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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 4/18): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

By Robert Doherty, PWTorch Contributor

April 20, 2019

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

  • Two big matches were announced for NXT TV Wednesday. NXT Tag Team Champions War Raiders will take on Street Profits for the NXT Tag Team Titles. Also, NXT Champion Johnny Gargano will take on The Undisputed Era’s Roderick Strong in a non-title match.
  • The War Raiders made their main roster debut Monday night on Raw under a new name (The Viking Experience) and won an 8 man tag match alongside former NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival.
  • Kairi Sane also made her main roster debut on Smackdown Live this week as part of a tag team with former NXT Champion Asuka. Sane gave her emotional goodbye to the NXT roster and fans last week.
  • WWE officially announced the arrival of their three newest recruits to the performance center. Kushida, Shane Strickland, and Humberto Garza all reported this week and will be performing on Wednesday nights in the very near future.

•NXT Live Event Results

April 12 Largo, Fla.

  • Nick Comoroto beat Samuel Shaw
  • Vanessa Borne and Aliyah beat Lacey Lane and Kacey Catanzaro
  • Danny Burch beat Elliot Sexton
  • Jermaine Haley beat Eric Bugenhagen
  • Babatunde, Jeff Lee, and Matt Parker beat Mansoor Al-Shehail, Rinku Singh, and Saurav Gurjar
  • Albert Hardie Jr. beat Kona Reeves
  • Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel beat Raul Mendoza and Humberto Carrillo
  • Reina Gonzalez beat Rachel Evers
  • Velveteen Dream beat Adam Cole and Matt Riddle to retain NXT North American Championship

(Results courtesy of 411mania.com)

April 13 Sanford, Fla.

  • Brenna Williams beat Jeet Singh
  • Reina Gonzalez beat Kavita Devi
  • Danny Burch beat Brendan Vick
  • Riddick Moss, Luke Menzies, and Sam Shaw beat Jeff Parker, Albert Hardie Jr., and Matt Lee
  • Punishment Martinez beat Trevor Lee
  • Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke beat MJ Jenkins and Candice LeRae
  • Velveteen Dream beat Dan Matha to retain NXT North American Championship
  • KUSHIDA! and Matt Riddle beat The Undisputed Era

(Results courtesy of lordsofpain.net)

•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: NXT TakeOver San Jose

NXT TakeOver San Jose
June 8, 2019
San Jose, Cal. (Event Center Arena)

Projected Lineup:

  • Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Champion) vs. ?
  • Johnny Gargano (NXT Men’s Champion) vs. ?
  • Velveteen Dream (NXT North American Champion) vs. ?
  • The War Raiders (NXT Tag Team Champions) vs. ?

•Upcoming Live Events

Thursday Apr. 18 – Lakeland Armory (Lakeland, Fla.)
Friday Apr. 19 – Maxwell Snyder Armory (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Saturday Apr. 20 – University Area CDC Gymnasium (Tampa, Fla.)
Thursday Apr. 25 – Orlando Live Events (Casselberry, Fla.)
Thursday Apr. 25 – Ralston Arena (Omaha, Neb.)
Friday Apr. 26 – Rivercenter (Davenport, Iowa)
Saturday Apr. 27 – Turner Hall Ballroom (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Saturday Apr. 27 – Dade City Armory (Dade City, Fla.)
Saturday April. 28 – Roy Wilkins Auditorium (St. Paul, Minn.)
Friday May 3 – Palm Beach County Convention Center (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Saturday May 4 – Havert L. Fenn Center (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Friday May 10 – Highlands Today Center (Sebring, Fla.)
Thursday May 16 – Sands Event Center (Bethlehem, Penn.) JUST ADDED
Friday May 17 – The Fillmore Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Penn.) JUST ADDED
Friday May 17 – St. Petersburg Armory (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Saturday May 18 – APG Federal Credit Union Arena (Baltimore, Md.) JUST ADDED
Sunday May 19 – Asbury Park Convention Hall (Asbury Park, New Jersey) JUST ADDED
Thursday May 23 – Bartow Armory (Bartow, Fla.)
Friday May 24 – Fieldhouse at Watsco Center (Coral Gables, Fla.)
Saturday June 8 – NXT TAKEOVER:SAN JOSE (San Jose, Cal.)
Saturday June 29 – Venice Community Center (Venice, Fla.)

•Latest TV Highlights: 4/17 NXT TV Report

  • (1) Velveteen Dream beat Buddy Murphy by pinfall to retain NXT North American Championship (5:39 – 20:35)
  • Street Profits edition of Street Talk (25:18 – 27:22)
  • Johnny Gargano in ring promo (27:25 – 35:10)
  • Interrupted by The Undisputed Era (30:32)
  • (2) Donovan Dijakovic beat Aaron Frye by pinfall (39:05 – 39:18)
  • Cathy Kelly interviews The Undisputed Era backstage (41:02 – 42:22)
  • (3) Shayna Basler beat Kairi Sane by DQ (49:49 – 58:07)

(Check out PWTorch’s NXT TV Report HERE)

•NXT in the media

  • WWE.com sat down with NXT Tag Team The Street Profits for a Q&A this week. The Street Profits believe their time is now in NXT and want a title shot against the War Raiders (and that’s exactly what they were granted on this weeks NXT TV episode). Is this a Q&A with the next NXT Tag Team Champions??? Only time will tell. Check out the interview HERE.
  • MUST READ!!!! Amazing column on the WWE’s performance center in Sports Business Journal this past week. Ever wonder what the top NXT starts make? Well, wonder no more in this in-depth look at what it takes to become a WWE superstar. LINK

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

In this episode, Kelly Wells and Tom Stoup ponder how bad “The Viking Experience” really is, get hyped about new title challengers, and cover a very bizarre dream about an aquatic Rikishi.

-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

Two. Weeks. I’m predicting a Gargano, Kushida, Cole triple threat at TakeOver:Toronto.

Translation: It is a dream standing in the same ring as Asuka and Paige.

https://twitter.com/KairiSaneWWE/status/1118473464648744960

Bugenhagen took over Evolve. I need more Bugenhagen in my life.

Ok, Erik. Haha. God, I hate Vince and his ridiculous, unnecessary name changes.

•Thoughts and Comments

  • So many thoughts and comments coursing through my brain right now. Just a few questions that immediately jump out. Why have they not built up at least one tag team in the division over the last few months? Why did The Viking Experience (hahahahahahahaha) retain the NXT Tag Titles at TakeOver if they were immediately going to get called up? Why were they not wearing the NXT tag belts during their Raw appearance? Finally, why The VIKING EXPERIENCE?!?!? When nothing makes sense, there’s only one answer: Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Please go away, Vince. Just. Go. Away.
  • New opening for NXT TV, and it contains some new faces. Everyone featured in the opening should factor heavily in the new NXT landscape… Everyone except for maybe Bugenhagen.
  • Phenomenal promo by Johnny Gargano this week on NXT TV. He looks mighty comfortable with that championship belt around his waist.
  • R.I.P. Sanity. The WWE Creative team responsible for the main roster tag team division should be ashamed of themselves. Quick list of the NXT Tag Teams brought up over the last 4+ years that have been failed miserably by creative. I’m sure you’ll be able to add The Viking Experience to this list in a few months.
    • Ascension
    • Sanity
    • Enzo and Cass
    • American Alpha
    • Vaudevillians
    • Authors of Pain
    • The Revival
  • EC3 has to be questioning his decision to sign with WWE. Just another indictment on the WORST “creative” team in professional wrestling right now.

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 4/11): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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