It’s a bit of an abbreviated report this time around as tonight’s NXT show didn’t offer much. That’s understandable though as tonight’s show mainly focused on recapping the fantastic Takeover show from this past Saturday night, and they also aired some matches that were taped from the Barclays Center before the show began. This is something that happens regularly after they do a Takeover show. With all of that being said, we did get a fun main event featuring some of WWE’s UK talent to finally end the festivities in Brooklyn from this past week.
No Way Jose vs. Lars Sullivan –
The show began with No Way Jose dancing his way down to the ring as the Brooklyn crowd enthusiastically chanted his entrance theme. Jose formed a conga line with a couple of fans in the front row. All was going well until Lars Sullivan ran down the ramp and attacked Jose. He laid him out before walking to the back. At least he is done with the mystery tag team partner shtick. Meanwhile, Jose is one of the names that is rumored to be getting called up to the main roster soon.
Winner: No Contest
They aired a video recapping the Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas match. Backstage, Gargano said that he did not blame Zelina Vega or Andrade for him losing the match, but rather he blamed himself. He says that his match with Almas was far from the end for Johnny Wrestling.
Another recap video, this time for the Ember Moon vs. Asuka NXT Women’s Championship match aired. After the video, Asuka was being interviewed by multiple people (one of who was using a mic connected to his phone that wasn’t even turned on, I might add.) She said that she was better than Ember and she never thought she would lose. She doesn’t know what’s next for her, but she promises to always be the champion. Well, I’ll tell you what’s next: they then showed the WWE.com news article which revealed that Asuka will be out for about 6-8 weeks with a collarbone injury. Asuka tweeted that she will be back.
UK Tournament stars Pete Dunne and Wolfgang were interviewed before their tag team match against Tyler Bate and Trent Seven. Dunne said that winning the United Kingdom Championship in Chicago earlier this year was the start of the UK brand, and that brand grows with each win that he gets. Given the status of the UK brand, it’s no wonder we don’t see Dunne all that much. Wolfgang said that he wanted a shot at the title. He wants to face Dunne after their tag team match later in the show, but Dunne warned him to not get too ahead of himself and to focus on their match.
Peyton Royce vs. Sarah Logan –
Logan did not receive much of a reaction, but she will probably become more recognized when she competes in the Mae Young Classic. Logan worked Royce’s arm for a bit, but Royce quickly turned the tables with a spinning heel kick. Royce began to choke out Logan with her foot against one of the ring posts. Peyton then put Logan into something similar to that of a Tarantula submission in the ropes, but Logan fought out of it. Royce continued dominating the NXT newcomer with some strikes while she taunted her.
Finally, Sarah made a brief comeback when she managed to hook a suplex on Royce. Then she started chopping her around. The crowd got a bit into the match when she ran down the Australian wrestler with some tackles and a dropkick which got her a two-count. Sarah quickly went for another suplex, but Royce grabbed onto the Billie Kay’s arms from the outside and held them in order to avoid it. Once Royce let go, she avoided a roll up from Logan. Royce then hit her fisherman’s suplex for the victory. Interestingly enough, Kay and Royce are also set to join the main roster soon. With wrestlers such as Logan and others from the Mae Young Classic set to come in, it makes to give the ‘Iconic Duo’ a shot on the main shows in order to make room for new talent… which is why I’m not sure why Royce won here.
Winner: Peyton Royce
They recapped the Authors of Pain vs. SAnitY match from Takeover. Mauro Ranallo said that Eric Young’s “master plan” that he teased several months ago was taking Killian Dain’s spot in the match. Eh, master plan? Whatever.
They then discussed the main event of Takeover, as well as Adam Cole’s debut afterwards. Drew McIntyre will speak out about what happened on next week’s show.
Bobby Roode was filmed backstage after losing the NXT Championship during the Takeover show. He furiously shooed away the interviewer and the camera person. He ordered his lackey to get his car ready (while still drenched in sweat and in his sparkly wrestling gear, mind you.) Suddenly, Roderick Strong blew Roode a kiss and says to him “see you soon.” This enraged Roode.
Immediately after this, they revealed that Bobby Roode had been promoted to Smackdown. A nice little consolation prize. Don’t get too used to seeing Roode gone from Full Sail University though, the former champion revealed that he still has unfinished business with Strong. He wants to embarrass him and Drew McIntyre one more time before leaving NXT for good. This was quite contrary to Roode’s Smackdown debut wherein he acted like a total babyface. I expect that Roode’s ‘nice guy’ image won’t last long though.
They then recapped the Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami match from Takeover. Multiple people were trying to ask Black a question as he made his way out of the building, but he just ignored and scooted past them all. He’s so metal.
Tyler Bate & Trent Seven vs. Wolfgang & “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne –
Each UK guy made their way down to the ring, but Dunne in particular got a great reaction from the Brooklyn crowd. It’s easy to see why. The last time we saw Dunne, he had arguably the best WWE match all year against Tyler Bate. Perhaps that is why the two of them started this match off. It began with the two of them doing some basic mat wrestling while they took turns slipping out of various holds. It was more exciting than it probably sounds, and it got even better from there.
Trent Seven took a break from twirling his mustache to step into the ring. Dunne tagged Wolfgang into the match not long after this. They worked against each other for a bit before Dunne tagged back in. Wolfgang and Dunne worked together throughout this whole match, frequently tagging each other in and out of the match whenever possible. Dunne began to target the shoulder of Trent Seven. Wolfgang tagged in again and began to work the shoulder as well, but eventually he and Trent were able to go back and fourth with some of their moves.
At this point, Seven desperately needed to tag in Tyler Bate. He had been in the match against Dunne and Wolfgang for nearly the entirety of the bout. Both Wolfgang and Seven were struggling to make it back to their feet at one point, but finally, Dunne and Bate were both tagged in simultaneously. Tyler Bate began to fire up against Dunne and he hit some of his impossibly strong maneuvers on the champion as well. During their Chicago match, Bate hit the fastest Airplane Spin on Dunne that I have ever seen. This time he hit the longest one that I have ever seen. He hit the Tyler Driver ’97 on Dunne, but he didn’t see Dunne tag Wolfgang in beforehand. Wolfie came off the top rope with a Swanton Bomb and pinned Bate for the win.
Winners: “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne & Wolfgang
The UK talent are always so much fun to watch and it is a shame that the UK show is either dead or on life support right now. Hopefully, they’ll find something for these guys to do if plans fall through. As for the rest of the show, everything will pickup once again when they return to Full Sail next week. There, we should be seeing Roode and Strong continuing their feud, Drew McIntyre coming in as champion, and the arrival of Adam Cole and ReDRagon. This was the final show from the Barclays Center this year, and if the length of that SummerSlam show and the shows that followed it are anything to go by, I cannot wait to see Full Sail University again next week. I’ll see you NXT time!