By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
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NXT TV Taping
Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Report by Zack Zimmerman (@DotNetZim)
The show opened with Io Shirai coming out to a new heel entrance. She stalled and stalled before telling the crowd she doesn’t need them, and then walked away.
1. Matt Riddle defeated Arturo Ruas (formerly Adrian Jaoude). They worked this match as though it was a shoot, which was a neat change of pace. Riddle won by submission with grounded strikes. Post-match, Killian Dain made his return with an extended beatdown of Riddle before slamming him through the stage.
2. Kushida beat Apollo Crews by submission. This was an excellent back-and-forth match. Kushida’s best NXT match by leaps and bounds, as well as a great return to form from Crews. Big thumbs up.
NXT Champion Adam Cole came out for a promo and said he’d defend his title anytime against anyone. He teased like he was going to give Johnny Gargano a rematch tonight, but instead called out one of the trainees from the AIW Wrestling School in Cleveland, Twan Tucker. Tucker came out, but it was a swerve as he brought Gargano out anyway. Gargano ran down to beat the hell out of Cole through the crowd and all around the arena.
3. NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits retained the tag titles over Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. The Profits have made real improvement as workers and it showed. Strong match, with both teams getting a chance to look good.
After the match, Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole brawled back into the arena and into the ring. Gargano hit a superkick before forcing Cole to tap out to the Gargano Escape.
Yesterday’s report noted that the semifinals of the Breakout Tournament would be Jordan Miles vs. Cameron Grimes and Bronson Reed vs. Angel Garza, but they switched up the brackets either as a swerve or they changed plans.
4. Jordan Miles pinned Angel Garza in the semifinals of the Breakout Tournament. This was not as good as either one of these guy’s matches on Wednesday’s tapings, but it was solid. Miles got the win with a deadlift German suplex. While Miles was celebrating his win, Shane Thorne cut a promo into the camera at the commentary desk which the crowd could not hear.
5. Bianca Belair beat Xia Li. This was another decisive victory for Belair who appears to be picking up steam.
NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream came out for a promo. He was more intense than usual, almost rattled, and addressed Roderick Strong. He said Strong can go all night, but he’s not big enough to ride Dream’s ride. Strong came out and accused Dream of being scared of him. He challenged Dream for the North American Title at Takeover Toronto.
Suddenly, Pete Dunne’s music hit and he came out to a huge pop. Dunne snapped Roddy’s finger and then stared Dream down. Without saying a word, he made his intentions known.
6. Io Shirai beat Kacey Catanzaro by DQ. It looked like this would be a quick squash for Io, but Candice LeRae ran down and attacked her. Io escaped before Candice could do too much damage.
It was announced that later in the show, Roderick Strong would face Pete Dunne to determine the next challenger to Velveteen Dream’s North American Championship.
7. Damian Priest over Keith Lee. Solid big-man match. Priest used the referee as a shield before hitting the Roll of the Dice for the win.
8. Tyler Breeze pinned Jaxon Ryker (w/Steve Cutler, Wesley Blake). Breeze got the win with a surprise roll up. Afterwards, he got beaten down until Fandango made his return for the save. The crowd danced and sang like it was Raw-after-Mania 2013 as the babyfaces stood tall.
Malcolm Bivens (formerly Stokley Hathaway) was brought into the arena and seated in the front row to observe the next match.
8. Cameron Grimes pinned Bronson Reed in the semifinals of the Breakout Tournament. Decent match. Grimes won with the Caveman Stomp.
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler came out for a promo. She addressed Mia Yim, who apparently cut a promo on her and attacked Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke (none of which the live crowd saw). Mia Yim came out and said that Baszler looks a bit out of her element without her usual backup. Baszler called Yim street trash and held her title up to close the segment. It looks like that’s the Women’s Championship match for Toronto.
Matt Riddle’s music hit and he began to make his entrance when he was once again attacked by Killian Dain. Dain beat him down and hit a running cannonball into the ring steps to leave him lying.
9. Kushida beat Scott Parker (of Team 3.0) by submission. They did this exact match move-for-move on Wednesday’s tapings, so it’s safe to assume this was a re-shoot.
An in-ring contract signing was held between the Street Profits and the Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Team Championship match at Takeover Toronto. The Profits put UE over as perhaps the best team NXT has ever seen, but the Profits only option is to win. Both teams signed the contact and it concluded without violence.
10. Shane Thorne defeated Joaquin Wilde. Pretty good match. Thorne got the win with a Shining Wizard style kick.
11. Pete Dunne over Roderick Strong by submission to earn an NXT North American Championship match at Takeover Toronto. Good match, but not quite as good as one might hope for. Afterwards, Velveteen Dream came out to face off with Dunne. Dunne snapped Dream’s finger and laid him out with the Bitter End to close the show.
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