The John Report: WWE NXT Worlds Collide 2022 Review
This is WWE NXT Worlds Collide with the NXT UK championships unifying with NXT titles while some Raw and Smackdown superstars were in action as well.
NXT Worlds Collide had a 4pm ET start time due to the other pay-per-view that’s taking place later this evening. I guess it was WWE’s way of putting out even more content this weekend after the great Clash at the Castle event on Saturday. This event aired on Peacock/WWE Network like all WWE Premium Live Events.
NXT Worlds Collide
WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida
Sunday, September 4, 2022
The opening video package showed some highlights of NXT history along with NXT UK history as well. They showed images/videos of past champions on both brands. The video also promoted the upcoming matches on the Worlds Collide event.
They are the usual NXT arena at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. It was Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett on commentary as usual.
Ricochet made his entrance to a good ovation. Carmelo Hayes was next with Trick Williams with Hayes as the NXT North American. There were graphics on screen showing the names of some of the guys that Hayes has beaten during his title defense.
NXT North American Championship: Carmelo Hayes (w/Trick Williams) vs. Ricochet
Great choice for an opener due the exciting style of both guys. They started with some basic moves like headlock takeovers, trips and counters until they stopped to have a staredown. There was more athleticism shown by both guys as Ricochet hit a headscissors, Hayes landed on his feet and Ricochet hit him with a dropkick. Hayes regrouped on the floor, then Hayes pulled on the left arm against the ropes and Ricochet grabbed a tight headlock when Hayes was back in the ring. Ricochet was distracted by Williams on the floor, but Ricochet was ready for him with a chop while a fan at ringside held Hayes in place. Back in the ring, Hayes took over after a clothesline and Hayes mimicked a basketball jump shot leading to an “airball” chant. Ricochet tried to make a comeback, Hayes pulled back on the shoulders for a takedown and Hayes hit a superkick for a two count. Ricochet did a handspring off the ropes, but Ricochet was ready for him with a springboard clothesline for two. Ricochet countered a slam by rolling through and hitting a double stomp on the chest. They did two double clothesline spots followed by both men doing springboard cross body blocks and they collided in the middle of the ring. The crowd exploded at that spot leading to a “holy shit” chant and they don’t have to bleep the swear word on WWE Network/Peacock like they do when the NXT TV show is on the air. The fans chanted “fight forever” to them. Ricochet blocked a kick leading to an uppercut, then kicks to the chest and Ricochet hit an enziguri kick with Hayes doing a flip bump. Ricochet went for a kick after a slam off the shoulders, Hayes blocked it, then Ricochet blocked a move and Ricochet hit a superkick. Hayes with a double thrust to the throat. Hayes charged, but Ricochet was ready for him and Ricochet hit the Recoil for the two count. I could tell Ricochet was looking at Williams to set up the next spot as Ricochet covered and Williams pulled Hayes out of the cover. The referee didn’t see it. Ricochet saw it, so he hit a running dropkick on Williams on the floor. Hayes got some momentum going with a move off the shoulders into a cutter for two. Hayes was bleeding from the mouth a bit.
Hayes went up top, Ricochet met him up there and Ricochet hit a huge superplex across the ring leading to a “holy shit” chant. This crowd was really excited. Ricochet with some kicks to the chest, then they exchanged chops, Hayes with a kick to the head, then Ricochet with forearms, Hayes with a kick and Ricochet with a knee to the jaw. Ricochet with a brainbuster, then a slam off the shoulder into a rising kick and Hayes hit the double knees lung blower for two. That’s like the Recoil that Ricochet does, but not the same. Hayes was frustrated about the two count, so Ricochet got a crucifix pin for two. That was a great spot. The fans chanted “fight forever” for them. They exchanged strikes, Ricochet with a kick to the head and a Poison Rana that’s a reverse hurricanrana that spiked Ricochet. Williams tried a cheapshot on the apron, but Ricochet knocked him down. Ricochet went up top with a Shooting Star Press, Hayes moved out of the way, Ricochet rolled through and Hayes did an inside cradle for the one…two…and three! Hayes wins! It went 16:02.
Winner by pinfall: Carmelo Hayes
Analysis: ****1/4 That was an excellent match. I’ll admit that I didn’t love the beginning with the spots where they avoid eachother with counters, but I understand why they do it to show it’s an even matchup. Once they started hitting eachother it was a great mix of action and excitement. They are the two fastest guys in wrestling anywhere while also doing moves perfectly as well. It was an incredible match with so many counter moves from each guy and for the finish, it was yet another counter move where Hayes moved out of the way to avoid the SSP leading to the inside cradle for the pinfall win. This was probably one of the best NXT matches this year. I’m not surprised
After the match ended, they had a t-shirt graphic as if Ricochet’s name was joining the others that Hayes has beaten.
A commercial aired for the A&E Biography episode of WrestleMania 1.
They aired the Roxanne Perez video from this past week’s episode of NXT where she said she was moving on from her friendship with Cora Jade. Perez “blocked” Jade on her phone after issuing a warning to Jade to watch her back.
They also aired the Quincy Elliott video from NXT this past week as well. Quincy is the “Super Diva” that said life ain’t perfect, but you don’t live the life that Quincy does.
A video aired about the NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura with Meiko reminding us she was The Final Boss. This was also on NXT this past week.
They showed Vic and Wade on camera at ringside.
A video aired showing Roderick Strong down on the cement with his white shirt having blood stains on it. There was medical attention there and Strong was taken away on a stretcher in a EMT vehicle to the hospital. Barrett mentioned it’s a dangerous spot due to many incidents over the years.
Analysis:
The Creed Brothers were backstage with their NXT Tag Team Titles and Damon Kemp of Diamond Mine was there saying they’re going to unify those titles because tonight is about Diamond Mine.
Pretty Deadly was up first for the Tag Team Title unification match. with their new friend Lash Legend. A kid had a “Pretty Ugly” sign at ringside. The Gallus trio was next with Wolfgang and Mark Coffey in action. The NXT UK Tag Team Champions Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen were next joined by Fallon Henley and they were cheered. The Creed Brothers representing Diamond Mine with Damon Kemp were next as the NXT Tag Team Champions. When The Creed Brothers got into the ring, the four teams started brawling and four referees were there to try to separate the teams.
Fatal 4-Way Elimination NXT Tag Team Championship Unification Match: The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) w/Damon Kemp vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen w/Fallon Henley vs. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince) w/Lash Legend vs. Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) w/Joe Coffey
Briggs was in control against Julius with a lifting slam. Jensen tagged in with an atomic drop while Briggs got a boot to the face. Wilson, the dark-haired member of Pretty Deadly, tagged in for a two count and then brought Wolfgang in. Brutus got a gutwrench suplex on Wolfgang. Jensen ran the ropes, Legend did a trip so Henley punched Legend and they went brawling into the ring a bit. The women left the ring while the guys tried to break it up on the floor. Back in the ring, Wolfgang ran over Jensen. Wilson & Prince each hit leaping clotheslines on the Creed Brothers. Briggs with a double clothesline to send Pretty Deadly on the floor, Briggs with a back body drop to Jensen onto PD on the floor. Briggs jumped onto PD as well. Wolfgang launched Coffey over the top onto a bunch of guys on the floor. Brutus sent Wolfgang out of the ring and Brutus teased a dive onto the floor, but Wolfgang was back up to stop Brutus leading to a superplex by Wolfgang. Jensen back in the ring with a Fameasser on Wolfgang for two as Mark made the save. Wolfgang got a rollup on Jensen for two. Jensen came back with a spin kick to Wolfgang. Jensen was up top, Mark Coffey tripped him, Mark kicked Jensen into a powerslam by Wolfgang and Mark covered Jensen to eliminate the NXT UK Tag Team Champions.
Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen have been eliminated.
The three remaining teams started brawling after that with Gallus and PD working together to send The Creed Brothers out of the ring. Joe stood on the apron to stop PD from retreating. That led to Gallus with PD. Prince got an inside cradle on Mark for two. Mark with a lifting sitout slam for two. Prince got a rollup with the tights for two. Prince got an uppercut strike to the jaw on Mark, but Mark came back with a jumping kick to the head. Brutus tagged himself in against Wolfgang with Brutus tripping up Wolfgang followed by some forearm smashes to the body. Julius tagged back in, he put Wolfgang on his shoulders and Brutus hit a diving attack off the top to knock Wolfgang down. Julius with a hard lariat on Wolfgang for the pinfall win.
Gallus has been eliminated.
There were security guys at ringside (wrestlers who haven’t debuted at ringside) to force Gallus to the back. It’s down to The Creed Brothers against Pretty Deadly. Julius was selling a right arm injury while Barrett accused Julius of attacking Roderick Strong in the parking lot.
Brutus got into a slugfest with Wilson, who hit some uppercuts, then a corner elbow smash and Prince launched Brutus into double knees for a two count. Prince worked over Brutus with elbow smashes to the back along with a knee to the ribs. Wilson hit a DDT on Brutus for a two count. Brutus was able to break free to bring in Julius, who had a pad on the right elbow. Julius with an overhead suplex on Prince and a spinebuster on Wilson. Prince tried a sleeper on Julius while Briggs/Jensen and Gallus were back in the arena fighting in the aisle. Julius got out of the sleeper, then Prince fought a sleeper with knees and Julius managed to power out of it with a vertical suplex. Impressive power there. Julius jumped to the top and picked up Prince for a move looking like an Angle Slam for two. The referee left the ring to count because of where the pin was, so then Gallus and Briggs/Jensen bumped into the referee to knock the referee down. Julius hit a dropkick on Wilson on the apron. Prince with a dropkick on Julius. When Prince tried a move off the ropes, Julius powered him down to the mat with a slam. Wilson into the ring with a chair, Kemp went into the ring and hit a Spear on Wilson. Kemp got a hold of the chair, he hit Julius in the back with the chair and Kemp picked up Julius leading to a backbreaker! The crowd reacted to that heel turn into a big way. Kemp sent the referee back into the ring, Prince covered Julius and the referee counted the pinfall win for Pretty Deadly. Yes boy! It went 15:36.
Winners by pinfall AND NEW NXT Tag Team Champions: Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince)
Analysis: ***1/4 A pretty good match with a big heel turn by Damon Kemp turning on his Diamond Mine brothers and Pretty Deadly ended up capitalizing on it for the cheap win. It was fitting for a heel team while Kemp’s heel turn came across as a bit of a shock because he was loyal to Diamond Mine in the past. I liked how it was booked with all of the chaos at ringside leading to the accidental referee bump and that led to Kemp capitalizing on the situation with the chair to the back and the backbreaker. The Creed Brothers were my pick to win here, but my second choice would have been Pretty Deadly, who are an entertaining heel team.
The replays were shown of Kemp turning on his Diamond Mine allies to cost them the win. It likely means Kemp was the one that attacked Strong in the parking lot.
Pretty Deadly celebrated with the NXT and NXT UK Tag Team Titles in their hands. Barrett was happy for his fellow Brits that are his favorite tag team in NXT.
Analysis: I assume the NXT UK Tag Team Titles will go away after this and they will just keep the NXT Tag Team Titles moving forward.
A commercial aired for Extreme Rules on Saturday, October 8th in Philadelphia
There was a Cody Rhodes video aired that also was shown on Saturday during the Clash at the Castle event.
More videos aired promoting Pediatric Cancer research and a Blair Davenport video.
Tony D’Angelo was backstage with Stacks with Tony saying it was a good thing that they don’t have Legado anymore. Cameron Grimes walked up to him and Tony suggested Grimes works with them. Tony claimed he fired Legado, Grimes laughed about that claim and Grimes refused to eat with them. Grimes left while Tony was offended. That will probably lead to a match.
A video aired about the lovely Mandy Rose talking about 318-day reign as the NXT Women’s Champion with Mandy saying she is still the world’s attraction.
They showed Mandy Rose driving her car while wrestling her ring gear and having the NXT Women’s Title with her. So we are supposed to think that wrestlers don’t get to shows early and they literally drive up right before their match? That’s a bit much.
Meiko Satomura was up first as the NXT UK Women’s Champion with some red and yellow streamers for the Final Boss. Meiko was cheered by the crowd. Blair Davenport was next with the fans booing her.
Mandy Rose was shown driving up to the building in red, white and blue wrestling gear and the NXT Women’s Title on her shoulder. Rose walked right into the building with her music playing. I think that’s the first time Mandy has worn that red, white & blue gear with the white boots. She can pull off many looks very well. The three women stood in the ring for the championship introductions. They don’t really do much for the introductions like saying where they are from. The ring announcer Alicia Taylor does a good job, but they should say a hometown at least.
NXT Women’s Championship and NXT UK Women’s Championship Unification Match: Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport
There are no countouts or disqualifications in WWE triple threat matches. They started out as a slugfest with Blair and Rose working together to knock down Meiko with a double back elbow. Those shorts that Mandy has on will be distracting in a good way. Just saying. Double suplex on Meiko led to Rose and Blair arguing with eachother. There were multiple pin attempts involving the three women and then Meiko got some offense with a spinning heel kick on Blair. Rose tripped up Meiko, then a cartwheel and a dropkick. Blair pulled out Meiko to the floor followed by a dropkick. Back in the ring, Blair got a rollup on Rose followed by a headscissors into the corner. Blair with a dropkick on a seated Rose for two. Rose caught Blair in her arms leading to a fallaway slam across the ring. Rose was tripped up by Meiko on the floor, so Meiko hit Rose with a forearm to the face. Meiko tripped up Blair on the apron. Rose tackled Meiko into the barricade. Blair tripped Rose into the steel steps followed by Blair hitting a double foot stomp to Rose’s back. Meiko and Blair faced off with Meiko getting a takedown into a knee drop. Blair and Meiko exchanged pin attempts for two counts. Blair went up top, so Rose tripped her up leading to Blair falling to the floor. Rose faced off with Meiko again as they exchanged forearms with the fans cheering for both women. Meiko missed a clothesline because Rose ducked and Rose hit a running clothesline. Rose taunted Meiko to keep her down, then Meiko forearms, an uppercut and a spinning kick to the head for two. Rose was adjusting her top a lot. Just saying. Gotta keep that gear secure. Rose hit a spinebuster for two as Blair broke up the pin with a kick to the back. Blair hit a Northern Lights Suplex on Rose for two. Davenport went up top, Rose went after Blair there and Rose and a superplex off the top. Meiko jumped off the top with a Frog Splash on Blair for two because Rose broke up the pin. Good spots there with all three women down for a bit selling. Meiko hit a jumping kick to the head of Rose. Meiko hit running forearms on both women followed by Meiko delivering kicks to the chest. Blair and Rose worked together against Meiko, but Meiko countered with a double DDT with the fans cheering for her. Meiko with a double knee attack to Rose’s back, but Blair avoided that same move. After some kicks, Meiko hit the double knee Satomura Special on both women at the same time for two on Blair. Rose with a lift, Meiko blocked it and Meiko hit a slam off the shoulders for two, but Davenport hit a double foot stomp breaking up the pin. Good timing on that. Blair hit a stiff knee to the head of Meiko for two with Rose not able to make the save. Rose with a dropkick on Blair followed by a forearm along with kicks to the ribs. Blair went up top with a dropkick on Meiko while Rose moved out of the way. Rose wit ha kick to the knee, Blair avoided the knee and got a rollup for two. Meiko hit a running kick on women. Rose hit the running knee Kiss By The Rose on Blair and Meiko at the same time leading to Rose pinning Blair for the pinfall win at 13:19. Yes! Mandy wins!
Winner by pinfall and still the NXT Women’s Champion: Mandy Rose
Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a great match full of action, counters and a lot of nearfalls throughout the match. Meiko is so good at the little things, I was really impressed by Blair’s striking and the timing throughout the match with all the pin breakups she did. Rose was her usual self with some good strikes along with some big moves. In the end, it was Rose hitting that running knee that she has used to win many matches and once she hit that on both women that was it. I admit that I didn’t pick Mandy to win (I thought they might put over Blair here), but I’m certainly glad she did.
Mandy Rose was handed the NXT Women’s and NXT UK Women’s Titles. They showed some replays after that.
There was another shot of Rose with both titles in her hands as she will continue her reign as the NXT Women’s Champion while the NXT UK Women’s Title will go away from here.
Analysis: I guess I’ll go back to my prediction from months ago that I think Nikkita Lyons will be the woman to beat Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Title. Perhaps that will be at the Halloween Havoc event in October since that’s when Mandy won her title.
They aired some videos about that “This is Awesome” show and a video about Alba Fyre.
The clip of Nathan Frazer and Axiom reading comments while seeing up a 2/3 Falls Match was shown from last week’s NXT broadcast. That match is on NXT this Tuesday.
Wes Lee was interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell with Wes talking about JD McDonagh is a guy that likes to go to dark places and get weird. Lee said if JD wants to get weird on Tuesday, JD won’t like the results.
Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. made their entrance for tag team action. The babyface champions Kayden Carter & Katana Chance were up next to a good pop from the crowd.
NXT UK Women’s Tag Team Championships: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H.
Nikki with a shoulder tackle, Carter tripped her up and Carter hit a hiptoss takedown. Nikki hit a dropkick. Carter with a forearm, Chance tagged in and hit a dropkick. Doudrop tagged in with a big size difference over the diminutive Chance. While Chance had some success breaking free, Doudrop ran over Chance with a shoulder tackle. Doudrop did some of her own dance moves too! Carter tagged in, Chance tripped Doudrop, Carter with a kick and Chance hit a senton splash. Chance tagged in, Doudrop slammed Carter onto Chance and Doudrop hit a running elbow drop on Chance for a two count. Nikki and Doudrop made some quick tags as they worked over Chance in the corner. Nikki tripped up Chance on the floor, then the apron trap and forearms with Barrett correctly making the Finlay reference. Doudrop tagged in with a splash on Chance against the apron. Nikki tagged in, Doudrop with a body slam and Nikki hit a running neckbreaker for a two count. Chance with a headscissors on Nikki, then Doudrop back in and another elbow drop got a two count. Chance avoided Doudrop going for a shoulder tackle, so Doudrop hit the ring post, Nikki tagged in and missed an elbow drop leading to Carter getting the tag. Carter with a superkick and a dropkick on Doudrop leading to a splash on Nikki at the same time for a two count. Nikki hit a Tornado DDT on Carter off the ropes. Doudrop and Nikki hit a double team sidewalk slam/neckbreaker combo on Carter for a two count. Carter with a superkick on Doudrop as Nikki tagged back in and Chance tagged in with a double foot stomp off the top onto Nikki for a two count. Nikki shoved legal woman Carter into the turnbuckle and Chance bumped to the floor. Doudrop tagged in with a Samoan Drop/neckbreaker combo called the AshDrop (thanks Vic) for the two count as Chance broke it up by tacking Nikki onto the pin. Carter hit a back elbow on Doudrop, then Doudrop with a slap to the face and the music of Toxic Attraction hit, so that led to Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne going to ringside. Nikki kicked both Toxic members and jumped onto them. Back in the ring, Chance got the tag with the 450 Splash off the top while Carter did a neckbreaker for their combo move and Chance covered Doudrop to win. Jayne was holding Nikki’s head while on the floor and the referee couldn’t see Jayne grabbing Nikki, so there was no save. The champs retain at 10:19.
Winners by pinfall: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance
Analysis: **3/4 This was a solid match to put over the champions against veteran opponents. It was a standard tag team match with the challengers working over Chance for most of it due to the size advantage of Doudrop while Nikki is talented as an aggressive heel team. Obviously, the finish was controversial with Toxic Attraction getting involved to prevent Doudrop/Nikki from getting the titles. They can probably tell the story that Toxic Attraction wanted the regular NXT team to win instead of two women from Raw, so by interfering, Toxic Attraction kept the titles on NXT wrestlers. I thought Carter & Chance worked well together as usual and they are easy to root for as babyface champions that are very athletic. I thought the champions would retain.
There was a backstage segment with The Dyad members of Schism and Grayson Waller was standing by there. The Dyad guys had smiley faces that they gave to Grayson Waller, but Waller refused. Waller was interviewed by Mckenzie Mitchell, who mentioned that Waller scratched the eye of Apollo Crews. Waller said that a family member told him he was bringing down the Waller family name, then Waller said that he was speechless and he knows she’s watching tonight, so he said “you can kiss my ass.” Waller said that tonight he’s going home with a waitress or a swimwear model and the only thing he needs to go to the top of NXT is the Grayson Waller Effect.
Analysis: I like Waller as an arrogant heel. I wonder if they will push him to a title soon. Since Waller did the eye attack on Crews I assume we’ll see that match again soon.
A commercial aired plugging WWE Rivals featuring Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella. That was a good feud? Nope. It’s ridiculous that out of all the good rivalries in history they pick that feud to do a show on. I guess they wanted to do a show about Stephanie.
The announcers Vic and Wade talked about this Tuesday on NXT:
* JD McDonagh vs. Wes Lee.
* Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer.
The NXT Championship Unification Match was up next, so the video package aired to set us up for it. It was a great video showing some highlights of the NXT and NXT UK Championships along with comments from both guys.
Bron Breakker entered first as the NXT Champion to a good pop from the crowd as the face of the brand. As Tyler Bate was shown walking backstage, they showed some highlights of some of the past NXT UK Champions like Walter/Gunther, Pete Dunne/Butch, Ilja Dragunov and Bate himself. Bate got a good reaction as well. The wrestlers were introduced while in the ring. A graphic said that Bron had an 87% winning percentage and Bate’s winning percentage is 77% so they have both won a lot. The fans were cheering more for Bate, or at least that’s what it sounded like to me.
Analysis: These are two young guys with bright futures. Bron Breakker is 24 years old (25 in October) and Bate is 25 years old. Bate has a lot more experience as a pro wrestler since he started as a teenager while Breakker debuted on television about a year ago when NXT 2.0 started. They are both two guys with different experience levels, but they both have really bright futures.
NXT and NXT UK Championship Unification Match: Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate
It’s a matchup between two babyfaces. There were chants for both guys including some barking for Bron and “Tyler Two Belts” for Bate. Bron used his power to apply a side headlock, then Bron broke free with a shoulder tackle and each went for moves on the mat, but neither guy could do it. Braun got a jackknife pin for two and Bate got a backslide pin for two. They did a double shoulder tackle and a dueling kip-up after that. Bate used his quickness to avoid Bron’s power and Bate hit an impressive sunset flip for a two count. Barrett pointed out that Bate was a ten-year veteran meaning he started at 15 years old while Bron started on NXT television last year and was training several months before that. Bate with an armbar, but Bron broke free and hit a hurricanrana or a Frankensteiner like uncle Scott Steiner. Bron with a delayed vertical suplex followed by a standing moonsault for two. Bate got some momentum back with a headscissors across the ring followed by a dropkick that sent Bron out of the ring. Bate hit a running dive over the top onto Bron on the floor leading to “NXT” chants. Back in the ring, Bron ran the ropes, he caught a leaping Bate and Bron hit a powerslam. Bate with a shot to the face, so Bron tackled Bate through the ropes.
They were back in the ring where Bron sat on the top rope, Bate met him up there, Bron knocked Bate down and when Bron jumped off the middle ropes, Bate hit him with an Exploder Suplex. That was sweet. Bate hit a standing Shooting Star Press for a two count. The fans chanted “this is awesome” for them. Bate countered a suplex into a cradle for two. Bron went for a hurricanrana again, but Bate hit a sitout Powerbomb for two. Great timing on that counter as well. They were battling on a turnbuckle again, Bron shoved Bate again and Bron hit a top rope bulldog like his dad Rick Steiner for a two count. Bron hit a sitout suplex style move like a Powerbomb for a two count. That top rope bulldog like Rick Steiner is a good move for Bron to add to his arsenal. Bate got some strikes, but Bron got a takedown leading to a submission pulling on Bate’s arm with an armbar. Bate managed to pick up Bron on his shoulders and Bate did an airplane spin leading to a spinning slam off the shoulders for two. Bate bounced off the ropes leading to a hard clothesline for two. Bron countered a double underhook move into a pin attempt, Bate bridged back up and Bate hit the Tyler Driver 97 (the year he was born) for a two count. That was an impressive strength shown by Bate coming off the mat and hitting a move like that on a bigger guy. Bate went up top, Bron caught him and hit the press slam into a powerslam near the ropes for a two count because Bate got his right foot on the bottom rope. Some fans were booing as Bron did a loud yell because they wanted Bate to win. Bron charged, Bate with a kick to the chest, then a lefty punch and Bron backed up of the Tyler Driver this time. Bate on the shoulders into a cover for two. Bate bounced off the ropes for a clothesline, but Bron hit the Spear for the pinfall win at 17:07.
Winner by pinfall and still NXT Champion: Bron Breakker
Analysis: ***3/4 That was a terrific championship match full of action and a lot of drama towards the finish. There were some parts early where it wasn’t that interesting, but then they really picked up the pace and the last few minutes were outstanding. I have reviewed every televised match that Breakker has had in the last year and this was perhaps the best match because of how talented Bate is. They worked very well together in this face vs. face match that didn’t have much story except trying to unify the titles. Bate got some great nearfalls towards the finish especially with that Tyler Driver 97 spot. The fans certainly thought that was it. I didn’t really expect Breakker to move. I liked the spot where Bron got his press powerslam finisher for just two, so that meant he had to do something else to win and that was the Spear.
The referee was going to hand Bron the titles, but Bate held the titles instead with the referee letting him do it. Bate put the NXT and NXT UK Titles on Bron’s shoulders. They shared a hug in the ring while talking to eachother as well. They raised eachother’s hands and the fans cheered them. They shook hands saying it was a pleasure. Breakker held up both titles in the air and the show ended there.
Analysis: Nice sportsmanship shown by Bate there since they are both babyfaces. I hope Bate is featured on NXT moving forward while we’ll find out who Bron’s next challenger is soon on NXT TV in the weeks ahead.
This event had a runtime of 2:13:16 on WWE Network.
Five Stars of the Show
- Carmelo Hayes
- Ricochet
- Bron Breakker
- Tyler Bate
- Mandy Rose
Final Thoughts
I rate this show a 7.5 out of 10.
It was a very good show overall with five entertaining matches and nothing that was bad. The best match honors clearly go to Hayes/Ricochet for that opening match. Those two guys showed off their athleticism very well from the minute the bell rang and Hayes won with a great counter move. I would love to see a rematch some day. The main event between Breakker/Bate (both of them 25 years old this year) was outstanding as well with the more experienced Bate showing off his technical skill, but Breakker’s power game got him the win. That one really picked up in the last few minutes.
The two women’s matches were okay. I liked the triple threat for the Women’s Titles with my favorite Mandy Rose picking up the win against Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport. I thought Mandy might lose, but certainly happy with that result. The women’s tag team match was okay with Chance/Carter beating Doudrop/Nikki thanks to Toxic Attraction getting involved. That was the worst match on the show although it was still average at least.
The men’s tag team title match had the big turn of Damon Kemp causing his buddies The Creed Brothers (all Diamond Mine guys) to lose thanks to a steel chair attack. A cheap win for Pretty Deadly, who are an entertaining heel act.
To summarize it, that means no more NXT UK Titles with Bron Breakker carrying on as the NXT Champion, Mandy Rose as the NXT Women’s Champion for nearly one year and Pretty Deadly as the NXT Tag Team Champions.
The show length was 2 hours, 13 minutes as you can see above, which is perfectly fine for an event with five matches. I enjoyed it.
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John Canton
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