WWE: NXT Spotlight 05/18/16 by Kurt Zamora

Welcome one and all to another installment of the NXT Spotlight right here at TJRWrestling. Since I last left you, the big next coming out of NXT is that the main event for the June 8th NXT Takeover event will be the first ever Steel Cage Match in NXT. Samoa Joe will defend his newly won NXT Champion against the former champion who is envoking his rematch clause, Finn Balor. If you saw the video on Facebook earlier this week, you know that William Regal declared this will be the end of this rivalry, once and for all.

As for tonight, we have a previous NXT Takeover rematch as Nia Jax gets another shot at Bayley after their altercation in London. Also, Austin Aries is on the hunt for a partner as they will face off against BAMF. Let’s get to it!

BAMF (w/Alexa Bliss) vs. Austin Aries & Shinsuke Nakamura

Man they love putting Nakamura on TV. The crowd goes bonkers for him again though, so he’s clearly over if anyone had any questions about that. Aries and Blake start the match. Murphy instantly tags in though and as he discusses it with Blake, Aries dropkicks him right into the corner and goes for the pin. Murphy barely kicks out but Aries drags him to his corner where Nakamura’s boot is waiting. Nakamura tags in and works over Murphy in the corner and then hits a kneedrop to the face. He tags back in Aries and they hit the old Dirty Heels double team move with the catapult into the Aries elbow, back down across Nakamura’s knees and then Aries comes in with an elbow drop. Aries with the pin and Murphy kicks out. Blake comes in for a distraction and it works as Murphy comes from behind with a lariat and now has the advantage. Murphy gets a headlock but Aries manages to hit a jawjacker and then another shot at Murphy to give him the chance to tag in Nakamura. Nakamura hits a forearm and then a couple of lethal kicks to Murphy. Murphy gets put up on the top rope and gets hit with the running knee to the ribs. Nakamura then hits his reverse exploder suplex and Aries wants the tag but Nakamura says he’s got it from here. KINSHASA! 1-2-3.

Winners: Austin Aries & Shinsuke Nakamura

Post match, BAMF are in dissention at ringside and Alexa is not happy. Aries and Nakamura have a quick discussion about Aries wanting the tag but Aries lets bygones be bygones and they celebrate the win. Alexa finally just walks out on her men and now Blake turns his back on Murphy and leaves him hanging on the apron.

Bayley is backstage now and is asked about her mentality going into tonight’s match. She says that Nia Jax likes to use her size to initimidate. That won’t happen tonight because she’s not afraid of Nia. Nia is definitely tough, but the same thing that happened in London will happen again tonight. Once she’s done with Nia, she can turn her focus back to going after the NXT Women’s Title again.

A vignette is shown for Asuka, done to the greatness of Halestorm and their song “Mayhem”. Check them out if you’ve never heard of them.

No Way Jose is backstage now and he’s asked to tell the NXT Universe more about himself. He points to his smile and says his smile make underestimate him. To that he says, No Way Jose! He calls it Jose Being Jose. Jose’s gotta have fun, but most importantly, Jose wants to fight.

Now we see a recorded video from Carmella. She says it’s unfortunate what happened to Enzo, but he’s a G and he’ll be back soon. She’s really proud of Big Cass as he’s killing it right now. He’s living his dream and she’s got a dream too. To be the NXT Women’s Champion.

Carmella vs. Peyton Royce

Peyton is calling herself the “Venus Fly Trap of NXT” now for those of you keeping score at home. Both ladies tie up and Peyton gets Carmella in the corner and starts going to town on her. She snapmares Carmella down and hits a couple elbow strikes and then goes for a headlock. Carmella gets out and turns it into a rollup but Peyton kicks out. Carmella goes straight for a crucifix pin but Peyton kicks out again. Carmella tries to stay on the advantage but Peyton gets her with a couple good shots and cuts her off. Peyton goes for the Three Amigos suplex, with the third being a Perfect Plex, but Carmella manages to kick out. Carmella does her best to fight back and ducks a spinning heel kick. Now she takes down Peyton with a Thesz Press, then another, and then rams her into her own foot in the corner. Carmella hits a hurricanrana out of the corner and then a superkick. Peyton is down on the bottom corner and Carmella follows her up with a Bronco Buster. Carmella drags her out and hits the Flatliner that leads to her inverted leg Triangle Choke and Peyton has to tap out.

Winner: Carmella

We are shown footage from last Saturday’s live event in Portland and the antics of Finn Balor and Samoa Joe that led to the Steel Cage match announcement. Yet again NXT making their live events “must see” experiences. This video was really cool. Really wish the main roster did this more often.

BAMF is backstage now and all three are arguing with one another. Alexa says this was the last straw. She’s given them every opportunity and the only thing they’ve done is find a way to lose. So now it’s about her. It’s gonna be a lot easier to win the NXT Women’s Title without the 475 pounds of dead weight on her back.

Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa vs. Danny Burch and Rob Ryzin

Rob is the unconfirmed son of Terra. Gargano and Rob start the match. Rob gets a wristlock but Johnny Wrestling shows him what he’s about and reverses it with flare. Rob manages to still get a headlock though. Gargano shoots him off and hits a shoulder tackle, followed by a series of arm drags. Gargano gets the armbar but Rob hits a knee to the gut and manages to tag in Burch. Gargano regroups and arm drags Burch and then tags in Ciampa. Ciampa and Gargano double team Burch with kicks and knees to the head. Burch sent to the corner where he tries to fight out, but Ciampa chops him. Ciampa follows that up with a suplex after shooting Burch off the ropes. He hits a big boot and then clotheslines Rob down as he tries to distract, but that leaves an opening for Burch. Burch now works over Ciampa and backs him up into his corner and tags in Rob. They try to double team Ciampa but that doesn’t work and Ciampa rolls into a tag for Gargano. Gargano hits a roll through kick to the face on Rob and then kicks Burch on the floor right before diving back into the ring with a spear. Ciampa gets back into the match and they send him into the corner where they hit a double team enziguri and running knee to the head. Gargano is now legal and they roll him to the middle of the rope where they hit another double team kick/knee strike and they pick up the win.

Winners: Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano

William Regal is now standing by in his office. He congratulates Enzo and Cass along for The Vaudevillians for their efforts on the main roster so far. With that quality of tag teams coming from NXT, he’s now announcing that at Takeover, it will be American Alpha defending the NXT Tag Titles against The Revival.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

17 minutes left in the show and this is being built as the main event of the show, so hopefully that means this will get plenty of time. Both women tie up and Nia just slams her down face first. Bayley gets up and goes for a go behind, but Nia does a butt bump and sends Bayley back down. Bayley up once more and goes after the left arm of Nia. Nia shoots her off and Bayley ducks a couple clothesline but then gets caught in a powerslam. Bayley manages to reverse it quick though into a choke, but Nia slams her down. Nia goes for a stomp but Bayley gets up. Bayley gets a headlock and Bayley holds on for dear life. Nia picks her up and sends her face first again into the mat. She goes for a pin but Bayley kicks out. Bayley goes to the corner and Nia follows up with a shoulder to the midsection. Bayley tries to fight out but Nia hits another one. Nia hits a big bodyslam and then works over Bayley in the ropes as the ref gives her five. Another shoulder to the midsection in the corner. Bayley shot to the opposite side and then jumps over a charging Nia, but Nia still manages to send Bayley back down to the mat. Bayley kicks out of another pin attempt. Nia charges her in the corner again but Bayley moves and starts ramming Nia’s face into the top turnbuckle. That has no effect though as Nia just whips Bayley to the opposite corner and Bayley hits face first into the middle turnbuckle. Bayley is out cold and we go to commercial.

We come back to Nia with a neck vise on Bayley. Bayley fights out but as she runs off the ropes, she is caught in a shoulderbreaker. Nia goes for a pin but Bayley kicks out. Back in the corner and Nia is now focusing into the left arm of Bayley. She rams the shoulder into the turnbuckle and then hits a knee drop onto it. Bayley fires off a couple elbows with her good arm but it’s for naught as Nia sends her to the mat and then delivers a stiff kick to the back. Bayley can’t get herself up with the one arm and now Nia grabs her and hooks on a Cobra Clutch of sorts. Bayley gets out barely, but is clotheslined right back down. She manages to kick out once more though. Nia once more sends Bayley to the corner and another shoulder to the midsection. Now right back to that modified Cobra Clutch and then turns it around into a Bear Hug, while also trapping the hurt arm behind Bayley. Bayley desperately tries a choke with her good arm but it doesn’t work. Bayley fights out of the corner and uses her bad shoulder to ram into Nia’s midsection. Bayley gets Nia down to her knees with a few shots but Nia gets up and sends Bayley to the ropes. Bayley grabs the ropes and Nia charges. Bayley sends Nia to the floor and then goes for a hurricanrana through the ropes but Nia blocks it and wants to go for a powerbomb. Bayley grabs the ropes and prevents that from happening. Now Bayley jumps off the apron and this time she does hit the hurricanrana. Nia gets thrown back in the ring and Bayley comes off the top rop with a cross body block. Nia powerfully kicks out though. Bayley wants to go for the Bayley to Bayley but Nia turns it into a Ron Simmons-esque spinebuster. Bayley somehow kicks out again. Bayley tries to regroup in the corner and Nia charges her. Bayley manages to move and Nia hits the turnpost. Bayley goes right for the choke hold again but Nia powers out. Bayley looks like she landed awkwardly on her knee, but comes right back and hits a huge DDT. Nia kicks out. Bayley is now clutching that knee and can’t stand up. The ref checks on her and goes to keep Nia at bay as the crowd gets behind Bayley. Bayley struggles to get to her feet in the corner and Nia doesn’t hesitate to steamroll right into Bayley with an avalanche splash. Now Nia hits a leg drop onto the hurt knee and then follows up with her finisher leg drop and she has pinned Bayley!!

Winner: Nia Jax

Post match, the medical staff attends to Bayley as Nia taunts some Bayley fans in the crowd. That ends our show.

K-Tank’s Final Takes

– I’m sticking to my opinion from last week that Nakamura is being overexposed. I’m sure tonight is leading to a match with him and Aries, which will be off the charts, but they could’ve done that without another wasted match for him.

– Loved the interaction with Balor and Joe, both at the Portland live event and during the contract signing. The Steel Cage is still a VERY effective gimmick when used right, such as this.

– Really happy to see Alexa Bliss on her own now. It’s weird to think Blake and Murphy were once NXT Tag Champs, but they turned out pretty bland and Alexa really needed to be rid of them. I think she can be a star. There Jeff, I said it.

– I know there’s a lot of fans that aren’t enamored with Nia Jax, and to a point, I get it. I’m a big fan of hers though. That being said, I hope everyone liked her performance tonight, as that’s exactly how she should be built. She’s clearly going to be Asuka’s next challenger and quite honestly, I’d like to see her take the belt off Asuka. It will really help to get both of them even more over, and would allow the opportunity to get Bayley to the main roster.

Nothing was announced for next week’s episode, but with Takeover right on the horizon, I’m sure there will be a lot of build heading towards that. We’ll be here for all of it, so until next time, be a hugger.