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March 29th, 2017 On commentary tonight, at The Venue at UCF, are Tom Phillips, “Showtime” Percy Watson, and Nigel McGuinness Opening Segment Triple Threat Match: Johnny Gargano w. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Dash Wilder w. Scott Dawson vs. Akam w. Paul Ellering and Rezar Wilder and Gargano take turns beating up on Akam, trying to overcome the big guy. Punch after punch is landed until a dropkick each from Gargano and Wilder sends Akam through the ropes to the outside. Wilder tries a few mind games with Gargano, inviting him out of the ring. Gargano runs the ropes, counters Wilder’s attempt to kick him with a clothesline. Gargano throws Wilder into a back roll and catches him trying to get up with a kick to the face. Irish whip out of the corner, Gargano charges up and gets nailed by an Akam clothesline. Akam rushes towards Wilder but Dawson has pulled him out of the way to the outside. The Revival team members back away towards the entrance as… We go to commercial break. On the return, Akam is bringing the pain to Gargano since The Revival have seemingly left the match. Akam stretches Gargano out on his shoulders as the fans chant “Johnny Wrestling”. Gargano eventually breaks loose but he’s been fatigued. He gets up to the top rope, flies…Akam catches him. Gargano slips out of his arms and begins pummelling Akam with forearms and punches. Akam stumbles away to the corner but doesn’t fall. Gargano rushes. Akam lifts him up and on to the apron. He runs the ropes…Gargano dives through to tackle him! 1-2- kickout by Akam but Gargano succeeded in taking him off of his feet. Gargano sends a flurry of left hand punches and chops on Akam in the corner. He’s getting all fired up but he takes his eyes off of Akam, allowing the Author of Pain to clothesline Gargano to the mat. Powerbomb attempt. Gargano slides down Akam’s back and delivers a high kick to the face. Akam’s on his knees. Another sharp kick to the face by Gargano. 1-2- Rezar pulls Gargano to the mat. Ciampa attacks Rezar, sends him stumbling into the steps, and then leaps on to the apron. Akam takes him out there and refocuses on Gargano. Tom Phillips reminds us this is a no countout, no disqualification match. Gargano’s on the apron. Enziguri to Akam. Gargano leaps over the ropes for a DDT but Akam just catches him and carries him towards the other corner, throwing him face-first into the turnbuckle. Vicious powerbomb on Gargano. Akam can’t cover him though because Scott Dawson’s returned and he’s grabbing his leg! Meanwhile, Dash Wilder slides in on the opposite side of the ring, covers Gargano and gets the 3 count! Winner: Dash Wilder via pinfall in 9 minutes McGuinness praises The Revival for an absolutely brilliant plan. The Authors are pissed but they don’t chase the guys who get the best of them. Meanwhile, Ciampa tends to the fallen Gargano in the ring. One cool point for The Revival for their sneaky ways. I had a feeling they weren’t gone for good. Typically, the team that looks best the show before a major PPV doesn’t win the match. I feel like Team #DIY doesn’t have much left to do and Gargano and Ciampa can easily return to singles competition at any time. A true Revival vs. Authors feud where the Revival get cheered would make for excellent TV. I’m hoping The Revival reclaim their rightful place as nXt Tag Champions. The Authors need to be humbled. Coming Up:Contract signing for the nXt Women’s Championship match. Up Next: Heavy Machinery will be in tag team action. Second Segment A promo is shown for the Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black match, focusing more on the debut of Black. He mentions ashes and fading to black. “Come And Get It” by I Prevail is an official theme song for Takeover: Orlando. Available on iTunes and Spotify. Tag Team Match: Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic) vs. Johnathan Ortegon and Mike Marshall Ortegon and Knight square off first. Big size difference between these two. Off the ropes, huge hip toss by Knight. Ortegon springs off the second rope, directly into Knight’s arms and he gets squeezed in a bearhug. Dozovic is tagged in. Knight throws Ortegon into Dozovic’s arms and the bearhugh continues. Ortegon climbs over Dozovic attempting a pinfall. Dozovic lifts him by the head and chucks him to his home corner. He tags in Marshall. Marshall is thrown in over the ropes by Dozovic. Dozovic tags in Knight and the two set up for a double shoulder tackle. Marshall’s flat on the mat as each big man bounces off opposite ropes…Boom Shacka Boom and it’s a double diving headbutt! Marshall rolls out and Ortegon comes in, only to get squashed between Knight and Dozovic in running splashes. Heavy Machinery then do flying chest bumps in celebration. Knight punches Ortegon off the apron and Marshall rushes from behind. He gets a few punches in, then tags in Ortegon. They throw Knight off the ropes…and receive a clothesline for their efforts. Dozovic is in now and he’s laying waste to the competition. Huge clotheslines. SHACKA! Elbow drop! He sizes up Ortegon in the corner. Splash. Overhead belly to back suplex. Beautiful. 1-2- the count is broken by Marshall. Dozovic clotheslines him over the top rope. Ortegon tries to seize that moment to sneak attack Dozovic. Dozovic runs the ropes; Knight tags in as he does and Ortegon flies into Dozovic’s arms. Knight barrels towards them, bouncing off the ropes, and squashes Ortegon between him and his tag partner. Dozovic picks up Knight and power slams him on to Ortegon! That’s heavy. 1-2-3. Winners: Heavy Machinery via pinfall in 4 minutes Two cool points for a fantastic first impression for the newly dubbed “Heavy Machinery” tag team. I was not expecting to have as much fun as I did watching these two super heavyweights barrel around the ring. Love the shouting from Dozovic. Love the moveset being displayed. Love the energy. Plenty to like about this tag team and I expect them to ascend fairly quickly through the ranks. A match at Takeover: Brooklyn III sounds about right. Backstage, in nXt General Manager William Regal’s office, the contract signing between Asuka and Ember Moon is about to take place. Asuka laughs as Regal announces Moon as the challenger. Moon says Asuka’s a great champion but lately she’s changed. She’s let success get to her head. Moon says her fate is to dethrone Asuka. Asuka says she knows who Moon is and she’s not ready. The ladies stand up and stare each other down. Asuka laughs and exits as Moon says she’s been ready for a long time. All the appropriate signatures are on the contract and Regal wishes Moon good luck. Coming Up:Loser leaves nXt match: Kassius Ohno vs. Elias Samson Fourth Segment Check out one of the official theme songs for nXt Takeover: Orlando is “Shock Me” by Baroness. Promo: The nXt Championship match between Bobby Roode (c) and Shinsuke Nakamura is profiled. First, Roode’s victory at Takeover: San Antonio is replayed. Roode will take nXt to the next level. We see clips of him being measured for suits, buying nice clothes, fine dining, etc. Nakamura says nXt doesn’t belong to Roode, it belongs to the fans. Clips of the fans cheering for him are shown. The fate of nXt belongs to the king of strong style. Promo: The nXt Tag Team Championship triple threat elimination match gets some attention with a special backstage segment from the Authors of Pain. Manager Paul Ellering says his team believes in the survival of the fittest, eat or be eaten. #DIY believes in fairytale endings. Welcome to your yellow brick road from hell. Ellering says he created the algorithm of greatness for tag team wrestling. All Akam and Rezar have to do is read the book he has already written. Final Segment Plenty of Takeover: Orlando theme songs to check out. The latest is “Loud” by Motionless In White. A match we kind of expected to be announced for Takeover: Orlando is made official. An 8-man mixed tag between SAnitY and Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong, and newly arrived Ruby Riot. Singles Match (Loser Leaves nXt): Elias Samson vs. Kassius Ohno The bell rings and Ohno waves goodbye to Samson. The two stare each other down as the crowd claps and we’re off. Ohno catches Samson with a quick roll-up attempt for a 2 count. Samson takes his time getting back up to his feet. They lock up again. Side headlock by Samson. Ohno forces his way out, pushing Samson’s arms up and he twists Samson’s left arm. He holds on for a bit. Samson pushes him off the ropes. Takedown and a cover by Ohno for a 1 count. Senton on Samson. 1-2- kickout by Samson. Samson lingers on the outside and Ohno can’t be patient for him. He dives, feet first, between the ropes and lands, back first on Samson. A few cross chops later, Ohno’s rolled in his opponent. Samson slams Ohno’s head into the turnbuckle before he enters the ring and Ohno lands awkwardly on the steel steps below. We go to commercial break. On the return, Samson’s wailing away on Ohno in the corner. Powerslam in the centre of the ring. 1-2- kickout by Ohno. Ohno remains on the mat as the crowd cheers for him to get up. He tries for a roll up attempt but Samson counters and drops down to apply a crossface submission hold. Ohno needs to crawl to the ropes. He slowly inches, bit by bit, towards the ropes, even though he can’t see where he’s going. Samson rolls over and continues to hold on. Ohno tries to break free but Samson isn’t letting go. Finally, Ohno finds the bottom rope and the referee counts to 4. Damage has been done though. Strong right hand by Samson on Ohno. Ohno counters with one of his own. Now they’re going at it, punch for punch. Stiff punches too. Ohno shouts out, runs the ropes and Samson meets him with a clothesline. 1-2- kickout by Ohno. Close call there. Samson kicks Ohno in the mid-section a few times before Ohno catches Samson’s boot. Jumping knee strike by Ohno. From the corner, spinning high kick to Samson’s face! 1-2- whoa, close call for Samson there. Ohno almost won right then. Both men take a few moments to collect themselves. Samson takes Ohno down and uses the ropes, with his legs, for leverage to pin him. 1-2- the referee notices! The count is broken. 2 count only. Big slaps from Ohno to Samson. He goes for the neckbreaker. Samson counters with a backslide pin. Ohno kicks out. Jumping knee by Samson. 1-2- Ohno kicks out again. Swinging neckbreaker! Ohno still kicks out. Yet another pinfall attempt by Samson, blocking Ohno’s attempt to roll him up. Ohno is brought to his feet by Samson. Ohno breaks free, spins…HUGE FOREARM. It knocks out Samson and Ohno pins him for the win! Bye, bye, Samson. Winner: Kassius Ohno via pinfall in 10 minutes Post-match, Ohno waves goodbye to Samson. As the news is announced, fans sing goodbye songs and the referees try to get Samson to leave the ring. Security team members now stand up on the apron and wait for Samson to move. He darts out underneath the ropes and the security team catch up to him quickly, restraining him as he’s told to leave. Samson asks for his guitar. Just then, Ohno picks it up and holds it as the fans shout at him. They want him to break it. He does and he smashes it on the mat. Goodbye, Elias “The Drifter” Samson. One cool point for Ohno who gets his first TV win since his return a few weeks ago. I’m impressed with his ability to go from 0 to 60 as he can very suddenly strike with a forearm or clothesline or kick with quickness and accuracy. For some fans, I think this goodbye to Samson has come quite late as I can recall reading negative reviews on “The Drifter” as soon as he debuted last year. In his defense, though his songs were rather boring, the novelty of a guy carrying a guitar around to actually play it, not break it, intrigued me. He was quite capable in-ring and though he didn’t gain much momentum in the singles ranks, he did make other guys look good in beating him. It’ll be interesting to see where he lands next. First Quarter Rankings
Takeover: Orlando Predictions Roode over Nakamura Asuka over Moon The Revival over Authors Of Pain and #DIY SAnitY over Dillinger, Jose, Strong & Riot Cien over Black Looking forward to your thoughts, cool point suggestions and Takeover predictions. Peace!
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