NXT was all about championships this evening folks, so join me as I discuss the events of this week’s NXT show. Tonight is all about gold, and we are introduced to the commentary team of Tom Philips, Nigel McGuiness and Percy Watson who announce tonight’s two title matches, where Asuka defends the NXT Women’s Title against Peyton Royce, and DIY get their rematch against The Authors Of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Titles. Also tonight we will see the recap from last week involving NXT Champion Bobby Roode and the returning Kassius Ohno. So let’s kick this thing off..
WWE NXT
March 1st, 2017
Venue: Full Sail University, Orlando, Florida
Commentary: Nigel McGuinness, Tom Philips and Percy Watson
Patrick Clark VS Sean Maluta
These two guys are lacking in TV time so it was good to have them both on TV having an opportunity to impress. All guns blazing by Sean Maluta to kick off as he was disrespected by Patrick Clark pre-match. Maluta had the offence until it was quickly turned around by the heel Clark. Not too much else to say here as the opening contest was over very quickly..Clark got the victory quickly following his version of the Fame Asser. Despite being a short match, I must say Patrick Clark looked good in it, and I look forward to seeing what is next for these guys, hopefully, they get more TV opportunities.
Patrick Clark Beat Sean Maluta By Pinfall – Fame Asser
We were taken to an unknown location where the members of Sanity were surrounding a small fire. As always, Eric Young was doing the talking.Young says that he knows already what the fate of Tye Dillinger is, and goes on to call him a disease that needs to go away, and Young wants to be the one to get rid of The Perfect Ten. Interesting stuff from Young here, and I still can’t wait to see where this goes from here. Hopefully an appearance and reply from Dillinger on next week’s show?!
NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka (C) VS Peyton Royce
Peyton Royce earned this title match on last week’s show and based on recent weeks, and even months, Royce has picked up a lot of momentum heading into this one. On the other hand, it is great to have Asuka back as she hasn’t seen much action at all lately, but we all know Asuka is always ready. The crowd loved having the champion back, and this contest was going to be a fantastic one. I said last week and again this week, I expect Asuka to walk out as champion. Same question as last week. Will Billie Kay be involved at all?! To start off there was a bit of back and forth trading by both women, and I always felt that this was going to be a close contest. The fans were clearly on the side of the champion, however, Royce turned the match in her favour outside the ring and managed to keep on Asuka, and brilliantly done so might I add. I have been very impressed with Royce’s work lately, she has been great and certainly deserved her place in the title match. It took a while for the champion to get her way back into the match, but once she did she gained control and stayed on it. In regards to the women, Asuka’s kicking is unmatched, her strikes are awesome. Royce managed to get back on top of it, but that never lasted long at all when out of nowhere, the brilliant Asuka captured the challenger in the Asuka Lock and Royce was tapping fairly quickly. A great match and a great display by both women here, and once again the unstoppable Asuka walks out as champion. Post match is when Billie Kay decided to get involved, as the Australian pair attacked the champion, only for Ember Moon to come out, not only for the save, but to make a statement and silently introduce herself to Asuka. Well, statement made, and I think these two are headed to Takeover Orlando!
Asuka Beat Peyton Royce By Submission To Retain The NXT Women’s Championship – Asuka Lock
Next up was a short recap of the aftermath of Shinsuke Nakamura dealing with his injury backstage following his Takeover San Antonio match with Bobby Roode, being spoken to by friend Kassius Ohno. This led to the lengthy recap of what happened last week between NXT Champion Bobby Roode and the returning Kassius Ohno, where Ohno told Roode he wants and needs the NXT Title! William Regal has announced that in two weeks on March 15th, Bobby Roode will indeed make his first defence of the NXT Championship, against Kassius Ohno. That is going to be epic, I cannot wait!
We were treated to a promo for Wolfgang, with some of his United Kingdom Tournament highlights. This means that surely Wolfgang will be on NXT debuting very soon, one can only hope! In another announcement, Shinsuke Nakamura is back in action next Wednesday! Main event time…
NXT Tag Team Championship Match-The Authors Of Pain (C) With Paul Ellering VS DIY
This match is going to be both awesome and hard hitting! Raucous reaction from the crowd for the challengers, who always get that reaction. The challengers started off very well, with some great double teaming much to the fans’ delight. This quickly backfired outside the ring when Tomasso Ciampa was caught by Razar and slammed into the ring post, making the heel champions now on top. The Authors stayed in control for a long spell, which was always appropriate to set up the eventual hot tag and comeback story. But until then, though, The AOP had control. Johnny Wrestling eventually got that hot tag and caught fire to send the challengers back on top pf the contest. This was great stuff by all four men here, and it was truly anyone’s game as everyone was going for it! After all the great back and forth battling, the match came to it’s close after a sequence of switches;;First off, DIY were about to land their finishing combo, only for it to be countered into what was going to be The Authors’ Double Back Collision, for it to be once again turned into a Double Huricanrana and double submission from both Gargano and Ciampa. The challengers looked to have the match done and dusted. Only for The Revival running out and making the contest a no contest, by attacking both teams and landing a couple of Shatter Machines to make a statement at the expense of the champions and the challengers. Despite the match ending in a no contest, it was a great ending in regards to the fact that all three of these great teams are in the picture, and The Revival have staked their claim to the NXT Tag Team Championships! Well done guys, excellent stuff.
The Authors Of Pain VS DIY Ended In A No Contest – The Authors Remain NXT Tag Team Champions
Overall Thoughts
Indeed another strong week for NXT, and in my opinion, NXT never fails to stay strong. Some stars lacking in TV time got their opportunity to impress, the Women’s Championship match was excellent and both women looked amazing, Shinsuke Nakamura is announced for next week, there is an NXT Championship match announced for two weeks from now, and despite the no contest finish, the NXT Tag Team Championship match was outstanding, a joint show stealer along with the women, and the battle between these three teams is far from over. If NXT was lacking one thing, as I have expressed so much, I would have loved to have another UK match. Well done to all performers once again, and we can look forward to Shinsuke Nakamura being back in action next week! Thanks to anyone who joined me for this review, and I will return next week. Take care guys.