SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.
•Top Stories of the Week
- The NXT Tag Team division took a hit this week with the release of The Mighty’s Nick Miller. According to Dave Meltzer, Miller and his wife recently gave birth to a child in August and he has decided to stay in Australia with his family.
- It was announced Monday Night during Raw that there will be six total (four + tag team) NXT Calls ups coming soon. Lars Sullivan, EC3, Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, and Heavy Machinery. There was no timeline given or what brand they were going to but all were advertised during both Raw and Smackdown so it’s really anyone’s guess.
- The Men’s NXT Championship match is set for NXT Takeover Phoenix with Tommaso Ciampa set to defend his title against Aleister Black.
- The Women’s NXT Championship match for Phoenix is still yet to be determined with the winner of next week’s fatal 4 way (Bianca Belair, Mia Yim, Io Shirai, and Lacey Evans) to take on Women’s champ Shayna Baszler.
- Neither the NXT North American Champion Ricochet nor the NXT Men’s Tag Team Champions Undisputed Era have challengers yet for Takeover Phoenix. The Undisputed Era will take on Heavy Machinery next week for the tag team titles with the rehabbing War Raiders lurking.
- Ricochet’s dance card, on the other hand, is absolutely wide open and there hasn’t really been any indication where they are headed. I’m sure he’ll get a spot on the card but against who is the real question.
•NXT Live Event Results
Dec. 13 Orland, Fla.
- Velveteen Dream beat Stacey Ervin Jr.
- Raul Mendoza and Humberto Carrillo beat Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner
- Punishment Martinez beat Rick Boog
- Mia Yim beat Jessamyn Duke
- Aleister Black beat Jaxson Ryker by DQ
- Matt Riddle beat Kassius Ohno
- Lacey Lane beat Reina Gonzalez
- The Undisputed Era (Cole, O’Reilley, Fish, Strong) beat Heavy Machinery, Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan
(Results courtesy of F4WOnline.com)
Dec. 14 Jacksonville, Fla.
- The Street Profits beat Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza
- Rowe beat Brenna Williams
- Heavy Machinery beat Rinku Singh and Mansoor Al-Shehail
- Deonna Purrazzo beat Chelsea Green
- Marcel Barthel beat Fabian Aichner in a lumberjack match
- Velveteen Dream beat Punishment Martinez
- Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke beat Kacy Catanzaro and Candice LeRae
- Ricochet beat Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT North American Championship
(Results courtesy of F4WOnline.com)
Dec. 15 Largo, Fla.
- Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch beat Heavy Machinery
- Punishment Martinez beat Rick Boog
- MJ Jenkins beat Aliyah
- Jaxson Ryker beat Brennan Williams
- Chelsea Green and Lacey Lane beat Reina Gonzalez and Vanessa Borne
- Matt Riddle beat Keith Lee
- Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke beat Mia Yim and Kairi Sane
- Aleister Black beat Riddick Moss
(Results courtesy of F4WOnline.com)
•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: NXT TakeOver Phoenix
NXT Takeover Phoenix
January 26, 2019
Phoenix, AZ (Talking Stick Resort Arena)
Projected Lineup:
- Tomaso Ciampa (Champion) vs. Aleister Black
- Undisputed Era (Champions) vs. War Raiders
- Ricochet (Champion) vs. ?
- Shayna Baszler (Champion) vs. Bianca Beair
- Matt Riddle vs. someone/anyone
•Upcoming Events
Friday Jan. 4 – Center Stage Theatre (Atlanta, Georgia)
Saturday Jan. 5 – Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium (Spartanburg, South Carolina)
Saturday Jan. 5 – Crystal River Armory (Crystal River, Fla.)
Sunday Jan. 6 – Durham Armory (Durham, North Carolina)
Friday Jan. 11 – Havert L. Fenn Center (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Thursday Jan. 17 – Venice Community Center (Venice, Fla.)
Friday Jan. 18 – University Area CDC Gymnasium (Tampa, Fla.)
Saturday Jan. 19 – Citrus Springs (Citrus Springs, Fla.)
Thursday Jan. 24 – Viejas Arena (San Diego, Cal.)
Friday Jan 25 – Riverside Municipal Auditorium (Riverside, Cal.)
SATURDAY JAN 26. – WWE NXT TAKEOVER PHOENIX – TALKING STICK RESORT ARENA (Phoenix, Arizona)
Thursday Jan. 31 – Highlands Today Center (Sebring, Fla.)
Saturday Feb. 2 – Lakeland Armory (Lakeland, Fla.)
Thursday Feb. 7 – The Reserve Pavilion at Hilton Ocala (Ocala, Fla.)
Thursday Feb. 7 – RWJ Barnabas Arena (Toms River, New Jersey)
Friday Feb. 8 – St. Petersburg Armory (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Friday Feb. 8 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Saturday Feb. 9 – Lowell Memorial Auditorium (Lowell, MA)
Saturday Feb. 9 – Sanford Civic Center (Sanford, Fla.)
Sunday Feb. 10 – Ryan Center (Kingston, Rhode Island)
•Latest TV Highlights: 12/5 NXT TV Report
- (1) Io Shirai and Dakota Kai beat Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir
- Matt Riddle/Kassius Ohno recap and Matt Riddle outside interview (12:45 – 14:23)
- (2) Donovan Dijakovic beat Aaron Mackey (16:16 – 18:04)
- (3) Heavy Machinery beat Local Talent (23:27 – 25:45)
- (4) Johnny Gargano beat Aleister Black in a steel cage match (34:33 – 52:38)
•NXT in the media
- The King of Bros himself is sitting down with Edge and Christian on E&C’s Podcast of Awesomeness Friday Dec. 12 so be sure to check that out. Edge tweeted out “Tomorrow on @EandCPod it’s a supreme BroDown in our first convo with The King of Bros @SuperKingofBros We talk his path from UFC to the indies to NXT, having 3 kids along the way all while being an Ultimate Stallion(copyright pending) #StallionLife.” Should be an interesting interview to say the least.
- On the latest episode of After 83 with Christy Olson, Eric Bischoff gives his thoughts on NXT expanding to two hours. “I think a lot of that depends on how much talent base they have,” Bischoff said. “Keep in mind NXT serves two purposes. It’s a real-life, real-time, as close as you can get to primetime training opportunity, and the next step.” LINK
•Latest NXT Podcast – “PWT Talks NXT” PWTorch Livecast
“Scoop & Dozer.” This week Harley R. Pageot, Tom Stoup, and Justin James discuss Undisputed Era vs. Heavy Machinery for the tag titles and Lacey Evans vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim in a four-way to crown the new #1 contender to the women’s championship in what may be Heavy Machinery and Evans’ final NXT matches. Plus: hot takes on the Forgotten Sons, Ciampa’s promo, and 2018 stats including best records, most matches, and most appearances.
-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “PWTorch” or “Pro Wrestling Torch” on your podcast app of choice
•Top NXT Tweets of the Week
Ciampa Tweet of the week.
Imagine actually thinking that anyone in the world has had a better 2018 than The Champ… pic.twitter.com/1fTeUoy7Zy
— BLACKHEART (@ProjectCiampa) December 16, 2018
Lars “king of deleted tweets” Sullivan….if he does things like this, it might work out.
— LarsWWE (@LarsSWWE) December 19, 2018
Never change Mauro, never change….
There's nothing like watching a match with @mauroranallo…especially a #SteelCage Match between @JohnnyGargano and @WWEAleister! pic.twitter.com/dBqYNG8A5k
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 20, 2018
Does she get the job done? Is she your next NXT Women’s Champion? Yes and yes.
https://twitter.com/BiancaBelairWWE/status/1075568865176895488
•Thoughts and Comments
I’ve been preaching for a long time now to anyone who will listen that I want absolutely NOTHING to do with my favorite NXT stars getting called to the main roster. The Raw and Smackdown writers have shown the inability to take the qualities that have made people stars in NXT and get them to translate to the main roster. So please, stay away from Velveteen, Johnny, Tommaso, Cole, etc….
This is how I’d rank the current crop of NXT call ups in terms of future success:
5. Lacey Evans – Love her character work and she can absolutely bring it in the ring but I just don’t think she was given enough time to develop in NXT. All the tools are there though.
4. Heavy Machinery – Ehhh…wouldn’t have been one of my top tag team choices but they are fun and Vince loves large individuals that can move. The track record of tag teams from NXT is not good.
3. Lars Sullivan – Just was never a fan of him in NXT. He’ll get a push because again, Vince loves big men and we’ll see what happens from there but non-existent mic skills will hurt him.
2. Nikki Cross – She’s awesome. I love Nikki and I think she could be a future Women’s Champion at some point. Push her. Push Sanity. Do it A.S.A.P.
1.EC3 – I always of the thought that he should have jumped straight from TNA to the main roster. His mic skills and charisma are on par with some of the top talent in WWE. He could easily be put in feuds with Rollins, Ambrose, Styles, etc…and hold his own both in and out of the ring. Now, I’ll probably be wrong and he’ll be wrestling Jinder on Main Event in a few months but I think he has the best chance of getting to the top tier of WWE.
NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.
OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 12/12): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more
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