NXT, tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* Will The HBIC get The Queen of Spades to put some respect on her name?
* More teams to be announced for 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
* What’s next for Johnny Gargano?
* Taynara Conti & Xia Li take on Vanessa Borne & Aliyah
* “Limitless” Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic prepare for head-on collision
The annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is returning and a major duo have been confirmed as participants … but for those who don’t want to be spoiled, this is your warning.
According to those in attendance, the return of the Dusty Classic was announced during tonight’s NXT TV tapings in Orlando.
The round of tapings began with a Johnny Gargano promo which was interrupted by his former DIY tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa, who suggested the pair reunite to compete in the tournament.
Gargano accepted the invitation as the two shook on it.
The other teams in the tournament are Street Profits, Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel, Moustache Mountain, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Ricochet & Aleister Black, Forgotten Sons and Undisputed Era.
It’s been quite a week for Ciampa and Gargano. DIY not only made surprise appearances on Raw and SmackDown Live, but they were victorious on both shows — defeating The Revival and The Bar.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
The new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions followed up on their vow to take the belts to every brand … including NXT.
Sasha Banks and Bayley made their NXT homecomings during last night’s NXT TV taping, much to the excitement of the Full Sail Crowd, to show off the new hardware.
They reiterated their promise to defend the belts in NXT, as well as RAW and SmackDown.
https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON/status/1098402425193619461
On last night’s WWE NXT episode. The Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano in the main event to become the new NXT North American Champion.
This is Dream’s first title reign since debuting with the brand in 2016. Gargano won the title back at NXT “Takeover: Phoenix” during WWE Royal Rumble weekend on January 26, defeating Ricochet.
NXT, Tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* A special announcement will be made
* Velveteen Dream challenges Gargano for NXT North American Title
* Aleister Black goes one-on-one with Roderick Strong
* Mia Yim squares off with Xia Li
* The Original Bro speaks out
This week in WWE, RAW and SmackDown audiences were exposed to some of the most talented stars NXT has to offer when Ricochet, Aleister Black, NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano, and NXT World Champion Tommaso Ciampa made their main roster debuts on WWE TV.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained that WWE had a different episode of RAW put together sometime last week, one that didn’t include any new call ups. A week of ratings continuing to decline, All Elite Wrestling continuing to gain momentum, and the announcement that Undertaker is joining Starrcast 2 on AEW Double Or Nothing weekend, left McMahon feeling “off”.
McMahon decided to add some top tier wrestlers to the main roster, so he accessed the pool of available NXT stars and asked them to fly out their best four guys. Meltzer notes that Triple H didn’t initially know about the call ups and there was a lack of communication throughout the process.
The RAW match that ultimately saw Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor & new NXT call up, Ricochet, was reportedly set to be Finn Balor vs. Ricochet in a singles match just before the show aired. It’s believed that Triple H made the call to switch up the singles match between the two babyface characters because he was concerned about how the crowd would react, and he didn’t want either star going over the other after Balor had just won the title and Ricochet had just debuted.
It was also noted that, for the foreseeable future, Ricochet, Black, Gargano, and Ciampa will be performing on WWE NXT, RAW, and SmackDown. The idea is to give each superstar their respective push and be “put over like crazy” in the process.
It will be interesting to see how this translates to NXT’s TakeOver special on WrestleMania weekend. It was mentioned that NXT already had storylines and a card laid out for the upcoming TakeOver event but the sudden change of plans may alter that.
Source: Wrestling Inc
Fresh off the heels of NXT Stars – Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Ricochet & Aleister Black debuting on RAW and SmackDown live this week, WWE is teasing a “special announcement” for this week’s episode of NXT.
WWE.com posted the following:
Get ready, because this week’s NXT will feature a special announcement. With no additional details currently available, speculation about what’s in store for the black-and-gold brand is running wild. Be among the first to find out when NXT streams Wednesday at 8/7 C on WWE Network.
Last night in the opening segment of RAW, Triple H announced that NXT Stars – Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa would debut on RAW later in the show.
Video packages were played to hype each competitor.
The footage WWE shared on social media was captioned “Triple H introduces WWE’s newest Superstars” and Michael Cole welcomed them to WWE, so it sounds like a permanent call up. No word on what this will mean for Ciampa’s current NXT Championship run and Gargano appeared on RAW as the NXT North American Champion.
Ricochet teamed with WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor to defeat Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush in tag team action. The match was made after Ricochet saved Balor from a double team by Rush and Lashley. The match saw Ricochet get the pin on Rush after hitting the 630 from the top rope.
Johnny Gargano teamed up with former DIY partner Tommaso Ciampa to defeat the RAW Tag Team champions The Revival.
Aleister Black interrupted Elias then went on to defeat him in a singles match.
NXT, streaming today at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* Ricochet vs. Adam Cole II
* What does Kassius Ohno have to say?
* Taynara Conti takes on Aliyah
* Street Profits prepare to bounce back
* Dominik Dijakovic meets Shane Thorne
NXT, streaming tonight at 8 p.m. ET on WWE Network.
* Johnny Gargano kicks off NXT
* Belair & The Sky Pirates battle Baszler, Shafir & Duke
* Drew Gulak’s campaign comes to NXT
* The Forgotten Sons’ heavy hitter storms the ring
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