NXT TV on the WWE Network
Taped in February in Orlando, Florida at the University of Central Florida
The intro video of this week’s NXT focused on the Sanity vs. Tye Dillinger’s trio’s feud which was coming to a head on this episode possibly…
Tom Philips, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson were shown at the commentary desk as they checked in from the University of Central Florida. Nigel hyped Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship at NXT Takeover: Orlando. Philips hyped the trios match for Sanity for later on. Oney Lorcan made his entrance followed by his opponent Andrade Almas. Philips said Almas has had questionable behavior as of late by being a bully to people like Ho Ho Lun. Watson said you can’t bully Lorcan since he’s from Brooklyn…
1. Oney Lorcan vs. Andrade Cien Almas. Almas toyed with Lorcan to start off the match by lying down on the ground after several Lorcan lockup attempts. Lorcan finally caught up to Almas, giving him several hard chops in the ring. Almas managed to dodge the corner shots. Almas flubbed on a basement dropkick, but they recovered well enough. Almas was sent outside who utilized the most of the ten count.
Almas managed to hit an eye of the hurricane in the ring followed by a stomp in the corner. Almas teased a flying stomp but punked Lorcan out by just giving him an aggressive boot. Almas was backtossed to the outside to allow Oney to get some breathing room. Lorcan went for a crossbody but Almas countered into an impressive power slam.[C]
Almas had the upper hand over Lorcan back from the break. Almas toyed with Lorcan by stomping on his hand. Almas gave Lorcan snake eyes in the corner. Nigel McGuinness was digging this heelish attitude from Almas. Lorcan tried to make a comeback but Almas ended up locking in the low chinlock. Lorcan made it to a vertical base but Almas followed up with a knee to the gut.
Oney Lorcan managed to get some energy strikes leading to a nice looking running blockbuster. Lorcan went for a half nelson suplex but Almas fought up. Lorcan hit several European uppercuts leading to a nice running European. Lorcan hit a top rope cannonball to the outside on Almas to wake up the crowd. Lorcan hit consecutive shoulder rams on Almas to stagger him against the turnbuckle. Lorcan hulked up and went for more shoulder rams.
Lorcan managed to hit his half nelson Suplex. This led to a really good nearfall. Almas kick flipped his way out of the corner and put Lorcan on the top rope. Lorcan fought out of Superplex position and went for a blockbuster but missed. Almas then hit Lorcan with the Eddy Gordo waterfall kick. Lorcan hit a strike but ate a clothesline from Hell from Almas. After kicking out, Almas hit his signature double knees and hammerlock DDT to pick up the win…
Andrade Cien Almas defeated Oney Lorcan via pinfall in 10:32.
Nigel talked about how he really, really enjoyed this match. The usually dead UCF crowd actually woke up to give Almas some cheers for the great matchup.
John’s Thoughts: Nice match between Lorcan and Almas and this might be Almas’s best victory yet from a credibility standpoint. Lorcan building up to the half nelson suplex and the kick out by Almas was well done. The announcers were also really good in telling the story of this match while protecting both Almas and Lorcan. I also received an email from a reader who was in person at the taping and he did mention how the crowd was lousy due to the arena not being all that great. That said, they finally had a reaction and it says something when you can get a dead crowd that didn’t get fully into a great Nakamura vs. Perkins match to get into this one instead! Good work from the wrestlers and good work for the fans for finally adding a good atmosphere…
Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano cut a promo backstage. Ciampa talked about traveling all around the world with Gargano as a team and opponents. Gargano said this is what they were meant to do. Ciampa talked about seeing the Revival the first time they stepped in the company. Gargano pointed out how they didn’t like the Revival as people. Gargano talked about their Takeover: Toronto where their dreams came true and they won the titles. Gargano then said their dreams were taken away by the Authors of Pain. Gargano said they do this for money and have no passion or no heart. Ciampa said he and Gargano have heart and DIY not only means them but everyone who supports their quest from the fans that buy merch to the guys that post Glorious Bombs on twitter. Gargano said DIY will have their moment. Cut to the “Fade to Black” Alistair Black gothic vignette. This week’s vignette actually showed the former Tommy End doing his shadow kickboxing. Some symbols flashed on the screen…
Asuka made her way to the ring and I think her opponent was active TNA Wrestler, LAX’s Angel Rose.
2. Asuka vs. Pricilla Domiga. The bell rang but Asuka told the ref to give her a microphone for a promo. Asuka called out Ember Moon and said this is your “Hate”. Asuka gave Pricilla a back kick. Nigel covered up for Asuka’s unclear wording by saying that she probably meant “head” because the strike was to the head. Pricilla went for a chop which Asuka no sold with a smile. Asuka gave Domiga a running hip attack followed by roundhouse kicks.
Asuka gave Domiga a deadlift German Suplex. Asuka hit domiga with a buzzsaw kick and had the match won but she pulled Domiga up for more damage. Domiga ate more kicks. Asuka then locked in the Asuka Lock which Domiga quickly tapped out to.
Asuka defeated Pricilla Domiga via submission in 2:59.
Asuka held on to the submission for an extended amount of time until the ref was finally able to get her away from the move. Asuka then grabbed a mic and yelled in Japanese. She yelled a lot! The then said in English “no… eclipse…”. Tom Philips and Nigel McGuinness then discussed if the Eclipse finisher would be able to give Ember Moon the title win…
Backstage the Revival Dash and Dawson cut a promo. They talked about bringing the past to the present and making it better. Dawson said they were better than tag teams like the Hart Foundation or Midnight Express. Dash said they did something no one could do and that was put down the Authors of Pain. Dawson then talked about digging deeper than DIY and said it was the Revival’s time to become the greatest tag team of all time. Tom Philips hyped a preview match between Johnny Gargano vs. Akam vs. Dash Wilder for next week…
John’s Thoughts: I would like to see more of this type of storytelling on NXT. Simple promos, nice vignettes, and progressive squash matches. As for the squash, it served its purpose. Asuka does tend to do a lot of heelish things on occasion, but they also come off as unhinged and badass. She’s also starting to find an identity promo wise even though there is still a limitation there.
They cut to a vignette from Bobby Roode’s residence in Canada. Roode said a wise man once said that what separates winners from losers is how each person reacts to each twist of fate. They showed slo mo clips of Bobby Roode defeating nakamura. Roode said fate acts in mysterious ways and he reacted by walking out NXT Champion. The narrator guy then hyped Nakamura vs. Roode. He talked about both men having accolades around the world. The narrator said fate would bring them to the same place at Takeover: Dallas where Nakamura fought Sami Zayn while Roode watch from ringside. They showed clips of Nakamura dominating in NXT.
The narrator said Roode was the next piece in the NXT Championship history with his new Glorious persona. They then showed Bobby Roode doing rich guy things like getting tailor made suits while they played his various glorious promos. The last part of the video was about Bobby Roode having fate in his favor. Roode said Nakamura never beaten Roode. Roode said he beat the guy who has beaten all the other guys and that makes him the God of NXT. Nakamura said fate wasn’t on his side since he kick Roode so hard that he injured himself. He said he doesn’t give up, he fights. They showed Nakamura recovering and surfing waves. Nakamura said the age of Nakamura will rise again. They then hyped the Takeover main event…
John’s Thoughts: Hot Damn! That was a good video package done in the style of an ESPN documentary piece with the epic narrator guy. This video package also did the best job in getting over Roode’s privileged character better than any NXT video for him has done so far. The video also got over Nakamura as well. Here’s hoping, overall, we receive more NXT episodes produced like this one since it’s reminding me of when NXT used to have stellar character development.
The unknown backstage interviewer interviewed No Way Jose, Tye Dillinger, and Roderick Strong. No Way called Sanity crap for not fighting their Strong and Perfect team when they were all together. Strong said the numbers game is not in their favor now since he’s recovered because it’s three on tree. Tye said you don’t play a numbers game with a perfect 10…[C]
John’s Thoughts: Sanity still has four members right Roderick? Not a great line considering how Nikki Cross has ended up pushing the pendulum on Sanity’s side in past encounters.
A “Heavy Machinery” vignette played during the commercial. Dasha Fuentes interviewed Kassius Ohno last week after his title match with Roode. She asked him how he was going to move forward. Ohno said he didn’t anticipate things starting out this way. He was interrupted by “The Drifter” playing his guitar as he drifted in. Ohno wasn’t impressed by Elias Sampson and said he needs an ass kicking. Sampson said Ohno doesn’t belong here. Ohno yelled back and proposed putting more on the line against Sampson by putting his career on the line against Sampson’s…
Tom Philips hyped Alistair Black vs. Andrade Almas at NXT Takeover: Orlando. Andrade talked about being tranquillo and I think he called Black a perro…
John’s Thoughts: Ugh. Right after they gave him a good win too. Now I think he’s back to enhancing the fresh new signings again…
3. Eric Young, Killain Dain, and Alexander Wolfe (w/ Nikki Cross) vs. Roderick Strong, Tye Dillinger, and No Way Jose. The two teams brawled before the bell rang. Nigel McGuinness said Nikki Cross could be the wild card in this match. Killain Dain started off dominating Strong. Wolfe tagged in and hit European Uppercuts on Strong. Strong managed to isolate Wolfe in his corner so Dillinger can work on him. Eric Young taunted Tye from ringside. No Way hit Wolfe with a body slam to attempt a pin.
Strong tagged in and hit a reverse atomic drop on Wolfe as the babyfaces continued to isolate Wolfe in their corner. Young continued to try to get in Tye’s head when he was on offense. Wolfe managed to get some momentum with an uppercut. Roderick took down all three members of Sanity with a dropkick and took down Wolfe with a corkscrew plancha. [C]
The babyfaces dominated back from the break. Jose hit Wolfe with a sidewalk slam. Wolfe managed to get to his corner to get a fresh Eric Young involved. Young had No Way cornered but No Way fought out to tag Dillinger. EY quickly tagged in Wolfe to avoid an encounter with Tye. The faces beat up on Alexander Wolfe again. Nikki Cross managed to trip No Way Jose off the ring apron. Dain brought No Way back in the ring and put the boots to him.
Dain gave Jose some boots and a twisting Elbow Drop. Wolfe tagged in and hit another uppercut. Wolfe then locked in a chin lock. No Way fought out with a jawbreaker and they took each other down with a double clothesline. EY made sure to knock off Dillinger from the ring apron. No Way hit Young with a flapjack to tag in Strong who hit backbreakers on everyone and a twisting flapjack on Young. Suddenly, the trios entered the ring to brawl and the ref called for the bell much to the dismay of the crowd.
Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, and No Way Jose vs. Sanity ended in a no-contest.
Nikki Cross put the brawl in the favor of Nikki Cross as a new female wrestler ran out to help Tye Dillinger even the odds. She hit Cross with a flapjack followed by an enzuigiri. Tye gave EY an Irish whip to the outside. Jose gave Wolfe a pop up punch and sent him outside. Dain ate double punches from Tye and No Way. Strong, No Way, and Tye got the upper hand on Killian Dain. The show ended with the announcers all questioning who the new woman was…
John’s Thoughts: I still think this feud is pointless for the babyface trio because honestly, where do you go from here win or lose, but the match was good up to the no finish. It was a bit odd since usually the referee called for the bell a lot sooner than what is usually allowed. It was a good showcase from the most part though with the exception of Alexander Wolfe looking like a major weak link by selling most of the match. It was a bit odd for the babyfaces to be initiating the heel sequences as well. We did get a debut out of it and I believe the female goes by Heidi Lovelace on the indie scene.
Even the main event was just okay, this was a good episode of NXT from a character progression standpoint and I hope that we get more weekly episodes like we did before the main event. Good vignettes, meaningful matches, and storyline progression. NXT used to be good at this before about a eight months ago or so. I’ll have more thoughts in my member exclusive audio review. Check out Darren Gutteridge’s NXT Hit List coming soon.
Feedback is always appreciated and feel free to contact me via twitter @liljohnm to tweet and discuss WWE NXT. You can also comment and discuss WWE directly with me via email: jmoore3.net@gmail.com.
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