NXT OCTOBER 18TH 2017
NXT Women’s Championship Qualifying Match
Sonya Deville vs. Ruby Riot vs. Ember Moon
This was decent and all three looked good in their own rights, but at the same time it was a match that always felt one step away from getting pretty sloppy. As a triple threat match, last week’s match probably worked a little better, although the actual action here was arguably an improvement. Ember dropkicked Sonya coming off the apron and Riot hit a dive off the top onto both, in two big spots. Ruby hurt her ankle in the process and Deville applied a long ankle lock, but Ruby hung on long enough to hit the Eclipse on Sonya and pin Ruby to advance to Takeover. This had it’s moments and the finish looked really good. Notable that Sonya didn’t get pinned too.
Footage was shown, from security cameras at the Performance Center, of Undisputed Era talking with Strong and seemingly offering him a t-shirt. Strong handed the shirt back before leaving though.
Christie tried to interview Regal about how the fourth person in the Women’s Title fourway at Takeover would be determined. Iconic interrupted, with Billie wanting in the match, but Regal announced a battle royal, which neither Billie nor Peyton was too happy with.
Aleister Black vs. Raul Mendoza
Dream immediately came out through the crowd and put Black’s vest on, distracting him to allow Mendoza to get the jump. Mendoza hit a big corkscrew dive to the floor, with Dream now watching on from the ramp. Mendoza got a two with a springboard senton, before Black caught a kick and ran through him with strikes, leading to the win with the Black Mass. After the match, Black once again made a point of sitting in the ring and not acknowledging Dream’s presence, but as Dream was leaving, Black did briefly turn his head. The basis behind this feud is very simplistic, but it’s absolutely working for me.
Drew had a sitdown interview with Christie. They did a good job of making this feel like a real interview, between the presentation and Drew’s delivery. They discussed Drew winning the title and his release from WWE prior to that, with Drew seemingly speaking from the heart. When they moved on to Drew wanting to inspire people though, Zelina Vega interrupted and told Christie she’d take the interview from there. She claimed that Drew and Almas had alot in common, claiming she was Andrade’s second chance while Drew needed to be fired to get it. Zelina asked Drew why he’d been avoiding Andrade and Drew said he’d fight anyone anywhere, just ask Regal for a shot. Zelina claimed Drew had the most pull with Regal, so if he really wanted the match it’d already be booked. Drew suggested that next time, Andrade look him in the eyes and say he wanted the match instead of sending his business partner and then they’d talk, which Zelina seemed satisfied with.
Kassius Ohno vs. Cezar Bononi
Bononi started strong and was on top for the first few minutes, before Ohno fought back and won with a rolling elbow to the back of the head. Unfortunately, there was basically no heat here.
Sanity vs. Undisputed Era
I’m confident these six have a better match in them. This was okay, but pretty disappointing at the same time. Crowd eventually got behind Sanity as Young was worked over by Undisputed Era, before getting the hot tag to Dain. Dain took on both Fish and O’Reilly, with Cole watching from the outside until an opportune moment to superkick Dain in the back of the head. Sanity ended up noticing Cole was staying out of the ring and they surrounded him on the floor, before bringing him inside for a triple team. The Authors Of Pain made their return though and caused the DQ by attacking Sanity, leaving them laying and posing with the Tag Titles, as Undisputed Era looked on from the ramp.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: A bit of a down week here. The women’s triple threat was solid and Drew’s sitdown interview was well done. Black and Mendoza was short but to the point and furthered the Black/Dream feud nicely. Nothing blowaway this week though.
NXT WEEK: The battle royal for the final spot in the Women’s Championship match at Takeover.