SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
DECEMBER 5, 2018
TAPED IN ORLANDO, FLA. AT FULL SAIL UNIVERS
REPORT BY JUSTIN JAMES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
[Q1] Matt Riddle kicks the show off. He is facing Punishment Martinez making his debut on NXT. He is clearly a heel. Riddle grins at him.
(1) MATT RIDDLE vs. PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ
Split support from the crowd. Martinez forces Riddle into the corner on the lockup, Riddle turns it around then lures Martinez out. Riddle dodges offense, tries a sleeper hold, Martinez drops down. Lightning fast action here, Riddle puts Martinez in the corner, cyclone kick right back from Martinez for two. Riddle has a right off the mat, Martinez lands a brutal clothesline to drop Riddle. Riddle with slaps, Martinez locks on a choke, Riddle kicks away, they put the hurt on each other, Riddle looks for the Bromission but Martinez muscles out, applies the hold for a quick submission.
WINNER: Matt Riddle in 3:06. While I am down on Riddle’s character, I completely am into his in-ring talent. Martinez also highly impressed me here. Great look, unique entrance theme, hard-hitting in-ring style. While he is not like Drew McIntyre in any particular way, he has the same combination of size, power, look, and presence.
Post-match, as Riddle poses on the ramp, Kassius Ohno slides behind Riddle and nails him wit the cyclone elbow to knock Riddle out next to the ramp. Ohno saunters off. No one bothers to check on Riddle, not even a ref.
Package on Ricochet.
Inteview outside with Ricochet. He does not just want to be a highlight reel, he is success and the NXT North American Championship proves it. He will defend the title next week and is about to talk to William Regal to find out who he defends against.
[ J.J.’s Reax: short and to the point, and Ricochet put the title over well. ]
Package on Heavy Machinery training in the Performance Center. Knight and Dozovic talk about how they didn’t win the Tag Team Championship last year, but they have been working hard and are ready to beat Undisputed Era.
[ J.J.’s Reax: Really good package that made me like these two even more. Great delivery from Tucker Knight especially. ]
A Tweet from Regal is shown, there will be Fatal Four Way for the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship in three weeks, Bianca Belair is already qualified with a win at a house show.
Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza are out next. They are facing the Forgotten Sons.
(1) RAUL MENDOZA & HUMBERTO CARRILLO vs. FORGOTTON SONS (STEVE CUTLER & WESLEY BLAKE w/Jaxson Ryker)
[Q2] Cutler and Mendoza start. Cutler with an early edge, but Mendoza’s speed and agility sends Cutler to the corner. Carrillo tags in and they just totally impress as a pair. Mendoza and Carrillo have the heel corner for some reason. Carrillo gets brought over to Blake and takes offense, but escapes and puts himself over big time. Mendoza tries Poetry in Motion but Blake catches him and brings him to Cutler. Double backbreaker from Cutler and Blake. Suplex breaks Mendoza free, monster crossbody takes out Blake, handspring back elbow, Carrillo springboards over Blake, landing a flying arm drag on Cutler, moonsault to Blake, Mendoza protects Carrillo, Cutler punches him out of the air, Blake takes Carrillo out. Double team gets the win on Carrillo.
WINNER: Forgotten Sons in 4:51. Carrillo and Mendoza were so exciting to watch, so red-meat babyface in their presentation, and so skilled in their execution, that you would be forgiven if you were a first time viewer in thinking that Blake and Cutler were the underdogs. The audience is so hungry to see Carrillo and Mendoza pushed, and I am too. For a team that is nothing but enhancement talent that never gets to cut a promo, they are pretty over.
Velveteen Dream cuts off Cathy Kelley’s questioning, looks at the set, snaps his fingers. The set lights up purple and his music hits. He mulls his vuture. The People, the Internet, and the NXT locker room is talking about him, people have even asked Triple H about him. He wins. What’s next? Leaving her. He snaps his fingers which cuts his music and he departs.
[ J.J.’s Reax: Dream does not need Undertaker’s magic powers to command the production truck. It’s too gimmicky. ]
Undisputed Era cut a promo from what looks like the inside of a U-Haul truck. They double check that the doors are locked so War Raiders can’t get in. Bobby Fish cuts a promo on EC3, he says that he isn’t just another guy. He slaps a beat up chair and says he gets it again. Roderick Strong wants to know who is next, and points out that they injured War Raiders. Kyle O’Reilly mentions Heavy Machinery but says they haven’t faced anyone like Undisputed Era.
Medical update on Hanson, he has broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and torn ligaments after Takeover: War Games.
•Latest NXT Podcast – “PWT Talks NXT” PWTorch Livecast
In this episode, Kelly Wells, Tom Stoup, and Justin James cover the Black/Gargano/Ciampa segment and awkward live moments, who might be filling future main event spots, Dakota Kai’s rising stock, and more.
-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “PWTorch” or “Pro Wrestling Torch” on your podcast app of choice
(2) DAKOTA KAI vs. NXT Champion SHAYNA BASZLER (w/Marina Shafir, Jessamyn Duke)
[Q3] Kai starts off strong. Baszler gets sent out of the ring, catches a kick, and slams Kai into the ring post by the leg. Baszler returns to the ring to post as Kai takes a count. Baszler works an arm as soon as Kai comes into the ring, holding Kai’s face down then setting up the Baszler Stomp, Kai yanks her arm away, schoolgirl for one. Baszler mangles Kai’s arm. Referree Jessika Carr emphatically checks on Kai’s health, as she does in Baszler matches. Kai suddenly has a kick then grabs Baszler’s hair and kicks her in the head over and over. Facewash kicks in the corner. Baszler dodges in the corner and hits a leaping knee lift. The crowd is cheering for Baszler. Kai with a pump kick, then she heds to the top for a Coup de Grace, kickout at two. Baszler with a wrist lock, Kai to the corner then climbing the turnbuckle, Baszler follows and wants a gutwrench superplex, Kai kicks her off, Baszler with an enxigrui, gutwrench superplex. Baszler wants a stomp, Kai kicks her away, then Baszler dodges a kick and trips her up, Kirafuda Clutch, Kai taps out.
WINNER: Dakota Kai in 6:06. Kai looked much more capable than her previous matches against Baszler, but she lost clean yet again.
Post-match, the Horsewomen deliver a beating to Kai. Io Shirai makes the save despite the numbers disadvantage. Massive right from Shirai drops Baszler. Kai looks like a dunce for coming out alone with Baszler had Duke and Shafir with her.
Vignette for Dijakovic.
EC3 is booked to face Bobby Fish next week. With all of the emphasis on Fish and chairs lately, could we see him on the TLC PPV?
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa is out next for an in-ring promo.
Ciampa touts his win at Takeover: War Games. A kid in the audience has a “Ciampa is a bully” sign. He is angry that despite his wins the audience rejects him. He singles people int he audience out. He points directly to Mauro Ranallo specifically and says that “the voice of NXT does not beleive in me”, Ranallo has a stony gaze in return.
[Q4] Ciampa says that he will be studied for years, he is not the flavor of the week or the month, he is 2018’s sports entertainer of the year, he will be 2019’s… Aleister Black’s music hits. Good pop for Black. Uh oh, Black has a mic, that doesn’t bode well.
Black says that he absolved Johnny Gargano for his sins, and he will absolve Ciampa for his sins and will have his rematch against Ciampa at Takeover: Phoenix. Johnny Gargano’s music hits and he gets a big pop. He says that Black isn’t getting a shot yet, they have unfinished business. Ciampa slips out to the apron and says that he loves it with Gargano “leaves Johnny Wrestling in the back and brings out Johnny Badass”. Ciampa starts to rile them up and suggests they need a cage match to sort this out between the two of them. He says the can tell both of them like the idea, and the crowd loves the idea too. Gargano asks the crowd if that’s what they want, the cheer, Gargano fires up and says he wants it. Black screams that Johnny Wrestling is dead, they will fight anywhere, the parking lot. Gargano says “parking lot, how did that work out for you last time?” Black ends up trying Black Mass, Gargano ducks it and slips outside. Black is angry so he Black Mass’s Ciampa instead.
[ J.J.’s Reax: This was a brilliantly constructed segment, with Ciampa taunting Black into a match against Gargano in a cage at Takeover: Phoenix instead of against himself for the title. Gargano was outstanding bringing his fired-up A game as well. The weak link was Black, doing his shaking with rage routine that looks comical not serious. ]
FINAL THOUGHTS: I am already getting exciting for Takeover: Phoenix, with the possibility of Black – Gargano being a cage match (or perhaps even a cage match with Ciampa as well for the title, and Undisputed Era likely to face Heavy Machinery. The women’s division is moving along an obvious but still enjoyable path to introduce Shirai, Duke, and Shafir to the audience. Belair going into the #1 contender Fatal Four Way was a gimme, the question is who are the other three?
CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 11/28 NXT TV REPORT: Lars Sullivan vs. Keith Lee, EC3 vs. Marcel Barthel, Mia Yim vs. Vanessa Borne, Lorcan & Burch vs. The Mighty
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