NXT returned from the Capital Wrestling Center (CWC) in Orlando, Florida last night (March 24). You can find the results on the live blog.
Adam Cole is out of control (and so is O’Reilly)
The battle between former friends Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly could no longer be confined to the confines of the Capital Wrestling Center. The fight broke out in public and Regal prayed that law enforcement would reduce costs … but only because he wanted to be the one to hand down the sentence.
Waiting for both All Riley and Regal to face the music as the call arrived. GM will be forced to deliver a verdict within two weeks with stand and delivery!
Regal began the meeting (which was the “main event” of the show) quietly, but quickly started screaming at both Cole and O’Reilly to get the bloody police involved. He told them it was the only way he would allow the injured Kyle O’Reilly to take the match, if they both signed a hold harmless contract, the NXT would not be responsible for what happened.
Adam Cole signed first, but not before Kyle O’Reilly took the opportunity to consider nothing more than “Lap Dog” and “Sidekick”. He told William Regal that he was like a blind man seeing the world for the first time, and his revelation was that he did not need this undisputed age – in fact, they had left him behind. Record setting title rule, major events, t-shirt sales, all Adam call bye bye. He said the winner on the takeover is clear to everyone except the man across the table from him.
O’Reilly’s rebuttal was equally passionate. He doesn’t believe the last three-and-a-half years were wasted, that their friendship was wrong, but he had to admit it or he wouldn’t be able to do what was needed in the takeover. O’Reilly said he became better wrestlers, better fighters and world champions in The Undisputed Era … but only one of them became the best man. He vowed to take responsibility for all his misdeeds, to bring out the man he trusted in everything. He signed the contract and threw the pen at Cole, Cole got angry, and the match for takeover was official!
Not a team champion
Due to Danny Birch’s unfortunate injury last week, general manager William Regal felt that Birch and his team had no choice but to snatch his teammate O’Neill Lorkon from the team title.
I can confirm this extremely unfortunate news and make the difficult decision to empty it #WWENXT Titit Team Titles. Also, I will address the status of more titles tomorrow night WWENXT. https://t.co/z3iQdC1Ruc
– William Regal (@RealKingerGagel) March 23, 2021
This leaves a huge gap in the title picture, which can probably be addressed either before or at the takeover: Stand and Deliver. What will be the decision of William Regal? It came with a triple threat for the first night of takeover – MSK, Grizzly Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma will face each other for the empty belt!
Shotzi Blackheart and Amber Moon v. Mercedes Martinez and Elijah
While it seemed unlikely that the women’s tag team would change hands again soon after the title was unveiled, that doesn’t mean that Shotzi Blackhart and Amber Moon Mercedes Martinez (filling the injured Jesse Kamia) and Elijah will laugh at the challenge. Brought to the table, especially Robert Stone ready and ready to intervene on his behalf.
Walter v. Drake Maverick
I’m not kidding. Longtime reigning NXT UK champion VA Alter faced miniscule Drake Maverick in a non-title defense on the WWE NXT this week.
This went on as long as you expected. Alter destroyed him with a single power bomb and put him on submission hold, but the referee stopped the match after Maverick turned out to be already cold. Tomoso came out to challenge Walter for his NXT UK title at the Siampa takeover, and Walter admitted … but only after the Empire dropped him in the middle of the ring.
Bronson Reid is no longer playing
Last week Bronson Reid thought it would be funny to spot a “little coat fat man” with LA Knight’s designer jacket. This week though Reed was all in business – no more time for jokes.
L.A. Knight Branson did his best to keep Reed at bay, but eventually blew Reed several times and he “hulked up” for a comeback. Knight tried to put him on a rope at the top and suplexed him, but Reed impressed him too much and sent him flying, then came to the top for a tsunami to decisively finish the race.
Carian Cross Vs. One Lorcan
If it wasn’t enough that Carion Cross destroyed Danny Birch by accident last week, now it’s time to move on by trying to destroy Birch’s tag team team on purpose.
Cross mocked Lorcan during the match, telling him that he enjoys hurting Danny Birch and doesn’t take his actions lightly. This gave Lorcan an angry comeback filled with upcuts, but in the same way as most opponents of the Carian Cross do, he went ahead at the back of the head. The win was an excuse for Finn Bauler to come out and tell Cross that he had shown his weakness last week – he is a young hot-headed man ruled by spirit. Blair promises to be cold and vague at takeover: stand and delivery, where he promises to cross “drown in the deep water.”
Also Jordan Devlin vs. Kushida
Did they really have enough time to cram all this into a two-hour episode? Obviously so! Like Valter, it was a non-title match for cruiserweight champion Jordan Devlin.
Legado del Fantasma tried to interrupt Jordan Devlin in the match, but he avoided both Raul Mendozo and Joachim Wilde, diving back into the ring and pulling Kushida for the pin. This was a loss, as Kushida was working his left side for the entire match, probably sending him into a weak position in the title integration match (at least at least). Santos Escobar landed in the ring to confront him and show off the interim title, but hit the music of Shawn Michaels and intercepted both of them!
Heart Break Kid didn’t say anything but he didn’t need to. He picked up the apron and slid a ladder into the ring, and the two men took it as a kick that they would match a ladder to unify the cruiserweight belt at takeover. It’s on!
Ruvel sends a message
This week’s show featured Io Shirai and Zoe Stark vs. Dakota Kai and Rev. Gonzalez. This was a good opportunity to remind everyone that Ayo Shirai Vs. Requel Gonzalez will headline NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver Night. Gonzalez had an even better chance of proving an issue by showing his dominance to Shirai. She gave him a boot on the face on the apron and dropped a power bomb on Zoe Stark amid lightning for a pinf fall, then just to insult the injury, he scolded the vein at the top of the announcement desk after the match. Shirazi was in pain as Gonzalez glowed on it.
Oh, and one more thing
William Regal announced the 12-man battle ink to determine the new number one contender for NXT North American champion Johnny Gargano.
Grade: B +
The match was upgraded by giving Mercedes Martinez as Aliah’s tag team partner for the title shot without any disrespect to Jesse Kamia. Unfortunately they ran into the whole thing to give more time in the segment at the end of the show, and that’s my biggest setback on the whole episode. The title match should be important even if the opponents change at the last moment. There were some unnecessary Cameron Grimes steak where he tried to buy The Undisputed Era’s intellectual property from Roderick Strong and got dressed in the face, but at least it was short. I would have preferred to have a real match of VLter instead of squash, but whatever week it is on NXT is a good week in my eyes.
Get up from your cageside seats and make a noise below. See you in seven days!
