The bell rings and Hill pins Drake. Drake kicks out and lands a boot on Hill’s midsection, but Hill catches Drake with a DDT before Drake delivers a kick to Hill’s spine and fires off a stomp on him. Drake connects with a Russian Leg Sweep on Hill, but Hill sends Drake crashing into the top rope and mat face first. He sends Drake crashing into the mat with a spinning slam and lands a flip on Drake.
With three minutes having passed, Dion Lennox enters the match next. He levels Drake with a clothesline and connects with a shoulder on his midsection, then delivers a shoulder to Hill’s midsection and follows it up with a suplex to Hill. He connects with a spinebuster on Drake and exchanges right hands with Hill in the middle of the ring during the commercial break.
Hill and Lennox level one another with clotheslines, but Drake pins Lennox. Lennox kicks out, but Drake lands a Shooting Star Press on Hill and rains down right hands on Lennox. Lennox fires off a right hand on Drake, but Drake levels Lennox with a right hand of his own and jams his boot into Lennox’s throat.
Up next in the match is Charlie Dempsey, and he makes his way to the ring along with Uriah Connors, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, and Arianna Grace. Dempsey wrenches back on Lennox’s spine, but Drake and Hill join in to lock in submissions on one another.
Lennox sends Dempsey’s arm bouncing off the top rope to break the holds. We see Myles Borne watching the action from backstage as Dempsey and Drake exchange right hands with one another. Lennox sends Hill crashing through one of the barricades.
Candice LeRae makes her way to the ring and says she’s tried everything to snap Johnny Gargano out of his funk on “SmackDown”. He says the one thing he hasn’t tried is making him come back home to “NXT”, and Gargano makes his way out as the last entrant with a (literal) push from LeRae.
Gargano lays on the ring apron as Dempsey cinches in a submission on Lennox. OTM blindsides Lennox on the outside, and Bronco Nima delivers a Curb Stomp to Lennox on the barricade that he had sent Hill through as Lucien Price holds Lennox in place. Hill then lands a neckbreaker on Lennox to send him to the back.
Eliminated: Dion Lennox
During another commercial break, Drake and Dempsey fire off stomps on Hill as LeRae and the live crowd try to get Gargano motivated. Dempsey lands an uppercut on Gargano, but Gargano lays on the barricade. Back in the ring, Hill pins Drake but Drake kicks out.
Dempsey and Hill lock in a double Figure Eight Leg Lock on Drake. LeRae gets Gargano to get inside the ring as the live crowd gets Gargano fired up, and Gargano reluctantly looks to get in the ring. Hill levels Gargano with a strike and cinches back in the double Figure Eight Leg Lock on Drake, but Drake escapes and flies over the top rope to level Hill and Dempey on the outside.
Back from the break, Drake lands a 450 Splash on Hill and pins him. Hill kicks out and takes out Drake, then pins him to eliminate him.
Eliminated: Jackson Drake
Hill connects with a neckbreaker on Dempsey and pins him to send him to the back.
Eliminated: Charlie Dempsey
Stacks and Connors pull Hill out of the ring and send him crashing into the ring steps. Dempsey lands a German suplex on Hill and dumps him back in the ring. LeRae tells Gargano to pin Hill, but decides to push him in order for him to fall on top of Hill and pin him to eliminate him.
Eliminated: Shiloh Hill
Winner (and new Number One Contender): Johnny Gargano
After the match, Borne makes his way out and holds up the North American Championship as he stares down Gargano.
The Culling then makes their way to the ring.
Back from the break, we head to a video from TNA World Champion Mike Santana announcing that he’ll be on “NXT” next Tuesday in his hometown of New York City to compete in a Six Man Tag Team Match that will pit himself and OTM against DarkState.
Back at ringside, Los Americanos make their way to the ring, taking the place of Elio LeFleur and Eli Knight in the upcoming match.
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