The show goes right into the opening video. We are told that the Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons main event will air from Providence, Rhode Island and not Full Sail.
Carmella vs. Peyton Royce
Peyton Royce actually gets an entrance. They do a slight handshake at the start before moving to some mat work. Both girls get near falls and Carmella does a moonwalk. It’s actually pretty good. Peyton gets points from me for hitting a fisherman suplex for two. Peyton works a chinlock type move to wear down Carmella. Peyton runs into an elbow and Carmella hits a hurricanrana. Carmella goes into a flurry, pulling Peyton down for two after some shoulder thrusts. Peyton gets out of a wear down hold by backing Carmella into the corner and following in with some kicks. She comes off the second rope with a cross body for a near fall. Carmella then plants Peyton and makes her tap to her finisher.
Winner: Carmella in 5:04
Pretty solid little match here. I thought it would be a squash but they made sure that Peyton Royce got in a good chunk of offense. *3/4
Samoa Joe and Finn Balor get ready backstage and they tease Joe wanting the NXT Title.
Clips are shown from a recent NXT live event where Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady advanced in the Dusty Tag Team Classic against Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson also beat Tucker Knight and the Drifter, Elias Sampson.
A Nia Jax vignette is shown.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Bull Dempsey and Tyler Breeze vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa
Bull Dempsey does Tyler Breeze’s corner taunt. Breeze and Ciampa start. Breeze takes him over and taunts but when Ciampa chops him, he tags out. A “Bull is gorgeous” chant breaks out. Ciampa stays in to face both Bull for a bit and Breeze for a bit. Gargano tags in and spears Breeze before rolling through with a kick and a jumping neckbreaker. He’s off to a good start. Tyler tags out again. Gagano tries to takes down Bull, but he’s too big, so Gargano goes with an enziguri instead. Ciampa comes in and hits a knee for two. After a commercial, we return to see Ciampa working a sleeper on Bull. Bull fights out and Gargano tags in. He dropkicks Tyler off the apron but is taken down by Bull. Bull looks to tag, but Tyler is on the floor. Punches with the fans chanting BULL for each, ending with the Dusty elbow. Tyler gets on the apron but Bull runs the ropes and knocks him off. Gargano and Ciampa go into an interesting team up roll up sequence to win.
Winners: Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in 6:21
Another decent match here. Johnny Gargano definitely looked better of the two new guys, but this was a solid start for them. Hopefully, they can stick around. **1/4
Tyler Breeze is pissed and takes it out on Bull Dempsey.
The Lucha Dragons cut a promo backstage. Most of it is in Spanish though Kalisto translates.
Dana Brooke gets interviewed and says that seeing Bayley win the NXT Title upset her because she’s beaten her before. She’s in action next.
There is a pretty cool Tye Dillinger vignette.
Billie Kay vs. Dana Brooke
Billie Kay gets an entrance making me happy since I love me some Jessie McKay. They lock up and Dana overpowers her and pats her on the head. Billie takes her over with a headlock and talks a bit of trash. They get to their feet and Dana applies a headlock before slamming Billie by her hair. She goes into a flurry of right hands. Dana does her handstand foot choke in the corner and hits a clothesline. Handstand knee drop goes right into a chinlock. She gets two on an elbow. Dana goes into a headscissors, even doing something similar to Carmella’s finisher. Billie rallies, hitting some cool offense and getting two on a big boot. Dana nails an enziguri gefore hitting her AA like finisher.
Winner: Dana Brooke in 5:21
Not as good or fun as the opening women’s match. Dana Brooke still needs tons of work, but she seems to be winning some people over. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce both showed loads of potential tonight though. 1/2*
Devin Taylor interviews Apollo Crews. He calls his fans the Apollo Nation, playing off of the Uhaa Nation name and says he’s gonna take over NXT.
A quick recap is shown of Bayley winning the NXT Women’s Championship in Brooklyn. They show Izzy, Bayley’s biggest fan, celebrating with her family at home. Then, Izzy and her family was invited to the Performance Center to welcome home Bayley. She was also allowed to do an entrance with Bayley. Bayley returns next week!
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. The Lucha Dragons
Finn Balor starts with Sin Cara. The crowd is hot, chanting “NXT” and “this is awesome” right from the bell. They start with mat work until Finn hits a dropkick. Kalisto leaps in but is sent outside. Slingblade takes down Cara and Finn then hits a big kick that sends Cara out with Kalisto. He then runs off the ropes and dives onto both, getting the crowd going even more. Returning from commercial, Joe gets in offense but the tag comes back to Finn. He gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. The Lucha Dragons work some quick double teams on Finn for a while. Finn makes a relatively hot tag and Joe does his thing. He kicks the shit out of Kalisto and squashes him with a senton. Cara comes back with an ugly tornado DDT but Finn breaks up the pin. Cara hits him with an Aasi moonsault. Joe goes for a Muscle Buster but Cara gets free only to eat a ton of strikes. Joe sends Cara into the ropes, Kalisto blind tags in and Cara suicide dives out onto Finn. Kalisto does some cool offense on Joe but then eats the STJoe. Joe hits Kalisto with a Muscle Buster and the Coup de Grace from Balor wins it.
Winners: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe in 8:29
Really fun tag match. Up there with last week’s main event as the best match of the tournament so far. Pretty non-stop in action and the big, hot crowd added something to it. ***1/4
