SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
DECEMBER 21, 2016
TAPED AT FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY
AIRED ON WWE NETWORK
Report by Justin James, PWTorch contributor
[Q1] No pre-credits video. Strange, given that tonight is the #1 Contender Fatal Four Way so I would expect a package on that. Billie Kay starts the night, facing Daria Berenato. Royce clutches Kay in horror as Berenato makes her entrance.
(1) DARIA BERENATO vs. BILLIE KAY (w/Peyton Royce)
Berentato jumps out of the heel corner to take on Kay. Sliding knee to Kay’s back drives her to the ropes. Distraction from Royce lets Kay gain control, and land a suplex for one. Stiff kicks and a running takedown put Kay on the mat. Berenato removes her gloves and boxes Kay into the corner. Royce pulls Kay from the ring and they head up the ramp. Berenato runs out, clobbers Royce, and drags Kay into the ring. The ref gets tied up with Kay for a ridiculously long amount of time, letting Royce ambush Berenato, setting her up to take a big boot from Kay and the three count.
Winner: Billie Kay in 2:24. Berenato looked good until she (and the ref) looked like suckers.
Post-match, they attack Berenato, send her to the apron, then cut a promo challenging Asuka.
Paul Ellering and The Authors of Pain are out for a match.
(2) ENHANCEMENT TALENT vs. THE AUTHORS OF PAIN (AKUM and RAZZAR w/Paul Ellering) – Tag Team Match
The ref stop the match at 1:15 after The Authors of Pain destroy their opponents, finishing with the stereo powerbombs.
Winners: The Authors of Pain in 1:15. Are they still on the squash match formula for these two?
Post-match, Ellering gets on the mic and vows that the they will gain the NXT Tag Team Championship at Takeover: San Antonio.
[Q2] Backstage, Asuka says tha Roybe and Kay are no competition for her, and need to be careful. Nikki Cross just gives Asuka a look and giggles at her, and Asuka smirks back.
(J.J.’s Reax: How can we take Kay or Royce as a serious threat when Berenato, who is barely a newbie, dominated Kay and only lost due to outside interference? And Nikki Cross? She has one singles match under her belt.)
Video package hyping tonight’s Fatal Four Way, giving brief talking moments to each man.
We are going right to the Fatal Four Way, indicating either a lengthy match (which would be a treat, given the quality of in-ring talent and the rarity of triple threats and fatal four ways in NXT), or some post-match happenings.
(3) BOBBY ROODE vs. ANDRADE “CIEN” ALMAS vs. TYE DILLENGER vs. RODERICK STRONG – #1 Contender Fatal Four Way Elimination Match
[Q3] As the bell rings, Philips tells us that this is actually an elimination match, which explains the timing. Roode ducks out of the ring only to find himself facing Strong and Dillinger, who attack him. Almas takes advantage then finds himself alone in the ring wth with Strong, taking the fight to him. [c]
Almas is rapidly taking Stong apart, low dropkick into a cover for one. He keeps Dillinger and Roode out. He teases a runing boot or bronco buster, then stops and slaps Strong. Strong pops off the mat with offense, Almas runs into a gutbuster attempt but escapes. Almas is thinking moonsault off the top, but Dillinger emerges to look for a superplex. Almas fights him off, moonsault, both men move, Almas hits the mat with his feet, moonsaults again onto Strong but Strong gets his knees up and Dillinger dropkicks him out of the ring. Roode suddenly asserts himself, taking Dillinger out and going one-on-one with Strong. Strong fends off Rood, nails a backbreaker, but Dillinger almost eliminates him with a schoolboy. Strong gets sent out of the ring and Roode covers Strong for two.
Roode slows the pace down as Strong sells his back. Dillinger gets dumped out of the ring by Roode again. Neckbreaker into a two count for Roode, then Roode kicks Almas out before he gets through the ropes. Strong suddenly lands a knee to the middle, sends Roode to the outside, then a big dive over the ropes clears the other three on the ramp. [c]
Out of break, roode has a cover with his feet on the ropes, but the ref won’t count it. The match is no DQ but the pin still needs to be legal. Big suplex lets Roode get two to Dillinger, then a kicks sends Dillinger rolling out of the ring again. Strong has recovered in the corner, and a front suplex gives Strong the chance to land a high knee then an elbow in the corner. Strong says superplex, but Almas comes in for a Tower of Doom, there’s Dillinger for a huge four man spot. Dillinger hulks up in the corner to big crowd support. He drops the knee pad, teasing the Tye Breaker, but Almas isn’t stunned enough Strong gets involved. It’s Dillinger and Almas trading blows mid ring. Big boot drops Dillinger into the corner. Running double knees, but Strong with his running one-leg dropkick to eliminate Almas.
Andrade Almas eliminated at 11:31 by Roderick Strong.
Dillinger is still completely out of it, and Strong looks rough too. Strong is on his feet first and takes advantage. Dillinger suddenly shows life, but a whiffed punch lets Strong nail a one-arm powerbomb into a nearfall. Dillinger is deadweight, then suddenly has the Tye Breaker out of nowhere.
Roderick Strong eliminated at 13:18 by Tye Dillinger.
Dillinger is shaking with rage as he faces Roode.
[Q4] Roode kind of tells Dillinger to settle down, they trade bombs, and Dillinger just goes insane. Ten kicks in the corner. Tye Breaker attempt, Roode has the ropes, breaks free, slides down, but Dillinger sits on it and covers for two. Roode nails a spinebuster to get two and finally get a break. Roode goes out of he ring to get a chair. Superkick to the face earns Dillinger a crazy close nearfall and avoids the fall of the chair. Dillinger gets to his feet first, they tussle on the ropes, Roode lands a neckbreaker over the ropes. Roode to the top, Dillinger grabs him for Tye Breaker, Roode escapes and hits the spinebuster. Roode wants the DDT, but gets reversed into the Tye Breaker, Roode barely kicks ot and the crowd is going insane. Dillinger is near tears with his inability to finish Roode.
Dillinger gets to his feet as Roode crawls under the ropes. Dillnger preps a superplex, no a super Tye Breaker. Roode elbows out, but collapses on the top. dillinger wants Tye Breaker, Roode gets under and dumps Dillinger on the turnbuckle. Dillinger falls off, DDT, and ends it.
Winner: Bobby Roode in 18:33. Star making match for Tye Dillinger and Roderick Strong. Strong looked great carrying the first half of the match himself, and Dillinger earned emotional investment with his nearfalls and his reactions to them. Roode made Dillinger look great and Alams and Strong had a lot of good sequences in there. A very strong non-title, non-Takeover match.
FINAL REAX: An outstanding Fatal Four Way Match here made this a very good episode of NXT, calling back to a few years ago when NXT main events were often “can’t miss” quality.
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 12/14 NXT TV Review: Nakamura vs. Joe in a cage, Roode vs. Lorcan for no. 1 contendership, No Way vs. Almas, Tye vs. Young
If Dillinger is on his way to the main roster, then it’d be great if he could show up at the Rumble as the number #10 entrant.