We are in the fallout everyone, the excitement has died down and now we build up once again to another eventual PPV. This week’s episode still takes place in San Antonio, Texas as we get to see some matches and also recap the highlights of NXT Takeover: San Antonio. But, since you’re also a loyal reader, you most likely have already read my recap/review of the event here. If you haven’t, don’t worry, I’ll let you off… for now.

We kick off the episode with Ember Moon vs Aliyah. This feels like filler to be perfectly honest, I can understand what they’re doing by having another opponent for Ember to defeat. However, the match feels too short for it to be a genuine threat to her, and since we know Ember has a strong chance of going for the title soon,  we already know how it’s going to end. The ending was good at highlighting Ember’s strength, though, as Aliyah reversed a  power-bomb, Ember quickly took her down to the floor with a smack to the jaw, and then won with her corkscrew stunner.

We got a video recap of Tye Dillinger vs Eric Young, which then transitions to Eric Young with his Posse addressing Tye while making a statement to camera;

“You made your choice, choices are coming for everybody…”

Damo must still feel awful being reminded that he was sloppy seconds in being chosen after Tye refused. We even had Tye’s reaction to being the number 10 entrant (I may have marked out a little when that happened)  in the Royal Rumble match. He seemed genuinely happy with how far he has come, and if Tye Dillinger is happy, then I’m happy. What doesn’t make me happy is people constantly chanting 10 whenever there’s a countdown at wrestling events, it’s really getting old at this point.

Another video played which recapped the Women’s fatal four way featuring Asuka, Nikki Cross, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce. This was then followed by an Interview with Asuka who then asked what she thinks about possible contender Ember Moon. Asuka replied;

“Ember who? She works here?”

Oh shit, Ember just got burned… ironically. Later on, Ember was asked to comment on Asuka’s statement and she proclaimed that she was happy that Asuka won because now she can be the one to take her down. Get hype, get hype right now.

Next up was a really pleasant surprise for the show. It was Tyler Bate vs Oney Lorcan. We haven’t seen Tyler Bate since his win at the WWE UK Tournament and now he’s on a freakin’ episode of NXT! Needless to say, I was going to enjoy the match. Tyler completely won over the crowd, with chants  “Let’s go Tyler” echoing around the ring just emphasising that Tyler is going to be big in the WWE soon, just you wait. This was a strong matchup between Bate and Lorcan as they both slowly built up the struggled for control of the ring. The match culminated in a smooth momentum change to Bate’s side and as the crowd chanted “This is awesome” one final time, Tyler got the Tyler Driver for the win. It was obvious that Tyler would win the match as the WWE wouldn’t want him to look weak on his first outing to a new crowd as the champ. However, that didn’t take away from the performance as it was fun seeing Oney Lorcan bounce off of Tyler and create an entertaining spectacle. I’m waiting in anticipation to see what they are going to do with Tyler, Let’s hope for the best.

We got an Interview with Rodrick Strong who promised that his victory at NXT TakeOver “was just a taste of what I bring to NXT“. Nothing really much to say about this, hope he gets a good push as I do enjoy his work in the ring.

The show then recapped the Authors of Pain vs DIY. This cut to an interview the AOP’s manager, Paul Ellering:

“The landscape of tag team wrestling have changed… We show no mercy and we take victory at all costs”

What they really need to show is being less clumsy in the ring. We were then treated to the final recap of the night, the main event with Nakamura vs Roode. This presented footage of Nakamura being carried to the back and being looked at by medics and Triple H (because ofcourse he has to be there, he care’s more about if his enemy is on his show than if he’s about to punch his daughters in the face, don’t you know?).

In an interview with Bobby Roode, he stated;

“I went out there tonight and I did exactly what I said I was going to do. Bobby Roode’s BXT era starts tonight as the new NXT champion. My NXT, missy? Will be. Glorious.”

Can’t argue with glorious my friend, although it leaves the question as to what will happen after Nakamura’s rematch? Will he win and stay in NXT or lose and move up to the main roster? Guess we have to stay tuned at this point.

It was announced that Corey Graves would be leaving commentary team of NXT. It was quite sad but uplifting as we were presented with Graves’ journey through NXT until this point. All I have to say is thank you, Mr Graves, for the work you have put into NXT and we’ll miss you.

The last match of the night was Elias Samson vs No Way Jose. The match was fine and the crowd got invested with “Let’s go Samson, Samson sucks” chants bellowing around, I personally wasn’t as engaged. Wasn’t the fault of the wrestlers, I honestly just felt like this was another filler match and knew No Way Jose was going to win. The match ended with Jose managing to hit Samson in the air with a fist for the win.

Overall, an okay episode with the notable highlight of 19 YEAR OLD Tyler Bate appearing and entertaining us all. I look forward to seeing where NXT is going to go after this point, especially with the Women’s division. They are killing it right now.