NXT fans once again
converged on Full Sail for another round of television tapings. This round of
tapings featured some new faces, Takeover fallout, and was a heavily
DIY-centric round of tapings. The following recap contains spoilers for three
episodes of NXT.
Before the evening
began introduced Mike Rome introduced Tom Philips, Corey Graves, and the newest
member of our NXT announce team, Percy Watson. From the sounds of the reaction,
it appears plenty of fans remember the FCW/Season Two NXT star.
Dark Match: Wesley Blake vs Tian Bing
This was a short and
evenly contested match. To his credit, Wesley Blake seemed to be a little more
animated than he was the last time I saw him in Tampa, but still seems to be
missing something. Tian Bing, on the other hand, is looking better and better
with each outing. Bing is not a small guy, and he delivers speedy and
believable looking strikes and kicks with a lot of power behind them. Bing definitely
has the potential to do interesting things in NXT with the right booking. After
a back and forth match, Blake missed a beautiful moonsault and made it to his
knees to be met with a superkick from Tian Bing for the win.
Episode 1
Newly crowned tag
champs Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa made their way out first to a huge pop
from the crowd. DIY celebrated with the crowd making their way up and down the
bleachers, before heading back to the ring. Before they could speak, they were
already interrupted by Paul Ellering and the Authors Of Pain. They tell them
that their celebration is premature, but before Ellering can elaborate much
further he is interrupted by the Revival. Dawson says that they are here to
claim their rightful spot as number one contenders. The Authors and Revival
come face to face outside the ring, but the Revival wisely backs down. Ellering
gets the last word, his Authors are going to be champions.
No Way Jose & Rich Swann vs Sanity (Eric Young & Alexander
Wolfe w/ Nikki Cross)
The contagiously fun
team of Jose and new cruiserweight champion, Rich Swann never fail to get the
crowd pumped. Out next is the ominous Sanity; conspicuous in his absence was
Sawyer Fulton. Eric Young was carrying a jacket with him, and it appeared to be
Fulton’s. I’m sure it will be explained later with a backstage vignette. As
more and more people are learning, Rich Swann is an amazing athlete, and
perhaps the most charismatic performer in NXT. Unfortunately, after a strong
start the size disadvantage would come into play. Sanity took control punishing
the much smaller Swann. Wolfe has improved considerably in NXT, and the Sanity
gimmick fits him well. I like Sanity a great deal, but for me Nikki Cross is
what really makes this group. Nikki Cross is one of the most talented women in
WWE/NXT. She has also embraced the crazy; her skulking around the ring yelling
at fans and being weird is so much fun. I can’t wait to see her becoming more
of a presence in the women’s division.
The fight spilled out
of the ring and out of nowhere came Big Damo, leveling Jose. Eric Young took
advantage rolling Jose back in the ring and nailing him with a modified
neckbreaker for the pin.
Afterwards, an angry Damo
heads up the ramp leaving Sanity looking confused as to what the big mans
intentions were.
Kimber Lee vs Ember Moon
This was a really fun
match, that actually saw Kimber Lee getting a fair amount of offense. However,
in the end she was no match for the amazing Ember Moon. Ember finished off
Kimber Lee with her top rope stunner for the win. Kimber Lee looked comfortable
in a WWE ring, and I’m hoping we see her back next year for the women’s
tournament. I’m enjoying the build of Ember Moon and can’t wait for the
inevitable clash between her and Asuka. I’m not exaggerating when I say that
match up has all the potential to be the greatest women’s Takeover match ever.
Otis & Tucker vs Johnny Knockout & Brandon Knight
Most people (including
myself) remember Johnny Knockout best as the Braun Strowman jobber that liked
big sweaty men. Unfortunately, for him and Brandon Knight, this match didn’t go
much better than the Strowman squash. However, speaking of two big dudes, Otis
and Tucker are two big powerhouses that are making more and more new fans with
every match. This was a very short and one-sided match… but nonetheless Tucker
and Otis are a fun team to watch.
Episode 2
This episode would
feature four qualifying matches, where the winners of each match would be
placed in a fatal four-way match to determine a new number one contender for
the NXT title.
Ty Dillinger vs Eric Young
The first qualifying
match would be a very short contest when Dillinger gained a DQ victory after
Nikki Cross attacked. Afterwards, Dillinger thwarted an after match beatdown
from Sanity… only to be attacked by Big Damo out of nowhere. Damo laid out Ty
with a huge front slam followed by a senton. Another confusing stare down
between Damo and Sanity followed.
No Way Jose vs Andrade Cien Almas
Jose is not the most
impressive wrestler on the roster, but his energy is contagious, and he is
showing a lot of improvement. Almas, on the other hand, has been absolutely
great in his heel run. This was a good match defined not so much by moves, as
much as the cocky and “tranquilo” attitude of Almas. What a good heel! Andrade
Cien Almas won the match via pinfall after a hammerlock DDT.
Elias Sampson vs Roderick Strong
Sampson is out first
with his usual banter and song, but I honestly couldn’t hear any of it, due to
the nuclear heat from the crowd. This is probably one of the fastest paced
Sampson matches I’ve seen, as opposed to his usual chinlock filled bouts.
Unfortunately, he still doesn’t show the crowd much other than punches and
kicks. Roderick Strong looks at home in an NXT ring, and here he carried
Sampson through a good match. Roderick Strong finished Sampson with his
gutbuster/single legged dropkick combo for the pin.
Oney Lorcan vs Bobby Roode
This was another very entertaining
qualifying match, and even though I knew better, I found myself hoping for an
upset victory. Lorcan gave Roode one hell of a fight, a fight that included
some of the meanest uppercuts in all of the WWE. In the end, Roode managed to
put Oney Lorcan away with a DDT. Bobby Roode has had a long and successful
career, but one has to wonder if he would be this over in NXT without that damn
catchy song… I really don’t think so, but he does make a damn good heel.
Sarah Bridges vs Peyton Royce
The former “Crazy Mary”
started off the match with a fierce intensity… and yes, she is still crazy,
letting out crazed yelps and dropping Peyton with a vicious running knee.
Peyton managed to turn it around, slowing the pace and pinning Sarah with a
fisherman’s suplex for a clean victory… despite Billie Kay at ringside. Peyton
and Billie are both overdue for some sort of push, but I’m more excited to see
what they do with Sarah Bridges.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Patrick Clark
“The Velveteen Dream”
Patrick Clark is out first looking more and more like Prince with the music to
match. Then the place exploded for the charismatic King Of Strong Style
Shinsuke Nakamura. Early in the match, Nakamura backed Clark into the ropes,
doing his signature spot where he rests his head on his opponent and dangles
limply. Clark answered by gyrating his hips in Shinsuke’s face, which fired up
the former NXT champion. Not long after Nakamura would defeat Patrick Clark
with a Kinshasa.
Episode 3
Daria vs Billie Kay
Daria started off
really strong here and was possibly one of her best outings. She actually
dominated Billie, until Peyton interfered. This was the only opening Billie
needed, and she finished off Daria with a big boot for the win. Afterward, the
mean girls took to the mic, again I couldn’t really hear much of what they had
to say due to a raucous crowd. From what I gather they were sending a warning
to the entire locker room… including women’s champ, Asuka.
The Authors Of Pain vs Johnny Vandal & Anthony Bowens
Our second squash match
of the night was more of a massacre than anything else, with AOP absolutely
decimating the competition. They finished with their double powerbomb spot,
afterwards Rezar attempted to pick up Bowens for their finisher, but he
crumpled and the referee called the match. Ellering cut a promo while medics
attended to Bowens, who eventually made it out on his own two feet with help
from the medics.
Number One Contenders Fatal Four Way
Dillinger vs Almas vs Strong vs Roode
Andrade started off
really strong punishing Strong and keeping the other men out of the ring. It
wouldn’t be long before all men were involved, and all the craziness you would
expect in a near fall came along. All four men looked great in this match, that
featured many great spots including the now mandatory four man suplex spot in
the corner. Surprisingly, Almas was first eliminated after a one legged
dropkick from Roddy. However, a few moments later Ty would eliminate Strong
with a firemans carry neckbreaker. Ty and Roode immediately start trading
punches, reinvigorated and fired up. Dillinger gets a real close count after a
mean superkick, and then an even closer count after a firemans carry
neckbreaker on Roode. It seemed Dillinger would finally get his shot, but after
distracting the referee and dropping Ty onto an exposed turnbuckle, he finished
with his DDT. Bobby Roode is the number one contender for the NXT title.
NXT Tag Title Match
DIY vs The Revival
You don’t need me to
tell you that these two teams have amazing chemistry, and kill it every time
they are in the ring together. In my opinion, The Revival are the best team on
the planet right now, and DIY are easily in the top five. So it goes without
saying that this was a match to send the crowd home happy. This was another
great back and forth match that, of course, saw the good guys retain after nailing
Scott Dawson with their finisher. Great match, and an altogether fun NXT
tapings.
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