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My Thoughts on NXT (12/14/16): The Champ Down Under

  • Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Samoa Joe in a Steel Cage match-NXT Championship-We kick off the show with Shinsuke Nakamura vs Samoa Joe in a Steel Cage match in Melbourne, Austrailia. Or as the ring announcer called it, a "Stage Ceel" match. That's botch #1 from the opener. The second one wasn't as noticeable on the show, but many people were quick to point out online that the lowering of the cage did not go too smoothly.
    In case you didn't know...that's not supposed to happen. The two feel eachother out to start before Nakamura takes down Joe with a single leg. Joe fights to his feet and the two lock up in the ropes. The two dodge eachother before Nakamura takes control with a knee strike & a knee drop. Nakamura gives Joe Good Vibrations in the corner before Joe rams Nakamura into the cage wall. Joe slams in Nakamura, pinning Nakamura against the cage. We then get a shit editing moment as the match cuts to commercial abruptly. We come back to Nakamura hitting a spinning heel kick before kneeing Joe down. Nakamura locks in a guillotine, but Joe escapes, only to get rammed into the cage before Nakamura gives him a German suplex. Nakamura calls for the Kinshasa, but Joe reverses it with a powerslam for a near fall. The two trade strikes before Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch. Nakamura escapes by walking up the turnbuckle & flipping out of the hold and hits a sliding knee strike for a near fall. Nakamura tries to climb out of the cage, but Joe catches him up there. Joe goes for a Muscle Buster from the top rope, but Nakamura escapes and hits a sunset flip powerbomb. Nakamura walks across the top rope and hits a diving Kinshasa. Nakamura goes to leave the cage, but when he sees Joe getting up, he closes the door and hits a Kinshasa, followed by another one for the victory. Great match, a great way to end the feud.
  • Billie Kay & Peyton Royce get interviewed. They say they didn't lose in Toronto, Daria did, and that they don't associate with losers. Daria then walks up and says she wants to hurt one of them next week.
  • Tye Dillinger vs Eric Young with SAnitY-Young charges Dillinger right off the bat and beats him down around the ring. Dillinger fights back, hitting the 10 punches in the corner, followed by 10 stomps in the corner. Dillinger pulls his knee pad down, only for Nikki Cross to hop onto Dillinger's back for the DQ. Dillinger fights off SAnitY until Damo attacks him from behind, hitting a fireman's carry slam (see: Wasteland) and a senton. Damo & SAnitY stare eachother down before Damo walks to the back.
  • No Way Jose vs Andrade "Cien" Almas-The two lock up * go back and forth before Almas poses in the ropes. Jose attempts to do the same, which great offends Almas and makes him stop posing, only to get a flapjack for doing so. Jose gives Almas an airplane spin followed by a rolling senton and a leg drop for a near fall. Almas takes control, hitting a sliding dropkick for a near fall before locking in a headlock. Jose fights out and arm drags Almas before running wild with forearms and hitting a hip toss into a neckbreaker. Jose goes for a Fastball Punch, but Almas dodges it, only for Jose to follow up with a pop-up Fastball Punch for a near fall. Jose goes for the TKO, but Almas escapes, hits a big boot and delivers the hammerlock DDT for the win. Pretty good little match.
  • Elias Samson vs Roderick Strong-I'm not a big fan of Roderick Strong, but when he faces the Drifter he's my favorite wrestler of all time. Graves absolutely kills it on commentary during Samson's entrance, it's amazing. Samson kicks Strong in the gut to start before hip tossing him. Strong comes back with a single leg dropkick before hitting a backbreaker for a near fall. Samson takes control, stomping away at Strong before putting him in the Tree of Woe and cranking on Strong's neck. Samson hits a knee to Strong's head before locking in a chin lock. Strong fights back and hits a dropkick followed by a high knee in the corner and a running elbow strike. Strong finishes Samson off with Death by Roderick followed by a Sick Kick for the win. Honestly, probably the best Drifter match I've seen.
  •  Oney Lorcan vs Bobby Roode-Hey, Oney Lorcan's finally back on NXT. Remember him? He beat Tye Dillinger then said he was "going back to his roots." That was almost five months ago. He showed up on SmackDown before he came back to NXT. But it doesn't really matter because...GLORIOUS! Roode starts out with a wristlock, which according to Roode is GLORIOUS! Lorcan reverses it before Roode gets a waist lock takedown, spins around on Lorcan, and slaps Lorcan in the head before posing. Lorcan takes this opportunity to uppercut Roode before giving him two back elbows in the corner. Lorcan hits an overhead suplex for a near fall followed by a side suplex for another. Lorcan sets up Roode on the top rope and goes for a superplex, but Roode knocks him down across the ropes. Roode takes control, using the ring apron to beat down Lorcan before Lorcan reverses a neckbreaker with a backslide for a near fall. Lorcan runs wild with forearms before hitting an uppercut and a standing Blockbuster for a near fall. Lorcan goes for a second rope Blockbuster, but Roode dodges and hits a spinebuster. Roode finishes Lorcan off with the Glorious DDT for the win. Another good match.

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