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Tonight's episode of NXT gave us a couple of the TakeOver matches the WWE Universe was robbed off thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The epic tale of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa would finally end, as the former best friends would battle one last time. Triple H revealed weeks ago that once they finished tonight, it was over, or both of them would be fired from the company.
We kicked off the night with the six-woman ladder match to determine Charlotte Flair's #1 contender. Over the course of February and March, Tegan Nox, Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, and Io Shirai earned their way into the bout in qualifying matches. The sixth, and final competitor, Dakota Kai, won a gauntlet match recently, knocking off Shotzi Blackheart who'd eliminated the rest of the competition in that bout, all losers of the said qualifying matches.
Which Superstar would find herself standing across Charlotte Flair in the near future?
NXT Six-Woman Ladder Match: Io Shirai vs Tegan Nox vs Chelsea Green vs Mia Yim vs Dakota Kai vs Candice LeRae
The six competitors broke off into three pairs attempting to eliminate one another early before Dakota Kai snuck up behind the others, ending up being the only one left standing at the beginning of the match. Raquel Gonzalez aimed to bring the ladder in, but LeRae and Yim dropkicked it into Kai's hired hand.
Yim, LeRae, and Nox took turns lighting up Kai. All three women have had serious problems with Kai in recent months, and this seemed a bit cathartic. Chelsea Green attempted to interrupt, but would be rocked by some stiff shots from the trio for her trouble.
Io Shirai, however, was able to take them out, rocking LeRae and Nox with a missile dropkick before dumping Yim to the floor. She didn't waste any time, and brought in a ladder to end the bout early. LeRae put a stop to it, leading to a moment where both women attempted to drop one another on the steel.
Chelsea Green rushed in, dropping both women on the ladder with a pair of bulldogs. Nox and Kai finally butted heads, trading stiff headbuts, uppercuts, and boots. Kai's pump kick was blocked and she was rocked with a nasty European uppercut before getting planted with a chokeslam.
As Green attempted to slide a ladder in, Nox caught it and sent her into the barricade. LeRae and Nox tried to make their way to the top, but a momentary distraction allowed the rest of the competitors to roll in. It was a back and forth battle between all six, ending with Yim dropping LeRae with Sole Food as everyone else was sent to the floor.
Green rushed Yim for a pump kick, but Yim dodged, inadvertently trapping Green's knee in the ladder. A chair shot seemingly eliminated her from the match, as her knee was cracked between the steel. Shirai connected with a running dropkick and launched Yim face first into the ladder with a slingshot.
As she ran up the ladder, Raquel Gonzalez entered the fray, sending the ladder over. Shirai landed on the top rope, turning it into a dive to the outside where she landed on Nox, LeRae, and Kai.
Gonzalez continued to stalk the area as Robert Stone tried to assist Chelsea Green. A table ad been set up while we were away for a commercial break. Gonzalez attempted to carry Kai to the top herself, but the HBIC put a stop to it. Gonzalez lifted Yim in the turnbuckle for a nasty head crank, but Yim escaped, attempting to powerbomb her through the table on the outside.
Tegan Nox assisted, making it a chokeslam/powerbomb combo. Yim fell through with Gonzalez while Kai kicked Nox's head off, sending her through a ladder on the outside. Kai and LeRae battled atop the ladder for the briefcase before getting taken out by Io Shirai.
LeRae responded with a German suplex that spiked Shirai on her neck. This left everyone out while Robert Stone pushed Chelsea Green into the ring. He motivated her as she attempted to push herself to the top.
Stone ran in to help her up the ladder. As they both stood at the top, Shirai and LeRae knocked it over, sending them both to the floor below. It came down, again, to Shirai and LeRae. Shirai raked LeRae's eyes before sending her crashing into a ladder set up in the turnbuckle.
With that, Io Shirai won the ladder match, thus becoming the #1 contender to Charlotte Flair's NXT Women's Championship.
Results: Io Shirai is the new #1 contender.
Grade: A
Next up, Finn Balor would address the situation between the NXT UK Champion WALTER and himself.
We were shown the ending of the match between Finn Balor and Alexander Wolfe. Imperium attempted to distract Balor, but the Prince would ultimately drive Wolfe into the corner with the shotgun dropkick.
A Coup de Grace and 1916 later, and Balor picked up a win against the Hatchet Man. An impressive win for Balor, for sure.
Balor cut a promo on Imperium's leader WALTER. He said that, for the moment, neither man is able to make their respective moves in this game of chess. However, the Ring General's championship reign is on borrowed time, as Balor will be the next NXT UK Champion.
We saw some footage from two weeks ago when Matt Riddle was attacked by Malcolm Bivens' latest project, Indus Sher. After emaciating the Original Bro, Bivens stated that his team would be the ones to dethrone the BroSerweights, whenever Pete Dunne could join his partner in the States.
Prior to their in-ring debut, we got another Killer Kross vignette, this time with a mysterious women grabbing his throat and whispering something amidst the photos of violence.
We were also shown the highlights of the kidnappings that we've seen, showing both Raul Mendoza and Joaquin WIlde getting shoved in a black SUV by mysterious Luchadors.
Indus Sher (Rinku & Saurav) w/Malcolm Bivens vs Ever-Rise (Matt Martel & Chase Parker)
Matt Martel attempted to outwrestle Rinku, but the size differential was too much to overcome. Parker tagged in, only to get launched back to his corner. Ever-Rise teamed up to trap Rinku in the corner while Parker hit a great step-up enziguri, dazing the big man.
A devastating lariat laid out Parker, however, as Rinku took him to Indus Sher's corner. Saurav and Rinku slammed Parker repeatedly and bounced him around the ring, keeping him cut off from his corner. Rinku's nasty boots kicked the fight out of Parker. A sidewalk slam planted him, and Rinku followed up by sending Martel to the floor.
The Pendulum Backbreaker/Diving Elbow Drop put away Chase Parker with ease.
Results: Indus Sher defeat Ever-Rise via pinfall.
Grade: C+
We were shown highlights of the NXT Women's Championship from WrestleMania. Rhea Ripley put up a great effort, but would ultimately tap to Charlotte Flair, making her a two-time champion.
An interview from Sunday showed Flair stating that Ripley was "okay" but she did what everyone else does. She bowed down to the Queen. Ripley, emotional, uttered only a few words before putting her head in her hands. "She was much better than I expected."
Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
Triple H sat in a ring in an empty building as both Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa arrived. Gargano was accompanied by his wife, Candice LeRae, who drove off without saying a word, clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing, though she handed something to him before leaving.
The Game dropped a chair in the ring and stated that once he left the building, it was on. As he did, Gargano and Ciampa entered the ring, waiting to see who would make the first move. Ciampa shoved the chair out of the way before they began laying into each other with right hands.
"You don't win tonight, I win!" Gargano repeatedly shouted at Ciampa before rocking him with a step-up enziguri in the ropes. His slingshot spear was countered with a knee lift. Ciampa hammered Gargano while asking who he'll replace him with. "We were brothers!" A slingshot upward into the bottom turnbuckle nearly knocked some teeth out.
Ciampa set up for Willow's Bell, but Gargano escaped (Ha-Ha) and wrapped Ciampa's knees around the ringpost. Gargano attempted to send Ciapma through a table, but he countered, lifting him up for a suplex and driving Gargano into the ring post.
Gargano rolled inside before Ciampa could take advantage of the table and hit a suicide dive, knocking Ciampa onto the cold hard floor. Johnny Wrestling launched Ciampa into a trash can and some old chairs and cables before denting a can over Ciampa's spine.
"Everyone always talks about how tough Tommaso Ciampa is," Gargano teased while driving a chair into Ciampa's knee. "And who could forget the neck," Gargano whispered before sending the chair into the upper spine of the Psycho Killer.
Gargano sat in the chair as referee Drake Wuertz admonished him. Didn't do any good, as there were no rules tonight. He set up the chair in the corner, aiming to drive Ciampa's head straight through the steel. Ciampa countered, launching Gargano and nearly sending him through the ring post in the process.
Ciampa rolled to the floor where he managed to catch Gargano diving, driving a steel trash can lid into his head. "Oh, you suck," said Gargano as he writhed in pain. Gargano was pelted with more shots from the lid before Ciampa wrapped the chair around Gargano's neck, driving him into the ring post.
The crutch was Ciampa's next weapon of choice. "You always talk about my actions, but never the intent. Torn ACL, I finished that for you!" Ciampa's frustrations boiled over as Gargano attempted to crawl away from his rage. Gargano would manage to temporarily blind Gargano with a fire extinguisher. The advantage didn't last long, as Ciampa drove Gargano through a table with a powerbomb.
The wind was knocked out of his chest. As he struggled to breathe, Ciampa walked off to find wire cutters, which he used to cut away the apron. It was a familiar moment, as Ciampa looked to tear away the ring mat. Referee Drake tried to talk some sense into Ciampa, but it was too late.
"I'm sick of the lies. I lived with him! It's all a charade..." With the ring torn apart, Ciampa closed in for the kill. Gargano had only begun moving again when the Blackhearted One attempted to chase him out the building. Gargano was able to drive some production crates into Ciampa before driving him face first into the WWE truck in the parking lot. With Ciampa laid out by the tire, Gargano nearly drove a road case through him. Ciampa was able to roll out and escape certain doom.
Ciampa climbed no top of the truck, goading Gargano into following him. The brawl resumed, with the ref not too far behind. A pair of superkicks dropped Ciampa. The Garga-No Escape was locked in, but Ciampa refused to quit. The two men traded strikes again, leaving one another on their backs atop the truck.
They managed to move back to the ring, with Gargano having the upper hand. He set up for an Avalanche Air Raid Crash to the exposed wood, but was stopped by Ciampa's repeated elbows. Ciampa looked for the same, dropping Gargano to the ground outside the ring.
Both men struggled to move, seemingly damaging their backs. The ref asked if they wanted to end the fight, but both men said no. Ciampa rolled Gargano inside, using the ropes to climb to his feet. Gargano got up just in time to counter a crutch shot with a can lid to the knee.
Ciampa avoided an STF with the crutch by bashing Gargano's head in with the lid. Using the crutch to steady himself, Gargano hit another superkick. Then another. He claimed that Ciampa was a failure as a husband and a father, calling him a monster. "Willow's gonna thank me for this."
Ciampa ducked a crutch shot and broke it over the back of Gargano. A camel clutch with the crutch woulnd't end it, though, as Gargano raked the eye of the ref before he tapped. Ciampa tried to hit Gargano with a knee, only for him to roll away. The ref was hit instead, sending him crashing to the floor.
Ciampa was able to hit Willow's Bell on the wood, leaving Gargano unconscious. However, there was no ref to count the pin. Gargano reached for Ciampa's hand, but he pulled away. Both men rocked one another with their own piece of the crutch, leaving them out cold.
Candice LeRae came in, hoping to put an end to everything. Neither man could quit. Gargano reached out to LeRae, who demanded Ciampa "finish it." He wouldn't, and she kicked Gargano in the groin before leaving.
Ciampa, stunned, knelt down beside Gargano, whose wife just said she hated him. He looked to forgive Gargano, and even apologized. Gargano apologized as well before LeRae came out of nowhere and kicked him in the groin as well.
Gargano revealed that he was wearing a cup. "You lose," he said, before driving Ciampa into the floor with the Fairy Tale Ending.
Results: Johnny Gargano defeated Tommaso Ciampa via pinfall.
Grade: A+
Gargano was assisted out of the building by LeRae, with the happy couple exclaiming that they finally won. As they went to their vehicle, there was somebody else waiting in a car near them.
Episode Rating: A
Io Shirai finally reached the top while the supposed presence of two former IMPACT stars at the end of the Final Beat Match leaves us with more questions!
