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September 30th, 2015 Recap: Kyle Edwards begins the show, in studio, to update the WWE Universe on the most recent happenings in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Over the weekend, in Florida, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable defeated the Hype Bros. They’ll face Baron Corbin & Rhyno in the Semi-Finals next week. Don’t forget, nXt Takeover: Respect is next Wednesday at 8pm, live on the WWE Network! On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves. Opening Segment Big Cass & Enzo do their usual pre-match mic work, telling the crowd about the importance of the tag team tournament, and how to spell the word “SAWFT”. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Second Round Match: Colin Cassady & Enzo Amore w. Carmella vs. Samoa Joe & Finn Balor Samoa Joe and Big Cass face off inside the yellow-roped ring. They grapple, Big Cass grabbing Joe’s head, and run the ropes. Neither man can gain momentum that way so Joe starts pummelling Big Cass with punches. He bounces off the ropes for a clothesline attempt but gets knocked to the outside by Cass. As the two of them brawl on the outside, Enzo attacks Balor in the ring then does a flying plancha on to Joe. Balor replicates the same attack on Cass! They stare off as... we go to commercial. Upon our return, Balor and Enzo are now in the ring mixing it up. Enzo hits a second rope DDT on Balor and both men are down, getting the 10 count from the referee. He only makes it to 3 and each dive to their respective corners. Tags are made and Big Cass gets the best of Joe, throwing him into the turnbuckle and splashing him. As he bounces off the ropes for another attack, Balor catches him with a kick to the back, and Joe nails him with an STO for a 2 count. Cass and Joe trade slaps, until Cass has enough of that game, nailing Joe with a big boot. Then he knocks Balor off the ring apron with a kick. Empire Elbow on Joe. Brennan thinks it’s over, but it’s not. When Joe gets to his feet, he hits Cass with a headbutt, then tries to send him off the ropes. Reversal. Joe ducks a clothesline but gets slammed to the mat off the other ropes. He couldn’t avoid the inevitable. Cass tags in Enzo and we see Air Enzo for a 2 count. Joe does a back roll, picking up Enzo and backing into his own corner for Balor to tag in. Balor hops in and rushes to knock Cass off the ring apron. As he ascends the turnbuckle, Joe lifts Enzo on to his shoulders and drops him with a musclebuster. Balor hits the Coup de grace and that’s it! Winner: Samoa Joe & Finn Balor via pinfall in 4 minutes and 16 seconds. Post-Match: The tournament brackets are shown. Joe & Balor will face Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder in one of the Semi-Final matches next Wednesday. One cool point for Big Cass holding his own with Samoa Joe. I’d like to see them battle again. Their strength and agility are fairly even. I can’t reward anyone else with cool points due to the length of the match feeling short, even for nXt. It just ended pretty quickly and didn’t get time to build excitement. Backstage, the cameraman interviews Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano says they’ve gone from the highest high to the lowest low already. They expected themselves to do better in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Their next focus is an opponent with whom they are familiar: Apollo Crews. Tyler Breeze interrupts and says any friend of Crews is an enemy of mine. If Regal lets him, Ciampa will fight him tonight. Promo: A video package shows Asuka aka Kana and clips of her matches. She’s going to make quite an impression in nXt. Second Segment Singles Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Apollo Crews The nXt announcers all agree on how big of a deal Crews is. These two lock up briefly and then begin running the ropes. Crews knocks down Gargano. On Gargano’s second attempt, he jumps, landing sideways across Crews’ shoulders but transitions into a pinning attempt. 1 count. Into the turnbuckle and Crews is foiled by Gargano’s “bite of the dragon” submission within the ropes. He has to break the hold at the referee’s 4 count though. He goes for a pinfall attempt but fails. The two wrestlers run the ropes again, each wrestler avoiding the other with leaps or dives until Crews hits Gargano with a stiff dropkick. Crews tries to pin but Gargano rolls out. Crews tries to hit a plancha on Gargano but Gargano rolls back in, and Crews lands on his feet. Back in the ring, Gargano spears Crews for a 2 count. He begins tackling Crews into the turnbuckle. Snapmare and a kick to the back of the head. Another 2 count and a kick out by Crews. Gargano applies a modified abdominal stretch, twisting Crews’ left wrist as he pulls Crews’ right arm back. Crews uses his right arm to flip Gargano out of it. He swings at Gargano but misses and receives a roll-through kick. Gargano continues to wear down Crews with a headlock. Crews tries to evade by rolling but Gargano stubbornly holds on to slow down the pace. Crews rolls out, picks up Gargano and connects with a huge suplex! Gargano runs at Crews but Crews shuts him down each time. Leaping clothesline. Gorilla press. Standing moonsault and that’s a wrap! Winner: Apollo Crews via pinfall in 4 minutes and 6 seconds One cool point for Gargano’s singles effort in which he displayed some creative submission holds. One cool point for how effortless Crews makes everything look in the ring. He’s facing Breeze next Wednesday, which should be a significant indication of how quickly he’ll move up the ranks in nXt. Backstage, nXt General Manager William Regal is in his office with Dana Brooke and Emma. He refers to last week’s embarrassing interruption of Asuka’s debut. So, he books them in matches. Brooke will fight Asuka in the latter’s nXt debut. Brooke makes fun of Asuka for looking like a hyena. Regal says you should see more of what she can do. He shows the laptop to the two of them and their facial expressions become slightly worried. Emma says good luck with that to Brooke and leaves. Coming Up: The Final Countdown to Sasha Banks and Bayley’s Ironwoman match at Takeover. Promo: We are STILL waiting for Nia Jax to come to nXt. Women’s division should still beware but it’s alright to breathe. She’s not here yet. Promo: Kudos to Bring Me The Horizon. “Happy Song” is one of the main theme songs for nXt Takeover: Respect. Third Segment We get a glimpse at what William Regal showed Dana Brooke and Emma. It was of Asuka attacking a punching bag viciously. Tag Team Match: Dana Brooke & Emma vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce Dana Brooke gets a little sassy with Peyton Royce to begin this bout. Royce responds with 3 consecutive pinning attempts, followed by a powerslam attempt which Brooke evades. Royce holds on to Brooke and tags in Kay. Kay kicks Brooke down and goes for the cover, only getting a 1 count. Was the scouting report on Brooke saying to go for an early pinfall? Brooke hangs on to the ropes as Kay tries to pull her away. Brooke tags in Emma. She receives a hurricanrana from Kay. Kay then holds Emma perpendicular to the ring for at least 5 seconds before suplexing her for a quick 2 count. Kay tries to send Emma off the ropes but it’s reversed. Kay gets distracted by Brooke on the ring apron and she loses her momentum. Emma and Brooke perform a couple of quick tags to execute some double team striking. Brooke goes for the pinfall, but only gets 1 count. She wraps her legs around Kay’s torso in a body scissors submission. Kay forces Brooke on to her shoulders and the referee counts 1. Brooke is doing a good job of cutting off the ring, keeping Kay in their corner. She tags in Emma who continues to punish Kay with strikes before choking her with the ropes. Emma feigns allowing Kay to tag in Royce. Cheeky. She knocks Kay down and applies a body scissors submission. This time, Kay’s worn down a little more but she hits Emma square in the eyes to escape the hold. She reaches for Royce’s hand but Emma grabs her ankle and prevents the tag. Pinfall attempt for a 2 count. The two women trade slaps and punbhces. Emma throws Kay towards her own corner but Kay surprises Brooke and Emma with punches. She crawls to her team’s corner to tag in Royce. Emma tags in Brooke. Royce’s attack employs a series of kicks, including back kicks and dropkicks. Brooke doubles over and Royce goes to the second rope but she loses her footing and falls to the ground. Brooke goes for the pinfall and gets a 2 count. Brooke begins with strikes to the neck and head, but Royce defends with a dropkick and a cover, but Emma breaks it up. Kay attacks Emma and Emma throws her out of the ring. Royce throws Emma out of the ring. The referee is distracted, checking on Kay, which allows Emma to trip up Royce when she approached the ropes. Brooke slings her over the shoulder and hits her with a Samoan driver. She folds her up for the pin and the win. Winner: Dana Brooke & Emma via pinfall in 6 minutes and 46 seconds One cool point for Kay and Royce who got plenty of time to show off their talents, and they did well enough that I can identify Royce as the kicker and Kay as the feisty one. One cool point to Dana Brooke & Emma for cutting off the ring and keeping their opponents close to them. They are by no means a fluent tag team yet but if that’s a direction nXt wants to go with them, it’s a good start. Backstage, nXt interviewer Devin Taylor asks Jason Jordan & Chad Gable how they will overcome the odds to defeat Corbin & Rhyno. Gable gets a little upset about Devin saying “odds” and Jordan cuts him off to say that there’s nothing to overcome. The two of them have to overcome us, he says, cause they’re that good. They discuss who they might face in the finals. Gable finishes with his “ready, willing, and...” but they are interrupted by Dash & Dawson, who overheard Jordan saying it wasn’t likely they’d make it to the tournament finals. Dash Wilder says you owe us cause you lost the 8-man tag to Enzo & Cass at Takeover: Brooklyn. Consider this your “end of days”. All 4 men start arguing and Devin Taylor walks away. Coming Up: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Breeze Fourth Segment Graves tells Brennan that Breeze’s vest looks like Sully from Monsters Inc. He’s kinda right. Singles Match: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Breeze The two begin with a battle of the roll-up, roll-out, pinfall attempts, which concluded with Breeze riding on Ciampa’s back around half the ring. Breeze dismounts and takes a few slaps in the corner. They move to another corner of the ring where Breeze kicks Ciampa hard in the gut but he stops to talk with the referee and Ciampa has the advantage. He delivers Breeze’s head to the turnbuckle, throws him to the opposite corner and lands a running knee, running forearm, and caps it off with a running knee to the fallen Breeze. Pinfall attempt and a 2 count for Ciampa. Breeze hangs on to the ropes to catch his breath and he’s in bad shape. Ciampa makes a mistake by sending Breeze off the ropes though and Breeze catches Ciampa with his head down and nails him with a neckbreaker and a 2 count pinfall. Breeze brings Ciampa to his feet, to the corner, and stomps him to the mat. Standing leg drop and a 2 count, followed by a front headlock. He’s wrenching it in pretty good and the fans don’t provide Ciampa the energy he needs to break it. Breeze breaks it instead, which allows Ciampa to throw Breeze to the floor. He brings the chops to Breeze and a few high kicks to Breeze’s head. Breeze is stunned and Ciampa’s getting his energy back. Off the ropes and Breeze stops his momentum. Ciampa telegraphs it, though, and picks up Breeze, bouncing Breeze’s legs off the ropes and DDT’s him on to the mat. Only a 2 count and the match continues. Both competitors slow down for a few moments, planning out their next move. Ciampa has Breeze set up for a powerbomb, but Breeze counters it with a kick to the gut. Ciampa answers back with another stiff striking combination, even removing his right elbow pad to deliver a discus lariat to the head. Breeze is able to kick out of the cover. Ciampa drags Breeze closer to the corner. He ascends the turnbuckle, but Breeze was playing possum and he runs into Ciampa’s fists in the corner. Ciampa goes for a double axe handle but Breeze counters with a high dropkick. He covers Ciampa and gets a close 2 count. Breeze stomps a hole in Ciampa. He follows it up with the Thing of Beauty facebuster and pins Ciampa for the win. Winner: Tyler Breeze via pinfall in 7 minutes and 46 seconds One cool point for Ciampa bringing it to Breeze. That was a hard-fought match and there was plenty to like from their encounter. One cool point for Tyler Breeze persevering through the beatdown to finish strong and get the win. This was my favourite match of the show. Backstage, the cameraman asks Baron Corbin & Rhyno if anyone can stop us. Rhyno laughs and says only they could stop themselves. Corbin says the reality is you’re looking at the winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Closing Segment Recap: The commentary team previews the matches we can expect to see at nXt Takeover: Respect. Here they are for those who are interested: Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Finals Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Baron Corbin & Rhyno The winners of each match will face one another in the Tournament Finals. Dana Brooke vs. Asuka Apollo Crews vs. Tyler Breeze 30-minute Ironwoman Match: Bayley (c) vs. Sasha Banks for the nXt Women’s Championship Promo: We get a video package that sets the tone for Bayley and Sasha Banks’ rematch at Takeover. There are clips from their match at Takeover: Brooklyn. Then we see their confrontation at FSU where William Regal officially announced their Ironwoman match and that it would be the main event at the special. Bayley is interviewed about it and she explains how she’s ramped up the intensity of her workouts. She doesn’t want it to be seen as a fluke win. The Boss, Sasha Banks also demonstrates that her workout routine has intensified. Banks doesn’t say anything about her strategy except that you’ll see it on October 7th. Bayley wants to earn the respect of the fans of her abilities and of women’s wrestling. The song for this promo was “Throne” by...yes, Bring Me The Horizon, who are getting the big push for this event. Good for them. Two cool points for pushing how important this 30-minute Ironwoman match is. Although the video package went the typical route of showing each wrestler working out, it’s effective in showing how determined Bayley and Sasha Banks are in ensuring they have the stamina to last 30 minutes. The amount of pressure they’ll be under, after the Brooklyn match went so well, is immense, but they’re up to the challenge. On a scale of 1 to 5, how excited are you for nXt Takeover: Respect? Share your thoughts below. Peace!
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