SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 10 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE NXT Results
July 8, 2015
Taped at Full Sail University
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor
[Q1] Advertised for tonight is a replay of the NXT Championship match between Kevin Owens and Finn Balor.
I gotta say, I have some egg on my face. Last week I said that the title wouldn’t change hands on what amounted to a foreign house show. Long-term readers know that something I have always appreciated about NXT is their sometimes unpredictable booking. Not only did a title change happen on a foreign house show (albeit one broadcast like at 4:30 a.m.), but the “hometown star” won… in a title match, no less. If you did not see this match, I cannot recommend it enough. It was intense, exciting, and the Tokyo crowd was great.
Out first on the show, Dana Brooke and Emma run down Sasha Banks when Banks comes out alone for their tag team match. Banks offers to take them on by herself and fires up, then Charlotte’s music hits. Charlotte is all business on her way to the ring. She gives Emma and Dana Brooke the evil eye and the announcers provide a reminder of the bad blood between Charlotte and Banks. Charlotte gets a mic. Banks is baffled. Charlotte is stepping up to the plate, but Banks will owe her one. Charlotte offers a handshake, but Banks gives it five instead.
1 – NXT Women’s champion SASHA BANKS & CHARLOTTE vs. EMMA & DANA BROOKE – Tag Team match
Banks immediately unloads on Brooke as the announcers bring up the history of Banks and Charlotte. They give each other a hand slap after double-teaming Brooke. Charlotte lets Brooke tag Emma so she can take her on, too. Quick cover gets one for Charlotte. Snapmare into knee drops, but Emma scampers from the ring. Charlotte gives chase, but Emma tags Brooke and Charlotte doesn’t see it. Brooke uses the blind tag to take over the match.
Some back-and-forth and then Banks gets a got tag. A pair of running double-knees to Brooke’s face in the corner. Cover, but Emma breaks it up. Brooke wants her finisher, but Banks slips out into a backstabber into the Bank Statement. Emma wants in, but Charlotte meets her half-way at high speed to hit a gorgeous double-leg take down while running. She then slides into the Figure-Eight and Brooke taps like mad.
WINNERS: Sasha Banks & Charlotte in 4:50. Really fun match while it lasted.
Post-match – a show of sportsmanship, then a hug between Banks and Charlotte. Banks has a new moveset to be a bit less heelish. Charlotte says she wants a title shot next week and Banks teases saying no, then agrees.
[ J.J.’s Reax: Banks just hit a face turn in a few moments. Well-done writing and performance. ]
“The past weekend” Bayley talks about Emma breaking her hand. She wants to come after Emma, then the NXT Women’s Championship. She vows to come back from injury like Triple H and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
[Q2] Videos hyping the Balor – Owens championship match.
2 – NXT champion KEVIN OWENS vs. FINN BALOR – NXT Championship match – Replay from “Beast in the East” special
WINNER: Balor to capture the NXT Title. Again, if you have not seen the match, watch it.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “PWT Talks NXT” with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
[Q3] Post-replay, a backstage cameraman asks Owens for his reaction to losing the NXT Championship. Owens jumps up and grabs the camera and storms off.
Devin Taylor interviews Chad Gable. She wants to know why Jason Jordan keeps turning Gable down. Gable says that he guesses that Jordan wants to stay at the bottom. He’s ready, willing, and… “Gable!” shouts Jordan. He takes up Gable on his offer. Gable offers a handshake while wearing the towel on his arm.
Backstage, Solomon Crowe says he is back. Meaner, badder, and nastier than ever before. He is “NXT’s resident little monster.”
Marcus Louis looks crazed. He’s facing Solomon Crowe.
3 – SOLOMON CROWE vs. MARCUS LOUIS
Louis snarls, but Crowe lights him up with chops, then a big right for one. Byron Saxton relays that William Regal confirmed the Women’s Championship match for next week. Louis fights out of a hold and tosses Crowe into the corner. Crowe dodges, but Louis kicks him in the middle when he tries to re-enter the ring.
Louis with some stiff knee lifts, then a slap that sends Crowe to the mat. Louis is working really hard on being the next Luke Harper here. Abdominal stretch, but Crowe gets out. Knee lift sends a big mouth of spit out of Crowe, but he rallies. Swinging neckbreaker, running kick in the corner, basement dropkick to the knees, Stretch Muffler (renamed the “Crowe-bar”), and Louis taps.
WINNER: Solomon Crowe in 3:30. Pretty solid match here. I liked what I saw from Crowe.
[Q4] The Vaudevillains say that they are heading to the top of the tag team division, and promise to become the #1 contenders over Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore.
Backstage in Tokyo, Cesaro and Neville congratulate Finn Balor. John Cena comes in, gives Balor a handshake, and calls the win over Owens a “hell of a match.” Interview with Balor. He says that his dream has come true.
[ J.J.’s Reax: Great moment there. Seeing John Cena give Balor what was obviously a from-the-heart moment was pretty cool. ]
A medical update on Sami Zayn is promised for next week.
The Vaudevillains get a good reaction on their way to the ring for a #1 contender tag match. Of course they’re facing Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, so the crowd is torn. Amore and Cassady are serious. They don’t put down the Vaudevillains, but say it is “put up or shut up.”
4 – ENZO AMORE & COLIN CASSADY (w/Carmella) vs. THE VAUDEVILLAINS (AIDEN ENGLISH & SIMON GOTCH) – #1 Contender match for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Amore and Gotch start off. Gotch slips out of a waistlock to run Amore over. Armdrags are blocked, hey trade holds, and a roll-up gets one for Gotch. Amore clears Gotch from the ring, English comes in, Cassady meets him, and he sends him out, too. Amore and Cassady do S-A-W-F-T to send it to break.
[ Break ]
Back from break, Amore and Cassady are double-teaming English in the corner. Of note, Amore has what may be the ugliest pants since M.C. Hammer. Amore boxes English to the mat, but English gets boots up in the corner. The Vaudevillains isolate Amore. Nice team moves here, with enough heelishness that the crowd knows who to cheer. Big Cass finally gets the tag, he takes out Gotch, and he has English to himself. He spins English around for a bodyslam, then preps the S-A-W-F-T elbow drop, but gets distracted by Gotch and rolled up by English for a nearfall.
Cassady sends English packing, then hits the East River Crossing. Cassady wants to press slam Amore onto Gotch, but Gotch grabs Cassady’s leg. English in, Amore lands a cross-body from the top, but English rolls through and covers for the win.
WINNERS: The Vaudevillains in 8:05. Fun match for sure, nice pacing. For the life of me, I didn’t see English become the legal man in the match and I re-watched it a number of times. Screwy ending to cause a re-match? Especially since the “right match” is Amore/Cassady/Carmella vs. Blake/Murphy/Bliss?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nice to see the Balor-Owens match getting lots of attention. No live appearance from either man, though, since this episode was taped before Tokyo and WWE did not want to give away the result to the Full Sail crowd… I really enjoyed the short, but important women’s segment… Crowe seems improved on his return and still hot with the crowd.
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