WWE NXT Review - August 31, 2016

The Era of Strong Style has arrived!

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Tye Dillinger def. Buddy Murphy
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With so many recent call-ups to the main roster, perhaps Dillinger might finally get his chance at super stardom in NXT. The reactions he receives already indicate he's at that level, yet his shaky win-loss record doesn't. Thankfully, that seems to be changing with wins two weeks in a row. I enjoyed this match much more than Dillinger's outing against Wesley Blake last week, likely because Murphy is a better wrestler than Blake is and has more potential in my opinion. Here's hoping Dillinger can keep this hot streak rolling in the weeks ahead, and I don't think anyone would benefit more from a midcard title in NXT than him.


NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival Attacked Tomasso Ciampa

I don't think we have ever seen someone giving a backstage interview before being attacked and dragged to the ring. I liked the change of pace in that respect, and everyone came out of this looking great. Ciampa was resilient and showed awesome fire in standing up to The Revival, while the tag champs were ruthless in their ambush and cut a great promo. I surely hope this means the feud isn't yet over because their TakeOver match in Brooklyn was too terrific for there not to be a rematch.

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No Way Jose celebrates his victory.

Steve Cutler def. Kenneth Crawford

Longtime viewers of NXT might be familiar with Cutler as he has served as an enhancement talent on the brand for some time now. That said, it's hard to take him seriously now as a result. I know Baron Corbin and The Revival are among those that were also jobbers at one point before being repackaged, but Cutler comes off as extremely generic. He had a fine showing here and he appears to be a decent enough wrestler, but without any character development, he'll probably fall by the wayside.


No Way Jose def. Angelo Dawkins

Despite his loss to Austin Ares at TakeOver: Brooklyn, Jose doesn't seem to have lost any traction at all, which is good. He remains over with the audience, and he has a fun shtick that I always get a kick out of. This match was mostly designed to showcase his skills and that was about it, though. Based off their post-match backstage face-off, it looks like he's headed for a feud with Bobby Roode.


​Liv Morgan def. Aliyah

It was imperative that NXT started pushing the new crop of women because other than Asuka, there wasn't anyone established left following the recent departures of Bayley, Nia Jax, Carmella and Alexa Bliss. Morgan has been a regular in the promotion for a while, so I'm glad she appears to be finally getting her shot. She is still a work in progress in the ring, but she performed well here and Aliyah held her own nicely as well.


NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura Addressed the Audience

It's insane just how over Nakamura is at the moment. I realize NXT needs the star power, but dammit, he should have been on the main roster yesterday! At any rate, Full Sail University gave him a warm welcome when he showed up and he delivered a short and sweet promo. It's encouraging that his English is improving as well, but for now, brief promos are the way to go. No new No. 1 contender stepped up to challenge Nakamura, and with Samoa Joe out for the foreseeable future with a storyline injury, it might be a while.


​Overall Show

I love how NXT is beginning to make an effort in creating new stars because once Joe, Nakamura and others are called up, they will need as many fresh faces on the roster as they can get. They have plenty at the Performance Center, and now is the time to start grooming them for the future. Morgan and Cutler are nice additions, and Jose and Dillinger should continue to hone their skills as well and work their way up the card.

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