WWE NXT Spotlight: 11/8/17 By Kurt Zamora

Welcome everyone to another installment of the NXT Spotlight here at TJRWrestling. With just over a week left before we head to War Games, the full care for Takeover is taken shape. We have one more match to be announced and perhaps this week will be when it is. After last week’s announcement, we have a huge main event this week between Roddy Strong and Adam Cole. Let’s get to it!

Heavy Machinery vs. Chris Payne and Sean Maluta

Dozovic and Payne start the match. Dozovic takes out both of his opponents right away and then bodyslams Payne. He gets the crowd pumped up and then proceeds to do the Worm with an elbow drop at the end. That was funny. Knight comes in the ring and they do a double shoulder tackle to Maluta. They take out Payne with a double belly bump. Knight hits Payne with an avalanche splash in the corner. Knight gets a running start and does a “springboard” elbow off the bottom rope. Dozovic comes back in, steamrolls Maluta while holding Payne and then it’s time for The Compactor.

Winners: Heavy Machinery

K-Tank’s Take: Trying to add more entertainment into their act, nothing wrong with that. However, I think The Street Profits have already bypassed them on the babyface tag team list so I don’t know what there is for them.

We go backstage to Ember Moon who is asked about Mercedes Martinez’s comments from last week where she said Ember can’t win the big one. Ember said if that’s how Mercedes feels, then she can meet Ember in the ring next week and she’ll show Mercedes why she’s the most feared woman in NXT.

Kairi Sane vs. Billie Kay (w/Peyton Royce)

Kairi avoids being bodyslammed but ends up getting dropped with a shoulder tackle. Both women run the ropes until Kairi catches Billie with a headscissors takedown. She follows that with a dropkick. Peyton comes on the apron and distracts Kairi enough to allow Billie to take advantage of the match. Billie gets Kairi up in a modified Torture Rack and then dumps Kairi face first into the top rope. She goes for a pin but Kairi kicks out. Kairi comes running off the ropes, ducks a clothesline and nails Billie with a spear. A series of chops from Kairi and then sets up Billie for her sliding elbow. She goes for a pin but Billie kicks out. Peyton is back on the apron but Kairi sends her back to the floor. She lays out Billie and goes to the top rope for the Insane elbow drop and it’s a thing of beauty as always.

Winner: Kairi Sane

K-Tank’s Take: I’m still undecided on who I think will win the Fatal 4 Way in Houston. All 4 women could have a case made for them.

We go to William Regal’s office where Kassius Ohno walks in. He says he’s been on a roll since the Itami feud and he wants to throw his name back into the NXT Title picture. There’s a name he has in mind to start that. Regal wants to know who he has in mind. Ohno says he wants Lars Sullivan. He thinks he can be the first one to start to crack Sullivan. Regal says he knows how hard Ohno hits, so he’s got his match. Funny part about this segment is Ohno was randomly wearing an old Cesaro shirt from when he was doing the All American Americans gimmick with Jack Swagger. Of course Ohno and Cesaro were a great tag team during their Ring of Honor days.

K-Tank’s Take: Well, there’s the 5th match for Takeover. Very random, but they’re trying to push Sullivan as a big time heel so I guess this would be a big win for him. I don’t like matches like this just getting thrown on Takeover, but everything is being built around War Games anyways, so I suppose it’s ok to attempt this here. It’s just a shame they announced Gargano vs. Dunne for the UK Title that night, but it won’t be on Takeover. That would be a much better 5th match.

We see a tremendous video package showing the story behind War Games and what it’s like to be in that match. It gave me goosebumps. If you missed the reveal of the rules for this version of WarGames, you can check that out here. Still no confirmation if there will be roofs on the cages. I sure hope so, but this week on the What Happened When podcast, Conrad Thompson said he heard from someone he knows in the company that there will not. That would be a real shame, but I’m going to think positively regarding this match no matter what.

We now go to Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas, who are asked what the strategy is heading into Takeover against Drew McIntyre for the NXT Title. Vega says she didn’t get where she is in life by just giving up her strategies. She said they met Drew face to face like he wanted, but he still wasn’t ready for it. Almas is asked about his relationship with Vega. Vega says he doesn’t have to answer that. She says they have a history but no one knows him like she does. He has no peers and he is head and shoulders above anyone else in NXT. Almas then says something in Spanish and then declares he’ll be the next champion.

The Velveteen Dream vs. Cezar Bononi

Man, they really like using Bononi in these enhancement matches. TVD with a go behind takedown and then follows that with forearm shots. Bononi with a back elbow and then tries to bodyslam TVD, but he hooks the top rope so Bononi can’t take him anywhere. TVD escapes and proceeds to beat down Bononi in the corner. Big spinebuster followed by the cartwheel Death Valley Driver AND IT WINS THE MATCH!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Winner: The Velveteen Dream

Post match, TVD has a mic and says he gave Aleister what he needs. TVD is on his mind now. At War Games, when all the dark turns to light, he will get what he wants finally when Black says his name.

K-Tank’s Take: He listened, he finally listened! The elbow drop had to go and this move is much cooler for him as a finisher. I think this match against Black is going to catch a lot of people by surprise. I love this storyline and really think they’re going to have a heck of a match.

We go back to 3 weeks ago when Ruby Riot was in a qualifying match with Ember Moon and Sonya Deville. Riot was “injured” by Deville’s ankle lock that night and we go to the PC to check on her condition. She is told that she needs one or two weeks more of rest to be healthy. Deville says this could’ve all been avoided if she had tapped out. If she had, she’d be healthy and Deville would be getting her title shot. Riot challenges her to a match when she’s healthy and Deville accepts. Deville says she better heal fast so that she can break the ankle this time.

We now go to The Street Profits who are going to teach us all swag. A random dude in a suit shows up and they said he’s doing great except for one thing and they put one of their party cups in his hand. Then a guy shows up with some custom suits for Tino Sabbatelli. They go to check it out but Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss show up. They say it’s a $5000 suit and they wouldn’t know anything about it. They want the Profits to quit touching their stuff. The Profits challenge Sabbatelli and Moss to a match next week and it is accepted.

Also next week will be Ember Moon vs. Mercedes Martinez and Drew McIntyre and Andrade Almas will finally come face to face.

Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole

12 minutes left in the show as the bell rings. A strong tie up by both men that leads to a clean break in the corner. Roddy with a double leg take down and then starts some chain wrestling. Cole reverses a headlock into a hammerlock but Roddy turns it right back to a headlock. Cole with a headscissors but Roddy kips up outof it. Both men start trading blows until Roddy sends Cole to the ropes and nails him with a dropkick that sends him to the floor. Roddy goes to the apron and jumps off to take out Cole. He sends Cole back in the ring but when he tries to get in, Cole is waiting with a superkick that sends Roddy back to the floor. We go to commercial.

We return with Cole in control and sends Roddy hard into the turnbuckles. Cole nails Roddy with a back elbow and goes for a pin but Roddy kicks out. Cole goes back to the headscissors on the mat but Roddy turns into into a pin for himself to get Cole to break it. Cole gets up and immediately locks on a sleeper hold. Roddy gets out just enough to swing Cole around for a backbreaker. Both men trade blows again. Roddy with a series of chops and then comes off the ropes with a clothesline. Running forearm in the corner and then flips Cole around for a release backbreaker. Cole manages to kick out of a pin. Cole escapes a follow up and lands a jumping enziguri for a two count. Roddy with an enziguri of his own, but Cole escapes a backbreaker and nails Roddy with a superkick. Cole then turns a vertical suplex into a neckbreaker but Roddy somehow kicks out. Roddy with a jumping knee strike and then sets Cole up on the top rope. He then goes for a one winged backbreaker with the top rope doing the damage to Cole. Roddy tries to go for a pin but here comes Fish and O’Reilly that leads to a disqualification.

Winner: Roderick Strong by DQ

Post match, here comes Authors of Pain and Sanity so all 9 men are in the ring and we have a huge brawl break out. Alexander Wolfe does a big dive over the top rope that takes out Fish, O’Reilly, and EY. Everyone brawls on the floor while Roddy and Cole are on the top rope and Roddy ends up superplexing Cole into the pile of bodies below. Everyone is laid out as our show comes to an end.

K-Tank’s Take: They did a great job in this episode making War Games feel important and show why this particular feud needs War Games to confine it. They harped on how violent it can be and how confining it is when teams have the odd man advantage. I really hope this lives up to expectations. I will be there live for this and absolutely cannot wait to see it.

That’s it for this week. Next week is our last show before Takeover and I’ll also have a Takeover preview to go along with it. Until next time, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do… but if you do, name it after me!