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December 14th, 2016 On commentary tonight, at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Opening Segment No foolin’ around, folks. We’re going straight to the main event. nXt Championship STEEL CAGE Match: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Samoa Joe This is the final encounter between these two. Nakamura is up 2-1 in the series, having just won the nXt Championship over Joe last week in Osaka, Japan. A big “Nakamura” chant prefaces the bell to start this match. The wrestlers stare each other down to begin the match, kinda sauntering around one another. Nakamura with a single leg takedown to put Joe on his back. Joe takes a few moments to return to his feet and push Nakamura into the ropes. The two grapple along the ropes, then into the turnbuckle. Nakamura pins Joe against the ropes and Joe counters it. He misses a clothesline when Nakamura ducks under and bounces off of the ropes away from him. He just nonchalantly walks off and smirks, then motions for Joe to challenge. Joe charges into Nakamura’s knee. Joe’s down. Nakamura with a jumping knee to the face. Joe retreats to the corner. Nakamura chokes Joe with his foot. The pace of the match is fairly slow thus far as Joe lifts Nakamura over the ropes and into the cage wall. He follows this up with punches and then a running knee, squashing Nakamura into the wall. *Commercial Break* On the return, Joe lifts Nakamura to his feet and Nakamura connects with a spinning heel kick to the face. He follows that with some vicious knees to the ribcage of Joe. He grabs Joe from behind and throws Joe’s face into the cage wall. Joe stumbles back and it’s a German suplex by the champion! Nakamura charges up in the corner for Kinshasa and runs at Joe…Joe catches him for a powerslam. 1-2- kickout! Both men trade right hands and forearms. The crowd chants for each strike. Joe hits aside a kick attempt from Nakamura and locks in the Coquina Clutch. Nakamura’s still on his feet but fading as Joe cinches it in. He can’t bring him to the mat though and Nakamura creates separation by kicking off the turnbuckle with his long legs. Great counter to break the hold. Now it’s Nakamura with kicks, including a hard back heel kick to Joe’s head as he was bent over. Running knee to the side of Joe’s head. 1-2- kickout by Joe. Finally, Nakamura tries a different strategy and he begins to climb the turnbuckle to escape. Joe isn’t far behind him and he holds Nakamura’s leg down, lifting himself up to the second rope. He delivers right hands to stun the champion and tries to position him on his shoulders. Not happening. Nakamura shoves Joe’s face into the steel cage and then slides around and throws Joe down with a powerbomb from the top rope! It wasn’t clean though. He gets back to the top rope, jumps…KINSHASA! But both men are collapsed on the mat and no pinfall attempt is made. Instead, Nakamura slowly gets to his feet, moving towards the open cage door. He slows down at the door and decides to slam it closed! He’s not done with Joe. One…more…KINSHASA! Nakamura rolls away and gets back to his feet, charging up in the corner yet again. Joe, somehow, stumbles to a standing position, just in time to feel a third KINSHASA! Now we get a pinfall attempt from the champ…and it’s successful. Winner: and still nXt Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall in 15 minutes Two cool points for Nakamura who showed a little more attitude tonight by refusing to leave the cage after the first Kinshasa! He went on to deliver 2 more to Joe, ensuring that no one went home thinking Joe almost won. It was a very convincing win for Nakamura, albeit a match that lacked some of the sense of urgency that is found in the best cage matches. Also, it’s worth pondering that this might be Joe’s sendoff to the main roster? Either that or he will be seeking revenge, possibly on General Manager William Regal for screwing up so badly with him before this series of matches. Coming Up: #1 Contender Qualifying Matches for the nXt Championship Third Segment We move back to Full Sail University and “Showtime” Percy Watson is back for a second week with Phillips and Graves. Recap: Highlights from the 6-woman tag match are shown, the one where Ember Moon, Aliyah and Liz Morgan won. Backstage, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce are asked for comments on their desire to run the Women’s Division and their loss a few weeks ago. Kay and Royce blame it on Daria Berenato, their hired help from that 6-woman match. They don’t associate with losers. Berenato appears and says she doesn’t want to be a part of their plans. She wants to fight one of them next week! #1 Contender Qualifying Match: “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young of SAnitY Nikki Cross and Alexander Wolfe are at ringside to watch their stable partner fight and possibly more. These two get out to an aggressive start. Both Dillinger and Young take turns whipping one another from turnbuckle to turnbuckle. Dillinger mounts it and punches Young hard in the head as the crowd chants “10!” Young slumps to the mat and Dillinger returns with stomps to the body. Dillinger removes the right kneepad but abruptly charges the ring apron where Wolfe has leapt up. He shoves him off the apron and returns to the middle of the ring to prepare for his finisher. Cross leaps on his back and the referee has to call the match. Cross is ripping at Dillinger’s eyes as Young returns to his feet and shoves Cross off of Dillinger. He clotheslines Dillinger. Dillinger gets back up and he sends Young, Wolfe and Cross to the floor in a heap. As he’s motioning at them to bring some more, Damo charges from behind. He lifts Dillinger on to his shoulders and rolls him off for a hard powerslam, followed by a senton. Wow. He is huge. As he leaves the ring and walks right through the fallen SAnitY members, he pauses to stare at Young before walking up the ramp. Winner: Tye Dillinger via disqualification in 3 minutes. One cool point for Damo because he turned some heads tonight. Guy surprised with his interference and by his non-committal attitude towards SAnitY. If he does join that group, look for him and Wolfe to be a serious match for the Authors of Pain in the Tag Team Division. One cool point for Dillinger because he understood he needed a quick start to this match if he was going to win. His strategy worked until Cross interfered…but he had to expect something like that would happen. Up Next: Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. No Way Jose Fourth Segment #1 Contender Qualifying Match: Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. No Way Jose Cien got pyro during his entrance. Neato! The two men grapple; Jose has Almas from behind. Almas counters with an arm lift and gets shoved to the ropes where he kicks back to see Jose dancing. Jose throws Almas towards the ropes again and Almas shows off by catching himself in them, in a seated pose. Jose feigns doing the same himself and Almas charges. Jose avoids him underneath and by leaping over before catching Almas for a face first slam. Up on his shoulders, Almas goes for a spin, thanks to Jose, followed by a senton. Jose dances his way into a leg drop on Almas for a 1 count. Jose tries to whip Almas out from the turnbuckle but Almas resists not once but twice. He clubs Jose along the ropes. Snapmare, followed by a running front kick to the ear. 1-2- kickout by Jose. Almas locks him in a severe single arm headlock. Jose frees himself, delivering a big boot to Almas’ head. The two trade right hands until Jose starts with the double handed slaps. He flips Almas to his back. Jose winds up for his big right hand…Almas counters. Off the ropes, Jose lifts Almas up into the air and connects with that right hand haymaker. 1-2- kickout by Almas! Jose can’t believe it. He lifts Almas on to his shoulders. Almas elbows his way down. He catches Jose off the ropes with a kick to the face and takes the lead. Nasty DDT by Almas. 1-2-3. Winner: Andrade “Cien” Almas via pinfall in 4 minutes One cool point for Jose, for dominating most of this match. Unfortunately, Almas’ threshold for pain was higher than he expected, which earns him a cool point, too. Quick match here but it did its job and advanced a winner to that fatal 4-way. Fifth Segment #1 Contender Qualifying Match: “The Drifter” Elias Samson vs. Roderick Strong On the ramp, Samson strums a guitar, in the spotlight, sitting on a stool. Fans are loud, sharing a fairly mixed opinion of this singing performance. Graves says he needs a pair of earplugs and a hammer. Stiff kick to the mid-section on Strong by Samson. Samson finds Strong in the corner and throws Strong to the mat. Another whip. Strong avoids Samson twice coming off of the ropes before connecting with a flying dropkick. Strong with a backbreaker on Samson for a 2 count. He tries for a submission but Samson backs Strong up into the ropes. He yanks on Strong’s left arm. Strong retreats to the corner and gets stomped for his efforts. Samson hangs Strong in a tree of woe. He forces Strong’s neck back towards the turnbuckle for a 4 count. Then, he slams Strong’s face on the ring apron and follows it with a running, jumping knee. He rolls Strong back into the ring. Graves says Strong can match Samson’s intensity but needs opportunity. Strong gets that opportunity, countering an Irish whip twice, stopping behind him, and dropkicking Samson to the mat. Big running forearm off the ropes. He throws Samson up in the air, drops to his back and lets his opponent’s face land on his knees. Ouch! Running kick to the head. 1-2-3! Strong gets a big win. Winner: Roderick Strong via pinfall in 4 minutes One cool point for the most even match of the evening so far. Both guys were sharp and aggressive with one another. I really liked Strong’s sequence at the end of the match but I didn’t like how similar his finisher was to Nakamura’s. Maybe he’s still working on something unique. Final Segment #1 Contender Qualifying Match: Oney Lorcan vs. Bobby Roode Next Week:Daria Berenato vs. Billie Kay and the #1 Contender’s Fatal Four Way Match Is it just me or are the entrances at Full Sail getting fancier? Roode enters and rotates slow-motion on some kind of rotating device. Graves calls this entrance a glorious experience. He’s not wrong. His entrance is about as long as Nakamura’s and he even gets the spotlight treatment in the ring. The two lock up. Roode transitions from side headlock to arm twist to wristlock. Lorcan tumbles out of it and counters with a wristlock of his own. He wrenches Roode’s arm until Roode takes down Lorcan, spins around on his back and slaps him on the head multiple times. Fancy stuff. He taunts Lorcan with his glorious pose. Lorcan responds with 3 running body attacks in the corner and an overhead belly to back suplex. 1-2- kickout by Roode. Back body drop by Lorcan. Another 2 count. Lorcan throws Roode up to the top of the turnbuckle. He mounts from behind and receives elbow after elbow after elbow from Roode, knocking him down to the mat in some pain. Roode stomps Lorcan hard in the opposite corner. He exits the ring and slams Lorcan’s head on the ring apron. Then, he hides Lorcan’s head in the actual ring apron skirt and hits him again. In the ring, Lorcan is swinging but nobody’s home. He can hardly stand as Roode goes for a neckbreaker but Lorcan counters with a backslide pin. Roode kicks out. Lorcan with European uppercuts. He tries to throw Roode off the ropes. Reversed. Reversed again and Lorcan is on the offensive. Clothesline in the corner. He rushes again and Roode moves aside. Front flipping neckbreaker by Lorcan! 1-2- kickout by Roode. Roode has an answer for everything, it seems. Lorcan tries to whip Roode. It’s countered. Lorcan climbs to the second rope and leaps, missing Roode. He does a front roll, steps back and receives a hard spinebuster for his efforts. Roode calls out “Glorious!” and delivers the jumping DDT. Lorcan’s not getting up from that. Winner: Bobby Roode via pinfall in 5 minutes One cool point for Roode because he showed, yet again, what a true veteran he is. He let Lorcan dictate the pace he wanted to fight and simply waited for opportunities to catch the newcomer off guard. Although it seemed like Lorcan got in most of the offensive work, that was in number only, not in power or effectiveness. Roode let Lorcan tire himself out and then made him pay. I would not be surprised to see him utilize a similar strategy next week, letting the other guys tire themselves out before pouncing. He’s quickly establishing himself as the favourite to next challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the nXt Championship. Looking forward to your thoughts and cool point suggestions for tonight’s episode. Peace!
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