NXT JULY 3RD 2019
Mia Yim vs. Aliyah
Aliyah got a decent amount of this match, thanks in part to Vanessa pulling her out of the way of a cannonball in the corner. Mia would take them both out with a dive though, en route to winning with Protect Ya Neck. This was fine, but might have been better being a little more comprehensive for Mia. Mia threw Vanessa into the ring steps post match, then went to the announce table to send a message to Shayna that her days were numbered.
Recap of last week’s main event, Shayna retaining in the cage match with Io and Io turning on Candice after the match. Cathy spoke with Regal for an update on Candice, but Forgotten Sons stormed in and complained about not getting a title match. Regal said they had an opportunity already and got disqualified, so they were at the back of the queue, which Forgotten Sons didn’t take well. Cathy asked who’d be getting the Tag Title shots if it wasn’t Forgotten Sons and Regal said Street Profits had asked to face Burch and Lorcan, which would be next week.
The second part of Adam Cole’s Championship Celebration Tour saw him show up at Johnny’s father’s restaurant and leave a picture of himself on the ‘wall of fame’, which was a bunch of pictures of Johnny and Candice. Cole then went to the wrestling school Gargano was shown at in the build-up to Takeover, claiming her felt legitimate pity for them because Gargano gave them hope that they could become NXT Champion one day. He encouraged them to take the pizzas he’d brought, go home and give up and find a new hero.
KUSHIDA vs. Jeff Parker
There was a real lack of reaction for KUSHIDA here, which was jarring, but I’m willing to put down to the crowd somewhat. Jeff is the former Jagged/Scott Parker and got little offence here, as KUSHIDA dominated and won with the Hoverboard Lock, which they’re calling the Sakuraba Lock after Kazushi Sakuraba.
Cathy interviewed Breeze backstage. Breeze said he was going to give them a refresher that it was NXBreeze long before Undisputed Era ever set foot in it.
The Killian Dain teaser from last week played again, but actually named him this time.
NXT BREAKOUT TOURNAMENT ROUND 1
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Cameron Grimes
Like last week, both guys got their introductory videos before the match. This didn’t get over as strongly as last week’s match did, but was okay. Grimes was the clear heel and Swerve seemed to be more of the face as a result, certainly in the match. I could see that changing, as he gives off more of a heel vibe, to me at least and he was working heel in EVOLVE most recently. His offence was what got the crowd going in this though, until Grimes countered the crossbody and won with the standing double stomp.
Bianca Belair vs. Priscilla Zuniga
Zuniga was Angel Rose, Diamante in TNA. This ended up being a really effective squash, with Belair first looking extra aggressive after her recent losses to Mia, then showing off her power briefly, before finishing the job with the KOD.
A video of Matt Riddle training MMA while cutting a very out of breath promo aired.
Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Breeze
These two worked really hard, to put together a good main event, that never got the chance to go to the next level. This was going along fairly routinely, until Strong busted out a backbreaker onto the edge of the ring steps and the guardrail to spice things up. Breeze would get back into the match, without ever making a really big comeback. Fish and O’Reilly would then run out and cause a distraction, leading to Breeze going after them and getting hit with End Of Heartache for the pretty abrupt finish. I’d like to see these two have a Takeover match at some point, because what we got was good but there’s a better match in there.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Kind of a flat show, after a strong show last week. The best thing on the show might well have been Bianca’s squash match, which is definitely worth checking out for how great Belair looked coming out of it. Strong versus Breeze was decent as well.
NXT WEEK: Street Profits defending the Tag Team Titles against Lorcan and Burch.