By John Moore
NXT TV on WWE Network
Taped September 14, 2017 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
NXT started off with a William Regal announcement. Regal announced that there will be a four-way match at the next Takeover to crown the new NXT Women’s Champion. Regal announced that the slots will be filled with qualifying matches in the next few weeks. Kairi Sane automatically earned a spot in the match for winning the Mae Young Classic…
Mauro Ranallo introduced the viewers to NXT. Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson were also on commentary. The members of the Sanity stable entered the ring from all parts of the arena. Eric Young asked Adam Cole and his crew if they wanted to come into NXT and make a mark, but Sanity was the original team that made a mark in NXT. Young said in this universe time and space doesn’t exist or matter. Young said only chaos matters.
Young said the only thing that comes next is change. Young said he was going to take Adam Cole to the edge of sanity. Mauro Ranallo then hyped up the Adam Cole vs. Eric Young match for later on in this show. The commentators checked in on commentary at this point. Mauro also hyped Fabian Aichner vs. Kassius Ohno…
1. Lars Sullivan vs. Oney Lorcan. Oney Lorcan was interviewed before the match. Mauro called Sullivan “NXT’s rock golem”. Lorcan started off with a headlock but the shoulder block of Sullivan took down Lorcan easily. Lorcan managed to shake up Sullivan a bit with a dropkick but Lars shook it off and tossed Lorcan outside. Lorcan caught Sullivan on the apron with a forearm and uppercut. Lorcan executed a high risk top rope tope but Sullivan caught Lorcan and slammed him on the apron.
Sullivan gave Lorcan a corner splash. Lorcan came back with a European Uppercut which left Sullivan unfazed. Lorcan ended up hitting Sullivan with his stiff palmstrikes to the face. Sullivan nosold the many strikes and ran through Lorcan with a strong lariat. Sullivan dispatched Lorcan with a side spinebuster.
Lars Sullivan defeated Oney Lorcan via pinfall in 2:54.
The focus of the replays was no matter how strong Lorcan looked, Sullivan wasn’t taken off his feet. Lars Sullivan was about to leave but decided to attack Lorcan further. Danny Burch ran out for the save and pulled Lorcan to safety…
John’s Thoughts: We’ve seen the giant psychotic brute many times in pro wrestling, but the Lars Sullivan build has been fun so far. Oney Lorcan doesn’t win a lot but he’s truly teflon. He just has great/stiff matches and you just forget that he doesn’t win much. A good part of Sullivan’s build is how he’s not taken off his feet. WWE should make this a rare occurrence where the monster is easily taken down.
Kayla Braxton interviewed Ruby Riot about the Iconic Duo. Ruby Riot talked about how Nikki Cross isn’t her friend and her assistance was confusing. Riot said Cross has always tried to punch her in the face. Riot said if Billie and Payton want a fight, Riot is bringing a fight. Riot said if Nikki Cross shows up again, she has nothing to do with it, but Cross better not get in Riot’s way… [C]
2. Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic vs. Demetrius Bronson and Patrick Scott. Scott started off the match. Mauro said Scott has four years wrestling experience and was trained by Steve Corino. Tucker Knight used a wristlock takedown early on and turned it into a lift. Scott tried to slap Knight to no effect. This made him put on a sad face. Bronson tagged in. Mauro pointed out that Bronson is a former NFL running back.
Otis tagged in and HM did some of their fun high energy offense. Bronson tried to lock in a headlock on Dizovic but Dozovic slammed Bronson into the corner. Bronson hit a few dropkicks on Otis. Otis caught Bronson and gave him a belly-to-belly. Otis then isolated Scott. Scott and Knight did some funny ground kicking and gave an elbow drop to Scott. Knight gorilla pressed Scott into Otis. Heavy Machinery hit The Compactor on both opponents.
Heavy Machinery defeated Demetrius Bronson and Patrick Scott in 3:12.
Mauro Ranallo cut to a William Regal press conference footage outside of the performance center. Regal called over Johnny Gargano and granted him a match against Andrade Almas… [C]
John’s Thoughts: I quickly wikipedia’d Bronson and it said he’s a former Seahawks practice squad running back a few years ago (who probably lost the job to Marshawn Lynch and Thomas Rawls). As for HM, they are very fun to watch and I hope we get some sort of program from them soon.
Mauro plugged Connor’s Cure merchandise where all proceeds go to the Connor’s Cure fight for pediatric cancer. Christy St. Cloud then interviewed Roderick Strong about his match against Drew McIntyre set for next week. Strong said he prepares for every match the same way, like it’s his last. He talked about fighting for his family. He said he sees fear in Drew’s eyes. Roderick said he keeps moving forward. Strong said he’s fought all his life for this. Strong said this time he will be indestructible in his latest NXT Championship attempt. Strong said that this is business, but this business is personal and the best business is personal. Strong said he was coming at Drew with everything he has and he won’t stop until he hears the words “and new NXT Champion, Roderick Strong”…
Liv Morgan made her entrance and got a Picture-in-picture promo. She talked about becoming the next NXT women’s champion. Vanessa Borne also got the same promo treatment…
3. Liv Morgan vs. Vanessa Borne. Morgan and Borne traded reversals. Borne spanked Morgan. Morgan did a matrix dodge and then hit a leaping leg drop on Vanessa. Vanessa came back with some clubbing blows to the back of Liv. Borne dominated for a sequence. Morgan fought out of the corner with a boot and rollup attempt. Borne came right back with a lariat. Morgan nailed Borne with a drop toehold. Morgan rallied up with a facebuster and enziguri. Morgan hit a double stomp on the back of Borne. Morgan hit Borne with a bulldog and side codebreaker to pick up the win.
Liv Morgan defeated Vanessa Borne via pinfall in 3:41.
Mauro talked about how this win could help Morgan get the attention of Regal for a chance to compete for the NXT Women’s championship. They then cut to the Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream encounter from last week.
John’s Thoughts: Not a great women’s match. We haven’t seen Morgan in a while and she’s still pretty clumsy in the ring, and the commentators tried hard to cover for. Borne did look better this week, but both women still lack seasoning.
Aleister Black was shown kickboxing in the performance center. Black was interviewed about Velveteen Dream. Black said in this age of individuality, there is always one who thinks that they are unique or special. Black said when left to their own devices they just antagonize the horde. Black said they just want recognition but Black refuses to acknowledge a child that throws a tantrum to get attention. Black said Patrick is trying to get his attention by being Bizarre but Clark is mistaken. They then showed a Fabien Aichner vignette… [C]
4. Fabian Aichner vs. Kassius Ohno. Mauro pointed out that Aichner is no longer a cruiserweight and has bulked up a lot since the CWC. Ohno came out to his Sacramento Kings themed jersey. Nigel McGuinness pointed out that Aichner was trained by former WCW wrestler Alex Wright. Ohno dominated early on with a headlock. Aichner powered though and got some chain wrestling of his own. Aichner took down Ohno with a European Uppercut.
Ohno caught Aichner with a jumping boot. Aichner made it to the ring to block a Tope Con Hilo. After some reversals, Aichner hit Ohno with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. When Ohno was outside, Aichner hit a scary but sweet springboard high fly flow. Aichner hit a delayed vertical suplex in the ring. Ohno reversed a powerbomb with a rollup. Aichner hit a European Uppercut on Ohno. Aichner then deadlifted the heavyweight Ohno with a powerslam. Aichner then missed with a springboard moonsault.
Ohno hit a basement shotgun kick on Aichner. Ohno turned clinch knees into a side suplex. Ohno hit a cyclone kick on Aichner to pick up the win.
Kassius Ohno defeated Fabian Aichner via pinfall in 4:50.
The replays showcased Aichner’s athleticism and power… [C]
John’s Thoughts: Nice debut for Aichner in a loss. Former Dot Net Staffer Darren Gutteridge has been really high on Aichner and I can see why. He’s the real deal with the power and high flying.
Drew McIntyre was interviewed backstage. McIntyre said anyone just has to ask for an opportunity to face the champion and Strong was the only person who asked. McIntyre said it’s good that he’s fighting for himself. Drew said Roddy is good and can be champion but he’s in Drew McIntyre’s time. Drew then said his next title defense will surely not be his last…
Mauro cut to a Mae Young Classic video package that focused on Kairi Sane. They then showed a graphic that had four blank women silhouettes….
Adam Cole made his entrance. Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish accompanied him wearing black and white undershirts. Cole grabbed a microphone for a promo. Cole asked how did NXT survive without them. Cole said there is something he feels in the air that is new. He said he wants people to focus and close their eyes and feel the moment. Cole said what you feel is change, a shock to the system, and “us”. Cole said his team is untouchable, unstoppable, and undisputed. Cole said this is “our era”… [C]
5. Adam Cole (w/ Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) vs. Eric Young (w/ Alexander Wolfe, Nikki Cross, and Killian Dain). Cole waited until Sanity cleared the ring. Cole dared Young to fight him. Young fought him and then smothered him with strikes. Cole came with a forearm when the ref tried to break things up. Cole did his Bay-Bay thing which allowed Young to come back. Fish and O’Reilly distracted Young which allowed Cole to give a clubbing blow to the back of Young. Cole dominated Young for a sequence.
Cole hit Young with a knee to the gut. Cole hit Young with a jumping enziguri which caused Young to do a Flair Flop on the apron. Young kicked out of several pin attempts. The crowd rallied Young out of a Cole sleeper hold. Cole managed to get it locked in again. Young countered with a side suplex. Young caught Cole with the back of his elbow and a boot. Young hit a few clotheslines and neckbreaker.
Young pushed Cole off the top rope and got distracted by O’Reilly and Fish. The other Sanity members took out Fish and O’Reilly. EY decided to give Fish and O’Reilly a crossbody instead of taking advantage of the knocked out Cole. Cole defeated Young after hitting Young with a leg lariat.
Adam Cole defeated Eric Young via pinfall in 5:33.
Sanity and Cole’s team faced off against each other. Cole held up his fingers as NXT closed…
John’s Thoughts: A good match with EY having one of his better singles matches in NXT (I can remember this and his cage match against Dillinger being memorable). Young as also always worked better as a babyface, but this is the first time we’ve seen “world class maniac” Eric Young work as a face as opposed to Showtime EY. I would have preferred Cole go over strong against someone, but I understand protecting Sanity since they don’t pick up wins often (a fault of their initial push). Hopefully Cole will get a chance to dominate someone down the road. I wouldn’t mind Cole getting a dominant win over Lorcan and Strong along the way. This was a jam packed show with a lot of in ring action. It’s interesting that WWE can pack a lot of good action in just a one hour package. I’ll have more thoughts in my member exclusive audio review of this show.
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