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NXT TV REPORT
OCTOBER 25, 2017
TAPED 10/4 IN ORLANDO, FLA. AT FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY
AIRED ON WWE NETWORK
REPORT BY JUSTIN JAMES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
[Q1] Pre-credits, William Regal says that because how Nikki Cross lost her qualifying match, she will have another opportunity. Undisputed Era, Sanity, and The Authors of Pain are on notice to behave. Next week, The Authors of Pain will get their rematch against Sanity, it seems that Sanity will get the Freebird Rule, but as a twist, the Sanity member not in the match will be banned from ringside.
Oney Lorcan and Banny Burch are out for a tag team match. I like this pairing, with their hard hitting styles. They are facing Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. It’s the battle of the enhancement talents. I won’t be surprised if Lars Sullivan makes an appearance.
(1) ONEY LORCAN & DANNY BURCH vs. TINO SABBATELLI & RIDDICK MOSS – Tag Team Match
Lorcan and Moss start. Moss gloats over his size advantage, so Lorcan attacks, but Moss is able to force Lorcan to the corner. Moss runs right into a dropkick and Burch is in. Burch thinks DDT, but Moss just picks him up and takes him to the corner to bring in Sabbatelli. Sabbatelli takes a missing dropkick to let Burch get some offense in, but a clothesline takes Burch down. Moss and Sabbatelli isolate Burch and use some teamwork. Burch weaves through them both to get to Lorcan who delivers chops and runing uppercuts to Moss and Sabbatelli, Moss catches a crossbody and puts Lorcan into the turnbuckle off a fallaway slam. Moss and Sabbatelli win it with a team move.
WINNERS: Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli. It’s a shame to see Lorcan and Burch take a loss here and be further defined down, they both have lots of upside. Moss and Sabbatelli did not embarass themselves at all.
-Recap of two weeks ago, when interferance from Undisputed Era cost Nikki Cross the Triple Threat, letting Peyton Royce move onto the Fatal Fourway at Takeover: Houston.
-The Battle Royal is up next. Important to note that the women are using the “over the top rope” rule not the lame “out of the ring” rule that the women wrestlers on the main roster use.
-Lots of Candice Larae is joining the match to a big reception. Lots of folks who are rarely used in the ring. Billie Kay is next. Nice reaction for Nikkie Cross, who comes in from the side opposite the ramp, and is wearing sunglasses.
(2) WOMEN’S BATTLE ROYAL – Winner Enters Takeover Title Fatal Four-way
Cross charges the ring and enters with punches for Conti, so they ring the bell. Conti is on the apron, heading up top, and Cross teaches her why that is a bad move.
Conti eliminated at 0:40.
[Q2] Conti yanks Cross from the ring, but it looks like it is not over the top rope. Royce takes a few cheap shots on Royce for good measure. Cross hasn’t re-entered the ring, though, so maybe she did get eliminated. Santana Garrett is in peril. She should have had a separate entrance.
Belair with a pair of rapid eliminations.
Rio Ripley eliminated at 2:54.
Zeda eliminated at 3:00.
Dakota Kai elimianted at at 4:25
Aliyah eliminated at 4:53.
Cross makes her return with a top rope crossbody to the crowd.
Cross takes out most of the folks in the ring, then has four eliminations.
Vanessa Borne eliminated at 5:50.
Sage Beckett eliminated at 5:55.
Santana Garrett eliminated at 6:05.
? eliminated at 6:10.
Sarah Logan elimianted at 6:56.
Larae and Evans tussle on the apron, and Evans is out.
Lacey Evans eliminated at 7:30.
The crowd has thined out to to Martinez, Belair, Cross, Kay, and Larae.
Belair press slams Larae out of the ring, drawing boos.
Candice Larae eliminated at 8:47.
Belair and Kay and Martinez and Cross square off. Kay almost gets knocked off the apron, but she grabs Belair’s long poney tail to stay in the ring. Kay gloats, and Belair unloads on her. Martinez jumps Belair, then Cross jumps on Kay. They fall through the ropes so they are stil in, Belair spears Martinez. Belair puts her hair up, then lifts Martinez, but Martinez fights out. Huge strikes from Martinez. Martinez puts Belair on the top, then big boots her off the top, Belair hangs on, catches Martinez through the ropes, drags Mertinez over the apron. They fight on the apron, they are both eligible for elimination. Cross shoves them both off.
Bianca Belair and Mercedez Martinez eliminated at 12:00.
Kay tries to take out Cross, but gets sent out herself.
Billie Kay eliminated at 12:17.
WINNER: Nikki Cross at 12:17. As far as battle royales go, that was pretty good. They gave Cross the full-on Kane booking to make her seem like a true threat.
Post-match, William Regal comes out holding the NXT Women’s Championship. Cross is on her knees like a kid opening Christmas presents. Royce comes into the ring to argue.
[Q3] Ember Moon’s music hits, and they argue. And of course, there is Kairi Sane. Just a lot of in-ring arguing without a mic. Aleister Black is next.
“Earlier this week,” outside the Performance Center, McIntyre is leaving. He gets interviewed, says he is going to an international tour for NXT. Zelina Vega interupts. She wants to know why Andrade Almas hasn’t gotten the contract for the match from William Regal yet. McIntyre reinterates that Almas needs to ask him to his face instead of sending Vega. Vega is furious.
Aleister Black makes his entrance. As Black comes out, Velveteen Dream suddenly rises behind him through the fog and jumps Black. Dream has a farker look, with a black headband and a denim outfit. Dream ties Black in the ropes,a nd demands that Black say his name. Black is defiant. Dream slaps him. Dream hits the ropes and Black manages to get a boot up and try a lightning quick Black Mass, but Dream ducks it and scoots out of the ring. Dream motions that Black was close but not quite there. The announcers make a big deal of the fact that Dream is the first one to dodge Black Mass, I’d need to fact check that, but it is super unusual to see anyone not go down to Black Mass one way or the other.
[ J.J.’s Reax: Almost always the “I appear out of nowhere” routine is saved for the comic book characters like Undertaker or Kane or Bray Wyatt. For Dream to do it, using Black’s entrance routine as the camoflage to make it happen, makes Dream seem super smart, and dodging the Black Mass looked great too. Dream looks strong in his attack on Black, and Black reminded us that even at a disadvantage, he is dangerous. This is just an incredible build on this feud, and Dream is literally doing all of the talking. ]
Almas and Vega come to the ring. Vega has a mic. She says she is successful because of her patience. Almas has been waiting a whole week for a championship match contract. Vega compliments McIntyre for climbing the moutain of success. But the higher you climb, the harder it is to breathe. She accuses McIntyre of ducking Almas. Strong, then McIntyre, are about to find out that they are not man enough to breathe the “rarified air of a champion”. And here is Roderick Strong.
(3) RODERICK STRONG vs. ANDRADE “CIEN” ALMAS (w/Zelina Vega)
[Q4] Rapid shift to the mat, then they start shoving each other. Shoulder block to Strong, but Strong trips Almas up and controls him. Almas gets Strong to the corner. Great mix of styles. They block hip tosses, backbreaker from Strong for one. They wrangle on the apron. [c]
Almas is wearing Strong down out of the break. Cross arm breaker through the ropes from Almas, to the five count, cover for two. The action is fast and furious as they go back and forth. Popup gutbuster from Strong has Almas gasping for air, but Strong rungs into a boot on the followup. Andother cross arm breaker through the ropes, Strong transitions to a full Boston Crab through the ropes, very unique. Almas hotshots Strong on the ropes, they end up on the apron. Enziguri, then a slam onto the apron, cover gets Strong two. Vega is looking very worried ringside. Strong plants Almas on the turnbuckle, Almas tries to fight down, hits a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Strong sets up a double underhook move, Almas shifts his weight to land a huracarana, sending Strong to the corner, running double knees to follow, nearfall. Vega is yelling at Almas to get the job done. Almas wants the hammerlock DDT, Strong slips out. Elbows all over, Strong is down in the corner, but pops out with a leaping knee then an Olympic slam to Almas. Another running knee, clothesline sends Almas out, dropkick to Almas. As the ref checks on Almas, Vega hits a head scissors to Strong, sending him into the stairs. Hammerlock DDT ends it.
WINNER: Andrade Almas in 9:18. Slick, slick action all over this match. This is the Andrade Almas that dazzles in the ring. Nice to see Vega cheating in the match in a way that makes sense, not a T-Shirt. And very unique to see the female manafer physically involve herself in a match in a way that actually does physical damage.
After the match, Vega and Almas go to the announcer booth. She takes the headset off Mauro Ranallo’s head and tells Mcintyre that Almas will see him in the ring next week to challenge him, then Almas speaks some Spanish into the microphone. Strong looks disappointed in the ring, and has some blood on him. So Undisputed Era come out. Cole tells Strong that he isn’t a loser and if he joins them he will do better. Lots of “Yes!” chants from the crowd. Cole takes off his UE armband, holds it out to Strong. Strong takes it, and looks at it. Cole tells him to think it over. Strong seems to be seriously considering it.
FINAL REAX: Truly enjoyable episode of NXT all around. The main event was really good and Zelina Vega has turned Andrade Almas into a star. Nikki Cross is being booked very strongly, and Bianca Belair got a lot of attention in that match too. the Black – Dream feud may be the best thing on NXT in terms of “hitting the small details” since Alexa Bliss was around. I cannot overstate how much I am enjoying their build here. The Strong – UE thing is just lazy, bad, cheap booking. We saw this exact same thing with Tye Dillenger and Sanity, except it was a jacket instead of an armband or t-shirt. Whoever is booking this needs a longer memory. In fact, everything they have done with UE is just awful. Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly are doing their parts pretty well but the bookers and writers are a disgrace.
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 10/18 NXT TV Report: Sanity vs. Undisputed Era, Ember Moon vs. Ruby Riot vs. Sonya Deville, plus Black, Ohno
I have to know what a ‘farker’ is, and how you look like one.
“? eliminated at 6:10” was Abbey Laith. I was hoping she’d be in longer.