[NXT SPOILERS] For May 18, 2016

[RIPPA]

Per WON

Quote

5/18/16 -

NXT Women's Champion Asuka beat Adrien Reese

Dueling chants as both are fan favorites to the Florida NXT fans, Asuka has some who have turned on her after dethroning Bayley so there was a light mixed reaction. Not too much but noticable. Excellent work by these two, Reese is an incredible athlete and Asuka thrives on facing great talents. Reese went for a move off the top rope but Asuka caught her arm and transitioned it in to the Asuka Lock for the win.

Dasha Fuentes told us that Blake and Murphy would be facing Austin Aries and a partner of his choosing next, I'd expect this to be built up with backstage promos.

Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura beat Blake and Murphy w/ Alexa Bliss

As expected, another huge superstar reaction for Nakamura. When he wrestles, everything seems like a blur because the crowd is so in to him. Aries did a lot of work with Blake and Murphy before Shinsuke got the tag and set up for the Kinshasa. Aries however had his hand out for the tag which Shinsuke did not give before hitting the move and scoring the pin. The referee raised Aries and Nakamura's hands the victor yet Aries was still subtly talking to Nakamura as if he wanted that tag.

Carmella beat Peyton Royce

Carmella introduced herself as only she can and now she allows the crowd to finish her promo for her by raising the mic as everyone else says "Hottest Chick In The Ring" how you doin? Nice touch as she's quite over. This is Peyton's first singles match under her new Poison Ivy type persona, holding a flower, maneuvering herself through the ropes, very fluid motions. At one point Peyton hit two vertical suplexes and a third with a bridge for a near fall, Carmella then fired up for her comeback which is now a superkick, bronco buster, face first drop and her leglock submission for the win.

Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano beat Danny Birch and Rob Rizin

Showcase match for Ciampa and Gargano, yet some very fun strong exchanges by Danny Birch who goes by Martin Stone on the indie scene these days, laying in strikes with the always ferocious Tommaso Ciampa. Finish was Gargano and Ciampa hitting double superkicks on Rizin who was on his knees in the center of the ring.

Nia Jax beat Bayley

This match went about fifteen minutes, Nia was destroying Bayley at every turn. We had enough hope spots to keep us believing that Bayley could get this win like she did in London yet that was not the case. Jax would stomp on the arm of Bayley, then Bayley would try to lock in the submission that beat Nia once before, Nia would then slam her down again, Bayley mustered up the strength to make it to the top yet it was Nia's evening. Towards the end of the match, Nia stomped on Bayley's leg and after making it to her feet and fighting back some, Bayley then in the corner buckled her leg and collapsed for a moment before Jax was able to set her in the center of the ring, drop a big leg on the back of Bayley's head, roll her over and score the convincing win. Post match the referee and two men in black shirts checked on Bayley, after a while they helped her to the back with her keeping all weight off her leg.

NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha beat The Revival

This was a non title match yet Revival needed this one if they had any hope of getting the titles back. Excellent work as you'd expect, yet the crowd was clearly drained by Bayley losing and being helped to the back just prior to this match. Great wrestling by four of the best tag team workers we have seen in NXT, with a new finish for the team Alpha locked in stereo Ankle Locks for the double tap out submission on both men. This was a definitive victory by American Alpha who now await their next challengers.

Per PWI

Quote

Week 3

- Asuka def. Adrienne Reese  (possible dark match)

- Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura def. Blake and Murphy (w/Alexa Bliss)

Post match: Alexa Bliss looks disgusted and walks out on the team. Blake follows suit and leaves on his own.

- Carmella def. Peyton Royce 

- Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa def. Rob Ryzin and Danny Burch 

- Nia Jax def. Bayley (see notes)

- American Alpha def. The Revival (likely dark match)

Notes

- The end of the Nia Jax/Bayley match when Bayley landed on her feet to avoid a suplex. She grabbed at her leg. Nia did work the leg once and used the distraction to get a pin with the leg drop. Bayley was helped to the back. It's not certain if this is a real injury or just a work.

- Peyton Royce got a full entrance and tron.

- Carmella no longer uses the term "diva" in her intro. She now says "the most fabulous chick in NXT"

 

[NikoBaltimore]

Going by spoilers this is going to be one helluva redemption story for Bayley.  And it might make Nia more hated/feared in the process because she can claim she injured Bayley's leg.  I'm already looking forward to this episode, too bad I'll have to wait two weeks to see how it plays out.

[mattdangerously]

Nia needs an "I broke Bayley's leg" shirt to wear around Full Sail.

[SirSmUgly]

I don't read spoilers, but I just knew Nia was going to win. It still hurt me, though. To the core. That's easily the best Nia has looked. Bayley is weird in that I don't think she's the best athlete or striker or really the best at anything else (though I do love her selling, even when she drops it a bit like she did with the arm), but every match she's in ends up being really compelling in some way. It can't all be just that she's really good at embodying her character. She really is the female John Cena in the sense that you can pick apart their shortcomings, but they rise above (ha!) those shortcomings in-ring and almost always put out something compelling and interesting. 

[EVA]

I think she's more like Punk: obviously not a natural athlete, but gets everything else about the business so thoroughly, it doesn't matter.

[RandomAct]

DAMN I loved everything about Nia vs Bayley.  Smoked the London match with ease.  Awesome, awesome finish.  Great selling, wonderful psychology.  Early NXT motyc.

[nofuture]

Loved that Nia was finally throwing a little more snap into her power moves.  She even broke out a Rainmaker.  I'm assuming we're going to get Nia/Asuka at the next Takeover.  And was it me or did they tease Aries turning on Nakamura after he didn't get tagged in.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

I'm a little bummed about the finish.  If you're gonna do an injury angle, why don't you really do it?  Nia should have laid her out KO/Zayn style.  That one faceplant that Nia gave Bayley almost looks like it could actually be a finisher.

[Eivion]

Loved Nia/Bayley. Aside from her corner shoulder tackles, everything Nia did looked good and felt like it had some oomph to it. Hopefully she brings that and more in the match against Asuka.

[JonnyLaw]

I'm watching Jax-Bayley now, but I popped in to say I hope Danny Burch is in the Cruiserweight Classic.

[Jrag]

Aries is definitely going heel soon. The smirk when they won after not getting the tag was a nice touch. Nak/Aries will be awesome if they go that route.  They should put Alexa with Aries!

[Greggulator]

Rob Ryzin is my new favorite wrestler. Ridiculous name, gaudy tights and a truly spectacular haircut. 

[JCM]

I liked both women's matches this week. They need to pull the trigger on Peyton beating someone of note or attacking someone after a loss to start a feud. She's been a jobber with nothing going on long enough. Nia had some moments where she looked tentative, but this was probably her best performance. Bayley took some nasty looking bumps this match. Gargano is the least convincing wrestler I've seen. Skinny noodle arm guy without much athletic ability and shitty looking offense. Murphy took a bump off one of Nak's kicks that made it look so great. I hope they do something with him because he always makes his opponents look great, and he throws a pretty swank lariat.

I wonder if Rob is related to Terra?

[sydneybrown]

56 minutes ago, Jrag said:

Aries is definitely going heel soon. The smirk when they won after not getting the tag was a nice touch. Nak/Aries will be awesome if they go that route.  They should put Alexa with Aries!

I would absolutely love if that's the direction it goes.  Aries thinks he's as good as Nakamura, Nakamura beats him, Aries turns heel, Nakamura keeps beating him until finally Aries beats Nakamura to give him his first loss and the NXT crowd goes NUCLEAR.

It would figure once I finally realize which one was Blake and which was Murphy that they break up.

[Wyld Samurai]

Once Nia "clicks" with her offense she's going to be a lot of fun. 

I wanted to see a brainbuster out of that countered guillotine. 

[Go2Sleep]

Nia definitely worked a lot stiffer in some spots, which is probably the easiest thing she can do to look a lot better. She's the biggest woman in the division, so her offense needs to look like it hurts, plus weak shit won't fly against Asuka. I feel like the Nia/Bayley match was a few minutes too long. There were some good stretches, but also some parts where Nia didn't know where to go with the filler. Nia's still a little ways off, but I like that you can see noticeable improvements from 3 months ago.

Aries was great in his match as well. He told the whole story with his face, and his subtle frustration contrasted nicely with Nakamura's eccentric aloofness.

[DreamBroken]

Finally, what London should've been. I hated that match and thought the finish was so counterproductive that it killed Nia off ever since. This was a vast improvement finally rebuilding Nia and not blowing off her finisher this time. I dig that leg drop as a death move.

Awesome video package for Asuka. Music video hype is always the best and should be used more often.

I like Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce a lot while still hoping they start doing something with Billie Kay who is a great talent. Peyton has looked very good in her limited opportunities, wish she would've won her match here.

[Cyanide]

6 hours ago, JCM said:

I wonder if Rob is related to Terra?

"He's only there anyway because his dad runs the company..."

[Ramsey]

Nice to see the love for Nia/Bayley. I agree that this is the best Nia has looked so far. I've been waiting for Bayley to put her over for awhile now as I get the feeling she's on her way out ("up") to the main roster soon. I really want to see Nia work a stiff, snug brawl with Asuka.

Aries vs. Joe in Spokane was king sized. The TNA stink seems to be finally washing off. If we're about to get Austin vs. Nakamura, I'm a very happy camper.

[Patrick B.]

Aries with Alexa would be great, but Thea Trinidad is right there.

[Brysynner]

1 hour ago, Patrick B. said:

Aries with Alexa would be great, but Thea Trinidad is right there.

Why not both?

[Patrick B.]

Valid point, sir.  I would have no problem with this scenario.

[NikoBaltimore]

It was neat seeing Aries with a sense of frustration on his face.  Between what happened there and Alexa leaving Blake/Murphy I can see them pairing up.  Seeds were planted last week where Aries wanted Alexa and she kind of gave a half smile to him.  I can see them being effective in their feud with Nakamura.  I was happy to see Peyton but she should be one of the last people I'd have her lose to Carmella.  More Peyton, please.  That was a tremendous Asuka video.  I like the song and it worked really well to present Asuka as this frenetic ass-kicking machine.  Nia/Bayley was very well-done and effective, but I thought to drive the injury home they should have shown Nia do more damage to the leg/arm post-match.   That and a stretcher deal would have been a neat way to drive forward the "Fall of Bayley" story they have before she makes an epic comeback.

[Jamal]

11 hours ago, DreamBroken said:

 

I like Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce a lot while still hoping they start doing something with Billie Kay who is a great talent. Peyton has looked very good in her limited opportunities, wish she would've won her match here.

Peyton did look good last night. Would love to see them finally do something of note with her and Billie.

I echo everyone else's statements. This was indeed the best that Nia has looked. Really decisive win. The only thing that would have made it sweeter is either a submission win for Nia or a post-match beatdown by Eva Marie to really make the crowd's heads explode lol 

[Cyanide]

Probably a silly little comp, but my first thought with Nia Jax/Bayley was a mini-version of the first Morishima/Danielson match (sans the legitimate injury).  Basically a superior fan favorite wrestler who suddenly finds themself on the wrong side of a monster on a given night, and at a certain point things become less about trying to rally and pull out the win and more about just fucking surviving.  Good stuff with Nia looking like a total terror, and Bayley selling the left arm and eventually knee while teasing comebacks like a champ.