NXT: Recap 5/15/19
I am back once again to talk some NXT. I just finished watching this week’s episode. It was another solid show. NXT is always consistent and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I have a little news before I recap the show. Let’s get into that first.
WWE has announced the next Takeover event after the show in June will take place on August 10, which is the night before Summerslam. NXT Takeover: Toronto will be held at the Scotia Bank Arena. Tickets go on sale this Friday. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend going. You will not be disappointed.
This is the second time NXT has done a Takeover in Toronto. The last one took place back in 2016. Some of the matches on the card was DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs The Revival in a two out of three falls match for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Canada’s own Bobby Roode vs Tye Dillinger who’s also Canadian, The finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic between The Authors of Pain and TM 61, Asuka taking on a returning Mickie James, and Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Title. Wow, what a card that was. I hope this event is just as good.
Former Impact Wrestling Star Michael Paris (DJZ) has recently signed with WWE and has reported to the performance center for training. I’m not sure if he will use that same name in NXT but we shall see. NXT recently had a big tryout session in Florida. One of the names who tried out was Ivelisse. She worked on the NXT brand before in 2011–2012 even before it transitioned to what we see today when it was still FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling). She went by the ring name Sofia Cortez. I feel it was a mistake to let her go. She’s gone onto to have great success on the indies as well as Lucha Underground. I hope she comes back. She would be an excellent addition to the NXT roster. Now let’s get into this week’s recap.
We have a new commentator this week. WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoneix. She will replace Percy Watson who has left the company to pursue other interest. I wasn’t crazy about is commentary but he had his moments. I wish him well. The show kicks of this week with the NXT tag team champions The Viking Raiders. They say that they have invaded Monday Night Raw and brutalized the tag team division on that show. They ask for General Manager Willam Regal to join them in the ring. The Viking Raiders tell Regal that since no one can take the tag titles from them, they have no choice but to relinquish them.
This is when the Street Profits music hits and they come to the ring. They state their claim for why they feel they can beat them. Montez Ford mentions the match these two teams had a few weeks ago and how they took the fight to them. The NXT Universe and the Viking Raiders themselves know they can beat them. Instead of relinquishing the titles, they tell Regal to make the match. He makes it official and that will be the main event for the night. Mauro Ranallo dropped a Montell Jordan line and said this is how we do it. I love him on commentary. He always brings excitement to the mix.
We get highlights from last weeks match between Adam Cole (Bay Bay) and Matt Riddle. A clip was shown after the match of the tension with the Undisputed Era getting even more heated as Adam Cole cusses Roderick Strong out after the match. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’ Reilly try to calm Cole down. We get back to the show and Cathy Kelley is interviewing the guy’s asking them about what’s been going on lately with the group and where Roderick Strong was. Adam Cole says he doesn’t know where Strong is at. When it comes to the leader of the Undisputed Era there’s no question it’s me Adam Cole Bay Bay he tells Kelley.
Strong finally shows up. He says he’s been thinking about what’s been going on lately. We are stronger when we are together. As far as Riddle goes, that’s been taking care of. He hands Cole one of Riddle’s flip flops. The guys were impressed. Cole gives Strong his Undisputed Era armband back. This makes for an interesting plot twist. Could these two guys have worked out their differences? Or is it all a set? I look forward to seeing what happens next with these four men.
Our first match of the night is between Keith Lee and Cezar Bononi. Keith Lee returns to action after being injured. I had a feeling that’s why we haven’t seen him. He’s so over with the crowd. We got a Bask in his glory chant break out. The match was ok. I feel it was mainly used to put over Lee and make him look good in his return. He hit a vicious right hook on Bononi. Lee followed that up with the pounce. Monty Brown would be proud. Lee picks up the win with the spirit bomb which is basically a sitdown powerbomb. I love Lee. He is so light on his feet and moves so well for a guy his size. He’s a future champion for sure.
Another highlight is shown from last week when Io Shirai attacked Shayna Baszler when she was watching her girls Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shaifer have a sparing session. I totally missed this last week. People from the performance center were trying to break it up. It was crazy. Cathy Kelley appears again outside of Regal’s office to announce that Shayna will defend her woman’s title at next month’s Takeover event. That will be a good match. The Forgotten Sons show up. They wanna speak to Regal. The guys are not happy that The Street Profits received a tag team title match before they did. Jaxson Ryker of the Forgotten Sons says that if Regal doesn’t make things right that they will show why you should never forget the Forgotten Sons.
Kushida is back in action this week. He’s taken on Kona Reeves. We haven’t seen Reeves on TV in a while. He’s got new ring gear. Reeves is getting better in the ring. He showed more of a mean streak in this match. I liked it. Kushida hit a big knee strike on Reeves that just about took his head off. 205 Live’s Drew Gulak appeared on the stage to watch the match. Kushida pays homage to Tajiri with the handspring back elbow. We saw a nice somersault to the outside as well by Kushida. He would go on to pick up the win by submission with the hoverboard/kimura lock. Drew didn’t look impressed. That looks to be Kushida’s first feud. I had mentioned that Gulak would be a good opponent for Kushida. Those two will put on an awesome match.
Bianca Belair is backstage with Cathy Kelley. She wants her to ask Regal when will she get another woman’s title match. She runs into Mia Yim coming out of Regal’s office. She asks what is she doing here. Belair assumes she is asking for a title match too. Mia said she actually asked for a rematch with Bianca. Mia tells her you haven’t handled me yet but in the rematch, she will handle hers. She is not intimidated at all by Belair. Belair continues on to Regal’s office but she slams the door in Kelley’s face. After all that she clearly wasn’t needed. This is the best thing for Bianca right now. She can learn so much from working with a veteran like Yim.
Matt Riddle is shown backstage getting his ribs taped after the attack from Roderick Strong. NXT champion Johnny Gargano is interviewed and asked for an update on Riddle. He said he’s not worried about the bro because he can take care of himself. Gargano goes on to say that the Undisputed Era being on the same page again doesn’t bother him. He knows that they are coming for him. He talked to Regal and said that he will defend his title next month at the Takeover event against Adam Cole. These two tore the house down at Takeover New York. I’m sure they will do it once again
Vanessa Borne is in action taking on Jessie. Born is accompanied by Aliyah. I was very impressed with Borne here. She’s getting better in the ring. Jessie hit a nice spinning heel kick on Borne. This was the first time seeing Jessie on TV for me anyway. Aliayh got involved in the match when the referee wasn’t looking and slapped Jessie. Borne would go on to win with a corkscrew neckbreaker. From the moment I saw her on the Mae Young Classic, I knew they could do a lot with her. There’s still room to grow but I can definitely tell she’s putting some work in with her character and in-ring work. Aliyah seems to have found herself as well. I see improvement in her too. Shoutout to Vanessa Borne. She has been liking my comments on Instagram lately. I think that’s very cool.
In our main event, the NXT tag team titles are on the line. The Viking Raiders vs The Street Profits. The Street Profits have really gotten over. You even have fans in the crowd raising their red cups along with Montez Ford. I love it. This was a wild one. The Viking Raiders start off fast with instant offense to try and get the quick win. Very similar to how the Street Profits did in their last match. Montez hit his signature frog splash and was so close to getting the victory. The height he got on that splash was insane.
The match ends in a DQ after the Forgotten Sons got involved. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan came down to the ring too. You have four teams brawling in absolute chaos ringside. It was wild that’s for sure. The show ends with The Viking Raiders dropping the belts in the ring and taking a bow. Does this mean they are dropping the belts? The way things played out I figured we’d get a fatal 4-way match with these teams at next month Takeover show. I guess we will have to wait and see how this all plays out.
NXT delivers once again. It left me with many questions tho. What’s next for the tag team titles? Is the Undisputed Era really back on the same page? Could Roderick Strong cost Adam Cole his NXT Title match? Now that Keith Lee is back will he pick up his feud with Dominik Dijakovic? What is Drew Gulak doing in NXT? Will he just feud with Kushida or do more? Where was the Velveteen Dream at? It’s always good to see him. That’s it for me. If you wanna hear me talk more about the NXT brand, check out my podcast We Talk Next as myself and my friend Keda discuss all things on the NXT brand. I posted links below of the last two episodes. It can be found on Podbean and Spotify. Until next time take care and continue to support NXT!
Twitter: @MoneyMakerChris
@WTNNetwork1
Episode 10: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-8h85d-b0629f
Episode 11: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ppsip-b143be
