NXT TV 1/17/2018

This week on NXT, Johnny Gargano is determined to prove that his time is now in NXT. Number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Champions are determined. Plus, a familiar face is returning to NXT soon! All this and more!

NXT TV
Date: 1/17/2018
From: Atlanta, GA

Last month, Heavy Machinery had a confrontation with Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss in the parking lot when Machinery tried to move a car belonging to them. That apparently has warranted their match tonight.

Opening Contest: Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss vs. Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker): Otis shoves Tino down to the mat when they locked up but Tino comes back with a standing dropkick. Otis runs over Tino with a shoulder block and catches Tino on cross body attempt hitting a power slam. Otis splashes Tino and Tucker hits a slingshot senton from the apron. Tucker swings Tino around the ring from a front face lock position and Riddick tags in. Riddick fights back with right hands on Tucker. Tucker still manages to swing Riddick around the ring from the front face lock position. Heavy Machinery splashes Riddick in the middle of the ring. Otis proceeds to a Worm turned into an elbow splash for a two count. Tino helps Riddick and Moss is able to chop block Otis. Tino works over Otis with right hands on the mat. Otis drives Riddick down to the mat with a back suplex. Tucker gets the hot tag and cleans house with strikes and a dropkick. Tucker splashes Riddick in the corner and hip tosses Tino. Tucker clotheslines Tino over the top but Moss comes from behind and rolls Tucker up with his feet on the ropes to win the match. (*1/2. A rather basic match and it didn’t do much for me. This felt like two lower level tag teams staying busy and just getting some TV time to remind people they existed. I’m figuring these two teams will wrestle more in the coming weeks/months.)

Backstage, Undisputed Era cut a promo. Adam Cole says that Takeover has been about them since they have arrived. Cole promotes his Extreme Rules match with Aleister Black, which doesn’t scare him. He’s going to mangle Black. Kyle O’Reilly chimes in and says everyone wants a shot at their tag titles. This is their era and everyone else is just living in it.

Second Contest: Roderick Strong vs. Fabian Aichner: Well, this appears to be an extended squash match to give Strong some momentum. There’s actually a commercial during the match, which felt out of place. Aichner got a few moments to shine including an impressive powerslam, he managed to hit the move twice. Aichner holds a victory over Johnny Gargano, so he must be semi-accomplish. I’ve rather new to NXT having only started to cover it in 2018. Bare with me. Strong nearly wins the match following a backbreaker. Strong catches Aichner on a springboard attempt to hit another backbreaker. Strong gets the submission with the Strong Hold. (*1/2. Aichner had a seemingly limited arsenal of offense, but it was an effective enhancement match. Strong has always been someone I really enjoy in-ring. I hope he’s a major player in 2018 for NXT.) After the match, Strong cuts a promo saying that he’s looking for a fight. He’s ran through all the competition in NXT “just like him”. He wants to destroy a force. He wants to destroy Lars Sullivan. Well, that should be interesting.

Pre-tape promo by TM 61 joking around is shown. Nick Miller and Shane Thornton will be back on NXT soon and they appear to have some hype behind them. It turns into a video educating fans on their background. They are two opposite people but they work together great. They talked about competing for the GHC Tag Team Championships in Japan and how big of a moment that was because they started off as Young Boys. There will be a part two next week.

Third Contest: Aliyah vs. Lacey Evans: They go just over four minutes or so and Evans wins following a strike in the corner as Aliyah charged the corner. That was a simply finish. After the match, Evans wants to know how William Regal will allow the lowest form of trash to walk around the women’s division. She thinks it is time a proper, powerful woman cleans house. She’ll start with psychos like Nikki Cross, or the confused Ember Moon. Shayna Baszler comes out and scares Evans away. Shayna gets in the ring and decides to choke out Aliyah. NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon comes out and Shayna leaves the ring. Ember grabs a microphone and dares her to try and bully her. Ember wants Shayna to get in the ring and fight her right now. Shayna says she doesn’t have her gear and says she’ll do it when it’s for the title. Ember tells Shayna to name the time and place. She’s going to beat Shayna’s ass. Shayna screams out to bring the title to Philadelphia.

Backstage, William Regal makes the match between Ember and Shayna to take place at Takeover. Zelina Vega comes over and says that Johnny Gargano has no chance to win the NX Heavyweight Championship at Takeover. Vega notes that Velveteen Dream had good points and thinks that Dream deserves the title more. Vega thinks that Gargano should put his title match on the line against Dream. Regal says he would advice Gargano against doing that. Vega thinks Gargano is a sham, a loser. Vega will happily embarrass Gargano at Takeover.

No Way Jose returns to NXT next week.

Johnny Gargano makes his way down to the ring and gets a nice ovation. Gargano says he just saw the conversation that Regal had with Vega backstage. He hears the buzz and knows everyone is talking about him behind his back. Gargano thinks everyone doubts him that he can win the NXT Championship. He is done being being doubted and he isn’t a fluke. Gargano believes this is his time and his opportunity. Nobody is going to stop him. Gargano says he will put his opportunity on the line against Velveteen Dream next week. The fans are heavily behind Gargano. Gargano knows exactly who he is and he’s Johnny Freaking Wrestling. He’s the next NXT Champion. Gargano plays his role incredibly well. I have to think Ciampa returns and cost Gargano the title, right?

Main Event: The Street Profits (Angelo & Montez) vs. Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) in a number one contenders match: AOP double team Montez in the corner early on for a near fall. Rezar continues to work over Montez with strikes. Akam drops Montez with a dangerous looking full nelson slam. There’s a commercial as AOP has kept control of the match.

Akam continues to beat on Montez with forearm strikes though he’s clearly just hitting the canvas. Rezar controls Montez with a front face lock. Montez is able to tag in Angelo and Angelo cleans house with strikes, clotheslines and a dropkick. Angelo has some momentum as Rezar gets splashed in the corner. Montez goes to the top and they hit a missile dropkick/spinebuster combo for a near fall. Akam nails Angelo with a clothesline and it looks to AOP want to end the match. Akam and Rezar connect with the Super Collider. They then also hit the Last Chapter for the relatively easy win. (*1/2. For a number one contenders match this was rather lackluster and one sided, which shouldn’t be a surprise. AOP is a good big man tag team and I’m intrigued to see them battle O’Reilly and Fish in a regular tag match.)

Final Thoughts:
This was a forgettable week so TV for NXT. There wasn’t really a big feature match. The best part of the program was probably Gargano’s promo and I’m for sure looking forward to next weeks match between Gargano and Velveteen Dream. This week for NXT gets a thumbs down since it was mostly just a filler.

Thanks for reading.