This week’s episode of NXT came from the grounds of the University of Central Florida. The show was headlined by Kassius Ohno’s NXT return as he faced Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship.
The Ealy Brothers vs. The Authors of Pain
We’ve seen the Ealy Brothers on NXT television before but nothing too substantial. They were set to take on The Revival last week when the Authors jumped them from behind to send a message. This led to the Ealy’s challenging the Authors on this week’s episode of NXT.
The Ealy Brothers looked super-confident as they headed to the ring but it wasn’t long before their bubble burst. Gabriel started off against Rayzar, and he briefly took control early before tagging in his twin brother Uriel.
Rayzar soon wrested control of the match back as he wiped out Uriel with a massive clothesline before headbutting Gabriel right off the apron. Akum then tagged himself in as the Authors hit the Ealy’s with the Super Collider.
They then hit Uriel Ealy with the Last Chapter before pinning him.
The Authors of Pain def. The Ealy Brothers
Paul Ellering got on the mic after the match and called out The Revival. Ellering said he created the algorithm for greatness in tag-team wrestling before promising that the Authors would soon become a dynasty.
#DIY’s music hit at this point. They came out and made fun of the word ‘algorithm’ before saying that they had never received a fair rematch for their NXT Tag Titles. They added that without The Revival, the Authors wouldn’t still be Tag-Team Champions.
As #DIY were asking for a fair rematch, The Revival’s music hit.
The Revival came out and said that they didn’t watch the division they created from the sidelines. Then William Regal’s music hit as he came out and announced a huge match for NXT TakeOver: Orlando. He announced a triple threat elimination match for the NXT Tag-Team Titles.
Macey Estrella vs. Nikki Cross
Estrella, a former military policewoman, took on Nikki Cross next. Nikki was accompanied by the rest of SAnitY as she came down to the ring. Nigel McGuinness described Nikki as the “north of the border nutcase” as she came down, which is probably fairly accurate.
Nikki Cross brutalised Estrella with repeated forearms as soon as the bell rang and drove her right into the corner. She then grabbed Estrella by the hair before planting her face-first into the mat.
Estrella’s threw a forearm at Nikki, but it just fired her up even more. She hit Estrella with a crossbody before throwing punches at her while she was grounded. Nikki Cross then hit Estrella with her finisher, the Swinging Neckbreaker but Eric Young urged her to do more damage from ringside.
Nikki obliged and hit Estrella with five more Swinging Neckbreakers before finally putting her out of her misery and pinning her.
Nikki Cross def. Macey Estrella
Tye Dillinger and No Way Jose jumped SANITY from behind after the match. They looked to have the upper hand finally but Nikki Cross wrested control back for SAnitY. She jumped on Dillinger from behind and raked him in the eyes. Killian Dain took advantage and took him down as Wolfe hit Jose with a German Suplex. SANITY then proceeded to destroy No Way Jose and Tye Dillinger.
Can anyone stop SANITY?
Two other matches also got announced for TakeOver: Orlando -
Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas vs. Oney Lorcan
SAnitY vs. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong and No Way Jose
Bobby Roode (C) vs. Kassius Ohno (for the NXT Championship)
Kassius Ohno’s challenged Bobby Roode in his first match in NXT since his return earlier this year.
Ohno tried to surprise Roode with a couple of pinning combinations as soon as the match began but Roode survived and rolled outside the ring.
Ohno continued his dominance once Roode re-entered the fray, hitting him with a jumping switch kick. Roode briefly looked like he was about to gain a foothold in the match but Ohno’s striking was just too good, and he kept Roode on the backfoot. He dumped Roode outside the ring again, with a clothesline, before we headed to commercial once again.
When we came back from commercial, Roode had finally taken back control thanks to a clothesline to the back of Ohno’s head. Roode then stomped on Ohno and choked him with his boot in the corner.
Ohno looked to mount a comeback, but Roode snuffed it out at the start with a back elbow. He followed up with an elbow drop before locking in a side headlock.
Ohno finally got back to his feet and hit Roode with a modified Stunner to set himself free. Ohno then used his momentum from an Irish Whip to manoeuvre over the top rope and onto the apron. He then hit Roode with a big boot through the ropes. Roode then reversed an Irish Whip attempt by Ohno and sent him crashing over the turnbuckle and onto the floor as we headed for our last commercial break.
Roode continued to try and club Ohno into submission after the break. He then attempted an Implant DDT, but Ohno reversed it into a release vertical suplex. Ohno followed it up with a running dropkick before doing a kip up which sent the fans into a frenzy. He then hit a spinning Cyclone kick, but Roode kicked out at two and a half.
Ohno then went for a jumping senton, but Roode got the knees up and followed it up with a vicious backstabber. Ohno then blocked a clothesline in the corner and hit another switch kick which he followed with a blockbuster from the middle rope for another nearfall.
Ohno then went for the finishing blow, but Roode blocked the forearm and hit a spinebuster for a two count.
Roode went for another Glorious DDT, but Ohno broke out of it and connected with his patented forearm. Unfortunately, Roode got knocked out of the ring, and Ohno couldn’t cover him. Ohno went out and dragged him back in before hitting a senton. He then covered Roode again, but it was just another nearfall.
Ohno went to finish Roode off with another forearm, but Roode somehow broke free and hit the Implant DDT to pin Kassius Ohno and retain his title.
A great showing from Kassius Ohno on his NXT return, but it just wasn’t enough in the end.
Bobby Roode def. Kassius Ohno
Shinsuke Nakamura will now face Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Orlando.
