NXT and ROH Reax - 12/21/16

Read on for my thoughts on last night's NXT and ROH.

-- NXT:
- Billie vs. Daria:
Daria has potential to be someone of note. She stands out from the pack.

I like the pairing of mean girls.

Daria doesn't play around!

This is fun enough.

Not bad at all! Daria didn't look weak in defeat; she had her work cut out for her against two women.

- Billie/Peyton promo:
Rude.

I love this duo. I definitely see them being able to contribute on the main roster at some point. No reason to rush it, though.

- Authors vs. Ortagun/Bowens:
Perfect Christmas present, honestly. I love some destruction.

There's something about big guys saying foreign gibberish and squashing people that just resonates.

That was a shoot ref stoppage. I hope that guy's OK.

- Ellering promo:
No shock, but that was a good promo from the Hall of Famer.

- Asuka/Cross:
Wow. Asuka no-selling the attacks by Peyton and Billie. Not really a fan of that.

Nikki is just straight-up creepy. I love it.

- Four Way promo:
Nice gravitas from Tye. This match means something to him, as it should. I appreciate people wanting him to be called up now, but I think it'd be better for him to stay in NXT and continue to grow his game. Why just be valuable when he can be invaluable?

I love heel Almas. He's really kicked into a new gear.

If I hadn't already seen Strong's "workrate," I wouldn't have liked that promo. It only means so much without knowing this guy can back it up as a former ROH World Champion.

Roode's another former World Champion going for the NXT Title. Pretty cool.

Roode just throwing shade at everyone here. I wasn't crazy about Roode asking who Roderick Strong was, since Strong's a pretty impressive prospect with name value. I get it's a heel move, but it did more to hurt Roderick than anything. Like all his work elsewhere didn't matter.

- Roode vs. Strong vs. Almas vs. Tye:
-- Fall One:
Ahhhh cocky Almas is the man.

Nice start.

It was clearly just a matter of Cien getting comfortable in the ring.

This is a solid combination of workers.

I loved Roode striking like a master strategist.

This is flowing pretty well.

Strong's a good athlete! He could be a solid tag guy if they don't push him on his own.

The Tower of Doom is pretty overutilized, but it made sense here because it took out as many opponents as possible instead of opponents as well as allies.

Dillinger's a good catch-as-catch-can guy, trying to get a win any way he can.

-- Fall Two:
Good back-and-forth between Dillinger and Strong.

-- Fall Three:
I like the psychology here.
 
This is solid. Tye will be fine even in defeat.

Good work from everyone involved!

Oh man, I can't wait for Nakamura vs. Roode. Both guys could be main roster bound in 2017, so enjoy them while they're here.

-- ROH: 
- O'Reilly/Cole/Castle/Fish:
"Golly gee ROH is great and I'm great, too!"

Ha. O'Reilly shouting out three people working for WWE.

Cole has a point about the match type changing. He's a solid heel.

I'm glad Dalton came out to make this segment something different.

Thank you Dalton for making ROH entertaining.

I like everyone wanting a shot at the title.

Fish vs. O'Reilly would be big, especially if either or both are about to head to NJPW.

Kyle's definitely a fighting champion.

- Daniels/M. Briscoe promo:
That was pretty good. I like both men getting to speak about how much this tournament means.

- M. Briscoe vs. Daniels:Daniels is at least having fun with all this.

Good work early.

Two veterans who know each other's games at work here.

Nice stuff so far.

Daniels' agility at his age always blows me away.

This is good!

Solid match. I'm curious to see what this all leads to at the PPV.

- Kenny/Lio/Caprice:
I wish The Rebellion got to go further with this. They could be a bigger deal and get more heat.

Kenny's not the only one who doesn't know who Lio is.

OOOOOOOHHHH Caprice burying Lio.

Caprice spitting straight FIRE on this dude.

- Caprice vs. Lio:
Well that was OK, I guess. I assume they're not sure if Rush is sticking around.

- Post-match:
Go home and be a family man!

- Superkliq vs. reDRagon/Castle:
I liked things spilling out early.

O'Reilly can kick some ass. That's for sure.

Damn. They're trying to kill the babyfaces! That's intense!

The Bucks are growing on me. I can't lie.

DAMN. Even the Boys are getting wrecked on this show.

Kyle's a force of nature. Keep your eyes on him.

SUPLEX PARTY!!

This is wild!

The Bucks are pure energy. It's insane.

GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY what a counter to the 450 splash.

That was a really good ending sequence. Well done.

More wrestling coming up.