WWE NXT results: Roderick Strong makes his debut

The Big News: Shinsuke Nakamura cut his first promo since his injury at the hands of Samoa Joe, confirming the match with Joe at NXT TakeOver: Toronto

The Medium News: Roderick Strong debuted, teaming with former ROH partner Austin Aries in the Dusty Classic.

The Little Beaver-sized News: Rich Swann & No Way Jose advanced in the Dusty Classic as well, defeating Tony Nese and Drew Gulak

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Rich Swann & No Way Jose defeated Tony Nese & Drew Gulak in a Dusty Classic tournament match

We got a Raw cruiserweight division tag match right here on NXT in the Dusty Classic. No Way Jose and Rich Swann looked good here, with the fans really into the two of them.

The heels got the heat when both Tony Nese and Drew Gulak tried to attack Swann outside the ring and were successful in taking over with a superkick to the jaw. Jose got the hot tag, and the highlight of his offense was throwing Gulak up into the air and punching him in the face before pinning him with the full nelson slam.

They will now face the Authors of Pain in the second round.

After the match, Swann and Jose cut a promo using the others’ catchphrases and asking the Authors of Pain if they can handle this.

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They announced Hideo Itami’s injury, keeping him from teaming with Kota Ibushi in the Dusty Classic.

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We went back to last week where SAnitY debuted and destroyed Tye Dillinger after Bobby Roode walked out on his teammate. Earlier today, Dillinger was mad because Roode is not a man of his word. He’ll face Roode at NXT TakeOver: Toronto.

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Austin Aries was backstage eating a banana when he was asked who his partner is for the Dusty Classic. He wouldn’t reveal the answer and started ripping on Hideo Itami for his neck injury, which made him laugh because Itami called him a coward. Aries said there is only one man he can trust to be his partner tonight.

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Bobby Roode defeated Sean Maluta

Roode has a brand new robe, complete with a cape that reads “Glorious.” He has worn Terry Taylor’s old robe for a decade and it’s so weird to see him wearing something else. Corey Graves claimed that due to Roode there are now three people in the crowd wearing slacks, which proves that they are getting higher class fans.

Despite being the babyface, the fans weren’t too thrilled with Maluta getting in offense. Roode picked up a quick win with the Implant DDT.

Roode did a promo afterwards saying in five weeks he will take over Toronto when he beats the whining, complaining Tye Dillinger. He doesn’t understand why Dillinger is complaining because he begged Roode to be his partner and Roode did it out of the goodness of his heart. Roode tried to bring Dillinger to his level, but he wasn’t able to reach it.

Dillinger ran in for the attack, but got beaten down by Roode. Dillinger fought off Roode and got in several shots before clotheslining Roode to the outside. Roode backed away in anger.

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Liv Morgan cut a promo about her ongoing feud with Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. Before she could say much, she got attacked by Royce and Kay. The women dragged her from the interview area and out into the arena area and beat her some more.

Royce and Kay mocked her and then put the women of NXT on notice, including Asuka, saying this division belongs to them.

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Austin Aries & Roderick Strong defeated Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic in a Dusty Classic tournament match

Otis got a name change, as he was formerly listed as Niko Bogojevic. Roderick Strong got a good reaction for his debut, but it wasn’t the overwhelming reaction that some people have gotten. Tom Phillips listed a bunch of people Strong has faced who are now in WWE, which just reminds you how many people from ROH are now in WWE.

Knight and Dozovic both looked really good in this match and look much better than the Authors of Pain. They would actually make a better “Authors of Pain” than the team we got. Dozovic went for a Vader Bomb, but Aries held his ankle, so Strong kicked him hard in the leg.

Tucker Knight got the hot tag and sent both Aries and Strong flying around before being cut off. Finally, Strong pinned Knight with the gut check and a running boot to the face.

Aries and Strong will now face TM61 in the next round.

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Andrade “Cien” Almas cut a promo earlier today in Spanish, which was translated by Andrea D’Marco. He was mad that he had to remove his mask and didn’t get any respect here in NXT. He had worked his entire life to earn this respect and is upset that no one gave him any. He said he no longer cares about respect, he only cares about Andrade “Cien” Almas.

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Danielle Kamela defeated Nikki Cross w/ SAnitY by reverse decision disqualification

This was Nikki Cross’ re-debut and she brought all of SAnitY out with her. Kamela didn’t fair any better against SAnitY than Tye Dillinger did last week. Cross bit herself and clawed at her own face before pinning Kamela quickly with a spinning fisherman buster.

After the match, Cross kept beating up Kamela. Eric Young pulled her off, so Cross punched him in the face and continued to attack Kamela. Sawyer Fulton dragged her off and the referee actually reversed his decision. She laughed about it, but Young got pissed and nearly went after the referee.

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Dusty Classic matches for next week:

Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. HoHo Lun & Bin Wang
Kota Ibushi & TJ Perkins (replacing Hideo Itami) vs. Lince Dorado & Mustafa Ali

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We end the show with the official return of the NXT Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura said he is not done with Samoa Joe. He told Joe to come to NXT TakeOver: Toronto and try to take the title. He dared Joe to use his cheap, dirty tricks and he will still beat him using no mercy.

Out came Patrick Clark, of all people. Everyone, including Nakamura, rolled their eyes. Clark said that TakeOver was the first Joe vs. Nakamura match. He then said he made a mistake, saying we had already seen that match so tonight we should see Nakamura vs. Clark.

Clark got in the ring and Nakamura knocked him out with two kicks. Samoa Joe tried sneaking out, but when Nakamura caught him, Joe just smiled and walked away. Clark got to his knees and Nakamura laid him out with the Kinshasa.

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That does it for this week’s show. I wanted to make note that today is my six-year anniversary of reviewing NXT for F4WOnline. With only a few exceptions, I have reviewed every single show since, which is more than 300 episodes. Needless to say this show has evolved since the days of almost literally no one else watching it. Thank you all for reading the last 312 weeks, and thank you for reading the next 312.

Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!