WWE NXT live results: Two title matches at Performance Center
Two title matches are taking place on tonight’s special episode of NXT from the WWE Performance Center.
With Full Sail University unavailable due to their annual Hall of Fame week, tonight is fan appreciation night at the Performance Center. Keith Lee will defend his NXT North American Championship against Cameron Grimes on the show, while Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne will defend their NXT Tag Team titles against former champions Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish.
After winning this year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Riddle & Dunne defeated O’Reilly & Fish for the NXT Tag Team titles at TakeOver: Portland.
Lee has been NXT North American Champion since winning the title from Roderick Strong in January.
Another participant for the number one contender’s ladder match at NXT TakeOver: Tampa will also be decided as Mia Yim and Dakota Kai face off in a qualifying match tonight.
Chelsea Green became the first wrestler to qualify for the ladder match by defeating Shotzi Blackheart last week. NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley is defending her title against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36, and the winner of the ladder match will get the first title shot against Ripley or Charlotte.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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The show tonight from the Performance Center was a fresh look just being away from Full Sail, but the crowd still looked small in comparison to that promotion on the other channel.
Crowd sizes may be almost nonexistent in some places for the time being. By some strange chance, running a live telecast from the PC may prove prophetic. Could we see more shows presented in-house in the coming weeks?
NXT tonight opens with a title match.
NXT North American Champion Keith Lee defeated Cameron Grimes to retain his title
Lee pinned Grimes after his modified jackhammer finishing move after a good TV match.
There was some cat-and-mouse games in the early portion, and Lee caught Grimes on some dives. Lee has Grimes reeling, and he even threw down the man’s hat. That sir, is an outrage!
Grimes tripped up Lee, and Grimes then leapt into a flying crossbody before a commercial break.
Lee with a fiery comeback after the break, and he mowed down Grimes with a crossbody block. Grimes was able to fight back, and he hooked Lee for a German suplex and a bridge for a close near fall.
Grimes countered a suplex into a tornado DDT. Lee kicked out again.Grimes went for his double stomp finisher, but Lee blocked him. Grimes with a superkick, and Lee answered back with a pounce. Lee then delivered the Big Bang Catastrophe to score the pinfall and retain his title.
Damien Priest jumped Lee after the match in a sneak attack. Priest hit Lee several times with a baton, and Dominik Dijakovic ran down to make a save. Dijakovic ran off Priest, and then he picked up the North American title belt.
Dijakovic almost in a daze was looking at the belt when Lee was getting to his feet. Lee suddenly picked up Dijakovic for a Spirit Bomb.
Mia Yim defeated Dakota Kai (w/ Raquel Gonzalez) to qualify for the ladder match at TakeOver
Yim pinned Kai after interference from Gonzalez backfired on them. Yim in winning qualifies for the number one contender’s ladder match at TakeOver in Tampa.
Yim was firing up on Kai when Gonzalez interfered by giving Yim a Snake Eyes on the apron. The show went to commercial, and Kai was working over Yim when the show returned from the break.
Yim soon made a comeback that led to a shotgun dropkick and a cannonball in a corner for a near fall. Kai cut her off and hit her with kicks, and then the Kai-ropractor. Yim kicked out and moments later blocked a face wash. Yim with a powerbomb for two.
Gonzalez was causing a distraction at ringside, which allowed Kai to roll up Yim. The referee was busy warning Gonzalez and missed the pin.
Yim escaped, and Kai walked into Protect Ya Neck. Yim then covered Kai for the pinfall. Yim advances to the ladder match at TakeOver.
Gonzalez got her heat back after the match as she attacked Yim to leave her laying. Yim had taken a chokeslam from Gonzalez and left for dead, but Yim still got to her feet as the crowded her name.
Tommaso Ciampa quickly passed up an interview as he walked with purpose into the building. Meanwhile, Undisputed Era was warming up backstage ahead of their match against the Bro-serweights.
Kushida defeated Raul Mendoza
Kushida submitted Mendoza with a cross armbreaker in a fast paced thriller.
They wasted no time as they exploded into action. Mendoza went to run down a rope into but Kushida knocked him out of the air with a right hand. Kushida followed with a tope con giro.
Mendoza turned the tide with a corkscrew brainbuster and a quebrada. Kushida came back with a handspring back elbow and a flurry that led into the basement dropkick.
They were fighting on the turnbuckles when Kushida applied a Kimura. They both turned a flip and landed on the mat where Kushida had tranisitioned into a cross armbreaker, and Mendoza tapped out.
In a pre-tape interview, Tyler Breeze was being asked about being back in the PC when Austin Theory interrupted to introduce him to Breeze. They traded insults so expect a match between the two.
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley came to the ring for a promo. She said Charlotte Flair would be knocked on her ass at WrestleMania. Flair then interrupted to confront Ripley. Flair also heeled on the crowd, and the crowd chanted “go back to Raw” at her.
Flair vowed to beat Ripley at WrestleMania. She was going to drowned the fast rising star. A brawl erupted and Flair hit Ripley with a high kick, and went for the Figure Eight. Ripley countered, but Flair was able to trip up Ripley. Flair wrapped Ripley’s leg around a ring post, and then she applied the Bret Hart fighure-four around the post until more officials poured out to break up the hold.
A feature on WALTER was great. The vignette teased an upcoming match with Finn Balor.
An SUV sped into the paring lot. Two masked men exited the vehicle and abducted Raul Mendoza. They forced him into the SUV, and got in. The driver then floored it.
Tegan Nox defeated Deonna Purrazzo to qualify for the ladder match at TakeOver.
Nox pinned Purrazzo after using the Shiniest Wizard. Nox moves on the number one contender’s ladder match at TakeOver.
Purrazzo took most of the match as Nox sold. Purrazzo was going for a Fujiwara armbar when Nox fired up and delivered the shining wizard to score the pinfall.
Undisputed Era sauntered to the ring for their match. Two were scheduled for a tag team match. Some people had other ideas.
Velveteen Dream appeared in the eagle’s nest perched above the PC, and he began to cut a promo on NXT Champion Adam Cole and Undisputed Era. Cole then cut a promo on him, and Cole also said that next week he becomes the longest reiging NXT Champion. This whole confrontation seemed very forced, but Cole cut a great promo.
NXT Tag Team Champions Bro-serweights (Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne) defeated Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly with Adam Cole & Roderick Strong) to retain their titles
Riddle & Dunne retain their titles when Dunne pinned O’Reilly. This match was as great as it should have been given the location. There was only so much heat to generate in that setting.
After some early exchanges and grappling, the stallions began to run wild, bro. They freaking cleaned house, bro. Then the show cut to commercial.
Fish & O’Reilly got heat on Riddle after the break. They proverbially cut the ring in half. That built to a hot tag, and Dunne running wild.
Dunne trapped O’Reilly in a triangle, and the other members of Undisputed Era interfered from the outside the help break the hold. Riddle jumped off Dunne’s back into a flip to the outside. Cole rolled into the ring, and Dunne pulled an Eddie Guerrero trick.
Dunne went down like Cole struck him. Cole pleaded his case, but the referee ejected Cole and Strong. Riddle & Dunne then did the Toru Yano shrug before the show cut to commercial.
Fish & O’Reilly were worked over Dunne as the show returned from break. Riddle soon ran wild with suplexes after he tagged back into the match. A fisherman’s buster netted him a two count on O’Reilly.
Bro-serweights both landed on their feet on attempted German suplexes. They then hit Undisputed Era with stereo kicks.
Dunne and O’Reilly were trading strikes when they went into a double down.
There was a blind tag spot that set up O’Reilly doing a bombs away Bobby Eaton knee drop. Dunne jumped in to break up the pinning attempt. O’Reiily flew off the apron with a knee drop on Dunne.
Fish & O’Reilly were looking to finish the match, but Riddle fought back against a double team assault.
The Grizzled Young Veterans in full suits came out to cause a distraction at ringside. That allowed O’Reilly to get a near fall on a roll-up attempt. The Veterans were soon wiped out when Fish has backdropped on to them.
Riddle & Dunne then hit O’Reilly with a double-team knee strikes, and Dunne covered O’Reilly to score the pinfall.
Tommaso Ciampa is closing the show with a promo. He called out Johnny Gargano — who appeared on the video screen to offer a rebuke.
Ciampa was having none of that. He stormed into the room Gargano was in and a brawl enused. They knocked a large hole in some drywall, and the fight spilled over a table. This feels like such a Memphis angle. Studio wrestling lives!
They fought around the building, including into the trainers’ room. The fight continued into the gym area. In a way this was giving us a nice tour of the PC.
Like Shawn did to Marty, Gargano threw Ciampa through a glass window. In this version, Ciampa crashed into the window of an office door instead of a barber shop.
Ciampa sold big, and Gargano showed no remorse. Gargano kept pummeling Ciampa around the gym. Ciampa fought back using free weights as a weapon.
Ciampa heaved a large weight at Gargano — who moved out of the way. The weight shattered a mirror, and they fought on.
They brawled into the grandstands and fought in the crowd. Ciampa dragged Gargano to the announce desk, and they ended up in the platform perch above the desk.
Gargano was able to apply the his crossface submission hold while on the perch, and he let go of the hold only to punch a referee.
This was built to a stunt where Gargano teased senting Ciampa off the platform.
Ciampa was playing possum as he leapt into action and hoisted Gargano for an Air Raid Crash off the eagle’s nest on to the announce desk below. The announce table crumbled beneath their weight.
The show closed with a survey of the wreckage.