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.

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•Top Stories of the Week

WWE announced they will be holding a special NXT vs. NXT UK vs. 205 Live – 15 man tournament Royal Rumble weekend. The five wrestlers representing NXT will be Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream, Dominick Dijakovic, Keith Lee, and Otis Dozovic. The winner of the 15-man tournament will receive a future Championship match for whichever brand he chooses. The possibilities are endless.
NXT Takeover Phoenix got their third official match this week when NXT General Manager Steven Regal announced The Undisputed Era will defend their titles against The War Raiders.
Johnny Gargano started Wednesday’s NXT TV episode calling out both NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa and NXT North American Champion Ricochet. Later in the episode, Ricochet essentially told Cathy Kelly that he would accept Johnny’s challenge. If they decide to stick with four matches, the card for Takeover will be rounded out with a Gargano vs. Ricochet bout for the NXT North American Championship.

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•NXT Live Event Results

January 4. Atlanta, Georgia

Matt Riddle beat Adam Cole
Kairi Sane and Xia Li beat Lacey Evans
Keith Lee beat Dominik Dijakovic
Brannan Williams beat Kona Reeves
EC3 and War Raiders beat The Undisputed Era
Ricochet beat Shane Thorne to retain North American Championship
Bianca Belair beat Rhea Ripley
Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream beat Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano

(Results courtesy of wrestling-news.net)

January 4 Jacksonville, Fla.

Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza beat Luke Menzies and Mansoor Al-Shehail
Mia Yim beat Deonna Purrazzo
Kassius Ohno beat Jeet Rama
Stacey Ervin Jr. beat Fabian Aichner
Heavy Machinery beat The Forgotten Sons
Candice LeRae beat Jassamyn Duke
Riddick Moss beat Marcel Barthel
The Street Profits beat Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch and Cezar Bononi/Adrian Jaoude, and Saurav Gurjar/Rinku Sing in four corner elimination tag team match

(Results courtesy of f4wonline.com)

January 5 Spartanburg , South Carolina

Donovan Dijakovic beat Shane Thorne
Lacey Evans beat Xia Li
Brennan Williams beat Kona Reeves
EC3 and Keith Lee and Matt Riddle beat The Undisputed Era (Fish, Strong, O’Reilly)
Aleister Black beat Adam Cole
Rhea Ripley beat Bianca Belair and Kairi Sane and Aliyah to retain NXT Women’s UK Championship
Velveteen Dream and Ricochet beat Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Garagno

(Results courtesy of wrestlinginc.com)

January 5 Crystal River, Fla.

Stacey Ervin Jr. beat Marcel Barthel
Reina Gonzalez beat Taynara Conti
Adrian Jaoude and Cezar Bononi beat Boa and Rocky
Chelsea Green beat Jessie Elaban
Punishment Martinez beat Fabian Aichner
Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan beat Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza
Jaxson Ryker beat Mansoor Al-Shehail
Candice LeRae and Io Shirai beat Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke

(Results courtesy of wrestling-news.net)

January 6 Durham, North Carolina

Matt Riddle beat Adam Cole
Kairi Sane and Xia Li beat Lacey Evans and Aliyah
Keith Lee beat Dominik Dijakovic
Brennan Williams beat Kona Reeves
EC3 and War Raiders beat The Undisputed Era (Fish, O’Reilly, Strong)
Ricochet beat Shane Thorne to retain NXT North American Championship
Bianca Belair beat Rhea Ripley
Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream beat Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano

(Results courtesy of wrestling-news.net)

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•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: NXT TakeOver Phoenix

NXT Takeover Phoenix
January 26, 2019
Phoenix, AZ (Talking Stick Resort Arena)

Projected Lineup:

Tomaso Ciampa (Champion) vs. Aleister Black
Undisputed Era (Champions) vs. War Raiders
Ricochet (Champion) vs. Johnny Gargano
Shayna Baszler (Champion) vs. Bianca Beair
Matt Riddle vs. someone/anyone

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•Upcoming Events

Thursday Jan. 10 – Minnreg Hall (Largo, Fla.)
Friday Jan. 11 – Havert L. Fenn Center (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
Saturday Jan. 12 – Orlando Live Events (Casselberry, Fla.)
Thursday Jan. 17 – Venice Community Center (Venice, Fla.)
Friday Jan. 18 – University Area CDC Gymnasium (Tampa, Fla.)
Saturday Jan. 19 – Citrus Springs (Citrus Springs, Fla.)
Thursday Jan. 24 – Viejas Arena (San Diego, Cal.)
Friday Jan 25 – Riverside Municipal Auditorium (Riverside, Cal.)
SATURDAY JAN 26. – WWE NXT TAKEOVER PHOENIX – TALKING STICK RESORT ARENA (Phoenix, Arizona)
Thursday Jan. 31 – Highlands Today Center (Sebring, Fla.)
Saturday Feb. 2 – Lakeland Armory (Lakeland, Fla.)
Thursday Feb. 7 – The Reserve Pavilion at Hilton Ocala (Ocala, Fla.)
Thursday Feb. 7 – RWJ Barnabas Arena (Toms River, New Jersey)
Friday Feb. 8 – St. Petersburg Armory (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Friday Feb. 8 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Saturday Feb. 9 – Lowell Memorial Auditorium (Lowell, MA)
Saturday Feb. 9 – Sanford Civic Center (Sanford, Fla.)
Sunday Feb. 10 – Ryan Center (Kingston, Rhode Island)
Thursday Feb. 14 – Bartow Armory (Bartow, Fla.)
Friday Feb. 15 – Cocoa Armory (Cocoa, Fla.)
Saturday Feb. 16 – Mark Lance Armory (St. Augustine, Fla.)
Saturday Mar. 9 – Dade City Armory (Dade City, Fla.)

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•Latest TV Highlights: 1/9 NXT TV Report

Johnny Gargano in ring promo (2:31 – 11:28)
Interrupted by Ricochet (5:39)
Interrupted by Tommaso Ciampa (8:08)
Interrupted by Aleister Black (8:54)
(1) Bianca Belair beat Nikki Cross by pinfall (15:58 – 26:44)
Street Profits outside promo (29:46 – 32:51)
(2) Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel beat two local wrestlers by pinfall (34:38 – 39:09)
Cathy Kelly parking lot interview with Ricochet (40:25 – 41:12)
(3) Adam Cole beat EC3 by pinfall (48:23 – 56:18)
War Raiders clear ring (57:22)

(Check out PWTorch’s NXT TV Report HERE.)

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•NXT in the media

Future NXT Women’s Champion Bianca Belair did an interview with the Miami Herald to discuss her love for Will Smith, her all-SEC track and field background, and her wrestling career. LINK

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

In this episode, Kelly Wells, Harley R. Pageot, and Tom Stoup cover the last NXT matches for Nikki and EC3, restocking the tag division, announcing a surprise return before it happens, and more.

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

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•Top NXT Tweets of the Week

Ciampa Tweet of the Week

This month marks 14 years in the industry. It took me 13 years of good, bad, and ugly to become the man I am today. And that man just happens to be The Champ.

I would be 19 year old me’s favorite Sports Entertainer. pic.twitter.com/BapmOOQ4I1

— BLACKHEART (@ProjectCiampa) January 9, 2019

Bianca Belair’s cousin is Larry the tatoo artist from the 1995 Sinbad classic Houseguest.

Wow!! Let's give a huge congratulation to my beautiful and talented cousin! Great job baby, this is what character and strength looks like! #Undefeated #ThursdayThoughts https://t.co/AlV7y2FkSr

— Stan Shaw (@StanShaw1) January 10, 2019

Always a good goal.

I can’t wait to wrestle tonight and look cute as 💩 while doin it. 💅 #NXTDurham

— NHOOPH Al-AREEBI (@NhoophAl_Areebi) January 6, 2019

When the Patriots lose…I feel the same way. Thankfully they don’t lose often.

Heartbroken. https://t.co/zAKtrRCcZV

— King Tez (@MontezFordWWE) January 7, 2019

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•Thoughts and Comments

Nikki Cross wrestled her last match under the NXT umbrella in a loss to Bianca Belair on NXT TV this week. Nikki will go down alongside Becky Lynch as one of the most popular women in NXT history to never have won the title. I always thought she should have won at NXT TakeOver WarGames instead of Ember Moon.

With Heavy Machinery out of the picture and War Raiders getting their title shot in Phoenix, it’s time for NXT to do what it does best and build up their tag team division. I think this begins with giving the Street Profits a chance to compete at the top of the card. They have a great connection with the crowd and have improved a ton this past year.

This new tournament WWE announced today for Royal Rumble weekend is intriguing. If I’m understanding it correctly….Velveteen Dream could win this tournament and then demand a 205 Live title opportunity. Which, if I’m making predictions, that’s what I think happens. He cryptically posted this picture on his Instagram story that I luckily took a screenshot of.

Lacey Evans made her main roster “debut” in a loss to Natalya on Main Event. Way to start her off with some momentum. I have little hope for this current group of NXT call ups.

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NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

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