NXT AUGUST 9TH 2017

The show started with Nikki Cross and Sanity showing up, with Nikki calling for the AOP to come out. Come out they did, but as Akam got in the ring, Eric Young returned and took out Rezar from behind. Young zip-tied Rezar to the barricade, allowing Sanity to beat down Akam three on one. Rezar ended up dragging part of the barricade into the ring with him, but got attacked as well for his troubles. Sanity ended up posing with the belts. Again the crowd were more pro-Sanity than AOP and this was another angle that seemed like it was set up for the AOP to get cheered, or at least get some sympathy this time. We’ll see if that carries over into Takeover.

Recap of Ember laying out Asuka with the Eclipse last week.

Another video of Iconic causing trouble at the Performance Center. This time they promised a makeup tutorial, but got sidetracked when they spotted Ruby Riot in the background and just ended up insulting her instead.

Street Profits vs. The Metro Brothers
The Metro Brothers were dressed as greasers and for a moment, when Mauro said they were trained by a legendary tag team, my mind filled in the blank as Deuce and Domino. Not to be. Nor did they have Deuce and Domino’s theme. Nor was there a Deuce and Domino chant, outside of maybe one guy shouting it before Street Profits came out. Missed opportunities all round. Street Profits are Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford. This was a decent first outing. I expect people are going to get behind Ford pretty quickly, because he’s the flashier of the two and has a lot of personality. Dawkins has been around for a few years now and he needed something new if he was ever going to get a chance. Ford pinned JC with a frog splash.

Video of Itami trying to attack Aleister Black in the parking lot after last week’s show lead to Itami versus Black being announced for Takeover.

Regal hosted the face to face between Roode and McIntyre in the ring. Roode had security come out with him. Roode explained that security was there to protect everyone from Strong and ensure nothing happened to ruin his big money match with Drew. Roode said that he was entitled and he didn’t need a second chance, because he’d done everything he said he was going to do from day one and it was his NXT. Roode said unlike Drew, he didn’t need to be ‘chosen’, he was simply ‘the one’. Drew admitted Roode had had a great year, but he was a complete arse and he was realising that he really believed what he was saying. Drew claimed he’d win at Takeover before Strong came out. Strong said he wasn’t done with Roode and it wasn’t about the title, it was about Roode disrespecting him and his family. He challenged Roode to a fight and Roode agreed, even offering to put his title on the line as well, only to turn around and say Strong had to go through Drew first. Regal told Roode he made the matches, not him, but Drew told Regal to make the match. He said he knew what Roode was doing, but unlike him he’d fight anyone and he’d still beat Roode at Takeover. Roode coaxed Regal into booking the match by pointing out that everybody wanted it to happen, including the crowd and Regal agreed. So if Strong beats Drew next week, he gets a match after Takeover with Roode. Roode said it’d be glorious. Roode was great as always here.

Kayla interviewed Gargano, who said he felt great physically and admitted he was nervous last week going out alone. He talked up the reaction at the last Brooklyn Takeover and said he needed to feel that again. He hadn’t missed a Takeover since and that wasn’t going to change now, so he wanted a match.

Oney Lorcan vs. Danny Burch
Rematch from three weeks ago. After a cagey start, things gradually picked up as the match went along. Whenever Lorcan starts hitting people, it livens everything up. Finish saw Burch try to fight off the half crab and Lorcan go for a full boston crab instead. Burch managed to turn that into a folding pin though and get the win to even their score up at 1-1. Fun fact, that was Burch’s first ever win on a WWE program. Burch offered his hand afterwards. Lorcan slapped it away and Burch asked what his problem was. Lorcan made good on the handshake though and Burch held the rope open for him. So we’ll see if there’s a rubber match or a team in their future.

Andrade “Cien” Almas w/Zelina Vega vs. No Way Jose
Story here is that Zelina is trying to make Almas focus more. She stopped him Ingobernables posing at one point. Jose gave Almas more problems early on and kicked him off the ropes when he tranquilo posed again, causing Zelina to have a go at Almas and fire him up. It worked and Almas took over from there. He went for a cocky pin after the double knees in the corner and Zelina yelled at Almas to knock it off and finish the match, so he immediately hit the hammerlock DDT and got the win. I like the story of Almas being unfocused and Zelina showing up to sort him out and whip him into shape.

Post match, Zelina went to the commentators and put over Almas on the mic, saying he deserved the spotlight. She said Takeover was the biggest spotlight he could have and if the golden boy Gargano was still looking for an opponent, he had one.

 

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: This was a week of everything on the show being effective without anything truly standing out. The matches all did their job and the big segment with Roode and McIntyre was good, with another strong Bobby Roode performance. Overall another good show, the build to this Takeover has felt much better and more interesting than many of the recent ones have.

NXT WEEK: McIntyre versus Strong and a contract signing for Ember versus Asuka.

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