8/31/16 NXT Recap: Dillinger, Jose in Action, Liv/Aliyah Main Event, Nakamura Celebrates

Aug 31, 2016 - by Michael Riba

This week’s NXT opens with Samoa Joe, William Regal, and a trainer. The trainer says due to Joe’s injuries he cannot clear him anytime soon. Regal thanks him and Joe gets up and walks away. We see the NXT opening video and then go into the NXT Arena at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, where Tom Phillips and Corey Graves welcome us to the show. We see that Shinsuke Nakamura will be here tonight to address the NXT Universe.

Match #1: Tye Dillinger vs. Buddy Murphy
They tie up and Blake goes behind with a waist-lock. Dillinger reverses into a wrist-lock, but Murphy counters into a side headlock. Dillinger sends Murphy off the ropes, but Murphy takes him down with a shoulder block. Murphy whips Dillinger down to the mat and mocks him with the ten pose. Dillinger gets to his feet and backs Murphy into the corner. Dillinger applies a headlock and takes Murphy down to the mat. Murphy gets up and sends Dillinger off the ropes. Dillinger catches Murphy with an inverted atomic drop and then mocks him with the ten pose. Murphy catches Dillinger with an elbow, but Dillinger comes back with a right hand. Dillinger slams Murphy into the turnbuckle and then goes up top. Murphy sneaks away and Dillinger sends him to the apron. Murphy grabs Dillinger and slams him down and then connects with a forearm. Murphy goes for the cover, but Dillinger kicks out at one. Murphy stomps down on Dillinger and then delivers a chop. Dillinger comes back with his own chop, but Murphy sends him out to the floor. Murphy goes to the outside and chops Dillinger and then sends him back into the ring. Murphy goes up top and takes Dillinger down with a double knee drop to the face. Murphy goes for the cover, but Dillinger kicks out at two as we head to a break.
Back from the break, Murphy is still in control. He decks Dillinger with a right hand and then drops a knee to Dillinger’s face. Murphy goes for the cover, but Dillinger kicks out. Murphy applies a side headlock, but Dillinger fights out. Dillinger sends Murphy to the apron, but Murphy hangs on and goes up top. Murphy jumps off, but Dillinger catches him with a shot to the midsection. Dillinger sends Murphy to the corner and then drops him with a back body drop. Dillinger stomps away on Murphy in the corner and then drops his knee pads. Murphy charges, but Dillinger drops him with a clothesline. Dillinger grabs Murphy and hits the Tyebreaker for the win.
Winner: Tye Dillinger.

We take a look back at Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa’s last few weeks, including their loss to The Revival at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II and then Gargano’s loss to T.J. Perkins in the Cruiserweight Classic. We go backstage with Charley Caruso, who is with Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa says Gargano is all heart and his leg injury will heal and he will be alright. The Revival interrupt him and he begins to brawl with them. They brawl into the arena and then they slam Ciampa into the announce table and continue to beat him down. They bring Ciampa to ringside and then toss him into the ring. Wilder holds Ciampa as Dawson connects with some big right hands. They kick Ciampa out to the floor where referees check on him. Dawson grabs a mic and says everybody is a tough guy until they are faced with the reality which is The Revival. Dawson says Ciampa faced reality tonight. Dawson says Gargano and Ciampa faced the top guys in NXT and received a reality check. Ciampa crawls back into the ring and they drop him with the Shatter Machine. We then head to a break.

Back from the break, we see a replay of what just went down between The Revival and Tommaso Ciampa.

Match #2: Steve Cutler vs. Kenneth Crawford
They tie up and Cutler applies a wrist-lock and takes Crawford down to the mat. Cutler keeps the wrist-lock applied on the mat, but Crawford kicks up and reverses into his own wrist-lock. Cutler sends Crawford off the ropes and then attempts a back body drop, but Crawford lands on his feet. Crawford goes back to the wrist-lock, but Cutler gets free and catches Crawford with a forearm. Cutler kicks Crawford to the corner and connects with another forearm. Cutler slams Crawford chest-first into the turnbuckle and goes for the cover, but Crawford kicks out at two. Cutler drapes Crawford over the middle rope and chokes him from the floor and then connects with a straight right hand. Cutler gets back into the ring and goes for the cover, but Crawford kicks out again. Cutler applies a rear choke hold, but Crawford gets to his feet. Cutler sends Crawford into the corner and charges, but Crawford counters with some elbows. Crawford delivers a spin kick and then takes Cutler down with a standing dropkick. Crawford connects with a running shooting star and goes for the cover, but Cutler kicks out. Cutler comes back and stomps Crawford to the mat and then slams Crawford down with a fisherman’s driver and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Steve Cutler.

We go backstage with Dasha Fuentes and Hideo Itami. He says he kicked Austin Aries in the head, but Aries disappointed him. He says he thought Aries was a real man, but he is really a big baby. Itami says Aries needs to get out of his ring or he will make him go to sleep again.

We take a look back to Shinsuke Nakamura’s NXT debut back at NXT TakeOver: Dallas in April, which saw him defeat Sami Zayn. We are reminded that Nakamura will be in the NXT Arena to celebrate his NXT Championship win later tonight.

We see another “Sanity” vignette and then a vignette for TM-61 as we head to a break.

Match #3: No Way Jose vs. Angelo Dawkins
They tie up and Jose backs Dawkins into the corner. Jose breaks away and dances a bit before Angelo grabs him in a headlock. Jose sends Dawkins off the ropes, but Dawkins takes him down with a shoulder block. Dawkins runs the ropes, but Jose drops him with a shoulder block of his own. Jose grabs Dawkins in a side headlock, but Dawkins sends him to the corner. Jose comes back with an arm drag, but Dawkins clubs him in the back. Dawkins decks Jose with a right hand and then brings him down to the mat and applies a headlock. Jose fights to his feet and delivers a few shots to Dawkins’ midsection. Jose catches Dawkins with some right hands and then a couple clotheslines. Jose drops Dawkins with one big clothesline and then winds up. Jose drops Dawkins with a right hand and then takes Dawkins down with a full nelson slam for the pin fall.
Winner: No Way Jose.

We’re backstage and Andrade “Cien” Almas is about to address his loss to Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, but Austin Aries interrupts. Aries says every time he is about to take the reigns and become a bigger star, someone gets in his way. He says he is going to take Almas’ spotlight and Almas cuts a promo on him in Spanish, but Aries says he needs to speak to him in English. Almas challenges him to a match and Aries deflects it by saying Almas was speaking into his bad ear before walking away.

We take a look back at Shinsuke Nakamura’s match against Finn Balor from July, which saw Nakamura get the win to become the number one contender for the NXT Championship. We are reminded again that Nakamura will be in the NXT Arena later tonight.

We see the video hype package for NXT’s first tour of Australia and New Zealand this December.

Match: Liv Morgan vs. Aliyah
Aliyah connects with a knee and then a forearm shot. Aliyah sends Liv off the ropes and then takes her down with a short cross-body. Aliyah goes for the cover, but Liv kicks out. Liv comes back and sends Aliyah off the ropes and then drops her with a drop toe hold. Liv goes for a quick cover, but Aliyah kicks out. Aliyah comes back with a stiff right hand and then sends Liv to the corner. Aliyah drapes Liv over the top rope and then goes for a cover, but Liv kicks out at two. Aliyah takes Liv down with a snap-mare and then applies a head-scissors/arm-bar submission combo. Liv fights back, but Aliyah takes her down for a cover. Liv kicks out at two and then delivers a dropkick to Aliyah. Liv drops Aliyah with a few clotheslines and then a bulldog. Liv kicks up and then connects with a spin kick to the back of Aliyah’s head and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Liv Morgan.

We see No Way Jose walking backstage and he is stopped for an interview. He says he showed the NXT Universe tonight that he has the heart of a lion and he is going straight to the top, but Bobby Roode walks up. Roode looks Jose up and down and looks disgusted, and then says, “Nice head,” before walking away.

We take a look back to 11 days ago when Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Samoa Joe to capture the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II. We see that Nakamura will return to the NXT Arena next.

Back from the break, we see that Asuka will return to NXT next week and Tom Phillips informs us that he will have an exclusive interview with the NXT Women’s Champion.

Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme hits and the NXT Champion makes his way to the ring.

The crowd chants “Nakamura” and “You Deserve It” after singing Nakamura to the ring. He says he has accomplished everything he could in Japan. He says then he wanted to face the very best in the world and the only place to go do that was in NXT. He says he wanted to challenge himself and see how good he was. He says he faced the best in Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe, and he beat them all. He says his neck still hurts, his legs still hurt, and his fingers are still shaking, but he became the NXT Champion. He says he has held championship before, but the NXT Championship means the most. He says he has a great respect for Samoa Joe, but Joe’s era is over. He says now is the time for the Era of Strong Style. Nakamura’s music hits and the crowd begins singing again as Nakamura does all his mannerisms in the ring. Nakamura bows to the crowd and leaves the ring and bows again from the top f the entrance ramp as NXT comes to a close.


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