NXT – October 19, 2016: I Love NXT and I Don’t Know How Else To Say It
NXT Date: October 19, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
We’re getting closer to the second round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and it’s also the start of a fresh taping cycle. The other interesting story is the return of Shinsuke Nakamura to go after Samoa Joe. It’s fairly obvious that they’ll be facing each other again in Toronto. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look back at Nakamura being laid out about a month ago but coming back last week to go after Samoa Joe.
Opening sequence.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Rich Swann/No Way Jose vs. Tony Nese/Drew Gulak
It should be interesting to see this work so much better here than it would on Raw. Rich and Drew start things off as the fans aren’t sure which good guy to cheer for. It’s time for some fast flipping to start with Rich bouncing over Drew and handing it off to Jose for the big guy dancing. Nese comes in and eats a big flapjack (that sounds good) for two. Some quick kicks put Jose down for two but it’s back to Rich for some kicks to the chest. They head outside and it’s Nese superkicking (of course) Swann as we take a break.
Back with Gulak and Swann clotheslining each other for a double knockdown. That means a double tag off to Jose and Nese with the dancing one turning Tony inside out off a clothesline. Gulak gets thrown into the air and punched right in the jaw (better than most Superman Punches) for two with Nese making the save. The full nelson slam ends Gulak at 10:40.
Rating: C+. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Jose is WAY too talented for this dancing party guy gimmick. He looked even more like a star than usual here as he was towering over the other three and was able to show off with the power game. It really is amazing how much more interesting the cruiserweights are when they’re in front of a crowd that actually wants to see them.
Rich and Jose are ready for the Authors of Pain, who better not look past them. Dancing ensues.
Quick discussion of Hideo Itami’s injury, meaning he’s out of the tournament.
We look back at Glorious Ten splitting up.
Tye Dillinger has requested and been granted a match against Bobby Roode in Toronto.
Austin Aries would rather talk about potassium instead of his surprise partner. The tournament isn’t for everyone, such as Hideo Itami. Hideo is out because an MRI revealed he doesn’t have a spine.
Bobby Roode vs. Sean Maluta
Maluta actually grabs a rollup for an early two but Roode takes his head off with a clothesline. A hard whip into the corner makes it worse for Sean, followed by a spinebuster to break up his comeback. An implant DDT ends Sean at 3:07.
Rating: D+. Just a squash here, which is a good role for some of the lower level cruiserweights. We’ve seen what they can do in the tournament so these wins are more impressive than the ones you see over the run of the mill jobbers. Maluta has a good look and can be pushed if the need ever arrives, just like so many of the other people NXT has been using lately.
Roode laughs off Dillinger’s complaints because Tye was the one who begged Roode to team up for the Dusty Classic. All Roode wanted to do was bring Tye up to a GLORIOUS level. After a line about Klingons, Tye comes out and clears the ring. The fans, who went nuts over Roode’s entrance, give Tye a huge TEN chant.
Liv Morgan is in the back when Peyton Royce and Billie Kay jump her from behind. Morgan is dragged out to the stage and laid out again, leaving Kay and Royce to brag about how this is their division.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Austin Aries/??? vs. Tucker Knight/Otis Dozovic
Aries’ mystery partner is……the debuting Roderick Strong, who teamed with Aries to win the ROH Tag Team Titles as part of Generation Next. The announcers put Strong over hard, mentioning his matches against people like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens. Otis throws Aries around to start before it’s off to Tucker for some hard chops to Strong.
Everything breaks down and Aries has to break up a Vader Bomb from Otis. Aries and Strong start trying to chop down the massive Dozovic but he pretty easily suplexes them both at the same time. The hot tag brings in Knight for a double splash in the corner but he misses a charge and falls outside. Back in and the Sick Kick knocks Knight silly for the pin (ignore the shoulder being up at one) at 6:15.
Rating: B-. It’s strange to see the smaller, faster guys as the heels but this was a better match than I was expecting. Dozovic and Knight are two big power guys and I’m always entertained by seeing guys their size chopped down. Aries/Strong vs. TM61 should be a lot of fun, which is the cool part about tournaments like this one.
Andrade Cien Almas attacked Cedric Alexander over a lack of respect. Now it’s time to take the respect for himself.
Nikki Cross vs. Danielle Kamella
Cross is just as crazy as she used to be and throws Danielle with a suplex. After biting and scratching herself, Nikki ends this with a fisherman’s neckbreaker at 1:20. Total squash.
Nikki keeps beating on Danielle so the referee reverses the decision.
Here’s Shinsuke Nakamura with a message for Samoa Joe. Nakamura confirms the rematch with Samoa Joe in Toronto because he’ll beat Joe with no mercy. This brings out Patrick Clark, who wants the title shot for himself. Instead he gets a kick to the head, only to have Joe come out for the big staredown. Joe stays on the ramp while Clark eats Kinshasa to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. I had a really good time here as they covered almost everything that’s likely to be taking place at Takeover: Toronto in less than an hour. We had good tag wrestling, a debut, story advancement and a hot ending. In other words, things you rarely get on Raw and/or Smackdown and in even less time. NXT knows how to turn on the jets whenever they need to and that’s exactly what they’ve done again here.
Results
No Way Jose/Rich Swann b. Tony Nese/Drew Gulak – Full nelson slam to Gulak
Bobby Roode b. Sean Maluta – Implant DDT
Austin Aries/Roderick Strong b. Tucker Knight/Otis Dozovic – Sick Kick to Otis
Danielle Kamella b. Nikki Cross via referee’s decision
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NXT Date: October 12, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
We’re still in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic but more importantly we’re seeing more in the Samoa Joe path of rage as he tries to get his NXT Title back. In the next few weeks we should also be seeing more matches announced for the upcoming Takeover: Toronto special. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Sanity vs. Glorious Ten
Before Sanity comes out, we have Roode and Dillinger exchanging cheers from the crowd. Sanity are four people in masks and leather jackets who receive a rather impressed reaction. Two of them take off their masks to reveal Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe, both of whom attack Dillinger while Roode stays on the floor. The double teaming continues with Roode walking away just over a minute and a half in to make this a handicap match. A powerslam/suplex combo put Dillinger away at 1:59.
The smallest member of Sanity (a woman named Nikki Cross) beats on Dillinger until the leader gives Dillinger a wheelbarrow suplex into a neckbreaker. The leader is…..Eric Young. Granted the Canadian flag patch on his jacket was a bit of a hint.
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce laugh off the idea of fighting Liv Morgan because she has no friends.
Roode blames Dillinger for what happened because Roode isn’t a tag wrestler.
Liv Morgan vs. Billie Kay
Morgan starts with a dropkick and backslide for two before a gutbuster gets two for Billie. The torture rack with an arm trap makes it even worse for Morgan until an STO gets her out of trouble. Not that it matters though as Royce trips Morgan, allowing Billie to hit the big boot for the pin at 3:30.
Rating: D+. Neither of these two are worth much at the moment but NXT has indeed managed to start turning them into something more than random talent. Maybe they’re going to build Morgan up someday but at the moment she’s glorified cannon fodder for the heels of the division.
We look back at Andrade Cien Almas turning on Cedric Alexander last week.
Almas yelled in Spanish after last week’s show.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: TM61 vs. Tino Sabbatelli/Riddick Moss
Moss (formerly known as Mike Rawlis) and Sabbatelli compete against each other so often that they figured they might as well team up. Miller starts with Moss and it’s TM61 taking over early on. Thorn comes in with a slingshot senton until Tino low bridges him out to the floor. Back from a break with Tino coming in for some forearms to the chest as the crowd is split on him.
Sabbatelli starts cranking on an armbar and we get some muscular posing. Moss gets in some trash talking but walks into a jawbreaker. The hot tag brings in Miller to clean house as everything breaks down. Sabbatelli’s interference doesn’t work and it’s Thunder Valley for the pin on Tino at 12:02.
Rating: C. Sabbatelli is an interesting case as he looks great and has the athletic background from being in the NFL but he definitely needs ring time and experience. Moss was a more intense version of the guy we’ve seen for a long time now. TM61 is slowly growing on me but I haven’t seen that great performance from them yet.
Buddy Murphy vs. Wesley Blake
Murphy has had a run of bad luck such as travel issues and having his furniture sold for not paying the bill on his storage unit. They stare at each other to start as the fans are more into Blake than Murphy. Buddy nips to his feet and both guys try big kicks at the same time. Blake is knocked out to the floor so Murphy hits a big running flip dive to take over. Fan: “MAMA MIA!” Cue Samoa Joe to jump Murphy for the DQ at 3:12.
Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but Murphy continues to look very good in the smaller sample sizes. He’s got a somewhat better look and is much better than Blake in the ring but for some reason they won’t just let these two split up. Joe coming in is probably the best outcome though as I don’t know how long these two could hold a crowd.
Joe says time is up so Regal needs to bring him Shinsuke Nakamura or his title. After a break, here’s Nakamura with a quickly removed neckbrace. The fight is on and security is suddenly the most hated team in the building. Their attempt to break up the fight goes nowhere and it continues on the ramp with Nakamura kicking Joe low.
Nakamura is dragged backstage but comes right back, only to be taken back again and again. Joe walks away on his own while Nakamura fights security. The distracted Nakamura is blindsided by Joe but nails Kinshasa inside to end the show. That’s more emotion than I’ve ever seen from Nakamura and it added another gear to his awesomeness.
Overall Rating: B. It’s back to what makes NXT great as we had a show dedicated to moving things forward this week. We now have half of the second round set for the Dusty Classic, the reveal of Sanity and Nakamura returning for the showdown with Joe. This felt like a show designed to make you want to see more in the future and it worked very well in that regard. The wrestling wasn’t the point here and the storytelling more than makes up for it.
Results
Sanity b. Glorious Ten – Powerslam/suplex combo to Dillinger
Billie Kay b. Liv Morgan – Big boot
TM61 b. Tino Sabbatelli/Riddick Moss – Thunder Valley to Sabbatelli
Buddy Murphy b. Wesley Blake via DQ when Samoa Joe interfered
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NXT Date: September 28, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
This is an interesting time for NXT as we’re still moving closer to Toronto but it’s still too early to really know a lot of the card. We do however have a new #1 contender to the Women’s Title in Liv Morgan, who Asuka agreed to face without seeming that worried about it. We’ve also got some cruiserweights around so maybe they’ll make an appearance tonight. Let’s get to it.
General Manager William Regal announces the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament, comprised of sixteen teams with the finals coming in Toronto. First round matches begin next week.
Opening sequence. Total time taken on Then, Now and Forever plus Regal’s announcement: seventy two seconds.
Tye Dillinger vs. Angelo Dawkins
Dillinger does his cartwheel to start and says that’s a ten. He mocks Dawkins’ mixing bowl thing (Has that EVER been explained?) and avoids a spinning splash in the corner. A flying forearm and Russian legsweep set up the Tyebreaker for the pin on Dawkins at 2:25.
Post match here’s Bobby Roode to say that was……impressive. Roode came here to propose a tag team to enter the Dusty Classic. Dillinger shakes on it and Perfectly Glorious is formed. Graves: “HALLELUJAH!”
Connor’s Cure video.
Hideo Itami is ready to face an athlete like Lince Dorado, who has the heart Austin Aries is lacking. Maybe Aries needs to be put to sleep, again.
Ealy Brothers vs. Revival
Non-title and the Ealy Brothers are identical twins named Gabriel and Uriel. Actually never mind as here’s Samoa Joe to beat up the brothers. Revival slowly backs away and applauds Joe as they leave.
Joe puts this on Regal and gets in a few more shots on the twins for fun.
Dan Matha arrives next week.
Mandy Rose vs. Ember Moon
Rose actually hits a heck of a forearm to start but gets kicked in the ribs for her efforts. A springboard crossbody gets two and Mandy is already in big trouble. Something like an abdominal stretch slows Moon down and a clothesline gets two. A tilt-a-whirl into a facebuster (Dalton Castle’s Bang A Rang) gives Mandy another near fall but Ember sends her into the buckle, setting up the Eclipse for the pin on Mandy at 3:09.
Rating: C-. If Rose can dye her hair red, Eva Marie is out of a job. Mandy has a comparable look and can actually wrestle a coherent match, putting her light years ahead of Eva, whose whole gimmick is that she can’t even be trusted to actually, you know, wrestle. Moon is almost guaranteed to be the next big challenger to Asuka and that’s just fine.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa want to win the Dusty Classic and then get the Tag Team Titles from the Revival.
Authors of Pain vs. Jesus Yurnet/Jonathan Cruz
Yurnet is slightly better known as Mr. 450. The Authors go right after them to start and Cruz is gorilla pressed out to the floor. The Russian legsweep/clothesline wraps Cruz up at 1:10.
Post match Paul Ellering says the next chapter will bring pain and that is all we need to know.
Regal can’t get hold of Shinsuke Nakamura so he can’t give us an update. He can however tell us about some Dusty Classic teams, or at least he could if Blake and Murphy didn’t come in and start bickering some more. Regal tells them to go argue elsewhere.
Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Liv Morgan
Asuka is defending and we get dueling LET’S GO LIV/ASUKA’S GONNA KILL YOU chants. They lock up to start and Liv’s dropkick has no effect as Asuka takes her down and puts on something like the Rings of Saturn for the tap out at 55 seconds. This is EXACTLY what it should have been and is probably a record of some sort.
Asuka says no one is ready for her.
Next week: Cedric Alexander/Andrade Cien Almas vs. Revival in a first round Dusty Classic match.
Lince Dorado vs. Hideo Itami
They shake hands to start. Dorado misses an early charge into the corner but backflips away from one of Hideo’s kicks. A jumping knee to the back of Hideo’s neck doesn’t do much good as an even harder kick to the chest drops Dorado. Lince comes right back with a dropkick to send Itami outside, setting up an Asai moonsault to drive Itami onto the ramp.
Back from a break with Itami getting kicked again, only to get in the tornado DDT neck snap across the top. Dorado’s Tajiri handspring is almost countered into the GTS but Dorado reversed into a crucifix for two. Lince misses a shooting star press and that means it’s time for the running kicks. The GTS puts Dorado away at 10:22.
Rating: B. This summed up so many of the problems with the cruiserweight division in a ten minute match. First of all, it wouldn’t be a stretch to have Itami as a cruiserweight but because of who he generally fights, he’s a heavyweight. Even though he is a heavyweight though, he had issues dealing with Dorado here.
Ignoring that though, it’s not a big deal for the cruiserweight to be fighting the heavyweight. Over on Raw, so far at least, it’s been cruiserweights vs. cruiserweights and that’s almost all it can be. Once that stops, why should a cruiserweight go after their own title if they can fight for the heavyweight title? Now that we’ve seen people like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor win the top titles in the company, it’s pretty ridiculous to have them fight over a weight class title. The match was good though as Itami has gotten a lot better since coming back.
Post match here’s Austin Aries to jump Itami but has to run away when Itami gets back up. Hideo tells him to get back in here to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. As is so often the case, the wrestling wasn’t the point her. They managed to fit in five matches (and introduce a sixth) while also announcing a tournament and doing a run-in after the main event in fifty two minutes, including commercials. There’s something so fun about watching a show when they know exactly what they want to do and then go out and do it so well. This show is quick and easy to watch but also entertaining and well put together at the same time. You can feel the Ryan Ward effect on here and that’s a good thing.
Results
Tye Dillinger b. Angelo Dawkins – Tyebreaker
Ember Moon b. Mandy Rose – Eclipse
Authors of Pain b. Jesus Yurnet/Jonathan Cruz – Russian legsweep/clothesline combo to Cruz
Asuka b. Liv Morgan – Double armbar
Hideo Itami b. Lince Dorado – GTS
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NXT Date: September 14, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
We’re slowly making our way to Toronto but first we need to get to the end of this taping cycle. The big story here is still Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, which is probably going to headline the next Takeover. Other than that we have Bobby Roode vs. No Way Jose in a match that could have the crowd reacting in multiple ways. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Samoa Joe to get things going. Joe talks about how a man reaches a point where he knows something has changed. As NXT Champion, he was a disgrace. He ran roughshod over NXT for a year because he wanted to be the champion of the hottest brand in the WWE Universe. Joe requests and receives an appearance from Shinsuke Nakamura. They said a lot of things leading up to their match in Brooklyn and Joe meant every bit of it, including saying that Nakamura was an undeserving contender.
Standing here now though, he knows Nakamura is a worthy champion. Joe has a guaranteed rematch but instead of cashing it in, he wants to ask Nakamura for the shot man to man. The champ says it’s on and very tentatively shakes Joe’s hand. Joe leaves Nakamura to pose but comes back out and jumps the champ on the stage. Nakamura is whipped into and Rock Bottomed onto the steps as Joe shouts that he did this to Shinsuke. Joe leaves and Nakamura is taken out on a stretcher. Even William Regal and Corey Graves come out to check on Nakamura as he’s wheeled away.
Graves and Phillips talk about how serious this is. It actually feels better here as this almost never happens around here, which is the case with almost every big angle they do.
Regal goes to find Joe but he pulls away in a car.
Liv Morgan vs. Rachel Fazio
Rachel used to be known as Rachel Ellering. Morgan works on a front facelock to start as we hear that Nakamura has been taken to a medical facility. A running dropkick staggers Rachel but Liv doesn’t seem to know what to do next. Morgan grabs a guillotine choke (which she barely keeps on) for the tap at 1:51. This really didn’t work with Liv looking very sloppy.
Post match Liv grabs the mic and yells at Rachel for tapping out. The word on the street is that the NXT Women’s division needs more challengers so she’s throwing her hat in the ring to face Asuka.
Hideo Itami vs. Drew Gulak
Gulak gets in his face to start and they hit the mat for some submission attempts. Drew goes with a slap to the face so Itami gives him one right back. It’s time for some kicks to the face with Itami getting in a running boot but running into a dropkick for his efforts. Drew starts in on the leg but thinks it’s a good idea to slap Hideo in the face. The beating is on in a hurry and the GTS ends Gulak at 4:55.
Rating: C+. They kept it simple here by having Itami strike as hard as he can and Gulak trying to do the submissions to keep Itami in check. Itami is going to be a big deal in NXT but I’m still not entirely sold on him. He really doesn’t have a character aside from hard striker and while he does that as well as anyone else, I don’t know how far it’s going to take him.
Authors of Pain vs. Doug Sessa/Chris Payne
Razar drops Sessa with a spinning elbow to the face and it’s off to Akum for forearms to the chest. Payne (not named until after the match) tries to come in and gets a double powerbomb. The running clothesline/Russian legsweep combo ends Doug at 1:51.
Tye Dillinger is ready to prove that he really is a perfect ten.
No Way Jose vs. Bobby Roode
Roode is introduced on a spinning pedestal and the fans sing his song. His entrance in Toronto is going to be amaz…..perfec…..blast it why can’t I think of the right word for it? Roode takes him down to start and does a pose, sending the fans into song. A headlock doesn’t do anything for Roode so Jose slam him to take over. Fans: “YOU’RE NOT GLORIOUS!”
Jose sends him outside for a running forearm off the apron and we take a break. It’s good to hear the No Way Jose song as the commercial starts as Jose deserves some cheering despite being against the hottest act in the promotion. Back with Roode sending Jose into the buckle and getting two off a delayed vertical suplex. Jose fights out of a chinlock and puts on the airplane spin. The Baseball punch misses and Roode finishes with an implant DDT at 11:00.
Rating: C+. Fine match here with Roode doing just enough to win while Jose doesn’t lose any face by going down against a bigger name. Roode is red hot right now and they would be crazy to not give him something big at the Toronto Takeover. I’d like to see Jose as something a bit more serious though as there’s a lot of potential there. Good stuff here and probably most importantly: Roode changed finishers. The implant DDT isn’t great but it’s way better than a pumphandle slam.
Overall Rating: C. This show was a bit off as it felt like the first and last segments should have been swapped. Roode winning is fine but the opening segment took a lot out of the crowd, especially in the next match or two. Still though, it was a show that up some stuff going forward and let some people get needed wins. It’s more effective than good and that’s ok for a week.
Results
Liv Morgan b. Rachel Fazio – Guillotine choke
Hideo Itami b. Drew Gulak – GTS
Authors of Pain b. Doug Sessa/Chris Payne – Running clothesline/Russian legsweep combo to Sessa
Bobby Roode b. No Way Jose – Implant DDT
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NXT Date: August 31, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
The champ is back tonight as Shinsuke Nakamura makes his first appearance on NXT since winning the NXT Title in Brooklyn. I mean, that was only eleven days ago but NXT is making it seem like a big deal. It should be interesting to see who comes out to challenge him for the title, though odds are it’s Samoa Joe for a rematch. Let’s get to it.
Earlier today, Samoa Joe was deemed unclear to wrestle due to injuries suffered in Brooklyn. William Regal looks annoyed.
Opening sequence.
Tye Dillinger vs. Buddy Murphy
Murphy is deemed a one by the fans. Back in my day, being number one was a good thing. Tye gets him to the mat in a hammerlock but gets thrown away, meaning Blake can give himself a ten. Back up and Dillinger does his spinout into a cartwheel for the real ten. Graves: “That would get you disqualified from any gymnastics competition.”
The lame wrestling goes back and forth with Murphy sending him outside as we go to a break. That’s probably the good thing as this is a very simple match and there’s nothing that’s working especially well save for the TEN thing. Back with Dillinger making his comeback off a clothesline and a backdrop. Some TEN stomps in the corner set up the Tyebreaker for the pin at 9:46.
Rating: C-. This is a good example of the crowd carrying a match higher than it should have gone otherwise. Dillinger’s gimmick is way over but his in ring work isn’t the greatest. It’s an interesting change of pace from the Murphy vs. Ibushi match from a few weeks ago which was far more entertaining with Ibushi having more than one thing to carry him. Dillinger is more than worth investing in due to being so over but he needs some work. There’s potential in Murphy too, albeit with some adjustments.
We look back at the Tag Team Title match in Brooklyn and Johnny Gargano’s knee injury costing him in the Cruiserweight Classic.
Tommaso Ciampa says Gargano will be back soon when the Revival comes in and beats him into the arena. They take the beating into the ring and leave Ciampa laying. Wilder says everyone sounds tough until reality hits them in the mouth. Ciampa tries to get up but takes a good looking Shatter Machine.
Steve Cutler wants attention and demands respect. Dang the cupboard really is bare.
Steve Cutler vs. Kenneth Crawford
Crawford is a generic looking guy who Graves says is well dressed backstage. Cutler works on the arm to start but Kenneth flips his way out of a backdrop (didn’t stick the landing but he tried) and grabs an armbar of his own. Some good looking dropkicks and a running shooting star get two on Cutler but he walks into a spinning fisherman’s driver (as in a fisherman’s suplex into a sitout slam) to give Steve the pin at 3:38.
Rating: C-. Crawford did some good looking stuff but neither guy was anything special here. Pushing Cutler (and by pushing I mean setting up to be fed to someone else) isn’t the most horrible idea in the world as people already know him from all those jobs over the years and it’s not like he can’t just go back to being a jobber after this is done. It’s better to give someone some value and then take it away than take away value from someone who you’ve invested a lot of time in.
Hideo Itami says he kicked Austin Aries in the head at Takeover but Aries disappointed him by claiming an injury. If he doesn’t want to feel pain, get out of the ring.
Video on Sami Zayn vs. Nakamura back in Dallas.
Video on TM61.
No Way Jose vs. Angelo Dawkins
Jose dances around and grabs a headlock to start as Dawkins gets a few chants of his own. Dawkins’ chinlock doesn’t go anywhere so it’s the baseball punch and a full nelson slam (looked more like a cobra clutch this time) to give Jose the pin at 2:43.
Aries, banana in hand (Dig that potassium replenishing!), interrupts Andrade Cien Almas’ interview time, saying everyone is trying to steal his spotlight. Since Almas lost, Aries will just take his interview time. A challenge is issued for next week.
Video on Nakamura vs. Finn Balor.
Liv Morgan vs. Aliyah
Aliyah looks a bit more serious this time and kicks Morgan in the ribs. Some knees to the chest have Morgan in more trouble and Aliyah puts on a freaky hold where she cranks on Liv’s arm and holds her head down with a leg. Morgan pops back up and tries a kind of spinning kick close enough to the head for the pin at 3:21. There was a hard edit in there so it was probably worse than it looked.
Rating: D-. If this is the future of the women’s division, they’ve got a long way to go. Aliyah showed some fire but Morgan was a pretty bad mess. Her offense required an edit and consisted of two moves in about three and a half minutes. Also I’m really not sure how strong of a character I’M FROM NEW JERSEY is or how long of a life span it’s going to have.
No Way Jose is fired up about his win and says he has the heart to go with the hair. Bobby Roode comes up, compliments Jose’s head, and walks away.
Video on Nakamura vs. Joe.
Here’s Nakamura for his celebration and the dancing entrance looks even cooler with the title around his waist. The YOU DESERVE IT chants start up until Nakamura starts talking about being in Japan and wanting to face the best competition in the world. That meant he had to come to NXT where he beat Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe. He’s still in a lot of pain but he became the NXT Champion. The Joe Era is over and it’s now the Era of Strong Style. Nakamura kind of barks and poses to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This show was about setting up stuff for the future as we’re firmly in the fallout period from Takeover and have a long way to go before the next one. Stuff like Almas vs. Aries and Asuka coming back next week are great ways to build week to week and keep you coming back long enough to let the big stories develop. It’s about making something seem important enough that you want to watch the hour of TV to see it and then get you ready for the big stuff. That’s such a simple strategy and NXT makes it work as well as anyone has in a long time.
Results
Tye Dillinger b. Wesley Blake – Tyebreaker
Steve Cutler b. Kenneth Crawford – Fisherman’s driver
No Way Jose b. Angelo Dawkins – Full nelson slam
Liv Morgan b. Aliyah – Spinning kick to the face
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NXT Date: August 24, 2016
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
This is the closest thing NXT has to a week off as we’ll have matches taped before Takeover this past Saturday night. That means we’ll be seeing some stand alone stuff in front of a white hot crowd, which should make these matches mean a lot more than they would otherwise. Other than that and a few interviews, this isn’t the biggest show in the world. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Saturday night.
Opening sequence.
Tye Dillinger vs. Wesley Blake
Dillinger is treated like a face here and the announcers seem to treat him as one. Fans to Blake: “LET’S GO ZERO!” Dillinger easily takes him to the mat and does a cartwheel before giving himself a ten. A poke to the eye puts Tye down and we take a break. Back with Dillinger’s comeback being cut off by a Backstabber but Dillinger hiptosses him into the corner. A few shots to the chest and back set up the Tyebreaker (fireman’s carry backbreaker onto an exposed knee) for the pin at 11:18.
Rating: C. This is where NXT is a step ahead of WWE. Dillinger was getting huge face pops and was clearly one of the most over gimmicks on the roster despite being a heel. The solution: turn him face and accept the chants. Now they have a freshly over guy who could move up the roster under the right circumstances and all NXT had to do was start putting him against heels. Dillinger did almost all the work and everyone comes out ahead. Why is this so complicated for the main roster?
Quick clip of Bobby Roode winning on Saturday.
Roode says that was no surprise. Almas was a fine opponent but he’s not GLORIOUS.
Clips of Austin Aries beating No Way Jose and Hideo Itami making a post match save.
Aries is made that he didn’t get to leave with his hand raised. He’s tired of being interrupted and people stealing his moments. Aries has already gotten rid of people who interrupted him (Baron Corbin and No Way Jose) and Itami will be no different.
Long recap of Asuka vs. Bayley. Have they made it clear enough that they don’t have much tonight?
We get a video of Bayley’s time in NXT, including her reading part of her essay from middle school.
Bayley says this time was different but Asuka was just better. Ember Moon comes up and says Bayley should be proud of her performance and says she’s here because of Bayley.
We see Bayley’s Raw debut.
Video on Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa vs. Revival.
Revival knows they’re the best and unstoppable. Top guys out. Clink me.
Recap of Shinsuke Nakamura taking the NXT Title from Samoa Joe. Nakamura is back next week.
TM61 vs. Authors of Pain
The Authors jump them before the bell and it’s a brawl to start with TM61 actually taking over and sending the big men to the floor. The opening bell brings the Authors back inside and it’s the tattooed Author (still waiting on names so we’ll call him #1) slamming Thorn. TM61 comes back with some double teaming and a leg lariat in the corner. #1 sends Thorn hard into the post though and TM61 slows down. Apparently the tattooed one is Akum and the other is Razar. I prefer Tokka and Razar but that’s just me.
Back from a break with Thorn hitting a jawbreaker on Razar and rolling over for the tag off to Miller. Nick speeds things up and gets two off a high cross body. That’s enough for the Authors as they lift TM61 up for stereo powerbombs and slam their backs together. The Russian legsweep/clothesline ends Miller at 11:29.
Rating: C. I get the idea of paying dues but TM61 is looking more and more like a pair of jobbers every week. I’m assuming this sets up the Authors of Pain as potential challengers to the Revival but I’m really not sure how that’s going to go. You don’t often see heel vs. heel and I’m not sure how much Revival could do with guys this big. The Authors are certainly something different though and that’s usually a good thing.
Overall Rating: D+. This was the usual post outside Orlando Takeover show and there’s nothing wrong with that. They cobbled together whatever they could here and it was basically a week off as a result. I’m fine with them taking a break after all the effort they put in on Takeover and next week things will be back to normal. Just a week off here and that’s fine.
Results
Tye Dillinger b. Wesley Blake – Tyebreaker
Authors of Pain b. TM61 – Russian legsweep/clothesline combo to Miller
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Takeover: Back to Brooklyn Date: August 20, 2016
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
This might be NXT’s biggest show of the year, especially after last year’s amazing double main event that really turned Bayley into a star. This year’s main event could be even bigger with Samoa Joe defending the NXT Title against Shinsuke Nakamura and Bayley trying to get the Women’s Title back against the monster champion Asuka. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look back at the opening of last year’s show with HHH in the ring and the lights showing the huge crowd. That shot told you there was something different with this show and it was going to be something special.
Various people sit down for interviews, all looking a bit nervous. They all talk about where they were a year ago and how cool it is for them to move this far forward in such a short amount of time. Almost everyone says they take over Brooklyn. Bayley: “Tonight, I take over Brooklyn. Again.”
Austin Aries vs. No Way Jose
Jose loves to have fun and Aries is serious. In the traditionally big NXT entrance, Jose comes out with a huge conga line around the ring. Aries hides in the corner to start and the very vocal crowd is all the way behind him. Jose accepts a left handshake but slaps Aries in the face. A BIG right hand knocks Aries outside and Jose follows with an ax handle off the apron. Aries finally gets an opening by dropping Jose throat first across the top rope but a few chops take him down again.
The Last Chancery out of nowhere has Jose in trouble but he crawls over for the break. Jose grabs a TKO for two, only to have Aries send him outside for the suicide dive. Back in and Aries’ suplex is countered into something like a falcon arrow for a very close two. Jose punches him down again and is showing some great fire here. The running corner dropkick gets two for Aries and another Last Chancery makes Jose tap at 10:40.
Rating: B-. I think this is proof that Jose is just waiting on a serious gimmick to go somewhere. Jose felt like someone doing a serious version of a comedy gimmick and looked great here, including the more than good enough wrestling abilities. Aries needed this win a lot more though as he really hasn’t done anything special since debuting way back in the spring.
Aries puts on another Last Chancery after the match but Hideo Itami comes out for the save and uses the GTS for the first time on NXT TV. That’s a good idea as they both need a feud.
Ric Flair is here.
Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon
This is Moon’s debut. Ember starts fast and shows off some awesome agility with a headscissors and a hiptoss before showing off red eyes. A spinning cross body gets two for Moon but she gets caught in an Eat Defeat to give Billie two. Billie bends her over the shoulder and chokes at the same time (picture a Gory Stretch but with a choke). Ember makes her comeback with a kick to the ribs and a butterfly suplex followed by a top rope Stunner (it looked better than it sounds) for the pin at 4:32.
Rating: C. I go back and forth on how much offense someone should get on a debuting wrestler here. You don’t want it to be a squash but at the same time you want the newcomer to look like a threat. The eyes and the finisher looked great (though if that’s botched, it’s going to look HORRIBLE) and that’s all that matters though. Moon could be the fresh blood that the division needs and that’s a great thing going forward.
Earlier today, Bobby Roode insulted Brooklyn and said he was more Manhattan.
We recap Bobby Roode vs. Andrade Cien Almas, which basically means Roode debuted and needed a first victim.
Bobby Roode vs. Andrade Cien Almas
Roode’s entrance gets the pop of the night and he comes out on a high podium which is lowered down to the stage. Oh and the entire crowd sings his entrance before starting a loud BOBBY ROODE chant. Poor Almas has to follow that and the lack of caring is just painful to see. Fans: “THIS IS GLORIOUS!” Roode takes him down a few times to start and the fans cheer him to no end with a GLORIOUS chant.
Almas finally gets to do something by knocking Roode to the floor and posing on the apron for a cute bit. That just earns him a crotching on the top though and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Almas dropkicks him off the top to set up a springboard corkscrew plancha. Almas has to backflip out of a German superplex but his Lionsault into a standing moonsault hits knees.
Andrade wins a slugout and kicks Roode into the corner to set up the running knee strike. Not that it matters as Roode kicks him in the face and scores with a spinebuster. A pumphandle slam (the Glorious Bomb, a good name for a not great move) puts Almas away at 10:28.
Rating: C+. I’ll give Almas some credit here for trying to make something out of a match where he had no chance. The fans only wanted to see Roode here and it was clear that this was his showcase instead of anything else. It’s easy to imagine Roode or Aries as the next challenger to the NXT Title as it’s not like there’s a better option for a non-Takeover challenger.
We get a video of a riot and anarchy with the word SANITY spray painted on a wall.
HHH and the guys from Orange County Choppers unveil the Cruiserweight Classic trophy. It’s a black column with a globe on top. Uh, yeah. The finals will be on September 14.
Tommaso Ciampa throws Johnny Gargano a Do It Yourself shirt. I guess that’s their official name.
We recap Gargano/Ciampa vs. Revival. Gargano and Ciampa beat Revival and then Revival won the Tag Team Titles a few weeks later, meaning Gargano and Ciampa were the obvious first challengers.
Tag Team Titles: Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa vs. Revival
Dash and Dawson are defending. Dawson works on Ciampa’s wrist to start but Tommaso sends him to the floor for a breather. Back in and the challengers take over with some double teaming (your heroes) until Gargano grabs an armbar. A chase sets up a four way staredown with the champs being knocked down to reset things a bit. The breather is short lived though as Gargano and Ciampa dive onto both of them to keep the champs in trouble.
Ciampa finally gets pulled into the wrong corner and Graves calls is clubberin. Wilder grabs a chinlock for a bit until Ciampa kicks both champs down. That’s not enough for a tag though as Wilder is smart enough to pull Gargano off the apron. I love it when teams show thinking like that. We hit a bodyscissors on Ciampa with Dawson rubbing a forearm across his face. The referee doesn’t see a tag to Gargano and the distracted referee also misses something like a Demolition Decapitator on Ciampa.
Dawson misses a charge into the post though and Dash crotches himself, allowing the hot tag to Gargano. Johnny cleans house and spears Dawson through the ropes for a near fall. Some heel chicanery allows Dawson to grab a DDT (which works more because he got a pin with it recently) for two. It’s back to Ciampa though and Dawson gets caught in the flip over armbar, only to have Dash dive in for the save.
Everything breaks down and Gargano breaks up a double suplex to let Ciampa get two more off a small package in the very hot near fall of the match. Ciampa knees Dawson in the head but the Shatter Machine is broken up, leaving Dash to take the knee/superkick combo for three but Dawson put the foot on the rope. That earns Dawson a superkick to the floor but he pulls Ciampa outside, allowing Dash to chop block Gargano. That middle rope stomp to the leg that got rid of Big Cass wrecks the knee even worse and a reverse Figure Four makes Johnny tap at 19:06.
Rating: A-. It’s not quite their classic with American Alpha but the Revival is looking more and more like the best team in a long time every time they get in the ring. They just can’t do anything wrong at this point which is even more important when you consider how basic they are. This leaves either TM61 or the Authors of Pain as the next challengers, assuming Gargano/Ciampa don’t get a rematch due to the false finish. Great match.
Ciampa and Gargano get a standing ovation.
Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Charlotte are here.
We hear about the third official theme song for the show. I’m not even sure I get the idea of an official song for a show, let alone three for a show that isn’t going to run two and a half hours.
We recap Asuka vs. Bayley in a rematch from their match in Dallas. Asuka was way too much for Bayley, despite Bayley dominating the first half of the match. It’s taken some time to set up the rematch as Bayley wasn’t ready to fight either mentally or physically. Tonight we’re in the place where Bayley made magic once before and now she has to do it again.
Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Asuka
Bayley is defending and there’s a Hugger Section. You know that’s killer spelled backwards (some of you might not get that one). Bayley expands the entrance this time with tube men at ringside, giving us a great surprised expression from the referee. The fans are split here as we’re told Bayley’s headband is from part of her gear at last year’s Brooklyn show.
Bayley tries a rollup but dives into a knee to the face to send her outside. Back in and Asuka hip attacks her down, followed by more shots to the face. Asuka is hardly taking this seriously as she kicks Bayley in the face for another near fall. Bayley comes back with ten rams into the buckle though and a running knee drop gets two. The running hip attack is blocked for a change but Bayley misses a high crossbody.
Not that it matters as Bayley puts her in the Tree of Woe for a running elbow but Asuka grabs a Brock Lock of all things. An ankle lock makes things even worse for Bayley and Asuka fires off some kicks to the chest. Bayley goes with the Sting vs. Vader formula of telling the monster to hit her harder, earning herself a spinning backfist. A powerbomb doesn’t quite work so Bayley switches to a Dominator (good save).
Asuka grabs the Asuka Lock out of nowhere but it’s reversed into a Bayley to Belly for a very near fall. You could see Sasha and Becky jump to their feet on the counter. Back up and Bayley charges into the Asuka Lock in the middle of the ring but she flips over into a cover for two. That’s fine with Asuka who kicks Bayley in the head to retain 14:10.
Rating: B. Good match here, assuming you can get by the referee telling them how much time they had left (happened in the previous match too) and telegraphing the finish. Asuka winning here makes sense and can we PLEASE send Bayley to the main roster already? There’s nothing left for her to do down here and there’s no reason to keep her down here, including helping to grow the division or whatever they’ve said for months now. Just let her go up there where they can have her babysit their “star” Eva Marie.
Asuka helps Bayley up and Bayley raises the champ’s hand. Asuka leaves and Bayley gets the big THANK YOU chant which really feels like the sendoff. Bayley hugs her fellow Horsewomen before leaving.
We recap Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe. Nakamura debuted back in April and has taken the promotion by storm. Joe on the other hand is the NXT Champion and basically unbeatable. That sounds like a recipe for a big showdown. This gets the music video treatment.
Mick and Noelle Foley and Finn Balor are here.
NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe
Joe is defending and a violinist plays Nakamura to the ring. They go right at it to start with Joe taking it to the mat but Nakamura holds him off before Joe can get in anything major. Joe’s headlock keeps Nakamura in trouble but he comes back with knees to the chest. Good Vibrations gets on Joe’s nerves and they head outside for a chop out before barely making it back in.
Back in and Nakamura kicks him in the head, only to miss a knee drop on the apron to send the knee straight into the floor. That earns him a suicide elbow from the champ, followed by more heavy kicks and stomps to the ribs. We hit a dragon sleeper of all things as this really hasn’t been the match I was expecting. It’s not bad mind you but when you’re expecting a knock down dragout fight and get a hard hitting match, it’s a bit surprising.
Joe does the powerbomb into the Boston crab into the STF into the Crossface but Joe lets him up. Nakamura kicks the champ in the head and loads him onto the top rope for the running knee to the ribs. More knees to the head have Joe in trouble as we’re getting into the hard hitting part now. The Rock Bottom out of the corner drops Nakamura but a middle rope kick to the chest puts the champ down again.
Nakamura grabs a triangle choke but can’t get it on full, allowing Joe to reverse into a Cloverleaf. The Koquina Clutch goes on without the legs fully wrapped, allowing Nakamura to get to the ropes. The referee says go to the finish as Kinshasa is countered with a snap powerslam. A quick Muscle Buster gets two, followed by Kinshasa for the same with Joe holding his face. The middle rope knee to the back sets up another Kinshasa for the pin and the title at 21:14.
Rating: A. Was there really another option here? This wasn’t quite the war I was expecting but they nailed the ending and went with the best possible choice to wrap up the show. Nakamura taking the title and remaining undefeated makes sense to give the show a special feeling. Joe likely stays around for a well deserved rematch but he’ll be on the main roster by the day after Wrestlemania at the very latest, if not in the Rumble.
Joe has to be helped up the ramp as Nakamura celebrates to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. Somehow that’s on the lower end of this series’ spectrum. The main event and Tag Team Titles matches are both worth seeing and bring this one up into the realm of greatness though and that’s what NXT is all about. Nothing on here is bad, they set up some stuff for the future and gave us some great wrestling to go with it. Above all else though is the crowd. They basically had the same attendance that Summerslam will have tomorrow and that’s impressive no matter how you look at it. I would tell you to check this out but does anyone not watch these shows? Great stuff, as expected.
Results
Austin Aries b. No Way Jose – Last Chancery
Ember Moon b. Billie Kay – Top rope Stunner
Bobby Roode b. Andrade Cien Almas – Glorious Bomb
Revival b. Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa – Reverse Figure Four to Gargano
Asuka b. Bayley – Kick to the head
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Samoa Joe – Kinshasa
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NXT Date: August 10, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
With Takeover: Brooklyn just ten days away, it’s time to start the final push towards the big show. In this case we have the contract signing between Bayley and the now evil Asuka for their Women’s Title match as well as (more than likely at least) a showdown between Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura. Let’s get to it.
A very happy Bobby Roode exits William Regal’s office.
Opening sequence.
We open with the contract signing with both women coming to the ring and Regal moderating. Bayley talks about last year in Brooklyn being her dream but Dallas being her nightmare. She wasn’t ready in Texas but now she’s a different person and ready to take the title back. Asuka says Bayley isn’t ready and offers a handshake but Bayley doesn’t fall for it. They both sign and the champ offers another handshake but Bayley slaps it away and leaves. We’re not done yet though as Bayley gets back in and does the big staredown.
Authors of Pain vs. Rob Ryzin/Adrian Nailz
The Authors don’t have names yet so we’ll say #1 throws Nailz into the corner. #2 comes in and tosses Ryzin around with ease. Stereo powerbombs set up the clothesline/legsweep combo for the pin at 1:20.
The beating continues post match but TM61 comes in for the brawl, only to get powerbombed as well.
Nakamura says he isn’t hard to find and he’ll find Joe when he wants to.
Andrade Cien Almas vs. Angelo Dawkins
I saw this match at a house show recently. Dawkins runs him over to start and we’re in the chinlock after about a minute. Almas comes back with a kick into the corner and the running knees, followed by a hammerlock DDT for the pin on Dawkins at 2:20. The silence when Almas won is a really bad sign as he’s just flopped so hard coming out of the gate.
Post match here’s Bobby Roode to say that he’s been to see William Regal and the two of them will be facing off in Brooklyn. Almas doesn’t need to get a big head though because the people will be there to see Bobby Roode and Bobby Roode alone.
Austin Aries is explaining the health benefits of eating oranges to William Regal before saying he wants a match at Takeover because it’s supposed to be special. Regal agrees and make Aries vs. No Way Jose.
Liv Morgan vs. Billie Kay
Kay takes it to the mat with an armbar to start but Morgan climbs up on her hands and spins into a headscissors to escape. A discus forearm puts Morgan right back down for two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and the big boot puts Morgan away at 3:12.
Rating: D+. Not much here but if Billie Kay is the next woman to be built up in NXT then so be it. They need a lot of fresh bodies down there right now to replace the ravaging from the Draft. Billie just getting presented as a big deal for two weeks has already done more for her than anything else in the last year so they’re on the right path. It’s a good sign that NXT can just flip a switch on someone and see results like this.
We look at Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano from last week in the Cruiserweight Classic.
Regal (we’ve seen a lot of him tonight) gives Ciampa and Gargano a Tag Team Title shot in Brooklyn.
Ember Moon is coming in Brooklyn. This time we can see a woman’s eyes.
Tucker Knight/Patrick Clark vs. Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano
Gagano and Clark get things going with Johnny easily wrestling him to the mat. It’s off to Knight to splash Ciampa in the corner before Gargano and Ciampa turn up the serious and kick the jobbers down. The running knee/superkick combination put Knight away at 3:13.
Rating: C. Gargano and Ciampa are on fire right now and I’m honestly not sure who is going to win in the title match. That’s one of the best feelings you can have in wrestling: seeing both options as distinct possibilities because they’re both on a roll and could get the win over the other. It’s really hard to do but it’s a blast when it’s pulled off.
We look back at Hideo Itami’s return match last week.
Mojo Rawley won’t stand for being attacked by Samoa Joe and he’s bringing the fight tonight. It’s about getting even, not getting hyped.
Samoa Joe vs. Mojo Rawley
Non-title. Mojo goes right after Joe to start and actually succeeds with a headbutt. The champ pounds him down with the snap jabs to the jaw but Mojo still won’t give up and knocks him into the corner again. Mojo charges into the Rock Bottom out of the corner though and the Koquina Clutch gives Joe the win at 4:35.
Rating: C+. That’s probably it for Mojo and it’s a shame that he finally got the whole aggressive things down in his last match here. Joe mauling anyone was the best option for him here and it makes him look like a monster who can absorb a beating and still win the match with little more than a sweat.
Post match Joe keeps the hold on until Nakamura comes down. Security holds Joe back so Nakamura puts his hand on Joe’s face and then slaps him. Joe is barely controllable to end the show.
Overall Rating: B+. I’m really starting to like these shows where they do the heavy lifting to get us to the next Takeover show. Almost every match got a little time tonight and three new matches were added to give us the meat of the card. I came into this show with a fairly strong interest in Brooklyn and now I want it to be tomorrow. Mission accomplished, as usual.
Results
Authors of Pain b. Rob Ryzin/Adrian Nailz – Clothesline/Russian legsweep combo to Nailz
Andrade Cien Almas b. Angelo Dawkins – Hammerlock DDT
Billie Kay b. Liv Morgan – Big Boot
Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano b. Tucker Knight/Patrick Clark – Superkick/running knee combo to Clark
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The wife and I took in the NXT house show in Highland Heights, Kentucky (ten minutes from downtown Cincinnati) on Friday night. I had wanted to go to one of these things for a long time and was almost more excited to see this than I was for Takeover: Dallas.
The arena held roughly 10,000 people but it was cut in half and the upper deck was tarped off, leaving only a few thousand seats. The place was just over half full as the floor seats were full but only the back section (as in facing the screen) was anywhere near fall. We were on the first row of our section (maybe three feet above the floor) with our tickets running about $33 each so it’s not like they were overly expensive.
Before the show we saw some WWE Top Ten videos and the fans were allowed to pick a classic NXT match with options of:
Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal
Sami Zayn vs. Neville
Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
The latter won by a landslide though it was only a highlight package, which really did make sense as you don’t want to get the crowd that fired up before the actual show starts.
No Way Jose vs. Hugo Knox
Knox is a very muscular British wrestler, meaning the fans were chanting various British swear words at him. Jose is a lot of fun live and a perfect choice to open the show. He did all of his baseball slide, including running around the ring and touching all of the buckles into a dropkick. A legdrop of all things put Knox away at 8:12 for a really fun opener that did everything it was supposed to. Knox was nothing great but he would be fine as a Chris Masters type midcarder.
Angelo Dawkins vs. Andrade Cien Almas
Dawkins is from Cincinnati, earning himself his only reaction ever. This was the exact same problem that Almas had in the Dillinger matches: putting him in a match where there was no way he was going to be the most over guy and it really dragged things down. Almas really isn’t the most exciting guy in the world though he played a subtle heel here, as was his only option. Dawkins won with a Sky High at 5:26 and they hugged after. This was nothing but the fans reacted to Dawkins for being the hometown guy.
Bayley vs. Billie Kay
This was a change in the card (which was shown on an old school wrestling poster which seems to be a normal thing for NXT house shows and were selling very well) as it was originally going to be Bayley/Asuka vs. Kay/Alexa Bliss. Billie did her closest thing to sexy in NXT stuff to start but Bayley laughed at her and stole some of her gear. Billie begged her not to so Bayley relented, only to point out to the crowd that Billie actually lost to Dana Brooke.
This started off as a comedy match with Bayley promising to hug her and then ambushing the referee with the hug instead. The match was your standard Bayley stuff with her having fun against the less talented Billie to start, getting beaten down and having her ribs worked over for a bit and then hitting the Bayley to Belly for the pin at 10:22. The fans LOVED Bayley and she received the pop of the night, save for maybe one name later. She’s a total superstar down there though and I’m really scared that they’re going to ruin her on the big shows.
Finn Balor vs. Bobby Roode
Roode’s music is really awesome and one of the better songs they’ve done in a good while. Before the match, Roode called all of us fat out of shape losers and said he was going to be the new star of NXT. Even with all this stuff and insulting fans ala Ric Flair, the fans just would not hate him. Balor on the other hand was as revered as you would expect and we got a strong SEE YOU TUESDAY chant to start things off.
This was actually a pretty short match with Balor never being in any real danger. The Sling Blade and Coup de Grace finished Roode in about seven minutes and Balor took a bow before leaving. It’s really clear that he’s going and it’s cool to see him getting a nice sendoff on the house show circuit after a great TV match.
Intermission.
Before we got back to the matches, the female host (who shared hosting duties with Tom Phillips for a very good pairing all night long) had a fan answer a question for a prize. The idea here was pretty simple: we saw a clip of something in WWE history and were given choices of what happened next. The clip was Vince walking down the hallway and getting into his car on Vince McMahon Appreciation Night and the next scene was him being blown up. One problem here: THE KID WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD!
As soon as the clip started you could hear the crowd gasping and almost panicking because an eight year old, as in someone who wasn’t alive when this aired, was playing a game involving attempted murder. Oh and to make matters even better, the fourth option was “The Undertaker takes Vince McMahon to” a very dark and scary place as the host put it, thankfully censoring the actual option.
So yes, since the WWE has NO OTHER CLIPS OF ANYTHING, an eight year old played a game involving seeing Vince McMahon blown up with the other option being Undertaker taking Vince to a place that had to be censored. This was so out of place and really felt like no one actually thought about it, which isn’t something you expect from NXT, or anyone with a brain for that matter.
Hideo Itami vs. Beautiful Blonde Blake
This is Blake’s new gimmick but there’s really nothing different about him. If he hadn’t been introduced under the new name, no one would have really noticed a difference. Blake also had a generic Titantron video with his name spinning around over a blue background, which is the same thing Dawkins and Knox had. They’re not much but it’s better than nothing. Itami got a pretty standard WELCOME BACK chant and is basically the same as when he left.
The match was comedy to start with Blake heading outside because he didn’t like all the kicks and strikes. That didn’t last long though as he called himself Black Belt Blake and tried to throw some kicks with a fairly obvious result. The fans got on Blake for his tasseled boots, saying that Bayley wanted her boots back. We also got a MURPHY’S BETTER/CENA SUCKS chant for a bit of a chuckle. Itami came back with his bunch of kicks and won with the shotgun kick at 10:07. This was longer than necessary and Itami still doesn’t show much fire.
Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss
Alexa had her hair pulled back here for a new look. This was actually one of the best matches of the night as Bliss has gotten way better in recent months and actually had a good match here. Asuka showed some personality here by dancing a lot when Bliss tried to get too fancy. The Asuka Lock retained the title at 12:14. This might have been the second best match of the night.
NXT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
I’ll give you two guesses who got the bigger pop than Bayley. Before the match Joe said he hated being here in Highland Heights and didn’t like NXT having to lie about being in Cincinnati because that town sucks too. This wasn’t going to be a title shot though because Nakamura beating Balor wasn’t enough to earn himself a title shot. As he was talking, the Revival ran in for the beatdown but American Alpha came out for the save. Nakamura wanted to make it a six man against Joe and…….Nakamura to Jordan: “What their names?”
Revival/Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/American Alpha
This was exactly what you would expect with the good guys doing a big, fast paced cleaning of the ring to start with suplexes and strikes to set up a big pose for one of the loudest reactions of the night. Gable played Ricky Morton for a bit before Jordan did the same, setting up the hot tag to Nakamura. Everything broke down and Nakamura pinned Dash with Kinshasa at 14:00. This was a lot of fun but the crowd was starting to get a bit burned out. The winners all did Nakamura’s pose by the ropes to end the show.
Overall this was a very fun night with NXT knowing exactly how to give the fans a fun night. The faces won every match and you got to see every big name (Austin Aries being the biggest name missing and he’s hardly a main eventer) on the roster. With cheap tickets and not a bad seat in the house, this was definitely worth going to and really well organized for a much more fun feeling than a lot of WWE house shows. Check them out if they’re ever near you, in case you actually need that advice.
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NXT Takeover: The End Date: June 8, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
We’re back with a big show at Full Sail for the first time since last fall. It also might be the final show under the Takeover banner depending on which news source you believe. If nothing else it’s likely to be the final match between Finn Balor and Samoa Joe for Joe’s NXT Title inside a steel cage as the gimmick makes its debut in NXT. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at the beginnings of NXT with names like Seth Rollins, Paige and the Wyatt Family. Then it was the era of Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Kevin Owens and Sasha Banks. However, all things that have a beginning must come to an end. We look at Samoa Joe and Asuka winning their respective titles as the old THE END IS HERE theme plays. Tonight is the end of the beginning.
Tye Dillinger vs. Andrade Cien Almas
This is Almas’ (formerly known as La Sombra in Mexico) debut. The place goes NUTS for Dillinger’s count to ten entrance and you would think he was a huge star based on the reception. Almas’ entrance attire is all white, including suspenders and a hat with a feather but no mask. The white comes off to reveal some blue and white tights for a pretty basic look. So he’s a male stripper?
Dillinger takes him down into a sunset flip and the fans are just going nuts for him. Almas sends him outside as the fans chant BETTER THAN ONE HUNDRED (as in ten is better than Cien, which is Spanish for one hundred). A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (very popular move these days) gets two on Almas but he pops up to put Dillinger down.
Almas misses a moonsault as Tye rolls away, only to have Almas hit a standing moonsault for two instead. Andrade tries a headstand in the corner, only to have Dillinger superkick him down for two instead. Almas backflips into a double kick to the back before a bulldog puts Tye in the corner, setting up a double running knee in the corner for the pin at 5:18.
Rating: C+. This was uh…..not that great. Dillinger completely stole Almas’ debut here as the fans were COMPLETELY behind him and Almas didn’t exactly do much to win them back. Almas was totally fine here but certainly nothing that blew me away. It’s good enough but running knees in the corner isn’t enough of a finisher for him and he’ll need something much better.
We look back at American Alpha taking the Tag Team Titles from the Revival in a great match at Takeover: Dallas. This turned the Revival into a much more serious and aggressive team coming into the rematch here.
Tag Team Titles: Revival vs. American Alpha
Alpha is defending. Dawson and Gable start things off with Chad taking him to the mat but getting dropped with a shoulder block. It’s quickly off to Jordan who hits that really high dropkick for two on Scott, drawing a JORDAN chant. Back in and it’s a four way standoff with Alpha sending Revival at each other, only to have Dawson and Dash get behind the champs’ backs for double belly to back suplexes.
Those are reversed as well and it’s a double ankle lock to send Revival scurrying for the ropes. Back in and Alpha starts working on Dash’s arm and the referee doesn’t count a tag to Dawson. Not that it matters as the distraction lets Dash get in a cheap shot on Chad so the real tag can go through. That’s fine with Gable who works on Dawson’s arm, earning himself an uppercut to take it outside.
Everything breaks down again and Gable scores with a top rope double clotheslines, followed by a double dropkick to send Revival outside again. Back in and Chad tries a flying headscissors but gets caught in a hot shot to finally change control. They be clubberin in the corner for two on Gable and it’s time for an armbar. Dawson gets two off a spinebuster and it’s back to Dash for the armbar sequel.
Dash loads up something on top but gets pulled down into an armbar over the ropes. The hot tag is broken up by Dawson and a Trash Compactor (I haven’t seen that in years. It’s kind of like a delayed spinebuster from Dash with Dawson adding a top rope legdrop.) of all things for two on Gable. Not that it matters as Gable crawls through Revival’s legs and makes the hot tag off to Jordan as house is cleaned.
The spear in the corner gets two on Wilder but a sunset flip/clothesline combo gets two with Dash spearing Gable down for good measure. Jordan grabs a backslide and tags out at the same time, allowing Gable to sneak in for a German suplex with Jordan adding a dropkick for two. The fans accurately call this awesome as Chad puts Dawson in an ankle lock, only to be kicked away into an uppercut from Dawson.
That and a rollup with trunks is only good for two so Revival loads up their powerbomb/top rope clothesline combo, only to have Gable reverse it with a belly to belly ala Rick Steiner back at Wrestlemania IX. Another quick tag brings in Jordan as everything breaks down but Grand Amplitude is broken up and the Shatter Machine gives Revival the titles back at 16:00. That’s the first time anyone has ever held any title twice in NXT history.
Rating: A. This was an amazing athletic display and I was genuinely surprised by the ending. That belly to belly to counter the clothesline was outstanding and really had me flashing back to the Steiner Brothers. Revival looked great here too and you can almost guarantee a rubber match between these two, maybe going 2/3 falls. Either that or Gargano/Ciampa get the title shot while Alpha heads up to the main roster. Whatever happens now, this was outstanding.
Alpha is getting a standing ovation when two big guys who look a lot alike hit the ring and destroy them with splashes in the corner. A swinging side slam/running boot to the head drops Gable and a Russian legsweep/running clothesline does the same to Jordan. As they stand dominant (and receive a WHO ARE YOU) chant, Paul Ellering of all people comes out to watch. Those two would be Sunny Dhinsa and Gzim Selmani, collectively known as the Authors of Pain and normally under masks.
Asuka is warming up when Bayley comes up to look at her.
We recap Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, which is built around Aries wanting to prove that he really is the best in the world. Simple story and that’s all it needs to be.
Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Aries is coming in with taped up ribs. The fans are split but singing Nakamura’s theme tilts it in his favor. They hit the mat to start and that’s a standoff. It’s back to the mat with Aries jumping out of a headscissors and both guys ducking kicks, leading to a staredown. Nakamura puts his hands on the bad ribs and tells Austin to bring it. The fans think Shinsuke is going to kill him as he starts firing off more knees to the ribs.
Nakamura does his shaky leg in the corner (Good Vibrations) but a third attempt is countered into a shinbreaker. Aries drives a knee into Nakamura’s ribs but his slingshot hilo hits raised knees. For once it actually hurts the legs though and Aries kicks away at them to keep control. Off to a modified chinlock with a knee in the back as the fans sing the song again. Nakamura pops up and shrugs off the leg injuries to start firing off kicks. He really shouldn’t be able to do that. A knee to the ribs in the corner has Aries in trouble but he fights out of the reverse exploder suplex.
The knees to the head can’t set up the Last Chancery so Aries discus forearms him out to the floor, followed by the suicide elbow. That’s only good for two back inside as this is really starting to heat up. Aries goes up top but gets pulled into a triangle choke, only to make the ropes for the break. A release gordbuster looks to set up Kinshasa but Aries counters into another shinbreaker and throws on the Last Chancery.
As usual the hold can only stay on so long so Aries hits the running corner dropkick but he has to roll through the 450. Another running knee is blocked and Aries take him to the apron for a slugout with Nakamura scoring off an enziguri. Nakamura charges into a Death Valley Driver on the apron for a nine count but Aries screws himself over by missing a suicide dive and hitting the barricade. Back in and a middle rope Kinshasa sets up the real thing for the pin on Aries at 17:05.
Rating: A. The key there was Aries had Nakamura mostly beaten and then tried to go one step too far (in an effort to show how much better he was) and knocked himself out to set up the finish. It’s another excellent match as Nakamura continues to be someone who can turn it up to about 17 on a scale to 10 but it wasn’t quite as epic as the Zayn match. These two are both going to be fine though, especially if Nakamura learns to sell the leg injury. Aries could have done more with the ribs too but the announcers were speculating that they weren’t even hurt in the first place.
We recap Asuka vs. Nia Jax, which is the basic giant vs. giant slayer story. Both of them beat Bayley up pretty badly but the question is whether Asuka’s strikes can work on a monster like Jax.
Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Asuka
Asuka is defending and is quickly headbutted, followed by a hair toss to send her flying across the ring. A modified Octopus Hold of all things has Nia in trouble but she reverses into a backbreaker for two. Nia rubs at the face but gets caught in a guillotine, only to reverse with a big old suplex for two. Nia has to spin out of an armbar but gets caught in most of a triangle. It’s on loosely enough that Nia can lift her up for a buckle bomb to escape.
The champ’s back is bent around the post as this has been mostly one sided so far. Off to a bearhug but Asuka escapes and grabs a quick kneebar. A rope is grabbed so Nia plants her with a spinebuster, only to miss a legdrop. Asuka comes back with a quick middle rope dropkick and a running hip attack for two. The powerbomb gets two on Asuka but she grabs an armbar to start a TAP chant. Nia powers out of that as well but gets kicked in the head three times in a row. A running kick/knee to the head retains Asuka’s title at 9:09.
Rating: B. They had a story here with Asuka just coming at Nia over and over until she finally got somewhere but they’re running a bit of a risk by having Nia lose two big matches in a row. There’s more than enough time for her to rebuild but you have to assume Bayley gets the next title shot, possibly setting up a triple threat for the title. Nia looked more aggressive here and that’s where she needs to go, though she needs to get the title sooner than later.
Earlier today, William Regal was talking about the show when Bobby Roode walked past him. Regal immediately left to talk to him.
The cage is lowered.
We recap Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe. Balor beat Joe twice at previous Takeovers but lost the title to him at a house show. Tonight is the final match between the two and it’s being held in the first ever steel cage match in NXT history.
Neville is here.
NXT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor
In a cage with Joe defending. Balor is the Demon again and comes out from behind a piece of cage, which he shoves over and crawls across for a really cool visual. Pinfall, submission or escape to win here. Joe goes straight for the door to start but it’s barely even worth trying that early. The fans are behind Balor as he raises his boots to stop a charging Joe in the corner. A hard shot to Joe’s head lets Balor try a climb but Joe quickly pulls him back to the mat.
It’s time to go into the cage for the first time with Balor tasting the steel. Joe kicks him in the face but it’s too early to escape. An enziguri almost lets Balor escape but a German suplex drops him for two instead. Joe chops him to make everyone go WOO but he misses a charge and gets caught between the ropes and the cage. Balor hits a string of running strikes but can’t get over the top.
Instead Finn kicks him square in the jaw, only to have Joe fall on the ropes to crotch Balor down. The Muscle Buster is countered and they strike it out to put both guys down. Back up and Balor heads for the top, only to have to come down with a Sling Blade for two. A second Sling Blade gets two more but Joe pulls him out of the corner and gets two of his own off the Muscle Buster.
Joe shouts that he’s going to end Balor but Finn sends him into the cage a few times, followed by a third Sling Blade. A quick Coup de Grace gets two and Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch. Balor tries to flip out of the corner onto Joe but the hold is broken, meaning Finn has to settle for most of a standing double stomp. Balor gets his legs over the top of the cage but Joe pulls his head down and hits a middle rope Muscle Buster to retain the title at 16:07.
Rating: A-. I was expecting a bit more out of the finish but I’m surprised by the fact that Joe won off a clean pin. It’s a huge win for him as the Demon has never been beaten before. Again you have to think that Balor is heading to the main roster now and Joe should be soon behind him, but this was all about Joe and that’s a good thing for the long term future of NXT because whoever beats Joe is a huge star.
Balor has to be helped out to end the show.
Overall Rating: A+. When sixty percent of your show is an A- or better, I don’t know how much better you can get. The only thing missing here was some of the atmosphere and energy that existed down in Dallas but that’s hardly anything to take away. There were three excellent matches here that are worth checking out plus one very good and another that was just good, earning itself worst match of the night honors. This didn’t have the hype coming in but it was another amazing night of NXT.
Results
Andrade Cien Almas b. Tye Dillinger – Running double knees in the corner
Revival b. American Alpha – Shatter Machine to Jordan
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Austin Aries – Kinshasa
Asuka b. Nia Jax – Running knee to the head
Samoa Joe b. Finn Balor – Super Muscle Buster
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