NXT
aired: March 1st 2017
taped: February 1st 2017
Full Sail University
Sean Maluta vs. Patrick Clark
NXT advertised “the Patrick Clark Experience” for tonight’s show, and I guess this was it. Clark appears to be doing a new take on an old gimmick. He wears a sparkly headband and occasionally stops wrestling to spread his arms wide in a way not unlike when Bobby Roode says that he’s glorious.
Clark wins clean with a fame-asser on Maluta (who is a member of the Anoa’i family) Winner: Clark
NXT Women’s Championship Asuka (c) vs. Peyton Royce
Royce won the right to challenge for the belt last week when she won a 3-way match with Ember Moon and Liv Morgan. Asuka picked up her 5th televised title defence in her 11 months as champion. Royce tapped out to the Asuka lock. After the match Royce and Billie Kay tried to double team Asuka but Ember Moon came out for the save. Asuka and Moon then stared each other down, making it clear that Moon will be the next to challenge for the title. Winner: Asuka via submission
NXT Tag Team Championship Match the Authors of Pain (c) vs. DIY (Gargano and Ciampa)
It looked as though DIY were going to win back the titles, as they had both members of the Authors of Pain in double crossfades, but the Revival hit the ring causing the disqualification. Wilder and Dawson didn’t just take out DIY however, but also the Authors of Pain. Crowd cheered the Revival. This should be setting up a 3-way tag team match down the line. Winners: DIY via DQ
Posted March 2nd, 2017 in News, NXT. Tagged: Asuka.
– Prior to Tuesday’s SmackDown, American Alpha teamed with Heath Slater and Rhyno to defeat The Ascension, Tyler Breeze and Fandango in a dark match.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will be appearing at more WWE live events leading up to WrestleMania weekend. In addition to the 3/12 house from Madison Square Garden, Asuka is now advertised for the upcoming shows in Charleston (3/13), Johnson City (3/25), Raleigh, NC (3/26), and Norfolk, VA (3/27).
– WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens will be Jonathan Coachman’s guest on tonight’s “Off the Top Rope” segment on ESPN SportsCenter.
– WWE Legend The Honky Tonk Man enjoys a night out in this new video from Hannibal TV. Watch the former WWE Intercontinental Champion hang with fans after a recent indy event in Canada.
Kanako Urai, better known to wrestling fans as Asuka, is scheduled to make her main roster debut next month. WWE returns to Madison Square Garden for a live event on March 12th and the NXT Women’s Champion will be replacing Naomi in an 8-woman tag team match.
Click here to find out who Asuka’s opponent will most likely be at NXT Takeover: Orlando, based on this week’s NXT TV tapings.
Asuka Main Roster Debut
Asuka competing at the upcoming WWE live event from MSG does not mean the 35-year old Japanese star is joining the main roster any time soon.
Asuka signed with WWE in the summer of 2015. After the departures of Bayley, Charlotte, Banks and Lynch, she’s become the focal point of the division. Her NXT title reign has been the longest of any singles title run in the brand’s history.
Updated Card For WWE’s Return To MSG (3/12)
Special Appearances by AJ STYLES and SHANE MCMAHON!
JOHN CENA VS. BRAY WYATT
-WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-
BROCK LESNAR (WITH PAUL HEYMAN) VS. KEVIN OWENS
-SPECIAL ATTRACTION WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-
DEAN AMBROSE VS. BARON CORBIN VS. THE MIZ (WITH MARYSE)
-TRIPLE THREAT MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP-
LUKE HARPER VS. RANDY ORTON
AMERICAN ALPHA VS. THE USO’S
-WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-
APOLLO CREWS VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER
NIKKI BELLA, BECKY LYNCH, TAMINA & ASUKA
VS. ALEXA BLISS, MICKIE JAMES, NATALYA & CARMELLA (WITH JAMES ELLSWORTH)
RHYNO, HEATH SLATER & KALISTO
VS. BREEZANGO & CURT HAWKINS
Posted February 24th, 2017 in News, WWE. Tagged: Asuka.
NXT taped TV episodes for February and early March last night at Full Sail University. Below are full spoilers:
2/8 episode:
– SAnitY’s Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe defeated The Bollywood Boyz. After the match, Eric Young cut a promo on Tye Dillinger while Nikki Cross called Asuka out.
– Liv Morgan beat Billie Kay.
– SAnitY attacks Tye Dillinger backstage after he refuses to join them. They brawl to the ring, and Roderick Strong makes the save for Tye with No Way Jose.
– The Revival beat Heavy Machinery. After the match, Revival challenged The Authors of Pain to a NXT Tag Team Championship match at TakeOver. The AoP come out and Paul Ellering takes the mic but Revival attacks from behind after leaving.
– Bobby Roode has his NXT Championship celebration in the ring. He declares that it’s no longer “#WeAreNXT” but “#MyNXT” as in Bobby Roode’s NXT.
– SAnitY defeated Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose and Roderick Strong.
2/15 episode:
– The Authors of Pain defeated local jobbers.
– Billie Kay and Peyton Royce beat Ember Moon and Liv Morgan.
– DIY is out to address their championship loss at TakeOver last weekend. They start talking about theri rematch when Ellering and The AoP interrupt. The rematch will take place in two weeks. The Revival comes in from the crowd and attacks DIY from behind.
– Tyler Bate beat Trent Seven to retain the WWE United Kingdom Championship.
2/22 episode:
– #1 contenders match: Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan and Ember Moon in a three-way
– Pete Dunne beat Mark Andrews.
– Bobby Roode beat No Way Jose in a non-title match. Roode attacked after the match but Kassius Ohno ran out for the save, leading to Roode granting Ohno a match. Ohno is taking his jacket off when Roode attacks first. Ohno makes the comeback and clears the ring.
3/1 episode:
– Patrick Clark beat Sean Maluta.
– Kassius Ohno comes out and tells Bobby Roode to get to the ring because it’s not over between them. Roode comes from behind and attacks him.
– Asuka retained the NXT Women’s Championship over Peyton Royce. Peyton & Billie double teamed her after the match until Ember Moon made the save and they cleared the ring. Asuka and Ember had a face off.
– The Authors of Pain retained the NXT Tag Team Championships over DIY by DQ after The Revival interfered
Asuka vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross in a Fatal 4 Way for the NXT Women’s Championship is now official for the 1/28 TakeOver: San Antonio event during Royal Rumble weekend.
The updated card looks like this:
– Shinsuke Nakamura defends the NXT Championship against Bobby Roode
– The Authors of Pain try to dethrone NXT Tag Team Champions DIY
– Asuka defends the NXT Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay in a Fatal 4 Way
– Tye Dillinger battles Eric Young with SAnitY at ringside
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode will sign their contract for TakeOver: San Antonio on next Wednesday’s episode.
– Below are backstage videos from this week’s NXT episode with DIY talking about how they will retain the NXT Tag Team Championships over The Authors of Pain at Takeover and NXT Women’s Champion Asuka going on the hunt for Billie Kay and Peyton Royce after an earlier beatdown from Billie, Peyton and Nikki Cross. Asuka told NXT GM William Regal that she wants all three at TakeOver. The match has not been made official as of this writing.
– Akira Tozawa will be coming to WWE 205 Live soon. He previously competed in the Cruiserweight Classic and has made some NXT appearances.
NXT taped the following at Full Sail University tonight, the final tapings before TakeOver: San Antonio during Royal Rumble weekend:
1/11:
* They show video of Billie Kay & Peyton Royce attacking Asuka earlier in the day.
* Billie & Peyton defeated Sarah Bridges and Macey Estrella. After, the called out Asuka. She ran to the ring but got double teamed. Nikki Cross made the save to a big pop and cleared the ring. Cross then dropkicked Asuka and stood over her. Cross left and Asuka flipped out.
* Elias Samson defeated Jonathan Cruz in a quick match.
* Andrade Cien Almas defeated Oney Lorcan. Almas cut a heel promo in Spanish after the match when Dasha Fuentes tried interviewing him.
* DIY retained the NXT Tag Team Championships over The Revival. After, The Authors of Pain came from behind and left DIY laying.
1/18:
* Nikki Cross defeated Kennadi Brink, who was working as the local jobber.
* Roderick Strong defeated Steve Cutler. After, Dasha asked Strong about the recent threat from Andrade Almas. Strong doesn’t care about Almas, he’s only focused on the NXT Championship.
* Tye Dillinger came to the ring and was interrupted by Sanity. Eric Young tried to get Tye to join the group but he refused and they started fighting. Big Damo came from the crowd and destroyed Tye. Young gave Damo the Sanity jacket and he accepted it, then posed with the group.
* Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan.
1/25:
* William Regal brought Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura to the ring for their TakeOver contract signing. It ended with Nakamura mocking Roode’s pose and a face off between the two.
* Aliyah defeated Mandy Rose in what was said to be a sloppy match.
* No Way Jose defeated Kona Reeves. Elias Samson interrupted a post-match interview and the two had words but Jose sent him running with a punch.
* Eric Young defeated Chris Atkins. After, Young cut a promo on Tye Dillinger as they apparently have a match at TakeOver. It ended with Big Damo destroying Atkins.
* TM-61 defeated The Revival in a quick match. The Revival attacks as soon as the match is over. Officials chase The Revival off while Shane Thorne is helped away by trainers.
* Regal and Dasha are in the ring to announce Asuka vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross for the Women’s Championship at TakeOver. They’re all brought to the ring but Asuka runs down and chases Billie & Peyton off. Nikki and Asuka face off until Peyton & Billie attack from behind. Asuka and Cross take them out and go to face off again but security runs in. Security gets taken out as well, then Asuka kicks Cross in the head. Asuka is pulled out by security but Cross jumps off the top rope and lands on them all.
* Shinsuke Nakamura and Tajiri defeated Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode. After, Chris Hero’s music hit for his return. Hero came out in a suit and entered the ring, tapping Nakamura’s title on his shoulder before leaving.
NXT GM William Regal announced at tonight’s Full Sail tapings that Asuka will defend the Women’s Championship against Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross in a Fatal 4 Way at the TakeOver: San Antonio event during Royal Rumble Weekend.
Here is the updated TakeOver line-up:
– Shinsuke Nakamura defends the NXT Championship against Bobby Roode
– Asuka defends the NXT Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross, Billie Kay & Peyton Royce in a Fatal 4 Way
– NXT Tag Team Champions DIY defend against The Authors of Pain
– Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown ranked #3 on Nielsen’s social media TV ratings chart, behind This Is Us and The Voice. SmackDown had 58,000 interactions with 13,000 unique authors on Twitter and 79,000 interactions with 51,000 unique authors on Facebook.
– It’s been announced that NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will face RAW’s Nia Jax at Saturday’s house show in Osaka, Japan. This is the same show that will feature Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT Champion Samoa Joe. They took shots at each other via Twitter today, seen here:
I don't get your cryptic talk @WWEAsuka ! Get ready because this "humongous" woman is ready to beat your thong wearing butt! ?? https://t.co/8EQfKOaAn7
– Retired WWE Superstar Christian turns 43 years old today while Naomi turns 29 while Japanese wrestling legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger turns 52.
– The following matches were taped during Survivor Series weekend for tonight’s NXT on the WWE Network:
NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Tye Dillinger
Women’s Champion Asuka vs. an enhancement talent
No Way Jose vs. Eric Young.
– As noted, Alexa Bliss vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch at Sunday’s TLC PPV will now be a Tables Match after Bliss put Becky through a table on SmackDown last night. This backstage video features Bliss going on about the match, promising to take the championship and humiliate Becky.
Prior to Tuesday’s SmackDown Live tapings from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, WWE taped the following matches for upcoming episodes of NXT television:
– Women’s Champion Asuka squashed a local wrestler and SHIMMER performer Nicole Matthews in a non-title match. (Thanks to @TheStevieMac)
– Eric Young defeated No Way Jose. Sanity destroyed Jose after the match and then Nikki Cross hit a missile dropkick. Not much of a pre-match reaction for Jose but Sanity got a pop.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe defeated Tye Dillinger in a non-title match. Loud “Perfect 10” chants but Joe also got a good reaction.
This is notable in the sense that some of the NXT talent, like new tag team champions Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa, had already gone home after Saturday’s NXT TakeOver: Toronto special. This could mean anything or nothing, but the most likely explanation is that she stayed with the crew to tape a match and/or angle at the NXT taping being held in conjunction with the live SmackDown tonight (Tuesday). NXT is a bit short on shows until the next tapings back in Florida at Full Sail Live, which necessitated adding a taping as part of tonight’s SmackDown taping.
Posted November 22nd, 2016 in News, NXT, WWE. Tagged: Asuka.
While not a surprise in light of the news that WWE is preparing for a women’s tournament a la the Cruiserweight Classic, it looks like the promotion is hiring more Japanese talent to boost the talent level of the division. According to Dave Meltzer in the newest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscribers only), Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo from the Stardom promotion in Japan are coming to WWE. However, Meltzer’s report is unclear as to if they will be in the tournament and then return full-time after (a la Akira Tozawa in the cruiserweight classic) or if they won’t be in the tournament at all.
Stardom is apparently asking them to stay, as along with Mayu Iwatani, they’re two of the top three stars in the promotion. There’s still a lot of time to go if they have’t actually signed, but the idea is that they will come to the United States after Shirai’s 10th anniversary show (March 20th) and Hojo’s “homecoming” show in April. While Stardom is the biggest women’s promotion in Japan, in 2016, that unfortunately doesn’t say much, and losing two of their three top stars would be a huge blow.
Analysis: WWE does have a need for more veteran female workers, both on the main roster and on NXT, so this is a very good move. As good as the current crop of rising female stars in the company is, Asuka, Natalya, and Becky Lynch aren’t enough to help the less experienced wrestlers learn on the road.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura will remain on WWE’s developmental brand for the foreseeable future, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. As we saw with Finn Balor, WWE likes having an established top babyface as the cornerstone of NXT as they continue expanding into new markets with live events.
At 36 years old, you’d hope Nakamura doesn’t spend as much time in NXT as Balor did. He’s almost unanimously regarded as one of the most charismatic and marketable wrestlers on any of WWE’s rosters. Nakamura would obviously be a tremendous acquisition for either RAW or SmackDown, but we might have to wait until 2017 to see which brand hits the jackpot with him.
– Mickie James’s WWE television return aired on this week’s NXT. The former WWE Women’s Champion sent a message to NXT Women’s Champion Asuaka ahead of their match at TakeOver: on 11/19. Mickie says Asuka has beat some challengers but she hasn’t beat her. Mickie warns Asuka that she’s coming for her title and that it will be an international incident at TakeOver.
It will be interesting to see if NXT Women’s Champion Asuka goes full heel on Mickie James at the 11/18 TakeOver: Toronto event as WWE originally wanted to use the match to turn up the Asuka heel heat for her next challenger, Ember Moon.
As we’ve reported, WWE originally wanted Asuka vs. Trish Stratus in Toronto but Trish is now pregnant with her second child. The idea was to use Trish in Toronto to make Asuka into a bigger heel. No word yet if that’s still the plan for Mickie vs. Asuka, which will be for the NXT Women’s Championship.
Regarding Ember challenging Asuka for the title, the plan is to have Ember be a stronger babyface against Asuka instead of the athletic competition feel that Asuka vs. Bayley had.
– Thursday’s NXT house show in Lakeland, FL will see Elias Samson return from the ankle injury he suffered back in the spring. That house show will also see Tian Bin (Bin Wang) make his NXT in-ring debut after making his official debut earlier this month at the main roster show in Shanghai, China.
– Speaking of NXT, the following matches were taped for tonight’s show:
*Ember Moon vs. Mandy Rose
*Lince Dorado vs. Hideo Itami
*Asuka vs. Liv Morgan
*Angelo Dawkins vs. Tye Dillinger
*The Authors of Pain, The Revival and others appear
– As seen on SmackDown last night, Alexa Bliss attacked her No Mercy opponent, SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. This backstage video features Bliss ranting on Becky being such a loser. Bliss attacked Becky to make a point, so that Becky will know and believe that she is the loser that Bliss knows she is.
– As seen as WWE Clash of Champions last night, Roman Reigns captured the United States Championship from Rusev. Reigns talks to Andrea D’Marco in this backstage video from last night and says he’s been in a rut and lost a few title shots but now he’s all about staying healthy, staying blessed and competing every night. No matter where he’s at on the card, Reigns feels he’s always in the main event.
– Referee John Cone addresses the Sheamus vs. Cesaro Clash match ending a No Contest in this backstage video. Cone says he tried to give the match as much leeway as possible but when the doctors say they can’t compete, he has to end the match.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura was stretchered out of Full Sail after the beatdown from Samoa Joe last night.
– Rachael Ellering, daughter of WWE Legend and NXT manager Paul Ellering, is now using the name Rachel Fazio. She lost to Liv Morgan last night. No word yet on if she has signed.
– Speaking of Liv, it looks like she’s coming for NXT Women’s Champion Asuka. Below is video from last night’s post-match promo and a Twitter exchange with Asuka:
– The WWE Cruiserweight Classic quarterfinals continue tonight with Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins and Noam Dar vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
– Tonight’s NXT episode will feature Asuka vs. Danielle Kamela, Ember Moon vs. Leah Vaughn, TM-61 vs. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Steve Cutler.
– John Cena confirmed on Twitter that he will miss the first SmackDown exclusive PPV this Sunday, Backlash. Cena will be working the international tour instead. He tweeted:
IGN has revealed another 24 Superstars for the WWE 2K17 video game, plus the ring entrance for NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, seen above.
The following names were confirmed in the final round of IGN’s roster reveal today: Asuka, Bayley, Big Boss Man, Buddy Murphy, Cactus Jack, Dean Ambrose, Diesel, Dude Love, Dusty Rhodes, Goldust, Jack Swagger, John Cena, Kane, Kevin Owens, Lex Luger, Luke Harper, Mankind, Road Dogg Jesse James, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Undertaker, Vader, Wesley Blake
To check out the full list of announced playable characters, check out IGN’s WWE 2K17 Wiki Guide.
WWE 2K17 hits stores on October 11th. It will be available for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Posted August 30th, 2016 in WWE, News. Tagged: Asuka.
– Takeover: Brooklyn last night saw NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival retain their tag team championships over Gargano & Ciampa. Dash and Dawson react to their win in this backstage video, saying they have beat everyone else, declaring themselves to be the greatest team in the world.
– Violinist Lee England, Jr. made a bunch of new fans at Takeover as he led a special entrance for new NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. This video features England discussing the experience, noting that he met life-time wrestling hero Triple H as well.
– Triple H had props for Bayley and NXT Women’s Champion Asuka after their Takeover match last night. He tweeted the following backstage photos:
– Cody Rhodes said back in his post-WWE statement that he would not be appearing on any podcasts but was just announced for the new “Ric Flair Show” podcast on MLW Radio this week. Cody was asked about this on Twitter and replied with the following explanation:
Avoiding "tell all" podcasts, yes. Not avoiding the chance to chat with Ric about my Father and the future. https://t.co/cjhmqWvVww
– Curtis Axel says he deserves to get the Brock Lesnar match at WWE SummerSlam this year. Axel previously trained with Lesnar and The Rock for their WWE ring returns. He tweeted the following today:
– Below is an “alternate angle” look at the 4th of July food fight from Monday’s RAW, revealing that Breezango started the whole thing:
– WWE posted this video of the reaction NXT Women’s Champion Asuka received at the live event in Tokyo, Japan at Sumo Hall last weekend. She defeated Becky Lynch and Natalya on Friday and Saturday night.
– Naomi will apparently be aligned with The Social Outcasts in WWE Studios’ The Marine 5: Battleground, currently filming in Vancouver. Naomi mentioned on Twitter she would be a villain, indicating she would be in the biker gang with Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas and Heath Slater. The Miz will reprise his role as former Marine Jake Carter while Maryse also has a lead role.
– The next season of Renee Young’s “Unfiltered” show on the WWE Network begins this Thursday at 5pm. The synopsis for the first episode of the second season reads like this:
“5pm Season 2 kicks off as Renee talks childbirth and dancing with Roman Reigns and psycho-analyzes the WWE roster with Dr. Phil.”
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka is featured in the latest Canvas 2 Canvas video from Rob Schamberger, seen below:
Nia Jax won a Triple Threat on tonight’s NXT to become the new #1 contender to Asuka. They will face off for the Women’s Title at NXT “TakeOver: The End” on 6/8 at Full Sail University.
Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was also announced on tonight’s show. The two recently teamed together.
Previously announced for “The End” are Finn Balor vs. NXT Champion Samoa Joe in a steel cage and The Revival vs. NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha.