Austin Theory vs Oney Lorcan
Last week, Lorcan and Theory had a brief scrum over who would have won that week’s opening match (Theory’s guru, Johnny Gargano or Lorcan’s best mate, Pete Dunne) if not for Adam Cole’s interference. The four had a dust up earlier today, necessitating this match, which kicks off NXT 6/8. Austin Theory physically outmatches Oney Lorcan in most every way. Lorcan, though, has never been in it as a matter of athletic competition. Theory is trying to beat Lorcan. Lorcan is trying to beat Theory up.
Once Lorcan starts getting the upper hand, Pete Dunne stalks down to ringside. It seems to be weighing on Theory as he can’t rally during the commercial break. Johnny Gargano comes out to support his protégé and Theory finds success with outside the ring brawling and a novel approach to the Spanish Fly! While Dunne and Gargano brawl on the ramp, Theory is distracted enough for Lorcan to bang his head into the ring post and hit a modified uranage.
Winner: Oney Lorcan
LA Knight is singing Ted DiBiase’s theme song in his shower before giving us a trash talk tour of his residence, hot tub, and Benz with two attractive young ladies hanging on his every word. And every word is putting down Cameron Grimes and talking up L. A. Knight. Yeeah!
Michael Hayes dusts off his Freebird hat and “Dok Hendrix” persona to hype the In Your House theme of Sunday’s Takeover show.
Legado del Fantasma is in the ring and Santos Escobar has some choice words in two languages for Bronson Reed. He blames Reed for costing Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza the tag titles last week. Bronson has a bit of a laugh by replaying his squashing of Escobar against the barricades. Thicc Boi is invited to try it again and he’s game… and so are MSK. Legado starts to retreat but offers up a 3-on-3 with both the tag and North American titles on the line. It’s accepted but Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Hit Row choose that time to head out to the ring.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs Killian Dain
Interesting start to the match as, despite Killian’s size and Swerve’s flash, they get down to some good old-fashioned, World of Sport-style mat wrestling. Dain is getting the better of it but B-Fab bats her eyes long enough for Swerve to get a good foot sweep in and drop Dain on the apron. From there, they go to their prospective bags of tricks. Dain starts ragdolling Swerve until Ashante Adonis grabs at his leg. Drake Maverick rushes in to save his bestie but is caught and released by Top Dolla. The Beast of Belfast is about to rescue his little buddy but a blindside attack and a running dropkick to the face does him in.
Winner: Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
Grammy-nominated musician Poppy is in the Capitol Wrestling Centre. She wordlessly walks the halls sporting a very Winona Rider in Beetlejuice kind of look.
While this is going on, Candice LaRae is trying to tell McKenzie Mitchell why she has an aversion to Poppy but Indi Hartwell turns to conversation towards Dexter Lumis.
Cameron Grimes’ crib is just as swank as LA Knight’s but he’s more interested in trying to impress DiBiase with his Rolls Royce and his best attempt at enjoying (or at least surviving) a cigar and brandy.
Mercedes Martinez vs Camron Clay
Mercedes gets blindsided by Xia Li on the way in. The two brawl for a bit and, once they’re separated, Mercedes gets in the ring for a match against Camron Clay. The announce team played up her toughness for going through with the match. A knee strike and an Air Raid Crash turns the lights out on this party. Mercedes tells the camera that Xia Li is messing with the wrong one.
Winner: Mercedes Martinez
McKenzie Mitchell is with Breezango now. They shoosh her to contemplate WALTER’s agenda on NXT. They speculate that Imperium is hung up on when Breeango beats them for the tag team titles.
Ted DiBiase walks through the CWC with bodyguards in tow.
NXT general manager, William Regal, and WWE COO, Triple H, welcome Poppy to NXT and thank her for the music she contributes to their programming. She drops her newest album with a push of a button live on the show. This prompts artist extraordinaire, Dexter Lumis, to come up and hand her a hand-drawn portrait to her. Poppy gives him a hug just in time to trouble Indi Hartwell. She runs off with Dexter in tow to console her.
Cameron Grimes pulls up alongside Ted DiBiase’s limo but LA Knight is right behind him with plenty of jawing between them. They head out to the ring, bickering all the way. Ted interrupts them to present the terms of their match at In Your House. It’s a ladder match and, raised above the ring, will be the Million Dollar Belt!
In the back, Kyle O’Reilly and NXT champion, Karrion Kross, are being held apart by security as William Regal tries to put a stop to the chaos. NXT’s #1 Saturday Morning social media streamers, Ever Rise, are pleased to announce that they will be hosting the “pre-pre-show” for Takeover on Sunday.
The Grizzled Young Veterans vs August Grey & Ikemen Jiro
The 205 Live team of Grey & Jiro have the chops to frustrate Drake and Gibson individually. Where the GYV makes up the difference is when they work in tandem during tag breaks. Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa have chairs in their hands but they’re only going to sit on them (for now.) Grizzled Young Vets are thrown off by their presence for a minute but recover in time to punch a Ticket to Mayhem.
Winners: The Grizzled Young Veterans
Zack Gibson grabs the mic and addresses Thatcher and Ciampa. He says that they’re done with them and focused on the championships. They want to put Ciampa & Thatcher in their rear view so let’s end it with a tornado tag match next week. Ciampa says they’re down but they’ll get a piece now while they’re here and rush the ring.
Two weeks ago, Oney Lorcan attacked a returning Bobby Fish after his match against Pete Dunne. Bobby practices his muay thai and says that he hasn’t forgotten in the least.
Candice LaRae comes to the ring to complain about Poppy. (It even prompts Beth Phoenix to mention the match she had with Maria Menounos!) Candice tells Poppy that she got in the way of her interviews, she got in the way of “InDex,” and now she can get out of the way or get taken to the parking lot. Poppy says that she doesn’t wrestle… but she knows someone who does. Io Shirai is back! The Genius of the Skies beats on the Poison Pixie and sends her packing. They nearly bump into Dakota Kai & the woman who beat Io for the championship, Raquel Gonzalez, on the way to the back.
Dakota Kai vs Ember Moon
The main event (in-ring) of NXT 6/8. Ember is keen to stomp out her In Your House opponent’s sidekick ahead of time. Dakota has a vicious streak to make up for the size difference and can match Ember in skill. It’s a striking slugfest for a bit with “The Captain of Team Kick” doing her best to take Ember’s head off. She nearly accomplishes it, too, with a ring post spot that looks like a classic knee crippler but swings Ember the other way to knock her noggin. She continues to wear down the former champion with a long body scissors and a cravate hold that would make my chiropractor start looking at a new boat.
Ember uses the ineffective submissions as a chance to catch her breath. When she gets loose, a somersault stunner catches the interest but they trade dragon sleepers and Kai’s follow up with a cacophony of kicks keeps Ember from gaining any real momentum. It’s an attempted kick on the outside by Raquel Gonzalez that gets Moon fired up and she takes it to both her opponent and the champion. Eclipse attempt is kicked off the top turnbuckle by Raquel for a DQ. Raquel goes for a powerbomb but Ember turns it into a stunner! An Eclipse on the women’s champion to send a message going into Sunday!
Winner: Ember Moon
Before the conclusion of NXT 6/8, Karrion Kross addresses his opponents for In Your House, telling them that they have an opportunity to speak with him directly and that they shouldn’t be late. Tick. Tock.
William Regal says that he runs NXT and that this is not happening now. Kross says that Regal doesn’t run anything since the show has been out of control for some time now. Kyle O’Reilly makes his way out and says that “gas station weasel” Adam Cole got under Kross’ skin last week because Kross is insecure. Insecure because he knows that it’s just a matter of time before someone like O’Reilly takes his title. Johnny Gargano opts to stand at the announce desk and questions why Kross lets a guy in a jean jacket talk to him like that. Dunne is tired of waiting but Adam Cole shows up on the big screen to address “the four guys he humiliated last week. O’Reilly says that Cole isn’t up to get things started early, he will. He and Kross go at it and in a few minutes Kross is clearing the ring of his opponents and security with suplexes and forearm shots… until Adam Cole hits a superkick from behind, another, and a shining wizard as Scarlett screams “No!” Cole holds the belt up as we go off the air.
Five Takeaways from NXT 6/8
1. Great foreshadowing before the Swerve/Dain match. Once Legado del Fantasma is out of their program with MSK and Bronson Reed, either one would make for a good instruction block for Hit Row.
2. Ember Moon was looking really strong tonight. The commentary wasn’t wrong. We haven’t seen Raquel Gonzalez look this vulnerable since the first Mae Young Classic.
3. I like Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa and GYV. They’ve put time into this program. So why aren’t I fired up to see it? Is it because there’s no clear stakes?
4. Imperium has been a presence on NXT for months now. Some sort of looming presence to be wary of. After the release of Alexander Wolfe, we’re looking at a return trip to their days battling Breezango?
5. The NXT Championship match at In Your house is intriguing if not also puzzling. Kyle O’Reilly seems like he is being set up for a run at the top. Adam Cole has been given the gun in two weeks of knife fights. Both Cole and Gargano have taken worked shots at Kross as champion. Kross himself has been carrying the belt well. I’d look for the big fella to retain but there’s a lot going on and anything can happen in WWE, bay bay.
