I fully believe the weekly WWE NXT television series is the best in all of professional wrestling when it comes to consistently making the best use of its 50-59 minutes of air time every single week.
Look no further than the December 7 edition from this past Wednesday. After spending the previous two weeks in the Toronto area following the last Takeover, the hottest brand in sports entertainment wasted no time building new chapters upon its return to Full Sail University.
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Right off the bat the NXT Tag Team Title picture was made crystal clear and in the process wound up killing two birds with one stone.
Newly crowned champions #DIY never even needed to utter a single word to convey to the fans that rode their journey to the titles with him just what kind of men they are. A fantastic celebration among them kicked off the show to the delight of the entire arena.
Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa represent their tandem's name perfectly. They arrived looking for opportunity in the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2015 and wound up making their own opportunities, ultimately gaining the tag team titles through sheer determination and belief in themselves.
Before they could vocalize this, Paul Ellering led out his Authors of Pain and quickly revealed the endgame for Akam and Razer. This was something that up until that moment had been shrouded in mystery.
Fresh off their 2016 Dusty Classic victory, the mastermind of mayhem declared open season on DIY, informing them that their title reign was already on the endangered species list. He was chilling in delivery and there wasn't a shred of doubt in his voice.
In a brazen act of arrogance, the former NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival would interrupt Ellering's pontificating and stake their claim as the next tandem in line. Not only that, Dash and Dawson credited themselves for both DIY (defeated Revival via forfeit) and AoP (defeated DIY with their assist) for even advancing as far as they did in the Dusty Classic.
Despite taking the long way down the ramp to avoid the monsters, The Revival still managed to incur the wrath of the Authors. AoP promptly pushed them aside while their manager reiterated that the final chapter would be written and end with his men holding the gold.
It was later announced by GM William Regal that DIY will defend their titles against The Revival on January 11 with the winners going on to defend against The Authors at NXT Takeover: San Antonio.
So much was brilliantly accomplished in one segment.
Ciampa and Gargano stood their ground as they always have and gave off a fighting spirit that didn't require a 10 minute victory speech.
The Revival flashed their brand of confidence while showing vulnerability as they tend to do when confronted as a result of their brash actions and trash talk.
The Authors continued giving off a dangerous vibe buoyed by Ellering's gift of gab.
Both title matches are now eagerly anticipated, ar least by this reviewer.
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The opening match of the night also had no shortage of intrigue and shocking moments both during and after the action.
No Way Jose and Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann were out for a measure of retribution against the SAnitY combination of Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe accompanied by Nikki Cross.
With EY as its deranged leader, it shouldn't have come as a shock that SAnitY appears to already have undergone a changeover in its ranks.
Young wildly clutched the jacket of the absent Sawyer Fulton before spitting on it and tossing it up the ramp.
That seemed to signal the end of Fulton's brief tenure under the spell of Young. No further explanation was given though it wouldn't be long before a new player made himself known to the group.
The match itself was highly competitive and entertaining. Jose and Swann complimented one another well, utilizing fast paced offense to keep their opponents off balance.
Young and Wolfe would bulldoze their way into control and keep the smaller Swann isolated from Jose for several punishing minutes. There is definitely something unsettling about seeing Wolfe break into his dance of sorts as he takes glee in dishing out a beating.
The two teams proved to be evenly matched, even going for the same maneuver as the match progressed.
Jose would get the tag and start cleaning house as only he could. A TKO nearly finished off Young but Wolfe would make a last second save to keep the match going.
It was when the action spilled to the outside that things took a turn for the worse, especially for Jose and Swann.
Answers about what this all meant and just what the heck was going on wouldn't be answered on this night.
Young and Wolfe blew past an inquisitive Dasha Fuentes. Nikki Cross followed suit before the NXT Women's Championship caught her eye.
She intently stared at it before the undefeated reigning champion Asuka came to retrieve her title. What followed was an engaging staredown hinting these women would be crossing paths again very, very soon.
Asuka weathered the very best of Bayley and Mickie James but Cross represents a different kind of threat,
Since undergoing her transformation, she shows no fear or regard for anything and anyone including herself.
Could that reckless abandon mentality be the key to solving the Asuka puzzle? Would The Empress of Tomorrow have a cure for SAnitY? I for one would love to find out!
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Another captivating competitor in the Women's Division is Ember Moon.
From the moment she emerged at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II, there was no doubting that there was something unique and intriguing about her.
From her entrance, to her look, all the day down to her wrestling style one could surmise right away that Moon was going to be a key player and a potential challenger to the NXT Women's Championship.
Her opponent on this night was definitely no slouch either.
Former CHIKARA Grand Champion Kimber Lee showed up to make a lasting impression in her NXT debut. From the onset, she brought the aggression to Moon, unsurprising to those who had seen her compete before.
Despite her best efforts though, Moon found her groove and mounted an offense Lee would not recover from. A well placed dropkick floored her. And when she came off the top rope, Moon would eclipse Lee, giving her another victory and extending her undefeated streak.
Should Asuka and Nikki Cross wind up battling over the Women's Championship, they would best be served to keep Ember Moon in the back of their minds. This warrior is marching towards a destiny that may include being a champion.
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The NXT Championship rivalry between Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura may be the best NXT has ever seen in its short history.
Thus far their trilogy of matches have told a different story that as a whole is everything one should want out of a major feud in today's landscape.
In Brooklyn, Joe slowed down Nakamura and was deliberate in his offense. Nakamura had to dig down deep to mount a comeback. In the process of capturing the title, he would dislocate Joe's jaw with a particularly nasty looking Kinsasha.
In Toronto, the gloves were off and the feeling out process non-existent .
Joe wanted his title back and Nakamura wanted to exact revenge for the Samoan Submission Machine putting him on the shelf for several weeks following a heinous attack.
It would be a matter of who would strike the hardest first and on that occasion it proved to be Joe. With relentless work on the neck and leg, Joe would catch Nakamura with a Muscle Buster and regain the title shocking many.
It all led to their encounter in Osaka, Japan.
Nakamura would have the home country advantage while Joe carried the confidence knowing he had already toppled The King of Strong Style already when many didn't expect him to be able to.
The match was hard hitting and full of exciting moments.
I know many were disappointed it didn't seem to air in its entirety but I offer up a bit of history to explain why it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
I draw many parallels between NXT and the classic Jim Crockett Promotions Saturday Night programming.
Like JCP, NXT primarily uses its television time to gear people up for the live events and more specifically the Takeover specials where all the build and feuds typically are blown off in grand style.
While some matches are more competitive than those on JCP's TV (they primarily consisted of enhancement matches with the occasional Television Championship defense) the end goal is to get people amped up to be on the WWE Network for the live specials with an aura of can't miss.
While JCP was held inside an intimate studio, they often aired footage from major happening from big arenas, almost never in their entirety.
In 1986 Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes traded the NWA World Title during that year's Great American Bash tour. Enough highlights were shown to where the viewers saw exactly what happened but left enough out to where those same viewers wanted to buy tickets badly to catch the action in full whenever it came into their area.
The same can apply to how this title match was presented. We were shown enough to get the flavor of the major occurrences but also get the juices pumped to be at the arena the next time NXT comes to town. It kept things special for the Japanese fans who attended the show live; showing it in full would have sent the message that they only needed to stay home and watch it on the Network.
Joe and Nakamura gave their all. A wicked exchange of suplexes took place including Nakamura delivering an impressive german suplex that nearly took Joe out of his boots.
Joe would ground Nakamura and nearly force him to submit to a boston crab. But Nakamura was not to be denied in front of his fellow countrymen, all of whom sang along to his entrance theme as he made his one of a kind entrance.
One devastating Kinsasha later and Shinsuke Nakamura would join his nemesis as only the second man to reign as NXT Champion twice in the title's four year history.
Before the show ended, we would learn that this feud has one final arc to play out while a new challenger will be waiting in the wings ready to strike.
This coming Wednesday, it will be Joe vs. Nakamura one more time inside a Steel Cage. The location will be international again, this time in Perth, Australia.
Meanwhile, GM William Regal has set up a unique tournament of sorts to determine who will face the whoever emerges from the cage with the title next.
A series of four singles matches will take place with each winner advancing into a fatal four way elimination match. The victorious will receive an NXT Championship match presumably in San Antonio.
Those matches will be:
-Eric Young vs Tye Dillinger
-Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. No Way Jose
-Roderick Strong vs. Elias Sampson
-Bobby Roode vs. Oney Lorcan
And there lies the genius of NXT. While Joe and Nakamura continue their epic battles, the rest of the roster isn't kept in a holding pattern. When one chapter ends, a new one will always be written.
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If you've read this far, it isn't too difficult to see why I felt this episode was the best WWE offered this week.
All three championship divisions have a clear path to follow. Champions and contenders alike were built up as strong as possible.. A new arrival casts a dangerous cloud over everyone, and the road back to Texas is paved with excitement.
Until next time folks, always look at wrestling on The Bright Side!!
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