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WWE NXT Results 4/8/15

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Credit: Mike Bessler

This week’s show was taped during WrestleMania week and these events took place as part of Axxess. We start with a look at all of that. Then we get down to the elimination tournament that gave one NXT guy a slot on the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Hideo Itami vs. Adrian Neville

They’re just calling Adrian Neville “Neville” now and he takes in a warm welcome from the crowd, who as already chanting “this is awesome” before the bell.” Early grappling shows a pretty balance matchup. Neville looks limber and h takes Hideo down to the mat. Itami changes it up and gets on top for a one-count. Neville gets loose and plays with the crowd before taking Itami down again. Itami comes back and lands a decent shot as his contingent in the crowd roars with approval. Neville applies a headlock but Itami shakes it off and puts Neville out of the ring. Neville bides his time, coming back inside at the count of nine.

Neville gets on top and cracks Itami in the back with a swift kick. He puts Hideo on the mat for a near fall and then works him over in the corner. Neville keeps the advantage for a lengthy stretch until Itami nails him with a dropkick off the ropes and follows up with a flurry of maneuvers. He applies a sleeper hold as the crowd calls for the GTS. After enduring a suplex, Neville kicks out at two. Adrian stages a comeback, delivering a stunning superkick and puts Itami down but can’t seal the deal. Neville misses off the top and Itami clocks him with a corner stalling dropkick followed by a running kick for the three-count.

Result: Hideo Itami defeats Adrian Neville via pinfall.

Next up, it’s the other semi-final contest…

Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze

The crowd is looking pretty forward to this one. Balor pokes fun at Breeze by laying across the top ropes in the corner and then they get to work. Breeze eventually gets an edge and puts Balor in the corner. The ref pushes him off Finn and Breeze screams in protest. After dishing out some punishment, Breeze puts Balor on the mat and tries to garner a submission. They get to grappling again and Balor hits a dropkick to put some distance between the men. He gets fired up and waffles breeze with a corner enzugiri but the fight continues. Finn hits the Sling Blade and a few more high-impact moves including the coup de grace and three seconds later, it’s all over.

After an Axxeess highlight reel, we head for the main event…

Finn Balor vs. Hideo Itami

The guys square off and the crowd is psyched. It’s pretty even until Hideo gets moving off the ropes. After some fast hits, he puts Balor down for mat work. When they make it back to a vertical base, Balor comes to life with a dropkick and then he puts Itami into the corner for chops. Hideo counters but Balor delivers an enzugiri, earning a near fall. They battle back and forth and at one point, Itami teases the GTS but doesn’t finish it. Counter is met with counter and then both men hit the canvas for a short rest. Once they’re both up again, they trade blows. Balor seemingly wins the struggle until Hideo starts no-selling the punches. He can’t keep control of the bout, though, as Balor lands the Sling Blade. Finn goes to the top rope and Hideo blocks him, setting up the GTS again, but he doesn’t hit it. Balor tries for a roll up but Hideo kicks out and then delivers a shotgun kick, taking out his opponent for good.

Result: Hideo Itami defeats Finn Balor via pinfall.

After the bell, the crowd chants “Hug it out!” and the guys do just that. Then we get a look at a video package chronicling Itami’s road in WWE thus far. After they show his unceremonious elimination from the battle royal, WWE wraps it up on a high note. Good stuff.

Spoilers: WWE Main Event Results For 4/8/15

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Thanks to KnuckleballWilson for the following WWE Main Event spoilers from tonight’s tapings in Dallas, Texas:

* Fandango with Rosa Mendes defeated R-Truth.

* Summer Rae defeated Emma.

* Mark Henry squashed Heath Slater

* Jack Swagger defeated The Miz with help from Damien Sandow to a big pop

GFW Announces Partnership For Upcoming Live Shows

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Global Force Wrestling issued the following press release regarding their deal with Bandit Lites for their upcoming events:

GFW TO PARTNER WITH BANDIT LITES, THE GLOBAL LEADER IN EVENT AND CONCERT LIGHTING

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When Global Force Wrestling brings its fresh, high-energy, fan-friendly brand to Las Vegas for the first taping of its broadcast shows on July 24 at the Orleans Arena, Bandit Lites will light the way.

Bandit, a 22-time winner of lighting company of the year, is the worldwide leader in event and concert lighting. Born in the 1960s in Kingsport, Tennessee, Bandit is headquartered in Knoxville and has offices in Nashville, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The company has done all of the lighting for Garth Brooks concerts and specials for years, as well as hundreds of other musical acts including Aerosmith, Queen, Van Halen, Jimmy Buffett, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban. Bandit has lit special events for President Clinton, the NFL and the Make A Wish Foundation, among myriad others.

Bandit also is no stranger to combat sports, having done lighting for the UFC, WCW and WWE, including 16 Wrestlemanias.

“Bandit Lites is innovative, committed and the worldwide leader in its field,” said Jeff Jarrett, GFW founder and CEO. “Those are traits that make it a perfect partner for Global Force Wrestling as it embarks on its journey to capture the hearts and imaginations of fans around the world.”

GFW’s first three shows at the Orleans Arena will take place on Friday, July 24; Friday, Aug. 21 and Friday, Oct. 23.

“We’re looking forward to bringing the best production values in all of entertainment to GFW at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas,” said Michael T. Strickland, founder and CEO of Bandit.

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WWE SmackDown Moving To USA Network, Tough Enough Premiere Announced, Springer

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WWE released a statement today, announcing the return of WWE Tough Enough, and that SmackDown would be moving to the USA Network next year.

Tough Enough will debut on Tuesday, June 23 at 8 pm Eastern on the USA Network as well. SmackDown will move to the USA Network during the “first quarter of 2016.”

“WWE is proud to have SmackDown join Raw as part of our expanded partnership with USA Network,” WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon said. “The combination of the No. 1 cable network and two ratings juggernauts provides a destination for our viewers and an extraordinary platform for our partners.”

The press release also touted WWE’s new “For The Hero In All Of Us” ad campaign.

– The release date for Jerry Springer’s “Too Hot For TV” on the WWE Network is Monday, April 27th. This is the night after Extreme Rules.

Steve Austin Speaks On WWE Rumors: Turning Down Tough Enough, Missing WrestleMania, More

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WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin addressed some rumors surrounding his status with the company on the latest episode of The Steve Austin Show. You can hear the full interview at this link. Below are some highlights:

* Austin said there is no heat on him from WWE for allegedly missing WrestleMania 31 Week. He brought up the rumor that he was supposed to be on a flight with The Undertaker and said that was not true.

* Austin said he was never a part of any creative discussions for him to participate at WrestleMania 31. Austin said he didn’t turn anything down, he simply wasn’t there and was never scheduled to be there.

* Regarding Tough Enough rumors and heat between Austin and Vince McMahon, Austin said he did not turn the show down. He said he’s been talking with WWE about Tough Enough for some time and it was supposed to be filmed in February-March but we’re in April and it still hasn’t happened. Austin said the delay was nobody’s fault as it takes a lot of work for the different pieces of a reality show like Tough Enough to come together. When WWE got their pieces together, CMT wanted to do more Broken Skull Challenge and Austin couldn’t do Tough Enough due to the BSC commitments. Austin said he didn’t turn down Tough Enough because of heat with Vince and scheduling problems are why he couldn’t do the show. Austin said he wishes he could do Tough Enough but it didn’t work out. Austin said in a perfect world, he would have filmed Tough Enough in February-March and that would have been it.

* Austin also addressed the rumors about his podcast not being on the WWE Network. Austin said they did the first two and were going to make a deal to move forward. He said there was a deal that could have been made but it wasn’t and they’re not moving forward but there’s no heat there. Austin he heard Vince wasn’t happy with some of his questions for Triple H and Austin said that’s not true.

* Austin said WWE is going in their own direction and he’s going in his and down the road if they hook back up, it’ll be gangbusters. Austin said he will always have WWE in his blood. He acknowledged both sides have helped each other over the years and said it’s always a good thing and a fun thing when WWE and Steve Austin are in business together. Austin guesses there is no animosity towards him from WWE’s point of view and said he has no heat with them. Austin said, “No heat, nowhere. It’s cool, moving on…”

Stephanie Off TV A Month?, Roman Reigns Family Upset, More On AJ Retiring

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– It was noted on last night’s WWE RAW that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were absent because they were on a tropical vacation somewhere with no cell reception.

Stephanie could be off WWE TV for up to 4-5 weeks if reports of her being overseas with the Eisenhower Fellows Multi Nation Program are true.

We noted back in October 2014 that Stephanie was announced as a 2015 Eisenhower Fellow with 8 other executives from around the world.

Beginning April 5th, the Eisenhower Fellows in the MNP program were scheduled to go on a 4-5 week trip visiting one or two countries that they selected from a list of 42 potential destinations, including Australia, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh and others. We don’t know for sure that Stephanie is on the Eisenhower Fellows trip, however Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that it was scheduled to begin April 5th so the dates do match up.

– We noted before that AJ Lee likely knew she was going to retire from WWE going into the WrestleMania 31 match with Paige against The Bella Twins. It’s believed that AJ didn’t inform WWE officials of her retirement until after the WrestleMania match was over because they probably would have had her lose if they knew she was retiring so soon.

– Regarding the family of Roman Reigns being upset at WrestleMania 31 over plans changing with the WWE World Heavyweight Title, Reigns’ father Sika was said to be furious and while his uncle Afa was not happy, he was not as mad as Sika. While some in the family reportedly wanted Reigns to quit WWE over the loss, Reigns himself took the loss well.

More Details On Incident Between Scott Steiner And Hulk Hogan’s Wife, Police Report Filed

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Source: TMZ

We’ve noted how there was an incident between Scott Steiner and Hulk Hogan’s wife on the way to San Jose during WrestleMania 31 Week, that resulted in Steiner being banned from the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at Hulk’s request.

TMZ has new details on the story and reports that Steiner threatened to kill Hulk to his wife. Steiner allegedly grabbed Hogan’s wife at baggage claim and threatened to “kill Terry” as soon as he landed.

TMZ reports that Jennifer didn’t immediately recognize Steiner but she did call Hulk, who took the next flight to San Jose and went with her to file a police report the next morning. Steiner is now being investigated for “felony terrorist threats” and police have airport surveillance video that shows Steiner confronting Mrs. Hogan.

Steiner offered this comment to TMZ:

“Typical Hogan. He’s just a punk.”

Talk Is Jericho Podcast Recap With Special Guest John Cena

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We’re live on the WWE Network with Chris Jericho and WWE United States Champion John Cena, who has a shiner from his match with Stardust. Jericho brings up the “five moves of doom” jab and say Cena broke out some new moves in his match on RAW. They joke that they’re not sure if they can call his springboard backwards stunner a “Stunner.” Jericho asks about Cena being US Champion and not being in the main event. Cena says he never got wrapped up in being in the main event so it doesn’t bother him. He talks about being able to help guys like Dean Ambrose and Cody Rhodes with the United States Title by letting them get some time and putting their “business card” out there.

Jericho jokes and asks what would Cena have done if he issued the open challenge and Funaki came out. Cena talks about riding in his early WWE days with guys like Funaki, Tajiri and The Bashams. Jericho asks about his relationship with Vince McMahon in 2015. Cena says their vision is the same, sometimes they’re different creatively. Cena says he loves the company. People say they love the pro wrestling business but he loves the company. Cena says he’s bee lucky enough to surround himself with people like Vince his whole life and he’s taken a liking to how Vince does things. Cena says his legitimate goal is taking WWE to places they haven’t been like China and India. He wants to leave WWE 100 times better than it was when he walked in.

Cena admits he does still get yelled at sometimes but everyone does. Cena says that just shows the passion that Vince still has. Cena praises Vince for still being on top of things 31 WrestleManias later. Cena re-tells the story about the first time he met Vince and Vince wanted his hair cut. Jericho brings up Cena being able to do backwards promos and they both try to do it. Cena says that showed back then that he wasn’t afraid to take a chance fo success. Cena says WWE has so many talents but he thinks some are afraid to take a chance. Cena says he “loved, loved” Vince’s brass ring comment from a few months back. Cena says he was a fan of the Attitude Era just as much as the rest of us and WWE has new rules now but you still have to take a chance. Cena talks about looking up to William Regal years ago and becoming a fan of the European style that guys like Regal and Finlay worked. Cena had a dark match one time and said it stunk the place up. He came backstage and asked Regal for feedback and Regal told him to get a real pair of boots so he would at least look like a wrestler.

They talk Cena being in OVW with Brock Lesnar, Batista and Randy Orton. Cena says walking into a training session at that OVW class was like walking into a crazy Matrix scene. Cena praises all three of them and brings up Shelton Benjamin, Sylvester Terkay, Ron Waterman, Rico and others. They talk more about Cena’s early days and then his dad, who was at WrestleMania 31. Jericho asks if Cena ever took any performance enhancing drugs and he says no. Cena says he was fortunate to be around good people in his bodybuilding career. Cena says all his competitions were drug tested. Cena says people always think athletes who are ripped like he was are on steroids but that’s indicates that’s just how it’s going to be. Cena say he got that big in high school and has been big ever since. They talk about being on the road together and Jericho says Cena is the only guy that could drink him under the table. Cena says they had a lot of good times. Jericho says the Mt. Rushmore of WWE in the modern era has been Steve Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan and Cena. Cena doesn’t know who would be the faces now. Cena says when fans scream they want something new but get something that’s company-packaged new then it’s no good. He uses Roman Reigns as an example. Cena says Reigns is an absolute star and puts him over. Cena says it’s going to be weird from here on out when talking about fans wanting something new but rejecting it. Jericho says it seems like everything has changed. Cena says don’t let the mood change fool you, there will be a face of the company coming up, then someone after that and so on. Cena says the next front man will be the guy with enough balls to take the right chances.

They talk about how you need to stand out and have an identity to make it. Cena says once you have that, fans will hate you or love you. Cena says he watches NXT when he can. He says the most interesting thing about NXT is the steam that the brand is building, talking about the talents being put in front of live events and more. Cena says he loves it when it’s sink or swim with the audience and when they let you have it. He loves the emotion of it. Cena admits there was real heat with The Rock when he first came in to work with him. Cena says he wanted it to be Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James but Rock had a different vision. He talks about working with Rock and never caring about what Rock said about him, Cena just was always worried about having a chance to jab back. Cena says Rock was pissed when Cena called him out for having a promo written on his arm. Cena dodges a question on if Rock was actually pissed in Cena’s face backstage. Cena says it was always kept professional between the two and that’s the one thing he respected the most. Cena says he took a jar of moonshine into Rock’s locker room in Miami and told him not to take anything he said personal. Cena says he didn’t want to make Rock foolish by calling him out, Cena was just trying to step up.

Jericho asks Cena how he dealt with the “Cena sucks” chants every night. Cena says he just let the product speak for itself. Cena says he became genuine and developed from the hip-hop character to who he really is. Jericho asks Cena why he think fans chant “Cena sucks.” Cena thinks they want something different, something more.

Jericho brings up people always asking if Cena will turn heel. Cena says it was briefly discussed during the feud with The Rock. He indicated he was excited and even recorded a new theme and had new gear. Cena says if it happened, he would have thought it was great to show that different side but it’s so rewarding to be aspirational, to be inspirational. Cena says you might want him to be a bad guy but the 8 year old in the front row lights up at who he is now. Cena jokes that he’s the biggest heel in the company with how much he gets booed. Cena says if he did turn heel, they could come up with an explanation for the kids. Cena would be open to turning heel but he hopes WWE would have someone ready to be there for the kids.

Cena talks about traveling with Michael Cole and Mark Carrano.

Jericho asks what his favorite match is and he says the next one. Cena feels his first match with The Rock fit the year long build. Cena says that match was better than he expected. Jericho asks about his relationship with Rock ow. Cena says Rock is awesome and always has these gems of advice to help him. Jericho asks about Cena’s future. Cena says he takes it one day at a time but when he’s a step slower and can’t do it… they embrace and Jericho plugs his upcoming interview with Vickie Guerrero on PodcastOne.

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