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June 14th, 2017 On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Tom Phillips, “Showtime” Percy Watson, and Nigel McGuinness Opening Segment Singles Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Rob Ryzin McIntyre’s demeanour is intense; he’s got his eyes locked on Ryzin, staring him down from the moment he enters the ring. Ryzin twists the arm and gets tossed over McIntyre’s head for his offensive efforts. Ryzin again applies a side headlock, flips over McIntyre and shoves him. Big boot from McIntyre to shut him up! Slaps in the corner now as McIntyre sets out to destroy his opponent, followed by a belly to belly suplex. Ryzin landed in the opposite corner of the ring on that one. McIntyre attempts to follow it up but Ryzin catches him with a superkick while he’s on a knee. Only gets a 1 count. McIntyre and Ryzin lock up again. Throw suplex by McIntyre and he takes a few breaths in the corner before launching himself at Ryzin with a flying forearm. From the top turnbuckle, McIntyre connects with a single axe handle. He continues to attack Ryzin in the corner with a flurry of punches and slaps. Ryzin gets knocked from the turnbuckle to the outside. McIntyre takes his time determining his next move. Outside of the ring, McIntyre retrieves Ryzin and throws him in between the ropes. He calls for his finisher and, moments later, he connects with the Claymore! Ryzin’s not getting up from that. Winner: Drew McIntyre via pinfall in 3 minutes One cool point for McIntyre’s intensity. It’s almost scary how locked in he was on Ryzin. The man has a very clear and unwavering focus, and I’d expect GM Regal has noticed his winning streak. He’s in line for a Takeover: Brooklyn match but against who is the question. Recap: We see the clip from 2 weeks ago of the Iconic Duo glamming in front of the camera at the WWE Performance Center, wanting to renovate it. Then, Ember Moon comes into view and the girls poke fun of her. Moments later, a WWE trainer gives her official medical clearance to wrestle again. So… next week, Ember Moon will face Peyton Royce. Coming Up: Triple Threat nXt Women’s Championsip Elimination Match Second Segment Promo: Highlights of Aleister Black’s first months in nXt are shown, with his theme song playing in the background. Non-Title Tag Team Match: Authors Of Pain (c) w. Paul Ellering vs. Anthony Dominguez & Wilmer Freyday Akam delivers a big boot to Dominguez to begin the match. He beats up on Freyday in the corner as Rezar jumps off the ring apron to chat with his manager at ringside. Meanwhile, Akam lifts Freyday over his head and chucks him on to the ramp! He lifts Dominguez laterally onto his shoulders and slams him for the 1-2-3. Winners: Authors Of Pain via pinfall in 1 minute Post-match, Paul Ellering instructs Rezar to throw Freyday back into the ring. He and Akam do their super collider powerbombs to the team to complete their destruction. McGuinness says if you’re a tag team in nXt, you should be scared. Ellering gets on the mic and says Heavy Machinery is as foolish as they are large. The Authors Of Pain have been undefeated for a whole year. Have you not read the Book of Pain? They beat American Alpha, TM-61, The Revival and even #DIY. Now, they want to write the first chapter in their Book of Dominance. Heavy Machinery won’t even make a footnote. Naturally, this brings out Heavy Machinery who take offense to that comment. They’re not here to talk either, they’re here for a fight! Each team gets in each other’s faces as Ellering holds back his guys from engaging. The Authors retreat…this time. One cool point for the Authors Of Pain for showing their dominance by basically having an unofficial handicap match. Akam easily took care of the team who faced him. Ellering gets a cool point for cutting an effective summative promo, listing all the teams they’ve destroyed. That’s quite the list. One cool point, though, for Heavy Machinery not being intimidated by them. I liked the standoff between the teams; I just wish Knight and Dozovic had some more time together to build them up as bigger threats. Recap: We see highlights of Roderick Strong’s promo from last week’s show, where he states his need for the nXt Championship. Roode’s response and fake tears are also shown. He calls Strong not man enough to win. Coming Up: Triple Threat nXt Women’s Championsip Elimination Match Up Next: Velveteen Dream is in action. Third Segment Promo: Sonya Deville gets some promo time as slow-motion clips of her training are mixed with in-ring action and promo work. She was born to fight. Put your hair up and square up, she says. She’ll be in action next week. The official theme song of nXt is “Resistance” by Powerflo, and it’s available next week on iTunes. Singles Match: Velveteen Dream vs. Raul Mendoza Mendoza is a familiar face, having participated in last year’s Cruiserweight Classic. Dream does a little gloating to begin the match, stepping on Mendoza’s back after taking him down and smiling to the crowd. From the side headlock, Dream is pushed into the ropes and takes down Mendoza. Mendoza responds with a pinfall attempt for a 1 count. On the next exchange, after a few evasive maneuvers while running the ropes, Mendoza connects with a dropkick on Dream, surprising him. Dream pushes Mendoza to the ropes. Mendoza springboards off of them and Dream kicks him in the chest. European uppercut and Dream slaps him hard in the corner. He continues with stomps as the referee warns him. Back body drop by Dream. He brings Mendoza back to his feet and continues hit him hard in the face and chest. Mendoza’s writhing in pain on the mat as Dream beckons him to get up. He takes off his headband, slaps him with it a few times and goes for another back body drop. Mendoza lands on his feet and nails Dream with some slaps to the chest. Mendoza evades Dream’s running approach in the corner by sliding through the ropes to the apron. He springs back in, runs the ropes but gets caught by Dream and thrown stomach-first to the mat. Dream puts him up on the shoulders and does a kind of cartwheel driver on him. McGuiness calls it a cartwheel DVD. Dream ascends the turnbuckle to the top rope. He stands there and postures before landing with the elbow drop. 1-2-3. Winner: Velveteen Dream via pinfall in 5 minutes One cool point for Dream’s dominant victory. Mendoza didn’t get much offense in because, even with the counters, Dream always had another way of attacking him. Plenty of upside with this guy. Recap Last week, Hideo Itami wouldn’t stop beating up Oney Lorcan, and, as a result, the match ended in a No Contest. He delivered 3 GTS’s to Lorcan until Kassius Ohno ran down to stop him. The two exchanged words and Ohno pushed him. Ohno is asked about where his friendship with Itami stands. Ohno’s not sure and he shouldn’t have shoved him. Itami’s just frustrated, not a bad guy. Ohno wants to lead by example and he’s getting a match to prove himself, thanks to nXt General Manager William Regal. Next Week: Kassius Ohno vs. Aleister Black Up Next: Triple Threat nXt Women’s Championsip Elimination Match Final Segments Promo: In-ring and interview footage of Ember Moon is shown, previewing her match against Peyton Royce next week. Triple Threat nXt Women’s Championsip Elimination Match: Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ruby Riot Cross crawls into the ring without theme music as Phillips is discussing the upcoming match. The women get the spotlight treatment and the ring announcer introducing each competitor of the match. Always classy. Cross is first to strike. She takes out Riot. She pounces on Asuka. Riot sends her back the opposite way, meeting her at the ropes with a forearm. Asuka charges. Riot kicks her a few times, then lands a dropkick. Asuka kicks her in the mid-section, straight into a flying crossbody by Cross, and from the adjacent corner, a top-rope dropkick from Asuka. Asuka beckons the two ladies to get her. They work together to clothesline Asuka over the top rope. Cross then collides with Riot and throttles her on the mat as Asuka is struggling on the ramp. Riot clotheslines Cross to the mat a few times. She dropkicks her, then knocks Asuka off the ring apron. Riot’s all over Cross in the corner and sends her rolling underneath the ropes. She’s the only one left standing as… We go to commercial break. On the return, Asuka’s got Riot from behind, trying to lift her. Riot elbows her way free. Asuka forces her into a back rollup for a quick 1 count. Asuka charges at Riot in the corner and gets stopped. Riot ascends the turnbuckle and then hits a hurricanrana on the champ. Asuka rolls out and Cross seizes the opportunity to jump on Riot’s back, trying to choke her. Riot throws her over her head and twists her arm before hitting her with an enziguri. 1-2-….Asuka interrupts the count but Riot catches her kick and slaps her in the chest multiple times. Asuka reverses the Irish whip and knees Riot in the chest for a 2 count. Asuka runs, gets tripped up by Cross and dragged to the outside. Cross beats up on her there. Riot meets them both with a front kick, knocking all of 3 of them down on the mat. The referee checks on each woman and they seem okay to continue. Riot rolls Cross in and ascends the turnbuckle. Cross rushes her so Riot jumps over her and does a front roll. She catches Cross with a dropkick and Cross bounces off the bottom turnbuckle. Riot’s going to the top rope. Asuka pushes her and she lands awkwardly on the ring apron. Asuka goes for a flying crossbody on Cross, but Cross slides out of the way. She urgently attacks Asuka with a spinning neckbreaker but the move forces Asuka out of the ring so Cross can’t pin the champ. Riot returns to the ring and grabs Cross from behind connecting with a back suplex. Both women catch their breath. As Riot gets to her feet, she twists Cross’ arm. Asuka rushes in and Riot nails her with a kick to the head! Cross lifts Riot in a suplex position, bouncing her legs off the top rope…SPINNING NECKBREAKER. Pinfall is successful. Ruby Riot is eliminated. Commercial Break On the return, the exchange of punches has begun and it’s quite a brawl. Plenty of shouting between the two women. Finally, Asuka lands a kick that knocks Cross off her feet. Beautiful German suplex, combined with a bridge pinfall attempt for 2 by Asuka. She brings the kicks to Cross’ mid-section, but Cross isn’t harmed and she rakes Asuka’s eyes. Phillips says it’s legal. Cross tries to lift Asuka on to the top turnbuckle, like she did to Riot. Asuka slips off to the ring apron. Cross misses a lunging tackle and Asuka catches her, between the ropes, with a kick to the front and back of the neck. Both women are on the ring apron now and Asuka makes Cross’ legs buckle with a sweet kick. Asuka jumps from the apron. Cross is standing…but not for long, spinning hip attack by Asuka. She nailed Cross in the head. She slams Cross into the barricade. The two exchange punches between the ramp and the barricade. Cross gets whipped into the stage by Asuka as the referee calls for them to return to the ring. These two disappear backstage and the referee calls for the bell. No contest apparently. Guess the referee didn’t want to follow them. The commentary team is surprised and confused as they wait for cameras to catch up with the women. Backstage, the two are in the loading area of the arena. Cross throws Asuka into a garage door as referees plead for the women to stop fighting. Asuka slams Cross head-first into the garage door and repeatedly slams it against the metal. The two walk through a door and they’re in the makeup area now. Cross dunks Asuka’s head into a cooler of ice cubes and water. Cross is pulling at Asuka’s nose until she drags the champion back into the arena. She slams Asuka’s head against the announce table but Asuka still has some fight left in her. She’s pulling at Cross’ hair pretty good. Cross and Asuka simultaneously deliver right hands to one another in the tech area of the stage. Referees continue to beg them to stop but aren’t getting in their way. Asuka’s up on a table of computers and she’s in rough shape. Cross launches herself at her and the two fly off into tables below. Officials and referees check on the condition of Asuka and Cross; neither is moving very much, but both are breathing. That’s how this show is gonna end. No contest in 15 minutes One cool point each for Asuka and Nikki Cross. Finally we are seeing this rivalry flourish and the animosity between both ladies has reached new heights. The ring was unable to contain this fight, and the post-match brawl, throughout the arena, was just as entertaining as the match itself. An extra cool point for Cross because I liked the reckless abandon she exhibited this evening. She understands it’s going to take some craziness and pain to beat the undefeated champion. Asuka certainly matched her though and wasn’t intimidated by Cross. Folks, I’m excited if this is going to lead to a one-on-one match between Cross and Asuka. Many times I’ve mentioned how I felt Cross should get a proper title shot. With Riot being eliminated early, that puts the Cross/Riot rivalry on the backburner. While we may yet see Ember Moon get her shot, Nikki Cross will be directly responsible for roughing up Asuka and weakening her for the future #1 contender. The women’s division is in good shape. Looking forward to your thoughts, cool point suggestions, and comments. Peace!
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