Credit: Wrestling Inc

July 26th Episode:

* Ember Mood defeated Lei’D Tapa. Short stiff match, lots of kicks from Ember. Ember hits the Eclipse for the win. Post match, Ember says she wants NXT Women’s Champion Asuka at Takeover. Ember says Asuka wants competition, and she will give Asuka what she wants. Says she’s ready to defeat the undefeated, but is Asuka ready for Ember Moon?

* NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain out for a match against 2 jobbers. As the Authors come down the ramp, Nikki Cross cuts them off. Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe hit the ring and destroy the jobbers, and then brawl with the Authors. Authors of Pain send SANitY to the outside, and Nikki holds them back from going back after the AoP.

* The Velveteen Dream defeated Cezar Bononi. Cezar gets a nice flurry of offense for a near fall, but Dream hits a fireman’s carry drop and then the Purple Rain elbow for the win. Kayla Braxton stops Dream on the ramp and asks what his goals are. Dream says a decently dressed girl like her can get an interview, but the ugly NXT universe will have to wait.

* Drew McIntyre comes out for a promo. Says the main event of “Takeover: Brooklyn III” is him vs. Bobby Roode for the NXT title. Drew thanks everyone who has been on this ride with him. He discusses how he had the wrong mindset when he was in WWE the first time and he failed. He had to become the hardest worker in the room, and he became the hardest worker in the world. Says everyone walks side by side as equals, except Bobby Roode. Says this isn’t Roode’s NXT, it’s everyone’s. Drew ends with leading the crowd in a “We Are NXT” chant.

* Kassius Ohno defeated Hideo Itami via DQ. Great stiff match. Hideo playing heel and the crowd is going with it, but it’s a 50/50 split. Stiff kicks and chops from both to start. Ohno flips over the ropes on an Irish whip, and Hideo hangs him over the middle rope and does his leg drop off the top. Hideo does a top rope dive, but Ohno nails him a chop in mid-air. Ohno hits his spinning boot for a near fall. Ohno gets out of the GTS and goes for the Roaring Elbow, but Hideo kicks him in the balls for the DQ. Hideo beats on Kassius after the bell and hits 2 GTSs and goes to leave, but then turns back, and does a GTS into the steps at ringside. Crowd bought the heel turn big.

August 2nd Episode:

* Johnny Gargano defeated Raul Mendoza. Johnny came out to the DIY music and tron, then stopped on the stage, staring at the DIY logo. The screen then changed to “Gargano” and his new music kicked in. Pretty cool moment. Fun Cruiserweight style match. Back and forth with a bunch of flip counters and reversals early on. Mendoza reverses a clothesline and hits an enziguri. Mendoza goes up top, but Johnny catches him out of the air and locks in the GargaNo Escape for the submission win.

* NXT Women’s Champion Asuka is out for a promo and says she will fight Ember Moon at Brooklyn. Says she’s beaten Ember before, she will beat her again, and Ember is not ready for Asuka. Ember interrupts and says she knows that she’s ready, the people know she’s ready, and Asuka knows she’s ready. Ember says underneath all her arrogance, Asuka knows the truth is that Asuka isn’t ready for Ember Moon. Asuka offers a handshake, then slaps Ember. They brawl and Asuka gets the better of Ember and sends her out of the ring. While Asuka gloats, Ember goes to the top and hits the Eclipse to a huge pop to leave Asuka laying.

* Heavy Machinery defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss. Heavy Machinery gets the early advantage until Riddick and Tino take out Otis’ leg. They work over Otis until Riddick misses a corner spear and Otis gets the hot tag to Tucker. Riddick catches Tucker and hits an impressive slam for a 2 count. Tino and Riddick setup for their finish, but Heavy Machinery fight out and hit their double team finisher for the win.

* Sonya Deville defeated Jenna Van Muscles (not announced by any name). Sloppy match, Sonya taps her out for the win.

* Hideo Itami cuts a promo on the big screen. Says he shouldn’t show respect for anyone, starts speaking in Japanese. Kayla Braxton cuts him off and says we have to go back to the ring, but Hideo grabs the mic and goes to the ring. Says he deserves respect, and he doesn’t care who is next. Aleister Black’s music hits. Hideo backs away and goes to leave, but tries to sneak attack when Aleister nails the Black Mass. Aleister sits in the corner and awaits his opponent as Hideo is helped away. Black’s opponent is former ROH World Champion Kyle O’Reilly making his debut!

* Aleister Black defeated Kyle O’Reilly in a good long, back & forth technical match. Kyle gets a decent amount of offense in. A lot of holds and kicks in this one. Breaks down into a grappling match late in the contest, which was unique. Kyle blocks the Black Mass and kicks Aleister out of the air on a springboard attempt, and nails a huge elbow for a near fall. They trade bicycle kicks, Kyle goes for his elbow again but gets drilled with Black Mass for the pin.

August 9th Episode:

* Nikki Cross interrupts the NXT chant and calls out NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain. SAnitY joins her. As the AoP head down, Eric Young jumps Rezar and slams him into the rail at rampside. He zip ties Rezar to the rail and SAnitY does a 3-on-1 beatdown on Akam. Rezar breaks the railing free and comes to the ring dragging the rail with him, but SAnitY just destroy him.

* The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated The Metro Brothers (Chris & JC) in a quick squash to get the Profits over. Montez Ford hits a frog splash for the win.

* NXT General Manager William Regal is out to introduce Drew McIntyre & NXT Champion Bobby Roode for a face-to-face. Roode comes out with security, saying there’s a madman named Roderick Strong running around so they’re here to protect the big money match at Brooklyn. He welcomes Drew back and says that yes, he is entitled, because he doesn’t need a second chance like Drew. Whether Drew likes it or not, this is Bobby’s NXT, it’s not a “we” it’s a “me.” Drew says he’s making good points, but he’s a complete ass who actually believes everything that comes out of his mouth. Drew says at Brooklyn he’s taking the belt.

Roderick Strong comes out. Regal warns him. Roddy says he respects everything Regal said, but this isn’t about a title anymore, it’s about Bobby disrespecting his fiancé, and he just wants a fight. Bobby says he’ll fight him anywhere and even put the belt on the line, he just has to go through Drew first. Regal hesitates, then Drew says make the match. Bobby sarcastically goes on a rant about its all “We are NXT” and everyone wants the match, and implores Regal to do the right thing. Regal makes the match for next week, Drew vs Roddy, and the winner will get Roode. But no matter what, at Brooklyn, it will be Drew vs Roode for the NXT Title.

August 16th Episode:

* Danny Burch defeated Oney Lorcan in a rematch of their brutal encounter at the last tapings. Late in the match, Oney hits some brutal chops in the corner. More grappling than fighting in this one and it’s not getting over with the crowd. Burch hits the elevated cutter for a near fall. Oney hits the diving neckbreaker for 2. Danny starts screaming for Oney to hit him and they trade shots. Oney locks in the Boston crab, but Danny flips him out of it and gets the pin. The ref didn’t hit the mat for 3 and it threw the crowd off. They shake hands afterwards and Danny holds the ropes open for Oney out of respect.

* Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/Thea Trinidad) defeated No Way Jose. Thea was introduced with a new name but I didn’t catch it. Okay match. The story was anytime Andrade tried to play around, Thea berated him to be serious. Andrade went for a cover after the double knees in the corner, but Thea yelled for him to finish Jose, so Andrade picked him up and hit El Idolo for the pin. Post match, Thea goes to the announce table and grabs a mic. She says he deserves the spotlight, the biggest spotlight he can have. So if the “NXT Universe’s golden boy” Johnny Gargano is looking for an opponent for Brooklyn, he’s got one.

* NXT GM William Regal out for a contract signing. Regal introduces Ember Moon and Asuka. Ember says Asuka’s had an incredible run and has beaten the best, even surpassing Goldberg. Crowd breaks into an Asuka chant in the cadence of the Goldberg chant. Ember says she’s only taken shortcuts with one person in her reign, and that person was Ember. Ember says she’s better than she’s ever been because of Asuka and at Brooklyn, she’s going to end the reign of Asuka and be the next NXT Women’s Champion. Asuka signs with no comment. Regal makes the match official. Asuka then starts ranting at Ember in Japanese, with one line roughly translating to Asuka saying she would put Ember in the hospital. Asuka and Ember stare down to end the segment.

* Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated Lars Sullivan & Chris Silvio. At the beginning, Silvio gets knocked down and Montez runs into the crowd to celebrate. Quick squash, Lars never gets in the match and Silvio gets destroyed. Montez hits the frog splash for the win. Post match, Lars carries Silvio away to the delight of the crowd chanting “Lars is gonna kill you.”

* Ruby Riot defeated Billie Kay (w/Peyton Royce). Lots of over-the-top comedic support from Peyton at ringside. Mediocre match. Ruby gets the win with her finisher. Peyton grabs the mic post match and says all Ruby’s done is prove lightning strikes once even for a gross tatted person like her, and she’ll never be Iconic.

* Roderick Strong vs. Drew McIntyre to crown a new #1 contender goes to a no contest. Great match while it lasted. Drew catches Roddy on the outside and throws him into the turnbuckle. Roddy hits a backbreaker on the apron. Roddy is dominating early. Drew takes control with some stiff shots in the corner and an axe handle off the top rope. Drew and Roddy are battling on the top rope when Bobby Roode runs down and attacks both men. Roode throws Roddy into the steps and then sets his sights on Drew. Roode hits the Glorious DDT on Drew and poses over him. Roode screams at Drew that it’s his NXT as the crowd boos. Roode blows a kiss at Strong and poses with the belt to end the show.