Hey, it’s WWE NXT! If there’s a better feud than Zayn-Owens anywhere right now, I’ll eat my non-existent hat!
The show opened with a re-cap of Sami Zayn’s appearance on Raw last week, where he was injured in the course of his match with John Cena. He was, they said so.
Solomon Crowe came out and he’s got a new, less stupid haircut. He was out to fight Baron Corbin. Uh oh, that ain’t good.
You know what, though? It was a good match. It was mostly Corbin bullying Crowe, with the crowd chanting “Baron’s gonna bore you” because they’ve picked their side in the Corbin-Rhyno feud, but Crowe got fired up and looked on top until Corbin hit the End Of Days out of, erm, nowhere for the win.
After the match, Rhyno came out, and they went at it until a bunch of geeks from the back split them up. Simple, effective build towards next week’s NXT Takeover: Unstoppable special.
Backstage, Byron Saxton sat down with Finn Bálor. He asked him one question, the same question he’ll ask all night: “if you win at Takeover,would you rather face Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens for the NXT title?”
Bálor vowed to win the triple threat at Takeover against Tyler Breeze and Hideo itami, and said that it didn’t matter who he faced – they’re both great and he’d beat them, too.
After a break, Saxton sat down with Breeze. His answer to the same question was that it didn’t matter about Bálor or Itami, he’d soon be number one contender again. And it didn’t matter who he faced for the title, either. Arrogance!
Hey, it’s Sasha Banks! She came down to the ring for a match with an unnamed Area Jobber (actually future NXT standout and Lance Storm trainee KC Cassidy). This was a squash, basically, and Banks won with a roll-through Bank(s) Statement. She mocked Becky Lynch during the match by adopting some of her poses. It’s on.
Backstage, Devin Taylor spoke to Bayley and Charlotte, who challenged Emma and Dana Brooke to a tag-team match at Takeover. This… was not good.
They showed the Uhaa Nation video package from last week. he still doesn’t have a name here.
Carmella came out, to lots of cheers instead of the boos she’s been getting. Maybe because she seems to not be turning on Enzo & Big Cass soon? Which, of course, means she probably will.
She’s fighting Alexa Bliss, who’s subtly heeling it up, the little pixie. They had an ehhh match. Nothing terribly bad but nothing anywhere near good, either. Bliss got the win when Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy came down to ringside and distracted Carmella, who fell prey to Bliss’s top-rope twisting splash.
After the match, Carmella ragged on Blake & Murphy, and told them they were S-A-W-F-T. She was good there.
Byron Saxton did his sit down Itami. Itami said he would beat Bálor & Breeze and would prefer to face Owens, because Owens is a BAD MAN. Yes!
Backstage, Devin Taylor spoke to Emma and Dana Brooke. They accepted Bayley and Charlotte’s challenge and walked off. Brooke returned to pat Taylor on the head, the bitch.
Hey, it’s Adam Rose! He’s tagging with Tyler Breeze against Finn Bálor & Hideo Itami, for reasons. He had no Rosebuds. Weird.
So the story of this match was Itami & Bálor not getting along, and in fact it cost them the match as Itami blind-tagged in and got caught by Breeze while he was arguing with Bálor. It must be noted that Bálor was a little slow in trying to break the pin…
After the match, Bálor & Itami argued again and breeze cheap-shotted them both with the Supermodel Kick. Rose came over to congratulate his partner, and he got a sneaky Supermodel Kick, too. Breeze rules!
They showed an interview with Sami Zayn, shot after his match with Cena on Raw. He said he felt something wrong on his way to the ring and injured it taking a back suplex. He was super-pumped about his match, and the hometown crowd response but he was worried about his shoulder. He said he wouldn’t let it interfere in his match with Owens.
Hey, it’s time for our main event! And it’s a CONFRONTATION! Sami Zayn came out, and thankfully didn’t injure himself doing his entrance. he was about to speak with Kevin Owens’s music hit.
Owens came out and Zayn said they were here to talk, not fight. He said he might be hurt but the fight is still on (that bit was cleverly edited in, like a BAWSS). He said he just wanted an explanation from Owens for why he’d done what he’d done.
Was it jealousy that Zayn was called to NXT first? Was it more personal? Was it that Owens’s son prefers a Sami Zayn t-shirt to a KO one? Owens looked furious and the crowd gave an “oooooh!”
Owens eventually spoke and said that everything Zayn said was irrelevant. He knew the truth. he said last time he beat him, Zayn went home because he was hurt. He knows how he was hurt, and how it happened, and at Takeover he’d do it again. But this time Zayn wouldn’t be coming back…
This was a Great Show. yeah, the in-ring wasn’t Match Of The year stuff but the whole show hit the button just right. NXT does this stuff so well and I’m genuinely excited for next week’s Takeover. Good work, fellas!