NXT 5-18-16

Tonight, we've got a Takeover...something or other rematch as Bayley faces Nia Jax. The show recaps their first match nicely - telling the David vs. Goliath story nicely. BAMF is out and we're told that they interrupted a meeting with Aries and Regal. Tom and Corey, dressed like a rebel Amish with all his tats, are shown. Aries comes out and his mystery partner is NAKAMURA! Nakamura's intro of just his name in black and or red text and the lighting is gorgeous - and he's perfectly timing his movements to the theme.

 

Blake's super-blonde hair is hilarious, but Murphy comes in off a blind tag and eats the corner dropkick in 2 seconds for 2. Corner to corner knee beatdown to Murphy. Nakamura backbreaker into the outside-in hilo hits. Blake runs from Nakamura amid a KING OF STRONG STYLE/NAKAMURA chant. Inverted exploder leads to the Kinshasa and the win! Alexa is blissed off. She leaves them high and dry, and we see a fan in a Bull James shirt. Nothing Bayley promo and we get a Joe-Balor house show brawl recap.

 

Asuka highlight music video shows fans loving her while she kicks ass. We see her destroy Dana and then beat Bayley - so great. They could put this on Raw and make her a serious star on zero notice. Carmella says she's proud of her boys for reaching their dream of being on Raw - and her dream is to be NXT Women's Champ, so she's still working on hers. Nice to explain why she's not up there with Cass, but he could use the help now. She's here to face Payton Royce, in bright green with purple trim and...a flower in her mouth. Helluva gimmick. Super-sloppy match here. No strikes really look good. Staten Island shuffle and the bronco buster aren't helping matters. Inverted triangle wins it.

 

 

 

We see the full Joe-Balor brawl showing this as an even more intense feud, with the locker room out to prevent more mayhem. On Facebook, we see Regal announce the first cage match in NXT Title history at Takeover. For some reason, this is a 4:3 video and it just looks awful with all the random stuff all over the place. Takeover is also on June 8. Alexa tells her boys that she'll win the title easier without having to carry them. Ciampa and Gargano face Birch and Rob Ryzin. Great chops from Ciampa, who needs to dye that beard all-brown. Kneeling superkick and a running knee combo ends it.

NXT Live hype video. Nia dominates with power, but misses BIG STOMPS on the mat. Nia dominates in the corner, but misses a charge and Bayley bonks her into the buckle. Nia responds by countering a whip and tossing her into it. Bayley gets some forearms, but gets tossed down and kicked in the back hard. Extended cobra clutch by Nia. Bayley LAUNCHES NIA INTO THE BUCKLE with her legs, which looks ridiculous. Bayley kicks her legs out. Shining Wizard-position dropkick hits. Nia misses a charge and goes to the floor. Baseball slide rana is caught by Nia, but she eventually eats kicks and then a rana to the floor gives Bayley an edge. Ron Simmons spinebuster hits for 2. Bayley gets the choke that won the match before for her, but Nia escapes. Nia hits a corner charge and legdrops the knee - new to me, and I dig it. Legdrop to the neck hits for the win!

Screen Gallery is here -
 http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/6o3n8fg3heg5xcaevo0oztsidj97czsj