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My Thoughts on NXT (6/29/16): Twice the Pain

  • Whoever added laser sound effects to the NXT opening...f*ck you.
  • Alexa Bliss vs Carmella-The two go back and forth to start before Alexa counters Carmella dropping down by stepping on her and stomping her head. Alexa Bliss is great. Carmella then trips up Alexa when she tries to run the ropes, and the two exchange roll ups before Carmella counters a snapmare by landing on her feet. Carmella takes Bliss down with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors before hitting rough looking wheelbarrow snapmare and a dropkick, which sends Alexa out of the ring. Alexa gets back in the ring and the two exchange holds until Alexa knocks Carmella off the top rope, onto the apron, and does a hair pull takedown on the apron. Alexa works over the left arm by performing a dragon screw through the ropes before the commercial break. We come back with Alexa locking in an armbar on Carmella's left arm. Alexa continues to work over the arm with armbars and knee drops. Alexa then hits a double knee stomp to the gut followed by the Glitz Flip for a two count, which causes Alexa to throw a tantrum and get in the refs face. This allows Carmella to hit a straight left punch and run wild, hitting an atomic drop, a hurricanrana, a superkick, and a bronco buster. Alexa pops up and almost gets a two count off a sunset flip. Alexa calls for the Sparkle Splash, but Carmella meets her there and hits a turnbuckle handstand headscissors takedown for a two count. Alexa does her amazing choke spot followed by an STO, and finishes Carmella off with a Sparkle Splash, which she now calls "Twisted Bliss". Good match, looked a bit rough at times, but it's nice to see both Alexa and Carmella have improved a lot over the last year or so.
  • Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviews Bayley. Bayley says she hated being out injured, but she feels good now that she's back and that she's ready to face Asuka again. She is interrupted by Alexa Bliss, who says she deserves to face Asuka, not Bayley,  and that Bayley has to go through her to get to Asuka.
  • Noah Potjes vs Andrade "Cien" Almas-So, shockingly enough, when you have a guy constantly beat a fan favorite, even if you book him as a face, people won't like him very much. The crowd constantly chants things like "Perfect 10" and "We Want Tye", no matter what Almas does. Which is a shame, because he is very good in ring. He pulls off some very impressive moves, including countering an Irish whip with a cartwheel and a flip, and lands a sick dropkick to counter Potjes dropping down. Almas fakes a dive to the outside, followed up by an inside-out dropkick through the ropes, and then does his pose dive in the ropes to a mixed reaction. Potjes gets the heat (except no one reacts) with a forearm and starts stomping away at Almas. Almas fights out and runs wild, hitting his wheelbarrow bulldog followed by the double knees in the corner for the win. I feel bad for this guy. Literally, if had just faced someone else in his debut like Tucker Knight or Steve Cutler in his debut, he'd be fine. But because he went up against Tye Dillinger, everyone associates him with that match. He's "that guy who squashed the guy we love." It's pretty sad.
  • Backstage, Andrea DeMarco interviews Austin Aries. Aries says the fans should have felt privileged to see him wrestle, but they weren't. He says No Way Jose hasn't done anything in wrestling yet, but everyone loves him. Aries says the fans suck, and whatever he does from now on is because of them.
  • The Hype Bros vs Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa-Gargano is crazy over with the crowd. Gargano & Rawley start the match, and they kick off with Rawley picking Gargano up for an inverted atomic drop and then just tossing him to the ground, and follows it up with a chop block. Ryder tags in and hits a springboard splash. Gargano leaps over Ryder on an Irish whip, but Ryder keeps the heat with a big clothesline. Gargano escapes a suplex with knees and tags in Ciampa, and the two double team Ryder ending with a jumping neckbreaker by Ciampa. Ryder hits a facebuster on Ciampa for a one count, and the Hype Bros work together. Rawley pulls the ropes down, sending Ciampa to the ground, allowing Ryder to hit a dropkick through the ropes, followed by a suicide dive by Gargano on Ryder, which is then followed by a clothesline by Rawley on Gargano before the commercial. We come back to Rawley working over Gargano. Gargano hits an enziguri, and both Ciampa and Ryder tag in. Ciampa runs wild until Ryder blocks a charging Ciampa by getting his knees up and hits a missile dropkick. Rawley tags in and hits a corner splash and a Pounce, but Gargano breaks up the pin. The Hype Bros go for the Hype Ryder, but Gargano drags Rawley out of the ring and superkicks him. Ciampa hits a discus clothesline for a two count. Ciampa tags in Gargano and they go for a double superplex, but Rawley runs in and turns it into a double powerbomb, with Ryder holding onto the top, allowing Ryder to hit an El-Bro Drop for a two count. Gargano almost gets the win off a roll up, and Ryder goes for the Broski Boot, but Ciampa cuts him off with a clothesline. Gargano & Ciampa connect with the superkick/running knee combo for the win. Really liked this match, better than I expected. I'm not a fan of the Hype Bros, and I'm definitely not a fan of Mojo Rawley, but they did good in this match, especially Rawley. Post match, Gargano and Ciampa stake their claim for being the #1 Contenders to the Tag Team Championships due to their victory over the Revival a few weeks ago. This brings out American Alpha, who say Gargano & Ciampa aren't next in line for anything, and they are going to win the titles back. Jordan says they're going to get revenge on the Authors of Pain and show The Revival that he & Gable are the "alphas" of NXT (puns FTW). This brings out The Revival, who say they call the shots, and that neither team should get a title shot. Wilder says Gargano & Ciampa are just "good hands" and American Alpha are no longer the alphas of NXT, he and Dawson are. Outcomes William Regal, who announces Gargano & Ciampa are in line for the titles, but after American Alpha. He announces next week American Alpha will face The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championships in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match. Gargano & Ciampa shake hands with American Alpha and leave the ring, which leads to the Authors of Pain attacking American Alpha. Gargano & Ciampa run to help, but are easily taken out by the Authors of Pain. Jordan manages to overhead suplex one of the Authors, only to get absolutely murked with a clothesline. He literally folds into himself, it's brutal. The Authors hit the Russian leg sweep/lariat combo on Jordan, and then hit it again on Gable before leaving. These two are great, just two huge, quick, scary dudes who arrive, destroy everyone, and leave. Absolutely great.
And that's about it. Overall, a good show. There wasn't a great match, but there were two solid matches and a great ending.
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