This week on NXT, Johnny Gargano speaks for the first time since NXT Takeover. Plus, Sanity battles the Undisputed Era in a tornado rules match.
NXT TV
Date: 2/7/2018
From: Atlanta, GA
Undisputed Era make their way out to the ring to kick off the program for their tag team title defense. However, they are attacked by Sanity during their entrance. All six men are in the ring brawling until officials slide into the ring and break them apart. Killian Dain tosses a few officials before trying to get at Undisputed Era. Cole, O’Reilly and Fish escape to the ramp.
NXT General Manager comes out and says this ends tonight. Thus, in the main event it will be a six man tag team match putting the two groups against each other! The match will be contested under tornado tag rules, as well.
Opening Contest: Heavy Machinery vs. Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss: This is a rematch from last month where Tino and Riddick stole a victory. Machinery double team Moss early on with a double shoulder block and splash down onto Moss for a two count. Moss backs Knight into the corner and hammers away on him. Tino tags in and sends Knight into the corner as the fans chant that Tino sucks. Tino stops Knight with a quick dropkick. Tino slaps Moss on the shoulder for a tag, which confuses Moss it looks like. Moss keeps control with a running back elbow. Moss chops Tino on the chest to get him into the match. Tino gets sent into the corner back first and Otis gets the hot tag cleaning house with clotheslines. Otis splashes Tino in the corner and Tino does a ridiculous sell of that. Otis proceeds to do the Worm and connects with an elbow drop for a two count. Tino nearly steals the match with a rollup using his feet on the ropes. Knight takes Moss out with a somersault dive off the apron. Machinery hit an assisted powerslam and pin Tino. (*1/4. I’m inclined to think that this will lead to the demise of Tino and Moss as a tag team. These guys are noticeably behind in-ring compared to a good portion of the NXT roster. I don’t expect much of anything from these two teams moving forward in NXT.) After the match, Moss shakes his head at Tino and walks off.
Johnny Gargano makes his way down to the ring to make his first comments since failing to win the NXT Heavyweight Championship at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia. Gargano says it has been one hell of a month. He knew he was going to win the NXT Championship and he saw himself standing here as the champion, but that didn’t happen. Gargano admits that it sucks but getting the reaction he got from the fans proves to him that he earned their respect. He knows who he is and that is Johnny Freaking Wrestling. He’ll never forget Takeover. He’ll also never forget getting a crutch to the match. Gargano says he’s coming for Tommaso Ciampa. He’s coming for Ciampa man to man.
NXT Heavyweight Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega cut off Gargano and make their way down to the ring. Almas holds the championship in the air before Vega says that it doesn’t matter what Gargano won because he didn’t win the title. There should be a parade for Almas instead of hearing how Gargano lost. Vega says that Gargano proved he’s a loser and Ciampa didn’t impact anything in the match. Almas has beaten Gargano several times and calls him Johnny Loser. The fans are chanting for Candice LeRae: Johnny enjoyed seeing his wife jump the railing and attack Vega. Vega gets in Johnny’s face but we don’t hear what she’s saying. Candice comes out and Johnny gives her permission to shove Vega, which she does. Almas and Vega bail to the floor and escape backstage. Vega is sick of them and wants to know what it will take to get rid of Gargano. Gargano wants another shot at the championship if they want him gone. They agree to another title match with the stipulation that if Gargano loses then he’ll leave NXT forever. Candice tries to calm down Gargano, but that looks like it’ll be a match.
Earlier in the day, Shayna Bazsler cuts a promo saying she’s the most feared woman in NXT. She says that women have three options tap, nap or snap. Shayna says that Ember Moon is scared of her and believes she won’t get another shot. Shayna tells the reporters to tell Moon that she’s not a real champion.
Next week, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne will defend the title against Roderick Strong.
Backstage, Tyler Bate was interviewed regarding his recent loss. Bate says he’s upset but gives Strong credit for getting a shot at Dunne. Bate promises to watch the match closely. Bate is proud to win match of the year in NXT. Bate looks forward to having more classics with the NXT roster.
Second Contest: Bianca Belair vs. Jesse Still: Belair refuses to let go of a handshake and hits a torture rack slam right for the start. Belair wins quickly with the alley hoop. Well, okay.
A video promoting Kairi Sane is shown.
Aleister Black returns to NXT next week.
NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon posted on Twitter that she’ll be defending against Shayna Baszler next week in a rematch.
Main Event: Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain): All six men brawl on the floor to kick off the match but they quickly enter the ring. They are all trading strikes in corners until Dain tosses Fish over the top to the floor. Young and Cole fight in the ring while the other four guys brawl around ringside. Cole drops Young with a neckbreaker. Cole continues to pummel Young with right hands on the mat. We go to commercial.
Dain hits Fish with a tag title belt on the floor and O’Reilly gets dropped over the announcers table. Percy Watson thought it was Fish, but it wasn’t. Young has a table and tries to put Cole through the table but instead counters and sends Young into the steps. Wolfe used a chair on O’Reilly a few times until O’Reilly delivered knee strikes. O’Reilly leaps off the apron to nail Wolfe with a double knee strike. Dain splashes Fish in the corner. Dain and Fish remain in the ring while the other four men are brawling backstage. Fish kicks Dain and hits a moonsault for a two count. Fish grabs a kendo stick from under the ring and tries to use it on Dain, but Dain blocks it. Fish goes to the floor and avoids Dain. They trade strikes on the ramp while the other four men have returned to ringside. Dain tosses Fish off the ramp onto everyone else and plays to the crowd. We go to commercial.
Cole is being worked over by Dain in the ring with several right hands. Dain drops Cole with a right hand. Cole connects with a kick to drop Dain but Wolfe enters and avoids a kick. Wolfe plants Cole with a sit-down powerbomb for a two count. Fish and O’Reilly hit several running strikes on Wolfe. Fish hits an exploder suplex on Wolfe but Dain breaks that up with a senton splash. Dain hits a Michinoku Driver on O’Reilly and sits down onto Fish. Cole superkicks Dain to break the cover up. Young comes off the top with an elbow drop onto Cole! All six men are laid out as the fans chant for NXT. Young drops Cole with a superkick. They proceed to take each other out with their signature moves. Dain kicks Cole off the apron to the floor. Dain has a smile on his face as he goes towards Cole, who’s laying on a table. Dain misses a rolling senton and crashes through the table. Wolfe is worked over by all three members of Undisputed Era.
O’Reilly accidentally kicks Fish and Wolfe kicks Cole followed by uppercuts to O’Reilly. Cole superkicks Wolfe and Fish comes off the ropes to hit Total Elimination on Dain with O’Reilly. Young hits Era with a kendo stick but Cole nails Young with a superkick. Cole drops Young neck first over his knee but that doesn’t put Young away. They can’t believe they didn’t win the match. Dain gets back into the ring and tells them to bring it on. Dain shoves them all away and connects with a series of clotheslines. Dain slams Cole and dropkicks Fish while also splashing Cole. Dain drops O’Reilly with a crossbody. Dain has Fish on his shoulders and drives Fish down to the mat for the clean win. (***1/2. That was a really fun match and a huge victory for Sanity, but the main focus appeared to be on Dain here. I’m taking this as if Dain could be in line for a serious singles push. I haven’t seen enough of his work to comment on how well that could go, but I think he has shown some skill and promise. This loss doesn’t hurt Undisputed Era at all. It was a 20 minute match that felt like it flew by.)
Final Thoughts:
A productive episode coming out of Takeover. I’m really hoping that Gargano doesn’t lose his rematch. If their rematch is anything like Takeover, we are in for a treat. That segment was effectively done and the main event was nicely done, too. I’d recommend this episode.
Thanks for reading.