Full Sail TV Tapings 8-13-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Thursday night fans piled into the NXT arena at Full Sail University for another round of television tapings. With only a little over a week before NXT Takeover, the booking was a little strange to say the least, with some unique matches and possible swerves. It will be interesting to see how the tapings stack up to the actual episodes after the magic of editing. The following report contains detailed spoilers for the next three episodes.

In our opening dark match Riddick Moss takes on the drifter Elias Sampson in a short but well wrestled contest. Moss takes control early on with an obvious strength and size advantage flattening Sampson with a powerslam. Sampson fights back pummeling Moss in the corner. Later he sends Moss to the mat with a double mule kick out of the corner before attempting to ground Moss with a side headlock. The two trade shots back and forth until eventually Sampson comes off the turnbuckles with a crossbody. Moss reverses the momentum and tosses Sampson over his head with a fallaway slam. Moss finishes off Sampson with a crucifix powerbomb for the victory. I’ve been a fan of Elias Sampson from the beginning, but Riddick Moss is starting to come into his own and is looking better with every outing.

Episode 1

General Manager William Regal makes his way to the ring to officiate the contract signing for the women’s title match at NXT Takeover. Bayley is out first, followed by the champ Sasha Banks. Before signing Bayley takes the mic and gives thanks to all of us for getting her to this point. She tells us that this is the biggest match of her life. She explains that she has been in this position before but let the title slip through her fingers. She insists that this time will be different, she can feel it, and Sasha can feel it too. Bayley signs the contract and Sasha takes a mic now. Sasha says she is the baddest diva in NXT and the greatest champ on either roster. Sasha signs the contract and begins to leave the ring. Bayley says she knows how these contract signings end and she doesn’t get to just walk off. Bayley tells her she is ready for a fight now. Banks tells Bayley that Becky and Charlotte were threats but she is not. Banks continues by telling her that is why they are on Raw right now and she is not. She finishes by calling her a loser and telling her she is not worth the fight. Sasha leaves but Bayley attacks her on the ramp and the two fight until they are broken up by several referees.

Next up Prince Pretty Tyler Breeze comes out with a Jushin Thunder Liger mask to make quick work of enhancement talent Rob Ryzin. The bell rings and Ryzin comes out of the gate ready to fight but Breeze knocks him out with a superkick for the win. Afterwards Breeze puts the Liger mask on Ryzin to give us a Takeover preview. Breeze picks his opponent up off the mat only to drop him again with a Beauty Shot.

The action continues with a big eight man tag match with The Hype Bros and Enzo & Cass taking on Aaron Solow, Jesse Sorenson and two other unnamed talents. This was a mostly one sided match with the enhancement talent getting minimal offense against Amore. Cass looks to finish a relatively easy night with a swinging side slam to Solow but Sorenson breaks the pin. Sorenson then gets leveled by Cass followed by a broski boot from Ryder for his troubles. Cass executes another swinging side slam to Solow and launches Enzo off the turnbuckle with an assisted splash for the win.

The night continues with more tag action as the team of Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins take on the champs Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy accompanied by Alexa Bliss. Dawkins and Fulton start off strong in the early goings using their size to their advantage along with tandem wrestling. Finally Blake turns things around with a big clothesline and control Dawkins until he makes a hot tag to Fulton who comes in and cleans house with a series of strikes and a nice gutwrench suplex to Murphy. It wouldn’t be enough as Murphy quickly regain control and the champs finish Fulton with their running suplex/frogsplash combo for the win. Afterwards The Vaudevillians come out to cut a promo but Alexa marches up and slaps each of them. English and Gotch regain their composure and begin again, but Bliss assaults them once more before the champ’s music hit.

Next up is Steve Cutler taking on Samoa Joe. Cutler bravely takes it right to Joe with a series of strikes into the corner. Cutler backs up and charges but Joe catches him with a thunderous side slam. Joe picks him up and locks on a Coquina Clutch for a quick submission victory. Joe leaves the ring but Corbin runs out and drops him with a big boot. The two brawl into the ring and Joe begins to mount a comeback but Corbin snatches him up with an End Of Days.

Kevin Owens comes to the ring and sets up a ladder. He begins to talk about his match with Balor at NXT Takeover. At the first mention of Brooklyn he is met with loud boos and a “Brooklyn Sucks” chant. He tells us that we are a bunch of hypocrites and are basically the John Cena of wrestling fans because nothing genuine ever comes out of our mouths. He points out that we say we love NXT and want it to grow yet cry that they are doing a sold out show in Brooklyn. He says we’re all trash and that beating Balor and taking his title will make him feel better. He says Japan was a fluke and that at Takeover it is going to be “Climb Owens Climb”. The lights go dark and Finn’s music begins but when the lights come back on Finn is already in the ring perched on the turnbuckle. The two begin to brawl and Finn drops Owens with a pele kick. He takes the ladder and launches it but Owens dodges and clears the ring. Finn tells him that he is going to do more than win, he is also going to kick Owens ass and shut his mouth. This was a great segment. Owens scathing promo had so much truth to it, and how he utilized it is another example of why he is simply the best heel in the business.

Episode 2

The episode begins with Gionna Daddio taking on Sasha Banks, who came to the ring wearing her women’s title, again it will be interesting to see how these episodes are edited for television. The match starts with much fast paced back and forth action. Gionna starts off strong with several grapples, pin attempts and acrobatic maneuvers but ultimately Banks halts her offense with double knees in the corner. Banks then slows the pace choking Gionna in the corner before settling into a chinlock. Gionna mounts a comeback culminating in a crossbody but moments later Banks hits her with a backstabber transitioned into the Bank Statement for the submission victory. There were a few rough spots but ultimately Gionna shows a lot of promise and is a wrestler to get excited for.

The Ascension are out next to a huge hometown pop to take on the weird pairing of Baron Corbin and Rhyno. Viktor and Konnor start off strong manhandling Corbin with a series of strikes and uppercuts. Viktor and Corbin end up brawling on the outside, my visibility was limited (they were on the other side of the ring) but Viktor went down and did not immediately get up. The bell rang abruptly and the match was called a DQ. However, Viktor made it back up and everyone seemed poised to restart the match. Regal came out and said the match would not end like that and to restart it. Rhyno and Corbin dominate Viktor until he nails a hellacious clothesline on Rhyno in a last gasp effort. Viktor makes the hot tag to Konnor who comes in with a flurry of punches to Rhyno. He accentuates it with a big flapjack and The Ascension surround Rhyno for The Fall Of Man. Corbin makes the save pulling Viktor out of the ring, and moments later Rhyno gores Konnor for the win. Flawed match or not, it was nice to see The Ascension welcomed back to Full Sail in such a loud raucous way.

We continue with Alexa Bliss taking on Bluepants in a very one sided match. In the opening moments Bliss attacks and beats down Bluepants, She continues with intermittent kicks and strikes in between armlocks. Bluepants fights back with two high kicks and a suplex, but Bliss answers with a Glitz Flip followed by a Sparkle Splash for the pin.

Next, Apollo Crews takes on Martin Stone. In the early goings Apollo shows off his amazing agility and fluidity finishing off the opening moments with a beautiful dropkick. Stone mounts a slight offense, wisely trying to ground Crews. However Apollo comes back with a mean kick followed by a series of axehandles and a big splash. He hoists up Stone with a big military press and drops him. He then follows with a perfect standing moonsault for the win. It was a short but fun match and a good introduction to Apollo Crews.

Next up is women’s action with Billie Kay taking on Eva Marie. After a few successful grapples in the early goings Eva stops to gloat but Billie shuts her up with a big boot. However moments later Eva is back in control with several shoulders to Billie in the corner. She follows with a suplex and a senton before settling into a grounded abdominal stretch. Billie makes it up and mounts a comeback with two clotheslines and a suplex of her own. Billie goes for a pin and the referee counts one, two, and he hesitates on what should have been a three count. Apparently, Eva Marie forgot to kick out, it was terribly noticeable. It certainly didn’t help to sway the already negative crowd who pounced upon the botch with “Bullshit” chants. The match continues and the two fight into the corner where Eva manages to hit Billie with the Sliced Red #2 for the victory.

Tag action is next with Solomon Crowe and Neville taking on Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Neville is met with a hero’s welcome from the crowd at Full Sail University.  Crowe and Gable start with both men showing off some incredible ringwork. Crowe takes charge and eventually flapjacks Gable before settling into a front chancery. Moments later Neville takes over on Jordan with a flurry of kicks and signature offense for his team. Later Jordan and Gable would turn things back around isolating Crowe from his partner. Crowe eventually makes a hot tag to Neville who comes in with a speedy series of strike and kicks laying out Jordan. Neville climbs the turnbuckles for The Red Arrow, but Gable wisely pulls Jordan to the outside. Undeterred, Neville executes a moonsault off the turnbuckle onto Jordan on the outside. Crowe follows with a suicide dive through the ropes and into Gable. Back in the ring Jordan and Gable somehow manage to take advantage ejecting Neville from the ring and hitting Crowe with Grand Amplitude for the victory.

Episode 3

The episode opens up with Peyton Royce (KC Kassidy) taking on Carmella. The match opens up with much grappling and reversals, and both women looking strong. Finally, Carmella takes charge with a nice headscissors and a sitout rear slam. Peyton fights back with two high spinning heel kicks and a crossbody. Ultimately though Carmella would nail Royce with an STO and transition into her modified figure four head scissors for the submission victory.

Tag team action is next with the bizarre pairing of Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey. Their opponents were the surprising duo of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, who were both welcomed with much fanfare. Very early on Ciampa slaps the taste right out of the mouth of Breeze. Gargano comes in and continues the momentum with a mean neckbreaker to Breeze. Eventually Prince Pretty makes a tag to Bull. Gargano continues his onslaught but bounces right off of the much larger Dempsey. After several unsuccessful takedowns Gargano drops Bull with a kick to the head and tags in Ciampa. Tommaso first tries to ground Dempsey before eventually jumping onto Bull’s back and locking on a sleeper hold. Dempsey falls back squashing Ciampa before tagging in Breeze. Breeze quickly begins to get owned again and once again tags in Dempsey. Moments later Dempsey accidently knocks Breeze off the ring apron. All alone in the ring Gargano rolls up Bull with a sunset flip and Ciampa follows through rolling Bull up for the pin. Afterwards Bull and Breeze argue in the ring, then Breeze attacks Bull. He finally drops Bull with a kick to the head. This was a really fun match possibly setting up a program for Bull and Breeze. Though a more pressing question right now would be the NXT status of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.

Women’s action is next with Billie Kay taking on Dana Brooke. The match begins with much fast paced back and forth action. Billie mounts some nice offense with a perfect headscissors but a frustrated Brooke beats down Billie afterward. She continues choking Billie in the corner before settling into a scissor lock. Later Billis fights back with a clothesline and a hurricanrana followed by a big boot. Brooke attempts a kick, but Billie catches her. Dana answers with an ensiguri and finishes with a Samoan Driver for the win. I enjoyed this match, Dana Brooke really is makings strides every week.

It’s main event time and Kevin Owens is out first with the NXT belt (let the speculation begin), his opponent is Adrian Neville. The bell rings and Owens immediately rolls out of the ring dictating the pace as usual. Neville gives chase and they end up back in the ring with Owens in control. Neville comes back with a flurry of signature kicks and a headscissors. The battle continues to the outside where Owens attacks Neville with a vicious clothesline before striking a Finn Balor pose. They end up back in the ring and Owens flattens Neville with a senton before settling into a chinlock. Moments later after a mean cannonball Owens hoists Neville up onto his shoulders for an Attitude Adjustment, but Neville reverses it into an outrageous DDT. The battle rages on until Neville avoids a powerbomb and drops Owens with a big German suplex. Moments later Owens eats a superkick and Neville climbs the turnbuckles for a Red Arrow. Owens rolls out of the ring, grabs his belt and begins to leave. Neville doesn’t relent and the two end up back in the ring where Owens levels Neville with the belt causing a DQ. Owens begins to beat down Neville after the match but Finn Balor makes the save. Tyler Breeze then runs out to help Owens beat down Balor. Neville makes it back into the ring evening the odds and chasing off Owens, leaving Breeze to defend himself. Balor hits Breeze with a slingblade followed by a dropkick into the corner. Neville climbs the turnbuckles and finishes Breeze with the Red Arrow.

Overall, it was a fun night with some nice surprises and some feel good homecomings. Otherwise though, the booking was sort of bizarre. With that said I will still be eagerly tuning into the tv show before and after Takeover to see exactly how tonight translates into television magic.