The Big News: Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Finn Balor in a ****+ main event.
The Medium News: Rhyno challenged NXT champion Samoa Joe to a match, which was made for next week.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Greg Hamilton may be the best ring announcer in WWE.
The show began with NXT champion Samoa Joe coming to the ring. This is Joe’s first appearance live at Full Sail since NXT Takeover: The End when he defeated Finn Balor in a steel cage. If you’re wondering why Joe hasn’t been on television since, join the club.
The first thing Joe told us was that he is here to watch Balor vs. Nakamura, as are so many people at home and everyone in the arena. He feels the implications of the match are disrespectful to him because the winner of the main event automatically thinks they get a title shot. This is pure fantasy, Joe told us.
Joe said he brought strong style to the US and if Nakamura tries him, he will leave him broken, and if anyone wants to do anything on NXT they have to go through him.
This brought out Rhyno, of all people. Rhyno returned last week to destroy three people in a tag team match and then wandered around Full Sail University in his gear.
Rhyno said he is going to go right through Joe. The champion laughed and walked away, saying that he will beat Rhyno up on his time.
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Next week will be Bayley vs. Nia Jax for the third time. Also, American Alpha will face the Authors of Pain, and Samoa Joe will be matched against Rhyno.
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On a side note, does anyone else hate how the commercial for the Scott Hall DVD starts with “At eight-years old I was addicted” before, after almost a dramatic pause, he says “to wrestling”?
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Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Finn Balor
This was set up like a pay-per-view main event, complete with a pre-match video package and main event ring introductions. The crowd was already flipping out before the bell even rang.
They killed so much time that the bell didn’t even ring until 8:27, so for history’s sake you should know this didn’t go as long as Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe in March (the other “one match show” episode this year).
The match started slow, with Balor getting the better of it. Balor pushed Nakamura against the ropes and gave him the Bullet Club/DX/Clique Too Sweet hand sign, causing the fans to pop and Nakamura to strike him very hard.
Coming back from our first commercial break, Nakamura shot Balor into the corner and then began running at him, however Balor came out of the corner with a low dropkick, injuring the knee of Nakamura.
Balor went for a Mexican surfboard, but Nakamura wouldn’t give up his arms, so Balor leapt in the air and smashed Nakamura’s knees off the canvas.
Balor used a number of submissions, including an ankle hook and a weird knee hold that looked like a leg scissors. The first near fall of the match was almost 20 minutes in, Balor hit a reverse 1916 (Bloody Sunday DDT), and the fans went crazy when Nakamura kicked out.
Nakamura fought back with a running kick and Balor then kicked out of a Kinshasa to the back of the head.
Balor hit a double knee to the chest and as both men fell, somehow Balor also hit a double foot stomp, but that wasn’t enough for the pin. Nakamura rolled out of the way of a Coup de Grace, hit a knee strike from the middle rope, and picked up the win with the Kinshasa.
That was an epic match and will be remembered for a very long time.
The two gladiators shook hands after the match, fist pounded, and bowed as the fans gave them a standing ovation.