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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 12/27): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

By Robert Doherty, PWTorch Contributor

December 29, 2018

NXT Photo credit Scott Lunn (@ScottLunn)
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.

•Top Stories of the Week

  • The NXT men’s roster made its presence felt this week at the Madison Square Garden main roster show. The team of Ricochet, Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, and Pete Dune defeated The Undisputed Era (Cole, Strong, and O’Reilly), Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa. Ricochet picked up the pin on Cole after hitting a 630.
  • Bianca Belair defeated Lacey Evans, Mia Yim, and Io Shirai to become the #1 contender for Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship. That match will take place at NXT Takeover Phoenix on January 26th.
  • We now have our Men’s and Women’s singles title matches set for Takeover Phoenix. The other matches on the card have yet to be filled in yet. They seem to be waiting on the health of the War Raiders before a clash with The Undisputed Era is announced and NXT North American Champion Ricochet still has no dance partner for the first big event of 2019 but I’m guessing that’ll change in the next three weeks.
  • Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno is the main event set for next Wednesdays show.

•NXT Live Event Results

No live events

•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: NXT TakeOver Phoenix

NXT Takeover Phoenix
January 26, 2019
Phoenix, AZ (Talking Stick Resort Arena)

Projected Lineup:

  • Tomaso Ciampa (Champion) vs. Aleister Black
  • Undisputed Era (Champions) vs. War Raiders
  • Ricochet (Champion) vs. Johnny Gargano
  • Shayna Baszler (Champion) vs. Bianca Beair
  • Matt Riddle vs. someone/anyone

•Upcoming Events

Friday Jan. 4 – Center Stage Theatre (Atlanta, Georgia)
Saturday Jan. 5 – Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium (Spartanburg, South Carolina)
Saturday Jan. 5 – Crystal River Armory (Crystal River, Fla.)
Sunday Jan. 6 – Durham Armory (Durham, North Carolina)
Friday Jan. 11 – Havert L. Fenn Center (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Thursday Jan. 17 – Venice Community Center (Venice, Fla.)
Friday Jan. 18 – University Area CDC Gymnasium (Tampa, Fla.)
Saturday Jan. 19 – Citrus Springs (Citrus Springs, Fla.)
Thursday Jan. 24 – Viejas Arena (San Diego, Cal.)
Friday Jan 25 – Riverside Municipal Auditorium (Riverside, Cal.)
SATURDAY JAN 26. – WWE NXT TAKEOVER PHOENIX – TALKING STICK RESORT ARENA (Phoenix, Arizona)
Thursday Jan. 31 – Highlands Today Center (Sebring, Fla.)
Saturday Feb. 2 – Lakeland Armory (Lakeland, Fla.)
Thursday Feb. 7 – The Reserve Pavilion at Hilton Ocala (Ocala, Fla.)
Thursday Feb. 7 – RWJ Barnabas Arena (Toms River, New Jersey)
Friday Feb. 8 – St. Petersburg Armory (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Friday Feb. 8 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Saturday Feb. 9 – Lowell Memorial Auditorium (Lowell, MA)
Saturday Feb. 9 – Sanford Civic Center (Sanford, Fla.)
Sunday Feb. 10 – Ryan Center (Kingston, Rhode Island)

•Latest TV Highlights: 12/26 NXT TV Report

  • (1) Bianca Belair beat Lacey Evans, Mia Yim, and Io Shirai in fatal 4-way by pinfall on Evans (6:03 – 15:18)
  • (2) Jaxson Ryker beat Nick Taverna by pinfall (21:39 – 23:47)
  • Velveteen Dream amazing promo video (25:38 – 27:31)
  • Gargano/Black steel cage recap/Ciampa backstage promo (27:52 – 31:42)
  • (3) The Undisputed Era (Strong and O’Reilly) beat Heavy Machinery by pinfall to retain NXT Tag Team Championships (36:55 – 48:51)

•NXT in the media

  • Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn sat down with Chris Jericho this week on an episode of Talk Is Jericho. Sami discussed his current mental state, his relationship with Kevin Owens and Neville, plus much more. He’s a one of the more interesting people in all of WWE. LINK

•Latest NXT Podcast – “PWT Talks NXT” PWTorch Livecast

“Scoop & Dozer.” This week Harley R. Pageot, Tom Stoup, and Justin James discuss Undisputed Era vs. Heavy Machinery for the tag titles and Lacey Evans vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim in a four-way to crown the new #1 contender to the women’s championship in what may be Heavy Machinery and Evans’ final NXT matches. Plus: hot takes on the Forgotten Sons, Ciampa’s promo, and 2018 stats including best records, most matches, and most appearances.

-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “PWTorch” or “Pro Wrestling Torch” on your podcast app of choice

•Top NXT Tweets of the Week

Ciampa Tweet of the week.

You could make a case that all eleven men in this ring are future main roster title holders.

Words of wisdom from your NXT Women’s Champion

That’s a quick flight from Full Sail to MSG.

Viking wedding…..because of course it would be.

•Thoughts and Comments

Again, my NXT bias is probably shining through here, but I really think all eleven men involved in the NXT match at Madison Square Garden have the potential to hold main roster gold. For those who bitch about the lack of personalities on the main roster, these eleven not only have all the tools in the ring, but are fantastic characters.

Is there a Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano match coming at NXT TakeOver Phoenix? The match itself would be awesome, but it leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered. Where does Adam Cole fit in? Velveteen Dream? Matt Riddle? Etc… If you take Johnny out of the NXT Championship picture and move him onto the North American Championship, it leaves a lot of other possible Ricochet opponents with nothing to chase.

Thank you, NXT, for giving me a Jaxson Ryker singles match. The Forgotten Sons need to get a little push, and then he immediately should destroy both Blake and Cutler.

I’m hoping the lack of air time for the War Raiders the last couple of weeks isn’t indicative of a more serious injury to Hanson. It would leave a rather large hole on top of the tag team title contender list. I’m guessing Burch and Lorcan would get another crack at Undisputed Era, but is anyone really excited about that?

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 12/20): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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