken through as one of the most popular acts in NXT. Scott & Dash are good old fashioned rough and tough workers and the dynamic between them and the technical wrestling of Jordan & Gable is excellent. Post match, the heels were still laying it in on the faces so Enzo Amore ran them off to a big reaction. Enzo promised that Big Cass would be back and they were going to get payback on Dawson & Wilder. Enzo shook Gable & Jordan’s hands, endorsing them before leaving.
Apollo Crews beat Baron Corbin
Crews won with a big slam, similar to the Blue Thunder Bomb, good finisher, still need it to get more tv time so crowds will know that’s what he’s going with these days. Very strong match here, two large men hitting major moves and selling the damage between them. Brawling and felt like a fight.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley, Gionna Daddio, and Adrien Reese beat Emma, Billie Kay, and Aliyah
Good guys won when Bayley hit the Belly-To-Bayley on Aliyah. Despite using the name Marley at the recent taping, Gionna was introduced as this name, also Aliyah is what Nhooph was introduced as even though Breaking Ground focused on her so much. The majority of the match saw Emma or Billie Kay working over Adrien or Gionna, crowd was very in to Bayley, calling for her with chants and singing songs to which Emma even danced a bit to, which received a “You’re Still Evil!” chant. The finish saw Gionna go to the top for a big cross body on Aliyah after Bayley had tagged herself in to then hit the huggplex on the unsuspecting Aliyah. It’s great to see these types of matches because Bayley and Emma are able to keep everything together and teach the wrestlers around them by guidance or watching their actions.
NXT Champion Finn Bálor beat Samoa Joe with the Coup de Grâce
Joe was out first to make sure he was the heel, spoke about how Finn was a coward and should have just given him the title match he deserved. Went on to trash Citrus Springs, calling it a “podunk town”. Joe claimed he hadn’t seen Finn all day but he was here for a fight, the lights went out and Finn’s music hit to a big reaction, lights came back on quickly as Finn in his hoodie had hopped the barricade to sneak attack Joe. They brawled as the bell rang for this match. Joe was able to cut Finn off and really laid in to him with punches and stomps. Joe looked ferocious tonight, a dangerous, calculated heel. Finn would fire back to keep the crowd in to it and always showed fire. They teased the ref bump a few times until finally there was one, during this time Joe grabbed the NXT title and was winding up to hit a belt shot, Finn ducked it, was able to hit the running dropkick to the corner and get up to the top for the Coup de Grâce. Bálor celebrated this big win to send everyone home happy.
The Bryan & Vinny Show returns today with a packed episode! It’s CONTEMPORARY THURSDAY with modern Raw and modern NXT, plus Granny appears to talk Halloween, new songs and drops, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The journey of WWE hopefuls through NXT is profiled in this new WWE Network program. The first episode, while a bit unfocused and sanitized, is a pretty strong debut, showcasing several new faces with dreams of WWE stardom.
Show Recap —
We open with a monologue from Triple H, who lists off the attributes that are necessary to be a WWE superstar. But he notes that without an “it factor,” even the best might not make it. He welcomes viewers to their glimpse inside NXT and the journey of their aspiring superstars. “They’re all just one step away from realizing their dreams. But for some, that one step might as well be a mountain. Some will make it. Some don’t. This is WWE Breaking Ground.” (A tad hokey, but for what they’re going for, this was the perfect opening to frame the series.)
The first NXT superstar we meet is Bayley, as she drives to work. She muses on her journey from being a dreamy 10-year-old wanting to wrestle to being the NXT Women’s Champion. “Sometimes if I’m driving, I’ll look at the person next to me in their car and just wonder, I wonder what they’re doing with their life, if they’re living their dreams?” She arrives at the Performance Center at the same time as Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl, who’s there for his first day and signs his contract. We then transition to a training montage and some WrestleMania clips, and get a glimpse of Adam Pearce shouting encouragement to WWE hopefuls.
From this point, Breaking Ground focuses on five individuals: former NFLer Tino “Sabby” Sabbatelli, former NFLer Baron Corbin, 19-year-old female wrestler Nhooph, NXT interviewer Devin Taylor and former independent star Apollo Crews. It doesn’t spent a ton of time on any one of them, particularly given that it’s a 30-minute show, but they do their best to paint a picture of each.
Sabbatelli, real name Sabatino Piscitelli, played college football at Oregon State and spent time with Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Kansas City before turning to pro wrestling following the end of his football career. He signed with NXT in 2014, and is adjusting to being a rookie and having to prove himself after being an established NFLer. He opens the show sidelined after a concussion in his second NXT match.
Corbin, like Sabbatelli, is a former NFLer who spent time with Indianapolis and Arizona. He’s been in NXT for three years and based on his experience and his resume, he thinks he should be on the main roster already. Jason Albert, interviewed extensively about Corbin, notes the challenge is keeping Corbin focused and motivated.
Nhooph began training for wrestling at 16 years of age, and recalls having to lie to her parents about going to her job when heading to her first training sessions. We’re told she’s not improving, and get a wonderful montage of her taking awful-looking hip-tosses. She’s been in NXT for awhile, but the coaches don’t think she’s good enough yet to get a match on a live event yet. Finally, she takes a hip-toss properly and the coaches praise her.
Devin Taylor is NXT’s ring announcer, who is trying to transition from holding a microphone to actually wrestling. However, we’re told she’s had a few injuries that have slowed down her progress, and she’s been leap-frogged by several other females in the mean-time. We get another hiptoss montage as she trains with Nia Jax. (And they’re awful.)
Apollo Crews is the former Uhaa Nation, though that name isn’t mentioned on this show. He tells a story about his father, who grew up poor in Nigeria and emphasized the importance of needing an education to be successful – the story’s interspersed with clips of Crews on the indies. He shares a story about his dad saying the only way to be successful was by getting an education, and then getting a nice message from his dad after his NXT debut saying how proud he was.
William Regal leads promo class at the Performance Center, emphasizing the importance of connecting with the camera. We get a montage of NXT kids doing quick promos, and Mojo Rawley does a strong promo and is praised by Regal. The majority of the promos we’re shown aren’t very good.
Sabbatelli goes through the WWE’s concussion protocol this episode, which we’re given quite a bit of detail about – basically it’s three weeks of no work, followed by them being eased back into ring-work and getting repeatedly monitored for recurring symptoms. He does a mock match at the end of the episode as part of the evaluation.
Norman Smiley rides with Corbin and his girlfriend to the Gainsville, FL show and we get this exchange: “We do you think you’ll be out of here, NXT?” “The reality is, I don’t know. You’re the coach, you tell me.” Then it’s quiet in the car. Corbin discusses how he’s not well-liked. Mojo jokingly praises Corbin as he eats food. He replies: “Go do some more workouts while I enjoy this. It sure as hell isn’t his wrestling that’s getting him over.”
We see some clips from the Gainsville show. Nhooph doesn’t get a match and is bummed out. Bayley has a tag match and is praised by Shatner’s voice-over for her efforts regardless of the size of the crowd – and how that’s a good example for the rest of the performers on each show. Corbin is in the main event, teaming with Tyler Breeze in a losing effort against Finn Balor and Samoa Joe.
The nextday, Nhooph arrives at the Performance Center. Sara Amato chats with her about card adjustments and apologizes for her match getting bumped from a prior show. Amato and Albert chat about Devin, and about whether she has a future after two major injuries in less than a year. Sabbatelli goes through the concussion protocol in the ring. If he fails it, he could be done. Canyon Ceman appears. He’s the recruiter, and notes that the hardest part of the job is when they have to let talent go, leading into a meeting with a talent in which somebody will probably get cut. The cliffhanger is which NXT talent gets the axe: Devin? Nhooph? Sabbatelli? (I believe Devin got released recently in real-life, but I suppose that all three performers could be released next episode.)
Final Thoughts
This was a really strong premiere episode. It provides a really fascinating glimpse into the backstage goings-on and challenges facing aspiring WWE performers. That said, it could’ve been stronger had it spend more time with fewer performers. They never really follow up with Apollo Crews or Bayley, and spending that time with the lesser-known performers might’ve established better connections given how the episode ended.
We’ve had confirmation minutes ago that those in NXT have said Samoa Joe is scheduled to wrestle on one of the two shows in Sacramento today, which would eliminate him from speculation as far as being John Cena’s opponent in the U.S. title match.
As noted on the audio last night, there was a rumor in Los Angeles regarding Joe in that spot, but that made no sense to me because I didn’t think they’d have him work an NXT show yesterday if that was the case. Last night we were told by someone close to the situation that Joe was never scheduled for the spot.
We have a correspondent in Sacramento who said that he hasn’t seen Joe personally, but was told he is scheduled to wrestle and was still in Sacramento.
Tyler Breeze, another name speculated about online in recent days, is also currently in Sacramento at an autograph signing.
The Bryan & Vinny Show returns tonight with tons to talk about! We’ve got NXT as usual, Granny returns with the KARAOKE CONTEST, and yes, it is THE RETURN OF THE MODERN-DAY RAW REPORT, plus an explanation of what we’ll probably be doing in the future. A fun show as always so check it out~!
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Hugo Knox defeated Riddick Moss with a sunset flip of sorts. Crowd was quite into Hugo, his dancing is entertaining and his energy shines through. Moss’s work is good. He just needs direction or a character to work with. Knox, on the other hand, has an infectious energy with his dancing.
November 4th –
Asuka defeats Cameron via submission with the Asuka Lock
The crowd was behind Asuka completely including “Asuka’s Gonna Kill You” & “Asuka City” chants, there also isn’t much backlash towards Cameron, she’s just a heel working Asuka so it’s no big deal that she’s here. Asuka did her best to showcase submissions. Post match Asuka mocks Cameron by doing the Funkadactyl drop down while looking at the camera smiling. Crowd laughed big for this.
Bull Dempsey defeats Angelo Dawkins w/ Sawyer Fulton with his top rope seated maneuver
Bull does his usual routine and mocks Dawkins with his “Bull” front “Fit” back to his singlet, turning back and forth. Just a showcase for Bull here.
Eva Marie defeats Marley (aka Gionna Daddio) via pinfall
Immense heat on Eva, she is despised and thus lead to a good reaction for the debuting Marley, a house show favorite who people actually like. Post match people are booing Eva away and even chanting “That Was Stupid” at her win.
NXT Champion Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews ends in a DQ when Baron Corbin attacks Apollo after an outstanding match.
We get Crews’ entrance including the fog machines in front of his tron, we were very in to Apollo, singing and chanting for him. Then a huge reaction for Balor, the two stand face to face under a spotlight in the center of the ring as Finn is still wearing the title around his waist. In ring introductions to huge cheers, major big fight feel. The crowd was so conflicted as we would never booo either of these men, so it was cheering for one or the other or just clapping/stomping and moments of uncertainty. Excellent work here.
Apollo even got Finn up in the gorilla press, Finn got the knees up to counter the standing moonsault, there was also a big dive to the outside by Finn on to Apollo, late in the match Balor even hit a variation of the Bloody Sunday, the match was so deep in that people were feeling a title change before Baron Corbin ended it. The crowd was furious at Baron here, as he pummeled Crews first and Balor next before Samoa Joe makes the save, Joe stands over Finn and even helps him up before turning on him. Punches in the corner before a muscle buster in the center of the ring. Referees assist Balor to the back after some time. Looking forward to how this translates to tv, I’d say Balor v Crews was the best NXT match for both these men thus far, would love to see more of this someday.
November 11th:
Adrien Reese (aka Athena) defeats Peyton Royce after an incredible finisher, a leaping off the top rope stunner
Fans were in to Adrien from the start but increasingly reacted louder to her work, some smooth transitions, roll throughs, and that finisher got a giant “Whoah!” reaction and cheer for the finish. Great debut here.
Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin never happens as Apollo Crews rushes the ring and lays in to Baron to a brawl
The people were going wild, an intense brawl where Apollo’s shirt even got ripped open during the fight. Baron is the most hated man in NXT, it also feels like Crews was elevated even with the non finish. He’s a star. Dillinger had new music, a good face reaction even before people knew he was facing Corbin, sadly we didn’t get to see any more of him at this set.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & The Hype Bros defeated Alexa Bliss, Wesley Blake, and Buddy Murphy when the Hype Bros hit the super rough ryder from the top
Amazing atmosphere for Bayley here, crowd was singing her theme song, singing chants for her “Heyyy We Want Some Bayley” a play on the New Day’s recent chant for themselves. This was all about Bayley yet Mojo and Zack were able to go with it, Mojo doing his “Hammer Time” wacky dancing, telling Blake & Murphy that they get “Zero Chicks” and building up to Bayley finally getting her hands on Alexa. Near the finish, Alexa slips away to steal the NXT Women’s title and run off with it, Bayley tries to go through the ring but Blake stands in front of her only to be hit with a Belly To Bayley which received a gigantic reaction, Bayley made her way after Bliss as the Hype Bros finished off Blake & Murphy for the win.
Nia Jax squashed Deonna Purrazzo
Bear hugs, tree slam, leg drop. We’ll be seeing similar matches for a while.
Dash & Dawson win the NXT Tag Team Championships from The Vaudevillains
This was completely unexpected, crowd was in to the Vauds early on and through the match yet seemed happy with the finish knowing how hard Dash & Dawson work. “You Deserve It” chants and you could see genuine emotion on Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, these men are proud to be wrestlers and now champions.
– November 19th:
Samoa Joe makes his way to the ring for a promo, he’s met with booing and “Why? Joe, Why?” chants. He goes on to say he carried Finn to the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic win, that he deserved a title shot from the day he walked in to NXT, that William Regal putting him in the battle royal was an insult. This leads to an angry Finn Balor on his way to the ring, referees and security try to cut him off and are in the ring between the two before Joe gets a cheap shot and is able to lock in the clutch, choking Finn out in the center of a dog pile of referees and security. Finn is again helped to the back after this segment.
Nia Jax defeated Carmella
Nia womanhandled Carmella here, winning easily with her slam and big leg drop. No sign of Enzo & Cass at these tapings.
Chad Gable & Jason Jordan defeated The Ascension with the assisted German suplex
The Ascension were out first to a gigantic ovation, these men are loved here. Then an equal and shocked reaction when Gable & Jordan’s music hit since we knew this would be good, these two are made men. The crowd continued singing “Gable – Jordan” to the tune of Kurt Angle’s old theme music, then The Ascension received “Yah” chants which lead to “Gable – Yah! – Jordan – Yah!” amongst other chants for both teams. Good match, crowd was super in to it. Post match The Ascension make their way back in the ring for a staredown followed by embracing and raising the winners’ hands. The Full Sail crowd appreciated this sportsmanship and endorsement.
Emma defeated Mary Kate aka Andrea via Emma Lock
Another fun case of when a veteran is not facing someone adored by the crowd, they’ll be cheered even as a heel. “Evil Emma” chants, quick showcase match for Emma. No sign of Dana Brooke on this set either.
NXT Tag Team Champions Dash & Dawson defeated Corey Hollis and John Skyler
Quick showcase match for the champs here, clean in the middle with their assisted codebreaker type finish.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss via pinfall with the Belly To Bayley
Alexa worked a lot of holds trying to slow the pace and keep Bayley under control. Crowd wasn’t expecting a title change here and there weren’t any intense near falls to worry about. Plenty of cheers and chants for Bayley along with taunts towards Alexa Bliss. Finish was mostly out of nowhere in the center of the ring. After Bayley celebrated for a moment Eva Marie’s music hit and she made her way to the ring to a chorus of booos. Now she has been boood before in NXT for her matches and it was pretty bad for her on stage interview.
This was the loudest negative reaction I have ever heard. She was boooed down and it was deafening. Bayley would lean in and try to hear what Eva was saying, then look back at us and her hand to her ear. This was unbelievable. After being booed out of the building, Eva left and Bayley was able to take the mic and say she accepts. I believe that title match will happen the first episode of the November 19th taping. Bayley’s music hit and everyone was sent home happy.
Welcome to my 5 year anniversary doing NXT reviews for WrestlingObserver.com! The very first match I reviewed was Kaitlyn vs Maxine, which won the 2010 Worst Worked Match Of The Year Award and somehow I came back for more!
-The show opened with a video package for the battle royal from last week. They actually aired almost every elimination, including about 20 seconds on the last two, before showing Apollo Crews standing victorious as your new #1 contender.
Asuka submitted Billie Kay
Asuka kicks things off this week. I haven’t had the chance to write this yet, but she has awesome theme music. Her foe this week is Billie Kay, whose claim to fame is she has the longest legs in NXT. I do like how they are long enough to touch the ground.
Billie grounded Asuka and Asuka stood up and smiled at her before slapping on a rolling arm bar, hitting a German Suplex and then a running knee to the head. Asuka finished things off with the Crossface Chicken Wing with a body scissiors, called the Asuka Lock.
-Last week Baron Corbin and Rhyno’s alliance sadly fell apart during the battle royal, so tonight they will go one on one in the main event.
-A Baron Corbin video aired. It’s actually the same one they aired months ago.
-Tyler Breeze cut a selfie promo on Samoa Joe. Breeze took offense to being eliminated last week and said that if he isn’t #1 Contender then Joe will never be. Breeze did challenge him to a match by threatening to slice off a couple pieces of bacon.
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady defeated Dash & Dawson
Dash and Dawson do not get an automatic title shot after defeated The Vaudevillians during the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Instead they have to defeat a certifide G and a bona fide stud and his 7 foot tall friend.
The heels got the heat on Enzo the entire 2 minute match, working on his knee. Dawson knocked Colin off the apron, turned around and got small packaged by Enzo for the win.
After the match Dash & Dawson immediately took down Enzo, beat him down and then beat down Colin. They actually hit their double team Flapjack/Codebreaker on Colin.
-A Rhyno video aired. It included footage of him in the early-2000’s as ECW Champion, Hardcore Champion and US Champion and brought it full circle to him Goring the world while Paul Heyman’s 2001 commentary screaming “GORE GORE GORE” aired.
Quick joke. What candidate did Rhyno vote for in 2000? Al GORE! GORE! GORE! Okay I’ll stop now.
-Eva Marie is still on vacation. She hopes we all miss her and never forget about her.
James Storm pinned Danny Burch
Turns out Danny Burch is with a u. For some reason I have always been spelling it Birch. The former TNA World Heavyweight Champion is making his debut. They acknowledged he was in WCW for a cup of coffee, but said he spent the last 15 years on the Independent scene. The fans gave him quite the ovation and the announcers put him over big. The fans chanted “You belong here”.
Storm looked good here, winning the match with the 8 Second Ride. Let it be known his debut was better than Chris Harris’ WWE debut. He did scream “Sorry about your damn luck” at Burch afterwards.
-Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews for the NXT Championship in 2 weeks, which led to an Apollo video package. This was a really good video package, including talking about him being an Ultimate Warrior fan and begging his Mom to buy him a toy belt. They also included footage of him in Evolve.
-A Nia Jax video aired. It will not be 8 weeks until her next match, it will only be one.
Alexa Bliss pinned Peyton Royce
I haven’t heard such a quiet crowd in NXT history as I did for Peyton Royce’s entrance. Despite their apathy there were about 10 people trying to start a Peyton Royce chant.
Alexa Bliss is so short (how short is she?). Alexa Bliss is so short that she stood on Peyton at one point and was barely a hair taller than the referee. Peyton kicked Alexa a lot, but it just led to Alexa doing more offense. Bliss did a standing Moonsault, but ended it with double knees to the gut. She did win with the Sparkle Splash.
After the match Alexa cut a promo on Bayley, saying that Alexa is what everyone strives to be and she was made to be NXT Women’s Champion.
-Next week: Samoa Joe vs Tyler Breeze
Baron Corbin pinned Rhyno
Main event time. These two sports entertained at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable in May, which was Corbin’s best (and longest) match until the Joe match in August.
Rhyno beat on Baron until Corbin rolled outside the ring. Rhyno ran after him, but Corbin shoved him and eventually threw him into the ring steps to take over. Rhyno almost didn’t get back in the ring before the 10 count. Back in the ring Corbin hit every move that never beats anyone and then got frustrated when Rhyno didn’t lose to them.
Corey Graves made a comment about how Mike Tyson came out of nowhere to win the Heavyweight Boxing Championship, which is complete bs. Tyson made quite the name for himself and was pretty well known before he went for the title.
Rhyno made his comeback, hitting his belly to belly suplex and the Double A Spinebuster for a near fall. He went for the Gore, got kicked in the face, hit it a second time and somehow Corbin kicked out at 2. Rhyno went for another Gore, but Corbin turned it into End of Days for the win.
-The show ended with Samoa Joe cutting a promo on Tyler Breeze backstage. Joe called him a desperate man and in his desperation he cost Joe his rightful title shot. He said Tyler had the audacity to call him out and Joe asked him to take the very best picture he could because after next week he will never look the same again.
A great promo to end the show and we are done for the week. Thanks for checking things out, see you next week and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
