411’s WWE LFG Season Three Report: Episode Eight

-Written: 6.14.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ commercials)

-Plugs: Episodes: Retro Review: NXT Fatal Four-Way

-Congrats to the Knicks and Hurricanes for winning their respective Championships. Will I ever get to to type that about my Pirates in my lifetime?

-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!

-Chris Island is the first in the PC and says he is the first one in and last one out everyday. We see him putting in his workout and flexing in the mirror. He says when he gets going, it is hard for him to stop. He talks about being on the show and how it messed with his head in finding himself. He tried a few characters, but he found he is Chris Island: hard worker. NXT is full of hard worker, but none of them are Chris Island. Well, as you know he was one the post Mania releases.

-Show opening!

-Bloom at the table and still no Bubba or Nattie as Gargano is back for another week with Booker T and KO.

-First match belongs to Gargano and it’s Jaime Garcia (Romeo Moreno on Evolve) vs. Chris Island. Booker says that Chris is on the bubble. Bloom says Island didn’t show much last match. Bloom wants to see Garcia look a little more gritty, dirty.

-KO gets match two and it’s Nathan Cranton (Tristan Angels on Evolve) vs. Mike Derudder (Dorian Van Dux). Mike worked a great match a few weeks ago with Elio and was happy his friend was called up to NXT, but asked why he wasn’t called up as well.

-Booker gets Nikkita Lyons vs. Zena Sterling. Booker says he only need 60 minutes to make Zena into something different. He will get her on the right path.

-We meet Jaime and he says he was like everyone else in Spain doing soccer (his word) until he saw wrestling on TV. It helped him learn English. He dropped out of college when WWE offered him a contract.

-Gargano notes he is biased towards guys that have come from the independent scene. Jaime wants to ask so many questions and get inside Gargano’s brain. Gargano thinks Island has something special about him as well and wants him to be himself.

-Commercials!

Jaime Garcia vs. Chris Island

-Garcia picks the leg and gets some riding time. Island rolls to the mat to slow things down. Island pulls Garcia by the arm into the bottom rope. Borash notes that Island wrestled in college for Cal Baptist. Hey, my college (Cal PA) beat Cal Baptist for the DII Women’s Basketball Championship years ago. Go Vulcans! Island gets a spinebuster and shows some great aggression with some ground and pound. Island stomps Garcia on the back of the head and beats him down in the corner. Garcia fights from underneath, but gets caught with another strike. Reverse neckbreaker gets two! Island goes to a neck crank. Garcia gets back control again, but gets caught with an elbow. Belly-to-back suplex from Garcia and it’s a good one that pops KO and Gargano. Running kick from Garcia and he hits a shoulder tackle in the corner. He drops Island with a neckbreaker, but Island gets his foot on the bottom rope to stop the count. Suplex, but Island apparently blocked with a shot to the throat. German Suplex by Garcia, but he runs into a clothesline. Good stuff from these two. Gut-wrench into a gut-buster gets the pin at 5:30.

Winner: Chris Island via pin at 5:30
-This was a low key LFG BANGER. I loved the aggression with Island and Garcia was made to fight from underneath. ***

-Gargano gives them feedback and tells them they both have all the potential in the world. Island thinks he is taking off for the moon right now.

-Bloom tells Island that’s the guy he wants to see. He showed range tonight and appreciated the dangerous range. Island says that is all he has been waiting for and he has more to show. Bloom wants Garcia to ditch playing to the crowd and just go for the win. They will get to that stuff later.

-KO says Nathan us using HHH’s old snob gimmick and since it’s been 30 years, it’s fine. He shows Nathan how they want him to be more vicious. The Greats working with the kids is what I like to see from this show and what I wanted.

Nathan Cranton vs. Mike Derudder

-As mentioned, both these guys can be seen on Evolve on Tubi each Wednesday. I have high hopes for this one. Derudder backs Nathan into the corner, so he turtles. Nathan gets wrist control but Mike escapes. Nathan slams down, but he gets caught with a monkey flip and then a head scissors. Forearm in the corner, but Nathan drops Derudder balls first on the top rope and then knocks him to the floor. Nathan follows and bangs Derudder’s head off the announce table. Back in the ring, Derudder gets a sunset flip for two. Arm-drag, but Nathan counters into a reverse chinlock. Nice! Derudder runs Nathan into the corner. He ducks a clothesline and springs off the bottom ropes with a missile dropkick. He fakes doing it okay to trick Nathan and ends up hitting a springboard cutter for two. Double nice! Derudder up top, so Cranton hides behind the ref. Derudder comes down and runs into a stun-gun. Cranton drives Mike’s head into the mat with a knee for two. They battle up top and Mike knocks Nathan down with a right hand. Derudder hits a Shooting Star Press for the pin at 4:50.

Winner: Mike Derudder via pin at 4:50
-Good match as I was expecting. So far everyone seems to be taking the feedback and what the coaches want to heart this week. Both guys have potential and should get a lot of run on Evolve and into NXT. **3/4

-Commercials!

-KO gives feedback as he tells them they are both great as far as execution. He just didn’t feel a lot of emotion behind what they were doing. I can see what he is saying. He wanted more urgency and a gear change. You can tell KO is dying to get back in the ring as he goes over this with both men.

-Bloom loved the music that Cranton picked out for this week. He knows it is picky and different, but a lot of what Cranton did was with his back to the hard camera. He doesn’t want him always thinking about it, but this is the TV era.

-Booker mets with Zena and Nikkita. Zena notes Bubba has always been her coach and she was a little nervous as she hasn’t worked with Booker much. He wants Zena to come out as a fighter and not be a play wrestler. Zena says Booker helped her in ways that Bubba couldn’t. It’s why having multiple people to give feedback and coach you, is smart.

-Commercials!

Zena Sterling vs. Nikkita Lyons

-Zena looked like a break out star with LFG Season One and now she has been a footnote in Evolve so far. Nikkita is getting an Evolve Women’s Championship Match at Succession III in a few weeks, and could be up as Champion. Test of Strength and Zena turns that into a Nothern Light’s Suplex. He hooks a hammerlock and then into a clothesline for a two count. She hooks an arm and back to the hammerlock. Nikkita with a tough elbow to break that pops Booker. These two women are throwing bombs early in this one. Body shot from Big Cat and she follows with a suplex for two. Sit-out slam gets two. Kita goes back to a submission as the crowd gets behind Zena. She elbows her way out and starts throwing strikes. Kita misses a head kick and Zena hits a series of clotheslines. She hits a back splash in the corner. She goes for a suplex, but Kita elbows out. She misses the spinning head kick, but just goes with it a second time and connects for the pin at 4:30.

Winner: Nikkita Lyons via pin at 4:30
-Lyons winning wasn’t a shock as she is the bigger star. Good little match as they hit each other hard. **1/2

-Booker tells them the punches could look better and notes he rarely throw punches because he didn’t want to expose himself. Lyons says her biggest goal was to make Booker happy and they did that. Zena wants to know about the emotion and Booker tells her it was spot on.

-Zena says she struggled to find herself, but thinks things are looking up from here.

-I enjoyed all three matches and again, I say it every week, but it’s worth repeating. This show is so much better with this format. It just flows so nicely and everyone gets their time to show themselves. The Legends have more of an impact as they aren’t worried about the team setting and voting for people. Sucks Island was let go after having his best showing. Hopefully, Zena will figure things out as I think she could be in trouble. Everyone else on this show have a solid spot on Evolve, so will be given chances. Thanks for reading!