NXT 7/27 kicks off with…
Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher vs Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan
Thatcher and then Ciampa spend a few minutes beating up on Oney Lorcan with submission holds, all the while staring down Pete Dunne. Things speed up when The Bruiserweight and The Blackheart are in there until Dunne hits a rock solid clothesline. Ciampa & Thatcher start their synchronized beatdowns but Dunne & Lorcan grapple out. Thatcher is put into the crucible now, as he’s not out-grappled but Lorcan & Dunne prove to be as well-oiled a unit as their opponents. Toothless Timmy brawls out and tags in Ciampa who comes in with his signature feeding frenzy. Dunne tries a Bitter End but it’s countered into a Fujiwara armbar. Thatcher tries to prevent Lorcan from interfering but gets leveled by… Ridge Holland?! A distracted Ciampa tosses Oney Lorcan out of the ring but Dunne is the legal man and The Bitter End gives us our legal result.
Winners: Oney Lorcan & Pete Dunne
After the match, Ridge Holland is directed to Tommaso Ciampa but stops to blast an incoming Timothy Thatcher and toss him upside down into the ropes twice. The brick wall from West Yorkshire is back from injury with a mind for malice.
Carmelo Hayes talks about what he’s accomplished already in NXT, having taken Adam Cole and Kushida to the limit. Now he’s ready to break through those limits in the Breakout Tournament.
Hit Row hypes their current feud with Legado del Fantasma (in two languages, no less.) They’ve got words for Imperium as well.
Samoa Joe stomps down to the ring with a contract folder. He slaps it down on a card table and invites William Regal down after proclaiming Karrion Kross too much of a coward to come out himself. When the NXT general manager comes down, Joe says that he knows Regal is upset and about to fire NXT champ, Kross. He’s got a better solution: he resigns as management, Regal reinstates him as an active competitor, and they make a title match, Joe vs Kross, for Takeover 36! Three signatures and it. Is. On!
Josh Briggs wants Carmelo Hayes to know that he’s only an obstacle to Briggs winning the tournament.
Out on the links, Cameron Grimes loudly asks how long he has to wash LA Knight’s balls. Knight has to educate him on the clubs, including the difference between a sand wedge and a sandwich. Taunts and wagers see Knight’s shot going into the trees. It’s Grimes’ job to retrieve it but he’s more than happy to do so.
Carmelo Hayes vs Josh Briggs
Hayes is giving up a lot of size to Briggs but he’s still game after a quick slam right off the bat. He tries to chop down the 6’8” Briggs but gets sent up and over the ropes to the floor. Hayes beats him back into the ring and makes the most of his position advantage. Kicks, a springboard legdrop, and a lengthy guillotine hold slow down the big man but a freight train of an elbow stops Hayes in his tracks. The competitor who will face the winner of this match in the semi-finals, Duke Hudson, joins the commentary team, talking about Briggs’ strengths and weaknesses as he loses his handle on a powerbomb and eats two enziguri from Hayes. Briggs goes for a chokeslam but Hayes backflips out and leaps up for a codebreaker that gets a two count. Carmelo Hayes then makes a the questionable decision to try and suplex the near 300-pounder. He’s shrugged off like a fall jacket and gets atomized by a nuclear running boot! Huge chokeslam but Hayes has the heart to kick out at two! Twice Briggs tries pull off a sidewalk slam but both times, Carmelo Hayes Cirque du Soliels his way out into face first takedowns. Legdrop across Briggs neck from the top rope and Hayes advances.
Winner: Carmelo Hayes
With Jessi Kamea and Robert Stone at her side, Franky Monet tells McKenzie Mitchell that her relationship with Robert Stone Brand is undefined but full of possibilities; like teaming with Jessi to go after the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship. Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro think that’s cute, telling them that they need to get to back of the line.
Back to the golf course, Cameron Grimes is giving running commentary on LA Knight’s game, including his dip into the water hazard. Ted DiBiase tries to give Cameron some life advice (essentially playing the Roddy Piper to LA Knight’s… well… Ted Dibiase.)
Ridge Holland leaves the Capitol Wrestling Centre, saying that Timothy Thatcher won’t be the last person he smashes up now that he’s back in NXT.
NXT Women’s Champion, Raquel Gonzalez (who even Beth Phoenix is now calling “Big Mami Cool,”) comes to the ring with Dakota Kai. She gives her opinion on the NXT women’s division in dos idiomas and says to keep it coming. Dakota wonders who is woman enough to face Raquel at Takeover in four weeks. Nobody answers up and Dakota says that, as long as she has Raquel’s back, she’ll stay champion. They celebrate to Raquel’s music… until the corner kick comes and leaves Raquel floored!
Adam Cole lets Bronson Reed know that he won’t be anyone’s “rebound match.” He doesn’t care why Bronson lost the North American title or his 14-year journey to get there. Adam Cole is going write yet another sad chapter in Reed’s story tonight.
Zoey Stark is at the WWE Performance Center, telling Io Shirai that she doesn’t have to train alone and that, as tag team partners and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, they should do more together. Io reminds Zoey that she doesn’t like her but Zoey tells her that partnership requires trust. Io is down to trust her.
McKenzie Mitchell stumbles across Mandy Rose speaking with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. They don’t cotton much to being interrupted (or spied on) however.
Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs Franky Monet & Jessi Kamea
While Robert Stone attends to Franky’s wedding dress of a jacket (and his own “Finnish designed men’s clutch bag,”) Franky out-muscles Kayden Carter by keeping her in the corners and throwing her into another time and again. Robert Stone wants Franky to use his man purse to her advantage, however, and pretty much straight up pegs her with it in front of the referee. Franky addresses him but gets a mouthful of Kayden’s boot. Kayden drags Franky to the corner and Catanzaro’s K-Zero maneuver for a very fortuitous win.
Winners: Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter
Robert Stone is beating himself up on the outside of the ring and it looks like Franky is within a heartbeat of beating him up herself.
Wade Barrett speaks to Roderick Strong about his resignation after the disintegration of Undisputed Era. He needed to get his head right and it was Malcom Bivins that got him straightened out. Wade notes that Kushida’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship seems to be a goal but the “big money fight” right now may be with former stablemate, Bobby Fish. Malcom agrees and Roderick Strong says that he’ll finish their beef by finishing Bobby.
William Regal, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels announce that the recently cancelled NXT UK Championship bout between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov will take place at Takeover 36!
Dakota Kai is asked to explain her actions earlier in the night but pops out the back door with so much as a word.
Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner vs Ashante Thee Adonis & Top Dolla
Imperium vs Hit Row. Stylin’ vs “sacredness.” Marcel Barthel is looking leaner than ever so Adonis can’t outrun him but Aichner’s power advantage is nullified by bad decisions and Adonis’ aggression. Top Dolla gets tagged in and Aichner may be the “pound for pound strongest man in NXT” but he’s giving away more pounds than a British lottery against the former Miami Dolphin. No answer for the big man. Barthel is on against Adonis again but B-Fab gives her stablemate a breather. Adonis hits a spinebuster that combines Arn Anderson’s flow with Ron Simmons’ velocity. During the break, Imperium pick it up with tandem offense and isolate the cruiserweight. Adonis is able to escape the Euro Bomb but can’t make the tag. A few more minutes of getting beat on and Adonis manages to throw Barthel to the outside before avoiding Aichner en route to the much needed tag. Sidewalk slam and big elbow on Aichner! All of a sudden, though, Swerve Scott is driven into the ring post on the outside! Legado del Fantasma attacks. Top Dolla tries to stalk Santos Escobar but that just leaves Adonis alone. Euro Bomb for the win.
Winners: Imperium
After the match, Legado have a boot party on Top Dolla before a recovered Swerve chases them off with a chair.
The Way is frustrated over Austin Theory “running away from home.” A gift gets delivered to them and Indi Hartwell unwraps a cartoon portrait of The Way with Dexter Lumis in Theory’s place! Indi is elated but Johnny and Candice are disgusted by the idea. A proposal is made: If Dexter can beat Johnny in a match next week, then he and Candice have to give him a chance. They agree to the match but add that, if Johnny wins, they never have to hear about Dexter from her again. And, under no circumstances, is the portrait to go up on their fridge!
LA Knight and Cameron Grimes are finishing their eighteen when The Grizzled Young Veterans want to play through. They mock Knight’s play but Cameron defends his honor. He also makes a wager: $20K to beat them on the next hole. LA Knight sends another one into the drink but Cameron, with a lucky golden ball, sink a hole-in-one! Unfortunately, he crushes Knight’s eggs on his backswing and clonks him over the head on the follow through. Thinking quickly, he blames the GYV and they jump back into their golf cart to leave the scene.
The Main Event of NXT 7/27: Adam Cole vs Bronson Reed
Adam Cole knows that he can’t match size and power with Reed so he goes right after the legs. He also finds out like the rest that it’s not easy matching Reed’s speed and agility, either. He gets squashed at every turn and, if not for being too close to the ropes, would have been pinned off a countered sunset flip attempt. Cole is one of the craftiest men in NXT, though, and hits the back of Reed’s knee while the latter is perched on the second rope. Every chance he gets, the former NXT champ is targeting the left knee of the big man. Even without the surprising quickness, Reed is formidable and sentons and clotheslines and spinning suplexes, oh my! The toll is taken, though, and Cole has slowed him enough to actually do a Panama Sunrise on the 330-pounder. Thicc Boi recovers after a two count and powerbombs Adam into gravity’s sweet embrace. Big tsunami off the top rope… misses! Superkick and the Final Shot end it.
Winner: Adam Cole (Bay Bay!)
As Adam Cole celebrates, Kyle O’Reilly rushes down and drops him with a chair shot! He batters Cole and then takes apart the ring steps. It’s turnabout when Kyle drives him down with a brainbuster onto the exposed steel but has he gone too far?
Five Takeaways from NXT 7/27
1. Four weeks out from Takeover and we can see many of the matches taking shape. Joe vs Kross was evident from the get go. Dakota vs Raquel has been a long time coming. The end to Kyle vs Cole sure seems to have been as well (at least to me it has.)
2. The Way had less than two minutes of screen time this week and that got them over as much as anyone else. That’s one of the big differences between NXT and RAW. Try and guess one of the others.
3. Hit Row didn’t actually knock off Imperium but showed that they could. If they’re facing Legado next week, what does Takeover hold for them? Is that going to be Swerve vs Escobar? Wouldn’t a three-on-three be the more definitive blow off if it’s about the factions. If it’s about two guys, then they’ve certainly suited them both up with those factions.
4. Ridge Holland seemed just about ready to jump levels before his injury nine months ago. Unfortunately, Danny Burch is still out with a shoulder injury but having a British Brute with Brusierweight Inc brings us back up to the page break.
5. The other difference between NXT and RAW? Samoa Joe has been treated like a star. Mandy Rose hasn’t done jobs for Robert Stone Brand. Nothing has been done to devalue them or any other returning or guest superstar. Maybe it’s because they know that it’s hard to run a show when you have to reshoot because someone devalued your stars enough that the crowd (a normally very respectful and loyal crowd) won’t stop chanting the name of someone on another show.
, Bronson Reed's potential farewell and so much more.){kind=link}