NXT TakeOver: New Orleans Results – Apr. 7, 2018 – Gargano vs. Ciampa

Apr 7, 2018

NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
April 7, 2018
New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Commentary: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

NXT North American Championship
Ladder Match
Adam Cole vs. EC3 vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream

Ricochet entered last and had the “biggest” entrance, with the lights going out before his theme hit. He and Adam Cole got the biggest pops.

Crowd broke out into a “this is awesome” chant as soon as the bell rang. Early on, Ricochet hit a sweet springboard off the top rope onto the outside, then did some more sweet Ricochet moves in the ring against Velveteen Dream. Huge pops from the crowd.

Lars Sullivan threw in a second ladder and took out everyone else in the match. EC3 did an Adam Cole taunt and said “EC3 baybay,” which caused Cole to pick him up and toss him onto a ladder. He then superkicked everyone else in the match and tried to climb the ladder until Lars Sullivan shoved the ladder down.

Velveteen Dream then hit three Purple Rainmakers, then climbed on top of a huge ladder and nailed Lars Sullivan with a crazy Purple Rainmaker. He climbed to grab the belt, but EC3 powerbombed him off and onto another ladder in the corner.

Killian Dain set up a ladder on EC3, then went to the middle rope. Adam Cole climbed on his back for a sleeper hold, but Killian Dain jumped down with a Vader Bomb on top of the ladder onto EC3, with Adam Cole still on his back.

Lars Sullivan then faced off with Lars Sullivan. Ricochet ran in but Lars grabbed him by the throat and threw him at Killian Dain at the other corner of the ring. Dain picked up Ricochet and threw him right back at Lars.

Later, Ricochet climbed the ladder to try to grab the belt, but Lars Sullivan shoved the ladder and Ricochet jumped off with a moonsault on the way down, onto the outside onto Adam Cole and Killian Dain. Later, Ricochet hit a Shooting Star Press onto EC3.

Velveteen Dream set up a ladder horizontally between the middle rope and another vertical ladder. He and Ricochet then started fighting on top of the horizontal ladder until Dream picked him up and hit a rolling death valley driver on top of the ladder.

A horizontal ladder was then set up between the apron and announce table. Lars Sullivan put Velveteen Dream on it, then picked up EC3 on the apron and gave him a Rock Bottom down onto Dream, sending them both through the ladder, leading to a “this is awesome” chant.

Another horizontal ladder was set up between the apron and announce table. Dain set up Ricochet on it, then picked up Adam Cole on the apron and jumped down and sat on Ricochet, snapping the ladder in half.

Later, two ladders were set up in the middle of the ring. Lars Sullivan and Dain fought on top of one, while Cole and EC3 fought on the other. A third ladder was then set up by Velveteen Dream, then Ricochet climbed up that one and fought him. Cole and EC3 crashed down. Huge neck breaker off the ladder by Ricochet onto Dream. Lars and Dain fought on the ladders until Sullivan grabbed him and slammed him down to the mat. Sullivan was busted open. He climbed the ladder until Ricochet springboarded off the top rope and onto his back, knocking him down. Ricochet climbed until Cole shoved the ladder down. Cole then climbed the ladder and grabbed the title!

Winner and New NXT North American Champion: Adam Cole (~31 minutes)

NXT Women’s Championship
Ember Moon (c) vs. Shayna Baszler

A live band sang Ember Moon’s theme. Shayna Baszler entered second to a very mild reaction. Ronda Rousey and Jessamyn Duke were shown cheering her on at ringside.

Slow start to the match and the crowd did not seem into it. Baszler tried to lock on a choke hold a couple of minutes into the match, but Ember Moon escaped. Baszler stepped on Moon’s fingers and tried to stomp on her elbow, but Moon escaped and turned the tables on Baszler, stomping on her elbow.

Moon went to the top rope for the Eclipse but Baszler knocked her down. Moon retook control though and knocked Baszler to the outside, then hit an Eclipse off the top rope onto Baszler on the outside.

They rolled back into the ring and Baszler locked on a chokehold out of nowhere, but Moon escaped. Arm lock by Baszler, but Moon turned it into a powerbomb.

Moon went for the Eclipse, but Baszler caught her and locked on a chokehold (Kirifuda Clutch). Moon tried to fight for the rope but Baszler rolled her back into the middle of the ring… Moon continued to try to fight… but she was out. The referee called for the bell.

Winner and New NXT Women’s Champion: Shayna Baszler (~13 minutes)

Backstage, Adam Cole was being checked by a medic and grabbing his stomach in pain, saying he doesn’t know about this tag team title match later. Kyle O’Reilly stood by looking worried.

NXT Tag Team Championship
Triple Threat Match
The Undisputed Era (c) vs. The Authors of Pain vs. Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong

Adam Cole had his upper abs taped up and was selling being injured. Like two minutes into the match, the Authors of Pain powerbombed Adam Cole through the announce table.

Mauro kept calling Razar “Razer.” Kyle O’Reilly was on his own for the whole match after Cole was taken out.

Late in the match, Pete Dunne hit the Bitter End on Kyle O’Reilly and went for the pin, but Roderick Strong attacked Dunne, turning on him… He then hit Dunne with his finisher and put O’Reilly on him for the pin and win. Decent match. Crowd was not very into it until the turn at the end.

Winners: The Undisputed Era (~20 minutes)

O’Reilly and Cole both looked shocked after the match. Strong took the Undisputed Era arm band off of Cole and put it on himself, joining Undisputed Era. The three of them got a pretty good pop and they celebrated in the ring. Bobby Fish met them at the entrance ramp and all four members of Undisputed Era celebrated with their championships next to the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy.

NXT Championship
Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Aleister Black

Both guys seem “larger than life.” Really good entrances and presentation. Early in the match, Zelina Vega got involved and hit a hurricanrana onto Black, sending him into the steel steps.

Later, after a few minutes of good back and forth action, Vega got involved again, giving the NXT Championship to Almas. The ref grabbed it from him and put it outside. While he was distracted, Vega hit a hurricanrana-like move on Black, slamming his face into the mat.

Almas then hit his hammer lock DDT finisher, but Black put his foot on the bottom rope. Black tried to go to the top rope, but Vega grabbed his leg and Almas knocked him down. Double stomp off the top rope onto Black, then a running double knee into the corner for a near fall.

Almas went for another hammerlock DDT, but Black escaped and went for the Black Mass, but Almas dropkicked him first. Almas went for a draping hammerlock DDT, but Black tossed him over the top, then flipped and dived over the top onto Almas. He rolled him into the ring, but Almas immediately nailed him with a hammerlock DDT but Black kicked out.

Zelina Vega went to the top rope and jumped down for a crossbody block but Black moved and she jumped into Almas’s arms. Black then nailed Almas with the Black Mass as he held Vega. 1-2-3.

Winner and New NXT Champion: Aleister Black (~18 minutes)

Unsanctioned Match
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Really good video package recapping this feud. Ciampa came out to no theme and was met with huge boos from the crowd. Chants of “asshole,” “you suck,” and “fuck you, Ciampa.” Gargano then came out to a big pop. Both Gargano and Ciampa looked freaking ripped…

They stared each other down then started trading punches. The crowd booed anytime Ciampa got offense in and cheered when Gargano did.

They started fighting outside and in the crowd. Ciampa pulled off the padding on the outside, leaving the exposed concrete and tried to suplex Gargano on it, but Gargano escaped and threw Ciampa onto the announce table, sending the commentators scrambling. The crowd chanted “mamma mia.” Gargano gave Ciampa a wedgie and tried to piledrive him on the table, but Ciampa escaped and suplexed Gargano off the table and onto the floor.

Ciampa grabbed a “random fan’s” crutches from the crowd and tried to hit Gargano with them, but Gargano escaped. They fought on the apron, trying to drop each other on the exposed concrete and finally, Gargano jumped down and powerbombed Ciampa off the apron onto the concrete. Ouch… Crowd chanted “you deserve it.”

In the ring, Gargano grabbed a crutch and nailed Ciampa with it a few times. Gargano then took off a middle turnbuckle pad and went for the lawn dart, attempting to murder Ciampa, but Ciampa escaped.

Gargano slapped Ciampa in the face a few times, then bounced off the ropes and locked on the Gargano Escape. Ciampa grabbed the ropes, but the match was “unsanctioned” so there was no rope break. Ciampa then gouged Gargano’s eyes and finally escaped.

Ciampa took off his wrist taped and tried to choke Gargano with it. They exchanged punches until Ciampa kicked him in the balls. He then nailed him with the crutch and hit him with his finisher… but Gargano kicked out.

They exchanged slaps in the face until Gargano superkicked Ciampa. Lawn dart into the exposed turnbuckle… Superkick. And another. 1-2-no. The crowd was on their feet. “NXT” chant.

They fought on the top rope for a while until Ciampa hit him with a powerbomb and put his knees up, landing Gargano right on his knees. Crazy… 1-2-kick out.

Ciampa favored his injured knee and pulled off his knee brace, then took off his knee pad, exposing his knee. He ran at Gargano and tried to hit him with the knee, but Gargano nailed him in the knee with the brace. Gargano then stomped on the crutch and broke it in half. He then went to nail Ciampa with it, but he stopped before he connected as Ciampa winced and cowered. Gargano stared him down as the crowd cheered for him to hit him. Gargano and Ciampa looked at each other… Gargano tossed the crutch away and sat down next to Ciampa. Ciampa tried to punch Gargano and Gargano locked on the Gargano Escape… He then stepped on Ciampa’s knee and put the brace on Ciampa face, turning it into a submission move. Ciampa tapped! Incredible match.

Winner: Johnny Gargano (~37 minutes)

Gargano’s wife Candice LeRae ran down into the ring to celebrate with Gargano. Gargano has been reinstated to NXT and thankfully doesn’t have to go to the main roster yet. Gargano raised a crutch and Ciampa’s knee brace and hugged his wife as the show came to an end.