Hello wrestling fans, we can get right into NXT because nothing to note has happened in the past two days. I have been on the Twitters a little bit more than I have in the past, if you want to follow your more than welcome. My Twitter Machine .
We start off with the theme song and then get right into the thick of things, being two weeks out from Takeover:Dallas, I have high expectations for this.
‘The Drifter’ Elias Samson vs. Johnny Gargano
Tom is sure to tell us that The Drifter is undefeated. His opponent is Johnny Wrestling, he hasn’t won too many matches so my money is on The Drifter.
Johnny was trying to chain wrestle Drifter, but Drifter seemed to have his arms in the wrong place. It made it look like Johnny is technically miles ahead of Samson. Elias ended up starting to brawl a bit and Samson did this weird thing where he ‘stared off into the distance’ then “snapped back” into reality and continued the beatdown.
Gargano is so much fun to watch too! His moves are so slick and smooth, he has this school boy attempt into a kick in the face that is a thing of beauty. He also goes for his signature middle rope slingshot spear. Gargano ended up getting kneed in the face.
The crowd is chanting “Drift Away” and Samson obliges by getting caught in a roll up by Johnny and tasting defeat for the first time!
Sore loser mentality by Samson who beats Gargano down real bad. “You are not better than me, you embarrassed me” says Elias as he shoves Johnny spine first into the turnbuckle. Then he hits a knee to Johnny’s face and “trances out”
And I’m Like… This is layer of Samson. Johnny gets the win and it’s his highest profile win to date. The beat down seemed to be longer than normal. Apollo ended up making the save and Drifter walked to the back slowly. That sets up Crews’ next feud. Hopefully it will bring Apollo out of his shell more and we can learn a bit more about Elias. This was more showcase than wrestling. That’s ok! There isn’t anything wrong with that.
Finn Balor is in the back with his Balor Club coat.
Rich Swann vs. Finn Balor
Rich comes out to a song sounding like his old entrance and the crowd kind of sings
All Night Long
. Finn comes out and does his badass entrance like normal.
“All Night Long” is really taking off in the arena… I wish people knew more lyrics though!! This is Balor’s first match back since injury I believe. Which brings up a thought Freddie Prinze Jr. talked wrestling with GQ magazine and being that he used to be a show writer for WWE he had some good insight. One thing that stuck out to me was when he mentioned that Vince is hesitant on putting the belt on littler guys because they get hurt a lot. That had me thinking: Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, and many more, were pushed, given the belt, and got injured sometime as champion or shortly after. There are big guys that had that happen to, Batista! The thing is, it’s more frequent with smaller guys. Finn is kind of a smaller guy in comparison to the main roster, he was also just injured… Food for thought.
The crowd is split on Swann or Finn. They are wrestling well, and Finn is grounding Swann. Rich tries to use his agility and speed to create separation but he could not get Finn off his wrist. Swann even attempts a monkey flip, but Finn held on to the wrist the whole way through. Even all the “All Night Long” chants can’t give Swann enough strength to fight free.
Swann is able to get out by applying a leg scissors and then hurricanrana. Finn shuts him down quick and we are in a hammerlock now. Swann is able to create his distance off of a snapmare, then he runs and dodges Finn by doing this.
The way Rich flips out of things and hits his strikes is a sight to behold. The man does moves that blow your mind and he does it with ease. It is fun to watch, I am just not sure there is much of a future above the mid-card for Swann. He is a guy that would be perfect for an NXT mid-card title. I am not sure if introducing a new title is needed in NXT and I question if it would hurt the prestige of the big X.
Finn stopped playing around, hit the shotgun dropkick, coup de gras, and then Bloody Sunday for the duke.
And I’m Like… That worked well. We need to see Swann more to become conditioned to his style and moves. Finn was able to have a hard fought match with a man that can put on a show! Finn gets the win in decisive fashion too. That was everything it needed to be and helped all those involved.
Emma gets interviewed about how she is gonna beat Asuka. Emma looks a little upset at the question of her handling Asuka. Dana says she is injured because of Asuka and what she did to Brooke at Takeover: Respect. Dana and Emma say they are super upset and they have been training to beat her. The pat on the head and we are onto the next segment.
Shinsuke Nakamura gets a video package, documentary style. We see footage of him at the PC and then his reveal to Sami Zayn.
Alexa Bliss vs. Sarah Dobson
I remember Dobson by her name, not her wrestling. Dobson Flies exist people !!!
I still don’t get why Blake and Murphy have not gotten their own shirts. I joke that the Blake and Murphy shirts are cool, but they are in NXT shirts. Alexa is into this thing where she tosses her hair a bunch, I think she was taught that or something, it’s a bit excessive.
Alexa does the NXT lock and what would an NXT episode be without it. Bliss even adds a rib grab to accent the hold. Tom says Sarah needs to really step it up. Graves says Bliss hasn’t given her a chance, Bliss has been dominate.
Sarah is able to turn it around by flipping over the turnbuckle, hitting a kick, and then this….
It’s supposed to be a cross body. Not sure what happened but Bliss got some knees to the face. Ouch!
Bliss legit fires back with a stiff forearm. Murphy moves Alexa so Dobson landed awkwardly. Bliss was able to hit her handstand knee drop and her Sparkle Splash. Alexa keeps rubbing her nose and looks pissed. That nose shot wasn’t supposeed to happen. Alexa bled out of her nose and Blake wiped it up with his hand. I bet they are like Mr. Dupette and his employees .
And I’m Like… Bliss is slowly rising the ranks as a legit contender. That match did more for her on the toughness side. That knee to the face looked concerning and she handled it professionally and everything looked nice. Blake and Murphy are still weird as hell with no character direction, but I believe they are the millennial tag team, and you know us millennial’s. Weird as hell with no character or direction. Amirite!?!
Samoa Joe interview, he walked off the screen.
Asuka’s nickname is the “Empress of Tomorrow” or something with those words.
Bull Dempsey
vs. Danny Burch
Bull comes out and I am legit shocked. I don’t follow spoilers. I know Bull left NXT so I am shocked to see him here. Well it wasn’t much, Joe came out and choked both men because anger.
Joe yells at the camera that Finn cannot escape and that he is coming for his championship.
And I’m Like… Joe is Mad.
American Alpha get a video package about how great they are as they prepare for their title match against the Revival. They both talk about how they got so close to victory in amateur wrestling. Jordan couldn’t dominate college, Gable couldn’t dominate the Olympics. They both grew a stronger boTnd through the same life experiences. Now they know what defeat is like and they never want to be there again.
No Way Jose video package with like Worldly, Steampunkish, EDM music with a Latin vocal saying ‘No Way’ Jose.
Asuka vs. Emma w/Dana Brooke
Dude.. Asuka’s entrance music gets me THE MOST HYPE!! I have no idea why but everything about it, tied with Asuka’s energy is perfect!
The commentators are putting over how dangerous Asuka has been and how she will be Bayley’s toughest challenger. Then Tom points out that Bayley has about two title defenses… Since Brooklyn… TWO!! That is criminally small. They were both fantastic though!
As the girls go toe-to-toe and Emma is able to know Asuka down with a shoulder block. Corey tells us that Emma was Asuka’s toughest opponent for almost defeating her a few times.
Asuka does her typical butt shaking and taunting. I don’t get her sexualized taunts, they don’t mesh with anything about her. The thing is, Asuka is everything. She has face paint, she is crazy colorful, wears a and mask, has multi-colored hair, her outfit is all the colors, and she is vicious in the ring. I guess a sexualized dance adds to that powder keg of skill.
We are back from break and Asuka reverses a suplex attempt by Emma into an armbar attempt. Asuka won’t let go of the hammerlock and when Emma tries to roll through the hold, Asuka rolls with her.
Asuka does the Patriot Lock and it manages to work against Asuka because Emma is able to roll out of the ankle lock and truly gain control. Even doing her signature hair pull.
As Emma stretches Asuka out, Asuka slowly starts smiling. It’s not very noticeable at first but, the camera zooms in and you can kinda tell there is a smile behind that rough exterior.
Tom let’s us know of a tragedy, that Emma has never held NXT’s Woman’s belt. She was one of the reasons the wrestling was so good a few years ago in NXT. I sonder what would have happened to her if she wasn’t arrested at Wal-Mart two years ago.
Emma starts pulling on Asuka’s hair.. and girl looks to be in pain.
Asuka starts fighting out of it but Emma is relentless in her pursuit of a victory. She tree of woe’s Asuka, hits a bunch of heel moves and even goes outside of the ring to pull Asuka’s hair. Emmamite sandwich for two!!
Asuka starts this deep throat scream that sounds like some sort of scary ghostly figure. She starts to scream after every forearm. Asuka is now striking away and hitting backfists and kicks and stuff. This usually is the finish.
Emma was able to fight out of it though, she tried to use her feet on the ropes and ASuka was stalking her from behind. Asuka did a nasty looking German Suplex followed by a running kick to Emma’s face.
Asuka sets up for that chickenwing (Asuka lock) Emma taps out to it.
And I’m Like… That had to happen so we know Asuka will be able to take it to Bayley. The match showed more pain from Asuka than I have seen in NXT. The match ends and Asuka is even breathing hard. I honestly don’t know if her or Bayley will win. Either way it will be special.
Thank you for reading you guys!! I am headed to bed, please share, like, or tweet/comment.
Have a good one!
-Jake
