411’s WWE LFG Season Three: Episode Twelve Report

-Written: 7.12.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ commercials)

-Plug: Episode 11

-It’s 12:03 AM as I post this, so Happy Anniversary to my wife!

-Joe Tessitore is our narrator.

-Kevin Owens, Booker T, Nattie, and Bubba Ray Dudley are our Legends. Matt Bloom is the head trainer at The PC and Shawn Michaels is in charge of NXT.

-Then! Now! Forever! Together!

-Harlem Lewis and Mike Derudder meet up at Harlem’s house to train together. Derudder is wearing some HBK shorts. Lots of the screaming at each other and pumping iron. They both say they are friends, but it’s good competition.

-Show opening!

-Matt hands out the assignments and Booker gets Chantel Monroe vs. Bayley Humphrey. Booker says he can handle this job and thinks Bayley is getting her timing down.

-Bubba gets Tate Wilder vs. Nathan Cranton. As always, they want Tate to know it is more than just about the flips.

-Kevin Owens gets friends who fight each other, which makes sense. It’s Derudder vs. Lewis.

-Nathan and Bayley are hanging out and Nathan is asked by Bloom and Ryan Katz (Director in NXT) how he would feel about doing a love story with Bayley. Nathan: “All I saw was dollar signs.” We see him cut a promo during a PC House Show. Bloom notes they do live events in the PC just for the people working in the PC. We get highlights and they both just went for it and got a standing ovation. Bayley notes her mother is coming and Nathan seems excited. Bayley says of course he would be interested. Ha!

-Over to Chantel he is coming back from a broken nose and she has a bedazzled face mask. They want Bayley to work as the face in the match tonight. That is biggest thing Booker wants to see. He wants them to let the crowd know who is who. Chantel loves working with Booker and has been wanting to work with Bayley.

-Commercials!

Bayley Humphrey vs. Chantel Monroe

-”BAYLEY’S GONNA KILL YOU”, chant from the crowd. Slow start but that’s what Booker wanted from them. Chantel jumps on Bayley’s back to get a sleeper, but Bayley just spins in circles until Chantel flies off. Back in the ring, Bayley misses a clothesline and elbow, but gets a gorilla press. She walks around with Chantel, but takes too much time and Chantel slides down to escape. She blocks a charge in the corner by getting her knees up. Chantel goes to work on the knee and the blows a kiss to Bayley’s mom. She wraps the knee around the post and lets mom know, “that’s for you.” Chantel off the top with a splash for two. Chantel with a step over toe hold, but Bayley kicks her away. Booker is thrilled with what they are doing. Small package from Bayley gets two. Chantel dropkick to the knee. Nice! Superkick connects, but she gets caught and Bayley plants her with a belly-to-back suplex. Powerbomb into the powerslam gets the pin at 3:45.

Winner: Bayley Humphrey via pin at 3:45
-They did exactly wanted. Short match, but did what was needed. Props to both. **

-Commercials!

-Booker: “How good am?” He gives hugs and high fives to both ladies as they come through the curtain. Chantel says it feels great to be back and credits Bayley for being out there with her. Booker gives them both an A+.

-Bayley hugs her mom backstage. Cynthia (her mom) says it was different seeing her daughter wrestle as a babyface. Good stuff!

-Bubba meets with Tate and Nathan. He wants to see intent and emotion from their body language. He tells them to make sure they aren’t working small and he wants viciousness. Nathan says he is too handsome, so he has to be extra vicious. “I am pretty and I am deadly.” Sounds like a good name for a tag team. Bubba coaches Tate on being fired up and goes over how the best get the most emotion out of the least amount of moves.

-Commercials!

Nathan Cranton vs. Tate Wilder

-Nathan attacks before the bell as he brings Wilder off the ropes with a powerbomb. The ref has to pull him away so Wilder can get to his feet. The bell sounds and Wilder gets dropped throat first on the top rope. There’s the aggression Bubba wanted. Boot to the head! Snap suplex gets two. Booker likes Nathan and KO notes that he is pretty good. Nathan then shoots his shot with Bayley’s mom. Awesome! He says he has 10 seconds and gives her his scarf. Nathan escapes a suplex and buries a forearm to the back. Bow and Arrow and before Wilder can fight his way out, Cranton buries a knee to the gut. He heads up top and misses a flying elbow. The crowd starts rallying Tate and he pounds the mat to fire himself up (like Bubba told him). He starts his comeback and hits a lariat and another. Leaping shoulder tackle and Bubba loves the fire. He charges right into a nasty looking elbow from Cranton. Now Cranton heads up, and Tate pulls him down with a powerbomb (like the match started) and hits the top rope moonsault for the pin at 3:58.

Winner: Tate Wilder via pin at 3:58
-These two are a big part of Evolve, so I assumed they would work well here. I loved the character stuff and aggression from Nathan. Wilder fired up well and this worked. **1/2

-Commercials!

-Bubba asks them to grade their performance and they go with very good and Bubba agrees. Bubba’s one knock is he would have taken more time at the start to have Nathan beat on Tate before the ref started the match.

-Kevin Owens is with Derudder and Harlem. KO doesn’t want to tell them what to do, but wants to see what they want to do and offer feedback. I like that style of coaching as it is different from the others. Derudder loves the advice from KO and says it will make him become a better pro-wrestler. Lewis loves having battles in the ring and wants to wake up sore the next morning.

-Commercials!

Harlem Lewis vs. Mike Derudder

-Reminder to watch Evolve this week (or read my report) as Harlem Lewis is challenging Aaron Rourke for the Evolve Championship and I think this is the time to belt Harlem. This should be a hard hitting match and we will likely seem them against each other at some point in Evolve. Lockup and Lew gets a headlock on the mat. Mike counters with a hammerlock and then into a headlock. They collide in the middle of the ring and neither budges. They get in each other’s face and try to intimidate the other. Booker takes credit for what Harlem is doing since he was his student the previous season. Mike sends Harlem to the floor and Mike looks to fly, but Harlem moves away. Mike changes his launch point and comes out with a rana to the floor. Back in the ring they fight up top. Mike with head-butts, but Lewis knocks him off the top to the mat. Dragon Screw Leg Whip from Lewis and the crowd boos. Boot to the face from Lewis gets two. Mike throws kicks from his back to get Harlem off his bad wheel. Derudder runs into a boot to the face, but comes back with a clothesline. He goes for a suplex, but the leg gives out. He delivers a clothesline that sends Lewis to the floor. Asai Moonsault and KO notes he forgot his leg hurts. It gets a “LFG” chant from the crowd. Lewis gets sent into the steps. Derudder tries to spring back in on one leg and gets caught with a clothesline. Nice! Harlem goes for the Boomslang, but Derudder snaps off a standing rana for two. Lewis throws a kick at the bad knee and hits The Boomslang for the pin at 5:46.

Winner: Harlem Lewis via pin at 5:46
-This was solid, but they lost the story a bit with the on and off selling of the knee. **3/4

-Bloom says they had a fabulous routine, but the fans won’t react if they keep doing just a routine. He needs Mike to learn it’s more than just flips. KO thinks Mike may have a hard time taking feedback in the future. Lewis said they had fun and the crowd loved it. It seems they are both happier with the match and reaction than the coaches.

-We wrap up quickly and that’s the show for this week. As always, the new format is great, though I assume it’s not doing as well in the ratings as the reality contest version did. I enjoy the show, so a win for me this week. Thanks for reading!