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June 22nd, 2016 On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. A brief recap of last week’s meeting between Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura is shown. Opening Segment Singles Match: “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger vs. Oney Lorcan Phillips and Graves both agree that Dillinger needs to figure something out to get past this losing streak of his. Both men grapple. Lorcan with the side headlock. Off the ropes, Dillinger with the shoulder block and the “10” chant begins. Lorcan takes Dillinger down to the mat and applies the side headlock again. Off the ropes, Lorcan with two shoulderblocks and it’s him trying to start the “10”, to boos from the crowd. Dillinger, out of the corner, runs right into a hip toss and a 1 count pinning attempt. Lorcan, in control, applies the side headlock but Dillinger goes to the ropes to try and prevent it. The hold is broken but Dillinger can’t gain any momentum. Both men counter each other until a big lunging uppercut from Lorcan, which results in a 2 count. Dillinger falls to the outside after that heavy punch to the jaw. He punches Lorcan to get back into the ring. He brings the kicks to Lorcan in the corner, followed by chops to the chest and the referee pulls him away. Dillinger has found another gear, chucking Lorcan spine-first into the turnbuckle. Clothesline and he holds on to Lorcan’s left arm so he can pick him up to his feet and clothesline him again. Lorcan counters with one of his own and both men are dazed. Dillinger moves to the corner to pull himself up to his feet. Lorcan hulks up and charges with two jumping elbows and, on the third attempt, it’s Dillinger with a superkick! 1-2….kickout! 1-2….kickout! Logan kicked out twice! Who is this guy?! Dillinger mounts the turnbuckle and slowly delivers 3 punches until Lorcan front flips in the air and hits a neckbreaker on Dillinger simultaneously. 1-2-3! Lorcan wins! Winner: Oney Lorcan via pinfall in 7 minutes Post-match, the commentators wonder what’s happening with Dillinger… One cool point for Oney Lorcan. He put forth an aggressive performance, which was surprising since I believe this was his first TV match. He kept up with Dillinger and matched him move for move. Dillinger was visibly distracted, on a few occasions, during the match and it appears they’re setting up some kind of anxiety/confidence issues. Perhaps he’ll need help from a friend to get back to being a perfect 10? Backstage, nXt interviewer Andrea D’Marco is with Austin Aries, asking him about his loss against Nakamura and what’s next. Aries says his goal is still to prove he’s the greatest and to be nXt champion. Even Muhammad Ali never won every match, but he was still the greatest. Aries’ chip on his shoulder is bigger, and he’s even more focussed on winning. He’s interrupted by No Way Jose who says he should try to be more positive… Recap: Last month, Bayley was injured in her match against Nia Jax. Earlier today, Bayley can be seen outside the arena, in her ring gear, where she says she is cleared to wrestle TONIGHT! Second Segment Singles Match: No Way Jose vs. Josh Woods Woods grapples Jose from behind and Jose just starts moving his hips. Off the ropes, Jose evades a clothesline by ducking to the mat, leaping over and then hip-tossing Woods. Woods returns the favour a few moments later with a takedown and a few elbow strikes for a 1 count. He has quite a thick beard…almost as thick as Jose’s afro. Side headlock by Woods. Jose gets some claps from the crowd but can’t quite break free…finally throws Woods on to the mat. Atomic drop/right hand combination and Jose’s in charge. Spinning full nelson slam and No Way Jose wins again. Winner: No Way Jose via pinfall in 2 minutes Post-match, Jose dances for the crowd until the music of one Austin Aries blares over the speakers. Aries saunters down to the ring with a microphone. He says, in this industry, you’re not defined by your victories, you’re defined by your defeats. Aries lost to Nakamura, despite bruised ribs. He recounts that Jose told him to learn something from him. Aries watched Jose do his thing and he can learn something… Jose reminded him that nXt is about having fun. Aries says thank you for that reminder and puts out his hand. Jose and him shake and Aries goes to leave but Jose asks him to dance with him. The music starts back up and Aries does start dancing, to the joy of the crowd. They leave the ring and dance on the outside, all the way up the ramp, even over to the announce table. Suddenly, it’s an discus forearm from Aries, knocking Jose off the table! He continues the attack back to ringside, really laying into him with punches to the head. He appears to leave but returns to apply the Last Chancery on Jose. The referees finally arrive to point him back up the ramp. One cool point for Josh Woods for his first televised match. Seen a fair amount of him on Breaking Ground so it’s good to see he’s getting a chance to wrestle, even in brief matches like this one. One cool point for No Way Jose’s use of the atomic drop. Just don’t see enough of that move nowadays. That’s a classic and an effective one to boot. Finally, one cool point for Austin Aries’ dancing and an extra for drawing out what felt like an obvious attack all the way to the announce table. I was expecting him to attack Jose at the handshake, but he almost had me convinced that he wasn’t up to any mischief at all tonight. The discus forearm coming out of the spin move on the announce table was genius. Promo: nXt General Manager William Regal is sitting with Shinsuke Nakamura to discuss the challenge that was made, last week, between he and Finn Balor. Regal said it’s only right that he’ll make that match happen and it will happen in 3 weeks. In the conference room, Buddy Murphy barrels in, requesting a singles match and that Regal treat him as the top star he really is. Nakamura says the king of strong style will honour his request. Third Segment Graves says he’s not surprised by Aries’ attack on No Way Jose. Phillips tells us that Jose has been taken to the back for medical treatment. Singles Match: Bayley vs. Deonna Purrazzo Crowd is hyped to see Bayley return to the ring. Purrazzo and Bayley exchange roll up attempts, regroup and lock up once more. Off the second rope, Bayley executes a jump into an arm drag takedown…followed by another for a 1 count. Bayley has Purrazzo in between the ropes, hitting her with a neckbreaker. Purrazzo isn’t fazed and she quickly counters upon returning to the ring. Big knee to the face of Bayley. Side Russian leg sweep and a 2 count for Purrazzo. She flips Bayley into a seated position on the mat and kicks her in the jaw for another 2 count. Into the turnbuckle face first, Purrazzo gets Bayley 3 times and Bayley is enraged! She hits back with a jumping back elbow. Bayley to belly suplex! 1-2-3. It’s over. Winner: Bayley via pinfall in 3 minutes No cool points. Bayley won that pretty quickly when most of the match was firmly in Purrazzo’s control. The talent level of both women almost demands a longer match time. It’d be cool to see this become a feud but I don’t think Purrazzo did herself any favours by kicking out so quickly. It’d be good to see her showcased more often, too. Backstage, D’Marco asks Carmella about her win last week and how it helps her get closer to her goal of becoming nXt Women’s Champion. Carmella says the Women’s Division is on fire. She wants to become the face of the division and the next champ. Alexa Bliss interrupts her and says without Enzo & Cass, nobody knows who Carmella is. Carmella says you’re jealous cause Blake & Murphy are pathetic, in comparison to her boys. Bliss says she was the star; she made that team work. Carmella is an accessory. Bliss deserves to be the nXt Women’s Champion. She never got pinned in that triple threat #1 Contender’s match some weeks ago. Carmella says if you have a problem with that, do something about it. Bliss walks off. Coming Up: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Buddy Murphy Fourth Segment Recap: We get a full recap of the backstage, ring entrances and in-ring action of the nXt Women’s Championship match between Asuka and Nia Jax. Next Week: American Alpha return to action Singles Match: Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan Nia Jax dominates early on, slamming Morgan to the mat and dropping hard elbows. Morgan swats back at Jax but Jax responds with a knee to the abdomen. She drags Morgan up by the hair and applies a half nelson. She attempts a powerslam but Morgan kicks her way off the shoulders, runs at her and head-scissors her into the turnbuckle. Morgan runs at Jax, gets spun around and palced on the turnbuckle by Jax only to leap over her and nail her twice with dropkicks. Jax is fine though and she powerbombs Morgan for the pinfall victory. Winner: Nia Jax via pinfall in 2.5 minutes One cool point for Nia Jax being all business in this match. Her endurance is challenging to overcome because any punishment she takes is almost instantly returned with double the force to her opponent. Between Bayley and Jax, I think Jax’s effort was the better one. Next Week: Carmella vs. Alexa Bliss Final Segment Singles Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Buddy Murphy The commentators mention that Blake isn’t even in the building tonight. That demonstrates their team days may truly be over. The fans love Nakamura and sing along to the melody of his theme song. To begin the match, we get a “Nakamura” chant and a test of strength for 2 seconds until Nakamura quickly kicks Murphy in the stomach. Test of strength again and another kick, Against the ropes, Murphy with the arm twist, bending Nakamura’s left arm in a crooked way. He turns that into a side headlock and Nakamura pushes him into the ropes. The hold is broken. Nakamura avoids a punch and a kick to drop a hard double knee. He chokes Murphy in the corner with a boot to the neck. Nakamura takes too long to follow it up and Murphy throws Nakamura into the turnbuckle, landing kicks and knees on him. 3 cover attempts from Murphy lead him nowhere. A strong right hand wakes up Nakamura and puts a smile on his face. He licks his lips after a number of punches. Murphy tries a suplex but it’s countered by a knee strike. Strong kicks to the body and head by Nakamura. Enziguri! Knees to the chest in the corner. Inverted exploder suplex! Nakamura hypes up in the corner and delivers KINSHASA! Pin and win for the king of strong style. Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall in 3 minutes Two cool points for Nakamura’s charismatic ring presence and the strong strikes he can dish out. Every time he wrestles, it’s a joy to watch him and if this ends up being his only televised warmup for Takeover, so be it. He’s ready for Balor yesterday. Nakamura has been treated exceptionally well by the nXt audience since his debut. He hasn’t been overly exposed and he’s had matches where he can show off the depth of his talent. After Balor, is it safe to say he’ll be challenging Joe for the nXt championship? What do y’all think? Looking forward to your cool point suggestions on tonight’s episode. Peace!
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