NXT JUNE 28TH 2017
Velveteen Dream vs. Hoho Lun
This was Mauro’s first show as the new lead announcer. Early impression is it’s going to be a good fit. Hoho tried his best here but was quickly overwhelmed every time he tried something and Velveteen won comfortably with the big elbow off the top. I think Mauro might have dubbed it the Purple Rainmaker at the end of the match, which lets face it is the perfect name for Velveteen’s finisher, even if it’s an elbow off the top.
Footage was shown of Asuka arriving earlier in the day. Her car came to a sudden stop as she was being interviewed and the camera panned to show Nikki Cross on the windshield, which probably wasn’t supposed to be a funny visual, but was. Nikki tried slamming the door on Asuka before security grabbed her, at which point Asuka got out and watched as Nikki was dragged away. They then showed Asuka preparing backstage with a kick bag.
Recap of Itami versus Lorcan from three weeks ago, with Ohno stopping Itami from delivering repeated GTSes.
Heavy Machinery and The Authors Of Pain were arguing in Regal’s office. Regal said Heavy Machinery had proven they deserved a Tag Title shot and he made it for two weeks time. I’m still fascinated by Dozovic. Regal admitted to Ellering that Heavy Machinery were strange after they left, but they were very formidable opponents and warned the AOP to get well prepared.
Hideo Itami vs. Oney Lorcan
Lorcan went after Itami straight after the bell and Itami ended up with a busted nose immediately, from the first running european uppercut. They had to have the doctors check on Itami and were forced to call the match off, with the announcers speculating that Itami’s nose was broken. There’d be more to come.
Video hyping up Strong versus Roode for the NXT Title next week, recapping Strong’s family story, Roode interrupting his promo a few weeks ago and their brawl last week. This already feels like a more interesting title program than most of NXT’s recent programs, so presumably they’ll get a Takeover main event out of this on top of the TV match.
Hideo Itami vs. Oney Lorcan
So Itami came back out after this with his nose having been tended to and the match was apparently back on. This time it was Itami who attacked Lorcan on the bell. They went on to have a physical match, as you’d expect. Itami feigned that his nose was hurt again and used it to kick Lorcan in the knee to gain a bit of an advantage. Soon after, Lorcan’s knee went out trying to lift Itami and they played up that he was hurt, but didn’t want the match stopped and shrugged off Itami checking on him. Itami then hit him with a GTS for the win. The stoppage the first time they tried the match probably helped all of this and while I’m sure these matches are there primarily to further Itami’s story, they’re also giving Lorcan something more substantial and it’s hopefully going to lead to something for him too.
Post match Itami and his busted nose called out Ohno. Unexpectedly, Nikki Cross appeared and distracted them both, allowing Wolfe and Dain to attack them both. Ohno was given a double powerbomb and Wolfe got a microphone. He said they needed to end the forced friendships and explained that Young wasn’t there, but he was working on a plan and the first note would be played by Nikki, who has her own theme now, but is evidently still a part of Sanity and not being phased away from them as I suspected.
NXT WOMENS TITLE, LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH
Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross
This got a good twenty minutes of TV time. Key moments included Asuka putting a trash can on Nikki, kicking it repeatedly and then hitting a missile dropkick; Asuka throwing Nikki off the top rope onto a pile of chairs only for Nikki to hit a back suplex onto the chairs when Asuka pulled her back up; and Asuka getting up after four fisherman’s neckbreakers. They teased a suplex off the apron onto more chairs before Nikki powerbombed Asuka onto them. Asuka’s head hit the ramp too and it looked brutal, but Asuka managed to get back up. They fought up the ramp and over to the announce position, where Cross hit a hanging swinging neckbreaker onto, admittedly, a conveniently placed mat, but still. That got another nine count. Nikki then brought a table and a ladder into play, but Asuka caught her and delivered an awesome looking superplex through the announce table. Asuka beat the count, Nikki didn’t and Asuka retained. There were some brutal moments in this and the final superplex through the announce table is a visual I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: After being down on the show last week, the fresh set of tapings livened things back up again a bit, as they often do. This was certainly an eventful show between the Last Woman Standing Match and everything involving Itami. And all of the matches delivered, even if one of them needed a re-do. Check this week out.
NXT WEEK: Roderick Strong challenging Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship and Ohno and Itami versus Wolfe and Dain.