Since this week saw me attending both RAW (and Main Event) and SmackDown (and 205 Live) live as well as a special presentation of NXT TV, I decided to focus the TV Week in Review on the live experience and make this a Quick Thoughts thing.
I love these quasi house shows WWE films where it’s no bullshit, just straight wrestling. Plus you get stuff like Liv Morgan and Aliyah casually waving to fans, and Yoshihiro Takayama in the crowd on the hard cam sitting kiddie corner from a guy cosplaying as Asuka.
1. Oney Lorcan vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Oney Lorcan vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas was a perfect low-key opener that got pretty awesome for the last couple minutes. Almas coming out in the La Sombra mask was neat, and he seemed more prickish than usual with the running slap and all the posing and whatnot. OSAKA WITH THE ONEY LORCAN CHANT!! I liked Oney just hammer punching at Almas’ head to get out of the deadlift, and then they just started trading blows leading to Almas just hiptossing Lorcan’s ass into the damn turnbuckle and finishing him off. Real good intensity for that closing stretch. I feel like Almas will never succeed on NXT and then he’ll debut on the main roster and become a major superstar and we’ll all just be like “Oh, OK.” **3/4
2. Liv Morgan & Aliyah vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce
Billie Kay/Peyton Royce vs. Liv Morgan/Aliyah was the best everyone in this match has looked on NXT TV, especially Billie and Peyton… guess that’s what happens when you see them for more than 2 minutes at a time. Super basic but very effective face/heel stuff, with double kip-ups and desperation by the good guys and cutting off of the ring by the bad guys. Liked Peyton refusing an Irish whip and taking over on Aliyah after distraction from Billie, as well as Billie’s laughter as she kept control. It wasn’t amazing or anything, but this match made me more hopeful than I’ve ever been about the follow-up to the Four Horsewomen. **1/2
3. NXT Tag Team Title: #DIY [c] vs. Tajiri & Akira Tozawa
#DIY vs. Tozawa and Tajiri was a ton of fun. Gargano/Tozawa tearing it up and Tajiri/Ciampa struggling for holds was a fine start to the match, and the escalating intensity was great… there was a feeling-out process that made sense, and then Ciampa said FUCK YOU I’M STRONG STYYYYLEEE!!! And Tozawa responds by punching him in the damn face. Tajiri looked as good as ever for the short bursts he was in, but Tozawa worked the bulk of this and is a fucking magician. Ciampa seemed fired up to go full puro too. The Tozawa Brouge kick, Tajiri double handspring leading to Tozawa’s 2 tope’s, and the powerbomb backbreaker near fall were highlights. This was like an awesome juniors tag New Japan would just shit out in the 90s – seeing it on the WWE Network in 2016 was something though, man. ***1/2
4. NXT Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Nia Jax
Asuka vs. Nia Jax was legitimately INCREDIBLE. This is a great attraction type of match on paper and just like TakeOver: The End they work it exactly how it should be. This went WAAAAY more high-end than the TakeOver match though, I mean holy shit. Asuka as an underdog, though rare, is AWESOME. And Nia Jax isn’t anywhere near elite yet but MAN did this work. It starts with Jax using her size to corner Asuka early and just launching her across the ring. Asuka tries to do her best Inoki vs. a Giant tribute – Octopus hold, kicking at Jax from the mat, selling her ass off. Jax keeps deadlifting out of everything, cuts her off with a spinebuster, and chokes her on the ropes. But Asuka just keeps throwing herself at Jax with all her weight. Nothing works, so Asuka just starts PUNCHING AT JAX’S STOMACH and then busts out THREE SPINNING BACKFISTS!! But a headbutt knocks her down. BUT SHE FIGHTS BACK!! And goes down again. AND FIGHTS BACK!!! And locks in a kneebar that I totally bought as the finish until Nia LIFTS HER UP. The last few minutes here take it from great to epic… a tired Nia is just wailing at Asuka and missing, and it looks like Asuka has her number until she tries a hip attack to the outside and gets caught and thrown into the apron. Jax hits a POWERBOMB but it doesn’t put Asuka away, who manages a GERMAN SUPLEX!!! The exhausted Nia proceeds to SCREAM at Asuka, who kicks her head off and pins her for 3. Fuck, man – this was not the most exciting This is Awesome type of thing but wrestling would be so much better off if everything was treated like this. Asuka outlasted the monster. Fucking amazing. ****1/2
5. NXT Title: Samoa Joe [c] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Samoa Joe Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura is like Batman vs. Superman – sounds cool on paper, actually fucking sucks. Joe’s kind of a dick for part of this but Nakamura doesn’t sell hard enough to be sympathetic. Nakamura does strikes. Joe looks tired. Joe… works the knee. You’re like 600 pounds the fuck are you working a knee for? Kinshasa, title win pop. Whatever. Asuka/Jax should’ve been the main event. **
So happy they aired this; it was a really fun show and the best episode of NXT all year. Of course, helps that it was basically a 2-hour WWE in Japan PPV versus an hour of whatever NXT has been doing this year. Outside of the main event (which already aired, though this has it in full), everything delivered exactly what it needed to and things flowed really well, with a strong basic opener, fun face/heel tag, great junior heavyweight tag, and an epic Asuka vs. Monster title defense. 8/10
