411’s WWE NXT Report 5.4.16

For the first time since TakeOver, the show is back in Full Sail University.

The brand new NXT Champion Samoa Joe comes out to start the show. It’s his first appearance in Full Sail since capturing the gold. Joe calls himself the man that keeps his word because, despite the best efforts of Finn Balor, he is like death and taxes and winning the belt was inevitable. It is a new era and it’s Joe’s time. He says that if anybody has a problem with that, he’ll beat them down and choke them out. Unfamiliar music hits and the crowd is clueless until former TNA Champion Eric Young walks out onto the stage with a slight smirk. “Holy shit” chants followed by “EY” chants. Young says that they know each other well and he knows that Joe is a wrecking machine. Young says that the only sure thing is change and change is coming. He says that he collects championships and the two men come face to face. Joe looks him down and walks off. Before he goes up the ramp, he says that EY doesn’t belong in the same ring as him. The next time he gets in the ring with Joe, Joe says he will beat his ass.

Nia Jax vs. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa gets a full entrance. Nia instantly tosses Tessa into the corner and splashes her. Tessa avoids the next one and gets in some shots. She tries a cross body but just bounces off of Nia. Nia lays in several elbow drops and another corner splash.. She catches Tessa with a spinning Samoan drop before a big leg drop wins it.

Winner: Nia Jax in 1:08

Exactly what it needed to be. Nia seems on a path to a match with Asuka, so dominating wins is the right call. I’d like to see more from Tessa too.

Austin Aries vs. Tye Dillinger

Tye is still super over with the Full Sail crowd. This marks the Full Sail debut of Austin Aries. They lock up and Tye goes to a headlock. He shoulder blocks Aries down for a near fall and throws up the 10. Aries takes him down and works a headlock. He leaps over Tye in the corner and snaps off two arm drags. A “both these guys” chant starts. Tye sends him in but eats a boot. Aries hops over but runs into a sweet backbreaker. Seriously, Bret Hart would be proud. It gets a one count. Knees to the back from Tye before he steps on Aries’ face. Tye whips Aries hard into the corner. They trade shots in the center of the ring and Aries wins out. He hits a short clothesline but gets sent onto the apron. He nails Tye and slingshot somersaults onto him. Tye goes outside, where Aries follows with a corkscrew plancha. He uses the second rope to assist on a neckbreaker. Aries tries a corner dropkick but Tye gets his boot up. He hits a big TKO/neckbreaker move for a close near fall. Tye exposes the knee but eats a rolling elbow. Aries nails the corner dropkick and goes up, getting the win with the 450 splash.

Winner: Austin Aries in 4:36

A fun little match. The crowd was into both guys and Aries looked more comfortable here than he did against Baron Corbin. With more time, this could have been really good. **1/2

A recap is shown from last week when the Revival attacked the Hype Bros.

The Hype Bros vs. The Revival

Dash begins against Ryder. Commentary brings up Ryder’s IC Title win. They lock horns and instantly go to the Revival’s corner, where they both get in shots. Ryder fights them off before a distraction allows Dash to pull him off the second rope hard. Tag to Dawson, who kicks Ryder in the side before firing off some elbows. Another quick tag as Dawson sends Ryder into Dash’s knee. They both stomp on him in the corner. Another tag as they bust out the drop toe hold/elbow drop combo. They just continue to cut the ring in half and really dominate Ryder. Ryder finally gets an opening and tags Mojo. He does his hot tag stuff, with shoulder blocks and knee strikes. He goes all Monty Brown and POUNCES Dash Wilder. The Revival use a blind tag to catch Mojo with the Shatter Machine and win.

Winners: The Revival in 4:13

Pretty one-sided but I won’t really call it a squash due to who they faced. Fine for the Revival but nothing more. *

Alex Riley is interviewed about his match next week with Shinsuke Nakamura. Riley says he doesn’t know what “strong style” is. He says that Shinsuke is half his size, has a tenth of his strength and no athletic coordination. Riley says that they’re going to hit each other as hard as they can and doing the math, he’s going to win. It’s time to RAGE!

No Way Jose vs. Noah Kekoa

It’s the Full Sail debut for No Way Jose. Kekoa is tall but that’s about it. Jose gets tons of chants and dances to them. Wristlock from Jose and he dances with that as well. Jose nails a snapmare but gets a right hand from Noah. Jose comes back with right hands and some Polish hammer like moves. He hits a bulldog that looked like it was supposed to land on his knee but clearly didn’t. Fastball right hand from Jose, who finishes it with a full nelson slam.

Winner: No Way Jose in 2:15

Fine for what it was. Also, Noah Kekoa went by a different last name but I didn’t catch it.

The lovely Cathy Kelly interviews Austin Aries and congratulates him on the win. Aries congratulates her on looking nice tonight. He says that things have gotten off to a successful start for him so far but things are strange. He feels like he’s flying under the radar but that’s okay because he always finds his way to the top.

A Finn Balor vignette airs, intercut with Samoa Joe talking about how he would take the title. We see JOe’s losses before his eventual victory. Finn returns next week.

Non-Title Match: NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Eric Young

A slow, cautious start sees Young work the wrist. They trade right hands with the crowd mostly cheering for both guys. Young actually comes out with the upper hand and dropkicks Joe. Swinging neckbreaker gets one. Shots in the corner from Young before Joe just manhandles him and launches him over the top to the outside. ELBOW SUICIDA follows. Returning from break, they trade shots but Joe’s in control and flattens him. Joe barrels in with a back elbow in the corner, followed by an enziguri for two. Joe wears down Young with the dreaded NERVE HOLD. That’s some Yokozuna shit. Young fights back but runs into an inverted atomic drop. Big boot and senton follow for two. Joe puts EY in the corner and continues to rough him up. Young fires back with some shots of his own, He hits a small corner splash before getting caught with a back body drop. More shots by Joe in the corner, but Eric continues to fight back. He runs into another elbow by Joe. Joe pretty much toys with him before sending him into the corner and he flips over onto the apron. Young slides in under Joe and gets in more right hands. He ducks a clothesline and hits a flying forearm. Suplex by Young, who then climbs to the top. Diving elbow by Young gets a near fall. Young looks for a potential piledriver but Joe gets free. He charges into teh corner, but Young dodges only to charge into his the STJoe. Slapfest from Joe, sending Young into the corner. Muscle Buster connects and the Coquina Clutch ends it.

Winner: Samoa Joe in 11:04

Decent enough match but nothing special. It didn’t really start clicking until the final few minutes. **1/2

Samoa Joe holds the submission for a bit after the bell before letting go on his own.