WWE NXT Spotlight: Roode vs. Strong for NXT Title (7/5/17) By Kurt Zamora
Welcome one and all to another installment of the NXT Spotlight here at TJRWrestling. For all my American fans, I hope you had a great 4th of July. For everyone else, well I hope you had a great random Wednesday. This week we have a huge main event as Roderick Strong finally gets his shot at Bobby Roode for the NXT Title. Also, Hideo Itami and Kassius Ohno will team up against Sanity. Should be another great show, so let’s get to it!
The show starts with footage of Strong and his family coming into Full Sail University.
Kassius Ohno and Hideo Itami vs. Sanity
Sanity is Wolfe and Dain as EY is still not with the group. Itami’s nose and chest still showing the scars of his battle with Oney Lorcan last week. Of course this was taped in the same night so it would’ve been hard to hide those for this match. Wolfe and Ohno to start the match. Ohno gets Wolfe into a corner but Wolfe gets a cheap shot in. Ohno catches a kick from Wolfe and drops him with a knee lift. Itami tags in and now they double team Wolfe in their corner with some stiff kicks and boots to the head. Itami with a knee drop and then swipes his boot across Wolfe’s face. Itami comes off the second rope with his Tornado DDT over the top rope but Dain distracts Itami enough for Wolfe to recover and drop Itami neck first over the top rope himself. Dain now tags in and beats down Itami in the corner as we go to commercial.
We return with Wolfe kicking Itami on the mat. He goes for a cover but Itami kicks out. Dain now tags back in and splashes Itami in the corner. Another big splash, this time while Itami is on the mat, and he goes for a pin. Itami kicks out. Dain works over Itami’s neck but Itami escapes and kicks Dain down to his knees. Itami goes for a tag but Ohno is distracted by Wolfe and isn’t in his corner. Dain splashes Itami in the corner again. Another pin and another kickout. Wolfe tags in but Itami is waiting on him with a couple clotheslines. Itami runs Wolfe into Dain, which knocks him off the apron. Itami suplexes Wolfe. Ohno now wants a tag but Itami just stares at him and refuses to do so. Falcon Arrow on Wolfe but Dain comes in to break up the pin. Ohno clears Dain out of the ring and then wants to know why Itami wouldn’t tag him. Wolfe hits a bicycle kick on Ohno that takes him out of the ring but now Itami hits a big boot on Wolfe. Itami hits the GTS on Wolfe but he didn’t see the blind tag that Dain made so Dain comes in with his running cross body and obliterates Itami with it and picks up the win.
Winners: Sanity
K-Tank’s Take: Good tag match with solid story telling between Ohno and Itami. Ultimately Itami is going to turn heel on Ohno, which I think will be really good for him right now. I would pencil a match between the two of them in for Brooklyn.
We go to “earlier today” where there is media wanting to talk to Ember Moon inside the Performance Center. She says she’s ready for a title shot against Asuka now. Ruby Riot interrupts and says that she overheard Ember and she’s already had her shot. Nikki has already had her shot. It’s Ruby’s turn and that’s what she’s working out for. Ruby leaves and Ember says that Asuka and the title is the goal but if anyone wants to get her in way before that, she’s ready.
We get a recap of last week’s amazing Last Woman Standing match between Asuka and Nikki Cross. Seriously, if you haven’t seen this yet, go find it. Asuka sent a tweet from a beach that says she’ll return to NXT when they find her a worthy opponent.
We get a video package for Drew McIntyre that has been shown before in previous weeks. We then go backstage to him who is asked about tonight’s title match. He says it’ll be a fantastic match but the next time we talk about the title, it won’t be someone else’s title match. It’ll be his. When you look back at all the NXT Champions, you look at them and say, “that’s the guy who needs to lead this industry.” He wants to add his name to that liniage. He is then asked about the other people who feel they deserve a title shot, such as the undefeated Killian Dain. Drew says it doesn’t matter who it is, he said he’s coming for that title and nothing has changed.
We go to a recap of the breakup of DIY, this time narrarated by Mauro Renallo. We find out that next week, Johnny Gargano will finally return to NXT.
K-Tank’s Take: It’s great to see Gargano coming back, but for those getting ready for that feud with Ciampa, keep waiting. As reported here at TJRWrestling, Ciampa is not coming back until WrestleMania season it looks like. A really unfortunate turn of events for a storyline that was probably going to be the best of the year.
We go back to the Performance Center “earlier today” with Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. They say they feel disrespected and hurt. It was Billie’s birthday recently and Peyton was the only one that celebrated it. As they’re talking, Andrade Almas and a woman are arguing. She storms off and Almas doesn’t want to talk about her or us. The woman is the newly signed Thea Trinidad.
We see footage of a Mae Young Qualifier match between Aliyah and Bianca BelAir. Bianca picked up the win and gets a spot in the tournament later this summer.
We get a really good video package hyping up the main event coming up next between Roddy and Roode.
Now we go backstage to Roddy on his way to the ring. He’s asked what’s on his mind as he heads out. Victory he says. Bobby is asked what his thoughts are on Roddy before he heads out. He says that Roddy has been living a fantasy of late. Tonight, he stands across the ring from his reality. That reality is GLORIOUS.
NXT Title Match
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Roderick Strong
23 minutes left in the show after the big match introductions are made. Roddy’s mom and fiance are shown front row for this match. Both men tie up and Roddy forces Roode to the corner but Roode gets a clean break. They tie up again and this time Roode locks on a side headlock. He does a waistlock takedown and then embarrasses Roddy with some smacks to the back of the head. He deems it GLORI… Roddy nails him with a leg lariat before he can finish. He chops Roode in the corner and then dropkicks him out of the ring. Roddy follows him to the outside and doesn’t give him a breather. He throws Roode back in the ring but Roode is able to stomp on Roddy when he gets in. Roode leapfrogs Roddy but Roddy stops in his tracks and nails Roode with a one armed backbreaker. Roode goes to the outside again to attempt to regroup and we go to commercial.
We return with Roddy hitting another backbreaker on Roode and going for a pin but Roode kicks out. Strong beats down Roode in the corner until the ref breaks it up. That gives Roode an opening and he comes off the second rope with a Blockbuster. Roode goes for a suplex but Roddy blocks it twice and then turns it into yet another variation of the backbreaker. Roode once again to the outside but this time Roddy comes with a wrecking ball dropkick. Roode goes tumbling up the rampway. Roddy comes after him with chops. Roddy ends up on top of the steel steps, but Roode swipes one of the legs and Roddy’s other leg gets trapped between the stairs and turnpost. Roddy kicks the stairs in to Roddy’s knee and now that has become Roode’s point of attack. That was a really creative spot to start working over the knee. Roode is relentless on the knee attack. He tries to trash talk Roddy eventually and Roddy gets a couple shots in, but can’t unleash a full attack. Roode goes for a kneebreaker but Roddy turns it into a sunset flip. Roode manages to kick out and once again takes out the knee as we go to commercial.
We return to Roode still strongly in control, working over the hurt leg while Roddy is on the mat. Roddy finally just delivers a straight kick to Roode’s face and gives himself a few seconds to regroup. Roode tries to charge Roddy but Roddy pulls him into the turnbuckles. Both men trade punches as Roddy struggles to get to his feet. Roddy finally comes off the ropes and hits a clotheslines. He follows that up with a big boot, enziguri, and Angle Slam. Roddy charges Roode in the corner but is caught with a big boot. Roode tries to come off the second rope but is caught in mid air and dropped with a backbreaker. Roddy with a pin but Roode kicks out. Roode once again chop blocks that hurt knee and goes back on the attack. Roddy gets a roll up but Roode kicks out again. Both men get up and Roddy walks right into a textbook spinebuster. He manages to kick out of a pin though. Roode wants the GLORIOUS DDT but Roddy reverses it into a gutbuster. He goes for a pin, Roode once again kicks out. That was a good near fall. Roode back out on the floor and grabs Roddy’s leg and manages to wrap it hard around the turnpost. Roode tries to go to the top rope but Roddy comes back with an enziguri. Roddy goes up top himself and uses the top turnbuckle to hit a backbreaker on Roode. Roode falls to the floor so Roddy has to go get him and bring him back in and that allows Roode to kick out of a pin attempt. Roddy goes for a suplex but Roode blocks it. Both men trading blows and Roddy goes for a jumping knee strike but Roode moves. Roddy turns around and is caught in the GLORIOUS DDT! 1-2-No! Roddy kicked out. Great near fall. The crowd came alive with that one. Roode starts trash talking Roddy’s family at ringside and lets everyone know that he’s the champ. Roddy catches him with a jumping knee strike out of nowhere and then a knee strike in the corner. He then front slams Roode and the crowd comes to his feet as he hits his suplex into a backbreaker. He goes for a pin and gets the 3 count! Roddy starts to celebrate as his music hits, but the ref is waiving off the pin immediately. Roode’s foot was under the bottom rope and the ref saw it after he hit three. He’s reserving the decision. Roddy is hugging his wife but the ref is telling him the match must continue. Roddy gets on the apron and Roode knocks him off into the guardrail. They are right in front of Roddy’s family and Roode hits a GLORIOUS DDT on the floor! Roddy’s wife calls Roode a cheater as he rolls Roddy back into the ring and another GLORIOUS DDT and he gets a three count and this one will stand.
Winner: Still NXT Champion, Bobby Roode
Post match, Roode celebrates and blows a kiss to Roddy’s family. Roddy rolls out of the ring and hugs his family as the crowd is giving him a standing ovation and chanting his name. That ends our show.
K-Tank’s Take: That was a solid match with great psychology on Roode working over that knee relentlessly. I don’t know how I feel about the finish of the match. That crowd CLEARLY wanted Roddy to win the title. They were ready for it. So that says that all the work to build Roddy up has worked. Was the fact that he got a 3 count even with Roode’s foot under the rope, enough to warrant a rematch? I’d really like to hope so. It would be tough for Roddy to rebound after all this effort put into him and that was it. Obviously Drew McIntyre is in line for a title shot next, but could we perhaps get a Triple Threat match in Brooklyn? I would not be opposed to it. I think Roddy deserves to be champ, but when you look at the fact that he doesn’t even have a t-shirt yet on WWEShop, it makes you wonder just how much are they actually investing in him? Time will tell.
That’s it for this week. Next week will be Johnny Gargano’s return and also Heavy Machinery gets their Tag Title match against The Authors of Pain. That match wasn’t mentioned once tonight, so I don’t like Heavy Machinery’s chances, but I digress. So until next time, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do… but if you do, name it after me!