This Week In NXT 8th Edition: News and Recap
Welcome back once again to another edition of The Week In NXT. It’s been a while but I have returned to talk about my favorite brand in the wrestling world today. Last week was another good episode of NXT. The road to NXT Takeover Toronto is almost upon us. Now let’s get into some news and a recap of the latest episode.
Last week, both Gangrel and Chris Sabin were guest coaches at the performance center. These are two popular names in the wrestling business. Gangrel had one of the coolest entrances of all time with The Brood. Chris Sabin is part of one of the top tag teams in recent memory along with Alex Shelly in the Motor City Machine Guns. Having both guys teaching the up and coming stars is huge. They can learn a lot from both men. Scott Hall was recently a guest coach as well. Who will be the next guest coach to be brought in? I’d love to see Madusa or Victoria brought in to help the woman. That would be cool. How about Stone Cold Steve Austin? Oh Hell Yeah!
Tomasso Ciampa continues to post his workouts online as he recovers from neck surgery. I think it’s cool he has his baby daughter in there with him as he works out. He’s supposed to be having a follow-up appointment to check his progress according to his Instagram this week. He seems to be doing quite well. We will have to see what the doctors say after his appointment. I can not wait to see him back in the ring. NXT is doing fine but he is sorely missed. He was the best heel I had seen in years. With a lot of real heat on his character. Now let’s get into the recap.
The show kicks off with Tyler Breeze vs Jaxson Ryker of the Forgotten Sons who were ringside. Ryker was dominating early on. Tyler made a comeback and got some offense in. Then Ryker was right back on the attack. Breeze gets the upset win with the victory roll. The Forgotten Sons gang up on Breeze at the end of the match. All of a sudden we see a returning Fandango come out to help his friend get the upper hand. Looks like Fandango will be a part of the NXT roster now. Good for him. I mentioned in my last post maybe a former NXT star would assist Tyler in this feud. This will be interesting moving forward to see how it all plays out.
Candice LeRae is out in the parking lot of Full Sail waiting on Io Shirai to arrive. Things have gotten personal with these two in recent weeks. Regal approaches her later in the night to say Shirai is not here. Candice says she wants a match with her at Takeover. Regal grants her wish. At Takeover Toronto it will be Candice LaRae vs Io Shirai. That should be a good match.
Cameron Grimes advances in the semifinals of the NXT Breakout Tournament by beating Bronson Reed. It was a good match. A pretty evenly fought battle with both guys getting a good amount of offense in on each other. Reed will take on Jordan Myles to determine the winner of the tournament. This has been fun to watch and I hope they do one for the woman next. They deserve the opportunity as well.
Mia Yim vs Shayna Baszler has been made official for Takeover Toronto with the NXT Woman’s Title on the line. Shayna and Mia had a nice back and forth exchange. Shayna told Mia this isn't the streets. You're on the big stage now. She even called Mia a street rat. Mia came out in her NWA shirt and asked was she scared? Mia said she has nothing to lose and everything to gain. I love Mia’s swagger. She’s as real as it gets and isn’t afraid of nothing. I love it. This will be another good match on the Takeover card.
In the main event, we have Roderick Strong vs Pete Dunne. What a match between these two. Pete Dunne is so good. The way he works the limps and tries to snap your fingers is unbelievable. Strong didn’t back down. He hung in there till the very end when he had to tap out. Dunne picks up the win by submission. The Velveteen Dream tries to sneak into the ring. He gets in and is face to face with Dunne. Dunne snaps Dream’s fingers and hits him with a bitter end to close out the show.
This was another solid effort by the black and yellow brand. On the next show, we will have Matt Riddle go one on one with Killian Dain. This is Dain’s first match back after returning from injury. Also, we will have the contract signing for the NXT Tag Team Title match between The Street Profits and The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’ Reilly). That will be a good segment. Takeover Toronto is this Saturday. I’ll be back with predictions for that. Until then, take care and continue to support the NXT Brand. It is must-see TV.
