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August 3rd, 2016 On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Opening Segment Singles Match: Hideo Itami vs. Sean Maluta Tonight marks the return of Hideo Itami, who has been out of in-ring action for over a year. Other cruiserweights from the Cruiserweight Classic are watching this match from the front row, so all eyes are on Itami. Coming out of the initial lockup, Maluta drives Itami into the ropes and Itami delivers a shoulder block. The rope running continues and it’s Itami with a knee to the mid-section of Maluta, bringing him to the mat. He yells, “I’m back!” and the crowd gets behind him. Snapmare and a strong kick to the back of Maluta. He brings down the right knee pad, jumps up, over Maluta and back kicks him nonchalantly. Maluta gets his digs in though, with punches in the corner. Irish whip to the opposite corner. Maluta brings up his knees on Itami’s approach. Off the second rope, it looked like a codebreaker on Itami for a 2 count. He punches Itami and gives him space. Out of the corner, diving headbutt. 1-2- kickout at 2. Bodyscissors keeping Itami grounded for a while until Itami employs back elbows to break free. He gets to his knees and endures hard kicks to the chest but rises to his feet, accepting the punishment until he fights back with clotheslines. Dragon screw takedown. Running big boot into the corner brings Maluta to the mat. He brings him to his feet and it’s a flurry of chops and kicks. That brings Maluta into the corner, seated, to receive…a Hesitation dropkick! Running knee! 1-2-3. Winner: Hideo Itami via pinfall in 4 minutes One cool point for Itami’s return and the much needed first win. Itami’s missed out on a lot of the hype nXt has received over the last year, so he needs to be reacquainted with the audience and introduced to a bunch of fans who missed his original run. To be honest, I’m not sure where he fits in just yet. After Nakamura and Joe wrestle, I’m guessing he’ll get in the mix for #1 contender but he’s no shoe-in. It’s another official theme song for nXt Takeover: Brooklyn II- “Giant” by Banks & Steelz Second Segment Recap: Two weeks ago, the Authors of Pain attacked American Alpha and defeated them in tag team action. Backstage, nXt interviewer Andrea D’Marco asks The Revival if there’s any pressure on them. Wilder says it’s scientifically proven that they’re the greatest tag team. Dawson says they are the Ford Bronco, the best, 100% absolute best team on the planet. TM 61 interrupts and says they’ve been wrestling for years to prove they’re the best. How about challenging them for the Tag Titles? Wilder says that’s not how it works around here and how about grabbing a ticket and getting to the end of the line. “Ding, ding, ding”. It’s Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano is asking for service because they’re next in line. Ciampa says the ticket doesn’t matter and that they beat the Revival. The Revival doesn’t want to give them a shot at the titles…cause they’re scared. Dawson asks for their attention and says they already promised TM 61 the opportunity to face them. How about y’all converse with each other? And they leave. The other 2 teams joke about the bell. Singles Match: Mojo Rawley vs. Chris Atkins Atkins is from Australia and he’s just as big as Rawley, who was recently drafted by Smackdown Live. Graves says he needs to channel his frenetic energy and stop doing stupid stuff. Rawley with a whip off the ropes. He bounces off from a perpendicular direction and tackles Atkins. He covers but the referee stops the count because it’s Samoa Joe! Joe attacks Rawley, really laying into him and throws him out of the ring. Joe takes a mic and calls out GM William Regal. Since Regal doesn’t feel like consulting him about booking championship matches, Joe doesn’t feel the need to consult him when he wants to come out and rampage the show. On August 20th, at Takeover, he will destroy Nakamura. Rawley attacks Joe from behind, bringing him to the mat, as referees enter to keep Rawley away. They force him back up the ramp and Joe attacks from behind, punching him. He locks in the Coquina Clutch and yells, “I’m the champ!” repeatedly. Joe is really worked up and he yells at the nXt cameras that he’ll do that to Regal, too. Winner: No Contest One cool point for Samoa Joe who conveys his rage by taking it out on wrestlers who aren’t involved in his affairs. I like that he directed it towards GM Regal, which points towards a simmering feud for another day. His attack makes him look more unstable and more of a challenge for Nakamura. One cool point for Rawley who fought back after the initial jump by Joe. Showed some hype there… Backstage, it’s Bayley being asked about losing the Women’s Championship and trying not to let that happen again. Bayley says she’s been watching Asuka’s matches and she’s going to adapt. Asuka shows up and invites Bayley to watch her next match. Coming Up: TM 61 vs. The Revival Third Segment There’s another official theme song for nXt Takeover: Brooklyn II. “Serpents” by Neckdeep. Maybe the music producers couldn’t just settle on one band and wanted to give out more promotional opportunities. That’s nice. It’s Bayley! She’s joining Phillips and Graves on commentary for the next match as per the invitation from Asuka. Non-Title Singles Match: Asuka (c) vs. Aliyah Asuka gets an nXt folding chair and plants it on the ramp for Bayley. Bayley leaves the commentary booth, goes to the ramp and kicks the chair away. Asuka nods and the match begins. Bayley is standing right at ringside as Asuka delivers kick after kick to Aliyah. With her opponent standing in front of her, Aliyah delivers a flurry of punches to the champ. They trade punches until Aliyah reverses an Irish whip by Asuka and gets knocked down by a jumping hip smash. Asuka’s firmly in control of this one, locking Aliyah within the ropes with a body scissors, staring right at Bayley. Hip attack to the back of Aliyah as she leaned against the ropes. Into the corner now, Asuka runs at Aliyah. Aliyah brings the feet up, preventing another hip smash. Aliyah tries to jump off the top rope but gets knocked in the side of the face. 1-2..Asuka lifts up her opponent and drives knees into the face of Aliyah, furthering the punishment. She’s putting on a real show for Bayley. Now it’s the Asuka lock and the referee calls for the bell. Asuka won’t let go until Bayley hops up on the ring apron. She enters the ring and kneels by Aliyah, pleading with Asuka to stop, shaking her head. She checks on Aliyah as Asuka holds her title high and leaves the ring. Winner: Asuka via submission in 4 minutes One cool point for Asuka’s sassiness, if that can be considered a word. She’s quite confident as champion and not worried about Bayley’s tenacious attitude, in the least. Aliyah didn’t really stand a chance against the champ. If she’s going to progress, she’ll need to wrestle some of the other ladies and build up some reasons to matter. Bayley’s decision to be a passive guest at ringside was in keeping with her character but why isn’t she doing more to get back at the woman who stole her title? Recap: Last month, Oney Lorcan defeated “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger in an upset victory. Backstage, after the match, Lorcan doesn’t know about upsets, but he won. He said he has to get better to keep up with the competition. He has to go back to his roots to keep up with the best nXt has to offer. Coming Up: The arrival of Bobby Roode to nXt Fourth Segment Debuting his new theme song, it’s Bobby Roode’s first official appearance on nXt. He talks about being front row at nXt Takeover in Dallas and that he knew then nXt was the perfect place for him. There’s no other brand in the world that has revolutionized the wrestling industry like nXt has. Roode believes it’s not just the wrestlers who are nXt but the fans of nXt, too, who are nXt. To take us all to the next level, that’s where Roode comes in. nXt needs Bobby Roode. The fans need Bobby Roode. To expand the brand, nXt needs a superstar and Roode says he’s that guy. He will become the face of the brand and take nXt to corporate America, to Wall Street and make it a better place. He wants business owners and CEO’s watching him wrestle, instead of the losers in the crowd today, chanting stupid chants, wearing dirty clothes. That turned quickly. Roode says he looks the part of a superstar, wearing expensive clothing. He wants to make nXt glorious. Up Next: TM 61 vs. The Revival in a non-title match Final Segment Tag Team Match: The Revival (c) vs. TM 61 A little mat wrestling to begin… Dawson and Miller counter one another’s attempts to get position and break it off. When they resume a lockup, Thorne and Miller employ a few quick tags to try and keep Dawson isolated from his partner. A 1 count pinfall attempt is made, followed by their trademark double team move (Thorne’s standing moonsault and Miller’s jumping punch to the head). This gets them a 2 count on Dawson. Thorne immediately seizes Dawson’s left arm, wrenching it back behind him. Dawson feels the pain and sinks to the mat briefly before kipping up. Thorne wrenches the arm further but Dawson pushes towards his corner. Thorne kicks away Wilder’s hand from tagging in but Dawson slams Thorne to the mat, tagging in his partner. Wilder with a few giant uppercuts on Thorne. He throws him into the turnbuckle and then tags in Dawson, who delivers a few striking blows. Quick tag and Wilder’s whipping Thorne into the turnbuckle. He follows behind and Thorne leaps up and over his opponent. Thorne, now, with a dropkick on Wilder. Another one! This prompts Dawson to come in and receive a dropkick of his own. Miller enters the ring and the two prepare for body drops. Both Revival members counter it, bounce off the ropes and end up being dropped anyhow! They’re on the outside as… We go to commercial. Dawson with a bridging Northern Lights suplex and pinfall attempt on Thorne. Only a 2 count. He tags in Wilder who jumps off the second rope with a double axe handle. He pins Thorne for a 1 count. Snapmare and he’s twisting the left arm of Thorne, working the shoulder. He has good leverage on Thorne until he decides to break the hold, slam Thorne into the turnbuckle and tag in Dawson. Dawson with a quick dropkick to the jaw of Thorne. He taunts Miller and then he pins Thorne for a 2 count. Dawson holds back that left arm and it looks like he might be trying to rip it clean off. Thorne reaches for his partner but can’t make it there. Dawson tags in Wilder who jumps off the second turnbuckle, only to see Thorne’s feet extended towards him. He grabs them and Thorne kicks Wilder into the corner. With both men down, they crawl to their respective corners and tag in their partners. Dawson and Miller are in! Hot tag for Miller, punching everybody. Back suplex on Dawson. Back suplex on Wilder. Both men are in opposite corners and he splashes each of them. He rolls up Dawson for a 2 count. Off the ropes, now, and a spinebuster by Miller. Another 2 count. Miller reaches for Thorne but Thorne’s swept off the apron by Wilder. Miller exits the ring and chases Wilder around halfway until Wilder returns, rolling in. Miller pursues and his head goes straight under Dawson’s arm for a DDT. Ouch. 1-2-3. Winners: The Revival via pinfall in 7 minutes Post-match, the champs get on the mics. Dawson says it don’t matter where you come from in this world, we talk heavy and hit hard. We are the big leagues and we’re the top guys in nXt. They run through a list of tag teams they’ve beat until Gargano & Ciampa’s music interrupts them. Ciampa says Ole, Ole, Ole, or is it Arn, making reference to the Andersons. Gargano reviews the list and pokes fun at their old school wrestling style, saying they’ve also beaten the Hollywood Blondes? Kermit & Miss Piggy? Pikachu and Charmander? Whoa! That prompts a Pokemon chant from the crowd. Gargano & Ciampa make their way to the ring and enter it. They’re not trying to collect Pokemon though; they’re trying to collect the nXt Tag Team Championships. Gargano says drop all the names you want but everyone knows you haven’t dropped us yet. Dawson asks if we’re done with comedy hour. All Gargano & Ciampa have are words. Dawson says the top guys are out but this prompts a brawl between both teams, ending with Dawson being tossed out and Wilder being superkicked a few times. Gargano rolls up Wilder while Ciampa counts 3, with the crowd, for the pretend victory. Phillips asks if they’ll get a title shot at Takeover and previews their match against one another in the Cruiserweight Classic. One cool point for both teams because this was a fine main event tag team matchup. TM 61 certainly showed what they’re capable of but The Revival found a way to win. They’ll need to be better when they face Gargano & Ciampa, who also got the best of the champs, on the mic and in their skirmish. They’re 2/2 now, unofficially. Should The Revival be worried about their titles? Not yet. Gargano & Ciampa are a team the nXt fans want to cheer though and it would be exciting to see this feud continue to develop past Takeover: Brooklyn II. Looking forward to your cool point suggestions on tonight’s episode. What’s your preliminary card for Takeover: Brooklyn II? We’re only 2 weeks out. Peace!
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