411’s WWE NXT Report 12.28.16

Tonight is a special episode of NXT. It’s just shy of two hours and is from Osaka, Japan.

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Oney Lorcan

Almas is out with his old La Sombra mask. Lorcan went for a handshake but Almas kicks it away. Lock up and headlock by Oney. They trade some mat stuff and have a small standoff. The crowd gets behind Lorcan. Tom Phillips actually mentions taht Almas won the IWGP Intercontinental Title in Japan by beating Shinsuke Nakamura. Oney sends him into the ropes, where he latches on and poses. Back to a headlock by Almas but Oney turns it around. Almas back suplexes him but Oney doesn’t let go. Oney leap frogs over Almas but takes a dropkick to the side. Almas does his best Tetsuya Naito impersonation on his taunt. Another dropkick gets a one count. He drives his feet on Oney’s shoulders in the corner and works a chinlock. Oney gets one on a backslide and chops the hell out of Almas. Lorcan hits some running elbows and a corner clothesline. He gets his elbow up on a charging Almas and leaps over him before hitting a running blockbuster for two. Some vicious uppercuts from Lorcan but his inverted exploder gets blocked. Almas switches around but they continue to fight for position. Almas busts out Destino for a near fall. Lorcan grabs the arm and Almas pulls him up for a powerbomb but gets elbowed. Lorcan starts in with brutal chops and Almas answers with elbows. A big knee from Lorcan, who ducks a right hand and nails the inverted exploder. Lorcan hits two corner elbows but Almas counters a third into a hip toss that sends Oney in the turnbuckles. Almas hits double knees in the corner for two. Oney runs into a boot in the corner and Almas goes up. Oney cuts him off and nails a top rope inverted exploder to pull off the upset.

Winner: Oney Lorcan in 10:06 (***)

Aliyah and Liv Morgan vs. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce

Billie and Liv kick things off and Billie uses a fireman’s carry. She taunts but gets tripped up. Liv rolls over into a pin for one. She uses a sunset flip for another one and rolls Billie around a bunch to a decent hand from the crowd. The rolling goes on for a long ass time. Liv grabs the wrist and tags Aliyah. They hit an ugly double clothesline for a near fall. Aliyah works the arm but Billie tags Peyton, who hits her from behind. Aliyah hops over Peyton and delivers an arm drag. Aliyah goes to the wrist and backflips off the middle rope for an arm drag. Peyton blocks some whips and hits a backbreaker. Tag to Billie who hits a right hand. They work Aliyah over in their corner a bit with a tandem boot choke. They then hit a double kick to Aliyah’s back for a near fall. She bridges out of the cover but still finds herself in trouble. Billie works a chinlock with the assist of her knees being in Aliyah’s back. Aliyah escapes into a cover for two. Billie pounds on the shoulder and tags out so they can hit a weak looking double team hair whip. Aliyah gets close to tagging but Peyton holds her back several times. Double stalling suplex from the heels gets two. They continue to isolate Aliyah. Billie gets two on a suplex. Billie talks smack, hits a headbutt and knocks Liv off the apron. Aliyah finally slips free of a double suplex and LIb gets the hot tag. She hits a bunch of clotheslines and a bulldog. She feels like a knockoff Carmella. STO by Liv sees the cover broken by Peyton. Aliyah neutralizes Peyton with a corner shoulder block. Peyton knocks her off the apron with a kick. Liv rolls up Billie but she blind tagged out. Peyton hits a forearm and drives her face first into Billie’s knee to win.

Winners: Billie Kay and Peyton Royce in 8:27 (**)

NXT Tag Team Championship: #DIY (c) vs. Akira Tozawa and Tajiri

Gargano and Akira start. “Johnny Wrestling” chants. They exchange some quick work and break free. Johnny takes him down and taunts before they trade some fast arm drags. Akira hits a senton and Johnny flips over into a pin for two. They’re moving too fast for my typing, which is pretty fast itself. Both guys miss kicks and stand off. Tajiri and Ciampa come in. They’re back and forth is slower, but still works well. Tajiri spins out of a wrist lock and is completely stoic. Cool and calm Tajiri rules. Tajiri takes him to the mat and works an arm submission. Ciampa gets out and they trade headlocks into head scissors before a stand off. Ciampa charges into a drop toe hold and Tajiri holds the wrist. He tags Akira, who comes off the top with a double axe handle. Gargano gets the tag and backs Tozawa into the corner. Tag back to Ciampa and they hit stereo corner kicks on him. A wristlock suplex gets Ciampa two. Tozawa reaches the ropes on a submission but Ciampa still targets the arm/wrist. Tozawa hits a rough shot to the ear for a near fall and tags Tajiri. Double hip toss and a Tozawa senton get one. Tajiri tries multiple pin attempts, eventually getting two. Ciampa is in trouble heading into a commercial. Returning, Ciampa gets kicked and wants more. Tozawa kicks harder but Ciampa shakes his head no. He fires back with a chop. Tozawa wins a strike battle with another shot to the ear. He sends Ciampa in but his running kick gets caught into a backbreaker variation for two. Tag back to Gargano who also gets two on a backbreaker. He works a modified abdominal stretch. Tozawa finds a way out that I missed due to my stream skipping. He hits Ciampa with a big pump kick when it returns. Tag to Tajiri who kicks Ciampa a few times in the chest. Tajiri busts out the handspring elbow like it’s still 2000. He hits kicks on both opponents and gets a near fall. Tag to Tozawa who sends Tajiri into a handspring that knocks both DIY members off the apron. Tozawa takes them both out with a suicide dive and hits a second. Tozawa calls for the brainbuster, Ciampa fights it but still takes the suplex for two. Tozawa looks for the deadlift German but Ciampa fights again. He elbows out and tags in Gargano, who slides in with his spear through the ropes for two. Tozawa escapes a brainbuster and tags Tajiri, who trades forearms with Gargano until he hits a kick. Tajiri catches Gargano with the tarantula to a nice pop. Gargano ducks the Buzzsaw Kick and rolls through a school boy into his own kick for two. Tag to Tozawa. He and Gargano both miss kicks and start trading forearms. Gargano hit s a step up enziguri but Tozawa gets under him and tries a German. Ciampa saves Gargano and hits a series of Germans. Tozawa blocks the third and goes for his own but Ciampa counters into a rollup for two. Tozawa hits both champions with snap Germans. He then hits a stalling one on Ciampa but Gargano breaks the pin. Tajiri ducks an enziguri, Gargano ducks a kick and hits a superkick. It comes down to Tozawa and Ciampa again. Pump kick to the back of the head but Ciampa turns him inside out with a clothesline. he then hits the powerbomb lungblower but Tajiri breaks up the count. Tozawa pulls Ciampa intoa  small package for two. Gargano gets the tag and hits a kick. Ciampa knocks Tajiri off the apron and they hit the running knee/superkick combo to retain.

Winners: #DIY in 17:21 (****)

The competitors show respect after the match.

NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax

Asuka avoids Nia early and delivers kicks where she can. She’s very confident throughout this. Nia hits a headbutt and absolutely launches Asuka across the ring. Asuka gets on Nia with an octopus hold variation. Nia fights off and blocks a guillotine choke before hitting a spinebuster. Nia drives her foot into Asuka’s back. She drives Asuka into the turnbuckle before a break. Returning, Nia is still in control. Nia uses headbutts and such to keep Asuka grounded. Asuka fires off shots but again, Nia just slams her with a spinebuster for two. Nia hits a body slam and asks the referee to see if Asuka gives. She wears her down with a knee in the back and slams her to the mat. Nia looks for a Samoan drop but just falls on Asuka for two. Asuka fires off a spinning back fist but is stopped by a headbutt. She pops back up only to eat a left hand. Nia delivers right hands on the mat. Nia connects on a big clothesline to continue dominating. Asuka finally gets an opening by countering Nia into a kneebar. Nia tries to maneuver free but ends up in worse position. She stands to get up from the knee bar but Asuka delivers kicks to the knee. She fires off some forearms that send Nia to her knees. Nia catches a kick, puts Asuka’s foot on the ropes and slams her by the hair onto the mat. Asuka uses a hip attack to send Nia outside. She comes off the apron but gets caught and ragdolled into the apron. Asuka nearly gets counted out but Nia remembers that she can’t win the title that way. She delivers a uranage into the apron. Inside, Nia misses a leg drop and Asuka reels off kicks. Nia catches one, Asuka ducks a right hand and hits a spinning back fist. With Nia on her knees, Asuka nails the hip attack for two. Asuka catches her into a triangle choke but Nia powers out. Asuka avoids a powerbomb and goes for the Asuka Lock. Nia is too strong and backs her into the corner to break it up. Asuka hops back on with a sleeper but ends up on Nia’s shoulders. Nia delivers a powerbomb for a near fall. Asuka comes back with more backfists and escapes a Samoan drop. She hits a spin kick and busts out a German suplex! Nia screams while on her knees, stealing the finish from their TakeOver match in June and Asuka wins with a kick to the head.

Winner: Asuka in 15:36 (***1/2)

Next week, we’ll get a show from Melbourne. On tap are Elias Samson & Bobby Roode vs. Murphy and Tye Dillinger, Liv Morgan vs. Ember Moon vs. Billie Kay and #DIY defend the Tag Titles against TM61.

NXT Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

A clipped version of this aired a few weeks back. They circle each other and are cautious with their strikes. They both block early shots form the other. Both guys give clean breaks on the ropes before Nakamura starts in with knee strikes. Good vibrations come in the corner twice and Joe takes a powder. Joe gets on the apron and chokes Nakamura with the referee in between them before a commercial break. Returning, Joe lights him up with strikes. They go outside and he sends Nakamura into the guardrail and apron before hitting a chop. Nakamura avoids getting hit on the steel steps and delivers some shots inside. Joe hits a back elbow and the corner enziguri. Corner facewashes from Joe but Nakamura pops up and hits a kitchen sink. Knee strikes in the corner and he tries a guillotine but Joe blocks. Nakamura drops a knee. Joe blocks a kick and drives Shinsuke knees first into the mat. Joe wears him down with knee strikes and leg work. Nakamura fights him off but takes a kick to the leg. Joe hits two shots and an elbow drop for two. Joe counters Shinsuke into a kneebar but Nakamura reaches the ropes. Joe continues with headbutts and just pounds on Shinsuke. Nakamura comes back with a knee, misses a kick and then hits a second. Nakamura starts delivering shots that send Joe into the corner. He hits a running knee, sets Joe up on the top and hits another running knee. Shinsuke goes for the reverse exploder but Joe avoids it. He hits the inverted atomic drop, boot and sneton combo for two. Joe has an STF locked in when we return. Shinsuke slips free and reaches the ropes. Nakamura blocks a suplex, then flips over on one and pulls Joe into a strange looking hold on the mat. He turns it into an armbar attempt but Joe blocks it. Nakamura gets on a triangle choke but Joe reaches the ropes quickly. Joe fights Nakamura off but eats an impressive German suplex. Nakamura calls for Kinshasa but runs into a powerslam for two. Joe goes for the Muscle Buster but Shinsuke gets free. Joe avoids Kinshasa and applies the Coquina Clutch. Nakamura gets free but is hit with a German suplex. Nakamura hits some elbows before taking another suplex for two. Joe again looks for the Muscle Buster and when Nakamura kicks him away, Joe hits an enziguri to send him outside. Joe looks for the uranage on the steps that helped him win in Toronto but Nakamura fights him off and nails a running knee to the back of the neck. They exchange strikes inside until Nakamura hits a knee and then adds a sliding one. Nakamura hoists Joe on his shoulders but Joe is too big and a tired Shinsuke falls. Nakamura comes off the second rope with a knee and connects on Kinshasa to win back the title.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura in 19:07 (***1/2)