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My Thoughts on NXT (12/7/16): The Rising Sun

  • We kick off the show with the new NXT Tag Team Champions #DIY. They go into the crowd to celebrate as the crowd chants "YOU DESERVE IT!" Before they can speak, they're interrupted by the Authors of Pain. Paul Ellering says that the prophecy of the Authors of Pain has come true and that DIY's celebration is premature. He is interrupted by the Revival, who do not suck, as this video proves. They don't bother the Authors of Pain and walk around them. They say they are the only #1 Contenders and the only reason the Authors won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is because of the Revival. The Authors of Pain take offense to this and size them up. The shove them down before Ellering says that the next chapter will be written by the Authors of Pain, and it will read "NXT Tag Team Champions."
  • Tom Phillips & Corey Graves introduce the newest commentator on NXT...Percy Watson. You might remember Watson from Season 2 of NXT...or not. Alright, to be fair, Watson did have a lot of personality & charisma, so I can't imagine he'd be pretty good at this. And besides, the bar for former NXT competitors turned commentators has been set pretty low thanks to somebody...
    Byron Saxton is bad as well
  • No Way Jose & Rich Swann vs SAnitY-Noticeable by his absence, Sawyer Fulton doesn't come out with SAnitY. What does come out is his jacket, which Eric Young stomps on, spits on, and chucks it down the entrance ramp. So I guess that Fulton is out of the group. Jose & Wolfe start off by going back and forth before Jose flapjacks Wolfe. Swann tags in and he & Jose hit an assisted hurricanrana. Wolfe then blocks a headscissor takedown and tags in Young, who tosses Swann out of the ring before the commercial break. We come back to Young whipping Swann into the corner hard. Swann fights back with a dropkick, but Young prevents him from tagging out to Jose. Young goes to the corner and locks in a hanging dragon sleeper, which still looks great. SAnitY continues to beat down until Swann & Wolfe both go down off a double clothesline spot. Jose gets the hot tag and runs wild on Young, hitting a hip toss into a neckbreaker and a TKO, but Wolfe breaks up the pin. Swann takes out Wolfe with a Phoenix Splash to the outside as Young tosses Jose out of the ring. Young goes for a flying nothing off the ring apron, but Jose counters it with a punch to the gut. Wolfe throws Swann into the steps on the outside before Jose is rammed into the ring post by-
    BIG DAMO! The Beats of Belfast is in NXT! Damo's interference somehow doesn't cause a DQ, and Young hits the wheelbarrow suplex into a neckbreaker on Jose back in the ring for the win. Fine match, nothing special. After the match, Damo picks up Sawyer Fulton's jacket before throwing it to the ground.
  • William Regal gets interviewed. He says that the Revival will get their rematch for the NXT Tag Team Championships against #DIY on the January 11th episode of NXT. The winner of that match will go on to defend the titles against the Authors of Pain at Takeover: San Antonio. Tye Dillinger then walks up and brings up that he said that if he couldn't beat Samoa Joe last week, then he doesn't belong in NXT. Before he can probably quit, Regal reveals that he's booking a tournament, where the winners of four singles matches go onto a fatal 4-way match to determine the #1 contender to the NXT Championship, and he's putting Dillinger in it because he & the fans believe in him.
  • One of the backstage interviewers (they all look pretty much the same if we're being honest) tries to interview SAnitY, but they walk past her. Nikki Cross stops when she notices the NXT Women's Championship on top of a box. Asuka grabs the title, and the two stare eachother down.
  • Ember Moon vs Kimber Lee-OK, did WCPW just invade NXT or something? First Damo, now Kimber Lee. The two lock up before Moon monkey flips Lee before kicking her down. Lee comes back with a sidewalk slam for a near fall before locking in a modified surfboard. The two trade near falls before Moon hits a hurricanrana. Lee strikes Moon down for a near fall before Moon comes back and hits a dropkick. Moon hits the handspring corner forearm before going to the top rope and hitting the O-Face for the win. Good, quick little match.
  • We find out that next week, the qualifying matches for the fatal 4-way #1 contender match will begin next week. The qualifying matches are
    • Tye Dillinger vs Eric Young
    • Elias Samson vs Roderick Strong
    • Oney Lorcan vs Bobby Roode
    • Andrade "Cien" Almas vs No Way Jose
  • Samoa Joe (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura-NXT Championship-This week's main event is the NXT Championship match from Osaka, Japan that happened on Saturday. The two feel each other out to start for a long time before locking up, immediately fighting into the ropes. Nakamura takes control with knees before giving Joe Good Vibrations in the corner twice. Joe rolls out of the ring before hopping back up on the apron. Nakamura goes after him, but the referee gets in between them. This allows Joe to jam his thumb into Nakamura's eye before the commercial break. We come back to see Joe locking in an STF on Nakamura. Joe turns that into a crossface, but Nakamura breaks the hold by getting to the ropes. Nakamura blocks a suplex before countering it and going for the armbar, but Joe blocks it by keeping his hands locked. Joe tries to fight out, but Nakamura turns it into a triangle choke. Joe breaks the hold by getting his foot on the ropes and blocks a reverse exploder suplex, but Nakamura follows up with a German suplex. Nakamura goes for the Kinshasa, but Joe counters with a powerslam for a near fall. Joe sets up for the Muscle Buster, but Nakamura avoids it, only for Joe to lock in the Coquina Clutch. Nakamura nearly gets to the ropes, but Joe breaks the hold and hits a German suplex. Joe rolls through and goes for a dragon suplex, but Nakamura escapes and goes for a roll up. Joe blocks that and yanks Nakamura back up for another German suplex. Joe goes for a straight jacket suplex, but Nakamura blocks it, only for Joe to hit a head-and-arm suplex for a nearfall. Joe goes for the Muscle Buster, but Nakamura blocks that as well, only for Joe to hit an enziguri and sends Nakamura to the outside. Joe goes for the Uranage on the stairs, but Nakamura avoids and elbows Joe to death before kneeing him in the back of the head. Back in the ring, the two trade strikes before Nakamura hits a standing scissor kick followed by a knee to the head. Nakamura lifts Joe up, but he collapses under Joe, sending Joe out of the ring in the process. Nakamura brings Joe back in the ring and hits a top rope knee strike to the back of Joe's head before hitting the Kinshasa for the win. Fantastic match, probably my favorite Nakamura & Joe have put on together.
  • We close out the show with Charly Caruso, who announces that Shinsuke Nakamura will defend the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe in a Steel Cage match in Melbourne, Austrailia on December 8th...so it already happened.

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