Previously on the Best and Worst of WWE NXT: Hideo Itami became the new No. 1 contender, Roddy Strong got jumped by SAnitY, and the Full Sail crowd finally began to eat its own tail.
If you missed this episode, you can watch it here. If you’d like to read our older columns, click over here. With Spandex is on Twitter, so follow it, and like us on Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Click the share buttons and tell people (including @WWENXT) that you dig the column. We can’t keep doing these if you don’t read and recommend them! It helps more than you know, especially for the shows that aren’t Raw and don’t have hundreds of thousands of built-in casual interests.
And now, the Best and Worst of WWE NXT for May 17, 2017.
Best: There Will Be Blood
This week’s episode of NXT kicks off with an extended squash match between Drew McIntyre and Sean Maluta, who officially has the worst Titantron graphic I have ever seen. I mean, look at that:
That’s it. That makes Alex Riley’s Windows 98 screensaver Titantron intro look as epic as the Y2J countdown or something. I realize NXT is developmental for wrestlers, but I didn’t realize it was developmental for eight-year-old graphic designers, too.
Despite the outcome of this match never being in question, this was the most impressed I had been of Drew’s return run thus far, mainly because of the gigantic disparity in size. It made Drew truly feel like a monster. And once Maluta busted his eye open following a second-rope Codebreaker, McIntyre’s intensity stepped up another smidge, putting a little extra mustard on that flying kick for the finish. After the match, McIntyre challenges Wesley Blake to a match on the TakeOver: Chicago pre-show, with blood dripping down his face. Not even a real, live cowboy would be able to watch that without being at least a little intimidated.
Best: Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Chairs
Of course SAnitY would have access to jet fuel. Of course. Given Alexander Wolfe’s wobbly airplane spins in the background, it looks like the dude has been huffing more than his fair share. Credit to Eric Young for one of his most concise, effective promos yet, telling Roddy Strong that SAnitY usually doesn’t take requests, but they’ll happily fight him at TakeOver.
Worst: Don’t Show, Don’t Tell
It’s been nearly three years since Hideo Itami debuted in NXT, at TakeOver: Fatal Four-Way on September 11, 2014. Take a look at that card: That show featured a future WWE U.S. Champion (Kalisto), two future Raw Women’s Champions (Charlotte and Bayley), the current WWE Cruiserweight Champion (Neville) and two different Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale winners (Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley). Itami is literally the only person who appeared on that card who is still in NXT. That is depressing as sh*t, and should be used as motivation for his NXT Championship title shot this weekend.
Instead, we get an extremely basic three-part video package featuring his signing and subsequent fight with the Ascension from September 2014, the first time he hit the GTS on Tyler Breeze in March 2015, then a two-year jump to his challenging of Bobby Roode last month. It barely touches on the injuries that have kept him out of the ring for the better part of two years, and it didn’t do anything to build Itami’s backstory for viewers unfamiliar with NXT’s earlier years who would rather sing along to “Glorious Domination.”
I’m afraid Itami is going to walk into the Allstate Arena this Saturday to a whole lot less crowd support than NXT creative wants — and complicating matters is knowing that his finishing move just so happens to be the same as a guy from Chicago named Phil, so it’s entirely possible Itami will get booed if he tries to use it.
Best: I’m Just Here So I Won’t Get Fined
The “exclusive interview” with Asuka promised all episode turned out to be her pulling a Marshawn Lynch in the back of a luxury SUV, hitting the off-camera interviewer with nothing but “Next question.” I loved this. Asuka has become such a jerk to everyone in recent months, but you can be as much of a jerk as you want as long as your actions back it up — and that’s never a problem with her.
Best: Good Matches With New Talents
Lacey Evans (fka Macey Estrella) vs Sonya Deville (fka Daria Berenato) was, simply put, a good match. It didn’t feature former indie stars tearing it up or two big-name main eventers telling a big story; it was just two products of WWE’s developmental system getting their first real exposure to a TV audience in a one-on-one match that could have gone either way. I was particularly a fan of Evans’ neckbreaker transition into a lateral press, and Deville’s hyper-aggressive rabbit punches looked good, too.
The only real misstep was the ending, when Deville delivered what looked like some sort of flying enziguri (Nigel McGuinness called it a standing Shining Wizard, but I’m not so sure) with the utmost delicacy. It nearly undid the previous three-and-a-half minutes of physicality, but it will come with time. Finally, a developmental match that feels like we’re making progress!
Best: Great Matches With Established Talents
Kassius Ohno and Andrade “Cien” Almas had all of a one-week buildup, and there was no real beef between the two anyway, but that didn’t stop the pair from putting on a very solid 10-minute TV match with a lot of heavy strikes and some really nice moments. Almas’ continued use of a variety of armbars throughout was some simple, effective psychology — if the dude can’t use his arm, he sure as hell can’t connect with a powerful forearm, can he? — and I’ll never get tired of seeing a man Ohno’s size kip up with ease. (That said: Ohno’s Orlando Magic gear looked decent, but dude, don’t you know that vertical stripes are fattening?)
The match comes to a sudden conclusion when Almas connects with a sick-looking inverted tornado DDT and only gets a one-count, causing the crowd to lose their minds and help rally Ohno to a victory. My only minor issue with this is Almas has been built up as a party boy in recent weeks, but his matches are still competitive and well wrestled, so there’s a bit of a disconnect there. Like, if he came out visibly fatigued from partying all night or something and wrestled a match half-asleep, that would at least contribute to the story. As it stands, Almas is a dude who enjoys the nightlife but can still grapple with the best of NXT.
Best: How Roode
To close out the go-home episode of NXT before TakeOver: Chicago, NXT Champion Bobby Roode hits the ring to run down Hideo Itami. Like any good heel should do, he tells the truth — Itami has been injury prone and has done nothing to make an impact in NXT — but he sounds like such a dick when doing it that you almost have to boo him. (My favorite line: “I didn’t even know the guy was employed here. I didn’t.”)
I also loved how Roode’s attitude shifted 180 degrees as soon as Itami comes out, pleading, “We don’t need to do this right now,” then he immediately flips back into cocky champion mode once William Regal and his security team stop Itami from proceeding. Hideo beats up security with the quickness then, somewhat surprisingly, hits another GTS on Roode, which kinda leaves little question as to whether or not Roode will retain this Saturday.
Next Week: We get another installment of the ever-popular “NXT TakeOver pre-show” post-show, featuring Drew McIntyre vs Wesley Blake as well as another Aleister Black match against an opponent to be announced. Make sure you watch TakeOver: Chicago this Saturday, too!
