Hey, it’s WWE NXT! Kevin Owens is a bad, bad man. I mean, he didn’t really do anything bad on this show – he just is.
The show started with Emma coming down to the ring wearing Bayley’s t-shirt and headbands. She half-heartedly danced to her music and teased skinning the cat, but this is a new Emma, and she’s so over that.
Charlotte came out and they had a match. Emma, pleasantly aggressive, got the best of the early exchanges, and went after Charlotte’s leg, really working it. She locked on a VERY ouchy single-leg Boston crab and Charlotte just managed to make the ropes.
After that enforced break, Charlotte came after Emma, one leg or no. A spear got a nearfall before she avoided the Emma Lock and hit the Natural Selection for the win.
After the match, Bayley came down to the ring to confront Emma. She gave her a hug, but then wouldn’t let it go, and hit the Belly-to-Bayley. She mounted Emma and began wailing away before Charlotte pulled her off. Bayley ripped her shirt off Emma and took back her headbands, and left the ring. Don’t mess with Bayley.
They showed a sit-down interview with Becky Lynch where she babyfaced herself, getting over her sacrifices to make it to where she is today. It was kinda boring because we saw pretty much the same thing last week, but it was good for what it was.
After a break, Kevin Owens had a sit-down interview with Michael Cole. Because that’s who you go to for hard-hitting journalism.
Cole wanted to know why Owens had done what he’d done to Zayn. Owens said, again, that it wasn’t anything personal, but Cole wasn’t buying it.
Owens claimed Cole didn’t respect him and hadn’t congratulated him on his title win. Cole said respect was a two-way thing and said he would congratulate Owens but he also wanted Owens to respect him by answering his next question: How could you do what you did?
Owens called Cole a headline fisher and stuck to the line that he did what did for his family. Cole gave up and ended the interview there and Owens said he was a big fan of what Cole does on Raw. Such a big, fat liar. This was great.
Hey, it’s Bull Dempsey! He’s going to get killed by Rhyno! It’s weird, Dempsey and Rhyno have similar body types and similar gimmicks, but one looks tough and the other looks doughy. Bull needs Rhyno’s gear.
So Rhyno did kill Bull and then grabbed a mic’ to say he wanted Baron Corbin at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. Oooooh.
Backstage, Sasha Banks looked at pictures on the wall, stopping at one of the Fabulous Moolah, who she described as the greatest diva of all time. I was sick a little bit in my mouth. She said she had surpassed her. No problem with that. She said she liked becky Lynch’s drive but that she’d made Lynch in NXT and she’d put her back down again.
In his office, William Regal welcomed a newcomer. It’s Uhaa Nation, but God knows what he’ll be called here. Then they showed a video package on Uhaa, again not naming him.
Hey, it’s Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder! We haven’t seen them fight in ages! And we’ll have to wait a little while longer, because their opponents – Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady – fail to show for their match.
The camera switches to backstage, where Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy are putting the boots to Enzo & Big Cass, as Carmella screams at them to stop.
In a balanced approach that would shame Fox News, Michael Cole also sat down with Sami Zayn. Zayn said Owens was a liar and he wasn’t. He said that sneak attacks and mind games got Owens to where he is and he’d have to resort to those, too. Cole asked him if his emotions would get in the way but Zayn said he’d stay focused. He wanted Owens in the ring next week, to explain to him why he turned on him…
They showed Zayn’s debut on Raw and explained he’d been injured during the match with John Cena. Well, that’s one way of describing it.
Hey, it’s William regal! He was in the ring for the contract signing for the NXT Women’s Title Match between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks at Unstoppable.
Sasha talked about how long it had taken her to get to this point, with none of the charisma that Zayn showed doing almost the exact same thing in his pursuit of Adrian Neville last year. But they’re trying, at least. Banks looked bored.
They both signed the contract – Banks with a custom-made stamp – and then Banks started a brawl, which up-ended the table and included Banks standing on Lynch’s head. Lynch turned things around when she locked on an armbar and banks tapped to chants of, “you tapped out!” from the crowd. The Refs pulled them apart and it’s ON!
Alex Riley cut a talky in a video that looked like it had been filmed on, well, video. He said he’d been willing to take risks his whole career but now he was realising they may not be worth it. He said that hearing the crowd calling for Owens to hurt him some more last week was the last straw and we wouldn’t see him for a while. Next week, then?
Backstage, Devin Taylor spoke to Dana Brooke. Well, Dana just cut her off. Everyone is so rude to Devin these days. Dana declared herself the Total Diva and said she was angry that Charlotte was in the Tapout ad instead of her. Warning: feud starting.
Finn Bálor came out, in a suit, to watch the main event. Hey, it’s our main event! It’s Hideo Itami versus Tyler Breeze! These guys do nice wrestling!
They traded lock-ups and wristlocks early doors, until Itami looked for a Shining Wizard, forcing Breeze to take a breather on the outside saying, “I’m not letting him kick me”. Breeze used the referee as a distraction and got back in to kick Itami. Itami came back with that Shining Wizard, and Breeze rolled outside again.
After a break, Itami took Breeze apart. He teased a knee drop but taunted Breeze instead. Good charisma coming through here. Breeze hit a surprise neckbreaker and, when Itami tried to fight back, a dropkick. Breeze went to the second rope but Itami caught him in mid-air and FIRED UP! He hit a running knee into the corner, a tornado DDT into the ropes, and a clothesline for a nearfall.
Itami looked to hit a running kick into the corner but Breeze again ducked outside. Itami went after him and whipped him into Bálor. He charged up with a flying kick, Breeze moved, and Itami sent Bálor through the barricades.
Back in the ring, Itami ducked the Beauty Shot and hit the running kick for the win. After the match, he made apologetic gestures towards Bálor, who made the save when Breeze attacked Itami. Bálor looked torn as to whether to exact revenge on Itami but Breeze nailed them both with Beauty Shots, and that’s your show.
This was a Good Show. It kept moving along at a pace, and was chock-full of stuff that moves everything forward towards Unstoppable. Nice work.