Bray Wyatt opened Raw with another awesome promo, talking about how he’s going to end Cena’s fairy tale at Payback. He also went on about how a teacher told him he was evil but having the whole world in his hands is his redemption. His payback if you will. Cena ran out and hit a quick AA on Wyatt after outsmarting the Family. This was fine as Cena went at Wyatt physically instead of mocking him, which works far better.

I love Bray’s promos where he talks about his past and childhood because they’re just creepy and cryptic enough to make you wonder what in the world he’s talking about. It isn’t really clear and that’s why they work as well as they do. Bray isn’t the kind of character that should have his whole story fleshed out and it wouldn’t work at all if he did.

Cesaro beat Sheamus in a match that got on my nerves too much for two guys I like. At the end of the day, it’s the same story: have a guy beat a champion to set up a title match, because Cesaro beating up everyone on the roster isn’t a good enough setup or something like that. Think about it. Cesaro: “I’ve beaten up so many people lately that I’ve run out of people to fight.” Sheamus: “I’ll fight him.” No instead let’s have another champion lose to set it up instead.

The Beat the Clock Challenge was nothing special but I like it better than having someone beat Barrett. The matches were nothing to see because of time but RVD is an acceptable choice. The fans wanted Ziggler but Dolph losing to Barrett would have made them roll their eyes even harder so Van Dam was probably the best option out of the six.

Summer Rae returned (looking GREAT) to go after Layla for stealing Fandango. Again, giving the Divas stories is a good thing and we haven’t had women fighting over a man in awhile now.

Stephanie saying the title isn’t vacated but that Bryan will have to surrender it isn’t the worst idea in the world. You knew it wasn’t going to happen on a taped show when you thought it about of course. I don’t know how they’re going to fit a title match onto Payback with Monday being the last Raw, but Shield vs. Evolution would be a better main event anyway. Stephanie is AWESOME when she’s just being an evil jerk by the way. Her face when the fans chanted NO was great.

Rusev beating up 3MB was fine. Lana continues to be the real star of the act though.

Cena and the Usos pounding their chests was apparently from Wolf of Wall Street. I haven’t seen that yet so this was totally bizarre. The explanation doesn’t really help, but I’d prefer that over everyone pointing and pounding into my head that it’s from Wolf of Wall Street.

Speaking of Evolution vs. Shield, Rollins looked awesome against Batista. I’ve said it many times before, but power vs. speed is the best combination you can have in a match. Again, the key to this whole thing is Shield looks like equals against one of the biggest and most dominant factions ever. Having HHH interfere was a good idea as you don’t want either team jobbing before the big showdown.

Making the six man an elimination match is a good idea as well as it gives Evolution a chance to show that they’re better individually while keeping Shield looking strong. At the end of the day, any member of Shield losing to any member of Evolution isn’t a knock on them as losing to a former World Champion isn’t a step down for the most part. Making it no holds barred is even more awesome as it leaves the door open for a big showdown at the third show.

The Divas Champion lost as well because we need to push Alicia Fox all of a sudden. Why I have no idea, because AJ vs. Paige is coming soon enough. That was a really bad way to have Paige lose her first match, as Fox is a former champion but not a memorable one. It’s hard to put into words but there’s a difference between someone like AJ being a former champion and Fox being a former champion if that makes sense. It’s like saying Paul Orndorff and Hulk Hogan are both in the Hall of Fame. In that sense they’re equal, but being realistic it’s not even close.

The Adam Rose segment was awesome as the fans were way into his character. Him beating Swagger is better than running through 3MB or whatever he was going to do. I don’t get why WWE allegedly looks at him as a failure, as I’ve liked him since he debuted.

Harper vs. Cena was the usual good match between these two. WWE has done something very good with Wyatt vs. Cena: they have a match where neither guy could conceivably lose. I can’t picture either guy staying down for a count of ten, meaning (as long as it’s not a draw) that we’re in for a surprise at Payback. I could have done without the cliched knockout and count to ten ending though.

Overall Raw was a good show as they focused on other stuff to make us forget that there isn’t an active World Champion at the moment. Shield vs. Evolution is a very hot feud and Bray vs. Cena can be if they play their cards right. The PPV has a chance of being awesome if they don’t screw things up, which I’m somewhat optimistic that they won’t. Good but not great show this week.

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We’re getting closer to Takeover and the big story is the lack of a challenger for NXT Champion Adrian Neville. After dispatching Brodus Clay last week, Adrian needs someone new to fight and odds are we’ll find out who that is tonight. The Women’s Title tournament will also continue tonight and since this is NXT, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

NXT Womens Title Tournament First Round: Emma vs. Charlotte

They circle each other to start until Charlotte takes him up against the ropes. A hard clothesline puts Charlotte down for one but she snaps Emma’s throat over the top rope to take over. We hit a figure four neck lock on Emma before she rams Emma’s face into the mat ala Madison Rayne. Emma fights up and nails another clothesline to put both girls down. She loads up the pink Cobra because that’s what WWE has done to her but Sasha Banks offers a distraction, allowing Charlotte to roll Emma up and bridge onto the legs (called Charlotte’s Web) for the pin at 3:50.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and the Cobra made it even worse. It’s one of the most annoying things about WWE and NXT: the people get over in NXT but then they make it to the main roster and the writers or whoever is responsible for these ideas have to change everything that worked and then blame the wrestlers when it doesn’t work.

The #1 contender to Neville’s title will be determined in a battle royal tonight.

Legionnaires vs. El Local/Kalisto

The Legionnaires are Sylvester LeFort and Marcus Louis who I believe is making his debut here. The masked men take over to start but LeFort comes back with a swinging neckbreaker on Local as things settle down. A headdbut from Louis has Local in even more trouble as the heels start some fast tagging.

Louis cranks on the neck for a bit until he runs into Local’s boot in the corner. The hot tag brings in the rather short Kalisto for some springboard cross bodies and a jump into an Edge-O-Matic for two on Louis. Everything breaks down and Kalisto kicks LeFort in the head, followed by a Tajiri handspring into another kick to the head for the pin at 4:17.

Rating: D+. This was too short for the tag team formula to work all that well but Kalisto was fun to watch with all of his dives. If nothing else this is the way to build up some opponents for the Ascension as they’ve run through all of the teams in the promotion with relative ease so far.

Adam Rose fires up one of his Rosebuds for his match.

Camacho vs. Captain Comic

Captain Comic is one of Rose’s friends dressed like a superhero. Fans: “MATCH OF THE YEAR!” Camacho destroys him with ease as we’re certainly in squash territory. We hit a quick chinlock as the dominance continues. A running Samoan drop sets up a powerslam for the pin at 2:36.

Rose comes out for the save post match.

Alicia Fox and Alexa Bliss don’t have much to say before their match but they both want the Women’s Title.

NXT Womens Title Tournament First Round: Alicia Fox vs. Alexa Bliss

This is Bliss’ debut and she’s in what Renee describes as a fairy costume. Fox is quickly taken down for a standing moonsault with the knees intentionally landing on Fox’s chest. Alicia comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and we’re already in the chinlock. That great looking northern lights suplex gets two for Fox and it’s off to the headlock. The beating continues for a few more seconds until Bliss grabs a small package out of nowhere for the pin at 3:10.

Rating: D+. This was just a squash with a surprise finish which is only so interesting. We didn’t get much out of Bliss here but she didn’t have the chance to show anything. Her winning is the right move but I need to see more from her to know what she can do in the ring. Fox is a decent enough test for her though.

Adrian Neville says he wants people to step up and challenge him.

Battle Royal

Aiden English, Baron Corbin, Bo Dallas, Brodus Clay, Camacho, Colin Cassady, Curt Hawkins, Danny Burch, El Local, Jason Jordan, Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze, Kalisto, Marcus Louis, Mason Ryan, Mojo Rawley, Oliver Grey, Sylvester Lefort, Xavier Woods, Yoshi Tatsu

Winner gets Adrian Neville at Takeover. It’s a big brawl to start until everyone gangs up on Brodus for the elimination. No one is eliminated for a good while until Ryan throws out I think English as we take an early break. Back with Kalisto avoiding elimination as we hear about Woods saving himself ala Kofi Kingston. The fans are behind Tatsu here as we’re still waiting on more eliminations. LeFort and Kalisto are gone as I type that and Sami Zayn slips back in from the apron.

Things slow down as they’re known to do in battle royals until Woods and Camacho chop it out in the middle of the ring. Woods gets a running start and eliminates himself and Camacho with a Cactus Clothesline. We have about nine left in the match. Jason throws out Mojo in an upset as Kidd gets back in over the top. Corbin throws Jordan to the apron and then kicks him out with a huge boot. Dallas knocks Corbin out with a clothesline and does the same to Yoshi a few seconds later.

We’re down to Sami, Breeze, Kidd, Ryan, Dallas and Cassady but Bo puts out Cassady and Ryan with ease. Kidd comes out of nowhere to dropkick Dallas out (fans: “THANK YOU TYSON!”) and we’re down to three. Breeze hits a Beauty Shot on Kidd and the fans are way behind the model. Sami throws Breeze to the apron but misses a kick and winds up on the apron as well. Kidd misses a charge of his own and winds up on the apron, leaving only Breeze in the ring. Both good guys pull him out but fall out at the same time for a triple elimination at 13:30.

Rating: C. The match was your usual battle royal but the ending was a nice surprise. Any of those three would be a good challenger for Adrian and that’s one of the cool things about NXT. I would assume it’s a triple threat which you would think goes to Breeze for heel vs. face but things aren’t always that basic in NXT.

Post match HHH comes out because JBL barely exists in NXT anymore and makes a triple threat for the shot next week. All three argue to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Here’s the difference between WWE and NXT. When something bad happens in WWE, they just keep going with the idea and expect the fans to go with it. When something bad happens in NXT, they have a show like this which fixes all of the problems. It’s no shock why I enjoy one over the other. This wasn’t about the wrestling but it set up a lot of stuff down the line, which is very important as well.

Results
Charlotte b. Emma – Charlotte’s Web
El Local/Kalisto b. Legionnaires – Spinning kick to the head to LeFort
Camacho b. Captain Comic – Running powerslam
Alexa Bliss b. Alicia Fox – Small package
Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd won a battle royal last eliminating each other

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We’ve got a big show to build towards now, meaning things should start coming together in the near future. On top of that we’ve got a challenge from Adam Rose to face Camacho at some point in the future, which isn’t a terrible idea for an opponent for Rose, especially when he’ll be in WWE very soon. Let’s get to it.

HHH is in the ring to open the show to talk about how awesome NXT is and how much of an impact it’s having on WWE with people like Paige. The fans think this is awesome. You can tell when this was taped as HHH has a sore throat. Taking over WWE is a good idea, so on May 27, there will be a two hour special called NXT Takeover.

Opening sequence.

Tyson Kidd vs. Bo Dallas

Bo has new music. Feeling out process to start as the fans chant for Total Divas of all things. Dallas grabs a headlock but Tyson fights out and sends him into the corner for a dropkick. A suplex looks to set up a missile dropkick but Bo rolls outside before anything can happen. Dallas takes over with a dropkick for two as the fans are singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. An elbow drop gets two for Dallas and we hit the cravate.

Tyson fights up with elbows but misses a dropkick of his own to give Bo a two. Back to the cravate as the announcers actually talk about the history of the two wrestlers in the ring. Like actual commentary you might say. Tyson fights up again but charges into an elbow in the corner. Now the fans chant for Tyson Kidd as he comes back with kicks to the ribs and one to the head for two. A belly to belly gets two for Dallas and a bulldog gets the same as frustration is setting in. Tyson goes up top but gets crotched down, only to kick Dallas in the head, setting up the Blockbuster for the pin at 7:20.

Rating: C. Nice little match here as Kidd’s push in NXT continues. The guy has the skills to make it work and a good finisher so I can’t complain much about him getting this much time in the ring. Dallas is heading to WWE and it makes perfect sense at this point as there’s nothing left for him to do here anymore.

The fans are all over Dallas and sing the Goodbye song as he freaks out even more.

Camacho says his parties are better than Adam Rose’s. Adam comes up and calls Camacho a silly little rabbit and says it doesn’t matter if it’s NXT, WWE, NYC or Hawaii, it’s party time all the time when Adam Rose is around. A party breaks out.

Here are the brackets for the Women’s Title tournament.

Bayley
Sasha Banks

Natalya
Layla

Emma
Charlotte

Alexa Bliss
Alicia Fox

Bayley says winning the title is more important than ten hugs from John Cena.

Sasha promises to beat the smile out of Bayley.

Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha drives shoulders into the corner to start but gets rolled up for a quick two. A backslide and second rollup get two each for Bayley and she comes off the middle rope into an armdrag. Bayley hugs Sasha in the corner and throws in a slap for good measure before a suplex gets two.

Banks sends her into the corner as Regal picks Alicia Fox as the favorite for the tournament. A very high backdrop gets two for Bayley and some running ax handles put Banks down again. The Belly to Bayley connects but Sasha gets in the ropes. Bankrupt gets two for Banks but she comes back with a backstabber and a modified crossface for the submission at 4:00.

Mojo Rawley vs. Bull Dempsey

Sheamus is in action tonight.

Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn

No match as Corey Graves jumps Sami while Zayn is high fiving a little girl. Sami gets sent head first into the post and the trainer comes out to check for a concussion.

Adam Rose vs. Camacho

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Back up and Bayley charges into a boot in the corner as Sasha takes over. She stomps Bayley down and puts on a chinlock for about five seconds. Sasha throws her outside but Natalya prevents any shenanigans from Charlotte. The distraction from Natalya lets Bayley get a rollup pin at 4:33.

Rating: D. This was a comedy match at first and much more about the characters than the action. It was entertaining at times but after seeing Emma and Paige beat the fire out of each other I need a little more than Sasha just stomping on Bayley for two minutes and a rollup finish.

Aiden English vs. Sheamus

The Brogue Kick misses with English bailing to the floor as we take a break. Back with both guys on the floor and Sheamus throwing English into the barricade. Aiden tries to run but manages to send Sheamus face first into the steps. A clothesline puts Sheamus down and they head inside for a chinlock.

Sheamus brings a kid over the barricade and has him do the Sheamus pose to end the show.

Results

Mojo Rawley b. Bull Dempsey – Hyperdrive

Adam Rose b. Camacho – Slice

Bayley b. Sasha Banks – Rollup

Sheamus b. Aiden English – Brogue Kick

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It’s a new era here in NXT as the shows now air on Thursday as well as on the WWE Network. Last week was NXT Arrival with a classic between Cesaro and Zayn and Adrian Neville FINALLY ending Bo Dallas’ title reign. It should be interesting to see if WWE will allow NXT be themselves again as that could be great news for them. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of NXT Arrival and Neville winning the title.

Adrian Neville vs. Camacho

Non-title. Neville offers a handshake but gets kicked in the ribs instead. The champion puts on an armbar but Camacho comes back with forearms to the head and chops in the corner. A powerslam gets two on Adrian but he comes back with kicks to the leg and head. Neville puts him down with a middle rope dropkick and the Red Arrow is good for the pin at 2:51.

Adrian says he can’t believe what he did last week and he can’t wait to go around the world doing what he loves. Last week was the most amazing moment of his life, but the most important thing is this title on his shoulder. It’s a message that anything is possible because he’s not your typical champion. He looks like an elf man, he’s from a small town that no one has heard of, and the ACCENT. “Renee, can you even understand me?” However, the most important thing about last wee is NO MORE BO.

This brings out a serious looking Bo Dallas who says Neville did something no one else could do, but he didn’t get a pin. Adrian climbed a ladder like a father cleaning out his gutters. He’ll be cashing in his rematch clause very soon, and when he does it’ll be Bo Time. The cheesy thumbs up makes this even better.

Last week Emma said she underestimated Paige but she’ll be a champion someday. Ric Flair comes in and says the next champion will be his daughter. Charlotte comes in and offers a condescending shoulder to cry on and Emma leaves. Charlotte was taller than her dad.

Last week Paige said she never doubted that she would win last week and welcomes all challengers for her title. Flair and Charlotte come up again and accept the challenge. The girls introduce themselves to each other and Charlotte talks down to Paige again.

Emma vs. Charlotte

Renee sits in on commentary and does the Emma dance off camera. Charlotte misses a clothesline in the corner to start and Emma takes her down with a wristlock. A dancing rollup gets two on Charlotte and she stops a charging Charlotte with a boot in the corner. Emma gets two rollups for two each but Charlotte grabs her ankle. Emma buys into it and gets caught with the flip over faceplant for the pin at 3:17.

Rating: D. Charlotte clearly needs ring time and the wrestling here was as basic as you can get. That faceplant is a good move for Charlotte though and the ankle injury was something we haven’t seen in awhile. It’s also better to have Charlotte with Sasha Banks instead of her dad so she doesn’t get overshadowed.

Sami says what Cesaro said to him was personal and he got everything he wanted out of that match.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Corey Graves

Before the match Graves goes on a rant about how he’s stuck in NXT facing people who think they’re WWE superstars. He’s tired about hearing people talking about Sami Zayn, because Sami never wins any matches. Apparently all you need is heart to get chance after chance against people you can never beat. Corey could beat Cesaro in just one match but instead he’s stuck fighting the irrelevant Yoshi Tatsu. Graves immediately heads to the floor and says forget this but Yoshi goes after him at a seven count. Corey clotheslines him down and sends Tatsu into the steps before sliding back in for a countout at 1:38.

Post match Graves puts Tatsu in Lucky 13 until Sami makes the save. Sami says he’s up for a match if Sami wants it and why not do it tonight?

We look at an Adam Rose (Leo Kruger’s new rock star character) party from last night which looks like an actual party instead of eight people standing in pre-planned positions. Rose is on a couch with two women next to him and says his in ring debut will be of Jurassic proportions. The fans are called the Rosebuds. This was a very solid segment as it felt like an actual character instead of something planned out step by step. Also Kruger’s British voice worked very well and sounded almost nothing like his old voice.

Clip of Rusev cleaning house last week.

Xavier Woods wants a piece of Rusev.

Rusev speaks Bulgarian and accepts Woods’ challenge for next week.

Adam Rose vs. Wesley Blake

The people from the party, all in costumes, are at the entrance and carry Rose to the ring in a very cool entrance. The fans instantly think that was awesome and they’re right. Tensai is on commentary now for some reason. Rose rolls around the ring over and over to frustrate Blake and scores with a hard chop. He lays on the ropes and starts rocking back and forth until Blake comes over and gets kicked in the chest.

Blake slaps him in the face so Rose jumps up and down and tackles Wesley down before driving MMA style elbows to the face. A spinebuster draws Rose chants and the Slice clothesline gets the pin at 2:24. Rose is a VERY fun character and the crowd had a blast with him. The party comes back to celebrate.

Sami Zayn vs. Corey Graves

The announcers even throw in that this match was made by JBL. Graves hammers away with elbows to the back of the head before putting on a headlock. Sami comes back by flipping Corey to the floor but has to bail out on a big flip dive. He flips back into the ring into the splits to draw an OLE chant. Corey snaps Sami’s throat across the top rope for two and we take a break.

Back with Sami fighting out of a chinlock but getting punched in the corner. Lucky 13 is countered but it’s right back to the chinlock. Zayn starts fighting up again but gets caught in a belly to back suplex for two. It’s chinlock #3 but Sami quickly escapes and backdrops Corey down, only to get caught in a fireman’s carry into a backbreaker for two.

Zayn kicks his way out of the corner and gets two off a high cross body. He charges into a boot in the corner but comes back with the Blue Thunder Bomb for two more. Corey shoulders the knee but Lucky 13 is countered into a small package for another near fall. Graves loads up another backbreaker but gets countered into a second small package for the pin at 9:48 shown of 13:18.

Rating: B-. This was probably Corey’s best match ever which doesn’t surprise me given who he was facing. Sami looked good out there too as he toned it down a bit from last week but still held up. Good match here and it also gets Sami back into the win column where he needs to be.

Overall Rating: B. Now this is the NXT I know and love. No HHH, no WWE style matchmaking, good action and a totally over the top character. Rose stole the show here and is one of the most entertaining characters I’ve seen in years. Much like Breeze he buys into the character and nails it rather than coming off like he’s an actor playing a part.

Results

Adrian Neville b. Camacho – Red Arrow

Charlotte b. Emma – Flip over faceplant

Corey Graves b. Yoshi Tatsu via countout

Adam Rose b. Wesley Blake – Slice

Sami Zayn b. Corey Graves – Small package

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