WWE NXT Spotlight 05/11/16 by Kurt Zamora

Welcome one and all to the latest and greatest installment of The NXT Spotlight here at TJRWrestling. I am your master of ceremonies as per the usual and tonight we have a big show planned as both Shinsuke Nakamura and the now former NXT Champion Finn Balor are both in action. This will be Balor’s first appearance since losing the title to Samoa Joe. Let’s get it underway!

The really cool Finn Balor vignette from last week is shown to kick off the show.

The Balor Club Is In Session

A very subdued Finn Balor makes his way to the ring. No playing to the crowd and no theatrics. As soon as he grabs the mic, a “Thank you Finn” chant starts. Finn says it should be him thanking the crowd. First though, he needs to address the elephant in the room. Samoa Joe is the NXT Champion. He and Joe has been at war for a long time. London could’ve gone either way, but Finn won. Dallas, the same thing. In Lowell, that match could’ve gone either way… and now Finn is cut off by probably the worst person possible, Elias Samson. He comes out strumming his guitar and the heat he gets makes Eva Marie look like a babyface. He starts to sing a song that he says he wrote for Finn, but I can’t hear the lyrics over the crowd booing him. Finn is not happy at all as Elias steps into the ring, still singing. Elias stops singing to tell Finn that he’s nothing without the title. Finn then hits a Pele kick out of nowhere, which sends Elias to the floor. Finn then chunks Elias’ guitar at him and stares a hole through him as Elias retreats.

A recap of Eric Young’s debut from last week is shown. What’s interesting, and I missed this on Twitter, is they show a bunch of tweets on the screen and one of them is an exchange with The Rock, and The Rock replied, “Ha brother, I already hit Koskey last night about you and Roode. Very happy for you both. KILL IT!!” So take that for what it’s worth. EY is now shown backstage after his match last week and he is asked what we can expect from him in NXT. EY says you always want to prove yourself against the best and strive to be the best. There’s no doubt in his mind that the best is in NXT. Now he’s here to prove he belongs. The cream always rises to the top. You’re looking at a world class man, professional wrestler, athlete, and maniac. He’ll prove that time and time again. He’s asked what it means to finally get to this point. EY says this is everything. This is where he’s always wanted to be. He’s going to prove he belongs here.

Finn Balor is caught up with backstage and is asked about what message he was going to have for Samoa Joe before Elias Samson interrupted him. Finn says he’ll tell Joe what he has to say after he gets done kicking Elias Samson’s ass.

American Alpha vs. Corey Hollis and John Skylar

Great reaction for the champs as they arrive to Full Sail for the first time with the belts. A huge “You deserve it” chant breaks out as the bell rings. Gable and Skylar start the match and Gable as usual shows off his athleticism and ability as he toys with Skylar. He goes for a roll up after all the messing around and Hollis comes into the ring and gets a Judo throw for his troubles. Gable goes to work on the arm of Skylar and Gable backs him up to get Jordan a tag and Jordan promptly comes in and delivers one of his textbook dropkicks. Skylar retreats and tags in Hollis. Hollis comes in and is immediately hoisted up and tossed like a ragdoll to the mat. Jordan now hooks a front face lock and then gets Hollis into their corner and tags back in Gable. The champs continue to have their way as they make another quick tag and Jordan is back in. Hollis tries to punch Jordan to escape but that does not work. Alpha do a double team roll off Hollis and then knock Skylar off the apron. They go back and give Hollis a double hip toss. Skylar back in and he gets a double dropkick. Gable and Hollis are legal but Skylar pulls Gable’s hair from the apron and now the challengers finally have the advantage.They beat down Gable in their corner with multiple quick tags. Hollis hits a knee drop followed by a Skylar snap legdrop. Skylar gets a headlock on Gable but Gable turns it into an overhead belly to belly and then tags in Jordan. Jordan comes in and suplexes everyone out of their boots. Jordan goes to set up Hollis for the spear in the corner but The Revival show up to watch on the ramp. The champs are distracted for a minute but Jordan pulls the straps down and spears Hollis anyways, which leads to the toss back suplex with the bridge and the champs pick up the win.

Winners: American Alpha

Post match, American Alpha lay the belts down in front of them, daring The Revival to come after them. Dash and Dawson say its not time yet and stay out of the ring.

Shinsuke Nakamura is backstage and is asked what he thinks Alex Riley meant when he said it was time to Rage last week. Nakamura says, “Rage?” and shakes like only he can as he walks off camera.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Alex Riley

If you guys will bare with me, this is a sad moment for me. The last time I’ll be able to hear and say, SAY IT TO MY FACE! Ok, I’m composed now. This is Nakamura’s first appearance at Full Sail and he gets a rock star reaction. The entrance looks great here, much better than his two appearances on the Axxess tapings. I guess there are worse ways for Riley to leave the company than to face Nakamura in your last match. Both men tie up and Riley backs him into the corner and then pie faces him. They tie up again and Nakamura gets Riley against the ropes and teases him as they release. Nakamura throws him to the outside and then tells him to come get some. Nakamura hits a knee to the gut and then goes for a knee drop, but Riley moves. Riley follows up with a couple chops and then a dropkick. Now Riley just slaps the back of Nakamura’s head repeatedly and then another chop. He mocks Nakamura and now Nakamura is fired up. He is landing knees and kicks all over the place. A couple forearm shots and another knee to the gut follow. Nakamura lifts him stomach first onto the top rope and drives that running knee into the ribs. He then hits a reverse exploder suplex and it’s time for the Kinshasa!

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Austin Aries is now back in William Regal’s office. Austin says he hasn’t come to NXT to be just another guy. He’s an impact player, he’s a difference maker. Before he can finish his statement, Blake and Murphy interrupt and tell Regal they’re tired of being disrespected and just want one more title shot. Aries tells them that they’re the disrespectful ones for coming in the office interrupting him and didn’t even bring Alexa with them. They then produce Alexa and Aries says that makes this a little more tolerable. The three men argue back and forth until Regal cuts them off and says that next week it’ll be BAMF vs. Austin Aries and a partner of his choice. BAMF walks off and Aries says he doesn’t really need a partner but he’ll make a phone call.

Alexa Bliss vs. Rachel Ellering

Rachel is the daughter of the greatness known as Paul Ellering. Sorry Jeff, I’m pulling for the upset now. Both women tie up and Alexa gets the advantage at first but Rachel kips up and reverses the hold. Alexa reverses it right back and sends Rachel to the mat and then goes for a short arm scissor. Rachel gets out and gets a headlock. Alexa slams her back to the mat though and then starts to taunt Rachel. Rachel sneaks in a pin attempt and Alexa kicks out. Alexa hits an elbow shot and then goes right back on the attack. Alexa grabs the right arm of Rachel and stomps on the shoulder. Now she grabs an armbar. Alexa drops the knee on the arm and then goes for a pin, but Rachel kicks out. Alexa goes back to the arm, but Rachel fights out and sends Alexa into the ropes. A couple right hands and a dropkick follow. Rachel gets Alexa up in a fireman’s carry but Alexa fights out. Alexa goes for a reverse sunset flip but Rachel avoids it. Rachel then runs right into what looks to be a chokeslam, which Alexa turns into a STO. Alexa goes to the top and hits her Sparkle Splash for the win.

Winner: Alexa Bliss

Bayley is backstage now and is asked when is she going to ask Asuka for her rematch for the NXT Women’s Title. Bayley says she’s been training, she’s feeling better and… Nia Jax now interrupts. Nia says the difference between them is that when Nia made a mistake, she got stronger. When Bayley got choked out by Asuka, she got weaker. Bayley says she remembers London and she remembers that she won that match. Nia says that’s tough talk for someone that knows if they faced off again, it’d be a different result. Bayley says if she choked out Nia before, she can do it again.

Elias Samson vs. Finn Balor

For what it’s worth, Balor comes out wearing kinetic tape on his shoulder and a sleeve on his elbow, things that he typically doesn’t wear. Samson gets a wristlock to start the match and sends Balor to the mat but Balor reverses it into a pin attempt and then after Elias kicks out, gets a hammerlock. Elias escapes but Balor hits a seated dropkick that sends Elias to the floor and we go to commercial.

We come back to Balor with an armbreaker on Elias. Elias gets Balor to the ropes and doesn’t give a clean break. Elias starts to stomp Finn and hits a couple elbow drops. Finn kicks out of a pin but Elias stays on the offense. He hits a back elbow and a snap suplex, but Finn kicks out again. Elias goes back to the arm of Finn as he tries to fight out. Finn gets sent to the ropes and comes back with a forearm shot of his own. Now he whips Elias from corner to corner with a series of chops. Now he clotheslines Elias over the top rope and then hits a dropkick through the ropes. Elias gets up as Finn is on the apron and delivers a running kick. Finn gets him back in the ring and hits the Sling Blade. He hits the shotgun dropkick after that and then sets up for Bloody Sunday, which he is officially calling in NXT, 1916. Which is named after the year of the Irish Uprising. That does it for The Drifter.

Winner: Finn Balor

Post match, Finn grabs a mic to finish his statement from earlier. Samoa Joe beat him, no excuses. He’s not taking anything away from Joe… yet. Because he wants his rematch. Anyone that knows who Finn is, knows that he’s obsessed with NXT and with being the NXT Champion. Now, he’s possessed, like a Demon stalking his prey. Stalking what belongs to him. Cue the new champ’s music and here comes Samoa Joe. Joe comes out ready for a fight as he yells at Finn from the rampway. William Regal shows up out of nowhere and gets in between the two before it breaks down. Regal says it will not turn into chaos tonight, but what he will announce is June 8th at the next Takeover event in Full Sail, Finn Balor will get his rematch against Samoa Joe for the title. Joe yells that Finn doesn’t deserve it and that he is the champ. Finn takes matters into his own hand and while Regal isn’t looking, Finn dives over him and the top rope and takes out Joe on the rampway with a suicide somersault. Finn grabs the belt and raises it high over the fallen Joe. Regal looks on in anger as Finn walks up the ramp. That ends our show.

K-Tank’s Final Takes

– Bare with me as I go on a slight tangent here, but while everyone was in an uproar about Damien Sandow getting released (rightfully so), the one that bugged me the most was Alex Riley. That’s a guy who really didn’t get a fair shake at all. He was hot after he made his babyface turn on The Miz and really had everything. Size, mic skills, charisma, and athleticism. However, just because he didn’t want to go drink on John Cena’s tour bus, his push was immediately snuffed out. It’s a real shame cause I really like what A-Ry brought to the table.

– I’d be interested to know what a lot of you think, but to me, NXT is already bordering on overexposing Nakamura. Is that possible? I just think it’s a little much to already have had him on the show three times since debuting just over a month ago.

– I really hope American Alpha and The Revival have a long drawn out program and becomes this generation’s Rock-N-Roll Express vs. Midnight Express.

– This will be the third straight Takeover main evented by Joe and Balor. Nothing wrong with that as they have had two great battles. I would however expect a stipulation or gimmick of some sort added to this match.

Next week we’ll find out who Austin Aries picked as his mystery partner and it was announced that Bayley and Nia Jax will have their Takeover: London rematch next week as well. Should be a great show, so come join me for all the action. Until next time, Always be Ready, Willing, & Gable.