Hey guys and welcome to anyone who joins me for this week’s review of NXT. Just coming off of the heels of an epic Takeover Orlando show, this is the first show back, so let’s get right to it.
As expected we got started with a great highlights recap package of NXT Takeover Orlando, and again, for anyone who did not catch the show, please take the time to go back and watch. We were then welcomed by the usual commentary table of Tom Philips, Percy Watson and Nigel McGuiness, who announce two of the evening’s three matches: Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) take on The Bollywood Boyz (Gurv & Harv Shera), and Oney Lorcan is facing ???? I guess we will find that out later. Anyway, to the action, and the match that wasn’t announced.
Peyton Royce With Billie Kay VS Aliyah
We haven’t seen Aliyah compete in quite some time, and we haven’t seen Peyton Royce since Billie Kay’s altercation and injury at the hands of Ember Moon, therefore it was nice to have both women back on NXT TV. After a bit of back and forth trading in attempts to gain the upper hand in the contest, it was Peyton Royce who took control with a vicious attack and stayed on Aliyah from there. Aliyah managed to get a small amount of offence but it was ended quickly by Royce when she caught Aliyah with a Running Knee and followed up with a Fisherman Suplex. Game over and Royce’s momentum has picked up right where it left off after a short yet dominant display. It is great to have the Australian pair back, and I look forward to seeing what comes. They will be after the NXT Women’s Championship sooner or later.
Peyton Royce Beat Aliyah By Pinfall – Running Knee/Fisherman Suplex
Next up were a few recap packages from the excellent Takeover special, featuring Sanity VS Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno and Ruby Riot in what was the end of NXT for Dillinger as he is now on the Smackdown roster; goAsuka VS Ember Moon; and Aleister Black VS Andrade Cien Almas.
Heavy Machinery VS The Bollywood Boyz
We saw how dominant Heavy Machinery were last week and they were looking to build on that. On the flip side, The Bollywood Boyz will be in search of some momentum as they haven’t been seen on NXT in some time. Once again the team of Heavy Machinery showed dominance and displayed their strength to kick off the match, and it was clear that the crowd appreciated what they were doing. The fans were indeed right behind the big men who just flat out outmatched the opposition and easily dispatched of them when they took out one of the Brothers with a Double Team Cross Body, which is devastating considering how big these two are. So that was it, the match was done quickly and Heavy Machinery goes marching forward. I can’t wait to see where these guys go. Can you imagine the chaos in the ring if Heavy Machinery were to get a shot at The Authors?! That would be an awesome watch. Well done again guys.
Heavy Machinery Beat The Bollywood Boyz By Pinfall – Double Team Cross Body Takedown
Following was another few recaps from Saturday night. First was the recap of the Triple Threat Elimination Tag Team Championship Match in which The Authors Of Pain retained against DIY and The Revival. It turned out to be the swan song of The Revival as they are now on the Raw roster. The next recap was all about Bobby Roode VS Shinsuke Nakamura in which the superb entrances were shown, the details of their superb match were showed, Bobby Roode successfully defended the NXT Championship, and there was some excellent exclusive footage of Nakamura leaving the arena post match to a standing ovation from the Orlando crowd as he bowed out of NXT and is now part of the Smackdown roster. There was also a great highlights package of Nakamura’s NXT career, from his debut against Sami Zayn to defeating Finn Balor, to dethroning Samoa Joe. What an epic year and plenty more epic years to come for Shinsuke Nakamura.
In another exclusive, it was revealed that Drew McIntyre has signed with NXT! How great is that?! McIntyre himself said that he has done it all everywhere else and won titles wherever he has been, and the next logical step is the NXT Title. I can picture it right now. Bobby Roode VS Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship. That in my eyes is money! Main event time.
Oney Lorcan VS ?!?!
Oney Lorcan’s opponent?! El Vagabundo! I thought to myself here, if Elias Samson wanted to make this somewhat convincing, he should not have brought out a guitar, but I thought this whole thing was also hilarious and outstanding. So, Elias Samson (I mean El Vagabundo) introduced himself and graciously sang a song to everyone and the fans were eating it up laughing. The song was stopped by an unamused Lorcan who “figured out” who Vagabundo was. Might I add, what a genius, whoever came up with the name El Vagabundo! The match is on and El Vagabundo is all over Lorcan to start, and the crowd is right behind Vagabundo here, they love him! Nigel McGuiness added the classic comedy value when playing along talking about this being El Vagabundo’s debut. Great stuff. Again just like the previous two, this match didn’t last long, but Vagabundo was dominating until Lorcan got some momentum with seven Running Knees into the corner. This lead to El Vagabundo being unmasked, distracted and pinned following a Running Neckbreaker. It turned out that El Vagabundo was Elias Samson, can you believe it?! Another funny spot post match when a woman came out to evacuate Sampson from the arena, only for him to ignore her and be manhandled out of the arena for his troubles. Great job guys.
Oney Lorcan Beat El Vagabundo/Elias Samson By Pinfall – Running Neckbreaker
Overall Thoughts
A good showing by NXT, however, not too much action to talk about as the action was kept short and sweet. The recap packages and highlights from Takeover were a great watch, and the fact that Drew McIntyre is on his way to NXT is just awesome. No one from Takeover was on this week’s NXT, which was unfortunate, but it gave others a chance at the spotlight this evening, and despite the matches being very short, at least some stars got a chance on TV. So as we say goodbye to the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Tye Dillinger and The Revival, we welcome the repackaged Heavy Machinery and say hello to Drew McIntyre. Thanks to anyone who joined me for my review, and I will indeed be back with next week’s review. Take care guys.