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Just four days from NXT TakeOver: Vengeance, the Black and Gold brand had one more match to finalize. The NXT Dusty Cup would end on Sunday, and the two semi-final matches with MSK, Legado Del Fantasma, Grizzled Young Veterans, and Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher would take place tonight.
Speaking of Legado Del Fantasma, the group's leader Santos Escobar had been antagonizing the former NXT Champion Karrion Kross for a while now. Unfortunately for the Cruiserweight Champion, his time may be up.
NXT started the night with a fast-paced Dusty Cup semi-final match, pitting the newcomers MSK against the dangerous Legado Del Fantasma.
WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: MSK vs Legado Del Fantasma
Joaquin Wilde and Wes Lee kicked off this action-packed episode of NXT, with MSK managing to get first blood. Tagging in his partner, Lee and Nash Carter pelted Wilde with a series of kicks followed by a bronco buster from Carter.
Raul Mendoza was in next but just couldn't break through Carter's defense. MSK again battered a member of Legado Del Fantasma, this time with Mendoza taking the punishment. Wilde was able to stun Lee long enough, however, with a wild shot of his own, managing to bring him to LGD's corner.
The cronies of the NXT Cruiserweight Champion took over here, demolishing Lee with a series of incredible offensive moves, including a beautiful assisted handspring moonsault. Lee broke away quickly, though, and made it back to his partner. Carter wasted no time, with Mendoza struggling to keep up with Carter's speed.
Another striking combination left Mendoza dazed, but sneaky tag to his partner allowed Legado Del Fantasma to send Lee all the way to the barricade with a pop-up missile dropkick as we cut to commercial.
Back from the break, Carter broke through to his corner, luckily tagging in Lee before he succumbed to any more damage. Lee sent LGD to the floor, leading to Hot Fire Flame off the apron. Lee followed that up with a fantastic tope col hilo, floating over the ropes with ease. Lee would've gotten the win had Wilde not dragged Mendoza back out of the ring.
Carter was sent into the barricade, allowing LGD to hit a missile dropkick (Mendoza) poison rana (Wilde) combination. A brainbuster nearly put him away. Lee blocked a 450 Splash, and rolled up Wilde for the victory. Mendoza broke it up by slamming Carter onto Lee.
Carter managed to break up LGD's finish, allowing Lee to crack Wilde on the jaw with the superkick. After that, the spinebuster/blockbuster finish put Wilde away. MSK, debuting in this NXT Dusty Cup, made it to the finals. What a run for these guys.
Results: MSK defeated Legado Del Fantasma via pinfall on NXT.
Grade: A+
MSK have impressed the WWE Universe with their high-octane offense and infectious personalities. At NXT TakeOver: Vengeance they'll face either The Grizzled Young Veterans or Tommaso Ciampa and Timoty Thatcher.
At NXT TakeOver: Vengeance, Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm will challenge for the NXT Women's Championship. We saw a vignette for Mercedes, who claimed that what we're seeing now is the "Real" Mercedes. Storm is just a little girl and is not ready for this. As far as Io Shirai, her reign has an expiration date, and it's coming up on Sunday.
Xia Li w/Boa and Tian Sha vs Jade on NXT
Xia Li was blindsided by Jade after a distraction from Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro. It wasn't enough, though, and a windmill kick blasted Jade, giving Xia Li another dominant win.
Results: Xia Li defeated Jade.
Grade: C
Another great performance by Li. WIth Catanzaro and Carter now getting involved, we'll hopefully see some longer matches from Li soon. Carter ran up to Tian Sha, demanding to know what she did to Li.
Li ran in and tossed Carter to the floor below before begging for forgiveness from Sha, who raised her hand. Boa came in to plead her case only to be grabbed by the apparent immortal. Li knew that the only way to save Boa was to dish out more punishment, and she demolished Carter and Catanzaro.
McKenzie asked WWE NXT GM William Regal about the Dusty Cup. Regal praised MSK for their run so far and was looking forward to the other semi-final match up tonight. When he entered his office, Scarlett Bourdeaux was sitting on his desk.
Bourdeaux said that she was here because if Kross had been here, it wouldn't be "good" for Regal. She demanded a match take place between The Doomsday Bringer and Santos Escobar. Regal agreed.
The Way came out next on NXT, with Johnny Gargano unable to walk thanks to a broken arm. That's not a typo, that's what they said. Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell carried Gargano to the ring before bringing in a wheelchair. Gargano spoke about his "unfortunate" injury caused by the villainous Kushida. Gargano claimed that it was completely unprovoked, and the Time Splitter was unhinged.
We saw the footage on the tron, while Candice LeRae covered her husband's arm. Gargano explained that he's a power walker, and since he can't swing his arm when he walks anymore, he's unable to walk. Along with that, we all knew how he felt about wheels, so a wheelchair was just another stab in the heart. Unfortunately, Gargano cannot defend his NXT North American Championship on Sunday.
NXT GM Regal came out to address the situation, stating that Gargano was cleared by the NXT medical staff yesterday. Gargano attempted to offer a false X-Ray which Regal easily saw through. Either Austin Theory could be the surrogate for the match with Theory facing Kushida for the belt tonight, or Gargano would have to forfeit the NXT North American Title.
Kushida appeared behind The Way, attacking Theory and proving once and for all that Gargano's arm is completely fine. Candice LeRae was enraged, but held back by Indi Hartwell. Looks like we'll be getting the NXT North American Title bout at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance after all.
NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final: The Way vs Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon
We joined the match in progress. Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon were on top early, but The Way were able to team up and bring down the Tank Girl of NXT. Candice hit a jackknife pinfall for a two-count before dragging Blackheart to her corner. Indi Hartwell was in next and crushed Moon with a nasty back elbow.
The Way worked over Blackheart's arm, but LeRae lost control of her long-time rival, allowing Moon to enter the match. The former NXT Women's Champoin delivered a nasty striking combination, sending LeRae to her corner. Hartwell tagged in again, but some quick tag team offense left Hartwell nearly down for the three count.
LeRae pulled Moon to the floor and tossed her into the table, allowing The Way to send Moon into her partner with a tight rope walking hurricanrana. Through the break, The Way wore down Ember further. Powerhouse Hartwell hammered Moon, and LeRae tagged in occasionally for some running sentons and leg drops, but ultimately let Hartwell deliver the brunt of the offense.
This led to Moon stunning Hartwell, forcing LeRae to run in for Blackheart's hot tag. Blackheart hit a swing-out kneeling facebuster and a senton on the ropes for a two-count. Moon rocked LeRae with a Detonation Kick, with Blackheart following up for a facebuster to Moon's knees.
Hartwell broke things up again, saving LeRae. She set up Moon on the ropes for an elevated Pixie Moonsault. It wasn't enough for the win, though. LeRae and Hartwell then focused on Blackheart, with Wicked Step Sister and a springboard elbow drop nearly putting Blackheart away. Had Moon not broken it up, they'd be heading to the finals.
Blackheart spiked Hartwell with a DDT, and stunned LeRae with a roundhouse. Moon stunned her with The Eclipse, and Blackheart finished the night with the senton splash onto both members of The Way for the win.
Results: Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon defeated The Way via pinfall on NXT.
Grade: B
Blackheart and Moon have moved onto the finals, and will face Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance. Kai and Gonzalez met their opponents by the trophy, with William Regal making a huge announcement. The winners on Sunday will earn an opportunity at the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.
Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa cut a promo ahead of their big semi-finals match with former NXT UK Tag Champions The Grizzled Young Veterans. The Psycho Killer stated that "Toothless Timmy and Old Man Ciampa" are going to tear apart GYV tonight and win the trophy at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar about his match with Karrion Kross next week. Legado Del Fantasma came in to apologize to their boss, but Escobar stopped them, stating that there's no need to apologize. Apologies only make you weak. However, they had an opportunity to make it up to him. Take out the former NXT Champion.
Kushida vs Austin Theory w/Johnny Gargano on NXT
The NXT Time Splitter ran Austin Theory into the corner, but Johnny Gargano ran a quick distraction play that allowed Mr. All Day to overpower Kushida. Theory was stunned with a big right, though, and was nearly planted with a German suplex. Kushida turned it into a leaping armbreaker, and trapped Theory for a series of curb stomps.
A double arm breaker left Theory wailing in the middle of the ring. Johnny Gargano was forced to watch on in horror as Kushida nearly snapped his protege's arm. Theory managed to get a break when he knocked Kushida off the ropes mid-springboard. Kushida was launched into the barricade as we cut to break.
Throughout the break, Theory kept up the pressure, and we tuned back in just in time for a perfect pendulum backbreaker. A fallaway slam followed up, with Theory effortlessly launching Kushida across the ring before high-fiving the NXT North American Champion.
Kushdia caught THeory with an inverted atomic drop, following up with a handspring back elbow. A drop-toe hold sent Theory face-first into the second turnbuckle, and Kushida rounded out that run of offense with a roundhouse. An over-the-shoulder armbreaker sent Theory to the floor where he took some time to get some feeling back into the weakened limb.
Kushida countered a powerbomb to the apron, locking Theory in a cross armbreaker on the side of the ring. Gargano rocked him with a roundhouse, giving Kushida the win.
Results: Kushida defeated Austin Theory via DQ on NXT.
Grade: B+
The Way continued to attack Kushida until Dexter Lumis dragged Theory under the ring. Gargano ran away when Lumis emerged, leading to Kushida trap Gargano in the Hoverboard Lock while Lumis locked Theory in the Silence.
Kushida then held the NXT North American Title above his head, but soon noticed Lumis's eyes on him and the gold. Could Lumis be next in line for Gargano or Kushida?
We got an NXT promo for Imperium, including the voice of NXT UK Champion WALTER. Will the Ring General be coming to Wednesday nights soon?
We cut to some footage backstage showing Legado Del Fantasma laid out. Karrion Kross sent a message, stating that this was just a preview of what's to come next Wednesday.
Suddenly, Cameron Grimes drove up to the parking lot, honking the horn to a brand new vehicle and handing out $100 bills to anyone he came across. Where did this money come from? Grimes came to the NXT ring and said that two months ago he was laid out by Timothy Thatcher the "no good snatcher."
Grimes planned on Caving In Thatcher very soon. However, between training for his return, he invested his money into GameStop, which ended up shooting Grimes' bank account straight "To The Moon."
Grimes has also invested in Dogecoin, and continued to pick up even more cash. Everything's looking up for Cameron Grimes.
NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final: Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa vs The Grizzled Young Veterans
James Drake and Zack Gibson attempted to hurl insults at their opponents tonight, which probably wasn't smart. The unlikely duo ran to the ramp, laying out the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions before the bell even rang. When the match officially started, Gibson was by himself as Drake was dumped over the barricade.
These two teams shared a very similar "punch you in the mouth" style. However, each team had their own advantage. Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa had size and experience, but Drake and Gibson had experience as a tag team and worked as a well oiled machine.
When Drake returned to the apron, he saved his partner from some of Thatcher's attacks in the corner. After sending Ciampa into the steel steps, Drake tagged in. The Grizzled Young Veterans then hit Thatcher with a nasty striking combination. They then focused up on the former NXT Champion, with an assisted apron powerbomb taking Ciampa out of the match for quite a while.
Throughout the final commercial break, GVD tore Timothy Thatcher down while his partner struggled to make it to his feet, let alone the apron. After suffering through quite a lot of punishment, Thatcher dropped Drake with a belly-to-belly.
Unfortunately, there was no one to tag. Gibson tagged in and dropped Thatcher back down to the mat before attempting to give "Toothless Timmy" his own lesson Thatch-as-Thatch-Can.
Ciampa finally made it back to the apron in time for Thatcher to break away from GVD. The Psycho Killer came in like a house on fire, taking both opponents down with a series of clotheslines. German suplexes abound dumped them on their heads. An Air Raid crash drove Drake into Gibson for a two-count.
Drake fought out of the Fairy Tale Ending twice, getting his partner into the bout. Ciampa and Gibson went through a slugfest, with Ciampa getting the best of Liverpool's Number One until a brainbuster spiked him on the mat.
Drake tagged in and used Ciampa as a springboard, knocking Thatcher to the floor with a dropkick. The Grizzled Young Veterans knocked Ciampa out with the Doomsday Device, but couldn't get the win as Thatcher broke up the pin.
Thatcher and Gibson brawled on the floor, but Drake followed through with a suicide dive. After blocking Willow's Bell, The Grizzled Young Veterans sent Ciampa and Thatcher to the showers with the Ticket to Mayhem, punching their own ticket to NXT TakeOver: Vengeance.
Results: The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher via pinfall on NXT.
Grade: A+
The Veterans will go to NXT TakeOver: Vengeance to face MSK in the finals of the NXT Mens Dusty Cup.
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