Back to Full Sail Arena this week for the first episode from the post-TakeOver tapings. What fallout will there be from the Chicago event? What new rivalries and new pushes will be put in motion? And will there be any follow up to Moustache Mountain’s surprise Tag Team title win at the NXT UK event? Let’s find out:
Aleister Black Promo
For what seems like the first time in ages, Black rises from the ground for his TV entrance (though it does seem strange to see him do that in a tie, waistcoat and dress trousers). How long will he get to speak this time before being interrupted? About a minute, and then a chorus of boos signifies the arrival of Tommaso Ciampa.
Ciampa declares that now he has rid himself of Johnny Gargano, with his hands tied behind his back no less, he is coming for the title. Apparently, he needs just one chance to take Black’s title and erase his mystique.
A logical new challenger for the champ. Ciampa played the role of the entitled heel nicely, and Black was ready for the challenge. A red-hot match is in the making. As an extra side note, it is revealed that Lars Sullivan broke his jaw during the TakeOver match but kept going – to quote JR, that is one tough SoB.
Kona Reeves v. Max Umberto
It’s time for ‘The Finest’ to return to the ring, much to the displeasure of the crowd. They cheer for the jobber, and boo Reeves for a while before falling silent. Kona Reeves puts on an aggressive display, finishing things off with the Hawaiian drop. The commentators gush over his performance while the crowd hardly react at all.
Winner: Kona Reeves
Dave Meltzer recently described Reeves as nothing special. He’s right.
Candice La Rae v. Lacey Evans
A good opportunity for both ladies to make a statement on the women’s division here. After an early exchange of near falls, Evans goes after La Rae’s arm, jarring it over the ropes and onto the ring post. Mrs. Wrestling fits into the same underdog role as her husband very well as the crowd await the babyface comeback. That eventually comes through a flying neck snap that seems to hit La Rae as hard as it does Evans. Using only her right arm, La Rae fires off a series of forearm smashes before getting the win off a Lionsault-style leap off the ropes.
Winner: Candice La Rae
That match was low on energy with the crowd only briefly firing up on a couple of occasions. Both women seemed to pull for short for a few moves and there was definitely a lack of spark. A missed opportunity here maybe?
Johnny Gargano Interview
After declaring Candice La Rae his favourite wrestler, Gargano talks about how he watched his TakeOver matched back and was sickened by Ciampa spitting on his wedding ring and throwing it away. He states his intention to speak to William Regal and demand a rubber match.
After the break, we are shown a tweet from the GM Regal, who says that Gargano needs to move on from Ciampa and instead books him to face EC3 next week.
Moustache Mountain v. Dave Dixon & Carl Axelrod
Brand new NXT Tag champs Tyler Bate and Trent Seven come out to a big pop. Their jobber opponents get an entrance but end up getting flattened on the stage by Undisputed Era, O’Reilly takes the mic to declare their win a fluke. Strong and Cole warn that they will send the English duo home without their belts as they encircle the ring.
As the Era pointed out, there are no other UK guys in the building to help. There is however an ally waiting in the wings as Ricochet hits the ring to even the score, and…
Moustache Mountain & Ricochet v. Undisputed Era
…we’ve got ourselves a six-man tag match! The faces start off in control with a series of quick tags and both Bate and Ricochet showing off their agility. Moustache Mountain treat us to some fun moments, getting Cole to duck a non-existent clothesline before delivering a DTT and laying out both him and Strong for a not-so-athletic senton splash from Seven.
The fun soon comes to an end as the heels isolate Bate and score a series of near falls. Obviously angered and embarrassed by their loss in London, Undisputed Era crank up the aggression, even tweaking on Bate’s moustache curls at one point.
An exploder suplex out of nowhere allows Bate to tag in Ricochet. He flies all over the place, getting a quick near fall off O’Reilly as the crowd chant ‘One and Only!’ O’Reilly counters a suplex into a Guillotine, but Ricochet manages to carry himself over to the corner to tag in Seven.
Undisputed Era pull Ricochet and Bate off the apron and nearly take advantage but a huge clothesline from Seven to Cole get Ricochet back in the match. It is pandemonium from there as everyone ends up in the ring pulling off move after move. After a huge ‘NXT!’ chant, we see all six men paired up and slugging it out.
Ricochet and Cole are the legal men in the ring. Strong and O’Reilly go for their High Low finisher but Ricochet somersaults out of the way. He then lands the 630 on Cole but O’Reilly makes the save. He gets wiped out at ringside for his troubles but Strong pops up to deliver a backbreaker to Ricochet onto the apron. Back in the ring, Cole gets the opportunistic pin.
Winners: Undisputed Era
Ricochets’ appearance was quite random but if this means we get Cole v. Ricochet for the North American title sometime in the near future, I am all for that. A shame that the One and Only ended up taking the pin and Moustache Mountain were on the losing side in their first appearance as champions but this is all about the possibilities. And that was one hell of a match!
Final Thoughts
Kona Reeves’ match has already been forgotten and Candice La Rae v. lacey Evans was a snoozer. That main event though… Only NXT (and the talent involved) can do six-man tag matches this well. Excuse me while I edit my Match if the Month list!
