411’s WWE NXT Report 7.13.16

Hello and welcome to the NXT report!

It starts with a video package hyping up Nakamura vs. Balor. They also show Balor arrive earlier today and Nakamura hitting the punching bag.

NXT Champion Samoa Joe opens the show. He talks about the Balor/Nakamura match, saying that everyone is there or watching at home to see that. He said that the implications of the match are disrespectful to him. He’s going to separate the fantasy from the reality. Fans think that Balor will win and avenge his loss to Joe, but that won’t happen. They also think that Nakamura will win and ride that momentum to his first NXT Title but the reality is that he was the man that first brought strong style to these shores. “Shinsuke, if you’re the king, stand before the emperor”. Dang. He calls himself the man around here and the new face of NXT. He gets interrupted by Rhyno. He gets in Joe’s face and says that he’ll go through Joe to get to the top. Joe doesn’t respond and chooses to walk off. As he heads up the ramp, he says that he’ll beat Rhyno up on his time and that he runs things.

Next week, Bayley vs. Nia Jax III. Also, American Alpha takes on the Authors of Pain and Samoa Joe goes one on one with Rhyno!

We are taken to another video package for Balor vs. Nakamura. It’s the same video from last week.

Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This gets the big match intros with the lights dimmed for the announcement. The atmosphere is great. They go to a test of strength but Nakamura tries a kick and misses. Test of strength again, Finn goes behind and they work wristlocks. Nakamura cartwheels out into one of his own. Balor applies a headlock, taking Nakamura to the mat. Balor doesn’t give a clean break on the ropes after Nakamura does his thing, and Balor “too sweets” him on the forehead. Nakamura misses a big kick and takes a flurry of shots from Finn, ending with a dropkick for two. Nakamura has a kick blocks on the apron but still hits one that puts Balor down. Good vibrations in the corner by Nakamura twice. Nakamura hits a running knee on the apron and then drops one on Balor’s back on the apron heading into the commercial. Returning Balor hits a big dropkick to the knee. Balor works a front face lock that Nakamura breaks. Nakamura goes for a sunset flip but Finn rolls out into a dropkick for a near fall. Chops in different corners by Balor, punctuated by a running one. He goes for a second but Nakamura gets the boot up. Balor catches it, places it on the second rope and drops hi weight on it. Balor tries a surfboard but Nakamura blocks so he just jumps on his calves. He then goes to a really good looking heel hook. Nakamura gets free and comes back with some kicks, though he continues to hold his knee. Big kicks from Nakamura before he hits knees and stomps in the corner. He hits a big running knee for two. Finn chops away and hits a big step up enziguri that knocks Shinsuke outside. He follows with a baseball slide and running soccer kick. Another commercial break. Returning, Balor hits a diving double stomp to a hunched over Shinsuke for two. Nakamura tries to come back with kicks but Balor wraps his leg up in a cool looking submission. Nakamaura reaches the ropes. Balor catches his next kick but Nakamura still hits one. He then locks on the big armbar, turning it into a triangle. Finn reaches the ropes so Nakamura drives knees into the side of his head. Front suplex from Nakamura but his running knee misses and he hits the second turnbuckle. Kick from Balor, who then nails a reverse 1916 for a close near fall. Finn charges in with slingblade before charging in for the big corner dropkick. Nakamura stops it with a dropkick, then nails Kinsasha to the back of the head. He can’t cover instantly, so Finn kicks out. He tries another but Finn hits a standing double stomp that looks awesome. He gets the closest near fall possible. Finn wants another 1916 but Shinsuke blocks it and they start trading forearms. Nakamura takes a shot to the knee but uses the other for a shot. He goes in for another but Balor hits slingblade. Corner dropkick connects and he goes for Coup de Grace but Nakamura rolls out. He hits a second rope knee, followed by Kinsasha and gets the win.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura in 21:11

Not quite the MOTY contender that live reports said it would be, but still a damn good match that was much better than their NJPW outings. I would have liked a bit more selling from Nakamura on the leg work. The counters, exchanges and close calls were all done very well and this had a bigger fight feel than most of what the WWE puts out, which was a nice change. Somewhere between ***3/4 and ****. Haven’t decided on which just yet though.

After the match, they shake hands and bow to each other as the fans chant “thank you Finn”. It really feels like Finn is done with NXT and is passing the torch to Nakamura.