WWE Survivor Series 2019

By Steve Ward

The WWE Universe jam packed a sold out Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois this evening for Survivor Series. This year’s theme, as it has been several times, was the battle for brand supremacy. For this year’s 33^rd installment, however, WWE decided to shake things up a bit and incorporated (in my opinion) the superior brand - NXT. With this dynamic, more superstars had the ability to take center stage but at the cost of several champions being tied up in non-title bouts hence lowering the stakes. Nonetheless, the seven match card still featured three title matches where the marquee championship from each brand was defended.

Women’s Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team RAW (Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Natalya, Sarah Logan, & Kairi Sane) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, & Toni Storm) vs. Team Smackdown (Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Carmella, & Dana Brooke)
Sole Survivior: Rhea Ripley (Team NXT) via pinfall

Survivor Series wasted no time diving right into a 5 on 5 on 5 triple threat elimination match. Surprisingly we witnessed NXT with an advantage late as Ripley, Storm, and Belair remained from NXT, Banks from Smackdown, and Natalyz from RAW (after dissention in their ranks saw Asuka spray the green mist in the face of Flair leading the Queen to get pinned by Lacey Evans). After Banks quickly turned on Natalya and rolled her up for a pinfall, she was left to go toe to toe with the towering Australian, Rhea Ripley. With Ripley seemingly moments from tapping out to the Bank Statement, Lerae and Shirai returned to ringside causing enough of a distraction for Ripley to land the Riptide allowing her to pin Banks for the victory.

Triple Threat Match
Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn vs. AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong
Winner: Roderick Strong via pinfall

This match pitted champion versus champion versus champion as Nakamura - WWE Intercontinental Champion, AJ Styles - WWE United States Champion, and Roderick Strong - NXT North American Champion did battle. This match ended in an arguably epic upset as AJ Styles took out Nakamura with the Phenomenal Forearm only to be unceremoniously dumped out of the ring by Strong who capitalized on the opportunity and pinned The Artist.

NXT Championship
Adam Cole (c) vs. Pete Dunne
Winner: Adam Cole via pinfall

Pete Dunne earned his shot at Adam Cole after he defeated Killian Dain and Damian Priest in a triple threat match last night at NXT Wargames. In the closing moments, Dunne was able to withstand the Panama Sunrise allowing him to attempt the Bitter End for a third time. This time Cole spectacularly reversed it driving Dunne’s skull into the canvas. The Undisputed Era leader quickly followed up with the Last Shot setting up the pinfall victory.

Universal Championship
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Winner: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt via pinfall

After defeating Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel, Wyatt attempted to defend his title for the first time against Daniel Bryan. While I’m personally a fan of both of these competitors, all this match did was give me eyestrain thanks to the exclusive red lighting for the duration of the match. Daniel Bryan did put up a good showing late in the bout as he delivered several missile dropkicks and Yes Kicks. Unfortunately for Bryan, these weren’t enough as Bray trapped him in the Mandible Claw leaving him subdued enough to earn the pinfall.

Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team RAW (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, & Ricochet) vs. Team Smackdown (Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali, Shorty G, King Corbin, & Braun Strowman) vs. Team NXT (Tomasso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Damian Priest, & Matt Riddle)
Sole Survivor: Roman Reigns

Dissention among the ranks reigned supreme again in this contest as Corbin and Reigns were at each other’s throats for the majority of the bout. Reigns finally hit his tipping point as he speared Corbin allowing Ciampa to eliminate him. This left us with Rollins from Team RAW, Reigns from Team Smackdown, and Ciampa and Lee from NXT remaining. Ciampa was the first eliminated after receiving the Curb Stomp from Rollins. Lee then shocked Rollins with a Jackhammer to eliminate him. Lee appeared poised to pull off the unthinkable as he thwarted Reigns spear attempt with a power bomb. Lee then attempted to execute a second rope moonsault but Reigns rolled out of the way and countered with a spear for the win.

WWE Championship No Holds Barred Match
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
Winner: Brock Lesnar via pinfall

This match had been a couple months in the works. First, Brock laid waste to Rey and his son leading Mysterio to bring in Cain Velasquez for backup. Next, Cain Velasquez challenged Lesnar at Crown Jewel for the title only to lose via submission. This evening we reached the culmination of these recent acts as Mysterio challenged Lesnar for the WWE Championship in a No Holds Barred Match.  As Brock brutally beat down Rey, his son Dominic came to ringside. The two of them proceeded to get the upper hand, albeit briefly, after a low blow from Mysterio, however, Brock withstood a pinfall attempt only to suplex Dominic across the ring and subsequently F5 Rey to retain his title.

Triple Threat Match
Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Bayley
Winner: Shayna Baszler via submission

The RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, the NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, and the Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley took center stage in the main event of the evening. After disposing of The Man at ringside, Baszler was able to finish of Bayley with the Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler then proceeded to celebrate at ringside on top of the announce table. Becky got a small measure of revenge as she took Baszler down and with her strewn across the table, Lynch stood on the ringside barrier and delivered a leg drop that put The Queen of Spades through the table.

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WWE SummerSlam Recap

For the second night in a row, the WWE invaded the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. A capacity crowd was on hand and chomping at the bit to bear witness to WWE’s marquee show of the summer for the 30th year in a row. Last night’s card boasted ten matches from the RAW and SmackDown brands with seven titles on the line.

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins w/ Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler (c) w/ Drew McIntyre
Winner: Seth Rollins

After weeks of being outnumbered by The Show-off and Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins shocked the WWE Universe by introducing the returning Dean Ambrose as his back-up on Monday Night RAW. In all honesty, this match did not have the crowd’s interest until Rollins hit a spectacular suplex off the top rope on Ziggler. In the end, it appeared Rollins was going to lose the match as he was distracted by Ambrose nailing McIntyre with Dirty Deeds outside the ring and Ziggler sized him up, and seemingly dead to rights, for the super kick. Rollins turned and beat him to the punch with a super kick of his own. As Ziggler was down, Rollins proceeded to finish him with the Curb Stomp. Your winner and new Intercontinental Champion, Monday Night Rollins!

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. The New Day
Winners: The New Day via DQ

The New Day earned the right to vie for the Tag Team Championship after they defeated The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) on SmackDown Live two weeks ago. Utilizing the Free Bird Rule, The New Day was represented by Big E and Xavier Woods. As the New Day began to build momentum after Xavier Woods landed an elbow drop on Harper from the top rope to the outside of the ring, Rowan put an end to that quickly as he bludgeoned The New Day with his hammer. This lead to a disqualification victory for The New Day, however, the titles can’t change hands in this manner so The Bludgeon Brothers are still your SmackDown champions.

Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens

Winner: Braun Strowman

Kevin Owens “earned” a chance at Strowman’s Money In the Bank contract in this contest after pleading with Stephanie McMahon for an opportunity to seek vengeance after what he considered to be a personal vendetta was carried out against him for several weeks by Strowman. Owens didn’t stand a chance in this one. After a few minutes of chaos, The Monster Among Men finally hit the running power slam for the pinfall victory.

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Carmella (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
Winner: Charlotte Flair

This match became a triple threat encounter after Flair earned her way into the bout by defeating Carmella in a non-title contest on SmackDown Live. In the closing moments of the match, it appeared Becky was moments away from earning a win by submission as she had Carmella locked in the Disarm-Her. The Queen then emerged out of nowhere to hit the Natural Selection on Becky and pinned her to become the new champion. It appeared after the match that Becky and Charlotte were going to share a moment of sportsmanship as they hugged it out in the middle of the ring until Becky snapped! Becky proceeded to viciously assault Flair and walked out to a “You deserve it” chant from the raucous Brooklyn crowd who were energized by the heel turn.

WWE Championship
A.J. Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe
Winner: Samoa Joe via DQ

This match had a nostalgic feel to it as both men main-evented countless shows together during their tenure with TNA/Impact Wrestling, so much so, that the crowd even paid homage with a “TNA” chant in the opening moments. This match was turning into a classic until the action spilled to outside. Joe decided to get on the mic and address Styles’ wife and daughter in the crowd which pushed him over the edge. Styles proceeded destroy Joe with a steel chair leading to the second title bout of the night ending in a disqualification.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan
Winner: The Miz

This was billed as a match eight years in the making dating all the way back to 2010 when Bryan was assigned as The Miz’s “rookie” in the early days of NXT. In the closing moments, Miz was knocked out to the barrier where his wife Maryse sat in the front row. As he hung over the barricade, Maryse slipped a foreign object into his hand that he used to knock out Bryan with as he attempted a suicide dive. Miz returned the object to his wife and quickly re-entered the ring to pin Bryan for the victory.

Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor
Winner: “The Demon” Finn Balor

Balor threw the crowd into a frenzy as the arena faded to black and he made his presence known with his “Demon” persona coming to the forefront. Corbin got no offense in as he never was able to rid himself of the shock he faced with the presence of the Demon. Balor made short order of “The Constable” and finished him off with the Coup de Grace.

United States Championship

Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c)

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

This was a return match from Extreme Rules when Nakamura stole the title from Hardy after an unceremonious shot between the uprights. After Hardy successfully connected on the Swanton Bomb only to have Nakamura grab the ropes as he attempted to pin him, Hardy escalated things to a whole new level. The Charismatic Enigma decided to not only climb to the top rope but also the ring post. With Nakamura prone on the ring apron, Hardy attempted another Swanton Bomb. Unfortunately for Hardy, Nakamura moved out of the way and he landed hard. The Artist was able to get Hardy back in the ring and hit the Kinshasa for the win.

After the bout, Randy Orton’s music hit as he walked down to the ring, stopped, and walked back out of the arena leaving the audience a bit confused.

RAW Women’s Championship

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Ronda Rousey

Winner: Ronda Rousey

Ronda toyed with “The Goddess” for a few minutes as she put on a display of strikes and Judo throws before she finally sealed the deal with an armbar to become the new RAW Women’s Champion!

Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns

Winner: Roman Reigns

Just before the match began, the Barclays Center erupted as the Monster Among Men made his way to the ring. Strowman proceeded to convey a foreboding proclamation to Lesnar and Reigns that he would be waiting at ringside ready to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase against the victor. Reigns was on fire in the early stages of the match as he repeatedly punished The Beast with several spears before Brock attempted to put Roman to sleep with his ground submission game. As the action spilled out of the ring, Brock decided to take advantage of Strowman as he had his back turned and beat him down with his own briefcase and a steel chair, while throwing an F5 thrown into the fray for good measure. Unfortunately for Brock, he got greedy and took the steel chair into the ring in hopes of finishing off Roman. As Brock wound up with the chair in hand, Roman nearly broke him in half with a devastating spear to earn the pinfall and become the newly crowned Universal Champion.

-The Buckle Bomb with Steve Ward

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Wrestlemania 34: Recap

Well ladies and gentleman, after seven hours and ten minutes, Wrestlemania 34 has come to an end. This year’s showcase of the immortals emanated from a sold-out Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA with 78,000 in attendance (good luck getting out of there in less than two hours). The card was comprised of fourteen matches and all nine WWE titles were defended. There were a number of questions heading into the event: Would Brock Lesnar retain the title with his seemingly imminent return to the UFC? Would Asuka’s undefeated streak come to an end? Would Ronda Rousey live up to the hype? Would the Deadman answer John Cena’s challenge?

Pre-Show

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Winner: Woken Matt Hardy
There was much speculation leading into this year’s battle royal where some thought legends such as Goldberg would appear, or returning superstars would debut such as Bobby Lashley, or we would see the emergence of a star in the making…well none of that happened, but, we were treated to something wonderful in the Royal Battle of Andre. The final four of this contest were Kane, Baron Corbin, Woken Matt Hardy, and last year’s winner Mojo Rawley. At this point I really believed Kane would win in what could be one of his final matches with his upcoming election for mayor of Knox County, TN. That lasted all of a few moments as Kane was quickly eliminated by Corbin. The lights then went out and we are shocked by the appearance of Bray Wyatt! Wyatt proceeds to help Matt Hardy “delete” Mojo and Corbin hence crowning him as the victor. After the match, Hardy and Wyatt seemingly formed a new alliance as the two embraced in the middle of the ring.

Cruiserweight Championship: Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
Winner: Cedric Alexander
After one successful 054 where Alexander got his foot on the bottom rope just before the count of three, Ali aimed to seal the deal with a second 054 where Alexander escaped disaster at the last second and rolled out of the ring.  Alexander subsequently took control with a number of vicious spinning elbows to Ali’s cranium setting him up to land the Lumbar Check followed by the pinfall.

Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal
Winner: Naomi
Final Four: Riott, Sasha, Bayley, Sara Logan
Like the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, the match was devoid of legends or surprise entrants, however, the Glamazon Beth Phoenix was on commentary. This was a typical battle royal but if anyone stood out, it was NXT Superstar Bianca Belair. Belair managed to pull a ballsy move and hit a perfectly executed 450 splash in the middle of the match. Belair did not make it to the final four, however, as were left with Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks, and Bayley…or so we thought.  Bayley and Sasha eliminated Riot then Logan. It then appeared that Sasha and Bayley were going to make amends as Banks extended her hand to Bayley…instead Bayley took her hand and tossed her over the top rope.  As Bayley began to celebrate, Naomi, who apparently everyone had forgotten about lying on the floor outside the ring, snuck back into ring to launch Bayley out of the ring and take the inaugural battle royal.

Main Card

Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat: The Miz ( c ) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
Winner: Seth Rollins
This was a solid opening bout for the main card. The action was fast and furious and in the end it appeared Balor would win the title after he nailed the Miz with the Coup de Grace but Seth Rollins had other plans as he came in for the Curb Stomp on Balor as he went for pin on Miz. Rollins then hit another Curb Stomp on the Miz as he recovered and covered him for the pinfall victory.

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair ( c ) vs. Asuka
Winner: Flair
Asuka controlled the tempo of much of this match putting her striking and technical wrestling skills on display as she unrelentingly attacked Flair’s left arm. In the end, Flair locked in an impressive Figure 8 supporting herself with only one arm for the submission victory. In Asuka’s words, “Charlotte was ready for Asuka!”

At the conclusion of the match, a referee sprinted down the entrance ramp and went to John Cena who sat in the crowd as he promised he would if the Undertaker did not accept his challenge. The referee’s words sparked Cena to jump out of his seat and rush to the locker room.

United States Championship Fatal 4-Way: Randy Orton ( c ) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev
Winner: Mahal
I had a gut feeling that Randy Orton wasn’t walking out of this match with the title and it was simply put on him because he had never held it. Plus it made sense to throw the title on Jinder Mahal with the upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27. Despite the Superdome showing overwhelming support for Rusev Day and the Glorious one, Mahal shocked the WWE Universe again by hitting the Khallas on Rusev to win his first U.S. Title.

Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
Winners: Rousey and Angle
We all expected this was placed on the card as the welcome party for Ronda Rousey but we were treated to a very competitive and entertaining bout. I seemed to recall that WWE had sent the portrayal of male on female violence packing with the exit of the Ruthless Aggression Era but that went out the window tonight. Ronda Rousey assaulted Triple H with a number of strikes in the match and nearly succumbed to a Pedigree. In the end, Ronda locked in an armbar on Stephanie McMahon to win the match by submission.

Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship Triple Threat: The Usos ( c ) vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers
Winners: Bludgeon Brothers
The New Day made their way to the ring with an army of midgets in pancake costumes that were summoned by the trombone of Xavier Woods as they showered the fans with pancakes they threw into the crowd. The light-hearted albeit bizarre tone to this match quickly subsided as the match got underway. This was the definition of a squash match as the Bludgeon Brothers dished out unadulterated brutality to make short order of The Usos and New Day to win the Smackdown Live Tag Titles.

John Cena vs. Undertaker
Winner: Undertaker
The deception did not cease as John Cena made his way to the ring. The lights went out and as all in attendance expected the return of the Deadman, we were instead “delighted” by the vocal stylings of Elias. After Elias finished insulting John Cena and the WWE Universe, John Cena proceeded to destroy him with a Five Knuckle Shuffle and Attitude Adjustment. Cena then proceeded to exit the ring and walk up the exit ramp in utter disappointment to have the lights cut out…again. The entire WWE Universe was then electrified by the entrance of the one and only phenom, The Undertaker! Taker looked more prepared for this match than he has for arguably the last 4-5 years. John Cena mounted virtually no offense as the Deadman hit the Old School, Chokeslam, and Tombstone Piledriver to make short order of the Master of Thugonomics.

Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Winners: Bryan and McMahon
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn needed to win this match to regain their jobs on Smackdown Live. We also were treated to Daniel Bryan’s return to in-ring action after two years away from the ring. Bryan was “taken out” early after a power bomb by KO to the ring apron that left Shane-O-Mac to fend for himself. Shane fought valiantly and unleashed his signature coast to coast dropkick on Sami Zayn but could only sustain for so long before the numbers game and his recent hernia caught up with him. In the end, Bryan came to the rescue and in a flurry of offense, including a series of Yes Kicks, that made it appear he never missed any time, Bryan finally administered the YES lock on Zayn for the submission victory. YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

RAW Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss ( c ) vs. Nia Jax
Winner: Nia Jax
This was another squash match. Nia Jax made sure to eliminate the possibility of any outside interference as she obliterated Mickie James. After controlling Alexa Bliss will little offense reciprocated, Jax hit a massive Samoan drop off the middle turnbuckle for the win and her first WWE title.

WWE Heavyweight Championship: A.J. Styles ( c ) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Winner: Styles
Many anticipated this match was going to steal the show and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of those individuals. Unfortunately, the most exciting part of this segment in my opinion was the aftermath. But first, the match concluded as Nakamura missed Kinshasa as The Phenomenal One magnificently countered and rolled him into a Styles Clash to retain the title. HEEL TURN! After the match Nakamura took the title from the referee and went to present it to A.J. as he dropped to one knee. Here comes the HEEL TURN!  Once A.J. accepted it, he was unceremoniously struck between the uprights by Nakamura who then kicked him repeatedly until he fell off the ring apron. Nakamura followed Styles out of the ring and squared him up for a Kinshasa and this time he didn’t miss.

RAW Tag Team Championship: The Bar ( c ) vs. Braun Strowman & Mystery Partner
Winners: Braun Strowman and Nicholas
Braun Strowman was ordered to find a tag team partner for this match if he wanted to win the tag titles. Once in the ring he told the audience he would select a spectator to be his partner. Braun Strowman perused the crowd for his tag team partner and selected a random kid who didn’t look older than 10...no joke. This was another fairly one-sided bout until Strowman finally hit the power slam on Cesaro to capture the titles.  It will be interesting to see how this dynamic of the Monster Among Men and a 10 year old kid as tag champs will work moving forward.

Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar ( c ) vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Everyone assumed Roman Reigns was going to win this match. It’s been assumed the Brock is heading back to UFC, his buddy Dana White was shown in the crowd, his WWE contract is allegedly almost up, and Roman is Vince McMahon’s golden boy. The match was dominated by the Beast Incarnate and the brutality was on a visceral level. Lesnar took Roman to Suplex City, hit SEVEN F5’s (including one through the German announce table), and victimized Roman with a series of mounted elbow strikes that left Reigns wearing a crimson mask reminiscent of Stone Cold Steve Austin when he squared off with Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13. As Reigns was drenched in blood, Lesnar hit F5 number seven and pinned him to retain the title.

-The Buckle Bomb with Steve Ward

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NXT TakeOver: New Orleans Recap

WWE certainly escalated the WWE Universe’s anticipation for Wrestlemania through the stratosphere as NXT TakeOver emanated from a sold-out Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The TakeOver shows have developed the reputation of setting the bar for the main roster pay-per-views they have preceded and, quite arguably, have also outperformed. Tonight was no different as the action remained at a fever pitch throughout the event while we were entertained by intense commentary by Mauro Ranallo, who at many times sounded like he was going to pop a blood vessel. The card was absolutely stacked and every NXT title was on the line. This included the crowning of the inaugural North American Champion.

The show hit the ground running with the six-man ladder match to crown the first NXT North American Champion. Among the combatants were the leader of the Undisputed Era, Adam Cole (Baybay!), Velveteen Dream, Killian Dane, Lars Sullivan, as well as, Ricochet and EC3 who made their televised in-ring NXT debuts. EC3 was the first participant to make his way to the ring and received a huge pop from the crowd.  Unfortunately, WWE did what WWE does best and “forgot” that other promotions exist in the pro wrestling world and fans do actually watch them from time to time. Now we all know that his moniker in TNA/Impact Wrestling was EC3, short for Ethan Carter III, and his background was that he was the nephew of then TNA President Dixie Carter. Instead, as he made his way to the ring Percy Watson fumbled through his back-story, much like most of his commentary, by saying his family owns a chain of restaurants and commercial properties and that many feel the E stands for entitlement. Well, they have time to work on that story. Nonetheless, the action in this bout was fast and furious with a number of broken ladders and awe inspiring aerial maneuvers including a couple shooting star presses from Ricochet who did not disappoint and stole the match as he backed the reputation he garnered on the indie circuit in promotions like Pro Wrestling Guerilla. In the end, Adam Cole’s ridiculous momentum continued as he emerged from outside the ring to dump Ricochet off of the ladder and over the top rope. Cole then scaled the ladder and retrieved the North American title that was suspended high above the squared circle to earn his first NXT title.

The NXT Women’s Championship was then defended by Ember Moon as she faced UFC alum Shayna Baszler. This contest was a rematch of their previous encounter at TakeOver: Philadelphia in which Ember retained her title not unscathed. With Four Horsewomen cohorts Ronda Rousey and Jessamyn Duke at ringside, the Queen of Spades didn’t waste any time dropping Moon with a stiff right hand sending her out of the ring. What appeared to be a turning point in the match occurred when Moon achieved a bit of payback on Baszler when she pinned her hand down with her foot and proceeded to essentially curb stomp her bent arm. Just as Moon seemed poised to take control, Baszler crotched Moon on the top rope. With Moon temporarily incapacitated, Baszler proceeded to slam her shoulder into the ring post as Nigel McGuiness claimed it was “dislocated.” After Baszler countered Ember Moon’s attempt at her finisher, the Eclipse, as she caught her in the Kirafuda Clutch, Baszler was initially unable to sustain the submission hold due to the injury to her left arm. The Queen of Spades then showed some true ingenuity and locked in the rear naked choke by substituting her left arm with her own hair! Not long after, the referee called a stop to the action as Moon lost consciousness. Your winner by submission and new NXT Women’s Champion, Shayna Baszler. With this loss, I would not be the least bit surprised to see Moon make the jump to the main roster and possibly debut in the Women’s Battle Royal at Wrestlemania.

The NXT Tag Team Championship was then contested in a triple threat match that also served as the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. We witnessed The Undisputed Era, Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole, defend against the Authors of Pain and the tandem of Roderick Strong and the “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne. We arrived at this match-up as a result of interference during the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Since the Undisputed Era deprived us of a winner being crowned, NXT commissioner William Regal announced that there would now be a triple threat match with the victors being touted as the tag team champions and winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Additionally, with Bobby Fish sustaining an injury at an NXT live event, Adam Cole filled in for his second match of the evening.  Not surprisingly, AoP controlled the action for the vast majority of the match. In the end, we had the shocker of the night. With AoP finally subdued, Pete Dunne hit The Bitter End on Kyle O’Reilly. As Dunne went for the cover, his tag team partner Roderick Strong broke up the pin attempt with a vicious stomp to the back of his head. Stong picked up Dunne and hit The End of Heartache on him subsequently dragging O’Reilly over him for the pinfall victory. After the match, Strong ripped the Undisputed Era armband from Adam Cole and put it on himself effectually becoming the latest member of the faction.

Steve’s Take: I didn’t even see this one coming, granted I anticipated a falling out between Strong and Dunne, I did not expect a gold old fashioned pro wrestling backstabbing in the spirit of HBK putting Jannetty through the Barbershop window!

Surprisingly, the NXT Championship was then defended by Andrade “Cien” Almas as he faced Aleister Black as opposed to in the main event of the evening. This marked Almas’ second defense of the title since he shockingly defeated Drew McIntyre at TakeOver: War Games in November. This match was all about the inevitable christening of Aleister Black as the new NXT Champion. Black’s striking ability was on display throughout the match and while Almas did mount some aerial offense, he was relinquished of his title in the end ironically by the woman who helped him to the top, his manager Zelina Vega.  After landing two hurricanranas on Black during the match when the ref was conveniently distracted, Vega inexplicably went to the top turnbuckle for number three.  Black was ready for her this time as he ducked out of the way. Vega landed in the arms of Almas leaving him vulnerable to be the recipient of Black Mass right on the chin followed by the 1, 2, 3. Your winner and new NXT Champion, Aleister Black.

Finally in the main event of the evening, we were treated to former DIY tag team partners turned bitter rivals “The Sicilian Psycho” Tommaso Ciampa squaring off with Johnny Gargano in an Unsanctioned Match. This match developed after Gargano lost to Andrade “Cien” Almas spearheading his “release” from NXT due to interference from Ciampa as the stipulation to acquire the rematch from NXT Philadelphia was putting his career on the line. The rules of this match were simple, there weren’t any. Johnny Wrestling needed to win this match in order to be reinstated to the NXT roster or be finished forever. I was a bit skeptical at first with this match’s placement in the main event slot but there was a reason Shane McMahon was spotted in the front row because it did not disappoint. This match was one the most entertaining I’ve seen in WWE in a long time. It lasted 45 minutes and the way the crowd responded, I‘m fairly certain they would have been ok with double that. Ciampa has transformed into a bona fide heel as he was greeted by the NXT Universe with chants of “F&%k you Ciampa,” “You suck,” and “A$&hole” while Gargano received a hero’s welcome as the textbook babyface. Aside from these entertainers placing their full arsenals on display, we had several entertaining spots in the match. These included the crowd’s “Mama Mia” chant taking the words out of Mauro Ranallo‘s mouth, Ciampa stealing a pair of crutches from a “random guy” in the crowd, and Ciampa being lawn-darted head first into the dreaded exposed turnbuckle. In the end, Ciampa’s ego and bloodlust got the best of him. Ciampa removed his knee brace with the intent of taking Gargano out with a shot to the head from his exposed knee. As Ciampa went for the finishing blow, Gargano grabbed the knee brace and struck Ciampa in the leg with it. With Ciampa down, Gargano went for a broken crutch in the ring and just as we thought we were going to bear witness to capital murder, he held up in a brief moment of sympathy as Ciampa cowered. Gargano showed a brief instance of mercy as he almost found himself at the receiving end of Ciampa sucker punching him with his knee brace. In a flurry of submission brilliance, Johnny Wrestling locked in the Gargano Escape and as Ciampa began to reach again for the knee brace, Gargano wrestled it from his clutches and wrenched his head back with it as he trapped him in an STF for the submission victory. The show concluded with the newly reinstated Johnny Gargano celebrating in the ring with his wife Candice LeRae. On a side note, Johnny is probably ecstatic that his wife signed with the PG rated WWE so that she no longer can utilize her finisher the Ballsplex (YouTube it and see for yourself) unless he’s into that kind of thing.

Overall, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans exceeded the hype and the main roster certainly has their work cut out for them!

-The Buckle Bomb with Steve Ward

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