411’s WWE LFG Season Three Report: Episode Seventeen

-Written: 8.17.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ Commercials)

-Plug: Episode Sixteen

-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.

-Vic Joseph and Jeremy Borash are on commentary for the matches.

-Then! Now! Forever! Together!

-We start with Layla Diggs who is sewing her gear. She has been sewing for over a year and it helps her focus on something other than wrestling. It is her peace and takes away from the pressures in the PC.

-Masyn Holiday is at her home painting in a studio she has. She talks about the self discovery of being an artist and how it helps her stay grounded. She has some good stuff.

-Layla calls Masyn to show what off the gear she made. Masyn shows off some of the things she painted. They love each other! Layla: “you better say you love me back.”

-Matt Bloom is with KO, Bubba, and Booker this week. KO gets the first match between Tate Wilder and Romeo Moreno. Matt is happy with Tate because he is buying in with what they are giving him and getting away from the cowboy gimmick. He calls Romeo a working product who does too much movement and doesn’t always believe his offense.

-Bubba gets Layla Diggs vs. Masyn Holiday as they are going to have them face each other. Bloom wants Layla to be the heel in this one. He wants to see both women build up their gas tanks because they are used to being a team. With Masyn he thinks her offense gets weak as the match moves on and that goes back to the gas tank issue.

-Booker gets our Main Event: Trill London vs. Harlem Lewis. Booker doesn’t think they will get Trill away from Jeff Hardy and doesn’t see anything wrong with a black Jeff Hardy. Bloom doesn’t think Trill watches enough tape. Probably why the released him. He wants to see more anticipation of violence from Lewis.

-We see KO working with Romeo and Tate. He pitches the idea of Romeo being more aggressive because he is the veteran of the two. Tate says working with KO is a little different. He gives them the liberty of doing what they want because he doesn’t want to tell them what to do move by move.

-As KO and Booker get ready to watch, Tate gets a visit from his wife and baby. We love babies!

-Commercials!

Romeo Moreno vs. Tate Wilder

-Tate brings his little baby girl out with him and yeah, that’s way to make sure you aren’t booed. I mean, unless you are in Philly. Romeo rolls around at the bell and then waves to Tate’s wife and baby. They shake hands and we get a lockup. KO: “Soft lockups man. Get it out of the way.” Moreno with chops and a running forearm in the corner. Heavy chop to the chest but he runs into a boot in the corner. Tate gets a knock down and follows with a belly-to-back suplex. Lion-sault, but Moreno gets up the knees to block. Tate rolls to the floor so Romeo hits a suicide dive. Back in the ring Romeo gets a series of two counts and then goes ground and pound showing off more aggression. Tate elbows his way out of a chinlock. He ducks a clothesline though we end up getting a double clothesline to leave both men down. Loud chop from Tate as he wins the exchange once they get back to their feet. Shoulder tackle by Tate as his wife cheers him on. Romeo lands a right hand, but gets caught with a suplex. Wilder up top but he looks too much time. Romeo has him on his shoulders, but Tate gets a Victory Roll for two. Romeo gets a small package, but rolls with it and gets a suplex for two. Good near fall there. Romeo dives to the top rope but misses a moonsault. He lands on his feet, but Tate runs him over with a kind of sling blade and hits his Moonsault for the pin at 5:25.

Winner: Tate Wilder via pin at 5:25
-Fun match where they had me biting on one of the near falls. Romeo was a little more aggressive and they had good chemistry together. **3/4

-Commercials!

-Tate carries his little baby backstage with him. He talks about his family and how he nearly teared up when he grabbed her. KO gets to meet her, which I am sure made KO smile. KO tells them the lock up was weak and he knows they are just trying to get it out of the way because nobody pays to see the lockup. He points out how each man had to roll in place for the moonsault and notes take the second to aggressively pull them into place if needed. Man has a point.

-Bubba meets with Layla and Masyn and he wants them to tell him the story. They think someone needs to turn. Bubba is on the same page with them as it’s all heat and then a comeback. He talks about how Bloom wants them to work on their gas tanks. Masyn loves Bubba because he is more worried about the story and not the moves. Yep, we have heard that mentioned a few times this season. Bubba wants Layla to cuss during the match.

Masyn Holiday vs. Layla Diggs

-They come out as a team and get introduced together. The crowd freaks out as they didn’t realize they were facing each other.

-Commercials!

-They hug and then Layla attacks Masyn from behind. Bubba is pacing with a smile on his face. Layla calls Masyn a bitch and continues the attack as the crowd BOOS. Layla even tells the ref to shut up. She tells Masyn she never needed her and never will. Layla stomps Masyn down and mocks the dance before hitting a standing moonsault for two. Commentary brings up Shawn being the lead in NXT and how he turned on Marty. Oh man, does that mean Masyn is Marty here? Well, she did get released so I guess so. Masyn elbows out of a chinlock and lands some strikes. She continues the comeback as Bubba notes they are getting a little weak out there. Masyn with a clothesline followed by a suplex. She gets a slam and Layla is begging off. Masyn isn’t sure about pulling the trigger, so Layla uses the hesitation to get a small package for the pin at 3:28.

Winner: Layla Diggs via pin at 3:28
-Not much to the match, but the story was good and the crowd bought into it. This was good and Layla showed she has some heel in her. The story in the match will have me remembering this match more than others from this season. **

-Commercials!

-Bubba tells the ladies he loved it and you could tell by the smile on his face. He thinks they have a new heel.

-Bloom says it was a good match and that both women looked comfortable out there. He says that usually happens when you are out there with a friend.

-Booker meets with Trill and Harlem. He goes over how Trill grew up watching Jeff Hardy. He tells Trill if he wants to be the black Jeff Hardy, that’s fine and it could be a good thing. Trill says he takes influence from Jeff Hardy, but he is himself. He likes painting his finger and likes art. Booker only carries about the stuff in the ring and gets in the ring to work with them. Booker: “Yall just gave me five minutes of shit right there.” Trill laughs because he and Harlem joked that Booker was going to change the match. See, Booker is way different from KO in that he over produces and KO just lets them go. That’s something else I like about this season.

-Booker tells Harlem he is the ring general out there and if anything goes wrong he has to fix it.

-Commercials!

Trill London vs. Harlem Lewis

-As always, our Main Event match gets the full NXT Arena treatment with real fans and not other PC kids. Trill with a series of arm drags, but Harlem stomps a third one. Trill slips off Harlem’s back though they kind of recover well enough. Trill bounces all over the ring and flips from the apron over the ropes into a double heel kick. That looked rough as the announcers were even stunned. Lewis blocks a neckbreaker by going to the eyes and gets a backdrop. Clothesline to the back gets a two count. Trill gets a crucifix but rolls too much and it ends up getting broken up. Another shotgun dropkick. Trill counters a backdrop with as sunset flip for two. Double Stomp to the back and a basement dropkick gets two. Trill is just constant motion. Now he hits the neckbreaker and connects with The Swanton Bomb, but Harlem rolls to the apron. Booker wants Harlem to be a little quicker. Harlem blocks a suplex and drops Trill throat first on the top rope. Gut wrench into a backbreaker gets two. Boomslang gets the pin at 4:19.

Winner: Harlem Lewis via pin at 4:19
-This had an energy too it and it was fun watching Trill just throw his body all over the place. Not sure if he even knew where he may go at times. I wish they would have kept him around as I wanted to if he could develop into something more. Harlem is more than fine as he is currently The Evolve Champion. **1/2

-Booker tells Trill he needs to control his body better and doesn’t need him slipping as much. Trill understands and says it is part of being bouncy. Booker then sees how much he is sucking wind after only five minutes. Trill says he is hot because he is dark skinned. Booker looks at him stunned. Booker doesn’t care if they hit each other for real and laying things in doesn’t bother him.

-Bubba talks to Harlem and he is stunned to hear that Booker scrapped the match they had planned and changed it. You can see Harlem is frustrated by it. He is frustrated people don’t see him as the top prospect here and he wants to be the man who Main Events WrestleMania.
-Couple good matches this week and then the fun of seeing Layla turn on Masyn and give us a good moment and story with their match. I continue to enjoy this season and I have no idea how many more episodes we have, but keep them coming.

-Thanks for reading!