Peter Kostka
From the NXT Arena at Full Sail University. Your commentators are Rich Brennan, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton.
We start with a recap of the Beast in the East special. Main event aside (I stopped the show after the NXT title match) it was the exact kind of special they should be doing a whole bunch on the Network. Tonight we’ll see highlights from the NXT title match and a #1 contenders tag title match.
Emma and Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks and ?
Seeing Dana become more and more comfortable with her character each week is really fun to watch. It’s like they told her “you have a thick Midwestern accent; turn that shit up to 11”. Sasha couldn’t find a partner (the crowd chants for Blue Pants), but she’s not scared of “Little Miss Piggy and your kangaroo friend” and wants to go, but Charlotte comes down to offer her tag services “but you owe me one.”
Emma and Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks and Charlotte
It’s Old BFFs vs. New BFFs! Banks and Charlotte even break out the old BFF mannerisms. Charlotte runs wild on both heels but Emma allows Dana to get a cheap shot on Charlotte and the heels work her over. Dana still is a bit awkward in the ring, but she is getting there and the match has Emma doing most of the heavy lifting while tagging in Dana for basic strikes and her bow and arrow thing. Charlotte makes the hot tag and Sasha runs wild, locking the Banks Statement on Dana while Charlotte cuts off Emma with the Figure Eight for the tap. Sasha and Charlotte share respect, but Charlotte cashes in her favor by asking for an NXT Women’s Title shot next week. Sasha accepts and I am very happy at this development. Give these two 10+ minutes and they can’t do anything but great things.
Bayley talks about her broken hand (caused by Emma) and how she can’t wrestle. She vows to come back from injury and gives the most adorable threat of severe bodily harm I’ve ever heard to Emma.
Next up is the NXT title match from Beast in the East between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens, but it is severely chopped down; there’s the video package, the entrances (which include the awesome images of Balor’s entrance being done in a bigger arena and then Finn being covered in streamers and Owens CHUCKING his flowers halfway down the entrance ramp), the first 5 or so minutes of the match and then they put in an awkward commercial break that immediately jumps to the last 5 minutes when we return. If you haven’t seen this match (though I’m sure most regular NXT viewers tuned into this show for this match specifically), please go watch it. It is awesome. From the great Japanese crowd atmosphere to Owens being the biggest dick in the world and getting the crowd to hate his guts, it is top notch stuff. Balor wins the title with the Coup de Grace in about 20 minutes. New footage has WWE cameras catching up to Owens and asking him about the loss, but Owens angrily swats the camera away.
Devin talks to Chad Gable. He thinks Jason Jordan doesn’t want him to be his partner because he just wants to stay mediocre, but Jordan enters the frame and FINALLY accepts, shaking Gable’s hand while the GABLE towel hangs proudly on Chad’s arm. This will be the greatest tag team in NXT within six, no, three months. I guarantee it! Chad knew he would come around.
Marcus Louis vs. Solomon Crowe
Marcus’ gimmick now is….interesting. He’s like Baby Kane that was driven insane by baldness. His scary faces are kinda awesome at least. Crowe delivers chops which only angers Louis, so Solomon just punches him square in the face. This match is great already. This kind of reminds me of an old Superstars or WCW Saturday Night match where the big scary heel roars and makes faces while beating on the face until the face makes the comeback. Crowe does just that with a Twist of Fate-type move and takes Louis’ knee out before locking in the Crowebar (stretch muffler) for the submission.
The Vaudevillians cut a promo promising victory in the main event tonight.
We go back to Tokyo as Balor gets congratulations from Cesaro, Neville and John Cena before Finn talks about dreams coming true.
Next week: An update on Sami Zayn.
The Vaudevillains vs. Enzo and BIG CASS (w/Carmella) (#1 Contender’s match)
Enzo and Gotch start and the match immediately breaks down into everyone flying everywhere and Cass and Enzo send the Vaudevillains to the outside, giving them their usual opinion of their opponents’ SAWFT-ness as we take a break.
Coming back, Cass throws Enzo at English –you know, their usual offense — and a side slam gets 2. Enzo gets slammed onto English for another 2. Enzo powers up but runs into an English boot and the Vaudevillians take turns working Enzo over. Enzo finally escapes and makes the hot tag to Cass who runs wild and hits a spinning side slam on Gotch. He goes to throw Enzo onto him to finish but Gotch cuts off Cass. Enzo tries to jump onto English (the legal man), but English rolls through the crossbody and gets the pin. A fun, formula TV main event match that gives us a new title matchup down the road. It doesn’t take all that much to establish a contender to a championship and NXT knows how to do it so easily. The Vaudevillains celebrate in a manly way as we fade.
OVERALL: They are on a nice roll of fun shows right now and with the next Takeover coming up, the next few weeks should be more fun as they build up to definitely their biggest show to date. It will be interesting to see if they decide to do a Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens match here considering they probably have plans for Owens at SummerSlam and they probably wouldn’t have the guy work long matches on consecutive nights. Finn Balor being champion also may finally give Tyler Breeze something to do as they have history and I’m not sure if Hideo Itami will be ready for the Brooklyn show, though they could just do the three way they were supposed to do earlier in the year. Plus you have Emma and Bayley and whatever they decide to do with the Women’s title and tag titles; this should be another home run of a live show.
That’s it this week. I’m @PKIsTwitting on Twitter if you want to say hi. You can also find my recaps on PiledriverWrestling.net, home of OSW Review, the Attitude Era Podcast and the New Generation Project Podcast among other great podcasts and recaps.
