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Episode 3 of The Challenge: Total Madness continued our trend of daily challenges with wildly excessive vehicle budgets, as this time the contestants played as individuals to crack a code by running to two different code keys, with the two winners getting to blow up cargo trucks with a comically large amount of explosives.

CT was the first to successfully crack his code, while Swaggy C struggled to figure out what he had incorrect on his, while his fiancee Bayleigh managed to figure out that she could cheat off of other people’s boards if they had the same character as a shortcut and got herself into the Tribunal. After some deliberation, she and Swaggy C convinced CT to add him as the third member of the Tribunal, promising to give CT first crack at sending himself in to elimination to earn his red skull if he wanted to.

Back at the house, Johnny Bananas and Ashley M. feuded over who was more manipulative and a worse person, with Ashley working back channels to try and flip the house’s vote to Bananas by getting the girls to not vote Jay in — as Dee had decided Jay was cute and a way to piss off Rogan. At nomination, Bananas and Jay were neck-and-neck in votes, but Nelson suddenly began racking up votes, snapping at Kailah and having a minor melt down at becoming a target. Wes proved his (early) loyalty to Bananas by voting Jay, shifting the balance of power officially and, effectively, ending Ashley and the other’s bid to put him in. Jay, the only one with a red skull, was voted in and then made out with Dee in front of Rogan.

Rogan lobbied to get a chance to go at Jay in elimination, with Nelson and Bear as the other two, but when they arrived in Purgatory, CT chose to send himself in. The elimination was pretty great, with the two getting 20 minutes to barricade a door and then they had to get through what the other person had done to get inside the shelter and turn on a light. Everyone assumed Jay was toast after CT went to work tying an ungodly knot with multiple ropes and chains, but CT’s back started locking up as he rifled through cinder blocks, trying to smash them to avoid having to untie the ropes Jay had run through them. Jay managed to just make it inside and flick the light on before CT in a massive upset that stunned the house to earn a second red skull.

Now, to Stock Watch!

STOCK UP

Jay: The obvious winner of this episode is Jay Money, who has now won two eliminations and took out one of the best competitors in Challenge history in the process in an elimination that seemed tailor made for CT. He only has one real enemy at this point in Rogan, and even with that he’s managed to not get too caught up in whether Dee actually likes him or is using him and happily went to sleep while Rogan and Dee yelled at each other about him.

The Unholy Alliance: We’re already onto the second official name of the Wesnanas Alliance, but whatever you call them, this nomination was a big step forward for their friendship in this game. Wes could’ve thrown Bananas in immediately, but (wisely) chose to back him up and keep their plan intact. They’re kind of adorable as much as two highly manipulative human beings can be, and it’ll be fun to see how they play things as we go along.

Bayleigh: Coming in second in that daily was impressive, as was convincing CT to save Swaggy C by adding him to the Tribunal, and then they had a level-headed Tribunal session, happily let CT hop down into the elimination and proved they can be worked with. She remains an oddly strong character for being a rookie, but she proved she’s a pretty strong competitor in this challenge — and also proved she’s clever enough to find shortcuts, which is necessary in this game — and seems to be playing a solid social game on top of that.

STOCK DOWN

Ashley M.: Ashley got worked up by Bananas, tried to turn the house against him, got thwarted by his alliance with Wes and Nelson being an idiot (more on that in a moment), and then snapped on everyone and said “I don’t care if y’all throw me in next week,” which never bodes well. It’s not looking great for her, which isn’t surprising because it never really did once this whole red skull business came about, but for to get everyone mad at you before a women’s challenge isn’t the best timing.

Nelson: Things got real for Nelson expeditiously on this episode as he suddenly found himself in discussion for this week’s nomination by the house and reacted poorly. He burned a bridge with Kailah, who then fired a vote at him and ruined the plan of sending Bananas in. Now he suddenly has a target on his back and has made life for his main alliance, Cory, “a living hell.” Not great!

Dee: Gonna start calling her Sweet Dee, because she is making decisions about as well as Sweet Dee from It’s Always Sunny. She decides to get back at Rogan by flirting with and making out with Jay, who now clearly knows she was just using him after she chased after Rogan when he left their bunk. She insists Rogan is her “ride or die” but can’t stop yelling at him, and she as among those trying to powerplay Bananas but that failed — although that won’t bite her as much as it will Ashley because she’s Wes’ best friend on the women’s side. She’s a really good competitor but after not choosing to go in last week for a layup red skull, she followed it up by being sloppy this week and seemingly can’t get out of her own way.

Here are your quick and editorial-free results the April 15, 2020, edition of WWE NXT.

Make sure you’re back here tomorrow for the full Best and Worst of NXT column.

WWE NXT results:

1. Finn Bálor defeated Fabian Aichner. Bálor fought off interference from Marcel Barthel during the match and won by pinning Aichner with the 1916.

– In a video package, Charlotte Flair talked about her career and her current NXT Women’s Championship reign. She said she wants Mia Yim to be her first challenger.

2. Xia Li defeated Aliyah.

3. NXT Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament match: Akira Tozawa defeated Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott with his senton from the top rope. After the match, Tozawa said he would become Cruiserweight Championship again.

– A video package about El Hijo del Fantasma played.

4. Tegan Nox defeated Raquel Gonzalez. Dakota Kai interfered in the match, but Shotzi Blackheart fought her off. While Gonzalez was distracted by Blackheart, Nox rolled her up to win the match.

– A video about Keith Lee’s journey to becoming a wrestler and making it where he is today.

5. Dexter Lumis defeated Tehuti Miles, submitting him with the Anaconda Vice.

– Adam Cole was supposed to meet Velveteen Dream personally, but he cut a promo on Dream from his house instead. He said no one deserves a shot at the NXT Championship and that the Undisputed Era will soon have all the gold again.

– In the PC, Velveteen Dream cut a promo on Adam Cole, during which he called him the greatest NXT Champion of all time. Finn Balor entered and argued that he was actually the greatest NXT Champion of all time and that “ignorant comments will get you a date with the Prince.” Dream told Balor to “be a gentleman” and pick him up next Wednesday night.

– Malcom Bivens cut a promo on behalf of Indus Sher.

– Four matches were announced for next week’s episode of NXT: El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Jack Gallagher, Kushida vs. Tony Nese, Jake Atlas vs. Drake Maverick, and Blackheart and Nox vs. Gonzalez and Kai.

– Before the NXT Tag Team Championship match, Pete Dunne announced on the screen that he had chosen the Timothy Thatcher to be Riddle’s partner in his absence.

6. NXT Tag Team Championship match: Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher defeated Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong, with Thatcher getting the victory by submission. Lumis stared ominously from the shadows during this match.

– In a video message, Tommaso Ciampa told Johnny Gargano that he is the better man. Killer Kross, accompanied by Scarlett Bordeaux, attacked Ciampa from behind.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free AEW Dynamite results for April 15, 2020. The show featured another semi-finals match in the TNT Championship Tournament, Jake Hager challenging for the AEW World Championship in a no holds barred “empty arena” match, and more. Make sure you’re here tomorrow for the complete Ins and Outs of AEW Dynamite column.

AEW Dynamite Results:

1. TNT Championship Tournament Semi-Finals Match: Lance Archer defeated Colt Cabana. Like in previous weeks, Archer’s match opened with a pre-taped Jake Roberts promo. Archer won with a chokeslam and a Blackout.

2. Dr. Britt Baker defeated Cassandra Golden after a Curb Stomp with Golden biting a ring rope.

– The Inner Circle had a conference call called “The Bubbly Bunch,” where they made fun of The Elite.

3. Sammy Guevara defeated Suge D with a Feast Your Eyes. After the match, Guevara cut a promo saying he’d beat the shit out of Darby Allin in the TNT Championship tournament, and attacked Suge D until Allin made the save.

4. Kip Sabian defeated Chuck Taylor. Sabian won with a roll-up after assistance from Penelope Ford and Jimmy Havoc.

5. Shawn Spears defeated Justin Law with a C4.

– Next week’s show includes both Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara and Kip Sabian vs. Dustin Rhodes in the TNT Championship Tournament, Kenny Omega in action, and Orange Cassidy vs. Jimmy Havoc.

6. No Holds Barred Empty Arena Match for the AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) defeated Jake Hager. Moxley retained the championship after a chair shot, followed by a Paradigm Shift onto the chair.

We’re still a few months out from the release of Peacock, NBC’s splashy new streamer, which, when it arrives, will feature not only favorites like The Office and Parks and Recreation but plenty of new content, available exclusive to them. On Wednesday, as per Entertainment Weekly, they dropped a glut of trailers, among them two of their big reboots: Saved by the Bell and Punky Brewster.

The Saved by the Bell ad offers our first look at 2020 Bayside High School, and at its two main returning regulars: Mario Lopez’s A.C. Slater and Elizabeth Berkley’s Jessie Spano. Lopez looks frighteningly the same, missing only the mullet, which slightly takes the edge off the part where Jessie says, “Can you believe that was 30 years ago?” (Actually, it’s 31 years ago — 32 if you count its original incarnation as the Hayley Mills-led Good Morning, Miss Bliss.)

In any case, Lopez, now a gym teacher at his old haunt, gets the majority of the screentime, though he has to share it with a bevy of new teens who are up to…well, not no good, but some family-friendly hijinks all the same. At one point he tries to bond with them, reminiscing about fighting with his friends over girls — only to then tell one of them, “Oh, that was actually your dad!” He then turns to the other, saying, “Over your mom!” So the only thing that’s changed, really, is his age.

Meanwhile, it’s been 34 years since Soleil Moon Frye played Punky Brewster, who, from 1984 to 1986, was a young girl being raised by a foster father (Police Academy stalwart George Gaynes). What’s she up to now? According to the new version, she’s a mom of three, with a husband in the form of Freddie Prinze Jr. But she’s still wearing two different colors of shoes.

Saved by the Bell had to halt production due to the pandemic, though NBC still has confidence it will make its way onto their streaming coffers in 2020. Meanwhile, there’s no confirmed release date for Punky Brewster. Peacock also released trailers for Psych 2 and Angelyne, featuring a blonde, post-Shameless Emma Rossum. Peacock launches on July 15.

(Via EW)

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