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Hello NXT fans and welcome to this week’s review! After meeting new faces last week, Asuka is back and she responds to Bayley‘s request for a rematch for the women’s championship, taking out her aggression on another up and coming competitor. Bayley contests that she’s different now and she’ll do what it takes to win back her title.
Let’s watch how this plays out:
Charly Caruso interviews Bayley backstage about her last match with Asuka. Bayley says she’s not the same person she was anymore when that match happened, she’s been pushed around and it’s time to adapt. She says she’s ready to take the title back. Asuka walks into the frame, she simply says, “you think you’re ready? come watch” and invites her to watch her upcoming bout.
We get ready for action as Bayley comes to the commentary booth. She tells Corey Graves and Tom Phillips that she’s different now and they’ll have to wait and see what she means at TakeOver.
Aliyah is set to take on Asuka tonight and she makes her entrance, followed by Asuka who takes a chair and sets it up by the ring for Bayley. Bayley comes over and throws the chair out of the way. She watches the match from ringside.
Aliyah and Asuka tie up. Asuka kicks her but Aliyah fearlessly begins fighting back. She gets planted with a hip attack from Asuka while The Empress of Tomorrow stares Bayley down at ringside.
Asuka continues her assault on Aliyah, kicking and striking her. She tangles up Aliyah in the ropes with an octopus hold type manevour before dropping her. Aliyah eats a boot to the face. However, she keeps on fighting through, she climbs up to the top rope for a missle dropkick or diving cross body attempt but falls down mid air from a kick to the mid section.
Asuka pins her but before the count of three drags Aliyah to her feet. She continues to blast her with hits finally catching her in the Asuka lock for the win. However she doesn’t let go after the match is over, continuing to choke out Aliyah.
Bayley charges in to make the save while Asuka hovers over them, shoving the belt in Bayley’s face.
We are then taken to a hype video for Ember Moon. She’s finally coming and it’s so exciting!
Towards the end of the show it’s announced that a contract singing will be held next week for the Bayley/Asuka rematch.
We put pen to paper NEXT WEEK for Women's Champ @WWEAsuka vs. @ItsBayleyWWE for #NXTTakeOver: Brooklyn II! WWENXT pic.twitter.com/n637weWEW6
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 4, 2016
Thoughts: Asuka is finally back! YAY! Last week I said I wasn’t fond of ghost champions, so I definitely want to see more of this from her. She has plowed through a lot of the talent but that’s no excuse not to have her around. She’s cunning and effective. I enjoyed her brief promo with Bayley and it looks like she’s slowly getting more comfortable with the mic. I know there’s a language barrier but I have faith in her that she’ll get through it. Her strengths lie in wrestling and conveying much of her emotions through body language, which is why I originally suggested a mouth piece/manager, but little by little I can see her excelling in the other areas WWE prides itself on.
Though we didn’t see much offense from Aliyah the future is so bright for her. She sold all of Asuka’s offense incredibly well. I cringed at seeing her drop mid air from that kick, it looked so impactful. I want to see more of her too. There’s definitely a story and character to be had with what she offers. Aliyah has a different look and brings more diversity to the table, I’m excited to see where she goes from here.
Ember Moon is also on her way! I’m also very, very hyped for her debut. I haven’t seen her indy work but I have heard GREAT things about her. She should make an immediate impact when she arrives and I can not wait to see it. I’m also very happy they are continuing to promote the women this way. I hope they do more of this to further build up the division. Once Ember debuts, it’s on!
Finally onto Bayley, I’m eager to see what she means by, “I’m different now.” I have a feeling she’s going to be more aggressive than we’ve ever seen her, I even joked that it’d be a bit funny if she goes heel, which I don’t think will happen but would surprise the hell out of me. It’ll be intriguing to see what she’s going to do at TakeOver. How far will she go to beat Asuka? What moves does she have up her sleeve? TakeOver is quickly approaching and it could be one of the best ones yet!
What did you think of last night’s NXT? Did you enjoy the match? What do you think Bayley is planning? Sound off in the comments below.
