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So Much WWE, So Little Time

In other words, this issue of Pro-Darin is looking back at WrestleMania weekend, as well as episodes of NXT, NXT UK, and NXT: LVL UP that were shown days after that weekend. Let’s take a look at those events, shall we?

NXT Stand & Deliver

For the first three events that I’m going to talk about, we are going to be in the home of 2022 WrestleMania weekend which is Dallas, Texas. The first venue we go to is the American Airlines Center where NXT Stand & Deliver was held.

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The last time NXT held an event entitled “Stand & Deliver” was in the now former Capital Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida where NXT is held; unlike this year’s S&D, last year’s S&D was a two-night event, taking place on a Wednesday and Thursday. This year’s S&D took place at 1PM EST (12PM CST in Dallas), hours before night #1 of WrestleMania took place.

All NXT titles were on the line in seven matches including the pre-show match that occurred approximately twenty minutes before the event officially began. Not only did we have five title matches, but also two singles matches; one saw Gunther fight LA Knight, and another saw Tommaso Ciampa—fighting on the NXT brand for the final time—taking on Tony D’Angelo.

Every match that I saw in this event were—in my opinion—above average, with almost every one of them—pre-match included—getting 3 out of 5 or above; the only match that received less than 3 out of 5 even though it was still good was the main event match between Dolph Ziggler and Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship.

The reunion of Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez paid off as we saw them win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship over 2/3 of Toxic Attraction—Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne—in the pre-show. Dakota and Raquel fought well together as if they never broke up in the storyline in the first place and they proved that they still had what it takes to be a good team, especially Dakota who is nowadays a babyface ever since she teamed up with Wendy Choo in the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Also in the storylines, Cameron Grimes finally made his father smile from the heavens as he defeated Carmelo Hayes, Santos Escobar, Solo Sikoa, and Grayson Waller in a thrilling ladder match that kicked off S&D—and became my favorite S&D match—after the pre-show match came to a close. All five wrestlers—regardless of whether or not they brought along backup (Escobar with the rest of Legado del Fantasma, Waller with Sanga, and Hayes with Trick Williams)—fought tooth and nail for the NXT North American Championship, with lots of high-flying maneuvers and spills in the ring, from the ring and from the ladders. I was predicting that either Grimes or Hayes—who came in as the champion—would end up victorious, and it ended up being the primer. I’m glad to see Grimes win more gold on NXT, and I’m hoping that Hayes wins more gold—whether it’s the North American Championship, Tag Team Championship, or NXT Championship—in the near future.

Not only did the tag teams in the women’s division do well, but so did the four women that fought for the NXT Women’s Championship that afternoon. I wasn’t sure how Mandy Rose was going to pull it off until she saw an opportunity at the end when finishers from her opponents were performed left and right; those four women—Mandy Rose, Kay Lee Ray, Io Shirai, and Cora Jade—did very well in the four-way dance for gold.

Cue “Like This” by 2KBaby (featuring Marshmello) because here are the match results from the American Airlines Center in Dallas…

Pre-show match: Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez defeated Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Towards the end, Wendy Choo appeared at ringside and hit Gigi with her pillow and splashed her with a cup of what looked like orange soda. Seconds later, Dakota and Raquel won after Raquel hit Jacy with the Chingona Bomb. My score: 3/5

Match #1: Cameron Grimes defeated Santos Escobar (w/ Joaquin Wilde, Raul Mendoza and Elektra Lopez), Grayson Waller (w/ Sanga), Solo Sikoa, and Carmelo Hayes (w/ Trick Williams)

in a five-way ladder match to become the new NXT North American Champion. Escobar’s outfit paid homage to the late Ultimate Warrior. Also, Grimes’ entrance video had a spaceship landing on the moon (referencing his catchphrase “To the moon”).

Some of the accomplices that Escobar, Waller, and Hayes brought to the ring got involved in the match; notably, Williams nervously climbed up the ladder due to his fear of heights before getting knocked off, and also in the match, Elektra dove onto the competitors from the top rope to ringside. Near the end, after Hayes and Grimes were lying on top of the ladders that were bridging between the barricade and apron, Waller climbed to the top of a tall ladder and went for an elbow drop, but Hayes and Grimes moved out of the way and Waller ended up crashing through the ladders! Afterwards, Hayes came back in and attempted to get the title until Escobar beat him down. Then, Grimes came in and hit Escobar with the Cave In before climbing up and grabbing the title for the win. My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Tony D’Angelo (w/ AJ Galante) defeated Tommaso Ciampa.

Like at WrestleMania, there were special entrances at S&D as well. D’Angelo and Galante—who stars in the Netflix documentary “Untold: Crimes & Penalties”—came into the arena in a Ford Galaxie 500. Ciampa’s entrance video had WWE recruits watching highlights of his NXT tenure before it ended with Ciampa saying “My moment is now”; as soon as he came to the ring, he did Triple H’s water spitting pose on the apron before getting in the ring and performing a Shawn Michaels pose.

During the match, D’Angelo attempted to use a crowbar as a weapon until the referee took it from him before D’Angelo hit Ciampa with a low blow behind the referee’s back for two. Then, D’Angelo went for a crowbar shot again until Ciampa hit him with Willow’s Bell before putting him in the Gargano Escape. As soon as the got to the floor (where Ciampa took apart the ring mat earlier), D’Angelo DDT’d Ciampa onto the concrete before coming back in the ring and hitting him with a big boot for the win. Post-match, the fans thanked Ciampa, then was greeted by Triple H at the entryway. My score: 3.25/5

Match #3: MSK defeated the Creed Brothers (w/ Ivy Nile and Malcolm Bivens) and Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel in a triple threat tag team match to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.

DJ Tommy Carlucci performed the theme song for MSK at the entryway. Imperium now has a new theme song instead of the “New World Symphony.” Near the end after Aichner and Barthel took down Brutus and Julius at ringside (seconds after Brutus hit the Imperium members with a cannonball from the top rope), Aichner and Barthel attempted to hit Wes Lee with the Imperium Bomb until Lee fought back, leading to Nash Carter surprising Barthel with a sunset flip powerbomb for the win. My score: 3.5/5

(NOTE: Four days later, Nash Carter was released from the WWE after allegations of abuse among other controversial things mentioned by Impact Wrestling competitor Kimber Lee; the NXT Tag Team Championship is now vacant.)

Match #4: Mandy Rose defeated Cora Jade, Kay Lee Ray and Io Shirai in a fatal four-way match to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.

Cora’s entrance had skateboarders from the Devotion Skateboard Company. KLR carried her baseball bat to the ring like Casey Jones from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” even though the bat was never used in the match per se. Mandy had a moving podium that brought her down; black angel wings were on the screen, making it look like Mandy was a fallen angel. Towards the end, KLR hit Cora with the KLR Bomb until Io threw KLR out of the ring before hitting Cora with a top rope moonsault. Then, Mandy ran in and hit Io with a pump knee for the win. My score: 3.25/5

Match #5: Gunther defeated LA Knight;

Towards the end, Knight climbed to the top rope until Gunther knocked him off before hitting him with a top rope splash to the back followed by a powerbomb for the win. My score: 3.5/5

Main event: Dolph Ziggler (w/ Robert Roode) defeated Bron Breakker to retain the NXT Championship.

Breakker’s entrance was grabbing a chainsaw that’s multicolored like the NXT logo, and then sawing the “X” in “NXT” in half before kicking it out of the way to the ring. During the match, Roode got caught tripping Breakker until the referee ejected him from ringside; unbeknownst to the referee and Breakker, Ziggler ripped off a middle turnbuckle pad.

Near the end, Breakker hit Ziggler with a spear followed by a powerslam until Roode returned and pulled Ziggler out of the ring before Breakker dove onto the two with a tope con giro. Then, after Ziggler hit Breakker with a Famouser followed by a Zigzag for two, Breakker hit Ziggler with another spear and went for another powerslam until Ziggler got down and shoved him into the exposed turnbuckle before winning with a superkick. My score: 2.75/5

(NOTE: Two nights later on an episode of Raw, Breakker defeated Ziggler in a rematch and became the new NXT Champion.)

WrestleMania (Night 1)

It’s still April 2, 2022, but it’s now nighttime. Plus, we stay in Dallas, Texas, but this time, we move from the American Airlines Center to the AT&T Stadium which is the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Brantley Gilbert performs his rendition of “America the Beautiful”, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are dancing to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, and both “Sacrifice” by the Weeknd and “I Feel Good” by Pitbull (featuring Anthony Watts and DJWS) are cued because it’s time for night #1 of WrestleMania!

The two-night event was off to a great start. Not only did we have titles on the line, but also a win streak that was on the line, a YouTube celebrity and boxer in pro wrestling action, a wrestler back in the WWE since 2016, and a talk show segment turned into a No Holds Barred match.

Even though I said that WrestleMania was off to a great start, the opening match went awry injury wise; the Usos retained the SmackDown Tag Team championship over Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura after an injury to Boogs occurred in the middle of the match which ended up being short lived.

As I noted, a win streak was on the line. The Happy Corbin storyline began in the summer of 2021, days after Summer Slam. Unlike his previous characters—Lone Wolf, King Corbin, etc.—Happy Corbin had a very long win streak just like what Marius Al-Ani had in wXw after winning the 16 Carat Gold in 2021 as well as before winning the wXw Unified World Championship during that streak; the reason why I compared Happy Corbin’s streak to Al-Ani’s is because…well…just like Al-Ani’s streak when he defended the title against Axel Tischer later in 2021, Corbin’s streak came to an end as well courtesy of Drew McIntyre. Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of Happy Corbin, seeing him build his win streak was fun while it lasted.

Both women’s championship matches were good, with Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch being the better of the two. Both Bianca and Becky had a great showing in that matchup, as did Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey in the other women’s championship match. The bout between Charlotte and Ronda had some distractions involving referee Charles Robinson such as arguing over the pin count or what happened to him near the end, even though I still enjoyed watching the match; I was pretty sure that Ronda would win the gold at WrestleMania until Charlotte ended up emerging victorious. As for Bianca and Becky’s match, it was a pretty good back and forth matchup even with Becky making Bianca’s long hair braid the Achilles heel at times; it was good seeing Bianca—in the storyline—finally get revenge on Becky by defeating her for the Raw Women’s Championship.

The tag team match that saw the Miz and Logan Paul taking on Rey and Dominik Mysterio was better than I expected; even though I’m not really big on YouTube celebrities like many people are nowadays (especially as someone who enjoys sketches, moments from before my time, sports clips, and such on YouTube), Paul actually did very well in this tag team bout and—like the Miz—portrays a pretty good self-centered heel.

I was leery over seeing that the KO Show was going to be the last segment at WrestleMania instead of a main event match until I was mistaken after what happened during the talk show segment. Kevin Owens revealed to the WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin that he actually wanted a match—No Holds Barred—against him all along. The Texas Rattlesnake himself, Austin, agreed to the match even after asking the fans for a “Hell Yeah” if they wanted to see him beat the “sack of shit” Owens; long story short, regardless of how he competed with surgically repaired knees years ago, it was still a fun closer between Austin and Owens.

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Seth “Freakin’” Rollins’ matchup involving a mystery opponent of Mr. McMahon’s choosing was my favorite match of night #1 of WrestleMania. The mystery opponent turned out to be the same competitor that left WWE in 2016 and competed elsewhere in other companies such as New Japan, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and—the same company where he worked as an executive vice president back in 2019—AEW…Cody Rhodes! Despite thinking “saw that coming” after seeing articles a few weeks prior to WrestleMania, it was a great return for who turned out to be Rollins’ opponent. It was an excellent back and forth match between Rhodes and Rollins, with Rhodes coming out on top; if those two ever plan on competing in another one-on-one match, I would automatically watch it in a heartbeat.

Here are the match results from the AT&T Stadium in Dallas…

Match #1: The Usos defeated Rick Boogs & Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

Boogs and Nakamura were sponsored by Mike’s Harder Half Lemonade Half Tea, and had support from the “Harder Farmer”—from the commercials for that drink—in the crowd. During the match, Boogs attempted to lift both Jimmy and Jey Uso on his shoulders until his right leg gave out; this led to Nakamura flying solo until the Usos won with the 1D. It was later learned that Boogs suffered a torn quadricep to the patella. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Drew McIntyre defeated Happy Corbin (w/ Madcap Moss).

During the match, McIntyre became the first wrestler ever to kick out of Corbin’s End of Days. McIntyre would go on to win via Claymore. Post-match, Moss got on the apron and read McIntyre the riot act until McIntyre scared him away by slicing the ring ropes with his sword Angela! My score: 2.5/5

Match #3: The Miz & Logan Paul defeated Rey & Dominik Mysterio.

Both Rey and Dominik—who appeared on the entryway by popping up on stage (just like Rey did when he debuted in the WWE in 2002)—paid homage to the late Eddie Guerrero; Rey had an outfit that was the same colors as the flag of Mexico, and Dominik’s was the same color as the flag of the United States.

Paul wore a PSA10 Pikachu Illustrator—an expensive Pokémon card—around his neck. Near the end, Rey and Dominik hit Paul with a double 619 followed by back-to-back Froggy frog splashes until the Miz—who tagged in unbeknownst to the Mysterios—won by hitting Rey with the Skull Crushing Finale. Afterwards, the Miz surprised Paul by hitting him with the Skull Crushing Finale. My score: 3.25/5

Match #4: Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to become the new Raw Women’s Champion.

Becky drove to the entryway in a Cadillac Escalade. Bianca’s theme song was performed by the Texas Southern University marching band. As soon as the match began, Becky hit Bianca with the Manhandle Slam for two. After going back and forth in and outside of the ring, Bianca would win with the KOD. My score: 3.75/5

Match #5: “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes defeated Seth “Freakin’” Rollins.

Rollins had a choir singing his theme song at the entryway. Rhodes won after a Cross Rhodes, Dusty Rhodes’ punches and a bionic elbow, and another Cross Rhodes. My score: 4.25/5

Match #6: Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Ronda hit Charlotte with the Piper’s Pit, but got a two after Charlotte put her foot on the bottom rope; Charlotte would hit Ronda with the Natural Selection after Ronda argued with referee Charles Robinson over the pin count. Towards the end, Charlotte went for the Figure Eight—that Ronda broke earlier—until Ronda kicked her into Robinson, then Ronda made Charlotte tap out to an armbar while the referee was unconscious; Ronda woke up the referee until Charlotte picked up the win with a big boot. My score: 3.25/5

Main event: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match.

Austin drank beer during the match while fighting Owens in and outside the ring; they also fought in the crowd and at the entryway as soon as Austin drove his ATV with his opponent that tried to escape with the vehicle.

Near the end, Owens hit Austin with the Stone Cold Stunner for a near fall, then attempted to hit Austin with a steel chair, but missed as the chair ricocheted off the top rope and to his head; this led to Austin winning with the Stone Cold Stunner. Afterwards, Austin celebrated with beer and hit Owens with another Stunner before Owens was hauled away by two officers, then drank beer with Raw commentator Byron Saxton before hitting the commentator with a Stunner as well. My score: 3.5/5

WrestleMania (Night 2)

We’re staying at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, but this time, the date is April 3, 2022, athletes and celebrities—including Dallas Cowboys players Micah Parsons and Ezekiel Elliott, and Jefferson White who stars in the Peacock series “Yellowstone”—are in attendance with the rest of the fans, and it’s night #2 of WrestleMania.

Actor Mark Wahlberg was right about one thing when he narrated after Jessie James Decker performed her rendition of “America the Beautiful”, saying that the sequel usually isn’t as good as the first; even though I’m going to compare apples and oranges for a brief moment here, I actually agree with him when it comes to sequels in movies, such as—comparing two movies that came out in the 1990s—making “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” #1 (because of how much action it had as well as being introduced to more MK characters) and “Mortal Kombat” #2.

Like night #1 of WrestleMania, night #2 also had titles on the line; it also had a match that was reminiscent of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant from WrestleMania III (minus a body slam followed by a leg drop used in the aforementioned WMIII match), a well-known stuntman and celebrity competing in an Anything Goes match, a dream match that was made a minute or so before one of the competitors turned heel weeks before WrestleMania, a tag team match that was moved from night #1 to night #2 and ended up being short lived, and a commentator and former football player in action. Also, like WrestleMania in 2019, there was a match with two titles on the line; unlike the match in 2019—Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair—where the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships were on the line, this match with two titles on the line was a championship unification match where the winner walked away as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

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Night #2 of WrestleMania kicked things off with a bang, with the opening match being my favorite match of the night. The opener was RK-Bro defending the Raw Tag Team Championship against Alpha Academy and Street Profits in a triple threat tag team match; RK-Bro won the tag team championship four weeks prior to WrestleMania on an episode of Raw over Alpha Academy (that came in as champions that night) and Seth “Freakin’” Rollins & Kevin Owens. I wasn’t sure who was going to win the titles, whether it was RK-Bro whose reign as tag team champions is fairly new, the Street Profits since we haven’t seen Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins win more gold in a while, or Alpha Academy that has gotten a big push even before winning the tag team championship early this year. In the end, it was the team of Randy Orton and Riddle retaining the titles in a spectacular opener.

Unlike Johnny Knoxville’s encounter with Sami Zayn at Royal Rumble, their encounter at WrestleMania was fun to watch (and even better in my opinion). The Anything Goes match between Zayn and the “Jackass” star gave us a lot of laughs; they still threw in a handful of pro wrestling maneuvers besides weapons including those that are…well…“Jackass” related. Plus, I kind of expected Knoxville getting help from his buddies that are also part of the “Jackass” franchise; other than that, this match was fun while it lasted.

Also fun while it lasted was the dream match between Edge and AJ Styles, which was my second favorite match of night #2. It was great seeing two wrestlers from the same generation—Edge mostly in the WWE; and AJ Styles from what’s nowadays Anarchy Wrestling in Cornelia, Georgia (back when it was Wild Side Wrestling before National Wrestling Alliance sanctioned it, renaming it “NWA Wild Side”), to WWE’s opponents such as Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and New Japan just to name a few—going at it during one of WWE’s major premium live events (P.S.: I still call them Pay-Per-View events regardless of who calls them what nowadays). The match even had a surprise ending, courtesy of the sudden appearance of Damian Priest leading to Edge—whom Priest aligned with afterwards—picking up the win.

We even saw two title changes in the event; Naomi & Sasha Banks surviving a fatal four-way tag team match to be crowned the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, and Roman Reigns defeating Brock Lesnar—both with and without help from Paul Heyman—to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

Here are the night #2 match results from the AT&T Stadium in Dallas…

Match #1: RK-Bro defeated the Street Profits and Alpha Academy in a triple threat tag team match to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Near the end, Montez Ford attempted to hit Randy Orton with the From the Heavens splash until Riddle surprised him on the top rope and hit him with a springboard RKO. Then, Chad Gable went for an aerial maneuver from the top rope until Orton caught him with the RKO for the win. Post-match, the Street Profits brought Olympic gold medalist, NCAA wrestling champion and future Raw superstar Gable Steveson into the ring and the three and RK-Bro got ready to celebrate until Gable interrupted them by slapping one of the red solo cups out of Steveson’s hand; Gable said that Steveson had a lot to learn until Steveson hit him with a belly-to-belly suplex prior to celebrating with the Street Profits and RK-Bro. My score: 4.25/5

Match #2: Bobby Lashley defeated Omos.

Lashley’s entrance featured him flexing his muscles on a podium before heading to the ring (ala Chris Masters). Lashley was able to suplex Omos before spearing him in the ribs and then winning with another spear. My score: 2/5

Match #3: Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn in an Anything Goes match.

“Jackass” stars Tremaine, Dark Shark, and Jasper watched from the audience, cheering for Knoxville. Weapons used in the match included a trashcan, trashcan lids, a fire extinguisher, a crutch, a stop sign, a cookie sheet, two tables (one with mousetraps on them), an airhorn, pyrotechnics that went off in one of the four corners with a push of a button, a bowling ball, a device that activated a leg to kick somebody (I’m not making this up in case you’re wondering…lol…), another devices that activated a giant hand to strike somebody, a taser, tongs, and—to top it all off—a giant mousetrap.

Knoxville not only received help from Tremaine, Dark Shark, and Jasper, but also from Chris Pontius who fought in what the cast of the TV show “Scrubs” (especially characters J.D. and “The Todd”) would call a “banana hammock” and Wee-Man who hit Zayn with a bodyslam after fighting him from under the ring! Near the end, Knoxville and his “Jackass” colleagues brought in the giant mousetrap and closed it on Zayn before Knoxville pinned him for the win. My score: 2.5/5

Match #4: Naomi & Sasha Banks defeated Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler & Natalya and Carmella & Queen Zelina in a fatal four-way tag team match to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Sasha arrived in a Lamborghini convertible on the entryway before heading to the ring with Naomi. Liv and Rhea came as Catwoman and Batman (even though Corey Graves, on commentary, believed that Rhea was dressed like Donnie Darko). During the match, Zelina and Shayna attempted to hit Naomi with a double superplex, as did Carmella and Natalya to Sasha in another corner; then, Rhea and Liv brought the two towers of superstars down from the corners. The team of Naomi and Sasha won after hitting Carmella with a wheelbarrow slam/Codebreaker combo. My score: 2.5/5

Match #5: Edge defeated AJ Styles.

For some reason, Styles came to the ring with a cut on his right cheek. Edge’s entrance consisted of him sitting on a throne that was placed on a burning podium. Towards the end, Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm until he saw Damian Priest at ringside; Styles still went for the Phenomenal Forearm until Edge caught him with a spear for the win. My score: 4/5

Match #6: Ridge Holland & Sheamus (w/ Butch) defeated Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods.

This match was supposed to take place on night #1 until it got moved to night #2. Kingston and Woods paid homage to Big E who was injured by Holland weeks prior to WrestleMania after a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor gave him a neck injury (get well soon Big E!). Holland and Sheamus ambushed 2/3 of the New Day prior to the match, then in a couple minutes, Sheamus hit Kingston (at ringside) and Woods (distracted by Butch) with a Brogue Kick prior to Holland picking up the win after hitting Woods with Northern Grit.

Post-match, Butch attacked Woods until Holland and Sheamus pulled him away, looking like the scene from the movie “Office Space” where Peter, Michael and Samir destroy the printer. No score.

Match #7: Pat McAfee defeated Austin Theory (w/ Mr. McMahon).

Mr. McMahon did the in-ring intro for Theory. McAfee came to the ring with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders dancing to “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes; also, he kicked a Dallas Cowboys football to the fans as soon as he got into the ring. Theory went for the ATL (nowadays known as the “A-Town Down”) until McAfee countered with a rollup for the win; McAfee, while celebrating his victory, dared Mr. McMahon to get in the ring afterwards. My score: 2.5/5

Match #8: Mr. McMahon (w/ Austin Theory) defeated Pat McAfee.

Seconds before the match began, Theory blindsided McAfee, leading to Mr. McMahon making the match one-sided—even with Theory’s help—as soon as the bell rang. Then, Mr. McMahon kicked a Dallas Cowboys football into the ribs of McAfee before pinning him for the win. Post-match, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin came into the ring and fought Theory, who charged right at him, before hitting him with the Stone Cold Stunner. Then, Austin drank beer with Mr. McMahon before hitting him with the Stunner, and then drank beer with McAfee before—you guessed it—hitting him with the Stunner as well; a funny moment occurred as we saw McAfee lying on his back on the floor while drinking a beer. No score.

Main event: Roman Reigns (w/ Paul Heyman and the Usos) defeated Brock Lesnar for both the WWE Universal Championship (retained) and the WWE Championship, becoming the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

As soon as Heyman did Reigns’ in-ring intro, Lesnar did his own in-ring intro while mocking his former advocate. After exchanging suplexes, spears (including one through the barricade), F5s and Superman Punches for near falls, Reigns speared Lesnar into the referee before hitting him with a low blow and then—courtesy of Heyman—hitting him with the Universal title before pinning him for two. Lesnar then had Reigns in a Kimura lock until Reigns, with Heyman’s help as shown in the post-match replay, grabbed the bottom rope. Then, Reigns blocked Lesnar’s F5 and won after hitting him with one more spear. My score: 2.5/5

NXT

Now that WrestleMania weekend came and went, it’s time to head to Orlando, Florida for this week’s episode of NXT.

Both Cameron Grimes and Bron Breakker are planning on proving to be fighting champions ever since winning titles during and after that weekend. This week we saw Grimes not only keep his promise to his late father by winning the NXT North American Championship at S&D, but also prove to be a fighting champion by accepting Solo Sikoa’s challenge for the title; their title match is scheduled for next week, and I can assure you that this will be one damn good title match to watch. Even though Sikoa can be tough as nails, he’s definitely a good challenge for Grimes even though his title reign is just beginning per se.

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Breakker is also proving to be a fighting champion, and we saw it as he accepted the challenge—for the NXT Championship—from Imperium’s “Ring General” Gunther. There were fractures forming in Imperium this week ever since they lost the NXT Tag Team Championship at S&D (with proof being Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel losing in the opening match), but that didn’t bother Gunther as he clashed with Breakker. Their match was my favorite for this episode; it was so good, it looked like something that you would see on either a special episode of NXT (such as “Halloween Havoc”, “New Years Evil”, etc.), or an NXT premium live event (regardless of whether or not they’re called “TakeOver” events today). I originally thought that both Breakker and Gunther would clash in the near future instead of this weekend, but for a match to occur a couple days after WrestleMania, I was perfectly fine seeing it on this week’s episode of NXT.

Not only am I looking forward to seeing Grimes vs. Sikoa for the NXT North American title next week, but I’m also looking forward to seeing Dakota Kai fight Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship as well. This occurred after 2/3 of Toxic Attraction—Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne—won back the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship after Wendy Choo, who came to help near the end, got blindsided by the aforementioned women’s champion. I really think Dakota needs to win more gold, especially in the form of the NXT Women’s Championship; despite being the tag team champion twice, she definitely deserves to win singles gold in the future even if it means—and please forgive me if it sounds like I’m jumping the gun here—next week.

Predictions aside, here are the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: The Creed Brothers (w/ Malcolm Bivens) defeated Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel.

Near the end, Aichner and Barthel went for their corner dropkick maneuver, but Aichner decided to walk away as Barthel—who bled from his left eye—watched; this led to Brutus and Julius winning after a torture rack slam followed by a basement clothesline. Suddenly, after the match, the masked attackers took down the Creed Brothers with steel chairs and unmasked themselves; they turned out to be, coming from NXT UK, Pretty Deadly! My score: 3.75/5&

(NOTE: The members of Pretty Deadly are now going by different names on NXT; Lewis Howley is now Elton Prince, and Sam Stoker is now Kit Wilson.)

Match #2: Dexter Lumis (w/ Indi Hartwell) vs. Duke Hudson (w/ Persia Pirotta) ended in a double count out in four minutes.

Towards the end, Indi shoved Hudson’s leg off the bottom rope while Lumis pinned him, then both Lumis and Hudson got tangled at a ring post while fighting until Indi and Persia pulled the two competitors as if it were a tug of war; all four then collapsed on the floor as the referee counted to ten. My score: 0.5/5

Match #3: Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne defeated Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Raquel’s right knee—that Toxic Attraction injured weeks prior—was worked on in the match. Near the end, Wendy Choo appeared at ringside until Mandy Rose appeared and blindsided her before distracting Raquel. This led to Gigi and Jacy picking up the win after hitting Raquel with a roundhouse kick/leg sweep combo (known as the “Toxic Shock”). My score: 2.5/5

(NOTE: Raquel Gonzalez is now on SmackDown, going by the name Raquel Rodriguez.)

Match #4: Nikkita Lyons defeated Lash Legend with a leg split leg drop.

My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Bron Breakker defeated Gunther to retain the NXT Championship.

After Gunther hit Breakker with a powerbomb for two followed by a top rope splash for another two, Breakker fought back before defeating him with a powerslam. Post-match, Rick Steiner—Breakker’s father—appeared on the screen and congratulated him before it was revealed that he was tied up and caged by Joe Gacy and Harland. My score: 4.25/5

(NOTE: Gunther and Marcel Barthel are now on SmackDown; Gunther is still known as Gunther, but Barthel is now Ludwig Kaiser.)

NXT UK

Now, we move to the United Kingdom for an episode of NXT UK at the BT Sports Studios in London, England.

Mind games are being played by rivals Kenny Williams and Sam Gradwell. In the “earlier this week” segments, Gradwell’s bag was filled with maggots, and he ended up placing a note on Williams’ locker reading “Keep playing cockroach! Watch your back!” This has been going on ever since Gradwell was poked fun of by not making any friends on NXT UK, and Gradwell has been going after Williams ever since (even before Williams cut off his rival’s mohawk). I got a feeling that those two will be in a one-on-one match but with a stipulation that may have no disqualifications (extreme rules, steel cage, etc. to be more specific) whatsoever.

Speaking of stipulations, we finally learned that in two weeks, Moustache Mountain will defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter; this time, it will be a two-out-of-three falls match. I definitely like seeing stipulations like this in tag team matches, whether it’s a tornado tag team match or an iron man tag team match that we’ve seen a few times (even back when WWE had their own relaunch/rendition of ECW) or even the aforementioned two-out-of-three falls match. Those stipulations definitely build more for tag team divisions in any company besides WWE.

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The main event match for the NXT United Kingdom Championship was my favorite match on this episode; in this bout we saw Ilja Dragunov defend the title against Diamond Mine member Roderick Strong. Not only did they prove to be heavy hitters in that bout, but also upped each other’s ante by working on parts of their body; Strong worked on Dragunov’s right arm after a missed Torpedo Moscow attempt whilst Dragunov worked on Strong’s left leg. If that hard hitting match didn’t tickle your fancy, I don’t know what would. Onto the match results from London…

Match #1: Primate (w/ T-Bone and Eddie Dennis) defeated Wild Boar in approximately three and a half minutes.

Dennis walks Primate and T-Bone on leashes. Near the end, T-Bone distracted the referee as Dennis struck Wild Boar with one of the leashes before Primate pinned his opponent for the win. Post-match, all three members of Symbiosis put a leash on Wild Boar and Primate and T-Bone held him up while Dennis whipped him with the chain until, all of the sudden, the returning Mark Andrews ran in and shooed away Symbiosis with a steel chair. My score: 0.5/5

Match #2: Charlie Dempsey (w/ Rohan Raja) defeated Wolfgang.

Towards the end, the Die Familie eye appeared on the screen, and—after Wolfgang knocked Raja off the apron—Dempsey hit Wolfgang with a butterfly suplex into a bridging pin for the win. After the match, Wolfgang blamed Mark and Joe Coffey for not being at ringside for his match before storming back into their locker room. My score: 2.5/5

Main event: Ilja Dragunov defeated Roderick Strong to retain the NXT United Kingdom Championship;

after Strong hit Dragunov with a jumping knee, Dragunov came back with the Torpedo Moscow for the win. My score: 4.25/5

NXT: LVL UP

Finally, we return to Orlando for an episode of NXT: LVL UP.

Both the first and third matches were fairly good matches, especially for having up-and-comers going at it with those are currently shown on NXT. Seeing them compete—as well as pick up wins—definitely proves that the newcomers can indeed, pun intended, level up.

Here are the match results from Orlando…

Match #1: Javier Bernal defeated Guru Raaj with a Codebreaker.

My score: 2/5

Match #2: Ivy Nile (w/ Malcolm Bivens) defeated Thea Hail.

This was Thea’s debut. Ivy won after making her submit to a standing dragon sleeper. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Andre Chase & Bodhi Hayward defeated Channing Lauren & Troy Donovan.

Like Thea Hail, the team of Lauren and Donovan also debuted. The team of Chase and Hayward won after hitting Lauren with a Gory Bomb/neckbreaker-like flatliner combo (known as the “Fratliner”). **My score: 2/5 **

Next time…

ICW Fight Club returns…along with NXT, NXT UK and NXT: LVL UP of course!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment! I’ll see you next time!

(Photos shown in the newsletter are from WWE.)