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William Regal welcomes everyone to this week's episode with some never before seen footage and exclusive matches. Welcome to the Best of NXT 2017.
Your hosts are Kayla Braxton and Mike Rome.
We will find out the winners of the 2017 NXT Year End Awards at Takeover in Philadelphia.
We will see the NXT title match from San Antonio when Drew McIntyre defended the title against Adam Cole with Shawn Michaels as referee.
We start off with a look at Shinsuke Nakamura defending the title against Bobby Roode at Takeover in San Antonio.
They met again at Takeover in Orlando during Wrestlemania weekend.
We look at highlights from the NXT Title Match between Nakamura and Roode with Roode focusing on Nakamura's leg. Roode gets the win with a Tornado Glorious DDT.
We have a video package for Shinsuke Namakura.
We take a look back at Nakamura's farewell from NXT in April.
We see Drew McIntyre in the crowd at Takeover in Orlando.
We have a Drew McIntyre video package.
We will see footage from Drew McIntyre versus Bobby Roode from Takeover Brooklyn.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a look at the NXT Tag Title Match from Takeover San Antonio when The Authors of Pain faced DIY and the Authors of Pain won the tag titles.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a look at Drew McIntyre versus Bobby Roode at Takeover Brooklyn, the night that Drew won the title.
We also see the debut of Adam Cole, who joined Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly to attack McIntyre.
Kayla and Mike talk the debut of The Undisputed Era and what they did in their time in NXT.
We have a video package for Adam Cole.
We take a look at highlights from the Tag Title Match that saw Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish win the Tag Titles.
We take a look at some tag teams to look out for in 2018.
First, it is the current champions, Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. Next, we have the Street Profits. The next team is Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. Next is Heavy Machinery. The next team is TM61.
We will have a feature on TM61 in two weeks.
We have a video feature on Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream.
We take a look at their match from Takeover War Games.
We go to commercial.
We have a video package for the road to Andrade Almas versus Drew McIntyre at Takeover War Games.
Match Number One; Drew McIntyre versus Adam Cole for the NXT Championship with Guest Referee Shawn Michaels
Cole with a waist lock but Drew with a standing switch and he sends Cole to the mat. Drew tells Cole to come after him. They lock up and Cole with a side head lock. Drew with a shoulder tackle and Cole goes to the floor and he is fanned by O'Reilly while Fish discusses strategy. Cole returns to the ring and Drew blocks a kick. Cole with a forearm and jaw breaker. Fish and O'Reilly grab Drew's leg and Shawn sees it. Shawn calms them down and then he tells Fish and O'Reilly that they are out of here.
All three members of the Undisputed Era are pissed off and Drew with a crotch chop to the ejected Fish and O'Reilly. Cole argues with Michaels and Drew stands around. Shawn has a few words for Cole. Cole turns around and Drew with a clothesline and chop. Drew with an Irish whip and back body drop. Drew picks up Cole and powers Cole up for a suplex. Cole pie faces Drew and Drew with punches in the corner. Drew pushes Shawn away and Drew with kicks. Shawn pulls Drew out of the corner and they have some words.
Cole clips Drew while Drew continues to talk to Michaels. Cole with punches. Drew with a chop but he misses a shoulder into the corner and hits a ring post.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Cole picks up Drew and sets for a suplex but Drew blocks it and he tries for Future Shock and Cole escapes. Cole misses an enzuigiri and Drew with a sit out power bomb for a near fall. Cole spits in Drew's face and Drew with a head butt. Drew goes up top and he has Cole on his shoulders for a Super Schwein and he hits it. Drew gets a near fall because Cole gets his foot on the rope.
Cole with a kick to the knee followed by a Shining Wizard and a second Shining Wizard but Drew kicks out. Cole argues with Michaels over his count. Cole sets for Sweet Chin Music and Shawn is not happy. Drew blocks it and Drew with a kick and Future Shock for a near fall. Cole with a super kick but Drew moves and he hits Shawn Michaels instead. Drew with a Claymore but the referee is down and cannot make the count.
When he makes the count, Fish and O'Reilly pull Shawn out of the ring. Fish and O'Reilly attack Drew. Shawn pulls the rope down and Fish goes into the ropes. Drew throws O'Reilly away and he lands on Shawn Michaels. Shawn gets back to his feet and he staggers around. Shawn says something to Cole and then he tunes up the band for Sweet Chin Music on O'Reilly. Cole misses Sweet Chin Music on Michaels and Drew with a swinging Future Shock and the Claymore for the three count.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
We take a look at the finish of the NXT title match at Takeover War Games when Andrade Almas defeated Drew McIntyre to become the new and current NXT Champion.
We are reminded of Drew's injury after that match.
Zelina Vega comments on Almas' first defense against Johnny Gargano and she chuckles. Everyone was so happy until Gargano came face to face with the champion. They are taking Johnny very seriously but it will be Andrade Almas victorious again. Almas says he is preparing to retain the title and he is preparing for his future.
Zelina says that Johnny is a broken man. She know how to take advantage of Johnny. Almas says he is Tranquilo and he is always tranquilo. Zelina says that Almas is keeping the title. Just because Johnny beat seven incompetent men, it does not mean he deserves the title. Almas will win at Takeover.
We go to commercial.
We have a video package for Asuka.
Mike and Kayla talk about the night that Asuka relinquished the NXT Title at Full Sail.
We take a look at some of the women in NXT who may challenge Ember Moon. We see Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Lacey Evans, Kairi Sane, Bianca Belair, Vanessa Borne, Shayna Baszler, and Nikki Cross.
We see what happened last week when Kairi Sane was attacked by Shayna Baszler.
Shayna will make her NXT in ring debut next week.
We take a look back at the War Games Match from NXT Takeover War Games.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a look at Johnny Gargano.
We see footage of Tommaso Ciampa from May and we see the footage of Johnny and Tommaso together and the end of the team after Takeover Chicago.
Mike talks about how cold hearted Ciampa was towards his best friend.
We take a look at the Number One Contender Match from last week that saw Johnny Gargano earn a title match against Andrade Almas at Takeover in Philadelphia.
We are told that Aleister Black will face Adam Cole at Takeover in Philadelphia.
Johnny Gargano was interviewed and asked about 2017. He says it was a year he will never forget. When it started he was on top of the world. He was the NXT Tag Team Champion with his best friend. He felt untouchable. Then, it all came crashing down. He says everyone knows what happened because they saw it. Johnny says he does not remember much and it is a memory he does not want to remember. It was about moving forward.
Johnny says he wanted the opportunity to show that he would pay back their support and love. He was unsuccessful and things got worse. He says he did not know how he felt about himself. All you need is one opportunity. Opportunities are seized by those who attack. He will step up and walk out of Takeover as NXT Champion. He will be on top of the world again. 2018 will be the best year of his life.
We go to commercial.
Tom and Kayla mention the categories for the Year End Awards for NXT.
We have a video package for the NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon. She says three things are near and dear to her heart. Skill, honor, and heart. Keep it close to your head because those are what motivate her. We see Ember at the Performance Center and she talks about the impact that the women have made in NXT. She says they are still fighting and she will not stop. She talks about growing up in Texas. She watched wrestling with her grandfather.
Her parents talked about Ember watching World Class Championship Wrestling and the Von Erichs. Ember says she told her grandfather that she was going to be on Raw one day and her grandfather told her to do it. We see footage of Ember while she talked about telling her parents she wanted to be a wrestler and they laughed at her. Her parents talk about how they didn't know that she was going to Houston. She mentions driving five hours each way from Garland to train.
Booker T says she knew that Ember would be a star. Ember mentions her tryout in FCW and she got a no because she 'didn't have the Diva look'. Ember says that hurt when you are 19 or 20 years old. Mickie James says that it wasn't about the skill and more the look. Norman Smiley says that he told her to keep fighting. Ember says she was going to make a name for herself and make WWE say yes to her.
Mickie says either you have it or you don't and Ember has it. Ember says she was able to make a name for herself. She came to Florida and she saw Paige at Universal and Paige told her to try again. Ember was not sure but Paige told her that she was what WWE was looking for. We see her tryout and Norman says she was a more rounded performer. Ember says if she didn't make it, she would probably have quit. Ember says she got picked and signed.
Ember says she wanted something powerful other than her real name. The first time people saw her was in Brooklyn. To go from wrestling in front of a hundred people to her biggest crowd was something. She says it was time to go to work and it was time to do what she was born to do.
Carmella says Ember is the future of the women's division. Corey says once she gets in the ring she can hang with anyone. Charlotte says that she is excited to see what Ember can do. Ember says she lost more than a shot at the championship, she lost some of her pride. No matter how many times Asuka beat her down, she will get back up. We see Ember at Takeover Brooklyn.
She felt like she had something to prove in Brooklyn. Ember says there was nothing to cry about after the match because she earned the respect of the NXT Universe. She remembers her first day at the Performance Center, she was sitting next to Asuka. They were happy for each other's success, but they knew they would be in the ring against each other. They will meet in the ring again. This gave her confidence that she could move forward.
Ember says she needs to prove that she can win the big one. She will show she is worthy of the title. She says she respects people who deserve it and cannot fight it. She will fight for anyone as long as it is right. Heart is her passion and desire. As long as she puts her heart into everything, she knows things will turn out right.
We go to credits.
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