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September 2nd, 2015 Opening Promo nXt is celebrating the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, paying homage to this superstar and cornerstone of nXt, with the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. It starts...tonight. On commentary tonight, back at Full Sail University, are Rich Brennan and Corey Graves. Opening Segment Tag Team Tournament Round 1 Match: The Ascension vs. Baron Corbin & Rhyno After both teams get full entrances, the match begins with Rhyno and Viktor locking up. They take turns twisting each other’s arm before Viktor sends Rhyno off the ropes, just to get knocked down. Viktor gets to his feet, punches Rhyno a few times, sends him off the ropes and hits him with a jumping shoulderblock. This brings about a pause in the action and new team members are tagged in, Konnor and Corbin. They lock up. Baron lands a right fist on Konnor’s face. He runs off the ropes, bounces off the opposite ones and meets Konnor’s shoulder. Konnor tags in Viktor and the two execute a double shoulderblock on Corbin. Viktor goes for the pin...1 count. Viktor tags in Konnor again and they hit Corbin and throw him into the turnbuckle. Konnor stomps on Corbin in the corner as the crowd chants “Yeah!” Konnor goes for one more “yeah” at the fans’ request but Corbin rolls out of the ring. Viktor anticipates this, throws Corbin back in, and Konnor stomps him one more time. Viktor gets tagged in again and lays into Corbin with chops and a flying knee. He charges Corbin by the ropes but Corbin ducks, and Viktor’s feet meet the apron. He kicks at Rhyno, but Corbin seizes the distraction to punch Viktor in the gut and then push him shoulder-first into the ring post. The referee checks on Viktor, as does Konnor, and he is okay to continue. When he returns to the ring, Rhyno has been tagged in. Viktor lays into him with rights and lefts; he throws him to the opposite turnbuckle which allows Rhyno plenty of time to gather steam and spear him. Here come the stomps. Rhyno tags in Corbin who continues the offensive attack with punches and kicks. Corbin charges into the corner but is stopped by a boot to the face. Viktor jumps and grabs hold of Corbin’s head, but Corbin reverses the move attempt into a spinning slam and pin for a 2 count. With Viktor down on the mat, Corbin continues striking with fists and boots. He bounces off the ropes for a clothlesline, misses, and Viktor gets him with one of his own. Both men are laid out on the canvas, slowly moving towards their respective corners to tag out. Both succeed and the pace quickens as Konnor brings his fists to Rhyno for 2 knockdowns and many “yeahs” from the crowd. The big man goes down and crawls to the corner. Corbin returns to the ring, to the opposite corner, and Konnor hits him down. Rhyno tries to spear Konnor but he turns around and evades him just in time. Rhyno walks back towards him and receives a flapjack. Konnor waits in the corner for Rhyno to get up. Viktor is waiting at the opposite corner, but just as they are about to carry out their attack, Corbin distracts Viktor and pulls him out of the ring. Rhyno charges Konnor who evades him. They bounce off the ropes and Rhyno hits the gore! He pins Konnor and the referee counts to 3. Winner: Baron Corbin & Rhyno via pinfall in 5 minutes and 38 seconds One cool point for the Ascension’s quick tags, which showed their good teamwork. One cool point to Rhyno for connecting with the gore. He does it so well. nXt interviewer Devin Taylor is backstage with another tag team participating in the Dusty Rhodes Classic: Neville and Solomon Crowe Neville touts how essential Dusty Rhodes is to his existence in the WWE. He owes him an eternal gratitude and it’s an honour to try and win it for the American Dream. Solomon is excited to tag with the best nXt Champion of all time and he feels good about their chances. In fact, he’s calling his shot like Babe Ruth did: BAM! Neville agrees but says that was weird. Coming Up: Alexa Bliss vs. Blue Pants Promo: Nia Jax is coming soon to nXt. Women’s division, beware! Second Segment Singles Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Blue Pants First off, that is some theme music for Blue Pants. Humming the theme for “The Price Is Right” is amusing. Bliss charges in with elbows to the face of Blue Pants, knocking her down and continuing the onslaught of strikes. There’s a brief 1 count until Bliss drags Blue Pants to her feet, by her hair, throwing her head into the turnbuckle. She locks in a chicken wing armlock as the referee asks Blue Pants if she will submit. Blue Pants gets to her feet to break the hold, but Bliss throws her down by the hair and covers her for a 2 count. She rubs her boot in Blue Pants’ face, quite arrogantly and jaws at her, hitting her in the small of the back. Slingshot into the corner but that allows Blue Pants to elbow Bliss as she ran in. Bliss gets angrier, tackling Blue Pants into the corner and repeatedly spears her in the mid-section. The referee calls her off and Bliss screams at him. Feisty. Bliss slows the pace down with another chicken wing armlock. This time, it’s serious, with Bliss locking Blue Pants’ free arm behind her leg. Blue Pants bridges and Bliss’ shoulders are down, so the ref counts to 2. Bliss transitions into a pinning attempt of her own for a 2 count. Bliss charges Blue Pants but misses three times as Blue Pants ducks out of the way, and then lands a kick to the face, and another, and then a Northern Lights suplex and bridge pin for a 2 count. Beautiful! They retreat to opposite corners. Blue Pants runs at Bliss who easily evades the attack, trips Blue Pants down and then does a backflip double knees to the mid-section. With her opponent immobilized, Bliss climbs the turnbuckle and lands the Sparkle Splash successfully for a 3 count. Winner: Alexa Bliss via pinfall in 3 minutes and 33 seconds She demands the referee raise her hand in victory, not once, but twice. One cool point for Alexa Bliss’ anger which provided her the energy she needed to win this match. The camera brings us backstage to a meeting in General Manager William Regal’s office. He is meeting with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa who will be in the tournament when he’s interrupted by Tyler Breeze. Breeze says he needs to win the Dusty Rhodes Classic. He recognizes that Regal came through with an important opponent for Takeover, but now he needs a teammate. Regal retorts by observing that Breeze has interrupted a conversation with the hottest free agents in our industry, who he will face next week. Regal picks someone who is only worthy of him: Bull Dempsey. Breeze isn’t happy about it but he says he’ll still win. Gargano and Ciampa say thanks for the opportunity. Coming Up: Apollo Crews in action. Third Segment Recap: Emma’s victory last week over Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Dana Brooke. Emma talks backstage after the match saying there is no Divas Revolution without her. Singles Match: Apollo Crews vs. Martin Stone Apollo Crews is introduced and walks down the ramp to a triumphant brass-led hip hop instrumental. That’s a good theme right there. The bell rings and the two lockup. Stone works Crews’ left arm. Crews effortlessly somersaults, kips up and twists Stone’s left arm, flipping him over. Stone’s right back up but Crews answers with an arm drag. Crews gets a moment to smile for the crowd until Stone charges at him. Crews jumps over him, then lies flat on the mat for Stone to stride over him and, bouncing off the ropes, Crews connects with a spinning dropkick to Stone’s head. Crews poses, then arm drags Stone again, holding him on the mat in an arm lock. A few moments later, Stone gets to his feet and tries to reverse the armlock. Crews breaks the hold, the two men bouncing off of opposite sides of the ring for Stone to throw a heavy clothesline at Crews. Stone stomps on Crews in the corner with kicks and then mocks Crews with a pose of his own, which the crowd boos. Stone locks Crews’ left arm and head into a submission for a little bit until Crews fights out of it with punches to the mid-section. Stone tries to slam Crews but Crews drops behind him and misses a punch. He ducks Stone’s outstretched fist and connects with a standing enziguri. Chopblocks x3. Splash in the corner. Crews has all the momentum. He bounces off the ropes. Stone ducks a punch, bounces off the ropes and meets Crews fist, courtesy of a jumping clothesline. Crews kips up. He picks up Stone for a gorilla press slam and then a standing moonsault for the victory! Winner: Apollo Crews via pinfall in 2 minutes and 58 seconds Two cool points for Apollo Crews’ ring presence. Everything he’s done so far has been so smooth and fluid. Backstage, Devin Taylor meets with Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, both wearing white jackets. Jordan says they may be the underdogs but they’re going to make history when they beat Neville and Crowe. Gable says by being the winners, they will write that history. He insults the two and says their American Dream is going to become a nightmare, when they face the boys who are always ready, willing and... Gable asks Jordan to say his name, and Jordan finally does...Gable. Fun moment there as Jordan is softening to Gable’s persistence. Fourth Segment Devin Taylor is with nXt Champion Finn Balor in the backstage area. He’ll be defending it in a few road shows in Texas. His tag team partner arrives to the conversation: Samoa Joe! Nice sideburns. He comments on Balor’s successful retention of the championship. He then says he wants to win the Dusty Rhodes Classic and Balor says he’s ready to do that. Singles Match: Eva Marie vs. Billie Kay Eva Marie gets her entrance and Corey Graves says he is always ready to watch Eva Marie and tells Brennan he can do the commentary alone because Brennan’s jaw will be on the ground all match. Billie Kay is waiting in the ring for Eva Marie. Eva Marie blows a kiss to the crowd and shortly after, the referee calls for the bell to be rung. The two lock up. Billie grabs Eva from behind. Eva elbows Billie and grabs her in a headlock. Towards the corner, Eva springboards off the ropes, jumps over a charging Billie, and then blows a kiss her way. She turns to the crowd, saying “All red” and receives a high kick to the face from Billie. 2 count and we’re back to a headlock and then some hair pulling. Eva tackles Billie into the corner and meets her with a series of shoulder thrusts. She backs off and then hits her with three more. Out from the corner, Eva suplexes Billie and covers her for a 1 count. Submission time: Eva has Billie in a modified abdominal stretch on the mat. She yells fiercely. Billie rolls up Eva to break out of the submission for a quick 1 count and backs into the corner, holding her ribs. She runs into the corner, throwing her hips at her opponent’s mid-section. The two leave the corner and Eva hits Billie with a clothesline. She blows her another kiss, runs off the ropes and hits a jumping senton splash, staying for a 2 count pin. She tries again and only gets 2, and we’re back to the abdominal stretch, which also affects Billie’s right arm. Billie manages to stand up and, with noticeable effort arm drags Eva to the mat. Eva gets up and Billie hits her with 1, then 2 clotheslines. She grapples her and executes a suplex for a very close 2 count. The crowd boos as Eva retreats to the corner. Billie meets her there and receives a few elbows to the face which stun her enough that Eva can prepare for Sliced Red. Eva Marie succeeds with her finisher and pins Billie for the win. Winner: Eva Marie via pinfall in 3 minutes and 45 seconds She poses for the fans, pointing to her waist where a championship belt should be. One cool point for Billie Kay who did well in selling how hurt she was during this match. One cool point for Eva Marie who hasn’t hurt anyone with Sliced Red yet. Closing Segment Recap: The nXt cameras caught up with the Hype Bros, Enzo & Big Cass after their win last week. Everyone’s happy and saying it went exactly as they planned. The four then discuss where they’re going to party in New York, with no clear decision made. Next Week: First Round Tag Team Tournament action continues with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons Tag Team Tournament Round 1 Match: Neville & Solomon Crowe vs. Jason Jordan & Chad Gable Crowe and Gable start things off. They lock up and Crowe twists Gable’s arm. Gable does some gymnastics tumbling to work his way out of the arm hold and into the position of administering a headlock on Crowe. Crowe delivers a kidney shot and grabs Gable’s head. Gable throws Crowe towards the ropes and he bounces back with a shoulder block. Crowe approaches Gable who grabs the ankle and forces Crowe on to his left foot only. Hip toss. Gable grabs the arm, rolls over, flips Crowe to his front, and then the two stand and grapple. Crowe secures Gable into a headlock again and slows the pace. Gable squirms around on the mat, returns to a standing position, and throws Crowe towards the ropes. He lies flat on the ground for Crowe to jump over him and as Crowe bounces back off the opposite ropes, he jumps but Crowe lets him fall flat on his face. 1 count and back to a headlock. Gable pushes Crowe towards the corner where Neville tags himself in. Gable grabs Neville around the waist, pushes towards his own corner and Jordan slaps his back to tag in. Backwards rollup for a quick pinning attempt and Neville kicks out. Jordan lifts Neville high in the air and slams him face first on the mat. He grabs Neville around the waist and bridges into a pin but Neville abruptly lifts his shoulders. This is pure grappling, folks. Neville gets back to his feet but Jordan still has his arms wrapped around him, trying to force him to the mat. Neville flips over him and rolls him up for a 1 count. The two continue to jockey for position with Neville getting fancy with his flips, frontwards and backwards, and then a dropkick and a high knee to Jordan. As Jordan rolls out, Gable enters to try and stop the flurry and he is thrown out of the ring by Crowe. We go to commercial. When we return, Neville has Jordan by the neck in the centre of the ring and he drags him to the corner, tagging in Crowe. Crowe and Jordan grapple for a few moments until Jordan throws Crowe to the mat. He tags in Gable who squeezes Crowe from behind, around the waist. Crowe breaks free and Gable runs off the ropes, Jordan tagging himself in. He hits Crowe with a mean overhead belly-to-belly suplex. He tackles him into the home corner and lands shoulder thrusts to Crowe’s torso. Gable tags in to do the same and then Jordan’s back in to continue the attack. The referee asks them to back off with a 4 count. Gable retrieves his red “Gable” towel and holds it in front of Crowe’s face. Jordan backs up and charges at Crowe, like a bull, sending his opponent to the floor. As Crowe lies on the floor, Jordan fans Gable with the towel. As the referee shouts “8”, Crowe rolls back in and Gable pounces. A kick to the gut and a cover for 2. Neville waits impatiently in the opposite corner as Jordan tags in to continue the punishment on Crowe. Another 2 count. Jordan executes a chin lock, driving his right knee into Crowe’s back, but Crowe won’t give up. The crowd claps and a few seconds later, Crowe grabs the ropes with 2 hands. Gable returns and says he has Crowe, crossing his legs and lifting him up into a modified bow and arrow hold. Crowe reverses it into a quick cover attempt then rushes for Neville. Gable grabs his ankle but Crowe kicks out and finally tags in Neville. Neville jumps over the charging Jordan, who just tagged in to knock Gable to the floor with a flying seated dropkick! He ducks Jordan’s swinging arms and proceeds to connect with a flurry of kicks, chopblocks and clotheslines. The crowd cheers him on. Into the corner now, Gable attempts to return to the ring and is met with a high kick to the head. Neville then kicks Jordan in the face, knocking him on his back, preparing for an aerial attack but Gable drags Jordan out of the ring. Neville adjusts and then hits a moonsault to the outside on Jordan! Crow flies out of the ring and spears Gable into the ramp. Neville throws Jordan into the ring, attempts a springboard move but Jordan catches him and chucks him into the air to land hard on his face. The referee counts to 6 until both men can stand up. Neville dropkicks Jordan towards his own corner, stumbles back and Crowe tags in. He runs and hits a flying knee on Jordan. He bounces off the ropes, completes a full flip against Jordan’s body, but Jordan catches him and throws him over his head for a belly-to-back suplex. Amazing power. He spears Crowe in the corner, tags in Gable for his bridging belly-to-black suplex pin. That’s Grand Amplitude for you and that’s the match. Winner: Jason Jordan & Chad Gable via pinfall in 9 minutes and 42 seconds Corey Graves says that’s his pick to go all the way: Jordan and Gable. Two cool points for Jordan and Gable who continue to impress with their athleticism and mat wrestling. Also, have you seen Jason Jordan’s suplexes? Dare I say they are Kurt Angle-esque in their execution. I’m happy to see a tag team tournament start off with two entertaining matches. It will be interesting to see how diverse the matches are over the next few weeks and if WWE will use this as a means to create more teams for the tag team division. Share your thoughts and questions below!
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