411’s WWE LFG Season Three Report: Episode Six

-Written: 5.31.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ commercials)

-Both episodes of Rivals this week were replays, so nothing from that show. I’ll be back later with Greatest Moments but for now it’s time for LFG.

-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!

-We start at The PC and Elio LeFleur introduces himself and wears a mask. He is from Paris, France and has been working to get here for 10 years. We see footage of him working on the indies with a high-flying style. He talks about the adjustment and how it was hard in the beginning. He wants to show people something they have never seen.

-Show opening!

-Matt Bloom is at the table and they discuss KO doing commentary last week. KO says he has always had an interest and will do it as long as they let him. He is asked to do commentary for the first two matches again.

-Nattie gets the first match with Carlee Bright vs. Bayley Humphrey. Matt wants to see Bayley unleashed and not worry so much about taking care of Carlee. Nattie wants Carlee to show who she is out there. Carlee was one of the many released post Mania.

-Booker T gets Malik Blade vs. Elijah Holyfield. Malik has been in the system a long time and I go back to his Level Up Days. Much like Carlee, Malik was also a post Mania cut casualty.

-Our Main Event belongs to Bubba and will be Mike Derudder vs. Elio LeFleur. Mike is currently on Evolve as Dorian Van Dux (DVD) and is getting a chance to shine. It seems KO will be working with Elio.

-Nattie watches Carlee and Bayley work in the padded practice ring. I am sure there is some old school out there that would hate that ring, but it’s probably lengthening careers. We then see then in a real ring and Nattie wants to see aggression and intensity. She tells both women they have the opening few seconds to grab the attention of the crowd or they will check out.

Carlee Bright vs Bayley Humphrey

-Bayley does her normal scream and KO notes, “she seems to be in a good mood.” The crowd starts to chant that Bayley is going to kill Carlee. Bayley stalks Carlee around the ring and swings her around by the head. Cool! Whip to the corner, but Carlee gets the knees up to block. She takes out the knee and hits a basement dropkick. She gets too close and Bayley drops her throat first on the top rope. We take a break.

-I fast forward through the 4 minutes of commercials!

-Back with Carlee elbowing out of a torture rack. She starts throwing chops and strikes. Bayley alley-oops Carlee over her head, but she lands on the ropes. Moonsault press connects! A standing moonsault gets two. Another one and this time Bayley just picks her up from the cover and hits a backbreaker. She screams at Carlee and hits her powerbomb into a powerslam finisher for the pin at 2:50 shown.

Winner: Bayley Humphrey via pin at 2:50 (shown)
-Hard to rate as we only saw less than three minutes, but Bayley continues to look like an impressive monster. That finisher is still sweet and she can hit that on anyone in the division. *1/2

-Nattie is proud of both women and Carlee notes it made her feel good. She says she can’t let these legends down.

-Bloom wants Carlee to find a way to make sure when she lands there is more noise. He also wanted a less is more approach and wanted this to be a bit more real and less a wrestling match. He appreciates both for working hard.

-Booker is watching Malik and Elijah in the ring. We get a Malik Blader profile. He has been with the PC since 2021 and has been wrestling for eight years. Malik is a freak athlete and I enjoyed his time on Level Up. Malik says he has Booker T on his Mt. Rushmore and loves being able to learn from him. Elijah is also happy to work with Booker again. He tells both kids it is the best feeling in the world when you can be the puppet master and make the fans feel.

-Commercials! Obviously, commercials between matches instead of during a match is much better.

-Apollo Crews is here for a closer look at Elijah Holyfield and wants to see what he is about. Apollo is another one of the post Mania releases. Shame as I was enjoying his run on Main Event.

Elijah Holyfield vs. Malik Blade

-KO makes an ear biting joke and that’s why HE IS AWESOME! The crowd remembers the “Malik The Freak,” chant and I feel like I am back in 2022. Lockup and Holyfield shoves Malik against the ropes. Hard clothesline gets a two count for Elijah. He hits a heck of a shoulder tackle in the corner. He goes for another and SPRINGS shoulder first into the corner. Bubba: “He’s very explosive.” No kidding! Malik goes on the attack and hooks a Half Nelson. Dropkick as he shows off his vertical leap. He goes back to the submission, but Elijah counters and hits a Samoan Drop. A series of shoulder tackles, but Malik blocks a spinebuster. He gets caught with a powerslam though and the uppercut finishes for the pin at 2:49.

Winner: Elijah Holyfield via pin at 2:49
-Another short match and barely above a SQUASH as Holyfield dominated this one. This was like a Superstars Match from the early 90s where the star gives token offense before finishing without too much trouble. What they did looked good though. *

-Commercials!

-Booker meets with the kids and Malik thinks the match was amazing and gave Elijah a showcase. Booker get on Elijah about waiting for the powerslam spot and not working to get there. Elijah understands and says he needs to work on his spacing and footwork.

-Apollo was impressed by Elijah and was curious to learn more. He gives some advice to both men.

-Bloom meets up with them and says he wants to see Malik to step out of being just good. He let Elijah have his story this week, but wants to see Malik’s story soon. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for him.

-KO meets with Elio and they discuss the mask. Wonder if KO is having flashbacks and might start swinging. Elio says he knows Mike from the indies and they have chemistry with each other.

-Mike meets Bubba and notes he is second generation. He tells Bubba he doesn’t just want to be a pro-wrestler. He wants to be a WWE Superstar and tells us the difference between the two. Bubba tells him that’s a great answer. Mike says he and Elio have wrestled all over Europe and Japan and both say the other is the perfect partner. Man, I want them to just these two loose so I can see what they can do, but that’s not LFG.

-Commercials!

-Back with KO and Bubba watching them work in the ring. Mike and Elio want to bring up the size difference, but KO and Bubba note they are the same size. Mike has more mass, but Elio is a little taller. KO tells Mike he doesn’t want to hurt his ego, but he can’t tell the 35 lbs difference. Mike wants to take off his shirt because he admits his ego is hurt. KO tells him he is muscular and looks great, so it’s all good. We get some fun with KO and the boys all speaking French and Bubba is just lost. They both agree to let Mike and Elio do it their way.

-Commercials as Elio makes his entrance!

Mike Derudder vs. Elio LeFleur

-This is our Main Event of the week and gets the full NXT Arena Treatment. Lockup and Mike throws Elio into the corner. Elio uses his quickness, but Mike snaps off a head scissors. Elio avoids a charge and gets a head scissors off the second ropes, which sends Mike to the floor. Elio goes for a flip dive, but Mike catches him beautifully and drops him face first on the apron. That was great! Bubba is even impressed! Back in the ring Mike lands a heavy forearm for a two count. Mike hooks a reverse chinlock as KO notes you can tell they have worked with each other a lot. Mike releases and lands another heavy forearm across the face. Replay and it looked great! Elio starts a comeback as he just starts swinging for the fences. He gets a springboard splash from the middle ropes and sends Mike to the floor. Moonsault off the middle ropes to the floor. Back in Elio springs off the ropes with a knee to the jaw for two. You, this is a LFG BANGER! Another springboard, but Mike catches him again. Elio turns that into a rana for two. Mike back up and hits a sick clothesline! Now Mike with a dive over the top and the crowd is rocking with them. We get a LFG chant! Mike back up top and hits a diving splash for two as Elio rolled over halfway across the ring. They battle up top and they are just teeing off on each other. Elio knocks Mike down and goes for a 450, but misses. He lands on his feet though, ducks a clothesline, and gets a crazy looking leg lariat for the pin at 6:08.

Winner: Elio LeFleur via pin at 6:08
-This was fantastic and the best match in the history of this show. It was only six minutes but they let these two go out there and cook. They had the crowd going crazy and I can only imagine what those fans thought thinking they were getting another LFG Match and then this gets unleashed on them. This ruled! ***3/4

-Shawn Michaels is right there to meet Elio and is bringing him right to NXT.

-Mike and Elio hug backstage and Mike says what we saw tonight is what they did all over the world. Mike congratulates Elio and says he will be the next one to go.

-We see Elio sign his NXT contract and takes photos. Bubba tells them they did an excellent job and KO agrees. They can see both kids having bright futures past LFG.

-I mean we had a LFG BANGER! Our first truly great match on this show and I recommend anyone out there reading to go and watch it. Thanks for reading and congrats to both men for tearing down the house.