By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT TV
Taped August 24, 2021 in Orlando, Florida at Capitol Wrestling Center (WWE Performance Center)
Aired August 31, 2021 on USA Network
[Hour One] The broadcast team of Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, and Beth Phoenix checked in during the opening match entrances…
1. Mandy Rose (w/Gigi Dolan, Jacy Jayne) vs. Sarray. Rose performed a nice fallaway slam and then kipped up. There were dueling chants for the two wrestlers. Sarray came back with a leg lock and then bridged and put her hands round Rose’s chin. Rose apparently gouged the eye of Sarray, who released the hold.
A short time later, Sarray dropkicked Rose and knocked her down. Sarray followed up with another dropkick on Rose, who was seated by the ropes and knocked to ringside. Jayne grabbed a towel and covered the face of Rose, who was led away by Jayne and Dolan while the referee counted her out.
Sarray defeated Mandy Rose via count-out at 6:45.
Powell’s POV: So Rose will end up with a minor blemish that will cause her to freak out and claim she’s a monster? A strange finish that actually protected both women and I guess we’ll see what it means for Rose. By the way, I’m filling in for John Moore, who needed a rare night off. He claims he had a meeting, but I suspect that “meeting” is a fantasy football draft. ‘Tis the season, as I’ll be out tomorrow night at my first fantasy auction of the year. Speaking of which, check out our friends at MyFantasyLeague.com if you’re in need of an excellent home for your leagues.
Tommaso Ciampa delivered a promo while seated in the backstage area. He said he is NXT and he would fight for his his home and his family and even “good ol’ toothless Timmy.” Ciampa said a motivated Ciampa is a scary Ciampa. He stood up and kicked his chair before storming away…
The broadcast team hyped Kyle O’Reilly vs. Duke Hudson for after the break… The brief “NXT Coming” video aired… [C]
2. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Duke Hudson. O’Reilly had his ribs taped on his left side. Hudson whipped O’Reilly into the corner. O’Reilly sold rib pain. Hudson mocked him by playing air guitar. O’Reilly came back briefly, but Hudson performed a gut-buster heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
O’Reilly caught Hudson in a guillotine. Hudson stood up and drove O’Reilly into the corner to break the hold. Hudson performed a nice overhead belly to belly suplex and covered O’Reilly for a near fall. O’Reilly ended up on the apron. Hudson went for a big boot, but O’Reilly avoided it and performed a couple of dragon screw leg whips. O’Reilly went up top and delivered a knee drop to the back of Hudson’s knee. O’Reilly applied a heel hook and got the submission win…
Kyle O’Reilly beat Duke Hudson in 11:55.
NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov was shown walking backstage… [C]
Powell’s POV: An enjoyable match. O’Reilly selling an injury made this interesting. I even thought there was a slight chance that Hudson would steal a win due to O’Reilly’s injury to start a brief feud between them. It’s good to see the ongoing in-ring improvement from Hudson, who previously worked as Brendan Vink.
An ad for Thursday’s NXT UK hyped Teoman vs. Nathan Frazer in a Heritage Cup number one contenders’ tournament match…
The wedding of Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell was hyped for the September 14 edition of NXT. At ringside, an excited Phoenix spoke excitedly about how the wedding planning was coming along…
NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov limped while making his entrance. Once in the ring, the fans chanted “you deserve it.” Dragunov said he wanted to show the fans that he’s alive before he goes back home. He fired up and said he’s never felt more alive. “I like it here, I really do,” Dragunov said. “And you will see me here again.” He said he’s shown the world what it takes to be the NXT UK Champion. He questioned who would have what it takes to take the title from him. He said the ring general has fallen, long live the czar…
Arash Markazi conducted a sit-down interview with Kay Lee Ray. She said she’s made an impact wherever she’s gone and thrives in the biggest moments. Ray was asked if she was in NXT full time. She spoke about how NXT needs a new top player. Markazi asked about some of the top NXT female wrestlers. Ray said she doesn’t care about any of them and then took verbal jabs at several of them. Ray said William Regal knows exactly what she’s capable of. Markazi asked what she is capable of. Ray said anything she wants… [C]
Powell’s POV: This was a solid sit-down interview segment. Ray showed confidence and all, but I actually really liked that Markazi interrupted her at one point and came off like a more serious interviewer than we normally see on pro wrestling television shows.
Carmelo Hayes was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. He spoke about the possibility of challenging the various champions. Elektra Lopez showed up and said the NXT North American Championship is Santos Escobar’s title to win. Escobar showed up with Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza. Escobar said he would give Hayes a one-time pass because he wants him to be able to walk into his opportunities. Escobar said it would be wise to stay out of his business. After the Legado Del Fantasma members walked away, Hayes asked Mitchell if Escobar just threatened him… [C]
3. Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Drake Maverick and Grayson Waller. Maverick and Waller’s entrance was not televised, but they did get a brief pre-tape with Waller being the annoying one rather than Maverick for a change. Waller tagged himself into the match. Maverick wasn’t happy. Barthel pulled Maverick to ringside and ran him into a lighting stand. Barthel went to the ropes and joined Aichner in hitting their uppercut and powerbomb combo finisher and then Barthel pinned Waller…
Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel beat Drake Maverick and Grayson Waller in 3:00.
Powell’s POV: The production team piped in some crowd noise for this match. They probably are for all the matches, but they went overboard for this one.
Backstage, Indi Hartwell asked Johnny Gargano to give Dexter Lumis a chance. Gargano said he would think about it. Gargano got annoyed by Lumis pulling on his glove. “Be normal,” Gargano said before leaving the room… [C]
Pete Dunne, Ridge Holland, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan delivered a brief promo from an undisclosed location to hype Holland facing Tommaso Ciampa later in the show…
Footage aired of Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne leaving Sarray lying in the backstage area…
[Hour Two] Johnny Gargano made his entrance. Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis came out, which annoyed Gargano. LA Knight made his entrance…
4. Johnny Gargano (w/Indi Hartwell, Dexter Lumis) vs. LA Knight. There were loud “Johnny Wrestling” chants from the crowd that drown out some LA Knight chants. Knight picked up Gargano and dropped him on the top rope in ugly fashion, as Gargano’s face either hit or nearly the top rope. Knight looked upset with himself and checked on Gargano, who seemed okay. Knight performed a slingshot shoulder block. [C]
Gargano was knocked off the apron. Lumis caught him. Gargano wasn’t pleased. Knight tried to take advantage of Gargano being distracted, but Gargano superkicked him. Gargano returned to the ring. Lumis held his hand out. Gargano reached for it, but Knight ended up spinning him around and hitting his finisher before scoring the pin…
LA Knight beat Johnny Gargano in roughly 14:00.
Powell’s POV: I get a kick out of the Hartwell and Lumis drama, but I hope Gargano can get away from it once the wedding angle plays out. Gargano is a great comedic performer, but I’m ready for him to become a serious character again because I think it could provide a spark to the NXT brand.
“MSK” Nash Carter and Wes Lee knocked on William Regal’s door. Lee pointed out that they never technically beat former champions Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan for the tag titles and asked for a match. Regal said he was going to take the rematch away from Burch and Lorcan as punishment, but he granted the match because the MSK duo asked for it… [C]
A brief video announced that Mei Ying of Tian Sha will have her first match on next week’s NXT television show… Wade Barrett said he’s been trying to track down Xyon Quinn after his moment with Ying last week and hasn’t been able to find him. Phoenix said she heard that Quinn trains by himself and keeps to himself…
5. NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez vs. Jessi Kamea (w/Franky Monet, Robert Stone) in a non-title match. Kamea’s entrance was not televised. Kamea targeted Gonzalez’s left knee early. Kamea caught her with a nice kick, but Gonzalez came back with a clothesline and a powerbomb and got the pin.
NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez beat Jessi Kamea in 2:45 in a non-title match.
After the match, Gonzalez stared at Monet, who talked smack while staring back…
Powell’s POV: It’s good to see that they are moving closer to Gonzalez defending the title against Monet. That should be a good feud. By the way, did Gonzalez turn or is she a tweener? She was attacked by Dakota Kai, but I didn’t see that as a babyface turn.
Backstage, Ember Moon pointed out that it’s her birthday to McKenzie Mitchell. Moon took issue with Kay Lee Ray talking about her earlier. Moon called for a match for next week… Samoa Joe’s interview was hyped as coming up after the break… [C] The NXT Coming video aired…
Wade Barrett interviewed Samoa Joe in front of a ring in a backstage area. Joe spoke being at the Las Vegas tryouts and having to fly across the country for his match against Karrion Kross when he regained the championship. Joe also spoke about the legacy of the title and how he needs to carry it on. Joe said that what he shows the world will be the way to championship gold. Joe asked who on the NXT roster would step up and seize their destiny…
6. Roderick Strong (w/Malcolm Bivens, Hachiman, Julius Creed, Brutus Creed) vs. Ikemen Jiro. Footage aired of Jiro accepting Strong’s open challenge in a social media video. Jiro got a little offense in, but Strong hit his double knee backbreaker for the win…
Roderick Strong defeated Ikemen Jiro in 5:00.
Powell’s POV: The Creed brothers are developmental wrestlers Jacob and Drew Kasper. They are both two-time All American collegiate wrestlers who were recruited to WWE by Jerry Brisco. I am anxious to see where they are at in their development as pro wrestlers.
Mitchell interviewed NXT Tag Champions Io Shirai and Zoey Stark and their challengers Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter about their tag title match next week. The challengers played up being best friends unlike the champions. Shirai said she didn’t like any of them, but she and Stark would win…
Ridge Holland was shown walking backstage with his crew behind him… [C]
Backstage, Cameron Grimes told Mitchell that Ted DiBiase taught him that there’s only one Million Dollar Man, but he also taught him that there’s only one Cameron Grimes. Zack Gibson and James Drake showed up and taunted Grimes over DiBiase giving him a replica version of the Million Dollar Championship. Grimes took the title and noted that it was heavy for a replica, then dropped it on Gibson’s foot…
The broadcast team hyped MSK vs. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch for the NXT Tag Titles, Ember Moon vs. Kay Lee Ray, and Io Shirai and Zoey Stark vs. Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter for the NXT Women’s Tag Titles for next week’s show… Entrances for the main event took place…
7. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ridge Holland (w/Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan). Ciampa had Holland down and was running the ropes when hi stablemates pulled him to ringside. Ciampa went to the floor to go after them, but he ended up brawling with Holland. Holland ended up on the broadcast table and was hit with a knee lift. Back in the ring, Holland hit Ciampa with a shoulder block after he’d been distracted by the others. [C]
[Overrun] A graphic listed Carmelo Hayes vs. Santos Escobar for next week’s show. Ciampa rallied with a series of clotheslines in the corner, then ran the ropes and blasted Holland with another before covering him for a two count.
Ciampa set up for his finisher, but Holland stuffed it and slammed Ciampa to the mat. The referee checked on Ciampa while Barrett recalled Ciampa’s past neck issues. Ciampa came back and picked up a near fall. Holland took the fight to ringside and hoisted up Ciampa and then ran him into the fenced plexiglass barrier.
Both men returned to the apron and traded shots. Ciampa returned to the ring and then caught Holland’s head through the ropes and threw a series of knees at it and then dropped him with Willow’s Bell and covered him for the pin.
Tommaso Ciampa beat Ridge Holland in 12:00.
After the match, Dunne, Lorcan, and Burch attacked Ciampa. The MSK duo of Wes Lee and Nash Carter came out and fought off Burch and Lorcan, then entered the ring and checked on Ciampa, whose music played to close the show…
Powell’s POV: A good main event. I was actually surprised to see Ciampa go over clean. I thought they might double down by having Holland follow up his win over Thatcher by getting a cheap win over Ciampa with some help from his sidekicks. I have no issue with Ciampa winning, though, as I’m all for him becoming a force in the singles division again. Overall, this was a solid show even if this does feel like a bit of a lame duck period due to all of the changes that are coming in a few weeks. I will be back later tonight with our weekly same night NXT TV audio review for Dot Net Members. Let me know what you thought of tonight’s show by grading it below.
I liked tonights show yes changes are coming to NXT but everybody needs to remember NXT wasn’t doing takeovers in arenas overnight the names that became big took some time to get to this point
So be patient nothings set in stone when it comes to wrestling
Given where the storylines are and who is being featured, it will be interesting to see what happens on 9/14. They aren’t exactly doing much transitioning in these taped shows.
I think the presentation will be overhauled. We likely will see more young talent in featured spots.
However, Triple H hasn’t exactly ignored young talent in the past. A mix of veterans and youth? How is that different than what it already is?
That “NXT coming soon” teaser video is giving me the creeps. There’s way to much color in that logo. It looks more fitting for Summerslam. Sure, the current logo is not that great and those dark wings are too much of a reminder of shitty main roster booked/damaged Karrion Kross but still, black and gold are the only colors I need in my NXT. This has that foul stench of McMahon or maybe it’s other Khan guy.
Based on that I am reading Vince is taking over NXT.
If I were HHH I’d sell the rest of my stock and buy ROH and enjoy my life
Auctions are my favorite way to draft in FFLs.