WWE NXT Results – June 28th, 2017

  If NXT isn’t quite as good as it used to be, then I must be forgetting some truly fantastic television. This week’s show did a lot to advance some storylines, build new characters, and promote the show for next week. That’s not even mentioning the fact that, if you haven’t heard by now, Mauro Ranallo is back! The show began with Nigel McGuinness introducing him, and Ranallo quickly reminded us that the show wasn’t about him, but rather the NXT superstars. The enthusiasm that he brings can already be considered a plus for the show. So how do we properly welcome one of the biggest combat sports announcers today back? His first match that he had to call was a Velveteen Dream match…
The Velveteen Dream vs. HoHo Lun –
  The Dream has added some new theatrics to his entrance that are reminiscent of early versions of the Goldust character. Each time that Lun attempted some sort of maneuver here, Ol’ Velvey would find a way to counter it almost immediately. Mauro Ranallo, with a straight face, tried to plug the All Access Peformance Center tour with the following statement: “If you want to see how stars like The Velveteen Dream are made-“, and I blocked my ears so that I could never find out where “stars” like the Velveteen Dream come from. Velveteen Dream, such a stupid name.

  What was I talking about again? Oh right, the Dream picked up the much smaller Lun at one point for a Jackhammer, and held him there for quite a while actually. Velvey then went over to one of the posts, and he hit the top rope elbow (which they are now calling the Purple Rainmaker) for the victory. He’s not a terrible athlete, I’ll give him that. Now seriously, just tell me who this guy is!!
Winner: The Velveteen Dream
  We cut to an interview with Asuka from the inside of an SUV. She’s being driven to the arena for her Championship match against Nikki Cross later in the show. Asuka says that she’s confident that she’ll win, but then Nikki literally jumps onto the hood of the car. She ran over and opened the car door, Asuka tried to keep the door closed, but if definitely looked like Nikki was closing the door herself at times. So they’re both crazy right? Which one is just a little bit crazier? We’ll find out in just a few more moments.
  William Regal appears in his office with The Authors of Pain and Heavy Machinery. He says that Heavy Machinery have earned themselves a tag team title match. Makes sense, they are literally the last prominent tag team around in NXT. Regal called the match “literally the biggest match in NXT history.” You know why? Because they’re all so fat, you see? Regal warns Paul Ellering to get his boys prepared, and the Heavy Machinery guys vow to eat a second meal.

Oney Lorcan vs. Hideo Itami –
 The last time that these two faced off against each other, you’ll remember that Hideo Itami lost his temper and hit three GTS’ in a row on poor Oney. Here comes the epic rematch, but not so fast! The moment that the bell rings, BAM! Lorcan SMASHES Hideo’s nose with a European Uppercut. Blood starts pouring out of his nose like a garden hose as a team of doctors attempt to repair him. He goes continue fighting Lorcan, but the doctors advise against it, and Itami decided to leave after that.
And yes, Hideo Itami got injured again.

Winner: No Contest
 We were shown a terrific video package for the Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Roode NXT Championship match next week. This video touched on all of the key elements that make up this feud: Roddy is an unlikely challenger with a troubled childhood, Roode is a self-centered rich champion who doesn’t take him seriously, Strong is going to prove him wrong when he wins the title for his family. Very well done, and I look forward to the match next week.
  After a break, Hideo Itami comes back down to the ring with no music. He stood around in the ring for a while with cotton balls up both of his nostrils, and then Oney Lorcan’s music started playing. Alright then.
Oney Lorcan vs Hideo Itami… again –
  Hideo Itami charged after Lorcan with some kicks in the corner this time. The match was pretty much all Itami this time around, but Lorcan did get a few minor moves in.
  I know that this has nothing to do with anything, but they aired a Great Balls of Fire commercial that had the Strowman/Reigns rivalry playing on the screen, but had the audio promoting the Brock Lesnar/Samoa Joe main event. Not something that you see everyday, just thought it was worth mentioning.
  Anyway, Itami delivered some kicks and knee strikes afterwards. One of the strikes appeared to injured Lorcan’s knee. Despite the referee teasing calling off the match, Lorcan decided that he wanted to continue the fight. This was the exact moment that Itami decided to pick Lorcan up and hit the GTS for the victory.
Winner: Hideo Itami
In the ring, Hideo Itami calls out Kassius Ohno. So Kassius, and his ridiculous but feverishly catchy music, enter the arena. The two of them merely stand there for a while before Nikki Cross, of all people, jumps onto the ring apron.  Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain then attack Itami and Ohno from behind. Wolfe grabs a mic and informs us of they are there to instill chaos. Wolfe refers to Dain as his “undefeated friend”, and he mentions that Eric Young is working on a “master plan” of some sort. He didn’t elaborate any further than that, and the two of them left Nikki in the ring as she waited for Asuka to come out. We later learned that Wolfe and Dain will face Ohno and Itami in a tag team match next week.
Nikki Cross vs. Asuka in a Last Woman Standing Match for the NXT Women’s Championship –
  After Asuka makes her way down to the ring, it doesn’t take very long before the two of them begin to brawl around the ringside area. Nikki Cross lays out Asuka early on, and then pulls out about a dozen or so chairs from underneath the ring, and she leaves them outside in a pile. More on this later. Asuka finds a trashcan underneath the ring, and she brings it back in with her. Once she and Cross were both back in, Asuka placed the trashcan over Nikki’s head and began delivering knee strikes to her. She also did a elbow drop from one of the corner posts, which did leave a great many dents in the trashcan.
  After this, Nikki gets some of her momentum back, and she pretty much managed to keep it for the rest of the match. Cross beat the champion down from this point on, she even managed to score a nine count in the ring. Asuka attempted to powerbomb Cross from the apron and onto the pile of chairs outside, but Nikki reversed it in time to powerbomb Asuka onto the chairs. Then they brawled around the ramp and stage area of Full Sail, Nikki scored two more nine counts on the undefeated champion. Finally, they make it to the announcer area where Nikki sets up a plastic table and slams Asuka’s head down onto it. She then got a ladder and placed it near the table. Nikki began to climb, but then Asuka woke up and began to climb the other side. They brawled from the top of the ladder for a bit as the announcers each suddenly moved out of the way. This is because Asuka got Nikki hooked for a suplex, and she suplexed Cross from the top of the ladder and down onto the announcer’s desk! Holy cow!
  Both women layed on the floor exhausted as the referee began to count. 1… 2… No one is back up yet. 3… 4… 5… 6… Over half way there! Are they going to count out both women? That would technically count as a loss for Asuka, but also not really. Are they going to go through with this? 7… 8… No! No! No! 9… Then suddenly, like she had been pulled out of the ocean just before drowning, Asuka uses all of her might to hop up right before “10!” Your winner, and still undefeated champion, Asuka!
Winner: Asuka
  Asuka was emotional after her match, and she and Nikki both stared and laughed at each other as the show went off the air. Asuka has been being portrayed as more of an arrogant villain lately, so I question why she was given such a hard-fought victory here. But who cares? This was a very excellent show, with some very excellent action, and a supremely excellent main event. However, we’ll have to wait and see if next week’s long-hyped NXT Championship match between Roderick Strong and Bobby Roode will be even better. They have their work cut out for them, but those two are going to try. I can’t wait! I’ll see you NXT time!