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NXT is back again with a big show that featured two fun matches, both of which featured superstars making their NXT debuts. This show also featured some new segments that built towards upcoming Takeover special that will be airing later this month. Only two more shows to go until the big summer show in Brooklyn after this one, so let’s get into the results now.
Johnny Gargano vs. Raul Mendoza –
Johnny Gargano came down to the ring with his usual entrance theme playing, but it stopped playing for a bit, only for “Gargano” graphics to appear behind him and his entrance theme now has lyrics. He’s his own man now. His song is incredibly peppy.
Returning from last year’s Cruiserweight Classic, Mendoza begins the match with a some basic holds and lockups. The two small men begin to run around the ring and trade some kicks with neither men staying down for long. When Mendoza manages to kick Gargano in the face, he decides to go up on one of the posts instead of just outright pinning him right there. He tries to do a 450 splash, and while he managed to do the 450 part, the splash never came. Gargano managed to roll out of the way, roll on top of Mendoza, and then submit him with a crossface for the win.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
A brief recap from last week showing SAnitY interrupting the Authors of Pain match from last week was shown. The Authors are now confirmed to be taking on Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe at Takeover. Backstage, Paul Ellering warned SAnitY to “be prepared because monsters are real.” Woop.
Asuka returns to Full Sail in a pantsuit and talks about her Takeover match against Ember Moon. She said that she has beaten Ember before and she will beat her again. Ember Moon arrives to fire back at Asuka not long after this. She said that she knows she’s ready to beat Asuka and that, while Asuka claims Ember isn’t ready for her, Ember believes that Asuka isn’t ready for her. Asuka sticks out her hand for a handshake, but she pulls it away as Ember goes to shake it and she slaps her across the face. SHE WASN’T READY FOR THAT! Moon takes her down and begins punching her. Asuka fires back with punches and kicks her in the face. She tosses Moon out of the ring and holds up her title, but SURPRISE! Eclipse out of nowhere on the champion. Ember went to hold the title, but didn’t because of bad luck… I guess.
Bobby Roode was interviewed backstage and asked about Roderick Strong. He once again said that Strong was not able to win the “Bobby Roode lottery” but, like most lottery losers, he’s still willing to try again. Next, he was asked about Drew McIntyre. Roode questioned whether or not Drew really was a change man, then he invited Drew to a sit-down meeting on next week’s show. Roode went to leave, but of out of nowhere, Roderick Strong barged in and tried to fight Roode. Roddy was held back by a few different wrestlers as Roode made his escape.
William Regal made his way in and yelled at Strong for what he had done. Strong insisted that he had to fight Roode because of what he has said about his family. He said that he will do anything to face Roode again. Regal pondered for a bit… before saying that the Takeover main event was set. Roddy angrily walked away. Well, that was underwhelming.
A new tag team called The Street Profits will be debuting on next week’s show.
Sonya Deville vs. Jenna Van Bemel –
Sonya shadowboxed her way down to the ring to take on this much larger competitor. The outcome was never really in doubt though. Sonya dodged most of the offense at first, she even put her hands behind her back at the start of the match. Finally, Deville connected with a clothesline. Deville then hit some Muay Thai kicks and punches while the announcers hyped her up as a tough MMA and pro wrestling competitor. Van Bemel did hit some punches and landed an Avalanche on Deville at one point. She tried to slam down Deville, but she reversed the move into a triangle armbar for a submission victory.
Winner: Sonya Deville
Hideo Itami is being interviewed backstage. He says that no one has shown him respect, including Kassius Ohno. When the interviewer said that they needed to go back to the ring, Hideo grabbed the microphone out of her hands and walked down to the ring. He demanded respect from the fans and began yelling in Japanese when they refused. He was interrupted by Aleister Black. Hideo Itami remained still in the ring during his entire entrance. Black stared Itami down for a while until Hideo decided to walk around him and leave. Right before exiting the ring, Hideo turned around to attack ol’ Al, but Black kicked him with Black Mass in the face, then he sat down in the middle of the ring. When they came back, Itami was gone and Black’s opponent was revealed.
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. No Way Jose will be taking place next week.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Aleister Black –
Yes, that’s right! Former Ring of Honor World Champion Kyle O’Reilly is in NXT now. The match began with the two men looking for a striking opportunity. It eventually saw O’Reilly looking to hook his angle lock, but Black reversed it. They then started working each other over for a little bit. O’Reilly hits a sequence of punches and kicks and gets the crowd behind him a bit. He briefly locked Black in the ankle log, but he fought out of it before any damage could be done. After wearing each other down, they both traded kicks before O’Reilly worked on the left arm of Black.
O’Reilly was greatly focused on injuring Black’s left arm in this match. He spent several moments of this match working on it. The crowd was split throughout this match, with half chanting for O’Reilly to win and half chanting for Black to win. Aleister finally got back up and tried to fight off Kyle, but he would not let go of the left arm. O’Reilly then received a few brutal looking kicks to the face. After bouncing off of the corner, O’Reilly had all of our good pal Al fall onto him after the latter flipped off of the middle rope. He went to lift up O’Reilly’s head for a Black Mass kick, but Kyle put him in an ankle lock at last.
Black tried as hard as he could to fight out of it and he managed to escape the hold. Black once again went for his flip off of the middle rope, but Kyle kicked him down to the mat at just the right moment. Kyle delivered an axe kick and a forearm across the face of Al’ O. Black for an incredibly close near fall. Black then gave Kyle a kick to the face, then O’Reilly gave Black a kick to the face. Guess what happened next! They BOTH kicked each other in the face. They both then waddled back towards each other and O’Reilly resumed delivering strikes. Black went for Black Mass but Kyle countered with another axe kick. He charged after Black, but O’Reilly fell right into the Black mass kick. This was finally enough to give Black the win.
Winner: Aleister Black
No word on if Kyle O’Reilly has actually been signed to the NXT roster yet. You’d have to imagine that he will be soon if he isn’t already, especially since his former tag team partner Bobby Fish recently joined the developmental brand. Regardless, Black is still undefeated and it looks like his next program will be against Hideo Itami. In the meantime, next week’s show will continue to build towards the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III special later this month. We know our championship matches now, and maybe next week we’ll have our secondary matches announced. Maybe someone new will show up next week, who knows? I’ll see you NXT time!