April 5, 2017
Episode 386
(taped April 1, 2017)
#WWENXT
City: Orlando, FL
Venue: Amway Center
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Video
Highlights from Takeover: Orlando.
Intro Video
“Roar of the Crowd” by CFO$
Match 1
Peyton Royce w/ Billie Kay vs Aliyah
(referee: Danilo Anfibio)
Result: Peyton Royce wins via pinfall with a bridging Fisherman’s Suplex
Time: 2:49
Match Thoughts
This was a pretty good match. Aliyah pulled off some nice moves and looked good, and Peyton’s charisma is coming a long way to establishing her as one of the better rising stars in the NXT women’s division. I like the match and look forward to seeing more of both of these competitors.
Video
From Takeover, Kayla Braxton asks Asuka “who is next?” Asuka says, “who is left?”
Match 2
Heavy Machinery vs The Bollywood Boyz
(referee: Drake Wuertz)
Result: Otis Dozovic pins Harv Sihra after a tandem forward-falling powerslam with Tucker Knight
Time: 3:22
Match Thoughts
This was, quite literally considering the finish, a squash. The Bollywood Boyz got almost no offense, but they were fun to watch. Heavy Machinery could be a fun team. They’re agile and have personality to go along with their massive size. I much prefer them to a team like The Authors of Pain.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton wonders who Oney Lorcan’s opponent is. Lorcan wonders the same thing, but it doesn’t really matter to him. He’s in NXT to win, regardless of his his opponent is.
Video
From Takeover, Kayla Braxton congratulates Paul Ellering and The Authors of Pain on their victory. Ellering says they proved themselves at Takeover, and no one can stop destiny.
Video
A look at the rivalry between Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura, as well as some highlights from their Takeover: Orlando match.
Video
From Takeover, Bobby Roode tells Kayla Braxton that he told everyone that he would beat Nakamura for the title. And he did. Roode has taken NXT to new heights, but this is only the beginning of NXT’s glorious rise.
Video
From Takeover, Drew McIntyre says he’s in NXT to win the NXT Championship.
Match 3
Oney Lorcan vs El Vagabundo
(referee: Eddie Orengo)
Result: Oney Lorcan wins via pinfall after a running blockbuster
Time: 3:43 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was a pretty fun match. I’m not really a fan of either guy, but they put on a good show. The action was fine, but the campiness of the story was what made this match.
Ring Area
After the match, with Elias Samson unmasked, he is approached by a female security officer (I’m guessing that’s who she was, but she was dressed in a suit so maybe she was a backstage official). She motions for Samson to leave the ring area since he’s not supposed to be in NXT anymore, but Samson just laughs. He starts to head back into the ring when she grabs him by the hair and forcibly ushers him to the back.
Show Impressions
This show very much felt like the leftovers from a bigger show. It’s not that the show was bad, but it was packed with clips from Takeover and the new matches aired were all pretty short. They felt like matches meant to warm up the crowd, because that’s what they were. Still, they weren’t bad, just incredibly short. This is a missable show, but it was fine.
Here’s an interesting bit of trivia I discovered while watching this show. The woman that roughly escorted Elias Samson away from ringside is the same woman who tried to stop Rob Gronkowski from hopping the barricade during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal on the Wrestlemania Kickoff show. I noted on my recap of that show how it seemed like she was a security guard who didn’t get the memo that Gronkowski was part of the show, but now I wonder.
Match of the Night
Oney Lorcan vs El Vagabundo
Was easily the most interesting match. I liked the other matches for their character-building elements, but this match actually had a little bit of a story to go with it.