Knox was pretty over, really green but athletic. He won with a split-legged moonsault.
– Alexander Wolfe b Angelo Dawkins
Fulton was ejected for interference, but came back down for the finish. He distracted the ref, allowing Wolfe to rake the eyes and score the pinfall. More D’Lo chants for Dawkins, but he took it with good humour and did the old D’Lo head shake as he left the ring.
– Bayley and Carmella b Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce
Good match that got better as it went on and Bayley was involved more. Baymella win after Bayley to Belly.
– Bobby Roode b No Way Jose
Roode wins with a spinebuster. Good pop for him after the fans realised who it was. Jose was pretty over, but the fans much preferred Roode. Big near fall towards the end with Jose hitting Roode with the discus punch for a believable near fall.
– Andrade Almas b Tye Dillinger
Dillinger got a huge reaction from the crowd with sustained “10” chants. There seemed to be more signs and talk about him than anyone else. He cut a promo to turn the crowd against him, but the people were so into his gimmick they continued to cheer. Not much of a reaction for Andrade (although he did get some “Cien” chants towards the end). Very solid match. Crowd loved the moonsault spot to end the match.
– American Alpha b NXT Champions The Revival by DQ
These teams are just great and work so well with each other – an abridged version of the latest TakeOver match, so naturally very good. Both teams have impeccable timing. Crowd really bought the titles changing hands after Alpha hit the Grand Amplitude, but the ref was pulled out for the DQ. Alpha really know how to work the crowd.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka b Nia Jax to retain
Jax had decent heat for her entrance, and Asuka was really over. Asuka hit the buzzsaw kick to the win in a decent match that was almost identical to their TakeOver encounter. Asuka got a decent reaction, quite a few “Asuka’s gonna kill you chants”. Very similar to the Takeover match – they did a fantastic spot with Asuka putting a standing guillotine on Jax who turned it into a stalling suplex for a near fall.
– Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura b Austin Aries and NXT Champion Samoa Joe
A fantastic main event with the crowd completely into it. Chants for all four men who seemed to relish the atmosphere. Joe responded to crowd taunts brilliantly. Finn got the hot tag before Nakamura hit the Kinshasha on Aries and Finn hit the Coup de Grace for the win. Balor thanked the fans, calling them the heart of the NXT universe.
Brilliant event overall – a crowd that was clearly incredibly happy to get NXT action.
For the first time since October, an NXT TakeOver event comes home to Full Sail University! NXT’s 11th quarterly special may be living up to its own subtitle as this may be the end for several of the men and women on the show. With the WWE brand extension just five weeks away, odds are half of the competitors on this show won’t be on NXT in time for SummerSlam weekend.
Before we deal with the future, let’s deal with the now, shall we?
NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a steel cage match
This is the first ever cage match in NXT history and has the potential to be the most violent match in NXT history. This is the culmination of the longest feud ever in NXT and one of the longest continuous feuds in WWE, period. Samoa Joe has been NXT Champion since April 21 when he beat Balor in Lowell, Massachusetts. However, this was after Balor had defeated Joe at TakeOver events in London and Dallas. On a side note, Joe is the first man to win the NXT, TNA, and ROH titles — one of the more random accomplishments in wrestling today.
Each match was better and more violent than the previous bout, with the two men waging war on each other. Now NXT is locking them within the confines of a cage, which should only encourage the match to be more violent. My only hope is Joe does not bust himself open in the first 30 seconds causing the ridiculous sight of a cage match being halted due to blood.
– Prediction: Balor has been in NXT longer and Joe just won the belt. I’m going with Joe to win, setting up a series of matches with the winner of the semi-main event.
Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
NXT’s acquisition of Nakamura has led to a series of never before seen, one of a kind matches. Some have been excellent (Sami Zayn) and some not so much (The Drifter), but this could very well not only steal the show, but steal the pro wrestling month.
Aries debuted in March and has had quite the different road than Nakamura as he hasn’t had the chance to have that one amazing showcase match. While Aries hasn’t had any bad matches, he has obviously been holding out for the right time and this is it.
While not officially announced as such, this match will probably set up the next challenger for the NXT title. Aries is better off as a heel and has been teasing aturn the last few weeks, bringing up that Nakamura’s debut got all the press clippings, leaving Aries in the lurch.
Prediction: Nakamura wins, setting up future title matches with Joe, pissing off Aries more, and setting up his eventual heel turn.
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax
This match has the chance to overachieve. Jax is a lot better than she’s given credit for, while Asuka is arguably the best woman wrestler under WWE contract. While the money, for lack of a better word, is in an Asuka-Bayley rematch, Jax has been a very effective monster and laid out the champ just last week.
This match has really been built up from each lady’s debut. Both ladies had their debuts being built up at the same time and had their first tv match within a week of each other. Asuka has had a series of hard hitting bouts with Emma, Dana Brooke, and Bayley, while Nia has beaten every B-level NXT woman before flattening Bayley just 3 weeks ago on TV.
Prediction: Asuka wins and leads to Asuka vs Bayley in Brooklyn, one year after Bayley won the title the first time.
NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha vs. The Revival
This is a rematch of a solid match from Dallas with both teams just getting better since. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are easily the most popular team on NXT while The Revival have become better characters since losing the titles. This is yet another match where the losers will probably end up on the main roster, so you are left wondering if WWE needs a third super popular baby face tag team or another team of solid, yet unspectacular workers.
Prediction: American Alpha wins because WWE doesn’t care enough about tag teams to have 3 super popular teams at the same time.
Andrade Cien Almas vs. Tye Dillinger
My #1 question is wondering why they changed Manny Andrade’s name — a perfectly fine name that rolled off the tongue, while Andrade Cien Almas sounds forced and fake. Dillinger has won less than five tv matches and despite winning last week, I doubt he picks up two in a row.
The TakeOver: Dallas dark match against Chris Girard was a better match than three other matches on that show, so I am expecting a really good showing here. Dillinger has a fun gimmick and is popular with the crowd. However, his job is to lose.
Prediction: Almas wins and moves into a feud with Austin Aries.
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I honestly believe this could be the best TakeOver show since Brooklyn and possibly even better. Money in the Bank is being built up as perhaps the best PPV in WWE history, but after tonight, it will be second best of the month…at best.
Bliss wins it with the Sparkle Splash. The Tampa crowd was giving Morgan the business for being from Jersey but she rolled with it.
– Dan Matha beat Steve Cutler
Crowd is all over Matha lately, calling him “Mr. Clean” due to his white trunks and shaved head. Big Dan won it with a big boot.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka and Adrienne Reese beat Mandy Rose and Nia Jax
Asuka Lock on Rose for the win.
– Noah beat Cezar Bononi
Big sit-out slam by Noah for the win.
– In ring interview with Brazillian talent Adrian Jaoude, the Ollympic hopeful who is still working at the Performance Center.
– Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe beat Mojo Rawley and Hugo Knox
Hugo is back to being his happy dancing face persona to team up with the hype man Rawley. However they were no match for the power of Fulton and Wolfe.
– Austin Aries beat Wesley Blake
Pre match, ring announcer Mike Rome introduced Blake as “Murphy” to set him off and continue the ongoing break-up story. Aries wins it with the Last Chancery to send everyone home happy.
The Big News: One week before TakeOver, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe had a heated backstage interview.
The Medium News: In their first bit of physicality, Nia Jax laid out Asuka with a power bomb.
The Little Beaver Sized News: The Revival got punked out at the beginning of the show, lost the main event, and then got punked out by American Alpha.
The show started with the former NXT tag champs The Revival coming out for a promo. Next Wednesday at NXT TakeOver: The End ,they will challenge the current champions American Alpha.
Dash and Dawson say that they will be the first ever 2-time tag champions. Dawson called Gable & Jordan excellent amateur wrestlers, but they are great professionals. When The Revival win, Jordan & Gable can go wipe their tears away as the new champs celebrate.
This brought out Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano. Ciampa said that the entire crowd knows AA is better than them, and they can’t even beat Gargano and Ciampa. Revival laughed at this and called the interrupting duo “undersized bearded guys” and “good hands”, which was pointed out that that is a criticism about The Revival.
Dawson told them to go back to wrestling in bingo halls, while Ciampa brought up them losing in Dallas. Dash told Gargano & Ciampa to come bother them when they have actually accomplished anything. The Revival started walking away when Gargano mocked them. The #1 contenders got back in the ring…and immediately got dropkicked right out of it!
As Revival retreated, they challenged Gargano & Ciampa for tonight.
******
Shinsuke Nakamura did a promo for his match with Austin Aries at TakeOver. He said Aries will bow down to the King of Strong Style.
******
Tye Dillinger pinned Buddy Murphy
It is time for the Perfect 10, and it is also time for Murphy to get his first name back! He lost his manager and his tag team partner, but at least he is facing NXT’s most pushed jobber. Dillinger has won two tv matches as the Perfect 10 up to this point.
The fans were not into Murphy at all and it seemed the only thing they cared about in regards to Dillinger was chanting 10. Tye finished Murphy off with a Fireman’s Carry, but slamming the back of Murphy’s head on his exposed knee which looked close enough to an AA.
******
We had a sit down interview with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, moderated by Corey Graves.
Balor said he worked for so long at becoming NXT Champion that he didn’t expect the walls to come crumbling down in Lowell, Massachusetts. Joe countered by saying he finally got what he deserved. Joe had to jump through ridiculous hoops (which to an extent he did). Balor said Joe came in with a sense of entitlement and there are 100 guys in the Performance Center who deserve a title shot ahead of him.
Joe scoffed at that and brought up everything starting last August with Finn asking Joe to be his partner in the Dusty Classic and then not saying anything when William Regal wouldn’t give him a title shot afterwards. Balor tried bringing up that they knew each other for a decade, and Joe brought that up and continued to ask why he had to do all these things to get title shots.
Balor noted this is his first ever cage match, but his first ever ladder match was TakeOver:Brooklyn when he beat Kevin Owens. Joe said he would have beaten Balor in Dallas, but they kept having doctors pull him off, giving Finn a chance to recover.
Graves brought up Balor being the future and Balor said he is living in the now, living in the present, and he wants that championship belt. Joe said this is about showing people their place and he will show Balor his place. Graves tried to wrap it up which caused champion and challenger to stand up and go face to face one last time.
This was an excellent segment.
******
Austin Aries submitted Elias Sampson
Aries is 7 days away from a match with Shinsuke Nakamura, a man who defeated The Drifter about a month ago. Sampson has been a lot more aggressive in the ring lately. It helps that he’s been doing so many house show matches with the likes of Nakamura and Balor.
Aries looked good here as well (I know, what a shock) and won with the NXT debut of the Last Chancery. After the match, Aries cut a promo saying that after next week, he will show the spotlight should shine on him.
******
The same video package as last week aired to build up the impending debut of Andrade Cien Almas, which will take place next week at TakeOver.
Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa defeated The Revival
This is the main event wrestling match. They note that The Revival is trying to become the first ever 2-time tag champs. However, Neville is a 2-time champion, teaming with Oliver Grey and then the aforementioned Graves. The announcers spent most of this match discussing the tag team title match at TakeOver.
The heels cheated to get the heat on Ciampa. Ciampa and Gargano were running wild on the #1 contenders. However, Dawson attacked Ciampa behind the referee’s back when Dash was the legal man. Dash and Dawson do an excellent job of playing defense and giving their opponents so many hope spots on getting the hot tag, so the opponents always make the tag at the best possible time.
Gargano got the hot tag and looked great until he got dropped with a DDT. The finish showed that somebody has been watching The Wrestling Classic recently. In a page right out of Randy Savage vs. Dynamite Kid, Scott Dawson gave Gargano a Superplex, but Gargano tied up Dawson for the pin!
After the match, Revival took out their frustrations on the men that beat them, including giving Gargano the Shatter Machine. They went to break Gargano’s leg, but American Alpha ran in for the save.
******
Next week is NXT TakeOver: The End, featuring…
Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor for the NXT Championship in a Steel Cage Match
Asuka vs Nia Jax for the NXT Women’s Championship
Austin Aries vs Shinsuke Nakamura
American Alpha vs The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Andrade Almas debuts
That is a lot of A names, eh?
******
The final segment of the show was the official contract signing for the Women’s Championship match next Wednesday.
Nia Jax spoke first, mocking Asuka because all she has done is kick a few girls in the head and while Asuka beat Bayley, Nia broke Bayley. Unlike all the other girls, Nia is the future and is not scared of Asuka.
Asuka said Nia talks too much and if she’s not afraid of Asuka, she should be. Nia pushed her away, so Asuka began throwing punches and kicks. However, Nia caught one of her kicks, lifted Asuka in the air, and planted her with a power bomb!
That is it for this week. Thank you for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The Big News: Austin Aries will face Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT TakeOver: The End
The Medium News: Nia Jax won a Triple Threat match and will now face Asuka for the Women’s Championship, also at Takeover.
The Little Beaver Sized News: TMDK debuted, changed their name to TM61 and, shockingly, lost their debut.
Welcome to the only article you’ll read today that has absolutely nothing to do with the Brand Extension! However if you read this, you will probably become familiar with some of the future guys and girls of Raw and Smackdown.
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The show kicks off with NXT General Manager announcing that Bayley is not cleared to compete, so she will not be facing Asuka at NXT TakeOver: The End. Tonight, there will be a triple threat match with Carmella, Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax and the winner will get the title shot at TakeOver.
There is a new intro video, which culminates in showing all three champions, as opposed to just the NXT Champion.
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Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated TM61
Gargano and Ciampa are announced as two of the competitors in the Cruiserweight Classic, and are facing the debuting TM61: Shane Thorne and Nick Miller tonight. They are the former TMDK, so are they now The Mighty 61? Despite their new name, they cut an inset promo saying The Mighty Don’t Kneel.
This was a really good debut match. Honestly, this is probably the best debut match for someone since Sami Zayn debuted three years ago against Cesaro. Ciampa got the hot tag and he didn’t fare very well either at first. The new duo hit a really nice combination where one used a moonsault and the other used a fist drop on Ciampa.
This match went through a commercial break and Gargano & Ciampa got a good amount of offense on Thorne after the break. Thorne hit a beautiful dropkick before tagging out to Miller. Ciampa went for a slingshot sunset flip, but Miller caught him and TM61 hit a double team neck breaker, but only got a 2 count. Ciampa and Gargano got a surprising win over the debuting duo with their combo superkick/knee strike.
*******
We got a video package building to the Samoa Joe-Finn Balor cage match at NXT Takeover: The End, which concentrated more on Samoa Joe.
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Bayley cut a promo and flat out said it sucks that she can’t compete at NXT TakeOver: The End against Asuka. Before she could continue, Nia Jax walked up and mocked her for losing, adding she should give Nia credit for putting her out. Nia shoved Bayley away, so Carmella and Alexa both walked up, causing Nia to walk off. Carmella and Alexa exchanged words and then Bayley wished Carmella luck.
*******
A video aired for the impending debut of Andrade “Cien” Almas, the former Manny Andrede. He was shown taking off his mask, but had his back to the camera.
*******
Austin Aries came out to the arena for a promo. He said the phrase “The Best” is the most overused term in sports. Everyone is the best…until the next person comes along, which is why Austin always called himself The Greatest. Austin says that timing is everything and when he walked into NXT there were other people grabbing attention, so the fans picked up on it and began chanting for Nakamura. He announced that after Joe and Balor finish their business, he is challenging the winner for the title.
This brought out Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura did his full entrance while Aries stood there bemused. Nakamura spoke Japanese, stopped and asked Austin if he understood Japanese and Aries said he didn’t understand Nakamura in a funny line. Nakamura then said the NXT Championship wasn’t coming to greatness, it was coming to the King of Strong Style.
Out comes Mr. William Regal who made Aries vs Nakamura at Takeover in 2 weeks. They shook hands afterwards and the match is on!
*******
American Alpha cut a promo on The Revival, who they will face at NXT Takeover: The End, but they know what to expect. Dash & Dawson will go out and punch them in the face, but this is not a boxing match, it’s a wrestling match and they are the best tag team around.
*******
No Way Jose defeated Jonathan Oregon
No Way Jose is back. Apparently on May 14, he did a No Way Jose Day on Twitter and posted pictures of himself all day, which people apparently loved. Go figure. Byron Saxton reported on WWE.com that No Way Jose is his nickname and Corey Graves pointed out exactly what everyone is thinking regarding that stellar reporting.
Jose is nonstop movement, so it makes sense that he uses an Airplane Spin. Oregon, who had Vandal written on his butt, got 3 seconds of offense. Jose did his windup into a punch to the face before winning with the Cobra Clutch Slam.
After the match, Jose went over and danced with Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Phillips made an ass out of himself and Graves refused to, however he was drawn into dancing. Remember when Mahabali Sheera did his dance at Bound for Glory and it somehow made like 6 guys to do it with him? This was similar, but not nearly as asinine.
*******
To combat the Samoa Joe video earlier, we got a NXT Takeover: The End main event video that focused more on Finn Balor.
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Asuka said it doesn’t matter who wins in the main event because she will defeat them at NXT Takeover: The End.
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In a #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match, Nia Jax defeated Carmella and Alexa Bliss
Carmella was trying to give a cue to Alexa that they should take Jax out at the bell, but Bliss decided to roll outside instead and watch the other two ladies compete. Nia slammed Carmella down, so Alexa tried to sneak up with some sort of top rope move. However, Nia turned around and stared Alexa down before she tried anything.
Jax got posted and fell outside, so the two perky blondes squared off momentarily while the monster recovered. Alexa grabbed Carmella by the throat and did a leg trip, followed by a moonsault for a 2 count when Nia came in to drop an elbow, however Alexa moved and Nia landed on Carmella. Something funny to note is Nia was on her knees and was almost taller than Alexa, who was standing up. Alexa actually got a near fall with a Sparkle Splash on Nia at one point.
Nia got sent outside again. Carmella tried a suicide dive, but got caught. Alexa, the annoying little pixie she is, stopped Carmella from being killed. Carmella slapped her Triangle Choke on Alexa, but Nia broke it up. Carmella got a rear choke on Nia, but Nia got out of it and eventually hit the legdrop on Carmella, picking up the win.
Nia Jax will now go to NXT Takeover: The End and challenge Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship! Before that, Asuka came out to stare down her future challenger as the show went off the air.
*******
Next week is already the go home show for Takeover, what will happen then? Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Tag team action kicks things off this week. This was set up last week when Blake & Murphy stormed into Mr. Regal’s office and demanded a title shot while he was having a meeting with Austin Aries. Aries was told to find a partner and he did find quite the teammate in Shinsuke Nakamura.
Blake & Murphy were in disarray from the start. There was a disagreement over who would start, so Aries ran across the ring with a dropkick and almost pinned Murphy in 10 seconds. Aries and Nakamura worked very well together..,so well that I was hoping they would become a full time team, but alas that probably ain’t happening any time soon.
Blake ran away instead of dealing with Nakamura, so Nakamura gave Murphy the Kinshasa for the pin. Aries wanted the tag, but Nakamura either didn’t see it or ignored it. Blake, Murphy and Alexa argued after the match with Alexa walking off on them and then Blake walking off on Murphy.
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Bayley was backstage and said she is not afraid of Nia Jax and while she is tough the same thing that happened in London would happen tonight and after this she is going after Asuka again.
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We got a music video with clips of Asuka interspersed throughout.
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No Way Jose is really excited to be on NXT, happy to show off his smile and hope people don’t underestimate him. This is just Jose being Jose and he is here to have fun, have a fiesta and have a fight.
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Carmella submitted Peyton Royce
Backstage, Carmella cut a promo looking to the left of the camera, talking about her boys Enzo and Cass before saying she wants to be Women’s Champion. Peyton calls herself the Venus Flytrap of NXT…and no one has a clue as to what she’s talking about.
Peyton got a near fall with a kick to the face and a version of the Three Amigos where she used a Fisherman’s Suplex at the end. Carmella looked good on her comeback, picking up the win with a Flatliner, followed by the Headscissors.
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Last Saturday night in Portland at an NXT house show there was mass chaos with Joe and Balor, necessitating the entire locker room emptying to pull them apart. This led to the announcement by William Regal announcing a cage match with Samoa Joe and Finn Balor at NXT TakeOver.
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Blake, Murphy, and Alexa were backstage arguing. Alexa shouted that she was tired of them constantly losing, so she is dumping 470 pounds of lifeless weight in order to win the NXT Women’s Championship.
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Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated Danny Burch & Rob Ryzin
After being in NXT for close to a year, Gargano & Ciampa have, I believe, their first squash match. Corey Graves made a point that the fans always chant Johnny Wrestling but never chant for Ciampa.
Gargano and Ciampa made fools out of Burch for several minutes until Ryzin distracted Ciampa just long enough for Burch to take over. Even then, the heels didn’t last very long on offense. Gargano did a spear through the ropes on Ryzin before Gargano and Ciampa finished him off with a double superkick to the head.
********
Mr. William Regal was backstage and he congratulated Enzo & Cass and The Vaudevillians on being called up to Raw before booking American Alpha vs The Revival at TakeOver.
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Nia Jax pinned Bayley
This wasn’t officially a #1 contender’s match, but it is a safe bet that the winner here will probably face Asuka at TakeOver. These two faced off in London last December with Bayley winning by tapout.
Bayley started by using the same strategy at TakeOver, working for the guillotine but constantly getting thrown off, including landing face first. Nia played monster while Bayley did everything she could to try to slay the dragon a second time, but no matter the move, Nia seemed to have a counter for it.
Nia used a tilt-a-whirl shoulderbreaker on Bayley and used that to begin an assault on her shoulder, which would prevent any attempt at a guillotine or a Belly to Bayley Suplex. Nia used a Cobra Clutch and her jumping bearhug to wear down the former champion. Bayley made her comeback using leg kicks, but she could not maintain a sustained offense. The closest Bayley got was using a crossbody off the top rope, but Nia kicked out.
Bayley finally got on the guillotine, but she was thrown off, landing awkwardly on her knee. Nia squashed her in the corner and then picked up the win with a legdrop! Nia Jax has completely dominated the former champion! What will happen if and when she gets her hands on Asuka?
Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Couldn’t even hear what Sampson tried singing he had so much heat. Mid match a “You like Nickelback” chant broke out which was hilarious. Jose won with his full nelson slam.
– Mojo Rawley vs Murphy
Pretty much blah but I’m not a big fan of either. Murphy’s prematch antics were like old school HHH. Mojo won, missed the finisher, crowd wasn’t too into it either.
– Bayley vs Nia Jax
Really good. Crowd was nuts for Bayley. Jax mid-match pranced around mocking Bayley which was a funny sight. Was close to being as good as their Takeover match. Bayley won with a roll up after Jax missed a tackle in the corner.
– Nakamura and Finn Balor vs The Revival
Good match. Crowd was way hot for Balor and Nakamura. Hard to tell who was more over. Nakamura must be being protected because he mainly did his big spots. Balor won hitting his finisher on both men.
– After intermission, William Regal came out to our joy saying thank you.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs Alexa Bliss
Surprisingly really good and the crowd bought a couple of Alexa’s near falls. Asuka ended up winning with the chicken wing.
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha vs Tino and Tucker
Decent. Tino is a physical specimen but that’s about it. Gable is crazy over as well. They won with their usual finisher that I forget the name of.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries
Best match by far. Duel chants for both throughout the match. Aries had a nice near fall hitting the 450 but Joe got his foot on the rope. Joe won with the muscle buster. After it was over Aries scooted to the ropes and put his foot on one. Then as he left, he somehow got a banana and was eating it.
The Big News: Eric Young debuted calling out the new NXT Champion Samoa Joe. However….
The Medium News: …he then got choked out by Joe in the main event as Joe showed the world what happens when you challenge him.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Alex Riley said he will beat Shinsuke Nakamura next week because he is bigger. No, seriously.
Before starting, I want to announce to everyone who doesn’t already know that I have come out as transgender. I do want to thank everyone here on F4WOnline.com for their support through this process of coming out. With that out of the way….
NXT kicks off with the brand new NXT Champion! Samoa Joe is here! Joe proclaimed that he is a man who keeps his word and despite the best efforts of the former champion, he is your new champion. If anyone has a problem with him being the man, he has no problem beating them down and choking them out. This was the queue for the debuting Eric Young! EY got a really big reaction, including a “Holy Sh*t” chant, followed by a chant of “EY”.
Eric acknowledges that they know each other, and called Joe a bad ass wrecking machine and said the only thing guaranteed in life is change. Young said he collects championships and while things have changed for Joe things will now change for Young. Joe just walked away, stopping on the ramp to say Young doesn’t belong in the same ring as him and if he does Joe will beat his ass.
We then got an awkward cutaway to our opening match.
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Nia Jax defeated Tessa Blanchard
Blanchard is back, having lost her debut at the Axxess NXT taping. However, her second match didn’t turn out much better as she took on the massive Jax who has only lost one match — to Bayley back at Takeover: London.
Tessa went running off the ropes for a crossbody, but Nia just stood there, absorbing the blow and letting her crash to the mat. Nia laid her out with a corner splash, Samoan Drop, and won with the legdrop.
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A No Way Jose vignette aired to build up his Full Sail debut tonight
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Austin Aries defeated Tye Dillinger
It is time for the Perfect 10! Mind you, Tye has been the Perfect 10 since July and has still yet to win 10 tv matches. Heck I don’t think he’s won five, but despite that the fans really get into the 10 gimmick. His win-loss record doesn’t seem to be improving since he’s squaring off with Aries tonight who is already the third former TNA Champion on the show tonight.
Aries had a much better match here than with Baron Corbin since Dillinger is not a foot taller (and is also underrated as a worker). Aries used a slingshot senton into the ring and a slingshot corkscrew plancha out of the ring at one point, but Dillinger used a Fireman’s Carry where he dropped Aries head-first on the back of his knee for a very believable near fall. Dillinger pulled down his knee pad, but got hit with a Rolling Elbow and a 450 Splash and Aries is your winner.
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The Revival defeated The Hype Bros
This match was set up last week when The Revival laid out Zack and Mojo after the faces defeated Blake & Murphy. This was a showcase match for Dash and Dawson as it was all about them, as opposed to being a serious back and forth match. Mojo got to run wild for 20 seconds on the hot tag, but got hit with the Shatter Machine out of nowhere to give the former champs another win.
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Alex Riley was asked about his match with Shinsuke Nakamura next week. Riley said Nakamura is half his size, has no athletic ability, and when he punches Riley in the face Riley will punch him and his will be harder. He finished by saying next week is time to rage.
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No Way Jose pinned Noah
Jose was already embraced by the crowd in his Full Sail debut. His opponent was only called Noah and he didn’t last long, getting pinned with a winding punch to the face and then a Full Nelson Slam.
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Aries was interviewed by Cathy, saying he is the Perfect 20. He said something seems off about Aries and people don’t know how to take him. He said he is going to take the initiative to become a bigger star.
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We got a Finn Balor video package, which included clips of Joe beating him for the title. It built up to promoting his return next week.
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NXT Champion Samoa Joe submitted Eric Young
Young debuted less than an hour ago and now is in the main event, going one on one with the NXT Champion himself.
This match was to establish Young as being on the same level as Joe. Early on, every time Joe would hit a move, Young would either reverse it or do the same thing just better. Joe dumped Young outside the ring, hit a big Suicide Dive and took over from there.
Joe slapped him hard, which was the encouragement for Young to make his comeback, but towards the end of the match, Young just couldn’t put together multiple moves in a row and absorbed loads of punishment. Young took Joe over with a suplex that looked like a legit feat of strength and did hit his top rope elbow, but only got a 2 count.
Joe countered out of a Young piledriver and hit his corner uranage before picking up the win with the Muscle Buster, followed by the Coquina Clutch. Joe refused to break the choke afterwards to prove a point to not only Young, but to the entire wrestling world that this is what happens when you try to face the NXT Champion.
That does it for this week. Until we talk again, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Submitted by Kyle Litke from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Building was full. It wasn’t exactly Madison Square Garden, but the intimacy of the venue was great. Tom Phillips noted WWE’s history in that building in the mid 80s during the show.
– Chris Girard beat Mojo Rawley
Mojo came out acting like a face, but jumped Girard while he was interacting with the fans and got booed. Short, perfectly fine match to get the crowd going. Girard won with a Blockbuster.
– Carmella & Bayley beat Dana Brooke & Peyton Royce
Big pop for Carmella and an even bigger pop for Bayley. Brooke was great here on the outside during the entrances, shouting at the fans and really playing it up. Standard, solid tag match with Bayley getting the win with a Bayley to Belly.
– Manny Andrade beat Tomasso Ciampa
Manny got zero reaction coming out as no one knew him. This was a really good match with some great near falls. The crowd got way into it and was chanting for Manny by the end. Manny got the pin with double knees to the corner.
– Nakamura beat “The Drifter” Elias Samson
Samson came out first and tried to sing a song but it was impossible to hear over the booing from the crowd. Nakamura’s music hit to an enormous pop. Samson kept bailing to the corner to kiss his guitar, which drew an exasperated reaction from Nakamura. Nakamura followed it up by playing air guitar, then tossing the air guitar to the ref. The ref tossed it back to him and he broke it over his knee, which angered Samson. A great example of Nakamura doing things to connect with the crowd regardless of what his first language is. Nakamura got the win with the Kinshasa.
> Intermission
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha beat the Revival in a 2/3 falls match
Another really good match. American Alpha took the first fall with Grand Amplitude. The Revival managed to take the second fall by hitting a Shatter Machine while the ref was distracted keeping Jordan out of the ring. The third fall started with Dash and Dawson destroying Gable for an extended period of time, including a great spot with the ref distracted and not seeing Gable tagging in Jordan. Huge heat for that. Jordan finally got the hot tag. Jordan and Gable ended up winning with dual ankle locks, with both Dash and Dawson tapping.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka beat Alexa Bliss by submission
Asuka got a big pop. Alexa got a surprising amount of offense on Asuka. Strange crowd reactions as a big “Let’s Go Asuka, Let’s go Bliss” chant started, with a lot of people chanting for Bliss. Asuka won with the Asuka Lock.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe beat Finn Balor and Austin Aries in a triple threat
Joe bailed to the outside immediately and spent a few minutes tripping Balor every time he came near the ropes. Really good ending with Balor going up top for the Coup de Grace on Joe. Aries intercepted him, then hit a 450 splash on Joe. He went for the pin, but Joe turned it into a Coquina Clutch. Balor then came off the top with the Coup de Grace on both guys. He hit 1916 on Aries, but Joe threw Balor out of the ring and stole the pin.
Post match, Balor teased coming to Raw (the crowd chanted “See you Monday” and he held up a finger to shush them while winking). He then said he had bad news for Joe, he wasn’t going anywhere and was staying in NXT. He then ended the show with finger guns and “Too Sweet” hand gestures, so take that for what it’s worth.
Jose got the crowd going with chants early on. He and Blake worked the crowd for a good 3 minutes before they locked up. The crowd chanted Jose to the tune of Sami Zayn’s Ole, and “Hey, we want some Jose”. Jose was a good comedy character and did some comedy spots with Blake. The match was good for an opening match to get the crowd going. Jose won with a wind up baseball pitch punch to Blake’s head.
Riddick Moss d. John Skyler
Riddick came out with the mic and cut a generic “this town sucks” promo. Skylar came out and is from Columbia, SC, apparently. He was mildly over throughout the match. No mention of why Patrick Clark got swapped out. The match was very bare bones like a tryout match. At the start, Riddick wanted the ref to take his vest off. He turns his back and Skyler takes it off for him, then poses with it. He then teases a toss the vest to the crowd spot, then tosses it to Riddick and dropkicks him to start the match. The match was very basic, but Riddick got the majority of the offense in. Riddick pinned Skyler while holding onto the ropes. I don’t know how the ref didn’t see it, since from my angle it looked like he was looking right at it.
Carmella d. Peyton Royce
Carmella cut her standard promo before the match. She said that she wasn’t the Queen of Staten Island today, but the Queen of Columbia. This match was slow and painful. Crowd wasn’t really into it. Lots of holds, lots of slow kicks from Royce. Carmella eventually won in a short match.
Elias Sampson d. Alex Riley
Elias comes in from the crowd to boos. He gets in the ring and cuts a short promo about the city. He then starts playing for a couple of seconds before being interrupted by Alex Riley. This match had the longest chinlock spot ever: at least 8 minutes of Samson putting a chinlock on Riley. They teased Riley breaking from it multiple times to no avail. The crowd was really turning on the match until the very end of the chinlock spot where they started getting into it. Then, Riley broke out and the crowd really didn’t react that much. It was like they wanted to see how long the chinlock was gonna last. This match was decent and Samson gets a lot of heat. Riley is overlooked by the crowd. Samson wins with his neckbreaker finisher.
NXT Tag Champions American Alpha d. The Revival
This was by far the best match and the one the crowd reacted to the most. AA come off as stars and were so hot with the crowd throughout the entire match. The match itself was almost like a repeat of the Takeover match, with the same spots being repeated, like Dash and Dawson holding onto each other while they get German Suplexed. It was still very fun.
During the match, either Dash of Dawson inside cradled Gable and pinned him. The crowd was stunned silent for about 3 seconds until Drake reversed his decision when he realized the wrong Revival member was in and kept the match going. AA then did their spots and hit Grand Amplitude for the win. Crowd is ecstatic.
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka d. Eva Marie
Eva was booed coming out, but during the match, she was cheered quite a bit. However, it felt more like the crowd was cheering Eva to spite the fans who were booing her. There was a “You Can’t Wrestle/Yes She Can” dueling chant going on with both sides equally loud. Eva worked heel throughout the match. She got a lot of offense in, it was pretty much evenly split. The match was decent. Eva didn’t botch any moves. Asuka put a lot of work in though wrestling circles around eva. Asuka won when she transitioned the armbar into the Asuka lock.
Shinsuke Nakamura d. Manny Andrade
Manny came out first and got a pretty mild reaction while Nakamura came out like a star, People overwhelmingly cheered Nakamura. The match was really good but was short because it was a house show. I think it went no longer than 12 minutes. As the match went on, there’s blood on the side of Nakamura’s head, and the match is stopped. The doctors came out to work on Nakamura causing the crowd to chant “PG Sucks” among other things.
They worked on Nakamura for a long time, and I thought he might actually not be okay. Then Nakamura started thumping his foot against the ring to get the crowd going and then he went after Manny. He didn’t seem affected by his time on the ground. Manny did a lot of lucha moves that got under Nakamura’s skin throughout the match. When Manny would hit a lucha move, Nakamura would immediately go outside and sell for a bit.
Manny did a moonsault off the stage ramp onto a standing Nakamura on the floor. Manny didn’t much of a reaction until he did the Kota Ibushi spot. The moonsault off the rope that misses and then follows up with another moonsault. It got a nearfall and the crowd popped and chanted for Manny. Nakamura then quickly cut him off and hit the Kinshasa for the win. It was a good match that could’ve been a lot better if given the time.
NXT Champion Finn Balor and Austin Aries d. Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger
Tye comes out first and starts talking about Columbia and himself and how he’s a perfect ten. He hypes up Corbin as his partner. Corbin comes and keeps his shirt on. He kept his shirt on for the entirety of the match despite the pleas from the crowd to take it off. Finn and Aries hit the ring and Finn cuts a promo hyping up Corbin on his debut and winning the Battle Royale. He then says that he’s gonna throw Corbin over the rope tonight in Columbia.
The match starts and it revolves around whether Corbin or Finn will throw the other over the top rope. Corbin throws Aries over very early on, grabs the mic and says to Finn, “See how easy it was for me to throw that little guy over the top rope, now im gonna do it to you”. The match is good, Tye takes around 70% of the offense for Finn/Aries. Finn and Aries trade getting the heat from Corbin throughout the match. Then Finn hits slingblade on Corbin and Corbin staggers to the rope. Finn then finally clotheslines Corbin over the rope. Aries dives outside onto Corbin.
Finn hits the Sling Blade on Tye, then hits the Blood Sunday for the win. Finn then gets the crowd to sing Nah Nah Nah Nah Wave Goodbye to Corbin. After the match, Aries and Finn get the ref (not drake) to toss Tye over the rope and he does to much applause. This was a really good show overall, wish some matches got more time than others.
