WWE NXT Review 10.12.16

Location: Winter Park, Florida inside Full Sail University

Hello, and I’m making my W2Mnet debut with what I hope is a weekly NXT Review. I’m Cody Howk better known to many as Mr. Howkstanding. Below are my
goals in writing these reviews:

(1) To help you catch up on NXT action

(2) To provide my colorful opinion on matches and segments as well as
provide a rating for each match as well as the show as a whole.

This edition of NXT started off with first round action from the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Before going any further, I just have to say that as much grief that we fans give the tag teams on WWE RAW and WWE Smackdown Live, I love how not only does NXT have a plethora of competitors, but aside from Tye Dillinger, The Revival, Gargano and Ciampa, these are all new faces to NXT albeit most of them competed in TNA or were on the WWE Cruiserweight Classic. 

Sanity Debuts

The show opens up with Bobby Roode making a GLORIOUS entrance into the arena. Totally, complete with a spinning platform under his feet so that the crowd can see how GLORIOUS of man he is from every angle.  Although, Roode has yet to win a championship in NXT or even main event for that matter, every iota of his being screams superstar.  His tag partner, Tye Dillinger enters second and separately and the two share a bit of back and forth taunting inside the ring while we await the debut entrance of the much anticipated SAnitY.

The lights go out and we hear very haunting music through the arena. Smoke fills the stage and a spotlight shines the four person stable on stage. SAnitY stands wearing ragged clothing, hooded sweatshirts and face sleeves hiding their identities.  After making their way to the ring, the two larger men reveal themselves to be Alexander Wolfe and long missing Sawyer Fulton.

Match #1: Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger vs SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton)

Winners: Sanity (After a Suplex into a Press Slam)

Before the bell rings Wolfe and Fulton attack and Tye Dillinger becomes the victim of a two-man assault.  Roode gestures as if he is about to make the save, but decides against and walks out on his partner leaving Dillinger laying hopeless in the ring crying out, “Help me Bobby.”  The match begins and ends rather quickly as the debuting tandem of Wolfe and Fulton take the easy win and move forward in the Dusty Rhodes Classic.

After the Match: The smaller member of the stable members jumps into the ring and continues the assault on Dillinger.  After the unmasking this one is revealed to be none other than Nikki Cross (Nikki Storm) on the indies. The fourth member then enters the ring and stands front and center.  The crowd has already caught on and begins chanting, “Eric Young.”  As he lowers his face sleeve and we see his face, the crowd pops and we are left in the debuting SAnitY stable with EY himself as the leader.

The match itself was a squash but finally seeing the former TNA Champion on NXT in what looks like a strong stable was worth the watch 4 out of 5

NXT Women’s Division Match

Match #2: Billy Kay (w/Peyton Royce) vs. Liv Morgan

Winner: Billy Kay (after Big Boot)

The backstory here is that Billy Kay and Peyton Royce are taking over as the new top heels in the division and have a certain ‘Mean Girls‘ air about them. While, Liv Morgan as certainly gotten her share of TV time as of late, it was proven two weeks ago that she’s not ready for the big push when she fell to Asuka in just under a minute and even more so during the opening of this match when only one fan in the crowd can be heard chanting for Morgan while the rest are dead silent and remain for most of the match.

Aside from a torture rack applied by Billie Kay in which she dumps Liv into the turnbuckle, there weren’t many worthwhile spots.  Kay controlled most of the match and when Liv Morgan tries to make a comeback, it’s stopped short when Peyton Royce at ringside grabs Morgan’s ankle causing the distraction that leads to a big boot from Billie Kay to end the match.

With the exception of Ember Moon and Asuka, there’s a lot of new talent that needs cultivating in the NXT women’s division and this match proves there needs to be more. 2 out of 5

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match

Match #3: TM61 (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne) vs Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss

Winners: TM61 (after Thunder Valley)

The third match on card saw another first round match up in the Dusty Rhodes Classic that saw the world renowned Australian duo of TM61 facing off against the team of Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli in what is their television debut.  If you caught any of the Breaking Ground show on the WWE Network, you’ll remember Sabbatelli.

In contrast to the previous match, there wasn’t much to be upset about with this one.  Shane Thorne attempts a dive to the outside but is caught up and tumbles to the outside when Sabbatelli recovers and grabs the ropes, forcing Thorne to the outside after a nasty looking bump. 

From here, Moss & Sabbatelli begin to use their size and strength to gain the upper hand by isolating Thorne from his partner. Tino Sabbatelli showcased some solid ring work in the second half of the match as he controlled the pace and at one point, when Shane Thorne attempted to mount a comeback with a springboard dive, Sabbatelli catches him mid-air and delivers a SICK powerslam onto the mat.

Once Nick Miller manages to get the hot tag from his ever resilient partner, the momentum flips again as Miller shows off some strength of his own by holding up Riddick Moss for a 10 count stalled-out suplex.  Soon after though, Sabbatelli tags in and makes a rookie mistake by pushing Miller into a blind tag from Thorne allowing TM61 to set up their finisher Thunder Valley and pick up the victory.

Not MATCH OF THE YEAR quality, but definitely MATCH OF THE NIGHT. 4 out of 5

Main Event Match

Buddy Murphy vs Wesley Blake

No Contest

The not so exciting tale of former NXT Tag Team Champions turned rivals continues in this match attempting to prove who the better man is. 

Although the story is trying to say that both men are equal. It’s painfully obvious that Murphy is by far the better wrestler and better showman of the
two.  After each man returns to his feet the back and forth continue with a hit-for-hit with each man trading elbows leading to Murphy knocking Blake
out of the ring with a running elbow and quickly follows up with SWEET somersault plancha (ala Sami Zayn) to the outside.

Aside from this one high spot, everything prior to was an absolute bore to watch. Thankfully, we didn’t have to see much more because Samoa Joe makes a run in a destroys both men in a hurry.

Although the stock on Wesley Blake continues to fall. Buddy Murphy has continued to show why he deserves his spot on the roster. Perhaps, he gets a potential singles push in the future too. 3 out of 5

After the Match

After disposing of Blake and Murphy, Samoa Joe stands in the middle of the ring and calls out William Regal saying, “Bring me Nakamura or bring me my championship!” Shinsuke Nakamura’s music hits and out walks the champion wearing a neck brace.  After a brief stare down, Shinsuke rips off the brace and rushes the ring.  A tenacious brawl breaks out that soon involves security attempting and failing multiple times to separate the two.

The Brawl

Eventually Nakamura is led backstage only for the NXT Champion to go into Steve Austin mode as he starts beating down the security and makes his return back to the stage to attack Joe once more.

Samoa Joe retreats through the crowd leaving Nakamura alone one stage to deliver the Kinshasa to one of the security guards attempting to control him only to be attacked on the ramp by a returning Joe.  Both men brawl down the ramp and into the ring.  In the end, Shinsuke gets the upper hand and delivers another Kinshasa leaving Samoa Joe laying in the middle of the ring to close out the show.

Farewell For Now

Overall Thoughts:  8 out of 10 The show ending brawl between the NXT champion, Shinsuke Nakamura and challenger Samoa Joe made this show worth exciting and worth watching.  The build-up for the rematch at the next Takeover special has been simple yet effective.  That being said, aside from the match between TM61 and Sabbatelli & Moss, there wasn’t much actual wrestling to enjoy, but with the reveal of SAnitY and Bobby Roode leaving Tye Dillinger high and dry, you can expect to see more action in the coming weeks. I’d love to see The Perfect 10 vs the GLORIOUS Bobby Roode at TakeOver.

You can also catch Mr. Howkstanding along with his two co-hosts Cedric Colon and Robert Rath on Jobber’s Court each week here on W2Mnet.com. You can also listen to the podcast via the W2M Network on I-Tunes, Sound Cloud, Stitcher, Youtube and more.