NXT newcomer Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt) made his in-ring debut on Thursday night’s TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
During the show set to air on November 6th, Hideo Itami (formerly Kenta) told the NXT fans that he had a friend coming to NXT that would help him battle The Ascension, with Balor making his first appearance in front of an NXT crowd and helping Itami take out the Ascension.
– WWE creative member Stephen Guerrieri is said to be the lead writer for NXT television shows. Prior to Guerrieri, Ryan Ward was said to be the main writer for the product. Guerrieri has worked in the past for Rachel Ray, as well as other Food Network shows.
– The inspiration behind KENTA’s name-change to Hideo Itami comes from former MLB player Hideo Nomo. The Itami part of the name apparently has something to do with Naruto Manga anime.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE.com has published an extensive feature looking at the “Leaders of the New School” – NXT stars Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Adrian Neville, Fergal Devitt and Kevin Steen. The article features quotes from each competitor and is definitely worth checking out. Here are some highlights of what they said about the “Leaders of the New School” coming together in NXT:
Sami Zayn:
“It’s just crazy to think where we all were a few years ago and where we are now. The other guys I tagged are guys we all crossed paths with for years all over the world on various small, independent shows. We thought we were doing something special at the time, but you don’t know if it’s going to pay off. Now that we’re all here under the WWE umbrella, it kind of validates all that.”
When we were young, we all looked up to the Jerichos and the Guerreros and the Malenkos and all these world-traveled guys who started where they were from and then made a name in Europe, then went to Mexico, then went to Japan, then went to ECW, then WCW and then they ended their careers here in WWE. Those are the guys that I looked at like, “That’s what I want to be.” Now, we’re that generation — we’re the Guerreros, we’re the Malenkos. It’s not a coincidence at all.
Kevin Steen:
“I actually had a bit of a different mentality. I remember talking with Zayn about WWE, it must have been 2003, and I told him it wasn’t a dream for me — it was the goal. I appreciate all the chances I got to wrestle all over the world and I’m really proud to have wrestled in Japan and Australia and Italy. But it was never a necessity for me, because in my head, I thought, “When I get to WWE, I’ll travel with them and see all those places.” It was never something I felt I needed to do, but now that I’ve lived through those experiences, I realize how important it was in getting here.”
Fergal Devitt:
“I’d been doing it for about six or seven years when I ended up in New Japan. I was really just a boy and I became a man in New Japan in eight years. It came to a point where I could stay the rest of my career there and have the security of a job or I could step into the great unknown that is WWE and challenge myself. And that’s what I decided to do.”
Adrian Neville:
“Honestly, it’s a huge risk, because we’ve got these reputations outside here and I know a lot of us made very comfortable livings outside here. To give up all that on what is essentially a flip of a coin, because a lot of decisions aren’t really in our hands as far as this place is concerned. One thing I liked about coming up is the ball was very much in our hands. Our success was based on what we did. That is the case to a certain degree here, but at the same time …”
Hideo Itami:
“Everything changed [by joining WWE]. [I left Japan because] I wanted more. I wanted to be famous. I wanted to prove to myself. When I started, I didn’t think about WWE, but my dream became bigger and bigger.” When asked by Kevin Steen if he plans to reclaim the “Go To Sleep” finisher he popularized (which was later adopted by CM Punk), he said, “I hope! (Laughter.)”
There is much, much more to the interview, including misconceptions about their generation, the WWE Performance Center and their goals in the industry. Head over to WWE.com to read the full article.
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair was hospitalized last week, according to a report at OvertimeNation.com.
Flair had been scheduled to appear at NXT Takeover 2, where he was set to introduce Hideo Itami (Kenta), but was pulled from the show due to “personal reasons.”
According to the report, Flair was hospitalized at the Gwinneth Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia last Tuesday (September 9th).
While there is still no confirmation regarding the nature of Flair’s medical issue, there is some speculation that he might have had stomach surgery. Flair is said to have visited Gwinneth Medical Center at least twice since early September.
Flair is still being advertised for Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings, where he is supposed to be the special guest referee for the Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton dark match.
Hopefully it’s nothing serious, check back here for updates on Flair’s condition.
– JoJo Offerman, who was one of the stars of season one of WWE Total Divas, was the ring announcer for NXT Takeover 2 on Thursday night. She also worked as the ring announcer for the NXT television tapings the following night and sang the national anthem before both of the events.
– As noted, Hideo Itami made his official WWE in-ring debut at the aforementioned NXT TV tapings on Friday. Itami’s first match will air on next Thursday’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network. Itami’s first match was against Justin Gabriel. He taped additional matches at the tapings and will be featured in each NXT TV show over the next four weeks.
– The former “KENTA,” Hideo Itami, tweeted the following on Friday about his official WWE in-ring debut at the NXT television tapings in Winter Park, Florida. For those who missed it, we have full spoilers for the next four weeks of NXT TV on the site right now.
I never forget today. 9.12.2014.
With ring debut in @WWENXT #HideoItami pic.twitter.com/TUDLITj4wT
— Kenta Kobayashi (@HideoItami) September 13, 2014
– Below is a photo of Triple H presenting five Full Sail University students with scholarships from WWE for creativity, academia and professionalism.
.@TripleH presented 5 @FullSail students with scholarships from #WWE for creativity, academia, and professionalism! pic.twitter.com/slrlvZdvjL
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) September 12, 2014
– Hideo Itami, formerly known as KENTA, has changed his official Twitter handle to reflect his new ring name. You can now reach him on Twitter @HideoItami.
– Brie Bella’s new theme song is called “Beautiful Life” and is now available online via iTunes.
– Below is a new episode of The JBL (not Cole) Show:
The following are results for the next four weeks of NXT television. The report was written by ProWrestling.net.
Dark Match
1. The Mechanics (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) beat Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake.
September 18 Show
The show opened with Titus O’Neil cutting a heel promo on the crowd and proclaiming NXT to be NXTitus. Sami Zayn interrupted Titus and wanted to wrestle him. Adrian Neville came out and said he wanted to face Titus because he’s the champion. Tyson Kidd came out and it was settled that the main event of the show would be a tag match with Neville and Zayn facing Kidd and O’Neil.
1. Charlotte over Emma.
2. Hideo Itami pinned Justin Gabriel. Itami used a diving double stomp as his finisher. After the match, The Ascension ran down and laid out Itami.
3. Baron Corbin squashed CJ Parker.
4. Tyson Kidd and Titus O’Neil beat Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn. There was a lot of one upmanship between Zayn and Neville throughout the match. Kidd scored the pin on Neville after Titus knocked him off the top turnbuckle while the ref was distracted trying to keep Zayn out of the ring.
It was announced that the next set of tapings will take place on September 25.
September 25 Show
1. Bull Dempsey beat Mojo Rawley. After Bull left Mojo lying in the ring, Tyler Breeze came out and beat up Mojo some more before the next match.
2. Tyler Breeze over Justin Gabriel.
3. Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss. After the match, Bayley asked Charlotte to come out to the ring and asked for a rematch from Takeover. Charlotte said that Bayley had earned her respect and she’d get another shot, but warned that the second verse would be the same as the first. The match is set for the following episode.
4. Enzo Amore pinned Marcus Louis. Louis was wearing the Kurt Angle headgear and wig until Enzo pulled it off and rolled up Louis while he scrambled to put it back on.
5. Lucha Dragons retained the NXT Tag Team Championships over The Ascension. Hideo Itami distracted The Ascension which allowed Kalisto to hit Salida del Sol for the win. Afterwards, Itami laid out Konnor on the stage with kicks.
NXT spoilers for Oct. 2nd and Oct. 9th continued on page two …
Below are some post-NXT Takeover 2 backstage video interviews from Thursday night.
The following are results of the NXT Takeover 2 special, which aired on the WWE Network on Thursday, September 11, 2014.
– The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara & Kalisto) def. The Ascension to become the new NXT Tag-Team Champions in the opening match of the show. The finish came when Kalisto pinned Viktor.
– Baron Corbin def. C.J. Parker in a quick squash match that lasted all of 29 seconds.
– Enzo Amore def. Sylvester Lefort with a rolling reverse cradle, holding his trunks during the pin. Lefort tried to run away after the match, but Big Cass clotheslined him. Louis attacked Cass and Lefort ran off, leaving Louis alone. Cass hit a big kick on Louis. Cass said to Amore, “Enzo, get the bucket!” in Dudley Boyz fashion. He poured the bucket on Louis and Louis ran off.
– KENTA came out to the ring after being introduced by William Regal. KENTA announced that his new name is Hideo Itami. The Acension came out and threw him out of the ring and demanded a tag-title rematch. He came back in and cleaned house of both guys.
– Bull Dempsey def. Mojo Rawley in about a minute with a diving head-butt. After the match, he gave Rowley another diving head-butt for good measure.
– Backstage, Enzo Amore and Big Cass wanted to see somebody bald. They found Louis and Lefort ran away, leaving him alone yet again. Cass attacked him and carried him to the ring. Cass hit him with a reverse atomic drop and Amore took the towel off that was covering his head, revealing that he only had a little bit of hair left and no eyebrows.
– Charlotte def. Bayley to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. The finish saw Charlotte hit a moonsault, followed by a neck-snapper for the pin. After the match, Sasha Banks came out and taunted Bayley and then attacked her. Charlotte ended up making the save.
– It was announced that Hideo Itami (formerly known as KENTA) will be making his in-ring debut on NXT TV next week, which is actually being taped on Saturday night, September 12th.
– Adrian Neville def. Tyler Breeze, Sami Zayn & Tyson Kidd to retain the NXT Championship. The finish saw Neville hit his spectacular Red Arrow on Kidd for the pin after Zayn had hit the running kick into the corner and had the match won, but Neville pulled the referee out of the ring so he couldn’t make the three count. This was definitely a “match of the year” candidate.
During the NXT Takeover 2 live special on the WWE Network on Thursday night, KENTA made his official debut for WWE.
KENTA spoke about his goals and revealed during his promo segment that as a sign of tribute to his hero, who he didn’t name, he is changing his name to Hideo Itami.
After his name-change announcement, NXT Tag-Team Champions The Ascension came out and interupted him, likely starting some kind of program that will continue on NXT television.
Hideo Itami makes his NXT in-ring debut next week.
#HideoItami makes his #WWE #NXT in-ring debut next week #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/BicOlp8KYQ
— SEScoops (@sescoops) September 12, 2014
Thanks to SEScoops.com reader Tara for sending along the following NXT TV taping results for the next four weeks …
Spoilers For June 5, 2014:
– Mojo Rawley kicks off NXT and gets everyone hyped. Aiden English sings and gets beat with Mojo’s finisher in a fairly quick match.
– Bayley comes out and gives her bandana to one of the Special Olympic athletes at ringside. NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte comes out for a match. Charlotte gets the win with Bow Down to the Queen after Summer Rae returned to NXT and distracted Bayley. Sasha Banks, Summer and Charlotte beat down Bayley until Emma and Paige made the save.
– Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger defeated two indie wrestlers from FIP.
– CJ Parker came out with more Earth friendly signs in protest.
– Tyler Breeze comes out for an in-ring segment and talks about beating Sami Zayn to become the new #1 contender. Breeze promises he will be the new NXT Champion when he gets his shot against Adrian Neville. Breeze shows us a music video he had made which is a compilation of his greatest entrances.
– Adrian Neville defeated Justin Gabriel. After the match, Tyson Kidd came out and apologized for his actions at Takeover. They shook hands and agree to a rematch at a future date that isn’t announced.
Spoilers For June 12, 2014
– Bayley, Emma and Paige defeated Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Summer Rae. The BFF’s argued from the time they came out to the stage. They argued all during the match, allowing Bayley to get the pin on Charlotte. The problems continued after the match as Charlotte and Sasha argued to the back. Summer ended up staying at ringside and taking photos with fans.
– More protesting from CJ Parker.
– Big Cass defeated Sylvester Lefort.
– Bo Dallas comes out under a mask and he’s called Mr. NXT. Sami Zayn comes out and exposes him. After Sami wins the match, he calls for security to escort Bo out of the arena since he was banned from NXT previously. Bo runs around the arena but security catches up with him. Bo begs for someone’s help but they take him away.
– Adrian Neville defeated Tyson Kidd with the NXT Title on the line. Natalya was at ringside. Kidd won the match at one point but the referee didn’t see Neville’s foot on the bottom rope and the match was re-started. The end came when Kidd grabbed a steel chair from Natalya but got caught with a heel kick and Red Arrow. Kidd walked away from Natalya after the match.
Spoilers For June 19, 2014
– There’s an off-camera segment with Bo Dallas running around asking for help from security.
– Alexa Bliss defeated Sasha Banks. Charlotte and Summer Rae were at ringside with Sasha. Sasha lost when there was more arguing among the BFF’s.
– Mojo Rawley defeated Garrett Dylan.
– “The Vaudevillians” Aiden English and Simon Gotch defeated Travis Tyler and Angelo Dawkins.
– Tyler Breeze defeated Kalisto.
– The Ascension defeated Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd with the NXT Tag Team Titles on the line. Sami got hit with Fall of Man after Kidd walked out on him.
Spoilers For June 26, 2014
– The Vaudevillians defeated two unknown wrestlers.
– CJ Parker comes back out with more Earth friendly signs in protest.
– Bull Dempsey defeated Xavier Woods. Dempsey took the mic and said the business used to be dominated by brawler guys like him. He said he’s the last of a dying breed.
– Becky Lynch defeated Summer Rae when she was distracted by Sasha and Charlotte arguing at ringside.
– Big Cass defeated Sawyer Fulton in a squash match. After the match, Marcus Louis and Sylvester Lefort came out and beat Cass down. Enzo Amore made his return and made the save for Cass. Enzo cut an awesome promo and the crowd was all into it. Cass and Enzo did their schtick and left to a new theme song.
– Tyler Breeze is out next for commentary. Rob Van Dam vs. Adrian Neville in a non-title match is next. Neville gets the win with the Red Arrow. Breeze and Neville stare each other down after the match.