WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 4/11): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.

•Top Stories of the Week

Johnny Gargano is your new NXT Men’s Champion after he defeated Adam Cole in a two out of three falls match at NXT TakeOver:New York. Where the title picture goes from here is anyone’s guess but I’m sure it’ll be one hell of a ride.
Two big matches were announced for NXT TV next week. The first match is NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream, coming off a successful title defense against Matt Riddle at NXT Takeover:New York, taking on former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy. Murphy lost his Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania to Tony Nese.
The other big match announced for next week is NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defending her title against Kairi Sane. The stipulation to this match is that if Sane loses, she can never challenge for the NXT Championship again.
We’ve known for a long time but WWE made it official with a post on their twitter account that Kushida has signed and will be under the NXT umbrella. Dream matches await.
The Worlds Collide matches will take place this Sunday on the WWE Network featuring wrestlers from NXT, NXT UK, CruiserWeight, and the main roster.

•NXT Live Event Results

NXT TAKEOVER:NEW YORK

The War Raiders beat Aleister Black and Ricochet to retain NXT Tag Team Championships
Velveteen Dream beat Matt Riddle to retain NXT North American Championship
Walter beat Pete Dunn to become NEW NXT UK Men’s Champion
Shayna Baszler beat Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Kairi Sane to retain NXT Women’s Championship
Johnny Gargano beat Adam Cole to become NEW NXT Men’s Champion

•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: NXT TakeOver San Jose

NXT TakeOver San Jose
June 8, 2019
San Jose, Cal. (Event Center Arena)

Projected Lineup:

Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Champion) vs. ?
Johnny Gargano (NXT Men’s Champion) vs. ?
Velveteen Dream (NXT North American Champion) vs. ?
The War Raiders (NXT Tag Team Champions) vs. ?

•Upcoming Events

Friday Apr. 12 – Minnreg Hall (Largo, Fla.)
Saturday Apr. 13 – Sanford Civic Center (Sanford, Fla.)
Thursday Apr. 18 – Lakeland Armory (Lakeland, Fla.)
Friday Apr. 19 – Maxwell Snyder Armory (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Saturday Apr. 20 – University Area CDC Gymnasium (Tampa, Fla.)
Thursday Apr. 25 – Orlando Live Events (Casselberry, Fla.)
Thursday Apr. 25 – Ralston Arena (Omaha, Neb.)
Friday Apr. 26 – Rivercenter (Davenport, Iowa)
Saturday Apr. 27 – Turner Hall Ballroom (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Saturday Apr. 27 – Dade City Armory (Dade City, Fla.)
Saturday April. 28 – Roy Wilkins Auditorium (St. Paul, Minn.)
Friday May 3 – Palm Beach County Convention Center (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Saturday May 4 – Havert L. Fenn Center (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Friday May 10 – Highlands Today Center (Sebring, Fla.)
Thursday May 16 – Sands Event Center (Bethlehem, Penn.) JUST ADDED
Friday May 17 – The Fillmore Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Penn.) JUST ADDED
Friday May 17 – St. Petersburg Armory (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Saturday May 18 – APG Federal Credit Union Arena (Baltimore, Md.) JUST ADDED
Sunday May 19 – Asbury Park Convention Hall (Asbury Park, New Jersey) JUST ADDED
Thursday May 23 – Bartow Armory (Bartow, Fla.)
Friday May 24 – Fieldhouse at Watsco Center (Coral Gables, Fla.)
Saturday June 8 – NXT TAKEOVER:SAN JOSE (San Jose, Cal.)
Saturday June 29 – Venice Community Center (Venice, Fla.)

•Latest TV Highlights: 4/3 NXT TV Report

(1) Candice LeRae beat Aliyah by pinfall (4:31 – 8:56)
Kushida contract signing (15:20 – 16:45)
(2) Jaxson Ryker beat Danny Burch by pinfall (19:44 – 23:13)
(3) Street Profits beat European Union (Aichner and Barthel) by pinfall (41:00 – 47:00)

(Check out PWTorch’s NXT TV Report HERE)

•NXT in the media

Mr. “I’ll never do podcasts” Tommaso Ciampa actually sat down with Edge and Christian for Edge and Christian’s Podcast of Awesomeness. When describing his idea for him and Johnny to wrestle in the inaugural Cruiserweight tournament (which was their first head to head match under the WWE/NXT umbrella), “I just put ideas out into the universe and see what happens with them, I pitched the idea to Triple H and he went along with it.” Must listen for NXT fans. LINK
A trio of NXT Superstars were featured on WWE’s Table for 3 program this week. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, and Ricochet all sat down for a meal to discuss life on the road, their wrestling beginnings, and much more. If you have the WWE Network, which I’m assuming you all do, you have to check it out.

•Latest NXT Podcast – “PWT Talks NXT” PWTorch Livecast

In this episode of PWT Talks NXT, Kelly Wells and Justin James consider new challengers to Gargano, look forward to Buddy Murphy’s challenge of Velveteen Dream, debate the height of the Forgotten Sons, and more.

-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “PWTorch” or “Pro Wrestling Torch” on your podcast app of choice

•Top NXT Tweets of the Week

Ciampa Tweet of the week (I’m not crying…you’re crying)

From being told no at our initial tryout to last night…every surgery, setback, and heartbreak…it may not be exactly how we envisioned it but the end result remains.

The NXT Universe were along for this journey since day one. It only made sense to share this moment.#WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/IXcCzUaAHN

— CIAMPA (@ProjectCiampa) April 6, 2019

Twitter beefs that lead to A+ matches are ok in my book.

WHERE’S UR CHAMPIONSHIP MATE?

Murphy Lost His Credentials 2 be a
“Show Stealer” when his Mother named him BUDDY….. pic.twitter.com/RO4g8AOs9c

— King DREAM (@VelveteenWWE) April 9, 2019

Please, next year…please make it happen, WWE.

Last night after I chugged all that milk 🥛 at wrestlemania I found this car so I decided to search for @BrockLesnar to try to fight him, long story short is he left right after his match because some dude hit him in the balls! Maybe next year Lesnar Bro pic.twitter.com/HfdfHR1QQA

— matthew riddle (@SuperKingofBros) April 8, 2019

He has arrived and the anticipation is building.

After making his name known around the world, @KUSHIDA_0904 has officially signed with @WWENXT. Go behind the scenes of his contract signing with @TripleH and @RealKingRegal, and hear Kushida's reaction to joining NXT.

FULL VIDEO LINK: https://t.co/FVw3QppZYt pic.twitter.com/mqbuY85YD8

— Performance Center (@WWEPC) April 6, 2019

•Thoughts and Comments

What. A. TakeOver. I ranked it as the best TakeOver to date. Just a ton of star power, and I love how completely different each match was. Kudos as always to NXT, the best damn wrestling brand in the world.
Where does Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era go from here? I’m begging WWE to not just have Michael Cole utter the words, “The Undisputed Era will be joining SmackDown Live” with a stupid graphic on the TV. They deserve better. I mean, in a tag team division with Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins as tag team champions, I’d think the Undisputed Era might have a lot to offer. I have absolutely no faith the main roster will treat them right.
Can they just send Sasha Banks back to NXT already? There were rumors circulating this week that she almost quit WWE after finding out there was a last minute change to take the women’s tag team titles off her and Bayley. I don’t blame Sasha at all for this. Vince McMahon has made a habit of changing plans last minute and it is NEVER a good idea. If Sasha was told that she and Bayley were going to get a good run with the titles and they had her appearing on NXT saying they were going to defend them everywhere to just have them ripped away from her for no good reason, then shame on Vince. Send her back to NXT where there are no legitimate challengers for Baszler’s NXT Championship.
Velveteen Dream and Matt Riddle put on a psychological classic at TakeOver. I’m such a mark for Velveteen’s Hulk Hogan impression; I legit get giddy every time he does it. Never change, Dream, never change.
Who’s stepping up to challenge War Raiders for the tag team titles? NXT did such a disservice to the tag team division by allowing Aleister Black and Ricochet to win the Dusty and face War Raiders at TakeOver. They basically pushed all other tag teams aside for an exhibition match. Not smart.
With Black and Ricochet officially off the NXT roster, there are only a handful of top men’s single competitors to challenge for two titles. In no particular order, you have Matt Riddle, Adam Cole, Keith Lee, Donovan Dijakovic, and Kushida as top tier singles competitors. Not a lot of depth, and NXT either must build some new talents up or borrow from the main roster ranks (i.e. Buddy Murphy). Seems like a good time for the Bruiserweight to take his rightful place at the top of the NXT mountain.

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – NXT (thru 4/4): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more