We have our first title match of the review series tonight as Asuka defends her NXT Women’s Championship against Liv Morgan. Thankfully they kept this one off Takeover Toronto, because Morgan is simply not ready yet. Elsewhere, its the second straight week of CWC stars in the main event with Lince Dorado taking on Hideo Itami. Let’s get into this weeks NXT Review!
YES!!!! William Regal cold opens the show announcing the return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic! Triple H and his team just put together something special with Cruiserweights. Let’s see if they can do it again with tag team wrestling.
Tye Dillinger vs Angelo Dawkins
Dillinger needs to break out of limbo and this was a step in the right direction. It was a rare complete squash with Dawkins barely getting any offense. Usually, on NXT especially, the opponent gets in some moves. Not here though, and it was the right decision. Dillinger needed to look strong and Dawkins’ gimmick isn’t going to take him anywhere any time soon.
Rating: C-
Awesome…just awesome. The moment Bobby Roode’s music hit I thought they were setting up a feud, but I like the tag team idea even better. Take two gimmicks that are both great on their own and so similar at the same time, put them together and you get magic. It’s also great for Dillinger because teaming with Roode elevates him into that upper echelon, that I believe he deserves to be in. They’re now early favorites to win the whole thing.
Hideo Itami Backstage Promo
Not a great promo from Itami. The line about Aries not having heart was bit corny and calling him a baby was just odd.
The Ealy Brothers vs the Revival
YES YES YES!! This is exactly what I wanted to see last week. Joe laying into the roster until he gets what he wants. It’s definitely been done before, but it works every single time. It’ll be interesting to see how many more of these attacks we get before we hear from Regal. On a side note, very funny image of the Revival zipping up their track jackets and walking away in “victory.”
A week later and I still have zero excitement about seeing Dan Matha
Mandy Rose vs Ember Moon
So the Rose-Moon payoff is a week later, but I’m fine with that. Moon is just so good in ring. Her moveset combines high-flying, power, and hard-hitting offense into a package that really works. That Asuka-Moon match ,whether it comes at Takeover Toronto or not, should be a real barnburner.
Rating: C
DIY Promo
Well this pair definitely has a lot going on. Not only are they embroiled in a hot tag feud with the Revival, the announcement of the tag classic opens yet another door. It was nice to hear them talk about how much the tournament means to them. It was in it that they made their debuts one year ago, and this year they set out to win it.
The Authors of Pain vs Local Talent
Alright that was at least…something. It was total of about 15 words but we finally heard SOMETHING from Paul Ellering about his boys. But, what he said was so generic and I highly doubt it is apart of some grand plan. There doesn’t seem to be anything on the table for the trio right now and this “promo” was their way around it. Oh yeah, the match was the same squash we’ve seen for weeks.
Rating: N/A
Blake and Murphy-Regal segment
Never been a fan of Blake and Murphy. Their run as champs was very mediocre and they’ve fallen off big time since then. And I’m not sure segments like these will be helpful in getting them back into prime time.
Liv Morgan vs Asuka-NXT Women’s Championship
Not sure what the point of the couple of weeks build was. But, this ended exactly the way it should have. Asuka looked like the badass she is and proved that Morgan isn’t even in her league. It was also interesting to see some MMA elements in the finish. An armbar submission in record time? A shoutout to Ronda Rousey perhaps?
Rating: N/A
Lince Darado vs Hideo Itami
A nice pop for Darado, but nothing close to what his CWC counterpart Cedric Alexander got last week. A different result too with Darado taking the loss. It’s nice to have him in there with Itami to produce a solid match, but I just wish somebody else could have taken the loss. With the CWC over, now is the time to establish these guys as the real deal on either Raw or here on NXT. Having them eat random losses like this really dosen’t help.
Rating: C+
A good show with some really cool stuff in it. The tag team tournament announcement, Dillinger and Roode forming a team, Joe’s rampage, Ember Moon looking great, and Asuka’s dominant offense were all huge pluses for me. On a show that kind of lacked in ring wise, all of this made up of for it tenfold.
Read More: WWE NXT Review 9/21/16: Cedric Alexander Debuts
