By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV Live Review
Taped June 12-13, 2019 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Streamed July 17, 2019 on WWE Network
Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Beth Phoenix were on commentary. Nigel hyped up Adam Cole’s advertised title defense on this episode against an unnamed opponent…
Broooooooo….
1. Matt Riddle vs. Arturo Ruas. Arturo Ruas is the former Adrian Jaoude who’s appeared on NXT many times in an enhancement role. Mauro said this feels like he’s calling on of his MMA shows since both men in the ring are martial artists. Riddle managed to get to the back of Ruas at first but both men then traded the advantage. Beth noted that Capoeira is based around dancing. Both men kept their hands gripped to counter the other’s cross armberaker. Ruas got a leg scissors takedown on the knees of Riddle. Riddle got to the ropes to for the break.
Mauro noted that Ruas shifts between capo and traditional stances. Both men traded roundhouse kicks. Ruas hit Riddle with a Capoeira roundhouse. Riddle surprised Ruas with a Final Flash Knee. Ruas couldn’t protect himself from Riddle’s ground and pound so the referee called for the TKO.
Matt Riddle defeated Arturo Ruas via Technical Knockout in 3:41.
Mauro noted that it was a TKO victory. Before Riddle could collect himself he was attacked around the ring by a hooded man. The hooded man was Killian Dain. The commentators wondered why Dain was attacking Riddle in particular. After a beatdown around the ring, Dain took Riddle to the top of the ramp and then sentoned him through the floor… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Arturo Ruas is someone to look out for because this guy has really smoothed out his rough edges. Ruas really impressed me during the Evolve 10th anniversary. The guy has a good implementation of martial arts in his pro wrestling and his Capoeira allows him to utilize a tool that most pro wrestlers don’t have in their repertoire. Of course, Riddle’s the big star, so it made sense for him to go over. Looking forward to Dain vs. Riddle and wonder who comes out on top because Riddle is protected AF while Dain could use a win in his return to NXT.
An ad aired for Raw Reunion…
It was time for Street Talk with Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford. This was a more serious promo from both men which a few playful jabs thrown in. They addressed Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish…
Nigel McGuinness cut to “fan cellphone footage” of Mia Yim pulling Marina Shafir out of her car and beating her up.
John’s Thoughts: Like I said before, Yim doesn’t do the most babyface of things, but it works for her given the way they built her up…
Dexter Lumis (Sam Shaw) made his entrance with some creepy music, as expected. He’s going back to the American Psycho/Dexter gimmick that he had in TNA. He was billed as from “an undisclosed location”. The commentators were quiet during Dexter’s stare to add to the creepy. Mauro said they were supposed to air a Dexter promo but the production truck might have got creeped out. Nigel said he never saw anyone like this (Lie! He saw this guy do this exact thing in TNA! Light kidding). Bronson Reed came out next and got a promo. He talked about being from Austrailia…
2. Dexter Lumis vs. Bronson Reed in a first round match of the NXT Breakout Tournament. Lumis no sold an initial slam with a dead stare. Lumis sent Reed outside with a back elbow. Lumis missed a Tope Con Hilo but landed on his feet into his creeper stance. Reed didn’t let Lumis settle so he hit him with a crossbody. Lumis hit Reed with a throat poke and drop toehold. Lumis locked in an aggressive chinlock on Reed. Reed powered out and hit Shaw with a power slam.
Reed dominated Lumis but Mauro noted that Lumis just kept getting up. Beth and Mauro talked about how Mauro may be a masochist. Reed hit Lumis with a senton for a two count. Lumis landed on his feet and hit Reed with a back suplex. Lumis crashed and burned on a missed Swanton Bomb. Reed hit Lumis with a body slam and took down the straps. Reed hit a super splash on Lumis for the victory.
Bronson Reed defeated Dexter Lumis via pinfall in 5:52.
A slo mo replay of the huge splash aired…
John’s Thoughts: I’ve always been a fan of Shaw’s American Psycho character and I’m kinda glad he brought it over to NXT from TNA. Lumis looked better in the ring than the last time I saw him. He’s not as refined as Killer Kross, but he’s going for a similar type of psychotic which I think Lumis did really well. Lumis impressed the most from this match, but Reed looked good as well. As I said though, I’m intrigued by Lumis now that he’s had more years of in-ring experience to put behind the Christian Bale character. I wonder how far NXT is willing to go with the serial killer character with the obvious ode to Showtime’s Dexter.
Cathy Kelley Interviewed Tyler Breeze about his loss to Roderick Strong a few weeks ago. Breeze talked about how everyone in NXT has a “group”. Breeze teased joining a group, but was interrupted by Forgotten Sons. Cutler talked about how NXT is for men. Breeze joked that he thought Cutler was Buddy Murphy the last time he saw him. Ryker tried to intimidate Breeze. Breeze said he’s seen everything… [c]
Clips of the “new” Io Shirai from last week aired. Mauro advertised the new heel Io vs. Kacy Catanzaro for next week…
Kushida made his Back to the Future inspired entrance…
3, Kushida vs. Apollo Crews. Mauro noted that “former” NXT Star and current Smackdown star is trying to conquer Kushida just like other wrestlers from other brands have been doing. Kushida and Crews shared a quick handshake to start the match while the crowd gave Crews a “welcome back” chant. Crews planted Kushida with a belly to back suplex. Kushida then rolled around Crews and used a Gator Roll to get a one count on Crews. Crews and Kushida had an agility exchange until Crews ended it with a dropkick. Kushida used a baseball slide to stop the whip momentum. Crews chased Kushida back to the ring and ran right into double boots from Kushida.
Crews countered Kushida with a pop-up gutbuster. Crews hit Kushida with a Lashley-like Delayed Vertical. Crews hit Kushida with a corner splash and release Belly to Belly for a two count. Kushida regained control with a kick on the left arm of Crews while Crews went for a Vader Bomb. Kushida hit Crews with a back elbow. Kushida hit Crews with a hip toss and dropkick. Kushida hit Crews with a roundhouse into a tornado DDT. Crews focused his kicks on the left arm of Crews which Mauro noted was Kushida setting up for his finisher. Crews ended Kushida’s onslaught with a boot.
Crews hit Kushida with Triple German suplexes. Crews hit Kushida with a standing shooting Star for a two count. Kushida gave Crews a flatliner into the second turnbuckle. Crews countered a huracanrana into a rollup. Both men traded Enzuigiris to end up with a rest period on the ground. Crews went to the top rope and after a bit of an exchange, Kushida hit Crews with a double boot. Kushida hit Crews with a Spanish Fly into an armbreaker. Crews almost got out but Kushida got Crews in the Sakuraba-Hoverboard Lock for the submission win.
Kushida defeated Apollo Crews via submission in 10:44.
Nigel noted in the replays that Kushida focused his attacks the entire match on the left arm of Crews which ultimately led to the Spanish Fly into the to submissions. Kushida led the crowd in an ovation for Crews. Crews and Kushida hugged to close the segment… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A really good match and always good to see former NXT Stars return home to where they are utilized better. A good match and Kushida is really acclimating well to WWE style. Maybe Kushida is ready for a NXT Takeover Main Event style match? While the match was good, you knew Crews had no chance because he is lower on the totem pole and it wouldn’t have made sense to put Crews over.
Cathy Kelley interviewed Keith Lee about his tenure in NXT. Lee noted that there has been a lot of starts and stops for him and he’s been in NXT for a year. Lee said he thought he would have opportunity. Lee said he’s probably been looked over and passed over by all the newcomers. Lee talked about how there’s a tournament going on and even a guy named Damien Priest showing up. Lee said people probably shouldn’t be talking about Priest, but rather Keith Lee…
John’s Thoughts: So they’re acknowledging how all over the place they’ve been with Lee. Interested to see what type of character development it leads to.
Adam Cole made his entrance. He talked about his Bay Bay tour and how he showed the crowd what true power is. Cole said his boys were taking care of business and there was an Undisputed power shift going on in NXT. Cole said he’s a fighting champion and will put his title on the line tonight. He said he was doing it against “this man”. They aired the clip of Johnny Gargano as NXT Champion at his gym in Cleveland, OH. Adam Cole told “Twan Tucker” to come on down. Twan Tucker made his way to the stage with a mic. Cole said “it’s good to see you again buddy”. Cole said there’s no Undisputed Era here too.
Cole said he’s giving Twan a chance to slap the taste out of Cole’s mouth. Twan said he didn’t come alone. Johnny Gargano’s entrance music played as Gargano passed by Twan and started a brawl with Cole. Gargano superkicked Cole outside of the ring. Cole jumpped the barricade and Gargano followed with the brawl. Gargano beat up Cole to the top of the bleachers. Gargano gave Cole nice forearms and chops. Mauro said Gargano was Johnny “Pissed Off”. Both men brawled to the stage area. Cole got some shots in but Gargano had the advantage for the most part. The referees separated the two. Cole held up his title high. Gargano escaped the referees to give Cole a Crossbody.
Cole tried to Last Shot Gargano in the ring but Gargano superkicked Cole and locked Cole in the GargaNo Escape. The referees struggled to get Gargano out of the hold. Adam Cole tapped out. Mauro said that Johnny Gargano is doing this for himself and for Cleveland, Oh. Once the two were separated, Gargano backtracked up the ramp holding up three fingers. Mauro said that this means that Gargano wants a rubber match. NXT closed…
John’s Thoughts: A bit shorter than I expected as I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Cole and Twan, but it was fine for what it was. A bit less impactful if you watched the Evolve show this past weekend where Gargano did a run-in on Cole, but still pretty much what you would do in this situation. Standard and effective stuff to set up Gargano vs. Cole III. Overall a good episode of NXT. The streak ends of having a good character building vignette, but there were still angles done at least. The Breakout Tournament does bring fresh matches so there’s that. I’ll be by with a NXT Hit List and Member’s exclusive audio review in the next few days…
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