9/5 NXT TV REPORT: Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream, Ohno vs. Kona Reeves, Street Profits vs. Forgotten Sons, Kairi Sane

NXT TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 5, 2018
TAPED 8/23 IN ORLANDO, FLA. AT FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY
REPORT BY JUSTIN JAMES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

[Q1] NXT kicks off with Kassius Ohno coming out to the ring, he is all smiles despite his more serious nature. He is facing Kona Reeves.

(1) KASSIUS OHNO vs. KONA REEVES

Ohno starts huffing and puffing at Reeves, then immediately takes over. Reeves manages to push Ohno in the corner, then backs off as Ohno gets mad. Reeves paintbrushes the back of Ohno’s head then celebrates, and Ohno knocks him silly. Ohno muscles Reeves to the mat then lands a knee drop to the face. Elbow from from rope #2 gets two. Reeves wants Hawaiian Drop, Ohno slips out, big right, Reeves is out.

WINNER: Kassius Ohno in 1:46. Good match to show Ohno’s continued growth as a threat.

Post-match, Ohno cuts a promo. He says there was so much buzz, until there wasn’t. Ohno became an afterthought. He used to be upset by it, but not he understands that there will always be someone new or fresh. Whoever the “next guy” with buzz will be, Ohno will still be here and knock them to the back of the line.

[ J.J.’s Reax: Good promo from Ohno. It felt in some ways like a “the fans turned on me so I am turning on them” style of bitter promo, but he didn’t actually say that. ]

Forgotten sons come out. It looks like they are “Accomplanied” by Jaxson Ryker. They are dressed like bikers, but like Sanity made a point of what countries they are from on their gear, Forgotten Sons have patches indicating they are veterans. They are facing Street Profits.

(2) STREET PROFITS (ANGELO DAWKINS & MONTEZ FORD) vs. FORGOTTEN SONS (WESLEY BLAKE & STEVE CUTLER w/Jaxson Ryker)

Blake immediately moves to an armbar, but Ford gets out, armdrag, tag to Dawkins. Cutler blind tags in, but the Street Profits send them outside. Ford drinks from his Solo Cup, fires up and lands a flip dive to the outside, feeds Cutler to Dawkins for a two count. Cutler tries to break free of Ford, manages to get the space to tag Blake while holding onto Ford, Blake wipes out Ford with a clothesline. Springboard knee drop gets two for Blake, then Cutler tags back in, team neckbreaker for two.

[Q2] Neckbreaker gives two to Cutler, then Blake tags in, leg drop on the apron is good for two. Ford finally gets through to Dawkins who cleans house on both Cutler and Blake. The ring is finally cleared. Cutler yanks Dawkins out of the ring, then gets sent out himself. Big DDT from Ford. Suddenly men dressed in black with masks come out and interfere without the ref seeing, it’s The Mighty (after Ford unmasks one), then Rykey lends a hand. Team move from Forgotten Sons wins the match. Wesley Blake looks like he may have a broken nose from the DDT.

WINNERS: Forgotten Sons in 6:35. That was a 6 minute match that felt like 16 minutes, and that’s not a compliment. Boring and I don’t care for the gimmick.

Backstage, Heavy Machinery is in William Regal’s office. Otis Dozovic acts nervous. He admits it… he was the one who wrecked the toilet. He has an excrutiating story about warm coffee and his bowels. Regal thanks them for the video footage they have given him. Tucker Knight says they say Tommaso Ciampa near Aleister Black.

Backstage, Ricochet and Pete Dunne are arguing about why they lost the match. Ricochet threatens to take the title from Dunne. The announcers promise us a Champion vs. Champion, Title vs. Title match in two weeks. Expected, but still very exciting.

NXT Women’s Champion Kairi Sane comes out. She has a treasure chest, in it is the championship. And some fake gold coins, which she grabs a handful or two of and tosses them to the crowd. Fun, unique presentation here. Trish Adora is out to face her.

(3) NXT Women’s Champion KAIRI SANE vs. TRISH ADORA – Non-Title Match

Sane tries a waistlock on the larger Adora. Adora blocks a rollup attempt, Sane with a leg yank then an axe kick and a pair of running neckbreakers, schoolgirl for two, then a Stretch Muffler. Adora gets to the ropes. Adora fires up. She lifts Sane up, but Sane slips out and hits a spinning backfist, then marches to the corner. Sliding elbow to Adora, Sane to the top for the Insane Elbow.

WINNER: Kairi Sane in 2:22. Fine match to remind us why Sane is the champion. Adora looked fine.

[Q3] Post-math, Shayna Baszler comes out. She knocks the treasure chest over, then tells Sane to enjoy it while it lasts, because she will take the title back. Baszler makes her way into the ring, then attacks Sane. Baszler has a flurry of strikes then a clothesline, then paces around Sane. Sane gets to her feet and looks angry, then fights back. Sane drives Bazsler to the ropes. Baszler to a knee, then the Interceptor sends Baszler out of the ring. Baszler pouts her way up the ramp.

Backstage, a self-made Ciampa phone promo. He says he is addressing why he hasn’t appeared since Takeover: Brooklyn. Simple answer, there is no #1 contender with Black and Gargano out of the picture. He chooses to film his promos because he doesn’t care about the opinions of the fans, he doesn’t need to lead them.

Backstage in Regal’s office, Lars Sullivan apologizes for not telling Regal that he was back. Regal says that Sullivan had motive and means. The lawyers asks why Sullivan was there. Sullivan says he was there to find Black because he owes him, but Sullivan heard him screaming, he say Undisputed Era drive away and Regal running there. If Sullivan was the one who did it, he would have been gloating over Black. Sullivan points out what happened to EC3. Then books Sullivan against Raul Mendoza. And requests that Sullivan’s “path of destruction stays in the ring”.

Velveteen Dream is out. He has on a Johnny Gargano shirt, cut to be a crop top and with “Wrestling” covered up with “Failure”. He’s getting a mixed reaction. In related news, Dream is making some EVOLVE appearances, apparently cleared with the office. Gargano isn’t happy and stomps out to the ring.

(4) JOHNNY GARGANO vs. VELVETEEN DREAM

Dream throws his shirt at Gargano before the bell. Garano is lucky the match hadn’t started, he probably would have lost right there. Dream sends Gargano to the mat then gloats. Gargano soves Dream down and yells at him. Dream dives at a leg, Gargano steps away then has a front facelock. Super quick action on the mat, these two are very intense. Dream to the dropes. Side headlock from Dream, Gargano slips out. Dream tries jumping over in the corner, Gargano puts the brakes on to outwit Dream. Stomps in the corner. They tussles on the mat. Gargano kicks Dream thorugh the ropes, then hits a sliding kick from the ring. Gargano sends Dream around the barricades, then yanks Dream hair and shouts at him. Gargano rolls Dream into the ring. Dream surprises Gargano with a flapjack into the ropes.

[Q4] Dream presses the advantage and wrecks Gargano in the corner. Stiff whip into the corner, followed by a neckbreaker. Dream covers for two. Bronco Buster to Gargano’s back. Kick and a rollup for a two count. Dream puts Gargano in a sleeper and Gargano sinks to the mat. Gargano still has a lot of life left in him and rallies and they trade strikes in the corner. Big boot drops Gargano, Dream to the top for an axe handle, Gargano blocks, they tangle some more and Dream is down off a DDT. Gargano kicks Dream out of the ring, Dream hits the ropes, goes running towards Gargano but takes a slingshot spear to the middle for two. Dream ont he apron, has a forearm, takes a superkick on the apron, Gargano with a leaping DDT which almost clips the ring steps, but sells his knee after the landing. Mixed 50-50 crowd here. Gargano has a knee in the corner for Dream, then his roll though kick, Dream ducks, Fameasser for a nearfall.

Dream catches a missle drop kick, then transitions to the Dreamvalley Driver, Gargano slips through, they trade covers, then trade kicks, clothesline from Gargano for two, Dream flops over into a cover for two. Gargano wants to climb the ropes but Dream grabs his feet from the apron. They kick the stuffing out of each other on the apron. Double big boot. Dreamvalley Driver attempt on the apron, Gargano slips out to the outside, Dream shoves him from behind into the steps, spinning DDT in the ring, Gargano kicks out at the last moment. Big chant for Dream. Dream starts to attack Gargano’s injured knee. Enziguri from the apron suns Dream, but he has a superkick to counter the slingshot spear, Dream looks for a top rope knee drop to the apron, Gargano dodges then lands a suicide dive. Gargano Escape on the outside, Dream is tapping but it doesn’t count because it is outside. The ref tells him to bring it in and starts a count. Gargano finally comes to his senses, returns to the ring, Dream barely beats the ten count.

Gargano sets up a Ciampa DDT, but Dream fights out, Gargano ties Dream in the ropes, super kick, then roppes to the outside and sets up the Ciampa DDT to the outside. The ref leaves the ring to yell at him. Gargano finally comes to his senses, goes to a young fan to the outside to remind himself that this isn’t who he is. Gargano looks ashamed in the ring. He thinks about dropping his knee pad, then stops. Dream calls him a failure. The crowd chants for Johnny. Gargano snaps, drops the kneepad, charges, gets caught into the Dreamvalley Driver which ends the match.

WINNER: Velveteen Dream in 15:56. Holy cow, can either of these two have a less than great match? This had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, wondering if Gargano would give in to the seed that Ciampa has laid inside his mind.

Post-match, the crowd is split between a “Johnny Failure” and a “Johnny Wrestling” chant. Gargano looks upset with himself, he knows he messed up and went back on his vow. Shot of Gargano from the ramp itself. Gargano walks out the side to the announcer booth, the crowd boos and gives him the goodbye song. Gargano leaves out the side as his remaining fans cheer for him.

[ J.J.’s Reax: that was just an emotionally brutal end to that match and post-match. Gargano continues to fight his demons. ]

FINAL REAX:  I didn’t think the Gargano story had any legs left, yet it continues to evolve and grow and get better. The “whodunnit” continues to go from low to new low, with literal bathroom humor tonight. I like seeing Ohno’s wins and not being sure where he is going. Reeves, who was built up as a heel, now has zero credibility. I suspect that no one sees much in him. Forgotten Sons did absolutely nothing for me, they are as generic as you can get for heels.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 8/29 NXT TV REPORT: Ricochet & Dunne vs. Strong & Cole, Dakota Kai, Keith Lee, Gargano promo, Whodunit mystery