411’s WWE LFG Report: Season Two Finals

-We have reached the last episode for this season and two new Champions will be crowned and one Legend will be leaving with a Championship Belt. We ended on a cliffhanger last week, which was spoiled in the previews so let’s get to it!

-Joe Tessitore is our narrator!

-Vic Joseph and Jeremy Borash are the announce team for the matches!

-Last week Drake vs. Harlem ended in a 2-2 vote, so Shawn gets to make the final decision. He wants to see another match between the two and tells them their careers (for now) depend on it.

-Show opening!

Harlem Lewis (Team Booker) vs. Drake Morreaux (Team Bubba by way of Team Taker)

-They start throwing fists at the sound of the bell. Shoulder tackle from Drake and he shoves Lewis back into the corner. He gets a splash for a one count as we see Taker watching from Gorilla with A-Train (Matt Bloom) next to him. Dropkick sends Harlem to the floor. I should mention this match has the full crowd/arena treatment. Harlem runs Drake into the announce table and hits a suplex on the floor. Back in the ring he gets a two count. He hits a running boot for another two count. Harlem talks trash as he pulls Drake up by the hair. He comes off the middle ropes with an elbow for two. Shawn says he likes both of them. He likes the look and tenacity of Harlem, but appreciates the charisma of Drake. Speaking of Drake he rallies and hits a chokeslam, but doesn’t cover as fast as Shawn and Bloom want him to. It does get a two count. Lewis with a backdrop and a Jack Hammer finishes at 3:42.

Winner: Harlem Lewis via pin at 3:42
-50/50 booking as Drake won the match the previous week. Based off this match, I still give it to Harlem. That’s even ignoring that Drake was already eliminated once.

-Shawn tells both men they have something they need in NXT. He gives the nod to Harlem as he thinks he can plug him in immediately in NXT. Good decision Shawn! He tells Harlem it isn’t over and shakes his hand.

-Harlem says for the first time he felt bad because he knows how hard Drake has worked. Don’t show weakness Harlem!

-Houston, TX: Booker takes Harlem to his wrestling school. He shows off his trophy room and tells Harlem it is all about checks and championships. “The the suckers in the back, go follow that.” Harlem is inspired and wants a room like this and calls it the coolest thing in the world.

-Shiloh notes he is back in the finals and if he doesn’t win he will wonder if it was worth it or just for nothing. He says he will win tomorrow. Harlem thinks the match was destined to happen as he and Shiloh were signed together.

-Dani wants to show Taker and everyone watching she was never the underdog and needed that extra push. P-Nasty continues on her thought that she has been the one to beat. She is coming to win and has made people look good all season. Now she is coming to get that contract.

-Commercials!

-The Finals are happening in The 713 Music Hall in Houston. Taker talks about having two kids in the finals and he thinks they will give everything they have tonight.

-Dani talks about being nervous during cheerleading but she learned to control it. She is still work on that with wrestling. Her family with be at ring side and it’s a great feeling.

-Shiloh says the entire point of the season was to get back to The Finals.

-Harlem says the point of the business is to work together, but tonight he is out for a contract and Shiloh won’t stop him.

-The women are up first, but we have to pay the bills.

-Commercials!

P-Nasty (Team McCool) vs. Dani Sekelsky (Team Taker)

-Penina’s family is also at ring side. Lock-up and Nasty throws Dani across the ring. The crowd chants “one more time.” Dani slips out of a slam and hits a dropkick. She charges, but gets caught and run into the corner. The Legends are watching on monitors in the back and they want them to slow down. Vic notes Dani is a former Penn State cheerleader and that gives me a chance to laugh at Penn State over the UCLA loss. Penina catches Dani diving on the floor and runs her into the apron. The Legends are not impressed with what they are seeing as the timing seems off. Samoan Drop from Nasty, but Dani is close enough to the ropes. Charge misses and Dani gets a roll-up for two. Nasty hits something and Taker notes, “I don’t know what that was, but it looked good.” The crowd is very quiet for this. Tornado DDT from Dani gets two. Dani up top and she misses a Frog-Splash. Nasty calls for the end and tries for a chokeslam, but Dani counters to Hell’s Gate. Nasty lifts her off the mat, but collapses. She then tries to get a pin, but Dani maintains the hold. Nasty fights for a bit longer, but taps at 5:13.

Winner: Dani Sekelsky via pin at 5:13
-Not their best effort, but I enjoyed the closing sequence and at worst at least nail the ending. Taker notes they started good, had a rough middle, and ended okay. That’s about right. *1/2

-Dani meets with her family and some watched while others couldn’t.

Harlem Lewis (Team Booker) vs. Shiloh Hill (Team Taker)

-Taker notes these two have been neck and neck all year and it depends on who shows up tonight.

-Commercials!

-Taker and Booker agree this is a match where you apologize when it’s over. Taker: “except Booker never apologized.” That gets a chuckle from Bubba. Slower start before Shiloh hits a shoulder tackle. Lewis back with a unique backbreaker and he throws body blows in the corner. Shiloh reverses a whip to the corner and hits a shoulder tackle. He gives his manic laugh and sends Harlem to the floor with a head-butt. He comes out with a dive and then throws clubbing blows to the chest. Double chop to the chest followed by a Taker leg drop on the apron. Lewis slams the brakes on and catches a charging Shiloh with an elbow. He rolls Shiloh up but does it close enough to the ropes that it sends Shiloh to the floor. They tease a double count-out like a previous match, but they are back in before ten. Lewis hits a running boot and Taker thinks Harlem may need to send flowers or a fruit basket. Shiloh counters a suplex with a small package for two. Neckbreaker gets the win out of nowhere at 4:00.

Winner: Shiloh Hill via pin at 4:00
-Well, that was brisk. They were going along well and then it just ended. **

-Shawn gets the final decision, but will meet with The Legends first.

-Commercials!

-We talk about the women first. Bubba says both have taken steps forward from Season One to Season Two. He would pick Dani if he was Shawn. Booker would go with Panina. We know where Taker and Michelle are voting as it’s their future greats.

-Dani and Penina are brought in and Shawn gets to make a decision. He knows Dani came in with a chip on her shoulder and she proved what she needed. He puts over Nasty’s growth, but he can only pick one and it needs to be someone that step in immediately “with the best women’s division on TV.” He gives the contract to Dani and I would consider that an upset as Panina was rolling through the season. Congrats to Dani and I am happy for her. She gets emotional and I am not shocked by it.

-Nasty says she is no Cinderella and doesn’t need a happy ending. She will write her own way and will get there.

-We go to the men and Taker of course picks Shiloh. Michelle would give her vote to Harlem. Bubba says it is a tie to him, but if he had to pick it would be Shiloh. Booker puts over how quickly Harlem has learned this and he gets his vote.

-Harlem and Shiloh are brought out and Harlem says for the first time he was almost uncomfortable. Shiloh talks about how fast his heart was beating.

-Commercials!

-Shawn notes Harlem came in late but everyone has raved about his development. He tells Harlem he is a scary son of a bitch when he is pissed off and that’s money, so never lose it. He tells Shiloh he has put in the time and the work. He needs someone he can plug in to NXT right now and gives the contract to Shiloh.

-So Taker’s kids win both contests this year. We also had the series finale of Greatest Moments all about Taker as well. Just saying!

-Taker gives props to The Legends and presents The LFG Championship Belt to Michelle McCool after teasing it was going to Taker. Weird that Taker has two winners, but his wife gets the belt. The scoring with this show is weird. Taker brings up he got two contracts, but he has to live with his wife winning The Championship.

-Shiloh and Dani sign their contracts and scream a lot. Taker says the real work begins now as they are part of the NXT roster.

-That wraps up season two and I assume we will have a Season Three. Harlem and Penina are going to end up on NXT sooner than later. I am sure some of these kids will also pop up on Evolve sooner than later as well. Overall for this season I liked the move to 60 minutes. The four match format with the focus on just those wrestling became a problem when we would go weeks without seeing some contestants. Injuries seemed to derail this season at times and for whatever reason they didn’t replace people like they did in Season One. Things were still solid until the whole BJ Ray elimination with Drake switching teams. That soured things for me as we all knew then this was more work than competition show. As for the finale, I was fine with any of the four winning, but I was pulling for Dani and Harlem. Harlem likely heads back to Evolve and would be a top choice to be part of Season Three. Nasty has already been on two seasons, so I don’t know if doing a Season Three will help her. Evolve may be a good place for her to start at the moment as well. Overall, I still like the idea of the show, but just want it a little more like Tough Enough, but that ship has sailed I guess. Thanks for reading over the last 15 weeks.