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 24, 2019 on WWE Network
A recap of last week’s Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole brawl replayed…
Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Beth Phoenix were on commentary. Nigel hyped Gargano and Cole announcing their stipulations in what is essentially a 3 stages of hell match…
1. Jordan Myles vs. Angel Garza in a semifinal match of the NXT Breakout Tournament. Mauro reminded viewers that the winner of the tournament gets a title shot for any title of their choosing. Garza teased a code of honor handshake but then pulled away to mock Myles. Myles and Garza were pretty much even early on. Beth noted that Myles had a harder road to get here than Garza due to Garza’s wrestling heritage. Mules managed to get Garza on the ground with an armbar. Myles hit Garza with a dropkick and did the MVP ballin’.
Garza baited Myles to the apron and Myles crashed to the floor after a trip. Garza tossed Myles around the barricade and steel steps to knock out Myles. Garza ripped off his pants while Myles was knocked out. Nigel noted “it’s gold this week”. Myles beat the ten count but Garza kicked Myles on his way in. Garza hit Myles with a butterfly backbreaker for the two count. Garza locked Myles in the Camel Clutch. Myles turned the tables and got a rollup on Garza. Garza escaped and came right back with a superkick for a two count. Garza worked on Myles in the corner with kicks and by slamming his face in the bottom turnbuckle.
Myles blocked the turnbuckle and then turned the tables again. He gave Garza rapid fire kicks in the corner. Myles hit Garza with a sweep and dropkick combo. Myles hit Garza with a discus lariat. Myles went high risk but Garza caught Myles with a dropkick while Myles was flying. Garza went for his beautiful lionsault but Myles came back with a kick. Myles hit Garza with a discus lariat and deadlift German. Myles picked up the win off the German.
Jordan Myles defeated Angel Garza via pinfall in 8:25.
After the match, Shane Thorne went to the commentary table and complained about all these new stars showing up on NXT while Shane Thorne is right here. Thorne talked about the time he jumped off scaffolding against AOP. Thorne said he doesn’t need a breakout tournament because he’s going to break out on his own…
John’s Thoughts: Really fun match. Garza was working more clear-cut heel here and he did a solid job at it. There might be something there with the guy who’s a heel to the men and a face to the women. I’m a bit surprised by the win, complete with the non-traditional victory. I liked Thorne showing up again after a long time off TV in a meaningful spot. Hopefully he gets a chance to shine as a singles wrestler because out of the TM-61 guys he was the one that showed the most potential.
Johnny Gargano was somewhere backstage cutting a promo about his next match against Adam Cole. Gargano said at Toronto he’s going to do whatever it takes to beat the hell out of Cole. Gargano said the stipulation he chooses is a Street Fight…
Xia Li made her entrance, doing a bit of a Wushu demo before her upcoming match…
2. Bianca Belair vs. Xia Li. Phoenix noted that Mia Yim shoved Belair out of the women’s title hunt. Belair quickly dominated Li but tackling Li in the corner and stomping a mudhole in Li. Belair was aggressive and womanhandling Li all over the ring. Belair hit Li with the Beth Phoenix Glam Slam. Belair slapped her booty to mock Li. Li ran right into a Fallaway Slam by Belair. Belair went for a delayed squat suplex, but Li escaped and got some roundhouses on Belair from all directions. Belair countered Li’s onslaught by lifting her into the sitout Burning Hammer for the victory.
Bianca Belair defeated Xia Li via pinfall in 3:10.
John’s Thoughts: A squash, but exactly what you should do with an A-Tier vs. Developmental-Tier type of match. Belair is clearly in wheel spinning mode. I wonder if she’s also in the same strange purgatory as her husband Montez Ford who’s appearing on Raw. Dain and Nikki Cross are on Raw and NXT so you can have that situation too.
A Killian Dain vignette aired. Dain talked about how he wasn’t going to just attack anyone from behind. Dain said Riddle isn’t “anybody”, but rather somebody. Dain talked about Riddle being dominant in UFC. Dain said he’s taking Riddle to his world where there are no weight limits. Dain said he can’t wait to welcome Riddle to his world…
Security cam footage aired of Jessamyn Duke just handling her business at Performance Center until she got her ass kicked gangsta style by Mia Yim. Many curse words were bleeped…
John’s Thoughts: Street gangsta Mia Yim is great!
Dream made his entrance. He said he’s only giving up the title when “The Experience” dies. Dream said he’ll go straight to hell when he loses the title. Dream said it felt like hell when Roderick Strong claimed victory over him. Dream said he hears that like Dream Roderick can go all night. Dream talked about how Velveteen Dream is not “big enough to ride this ride”. Dream called out Strong. Roderick Strong made his entrance.
Roderick Strong said he doesn’t think the Dream believes what he says. Strong said he knows why Dream is ducking Strong, because Dream is scared. Strong talked about being the real deal and how he’ll take Dream’s title just like that. Strong said “give me what I want” and he wanted a match at takeover for the title. Strong said the Exprience will die and that is undisputed.
Out of nowhere, Pete Dunne made his entrance. It’s a bit odd not seeing him with a title belt on NXT Television. Strong tried to punch Dunne but Dunne did his signature finger break spot on Strong. Strong walked over to Dream and glared at Dream’s title belt with a smirk. Dream retreated up the ramp in peace while Dunne’s entrance theme played… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Dream’s promo was well delivered, but a bit unfocused. Roderick Strong’s promo was odd. It was like a strange version of one of his old babyface promos. Best part here, the unexpected return of Pete Dunne to NXT TV. Dunne didn’t have to say a word and he said as much as he had to. He’s coming after North America now and he would be a favorite when you think of in-ring credibility. That will be a hot match if they do a triple threat. I would love to see a singles match between Dream and Dunne, but we know that adding Strong to matches actually makes things better.
Roderick Strong dragged a cameraman to William Regal’s office to document Strong requesting a title match against Dream. Regal agreed that Strong deserves a shot after Strong complained. Regal also talked about how he talked with Johnny Saint recently and Pete Dunne is going to be on NXT for a while. Regal booked Dream vs. Strong vs. Dunne at Takeover for the NA Title. Strong said this was favoritism. Strong asked for a match against Dunne next week to teach Dunne a lesson…
3. Io Shirai vs. Kacy Catanzaro. Io nailed Kacy with a dropkick and meteora, not giving Kacy a chance. Io hit Kacy with an Implant Buster Backbreaker. Candice LeRae ran out to attack Shirai and end the match.
Io Shirai defeated Kacy Cantanzaro via an apparent DQ in 0:25.
LeRae beat up Shirai around the ring. LeRae brought a chair to the ring and Shirai retreated up the ramp saying she didn’t want none of this…
John’s Thoughts: Not much of a match, but I fear that Io Shirai’s Black Lotus heel look might make her more of a fan favorite than she was as a babyface. Can’t really complain against that. This Black Lotus look really added some aggression and sex appeal to her. Shirai is doing a good job with the darker mannerisms. Can we get LeRae vs. Shirai at Takeover, and not on the post-takeover show?
The show cut to an Adam Cole NWO-Style promo with the multi-camera shots. Cole put his support behind Roderick Strong going up against Dream and Dunne. Cole talked about how O’Reilly and Fish will also win and complete Cole’s prophesy of UE being draped in gold. Adam Cole picked a regular wrestling match as his stipulation (he didn’t call it a “Sports Entertainment match” thank god)…
Hype for Lee vs. Priest aired… [c]
John’s Thoughts: Knowing NXT, I don’t think they’ll pull the trigger on all UE winning gold. It’s easy to see O’Reilly and Fish getting theirs, but Strong?
4. Keith Lee vs. Damien Priest. It’s a big guy who was allowed to keep his indie name vs. big guy who wasn’t allowed to keep his indie name. Priest flashed a smirk at Lee before the lockup. Priest locked Lee in a side headlock. Lee escaped and shoved Priest, who didn’t fall. Lee did the Dikembe Motumbo finger wag (or Fallah Bahh wag?). Priest tested Lee a bit with some roundhouse kicks. Priest and Lee then strick fighters poses. Lee and Priest then did a random martial arts scene in the middle of the ring. Lee then showed a bit of lucha libre agility leading to a shoulder block.
Lee locked Priest in an elevated armbar before Priest punched his way out. Priest rained punches and kicks on Lee. Priest hit Lee with a turnbuckle curb stomp. Lee used his weight to block a suplex. Priest grounded Lee with a lariat. Lee and Priest then played a game of Mercy leading to Priest using the Undertaker Old School into a splash. Lee held on to Priest’s arm like a rottweiler and rained shortarm punches on Priest. Lee hit Priest with a Clothesline from Hell for a two count. Priest hit Lee with a strike combo and then he lifted the big man into a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Mauro talked about how impressive it was to lift up the larger Lee.
Lee and Priest traded strikes. Lee gained the upper hand with his signature chest chop. Lee then hit Priest with the Monty Brown Pounce. Priest rolled to ringside to avoid a Lee Limit Break attempt. Priest kept Lee out side with a knee. Mauro noted that this was allowing Priest a moment of respite. Priest went for a flip dive on Lee but Lee caught him mid air. Priest escaped and hit lee with a thunder clap and boot into the steel stairs. Lee chased Priest to the ring. Priest threw the referee into Lee as a shield. Priest then hit the distracted Lee with a cyclone Kick. Priest hit Lee with The Reckoning (Cross Rhodes) for the victory.
Damien Priest defeated Keith Lee via pinfall in 9:37.
Damien Priest celebrated his win to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A really good match that was missing something to be truly good. I think that missing something was storyline backing. It would have been good for Lee and Priest to have given a meaning behind this match other than a few throwaway lines that could have been mad lib’d with another wrestler. That said this was good for what it was. I really liked the movie-style martial arts used here as opposed to the realistic martial arts exhibited by other wrestlers like Matt Riddle. Anyway, a solid standard episode of NXT. That said, not exactly must-see because you could get the notable parts of this show from YouTube clips. I’ll be by in the next couple of days with a hit list and member’s exclusive Audio Review.
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