NXT Recap (9/20/17): In-SAnitY Breaks Loose

By 
·September 21, 2017

Welcome to this week’s edition of Ringside Intel’s NXT Recap! Every Thursday I’ll bring you a rundown of what happened on NXT the night before, with a bit of my own insights and commentary thrown in. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

This week’s episode of NXT featured a must-see tag team main event and the debut of a Mae Young Classic standout. But the action kicked right off with Johnny Wrestling making good on a challenge from last week.

Johnny Gargano def. Tino Sabatelli (w/ Riddick Moss)

Unlike when he took on Riddick Moss on last week’s episode, Johnny Gargano’s head was 100% in the game when he took on Tino Sabatelli this week – and Sabatelli might only have himself to blame. He was in a position to win the match until he decided to trash talk Gargano by calling him “the weak link of DIY,” which fired Gargano up enough to lock in the Gargano Escape and get the win.

I’m not sure what’s next for Gargano from here, but WWE continues to reference his shocking split from DIY tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa.

Unfortunately, Ciampa isn’t expected to return from injury until March 2018, so Gargano might be relegated to throwaway feuds in the meantime.

Roddy Gets a Title Shot

The tweet above says it all: William Regal agreed that Roderick Strong has indeed proven himself and granted him a title match against NXT Champion Drew McIntyre in two weeks’ time.

This segment barely lasted a minute, but it has serious implications for the weeks to come. McIntyre is currently being hounded by Adam Cole and the rest The Undisputed Era, and Strong has ties to that group via their days in Ring of Honor. Will Strong and Cole work together against McIntyre? Time will tell.

The Women Want a Title Shot

Regal may have granted Strong his title match, but he still hasn’t given us any more clues about the plan for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship. This, of course, means the floor is open for the women of NXT to state their cases, and the pitches began in earnest last night with Sonya Deville and Dakota Kai.

Deville was a contestant on the 2015 season of “Tough Enough” and signed a developmental contract with WWE that same year, but she has yet to do much within the company. She debuted in August 2016 under her real name, Daria Berenato, only to disappear in December; she returned in May 2017 with the new ring name. She’s currently on a four-match winning streak, but I’ll have to see more of her before I can make any judgment calls.

As for Dakota Kai, she was one of the standouts for me in the Mae Young Classic and I’m super excited to see more of her in WWE. Plus I like the funny way she pronounces “know” in her New Zealander accent.

Bianca Belair def. Lacey Evans

I was SUPER excited to see that Bianca Belair was on this week’s episode of NXT, because she impressed the hell out of me during the Mae Young Classic. Her match against fellow MYC competitor Lacey Evans did not disappoint. Belair’s strength and athleticism is insane and THAT HAIR WHIP THOUGH.

Seriously, you have to hear it. It’s LOUD.

Uncomfortable Encounters with Velveteen Dream, Starring Aleister Black

Aleister Black came out to address the NXT Universe for the first time, and he did not sound how I expected him to sound. He’s Dutch, so I guess I was expecting more of an accent, but dude speaks flawless English.

Anyway, Black started to tell a story about his copious tattoos until he was interrupted by Velveteen Dream. Dream – whose schtick is basically being a Prince knockoff – took too many words to explain that he thinks Black is afraid of emotion and light – and then this happened:

Erm… okay then.

Watching this exchange was super awkward, and the Full Sail crowd’s anticipatory reaction didn’t help. But apparently, that’s because the segment was even more overtly sexual live and was trimmed down for TV.

I mean, if they were aiming to make Dream look like a total creeper perv then mission accomplished, I guess. Nevertheless, I’m interested to see where this goes – even if I’ll be squirming the whole time.

Lars Sullivan def. No Way Jose

Not much to say here. I’ve never particularly cared for No Way Jose, but I am interested to see more from Lars Sullivan. Hopefully, this is the end of this feud and he can move on to something more compelling.

Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly (w/ Adam Cole) def. Tyler Bate and Trent Seven

I love every single one of the people in this match so you know I was excited for it – and the action did not disappoint. Both teams looked strong, but three heads are better than two, and Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly ultimately picked up the win after repeated interference from Adam Cole.

However, as has been the case with The Undisputed Era since their debut, the real action took place outside the ring.

The victory celebration was cut short when Drew McIntyre stormed the ring.

The Undisputed Era of course attempted to flee – but they were stopped by the returning NXT Tag Team Champions, SAnitY!

Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly promptly got their butts kicked out of the arena, and it appears SAnitY has turned face?

Whatever the case, there’s A LOT that needs to be addressed next week!

What did you think of last night’s episode of NXT? Share your thoughts and comments below!

Exit mobile version