Opening Segment

Plenty of Johnny Wrestling signs (the emoji icon) in the crowd tonight as we open and, lo and behold, it’s Tommasso Ciampa. He’s getting the “you suck” chants as he saunters down to the ring, soaking in the boos, shaking his head.

He grabs a mic, enters the ring and immediately receives “We want Johnny” chants. Ciampa holds his finger up for silence and gets another wave of boos, so he brings the mic down from his face. He shakes his head some more but he’s still not getting an opening to speak, without hearing warring chants from the crowd. A small section is chanting “Psycho Killer” in response.

Finally, Ciampa shouts, “He’s gone!” He continues to get chants from the crowd, so Ciampa spreads his arms wide and drops the mic. He seems perturbed and bewildered as he stares down the fans at ringside. A few fans in the corner goad him on with the signs. Ciampa takes one, rips it up, wipes his bum with it, and throws it back at the fans. A little girl watches Ciampa rip up her Bristol board sign of Johnny Wrestling. Ciampa then attacks an old lady’s sign and she gives him the thumbs up. This is fantastic stuff, folks.

Suddenly, he rips away another Gargano sign and it’s JOHNNY GARGANO!

Gargano lunges over the barricade at him and the two end up brawling in the ring for a few moments, until nXt security run out en masse to break them up. Gargano’s escorted out of the building by the 4 security guards. Ciampa’s in the ring and he’s pissed.

Charly Caruso’s in the control centre and she provides a review of first round matches from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The winner will earn a Tag Team Championship title shot at Takeover: New Orleans.

Last Friday, WWE.COM reporters catches up with Tyler Bate who has sustained a knee injury that will force Moustache Mountain to withdraw from the Dusty Classic.
Tonight, we’ll find out who will replace them against Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan in the final first round match.

Roderick Strong posted a video on Twitter about this news and shares his desire, directly to nXt General Manager William Regal, to find a partner and compete in the tournament. He even says please.

Regal agrees but we don’t know who his partner is….but it’s coming up next!

Second Segment

It’s another theme song for Takeover: New Orleans! “Lord of Flies”, also by Cane Hill.

A Twitter exchange between Adam Cole and Kassius Ohno is reported by Mauro Ranallo.

This leads to a video with the Undisputed Era from earlier today. Cole complains about Strong being added to the Dusty Classic. O’Reilly and Fish say he’s not a tag team guy; he’s a loser. Fish says nobody will join him and it doesn’t matter. The winner of the Dusty Classic is just a signup to get beaten up by the Undisputed Era.

Cole says his match with Ohno will be a walk in the park. He’ll make short work of him so he asks Fish & O’Reilly to stay in the back for their match.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match: Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. Roderick Strong and ???

It…is… great to see Burch & Lorcan on nXt TV again. Exciting team to watch in the ring. Very hard-hitting.

Strong’s partner is… the United Kingdom Champion, the Bruiserweight, Pete Dunne! Dunne’s getting more cheers than usual for this appearance. McGuinness says Dunne respect no one so this should be interesting.

Strong and Lorcan begin. Strong with a chinlock, immobilizing Lorcan on the mat. Lorcan crawls through Strong’s legs and tries to apply his own submission. The two wrestle their way into the corner where Lorcan tags Burch. Burch with the wristlock. Countered by Strong. Dunne slaps his back to tag in. He continues the wrist lock and the digit manipulation we’re accustomed to seeing. This forces Burch to the mat. 1 count. Burch kips up, counters out of it, misses a kick. Burch is whipped off the ropes and a drop toe hold on Dunne when Dunne tried to leapfrog. All 4 men square off in the ring as…

We go to commercial break.

On the return, Dunne’s on the digit manipulation of Burch’s right hand. 1 count. Big slap to Burch’s face and he’s thrown into the corner. Strong’s tagged in. Pendulum backbreaker for a 2 count. He tags in Dunne again. Double team manoeuvre. Front slam. Dunne pins him for a close 2 count.

Very loud cross chop to the chest. This pisses off Burch who climbs the turnbuckle for a missile dropkick on Dunne. Double tag. Strong and Lorcan exchange chops. Huge running dropkick by Lorcan. Flying European uppercut! Rushing clothesline. Somersault…blockbuster! 1-2- Strong kicks out. What a flurry of offense from Lorcan!

He tags in Burch. Strong lands on his feet from the suplex attempt. Enziguri on Burch. Tag to Dunne. Second rope. Drives the boot into Burch. X-Plex! 1-2- Lorcan breaks up the count just in time. He gets chucked out of the ring by Strong. Strong meets him out there for an explosive European uppercut.

Dunne and Burch exchange slaps to the face. Burch with a beauty of a German suplex. Strong re-enters the ring and he gets suplexed on to Dunne. Burch covers Dunne. Dunne kicks out. Burch transitions to a crossface submission! Lorcan cuts off Strong and clutches him in a single leg crab. Strong kicks Lorcan off into Burch to break up that submission attempt.

Burch stumbles to his feet, using the ropes, and nails Dunne with a punch. Exploder suplex after sustaining a kick from Dunne. Dunne’s tagged by Strong. Whip off the ropes. Burch is thrown into Strong’s arms for a pendulum backbreaker. End of Heartache! 1-2-3.

Winners: Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne (UKc) via pinfall in 10 minutes

Two cool points for both teams. Impressive showing for both teams. Strong and Dunne meshed well together. Burch and Lorcan are as hard-hitting as they come. That series of Lorcan offense mid-match was exciting, and so was the finale to this match. Strong & Dunne will have to face SAnitY in the Semi-Finals.

Coming Up: Adam Cole vs. Kassius Ohno, and up next, nXt Women’s Champion Ember Moon vs. Aliyah in a non-title match.

Third Segment

A promo for Ricochet is shown, telling us his nXt debut is coming soon.

Non-Title Match: Ember Moon (c) vs. Aliyah

A little sportsmanship to start this one. Aliyah with a few side headlock takedowns. Moon with the head scissors and Aliyah escapes. They stare down one another, smiling and nodding. Moon with the side headlock. Aliyah pushes her to the corner. She grabs the hair and slams Moon to the mat for a 1 count.

There’s Shayna Baszler on the stage. She wanders to the broadcast booth as Aliyah gets another 1 count. Baszler puts her feet up on the desk and talks herself up as the match continues. Aliyah with a side headlock as Moon is seated on the mat. The crowd claps for Moon to break free. Moon does, reverse roll up for a brief count. Aliyah breaks it off.

Aliyah off the turnbuckle. Moon catches her in mid-air….Samoan drop! Moon shrieks to the crowd. Handspring clothesline in the corner. She ascends the turnbuckle and nails Aliyah with the Eclipse. 3 count for the win. Baszler says Moon’s helpless against her. Eclipse or not.

Winner: Ember Moon via pinfall in 4 minutes
Baszler and Moon share words from afar, following the match.

No cool points again. I’m sorry but the women’s matches have been getting no time lately. Not enough time means they can’t build up any momentum or dynamics for their match. Underwhelming. Baszler’s appearance on commentary was fresh though. I’ll give that a cool point.

Raul Mendoza hits the stage for his scheduled match with…NOPE! nXt Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas, wearing a classy blue suit, flies at him from behind and knocks him off the stage. He and Zelina Vega continue down the ramp and enter the ring. Guess Almas has something on his mind.

Almas asks if Aleister Black thinks he’s smart. Almas shouts a few things in Spanish and asks for respect for Ms. Vega, and for himself. Almas calls Black a piece of ****. It gets beeped out. The champ is UNhappy.

Final Segment

A promo is shown for Lars Sullivan, featuring highlights of the destruction he’s caused during his run so far in nXt. We haven’t seen him for a few months but he returns next week.

The other official Takeover: New Orleans theme song by Cane Hill is It Follows.

Next week: Aleister Black will be live and in action. Also, GM Regal is shown in his office and he says he’ll be making an announcement, next week, that will change nXt forever.

Singles Match: Adam Cole (Undisputed Era) vs. Kassius Ohno

Warring chants from the crowd begin this match. Ohno’s got new ring gear, black and yellow, and his jersey says “Knockout Artist” on it.

Ohno takes the early advantage until Cole whips him off the ropes and kicks him in the mid-section. Cole with a shoulder tackle, which sets Ohno down. Ohno leapfrogs Cole as he runs the ropes. Cole flattens himself to the mat and goes for a leapfrog over the running Ohno but Ohno kicks him straight in the chest! Huge running senton!

Ohno follows that up with a cross chop. Jawbreaker from Cole. Cole is flipped over the top rope by Ohno and he rolls his ankle, landing on the apron. Cole slams his hands on the apron in pain and frustration. He limps over to the barricade as the referee checks on him. Ohno goes over to the ropes and Cole enziguris him from the floor! He hustles into the ring and it appears that Cole might be fine after all.

He smirks at the crowd and shakes his legs a little as…

We go to commercial break.

Cole whips Ohno off the ropes and nails Ohno with a bicycle kick to the face for a 2 count. Swinging neckbreaker for a 2 count. Cole keeps Ohno on the mat with kicks. Fans clap for Ohno to come back. Cole locks up Ohno with a chinlock. Fans clap again. Backstabber! 1-2- kickout by Ohno and he holds up two fingers. Close call.

“Adam Cole Bay-bay!” shouts out the crowd as Cole prepares for his next offensive move. Instead, of a suplex, Ohno lands on his feet and delivers a thunderous straight right, dropping Cole to the mat. Ohno struggles to get back to his feet in the corner. Huge knee to the face of Cole. Running clothesline. Big boot! Ohno’s getting fired up.

Scoopslam and a running leg drop by Ohno. 1-2- kickout by Cole to stay in the match. Big boot from the apron by Cole. Cyclone kick! 1…2…. Cole gets his shoulder up. Ohno’s wondering what to do next.

Knockout forearm smash by Ohno. Cole shouts if that’s all he’s got. Cole fights back with a flurry. Ohno responds with a giant big boot to the face. Cole retorts with a Last Shot. 2 and ¾ count but Ohno kicks out!

Cole retreats to the corner and sits in wait. He folds down his kneepad and goes for a Shining Wizard. Blocked by Ohno. Powerbomb….no. Cole lands on the ropes. Back turned to Ohno and he gets smacked hard in the back of the head by Ohno. Cole lands on the outside. Ohno rolls Cole back into the ring. Cole rolls him up for a 2 count.

Superkick #1…Superkick #2. Superkick #3. Cole with another Last Shot. Shining Wizard. This has got to be over. He goes for the pinfall….and Cole gets it. Intense ending there.

The show ends with Cole shouting, “Adam Cole Bay-Bay!”.

Winner: Adam Cole via pinfall in 12 minutes

Gotta hand it to these guys because it’s not easy to match the striking intensity of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan. If anyone can do it though, it’s Kassius Ohno. He gets a cool point for maintaining a strong reputation as a knockout artist, even though he loses more regularly than his opponent, Adam Cole!

Looking forward to reading your cool point suggestions and comments on tonight’s nXt show. For some of the best creative writing about wrestling on the net, check out the LOP Columns Forum . Read, comment and join in on the writing yourself.
Peace!!

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