WWE NXT live results: Cole & O’Reilly face-to-face segment

After airing on Syfy for two weeks due to the Olympics, NXT is back on the USA Network tonight.

NXT general manager William Regal will mediate a face-to-face segment with Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly on tonight’s show. Cole and O’Reilly have a 1-1 record against each other since the breakup of Undisputed Era. O’Reilly defeated Cole at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April, but Cole picked up the win at Great American Bash last month.

O’Reilly attacked Cole with a steel chair on NXT two weeks ago and suplexed him onto the steel steps.

WWE has confirmed that NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez will defend her title against Dakota Kai at TakeOver 36 later this month. Kai turned against Gonzalez two weeks ago and laid her out with a kick. After Kai explained her actions last week, Gonzalez will respond tonight.

Kai will face Sarray in tonight’s opening match. Plus, NXT UK’s Ilja Dragunov will appear, there will be a special look at the feud between NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Samoa Joe, and the NXT Breakout Tournament semifinals will begin with Odyssey Jones vs. Trey Baxter.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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The show opened with a canned intro recapping the previous episode. Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett welcomed viewers to the show from the commentary desk. Joseph said Beth Phoenix is on vacation.

Joseph goes on to say there is breaking news. Ember Moon is not cleared to wrestle, and her replacement was the number one contender to the NXT Women’s Championship, Dakota Kai. She came to the ring and cut a promo on NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez before the match. 

Kai vowed to beat the undefeated Sarray, and prove she was no one’s sidekick. Kai declared herself the next women’s champ.

Dakota Kai defeated Sarray

Kai pinned Sarray clean to end Sarray’s undefeated streak in NXT. Despite giving Sarray her first loss in NXT, the match was really dern good. Raquel Gonzalez ran in afterwards for a post-match save.

Kai was very aggressive, and she began to maul Sarray. Nifty counters by Sarray, and she caught in a bridging half crab leglock. Kai got a rope break, but Sarray started stomping her. Sarray executed a Perfect-plex before the show went to a picture-in-picture commercial break.

Fighting spirit exchange as the show returned from break. Sarray stomped on Kai again, and Sarray suplexed her. Kai soon fought back, and she hit Sarray with a face wash. They traded strikes. Sarray delivered a stiff dropkick like she has in other matches, and then she went for another. Missing on the second attempt, Sarray fell victim to a kick from Kai.

Sarray came back with near falls on Kai. Sarray delivered a spin kick, and went to measure for a running kick. Kai cut her off with a boot to the face in a corner, and Kai covered Sarray for a pinfall.

Kai went to kick Sarray again after the match. She measured Sarray, but Gonzalez ran in for a save. Kai ran off and fled. Gpnzalez then cut a promo on Kai, saying she was going to tear Kai apart at TakeOver. They meet in a grudge match for the title on the upcoming card.

Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis are going on their first date. Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano are still not happy, but Gargano says they must make this work for the family. Dexter arrives with flowers, and Gargano invites him inside the house. LeRae and Gargano were acting like over-protective parents. Gargano and LeRae then plotted to follow the new couple on their date. To be continued…

Ilja Dragunov was the focus of a vignette sponsored by Sonic. His live segment on the show is next after a commercial break, and an interlude by Hit Row. 

Great promo by Hit Row as they stood around a fire in a barrel. They burned a mask as a warning to Legado del Fantasma.

Pete Dunne confronts Ilja Dragunov

Ilja Dragunov said he is not a man of words. On the path he is on, word do not mean anything. Pain mean something. The struggle has meant something. Fighting spirit meant something. He put his strength into his fist instead of the mouth. He will do the unthinkable at TakeOver. You will witness chaos and rage. An unbeatable kingdome will fall when he defeats WALTER to become the new NXT UK Champion.

Pete Dunne interrupted Dragunov, and Dunne said he was due a thank you. Dunne said he carried Europe on his back, and Dunne claimed Dragunov is not getting the title match. Had he stayed in Europe, Dunne say she would have put Dragunov in his place a long time ago. 

Dragunov responds that Dunne has big words, but Dragunov says he is here because of himself. Dragunov vowed to beat WALTER, and that is something that Dunne cannot change. Dragunov reminded Dunne that Dunne never beat WALTER. Dragunov then challenged Dunne to a match. Dunne said after tonight, Dragunov would not make it to TakeOver. 

LA Knight lambasted Cameron Grimes in a backstage interview with McKenzie Mitchell. Grimes stood there with a stern look on his face, just taking it. Knight ordered Grimes to put the Million Dollar title belt on Knight’s shoulder.

Million Dollar Champion LA Knight (with Cameron Grimes) defeated Andre Chase

Knight pinned Chase in a very short match. Chase started off like a house of fire, but Knigth quickly caught him with a headlock DDT. Knight then pinned him.

Knight ordered Grimes into the ring, and he ordered him to kneel at his feet. Out comes The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. 

DiBiase said this has gone too far. He knows Grimes is a man of his word. DiBiase says Grimes has more going for him than being a butler. DiBiase told Grimes he believed in him, and the fans believed Grimes too. 

Knight cut off DiBiase, and Knight threatened to punch him in the mouth again. Grimes warned against that. DiBiase told Knight to shut his mouth. DiBiase told Grimes he could be anything he wants to be. DiBiase said Grimes wants to be a champion. DiBiase challenged Knight to put the Million Dollar title on the line.

Knight shot down the title match, saying he already beat Grimes twice. Then Knight agreed to the match at TakeOver anyway. Knight added a new stipulation to the match. If Knight retains against Grimes in the match, DiBiase becomes Knight’s new butler. 

DiBiase is a gambling man, and he agreed to the stip. The match is on for TakeOver 36.

A vignette hyped Gigi Dolan. She warned the NXT roster that she is running over everyone, and she is not doing it alone. 

Gigi Dolan (with Jacy Jayne) defeated Amari Miller

Dolan pinned Miller in a short match. Miller showed fire, but Dolan soon cut her off. Dolan won after executing a cobra twist bomb. Wickedly cool move, but hard to describe. Dolan looked strong in winning.

The wacky skits continue as Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis are on a date. LeRea’s cover was blown as she tried to spy on them at a restaurnant.

Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly face-to-face

General Manager William Regal served as a moderator, and a team of security was stationed around the ring. Cole and O’Reilly will be picking the stips for a two-out-of-three falls match at TakeOver. They each get to pick one stip, and Regal picks the final stip.

O’Reilly started off the verbal debate. He thought of a lot of different stipulations, but his loss to Cole at The Great American Bash did not set well with him. O’Reilly picked a straight wrestling match for the first fall. O’Reilly’s reasoning was a loss in a straight-up match would hurt Cole’s ego more than any chair shot to the head.

Cole responded that O’Reilly is so predictable. Cole said O’Reilly was delusional that he was better than Cole. Hot take: Cole is a helluva talker. Cole went on to pick a street fight for the second fall.

O’Reilly said he would be willing to be anything to put Cole “down for good.” Cole called him a moron. For 13 years Cole says O’Reilly has riden on his coattails. Cole was on fire here. He said O’Reilly will never be Adam Cole.

Cole called himself the greatest NXT superstar ever, and Cole called O’Reilly a footnote in Cole’s career. Cole went on to call O’Reilly soft. Cole kept baiting O’Reilly into a fight. They tied up in a pull-apart brawl. Regal yelled at them, saying the third fall will be inside a steel cage.

Tommaso Ciampa (flanked by Timothy Thatcher) cut a promo on Ridge Holland. Thatcher meets Holland in a match next week on NXT.

NXT Tag Team Champions MSK and Imperium cut promos on each other.

Odyssey Jones defeated Trey Baxter in a NXT Breakout Tournament semi-final match

Jones pinned Baxter, and Jones adavncing to the tournament final. 

Rather short match for semi-final tournament bout. This was David vs. Goliath, but Goliath won clean this time. 

Samantha Irving interviewed Jones after the match. He sent a shout out to his momma.

Boa (with Mei Ying) defeated Drake Maverick  

Boa pinned Maverick after outside interference.

Mei Ying got off her thrown to join Boa at ringside. She would go to intefere in the match.

Maverick was getting manhandled early on in the bout, but he came back for a dive to the outside. Ying spat mist in the eyes of Maverick, and Maverick walked into a roundhouse kick. Boa then scored a pinfall.

The wacky dating skits continued with even more wackiness. Johnny Gargano poorly disguised himself as a waiter. He approached Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis with a cake. The unwritten rule in pro wrestling is someone is getting the cake in the face. Hartwell busted Gargano for spying on her and Lumis. They fought over the cake, and it was sent into the face of Lumis. This was all supposed to be comedy I think. 

A “Prime Target” video package hyped Samoa Joe vs. Karrion Kross for the NXT title at TakeOver. Great stuff. Next week Joe and Kross are face-to-face on the go-home episode ahead of the supercard next Sunday.

Pete Dunne defeated Ilja Dragunov  

Dunne pinned Dragunov in a banger. WALTER caused a disrtaction during the match, and he attacked Dragunov after the bout.

Grappling in the beginning, and it was fantastic. The match only got better from there. Dunne was some kicks and a hard slap to Dragunov, and Dragunov answered back moments later with a stiff lariat.

Dragunov fired up into a flurry of offense. He jumped off the middle rope with a flying knee drop. On a second high risk move Dunne nailed Dragunov with an uppercut in mid-air. From there the match went through a picture-in-picture commercial break.

Dunne is working over Dragunov as the show returned from the break. Despite getting booted in the face, Dragunov fought back to trade strikes with Dunne. Great counters and exchanegs leading to a double down. More great counters and reversals, which led into them trading near falls.

My god these counters are a thing of beauty. Dragunov with a deadlift powerbomb for two. More two counts, but Dunne keeps kicking out. 

Dunne went for Bitter End, but he is countered by Dragunov. Dunne kept targeting the arm, but Dragunov fought to execute a dealift German suplex for yet another near fall. Senton bomb off the top rope by Dragunov. 

NXT UK Champion WALTER walks out on stage, which distracts Dragunov. Dunne tried for Bitter End afte a sneak attack. Dragunov fought him off, and countered the Bitter End again. Dragunov went for Torpedo Moskau, but Dunne blocked the attempt. Dunne then delivered a Bitter End, and he pinned Dragunov.

WALTER attacked Dragunov after the match, but Dragunov with one more counter for the night. Dragunov hit WALTER with Torpedo Moskau, which knocked WALTER out of the ring. Dragunov posed with the NXT UK title belt as the show closed.