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We are one week away from NXT TakeOver: The End… and after last week, things are definitely heating up as we approach our first big event of the summer and first overwhelming challenge to Asuka‘s reign!
Headlining the show this week is a contract signing between The Empress of Tomorrow and her dominating opponent, Nia Jax. Let’s watch how it unfolds below.
NXT General Manager William Regal attempts to interview Asuka about her impressive rise through the NXT women’s division and her win over Bayley in Dallas, but he’s interrupted by Nia who questions why everyone is so scared of Asuka, she’s only “kicked some girls in the head.” Nia says though Asuka may have beaten Bayley, Nia is the one who broke the “heart and soul of NXT” and she isn’t scared of Asuka.
Asuka responds to Nia, telling her she talks too much. She then goes off on her in Japanese before reverting back to English to tell her that she should be scared. She steps up to Nia, trying to intimidate her, but Nia pushes her back. Asuka doesn’t take it too lightly and starts striking Nia several times before Nia catches her and plants her with a powerbomb!
In a WWE.com exclusive video we see two refs help Asuka recover after Nia’s brutal power bomb.
Thoughts: Although we’ve been subjected to short matches and segments on the main roster lately, this brief contract signing works here. It serves to focus on both ladies’ strengths and cover some of their weaknesses, specifically Asuka’s limited ability to cut promos. She is a mysterious and deadly woman, so her not cutting as many promos as we are used to in our champions isn’t a complete strike against her.
What I’d like to eventually see is the introduction of a mouthpiece for Asuka while she works on her promo skills and overcoming the language barrier. A Paul Heyman-esque like speaker would do wonders to convey the importance the title holds to Asuka and could serve stern warnings to her fellow competitors before upcoming matches. She doesn’t necessarily need a manager, just someone who can further hype how special she is.
Now, I must mark out for a moment, YES NIA, USE THOSE POWER MOVES! I’m a big supporter of power bombs since they are used so rarely these days and it’s even rarer to see a female bust one out on the regular. This is the perfect move for Nia to assert her power and unpredictability.
We’ve seen her time and again rely on the same moves to put away her opponents. This upcoming match could be Nia’s coming out party to adding more devastating moves to her arsenal.
This is really the first time Asuka seems rattled by a competitor and this should make for an intriguing bout. How will Asuka overcome Nia’s strength? We’ll find out next Wednesday during NXT TakeOver: The End…!
Are you excited for this match up? Who do you think will win? Sound off in the comments below.
