Last week Carmelo Hayes produced another impressive display to qualify for the final of the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. This week he'll have to face off against former Syracuse Offensive Guard the 405 pound Odyssey Jones in the biggest test of his young career. Who will etch their name in the history books?

Also we'll have all the fall-out of TakeOver 36. Will we have a new NXT Champion? Who will get the last laugh in the brutal Adam Cole/Kyle O'Reilly feud and will Ted Dibiase have to give up his lavish lifestyle and spend the rest of his years serving LA Knight? We'll know more in the coming days!

When does the takeover show start?

Aug 22, 2021 22:29:48 GMT nazzer said:

When does the takeover show start?

In just under an hour.

Should I still make the party, or should we discuss it all here?

Aug 22, 2021 23:13:32 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Should I still make the party, or should we discuss it all here?

I'm going to assume based off of Big Pete's post this is for the weekly show. I assume Takeover is like PPPV's for the other two shows, where they still get separate threads.

You assumed right, Lony.

Another match was added to this week's show with Legado del Fantasma taking on Hit Row in a 6-Man tag match.

Lony = Lionheart in my book too.

“We are doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H/Paul Levesque, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT,” Khan said. “We want our system to be an easy system where people who want to be superstars, they know how to get to us, and we can get to them. In terms of an NXT rebrand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look. It’s going to have a whole new feel, and we believe because a lot of the ‘Indie wrestlers’ if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and Raw now, we don’t want to just keep doing that same thing, we want to look elsewhere for great young talent.”

Here's a quote from Nick Khan during a recent interview with Ariel Helwani.

I'm absolutely fascinated by the business aspect of them changing the content of the show after having a contract with USA. Will they still do takeovers? 

Aug 23, 2021 16:53:44 GMT nazzer said:

“We are doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H/Paul Levesque, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT,” Khan said. “We want our system to be an easy system where people who want to be superstars, they know how to get to us, and we can get to them. In terms of an NXT rebrand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look. It’s going to have a whole new feel, and we believe because a lot of the ‘Indie wrestlers’ if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and Raw now, we don’t want to just keep doing that same thing, we want to look elsewhere for great young talent.”

Here's a quote from Nick Khan during a recent interview with Ariel Helwani.

I'm absolutely fascinated by the business aspect of them changing the content of the show after having a contract with USA. Will they still do takeovers? 

They should but this means the Parker Boudreaux's and Rick Steiner's kid of the world are coming to our TV set sooner rather than later. Those guys aren't going to be collecting a paycheck just because. 

Also maybe more Jeremy Borash influence, I think his vision means something still to Vince and co. Got the honor of doing Taker's final match and being the braintrust behind that. JB is big time, time to give him more power. 

"You know how popular NXT got with great wrestling? Well imagine how popular we'll be when the wrestling is DOGSHIT."

NXT is gonna lose the Tuesday ratings war... to Dark

Aug 24, 2021 2:26:12 GMT KITN said:

"You know how popular NXT got with great wrestling? Well imagine how popular we'll be when the wrestling is DOGSHIT."

NXT’s lack of popularity against AEW seems like part of the reason for the change, so I was amused by the idea that their good wrestling made them popular to anything but internet message boards and documentary stories on the network.

Aug 24, 2021 15:42:16 GMT mikec said:

Aug 24, 2021 2:26:12 GMT KITN said:

"You know how popular NXT got with great wrestling? Well imagine how popular we'll be when the wrestling is DOGSHIT."

NXT’s lack of popularity against AEW seems like part of the reason for the change, so I was amused by the idea that their good wrestling made them popular to anything but internet message boards and documentary stories on the network.

Exactly. NXT has never been ‘successful’ outside of acclaim from hardcore smart marks. It went on TV and tanked and has been tanking ever since.

If this new revamp stinks, I wonder who Vince will blame?

Aug 24, 2021 21:41:46 GMT Ed said:

If this new revamp stinks, I wonder who Vince will blame?

Shit always rolls downhill. Dude is like 80, no clue why he isn't lounging on a beach somewhere.

The Gargano's. Tommaso Ciampa and some others have used what used to be NXT to their benefit for as long as possible. Good for them.

Can't believe they had Odyssey Jones lose, I forgot about Carmelo Hayes doing the "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" homage to Cena months ago vs Adam Cole but man. When you get that Young John Cena quote, management will be high on you. I figured "Future world champion opportunity gotta go big man here", really thought Odyssey Jones would be thrusted to main event scene on NXT. Not necessarily to win the big belt but still. Just stunned about the decision. I had Hayes losing to Hudson in the semis, and he wins it all

Feel like Jones sky is bigger, dude was a former Syracuse OLineman just a few years ago. An absolute true WWE developmental guy. He's way ahead of the curve. 

EDIT: Oh he gets to choose who he wants, as in whatever champion? Oh Swerve's fucked then. :lol: 

Aug 25, 2021 2:09:03 GMT Blindy said:

Can't believe they had Odyssey Jones lose, I forgot about Carmelo Hayes doing the "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" homage to Cena months ago vs Adam Cole but man. When you get that Young John Cena quote, management will be high on you. I figured "Future world champion opportunity gotta go big man here", really thought Odyssey Jones would be thrusted to main event scene on NXT. Not necessarily to win the big belt but still. Just stunned about the decision. I had Hayes losing to Hudson in the semis, and he wins it all

Feel like Jones sky is bigger, dude was a former Syracuse OLineman just a few years ago. An absolute true WWE developmental guy. He's way ahead of the curve. 

EDIT: Oh he gets to choose who he wants, as in whatever champion? Oh Swerve's fucked then.  

I thought it was an interesting decision as well. With all this talk of the WWE undergoing a philosophical change in NXT, Odyssey Jones going over felt like the most obvious decision but they swerved the audience. In fairness, it was portrayed as an upset with Odyssey Jones all but winning the match only to for Carmelo to hit a flash pin.

Obviously one of the take-away is that they're high on Carmelo as they should be. He's a silky smooth wrestler who looks marketable and has a ton of raps. The other is that Odyssey isn't going to be hanging around NXT for a long time and may find himself inserted on the main roster sooner rather than later.

I wonder with the new direction of NXT we'll see more talent called up early, but then sent back to NXT to main event the shows before getting another call-up. For instance think of talent like Jinder Mahal, Tyson Kidd, Alicia Fox, Natalya, Cesaro etc. who had already been on the main roster but when they went back to NXT were able to work marquee matches.

Aug 25, 2021 15:08:50 GMT Big Pete said:

Aug 25, 2021 2:09:03 GMT Blindy said:

Can't believe they had Odyssey Jones lose, I forgot about Carmelo Hayes doing the "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" homage to Cena months ago vs Adam Cole but man. When you get that Young John Cena quote, management will be high on you. I figured "Future world champion opportunity gotta go big man here", really thought Odyssey Jones would be thrusted to main event scene on NXT. Not necessarily to win the big belt but still. Just stunned about the decision. I had Hayes losing to Hudson in the semis, and he wins it all

Feel like Jones sky is bigger, dude was a former Syracuse OLineman just a few years ago. An absolute true WWE developmental guy. He's way ahead of the curve. 

EDIT: Oh he gets to choose who he wants, as in whatever champion? Oh Swerve's fucked then.  

I thought it was an interesting decision as well. With all this talk of the WWE undergoing a philosophical change in NXT, Odyssey Jones going over felt like the most obvious decision but they swerved the audience. In fairness, it was portrayed as an upset with Odyssey Jones all but winning the match only to for Carmelo to hit a flash pin.

Obviously one of the take-away is that they're high on Carmelo as they should be. He's a silky smooth wrestler who looks marketable and has a ton of raps. The other is that Odyssey isn't going to be hanging around NXT for a long time and may find himself inserted on the main roster sooner rather than later.

I wonder with the new direction of NXT we'll see more talent called up early, but then sent back to NXT to main event the shows before getting another call-up. For instance think of talent like Jinder Mahal, Tyson Kidd, Alicia Fox, Natalya, Cesaro etc. who had already been on the main roster but when they went back to NXT were able to work marquee matches.

I can see Vince wanting Jones up early, he did dark matches for the company not too long ago which is crazy given where his experience is at. 

Someone like Angel Garza would benefit so much by being a NXT regular, he got called up too early to be in the Vega faction like with Austin Theory and Theory was able to reinvent himself and make it that he can do something with extended time in the ring. Garza has serious potential, just needs a chance to shine somewhere. Perfect midcard heel in NXT. Or hell a cocky face who feuds with LDF/Escobar. Give him eye candy face valet like Karissa Rivera/Elektra Lopez and yes.

Instead, he's putting roses up people's asses. He can do so much more. Him and Humberto Carrillo can go down and be a needed face tag team heck if you want. All they have is MSK and Ciampa/Thatcher for face tag teams, completely depleted. 

Show opened with a celebratory promo from Cameron Grimes and Ted Dibiase. Dibiase put over Grimes as a Million Dollar Champion and they celebrated by showering fans with money. Meanwhile a sullen Baron Corbin watched on from his meager 85" OLED TV. Later on in the show they wrapped the storyline with Dibiase hopping into his limo and wishing Grimes well in his future. In a fun touch, Dibiase wanted Grimes to have his Million Dollar Championship...only for Grimes to realise it was a replica as Dibiase sped off. All in all, that was a fun angle that helped elevate Grimes, I just hope they know what to do with him next.

The opening match saw Ridge Holland going over Timothy Thatcher in a very rugged style of match. It reminded me a lot of the Regal/Finlay matches from back in the day where there was nothing pretty but it was still very tense. Post-match saw the return of Danny Burch and together they helped Holland and Dunne lay out Ciampa & Thatcher.

Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell interviewed In-Dex who revealed their wedding will take place on the September 14th edition of NXT.

Kayden Carter & Kacey Catanzaro defeated Gigi Dolan & Jacy Jayne. Before the match, Carter & Catanzaro signalled their intentions to challenge for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship via TikTok. Not a bad match, both Carter and Jayne hit some impressive spots and Catanzaro's 450 looks as good as anyone's in the business. After the match, Mandy Rose approached Dolan and Jayne backstage so it appears she may become their manager.

Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Raquel Gonzales. Gonzales believes she hasn't seen the last of Dakota but before she could completely answer the question in regards to Kay Lee Rae, Franky Monet and the Robert Stone Brand interrupted setting up a likely match down the track.

Kay Lee Ray squashed Valentina Feroz. Feroz came out in a pretty cool Blue and White outfit that wouldn't have looked out of place at Carnivale. Otherwise this was just an introduction to Ray who controlled the ring confidently and won with the Gory Bomb.

Samoa Joe made an open challenge to the locker room. Pete Dunne, LA Knight and Kyle O'Reilly all answered the challenge before the segment broke down when Ridge Holland attacked O'Reilly. Ciampa came out and attacked Holland and Joe helped clear the ring. Based on the segment, it seems like Dunne/Joe seems like the match-up. This felt like one of those wrestling 101 segments - not exactly imaginative but it's an easy way to establish the current main event picture and it's the right talent. Later on in the show, Duke Hudson interrupted an interviewed with Kyle O'Reilly which Kyle took exception to and the two men had to be seperated.

Touched on Carmelo Hayes/Odyssey Jones earlier. Back and forth match, Jones was the better wrestler but Carmelo got the W. I thought they did a good job of building this up, with a couple of sit-down interview segments just to give you more background on each guy and then a presentation afterwards where Regal presented Hayes with a guaranteed championship shot.

Dunne/Holland/Lorcan/Burch featured again in another backstage segment where they made a bunch of call-outs. Only wanted to highlight this since Lorcan/Burch appear to be going after MSK for the NXT Tag Team Championship Belts so we've got that direction.

Xyon Quinn scored an upset win over Boa. Boa was in the middle of bowing to Tian Sha when Quinn hit Boa with a flying forearm for a quick victory. Xyon Quinn for those playing at home is former Rugby League player Daniel Vidot who comes from Logan, Queensland. He's a former Samoan International who has been linked with the WWE deal for about six years now, ultimately making the trek back in 2018 after finishing up with the Gold Coast Titans. Between him and Holland (who was mostly a reserve grade player in the English Rugby League competition) it was a very Rugby League centric episode of NXT. Actually that victory may have been the biggest sign yet of the new direction. Quinn getting an opportunity while the Tian Sha storyline appears to be wrapping up.

Backstage Johnny Gargano and William Regal got into an argument over the correct pronounciation of bananas, Regal was 100% correct. Actually he wanted Regal to cancel the wedding but Will didn't agree and then LA Knight barged in and everyone started yelling so Regal kicked them both out of his office. It was later announced that LA Knight will take on Johnny Gargano just to keep them out of Regal's lucious locks.

Malcom Bivens cut a promo from a training facility where Roderick Strong was training Julius and Brutus Creed. I missed a chunk of episodes, was this their debut? They're actually the Kasper Brothers, former amateur wrestlers so like the Xyon Quinn deal earlier a clear sign of NXT promoting fresh new talent.

In the main event, Legado Del Fantasma defeated Hit Row after Elektra Lopez made a surprise appearance and attacked B-Fab with a steel baseball bat. In all the distraction, Escobar schoolboy'd Scott to pick up the cheeky victory. I thought this was a good six man tag team match where everyone got a chance to shine. In fact I'd dare say Adonis and Top Dolla got more screen time than Scott with Adonis in particular really moving well around the ring. I thought it was the match of the night and another feather in the cap of Fantasma who have been one of the better stables in Pro Wrestling this past year or so.

Oh didn't know Electra Lopez is with Legado Del Fantasma, makes sense. Thought they mighta gotta Ex MLW star Serena De La Renta for that role.

Next show we've got...

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ridge Holland - I expect this to be even more physical than the Thatcher match, Ciampa only knows one speed and that's why his body is so broken. Holland is going to have his hands full with the former NXT Champion.

LA Knight vs. Johnny Gargano - It's like a wrestling equivalent of being sent to the naughty corner as the two loud-mouths square off. Both guys are pros and will have a point to prove, with LA Knight in particular looking to add the NXT Championship to his resume.

Kyle O'Reilly vs. Duke Hudson - Oh Duke what have you done? Hey this is a marquee match but O'Reilly is one of the best in the industry and the form he's in, Hudson is going to get his teeth kicked in.

Roderick Strong Open Challenge - Be careful what you wish for Roddy!

Would like to see Io and Stark get some burn, they feel like such an afterthought on the show despite holding the tag titles. They should have had one universal tag title holder for the ladies in the company with all three brands competing for them.

Regarding Ilja Dragunov v WALTER.

In the days following the bout, it has now become the highest rated WWE match ever on cagematch.net.

The match is currently rated as the 21st greatest match of all-time with a rating of 9.69. The pair’s clash from October sits at number 37, with a rating of 9.64.

The Undertaker’s clash with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 is the second highest ranked WWE match, while CM Punk vs. John Cena from Money In The Bank 2011 is third.

Recency bias plays a lot into these Cagematch rankings, but that's still a very impressive accolade.

I'm very curious as to where a classic GOAT WWF match ranks on the list. Bret vs Austin WM13?

Big Dave gave it 5.25 stars.

So, lets me fair. It was great.

Aug 27, 2021 20:18:25 GMT NATH45 said:

Big Dave gave it 5.25 stars.

So, let's be fair. It was great.

You know, I didn't think the 2nd match was that good. Then I read this post & thought gee, Dave has a point. I changed my mind! star ratings FOREVER! :suspic:

Aug 27, 2021 20:18:25 GMT NATH45 said:

Big Dave gave it 5.25 stars.

So, lets me fair. It was great.

Which Big Dave: Batista or Meltzer?

Aug 27, 2021 21:08:17 GMT 🤯 said:

Aug 27, 2021 20:18:25 GMT NATH45 said:

Big Dave gave it 5.25 stars.

So, lets me fair. It was great.

Which Big Dave: Batista or Meltzer?

Getting 5+ stars from Batista seems like more of an honor.

Aug 27, 2021 21:12:22 GMT @ness said:

Aug 27, 2021 21:08:17 GMT 🤯 said:

Which Big Dave: Batista or Meltzer?

Getting 5+ stars from Batista seems like more of an honor.

That would be a lot more fun.