WWE NXT results, Oct. 3, 2018: Lars Sullivan stops EC3’s redemptive drive cold

Tempers flare as Candice LeRae battles Lacey Evans. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

ORLANDO, Fla. — While Lacey Evans had much to say in last week’s testy parking lot confrontation, Candice LeRae, instead, had her fists do all the talking this week.

Using her tenacious in-ring style as a mouthpiece, LeRae pulled out all stops to make The Lady of NXT eat her words, throwing chops, hard elbows and flying hard rights to ensure the message was received. Yet, Evans didn’t make things easy, as she controlled much of the action with her brutal strength.

LeRae managed to withstand that brutal offense, though, and staged a fiery comeback after Evans jeeringly shouted, “You’re no good, just like your husband.” But LeRae eventually learned that the taunt was calculated, as The Lady of NXT goaded LeRae into losing her cool. As soon as the ref pried LeRae off The Lady of NXT, Evans slugged her with a hard-hitting Woman’s Right to pick up the win. 

With this victory, Evans will surely have even more to say if these two cross paths again.

Following a hard-fought victory over Heavy Machinery’s Otis Dozovic, Tommaso Ciampa appeared on NXT this week to send a warning to another Superstar who implicated him in the Aleister Black drama: Velveteen Dream. Last week, Dream ambiguously accused The Blackheart for the mysterious attack on Black that put the former NXT Champion out of action. Just as he did when Dozovic did the same a few weeks back, Ciampa denied the claims, telling Velveteen Dream that he seemed to be “living in a dream world.”

Ciampa recently took Dozovic to task after the Heavy Machinery member namedropped the NXT Champion in the ongoing investigation into Black’s attacker. Signaling a similar show-and-tell approach with Dream, The Blackheart warned, “Stay out of the champ’s spotlight… I will be the guy that turns the dream into a nightmare.”

WWE NXT photos for Oct. 3, 2018, featuring EC3 and Lars Sullivan in a larger-than-life slugfest, and more 

In the wake of their debut, The Forgotten Sons have already made quite an impression on the NXT Universe. Between Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler’s defeat of The Street Profits and a decisive singles victory by Jaxson Ryker, the roughneck trio has been delivering statements with every in-ring performance. This week was no different, as their combined brute strength overpowered the unit of Vinny Mixon, Cesar Rise & Torrey Kirsh in six-man tag team competition.

The heavy-hitting trio demonstrated a jaw-dropping show of force against their opponents, as everyone from Ryker to Cutler and Blake came out slugging. From Blake trying to rip Mixon’s arm out of its socket to Cutler (with Blake) tossing Kirsh to Ryker for a slingshot powerbomb, nothing was to be forgotten in this consecutive victory for the dominant team.

205 Live's Tony Nese soars into NXT for a showdown with Johnny Gargano. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

A fired-up Johnny Gargano stepped into Full Sail Live and made good on his promise of swapping “sorry” for glory. So, ridding himself of the billowing “Johnny Failure” stench that followed his disappointing loss to Velveteen Dream last month, the hard-luck Superstar became “Johnny Freaking Wrestling” in an epic encounter with 205 Live’s Tony Nese.

This fast-paced matchup was a physical test of strength and speed, as Gargano measured The Premier Athlete’s mechanical precision with pure electricity, bolting in and out of the ring with a highlight-reel offense. But Nese remained dominant for a better part of the match, using his power advantage to outwit his opponent. At one point, he even countered the Gargano Escape with a devastating deadlift buckle bomb. However, those overpowering maneuvers invigorated Gargano. Using the crowd’s “This is awesome” chants as fuel, Johnny Wrestling came alive. When The Premier Athlete came close to recording a premier upset — throwing Gargano into the turnbuckle with a German suplex — a charged-up Johnny Wrestling chopped down Nese with a running clothesline, followed by a Gargano Escape to pick up the win.

Sending a clear message to the Superstars of the black-and-yellow brand, “Johnny Freaking Wrestling” is here, exchanging excuses for execution.

The Top One Percent and The Freak clash in an all-out brawl. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

After being sidelined for an entire month, EC3 wasted no time bringing Top One Percent-level pain to The Freak from the opening bell. With vicious beatdowns in their rear-view mirror, the two outsized NXT Superstars engaged in a larger-than-life slugfest that saw EC3 search for payback as Sullivan attempted, at all costs, to stop his opponent.

The Top One Percent accelerated off pure adrenaline in the first half of the match, ramming The Freak three times into the rigid steel steps, thus exposing signs of wear on the human bulldozer. From there, he continued with his brand of retribution, lifting the massive Sullivan with a thunderous body slam and a ring-rattling suplex to set off the Richter scale. But as EC3’s adrenaline began to wear off, the mighty Sullivan cut down his opponent’s momentum with a vicious Freak Accident onto the ring apron. As chaos opens opportunity, Sullivan went on to defy gravity, drilling a laid-out EC3 with a flying headbutt to earn the three-count.

Although The Freak stood tall in this battle, EC3 turned “Lars Sullivan territory” into total bedlam.