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November 9th, 2016 On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Opening Segments Tonight, we’ll see the contract signing for Takeover: Toronto between nXt champion Shinsuke Nakamura and #1 contender Samoa Joe. But first, it’s Charly Caruso with an update on the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. She tells us which semi-final is up first... will #DIY hand the Authors of Pain their first loss? Or will the Authors of Pain take down #DIY like they’ve done to so many others. This match took place earlier in Los Angeles, CA. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final Match: #DIY vs. Authors of Pain w. Paul Ellering Akam and Ciampa start this one off as the crowd chants “Psycho Killer, Johnny Wrestling!” to show their support for #DIY. Akam muscles Ciampa into a neutral corner and gives him a few shoulder thrusts along with a club to the back. Ciampa is whipped to the opposite corner but he flips up over the advancing Akam. They run the ropes again. Ciampa tags Gargano on his way by, slides under Akam’s legs and dropkicks him. Gargano dropkicks him twice and goes for a third but Akam deflects it and shoves Gargano to his corner. Gargano tries to kick his way out and he does, but Rezar is tagged in. Both Authors bring #DIY members to opposite corners. They go for a switch and miss running clotheslines, allowing Gargano and Ciampa a little bit of offense. The Authors regain control, whip the #DIY members towards one another but they link arms, swing through and deliver back heel kicks to Akam and Rezar. Both men are dumped out of the ring, on either side. They join up as Gargano tries a superman dive through the ropes, and catch him. Ciampa tries to fly but the Authors throw Gargano into him and the tag partners collide. Graves says it’s the greatest thing he’s ever seen as... We go to commercial. On the return, Gargano is being manhandled by Rezar, who is choking him in the ropes. As the referee is distracted by Rezar, Ellering gets involved, slamming Gargano’s head on the ring apron. Quick cover and a 2 count for Rezar. Akam tags in, and stomps Gargano from the second rope as Rezar held him up. Ouch. Gargano jabs back a few times but gets tackled into the Authors corner again. He’s a long way from help as Rezar is tagged back in. He continues to dominate even when Gargano fights back. Akam is tagged in and he raises Gargano on to his shoulder for a crushing submission of the upper body, kind of like a modified torture rack. He tags in Rezar who prepares for a running spinebuster, which gets countered by Gargano into a stiff DDT. He reaches for Ciampa to make the tag. Rezar traps his foot. Enziguri! Tag is made to Ciampa. He immediately delivers a high knee to Akam, knocking him off the apron. He wears down Rezar with right hands, followed by a big boot but the big man won’t fall. Rezar replies with a running knee of his own. He lifts up Ciampa on to his shoulders. Ciampa with elbows to the jaw. Heavy slaps exchanged by both men. Ciampa with a running knee to the head. He tries for a German suplex but Rezar’s just too heavy. High kick in the corner by Ciampa and this time he gets the German suplex! 1-2-kickout by Rezar! “Psycho killer!” chant is in the air as Ciampa tags in Gargano. He runs at Rezar and gets knocked down. Rezar picks up Ciampa on to his shoulders. Gargano jumps off the turnbuckle and Rezar catches him! He’s got both men! Fallaway slam on Gargano with Ciampa getting squished beneath him. 1-2- Gargano kicks out! What a display of power by Rezar. Ridiculous. Akam is tagged in and both men prepare for mirror powerbombs. Gargano and Ciampa each hurricanrana out of it, sending both Authors of Pain colliding into each other. Now double rollups for pinfall 1-2- double kickout! This is followed by both Authors spilling out over the top rope. Gargano and Ciampa meet them out there via aerial attacks and momentum is building for the #DIY team. They return into the ring for a proper tag and prepare to take out Akam with DOUBLE kicks to the head. 1-2-3...but Paul Ellering is on the apron, distracting the referee from making the count. Ciampa runs over and confronts Ellering as the ref looks on. On the other side of the ring, out pop up The Revival! Dash and Dawson emerge from underneath the ring. They trip up Gargano, drag him under the rope and Dawson DDTs him on the outside. They escape through the crowd as Ciampa receives a running knee on his way back into the ring. Double team clothesline/leg sweep by both Authors and a successful pinfall on Ciampa. Quite the shenanigans to finish this match. Winners: Authors Of Pain via pinfall in 12 minutes One cool point for everybody who said The Revival and #DIY would likely have a rematch at Takeover: Toronto. It just didn’t happen when we thought it might. One cool point for #DIY who had the Authors of Pain beat, laying the blueprint for any team who wants to defeat these giants. You’ve got to be persistent, aggressive and quick-moving to have a chance. Gargano and Ciampa were all 3 of those things but they neglected the manager’s role in this one, which cost them the chance to win the Dusty Classic. Finally, one cool point for the amount of punishment the Authors took...and yet they still won. Hard to picture a heel team winning the tournament though. Up Next: TM61 vs. SAnitY in the other Dusty Classic Semi-Final Third Segment “Come Back For More” by Turnstile is one of the official nXt Takeover: Toronto theme songs. Earlier today, “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger shares how Bobby Roode gave his word to be tag team partners and then broke his word. He’s built a career out of making lies. At Takeover, he’ll be kicking Roode’s ass all over Toronto. This next Semi-Final match also took place in Los Angeles, CA. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final Match: TM61 vs. SAnitY The entire SAnitY group comes out together and show their wild side by beating up on the ring ropes a little. As TM61 members Miller and Thorne arrive to the squared circle and greet the crowd, they are attacked from behind by Wolfe and Fulton. The referee waves this off but is somewhat helpless to do anything because the match hadn’t been started. Young throws Miller into the steel steps. Cross beats up on Thorne on the outside and laughs as... We go to commercial. On the return, Thorne motions he’s good to go and the referee rings the bell. He exchanges strikes with Wolfe. Fulton attacks him from behind briefly then returns to the apron. Thorne turns around to receive a jumping karate kick to the skull. Wolfe tags in Fulton. Fulton holds Thorne above his head and Wolfe bounces off the ropes and delivers an uppercut to Thorne. Fulton with a 2 count pinfall attempt and Nick Miller is still passed out at ringside so Thorne has no support. Fulton chokes Thorne a little before applying heavy pressure to the right shou lder. Thorne chops his way out of it and that prompts shoulder thrusts from Fulton in the corner. Fulton rolls out from the corner and rushes in with a sliding headbutt on Thorne. 1-2- kickout. The tag is made. Wolfe kneels on Fulton’s back and punches Thorne a few times. He stomps on Thorne’s upper body, including the face. Another 2 count. Wolfe applies a week submission hold to Thorne, targeting the left shoulder, then the neck. Plenty of room for Thorne to escape but Wolfe holds on tight for a good 25 seconds. Thorne finally gets to his feet and Wolfe breaks the hold to knock the returning Miller away from his corner. Miller never got there and he’s down and out again. Uppercut from Wolfe. He tags in Fulton who picks up Thorne for another lift and uppercut double team but Thorne slips off and pushes Fulton into Wolfe’s right uppercut! Wolfe sees Miller has just gotten to the apron and rushes at him. Miller blocks the punch and fights off Wolfe. Thorne tags in Miller who has recharged enough to deliver a back suplex on Wolfe. Running clotheslines to opposite corners on each SAnitY team member. Miller covers Fulton for a 2 count which is interrupted by Wolfe. Wolfe charges Miller and is flupped to the apron. While Miller is busy with him, Fulton clubs Miller from behind. Double team finisher expected by SAnitY as they lift Miller up on to both of their shoulders. Thorne jumps in, connecting with a dropkick on Fulton! Miller flips over Wolfe, holds on to the legs and pins him 1-2-3! A surprise win for TM61! Winners: TM61 via pinfall in 7 minutes One cool point for TM61’s big win. I guess Miller’s rest period paid off because he has the strength to pin Wolfe. He owes Thorne big time for enduring most of SAnitY’s attack in that match. One cool point for SAnitY’s aggression. They absolutely had the right strategy in this match, catching TM61 off guard to begin. They maintained dominance most of the match but perhaps they needed to employ more distraction techniques to allow Young and Cross to be more involved in ensuring victory. A team like this doesn’t lose much by not winning the tournament. Their role is to disrupt nXt by being different and in that way, they are already winning. Charly Caruso introduces more matches will be booked for nXt Takeover: Toronto. We cut to nXt General Manager William Regal. Regal immediately refers to The Revival’s interference earlier tonight so they will defend the nXt Tag Team Championships against #DIY in a 2 out of 3 falls match! Up Next: Ember Moon will be in action. Fourth Segment “Hated” by Beartooth is one of the official nXt Takeover: Toronto theme songs. Earlier today, Bobby Roode says it wasn’t his fault that he and Dillinger lost. It was Dillinger’s. He embarrassed the name of Dusty Rhodes. He’s not even close to a perfect 10. The world will see that at Takeover: Toronto. Dillinger is a perfect failure and Roode will be the man who makes Takeover: Toronto glorious. Singles Match: Ember Moon vs. Rachael Evers Moon and Evers lock up. Moon grins at Evers after being pushed. Off the ropes, Evers goes for the arm drag but Moon flips, lands on her feet and rolls up Evers into a fancy pin, locking her left arm. Evers kicks out at 2. Moon stares down Evers, evades a clothesline and sends Evers to the ropes. Evers holds on, then charges and Moon traps her in a leg scissors takedown. Hard back elbow by Moon knocks down Evers. Moon runs the ropes, springboards off the second rope and misses the crossbody. Evers with a gutwrench suplex for a 2 count. She drives knees into Moon’s back and applies a chinlock as Moon sits, in pain, on the mat. Moon pushes Evers’ hands away but gets caught in an arm stretch instead. She tries to counter it but gets slammed down again by Evers. Evers taunts Moon and receives a flurry of knees and fists. Spinning back kick to the gut by Moon. A vicious front kick off of the ropes pushes Evers to the corner. A few moments later, she’s climbing the top rope for the Eclipse and she nails it. 1-2-3. Winner: Ember Moon via pinfall in 4 minutes One cool point for Moon whose combination of speed, striking ability and agility has been consistently impressive. I can’t wait to see what she’d do in a 10-12 minute match. Book her for the next Takeover. She’ll be ready to have a go at Asuka by then. Final Segment Next Week: Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Cedric Alexander WWE nXt Championship Match Contract Signing GM Regal is in the ring and that means it’s contract signing time! In an unprecedented move, the table is on the diagonal in the ring and flanked by 3 security guards on each side. He’s not taking any chances tonight! Nakamura is prompt in arriving to the ring. Joe’s music hits and he’s a no-show. A few moments later, he walks out on stage, pulling a covered fold-up table. He takes a steel chair off of it and sits down right there. Joe doesn’t want to join the circus down there. With Regal’s history, he doesn’t feel like he’s being looked after so Joe will conduct his business from the stage. If he doesn’t, he might be forced to put Nakamura down, should he be in the ring with him. He says he’s going to embarrass Nakamura. He’s capable of putting Nakamura on the injured list for a very long time. Joe insults the crowd and says they won’t get to see Nakamura’s opportunity for revenge tonight. It’ll be at Takeover: Toronto. He asks GM Regal to bring him the contract. Regal starts to talk and Joe yells at him, disrespecting his British accent and repeats for him to bring the contract. Regal acquiesces. Joe speaks in an accent of his own telling him to hurry up. He smiles as Regal arrives. He signs the contract and stares down Nakamura. Regal is pretty pissed as he walks back down the ring to Nakamura, handing him the same contract and pen to sign. Nakamura looks like he might exit the ring and the security guards move closer to him. Nakamura drops the contract and takes out the security squad, one by one with elbows and knees. He stares down Joe for a few moments before powerbombing one of those security guys through the table in the centre of the ring! Fans kinda love it and kinda feel uneasy about it. Finally, Nakamura signs the contract. His music hits and he holds the championship over his shoulder. Joe is told to leave the stage by nXt referees, rushing to help the security guy, as Nakamura holds his title in the air. Two cool points for Samoa Joe’s arrogant, self-conceited attitude. Man oh man, he can really get under a guy’s skin as he has done with GM Regal. I like how nXt continues to make the contract signings as unique as possible. Joe bringing his own table to the stage was very clever and very appropriate to his belief that he is the most dangerous man in nXt. As for the champ, I don’t particularly like that he’s beating up security guards. I get that he’s trying to show his aggressive side. I get that he’s trying to match Joe’s viciousness in order to intimidate him. But isn’t he supposed to be the fan favourite? Why are we cheering his abuse of security guards who are only trying to do their job? I sensed a little discomfort from the fans when he did that tonight. It’s as though Joe has succeeded in pushing Nakamura to a bad place. Is it enough to throw him from his game and his championship reign? Looking forward to your cool point suggestions and comments on tonight’s episode. Early predictions on Takeover: Toronto are welcome, too. Peace!
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