By John Moore, Prowrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Aired September 12, 2018 on WWE Network
Taped August 23 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Tommaso Ciampa was caught outside for an interview. The interviewer tried to ask Ciampa about his return to Full Sail but Ciampa wouldn’t answer anything. The NXT theme aired…
Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson were on commentary. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan made their return to Full Sail after Lorcan returned from his injury…
1. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch vs. Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude. Bononi now has a different look. Burch dominated Bononi with his power strikes and a missile dropkick. Lorcan and Burch traded quick tags to isolate Bononi in their corner. Mauro did note that both rookies were from Brazil, the home of Brazilian Jujitsu. Jaoude tagged in and used an Aikido wrist hold on Lorcan. The Brazilians went to the isolation. Nigel noted that the Brazilians were speaking in Portuguese to hide their gameplans. Lorcan tagged in and hit his signature stiff badass slaps. Lorcan took down both opponents with a running blockbuster. Lorcan and Burch hit Jaoude with an impact DDT for the win.
Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch defeated Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude via pinfall in 3:41.
The commentators hyped up more matches heading into the break… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Great to have Lorcan back. I understand a bit not having Burch on TV because they would have most likely relegated him back to being the perennial enhancement wrestler of NXT. Lorcan is the star of the duo with all of his Japanese strong style strikes. Bononi and Jaoude have potential. I always get a kick out of Jaoude looking like the Brazilian Ryu from Street Fighter while Bononi has a great look and size.
Tommaso Ciampa made his entrance to Full Sail and now has entrance music. Ciampa told the crowd to shut up and he said his new music was a message against the crowd. Ciampa said people are bringing up rumors about Ciampa attacking Aleister Black in the parking lot. Ciampa said he’s about to drop facts. He said if he wanted to attack Black he would have done it in the open and be proud of it. Ciampa said he was going to take Black out but someone beat him to the punch. He said he’ll pat that person on the back for attacking Black. Ciampa reiterated his point from the last few weeks that Gargano lost while Ciampa wins.
Ciampa said the title is telling him something, “Thank you for getting me back to the main event of Takeover”. Ciampa talked about how he’s the greatest success story in the history of NXT. Ciampa said he’s giving everyone advise, if they want to be a success, winner, or champion then you should follow the lead of Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa’s theme played. Ciampa jawed with the fans saying that he can’t hear their boos over his music. Ciampa even stole one fan’s sign… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Great heel gloating promo from Ciampa that was both good enough and evil enough to keep a majority of the crowd against him. You’re not going to get a 100% Becky Lynch reaction here.
2. Shayna Baszler vs. Violet Payne. Violet felt the pain early on with Baszler’s ground and pound. Baszler followed up with a straight forward knee and then the joint manipulation. Nigel kept begging that Payne protect herself. Mauro and Watson joined in on telling Payne to quit. The ref asked Payne if she were quitting, but she didn’t after the elbow stomp. Payne then tapped out to the Kirafuda Clutch. Baszler held on a little longer until Payne passed out as well…
Shayna Baszler defeated Violet Payne via submission in 1:26.
Baszler was about to leave but she decided to head back to the ring to lock the Kirafuda clutch back on Payne. It took two referees to separate her from the enhancement talent. Baszler went back to the clutch after the separation. After the third lock, Baszler left…
John’s Thoughts: Basic squash. Violet has a good look. Good and simple way to give Baszler some heat back. I wonder where Sane was, but I’m fine if they held her back so Baszler wouldn’t look weak. Bonus points to the commentators for yelling that Payne should have quit.
The commentators cut to a Heavy Machinery selfie promo. They said they were looking for the Black attacker. Otis Dozovic said he thinks that it was “Tommato Champ” (Tommaso Ciampa). Dozovic and Ciampa then jawed at each other. William Regal walked in between them and called Ciampa away…
Bianca Belair was shown doing pushups while Nikki Cross was shown acting like a crazy kitten before their match… [c]
The show cut to one of the Undisputed Era NWO-style promos. Roderick Strong said he had to get something off his chest, that the War Raiders are coming after them. Strong said this is like a game of hide and seek. Strong said he plays that game with his son and he wins every time. Strong said he’s too popular to hide. O’Reilly said he’s too popular to buy groceries. Kyle O’Reilly said the raiders are the Sneak Attack Raiders. He said their outfits were so 7th century. Bobby Fish said it isn’t in the viking handbook to do sneak attacks. Adam Cole went on to talk about the North American Champion vs. UK Champion. Cole said it was actually “The Adam Cole” invitational because the winner will lose to Adam Cole. Cole said Dunne or Ricochet will still fail. Cole said nobody was at their level, and that was Undisputed…
3. Lars Sullivan vs. Raul Mendoza. The commentators talked about how Sullivan attacked EC3 due to EC3 making Sullivan a suspect in Regal’s mind. Raul was ready but no one expects him to win. Raul used his speed to avoid Sullivan early on. Mendoza tried to chop down the tree with low and high roundhouse kick. Mendoza hit Sullivan with a springboard Gamengiri. Sullivan then gained control and tossed Mendoza around like a volley ball. Sullivan hit Mendoza with a corner splash and tossed him like a free throw.
Mendoza landed a chop but Sullivan quickly snapped back with a standing lariat. Sullivan locked in a neck vice on Mendoza. Mendoza esccaped with a jawbreaker. Mendoza dodged Sullivan sending him into the ringpost. Mendoza tried to chop down the tree again and even staggered Sullivan with a enzuigiri and dropkick. Sullivan came back with a pop up power slam. Sullivan went to the clubbing blows and hit Mendoza with the Freak Accident for the win.
Lars Sullivan defeated Raul Mendoza via pinfall in 4:16.
Percy Watson noted that Mendoza rocked Sullivan a few times but Sullivan was just too powerful…
The commentators cut back to a few weeks ago where Ricochet accidentally hit Pete Dunne with a suicide dive which cost them the match…
Pete Dunne was interviewed outside of Full Sail. Dunne said his mindset is fine. Dunne said what happened in the match a few weeks ago was completely Ricochet’s fault. Dunne said Ricochet has a piece of gold he wants. Dunne said that Ricochet has been champ for five minutes while Dunne is the longest reigning champ in WWE currently. Dunne said he’s going to need to find a way to hold two belts in his mouth now.
Cathy Kelley interviewed Ricochet inside of Full Sail. Ricochet addressed the “five minutes” comment and said it was more like a month. Ricochet said he was put in high pressure situations before WWE. Ricochet said “homeboy” Dunne was no different, a hurdle to go over. Ricochet said he’ll win next week and be NXT’s only dual champion…
John’s Thoughts: I’m surprised we don’t see Pete Dunne talk often because this guy is a great talker when he’s a jerk to people. That even works when he’s a babyface. Ricochet has gotten really confident on the mic and is miles ahead of where he used to be when companies were afraid to have him speak. One thing Ricochet needs to pull back on is the usage of the word “homeboy”. He uses it a bit too much as a filler word. I do too, but he uses it a lot… [c]
A Forgotten Sons vignette aired where they were standing around in a junkyard. They talked about how they were forgotten and treated like trash and they were about to rise above that. Gunner even addressed his military background…
The unseen interviewer was asking Full Sail students about who will win between Ricochet and Pete Dunne. The camera then roved away to see Deonna Purrazzo and Dakota Kai arguing with Aliyah and Lacey Evans. This set up a future match…
Kairi Sane was being interrogated by William Regal and the lawyer. Kairi Sane was dismissed. Kassius Ohno barged into the office and yelled at Regal for not accusing him which makes him look like an afterthought. Regal said that Ohno was cleared by Sane so there was no need to interrogate him. Regal noted that Ohno looked pissed. Ohno ranted and argued about how he’s being ignored. He said when the “new shiny toy” gets here he’ll take care of him… bro…
John’s Thoughts: There you have it. Kassius Ohno is about to lose to Matt Riddle very soon…
4. Bianca Belair vs. Nikki Cross. Bianca wanted a brawl but Cross continued to act unorthodox. Cross yelled “hi Bianca” and waved at her in a cute way. Cross continued to act cute and dodge all of Belair’s attacks. Belair tried to show off with a cartwheel but Cross called it shiny as she hopped around like a monkey. Cross then hit Belair with a monkey flip. The match then went under way with Belair managing to get a pin attempt. Belair showed off her herculean strength by hitting Cross with a Military Press. Cross got out of the way from a Belair running frog splash. Cross came back with a crossbody. Cross hit Belair with a Thesz Press and then stompped a mudhole into Belair in the corner.
Cross trapped Belair in the ring apron and then used that to help pummel Belair. Belair ended the onslaught with a shove into the steps which offered a moment of respite. Belair used her hair to whip Cross. Cross recovered and locked a sleeper hold on Belair. Belair broke the hold by falling on her back, but both women were knocked out. Referee Jessika Carr called for the countout.
Bianca Belair vs. Nikki Cross ended in a double countout in 5:17.
Cross and Belair continued to brawl which called for some referees to get in the way. The brawl spilled to the announce table which was remote from the stage. Cross stood on top of the table and beat her chest like a gorilla. Cross then hit Belair and the referees with a cross body to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: I was about to complain about Nikki Cross being used as a jobber to the stars during one-off feuds but I like the finish here because it sets up for more than a one off. If they were going to keep Cross in NXT for as long as they have, I’m not sure why they haven’t put her in any long term programs (which has me thinking they were going back and forth on this one several times). This still might be a good short feud, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair in two more matches. One ending in another draw and the other being a gimmick match that plays into Cross’s frenzied style while also putting Belair over. It also gives Belair something to do that’s not the Women’s Championship. By the way, why did they move up Sanity to Smackdown if they weren’t going to use them there?
This was another solid episode of NXT. No “show stealing” matches, but NXT continues to be serial program with each episode leading to the next. They had enough progression of the Aleister Black mystery without getting overbearing. They put some heat back on heels like Lars Sullivan and Shayna Baszler. Not to mention a secondary women’s feud was pushed forward. I’ll be by tomorrow with my NXT Hit List and all-access NXT Audio Review…
Damn, there goes my prediction of Ohno being the one who attacked Aleister Black. No idea now…
It’s still possible that Ohno did it and I like how the announcers are keeping suspicion on people that Regal has exonerated.
It might be Keith Lee? It might even be Eric Young or someone on the main roster? I also like how Nikki Cross “knowing something” adds some intrigue to the mystery