NXT held its live TV tapings at Full Sail University on Wednesday night, for the last week of February and the first half of March 2019. Here’s everything that happened, and everything you need to know.
Please be aware that everything you read in the subsequent paragraphs is an actual, massive, legitimate spoiler for what will happen over the next several weeks of NXT television. You may read on only at your own risk. But if you’re the sort of person who just simply cannot wait until it happens on WWE Network to find out what happens next, congratulations! This post is for you!
February 27 Episode
– Johnny Gargano cut a promo about losing the North American Championship to the Velveteen Dream. He mentioned how great it was taking that belt to Raw and Smackdown to prove what NXT is all about. He said his match with the Dream was one of the hardest of his life, and he failed. Tommaso Ciampa interrupted to point out that their matches on Raw and Smackdown proved that Johnny’s at his best when they’re a team, and that Johnny only lost to the Dream because he refused Tommaso’s help. Johnny seemed to be convinced, and DIY officially reunited to enter the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, with the goal of winning the NXT Tag Team Titles at TakeOver: New York.
1. Aliyah and Vanessa Borne defeated Xia Li and Taynara Conti.
2. Keith Lee versus Dominik Dijakovic ended in a Double Count Out. Lee and Dijakovic had a pull-apart brawl after the match, with the crowd chanting for it to continue.
3. Shayna Baszler defeated Mia Yim.
4. Ricochet and Aleister Black defeated Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel to advance in The 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
March 6 Episode
1. The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch to advance in The 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
– The Velveteen Dream cut a promo about winning the NXT North American Championship from Johnny Gargano. Matt Riddle interrupted and challenged Dream to a title match. Dream objected to being called “Bro” and said that he’s the champion and the only one in the spotlight. The lights went out with a literal spotlight on Dream, and when they came back up Riddle was gone.
2. Moustache Mountain defeated the Street Profits to advance in The 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
3. DIY defeated the Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) to advance in The 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. DIY’s entrance reintroduced their old theme song. After the match, the War Raiders came out and had a stare-down with DIY.
4. Luke Menzies defeated Eric Bugenhagen. The crowd was very excited about new fan-favorite Bugenhagen, earning Menzies lots of heat for the win.
March 13 Episode
– The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions are here. Sasha Banks and Bayley cut a promo about how returning to NXT feels like coming home, and how they’re going to defend their new titles on NXT as well as Raw and Smackdown, so the NXT women’s division needs to be ready.
– Pat McAfee, who has already been on a bunch of TakeOver kickoff panels, was introduced as a new member of the commentary team.
1. Adam Cole defeated Punishment Martinez. After the match Cole cut a promo about how he never got his rematch after losing the North American Championship, and wants to take the title from Velveteen Dream this year, because 2019 is the year of The Undisputed Era. Dream entered, and they fought, with Martinez getting involved as well.
2. Io Shirai versus Bianca Belair, a match to crown a new #1 contender to the NXT Women’s Championship, ended in a Double DQ when Shayna Baszler, who was on commentary, attacked both competitors. Kairi Sane ran out for the save, but Baszler choked her out.
3. Ricochet and Aleister Black defeated DIY to advance in The 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Candice LeRae came out after the match because Johnny appeared to have been hurt. She and Ciampa helped him limp up the ramp. On the stage, Ciampa tried once again to attack Gargano and throw him through the LED screen, but it turned out Johnny wasn’t badly hurt and had tricked Tommaso. Gargano threw Ciampa into the LED screen and beat him down, gesturing that he wants to take the NXT Championship. The tapings ended with Johnny and Candice standing tall over a laid out Tommaso Ciampa.
