By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post. 

(Aired 3/1/17) 

Staking The Claim 

– The opening video hyped a “Championship Lite” night as NXT Women’s Champion Asuka would defend against Peyton Royce and NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors Of Pain would defend against #DIY in the main event. Good stuff.

– Out came Patrick Clark, who looked like he stole the puffy shirt from Seinfeld. His opponent was Sean Maluta. We’ll take this as a glorified squash for Clark. The puffy one did some flamboyant shoving? We wish they’d incorporate win-loss records a little more on commentary to make these matches go over realistically. Clark got the win with an okay-looking Fameasser. A little glimpse into who Clark is, but not much. We’re also concerned about his flamboyancy being a reason to boo him in 2017. So he’s different. So what?

– SAnitY spoke near a burning garbage can in a dark, undisclosed location. Eric Young referred to “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger as a disease that he volunteered to end, one-on-one. Even Nikki Cross spoke a little. The whole thing had a Wyatt Family vibe to it, but more apocalyptic. Fits the gimmick.

– The NXT Women’s Championship match between Champion Asuka and Royce was probably set for television, as it was going to take a lot to uncrown Asuka with Ember Moon being pushed well. The Aussie Mean Girls do make a good foil, but eh. Not to mention, “The Venus Fly Trap” is the worst female nickname ever. Asuka’s reign was mentioned to be 333 days so far. Props to Commentator Nigel McGuinness for dropping names like Manami Toyota and The Jumping Bomb Angels. Why would you get in a shoving match with Asuka? Nice missed kick exchange though. They had Royce gain control after she used the post to ram the shoulder, but the action lulled until a strike sequence by the Champ. Royce did well for herself, though the spinning heel kick was not a pinfall tease to say the least. Royce ended up tied in the Asuka Lock and submitted. Exactly what we figured it’d be. Post-match, Kay attacked Asuka and the heel beatdown ensued. They used the post to work the wrist. Moon came down to make the save. She had some fierce kicks herself. Her and Asuka had a good standoff, emphasized when Asuka raised the belt in her face. God, give this to us now.

– Backstage, General Manager William Regal announced that NXT Champion Bobby Roode would defend against Kassius Ohno in two weeks at the CFE Arena. Yay.

– Backstage, Paul Ellering gave his boys a heartfelt cheer to cause destruction or something like that.

– We got a hype video on Wolfgang, who expressed his desire to work for WWE. He gained subtle popularity during the United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Hopefully, we’ll see more of “The Last King Of Scotland.” There’s potential.

– They announced that Shinsuke Nakamura would be in action next week. Sweet.

– The NXT Tag Team Championship match between Champions AOP and #DIY looked to be a fun way to close the episode. With the way The Revival has poked their head in the Title picture, we don’t expect a clean finish in the least. Oh look, AOP have name tags on their gear now. Who goes to break when the bell rings for a Title match? A nice double spear on Razar. Tommaso Ciampa took a damn beating and sold his back ever since he was rammed into the post. That post is getting some love tonight. Johnny Gargano came in with the hot tag and used excessive aerials. A double powerbomb for a two for #DIY. They reversed the powerbomb clash attempt into separate submissions before Revival came down and broke it up to cause the DQ. Shatter Machine to Ciampa. We called it. Dash Wilder saved Scott Dawson from The Last Chapter and they hit Shatter Machine on one of AOP to end things. Crazy.

Quick Results 

• Patrick Clark def. Sean Maluta via pinfall 
• NXT Women’s Championship – Asuka (Champion) def. Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay) via submission to retain 
• NXT Tag Team Championship – #DIY def. The Authors Of Pain (Champions) via DQ; AOP retains