WWE NXT Spotlight 6/22/16 by Kurt Zamora

Welcome one and all to the latest and hopefully greatest installment of the NXT Spotlight right here on TJRWrestling. Last week we had the confrontation heard round the world as Shinsuke Nakamura challenged Finn Balor for a match down the road. That is going to be nothing short of amazing. That is the future though and tonight is the present. In the present, we have Bayley returning to action and we have a debut of sorts as the former Biff Busick will be on the show tonight. Let’s get to it!

A recap of the Balor/Nakamura confrontation from last week is shown to start the show.

Oney Lorcan vs. “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger

Lorcan is the aforementioned Busick. He was using his real name, Chris Girard, previously but now has a new name. He didn’t get an entrance though so maybe that means good news for Dillinger. What kinda name is Oney Lorcan anyways? Was Kassius Ohno already taken? Lorcan starts on the offense to begin with. Dillinger hits a shoulder tackle and deems it a 10. The announcers are making a point to say Dillinger is having a rough go of it as of late. I don’t like where this is going. Lorcan hits a couple shoulder tackles of his own and deem them a 10, to which the crowd does not like at all. Lorcan with a hiptoss and a pin, Dillinger kicks out at two. Dillinger charges Lorcan in the corner twice and misses. Lorcan counters a lot of what Dillinger is trying to do. Dillinger is on his knees and Lorcan hits a running European Uppercut that sends Dillinger to the outside. Dillinger regroups and then comes back in with a running knee to the back of Lorcan and sends him into the turnbuckles. He hits a couple chops and then whips him to the other corner where Lorcan takes a hard fall. Dillinger knee rakes the face of Lorcan and now has the advantage. Dillinger hits a series of short arm clothesline, never letting go of the leverage arm. Lorcan counters back with a lariat and the crowd voices their displeasure. Dillinger in the corner and Lorcan hits two corner to corner running back elbows but when he goes for a third, Dillinger drops him with a superkick. Pin attempt but Lorcan kicks out. Dillinger goes to the corner and starts the 10-count punches but he gets pushed off and then Lorcan comes out of the corner with a running blockbuster neckbreaker. He rolls up Dillinger and picks up the win! I swear they’re just messing with me at this point.

Winner: Oney Lorcan

The crowd is unhappy as Dillinger looks on from the rampway in disbelief. Corey Graves says that Dillinger has fallen from a 10 to a 5 now.

Cathy is now backstage with Austin Aries who is asked about his match with Shinsuke Nakamura. What’s next for Austin Aries? Aries says look at Muhammad Ali, he didn’t win every round. Nakamura at Takeover, while Aries was banged up and Nakamura had the home field advantage, Nakamura was better for three seconds. That’s just added fuel to his fire and made him more focused to become NXT Champion. Everyone in the locker room needs to understand… No Way Jose cuts him off and says he learned a lot from Aries at Takeover, but maybe Aries can learn something from him. He doesn’t want Aries to be down in the dumps, he needs to be positive. When the world says no, say No Way!

A recap of the Nia Jax/Bayley match from last month is shown. We then go to Bayley outside of Full Sail and she says that she got the news she’s been waiting on, she will return to the ring tonight.

No Way Jose vs. Josh Woods

Jose counters Woods at the beginning, hits a leapfrog and then a hiptoss. Woods grabs Jose by the hair and slams him to the mat. Woods has some sort of MMA thing going, so he mounts Jose and hits some elbow strikes. Jose fights out of a headlock and hits a couple jabs followed by an atomic drop. He then hits Woods with the Fastball Punch with the Full Nelson Slam right after that and gets the win.

Winner: No Way Jose

Post match, Jose dances in the ring and then Austin Aries music hits. Aries comes out and says in this industry, you’re not defined by your victories. The crowd chants Aries sucks. Aries says you’re defined by your defeats. At Takeover: The End, even though he was hurt, he was defeated. Aries says his loss to Nakamura has weighed on him. Aries referenced the promo from backstage and asks what could Aries learn from Jose? Jose reminded him of something he forgot. Despite the titles and main events, everything they do in NXT, it’s all about having fun. Aries thanks Jose for reminding him of that and who he is and who he needs to be. Aries offers his hand in a handshake and Jose shakes it. Aries goes to leave but Jose stops him and wants him to dance. Aries is talked into it and goes full dance with Jose, which is actually quite funny to see. As they make their way to the top of the ramp and the announce table again, Aries tells Jose they gotta get the announcers again. Aries and Jose start to dance on top of the announce table and Aries does a spin move that turns into a Roaring Elbow. Jose is knocked to the floor and Aries jumps on him and the attack is on. Aries acts like he’s going to leave but then comes back and locks on Last Chancery on the ramp. Aries tells the crowd that they did this as he finally leaves.

We now go to earlier in the day where William Regal is with Shinsuke Nakamura. Regal says Balor came to him after last week’s show and told Regal to make the match happen. So in three weeks on NXT, it will be Balor vs. Nakamura. Nakamura is happy he gets to go against The Icon. All of the sudden, Murphy shows up and demands to be taken seriously as a singles competitor now. Nakamura tells Murphy he will get him tonight. Regal tells Murphy to be careful for what you wish for.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Bayley

Bayley gets a hero’s welcome as she makes her return. Izzy has a sign that says “Hey, we want some Bayley!” Um… Does she even know what song that’s a take of? Awkward. Both women trade leapfrogs and counter hiptosses. Purrazzo gets a rollup and Bayley kicks out quick. Bayley hits a springboard armdrag and then a bodyslam on Purrazzo. Bayley gets Purrazzo on the apron and gets her in between the ropes and hits a Twist of Fate. Purrazzo is in the corner and moves out a charging Bayley’s way. Purrazzo hits a big knee lift and Russian leg sweep, but Bayley kicks out. Purrazzo snap mares Bayley and then hits a straight kick to the face as Bayley is seated. Purrazzo rams Bayley’s head into the turnbuckles, but Bayley “hulks up” and comes off the second rope with a back elbow. He then sets up for the Bayley to Bayley and connects for the win.

Winner: Bayley

Carmella is backstage with Andrea and is asked if her win last weeks gets her closer to becoming NXT Women’s Champion. Carmella says not only does she want to be the champ, she wants to be the face of the division now. Alexa Bliss comes out and interrupts Carmella. Alexa mocks Carmella for wanting to be the next champion because without Enzo and Cass, no one knows who she is. Carmella says at least her men went to bigger things where as Blake and Murphy were pathetic. Alexa says she left her men because she was the star. Carmella was just an accessory though. Alexa says she deserves to be the next champion. She was never pinned in the triple threat match they had with Nia Jax. Carmella agrees Alexa was the star but as it concerns the NXT Women’s Title, it’s going to be hers and she dares Alexa to do something about it.

A Samoa Joe vignette is shown.

A video package from the Takeover: The End Women’s Title match between Asuka and Nia Jax is shown.

An Authors of Pain vignette is shown. We’re then told that American Alpha will return next week.

Quick Plug: I was on again with the guys from Main Event Madness this week and hope you will check out the show. We had some great discussion about the fallout from the Roman Reigns suspension and what WWE should do once it ends. You can check us out on our new home at Blog Talk Radio and also I know John has been posting them here at TJRWrestling as well.

Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan

I’m pretty sure Liv is my least favorite thing on NXT. She’s like the really annoying version of Carmella in my opinion. Nia destroying her will make me happy. Liv tries a headlock and gets planted face first instead. Nia hits a couple elbow drops to the back of Liv. Nia just toys with Liv but Liv tries to fire back and it does not work out for her. Nia hooks on a Cobra Clutch of sorts. Liv tries a back elbow but Nia gets her up in a bodyslam. Liv rolls out and then hits a headscissors that sends Nia to the turnbuckle. Liv leaps over Nia from the top rope and hits a couple dropkicks but Nia bumrushes her with an avalanche splash. Nia absolutely plants Liv with a powerbomb and that’s it.

Winner: Nia Jax

Next week it’ll be Carmella vs. Alexa Bliss. Something for you to look forward to Jeff.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Buddy Murphy

Once again, Murphy lost a partner but gained a first name. Why they keep wasting Nakamura appearances on matches like this is beyond me. It’s another Dillinger situation for me though, so no need to keep harping on it. I’ll give it to Nakamura though, no matter how many times he appears at a taping, he gets a rockstar reaction everytime. Nakamura kicks Murphy right in the thigh to start things off. They do a test of strength but Nakamura decides to kick Murphy in the head instead. Murphy doesn’t give a clean break after a tie up and gets an armbar. Nakamura counters it like only he can and turns it into a headlock. Nakamura does his head in the stomach mocking and Murphy shoves him. That doesn’t go over well as Nakamura takes over. Murphy is in the corner and gets Good Vibrations twice. Nakamura talks to the ref and Murphy sees an opening to pull him into the turnbuckle. Murphy stomps Nakamura in the corner and then hits his face wash punch. He goes for a trio of pins, but Nakamura kicks out. Murphy hits some forearm shots, but Nakamura is unphased. Nakamura blocks a suplex and hit hits a right hand you wouldn’t believe. Nakamura then hits a series of kicks, followed by knee strikes in the corner. He hits his running knee into the ribs followed by the reverse exploder suplex. KINSHASA!! That’s the match.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura celebrates post match. That’s our show.

K-Tank’s Final Takes

– I’m officially over the squash matches. NXT has mastered the art of vignettes and video packages. Instead of trying to cram five matches into a show, just use those features to showcase talent and give us two or three really good matches instead. It wouldn’t be hard.

– Case in point, Nia Jax. A squash match victory does nothing for her anymore. We get that she can dominate lesser opponents. However, she’s 0-2 in title chance matches thus far. She needs more high profile matches to get her over the top. What happened to the partnership with her and Eva Marie? That was working.

– The Austin Aries turn on No Way Jose, although predictable from a mile away, was highly entertaining to watch. Aries went all in on the dancing, which really sold the turn. Hopefully Jose can hang with Aries cause this could be quite a fun storyline.

Next week as I stated, we have American Alpha returning, plus a big match in the women’s division. I’ll be here to cover it all, so until next time, Be a Hugger.