NXT Legend Kevin Owens was on commentary, Toni Time took a (heel) turn, The Garganos began filming on Scream 6, Bao and Xia got kidnapped and then taken to a lady in a black cloak and then I think got cursed or something, and The Kings of NXT won the War Games advantage because only heels ever win it because that’s how War Games works and that will never change.
This Week: What will happen next in the exciting saga of Bao and Xia? Will we find out who the new Ghostface Killer is? What funny thing will Cameron Grimes do this week? Will Raquel Gonzalez beat Shotzi Blackheart by pin or submission?
POP: Disney’s Life Is Ruff
Y’all know I love a good NXT tag match and opening with one is never a bad idea. Combine that with Johnny Gargano on commentary making Dad jokes and mocking Priest for never actually shooting any arrows (hint hint for any future Mania entrance he ever has), and baby, you got a stew going.
Earlier Legado del Fantasma took out Curt Thee Stallion before the show started, so Priest took over as Leon Ruff’s tag partner to make sure he actually makes it to WarGames this Sunday. Match itself is decent, but the important story bits are when another Ghostface shows up in the middle of the match to distract Priest, and then after Ruff and Priest beat LDF, 2 of them are posted up behind Johnny. So I’m guessing we got more Ghostface shenanigans to look forward to on Sunday (I am like 80% sure at least one of them is one of the guys I usually avoid mentioning so great).
POP: Behind The Baybay
This look at how the UE is preparing for WarGames and how exactly they got here was well done and well shot, per usual. All 4 of them were straight up looking like money as they went to a restaurant in Florida with no masks on (I kid, I’m sure it was a closed set…I hope it was anyway). I thought it was pretty funny when Kyle suggested reflecting on how they got here and then 10 seconds later Bobby is all “well, that was fun time to whoop ass”. Never change ya jerks.
Mid: Fifty Shades Grimier
Following a pretty middle of the road match with Earth 2 Peter Avalon, Grimey starts yelling his name over and over(5 Stars) and whipping Grey with the strap he brought to the ring with him and talking about how Lumis made a mistake wanting to be “strapped up to a real man”.
Grey rolls out then Lumis suddenly appears and crawls behind him to scare him, and whip Grimey in retaliation. This was fine.
POP: In Development
People still debate whether or not NXT still counts as development now that they’re on National television and the Performance Center exists. Personally, I think NXT is still at least half development and part of it depends on your placement on the card. If you’re a main eventer like Ciampa, Gargano or Io, I wouldn’t call it development (unless you’re coming in fresh from the indies and need to be acclimated to the WWE style, along with being on TV). However if you’re in the midcard like Leon Ruff, August Grey, or Jake Atlas, you’re still getting your edges smoothed out.
I say all this to say, I like that I’m literally seeing Jake Atlas become a better performer. When he first started out on TV, I thought he was ok, but wasn’t super into him, but now, he’s really got me invested in his matches. The one he had with Tony “Buff Tommy Dreamer” Nese here was really good, and even managed to hit his finish in a believable manner.
Then he topped it off with a believable fired up babyface promo, mentioning his intentions to become the next NXT Cruiserweight Champion. Good stuff all around. Oh yeah, also during the match there was an appearance from…
POP: These Fuckin’ Guys
…Pat McAfee & His Amazing Friends! Pat McAfee might be the best heel talker in NXT right now. Have I said that already? I probably have. Literally everything that comes out of his mouth makes you wanna see Adam Cole superkick him in the teeth, then recommend a dentist for him. He’s in rare form tonight, making Pete, Oney and Danny seem like the biggest badasses in NXT (not that they need help for that).
Even Pete actually talked for once and simply said that they’re gonna end the Undisputed Era. Man, I can’t wait to see Pat get put through multiple tables.
???: hahahahhahahahahahahhaha
Ok so this week on Xia and Boa’s Excellent Adventures, the Distressed Duo are being forced to stay underwater for as long as they can over and over again by ShiFu as the lady in the cloak looks on. Then, they both get hit by kendo sticks.
Why isn’t NXT management worried about where two of their independent contractors have gone and why are they airing these videos that I guess are being sent in by the mystery lady? Are these two being kept here against their will or are they allowed to go home? Also, what the fuck is going on?
POP, then small botch: NXT UK
I’m always forgetting to catch up on the European flavored version of this show, so it was nice of WWE to put on a surprise episode in the middle of NXT Domestic.
Thank goodness the NXT Tag Team division appears to be being built up again because while the match quality never suffered, the number of teams was looking a bit anemic. Last week the GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS came back and made sure everyone knew they were back to takeover (pun intended). This week they have a match scheduled with Ever-Rise (womp womp) before Imperium shows up to save us from a match that wouldn’t be nearly as good.
The match is amazing (MOTN for me) and I definitely say check it out, but there was that bit at the end where Ever-Rise shows back up and ruin everything because they suck (“EVER-RISE RULES!” put me on the floor). So now we got three teams currently at each other’s throats. And one of those teams is Ever-Rise. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
POP: Class Struggle
Ok, stay with me here.
Timothy Thatcher is about to teach a class on how to avoid distractions during a wrestling match (the entire wrestling world is watching with bated breath, ready to take notes) when Tomasso Ciampa shows up once again wanting to fight. Timothy Thatcher decides to leave because he legitimately has no reason to want to fight Ciampa. He’s said multiple times, he has no problem with him.
Ciampa calls him a “disappointment”, then Thatcher fakes leaving and hits him with a sucker punch. Ciampa retaliates, and then the student tries to save his teacher from the crazy bearded man attacking him. Thatcher and Ciampa then fight outside the ring a little and make their way back into the ring where Thatcher chokes out Ciampa.
Now that I have described this segment, how is Thatcher the bad guy here? Thatcher is a jerk for picking on his students, but it’s not like he forces them to take his classes. They choose to be there and they know what’s up. Ciampa spends weeks vaguely ranting about the youth in the locker room and then randomly menaces Thatcher because he randomly wants to fight him. Thatcher says “nah, I’m good” because…well wouldn’t you tell a coworker that suddenly wants to fight you out of nowhere that you don’t want to?
Maybe we could be on Ciampa’s side if he was challenging Thatcher to a fight because he keeps picking on his students, but not only is that pretty uncharacteristic of the Tomasso Ciampa we know, he’s said literally nothing about Thatcher’s students. One of Thatcher’s students even tried to save him from Ciampa. All he’s said is that he wants to fight Thatcher for…reasons. On top of that, he kept Thatcher from giving his fellow wrestlers very valuable information that they could all use.
So I ask again, how is Thatcher the bad guy here?
“But wait AddMayne, what about when Thatcher admits that it was a set up?” you may be asking.
My answer: He started it, and it’s not like he had to take the bait.
POP: Soulja Girl Beat ‘Em
So like earlier in the show there was a little bit with Team Shotzi where Ember and Rhea go to her…garage I think, where I guess she’s been building a thing (probably a new tank) for almost a month now, with the same clothes and everything (I know she’s gotta be pretty rank by now) that I thought was funny. They open the briefcase from Pulp Fiction and give her something that I guess we’ll have to wait till Sunday to find out what it is.
Team Candice were interviewed on how they feel about Team Shotzi and they’re pretty over-confident. I wanna point out two things here. One, maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Toni seemed kinda aloof during this segment. Possible foreshadowing? Two, I like how they went the extra mile towards giving a reason why Indi isn’t on Team Candice by having her be injured by Ember’s Eclipse last week. It wasn’t 100% necessary, but it’s still some nice attention to detail.
Just like last week, both teams are on elevated platforms to avoid any cheating (with Team Shotzi still noticeably missing a 4th member).
Just like last week’s ladder match these two athletes really took a lot out of each other (including some spots I would maybe rethink, like that Meteora Shotzi hit on Raquel from the ring to the floor. That Coffin Drop off the chain link fence was cool tho, shout out to the other show). Near the end of the match, Indi shows up with a ladder so that Team Candice can climb down to help out Raquel (DOES NO ONE RESPECT MR. REGAL’S RULES), but then off camera, it seems a mystery person has also done the same for the rest of Team Shotzi.
Shotzi stops Indi from getting the briefcase, but then Raquel clotheslines Shotzi. Then, right when things are looking at their most bleak, Team Candice is jumping Team Shotzi, and Raquel is about to get the WarGames advantage (because she’s a heel and heels always win the advantage obviously), IO SHIRAI appears and jumps on Raquel’s back to stop her!
Io takes out everyone, and for the first time ever a babyface team wins the WarGames advantage?! Say whaaaaaaat
Yeah Shotzi got the W in a damn good match. NXT had a great go home show (probably more notable than anything that could’ve happened over there on TNT as far as I know). I’m excited for both WarGames matches and the rest of the line up is looking good.
As always, please check out all our other recaps & reviews here on this site, share this on all your sharables and if you wanna talk about wrasslin’ a little more, check out the SRP Discord.
See you this Sunday for NXT TakeOver: WarGames 4.
Peace.
This Sunday:
Team McAfee vs. Undisputed Era – WarGames Match
Tomasso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher
Leon Ruff (c) vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest – NXT North American Championship Match
Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes – Strap Match
Team Shotzi vs. Team Candice – WarGames Match
