WWE NXT Review - September 28, 2016

Hideo Itami goes high risk.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Tye Dillinger def. Angelo Dawkins

It's great that Dillinger's last two victories over Blake and Murphy weren't random and that the idea is for him to actually start building up some momentum for a change. He's extremely over, so it was only a matter of time. The match was nothing of note, but Dawkins needs to stop doing that damn pot stirring motion. It looks so stupid. Anyway, I love a potential pairing of Dillinger and Bobby Roode in the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. They're fan favorites and if the two Canadians were to make it to the finals in Toronto, the reaction would be insane if they won.


NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival vs. The Ealy Brothers Went to a No Contest (Non-title)

I laughed my ass off when Samoa Joe came out and absolutely wrecked The Ealy Brothers and The Revival just stood there on the ramp before walking to the back with smiles on their faces knowing they didn't have to work. Hilarious. Meanwhile, Joe continued his path of destruction with a total annihilation of these two no-namers, and as I said last week, his rampage in the coming weeks will be fun to watch.

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Tye Dillinger and Bobby Roode join forces.

Ember Moon def. Mandy Rose

Rose was far from ready for NXT TV when I saw her in action before TakeOver: Brooklyn 2, but she looked like a natural in this match. Maybe it was because her opponent was Moon, and I guess Moon carried her to an extent, but Rose really looked good and had a solid showing. Of course, she went down like everyone else did, but I'd like to see her hone her skills some more and be built up as a credible heel in the division in the future.


The Authors of Pain def. Local Athletes

Rinse and repeat with The Authors of Pain's squash matches. They truly are becoming the new Ascension of NXT, which is sad because they had the potential to be something more. And they still can be with a proper direction, and it was about damn time Paul Ellering finally spoke. He didn't say much, mind you, but it was a step in the right direction.


NXT Women's Champion Asuka def. Liv Morgan (Non-title)

When I said Asuka was dominating the division, I wasn't kidding. She laid waste to Morgan here in record time. Obviously, I expected Asuka to go over, but not in such decisive fashion after Morgan was made to look like something of a threat in recent weeks. I honestly don't know if anyone will be able to beat her other than possibly Ember Moon, and I have my money on that being the next title match.


Hideo Itami def. Lince Dorado

Dorado was definitely one of the more underrated competitors in the Cruiserweight Classic because the guy is a great wrestler as seen here. The match he and Itami had was by no means a blow-away bout, but their styles gelled well together and the crowd was engaged in the action. More importantly, the feud was furthered between Itami and Austin Aries afterward and it will be a great moment once Itami finally gets his hands on him.


​Overall Show

I enjoyed last week's edition of NXT on the whole slightly more, but this was still a solid show. There were more squash matches than I would have liked, but sometimes those are necessary. On the bright side, we now have a pretty good idea of what we'll be getting at TakeOver: Toronto, we'll have the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to keep us busy, and I can't wait for that to get underway next week.

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