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WWE NXT -July 27, 2016

by Scrooge McSuck

- Taped from Full Sail University in Orlando, FL, with Tom Phillips and Corey Graves calling the action, unless otherwise noted.

- Last week on NXT, we were treated to a triple-header of Takeover quality matches (some more than others): Samoa Joe choked out Rhyno with the COQUINA Clutch (I misspelled it last week, continuing my trend of mess ups) in a Non-Title "Loser is Sent to Smackdown Live as a Hot Free Agent" Match. American Alpha, despite a valiant effort after being attacked before the bell, were defeated by the Authors of Pain in a "Losers Get Drafted by Smackdown Live" Match. In the Main Event, Bayley avenged her loss and "injury" with a victory over Nia Jax, and here is where I stop doing the running joke just to be more annoying. Should be fun to see what unfolds this week.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Wesley Blake:

I’m thoroughly convinced that Nakamura could do absolutely nothing as far as wrestling is concerned and still be the match of the night from an entertainment aspect. Has Blake always worn the Von Erich/Warrior style tassels on his boots? We get an "earlier today" with Blake and Murphy still having an "it’s complicated" relationship according to Facebook standards. Lockup to the corner and Nakamura taunts before laughing him off. Blake grabs a side headlock. Crisscross and Blake blows him a kiss. Nakamura grabs it and makes smelly faces before throwing it down and rubbing it out. Snap mare and Nakamura with a jumping knee drop. "Good vibrations" in the corner, and then a second time. Blake comes back with a big clothesline for barely a one count. Knee drop for another pin attempt. Snap mare and Blake with a knee into the back as he hooks a chin-lock. Whip to the ropes and an elbow gets two. He tries to do the good vibrations stomping in the corner, but that just angers Nakamura. He unloads with a series of strikes. Nakamura with knees in the corner, followed by boots to the back of the head. He sets Blake across the top rope, hits the running knee, a reverse Exploder, and KINSHASA~! finishes at 4:29. There’s no shame in screaming it out, either. *1/2 Just an extended squash to give Nakamura a win and advance the Blake and Murphy "trying to one up each other to prove they’re better off in singles" angle.

- William Regal comes out during Nakamura’s celebration and announces that at NXT Takeover: Back to Brooklyn, Samoa Joe will defend the NXT Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. The rest of the card can be complete garbage, and I’m still looking forward to it.

- Of Mice & Men’s "Relentless" is the OFFICIAL theme song for NXT Takeover: Back to Brooklyn.

Santana Garrett vs. Billie Kay:

Kay’s new thing has been trying to be sensual and seductive. At live events, she’s done a bit of a striptease too (PG, of course). I’m not very familiar with Garrett, but she has been on NXT before, and looks good in her rainbow tights. With the recent call ups of Jax, Carmella, and Alexa Bliss, we should expect to see more focus on the previous batch of enhancement talent. Lockup, Kay with a headlock and a fireman’s carry takeover. They fight over a waist-lock as Phillips and Grave speculate an appearance on Smackdown has given her an inflated ego. Garrett with a dropkick. Whip to the corner is reversed and Kay with a discus forearm for a near fall. Crowd chants for Santana as Billy Kay controls with the Kevin Nash boot to the throat. Kay with a modified gut-wrench suplex for two. Santana ducks under a clothesline, gets an elbow up, and pounds away. She hits a handspring elbow in the corner, but misses a boot. Kay with a shot to the back of the neck and a running boot for three at 3:07. * Not much to this one, but it was OK for a three-minute squash.

- This Past Sunday at Battleground, Bayley made a "surprise" appearance as Sasha Bank’s "mystery" partner in a victory over Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Backstage, Bayley is having a one-on-one conversation with William Regal. She wants her rematch at Takeover: Back in Brooklyn, and Regal agrees, so now we’ve got Asuka defending the Women’s Title against Bayley.

TM-61 vs. Rob Ryzin & Adrian Nails:

TM61 is Nick Miller and Shane Thorne, formerly known as "The Mighty Don’t Kneel/TMDK" on the Independent circuit. Thorne starts with a lockup on Nails. Thorne with a decent acrobatic showing to escape a wristlock. Miller tags in for a double shoulder tackle and back suplex. Miller in with a slingshot senton from the apron. Thorne and Miller with a double-team fist drop and standing moonsault. Rison tags in to get some bump practice in. He gets some token offense in on Thorne, including a back breaker. Thorne avoids a double tem attack and hot tags Miller. He lays into Nails with rights and a clothesline in the corner. Whip to the ropes and a sloppy spine-buster. Thorne in, and they finish with Thunder Valley (double team press slam) at 3:06. * Another adequate squash match. Post-match, everyone shakes hands because we’re all good guys... for now.

- Last month on NXT, Austin Aries sucker punched No Way Jose for trying to be a positive influence. Last week, No Way Jose got a bit of revenge, running in after Aries won a squash match, chasing him through the crowd. Will we see Austin Aries vs. No Way Jose at Takeover: Back in Brooklyn?

- Hideo Itami returns NEXT WEEK.

No Way Jose vs. Steve Cutler:

There’s tons of rumors about Jose being a potential call-up to the main roster... are we that desperate for opening match fodder to rush up another "fun" character before it’s ready, a la Adam Rose and the Exotic Express? Let him have fun in NXT a while before killing him, please. Not familiar with Cutler. Phillips insists we’ve seen him before. He’s a former US Marine, and now I do remember him a bit after hearing that. Cutler grabs a waist-lock as the crowd does the Soccer-style "Jose" chant. He dances free and goes for the arm. He grabs a headlock off some more dance moves. Cutler with a shot to the face, and now Jose’s mad. He unloads with rights and an axe-handle across the chest. Short-arm clothesline, followed by a modified hip throw. He hypes himself up some more, winds up with the Baseball Punch, and finishes with a Cobra Clutch Slam at 1:54. No Rating, too short and just a complete squash.

- Post-match, Jose (can I just call him Jose?) grabs the microphone to call out Austin Aries. He just wanted to bring good vibes and fun, and Aries disrespected him instead. He can turn a fiesta into a fight whenever he wants to, calls Aries a coward, and promises to "whoop his ass." That’s not PG.

Kota Ibushi vs. Buddy Murphy:

"Main Event" of the evening. NXT debut of Ibushi, who is a participant of the Cruiserweight Classic. I really need to find time and watch the episodes that have already been featured on the WWE Network. Lockup, Murphy grabs a side headlock and comes off the ropes with a pair of shoulder tackles. Crisscross and Ibushi with a dropkick, followed by a roundhouse kick to the chest. Standing moonsault gets two. That move is quickly getting over-used. Murphy bails and sweeps Ibushi off the apron to prevent a dive. Murphy with a knee to the back and a side headlock. Ibushi rams Murphy to the corner to force a break, but runs into a boot and Murphy with a running double knee for a near fall. Ibushi grabs a boot and unloads with a flurry of strikes. Murphy comes back with a boot to the face, but he misses a clothesline. Ibushi with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head and German Suplex for two. Murphy avoids a moonsault, sends Ibushi to the corner, and rolls him up for another near fall. Murphy sets up for a super-plex, but Ibushi fights free, rolls over with a sunset flip, and takes Murphy down with a sit-out Powerbomb for three at 5:22. ** Perfectly acceptable wrestling. I’m surprised Murphy was given as much offense, but then he’s not in the ring with a guy clearly positioned for the #1 spot.

- Next Week: The debut of Bobby Roode.

- Samoa Joe is a little bit upset about the announcement of having to defend the title at Takeover against Shinsuke Nakamura. Joe refuses to make the title defense, which brings out William Regal. His decision is final, and Joe has to fight whoever he says he has to fight. Joe continues to whine about having to jump through hoops to get a shot at the title in the first place. Regal says if he refuses to fight, it counts as a forfeit, and he’ll find another contender to face Nakamura for the Title. Joe begrudgingly accepts. Nakamura comes out, does some whacky posing, and Joe is steaming mad as the show comes to a close.

Final Thoughts: Nothing to brag about as far as wrestling goes, but things are moving in the right direction with the next Takeover coming up in about three weeks. Three matches are either confirmed or as good as confirmed without another week worth of television. Even though most of the matches were squashes, or just above that level, we got to see Shinsuke Nakamura in action, the continued development to get the NXT audience behind TM-61, a new coat of paint on Billy Kay, adding a little more character depth to No Way Jose, the continuing saga of Blake and Murphy, and hey, how about that Kota Ibushi? All around, a solid hour of entertainment.

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