|
September 21st, 2016 On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. We begin with a recap of last week’s vicious beatdown on nXt champion Shinsuke Nakamura by Samoa Joe. Opening Segment Samoa Joe is kicking things off as the commentators mention they are still awaiting an update on Nakamura’s medical status. Joe says he’ll address the altercation between him and Nakamura. In fact, he has a copy of the medical report with him, which details severe inflammation in the left elbow, multiple contusions in the lower lumbar, and separation of the clavicle and left shoulder. The injuries will not require surgery but, instead, a significant period of rest and rehabilitation about 6-12 weeks. Joe is not a virtuous man so he will not wait 6-12 weeks. He yells at GM Regal to either give him a match with Nakamura or to strip Nakamura of the championship and hand it over to him. Naturally, this brings out the nXt General Manager himself to respond to Joe. He does so from the stage. Regal says he doesn’t know where he got that report from but it is accurate. Nakamura’s seriously hurt but Regal doesn’t know much more than that. The problem that Joe’s caused--- Regal will take care of. Joe’s pissed and he heads up the ramp to confront Regal face to face. He’s giving him an opportunity to do what’s right. Otherwise, the entire roster will look like Nakamura. And Joe storms off. Recap: Last month, at the Cruiserweight Classic, Kota Ibushi and Cedric Alexander had an amazing match which garnered an amazing crowd response for Alexander. He will make his nXt debut tonight. Backstage, Alexander says he’s worked for 7 long years to get here. People told him he wouldn’t be able to make it but here he is. He asked GM Regal for the very best and he’ll be wrestling Andrade “Cien” Almas. Up Next: Austin Aries vs. Oney Lorcan WWE has launched a new promotional campaign for Connor’s Cure, an organization they started to raise money for pediatric cancer. It’s in honour of the famous Connor who touched the hearts of many fans during Daniel Bryan’s run to Wrestlemania XXX. To support them, go to www.ConnorTheCrusher.org. Get the gear, give the gear! Second Segment Backstage, Liv Morgan is interviewed about her words from last week. She says she came to nXt to hop hurdles and she’s not afraid of Asuka. She’s not going to bow down to her or any other chick. Morgan didn’t start from the bottom to end up back at the bottom. Asuka enters the picture and asks if she thinks she’s ready? Then, let’s find out. Asuka grins at Morgan and it appears we may get that match pretty soon. Singles Match: Austin Aries vs. Oney Lorcan The match starts with an “Oney” chant, which is interesting. Off the opening grapple, the two men struggle in the corner when Aries, with an extra burst of strength, lifts Lorcan from behind and slams him stomach-first on the mat. He transitions it into a brief cover and then a side headlock. Lorcan gets to his feet, pushes Aries off the ropes and Aries goes to his knees to keep the side headlock applied. Into the corner now and the referee calls Lorcan off. Aries rests on the top rope for a moment which earns him a slap from Lorcan. Now he applies the side headlock. Aries tries to side slam Lorcan but Lorcan wrenches the headlock on tighter. Aries tries again to no avail. Punches to the mid-section and Aries is free. He’s flipped over Lorcan to the apron and Lorcan applies the side headlock through the ropes. He drags him back into the ring to run the ropes and Lorcan tackles Aries into the side headlock yet again! Aries pushes Lorcan to the corner for a 4 count from the referee. They exchange chops. Lorcan reapplies and this time Aries is successful with the side slam, sending Lorcan over the top rope, landing awkwardly on the apron… Commercial break. On the return, Aries is stomping down Lorcan in the corner. He rushes with a back elbow. Double stomp over the eyes. Elbow to the back of the neck from the turnbuckle leads to a 2 count. Aries applies a submission hold to Lorcan’s face. Lorcan with a shoulder thrust to Aries in the corner. Aries responds furiously, slapping the ears of Lorcan and then slapping the chest. Lorcan responds with uppercuts and a shriek. In the adjacent corner, he slaps Aries hard and then a number of chops to the shoulders. Cross corner hip attack…once, twice, not thrice! Aries evades him and throws him over the top rope. He ascends the turnbuckle and nails Lorcan with a double axe-handle. He rolls Lorcan back into the ring and returns to the top rope. He flies…Lorcan catches him with the European uppercut! Another running uppercut…1-2- kickout by Aries! Close call. Aries is dazed as Locan grabs him from behind. Aries backs him into the corner and hits him with the back elbow. Lorcan returns the favour, climbs the second rope, misses his move. Aries with a running dropkick in the opposite corner. He picks him up for a suplex, drops him face first directly on to his left knee, knocking him out could. Aries grabs Lorcan’s head, flips over into a bridge and the Last Chancery submission. Lorcan taps out. Winner: Austin Aries via submission in 11 minutes One cool point for both Aries and Lorcan for making the most of their minutes tonight. Love the fight from Lorcan who tried to win with the consistent attack of Aries’ head, hitting him with uppercuts and side headlocks. Of course, Aries is his usual talented self, combining aerial attacks, striking attacks and submissions to wear down his opponent. It was a rather physical match which worked well for these two, and even though Aries is the one with the storyline, Lorcan impressed some fans tonight. It’ll pay off in the long run if he continues to have matches like this one. Post-match, Aries calls out Itami. He says Itami may put people to sleep but Aries makes people tap out. Where was Aries last week? He was at home because he had more important things to do with his time off. This week, he’s here and he would call Itami out to the ring but he won’t show. He’s a coward. Itami’s music hits and it appears he is not a coward as Aries suggested. And he’s in ring gear! As soon as Itami enters the ring, Aries escapes, raises his hands up high and runs back up the ramp. Promo: We get a first look at nXt’s newest signee, Dan Matha, coming in two weeks. He’s huge. Coming Up: Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas Third Segment Recap: Last week, WWE.COM caught up with Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa after the final night of the Cruiserweight Classic and the match they won. Ciampa says it was a special night. Suddenly, it’s the Revival attacking them in the parking lot area of the arena. They run off the property as officials prevent Ciampa and Gargano from chasing the tag champions further. Singles Match: Aliyah vs. Billie Kay Graves complements Phillips on correctly identifying Kay’s cultural background after he hears the “Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi” chants. Gotta love the sarcasm. Off the opening grapple, Aliyah ties up Kay with a unique chokehold in the ropes using her legs. Off the top rope, it’s a legdrop on Kay for a 2 count. From this, Aliyah transitions to a weak headlock. Kay breaks free and hits her with a gutbuster, followed by a discus forearm. Into the corner, Kay stomps down Aliyah to the mat. She drags her out by the leg for a 2 count pinfall attempt. Kay brings up Aliyah into a torture rack, but modifies it by trapping Aliyah’s left arm under her own neck. She tosses Aliyah into the turnbuckle. Kay runs the ropes looking for a big boot. Aliyah evades it. Punch to the face, another, kick to the leg. Snapmare. Aliyah runs the ropes and does a front flip neckbreaker. The cover…1-2- kickout by Kay. Aliyah runs the ropes again but Kay nails her with the big boot this time. No getting up from that one. 1-2-3 and Kay wins out of nowhere! Winner: Billie Kay via pinfall in 3 minutes One cool point for Aliyah who demonstrated, yet again, some unique submission moves. She’s got pep that one and she’s slowly building an offense that will eventually get her a few wins in this division. One cool point for Kay’s big boot. The commentators are giving it some credibility as a move that can get her the win in any circumstance. I’d like to see more of that before I treat it like an RKO or a Stunner. Up Next: Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas Final Segments Backstage, Mandy Rose discusses the comments she made on social media about Ember Moon. Mandy says Moon looks like a cross between Hunger Games and Little Red Riding Hood. She says she looks like what an nXt superstar should look like. When they get in the ring, she’ll make sure Moon is eclipsed. Next Week: Liv Morgan vs. Asuka Singles Match: Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas Alexander’s story is quite a unique one, seeing him win over the crowd and Triple H they way he did at the CWC. That match seemingly got him the contract to compete full-time with WWE. Now he makes his nXt debut tonight against a relative newcomer in Cien. To win, Graves says Cien needs to capitalize on Alexander’s nerves. Off the opening grapple, wristlocks are applied consecutively by both men. They each show off their tumbling ability until Alexander flips Cien to his back to apply the side headlock. Cien transitions it into a leg lock on Alexander’s head. Alexander kips up out of it! This prompts a crowd chant for Alexander. Cien re-applies the side headlock on Alexander. Off the ropes, Alexander evades Cien with a leap over him. Then, he trips him down to the mat. Cien tries to roll him up. Alexander rolls through. This leads into a head scissors from Alexander on Cien. Cien gets up, bounces off the ropes but stops before Alexander can dropkick him. Cien springs off the second rope and hits Alexander with a hurricanrana. Alexander trips him and the two take turns flipping over the other before they pause to catch their breath. The two grapple again. Cien with the wristlock on Alexander’s left wrist. He twists the arm. Alexander twists back and holds Cien’s left wrist. Cien flips out of it and re-applies the wristlock. Alexander matches him. He tosses Cien into the ropes and Cien rests there. Alexander runs and flies to the outside, missing Cien. Cien springs off of the turnbuckle with a spinning plancha on Alexander and… We go to commercial. Side headlock by Cien on Alexander on the return. Alexander backs up Cien into the corner once…then twice…Cien won’t let go until Alexander drops to his seat for a chinbreaker. Both men are hurting after that exchange. Alexander with a slap across the chest of Cien. Uppercut. Kick to the jaw. Clothesline. It’s all Alexander here as he connects with an impressive enziguri off of the ropes. It knocks Cien to the outside ramp. Alexander flies with a beautiful swan dive front flip splash directly on to Cien, prompting a big “nXt” chant from the fans. With Cien back in the ring, Alexander does a springboard top rope clothesline for a 2 count and he’s building all the momentum. He grabs Cien from behind. Cien creates separation with back elbows. He goes for a rollup cover but then lifts Alexander from the mat into a spinebuster slam. Brute strength from Cien! 2 count does not get him the win. Alexander responds with a punch to the face. Cien punches back. He brings a few elbows to Alexander’s face. Cien springs off the ropes and slides towards Alexander into a wheelbarrow position, which Alexander uses to lift him up on to the top rope turnbuckle. Alexander positions Cien, grabbing him from behind but Cien sends him crashing down to the mat. Standing moonsault misses but Cien rolls right into another moonsault splash which does connect on Alexander! Rollup for the win…NO! Alexander kicks out. Alexander crawls into the corner to recover. Cien stomps on his chest and brings the elbows to his head. He gets the crowd clapping, signalling double knees and approaches…Alexander lifts Cien up into the air and forces him to land on his knees. Ouch! Rollup….1-2-3! The rookie gets the win! Winner: Cedric Alexander via pinfall in 10 minutes Post-match, both men shake hands and embrace, recognizing what a good match they both had. One cool point for both men for putting on an entertaining match. Plenty of acrobatics in this one but it was all about captivating on mistakes. Alexander wins because Cien gives him too much space, attempting his double knees finisher. Alexander’s stamina and quick thinking get him the win after showcasing plenty of what makes him a special talent for the nXt roster. Cien showed a little more of a mean streak in this one, which is good for him. I think he benefits from showcasing how aggressive he can be when he’s determined to win. On a related note, what a fine ending to the show, seeing both men recognize the great match they each had. So often a show ends with suspense and further conflict. Nice to see a wrestling match conclude with a sign of respect and cheers from the crowd. It sustains the idea that nXt is first and foremost about the wrestling, honouring the athleticism and competitive drive of each man and that there’s a lot of love from the fans for a match that doesn’t feature a “bad guy”. Looking forward to your own cool point suggestions and comments on tonight’s episode. Peace!
|
