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Here's a place to check results and comment along with the newest episode of WWE NXT, airing live in its regular Wednesday night at 8PM Eastern time slot on USA Network.
Check out our Wednesday morning preview post to get caught up on what's been happening, and what we expect this week.
Advertised for tonight, live from the Capitol Wrestling Center: Both of the brands top belts are on the line! NXT champion Finn Bálor defends against Adam Cole, and Io Shirai defends the Women’s title against her old rival Toni Storm. Plus, two major announcements from General Manager William Regal, Xia Li vs. Kayden Carter, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the NXT live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here.
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Enjoy the show!
WWE NXT RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR MAR. 10
And we’re BACK at the Capitol Wrestling Center for a new episode I’ve dubbed “Takeover Lite.” There are two title matches on tap tonight and a lot of excitement in there air, so let’s get right into it!! William Regal has TWO game changing announcements. He immediately throws to a video package of highlights from Takeover. “Now for the first time ever, a Takeover so big, it has to be two nights.” The first night will be Wednesday, April 7th on USA Network. The second night will be Thursday, April 8th exclusively on Peacock. The show will be called “Takeover: Stand & Deliver.”
“I have asked the ladies from the women’s division to join us tonight. Each and every week, these ladies prove that they are the greatest women in the wrestling business. To be a competitor in NXT’s ladies’ division, you have to be very special, and these women prove it week in and week out. The winners of the Dusty Rhodes Classic, Raquel González and Dakota Kai, could you please join me in the ring. After the unfortunate happenings of last week, and the injustice of the WWE women’s tag team championship you had to go through, I’m sick and tired of other people making the decisions for me so the NXT team have decided to make the decisions ourselves. Tonight, going forward, you are the new NXT women’s tag team champions!” Regal lifts the curtain off the podium in the ring to reveal their new belts — gold plates on white straps.
Dakota Kai: “Oh wow. This is insane! Mr. Regal, you’re right, this is the most talented division in the world. And we beat all of you. Don’t shake your heads at me! We dominated them so much they had to create these belts just for us.” González: “Y’all better get used to this, because we’re going to be wearing these belts for a very long time.” This brings Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart down to the ring. Ember Moon: “If we’re going to have champions, you’re going to need challengers. In the Dusty, you beat everybody in your bracket, but we beat everybody in our bracket. Why don’t you defend those titles against us?” Blackheart: “TONIGHT!” William Regal BOOKS THE MATCH and it’s official! We’ve got another title match after THESE commercial messages.
Io Shirai (NXT Women’s Champion) vs. Toni Storm (NXT Women’s Title Match)
Shirai enters before the commercial break, Storm makes her way to the ring after the break, and we’ve got our “big match introductions” for both the champion and her challenger. The bell rings and Shirai pushes Storm into the ropes, then breaks cleanly for the referee. Storm does the same to Shirai but gives her a slap. Storm attempts to knock her out and do a dive but gets cut off by a strike and then kicked repeatedly in the corner. Dropkick from Shirai drops Storm before Shirai rams her head into the turnbuckle and throws more kicks. Storm reverses a whip but Shirai counters into an abdominal stretch and then clubs her back. Chops in the corner. Shirai elevates Storm over the apron and attempts to follow up by spearing her in the gut and kicking her in the head, but Storm yanks her off the ropes and whips her into the steel steps to send us to commercial!
And we’re back with the NeXTras booing loudly as Storm is stomping a mudhole into Shirai, but she makes a comeback with a 6-1-9 and a dropkick for a near fall. Storm and Shirai do a standing switch before Shirai counters and does a double stomp. She goes to the top rope but Storm cuts her off. Storm suplexes her off the top rope but both women are down selling off the impact. Storm gets to her feet first, hits a diving clothesline, and then does a bridging suplex for two. Shirai gets back up throwing strikes, tries to duck a clothesline, but Storm still nails her with two shots to the chest. Storm teases a piledriver on the apron but Shirai counters and suplexes her on it back first, then does a moonsault to the floor that leaves both women down on the outside! The ref gets to 7 but Shirai throws Storm back in to break the count out. Shirai goes to the top rope, Storm powerbombs her off, 2.99!!!
Shirai puts Storm in the cross face, but Storm gets to the ropes to break the hold. Running double knees by Shirai. Shirai to the top rope! Nobody home on the moonsault. Storm Zero for 2.99 AGAIN. Now it’s Storm going up to the top rope. She splashes down and nobody’s home, and Shirai puts on the cross face again! STORM TAPS OUT.
Your winner AND STILL the NXT Women’s Champion: Io Shirai!!
Excellent match from these two ladies. If this were a Takeover and not a regular episode of NXT, I suspect they might have gone even further (and longer) but they did all they could with the time they had. Afterward Finn Bálor cuts a promo on Adam Cole. “Remember Adam, I beat you to win that, and I’ll beat you to keep it.” Commercial!
L.A. Knight: “Let me talk to you. Last week everybody was thinking it will be L.A. Knight’s in ring debut. WRONG! I think that time will be next week. Anybody who can find enough tingle in their loins to step in the ring with L.A. Knight they’re going to find out exactly how that ends up. That’s not an insult, that’s just a fact of life.” An irate Bronson Reed interrupts and begins manhandling him. Reed promises to make him pay for his actions last week and Knight says “This isn’t your time, this is my time!” Officials keep ‘em separated, but back in the ring, hey hey they’ve come out to play!
Jake Atlas vs. Pete Dunne (w/ Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch)
Pete Dunne grabs an arm lock, takes Atlas down to the ground, and begins to manipulate the fingers painfully. Atlas goes for a takedown but Dunne goes for one of his own and works on a headlock. Atlas gets back up, leapfrogs over Dunne, and does a head scissor takedown. Atlas with an arm drag, a hand stand, but Dunne responds with a kick to the midsection and then double knees to the left arm before fish hooking Atlas’ face. He twists up the left arm as the NeXTras make their displeasure known, while Lorcan and Burch smile on the outside. He gets back to his feet and takes advantage of Dunne’s misfire to go for a moonsault. He goes to the top rope looking for a cartwheel DDT but Dunne knocks him off and starts stomping on his head. Atlas taps out to the snap arm bar applied afterward.
The winner of this contest: “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne.
Pete Dunne: “See this is the time of year when everybody wants to step up their game. Well you step to me, that’s exactly what happens. I made my name in the UK but don’t get it twisted, I’m the best technical wrestler in the entire world. I dare somebody — try to prove me wrong.”
Marcel Barthel is backstage with The Imperium. “A long long time ago we created something very special, so unique, that nobody would be able to represent it like we did. What I want you to do Timmy (Thatcher) is step in and claim what’s rightfully yours.” Fabian Aichner: “Tim, we’re here for you. We’re doing all this for you. But if you have to go ask YOUR FRIEND for permission, we’ll still make it work out of respect for you — because we’re taking over, no matter what.” Commercial!
Before our next match Leon Ruff informs us Isaiah Scott that he’s “scratched and clawed” for everything he’s gotten. “Next week (Scott) it’s going to be Leon Ruff holding you down again with ANOTHER RUFF LANDING.”
Dakota Kai & Raquel González (NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions) vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon (Title Match)
Kai and González enter first showing off their new crowns. Blackheart drives her and Ember Moon down to the ring on her custom tank, and both of them howl at the moon as their competitors look on from the ring. Time to bring down the lights for another big match introduction for both sides. After the lights come back up and the opening bell rings Blackheart quickly puts Kai in a cloverleaf submission, with the referee getting down on both knees to see if she’ll give up. She tries to crawl to the ropes but Blackheart drags her back to the center of the ring.Kai crawls a second time and finally gets her left hand on the ropes for a clean break. Both women trade kicks and both are knocked down before break!
Raquel González is in the ring giving Blackheart a beatdown before tagging Kai back in. Kai grounds Blackheart with a body scissor from behind, but Blackheart rolls back to pin her shoulders to the mat for two and Kai is forced to break the hold. Blackheart knocks González off the apron, breaks free from Kai, and tags in Ember Moon. Moon plants Kai and does a senton, then pulls her back up by the hair for a knee to the gut and a dropkick to the face. González gets in to help and eats a lung blower. González drags her partner out to save her so Blackheart does a suicide dive to knock González down. Moon smashes Kai into the apron and throws her back into the ring, then rolls Kai up for two.
Kai backs away toward the corner begging off, but Moon falls for the trap and gets tripped into the turnbuckle. González tags back in and the double team attack with Gonzalez throwing Moon through the air and Kai kicking her in the jaw only gets a two count. González stretches Moon out and slams her down, but Blackheart runs in to make the save before González can pin her. González tags Kai back in but the second double team kick is botched and Blackheart tags in to wipe out both women. Head scissor takes González down and bulldog to Kai. Knee to the jaw. Forearm to the head! Another kick! Suplex for a near fall as Kai kicks out. Blackheart tags Moon in and she splashes over the ropes for two.
Blackheart tags back in and there’s a double team suplex before González breaks up the pinfall. González catches Ember Moon when she comes in and the two get tied up in the ropes. Kai runs into them both and they spill out of the ring, and Blackheart does a bridging back suplex to Kai for the pin. NEW CHAMPS!!
The winners and NEW NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions: Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart!!!
Poor Dakota Kai. Poor Raquel González. Their title reign was even shorter than The Miz’ run with the WWE Championship. Ouch! We go to Adam Cole backstage. “I reminded both of those chumps who the leader of The Undisputed Era is. The Undisputed Era is dead when I say it’s dead, because as far as I’m concerned, I just got rid of the dead weight. Finn you think you’ve got me but in reality I played you like a fiddle. A lot of people look at you as the greatest NXT champion of all time, then I showed up and had a 403 day run as the greatest there has ever been. Tonight I become a two time NXT champion, and Finn if you thought my first reign was something special, trust me, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Commercial.
The new champions get a standing ovation backstage but Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell boo loudly. Austin Theory asks Johnny Gargano why he paid off the therapist. Gargano: “Therapy ain’t free!” Theory: “That’s true.” Gargano convinces the dimwitted Theory that everything the therapist told him about Dexter Lumis was true, he rips off his shirt and screams “I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE” and storms off. Gargano is GIDDY. A promo for Women’s History Month follows.
Xia Li vs. Kayden Carter
Kayden Carter is already in the ring when we come back. That’s not what I would call a good sign for her chances in this match. The lights go down for the ominous entrance of Xia Li and Boa, with their mentor/tormentor Mei Ying watching from the throne at the top of the stage. Li tries to hot start the match after her entrance but Carter knocks her back with a dropkick and the bell rings. Li with a running knee to the body and Carter is down. Carter hits running clotheslines trying to get back into the match and hits a couple of kicks to the jaw for a near fall. Li gets into the ropes to force a ref break and then sneakily kicks Carter in the leg when the ref is doing her job. Kacy Catanzaro limps down on crutches to support her friend. She whacks Li with the crutch and ref calls for the bell!
The winner by disqualification is Xia Li (illegal interference).
Catanzaro gets in the ring and repeatedly beats Li with the crutch, but Boa steps in to make the save and breaks the crutch in half. Mei Ying gives the thumbs down from the ramp telling Boa to finish her off, but Carter whacks Boa with the OTHER crutch and the two flee from whatever evil Mei Ying had in mind!
Jordan Devlin is cutting a promo. “Lucky for me and luckily for NXT my travel ban exemption got lifted today. And that’s bad news for you playing make believes Santos Escobar. Because next week we’re going to see who the real cruiserweight champion is!” The camera pans over to a waiting airplane and we go to commercial break.
Video package promoting Zoey Stark talking about “growing up on the wrong side of the tracks” when we come back. She says professional wrestling was always her escape from the evils and that after graduating high school she started training from the age of 18. It’s the same thing you’d see on the WWE Performance Center channel on YouTube, except during a live NXT broadcast on USA Network. Meanwhile an irate Santos Escobar is getting in William Regal’s face about what Devlin said. His amigos show up for a tag team match and he sends them down to the ring!
Legado del Fantasma vs. Grizzled Young Veterans
G.Y.V. run down Legado as “errand boys” who “give massages” to their boss. Strong words. Raul Mendoza fights off a double team attempt and tags in Joaquin Wilde. James Drake kicks out of a near fall before the match is interrupted by Breezango doing their “moon man” entrance again. Drake hits the enzuigiri to drop Wilde, but it’s not Breezango under the helmets... it’s MSK! Wilde rolls up James Drake for the pin and MSK erupt with joy!!
The winners of this contest: Legado del Fantasma
Wes Lee slams his moon man helmet into the steel steps to break a hand, or as Wade Barrett says on commentary, “an eye for an eye.” On top of that Breezango actually DO come out from the back and join in the action, giving a beatdown to Legado, and both of the face teams celebrate in the ring with their helmets and moon suits! Backstage Raquel & Dakota are yelling at McKenzie Mitchell before Io Shirai comes to confront them and tells Raquel in English “I, want you, next.” She retorts: “Be careful what you wish for chica.” Commercial!
McKenzie Mitchell is interviewing Timothy Thatcher. Tommaso Ciampa interrupts. “I know my answer, I’m not interested. You know who I’m interested in? The general, who sits safely overseas while he sends his lieutenants to do the dirty work. But us versus Imperium next week? That sounds good to me.” One match that IS booked for next week is Dexter Lumis vs. Austin Theory, and another is Isaiah Scott vs. Leon Ruff, and the DEBUT of L.A. Knight!
Finn Bálor (NXT Champion) vs. Adam Cole (Title Match)
Adam Cole enters first (bay bay) followed by Finn Bálor before the lights go down for yet another big match introduction. The two get nose to nose talking trash before the ref holds up the belt, the title card appears on the screen, the bell rings and we’re underway! The NeXTras are buzzing as Cole and Bálor counter each other until the finally get grounded for a couple of quick roll ups. Cole puts Bálor in a headlock and tries to weaken the champion. Bálor gets to his feet and the two stare each other down before we go to a break!
NXT continued picture in picture during the commercial break, and now Bálor is the man in control as we go back to full screen. Cole cuts him off and goes outside the ring to throw Bálor into the steel fencing. He picks up a wincing Bálor to throw him back in and whips Bálor into the corner hard to knock him down. Arm wringer and a whip but Bálor responds with a dropkick to the knee. Bálor goes on offense and throws a HARD chop before a knee to the gut. Cole knocks him away but Bálor comes right back and stomps on his foe. Cole tries to hold onto the ropes, Bálor tries to pull him free, enzuigiri to knock Bálor away. Near fall!. Bálor with a running kick and more stomps as Cole is laying under the ropes. He rolls out and then drags Bálor toward himself to give him a big boot to the face! Cole tries to set up steel steps but Bálor counters with a suplex onto the stage for another commercial!
The war continued again with picture in picture and we are surely headed to an overrun with only a few minutes left in the hour. Slingblade by Bálor. Running dropkick. Bálor goes to the top rope but the coup de grace misses! Kick to the jaw from Cole!! 2.9!! Cole puts on the cross face, which has to hurt even more given Bálor recently broke his jaw (not kayfabe) and pulls him back to the center when Bálor tries to escape. He finally gets the rope break as we hit 10 o’clock E.T. and Beth Phoenix sells it on commentary like he nearly blacked out.
Cole stomps away on Bálor, but Bálor responds with a double leg takedown, ground and pound, a clothesline, but Cole hits a kick to the leg and a knee to the jaw for a near fall! Bálor is holding his jaw as the NeXTras chant “THIS IS AWESOME.” They’re not wrong. Cole goes for Panama Sunrise and connects. 1-2-NO!! Bálor kicks out. Barrett: “If that didn’t put him away you’re going to have to run him over with a Mack truck.” Bálor tosses Adam Cole out of the ring. He looks up from the barricade and his eyes widen at the sight of Kyle O’Reilly! Bálor uses the distraction to dive to the outside. 1916 on the floor from Bálor! He throws Cole back in and goes up for coup de grace and connects. One, two, three!!!
The winner AND STILL NXT Champion — Finn Bálor bay bay!!
Kyle O’Reilly jumps over the barricade and steps through the ropes into the ring. He starts talking to Adam Cole, Cole goes for a low blow, but O’Reilly is clearly wearing a steel cup because it doesn’t work!! He rips off the arm band and a wild brawl ensues! Cole knocks him down and tries to escape, but O’Reilly gets out of the ring and gives chase, knocking down the ref who tries to break it up in the process. O’Reilly smashes him into barricades on both sides and gets bleeped out! He tries to suplex Cole onto the steps but a half dozen referees make the save. He breaks free and goes after Cole again! Cole stumbles away to the back and O’Reilly gets up and continues the chase. Finn Bálor stands in the ring watching it all unfold in front of him. Standing behind him is Killer Kross! That’s how NXT ends.