10 Thoughts on NXT – Heavy Machinery, Kassius Ohno, countdown to Takeover

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

1. It’s NXT time and our first match is an elimination triple threat with Johnny Gargano taking on Dash Wilder and Akam (didn’t his name used to be Akem?) with their tag partners on the outside. Usual triple threat stuff with one guy killing time on the outside while the other two work a standard match.

2. And then Dash Wilder walks out, making the whole thing kinda pointless. Gargano does his best to make Akam look like a monster, but the big man is seriously limited in the ring. Akam looks set to pick up the win but Dash Wilder sneaks back in and steals it with assistance from Dawson on the outside.

3. Next up it’s Heavy Machinery taking on Ortigan and Marshall, who may as well have ‘jobber’ stenciled on their tights. Knight and Dozevic play the big man game pretty well and the crowd seem to like them, but it’s hard to see them being much more than enhancement talent in the long run. Heavy Machinery pick up the win when Dozevic slams Knight on top of Marshall following a running belly squash.

4. Oh, great, a contract signing for the Asuka vs Ember Moon match at Takeover. As fascinating as these things ever are.

5. Bobby Roode is watching tapes of Shinsuke Nakamura, so glorious that he is drinking champagne without actually opening the bottle. Roode owes a lot to Ric Flair, but he plays the character exceptionally well.

6. Now The Drifter Elias Sampson taking on Kassius Ohno in a loser leaves NXT match, and as Ohno has been back for all of five minutes I guess The Drifter is heading to Smackdown or Raw to bore the crap out of David Spain or Lewis Michie. #pulsebrotherhood

7. Someone needs to tell Kassius Ohno that fat guys shouldn’t tuck their shirt into their budgie smugglers, particularly when they’re facing a well built yet barely talented opponent like Elias Sampson. The commentary team point out that Sampson has been in NXT for almost as long as Tye Dillinger, which means his next move is make or break. Ohno controls for a while, then Sampson takes over with his aggressive yet boring offense.

8. After a decent match (considering The Drifter is involved) Ohno picks up the win with the rolling elbow and Elias Sampson is leaving NXT. Do the crowd care? Not a lot…

9. Elias Sampson is eventually dragged out by security and begs for his guitar, which Kassius Ohno steals and heads to the ring. When Sampson tries to grab it, Ohno stomps the crap out of it. If this means a gimmick change to go with the call up for Sampson, then it can’t be a bad thing.

10. With the impending departure of Shinsuke Nakamura, the NXT roster is looking pretty thin at the moment, which means I have my fingers crossed for Takeover and the debut of Aleister Black.

JT is a hot air balloonist, writer and tattoo aficionado. He writes about movies, science, music, video games, action figures and professional wrestling.