Skip to main content

My Thoughts on NXT (11/16/16): Well...He's Back

  • So yeah, since Takeover: Toronto is this Saturday, a lot of this episode is promo packages hyping up the matches.
  • Liv Morgan vs Peyton Royce with Billie Kay-The two brawl to start before Royce takes control. Royce throws Morgan onto the apron before tying her up in the ropes. Morgan hops right up to the top rope after whipped into the corner and gets a one on a roll up. Morgan hits a single leg dropkick and a bulldog before hitting an STO and knocking Billie Kay off the apron. Morgan locks in a guillotine choke, but Billie Kay attacks her for the DQ. Billie & Royce beatdown on Morgan before Aliyah runs down to even the odds. However, the Aussies keep control and Royce bulldogs Aliyah into Billie's knee before taking her to the outside and throwing her in the ring apron. They grab Liv and go for the bulldog into the knee again, but Ember Moon runs down to make the save. Moon hits a double springboard crossbody and runs through Billie & Royce before she & Morgan dropkick Billie & Royce out of the ring.
  • It's "The Return"! What is it the return of? Well...
    ...
  • Elias Samson vs Nathan Cruz-Great...the f*cking Drifter is back. Anyone who frequently reads my reviews of NXT knows that I don't like the Drifter...at all. He's just so boring to me. And if you were hoping this time off would have brought some kind of change in his character...nope. He's exactly the same. No difference whatsoever. That's just...ugh. Anyway, he wins with Cross Rhodes...f*ck the Drifter.
  • Backstage, Liv Morgan, Aliyah, and Ember Moon get interviewed. Aliyah & Moon say that Peyton Royce & Billie Kay's ignorance in thinking they could run the NXT Women's Division brought them together. Morgan throws shade at Peyton Royce for looking like Poison Ivy in "the worst Batman movie of all time. A+ for throwing shade at Batman & Robin. Morgan challenges "those two to find a three" and face them.
  •  Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Cedric Alexander-Almas taunts Alexander to start, refusing to lock up and instead going to the ropes. He eventually locks in a headlock before the two go back and forth until Almas lays down and poses in the ring. More back and forth offense until Alexander hits a headscissor takedown and dropkicks Almas. Alexander chops Almas a lot before Almas slides out of the ring, only to eat a wrecking ball dropkick from Alexander. Back in the ring, Almas hits a dropkick and teases the double knees in the corner, only to stop and smack Alexander. Alexander comes back and strikes away at Almas, but Almas catches him off a springboard attempt with a dropkick before the commercial break. We come back Almas beating down Alexander before hitting a running kick for a near fall. Almas continues to beat down on Alexander with stiff offense. At one point, Almas locks in a nice looking hanging triangle choke on Alexander in the ropes. Almas continues to target the left arm of Alexander until Alexander dropkicks Almas at the knees. Alexander comes back with forearms in the corner before hitting a handspring roundhouse kick that sends Almas to the outside, allowing Alexander to hit a big tope con hilo. Alexander hits a springboard clothesline for a near fall followed by a rolling senton. Almas dodges the follow-up split legged moonsault and hits a schoolboy powerbomb for a near fall. Almas stomps away at Alexander and calls for the double knees in the corner, but Alexander catches him with the Lumbar Check. Almas is able to roll to the ropes and grabs onto them, preventing a pin from Alexander. Alexander steps through the ropes to grab Almas. I'm not sure why he does this other than so Almas can pull the bottom rope down and let it snap up and hit him in the balls. This allows Almas to hit the hammerlock DDT for the win. Good match.

Comments

More from The Wrestling Section

Worst in the World: The Last Rites Match-TNA Destination X 2007

(Special thanks to an anonymous user for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.) An often discussed aspect of professional wrestling is the backstage politicking of Hulk Hogan. Throughout his career as a major attraction in wrestling, Hogan's philosophy has always been to protect Hulk Hogan...OK, sometimes he'd help Ed Leslie, but most of the time it was to protect Hulk Hogan. Because of that philosophy and Hogan's influence as a top guy, there have been multiple instances where a company's booking and other wrestlers have suffered as a result. Would having Mr. Perfect win the 1990 Royal Rumble made sense and could have elevated a rising star and potentially created a new main event player? Yes, but that would require Hogan to not win, and that doesn't work for Hogan, so he wins the Rumble even though he doesn't need elevating. Would booking Randy Orton to beat Hogan at SummerSlam 20...

Worst in the World: The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven

(Special thanks to Frost for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.) WrestleMania X-Seven. Heavily considered the not just the best WrestleMania, but the greatest wrestling show of all time, WrestleMania X-Seven took place during the hottest period in the WWF's history, and features just about every one of the hottest acts in wrestling at the time. An undercard featuring the likes of Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, William Regal, Kane, and the Big Show. One of the biggest female stars in the history of wrestling in Chyna. A killer TLC match between the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian. A wild brawl between The Undertaker and Triple H. A massive main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Hell, even the father vs son Street Fight between Vince & Shane McMahon. It's a star-studded affair. However, there's one match that sticks out like...

Worst in the World: Nia Jax's Worst Matches

Click the link here to vote in the poll and help decide the next edition of the Worst in the World. Nia Jax's first run with the WWE can really only be described as hard to watch. Sure, she had a few stand-out matches, most notably (and surprisingly) her match with Ronda Rousey at Money in the Bank, and an underrated gem with Bayley at NXT TakeOver: London, but those were always outshined by her most infamous matches and moments. She's since returned to WWE and, for the most part, seems to have improved a bit, but the reputation she got from her initial run is gonna be hard to shake off. This week, I'll be looking at some of Jax's worst matches. These include just flat-out bad matches, and matches that have become infamous examples of her reckless in-ring work. Match #1: vs Charlotte Flair-April 10th, 2017 Raw The first match we'll be looking at is from the April 10, 2017 episode of Monday Night Raw, when Nia took on Charlotte Flair. The two had been on the losing e...

Worst in the World: Eric Young & Shark Boy vs Generation Me-TNA Destination X 2011

Click the link here to vote in the poll and help decide the next edition of the Worst in the World. Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s, few tag teams made as much noise on the independent scene as the Young Bucks. Really breaking out at a time when WWE made their tag division a borderline afterthought, Matt & Nick Jackson were almost unmatched in terms of elite matches on the indys, most notably in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla & Ring of Honor before joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Bullet Club, becoming mainstays of the group as it reached its peak throughout the mid-2010s. Sure, their style hasn't endeared them to old-school wrestling fans, but you can't deny their impact on wrestling. And with the arrival of All Elite Wrestling in 2019, North American fans would finally get to see the Young Bucks on national television for the first time... However... In what has become somewhat of a footnote in their careers, the Young Bucks had been on a nationally televised wrestlin...

Worst in the World: Carmella vs Asuka: How to Destroy an Aura

Throughout the entire history of the WWE, we've never seen, and probably will never see again, a woman booked as strong as Asuka was to start her run. Coming into WWE in 2015 with over a decade of experience wrestling in her native Japan as Kana, Asuka was immediately treated like a huge deal. Hell, even from the first time we saw her on a WWE broadcast, she was seated in the crowd of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn next to two Hall of Famers in Ric Flair & Sgt. Slaughter. Officially debuting in October 2015, Asuka would go her entire NXT career, nearly two full years, without being pinned or submitted. She was booked so strong, in fact, that instead of dropping the NXT Women's Championship in what would be her last match in NXT at the time to Ember Moon (even after sustaining an injury), an act that is almost always the case for champions leaving NXT for the main roster, Asuka retained and later vacated the title, keeping her streak intact. For a company that is more than willing t...