Tonight, NXT Women’s Champion Asuka makes her first appearance since retaining the championship against Bayley in Brooklyn. Along with Asuka’s appearance, Shinsuke Nakamura is scheduled for his match since winning the NXT Championship on the same night.
TM61 vs. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari
Well, this is an interesting matchup. TM61 joined the NXT tag team division several weeks ago, and are still jocking for the #1 Contendership. Their biggest obstacle in their way to facing The Revival is the Authors of Pain. Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari, on the other hand, are known to WWE audiences through the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic. Nese would advance to the second round of the Classic, where he lost to Brian Kendrick. Unfortunately for Ariya Daivari, he lost in the first round of the tournament. As of this writing, neither Nese nor Daivari have been announced for the Monday Night Raw cruiserweight division.
Nese and Daivari nearly put away TM61, but Nick Miller interrupts a pin, preventing Shane Thorne from eating a loss. After Nese is thrown out of the ring, TM61 hit their “Thunder Valley” tag team maneuver to put away Daivari and to pick up the win. Winners: TM61
Backstage Interview
Tom Philips sits down with NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, who defeated Bayley (the most recent Monday Night Raw signee) to retain the Women’s Championship and to keep her undefeated streak alive. In the interview, Philips points out that Shinsuke Nakamura, who is also from Japan, holds the NXT Championship. It is important to the Women’s Champion that she represents her country. Lastly, when asked if there is a Superstar ready to challenge her, the champion says that “no one is ready for Asuka.”
Leah Von vs. Ember Moon
Leah Von has her first opportunity tonight to compete in an NXT ring. The never-before-seen signee faces Ember Moon, who had her NXT debut against Billie Kay. Ember Moon impressed in her debut, showing a tremendous amount of athleticism and agility. This was showcased with her finishing move, which was a Stunner from the top rope.
Ember Moon uses that stunner yet again to take out Leah Von, and to show that she might be the next person in line for Asuka’s NXT Women’s Championship. Winner: Ember Moon
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Austin Aries
Last week, Austin Aries interrupted Andrade “Cien” Almas’s interview and things got pretty heated after Aries showed his frustration with everyone else taking his spotlight. Almas did not like Aries’s actions, and challenged him to a match tonight. Well, here we are.
Austin Aries defeated No Way Jose at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, but was immediately laid out by Hideo Itami. Almas lost his TakeOver: Brooklyn II match against the debuting Bobby Roode, and a win over Aries can get him back in the game.
Almas was one step ahead of Aries throughout the entire match, but one counter was all Aries needed. The Greatest Man That Ever Lived countered a hurricanrana into a powerbomb, then follows it up with the Last Chancery to pick up the victory. Winner (via submission): Austin Aries
Next week on NXT, it is announced that No Way Jose will take on Bobby Roode.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Steve Cutler
NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura really has his hands full tonight with Steve Cutler. Cutler defeated the impressively agile Kenneth Crawford, and that win prepared him greatly to take on the King of Strong Style. He does not even care if the fans like him or not! Talk about trouble for Nakamura.
In all seriousness, Shinsuke Nakamura has been on a roll since his NXT debut at TakeOver: Dallas. Nakamura is undefeated, including his win at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn where he defeated Samoa Joe (who is currently at commentary) for the NXT Championship. This match against Steve Cutler is Nakamura’s first match since winning the championship, and he looks to send a message to Samoa Joe.
After the inverted exploder suplex, Nakamura hits Kinshasa as vicious as ever, and picks up the sound victory. Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
