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Tag: Sami Zayn

  • WWE Smackdown results: Sami Zayn & Neville vs. Kevin Owens & Miz

    – Air Date: March 10, 2016 (Mar 9 in Canada)
    – Location: Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI

    – The Big News:

    Sami Zayn made his Smackdown debut and Chris Jericho explained why he turned on AJ Styles.

    – Show Recap:

    They announced The Wyatts vs. Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and The Usos as the main event.

    The Miz came out for MizTV and introduced Sami Zayn. He asked Zayn to tell us about himself, but as Zayn started, Miz yelled “cut!” repeatedly and asked him to get to the good stuff and make it more dramatic.

    Zayn was annoyed, but continued, saying he and Kevin Owens started 13 years ago in Montreal. They traveled the world and made it this far by sticking together. They weren’t just friends, it was like a brotherhood, and Zayn was even the best man at Owens’ wedding.

    Zayn said Owens debuted the night he won the NXT Title, and the powerbomb on the apron caused a lot of the injuries that led to his shoulder surgery. Zayn said the thing that hurts most is that he doesn’t understand why Owens did it.

    Owens came out (but never got in the ring) and said he’s already explained why he turned on Zayn – it was all business, but Zayn made it personal when he eliminated Owens from the Rumble. Zayn said he was going to take the Intercontinental Title from Owens at WrestleMania.

    Owens told him that wasn’t happening because this is the Kevin Owens show. Zayn challenged him to a fight right now since they were both there. Owens said Zayn didn’t deserve a fight with him and was about leave, but Neville interrupted. Neville said he and Owens had unfinished business, and the IC Title would look good around his waist.

    Miz said Zayn and Neville don’t deserve a title shot, but he does, because he main evented WrestleMania while those two were main eventing bingo halls. Zayn informed Miz that his years main eventing Mania are far behind him. Miz attacked him from behind, but Zayn fought back and Miz bailed. Good segment. Owens and Zayn were both great.

    Sami Zayn & Neville beat The Miz & Kevin Owens via pinfall

    Zayn and Owens never touched. There was a bit early where Neville tagged in Zayn with Owens in the ring, but Owens quickly scrambled to tag out. The heels got the heat on Neville, but Zayn made the hot tag and hit Miz with a springboard crossbody, ten punches in the corner and tornado DDT. Zayn waited for Miz to tag Owens but Owens bailed. Zayn hit Miz with an Exploder suplex into the turnbuckle and a Helluva Kick for the win. Good match.

    Toilet humour segment with Goldust and R-Truth. Goldust still doesn’t want to be his partner. Afterwards, they aired a video package for the Triple H-Dean Ambrose stuff.

    Brie Bella beat Summer Rae via submission

    Lana joined commentary by sitting on top of the announcer’s table, not in a chair. Saxton wanted to know why she attacked Brie on Raw and Lana told him to shut up. Brie did Yes kicks and won quickly with the Yes Lock and did the Yes chant afterwards. Summer tried to attack her, so Brie knocked her down, yelled “Brie mode!” and hit a running knee. Lana jumped in from behind and gave Brie an X-factor again, and did mocking Yes chants.

    They aired the Shane McMahon highlight package from Raw.

    Chris Jericho came out wearing dark maroon pants, a black blazer with no shirt, and a black scarf. He carried out a “Y2AJ” t-shirt, and the ring had a garbage can and lighter fluid in it already. Hmm I wonder what he’s planning. The crowd booed Jericho and he explained that he was mad at the fans for chanting for AJ Styles instead of him.

    Jericho said they’ve forgotten that he’s the best in the world. He said he can do whatever they want – be the world champion, work the opener, invent a new idea like Money in the Bank. He said they had a classic tag match on Raw but people still chanted for AJ. He’s been told many times that a new guy was coming in and would be a future world champion, only to disappear three months later.

    Jericho repeatedly admonished the crowd for chanting “AJ Styles.” He began pouring lighter fluid into the trashcan and said we were about to watch AJ’s career go up in flames. Jericho lit the shirt on the fire and tossed it in the can, which went up in flames. This resulted in a great visual, with Jericho standing the rising flames as he did mocking “AJ Styles” chants.

    This was really good. The only problem – every time Jericho got mad at the crowd for chanting “AJ Styles,” they weren’t really doing that. And a few people chanted “Y2J,” which kind of ruined the effect. Still, a good segment.

    They showed members of the Milwaukee Bucks at ringside and announced Big Bossman for the Hall of Fame.

    King Barrett & Sheamus (w/Rusev) beat Lucha Dragons via pinfall

    Barrett & Sheamus vs. New Day for the tag titles was announced for Roadblock in Toronto. Ryback was shown backstage watching the match. Kalisto took out Sheamus with a dive and Sin Cara had Barrett set up for a senton, but Rusev tossed him off the top and Barrett followed with a Bullhammer elbow for the pinfall win. Barrett did a forward roll in celebration. Backstage, Ryback called Lucha Dragons little guys and said size matters or whatever.

    They aired a clip of Seth Rollins winning the title at WrestleMania last year. After a break, they plugged The Rock for this year’s Mania and aired a video package for Shane and Vince. Shane’s brawl with security featured at least a dozen camera cuts.

    Backstage, Renee Young asked the Usos about the Dudley Boyz. They talked being 10 years old and watching the Dudleys in 1996, and that their recent actions were nothing new. They wanted to be like the Dudleys when they were growing up, but they no longer respect them. Ziggler and Ambrose jumped in and Renee asked if Ziggler was expecting and repercussions from The Authority.

    Ziggler said there would be, but he’s going to bring the fight tonight and referred to their team as “Milwaukee’s best.” Ambrose said he would beat Triple H for the title on Saturday, but tonight they were hunting dem Wyatt boys, one of his favourite things to do, and they all ran off together. This was good.

    8-Man Tag Match: Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler & The Usos beat Wyatt Family via pinfall

    Saxton said the Wyatt family were like clones of Bray, because “They exude the evil that’s flowing through the veins of the eater of worlds,” to which Lawler responded, “They do his bidding alright.”

    They had the heat on Ziggler until he hit Harper with a sunset flip powerbomb and jumping DDT. He made the hot tag to Jey Uso who hit Harper with a Samoan drop. Each Uso did running hip attacks to Harper and Rowan, and followed with dives. Jey tried a splash but Harper got his knees up.

    Jey made a hot tag to Ambrose who hit Rowan with a running forearm, bulldog and swinging neckbreaker. He did a flying elbow but Harper broke up the cover, so Jimmy took him out with a kick. Bray gave Jimmy a uranage and Ziggler superkicked Bray. Ziggler gave two superkicks to Strowman, but Strowman no-sold it and clotheslined him.

    Ambrose tossed Strowman out of the ring, and Rowan tried a school boy near fall. Ambrose ducked a spin knick and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Bray stared a hole through Ambrose as the good guys celebrated to end the show.

    – Final Thoughts:

    This was a strong show, and a big improvement over the last two weeks. Zayn, Owens and Jericho were all great, and Ambrose came off like a star in the main event.

  • 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 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 Tampa, FL, live results: Sami Zayn vs. Manny Andrade for the first time

    Photo: @JJWilliamsWON

    From the University Area CDC Gymnasium in Tampa, FL

    The Hype Bros beat Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa with the Hype Ryder

    A lot of silly dancing by Mojo and the crowd was in fact hype.

    Tino Sabatelli beat Alexander Wolfe

    This was was a much longer match than the two of them are used to. 

    Peyton Royce beat Aliyah

    Royce won via submission with her new hold. She has been working singles matches lately and has done a good job. 

    Alex Riley beat Patrick Clark

    This was a good match where Patrick even countered Riley’s finish in to what looked like an RKO. The place bit on the near fall and was really pulling for Patrick before Riley got the win.

    Enzo, Cass, and Carmella beat Blake, Murphy, and Alexa Bliss

    It was billed as an intergender match, but that’s just NXT speak for a mixed tag match. Crowd was in to this, getting fired up for every tag and when Enzo hit the big splash for the win.

    Sami Zayn beat Manny Andrade

    Zayn won with the Helluva Kick in an excellent match. One of the best 1-1 live event matches I’ve ever seen. They did mat work early, both teased dives to each other to the outside, Sami with his flip back in to the ring, Manny with his Tranquilo Lounge on the middle rope. A huge Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall followed by some strong chops took us to the finish where Sami hit the Exploder in to the corner and ran in for the kick to win it. Post match Sami raised Manny’s hand and the two embraced.

    – Dallas Harper did a promo about being 6’9″ and “Ohhhh so fine”. He was heckled by the crowd with a “Where’s Your Shirt” chant.

    Nia Jax beat Adrien Reese

    This was a short, painful match. Nia destroyed her. 

    America Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) beat NXT Tag Champions Dash and Dawson in a non title match

    This was a very good match that got a lot of time. The action was well paced and the heels kept just enough heat on the faces to keep everyone rooting for them to wage their comeback. Gable scored the pin on Dash with the assisted suplex for the win. 

  • WWE NXT Jacksonville, FL, live results: Riddick Moss injured during main event

    – Hype Bros beat Blake & Murphy. During the Hype Bros celebration, Mojo Rawley picked up an adorable child and flew him like an air plane.

    – Elias Samson beat Patrick Clark. Samson taunted the crowd with a song before the match.

    – Liv Morgan beat Adrien Reese with a moonsault splash similar to Alexa Bliss’ finish but facing away on the top turnbuckle.

    – Levis Valenzuela beat Steve Cutler. A lot of comedy and the fiesta rolls on.

    – Jason Jordan & Chad Gable beat The Vaudevillains. Match of the night in the ring, these two teams work well together so that’s no suprise.

    – Apollo Crews beat Tino Sabbatelli. These two have been having good matches lately.

    – Interview segment w/ Mandy Rose. She was heckled, and “What?”‘d down while promoting Total Divas.

    – Asuka beat Alexa Bliss via submission with the Asuka Lock.

    – Sami Zayn, Enzo Amore, & Big Cass vs. Riddick Moss, and NXT Tag Team Champions Dash, & Dawson went to a no contest when Moss was apparently injured during a triple suplex spot.

    The referee put up an X and the medical team assisted Moss. Sami let the people know Riddick said he’d be okay, and the good guys hit finishers on the tag champions to send everyone home happy. 

  • 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.

  • Kevin Owens rekindles Sami Zayn rivalry at NXT Milwaukee house show

    Image courtesy of Count Counterpoint

    Submitted by Andrew Vrchota

    Packed house at the Turner Hall Ballroom. Crowd was hot for the entire show.

    NXT Tag Champions The Mechanics (Dash & Dawson) def. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady

    Show opened with Dash and Dawson vs Enzo and Big Cass for the tag team championships. Enzo said that tonight they would get redemption for what happened in the UK. Lots of Enzo flying around spots. Dash and Dawson ended up getting the win on a roll up after the ref was getting Cassady out of the ring when he didn’t see him tag in.

    Carmella def. Alexa Bliss

    Carmella got on the mic and said for tonight only she was going to be the princess of Milwaukee. Good chain wrestling from these two. Carmella gets Bliss to tap out with a choke via her leg around Alexa’s neck.

    Elias Samson def. Bull Dempsey

    Bull comes out with a youth cheesehead on, which gets a great reaction. Then, the lights went out. A spot light shined on the bar to the left of the ring and Samson’s music hit to which he got up from the bar and went to the ring. Pretty neat concept for an entrance, just not sure how this character sets him apart from the rest. The match takes a while to get underway after Samson is not thrilled with Dempsey’s squats. Dempsey also removed the cheesehead, but the crowd urged him to wear it while he wrestled. Samson won with a swinging neck breaker (I believe). This was a total comedy match. After the match, Samson spit on the cheesehead and ripped it into pieces. Dempsey got ahold of Samson’s guitar, took the money from it, and threw the bills into the crowd.

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. NIa Jax

    Jax was in control for much of the match. Bayley eventually made her comeback and actually hit the Bayley to belly finisher on Jax.

    INTERMISSION

    Sami Zayn def. Tommaso Ciampa

    Crowd was split 50/50 for this as Ciampa calls Milwaukee home. This was easily match of the night. Get, stuff match. Ciampa was chopping and slapping Zayn so hard that blood blisters were seen on Zayn’s chest and neck. Zayn hit his usual dive to the outside. Ciampa hit Zayn with a power bomb back breaker for a 2 count that had everyone fooled as the actual finish. Crowd really got into this match. Zayn won with the helluva kick.

    After the match, Zayn and Ciampa shook hands out of respect in the ring. Zayn got in the mic and talked about ECW running shows in Turner Hall 15 years ago and that what NXT is doing today is exactly what ECW was doing 15 years ago. Zayn mentioned that someone told him that Turner Hall was their favorite venue to work at, and after wrestling in it tonight, he agrees….Kevin Owens!

    Owens comes out and says that person was him that told him that and that Turner Hall was supposed to be the last venue he worked as an independent wrestler before he went to WWE but do to circumstances beyond his control, he never got to wrestle at Turner Hall. Owens said that Sami is probably getting a little upset at Owens, but said he knew Sami wasn’t going to do anything about it because Owens is too important. Owens said that while he’s been main eventing Raw, Smackdown, live events etc, Zayn has been sitting in his couch nursing his injuries. This lead to Zayn kicking Owens in the face. Owens retreats and Zayn says that he can have his Raw and Smackdown, because NXT belongs to Sami Zayn.

    Eva Marie def. Peyton Royce

    Yep, they followed up the match of the night and biggest surprise of the night with EVA MARIE. Nothing really to write home about. Royce has some great leg kicks. Eva wins with a spinning neck breaker.

    NXT Champion Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews vs Baron Corbin

    Corbin stayed out of the ring to start but while Finn and Crews were tied up, Corbin would trip one of the two. Finn and Crews teamed up to take out Corbin and his shenanigans. Finn and Crews had a great series of moves, counters, holds, etc. Corbin eventually got some offense on both Finn and Crews. Couple cool, fast paced spots involving all 3 competitors. At one point, Corbin had Crews in a head lock, which allowed Finn to drop kick Corbin and Corbin’s momentum caused Crews to be DDTed. Finish saw Crews hit the standing moonsault on Corbin, Finn broke up the pinball with a Cope de Grace and was able to pin Corbin. After the match, Crews and Finn posed for the crowd. They shook hands, hugged, and threw up the “2 Sweet” sign.