NXT Recap: April 5, 2017

If five straight nights of original WWE content wasn’t enough for you, you’re in luck, as this week’s NXT was the sixth night, which featured hour 20 of the mega-marathon. It’s been quite the ride, from Kurt Angle’s great Hall of Fame speech, to the WWE return of the Hardy Boyz, all the way to the surprise NXT call-ups on RAW (The Revival) and SmackDown Live (Tye Dillinger and Shinsuke Nakamura). Thankfully, if you made it through those grueling 19 hours over a five-day span, and still have an appetite for more wrasslin’, this week’s NXT was an easy watch to put the cherry on top of an unforgettable WrestleMania weekend that will be hard to beat next year.

Royce Gets Her Groove Back

The NXT Women’s Division had a great showing at Takeover, including Ruby Riot’s television in-ring debut where she exchanged fists with Nikki Cross in their massive Mixed Tag Team Match, while Ember Moon battled Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship. I wouldn’t say the division is as strong as it’s ever been, but it looks to be in good hands until at least the next batch of call ups to the main roster. This week’s NXT featured matches that were taped before the live broadcast of Takeover, featuring matches that weren’t on the live broadcast of Takeover, but prerecorded before the event went live on the WWE Network.

Aliyah took on Peyton Royce, who was accompanied by her best friend/valet/fellow Aussie, Billie Kay. Royce made quick work of Aliyah, showing that she may officially be the second-best woman in the division, which would put her in line for another chance at the NXT Women’s Championship. Aliyah showed some flashes of potential, but she has a long way to go to move up the rankings. Don’t forget that Liv Morgan is still ahead of her, despite not being on the card.

While Royce could be in line to be the Number One Contender, let’s not forget about Nikki Cross, who put on another brilliant display of savagery on Saturday night. When you parlay that with her previous appearance at Takeover: San Antonio, you realize that Cross thrives under the spotlight, and has a gimmick unlike any I can ever remember. Cross needs to be injected into the championship picture, and if the road goes through Peyton Royce, then I feel sorry for her.

Next Great Tag Teams

The Authors of Pain have established themselves as undisputed top guys in the Tag Team Division, even though you could say they still owe #DIY a traditional rematch, without the likes of a third team playing the wildcard. As fun of a gimmick as the Bollywood Boyz are, that’s about the extent of their potential. This may not be a hot take, but I don’t see them getting called up to the main roster anytime soon, barring an actually Cruiserweight Tag Team Division on 205 Live. That’s more of a likely scenario than them ever even sniffing the NXT Tag Team Championships.

On the other hand, The Bollywood Boyz opponents this week, Heavy Machinery, are the real deal. Not only do they make awesome sounds while they defy physics with their size, they also have an incredible finishing move that needs both of them to perform, which is the key to any legitimate tag team. Whether it’s the Dudley’s 3-D, Enzo & Cass’ Bada Boom Shakalaka, or even the never-ever-would-be-allowed-today Con-Chair-To, as made famous by Edge & Christian, most memorable tag teams need both members to be a part of their finishing move. Heavy Machinery has the foundation to bulldoze the competition (pun absolutely intended), and I can’t wait to watch.

Exclusive Footage

In between matches, we got to see some unaired footage from Takeover, including a post match interview by Paul Ellering, different angles and backstage stuff from Roode’s defeat of Nakamura, and news of Drew McIntyre’s recent signing to NXT. McIntyre will make his NXT debut next week after sitting ringside for the NXT Championship Match, which reminded me of the same scenario from Takeover: Dallas, just one year ago, when Bobby Roode sat in that very same spot during that event’s NXT Championship Match featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor. Now, here Roode was, in the main event of Takeover. Will McIntyre create the same path for himself? With Nakamura onto greener (or, bluer) pastures, there is now a huge hole for McIntyre to fill. It’ll be interesting to see who he has to go through to get to that spot. My guess is Kassius Ohno, despite him being on the losing end of his Mixed Tag Team Match.

DRIFT BACK, YOUNG ELIAS

Last week, on the go-home episode of NXT before Takeover, the final image we saw was a distraught Elias Samson getting thrown out of the UCF Arena after his Loser Leaves Town match against Kassius Ohno. (Samson’s face wasn’t the only distraught one I saw that night, as I looked in the mirror after the episode, and contemplated life without the rock god himself.)

Well, just one week later, Oney Lorcen was set to face an unknown opponent in the last match of the evening. In the world of professional wrestling, an unknown opponent usually means some shenanigans are about to ensue. Ensue they did. With Lorcen waiting in the ring, the music hit for a superstar named El Vagabundo. Okay, it’s a little strange to imagine someone making their debut during the preshow of Takeover (all these matches were filmed before Takeover went live on Saturday), but stranger things have happened in WWE (like, for instance, the Gobbledy Gooker).

Well, wouldn’t you know that this masked vagabond came out with a familiar object, a beautiful acoustic guitar. In fact, it was so beautiful, it could only have belonged to one man, but that man was fired from NXT just last week, so that’d be impossible… right?

WRONG!!!!!!

Midway through the match, El Vagabundo’s mask was ripped off by Lorcen to reveal the face of The Drifter himself, Elias Samson. Who knew that all it took was a Luchador mask for everyone to enjoy the presence of this man. (Well, not everyone, as I am on record saying he’s the most underrated NXT talent we have ever seen.) The show ended the same as last week’s did, with Samson losing the match, followed by him being dragged from the ring by security. Triple H, if you read this, please keep Elias Samson on NXT. Not only is he what’s best for business, it’s best for the order of the world.