Its Wrestling Wednesday and we welcome you to another edition of the NXT Recap-slash-Review. I'm your humble Re-cap-view-er. This week we see the face off between Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens. Also Prince Puma battles Johnny Mundo in an Iron Man Match… (What's that? Oh… that's NOT on NXT tonight? … Oops. You should still probably go find that one, though.)
We open with the Dusty graphic and the amazing tribute they've put together for him.
IN RING!
NXT opening and we are LIVE in Full Sail, and We have Cass and Enzo's music. Enzo launches into "YOU CAN'T…BEAT… THAT!" Carmella gets some mic time. She runs down Blake, Murphy, Alexa Bliss. Cass puts the bow on it – but before he can FULLY spell it out for us? Blake and Murphy's music interrupts. Their music is LESS annoying this week. Seems less squawky and grating. Our six person kick off is underway. Plenty of irony in Full Sail chanting "You look stupid" at Blake, when Enzo is in the ring with him. Graves points out that he thinks the NXT Crowd IS chanting at Enzo. Slow start. Feeling out process. Blake getting a little early advantage. Enzo showing some frustration. Eventually all six end up in the ring as chaos erupts. Blake Alexa and Murphy end up on the floor as we take a break.
And…We're… BACK. I just noticed… Enzo wrestling in Jordan's? I Think he is. Now Blake and Murphy are working over Enzo. Isolated. Dominated. His face is in TOTAL peril. Blake and Murphy miss a move in the corner and Enzo is able to make the hot tag to Carmella. Bliss in and attacks. Carmella quickly gets the upper hand, and Bliss tags out. Cass gets and quickly dispatches Blake. Enzo Cass and Carmella get the win with "Air Enzo", as Byron called it.
OVERVIEW!
A solidly fun opener. Good to get a win for Enzo, Cass, and Carmella. This has been a good feud and can't wait for the next tag team championship match.
BACKSTAGE!
Joe is set to be interviewed Devin. She asks if Joe is there simply for Owens. He says he's prided himself on wrestling in places on the cutting edge, and NXT is that place. Joe then goes into a great promo about how he's going to beat down Kevin Owens, unmercifully.
HYPE!
We get an excellent hype/history piece on Finn Balor. My guess is we see a lot of this leading into the July 4th show. Great mash up of entrances from Takeovers, NXT shows, and even their live events to start. Then a sit down asking Finn "who is Fergal Devitt?" Talks about his upbringing and his introduction to WWF. As a kid in careers class he said he wanted to be a wrestler. Do a lot with Becky Lynch talking about Fergal. "Without Fergal, there wouldn't be a Becky Lynch". She breaks down in tears talking about how important he was to her. This is equal parts a Becky Lynch hype piece. This is excellent. Lots of footage from Insane Championship Wrestling with different body paint. So they go into him going to NJPW. That ends part 1. Part 2 will be next week.
OVERVIEW!
Yyyyyeah. That was spectacular. Every bit as good as their piece on Itami for Mania, and better. Really interested to see what they do with New Japan next week, and if they're going to go ahead talk about Bullet Club.
IN RING!
Charlotte is out for our next match. Her opponent is in the ring… (Which means her opponent is GONNA have a bad time) Cassie is what it sounded like Rich called her. Cassie holding her own, but Full Sail knows this is an exercise in futility. A big boot and a series of knees including a dad flavored boot across the throat while she argued with the ref. Charlotte being a good deal more aggressive in this match. Little sloppiness from Cassie with a cross body block. Charlotte hits a spear. Locks in the Figure 8. Ball game.
OVERVIEW!
Charlotte gets a nice win. Cassie was pretty good, not great. Predictable match.
BACKSTAGE!
Kevin interviews Dana Brooke. Talks about STILL being a fitness competitor and talks smack on Charlotte. Saying she is going to show her the door.
IN RING!
Main Event time!
Kevin Owens is out first. Joe comes out next. That music is still blah… Pretty even to start off. Owens hits a running clothesline in the corner, but eats it and chases Owens and nails Owens with a back elbow in the corner and then nails a nice kick… part Enzuigiri part pele. Owens bails. We go to break. We're back. Joe's still dominating. Owens turns the tide and hits the cannonball and senton for a one count. And now its time… REVERSE…CHINLOCK… O'… DOOOOOOOOOM!!!!! Joe fights out. Owens regains the advantage. Locks in another RCOD. Yells "CHINLOCK CITY". Joe comes back again. Owens bails again. On the outside Owens looks to apron power bomb Joe. He can't. But they begin to brawl wildly. Palm thrusts from Joe. Haymakers from Owens. The ref gets between them, but Kevin charges in and the Ref is down. More brawling. More chaos. They get separated. They pull free and they continue brawling wildly. They finally get them apart. Owens levels some of the extra muscle as he walks out. They glare and breath heavily the Logo appears, and we go to black.
OVERVIEW!
Definitely had a more deliberate pace than I expected. Definitely seemed to hold back some and I think with how it played out and finished, that's why. A wild brawl was the right move to make for these two. I'm guessing this continues to simmer before they have these two battle at a Takeover.
TOO LONG! DIDN'T READ?!
Another good episode of NXT. Some fun in ring stuff. The feuds continue to progress. The star of the show was the Balor documentary type hype piece. His history and what steps he's taken to get to NXT is great to have for casual fans, and even someone like me who is very aware of his past, but it still added layers to him as a performer and his character. This brought an end to the post Takeover TV Taping. So coming up here shortly they have a new set of tapings ready to go. We have about six weeks, give or take, until our next Takeover. I'm guessing things will start to take shape over he next 3-4 weeks. Especially with the Balor/Owens match in Tokyo.
Thanks for joining me. I'll see you in 7!
