411’s WWE NXT Report 11.2.16

We go to Charlie Caruso at the Performance Center to start. She has updates on the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Tonight, we’ll see action from all four second round matches. She hypes TM61 vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. That match took place in San Jose, California this past Friday.

Austin Aries is not dressed to compete. He says that he suffered a “broken eyeball” and can’t wrestle because NXT officials know that he’s too valuable a commodity. Aries wants TM61 to forfeit so they don’t lose to Strong in a handicap match. William Regal comes out and proposes that one member of TM61 face Strong in a singles match with the winner’s team advancing. TM61 agrees.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Roderick Strong vs. Shane Thorne

Wristlock by Strong, headlock by Thorne and Strong fights out. They work some quick stuff before Thorne hits a jumping side kick. They go back to working the arm and then Thorne hits a back elbow. Moonsault gets him two. Aries slightly distracts Thorne, allowing Strong to hop up and kick him on the top. Strong follows with a backbreaker across the top turnbuckle. Returning from a break, Strong runs into a boot from Thorne. He comes back with a chop but rungs into an elevated dropkick by Thorne. They trade blows in the center of the ring until Thorne takes him down with uppercuts. He hits another in the corner but Strong comes back out with a backbreaker. They fight up top where Thorn hits a headbutt and does the old Alberto Del Rio double stomp. It leads to “si” chants. Thorne fights off Strong but takes two knee strikes a face first slam for two. Roderick picks up the limp Thorn but Thorn nails a clothesline and falcon arrow. HE DID THE DEAL! Only gets two. Thorne nails a sitout powerbomb but Aries distracts the referee so he can’t get the win. Strong hits a jumping knee for a near fall. Strong baseball slides Nick Miller, who was arguing with Aries. Thorn pulls him into a small package and advances.

Winner: Shane Thorne in 7:04

A really solid match. Thorne looked impressive at times, while Strong got to showcase his talents. Strong lost nothing in defeat with how it ended and Thorne still looked very good. ***

Back at Full Sail, the Revival are set to face #DIY in another quarterfinal match. Scott Dawson comes out on crutches and informs the crowd that he tore his ACL, MCL, LCL and his meniscus in half. The doctor said that a normal jamoke like Gargano or Ciampa would be crippled by it but he’ll be fine with some ibuprofen. He calls the Revival the Mercedes of the division but they have to pull out of hte tournament. Dash takes over and tells #DIY that they shouldn’t be mad because it’s a free trip to the next round and they are saved from tapping out to the Revival again.

Cedric Alexander gets interviewed in the back about his experience in NXT so far. Cedric says that Andrade Almas showed him that you can’t just be happy to be here. You have show a mean streak and he wants to show Almas any time and any place.

A short video shows Full Sail Studios and the fans chanting NXT. The words “The Return” flash across the screen.

#DIy get interviewed by Dasha about what the Revival just did. Gargano says that they aren’t surprised at all by it. Ciampa says their goal was to win the Classic and then win the titles. They end the promo the same way the Revival did. “Top guys. Out.”

Back to Charlie who shows that #DIY advanced and will face the winners of the next match.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering vs. No Way Jose and Rich Swann

Back to San Jose for this one. The fans pop hard for the arrival of Rich Swann and No Way Jose. Akam starts with Jose. He attacks in the corner, Jose slips free of his grasp and tries a snapmare but gets shoved off. Akam charges and misses, getting sent outside. He gets right back in and takes down Jose with a shoulder block. Jose rolls him up for one. Tag to Swann and Jose sends him into Akam for a big rana. Razar tags in. Swann ducks him, using his speed to avoid him. Swann gets in a right hand that just angers the big man. Swann goes in with more and a kick but runs into a bearhug. Swann elbows out, has his sunset flip blocked and slaps Razar. He connects with a dropkick, leap frogs over Razar and he falls outside. Swann makes the mistake of trying  across body off the apron and gets caught by both AOP members. Jose comes off the top and jumps on Swann to take them all down. Ellering gives them new orders. Swann fires off shots again but runs into Razar who tosses him up to Akam and then he gets launched into the corner. They then squash him in the corner. I lost track of which AOP member is which. The one without tattoos chokes Swann with his boot. For the first time since they debuted, Ellering gets in a cheap shot to benefit AOP. Swann takes a vicious backbreaker rack. Ah, Razar doesn’t have the tattoos. Swann wriggles free and spin kicks Razar. Tag to Akam who just lays on Swann. Swann scores with two enziguris and avoids an elbow to tag in Jose. Jose actually takes down Akam several times. He hits some big right hands on Razar too. Swann comes off the top with a somersault onto Razar. Jose lifts Akam for a TKO like he weighs nothing! He covers but only gets two. Razar gets in a sneaky tag and Jose falls to the Last Chapter.

Winners: The Authors of Pain in 7:15

That was way better than I thought it would be. Swann and Jose got in a lot but the Authors never looked weak in giving it up. It was done in a way that made everyone look good. Jose’s hot tag was a blast and there was a really close near fall that the fans totally bought into. ***1/4

A Mickie James vignette airs.

Corey Graves and Tom Phillips run down the TakeOver card.

Next week, #DIY take on the Authors of Pain.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Kota Ibushi and TJ Perkins vs. Sanity w/ Eric Young and Nikki Cross

Sanitoy’s presentation is still top notch. Alexander Wolfe starts against Kota Ibushi. Wolfe grapples with him, applying a headlock. Ibushi fights free into a wristlock. There are a lot of headlocks and wristlocks in NXT. Ibushi hits some strikes, Wolfe avoids a moonsault but walks into a dropkick. TJ gets the tag and leaps into Wolfe, who catches him. TJ tries a sunset flip but Wolfe goes to sit down. TJ avoids and hits a cross body before locking in the knee bar. Quick tag to Sawyer Fulton. TJ takes him down too for the submission and he quickly tags to Wolfe. Tag to Kota and they work a quick double team sequence ending with a TJ dropkick. Returning from break, Kota lights up Fulton with kicks. TJ is back in and he lays in punches in the corner. They continue to work over their larger opponent until he runs through a double clothesline. They double dropkick him outside, knock down Wolfe and TJ dropkicks him. Kota takes out Wolfe with the triangle moonsault. TJ looks at Fulton and attempts a plancha, only to get get caught and slammed onto the apron. Fulton splashes him twice for two. Fulton slams TJ onto Wolfe’s knees for another near fall. Wolfe wears down TJ for a bit. While this happens, Fulton chews on the middle rope. A knee strike/gutwrench suplex combo gets two. TJ continues to take a beating and gets put in the DREADED bearhug. They go for the slam onto the knees spot again but TJ counters and gets free. He leaps to tag in Kota. Kota kicks the shit out of Wolfe several times. Standing moonsault gets two. TJ comes off the top with a missile dropkick on Fulton. As Kota hits the Golden Star Bomb on Wolfe, Young and Cross distract the referee. Fulton levels Kota and gets the tag. They plant him with a powerslam/DDT combo to win.

Winners: Sanity in 9:12

Solid but nothing special. Fulton and Wolfe are pretty good and while I love Kota and TJ, this didn’t quite click as good as the previous tag but was still good. **3/4