Connect with us

Coverage

Mitchell’s WWE NXT Results & Report! (5/9/23)

A new era begins!

Published

on

NXT White 'n' Gold Era

The NXT Women’s Championship Tournament begins!

With Indi Hartwell moving on to Monday Night Raw, NXT needs a NEW Women’s Champion! Who makes it through the tournament to take the title?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, Opening Round: Gigi Dolin VS Tiffany Stratton; Tiffany wins and advances.
  • NXT Tag Team Championships: Gallus VS The Dyad w/ Ava Raine; Gallus wins and retains the titles.
  • Duke Hudson w/ Thea Hail VS Javier Bernal; Duke wins.
  • Eddy Thorpe VS Damon Kemp; Thorpe wins.
  • Ilja Dragunov VS DIJAK; Dragunov wins, by disqualification.
  • Tyler Bate w/ Wes Lee VS Charlie Dempsey w/ Drew Gulak; Dempsey wins.
  • Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen w/ Fallon Henley VS Hank Walker & Tank Ledger; Briggs & Jensen win.
  • NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, Opening Round: Lyra Valkyria VS Kiana James; Lyra wins and  advances.
  • Trick Williams VS Bron Breakker; Bron wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, Opening Round: Gigi Dolin VS Tiffany Stratton!

The Toxic Avenger takes on the Center of the Universe, but Tiffany thinks she should’ve been handed the belt. Will Gigi show Tiffany that you’re only worthy of a title by winning it? Or will Daddy’s Little Rich Girl get what she wants like always?

The bell rings and Tiff talks trash. She and Gigi tie up, Gigi puts Tiff in a corner, and Tiff wants the ropebreak. The ref counts, Gigi lets off and she blocks a kick to fire forearms! Gigi UPPERCUTS Tiff, whips and swings, but Tiff ducks and handsprings. Then goes Matrix! But Gigi kicks the arms out and brings Tiff around into a modified Magistrol! TWO, and Gigi PENALTY KICKS Tiffany down! Cover, TWO! Tiff scrambles to a corner but Gigi hits a BRONCO BUSTER! Fans fire up and Gigi goes corner to corner, but Tiff dodges! Gigi crashes ‘n’ burns, Tiff runs to DOUBLE STOMP her down! Cover, TWO!

Tiff drags Gigi around by the bad arm and wrenches to an armlock. Fans rally for Gigi and she fights up to arm-drag free. Gigi runs to forearm Tiff at the ropes! Gigi whips, Tiff reverses and steps over to JAM the arm! Tiff hammerlocks and RAMS Gigi into the corner! Gigi staggers into a snapmare and step-over, HIP DROP on the bad arm! Cover, TWO! Gigi is still in this but Tiff drops down on the arm again! Tiff covers but Gigi keeps her shoulders up. Tiff is frustrated, so she SLAMS the arm on the mat! Fans boo but Tiff talks trash on Gigi, before a springboard STOMP on the arm! Cover, TWO!

Tiff looms over Gigi, grabs the arm and drags Gigi up. Gigi reverses the whip to send Tiff into buckle! Roll-up, TWO! Gigi keeps on Tiff but Tiff wrenches and WRINGS the arm out! Cover, TWO! Tiff keeps on Gigi as fans rally for Gigi. Tiff YANKS the arm, wristlocks and wrangles Gigi down, but Gigi avoids the hip drop! Tiff still kicks Gigi back, wrings the arm but Gigi rolls through! Gigi counter punches and kicks, then fires off knee after knee! Tiff shoves free but Gigi comes back to CLOBBER her! And again! Gigi keeps moving, and BOOTS Tiff down! Gigi shouts for Tiff to get up! Gigi drags Tiff up, but Tiff wrenches the arm to a CODE BREAKER!

Gigi staggers away, Tiff runs and handsprings corner to corner, to back elbow! Snapmare and run, but Gigi dodges the stomps! Roll through and ROUNDHOUSE! Then an STO! Fans fire up and Gigi drags Tiff back up. Gigi gut wrenches, but Tiff wrenches out to an ELBOW BREAKER! Tiff fireman’s carries, ROLLING SENTON! Tiff goes up, up, PRETTIEST MOONSAULT EVER! Cover, Tiffany wins!

Winner: Tiffany Stratton, by pinfall (advances to the next round)

Tiffany proved she can earn what she wants, and she’s through to the semifinals! Will Tiffany make it all the way to Battleground and the belt?

 

The Schism speaks.

Joe Gacy tells the Dyad, “Last week, I sacrificed myself for your opportunity, and I have no doubt that you will bring gold back to us. Four roots, one tree.” Rip Fowler & Jagger Reed head out, will they take the titles from Gallus? As for Gacy, he tells Ava Raine that he took her words to heart. He will not be joining them ringside, as his attention is directed elsewhere. But he wants Ava to guide them as he would. Ava follows after The Dyad, just who is it that has Gacy’s attention?

 

Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams return to the barbershop.

Trick says he needs to beat the brakes off of Bron Breakker. Change his name to Bron Er. But how’s Melo feeling? He’s aight. Medical wants him to be 100% before clearing him and letting him loose. But Melo appreciates Trick standing up for him and telling Bron he ain’t the one or the two. But does he really have to do this tonight? Yes. Trick knows Bron’s a bad boy, but Trick’s on a whole new level. Don’t he look good? Yep. Ain’t he been working? Yep! Ain’t he gonna whoop Bron’s ass tonight? YEP! Okay, bet. Pass on Melo, take care of Trick, they gotta get going. No, Trick’s gotta be the one to take care of this.

Trick is doing this for Melo, but he’s also doing this for himself. He’s gonna prove he’s everything he’s said he is. Melo’s biggest test is at Battleground. Trick’s biggest test is tonight. Well, Melo will be watching. Trick says that’s all it is, and that’s all it’s gon’ be. High-fives all around and Trick heads out. But Melo is still a little worried. Will Trick’s gift of jab match his gift of gab? Or will Bron break Trick before breaking Melo?

 

NXT Tag Team Championships: Gallus VS The Dyad w/ Ava Raine!

Mark Coffey & Wolfgang already dealt with Rip Fowler & Jagger Reed once, but The Schism found a way to jump the line. Will Rip & Jagger ssssoooon be recognized as the new tag team champions? Or will it always be Gallus Boys On Top?

The introductions are made, but the teams get at each other, and a brawl breaks out! The ref has Joe Coffey exit, Wolfgang throws Rip out of the ring while Mark keeps after Jagger. The bell rings and this is on record as Wolfgang sends Rip into barriers! Mark whips Jagger to ropes then CLOBBERS him! And then scoops to a SLAM! Mark stalks Jagger, headlocks, and he grinds Jagger down. Jagger fights around, fights up, and pulls hair! We see Tony D’Angelo & “Stacks” Channing Lorenzo up in the perch as Jagger powers out of the headlock. Mark runs Jagger over, then brings him up for another headlock.

Jagger fights around again, throws body shots, and he powers up, only for Mark to hold on tight. Mark knees low, rams Jagger to the Gallus corner, and he tags Wolfie. Gallus double whip and crisscross Jagger for a double NECKBREAKER! Cover, TWO! Wolfgang wraps Jagger up, clamps onto an arm, but fans rally up. Jagger fights to his feet, but Wolfgang short arm lever suplexes! Wolfgang keeps Jagger down, then wrenches the arm. Jagger throws forearms but Wolfgang keeps him from Rip! Jagger throws more forearms, gets free, and tags in Rip. Rip storms up to DROPKICK the arm!

Rip throws forearms, CLOBBERS Wolfgang, covers, ONE! Rip clamps on with a chinlock, then he fishhooks Wolfgang’s face. The ref counts, Rip CLUBS Wolfgang down. Fans duel between “FOUR ROOTS! ONE TREE!” and just booing, but Rip drags Wolfgang up. Wolfgang blocks the suplex, and then suplexes Rip back! Tag to Mark and he clamps onto Rip’s arm. Rip flails, reaches out, but Mark wrenches and RAMS him! Mark clamps onto the arm again, but Rip knees low! Rip sucker punches Wolfgang, then wrenches and headlocks Mark. Jagger sneaks a tag as Mark powers out, and Rip sends mark away.

Jagger trips Mark and Rip basement dropkicks! Then MAYHEM IN MOTION takes out Wolfgang! The Dyad clinch and ENZIGURI, COMPLETE SHOT! Cover, TWO! The Dyad is frustrated while NXT goes picture in picture.

Jagger drags Mark up, throws forearms, and Mark staggers around. Jagger whips, Mark reverses and arm-drags! Mark has the armlock and he wraps Jagger up into a cobra clutch! Jagger endures, fights up, but Wolfgang tags in. Ripcord and shoulder ram, then a forearm to the back! Wolfgang snapmares Jagger to a cover, TWO! Wolfgang wraps Jagger up in a cobra clutch and grinds him down. Jagger endures, fights up, but Wolfgang wrangles him back down. Wolfgang leans on the hold, but Jagger fights up and reaches out. Wolfgang ripcords and shoulders Jagger again! And back to the cobra clutch!

Jagger fights up, Wolfgang throws knees, and tags Mark. Ripcord, shoulder ram, and FLYING SHOULDER TACKLE! Cover, TWO! Mark keeps on Jagger with stomps, then runs in at the corner. Rip moves in to be the cushion but Mark stops. The ref reprimands Rip but Jagger sucker punches Mark! Jagger tags Rip, Rip storms up to short arm LARIAT! Cover, TWO! Rip clamps onto Mark with a chinlock and he puts on the pressure. Mark endures but Rip drops an elbow! And then reapplies the chinlock! Mark fights up, throws body shots, but Rip knees low. Tag to Jagger and The Dyad double whip to double LARIAT! Jagger covers, TWO!

Jagger looms over Mark, drags him up and ROCKS him with a haymaker. Jagger runs in to UPPERCUT! Tag to Rip and he runs in to clothesline! Feed to the WHEEL KICK! Rip hurries to push Mark to a cover, TWO! Rip clamps onto Mark and fishhooks his face. The ref reprimands, Rip drops an elbow on Mark’s head! NXT returns to single picture and fans rally up as Mark endures the chinlock again. Mark fights up, fans duel, but Rip knees low! Rip whips Mark to the cover, tags to Jagger, and Jagger whips Rip in, into a BOOT! Jagger runs in, Mark goes up and over but Rip do-si-dos to send him into Jagger’s SUPERKICK!

Rip throat chops, Jagger leaps onto the cover, TWO! The Dyad is again frustrated, and we see The Diamond Mine is watching backstage. Ivy Nile glares at the TV, but the Creed Brothers are goofing around, wearing blue masks that resemble the Schism’s yellow smiley face ones. Ivy gets annoyed and grabs their noses! She tells Julius & Brutus to stop making jokes! Ivy storms off and the brothers don’t understand. But back in the ring, Jagger keeps Mark down with a facelock. Mark fights up as fans rally, but Jagger CLUBS him down! Jagger keeps Mark back, but the fans continue to rally!

Mark fights back up, powers up to lift Jagger, and TOSS him away! Hot tag to Wolfgang! The Howler rallies on The Dyad! BIG haymakers for both of them, then he RAMS Jagger into the corner! Wolfgang fires off fists, Rip storms up on him, but Wolfgang ROCKS him! Wolfgang whips Jagger into the corner, SPLASHES, and goes to the apron. Wolfgang DECKS Rip, goes up the corner, and he AX HANDLES Jagger down! Fans fire up with Wolfgang and he scoops Jagger for a SLAM! And then SIDEWAYS SENTON! Tag to Mark, Gallus DOUBLE URENAGE Jagger! Mark covers, TWO!! Jagger survives for The Schism!

Mark tags back to Wolfgang and Wolfgang drags Jagger up. Fireman’s carry, Mark runs in, but Rip trips him up! Fans boo but Jagger rolls Wolfgang up! TWO!! Mark SMACKS Rip off the desk! Wolfgang CLOBBERS Jagger! Tag back to Mark, and Wolfgang drags Jagger around. Ava distracts on the apron! The ref reprimands, Ava hops down, and Wolfgang CATAPULTS Jagger at Mark! But Jagger uses that to hit a SATELLITE DDT! Wolfgang is shocked, and then Rip drags him out to throat chop! Jagger tags Rip! The Dyad take aim, ‘FOUR ROOTS! ONE TREE!” But Ivy SPEAERS Ava!!

The Creeds stop Ivy from attacking Ava, Jagger goes out to help, and Mark CLOBBERS Rip! Tag to Wolfgang! Gallus coordinates, BOOT O’ DOOM!! Cover, GALLUS WINS!

Winners: Gallus, by pinfall (still NXT Tag Team Champions)

Ava can’t believe what just happened! She shrieks in frustration, will The Schism make Diamond Mine pay for that? As for Gallus, they’re still on top, but Tony & Stacks are watching. Will The Don & The Underboss get themselves a 2v2 match for Battleground?

 

Thea Hail and other Chase U students talk.

She wonders when Andre Chase is going to return, but is also thankful that Duke Hudson stepped up so no one falls behind this semester. And the Draft! Imagine if you got drafted! Javier Bernal walks over to tell them all to keep on dreaming. He asks Thea a question: does Chase U offer classes on how to get into the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament? Because clearly, Thea isn’t in it so no. But then Duke walks over and apologizes for being late. Grading papers takes a lot more time than you’d think. But uh, is spellcheck just an Australian thing or…? Thea is anxious and asks how she did!

Oh, Thea, you… got an 88! AWESOME! She SLAPS Javi on the chest as part of celebrating! Javi gets upset and can’t believe how deep Duke is into this thing. Javi sees Duke is operating from the inside. But when Duke unveils that final plan. Chase won’t know what hit him. Uh, Javi, first off, you don’t even go here. Second, Chase will return sometime somewhere, Duke is simply filling in. Is that so? Yeah! Oh, is this… Okay, everyone thinks they can get away with whatever they want when the substitute teacher’s in, right? Well, this is not gonna go that way. So how dare Javi disrespect the good name of Duke U- Chase U!

Heh, bit of a Freudian Slip, huh? Javi, you dweeb, listen up! Duke’s gonna make a match between Javi and the MVP of Chase U. And tonight, Javi gets an ANDRE CHASE UNIVERSITY SIZED ASS WHOOPING! Big Body Javi hurries away, will he be ready for this #TeachableMoment?

 

NXT Anonymous watches their archive.

The Women’s Division’s various assaults all play together, side by side. Nikkita Lyons, Wendy Choo, Sol Ruca. Is there a commonality between these three? Will NXT Anonymous tell us when they find it?

 

Duke Hudson w/ Thea Hail VS Javier Bernal!

Is Duke playing a long con? Has he truly accepted the black ‘n’ red way? Will we ever find out? Or will all that matters is that Duke wins one for Chase U?

The bell rings and Duke circles with Javi. They tie up, and Duke powers Javi to a corner. Fans rally behind Duke but Javi gets around to slap him around. Duke shoves Javi down! Fans fire up and Javi scrambles away. Duke pursues, Javi plays a bit of cat ‘n’ mouse, and he stomps away on duke ashe slides in! Fans boo as Javi has Duke in a corner for haymakers and body shots. The ref counts, Javi stalks Duke to another corner to fire off more hands! Thea coaches Duke but Javi mocks the “U~!” Javi grins, but Duke runs in to run Javi over! Javi staggers up, Duke scoops and SLAMS him! Duke fires up and so do the fans!

Javi wants mercy, but Thea says no way! Duke storms up and Javi dropkicks the legs out! DDT! Javi keeps moving, SLIDING LARIAT! Cover, TWO! Fans chant “JAVI SUCKS!” but he stomps away on Duke. Javi drags Duke into a chinlock and he grinds Duke down. Thea shouts and the fans rally, and Duke fights his way up. Duke pries at the hold as fans chant “M V P!” Duke powers the headlock open, then arm-drags Javi away! Javi flounders to a corner, but he comes right back to stomp Duke down! Duke sits up, Javi throws a haymaker! Duke is powering up! Javi throws more hands, and Duke says “U!”

Duke throws body shots, he CLUBS Javi down, then he whips Javi to ropes to CLOBBER him and CLOBBER him! Another whip, and Duke scoops Javi for a SIDEWALK SLAM! Fans fire up more as Duke aims at Javi. JAB! JAB! JAB! Flip, flop and “U~!” ELBOW! SENTON! Javi flounders but Duke runs to the apron and slingshots to GERMAN SUPLEX! Fans fire up again as Duke brings Javi up. Duke reels Javi in, for the Gory Especial, and the RIVER! Cover, Duke wins!

Winner: Duke Hudson, by pinfall

Duke continues to prove why he’s the Chase U MVP! But is Duke truly doing this for Chase U? Or is it all a poker face until the final hand’s been dealt?

 

Von Wagner talks with Robert Stone.

Von is feeling great. The weather is nice, and a positive attitude is a powerful thing. Stone never thought of it like that. But okay, rapid fire questions! Favorites, go! Hamburger? Bacon burgers! Fries? Oh, good one. Chili cheese. Ice cream? Mint chocolate chip! Wait! Cookies ‘n’ cream! Nice, nice! Stone’s a pistachio man himself. What’s Von see when he looks at this picture? Stone took the post surgery picture from Von’s photo album?! Von is upset, but then someone walks over to say he heard Von’s trying to get a head of the competition. Dude, c’mon. What? It’s just a joke. Von SLAMS the guy into road cases!

Von tells this guy to take his funny bone and shove it! Von lets the guy go, and Stone frowns. Von just scoffs at his answer of pistachio ice cream. If this issue bothers Von that much, what is it going to take to get to the bottom of it?

 

The Diamond Mine runs across Gallus.

Joe Coffey tells them to keep their noses out of Gallus business. Ivy gets riled up but Julius says it’s fine. He isn’t even sure what Joe said, but he still needs to watch his mouth. And Brutus tells Mark & Wolfgang to watch those tag titles. Oh, looking for a fight? Joe says not now. He has an idea: Pub party, champs only. So the Diamond Mine isn’t welcome. Gallus heads out but Julius says that’s fine, they don’t like Gallus anymore anyway. Ivy thanks the Creeds for earlier, and Julius says it’s fine. No one messes with Ivy, except for the Creeds. But will they find their way back to the tag titles one way or another?

 

Eddy Thorpe VS Damon Kemp!

The Alpha Wolf has been leveling up to get ready for this showdown! Will he take a bite out of the Golden Gopher? Or will Damon make him feel like he’s a Young Boy again?

NXT returns and Damon makes his entrance. The bell rings, the two tie up, and Damon headlocks. Fans rally for Eddy but Damon spins to a wrench and a wristlock. Eddy wrenches back, spins him around and arm-drags him away. Fans cheer but Damon says okay. They go again, tie up, and Damon waistlocks to SLAM Eddy! And SLAM him again! Damon facelocks, Eddy moves around but Damon floats to go for another facelock. Eddy reaches out for the ROPEBREAK, but Damon lets off slowly. They go again, Eddy headlocks and he holds on tight. Damon powers up and throws body shots.

Damon sends Eddy to a corner, Eddy goes up and over and ducks ‘n’ dodges to hit a headlock takeover! Damon keeps his shoulder up and pushes Eddy with forearms. Damon stands, pries the hold, and he spins it around to headlock and takeover! Eddy headscissors, Damon gets free, and things speed up as Eddy drops, hurdles, and CROSSBODIES! Fans fire up while Damon flounders away. Eddy is after Damon with a CHOP! Eddy facelocks, suplexes, but Damon blocks! Damon wrenches out, knees low, and UPPERCUTS! Damon then hangs Eddy out to dry before a slingshot JACKHAMMER! Cover, TWO!

Damon taunts Eddy, then rains down forearms! Eddy keeps a guard up so Damon lets off. Damon talks trash to the fans but the fans boo back. Damon talks trash on Eddy, brings him up and turns him around into a chinlock. Fans rally but Damon shifts to a seated cobra twist! Damon digs his knuckles in but Eddy fights up. Eddy throws hands but Damon fireman’s carries to ROLLING DEATH VALLEY! Cover, TWO!! Damon is frustrated, but he clamps back on with the seated cobra twist. Eddy fights up, throws body shots, then dodges the lariat to CHOP! Eddy bobs ‘n’ weaves, throws more hands, then CHOPS again!

Eddy whips and CLOBBERS Damon, then starts to rally! Strike fest, PELE! Damon staggers to a corner, Eddy runs in to BOOT! And GERMAN SUPLEX! Damon flounders, Eddy covers, TWO! Eddy waistlocks Damon but Damon throws elbows. Damon whips, Eddy reverses but Damon sunset flips! Eddy rolls through to get the legs! Damon scrambles but Eddy gets the HALF CRAB! Damon gets the ROPEBREAK! Eddy lets off in frustration, Damon holds onto the apron skirt! The ref reprimands, Damon kicks Eddy away, then stands up, into a BOOT! GERMAN SUPLEX! Fans fire up as Eddy stomps around!

Eddy runs to JUMPING ELBOW! Cover, Eddy wins!

Winner: Eddy Thorpe, by pinfall

That last sudden burst was enough for Eddy, and Damon complains about the apron skirt. But Damon was the one who brought it into play! Will Damon ever take responsibility for his own messes? Will The Alpha Wolf soon be hunting down some championship gold?

 

Backstage interview with Kiana James.

McKenzie Mitchell is with the Calculator to say she’s had an incredible rookie year in NXT. She was handpicked by HBK and the coaches as part of the top 8 to be in the Women’s Championship Tournament. Tonight, she faces Lyra Valkyria- Yeah, yeah, McKenzie, Kiana gets it. She’s got the most difficult first round opponent. Whoever put this bracket together did her no favors. But luckily, Kiana thrives under pressure. Her last 12 months speak volumes, especially the latter half. She has laid out everything she’s wanted to do here, and checked them off one by one, except for the NXT Women’s Championship.

As McKenzie said, Kiana’s rookie year here was incredible. But can you imagine how much bigger year two will be as the NXT Women’s Champion? Kiana can. But will it become reality here tonight? Or will the misfortune of facing the Morrigan be her downfall?

 

Backstage interview with Bron Breakker.

McKenzie brings up that tonight, he faces Trick Williams in the main event, but is going to ask the question “on the minds of everyone in the WWE Universe. Why the change in attitude?” Bron says there was no change, he just stopped caring. For over a year, Bron carried the NXT Championship on one shoulder, the NXT banner on the other, and the weight of this brand on his back. What’d it get him? Nothing. And the fans made their choice, and they chose Carmelo. That’s fine. Because Melo is still picking splinters out of his ass after being Speared through the wall a couple weeks ago.

So if McKenzie or the fans or whoever doesn’t like the attitude, there’s the door. Bron didn’t ask for this interview, she did. But here, here’s something. Melo, tonight, I’m gonna put your buddy, your best friend, Trick Williams, in the same hospital that I put you in. See you at Battleground.”

 

Ilja Dragunov VS DIJAK!

The Czar doesn’t back down from a fight, but #HardJustice has been taking the fight to him. Will Dragunov prove what it is to be UNBESIEGBAR? Or will Dijak put his momentum on lockdown?

NXT returns as Dijak makes his entrance. The bell rings and Dijak runs in! But Dragunov blocks the boot, throws Dijak down, and KNEES him back! Fans fire up as Dragunov CHOPS Dijak! Then puts him in another corner, to CHOP again! Dragunov puts Dijak in a third corner to CHOP again! Fans are thunderous already, but Dijak turns things around to COHP in return! Dragunov shakes his head, and he CHOPS! CHOPS! CHOPS! Dragunov backs Dijak down corner to corner with the chops, then fires off MACHINE GUN CHOPS!! Fans are thunderous as Dragunov lets off, winds up and CHOPS again!

Dijak is down, Dragunov goes up, KING KONG KNEE DROP! Dijak sputters but Dragunov goes back up! Dijak gets Dragunov with both hands, and SHOVES him down! Dragunov hits the apron on the way down to the floor! Dijak goes out, pushes Dragunov into the ring, and covers, TWO! DIjak grits his teeth, rains down fists, then covers again, ONE!! Dragunov is showing that toughness but Dijak clamps on a BEARHUG! Dragunov endures, even as Dijak shouts in his ear to give up! Fans rally, Dragunov fights to his feet and pries the hold open. Dragunov turns to ROCK Dijak! Dijak ROCKS Dragunov!

The two go back and forth, Dijak gets the edge but Dragunov gives it all back! Dragunov throws boxing elbows and an UPPERCUT, but Dijak BOOTS him! Dragunov springs up to PELE! Fans are loving this as Dragunov waistlocks and deadlifts Dijak! But Dragunov’s ribs hold him back, the damage done weeks ago. Dijak choke grips, Dragunov fights free, and he comes back to FOREARM! And ROUNDHOUSE! But both men fall over! Fans fire up as Dragunov rises again. Dragunov waistlocks and deadlifts again! But Dijak holds ropes to stop the suplex! Dijak throws elbows and body shots, then he TOSSES Dragunov away!

Dragunov goes to the corner, comes back, but into the CYCLONE KICK! Cover, TWO!! Dragunov survives and Dijak is beside himself! Dijak goes out and he shoves the timekeeper aside to get a chair! The ref reprimands and fans boo but Dijak wants to hurt Dragunov, not beat him! The ref grabs the chair, but Dijak TOSSES the ref away! Fans boo more, Dijak JAMS Dragunov! The ref has the bell ring, Dijak loses!

Winner: Ilja Dragunov, by disqualification

But Dijak still SMACKS Dragunov on the back! And his rage erupts as he goes out and RAMS Dragunov into the apron! And into the POST! And then APRON CHOKE SLAMS Dragunov! Dragunov flops down but Dijak isn’t done with him! Dijak brings the steel steps around, turns them on their side, and goes back for Dragunov. Dijak KICKS Dragunov around, then tips the steps! Dragunov fights them off! Dijak STOMPS Dragunov, then buries him under the steps! “How’s that feel!? How’s that feel?!” Dijak STANDS ON THE STEPS to trap Dragunov! Dijak asks if Dragunov feels alive while he sputters and coughs!

Fans boo, the refs rush out and Dijak steps away, saying “I can break any man!” But then Dragunov shoves the steps away!! Dragunov isn’t done yet, but Dijak chuckles. Will these two go around again down the line?

 

Tyler Bate meditates.

Wes Lee walks in and says he hasn’t seen this much smoke since he was hanging out with Matt Riddle. But uh, Tyler, you in there? Wes knows Bate is getting his head right for his match with Charlie Dempsey, but Wes has to thank him for last week. Bate was like a “majestic leopard” as he took out Charlie, it was beautiful! And since Bate had Wes’s back, Wes will have Bate’s. Gulak & Dempsey are determined to sap all the joy outta NXT, and they’re not gonna let that happen, right? Right, yeah. Also, Bate’s up next, so let’s get going. Wes looks closer, and then Bate opens his eyes.

Bate says hey, sorry, he was “miles away” there. Did Wes say something? Uh, yeah- Bate says when he meditates, he goes into a deep, deep trance, like he’s on a higher plane of existence. Does Wes know what he means? Yeah, bro. Dope. Bate’s ready, Wes is by his side, will the Big Strong Boi humble the Son of the Gentleman Villain?

 

Dani Palmer tweets a video.

She was finishing training with Hank Walker & Tank Ledger when Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen walked in. She wanted them to say hey, and they congratulate her on her NXT debut win. But anyway, she watched it back, and asks what she could do to do better next time. Briggs says just keep busting your ass and doing the reps. Jensen says the more you get in there, the better you’ll be. Hank says he was telling Tank the very same thing. And if they wanna get good as a tag team, they just gotta practice. Tank says yeah, and maybe it could be against “the big boys.” What do they say? Briggs & Jensen say sure! They shake hands, will we get a real banger of a brawl from these heavy hitters?

 

Tyler Bate w/ Wes Lee VS Charlie Dempsey w/ Drew Gulak!

NXT returns as Dempsey makes his entrance with Gulak. The Big Strong Boi made sure Wes wasn’t cheated out of the North American Championship, will Wes make sure Bate isn’t cheated out of a win tonight? Or will the Philly Stretcher have the perfect plan to get even?

The bell rings and the two tie up. Dempsey UPPERCUTS, UPPERCUTS and UPPERCUTS, but Bate gives those back! They go UPPERCUT for UPPERCUT! Bate runs to UPPERCUT, Dempsey rebounds to UPPERCUT! And repeat! Bate then UPPERCUTS and EXPLODERS! And then STANDING SHOOTING STAR! Cover, TWO! Bate keeps on Dempsey with a fireman’s carry, and he starts the spin! But Dempsey fights free to get the full nelson! Bate uses his leg to provide leverage and break free, then throws elbows! But Dempsey CLUBS Bate! And knees him, into the BUTTERFLY SUPLEX! Bridging cover, TWO!

Dempsey drags Bate up to ROCK him with forearms, and UPPERCUTS, but Bate headlocks to BOP Dempsey with his foot! And BOP him again! Dempsey powers out, Bate goes up and comes back, but Dempsey steps through the roll up! But Bate sunset flips! But Dempsey rolls through to get the legs! But Bate rolls to bring Dempsey down! Now rolls reverse as Dempsey sunset flips, Bate rolls through, and Dempsey SPINNING HEADSCISSORS! But Bate cartwheels through it and fans fire up! Dempsey rushes in, Bate dodges and Dempsey stops in the corner. Dempsey turns around and heads collide!

Both men fall and fans rally up. Dempsey and Bate stand up, and Bate brings Dempsey around to UPPERCUT! Dempsey UPPERCUTS back! Bate UPPERCUTS, Dempsey knees low! Dempsey clamps on with an IRON OCTOPUS! Dempsey CHOPS Bate’s side to complete the stretch! Bate endures, powers up, and he fireman’s carries for the AIRPLANE SPIN! Fans fire up as Bate goes around and around and around, for more then TEN spins before the DEATH VALLEY DRIVER! But wait, Joe Gacy walks out? Was Gacy talking about Wes earlier? Gulak storms over to Gacy and Wes and asks what’s going on. Wes asks them both what’s going on!

Bate sees everyone is around Wes, and he FLIES out to take Gacy and Gulak down! Wes says that’s what they get. Bate hurries back in, ducks the haymaker to Bop up, and BANG! Gulak distracts the ref, Bate runs, but Gacy CLOBBERS Bate! Dempsey hurries to DRAGON SUPLEX! Bridging cover, Dempsey wins!

Winner: Charlie Dempsey, by pinfall

Gacy may not have been part of Gulak’s plans, but it all worked out for Dempsey! Will Wes have to worry about more than one sneaky snake coming after his title?

 

Carmelo sees Bron’s message.

Melo says he can’t stay back now. He has to go and help Trick. But Trick said- Trick said what he said but he’s also family. Will the NXT Champion make sure Bron doesn’t destroy his best friend?

 

Backstage interview with Dragon Lee.

McKenzie knows he took a hard loss to JD McDonagh last week in what was an instant classic. But she wants to bring up what happened right after that match with Noam Dar. Dragon says Dar thinks Dragon is a threat, and he’s right! that’s why Dar wanted JD to injure Dragon. Dar only cares about two things: himself, and the- Oh, speaking of, Dar pops up on screen with a special edition of the Supernova Sessions. Dar says, “Hello, hello, hello. Dragon Lee, hear me now. It’s Mr. Supernova 11, Noam Dar, the longest reigning NXT Heritage Cup Champion. Now Mr. Dragon, I come bearing gifts.”

Dar knows the two of them got off on the wrong foot, but allow Dar to be the bigger and better man by offering him this prestigious opportunity. He’ll be the envy of the entire locker room after this, because Dar chooses Dragon Lee to be his first official guest on the relaunch of the Supernova Sessions show! Please, join Dar for the return of “the most loved and most revered talk show in the WWE Universe.” So cutting edge, so unique, that after this, Dragon’s career will skyrocket from the ground floor, where it currently is. So Mr. Dragon, Dar awaits a response. Thank you, buh-bye. Check please.

Dragon’s response: he’ll be there. Will Dar regret extending this invitation? Or will he make Dragon regret accepting it?

 

Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen w/ Fallon Henley VS Hank Walker & Tank Ledger!

The boys are reunited and it’s Country Strong! But will they get back on track tonight? Or will Hank ‘n’ Tank use their own brand of blue collar brawling to get going in the Men’s NXT Tag Division?

NXT returns as Hank ‘n’ Tank make their entrance. The teams sort out and Briggs starts, with a BOOT to Tank! Jensen and Hank start throwing hands on the outside! Hank knees low, SMACKS Jensen off the apron, and fans fire up. Briggs headlocks, Tank powers up and tags Hank. They keep Briggs guessing and Hank runs Briggs over! Tank drops a headbutt! Hank covers, TWO! Hank CLUBS Briggs, brings him up and CLUBS him again. Briggs SLAPS away on Hank, then hits a BIG back suplex! Tag to Jensen, he and Briggs double whip Hank to double shoulder him! They then double scoop SLAM!

Briggs ELBOW DROPS, Jensen ELBOW DROPS! Jensen covers, TWO! Jensen keeps on Hank in the corner and CHOPS! LARIATS! And CHOPS! And LARIATS! Hank fires back but Jensen ROCKS him! Jensen whips Hank but Hank CLOBBERS him! Fans fire up and Hank shoots in to RAM Jensen into the corner! Tag to Tank and he SPLASHES Jensen! Tank scoops and SLAMS Jensen, pushes him to a cover, TWO! Tank drags Jensen around, whips him to ropes, but Jensen KNEES back! Tag to Briggs and Jensen lifts Tank. Briggs runs, atomic drop and BOOT! Jensen BLASTS Hank, Briggs covers, TWO!

Tank snarls as he sits up and fans rally up. Tank spits out a tooth, picks it up, and nods as he puts it away for later. Briggs eggs him on, Tank fires off forearms and haymakers! Tank HEADBUTTS, HEADBUTTS, but Jensen tags in! Tank whips, Briggs reverses and feeds to the lift! HART ATTACK! High stack, the country boys win!

Winners: Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, by pinfall

That was a barn burner! And in the end, Briggs & Jensen show respect to Hank ‘n’ Tank with handshakes. There seems to be a new edge to Briggs & Jensen, will they use that edge to carve a new path to the top?

 

Lyra Valkyria speaks.

“You can either evolve, or get left behind. This place, this skyline, doesn’t resemble the lands that made me. But I am evolving. Adapting. And sharpening my weapons. I’m not the same person who crossed the Atlantic last year. But I am still Valkyria, Shadow of the Morrigan. And as I preside over this concrete jungle, three women have been marked on my route to the NXT Women’s Championship. Kiana James, you are the first.” Will Lyra take flight towards the golden Battleground? Or is she underestimating the Calculator?

 

NXT presents an all new Hard Hitting Home Truths.

Nathan Frazer is back and he welcomes us to the latest edition of HHHT. Now the WWE Draft has come and gone, and a staggering 17 NXT superstars moved on to the Raw & SmackDown rosters. That’s right, SEVENTEEN! And that means spots have opened up. But for who? We don’t know, and that’s the fun of it. See, NXT is like a melting pot of incredible talents from around the world. Axiom from Spain, Dragon Lee from Mexico, Oba Femi from Nigeria. Ghana, Brazil, Poland, Columbia, Ireland, Chase U- Chase U isn’t a country. But Duke goes to Chase U, he’s Aussie, but the list goes on and one.

Frazer himself is from Jersey. Not New Jersey, OG Jersey. Tiny little island between England and France. But anyway, all this talent from all walks of life are battling it out. That gives new meaning to the term, “World domination.” But this era of “global localization” means a certain someone has created a spot for himself. The Heritage Cup Champion, the Scottish Supernova, Noam Dar, who has a fancy little talk show of his own, debuting next week. Interestingly enough, Frazer’s first WWE TV appearance was on Supernova Sessions. He can tell us with absolute certainty, that show serves no other purpose than for Dar to stroke his fragile little ego.

Meanwhile, HHHT is designed to bring things to light and expose the lies that frauds have been telling themselves so that they don’t have a leg to stand on. Speaking of, roll the clip. Dar swings on Dragon, Dragon SUPERKICKS Dar! Frazer has a good laugh. “You love to see it.” The Heritage Cup is Dar’s baby, metaphorically and literally, because roll the clip. Dar cradles the cup and coddles it. There’s being proud of being champion, but even by WWE standards, that’s just strange. But just know this, Dar. It is likely that in the very near future, you won’t have your baby. And your entire world will come crashing down.

But for now, Frazer will love ya and leave ya, this has been HHHT. Peace. Is Frazer not so subtly putting his hat in the ring for the Heritage Cup?

 

NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, Opening Round: Lyra Valkyria VS Kiana James!

We’ve heard from both superstars tonight, but now it is time to put up or shut up! Who joins Tiffany Stratton in the semifinals of this tournament?

The bell rings and the two tie up. Lyra shoots around to roll Kiana up, ONE! Kiana says it’s not that easy, and the two tie up. Kiana knees low, throws Lyra by her hair, and covers, ONE! Lyra gets up but Kiana headlocks. Fans rally behind Lyra and she powers out, only for Kiana to run her over. Kiana taunts Lyra, things speed up, and Lyra hurdles but Kiana blocks the hip toss. Lyra throws Kiana to the other side, Kiana hip tosses back but Lyra handsprings through! Lyra comes back to body scissor, flip and cover, TWO! Kiana sunsets, TWO! Lyra high stacks, TWO and Kiana pops her to a sunset! TWO and Lyra prawn holds, TWO!

Kiana sunset flips again, TWO! Lyra jackknife bridges, TWO as Kiana bridges up! They spin around, Kiana wants the backslide but Lyra holds it off. Kiana knees low, whips Lyra to a corner, but Lyra goes up and Electric Chair spins to a RANA! Ghost pin, TWO! Kiana goes to ropes, but she elbows Lyra away. Lyra comes back to body scissor again, but Kiana puts her in ropes! GUILLOTINE CATAPULT! Lyra flops out of the ring and Kiana goes after her. Kiana whips Lyra into the POST! Kiana talks trash and fans boo as NXT goes picture in picture.

Kiana says she’s smarter than Lyra, then she goes out to bend Lyra against the post! The ref counts, Kiana lets off at 4, and Lyra crawls away. Kiana slides back in, stalks Lyra, and KNEES her in the side! Cover, ONE!! Lyra is tougher than that and Kiana is frustrated. Kiana wraps Lyra up in a seated cobra twist but Lyra endures. Fans rally up, Lyra fights up, and Lyra throws body shots! Kiana throws body shots back! Kiana whips, knees low, then soaks up the heat. Kiana swaggers around, brings Lyra up and whips her again, for another knee, that Lyra uses to get a roll-up! TWO, Kiana wants a leg but Lyra backslides her! TWO!

Kiana RAMS Lyra into a corner! Kiana stomps, RAMS, and handsprings to RAM into Lyra again! Kiana pushes Lyra down, pushes her to a cover, TWO! Kiana is further frustrated but she clamps back on with the seated cobra twist. Lyra endures, even as Kiana adds a leg to the stretch! NXT returns to single picture, fans rally up, and Lyra fights to get her leg free. Kiana keeps on the upper body but Lyra fights up. Fans rally, Lyra clinches back and MONKEY FLIPS Kiana away! Kiana flounders up, into a cradle! A shoulder is still up so Lyra has to tip that way, TWO! Kiana gets up to fire body shots!

Kiana reels Lyra in for an atomic GUTBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Kiana scowls as Lyra hangs tough and goes to a corner. Fans rally, Kiana runs in and RAMS into her! Kiana backs up, handsprings, and runs in again, into a KNEE! Lyra goes up to MISSILE DROPKICK! Fans rally up while both women are down. Lyra sits up, Kiana follows, and Lyra throws haymakers! Lyra blocks a kick to CLOBBER Kiana! And ROUNDHOUSE! And SOBAT! Front kick! HEADBUTT! AX KICK! Kiana blocks the northern lights to knee low! Kiana runs in but is dumped out of the ring! Lyra builds speed to WRECK Kiana with a dropkick!

Fans fire up as Lyra goes out and brings Kiana around into the ring. Lyra climbs up, takes aim, and leaps, but Kiana gets under! Lyra comes back to ENZIGURI! Lyra reels Kiana in, NORTHERN LIGHTS! Bridging cover, TWO! Kiana escapes but Lyra fires back up. Fans rally behind Lyra as she hobbles to a corner. Lyra climbs up, takes aim, and dives, onto knees! Kiana drags Lyra up, gut wrench and POWERBOMB! Cover, TWO!! Lyra survives and shocks Kiana! Kiana drags Lyra up to KNEE her low! And again! Fans rally, Kiana knees Lyra more! Lyra goes to ropes but Kiana brings her up, back suplex, but Lyra lands on her feet!

Lyra BOOTS Kiana down! Lyra wins!!

Winner: Lyra Valkyria, by pinfall (advances to the next round)

Kiana can at least say she was right, Lyra was an incredibly tough first round opponent. Will Lyra stay tough all the way to Battleground?

 

Gallus is having a good time at the bar.

Mark says, “How ’bout them Creeds, eh?” Joe says to forget about those guys. A toast to their successful title defense. But then Tony & Stacks walk over. Tony congratulates Gallus on the big win tonight. Stacks made some scratch betting on them, too. Gallus showed just why they’re champs. Yeah, what’s your business here? Oh, does Joe just wake up angry? Anyway, last time Tony & Stacks came in, they left with a spot at Stand & Deliver. Yeah, that was some scrap, huh? But if Joe wasn’t involved, Gallus wouldn’t even be champions right now! What was that? Tony & Stacks tell Joe to calm down.

Tony understands the whole crew is here, but he just wants to say that they’re next. Joe says things are done differently now, and he brings out the Billy club. Gallus does things differently now that he’s back, and that means they handle business differently. So Tony & Stacks should leave while they can still walk. Okay, okay, but just know, Joe doesn’t wanna go down that road. Gallus is stateside now, and you don’t wanna threaten The Don. But don’t worry, the Family will get their title match. Joe tells them to see themselves out, but then there are more guys ready to fight. Stacks says they should go, and Tony obliges. Will The Family get theirs come Battleground?

 

Trick Williams VS Bron Breakker!

As #TrickWilly said himself, he isn’t just doing this for Melo, he is doing this for himself. Will Trick pass the biggest test in his NXT career? Or will Bron prove Steiner Math was right all along?

NXT returns as Bron makes his entrance. The bell rings and the two tie right up. They go around, Bron puts Trick in a corner but Trick slips away. They go again, Bron fireman’s carry takeovers, then wrenches. Trick kips up but Bron wrangles him down. Trick fights up, breaks free and DROPKICKS Bron! And DROPKICKS again! And then RAMS Bron into the corner to fire off fast hands! Trick RAMS into Bron again and again but lets off as the ref counts. Trick jukes the ref, Bron ROCKS him, but Trick RAMS Bron back into the corner! Fans fire up as Trick fires off more fists! The ref counts, backs Trick off, but Trick storms up again.

Trick whips corner to corner, Bron reverses to get around and waistlock. Trick switches, Bron bucks him, and then Bron runs up, into a BOOT! Trick runs in to BOOT Bron out of the ring! Fans fire up and Trick is feeling it! Trick goes out the side, ROCKS Bron, then CLUBS him against the desk! Fans and even Booker is loving this! Trick brings Bron around, tells the timekeeper to move, but Bron hauls Trick up to OVERHEAD suplex him onto the desk! Fans duel between barks and “Bron Breakker Sucks~!” Bron puts Trick in at 8 of 10, rains down fists, then he hauls Trick up, for another OVERHEAD Suplex!

Fans mock Bron with “MEOW~” rather than barking, but Bron GERMAN SUPLEXES Trick! Bron stalks Trick, drags him up and talks trash, but Trick SLAPS Bron! Bron DECKS Trick! Bron hauls Trick up to snap suplex! Cover, but Bron lets off to do push-ups! Bron says he could do this all day! Fans boo and give thumbs down but Bron clamps onto Trick with a cobra twist! Fans chant “YOU STILL SUCK!” Bron fishhooks Trick, the ref reprimands, but Bron keeps on the twist. Trick fights up, stands up, and he throws body shots! Bron knees low, whips Trick, but Trick whips him away! Trick dodges the lariat to BODY BLOW! And UPPERCUT!

Bron staggers, Trick runs, but into a SPINEBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Trick is showing heart but Bron gets annoyed. Bron toys with Trick, Trick stands, and Bron runs in to LARIAT! Fans chant “Bron is Neutered!” while Bron looms over Trick. Bron runs, but into a BOOT! Trick hurries to SWINGING NECKBREAKER! Fans fire up for Trick, he counter punches Bron! And again! Then dodges to DROPKICK! Bron staggers, Trick keeps moving, for a LEAPING LARIAT! Trick roars and fans fire up behind him! Trick has an arm, he cartwheels to bring Bron right up into the URENAGE! Cover, TWO! Bron survives but Trick keeps focus.

Trick aims as Bron rises, and Trick spins, but Bron catches him! Trophy lift, BREAKKER SLAM!! But Bron isn’t done, he wants Trick to get back up! Fans boo as Trick crawls to ropes. Bron drags him around but Trick kicks away on Bron! Bron gets that foot but Trick EDDY GORDO KICKS! Trick fires up again and fans are with him! SCREW HIGH- SPEAR!! Bron takes Trick down, he brings the straps down, and he shouts “IT’S OVER!!” STEINER RECLINER!! Trick shakes his head, he refuses to give up, but Bron bends him back! Trick taps, Bron wins!

Winner: Bron Breakker, by submission

Trick put up one hell of a fight, but Bron is #MeanerThanEvil! Fans boo but Bron doesn’t care, he puts Trick back in the STEINER RECLINER!! But here comes Melo! Melo rushes in to fire off on Bron! Fans fire up but Bron shoves melo away! Melo dodges, springboards, into a SPEAR!! The champion gets intercepted! Fans are in disbelief as Born stands over Trick Melo Gang and picks up the title. Bron grins as he tells Melo, “You have something that belongs to me. NXT Battleground, this is gonna be mine.” Fans chant “You Still Suck!” but will Bron once again be champion? Or can Melo find a way to still be #HIM?


My Thoughts:

A great episode, and even commentary seemed surprised at how literally hard hitting it was. Most surprising was that Briggs & Jensen were being so aggressive against Hank ‘n’ Tank. The match was made out of a social media promo, but clearly Briggs & Jensen want to reestablish themselves in the division. They were wearing dark jeans, are they going to suddenly turn Heel? That seems a bit random, since Jensen rejoined Fallon & Briggs. But maybe they’re just trying to match the hard hitting, no nonsense teams like Gallus, The Dyad and even The D’Angelo Family.

Speaking of, great tag title match from Gallus VS The Dyad, but I figured Gallus would retain. Nice segue within that match to set up some Schism VS Diamond Mine, mostly with Ivy going after Ava. And of course, Tony & Stacks want after Gallus next for some of that mafia VS mafia stuff, which we got a touch of tonight with Tony & Stacks confronting Gallus at their favorite spot. I wonder if Gallus will return the favor and go to Tony’s favorite restaurant. But obviously, something happens to give us Gallus VS Tony & Stacks at Battleground, and honestly, I wouldn’t mind if Tony added new faction members to even out the numbers since Gallus has three.

Gacy’s part in the promo should have of course clued us in that he wants the North American Championship. Great promo with Wes and Bate, I just knew Bate was too deep in meditation to hear anything. Really good match with Bate and Dempsey, but of course overbooking costs Bate. Dempsey probably gets in the mix for the North American Championship, too, and we could get some good stuff in deciding a contender, like a Triple Threat of Gacy VS Bate VS Dempsey, winner goes on to Battleground. Though, personally, it’d be a shame if we don’t get individual matches, like Wes VS Gacy and Wes VS Bate, because those would all be great stuff.

Really good promo to get things moving in the Heritage Cup scene, too. Dar interrupting Dragon to announce the return of Supernova Sessions was a good move, as was Frazer responding through his own talk show. I love that Frazer threw those jabs at Dar, I love that he said “global localization” as a nod to HHH’s dream/plan of putting an NXT in every major market, and I am still hoping there’s something more than just saying Dragon is Dar’s challenger. We need to have the Heritage Cup Division grow, and do so by having Heritage Cup Rules matches, like Dragon VS Frazer, maybe bring in some other names, and have a #1 contender by Battleground.

Good promo from Duke and Javi to set up their match, and it was a pretty good match. Duke won, of course, and I like that there is still the mystery of Duke’s true allegiances. Things are of course leaning heavily towards Duke wanting to put himself over, but we’ll have to see how many more twists and turns there are before Duke and Chase fight it out. In that time, maybe Duke should try his hand at the Heritage Cup Division. Von Wagner and Robert Stone had a good promo, too, and I just knew Stone was going to bring up the surgery picture. And I think the route they’re going is that Von’s anger comes from being bullied for the scar, because he basically snapped on that rando who made the head joke.

Really good stuff out of the NXT Championship story, such as a return to barbershop promos. Trick VS Bron in the main event was also great stuff for getting less time than I expected. Bron of course wins to build momentum towards Battleground, but I didn’t think he’d also beat down Melo. But I suppose that is to establish Melo is the underdog even as champion, making it even better when he overcomes Bron in his hometown. Maybe then, Bron moves on to RawDown, or at least another title on NXT. Then Melo can have a true clean start for the Summer, facing just about whoever is still in NXT.

And really good stuff out of the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament, but uh, what is with that opening bracket? Gigi VS Tiff, Jacy VS Roxie, Lyra VS Kiana and Fallon VS Cora? This is the same WWE trope, or rather their bad habit, of making opening round matches that set up super obvious second round matches. If Face A wins their match, Heel B wins theirs. If Heel A wins, Face B wins. That is to say, now that Tiffany has beat Gigi (without Jacy’s input, surprisingly), Roxie will beat Jacy. Likewise, now that Lyra beat Kiana, Cora will beat Fallon. The silver-lining there is that we’re free to have Gigi VS Jacy in their tiebreaker grudge match at Battleground.

Another thing I would like to point out about the tournament is that four matches seems too small. I get that they’re kayfabing these eight as the “top eight” in the division, like there’s suddenly a ranking system. And I get there’s only three weeks until Battleground and they can’t use all six hours for just the tournament. But there should’ve been something to give us the feeling that all the women in NXT were being given an equal opportunity. A battle royal to name a wild card to the bracket, perhaps?

My Score: 8.7/10


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Coverage

Mitchell’s WWE Raw Results & Report! (3/18/24)

Talk about a Big Time Raw!

Published

on

Will The Man be the Last Woman Standing?

Becky Lynch and Nia Jax want to finally put this to an end, so tonight on Raw, it will be a Big Time Last Woman Standing match! Will the Irresistible Force force the WrestleMania 40 match to change?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: #DIY VS The Creed Brothers; DIY wins and advances to WrestleMania.
  • Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell VS Kayden Carter & Katana Chance; Candice & Indi win.
  • Dominik Mysterio w/ JD McDonagh VS Ricochet; Ricochet wins.
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The Awesome Truth VS Indus Sher; The Awesome Truth wins and advances to WrestleMania.
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The New Day VS The Alpha Academy; The New Day wins and advances to WrestleMania.
  • Last Woman Standing: Becky Lynch VS Nia Jax; Becky wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Jey Uso is here!

North Carolina State University fires up and bounces along with Main Event Jey, and Pat McAfee plays a dangerous game standing on the armchairs! From Bret VS Owen to Matt VS Jeff, we’re about to get Jey VS Jimmy in the third-ever Brother VS Brother WrestleMania grudge match! Jey gets the mic as fans chant “YEET! YEET! YEET!” Jey welcomes us to Monday Night Raw, and wants us to check this out. He knows his brothers are somewhere in the building. He knows The Bloodline’s in the building. He knows how the Bloodline rolls! SO Big Brother Jimmy, where you at?! Where you at, Uce!?

Jey waits for someone to show up somewhere, and the crowd spots them first! Fans boo as Jimmy & Solo make their way from the back of the stands. Jimmy gets a mic and goes to the apron while Solo paces around the outside. Fans chant “YEET! YEET! YEET!” again as Jey puts the sunglasses aside. The Usos stare each other down, the fans now chant “UCE! OH! UCE! OH!” Jey wants to say something, hesitates, but then says these two would always get to it but they always knew how to shake right back to this. But now it’s different. Regardless of what happened, the bad blood between them, Jey misses his brother. He does.

Jey knows Jimmy will say what he wants, but Jey doesn’t talk to him no more, doesn’t ride with him no more, doesn’t even see him no more! Jimmy can just come back. Jimmy says he never left! He protected Jey! Jey’s so dumb, he can’t see it! Jimmy is protecting Jey! It was Jey’s idea to leave The Bloodline, but Jimmy helped because he is Jey’s brother. So yeah, Jey leaves, and what happens? Lil’ Bro becomes the BIGGEST star on the Raw roster! Lil’ Bro becomes the top merch seller! Lil’ Bro goes off to become a tag team champion without Jimmy, but with CODY RHODES!? Who left who, Uce?

Jey forgot Jimmy! Everything Jey did that was big was cuz of Big Bro Jimmy! Everything! So listen loud and clear. The biggest moment in Jey’s career, the BIGGEST moment, is because of Jimmy! Jimmy stares Jey down, but Jey says no. Jey’s biggest moment in his career is going to be his dream match at WrestleMania 40: Jey VS Jimmy, and Jey knocks the yeet out Jimmy’s ass! Jey DECKS Jimmy, DECKS Solo off the apron, but then Jimmy SUPERKICKS Jey down! The fans boo but now Solo storms in and looms over Jey. Solo drags Jey up so Jimmy can look him in the face and tell him that Jey needs to get it right! JIMMY made Jey!

But here comes Cody Rhodes! The fans fire up as Cody DECKS Jimmy, then gets in to springboard and CODY CUTTER Solo!! The American Nightmare said he was gonna be a Bloodline Hunter, and he made sure they didn’t take out Jey! Cody tells The Bloodline it is only a matter of time before they lose it all at WrestleMania! Will Jey prove that younger or older doesn’t matter when he is the BETTER brother?

 

Adam Pearce is on the phone.

He’s telling Nick Aldis to stop being a hypocrite, telling Pearce to keep his roster in check when this is happening. But then Paul Heyman walks over and Pearce says he’ll call Aldis back. Pearce then asks Heyman what was all that, and Heyman says he owes Pearce an apology. He is sorry. That was not authorized by The Final Boss nor The Tribal Chief, and certainly not by Heyman. Jimmy & Solo went into business for themselves so Heyman apologizes. But listen, Pearce knows that there have been flight delays all day. Even private jets like theirs. Heyman is barely even dressed for TV, let alone has his make-up!

Pearce says those two were ready. Yeah, well, they got in on a different flight. But Roman Reigns is a chief of his word. Those two are already gone, out of the arena, and Pearce has Roman’s word. Call his bluff, put out a search party. Pearce knows Heyman is here on official business, which Heyman will handle, and then be gone. That is it. But when Heyman does his official business… everyone will be caught off guard. “And Mr. Pearce, sir, that’s not a prediction. That’s a spoiler.” The Wise Man heads out and calls Roman, but just what is Heyman teasing?

 

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: #DIY VS The Creed Brothers!

Unlike SmackDown’s mini-tournament, Raw and Adam Pearce say it’s win and you’re in! Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano want one more shot at Judgment Day, but so do Julius & Brutus! Will the Sicilian Psycho & Johnny Wrestling prove that when it comes to Mania Moments, you gotta do it yourself? Or will the Creeds be bringing golden tickets to the Diamond Mine?

Raw returns as The Creeds make their entrance. The teams fist bump to show respect, then the teams sort out. Julius starts against Ciampa, they circle and tie up. They’re in a deadlock, Ciampa goes for a waistlock but Julius facelocks. Julius wrangles Ciampa to the mat, flips him over, ONE, and Ciampa keeps moving. They trade facelocks, gator roll, and Julius gets another lateral press. ONE, but Julius gator rolls Ciampa around. Ciampa fights up, puts Julius on ropes, and the ref counts. Ciampa lets off, then CHOPS! Julius shoots in for the takedown! Julius has a leg, Ciampa fights but Julius turns him for the ANKLE LOCK!

Ciampa scrambles to the ROPEBREAK, and Julius lets off cleanly. Ciampa bails out, shakes it off, and he gets back in. They go again, Julius hits a fireman’s carry takeover! Tag to Brutus, and Julius feeds Ciampa to another fireman’s carry takeover! Brutus cording holds but Ciampa endures. Ciampa fights up, but Brutus facelocks. The fans rally as Brutus switches and rolls Ciampa. Ciampa fights up, headlocks, then ROCKS Brutus! Brutus DECKS Ciampa, then whips him to ropes. Ciampa ducks ‘n’ dodges, tag to Gargano! Ciampa slides, CHOPS, Gargano LARIATS and Ciampa JAWBREAKERS! Wrench and LARIAT!

Julius runs in, Gargano kicks and Ciampa gives him the boost for SLICED BREAD! The Creeds bail out, but DIY DOUBLE PLANCHA! Down go the Creeds, and DIY applaud and pat themselves on the back. The fans fire up and Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Ciampa has Julius in a chinlock. The fans rally, Julius fights up to throw body shots, but Ciampa hits a back suplex! Julius lands out of it, but Ciampa elbows him away. Ciampa drop toeholds Julius, gets legs, but Julius BOOTS Ciampa away! Hot tags to Gargano and Brutus! Brutus rallies on DIY, TOSSES Gargano, then blocks Ciampa’s kick to get under and POWERBOMB him! Brutus sees DIY regroup, then he runs in to SPLASH them both! O’Conner on Ciampa, but Gargano runs up! NORTHERN LIGHTS! Brutus has a DOUBLE BRIDGE, TWO!! Tag to Julius and he gut wrench SLAMS Brutus on Ciampa!

Brutus helps Julius flip up and over to SPLASH onto Ciampa! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up as Julius drags Ciampa up. Ciampa throat chops! A bit dirty but Ciampa wants that win! Ciampa storms up on Julius, but Julius basement stalling suplexes!! The fans are thunderous, Gargano runs in, but Brutus intercepts! Brutus suplexes Gargano now, stalls, and then the Creeds SLAM and kip up! Then they both STANDING MOONSAULT! Cover, TWO! Ciampa stays in this for DIY but the Creeds keep cool. Julius stomps Ciampa, tags Brutus, and they KNEE Ciampa around! Then they DOUBLE GUTBUSTER! Ciampa sputters but Brutus tags Julius in.

Julius drags Ciampa up, tags Brutus back in, and Brutus climbs. Julius Electric Chair Lifts, but Gargano makes the save! Gargano ROCKS Julius, Brutus ROCKS Gargano! Ciampa BOOTS Brutus, Gargano swings on Julius but is sent into Ciampa! Ciampa pushes Gargano back so he can ELBOW Julius! DIY set up again but Brutus stops the Sliced Bread! Julius DECKS Ciampa, KNEE into the WIDOWMAKER! Julius scrapes Gargano out, Brutus POUNCES Ciampa over the desk! Pat fires up with Brutus and so do the fans! The Creeds say they run this now, and then Brutus drags Ciampa up while Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Julius has Ciampa in a chinlock. Ciampa fights up, and he JAWBREAKERS free! Ciampa ELBOWS Brutus down, BOOTS Julius, then runs up, only for Julius to catch him and toss him back! But then Ciampa catches Julius for a REVERSE DDT! The fans fire up while both men are down and crawling! Hot tag to Gargano! Gargano slingshots to KICK Julius, then he CLOBBERS Brutus! ENZIGIRI for Julius, then he runs to DOUBLE KNEE Brutus! BULLDOG LARIAT COMBO! The fans fire up with Gargano while Julius ends up in another corner. Gargano runs in but is put on the apron!

Gargano GAMANGIRIS Julius, SUPERKICKS Brutus, then SLINGSHOT SPEARS Julius! Cover, TWO! Julius survives but Gargano puts him in a corner. Gargano CHOPS, then hoists Julius up top. Tag to Ciampa, Ciampa CHOPS Julius while Gargano DIVES onto Brutus! Ciampa CHOPS Julius again, goes up top, and fireman’s carries! Ciampa then tucks Julius in for the SUPER AIR RAID CRASH! Cover, TWO!! Julius survives again and shocks Ciampa! The fans are just as stunned, but Ciampa and Julius sit up. Ciampa stands, and he CHOPS! And CHOPS! Julius sits back up as Ciampa puts some stank on the CHOP!

Julius brings the straps down! Julius fires a forearm, Ciampa hits back, and the fans fire up as the shots keep going! They go faster and faster, harder and harder, meaner and meaner! The fans fire up as this just turns into a brawl of haymakers and SLAPS! Ciampa then gets around, ripcord and HAYMAKER! ROLLING- TACKLE from Julius! And then the ANKLE LOCK!! Ciampa reaches out, moves around, but Gargano runs up! Julius kicks him, then gets him up with one arm to POWERBOMB! Then it’s back to the ANKLE LOCK on Ciampa! Brutus gets in to get Gargano for an ANKLE LOCK of his own!

The fans are thunderous as DIY endures! Ciampa and Gargano fight, turn things over, SICILIAN CROSSFACE and GargaNO Escape!! The fans are thunderous as The Creeds power up and lift both DIY! They fireman’s carry, then TOSS DIY into each other!! The fans are thunderous as Julius goes up to MOONSAULT onto Ciampa! Brutus MOONSAULTS, too! Cover, TWO?!?! Ciampa survives and the fans are loving this! Julius tags back in, Brutus climbs up! “This is Awesome!” as Julius Electric Chair Lifts Ciampa! But Ciampa VICTORY ROLLS to get under the Brutus Ball!! Cover, Brutus tips it! Gargano TOSSES Brutus then SUPERKICKS Julius!! Ciampa has the cover, DIY WINS!!

Winners: DIY, by pinfall (advance to WrestleMania)

Julius can’t believe it! He kicked out at 3.1, but a loss is a loss! And for the first time ever, DIY is going to Mania! Will Philadelphia soon be historic for a DIY championship victory?

 

Judgment Day meets backstage.

Rhea Ripley is with Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor & JD McDonagh, but also Andrade. Dom says he’s always liked Andrade’s style, but things have changed since the last time he was in the WWE. The Judgment Day runs Raw now. Rhea says yeah, and they don’t extend invitations to just anyone. Judgment Day is very exclusive. JD says very exclusive. But if Andrade continues to impress them, they’ll see about making things happen. And Finn says he just heard that Andrade has a match next week, so the Judgment Day will be watching him. Sounds good. See you next week. But then in steps Damian Priest.

The Punisher says hello to El Idolo, and El Idolo says hello to Senor Dinero. Andrade heads out, will he quite literally win his way into the club? But as for Priest, Finn asks him what he was up to. Priest was getting a closer look at that DIY VS Creeds match. DIY won, but whatever, they can handle those guys. But JD, they thought he could handle Ricochet last week, and run the gauntlet, and then go to WrestleMania to bring even more gold back to Judgment Day. JD says he did he belonged in there. But also, he battered Ricochet, who got lucky at the end there. Right, Finn? Finn hesitates, and Rhea says Priest is right on this one.

Ricochet made a fool out of JD! A fool? Yes. A fool? Yes. That’s why tonight, Dom will make it right. Right, Dom? Yeah, Mami. Let’s go talk to Pearce to make it official. Dom & JD head out, and the others are confident Dom’s got this. But does he, though? Or will the One and Only have two wins over Judgment Day in as many weeks?

 

Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell VS Kayden Carter & Katana Chance!

The Poison Pixie certainly lived up to that name last week when she bullied Maxxine Dupri as part of beating her and Ivy Nile last week. Will Candice’s toxic tongue strike again? Or will the party not be stopped by her harsh vibes?

The teams sort out and Candice starts against Kayden. Candice rushes up, Kayden gets around and O’Conner Rolls, TWO! Kayden springboards to basement dropkick! Cover, TWO! Kayden stalks Candice, Candice ELBOWS her away then tags Indi. Kayden dodges Candice to SUPERKICK, but Indi BOOTS Kayden! Cover, TWO! Indi drags Kayden up, tags Candice back in, and they mug Kayden. Candice CLUBS away on Kayden, fires off furious fists, then covers. TWO, and Candice grows frustrated already. The fans rally, Candice steps up but Kayden avoids the senton! Tags to Katana and Indi! Katana blasts past Indi, comes back and BULLDOGS!

Katana keeps moving, ducks ‘n’ dodges, then SHOTGUNS Indi to a corner! The fans fire up as Katana stomps away on Indi! Indi shoves Katana, Katana runs corner to corner to A-LIST LARIAT! Katana shoves Indi down, runs up, but into a back suplex! Katana lands out, but her leg jams! The ref and Kayden check, then the ref keeps Indi back. Indi says okay, and she stays by Candice. But Candice tags in to WRECK Kayden! And she SLAMS Katana’s leg into the post!! HALF CRAB and DEEP! Katana taps, Candice & Indi win!

Winners: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell, by submission

Candice smiles and celebrates with Indi, but Indi doesn’t want to. Candice says a win is a win, but just what is going on in her toxic mind?

 

Cody Rhodes makes his way to the ring.

NC State fires up again as The American Nightmare walks down the ramp, and this time the fans can sing along with the song, “WHOA~ OH~!” Cody gets his pyro then gets the mic. “In less than three weeks time, I will stand opposed for the second year in a row, in the main event, with the lights on brightest, I will challenge for the WWE Undisputed Championship, against the greatest champion in all of sports, The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. And this Friday on SmackDown, Roman and I are going to have a little conversation, if you will. But there are… complications. Factors, elements, combustible elements, namely… The Rock.”

Fans boo but Cody says The Rock took to Instagram on Friday, and followed it up with “extremely entertaining” concert. Too bad The Rock didn’t wanna be here tonight. Something Cody took from the Instagram post: The Rock referred to himself as “Our Favorite Heel.” A bit of an inside term, but we’re not dumb, we know that means he’s the “bad guy.” Cody has known Heels. Bobby Heenan, Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes, “Superstar” Billy Graham, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair! Fans “WOO~” and Cody says he doesn’t think The Rock is a Heel. He’s just an assh*le. The fans go nuts hearing that!

Cody doesn’t want Rock getting upset, he doesn’t want the “seven bucks team” to get upset, he doesn’t want anyone getting emotional. Cody knows how Rock feels about emotions, he poked fun at Cody tearing up at discussing “finishing the story” with good friend, Michael Cole. There’s no crying in pro-wrestling, Jimmy Dugan, we get it. But hasn’t The Rock been crying behind the scenes this whole time? Once that hashtag came out, once fans chanted something else, The Rock cried to his buddies on the TKO board and said “Hey, this is gonna be some good PR for The Rock! I need to save WWE!” God knows, look at this house. They sure needed “saving,” huh?

The fans cheer but Cody says Rock wanted great PR. Until it wasn’t. TKO said OMG yes, put on the Gucci shirt, get those muscles looking big. It’s because they are Yes People, they are enablers, they won’t dare tell The Rock like it is, so Cody’s going to. Cody tells The Rock, “You’re a lot of things. You’re a lot of wonderful things. You are the Braham Bull, you are The Great One.” Cody still has shoes with The Rock’s logo on it! The Rock is the only guy Cody honestly feels is a Mount Rushmore wrestler. But he is also a terrible salesman, a carny succubus, and for those who don’t get what that means, The Rock is “a whiny b*tch!”

Fans lose their minds again but Cody says The Rock has been convinced otherwise. But don’t think that for two seconds this locker room needs The Rock more than The Rock needs it! That’s a rule of wrestling, nobody is bigger than the business! And sure, Cody brought up his mom, so it is fair game for The Rock to use that. But Cody knows The Rock’s mom. Here’s what Cody will tell us about The Rock’s mom. She is a wonderful lady, salt of the earth, she helped Cody chop Kevin in a dark match. Cody has nothing but respect for The Rock’s mom, something The Rock should’ve echoed back towards Cody’s mom.

But see, The Rock was talking about whipping Cody, handing a bloody weight belt to Cody’s mom, and normally someone as powerful as The Rock, Mama Rhodes would tremble. But The Rock doesn’t know Cody’s mom. Cody was more scared than she was, because she ain’t scared of nothing. This is the same woman who once jumped out of her chair at a Willie Nelson concert and beat up an undercover cop! She ain’t afraid of The Rock! Cody has been asked, April 6th, biggest tag match of all time, Rock & Roman VS Cody & Seth. Seth Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion, a man The Rock should respect because that man has carried The Rock’s company!

How will Cody get past that match? How will April 7th look? Will it be a fair fight? Cody can tell us honestly… He doesn’t know. Cody does not know if it will be Bloodline Rules or not. Hell, he might not #FinishTheStory. “But Dwayne… What do you know? How can you be so sure of your own self, right?” The Rock hasn’t been in the ring in real action in years! April 6th, the bell is gonna ring, and what happens then? Is The Rock gonna bring The Great One, the hero we all had growing up? Is he bringing that #BigDwayneEnergy? Or is it gonna be LDS, Little D*ck Syndrome?! The fans chant “L D S! L D S!”

Cody says The Rock has referred to himself as The Final Boss. Kudos for that nickname, maybe he really is that. Maybe Cody is too naive to see it. But at WrestleMania, Cody doesn’t think The Rock will be The Final Boss. At WrestleMania, he’s just Roman’s side chick. But then ladies and gentlemen, his name is Paul Heyman, and he serves as The Wise Man to Your Tribal Chief, the reigning! Defending! Undisputed! WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion, Roman… Reigns! And as Special Counsel to the Bloodline, Heyman is here to say to Cody that the ideals that Cody and Heyman share are far greater than the interests on which they conflict.

By example, don’t you hate it when someone comes out to demand an apology? Not that Cody’s done that, but Heyman is still going to do that. Heyman came out here with some “friends” of his, and he apologized. For a Wise Man, that was pretty freakin’ stupid. One: because it didn’t work. Two: because it was just dumb. And for that, Cody, to you and the fans, Heyman humbly apologizes. Cody says whoa, whoa, whoa. He didn’t ask for an apology, and he certainly knows Heyman wants permission to be in the ring. Heyman is a Hall of Famer starting this year, if he wants into the ring, be Cody’s guest.

Heyman thanks Cody for that but he’s fine on the apron. He carries with him a message from The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. Talk about Heels… You may think of Heyman anything negative you want, and that might be understanding the obvious. Heyman is not trustworthy, but Roman is a chief of his word. Heyman assures that this Friday on SmackDown, Roman will be face to face with Cody. American Nightmare, Tribal Chief, challenger and champion. And when they are face to face, there will not be a single other member of The Bloodline in sight. Except for Heyman, but he is no physical threat.

Heyman holds the title belt, the beads, whispers things in Roman’s ear, such as his love and respect. But Cody has Roman’s word that if he shows up on SmackDown, Roman will show up alone. Cody says Roman shows up alone, no Bloodline outside of Heyman, it’s a deal. They good? Heyman has some jet lag, he forgot one little point. And don’t boo him, he’s talking to Cody! Cody says yes they’re booing, and he’s about to go full Homelander and rip Heyman’s throat out if he doesn’t get to the point. Fans like the reference. Heyman composes himself and says if Roman Reigns shows up alone this Friday on SmackDown, then Cody must show up to SmackDown alone, too.

Cody steps closer to Heyman and Heyman is a bit nervous. Cody tells Heyman, “Deal!” They shake hands, and Heyman smiles. The Wise Man negotiated a purely one-on-one meeting between his Tribal Chief and American Nightmare, but can we trust Heyman was telling the truth about Roman telling the truth?

 

Nia Jax speaks.

“You know what I’ve realized? Becky Lynch has never beaten me. And after tonight, she never will. Because after I break her face again, I will be taking her spot at WrestleMania. I will finish business with Rhea Ripley, and not only will I walk out the Last Woman Standing, but I will become Women’s World Champion.” The Irresistible Force is ready for the Big Time, but will she A-Nia-late her?

 

Cody Rhodes returns backstage.

And Jey says there he go! But real quick, Cody can’t be going to SmackDown alone. Cody says he gave them his word. But The Bloodline isn’t gonna play fair! They’re all gonna be there! If Cody needs Jey, Jeys’ got him. Cody hears that, but he knows what he’s dealing with. They shake hands and Jey heads out. Will Cody be able to have that fair, one-on-one meeting? Or does Jey have a point about The Bloodline?

 

Dominik Mysterio w/ JD McDonagh VS Ricochet!

It seems Pearce agreed to the idea that Dirty Dom should try and clean up The Irish Ace’s mess. Will Dom be able to get revenge on Ricochet? Or will Ricochet be the One and Only person holding their head high tonight?

Raw returns and Dom has made his entrance. The bell rings, Dom and Ricochet circle, and they tie up. Ricochet waistlocks, Dom fights the lift and grabs ropes. The ref counts, Ricochet lets off, but Dom ELBOWS him away! Dom fires hands, soaks up the heat, then storms up, but into haymakers! Ricochet CHOPS, kicks then flexes on Dom. Ricochet whips, Dom reverses, but Ricochet goes up and over. Ricochet ducks ‘n’ dodges to then handspring back elbow! The fans fire up while Dom bails out! JD is there to coach Dom up, but Ricochet runs in! JD gets Dom to safety, but Ricochet handsprings to hero land!

The fans fire up, Ricochet then goes to ropes to TORNILLO PLANCHA! Direct hit on Dom and Ricochet tells JD to back off. Ricochet puts Dom in, Dom distracts the ref, but JD grabs Ricochet’s leg! Ricochet kicks JD away, but then Dom WRECKS Ricochet with a dropkick! Dom soaks up the heat and Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Dom has Ricochet up top. Dom climbs but Ricochet throws body shots! The fans rally behind Ricochet as he sends Dom staggering. Ricochet hops down as Dom comes running back, and Ricochet GAMANGIRIS him away! Ricochet then springboards, but Dom trips him up! Ricochet flops to the mat, then Dom kicks and FACEBUSTERS! Cover, TWO! Ricochet is still in this and JD argues the count. Dom looms over Ricochet, scuffs him around, then mockingly cheers him on. Fans boo but Dom brings Ricochet up. Dom gives some Latino Heat, then suplexes! Uno Amigo, but fans boo.

Dom gets Ricochet up but Ricochet suplexes Dom instead! And then fireman’s carry, DYNAMITE KICK! Cover, TWO! Dom is still in this and JD coaches him but the fans rally for Ricochet. Ricochet stands, storms up on Dom, but Dom shoots around to roll him up! With tights! TWO, Ricochet blocks a kick and KICKS Dom down! Ricochet hurries up top, the fans fire up, but Ricochet has to bail out of the 450 as Dom moves! Dom runs in again, but into a SUPERKICK! JD gets on the apron, so Ricochet triangle jump DROPKICKS! But then Dom DROPKICKS Ricochet onto ropes! Dom dials it up but Ricochet ducks!

Dom spins around, into the RECOIL!! Cover, Ricochet wins!

Winner: Ricochet, by pinfall

But then JD runs in! Ricochet dodges, goes up and around, BOOTS JD away, then BOOTS him again! Ricochet even flips up and out of the ring at the same time! Ricochet gets the better of Judgment Day again, just how disappointed is Mami going to be in her Latino Heat this time?

 

Sami Zayn is backstage.

He finds Chad Gable and wants to talk with him. Last week’s match, that was an honor. Sami hasn’t been pushed like that in a long time, it could’ve gone either way. Gable says yeah, it was great. Thanks. Is Gable alright? Yeah, he’s fine. Kinda feels like not… Gable says he’s fine, so leave it at that. C’mon, man, how many years have they known each other? Sami knows when something’s bothering Gable, so he should just say it. Gable says look, last week, the WrestleMania opportunity, the whole thing, it just meant more to him. Sami says he’s been hearing Gable say that for weeks, and it is really unfair.

Does Gable really think he’s the only one this title opportunity matters to? Sami has a family, too! Sami’s kid cries when Papa loses a match, too. Sami has people he’s let down and is trying to make proud. After all the years put into this, Gable can’t tell Sami what matters more because he doesn’t know Sami like that. Gable has Sami calm down, and says he knows all that. But it isn’t all about that. Then what is all this? Gable says Sami can’t beat Gunther. Gable then leaves, and Sami is at a loss for words. Is this bitter side of Gable only going to get worse as we go down this Road to WrestleMania?

 

Adam Pearce is in the ring.

Raw returns with the GM by a table, and he welcomes us to a contract signing to make official the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship for WrestleMania! The fans cheer, and Pearce introduces first, the challenger, Sami Zayn! The Great Liberator makes his entrance and the fans sing along with his song. Sami still looks troubled by what Gable said just moments ago, but he still high-fives fans and gets in the ring. Then Pearce introduces the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time, Der Ring General, GUNTHER! The fans boo as Gunther walks in, having reached Day 647!

Gunther smiles as Sami watches him make his way down the ramp and into the ring. Pearce says we know how this works, but Gunther says before we proceed, let us call this what it is: the most important contract signing for the most important match in the history of this championship. And why, why, why is the challenger dressed no better than any of the bums in the audience? Fans boo but Sami just shrugs that off. Sami gets a mic to say that Gunther keeps sitting there all smug, and it’s really starting to piss Sami off. Gunther thinks this is just another day at the office, that he’ll steamroll through Sami like any other contender.

But with all respect to Gunther, he really has. He has beaten everyone that has come his way, and has done it on his own. Gunther doesn’t believe Sami can do it. A lot of people didn’t believe Sami at many points in his career. They didn’t believe he’d even make it to WWE, let alone win championships and main event a WrestleMania. And if you ask The Usos, they didn’t believe Sami would be one of the guys to end the longest tag title reign in WWE history, but he did! And one year later, he will make history again by ending the longest Intercontinental title reign in WWE history! Sami signs his part and pushes the contract over to Gunther.

The fans cheer Sami on but Gunther waits it out. Gunther tells Sami, what Sami should do is listen to his new friend, Gable. Gable doesn’t believe Sami can win. The people here cheer Sami, they probably even love Sami. But even they don’t believe Sami can win. And y’know, when Gunther looks Sami in the eyes, and if Sami was honest with himself, even Sami doesn’t believe he can win. So what Sami is doing right now is standing on Gunther’s doorstep and begging him to get the beating of a lifetime on the Grandest Stage of Them All! So whatever Sami has to do, from training to believing, just keep doing that. Because at WrestleMania, Sami’s dreams will meet reality.

Gunther grins and signs his part, and it is now official! Gunther then stands, title on his shoulder, and takes his leave. The fans boo, but then Sami tells Gunther to wait. Gunther steps back inside to hear Sami as Sami turns around. Gunther looks in Sami’s eyes and believes Sami doesn’t believe? Sami stands to get in Gunther’s face and dares him to look again. Get a good long look, because these are the eyes of the man who will take you down at Mania! The fans fire up, and now Sami leaves first. Gunther still just grins, but will Sami use a Helluva Kick to wipe that smile off his face?

We follow Sami as he storms backstage, right past DIY and The Awesome Truth. Truth asks what’s up with Sami, but The Miz says that is the mindset of WrestleMania right there. That’s what they need. DIY wishes Awesome Truth luck. Awesome Truth knows DIY is into the ladder match, and they are gonna have their own qualifier. Miz & Truth just need to beat… Indus Sher. Jinder Mahal tells Veer & Sanga to warm up for the match. They head out, and Truth says he feels sorry for whoever has to face those guys. Miz stares at Truth, and he has DIY hold off. Miz will explain. The Awesome Truth heads to gorilla, their match is next!

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The Awesome Truth VS Indus Sher w/ Jinder Mahal!

Miz wants a remix of the theme song but Truth says to just follow his lead. NC State knows what’s up, but will the Awesome Truth finally reach the top of the tag division 13 years after they first teamed? We’ll see, after the break!

Raw returns as Indus Sher makes their entrance, the Modern Day Maharaja by their side. The teams sort out and Truth starts against Sanga. The fans echo “WHAT’S UP?!” but Sanga roars! Truth is scared now so he tags Miz. Truth fires Miz up, Miz runs up and dodges Sanga to fire off haymakers! Miz kicks, whips, but Sanga blocks! Sanga whips and CLOBBERS Miz! Jinder nods as Sanga then scoops Miz and brings him over. Veer tags in, Sanga SLAMS Miz, then Veer ELBOW DROPS! Indus Sher say “NAMASTE!” but the fans say “WHAT’S UP!?” with Truth. Veer HIP DROPS Miz, then looms over him.

Veer eggs Miz on, drags him up with shoulder claws, and then steps over Miz for the neck wrench! Miz endures as Veer still digs a claw into his shoulder. The fans rally for Miz, Miz fights up and throws body shots! Miz reaches out but Veer knees low! Veer SHOVES Miz to the corner, runs in, but Miz BOOTS! Miz ELBOWS Sanga, but Veer catches him! Veer puts Miz back int he corner, but Miz ducks the boot to tag Truth! Truth dodges Veer and starts up the shoulder tackles! Truth gets around Veer to SPIN-OUT BOMB! The fans fire up as Truth shouts out Cena with “You Can’t See Me!” Truth runs to Five Knuckle Shuffle!

Jinder is not happy now as Truth fireman’s carries! But Veer slips free! Truth drop toeholds to the STF!! The fans fire up but Sanga stomps Truth! Miz fires off kicks on Sanga, then body shots! Truth joins in, they mug and whip Sanga, to DOUBLE DROPKICK! Sanga staggers around, Veer runs up, but into a full nelson! Truth and Miz combine for a SKULL CRUSHING LIE DETECTOR!! But Sanga whips Miz away! Miz WRECKS Jinder with it, but Sanga runs up! Sanga knocks Miz down, Miz anchors Sanga, Sanga ELBOWS Truth, Truth falls onto Veer for the cover! Awesome Truth wins!!

Winners: The Awesome Truth, by pinfall (advance to WrestleMania)

The fans fire up, and Truth doesn’t even realize what happened! Miz celebrates with Truth and Truth puts it together! They’re now one of the six in the ladder match! Will this combination of teamwork and luck be just what they need to take those titles from Judgment Day?

 

Sami confronts Gable now.

Sami tells Gable to tell him why. Why what? Why does Gable think Sami can’t beat Gunther? Well you just saw why! With Gunther, it isn’t just physical, it is mental. Sami made his career out of being the underdog that crawls his way out of any hole he’s in, right? Just like last week! Sami found the window of opportunity to get out of a bad situation any time he can. Gunther’s on a different level! You gonna sit and wait for that window to appear? It doesn’t happen with Gunther! He’s a different beast, a different animal. If Sami doesn’t change his mentality, then he can’t beat Gunther. Gable leaves Sami with a lot to think again. Is there a way Sami can change enough to defeat Der Ring General?

 

CM Punk speaks.

“Do I plan at being in WrestleMania? WrestleMania is in Philadelphia, what’re the first four letters in Philadelphia? Phil. You can’t have WrestleMania Philadelphia without Phil. Whether I’m invited or uninvited, Punk will be there.” And next week in Chicago, Punk returns to Raw! Will the Second City Saint find a way to be part of the biggest WrestleMania ever?

 

Drew McIntyre is here!

The Scottish Terminator, or as his new shirt says, “The Savior of WrestleMania,” makes his way to the ring, NC State a bit torn about seeing him. But then Seth Rollins is here, too!? McIntyre is upset but the fans sing along, “WHOA~ OH~ OHH~!” as The Visionary struts his way out. Rollins swaggers right past McIntyre in his green storm pattern suit, and steps into the ring first. McIntyre frowns as he follows Rollins in, and sits in a corner. The fans continue to sing, which Rollins revels in for a moment. Rollins has the mic to then say, “RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA~! Welcome to Monday Night Rollins~!

“And Drew, hah, sorry, I didn’t even see you there. I was too busy, uh, y’know, soaking up the spotlight, right?” McIntyre has a mic to say, “Alright, here we go.” Here goes what, Drew? McIntyre says no, no, get it all out of your system, he knows Rollins has more! McIntyre can stay in the back while Rollins enjoys the spotlight, because after WrestleMania, that spotlight’s all McIntyre’s. Hey, hey, c’mon. Rollins is here with an honest cause. Rollins doesn’t like McIntyre, he thinks he’s stupid, a hypocrite, has said a lot of dumb things lately, but Rollins is here to admit that one thing McIntyre said is absolutely right and he wants to say it to McIntyre’s face, right here in Raleigh, in front of the fine people.

Now, they always say the first step to recovery is the hardest, so bare with Rollins. He has been working on this all week, but… “My name is Seth Freakin’ Rollins, and I’m a spotlight junkie.” The fans chant “Spotlight Junkie!” and also sing, but McIntyre says everything is just a joke to Rollins, isn’t it? Look at Rollins! He’s a parody of himself at this point. But honestly, McIntyre doesn’t care. He tried reasoning, he gave the answers, and now he only cares about their match and the world title. And you wanna know the real punchline, funny man? “What?” McIntyre says they say that because they’re happy McIntyre sidelined Punk, thanks for remembering!

But the punchline is when McIntyre beats Rollins for that title. The fans chant for “C M PUNK!” but McIntyre says don’t be ridiculous. Punk’s waiting until next week to return because he’d never show up in a place like Raleigh. The fans boo but McIntyre says see, they’re booing Punk! Punk is only getting off his couch to be at his local arena. Rollins tells McIntyre to shut up already. Oh, seems McIntyre got Rollins’ attention. Rollins takes off the sunglasses to say yeah, McIntyre has his attention. Because this isn’t a joke! When Rollins says he is a junkie, it isn’t a joke! He’s been doing this for 20 YEARS! Just like McIntyre!

And every time Rollins comes out of the curtain, that’s his fix. And it gets better and better every single time. Rollins comes out here, lays it all on the line, and it just gets better and better! When he hears the fans sing the song so loud, Rollins can barely speak, “WHOA~ OH~ OHH~!” That’s Rollins’ fix! That is the spotlight he craves, and y’know what? Rollins wants the spotlight as bright as it can possibly be. So yeah, McIntyre’s been busy online entertaining people with memes, so he hasn’t been listening to Rollins. So Rollins will get this through McIntyre’s thick skull: Night One, Rollins takes the biggest star in Hollywood and his side chick, and makes them his b*tches!

Then on Night Two, the biggest spotlight possible will be shined down on McIntyre and Rollins and the World Heavyweight Championship! McIntyre says all hail the savior, Seth Rollins! This is what McIntyre wanted! The passion and desire, not the stupid laughing and dancing. Rollins had McIntyre all the way to the finish. Rollins has done this 20 years, just like McIntyre. They’ve given their lives to this industry, and that is what the title is about! The wrestlers’ title, the workhorse championship! Rollins had McIntyre with him until he mentioned the bigger spotlight and how Rollins pins one of the biggest stars in the world.

Why can’t it just be about Rollins’ hard work to make that title, and all of McIntyre’s hard work to get this chance? Why can’t that be the reason they’re getting the biggest spotlight!? Rollins has had his priorities all backwards, McIntyre has been giving him all the answers. McIntyre said he is over the BS, and all he cares about is Rollins making it to the ring on Night Two. And if Rollins can’t walk, then McIntyre will wheel him down. If not, McIntyre will carry Rollins down. At Mania, McIntyre doesn’t get the moment he deserves. He gets the moment he has bloody EARNED. The fans do cheer that!

Rollins smirks and says, “Ah, Drew. There it is. That’s right, you wanna call me a spotlight junkie, but you want the spotlight just as bad as I do, don’t you? You’re an addict, just like I am. And you’ve been begging for spotlight for the past four years, because you won the WrestleMania main event. You did, back in 2020, in an empty warehouse. And all we’ve been hearing from Drew McIntyre for the past four years was how that wasn’t good enough. You’ve been whining and complaining and bitching and moaning that you deserve better, that you deserve more. The problem is, Drew, when everybody came back around, and the lights got bright again, what happened? You fumbled the ball.

“And that’s the difference between you and me. When the lights are the brightest, I shine, baby. I shine bright. And at WrestleMania 40, the lights are gonna be as bright as they have ever been. And you are gonna find out you are not as good as you think you are.” Rollins drops the mic, but this time McIntyre smirks. The verbal battle continues, but who will put their money where their mouth is once this one finally happens?

 

Becky Lynch speaks.

“I’m a wanted woman, and I don’t even have the title. Yet. But we’re less than three weeks away from WrestleMania, so why would I risk it all? Because I don’t know anything else. All I know is taking risks. All I know is fighting. And all I know is tonight, I’m gonna be the Last Woman Standing.” Becky is fired up to finally do what she hasn’t done in the most extreme way possible. Will she be the immovable object to Nia’s irresistible force?

 

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: The New Day VS The Alpha Academy!

Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods have been W, W, E, World, Tag, Team, CHAMPIONS~, but they’ve never been a part of a title match as big as this Six Pack Ladder challenge! Will they look to be part of history once again? Or will Akira Tozawa & Otis say “A THANK YEW~!” for this golden opportunity?

Raw returns as the Academy makes their entrance. The teams sort out and Woods starts against the tree trunk, Otis. The fans rally for “NEW! DAY ROCKS!” Otis and Woods tie up, but Woods kicks low then headlocks. Otis powers up and out then runs Woods over! Otis storms up on Woods, GUT RAMS him back down, then brings him back up. Otis GUT RAMS Woods again, then runs to CLOBBER Woods! Otis swivels his hips, the fans echo “Oh~ yeah!” Otis tags Tozawa and the Academy mugs Woods. Tozawa brings Woods around but Woods CHOPS! Woods tags Kofi, he and Kofi double whip Tozawa but Tozawa holds ropes!

Tozawa fires hands, dodges Woods then BOOTS Woods down! Kofi kicks low, whips Tozawa to a corner, but Tozawa BOOTS Kofi away! Tozawa goes up to FLYING RANA! The fans fire up as Tozawa sees New Day regroup outside. Tozawa runs to DIVE! Direct hit on both New Day, and Otis joins in for “A THANK YEW~!” The Academy stands tall as Raw goes to break.

Raw returns again and Tozawa fights a chinlock. Tozawa reaches for Otis but Woods back suplexes. Tozawa lands out to then DROPKICK Woods down! The fans rally as Woods and Tozawa crawl, hot tags to Otis and Kofi! Otis CLOBBERS Kofi, CLOBBERS him again, then whips him to ropes. WRECKER ELBOW! Woods runs in, Otis dodges, to LARIAT! Otis sees Kofi leap off the corner, and catches him for a WORLD’S STRONGEST SLAM! Otis rips the shirt off, winds up the hips, and then starts up the CATERPILLAR! ELBOW DROP! Cover, TWO! Kofi survives but Otis hurries to step on him! Tag to Tozawa, and Otis goes up!

Otis VADER BOMBS but FLOPS as Kofi moves! Tozawa hurries up top while Kofi SUPERKICKS Otis! Kofi turns around into the CROSSBODY from Tozawa! Cover, TWO! Tozawa SUPERKICKS Kofi but Woods tags in! Woods GAMANGIRIS Tozawa, then steps in to TORNADO DDT! Cover, TWO! Tozawa toughs it out but Woods grits his teeth as he goes to the corner. Woods climbs, but Tozawa rises! Tozawa throws body shots, Woods CLUBS Tozawa! Tozawa throws more hands and climbs up! The fans rally as they brawl up top! Tozawa brings Woods up but Woods fights the lift! Woods throws body shots in return!

Woods shifts position to get under Tozawa for a fireman’s carry! But then Tozawa pops up to SUPER STEINER!! Tozawa rips off his shirt, climbs back up top, SUPER SENTON!! Cover, Kofi breaks it! The fans fire up but Otis drags Kofi out! Otis whips Kofi at steps, Kofi goes up and jumps off the steps to TORNADO DDT to the floor! Kofi hurries back up to the apron but Tozawa SCREW HIGH KICKS him down! Tozawa dodges Woods, pop-up, but Woods blocks the rana to then SPINNING POWERBOMB! Woods sees the WrestleMania sign, hurries up the corner, and he tightrope walks! LIMIT BREAK ELBOW!! Cover, New Day wins!

Winners: The New Day, by pinfall (advance to WrestleMania)

The New Day are the ones saying A THANK YEW~ as they put their names down for the Six Pack Ladder Match! Will they once again climb to the top of the WWE Tag Team Division and bring home those championships?

 

Liv Morgan confronts Becky Lynch.

Becky asks if she’ll have to watch out for Liv as well. Well, you should always #WatchMe, but no, not tonight. Nia is all Becky’s. Liv just wants Becky to kick Nia’s ass. Liv leaves, will Becky kick ass and then some?

 

Cody walks with his dog, Pharaoh, backstage.

Rollins finds him and brings up Friday. One on one? One on one. Rollins nods and says he loves Pharaoh’s bandanna. The Visionary trusts the American Nightmare can handle himself, but will we be able to trust The Tribal Chief?

 

Last Woman Standing: Becky Lynch VS Nia Jax!

From the origins of “The Man” in WWE to the aftermath of Elimination Chamber: Perth, these two have battled, but never as brutally as this! They’re able to go anywhere and do anything, but who will be the Last Woman Standing this close to WrestleMania 40?

The bell rings and the two rush in! Becky DROPKICKS Nia and Nia goes to a corner. Becky runs in but Nia puts Becky on the apron. Becky ROCKS Nia, goes up a corner, then leaps to MISSILE DROPKCIK! Nia stumbles and tumbles out of the ring, so Becky WRECKS her with another dropkick! Becky then goes to the apron for a FLYING FOREARM! Nia stays up, Becky tries again, but Nia dodges! Fireman’s carry and Nia POSTS Becky, to then SAMOAN DROP her into barriers! The ref counts as Becky is down, but she stands at 4 of 10. Nia CLOBBERS Becky and wants the count! The count climbs but Nia is impatient.

Nia clears off the desk, Becky stands at 5 of 10, and she leans against barriers. Becky comes back with body shots and haymakers, but Nia ROCKS her with a forearm! Becky staggers away as Raw goes to break!

Raw returns and Becky is bringing out a table! The fans fire up as Becky sets that up ringside. There’s been a lot of chaos during the break according to commentary, from chairs to kendo sticks to even a copy of Becky’s book, The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl! But Nia storms over to stop Becky and SMACK her off the desk! Nia puts Becky in the ring, takes that table for her own and sets it up. The table doesn’t cooperate and fans boo, but Nia goes for chairs instead. She slides those in the ring, Becky manages to stand at 7 of 10, and she grabs at those chairs. Nia ditches the table, it just doesn’t wanna work.

Nia storms in but Becky JAMS her with a chair, SMACKS her with it, then clinches! Nia fights the slam, fireman’s carries Becky, and FULL METAL SAMOAN DROPS!! Becky writhes from hitting chairs but Nia looms over her. Nia soaks up the heat as she counts along. Becky flounders to ropes and drags herself up at 7! Nia sits a chair up, fans want a table, but Nia scoops Becky. Becky slips around to a SLEEPER! Nia RAMS Becky into buckles again and again until Becky lets go. But then Becky BULLDOGS Nia off the chair! Nia is down for the count now, and Becky leans against ropes to stay up herself.

Nia stirs at 5, stands at 8, but Becky is up top! Becky leaps, into a CHAIR SHOT! Nia SMACKS Becky again and again and again! The fans boo but Nia finally stops. Nia puts that chair aside and goes out to get some kendo sticks! Nia puts those in, but Becky grabs one! Nia snatches it from her to SMACK! And SMACK! And SMACK! Becky sputters and staggers, Nia clinches and scoops! Nia SLAMS Becky onto chairs! Then Nia runs to drop the leg, brother! Nia wants the count and the count begins! Becky sputters as we reach 5 of 10. Becky grabs that kendo stick but Nia SMACKS Becky with a chair! And again!

Nia kicks Becky around, then uses the chair to take a seat on Becky’s body!! The fans boo as the count begins, but Becky SMACKS Nia with the kendo stick! And again and again and again, even in the butt! Nia stands up, into more shots! Becky stands and she fires away until Nia scurries out of the ring! Becky pursues but Nia CLOBBERS her! Nia pulls the steel steps apart now, and takes that top half to RAM Becky down! Becky flounders, Nia hauls her up and puts her in the ring. Becky’s on the apron and Nia takes aim! Nia runs up, APRN LEG DROP only gets apron! Becky avoids disaster, then has Nia by the steps! DDT onto the steel!

Nia is down again and the count begins. Nia stirs at 5 of 10, sits up at 6, but Becky SMACKS her off steps! Nia falls over again and the count resets. Becky hurries to go looking for things while Nia rises again. Becky has a new table! The fans fire up as Becky gets that in the ring. Nia stands at 7, staggers after Becky, and Raw goes back to break.

Raw returns once again and Nia mugs Becky against barriers! Nia puts Becky on a table, and surprise! There’s a ladder set up now! Nia climbs the ladder?! She also demands Pat support the ladder. But Becky gets off the table so now Nia has no reason to be up there. Nia storms after Becky, but gets a FIRE EXTINGUISHER BLAST!! The fans fire up as Becky cools Nia off, then JAMS her with the canister! Becky puts Nia in the ring, and there’s a table waiting in a corner! Becky lines up the shot, and runs in, but Nia SAMOAN DROPS Becky through the table!!! Both women are down in the wreckage and the count begins!

Nia flounders away from the wreckage but she still needs to stand. Nia is up at 5, and she isn’t satisfied with this! She drags Becky all the way to another corner and puts her in the drop zone! Nia climbs up, for the A-NIA-LATOR!! Nia shouts for the count, the count begins, and Nia storms around as she points to the Mania sign. Becky is still down at 5 of 10, only starts stirring at 7, and she slumps out of the ring to stand up! Nia is furious, goes out after Becky, and kicks things aside to keep after her. Nia asks if Becky’s vision is blurry. Nia fireman’s carries Becky up the steel steps and along the apron, aiming for that other table!

The fans freak out but Becky fights with elbows! Becky CLUBS away on Nia and the fans are thunderous! Becky then clinches, for a MANHANDLE SLAM through the table!!! Both women are down int he wreckage again, and the count begins! Becky sits up at 4 while fans are still losing their minds! We pass 5 of 10, then 7! Nia sits up at 8 and stands at 9! But then she slumps back over! The count starts again, Nia flounders around and stands at 5. Becky goes up the ladder! Becky sees Nia approaching the desk, and then SUPER MAN’S LEG DROP through the desk!!! The fans lose their minds again while both men are down in more wreckage!

The count is 5 of 10! Becky flounders and crawls, drags herself up at 9, but Nia is still down! BECKY WINS!!

Winner: Becky Lynch

The Man conquers truly one of the most intense challenges in her career! But then here comes one of the most intense champions! The fans fire up as Rhea Ripley makes her way out, Women’s World Championship in hand. She goes right to the ring and looks at Becky. Rhea “congratulates” Becky for winning, but then Becky gets in Rhea’s face! The fans fire up, and now there are no obstacles in the way of Mami VS The Man! Who will be the champion after WrestleMania 40?


My Thoughts:

A great Raw right here, though the in-ring action kinda dipped down until that awesome Last Woman Standing main event. This is one of the times I wish they’d done picture in picture so we as the TV audience could see even more action. Great win for Becky, of course, but I also like that Becky had a moment with Liv just before, and of course she had a moment with Rhea to close out the night. Great promos with Sami and Gable that also blended into the contract signing from tonight. And I suppose Gable has a point that Sami, the comeback kid, can’t do that when Gunther has an arsenal of moves that would be “finishers” given all the different ways Gunther has won over the years.

And speaking of that contract signing segment, I really liked the segue they did in following Sami so that he’d cross paths with Awesome Truth at gorilla and we’d get their segment going into their match. WWE has been doing some really creative stuff in this newest era where Vince is truly out and apparently even Kevin Dunn has moved on. Awesome Truth had a really fun but also really quick tag match with Indus Sher, and then New Day VS Alpha Academy was solid stuff, but DIY VS Creeds was such an awesome match. For a moment, I thought Creeds were gonna take this one but DIY still found a way, and I like that DIY is in. Honestly, I’m liking that the HHH favorites are getting in, because we also have New Catch Republic on the other side that can still win into the match.

Judgment Day had good stuff tonight, too. Good group promo with Andrade to tease El Idolo possibly joining, but who knows if he does. Depends on how things go for Priest. He was watching the qualifiers, he’s not worried, but maybe he should be. Granted, he still has the MITB briefcase, he could go from losing the tag titles to taking the world title, who knows how the Judgment Day’s story is going to go as we move past Mania. Dom VS Ricochet was a really good match, and Ricochet winning was the right move to keep this feud going. I think there’s going to be Ricochet VS McDonagh next week as a rematch from the gauntlet, that’ll be great stuff, too.

Candice’s Heel turn slow burn continues as she takes advantage of the “hurt” leg. Indi also does a good job of being very conflicted about this. There’s a WWE YouTube exclusive where Ivy Nile confronts Candice so that’ll be a match, and then maybe when Candice again goes too far, Indi steps in and we get a match of Candice VS Indi at some point. Good little update promo from CM Punk, he’ll have a great homecoming moment in Chicago, but also probably McIntyre coming after him. McIntyre had a great promo segment with Rollins, and with all these continued moments where the other person gets the mic drop moment, it feels like McIntyre has to win the title.

And of course, great stuff with the Bloodline story even on Raw. Jey and Jimmy have great promos in their confrontation, and of course it turns into a brawl. Good segue from that to Heyman being here, and Heyman confronting Cody during Cody’s great promo segment. Cody really went off on The Rock, that was some wild stuff. But the supposed promise of “one on one and no one else aside from Heyman” might be kept, and we get a strong promo segment on SmackDown in a foreshadowing of the fair-and-square 1v1 match. Or it is a trap and that’s more a foreshadowing of Bloodline Rules where they can do whatever they want. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

My Score: 8.9/10


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Continue Reading

Coverage

Mitchell’s NJPW New Japan Cup Results & Report! (3/18/24)

The semifinals are here!

Published

on

We’re just one step away from the Cup!

Cold Skull faces The Fierce Warrior, and Gene Blast faces The King of Darkness, and when the smoke clears, we will have our New Japan Cup finalists!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

  • Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato VS Zack Sabre Jr. & Mikey Nicholls; ZSJ & Mikey win.
  • Six Man Tag: El Desperado, Tomohiro Ishii & Togi Makabe VS Just5Guys; Just5Guys win.
  • Tanga Loa & Ryusuke Taguchi VS Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman; Loa & Taguchi win.
  • Six Man Tag: YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Hiroyoshi Tenzan VS Bullet Club; Bullet Club wins.
  • 8 Man Tag: Shota Umino, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & YOH VS The House of Torture; Shota, ELP, Leo & Yoh win.
  • Six Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS The United Empire; LIJ wins.
  • 2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: Yota Tsuji VS EVIL; Tsuji wins and advances to the finals.
  • 2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: SANADA VS Hirooki Goto; Goto wins and advances to the finals.

PLAY BY PLAY

2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: Yota Tsuji VS EVIL w/ Dick Togo!

The Gene Blast overcame the tricks Ren Narita tried, but that’s because the House of Torture was saving all the good stuff so they could slay the Rampaging Dragon. Will the deck be even more stacked to make sure Everything is Evil’s? Or will Yota be one step away from LIJ VS LIJ at Sakura Genesis?

Well, Dick is making his way out here, but where is Evil? Oh, there he is. No tricks just yet it seems. But then Yota DIVES onto Evil! The fans fire up but Dick attacks Yota! Dick whips, Yota stops himself, and then scoops Dick for a BACKBREAKER! The fans fire up and Yota wants the bell. The ref says yes, ring the bell, and this is on the record! Yota stomps and CLUBS Evil, then whips, but Evil reverses! Yota hits railing, and then Evil whips him into more railing! Evil CHOKES Yota against the railing, Yota fights back, but the ref gets knocked aside! Evil puts Yota in so he and Dick can stomp away!

The fans boo but here comes the rest of the House already! Narita, Yujiro, Kanemaru and Jack all stomp away on Yota, but here come Bushi & Hiromu! It’s a replay of yesterday as LIJ fights off the House, but the numbers are still against them! The ref rushes in to tell everyone to stop! Evil shoves the ref out of the ring, Yota fires off on him, but Evil CLAWS Yota’s eyes! The House CHOKES LIJ, but the ref says stop! The bell rings, but what is the decision!? NO CONTEST!?

No Contest

What does this mean!? Someone has to advance, right? The finals aren’t until the 20th, how can there be a no contest? The House started this, where’re the consequences?! Yota gets up but Evil TOSSES him back out! LIJ regroups and Yota asks for a mic. Yota tells Evil that he’s sick and tired of this! They ARE gonna finish this match! The fans like the sound of that! All the refs come out, including Red Shoes, to discuss how this will be handled. For starters, they tell all the extras to get outta here! LIJ is cool with that, and Hiromu tells the House to come along. Evil says fine, and Jack, Kanemaru, Narita, Yujiro and even Dick reluctantly exit.

The announcement is officially made, and the bell rings! Yota and Evil rush in, Evil kicks low but Yota CLUBS away on Evil! Evil CLAWS the eyes! Evil kicks, runs, RAMS, but Yota rebounds to run Evil over! Then run and SPLASH! Cover, TWO! Yota fires up and the fans are with him! Evil bails out but the fans rally for Yota. Evil wants Yota to stay back, then he slides in, only to slide right out! Yota runs out after Evil, but Evil kicks him! Evil RAMS Yota into the timekeeper! Abe-san and his table go flying! Evil gets the mic to tell Yota that this is what he gets! The fans boo but Evil tells them off, too! Evil stomps Yota then soaks up the heat.

Evil unties the blue buckle pad himself, then waits in the ring. The ref checks Yota and the fans rally up again. The Young Lions help Abe-san while Yota drags himself up. Yota slides in, the fans cheer, but Evil pulls on Yota’s hair! Evil wrenches the hair, then wrenches it again! And again! Evil CLUBS the hair! The ref reprimands but Evil just dusts off his hands. Evil covers, but the ref refuses to count! Evil is furious but he’s the one up to no good! The ref still says no, so Evil stands on Yota’s head. The fans rally up, Yota rises, and he grins as he winds up to ROCK Evil with a forearm! And ROCK him with another!

Yota ROCKS Evil again, but Evil whips him into the bare buckles! Yota falls and the ref reprimands about the missing buckle pad. Evil stomps Yota, covers, TWO! The fans cheer but Evil is annoyed. Evil scuffs Yota, taunts him, and drags him up. Evil CHOPS, Yota drops to his knees, but Evil stands him back up. Evil CHOPS again and Yota grits his teeth as he drops to his knees! Evil stands Yota up again, to fake the chop to CLAW the eyes! The ref reprimands, Evil lets off, and then Evil stands on Yota in a corner. The ref counts, Evil lets go of the ropes but that’s not the problem! Evil steps away, drags Yota up but claims he’s dead weight.

The ref checks, Evil stands Yota up and wrenches an arm. Evil whips Yota into a corner, runs in, but into a BOOT! Evil runs in again, blocks the boot, but Yota brings Evil in for the STOMP! The fans fire up while Yota rests on the mat. The fans rally up and Yota rises again. Evil’s in the corner, runs out, but into the BACKBREAKER! COMPLETE SHOT! STOMP! The fans fire up again as Yota stands back up. Yota runs, to CURB STOMP!! Yota roars and the fans fire up again! Evil flounders while Yota aims. Yota runs in, but the ref is used as a shield! Evil kicks Yota low, then uses the ref in MAGIC KILLER!

All three men are down while the fans rally up again. Evil stands, he brings Yota up, and the ref also rises. Evil whips Yota into the bare buckles, then clotheslines him in! Then FISHERMAN BUSTER! Cover, but Evil lets off?! Evil wants to torture Yota but it’s hard to say if Yota is still even in this. Yota opens his eyes, rises up, but Evil fireman’s carries! DARKNESS FALLS! Cover, TWO!! Yota survives, the fans fire up, but Evil is furious! Evil slashes his throat and vows to end this now! Evil drags Yota up, spins him around, but Yota fights the STO with elbows! Evil kicks low, whips again, but Yota stops from hitting buckles!

Evil runs in, Yota dodges and Evil hits the buckles! SUPERKICK!! Both men are down again and the fans fire back up! We’re only ten minutes into this new match but this is on top of the madness from earlier. Evil drags Yota up, but Yota ROCKS Evil! Evil fights Yota’s fireman’s carry and CLUBS him, but both men wobble. Evil LARIATS, but Yota stays up! The fans fire up but Evil swings to LARIAT again! Yota drops to a knee, but he grins through the pain! Evil says alright, and he throws off his elbow pad. Evil runs to LARIAT! Yota grits his teeth to stay up! V-TRIGGER! Yota brings Evil in, suplexes, ORANGE CRUSH! Cover, TWO!!

Evil is still in this but the fans rally behind Yota again. Yota rises, drags Evil up, and then goes to the corner. Yota goes up and up and Evil moves the ref into the way! The ref takes the FLYING CURB STOMP!!! And now the House returns! The fans boo as Kanemaru, Dick, Yujiro, Narita & Jack all stomp away on Yota again! The fans tell them to go home, again, but these guys don’t care! They just put one out on Yota. They whip Yota to a corner, then DIck runs in to ELBOW! Kanemaru ELBOWS! Yujiro BOOTS! Jack SPLASHES! Narita ELBOWS! Then they snapmare and set Yota up! Dick climbs for the DICK CHOP!!

The fans boo but the House applauds their own dirtiness. But here come Bushi & Hiromu again! But they just get mugged again! They set Hiromu up for the DICK CHOP, while Bushi gets a JACK CHOP! The House then slithers away before a replacement ref rushes out here. Evil drags Yota up, winds up and runs, to LARIAT!! Cover, TWO!!! Yota survives and the fans are thunderous! Evil is at a loss for words, but he slashes his throat! He vows to end it for real, and he reels Yota in. EVERYTHING IS- Yota flips through!? And HEADBUTTS!! The fans fire up as Yota reels Evil in for a fireman’s carry! 70 CROSS!! Cover, TWO!!

Evil survives the swinging spinebuster and the House cheers! Yota drags himself to a corner, drags himself up with the ropes, and roars as he takes aim! Evil rises, but Yujiro distracts! Dick runs in, but gets a V-TRIGGER! The ref sees Dick, but misses the LOW BLOW! Then Evil RAMS Yota into the ref! That’s the second ref this match! Narita gets his push-up bar! The others set Yota up, but here comes SHINGO TAKAGI! The Rampaging Dragon has seen enough, and he’s still pissed from yesterday as it is! He dodges Narita to PUMPING BOMBER! Kanemaru & Yujiro kick Takagi, double whip, but he DOUBLE PUMPING BOMBERS!!

Jack gets in, but he gets ELBOW, JAB and YUKON LARIAT! Evil runs up but Takagi SWATS Evil’s lariat to JAB! Then feed to Hiromu’s SUPERKICK! Hiromu & Takagi set Evil up for Bushi’s BLACK MIST!! Evil can’t see, the PUMPING BOMBER turns him inside-out!! The fans are thunderous as LIJ helps Yota up! Red Shoes hurries out here, and Yota aims at Evil! GENE BLASTER!!! Cover, Yota wins!!!

Winner: Yota Tsuji, by pinfall (advances to the finals)

The House of Torture ran out of tricks, and now there is light at the end of the tournament! Will Yota do LIJ proud and bring home the Cup?

 

2024 New Japan Cup Semifinals: SANADA VS Hirooki Goto!

One down, one to go. Yota Tsuji has made it through, now we see who joins him in the finals! Will the Cold Skull or Fierce Warrior be the one that steps closer to former glory?

The bell rings and the fans duel between “GO-TO-O!” and “SA-NA-DA!” Red Shoes measures the levels, and it seems to slightly favor Goto. Goto and Sanada circle, tie up, and are in a deadlock. Goto gets some leverage to put Sanada against ropes, but he lets off slowly. Goto pats Sanada on the shoulders and the fans cheer. The two reset, circle again, and tie up again. It’s another deadlock, but again Goto finds a way to put Sanada on ropes. Sanada turns things around, lets off slowly, and also pats Goto on the shoulders. The fans applaud and the two reset again. They feel things out, knuckle lock, then move to a clinch.

They fight for control, Sanada starts pushing Goto towards a corner but Goto slips away. They feel things out, knuckle lock again, then break. They tie up collar ‘n’ elbow, Goto waistlocks, but Sanada wrenches to wristlock. Goto rolls, wrenches, wristlocks, but Sanada spins, wrenches, only for Goto to roll! Goto gets a leg to trip Sanada up, and he has a toehold. Sanada fights back with a chinlock but Goto pulls on the leg. Sanada uses his free leg to hook Goto into an ARMBAR, but Goto clasps hands! Goto moves around, pops free, then headlocks. Sanada fights up, Goto grinds the headlock, but Sanada throws body shots.

Sanada powers up and out, but Goto runs him over! The fans rally as things speed up, and Goto counters hip toss with hip toss! Goto runs and he clotheslines Sanada up and out! The fans fire up and Goto slides out after Sanada. Goto stomps Sanada, drags him up, then CLUBS him on the neck! Sanada staggers, Goto CHOPS him, then kicks him, then CLUBS him! Goto whips but Sanada stops himself from hitting railing! Goto runs in but Sanada drop toeholds him into the railing! Goto goes down in a heap, but Sanada opens the gate. Sanada brings Goto through, then to the crowd! PILEDRIVER to the bare floor!

The fans are stunned but Red Shoes reprimands. Sanada leaves Goto behind and slides into the ring. The fans rally for Goto as the ring count begins. Goto crawls at 5 of 20, finds his way to ringside at 10, but still hobbles and crawls. He stands at 17 to slide in! The fans cheer, but Sanada stomps Goto. Sanada drags Goto up, CLUBS him on the neck, then brings him back up to CLUB him again. Goto CHOPS! And CHOPS! Sanada eggs Goto on so Goto CHOPS again! Goto whips, Sanada reverses to RUSSIAN LEG SWEEP! Cover, TWO! Sanada keeps cool and sits Goto up into a chinlock. Goto endures and the fans rally again.

Goto kicks forward, reaches out, but Sanada cranks on the hold! Goto keeps fighting, and has the ROPEBREAK! Sanada lets go cleanly, but then he stomps Goto while he’s down. Sanada then stands Goto up to CLUB him on the neck. Goto CHOPS in return! And CHOPS, and CHOPS, and has Sanada in a corner! Goto CHOPS again, then whips corner to corner. Goto runs in, but Sanada BOOTS first! Sanada runs, Goto follows, and Goto LARIATS Sanada down! The fans fire up and Goto rises, clutching his neck. Goto stands Sanada up to fire off forearms, then he whips corner to corner. Goto runs in, MURAMASA!

Sanada wobbles, into the SAIDO! Cover, TWO! The fans fire up while Goto grits his teeth. Goto drags Sanada up, fireman’s carries, but Sanada fights free! Sanada waistlocks, Goto throws elbows, then runs. Sanada hurdles, hurdles, and DROPKICKS! Goto tumbles out of the ring, Sanada PLANCHAS him down! The fans fire up and Sanada encourages them to get louder. The fans get louder and Sanada appreciates it. Sanada then goes back for Goto, brings him up and puts him in the ring. Sanada fireman’s carries but Goto throws elbows! Sanada turns around into Goto’s fireman’s carry, but then slips out into the dragon sleeper!

But Goto arm-drags free! Sanada kicks low, runs, but Goto follows! Sanada dodges this time, runs again, but Goto still follows! Sanada sidesteps this time, but Goto holds ropes to avoid the hurdle! Goto runs in, but Sanada fireman’s carries! T K O! Cover, TWO! Goto is still in this and the fans rally up! Sanada goes up the corner, ROUNDING BODY- NO, Sanada has to land out as Goto moves! Sanada runs in, but into the fireman’s carry! USHIGOROSHI! Both men are down and the fans fire up again! They cheer on “GO-TO-O!” but the “SA-NA-DA!” chants are still there. Red Shoes checks them both, and both men slowly rise.

The two crawl towards each other, and Goto fires a forearm! Sanada shakes his head, eggs Goto on, so Goto throws another! Goto eggs Sanada on, so Sanada fires a forearm! Goto fires a forearm back, and the two stand. Sanada UPPERCUTS! Goto comes back to forearm! Sanada UPPERCUTS again, and Goto drops back to a knee! The fans rally, Goto stands again, and he forearms! UPPERCUT, forearm, repeat! Goto growls, fires a flurry of forearms, and he ROCKS Sanada! Sanada drops to his hand and knees but Goto powers up! Goto KICKS but Sanada blocks! Goto fires more forearms, then waistlocks, but Sandaa fights free!

Sanada runs, but Goto fireman’s carries! And he throws Sanada into the dragon sleeper! But Sanada turns around and suplexes, for MAGIC SCREW! Both men are down again and the fans fire back up! Sanada roars as he rises up, and he aims from a corner. Sanada wants Goto to get up, and Goto sits up, into the SHINING WIZARD! Sanada then dragon sleepers, for the SKULL END!! Goto endures, flails, reaches out, but he’s caught in the body scissors! Goto fights around but he’s fading! The fans rally, Goto’s hand drops! Sanada lets him go to then climb! ROUNDING BODY PRESS! Cover, TWO!!

The fans fire up as Goto survives but Sanada storms around. Sanada drags Goto up, reels him in and clinches, but Goto slips free to shove Sanada away! Sanada forearms, ROLLING- HEADBUTT from Goto! The fans fire up and duel, and Goto drags Sanada up. But Sanada breaks free! Goto HEADBUTTS again! Sanada falls back down and Goto steadies himself. Goto roars, the fans are with him, and Goto sits Sanada up. Goto runs to PENALTY KICK! Shoutout to Shibata and the fans fire up more! Sanada grits his teeth as he sits back up but Goto takes aim! BUZZSAW! And then he hauls Sanada up to dragon sleeper! G T- BACKSLIDE COUNTER! TWO!!!

Sanada and Goto hurry up, Sanada dodges to O’Conner BRIDGE!! TWO?!!? Goto escapes and shocks everyone! Sanada resets, runs in, SHINING WIZARD!! The fans are thunderous as Sanada roars and drags Goto back up! Clinch and DEAD- NO, Goto slips around to ripcord and fireman’s carry! G T W!! Cover, TWO?!?!? Sanada survives but Goto is all fired up! The fans are thunderous as Goto dragon sleepers for G T R!!! Cover, GOTO WINS!!!

Winner: Hirooki Goto, by pinfall (advances to the finals)

Don’t call it a comeback, Goto’s been here for years! Sanada’s hopes of being IWGP World Heavyweight Champion again have been delayed, how long must he wait for another chance?

As for Goto, he’s going back to the New Japan Cup Finals for the first time since 2016, and his seventh overall! But before he can get the mic to speak, Yota makes his way back out here. Yota steps into the ring and he gets the mic first. Yota tells Goto, “In order to open the door to a new era, we must do this.” The fans applaud that, and Yota continues by asking Goto, “Are you ready?!” Yota drops the mic at Goto’s feet, and Goto stands up to speak. “I also have something I want to show you. As a three-time New Japan Cup Champion, I will show you my strength.” The fans like the sound of that!

The Fierce Warrior stares down with Gene Blast, a true generational showdown on the horizon! Will Goto return not juts to former glory, but finally ascend to top of NJPW? Or will Yota make it LIJ VS LIJ for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship?


My Thoughts:

A great semifinal round for this tournament, with quite a surprising main event. Sanada VS Goto was great stuff, and while I felt Sanada wasn’t winning the Cup, I didn’t think he’d be out this round. Yota VS Evil was rather creatively put together, too. I did not think the House would get so involved that at first it was a No Contest but then they restart under a ringside ban. Takagi making sure Yota won was good stuff, too, maybe we can get Takagi VS Evil for the NEVER Openweight Championship if they’re not gonna circle back to more Shota Umino VS House of Torture stuff.

Goto VS Yota is going to be great stuff, and Goto is clearly a top utility guy. He’s had so many New Japan Cup finals appearances, certainly among the most ever, but I don’t think he gets a fourth Cup win against Yota, one of the “new era Musketeers” that NJPW clearly loves. Yota VS Naito is definitely the title match for Sakura Genesis.

My Score: 8.9/10


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Continue Reading

Sports

Entertainment

Sports Entertainment

Buy A Chairshot T-Shirt!

Chairshot Radio Network

Trending

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com