By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV Live Review
Taped May 1, 2019 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Streamed May 29, 2019 on WWE Network
The NXT Slipknot theme aired…
Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Beth Phoenix were on commentary…
1. Mia Yim vs. Bianca Belair. Mia Yim dominated Belair early on. Belair gained the advantage after a double leg takedown. Yim countered the takedown. Both women ran the ropes with Yim getting the upper hand with a sidewinder chop block. Yim caught Belair with a corner cannonball to lead to a nearfall. Belair dominated Yim on the ground with a Full Nelson resthold. Yim got to a vertical base and escaped the hold. Belair went for a two count after a lariat. Belair hit Yim with the Lashley Squat Vertical Suplex. Belair then slapped her ass to mock the crowd and Yim.
Yim countered Belair in the corner into the Tarantula. Belair nailed Yim with a dropkick after the rope break. Belair pummeled Yim in the corner with stiff forearms. Yim countered a Glam Slam into a rollup. Yim followed up with a jackknife rollup. Belair escaped all the pin attempts. Belair knocked down Yim with a strong forearm. Yim gained a moment of respite after hitting Yim with a hard overhead belly-to-belly. Mia hit Bianca with a Code Red for a two count. After an exchange, Yim managed to hit Belair with her Eat Defeat finisher. Belair rolled to ringside to block the pin attempt. Yim and Belair brawled at ringside. Belair picked up Yim and hit Yim with a Glam Slam on the apron.
Belair went into the ring to settle for a countout victory, but Yim beat Jessika Carr’s count. Belair womanhandled Yim around the ring with her herculean strength. Yim escaped a power bomb attempt and used Belair’s hair to drag Belair into her other finisher the Protect Yo Neck for the clean victory.
Mia Yim defeated Bianca Belair via pinfall in 10:07.
Nigel noted that this was the biggest victory in Mia Yim’s career (I mean, she was a former Knockouts champion. But I get it, in WWE)…
John’s Thoughts: A good match and a nice surprise win for Mia Yim who really needed some steam put behind her. Yim and Belair have had a good series of matches. Belair in particular hasn’t had a bad match series yet. Yim has it in her to be a top star in WWE if WWE would allow her to show her badass qualities. It was when she was allowed to be a badass on the mic, that Yim finally clicked when she was in Impact Wrestling.
Nigel McGuinness hyped Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze for the NXT NA Championship…
A video package aired to hype Dream vs. Breeze. Dream was shown cinematically setting up a selfie stick. Dream said he remembers Breeze. Clips of Tyler Breeze’s first run in NXT. The clip from WWE Breaking Ground was shown where Breeze got his callup. Dream narrated the clip. Clips of Breeze’s comedy run were shown as Dream talked down about Breeze’s run on the main roster. Dream called himself an upgrade to NXT and how NXT got better since Breeze left. Clips of Breeze’s return were shown. Breeze said he was a staple of NXT. Dream said Breeze had a good career, but not good enough to call for a return to NXT. Dream called Breeze the Great Value Walmart version of Dream… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Great video package playing off of some of the real life failures of Breeze’s main roster run. This would have been a better feud if they had more time to build the match to include mind games, but of course this was a last minute change due to Dominik Dijakovic getting injured.
Clips of Io Shirai attacking Baszler, Shafir, and Duke were shown from last week…
Baszler and her goons were interviewed. Baszler talked about how Io can’t use weapons and has no more friends to help her at takeover. Baszler bragged about having her two friends with her at all times…
Kushida made his entrance as Mauro called him the Time-Splitter. Kushida was in his usual Marty McFly cosplay. Let the Mauro Back to the Future references ensue…
2. Kushida vs. Drew Gulak. The commentators called this a battle between the Hoverboard Lock and the Gu Lock. Gulak and Kushida started off the match in a stalemate with the grounded chain wrestling. Gulak managed to get the first advantage in the chain wrestling with a hammerlock. Kushida did judo rolls to escape the hammerlock. Gulak dominated the Test of Strength but Kushida formed an impressive bridge with his neck and core. Gulak converted the Test of Strength into a single leg crab. Kushida converted a spider guard into a triangle which caused Gulak to retreat.
Kushida did a smooth transition to a LaBell Lock and into a crossface. Kushida held on to Gulak’s head like a vice. Both men tried to aim for each other’s gut and eventually Kushida locked Gulak in a octopus hold. Gulak escaped and locked Kushida in a reverse Indian Deathlock. Kushida used the rope as fulcrum to wrench Gulak’s arm. Gulak recovered and hit Kushida with a gutbuster. Gulak locked Kushida in a headscissors and joint manipulation. Kushida locked Gulak in a gogoplata. After the separation, both men ran the ropes. Kushida hit a sweet looking flying Cross armbreaker on Gulak. Gulak made a smooth transition into an ankle lock.
Gulak and Kushida traded counters. Kushida nailed Gulak in the back of the head with an enzuigiri. Gulak blocked a fisherman suplex. Kushida floated into Hoverboard Lock position but Gulak kept his own hands clasped. Gulak and Kushida traded guttural screams. Kushida hit Gulak with a Flatliner and then caught Gulak off guard with a wide base rollup pin.
Kushida defeated Drew Gulak via pinfall in 8:14.
Kushida told Gulak that he currently has picked up three wins in NXT, followed by a wink. After the match, the mic caught Gulak telling Kushida that Kushida is a coward…
John’s Thoughts: Ever since Kushida’s underwhelming NXT debut, he’s put in some really good performances that served as showcases for his style (the Kassius Ohno match would have fit better after an actual program as opposed to a debut). If you ever want to showcase someone’s submission ability, you bring Drew Gulak over. This was a good match. Not everyone’s cup of tea with the submissions, but I personally like the more realistic Martial Arts structure…
Cathy Kelley interviewed Io Shirai about not having a numbers advantage or weapons at takeover. Io said she’s not afraid of Shayna and Shayna’s friends. Io said she doesn’t need a kendo stick to beat Shayna. Io was about to cut a japanese promo, but Candice LeRae cut in and told Io that she has Io’s back. Io liked this as she walked off with LeRae…
Mauro ran through some advertised takeover matches…
A video package aired to hype Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole. Adam Cole talked about how the ending of Takeover:New York makes him sick to his stomach because he picked up the first pinfall and that would have been the deciding pinfall in any other match. Gargano talked about how he poured his heart into that match. Gargano said he doesn’t know what will happen to NXT if Cole’s Champion. Cole and Gargano stated their case to win the Takeover match…
Mauro hyped Lorcan and Burch vs. Forgotten Sons after the break… [c]
Mauro Ranallo thanked the band Underoath for providing the song “On my teeth” for NXT Takeover 25…
3. “The Forgotten Sons” Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake (w/Jaxson Ryker) vs. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. Mauro noted that The Sons eliminated Lorcan and Burch from the Dusty Classic. Burch started the match quickly with a shotgun dropkick on Blake. Burch didn’t relent in targeting Blake’s left arm. Blake managed to tag in a fresh Cutler who overpowered Burch. The Sons hit Burch with a double team backbreaker. The Sons traded quick trades to isolate Burch. Burch manage to elude the numbers and tag in Lorcan. Lorcan tried to mount offense but he was distracted by Jaxson Ryker tripping him. The referee caught this and ejected Ryker from ringside.
The Street Profits, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, met Ryker at the pass and beat him up at the top of the ramp. The Profits entered the ring and beat up on the other Sons for the apparent DQ.
The Forgotten Sons defeated Lorcan and Burch via an apparent DQ in 2:20.
The Profits and Lorcan and Burch were shown seething and staring down each other. This led to a brawl. The sons took down the four men in the ring with chairs. Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong ran out to clear the ring. Fish and O’Reilly hit Blake with Total Elimination. The Undisputed Era did their pose in the ring. Cole wanted to do more, so he told the Era to take a ladder out. The Undisputed Era used a ladder as a battering ram as they tackled Jaxson Ryker.
Adam Cole took a mic and called out Matt Riddle and Johnny Gargano. Adam said at Takeover “That” (as he pointed to Ryker’s prone body) is Undisputed. The Undisputed Era posed on the ladder. Nigel said that Takeover 25 could be the Era’s magnum opus as the show closed…
John’s Thoughts: An okay match, but nothing really pushing anything forward. It was just a match that led to a formula go-home brawl. The Profits are cool, Loran and Burch are cool, but not cool enough to really counter the uninteresting Forgotten Sons. Thing got interesting once Undisputed Era got involved. Again, I really think that War Raiders vs. Street Profits at Takeover with the Profits finally going over would have been the better match instead of this four way that hasn’t had the best build.
Not the greatest go-home show in the world, but the video packages were good enough to stress that there was a Takeover happening this Saturday. Maybe they should have delayed the Belair vs. Yim match til next week’s fallout show? That said, the biggest detractor from this upcoming Takeover is Vince McMahon’s random callups screwing things up. That and Dominik Dijakovic’s sudden injury causing them to pivot in a different direction in terms of the undercard.
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