NXT – January 27, 2016: The Road To More Good Wrestling
NXT
Date: January 27, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
Tonight is a big night as we find out the #1 contender for the NXT Title with the title shot potentially coming at Takeover: Dallas over Wrestlemania weekend. We have Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe in a triple threat match with the winner getting a shot at some point in the future. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
American Alpha vs. Blake and Murphy
The announcers accuse Bliss of staring at Jordan as he starts with Murphy. Jason gets his kick to the ribs caught but keeps jumping over the attempted legsweeps. It’s off to Gable to start in on the arm but a hair pull stops his twisting. Blake comes in and is taken down just as fast as Gable is clearly just having fun with both of them in there. Chad dives over him a few times into some armdrags and throws, followed by a crucifix for two.
We get the GABLE chants to the Kurt Angle tune until Murphy claims a knee injury. Of course it’s a gold bricking job as he waves Murphy over for a distraction to set up a chop block on Gable. It’s time to start in on the leg until Gable kicks Murphy over the top and out to the floor for a crash. The hot tag brings in Jordan for suplexes all around, capped off by Grand Amplitude on Blake at 7:23.
Rating: C+. It’s clear that American Alpha is about five steps ahead of everyone else in the division but we’re likely going to wait a bit before they get to go after the titles. At least we get to be entertained while we wait for them to go for the titles though as this was a clinic on dismantling a lower level team. Fun stuff here.
Emma is ready for Carmella next week because Bayley carried the team last week. Carmella has never actually done anything around here and she even lost to Blue Pants.
Stills of Sami Zayn entering the Royal Rumble.
Video on Asuka.
Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan
Eva Marie is out with Jax as we still wait to know why they’re associated. Morgan tries to power Jax around to start and gets caught in an easy cobra clutch. A jawbreaker staggers Jax a bit, only to have a side slam set up the legdrop for the pin at 2:10.
Carmella is ready for Emma next week and promises to beat her all alone. Enzo and Cass aren’t impressed by Dash and Dawson either and promises to take care of them as soon as they can.
Video on Baron Corbin.
We get the same sinister Vaudevillains vignette from last week.
Bull Dempsey vs. Alex Riley
The fans chant WELCOME BACK as Bull does jumping jacks. Riley takes him down to start and we’re in an early chinlock. Bull pops up with left hands but walks into a spinebuster, followed by a knee to the face to give Riley the pin at 2:07.
After a break, Riley says he’s tired of watching NXT and never hearing his name mentioned.
Elias Samson vs. John Skyler
Samson whips him into the corner to start and scores with a quick dropkick. A right hand drops Skyler and Samson sits in the corner ala Raven. Back up and Samson grabs a very fast swinging neckbreaker for the pin at 1:57.
The Hype Bros aren’t impressed by the Vaudevillains’ new videos. This turns into a discussion of Mojo watching Ryder sleep.
Video on Samoa Joe.
We look at Finn Balor vs. Apollo Crews from a few months back where Corbin interfered to break it up. They fight again in a non-title match next week.
Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn
Winner is #1 contender. They circle each other to start until Corbin hits Joe in the face for a bit of a surprise. Sami low bridges Baron to the floor but Joe breaks up the dive and pulls Zayn to the floor. Baron gets a boot to the chest to keep Joe in control and Sami gets punched down in the corner. A knee drop misses Sami but Corbin comes back in to jump Sami from behind.
We take a break and come back with Joe still on the floor and Corbin charging into an elbow in the corner. That means it’s time for Joe to come back in, only to be taken down by Sami. Corbin and Joe are knocked outside and it’s finally time to connect with the running flip dive. Back in and Corbin grabs a quick Deep Six for two on Sami, only to get kicked in the face by Joe. Sami fights out of the Muscle Buster and grabs the Blue Thunder Bomb for two on Corbin.
The kickout lets Joe pull Sami to the floor for a quick Koquina Clutch before walking into End of Days. Sami dives back in to break up the cover and Corbin is livid. He pounds on Sami in the corner but runs into the exploder, followed by the Helluva Kick with Joe making the save this time. Joe gets sent to the floor so Sami puts Corbin in a Sharpshooter with Joe coming back in to add a Crossface. Corbin taps at 15:33 and we’ve got two winners.
Rating: B. If this means we get Joe vs. Sami down the line, I have zero issues with this finish. Corbin gets to save some face by getting caught in a double submission which would make almost anyone tap so everyone comes out looking strong. Really solid main event here and another good story being told.
Both guys say they won so here’s GM William Regal to say he’ll have to review the tape and make a decision on this controversy.
Overall Rating: B. Another good week here and again we have more stuff to look forward to next week. They’re really nailing these ideas as we get ready for the big show down in Dallas. The ending has be looking forward to the fallout which should be another awesome match between Sami and Joe. As usual, building to good wrestling is the right idea and NXT keeps nailing it.
Results
America Alpha b. Blake and Murphy – Grand Amplitude to Blake
Nia Jax b. Liv Morgan – Legdrop
Alex Riley b. Bull Dempsey – Knee to the jaw
Elias Samson b. John Skyler – Swinging neckbreaker
Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe b. Baron Corbin – Sharpshooter and Crossface at the same time
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I usually try to avoid spoilers as best I can but I have seen the Card for Takeover Dallas and wow is all I can say.
As usual NXT delivers, big matches on the horizon, especially when you consider the arrival of Austin Aries and the NJPW guys pretty soon.
Can’t wait for Balor vs Crews nxt week even if I can smell the screwy finish, or is it time for a the first indications of Balor’s heel turn?
I agree with Emma, right now Carmella is next to nothing, they have a lot of building to do for her to be a credible threat to Bayley.
Overall great talent, great booking, I’m happy for him on the main roster but can you imagine adding AJ to the mix?
Anyway as a side note it was also Lucha underground season 2 premiere have you considered reviewing it?
Yeah I’m doing it tomorrow.
Man, a glorious kind f subconscious thing about NXT is the only wrestlers on this show in the ring that also had matches last week were the guys in the triple threat (which was just building that up).
It keeps guys from being over-used and from taking too many losses. Yeah, that’s easy with only one hour vs the 5 the main roster has, but I think that’s another reason NXT is so refreshing – there’s almost an A-B cycle to who works which weeks, and then it gets tweaked slightly every round of tapings. I mean, its super simple, but just done so, so well.