NXT JULY 26TH 2017
Ember Moon vs. Lei’D Tapa
Another fun Ember match. This was short but hard hitting. Tapa clotheslined Ember on the bell and dominated her briefly, but Ember fought back and won with the Eclipse. Good, effective match. In ring, Ember continues to look impressive.
Post match, as Tapa was tended to by referees, Ember said she wanted Asuka at Takeover Brooklyn. She said she’d give Asuka all the competition she desired and she was ready to defeat the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow, but Asuka had to ask if she was ready for Ember Moon. I guess she was fine here, but I don’t think the promos are doing her any favours either. I’m fine with her simply winning good matches.
They showed a tweet from Strong with a picture of Roode blowing a kiss to his fiancee, saying Roode hadn’t seen the last of him, title or not.
Video on Aleister Black.
The Authors Of Pain were supposed to face David Ramos and Timothy Bumpers. During their entrance, Nikki Cross blocked their path though, while Wolfe and Dain attacked the jobbers from behind in the ring, which actually got a small Sanity chant. The AOP got in the ring with Sanity and the two teams fought, with AOP eventually clearing the ring. Nikki stopped Dain from getting back in the ring and Sanity left as AOP stood tall. Two notable things here. One, Wolfe took some big bumps for them and is probably going to be key to that being a good match. Two, the crowd booed AOP clearing the ring, but it came off like this was supposed to get them cheered over Sanity.
Another short Street Profits video.
Recap of Almas losing to Cezar Bononi, Almas attacking Bononi last week and him daring No Way Jose to fight him but bailing out of the ring. They named his lady friend as Zelina Vega here. Footage was then shown from earlier in the day, with Zelina saying she admired Jose trying to handle his business, but he interfered in their business and warned him he’d lit a fire under Almas that he couldn’t dance around.
Velveteen Dream vs. Cezar Bononi
Bononi gave Dream his fair share of problems, until Dream caught him with the rolling DVD to set up the big elbow off the top for the win. Both these guys are reasonably untested and they kept this short, but I like the potential of both, particularly Dream.
Kayla tried to interview Dream in the aisle post match and asked him what his goals were. Dream asked what her goals were and said maybe a decently dressed girl like her could get an interview with him, but not in front of the ugliness that is the NXT universe and her Velveteen Dream experience would have to wait.
Christy interviewed Regal in his office about Ember wanting a title shot and he made the match at Takeover Brooklyn.
McIntyre came out to the ring for a promo. Drew thanked everyone who’d been with him for the ride. He said he didn’t have a backwards button, he only went forwards and talked about expecting opportunities when he was The Chosen One, but when he wasn’t the hardest worker in the room he failed. He realised when he was gone from WWE, it was his responsibility to be the hardest worker in the world. Drew said his success was down to everyone in the locker room pushing each other and that’s why he signed with NXT. He said they all worked side by side as equals, apart from Roode. Drew said he saw entitlement in Roode’s eyes, but said he wasn’t entitled to anything and this wasn’t his NXT, it was their NXT.
A second video on Aleister Black.
Kayla interviewed Raul Mendoza, who seems to be an official part of the roster now, about facing Gargano next week. Mendoza said he knew Gargano had been training hard for his return, but he’d been training hard too and maybe next week wasn’t about Gargano, it was about Raul Mendoza.
Kassius Ohno vs. Hideo Itami
This was more of a setup to something else than an epic match, but it was okay. This very quickly turned into a strike exchange, as you’d hope it would. Itami ended up getting the advantage after a legdrop to Ohno as he was hung up in the ropes and worked Kassius over. Ohno fought back, hitting a shining wizard at one point, but it didn’t last. Itami set up for the GTS, which Ohno escaped. Ohno then went for his 360 boot to the face, but Itami kicked him low, for the blatant DQ. Hideo continued the attack after the match and gave Ohno two GTSs before teasing leaving. He then came back and gave Ohno a ‘GTS’ onto the ring steps, before he actually left. Presumably they’re leading to a Brooklyn match and I hope they’ve got a great one in them, because both guys could really benefit from it.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The show as a whole was solid, but the matches were kept short outside of the main event, which was good but not spectacular. A decent show to set things up for Brooklyn though.
NXT WEEK: Johnny Gargano versus Raul Mendoza, Bobby Roode responds to Drew McIntyre and Asuka returns from her vacation.