NXT – December 2, 2015: I Believe In A Thing Called Joe
NXT
Date: December 2, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan
Takeover: London is in two weeks and the card is mostly set. That leaves us with two shows to firm up the build, which means we could be in for some entertaining nights leading up to the next big show. The cliffhanger from last week saw Nia Jax throw her had in to the ring for the Women’s Title shot and Bayley doesn’t have an opponent for London yet. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Baron Corbin vs. Tye Dillinger
Some chops earn Dillinger a throw across the ring and Corbin chokes on the mat. Corbin is in his full slow mode here and it’s working as always. Dillinger comes back with a clothesline and a superkick for two, only to come off the middle rope and right into the End of Days for the pin at 2:52.
Apollo Crews is ready for Corbin at Takeover and is ready to team up with Finn Balor to face Corbin and Samoa Joe next week.
Tommaso Ciampa says Joe is dangerous, but Ciampa is even more dangerous because he has nothing to lose. When he pins Joe tonight, everything changes.
Nia Jax vs. Blue Pants
Pants has a modified version of the Price is Right theme. Jax takes her down by the arm to start and stomps on the hand. A toss by the head keeps Blue in trouble and her kicks have no effect. Some elbow drops and a Samoan drop set up the big leg to squash Pants for the pin at 2:10.
Dash and Dawson don’t want to talk about Enzo and Cass because they’d rather just hurt people. If the consequences of hurting people are the Tag Team Titles, they don’t have much to worry about. Last week Enzo and Cass jumped them because those two can just talk the talk instead of walking the way. Dash really doesn’t get why Enzo and Cass are getting the title shot in London when they haven’t beaten anyone. That’s fine with them because Cass has a good leg that they haven’t broken yet.
Adam Rose vs. James Storm
Rose orders his music cut off because this is serious business. Storm starts with a shoulder but Rose gets in some shots to the back to take over. A chinlock doesn’t get Adam anywhere as Storm comes back with his forearms and running neckbreaker, followed by the Last Call for the quick pin at 2:38.
The Vaudevillains are disappointed that they lost last week but they’re going to win here tonight. Cue Jason Jordan and Chad Gable to disagree. Really quick and to the point promos here.
Video on Sami Zayn winning the NXT Title last year at Takeover: R-Evolution.
Vaudevillains vs. Jason Jordan/Chad Gable
Gable takes Gotch to the mat to start but Simon grabs the arm, only to have Chad easily flip out. It’s off to Jordan to take English to the mat with ease and Aiden’s leapfrog is countered into an atomic drop. The fans say this is wrestling as English counters an Irish whip into the corner by standing on the middle rope and posing. Gable comes back in and goes after English’s bad leg but gets backdropped out to the floor for a big crash. Not that it matters as Chad slides over and makes the tag off to Jason for a bunch of dropkicks. The Grand Amplitude puts Gotch away at 5:28.
Rating: C. This was just a step ahead of a squash as Gable was barely in trouble for a minute before making the comeback for the hot tag. Those two could be something special in the future as Gable is getting quicker every week. Jordan has come out of his shell by bouncing off Gable, which has been the big trick they’ve needed for over a year now.
Gable and Jordan offer a handshake but the Vaudevillains walk away. Well it fits their name a lot better.
Emma and Dana Brooke are ready for Asuka in London.
We get another song from what seems to be Elias Sampson.
Liv Morgan vs. Emma
Morgan is formerly known as Marley and Gionna Daddio. Emma doesn’t seem impressed and grabs the Dilemma followed by the Emma Sandwich. Morgan comes back with a quick guillotine choke and a dropkick. That’s it for the jobber offense as Emma drops her again and gets the win with the Emma Lock at 3:48.
Rating: D+. Morgan has some good charisma and the fans like her but she’s still in the early stages of her NXT run, meaning these losses don’t mean much. This was clearly just a warmup for Emma before she gets ripped into 14 evenly divided pieces by Asuka in London. At least it wasn’t a total squash.
Emma is in the ring when Asuka pops up on screen, beating the fire out of a punching bag. She’ll see Emma in London.
Bayley says she’s ready for all challengers, including Nia Jax. This brings up Nia, who stares at the title. Bayley says she’ll accept anyone who comes at her, so Jax knocks her through a door.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Samoa Joe
Ciampa isn’t scared as Joe drives him into the corner and works on a wristlock before no selling a chop. Joe stays on the arm until Ciampa tries another chop. That just ticks Joe off so he forearms Ciampa’s head half off. They start slapping the taste out of each others’ mouths with Joe getting the better of it until Ciampa grabs a rollup and stomps on Joe’s arm.
More hard strikes stagger Joe and a guillotine choke has him in even more trouble. Make that a Kimura but Joe drives him into the corner again for the break. The enziguri knocks Ciampa half cold and a scoop powerslam makes it even worse. Joe Facewashes him in the corner and the release Rock Bottom drops Ciampa again. The fans are behind Joe until the Muscle Buster and Koquina Clutch end Ciampa at 6:37.
Rating: B. That might be a bit high but dang these two were beating the tar out of each other. Those were some incredibly hard strikes with Joe absorbing everything Ciampa threw at him and looking like a real killer for the first time with London looming. This has me even more ready for the title match and was a really, really fun surprise. Good stuff.
Overall Rating: B+. NXT is getting in six matches an hour. Can you imagine most other wrestling shows pulling that off? This is straight out of the old school WCW shows as they’re flying through squash matches to set up the big show with the showdowns you want to see. Awesome show this week and one of the best they’ve done in a while.
Results
Baron Corbin b. Tye Dillinger – End of Days
Nia Jax b. Blue Pants – Legdrop
James Storm b. Adam Rose – Last Call
Jason Jordan/Chad Gable b. Vaudevillains – Grand Amplitude to Gotch
Emma b. Liv Morgan – Emma Lock
Samoa Joe b. Tommaso Ciampa – Koquina Clutch
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That’s where I question Meltzer’s ratings as he thinks that match is horrible. Ignoring the obvious question of “well what did you expect Hogan and Andre to do”, that match told exactly the story it was supposed to with Gorilla and Jesse getting the point over to perfection.
Wow, you grade this a B+ with 3 matches that we’re too short to grade, one squash match and a half-decent heavy hitting match? That’s a pretty far-fetched rating, especially compared to a lot of other reviews on this website.
Not really. There’s a lot more to a wrestling show than just wrestling.
Well, you changed your opinion because you said so at the end that your rating was pretty high in the overall rating section. And what else was there to this show? Barely any promos. So…
So you’re left with an hour of matches that build to the big show, the Women’s Title match being set up and the good main event. What more can you ask for?
He meant there is more to wrestling than how good the matches are.
Such as:
What is the point of the match?
How does the match advance storylines?
Etc.
Take Hogan vs Andre. If looked at in a vacuum, it is an awful match. But looked at in context, it is huge. A great story means a match does not have to be a five star masterpiece. A great story with a match that fits the story is more important than a match with one thousand flippy moves that look cool with no story.