Hey, it’s WWE NXT! It’s that show that Tye Dillenger would give a perfect 10!
The show started with William Regal, backstage, speaking to “Greg”. Incidentally, “Greg” was on Botchamania last week and was very, very happy about that. I like “Greg”. Anyway, Regal was asked about Kevin Owens not trusting him.
He said he was impartial and that booking a ladder match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn would be giving into Owens’s demands. However, Finn Bálor was happy to take the ladder match, so a ladder match it would be! He wished both competitors the best of luck, with a smirk on his face.
Hey, it’s Solomon Crowe! He came down to the ring for a match with Tye Dillenger. But guess what? Dillenger WASN’T already in the ring! That’s because he came out debuting his new gimmick, Perfect 10. He’s been sitting in the crowd at house shows, awarding marks out of 10 to the matches he’s seen, never giving the top mark which is, of course, reserved for him.
So they had a really fun match, probably my favourite on the show. I don’t know where Crowe is going, and maybe he’s going nowhere, but he & Dillenger had a ball out there. Dillenger got the win with a knee to the face and, while it’s such a Full Sail gimmick, I’m already enjoying his new work.
Outside the arena, and “earlier today”, Mojo Rawley approached Zack Ryder. There was a discussion about HYPE and girls. I am so old. Ironically, though, I still look younger than Rawley…
Hey, it’s Baron Corbin! He came down to the ring, crowd booing, to fight Axel Tischer (who has already been renamed Alexander Wolfe on house shows). Tischer was wearing a vest, which may be because he had a flabby belly two weeks ago.
The crowd kept the “boring!” chants up throughout the match, which lasted thirty-five seconds before Corbin hit the End of Days. After the match, he grabbed a mic’ and cut a talky, declaring himself the real deal who always dominates. The crowd did not let up during the promo and Steve Cutler ran out and got End of Days’d, too. Corbin kicked both he & Tischer out of the ring and then Samoa Joe’s music hit.
So Joe came down to the ring to confront Corbin, who just looked annoyed. Joe told Corbin he was impressed. he said he’d heard Corbin whining about a lack of competition but promised Corbin he couldn’t hit the End of Days on him. Corbin said he could and Joe dared him to try it. Corbin said he’d just fought two people and asked for a raincheck.
Corbin left the ring, bumping into Joe on his way out, and they began brawling. Corbin dominated Joe on the mat but Joe locked on a rear naked choke and left him unconscious…
They showed another Bull Dempsey vignette, this time ending with the “STEEL SHARPENS STEEL”. He’s doing it for all of us.
Tyler Breeze sent in a selfie video, thanking William Regal for getting him the match with Jushin Liger at Takeover. He said it was fitting, since Regal brought Itami from Japan and Breeze crushed Itami, too.
Hey, it’s Marcus Louis! He’s crazy and he made his way down to the ring for the next match. He was fighting NXT champion Finn Bálor, who came out next to a good reception from the Full Sail crowd.
So they had a match and it was a decent match but had nothing much to it in the way of competition for the champ. Bálor won with the double footstomp, and stopped on the ramp to celebrate.
Suddenly, Kevin Owens attacked him from behind and tried to powerbomb Bálor on the apron. Bálor grabbed the ropes and fought back, dropkicking Owens through the barriers. Owens came back at Bálor in the ring and hit the pop-up powerbomb. He picked up the NXT title belt, mocked Bálor, and then left it lying over Bálor’s prone body in the middle of the ring…
Backstage, “Greg” spoke to The Vaudevillains. he asked them how they would combat Alexa Bliss in the title match against Blake & Murphy at Takeover. They assured him they had a way to contain the “Bliss factor”. Alexa Bliss walked up and slapped them, before walking off, laughing. Payback is an evil pixie bitch.
They showed a video package on Uhaa Nation, now re-named Apollo Crews. He said he will debut at Takeover, just like Kevin Owens did ten months ago.
The announcers ran down the card for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. It’s a sweet, sweet looking show. Baron Corbin versus Samoa Joe will be a watershed for Corbin.
Hey, it’s our main event! It’s Bayley versus Becky Lynch for the number one contendership to the NXT Women’s title! Sasha Banks joined the announcers on commentary for this, and was a snippy joy.
So this wasn’t a great match and that’s because – contrary opinion KLAXON! – Becky Lynch is really boring. Most of what she does is well done, although there are rough edges that decry her call-up to the main roster, but it’s just not at all exciting or involving.
Bayley, on the other hand, is a delight, her every move – even the sloppier ones – filled with a joi de vive that few in wrestling anywhere, let alone NXT, can match. And Bayley got the win, rolling the Dis Arm Her armbar through for a pinfall, to become the number one contender to Sasha Banks’s NXT Women’s championship.
After the match, Banks stood on the stage, holding her title, as Bayley challenged her from the ring. These two will fight at Takeover and I expect it to be just that, a fight.
This was a Decent Show. It had enough good stuff to keep it rolling through but was flimsy in places. Still, they’re building to their biggest show ever, and these things need to be carefully built, so I can forgive them that. You may not, though…