NXT is back this week with a special treat as Johnny Gargano returns to action for the first time since winning the NXT Championship at NXT Takeover: New York. On last week’s show, it was clear that he and The Undisputed Era still have beef, so he will take on Roderick Strong in the main event of the program. That does not come until later on though. For right now, Full Sail University’s favorite tag team: The Forgotten Sons were in action against a familiar face from the 205 Live roster.
Jaxson Ryker vs. Humberto Carrillo –
Unlike previous matches involving The Forgotten Sons, Jaxson Ryker was in action while Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake observed from ringside. Ryker defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch in a 2-on-1 handicap match a couple of weeks ago, so he is clearly on the rise in NXT right now. Ryker took on Humberto Carrillo tonight.
Ryker instantly was on the move and took down the much smaller Carrillo. Carrillo tried to take over with a waistlock. He hit a springboard kick on Ryker, but he woke up quickly and chased him outside of the ring. Carrillo did a handspring back elbow on The Forgotten Sons’ leader.
Jaxson Ryker is back up and is very angry with Carrillo upstaging him tonight. He grabbed onto the cruiserweight and put him in the tree of woe in the corner of the ring. Strikes to the back afterwards before hitting a widowmaker on him. Carrillo tried to roll out of the ring and recover, but Ryker followed him out there and attacked him all over the ringside area. He shoved him headfirst into the barricades and ring aprons while Cutler and Blake watched on. Ryker propped Carrillo up against the barricade and gave some vicious looking knees to the face. The referee then called the match off due to a double count-out.
Winner: Double Count-Out
The assault continued after the match was over. All three Forgotten Sons members tried to gang up on Carrrillo, but then it was Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch to the rescue. Lorcan and Burch had chairs and threatened to attack The Forgotten Sons. They argued with Blake and Cutler as Ryker simply stood behind his men and stared intensely. Blake and Cutler dragged their leader away as he tried to break free and make his way over to Lorcan and Burch.
Adam Cole was doing a photoshoot and was asked about Roderick Strong facing Johnny Gargano. Cole said that Gargano wrestling Strong and not himself, the leader of The Undisputed Era, shows that he is just a coward. He swears that Strong will win until Matt Riddle wanders in and giggles at Cole. Riddle is next for photos and couldn’t help but overhear how jealous Cole is over Strong wrestling the champion and not himself. Cole said that he had bigger matters to tend to than Riddle and left as “The Original Bro” got right to posing.
Vanessa Borne & Aliyah vs. Candice LeRae & Kacy Catanzaro –
Another team that has been building up some momentum on NXT, Aliyah and Vanessa Borne returned for a match against Candice LeRae and her tag team partner Kacy Catanzaro. Catanzaro appeared in the women’s Royal Rumble match this year and the Mae Young Classic last year, so it was interesting to see her in action during NXT this week. She and LeRae were looking to win in their first tag team match together.
It didn’t start off too well for the former “American Ninja Warrior” contestant. Aliyah took her down early on, but she recovered quickly and showed off some of her incredible athleticism. Aliyah regained control and tagged in Vanessa Borne. Borne hit some kicks in the corner on Catanzaro and threw her down to the canvas. Borne dragged her opponent over to the ring ropes and made the tag to Aliyah. She scored a two-count on Kacy.
Aliyah bent the arms of Catanzaro way back. She tried to fight back but was unable to make her way over to LeRae. She fought off a double team maneuver from Borne and Aliyah before running over to LeRae at last. LeRae leaped onto the girls and threw Aliyah out of the ring. She got the crowd buzzing and hit a Rude Awakening on Borne followed by a lionsault to get the win, much to the disappointment of NXT commentator Nigel McGuinness.
Winners: Kacy Catanzaro & Candice LeRae
in Kairi Sane’s final NXT match last week, she lost an NXT Women’s Championship match against Shayna Baszler. She was then attacked by Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shaifr. Although Io Shirai tried to make the save, the numbers proved to be too much for “The Genius of the Sky.” Cathy Kelley interviewed Shirai backstage. She vowed to get her revenge but was ambushed by the Horsewomen once again.
KUSHIDA’s NXT contract signing from NXT Takeover: New York was shown once again. He says that he wants to prove to the NXT fans that he can succeed in WWE. NXT General Manager William Regal predicted that KUSHIDA will be at the top of NXT within a year.
Regal hyped up KUSHIDA’s NXT in-ring debut for next week’s show before a returning superstar interrupted him. Kassius Ohno, who has been competing on NXT UK ever since he quit NXT because he had been losing his feud with Matt Riddle, is back! He praised his work on NXT UK and then praised Regal for signing KUSHIDA. He pushed for a match against the Japanese sensation, and Regal announced that KUSHIDA will indeed face off against Ohno next week.
The Street Profits vs. The War Raiders –
Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford were as popular as ever in Full Sail on this evening. The Profits are looking to score tag team gold, and they had a huge opportunity for themselves on this show as they took on NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders (Viking Experience? Viking Raiders?)
Hanson and Rowe made their way down to the ring and walked down the ramp before Montez Ford splashed onto them both before the match even started. Once they got to the ring, they wasted no time going after the champions. Ford and Dawkins slammed down Rowe before Ford hit a frog splash on him. He went to go get the shock pin, but Rowe was able to kick out and keep fighting.
Ford was shocked that he was unable to put The Raiders away after that one. Dawkins came in and lifted the big man on his shoulders as Ford went back up to the top of one of the ring posts in the corner. Rowe dropped down and was able to make the tag to Hanson.
Hanson dropped Dawkins down to the canvas and splashed right onto him. Ford comes in next and is able to dodge his maneuvers. Hanson is able to go just as fast as Ford though. He bopped him right in the head, sent him rolling outside of the ring, and went back to work on Angelo Dawkins. He grounded Dawkins and slowed down the momentum of the match. Rowe comes back in and The War Raiders slam down Dawkins. The Street Profit made a comeback with a shot to the face.
Ford and Hanson are tagged in at the same time. They trade a couple of kicks and punches, but Ford comes out ahead with a dropkick. He was somehow able to lift up Hanson and hit a back suplex on him. Kip-up and a standing moonsault for a two count. Dawkins then tried to put away Hanson, but couldn’t do it alone. He and Ford come back in the ring and try to get him down. Hanson does a handspring into the ropes and wipes out both Profits.
Rowe is back now and takes out Ford and Dawkins. He and Hanson dish out some tandem offense now. Rowe grabs Hanson and rams his own partner right into the corner where Ford was resting. Both men grabbed Ford and perfectly hit Thor’s Hammer to get this hard-earned victory. With Rowe and Hanson now on the main roster, one would think that they’d have to drop their tag team titles sooner rather than later. For now, just enjoy their title reign and their NXT ring names while they still have them.
Winners: The War Raiders
Mia Yim was interviewed backstage and admitted that Shayna Baszler is an unstoppable champion. Yim brought up the fact that Baszler has beaten Kairi Sane, Io Shirai, and Bianca Belair. Although she’s faced Baszler before, Yim says that she has learned a lot about herself since that time. Yim let it be known that she wants another title match against Baszler.
Johnny Gargano vs. Roderick Strong –
During last week’s episode of NXT, Roderick Strong attacked Johnny Gargano while he was speaking with the other Undisputed Era members. Gargano specifically asked William Regal if he could face Strong this week and he got his wish. How well did Gargano do in his first NXT match since winning the NXT Championship earlier this month? Well, Roderick Strong is not an opponent to take lightly, so this match turned out to be as hard-hitting as fans would expect by now.
The two of them wrestled on the canvas and desperately tried to get the advantage over each other. Strong prevailed and dished out some knees to the face. Gargano grabbed his opponent and tried to put in the GargaNo Escape early on, but Strong got out. The chain wrestling continued on for a bit until Strong rolled out of the ring to escape.
Gargano grabbed Strong and sent him flying back outside of the ring. On the apron, he hit a kick to the face of Strong, then went down to his level. Strong his a backbreaker onto the ring apron and took advantage from there. Strong gave the champion some boots, kicks in the corner, and then dished out his signature chops to the chest. The Undisputed Era member worked over the champion for a bit in the center of the ring. Strong dropped Gargano onto his own shoulder for a two-count.
More chops and the wrath of Roderick Strong soon followed for Gargano. Despite the chops from Strong, “Johnny Wrestling” was actually asking for more. Gargano kept kicking out, which made Strong lose his energy and also grow more frustrated. In the corner, Gargano dodged a kick from Strong and hit him with an elbow. They rolled out of the ring and Gargano sent him into the steel ring steps at ringside. Strong reented the ring and was met with a slingshot spear from the champion for a two-count.
Strong tried to fight his way back into the match, but Gargano wasn’t giving up. Kick to the head from “Johnny Champion.” Strong again went out of the ring only for Johnny to follow him. Strong ran back in and tried to hit a dive on Gargano. The champion moved out of the way and hit a superkick on Strong. Another kick to Strong was next on the menu, and even that was not enough to put “The Messiah of the Backbreaker” out.
Gargano dragged Roderick into the corner and hit some chops to the chest of his own. Strong appeared to loose a significant amount of saliva in the process, which the crowd actually found rather delightful. Roddy fought back and tried to hit a backbreaker, but Gargano grabbed onto Strong and dragged him towards the ropes. He went for a slingshot spear, Strong catches him and sends him crashing down. Gargano kicks out again!
Punches exchanged between both of these men, jumping knee from Roddy, and then a rolling elbow for Gargano. Johnny tried to hit the #DIY knee strike, but Strong dodges the move and gets another two-count on the champion of the brand. He tried to get Gargano into Boston Crab, but Gargano rolled out of the maneuver and countered it into the GargaNo Escape. Strong held on tightly and tried not to tap. Undisputed Era leader Adam Cole made his way down to the ring for the distraction.
With Gargano focused on Cole, Strong tried to hit a suplex and get the sneaky victory. This little distraction couldn’t stomp the champ though. Cole berates him nevertheless and really tries to get under his skin. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly come out next, but Matt Riddle makes the save for “Johnny Wrestling.” Cole keeps trying to cost Gargano the match but accidentally superkicks Strong right in the face. Gargano immediately executes a dive onto Cole. After that, he scurried back into the ring and successfully hit a slingshot DDT to defeat Strong.
Winner: Roderick Strong
After the match was over, Cole ran into the ring and tried to explain his actions to Strong. Cole wanted to explain that it was just miscommunication. Strong was still upset over the issue and it looked like the two were about to come to blows. Fish and O’Reilly held them back until Strong and the boys eventually decided to head to the back. Remember that after Cole lost his match against Gargano at Takeover: New York, it appeared as if there was some dissension within The Undisputed Era. The group remains a cohesive unit for now, but perhaps that won’t be the case for too much longer.
Johnny Gargano lives to fight another day as the NXT Champion, but The Undisputed Era’s days may be numbered. That’s alright though because someone else’s NXT run is only just beginning. Yes, KUSHIDA will be making his in-ring debut during NXT next week against in-ring veteran Kassius Ohno. It will certainly be interesting to see how KUSHIDA does when he steps into a WWE ring for the first time in his career. The NXT women’s title and tag team title picture appears to be receiving some shakeups as well, so next week’s show is shaping up to be very intriguing indeed. See you NXT time!
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