1. It’s NXT time and we’re kicking off with Shinsuke Nakamura vs Wesley Blake with new ring gear that is not at all flattering. Apparently the Dubstep Douchebags have broken up, and I can’t imagine anyone is too sad about that.
2. Because he is a wrestling god, Nakamura gets an entertaining match out of Blake, even making him look like a threat for half a second. Blake’s move set is still pretty limited, and he doesn’t have a lot of charisma, but there is no reason he can’t have a successful career as jobber to the stars. Nakamura gets the win with the Kinchasa, and after the match William Regal comes out to announce Samoa Joe vs Nakamura at NXT Takeover on August 20th. Sweet.
3. Next up its Santana Garrett vs Billie Kaye, who gets the jobber entrance despite having been on Smackdown. Decent match with Billie displaying a nice mean streak and Garrett playing the plucky babyface. Billie Kaye gets the win with a big boot.
4. While I like Garrett in the ring, I have to wonder about giving her a gimmick so similar to Bayley when the super face still hasn’t been promoted to the main brand. As if they read my mind, we cut to Bayley asking Regal for a rematch against Asuka at Takeover. He thinks it’s a great idea.
5. Now it’s time for Australian tag team TM61 to take on Adrian Nails and Rob Rizen, who is sporting a particularly heinous dye job. TM61 pick up the win with Thunder Valley after a glorified squash match.
6. And now we get a recap of the burgeoning feud between Austin Aries and No Way Jose, and the big Dominican is in action next!
7. No Way Jose is facing Steve Cutler, who apparently has a terrible attitude and isn’t a great worker, so is taking the Baron Corbin approach to success. No Way Jose picks up the win with the baseball punch and spinning full-Nelson slam. After the match Jose cuts an intense promo on Austin Aries, promising to whoop his ass.
8. And just to prove to Pat Metalhead that WWE can get it right now and again (somewhat like a stopped clock) we have the NXT debut of Kota Ibushi, currently on his way to the finals of the Cruiserweight Classic. Ibushi is facing Buddy Murphy, who has about the same chances as his former partner did earlier…
9. Murphy is pretty jacked, allowing him to play the power game early, but before too long Ibushi takes over with a series of kicks and strikes. We harken back to the NXT of old as Murphy locks in a chinlock and holds it forever, which only delays the inevitable. To his credit Ibushi gets a decent match out of Murphy before picking up the pin with the sitout powerbomb.
10. Samoa Joe makes his way to the ring to complain about his Takeover match against Nakamura. Joe does his usual ‘undeserving’ bit, and turns down the match. This brings out Regal, who threatens to strip Joe of the belt if he doesn’t fight. Joe finally agrees to the match, which brings out Nakamura to stare down Joe and close the show.
