Nakamura dethrones Joe at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II
Shinsuke Nakamura conquers Samoa Joe to win his first NXT Championship. Photo by WWE.com
The King of Strong Style is now the king of NXT.
Shinsuke Nakamura completed his mercurial rise in the developmental ranks and pinned Samoa Joe to snare the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II Saturday (Sunday Manila time) at Barclays Center.
The Japanese hard hitter needed two Kinshasas to put away the dangerous Samoan.
He first caught Joe off guard after breaking out of a Muscle Buster and hitting the knee strike, but the defending champion was still able to kick out at two. Nakamura, though, didn’t let him recover after that, nailing him with a knee to the back that set up the second Kinshasa to win the belt.
It truly was a sensational five months for Nakamura in NXT, from his debut in Dallas back in April during WrestleMania weekend to SummerSlam weekend, where he now holds the show’s biggest prize.
After a stellar career in Japan, Nakamura has beaten almost all of NXT’s top guys, from former champions Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, and now, Joe.
Meanwhile, Asuka retained her NXT Women’s Championship after hitting Bayley with a thunderous kick to the side of the head.
The Revival also escaped with their NXT Tag Team titles, outsmarting the team of Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa to keep the belt.
The challengers almost won the title after nailing Dash Wilder with a kick-and-knee combo, but Scott Dawson put his partner’s foot at the bottom rope as the referee made the three-count. The Revival, then, took advantage, taking out Ciampa before Wilder made Gargano tap out to a reverse figure four.
Bobby Roode also made his debut, pinning Andrade “Cien” Almas with a Glorious Bomb for the pinfall win.
Ember Moon also beat Billie Kay in her debut, finishing the match with a flying stunner off the top rope for the victory.
Austin Aries opened the night with a huge victory over No Way Jose, submitting him with Last Chancery.
After the match, Aries attacked Jose until Hideo Itami made the save and knocked the former out with the GTS.
