Today marks the second time WWE’s NXT brand has come to the Chicago area. Emanating once again from the former Rosemont Horizon, now Allstate Arena, NXT Chicago will be giving us three title matches. And we’ll see if Johnny Gagano can make it three major shows in a row with a five star match performance.
We gave a full preview with predictions on this week’s Wrestling Brethren Podcast. We’ll see who came out on top.
NXT Tag Team Championship: The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong w/Adam Cole) b. Oney Lorcan & Danny Birch when Strong pinned Lorcan to retain the titles.
Solid opening match. The crowd chanted for Undisputed Era right away. Major shine for the babyfaces in the opening minutes, with Strong being knocked from pillar to post. The heels got the upper hand when Birch got distracted and Strong capitalized. O’Reilly and Strong took turns working over Birch. Lorcan got the hot tag and ran wild. Birch and Lorcan hit a Magic Killer on Strong, but O’Reilly broke the count. Birch again got cut off and fought to escape an armlock. Lorcan tagged in to hit a Doomsday Device, and would have likely gotten the three count, except Cole broke the pin. This caused the referee to eject Cole from ringside, much to the chagrin of the crowd. during the drama, O’Reilly put Lorcan in a Guillotine Submission, which Lorcan escaped. The babyfaces rallied and put both heels in submissions. O’Reilly, who was not the legal man, managed to kick Lorcan enough to break up the hold on Strong. Undisputed Era then finished off Lorcan with a double team move to win the match.
Ricochet p. Velveteen Dream with a 630.
Ricochet used holds and takedowns early on, then started working in flips and reversals. Dream countered a springboard by dropping Ricochet on the ropes, and took control of the match. Ricochet mounted a comeback with a DIVE to the outside. Dream countered with a top rope DVD for a near fall. Ricochet got suplexed from the ring apron to the floor, which caused a near double countout. Dream his a DDT for a two count. Dream began taunting Ricochet, saying he belongs in a bingo hall. Ricochet tried a Shooting Star Press, only for Dream to counter with his knees. Ricochet dodged a top rope elbow, and climbed the ropes again. This time, he landed the 630 for the win.
NXT Womens Championship: Shayna Bazzler s. Nikki Cross with a Rear Naked Choke to retain the championship.
Bazzler tried to control the match, but Cross kept laughing off the kicks and strikes. The two went back and forth and scored several near falls. Bazzler locked in a Rear Naked Choke. Although Cross did not submit, Bazzler was awarded the match due to ref stoppage.
Keith Lee was given the obligatory “New guy in the crowd” moment.
NXT Championship: Aleister Black p. Lars Sullivan with a Black Mass Kick to retain the title.
Black tried hard to chop the bigger man down to size, but Sullivan wouldn’t stay down. Lars kicked out of a high knee at one. Black tried a moonsault off the ropes to the outside, but Sullivan literally caught him and dropped him on the ring apron. Sullivan got the heat by getting several near falls. Black countered with a knee to block a top rope splash, and mounted a comeback with several strikes. Lars escaped the pinfall, and put Black in a Stretch Muffler. Black reversed into another near fall. The two men traded blows on the ring apron, with Lars coming out on top with another powerslam. Black kicked out of a top rope headbutt. Sullivan kicked out of a Black Mass. Black hit another Black Mass, which Lars shook off like he didn’t feel it. However, a third Black Mass gave Aleister Black the hard fought victory.
Chicago Street Fight: Tomasso Ciampa p. Johnny Gargano with an Elevated DDT.
As one would expect, this was a brawl right from the start. Gargano got shine early on until Ciampa landed a trio of German Suplexes. Gargano reversed into a German Suplex of his own and hit a DIVE to the outside. Ciampa threw Gargano into the guardrails, and prepared the metal steps. After wrapping a chair around Gargano’s head, Ciampa rammed him into the steel steps. Heat on Gargano as Ciampa stalked him. Gargano rallied by removing his belt and whipping Ciampa. The crowd chanted “You Deserve It!” at Ciampa, which is one of the rare times a modern crowd chant worked with the match. A trash can lid assisted knee scored a two count for Ciampa. Gargano got slammed on the ring steps. While Gargano was stunned, Ciampa pulled bolt cutters out from under the ring and began to remove the canvas from the ring, exposing the wood. Ciampa mounted Gargano on the top turnbuckle, presumable for a superplex. Gargano countered and tried a powerbomb off the top, only for Ciampa to block. “Boo/Yay” spot with dueling punches. Gargano went for a plancha, but Ciampa countered with the can lid. Gargano dodged a kneelift, which cased Ciampa to crash his own knee into the steel steps. Gargano capitalized by attacking Ciampa’s injured knee. Ciampa applied Gargano’s own submission, but failed to get a submission. The crowd chanted for tables. Gargano continued to get stalked, with Ciampa taunting him saying this was Gargano’s own fault. Ciampa slammed Gargano’s head into the stage, and dragged Gargano up on some carts, likely to slam him through a nearby table. Ciampa pulled off Johnny’s wedding ring and threw it away. Gargano fired up and slammed Ciampa through the table. The crowd chanted “Mama Mia” in tribute to Mauro Ranallo. Or ABBA, I’m not sure. Medics arrived and loaded Ciampa onto a stretched. They were wheeling Ciampa away when Gargano attacked again, wheeling Ciampa back into the ring. He put Ciampa in the Gargano Escape, to which Ciampa did tap. However there was no referee to record the submission. Why? I don’t know. The officials tried to pry Gargano off of Ciampa to no avail. Gargano decked all the officials, only to have Ciampa DDT him on the exposed wood. Somehow the referee was back for this and counted the fall. After the match, another referee came out to check on Johnny. Why he didn’t come out earlier when the first ref was missing, I don’t know. But in the end, Ciampa stole the win. Despite the dirty finish, it was another great match between the two that capped off a great night of wrestling.
