WWE NXT Spotlight: 8/3/16 by Kurt Zamora

Hello and welcome one and all to the latest installment of the NXT Spotlight right here at TJRWrestling. I am your host once again and after a semi-lackluster show last week with no real development beyond the announcement that Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakaura will headline Takeover: Brooklyn II, this week we have a huge debut and a huge return in store for us tonight. NXT clearly needs new stars after the purge that the main roster had, and tonight we get two big ones. Let’s get to it!

Hideo Itami vs. Sean Maluta

I missed Hideo’s theme. He has one of the best in WWE. Massive ovation for him. It’s been a loooong year for him. Same ring gear as always for him, sporting a full sleeve on his left arm. Maluta comes from the CWC, and they even show Zack Sabre Jr., Tony Nese, & Drew Gulak in the front row watching this match. Hideo starts with a headlock after the tie-up. Maluta shoots him off but Hideo gets a shoulder tackle. Hideo ends up running into a chop from Maluta but then it’s Maluta that runs right into a knee in the midsection. Hideo snapmares Maluta and kicks him square in the spine. Hideo pulls down his knee pad and fakes a knee drop and ends up just sweeping a kick back into Maluta’s face. Maluta goes into the corner, but plays possum and pulls Hideo into the corner. Maluta is sent into the opposite corner and hits a charging Hideo with double boots. Then he bounces to the second rope and comes off with a Codebreaker. Hideo kicks out but Maluta stays on the offense. He kicks Hideo in the spine and then gets a bodyscissors. They showed a closeup of Hideo’s shoulder and he had a gnarly scar there. Maluta starts to kick Hideo into the chest, but Hideo fires up. Hideo hits a couple clotheslines and then gets a dragonscrew leg whip. He comes into the corner with a version of the Helluva Kick. He picks up Maluta and hits a series of kicks and backfists. Maluta is sitting in the corner and Hideo comes in with a hesitation dropkick. Hideo sets up for and then comes charging with his high running knee and that’s the match.

Winner: Hideo Itami

Tom Phillips and Corey Graves are still your announcers for anyone that is curious. Not sure when or if the move to Raw for Graves will have any effect on his NXT duties.

We are shown video from two weeks ago when The Authors of Pain took out American Alpha.

The Revival are backstage with Andrea now. They are asked if there is any pressure on The Revival right now. Both members say there is no pressure whatsoever. They are the best on the planet. TM61 interrupt them though and say they’ve worked to be the best in the world themselves. So how about The Revival challenge themselves and take on TM61 for the belts? The Revival say they need to go to the back of the line. Then here comes Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano says they have the ticket that says #1 and they should get the next title shot. Ciampa says it doesn’t matter what their ticket says, it’s up to the champs if they actually want to face them. Gargano asks if the top guys are afraid to face them. Dawson says they’re fair, squared, modest, and honest. They just happened to tell TM61 though that they can get a shot at the titles, so the four challengers need to talk among themselves. The champs excuse themselves while the challenges discuss things.

Mojo Rawley vs. Chris Atkins

Mojo hits Atkins with The Pounce and then goes for a pin. The ref is about to count to three until Samoa Joe comes out and destroys both men and throws them out of the ring. Joe gets a mic and calls out William Regal. He says Regal doesn’t feel the need to consult Joe on his challengers, so he doesnt feel a need to consult Regal when he wants to rampage through everyone on the show. At Takeover, he will destroy Nakamura. Then Mojo comes from behind Joe and ambushes him. The refs come in the ring and get Mojo to leave the ring. Joe however isn’t done yet and attacks Mojo on the ramp and then locks on the Coquina Clutch and leaves Mojo out cold.

Winner: No Contest

Bayley is backstage with Andrea now and talks about how he’s not the same person she was when she lost her NXT Women’s Title in Dallas. She’s been pushed ever since then and now it’s a preparation thing. She’s watched all of Asuka’s matches and seen all her moves and she’s ready. Asuka interrupts and says if Bayley is ready, then come watch her.

Plug Time/Breaking News: It is with great joy that I can announce that coming soon, every Monday here at TJRWrestling.net, I will be hosting my own Podcast called “The Match Beyond”. A little tip of the cap to my all time favorite match, WarGames. I’m really excited for this opportunity. I’m going to have a lot of talk about NXT, some random insights on the week that was as you prepare for Raw that day, and most importantly, I have some unique guests lined up. In fact, my first guest will be a former WWE and Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion. I’ll have more details soon. I hope you’ll all join me. Big thanks to Melo Man for the banner.

Asuka vs. Aliyah

Bayley comes out to join the commentators at the table for this match. The reaction Aliyah got, you would’ve thought Eva Marie was coming out. Asuka comes out and before the match starts, grabs a chair from ringside and places it right in front of the ring and basically dares Bayley to watch the match from there. Bayley takes her up on it but tosses the chair out of the way and decides to stand. Asuka starts the match with a mean streak and kicks Aliyah multiple times. Aliyah tries to fight back, but Asuka comes at her with her Rear View. Now she stomps Aliyah and knees her in the head. Multiple kicks to Aliyah and now ties Aliyah up in the ropes in front of Bayley and wrenches the arm while staring at Bayley. Another Rear View after that while Aliyah is still tied up in the ropes. Aliyah goes to the corner and tries to come off the second rope but gets get caught flush with a kick. Asuka goes for a nonchalant pin but pulls up Aliyah at two, not being done with her. Asuka continues the onslaught until she decides to hook the Asuka Lock and Aliyah has to tap out.

Winner: Asuka

Asuka refuses to release the hold after the match and Bayley enters the ring to get her to stop. Asuka lets go, but acts like she didn’t do anything wrong as she stares at Bayley.

We get a recap of last month when Oney Lorcan upset Tye Dillinger. We go to a post match interview from then with Lorcan and says he doesn’t think the win was an upset, just a win. The competition is strong in NXT. That means he has to get better. So he has to go back to where he started. If he wants to hang in NXT, he’s got to go back to his roots.

A vignette similar to last week is show, but this week we find out it’s for Ember Moon who will debut on 8/20. I know Ember Moon better as Athena from her indy days and she’s a very good talent. She will be a strong addition to the women’s division, which obviously needs new stars more than any other division on the roster.

A Glorious Debut

The Titontron flashes the name “Roode” and that can only mean one thing. Bobby Roode comes out in a suit, sans tie, to a big reaction from the crowd. He has what can only be appropriately described as Glorious theme music. If you watch the show, you’ll know what I mean. It works for him, I like it a lot. Bobby gets in the ring and grabs a mic. He says the wait is finally over. Bobby Roode is NXT. A few months ago, he has the honor to go to Dallas and be front row for Takeover. To this day he still can’t describe the emotion he had that night. 10,000 screaming fans during WrestleMania weekend. He knew from that moment on that NXT was the perfect place for him. There’s never been another company or brand that has revolutionized the business like NXT has. He’s heard the phrase “We are NXT”, but he believes the crowd is also NXT. We are all NXT. To take that next level, that’s here he comes in. NXT needs Bobby Roode. All of the fans need Bobby Roode. The NXT Universe has been searching the world for a superstar to expand the brand, to make it a global powerhouse, and he is proud to be in the ring to tell everyone that NXT has found that man. That man is Bobby Roode. Now that NXT has found that man, his face will be on billboards in Times Square. You name it, he will be there. He is taking this company to the next level. He will take it to corporate America, to Wall Street, and he will make NXT a better place. Very soon, he’s going to look around the arena, he’s going to see the faces of presidents, vice presidents, owners of fortune 500 companies. Not these losers here now wearing oversized t-shirts, cargo pants, ripped jeans, stupid signs with stupid chants. They’re going to be all out. He is a superstar, not just cause of what he’s done but because of how he looks. He looks like a superstar. Custom made suits. From watches to his socks, he is a superstar. Whether you like it or not, there has never been anyone as glorious as Bobby Roode. This is the new NXT and he is at the helm. From this moment forward, NXT will be glorious.

Next week we will have a contract signing between Bayley and Asuka for their Takeover: Brooklyn match.

TM61 vs. The Revival (Non-Title Match)

Dawson and Nick Miller start the match. Dawson gets a go behind takedown. Miller outmaneuvers Dawson and makes him go to the ropes for a break. Dawson gets a wristlock that Miller reverses and brings him to his corner to tag in Shane Thorne. Miller quick tags back in and they send Dawson to the mat. They then hit their double team fist drop and moonsault. Thorne is the legal man and goes for a pin but Dawson kicks out. Thorne goes back to the wristlock and works over Dawson. It gets changed to a short arm scissor for a moment and then back to the wristlock. Thorne gets distracted by Dash, so Dawson is able to send Thorne to the mat by his hair and now Dash tags in officially. He starts to beat down Thorne in the corner and then tags back in Dawson. Dawson stomps away at Thorne and Dash right back in now. Dash whips Thorne into the corner but Thorne avoids Dash and ends up hitting a trio of dropkicks on both of The Revival. Miller comes in now and they hit a double back body drop on the champs as we go to commercial.

We come back and Dawson is working over Thorne’s left arm. He hits a bridging Northern Lights suplex for the pin but Thorne kicks out. Dawson elbows Thorne right in the nose and then brings him over to Dash, who comes off the secod rope with an axe handle. Dash now continues to go to work on that left arm. Dash runs Thorne’s shoulder in his corner and tags back in Dawson. Dawson gives Thorne a sharp dropkick right to the face. He goes for a pin but Thorne kicks out. Now back to work on the injured arm. Dawson then shoots him into the ropes and catches him with a back elbow. Dash tags back in now and tries to come off the second rope but Thorne gets the boots up. Both guys are able to make tags and now Miller comes in and takes out both of The Revival. He hits a pair of back suplexes and then a couple clothesline. He rolls up Dawson but Dawson kicks out. Miller sends Dawson into the ropes and catches him with a nice Spinebuster. Miller wants a tag but Dash comes out of nowhere and pulls Thorne off the apron. Miller starts to chase Dash, who lures him back into the ring, where Dawson is ready with a big DDT and that gets the 1-2-3.

Winners: The Revival

Post match, The champs gets mics. Dawson says it doesn’t matter where you come from, they talk heavy and hit hard. They are the big leagues and they are the top guys in NXT. TM61, they beat them. Vaudevillians, they beat them. Enzo and Cass, they beat them. American Alpha, the same. Now Gargano and Ciampa’s theme cuts them off. Ciampa says he can’t tell which one is Ole and which is Arn. That was funny. Gargano says they’re dropping a lot of names of teams they’ve beaten. They’re going to pick up some of those names for them. He says Hollywood Blondes and says The Revival must be much older than they realized. Ciampa picks up Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy. Gargano picks up the next one and says it’s Pikachu and Charmander. That gets a big reaction from the crowd. Ciampa asks if Gargano’s collected them all and Gargano says no, cause all he cares about is collecting the NXT Tag Titles. The Revival can drop all the names they want because the one team they haven’t dropped is Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Dawson says that if we’re done with comedy hour, the two time champs will speak now. All that stuff spewing from them is just words. What they have means a lot more than that. So top guys are out. Then The Revival try to cheap shot them but Gargano and Ciampa are ready. Dawson gets dumped to the floor and they set up Dash for their double team assault to the head. Gargano goes for a pin and Ciampa counts the three. They hold up the NXT Tag Titles as our show comes to an end.

K-Tank’s Final Takes

– A very enjoyable show tonight. I liked everything about it.

– It’s fantastic to see Hideo Itami back in action. I know that injury wasn’t designed to take a year to come back, but things happen unfortunately. He should be a top player in NXT after they get past Brooklyn.

– Very interesting to see Asuka’s not so subtle heel turn that has come about. Not sure that it’s absolutely necessary as they have count them, ZERO babyface women in that division after Bayley now. We’ll see where it goes though and if they end up having mutual respect shown after their match.

– Bobby Roode’s promo was simply GLORIOUS. That was a fantastic debut for him. He said it himself, but he really did look and come across as a star. I would assume he’ll find himself on the Brooklyn card, but I can’t wait to see where he goes after that.

– It’s a little puzzling to me that you would have TM61 lose cleanly to the champs like that already. They’re a viable team and a team that can fill that void that American Alpha has left in my opinion. On the other hand, loved all of the promo work tonight from Gargano and Ciampa. They needed more of that in my opinion, and they delivered tonight. Sure looks like that’s going to be our Tag Title match at Brooklyn, and I personally can’t wait. I think it could steal the show.

That is it for this week, so I will see you here back again next week. Until next time, don’t forget to be on the lookout for my new podcast coming soon, The Match Beyond!