WWE NXT Spotlight: 6/15/16 By Kurt Zamora

Welcome one and all to the latest installment of the NXT Spotlight here at TJRWrestling. We are one week removed from a very good Takeover Event. It was The End of the Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe feud and The End for American Alpha’s tag title reign. Tonight’s episode starts a new chapter for the yellow and black, so let’s see what they have in store for us as we begin our march towards Brooklyn.

A recap video of Takeover: The End is shown to start the show. We’ll hear from both Samoa Joe and Finn Balor tonight.

The Authors of Pain (w/Paul Ellering) vs. ???

These two huge monsters took out American Alpha last week after their match with The Revival if you have yet to see that. Not sure i’m sold on their tag name, but they look awesome and Ellering brings instant credibility. Solid entrance for them, a little bit of The Ascension-esque. Both guys just bumrush their opponents and take them out. Graves and Phillips do not give a name for anyone in this match. The Authors of Pain’s names are Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa. I’m sure that won’t be their character names as you don’t want someone named Sunny in The Authors of Pain. For now, I’ll use those names until they tell me otherwise. Dhinsa starts the match officially and clotheslines one guy, tosses him into his partner and destroys that guy too. Now Selmani enters the match and delivers a knee to the face of one of his opponents. The other guy comes into the match and Selmani gets him up for the sidewalk slam and Dhinsa comes in with a big boot. Then they pick him up and give him the Russian Leg Sweep/Lariat combo that we saw last week and it’s over.

Winners: The Authors of Pain

Andrade “Cien” Almas is backstage and is asked what the NXT Universe can expect from him moving forward. He starts to speak in Spanish but Tye Dillinger cuts him off. He calls the interviewer a six, which made me laugh, and then says he’s been the most consistent wrestler in NXT and he feels like righting a wrong tonight so he’s challenging Almas to a match.

A new interviewer, I can’t keep up with all these newbies by the way, catches up with The Authors of Pain and Ellering backstage and she asks them what they’re doing here. Ellering says “In due time”, and they all walk off.

Carmella vs. Tessa Blanchard

Both Carmella and Tessa looking fantastic tonight for those that are wondering. Tessa starts the match with a headlock and Carmella reverses. Carmella to the corner and Tessa charges but gets rolled up. Tessa kicks out but then runs into a hurricanrana in the corner and then a dropkick after that. Carmella then goes back to the headlock but Tessa fights out. Carmella trips her and then does a little moonwalk. Tessa charges her and Carmella goes for a roll up but Tessa rolls through completely and then grabs Carmella by the hair and slams her down. Now she gets an abdominal stretch on Carmella. Carmella dead legs her and gets out but Tessa delivers a knee to the gut. Carmella counters with a superkick though and then Tessa is in position for the Bronco Buster. Carmella then sets up for what she’s now calling The Code of Silence and Tessa has to tap out.

Winner: Carmella

We now go to a post match interview with Samoa Joe from last week. Joe asked what everyone is willing to sacrifice for the NXT Title. He destroyed his brother. He hunted a demon around the world and took the title from him. Now he’s answered all questions on who the undisputed NXT champion is. This night marks the beginning of his era. He is Samoa Joe, he is the NXT Champion, and no one has enough to sacrifice to take the title from him.

Now we’re backstage with Blake & Murphy who are getting back together to take on TM-61 tonight. They are asked if all their issues are resolved now. Murphy tries to pin it on Blake but Blake says it was all Alexa Bliss’ fault. Murphy says they’re ready to get back what’s theirs, the NXT Tag Team Titles.

TM-61 vs. Blake and Murphy

Shane Thorne and Nick Miller make up the new tag team that has arrived to NXT. They had a stellar debut against Gargano and Ciampa a couple weeks ago. They are TMDK from Japan if you’re new to the scene. It’s sometimes, ok all of the time, really hard to believe Blake and Murphy were tag champs at one point. Blake and Thorne start the match and Thorne gets a hammerlock. Both men counter holds until Blake hits a forearm shot. Thorne flips out of a wristlock and then dropkicks Blake in the back of the neck. Murphy comes in and gets a dropkick of his own. Miller now tags in and they pull the wishbone on Blake. Thorne tags back in and Miller hits a back suplex as Thorne hits a pescado back into the ring onto Blake. Thorne gets a headlock and tags back in Miller. Miller gets the headlock trade-off. Blake shoots Miller off and Murphy makes a blind tag. Miller ends up ducking under two leapfrogs and a double clothesline. Blake gets dumped to the outside and TM-61 hit a double team standing moonsault and fist drop on Murphy. Murphy kicks out at one though. Thorne goes to tag Miller but Blake pulls him off the apron and then Murphy tags out Thorne with a lariat. Blake and Murphy then work over Thorne. Blake hits a springboard knee drop and covers Thorne but he kicks out at two. Murphy tags in and hits a face wash punch. Murphy goes to a headlock now. Blake tags in and they go for a double back suplex but Thorne flips out of it. Thorne catches a Murphy kick and sends it into Blake. Then Blake goes for a clothesline but Thorne ducks that as well and Blake ends up clotheslining his own partner. Miller now makes the hot tag and goes to the top and hits a cross body block on Blake. A couple forearm shots and then a clothesline in the corner. He clotheslines Murphy off the apron and then then hits a massive spinebuster on Blake. Thorne tags in and they pick up Murphy in a double Gorilla Press slam and then swing him forward in a big slam and they call that Thunder Valley. That gets the win for TM-61!

Winners: TM-61

We now go to The Revival after their match last week. They talk about how they did exactly what they said they were going to do. They are the first two-time NXT Tag Team Champions. They talk heavy and hit hard.

We see a collection of social media posts talking about Bobby Roode making his official NXT Debut at the Download Festival overseas this past week.

Now we go to a recap of the Bayley/Nia Jax match from a few weeks ago, talking about Bayley’s injury that she suffered that night. Now we go back to the newbie from earlier, Andrea apparently, and she asks Bayley for an update. Bayley says next week she’s going to the doctor for an update and hopefully she gets cleared because she needs to get back her women’s title.

“The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas

Triple H calls Dillinger the most underrated wrestler on the NXT roster immediately after Takeover last week, which is true, but decides to follow that up with another showcase match for Almas. Triple H doesn’t make many mistakes in NXT, but this would be one of them. I digress though. Almas was all right last week but Dillinger is clearly the star here. Dillinger gets a wristlock and Almas gets shot off into the ropes and hits a handspring back elbow. That actually garnered some boos. That’s not good. Almas shows off his agility and then hits a springboard cross body block. Dillinger rolls to the floor and both men trade blows out there. Almas sends Dillinger back in and Dillinger cuts him off as Almas follows in. Now they go back outside real quick and then back in the ring. Dillinger shoots off Almas but he counters with a dropkick. Almas hits another one and Dillinger rolls to the outside. Almas teases a dive to the outside and then does a backflip. Again, boos. Dillinger comes back in and gets hit with a hurricanrana. Dillinger right back to the outside. Almas once again teases a dive but does his Spiderman in the ropes and poses. The crowd does not sound impressed as we go to commercial.

We come back to Almas working over the arm but Dillinger escapes and chops Almas in the corner. Almas gets shot off but counters with a kick and then does a fancy sunset flip. Dillinger kicks out of a pin but gets caught in an armdrag. Almas back to the arm now. Dillinger gets him to the corner and kicks him in the midsection. Almas gets shot off the ropes and Dillinger goes for a drop down but Almas hits a low dropkick to the ribs. Now he hits a backbreaker and covers Almas but Almas kicks out at one. Dillinger now works over Almas on the mat. Back to the corner and now they trade chops but Dillinger cuts Almas off and stomps him down in the corner. Dillinger obviously trying to be an aggressive heel, but guess how that’s working? Almas fires up on Dillinger and then hits a springboard dropkick off the second rope. He hits a spinning heel kick as the boos rain down. Dillinger goes back to the outside and finally Almas goes a dive to the outside taking him out. Now he hits Dillinger with his modified bulldog and sets him up for the double knees in the corner and picks up the win.

Winner: Andrade “Cien” Almas

The Demon Goes Strong Style

The former NXT Champion Finn Balor comes out to discuss what’s next for him now that his quest to defeat Samoa Joe is over. Finn looks taken back by the support he’s still getting from the crowd as he walks down. Big “Thank You Finn” chant starts as he grabs a mic. That’s followed by a “Please Don’t Go” chant. Balor asks where does he start. The very first time he saw NXT, he was home in Ireland and flipped on the TV and saw Enzo & Cass. He then said he wanted to be a part of that. Then he came to NXT and as much as he became a part of NXT, NXT became a part of him. NXT became who he is. He was NXT champion for 292 days. The crowd chants “You deserve it”. Finn says that he went to wars with Neville, Tyler Breeze, Kevin Owens, and Samoa Joe. Yet, here he stands not the champion. The question on everyone’s lips is what is next for Finn Balor? What is next for Finn Balor? The crowd now chants “Balor Club”. Balor gives them a Too Sweet. That was funny. The question still is, what is next for Finn Balor.

With that, the lights go out and here comes the Rockstar himself, Shinsuke Nakamura. The crowd goes nuts and rightfully so as we all wonder what this is gonna lead to. Quick question, what’s cooler, singing along to the Nakamura song or the Sami Zayn song? Discuss among yourselves. Nakamura gets in the ring with a mic and he exchanges a fist pound with Balor as the crowd chants “This is awesome!” Balor and Nakamura exchange each other’s signature poses, which also was funny. Nakamura says when he was in Japan, he watched Finn Balor become the icon of NXT. He knows Balor is not champion anymore, but he is still the icon. If Nakamura wants to be the champion, he’s gotta beat the icon. He has to beat….. Balor. He milked the pointing at Balor. Balor’s demeanor changes completely and he says to Nakamura that he has just answered his question of what’s next. What’s next is Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. Both men shake hands as they face off. That ends our show.

K-Tank’s Final Takes

– Very old school approach to The Authors of Pain. Opponents don’t even get a name, they got in, destroyed, and got out. I’m sure they’re still real green in the ring, but they just have a look that really stands out. Like I said, Ellering brings them instant credibility and he can help them get centered as they learn on the fly. I really look forward to more from these guys, and yes I’m biased.

– Loved what I saw out of TM-61. It’s between them and Ciampa/Gargano to be The Revival’s next challenger, but based on what happened two weeks ago on NXT, Gargano/Ciampa are/should be in line first.

– Would really like to see NXT do more with Tessa Blanchard as I think she can be a real player for this new chapter in the women’s division. Carmella seems really comfortable on her own. She’s improving each time out and it’ll be real interesting to see if they go with her after Bayley gets her sure to be rematch in Brooklyn.

– I just can’t harp on Dillinger anymore. I’ve said it repeatedly. I feel bad for Almas as I think he’s talented, but it’s clear who the crowd wants to see showcased and it’s not him. Hopefully Triple H heard those boos and will adjust accordingly.

– I really thought it’d be Nakamura vs. Joe at Brooklyn, and maybe it still will be, but I could see them holding out on Nakamura vs. Balor until Brooklyn and giving Balor the much deserved send-off like they did Sami Zayn in Dallas. Regardless, this match is going to be absolutely insane.

Nothing was announced for next week, but regardless of what takes place, I’ll be here to cover all the action. So until next time, remember that it pays to be Roode.