NXT
Date: February 24, 2016
Location: CFE Arena, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

As has been the case recently, this is going to be about fallout from last week and the main event in particular. Last week, Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn went to a double pin in a match for the #1 contendership, meaning we don’t have a challenger for Finn Balor. Odds are that won’t be established tonight either but odds are we’ll get a fun show out of it anyway. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

American Alpha vs. Blake and Murphy

Gable and Murphy get things going with Chad easily taking him down into a leg lock. The good guys start in on the arm as Corey talks about Chad being able to dribble a bowling ball. Blake comes in and is quickly ridden down to the mat. Some rapid fire dropkicks (and a Ricky Morton reference) has the bad guys in trouble as Chad waits in the middle. A double dropkick puts Blake on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Jordan staying on the arm and Gable doing the same. You don’t often see the good guys in control this long. Blake’s slam doesn’t get him away from the armbar but the heels FINALLY get him into the corner to take over. We hit a chinlock on Gable for a bit before it’s back to Blake for forearms to the head.

A double arm crank keeps things slow and the heels keep pulling Gable away from the hot tag. You can only do that so many times before it stops working though and the hot tag brings in Jordan for the series of suplexes. Murphy’s dropkick is swatted away and the Grand Amplitude puts Blake away at 13:37. That’s a long match for a non-main event in NXT.

Rating: C+. Nice match here even though it was a glorified squash until the ending. American Alpha is clearly the real deal and ready to give the titles some much needed energy. Blake and Murphy on the other hand have smacked their heads against the glass ceiling and I’m really not sure where they’re supposed to go from here.

We look back at the ending to last week’s show.

Regal says we’ll be seeing Sami vs. Joe in a 2/3 falls match in two weeks. As for next week though, there’s a new talent debuting.

Elias Samson song.

Christopher Girard vs. Apollo Crews

Girard is indy star Biff Busick in his NXT debut. Crews punches him into the corner to start and scores with a quick dropkick. Busick comes back with a running European uppercut (From an indy wrestler? You don’t say.) and a chinlock, which he flips backwards to keep Crews in trouble. Another elbow to the face sets up another chinlock as this is starting to drag. Crews gets up with a spear and a running corner splash, followed by the toss into the helicopter bomb for the pin at 5:12.

Rating: D+. You shouldn’t need two extended chinlocks in a five minute match. Girard has a really good look and a lot of intensity but the offense isn’t exactly working so far. He seems similar to Tommaso Ciampa, which makes you wonder why they bothered signing two people who seem so much alike. Then again, you certainly can’t tell how a career is going to go based off one match and it wasn’t a disaster.

We look back at Carmella vs. Bayley from two weeks ago with Eva Marie and Nia Jax attacking until Asuka made the save.

Carmella and Bayley are ready for Eva and Nia tonight. They’re friends now but Carmella wants another shot at the title. Bayley isn’t worried about Asuka, even though she’s going to be a threat down the line.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bull Dempsey

Bull takes 40 seconds to get his shirt off and we get some jumping jacks before any contact. Ciampa wants a test of strength but is quickly run over, setting up a rolling backsplash from Bull. Back up and Ciampa easily drops him with some hard shots and he rips at Bull’s face. Ciampa starts cranking on the arm but misses a charge in the corner, allowing Bull to fire off the left hands. Not that it matters as a Fujiwara Armbar with Ciampa flipping over onto Bull’s back is good for the submission at 4:18.

Rating: D+. I’m pretty sure this is it for Dempsey in NXT and it’s not like he’s going to be that missed. He’s just a comedy jobber and you can put almost anyone into that spot. Ciampa was fine and it’s nice to see him win a match instead of put up a good fight and then lose in the end.

Joe says the announcement means Sami has to suffer twice and that’s just fine with him.

Sami sounds a bit nervous about the two out of three falls match but this is why he came back from the shoulder injury. He’s ready though because his goal is to be the first ever two time NXT Champion.

Carmella/Bayley vs. Nia Jax/Eva Marie

Carmella starts with some Thesz Presses and left hands to Eva, followed by a double suplex to give Bayley a quick two. That means it’s time for Nia to throw Bayley around and easily block a rollup attempt. Eva comes back in and is booed out of the arena, only to have Bayley take her down like the easy target that she is.

We take a break and come back with Carmella holding Eva in a headlock on the mat. Eva gets up and makes the tag off to Nia, who plants Carmella with a shoulder breaker. It’s back to Eva for her grunting based offense, including a choke in the corner. Something like a cobra clutch from Nia keeps the villains in control and she swings Carmella around with ease.

Nia misses a charge and falls out to the floor though, allowing the hot tag to Bayley. The running elbows in the corner have Eva in trouble (like, more trouble than her trying to work a match) but Nia breaks up the cover off the Bayley to Belly. Carmella comes back in for her leg crossface with Nia making another save. Jax drops three straight legs on Carmella, allowing Eva to get the pin at 11:34.

Rating: C-. Nothing to see here but I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing more of Nia and Eva as a one and a fourth headed monster. Carmella clearly wasn’t going anywhere near the title for a long time so having her take the fall here makes the most sense. Eva is still doing well in this heel role but the heat isn’t what it was before.

Regal and Balor are in the back with the boss talking about how Balor is approaching the longest reign in NXT Title history. Therefore, next week he’ll be facing Neville. No word on if that’s a title match or not.

Overall Rating: C. Not their strongest episode but it set up stuff for the next few weeks as well as helped to confirm a lot of what we’re likely to see down in Dallas. This was your usual breezy episode of NXT and it’s nice to not come into a show dreading how bad it might be on any given week.

Results

American Alpha b. Blake and Murphy – Grand Amplitude to Blake

Apollo Crews b. Christopher Girard – Helicopter Bomb

Tommaso Ciampa b. Bull Dempsey – Fujiwara Armbar

Eva Marie/Nia Jax b. Bayley/Carmella – Eva pinned Carmella after three legdrops from Jax

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume IV at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT
Date: February 10, 2016
Location: CFE Arena, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

We’re on the road again and in this case we have a big main event with Bayley defending the Women’s Title against her friend Carmella. This isn’t quite on the level of the Takeover shows and title shots but the big TV shows are almost always good with this hopefully being no exception. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The arena looks almost the same as Full Sail, save for the lack of a ramp.

Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano

The fans chant for JOHNNY WRESTLING and he avoids a charge in the corner before pounding in left hands. Corbin will have none of that and throws Gargano around, followed by some heavy stomping in the corner. We get some good old fashioned yelling at the referee before Corbin slaps on a cobra clutch. Gargano reverses into a choke but gets sent hard into the Deep Six. End of Days is countered with a HARD superkick for two and Corbin rolls to the floor where he’s almost out on his feet. Gargano goes right after him but walks into End of Days for the pin at 5:50.

Rating: C. Gargano is a good hand in there and the Johnny Wrestling name is awesome. I don’t think anyone was expecting Corbin to lose again here but it was cool to see someone get close like that. Nice opener here as it’s almost always worth seeing a match happening for the sake of having a match, especially when it starts the show.

We look back at the end of Zayn vs. Joe vs. Corbin.

Sami is disappointed in the ruling but is willing to go through whatever to get the NXT Title back.

Vaudevillains vignette.

Hype Bros vs. Corey Hollis/John Skyler

Graves is all over Mojo as the announcers disagree over whether the Internet Title is still being defended. Ryder dropkicks Hollis in the face to start and it’s off to Rawley, who declares that Hollis AIN’T HYPED. A double clothesline sends Hollis and Skyler out to the floor and the Hype Bros are in control as you would expect. Back in and Ryder gets in a bit of trouble before Hollis charges into some knees. The hot tag brings in Rawley to clean house and Ryder adds a Broski Boot. The Hype Ryder puts Hollis away at 3:32.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here but the Hype Bros continue to have some excellent energy out there. There’s nothing wrong with a fun team who beats up the lower level acts but then goes nowhere against the top level guys. Let the Hype Bros be a goofy team and then have them lose to some more important team and everything will be fine.

Bayley says keeping the title has been harder than winning it but she’s not ready to let it go yet. Carmella is ready to make the most of her shot and their friendship isn’t in jeopardy.

Alexa Bliss vs. Cameron

I had forgotten about Cameron and her entrance talking (I hear no singing anywhere) of Girl Bye. Cameron armdrags her down before choking on the middle rope. Alexa snaps the throat across the top rope and the fans are really pleased with Bliss’ aggression. Bliss is instantly the face here as the fans start booing Cameron out of the building on near principle alone. It’s nowhere near Eva Marie’s level but they clearly don’t want to see her.

Cameron gets two off a running flip neckbreaker but Bliss puts her down and misses the moonsault into the double knees. It doesn’t matter as Cameron sells it anyway (this one was on Bliss as her knees didn’t really even get close to connecting), setting up the Sparkle Splash for the pin at 4:13.

Rating: D-. Other than Bliss looking good, this was a bordeline disaster. Cameron is some kind of weird flashback to the horrifying days of Divas past where they were all about the looks and how well they filled out tight costumes. This is a different era and the women like Cameron just aren’t going to cut it when we’re likely about to see Bayley carry Carmella to a good match in a few minutes.

Enzo and Cass are ready to start their pursuit of back to back Tag Teams of the Year. Enzo: “We’re back to back like Lethal Weapon 2.” American Alpha comes in to say this is their year before hyping up an eight man tag next week.

Elias Samson vs. Jesse Sorensen

Corey starts things off with a big rant about going to Pittsburgh and being disgusted by all the people playing Nickleback songs as Samson cleans house. The fans get in a DRIFT AWAY chant at Samson, who responds by dropping knees and ripping at Jesse’s face. The snap neckbreaker is good enough to pin Soresen at 2:38.

We look back at Finn Balor pinning Apollo Crews last week.

Crews has no regrets and promises a new Crews next time.

Women’s Title: Carmella vs. Bayley

Carmella is challenging. After the Big Match Intros, it’s time to trade some early holds with neither of them getting the advantage. Carmella’s wristlock has Bayley in some trouble but the fans get her back up with a “HUG HER UP BAYLEY! HUG HER UP!” chant. Bayley slams her down and we take a break.

Back with Bayley cranking on the arms but Carmella slams her into the mat a few times. A hurricanrana staggers Bayley but she sends Carmella into the buckle to take over. Bayley gets sent to the floor though and Carmella actually busts out a suicide cross body for an NXT chant. She even does it again for two back inside and the Staten Island Shuffle looks to set up crossface, only to have Bayley cradle her for two. We hit a nice pinfall reversal sequence with some very close rollups until Bayley keeps her down for the pin at 11:03.

Rating: C+. Yep Bayley is amazing. This was all the match needed to be and Carmella got to have the match of her career so far out there. No one was expecting this to be a masterpiece or even very good so just a nice wrestling match with little drama is just fine. It’s all about Takeover for Bayley now and that’s all it should be about.

Post match Eva Marie and Nia Jax beat Carmella down. Bayley gets taken out as well until Asuka makes the save. Asuka looks at Bayley’s title and smiles that creepy grin of hers.

Samoa Joe says that Sami has no triple threat to hide behind next week. I like this whole ending the show with a promo for the upcoming show. You don’t get that enough.

Overall Rating: B-. Just a nice wrestling show this week which seemed to set up one of the title matches for Dallas. As usual they were going about their business and getting things done as they needed to. Next week’s match will be fun and should give us another match for Takeover (if not earlier) as things continue to roll along very nicely around here.

Results

Baron Corbin b. Johnny Gargano – End of Days

Hype Bros b. Corey Hollis/John Skyler – Hype Ryder to Hollis

Alexa Bliss b. Cameron – Sparkle Splash

Elias Samson b. Jesse Sorensen – Swinging neckbreaker

Bayley b. Carmella – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume IV at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT
Date: February 3, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

It’s a big week here on NXT as we have a non-title match between NXT Champion Finn Balor and Apollo Crews, who had a shot at the title late last year which was interrupted with the match pretty much even. In addition to that we should be getting some updates on the ending to last week’s triple threat match which ended in a double submission. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick preview of Crews vs. Balor.

Opening sequence.

Vaudevillains vs. Hype Bros

The Bros have quite the long entrance with smoke coming down from the ceiling while they pose on the buckles. Mojo rolls English up for two to start as Corey talks about Alf. It’s off to Ryder for a running seated Blockbuster (think a Hennig Necksnap from the other way) but Gotch grabs Zack’s feet to take over.

Simon comes in legally to put on a chinlock as the announcers try to figure out when the Vaudevillains fell off track, which sounds like code for starting their heel turn. Ryder kicks both villains away and makes the tag off to Mojo so Graves can make Ghostbusters jokes due to the bright green gear. Everything breaks down and Ryder misses the Broski Boot, setting up the Whirling Dervish to pin Zack at 4:16.

Rating: C. Totally fine match here though I’m really not sure about either of these teams going anywhere. The Bros are going to stay over no matter what they do based on their incredible energy alone so let them have a few wins here and there to give them a bit of credibility. The Vaudevillains on the other hand……I’m not sure how much further they’re really going to go.

We look back at Carmella winning the battle royal to become #1 contender a few weeks back.

It’s time for a sitdown interview with Carmella where she talks about her dad being a wrestler in the 90s (albeit a jobber) who taught her a bunch of submission grappling. Carmella can’t wait for her title shot next week because she and Bayley are going to be friends no matter what. Tonight she’s going to prove how she deserves to be champion when she defeats Emma. This was a VERY toned down Carmella and showed a completely different side of her which worked better than I was expecting.

Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder are tired of hearing the same things from Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady because they’ve demanded shot after shot. Not that it matters because they’re never going to win any of them since they’re just not that good. They’re fine with giving them one more shot because it’s not going to work.

Carmella vs. Emma

They trade headlocks to start until Emma takes her down and pounds in right hands. A twisting wristlock keeps Carmella on the mat and Emma pulls on both arms at the same time. Carmella fights up but gets pulled down by the hair in a hurry. Emma loads up a butterfly suplex but gets countered into a backslide of all things for the pin at 4:16.

Rating: D+. Well it wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world but it did exactly what it was designed to do. Carmella gets a clean win over someone with some credibility around here, which is really necessary with just a week to go before the title shot against Bayley next week. It’s probably just a one off match so do what you can in the limited time you have.

We look at the end of last week’s triple threat.

Sami Zayn has looked at the video multiple times and thinks he should win because he had the Sharpshooter on longer. He has faith in the outcome.

Joe has nothing to say.

Video on American Alpha.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. ???/???

Before the match, Enzo reiterates that if he and Cass had a dime for every time they were knocked down and didn’t get back up, they would have zero dimes. They are hard bodies and there’s only ONE WORD to describe people who try to knock them down. Enzo easily takes Jobber #1 down to start and does a little dance before scoring off a big knee lift. Cass comes in and throws his partner into Jobber #1 as the announcers have no idea what to call these guys. #2 is LAUNCHED to the floor and the Rocket Launcher ends this in a hurry at 2:14.

Apollo Crews says he gets to prove himself tonight after having that taken away in his first shot at Finn Balor.

William Regal has made his decision on the #1 contendership but Baron Corbin comes into his office to interrupt. There will be a rematch but Corbin isn’t going to be involved. Instead, it’s going to be Zayn vs. Joe for the title shot at some point in the future.

Asuka vs. Santana Garrett

Garrett is quickly sent into the ropes for the running hip attack, followed by a HARD shot to the face. Asuka misses a running knee to the face though and gets rolled up for two. Something like a leapfrog into a cross armbreaker has Garrett in trouble and the Asuka Lock is good for the submission at 2:26.

Finn Balor is looking forward to seeing Zayn vs. Joe but tonight he’s going to prove to Crews that he may be good but he’s not the best.

Apollo Crews vs. Finn Balor

Non-title and non-Demon for Balor. They shake hands to start and Balor starts cranking on an armbar. A headlock keeps Crews in trouble and they’re certainly taking their time here. Crews is stuck in the hold for a full minute but he does keep making Finn work with some rollups. Apollo nips up and scores with a dropkick, which seems to make the announcers think everything is even.

We take a break and come back with Balor caught in a chinlock. Finn rolls through a sunset flip to dropkick a seated Crews before going back to the armbar. Crews gets up one more time for another escape and the champ is getting frustrated. It’s very short lived though as Balor takes him right back down into another armbar as the slow pace continues. Another counter is broken up so Finn knocks him to the floor for a BIG flip dive.

A top rope double stomp to the back (not the Coup de Grace) gets two on Crews and now the shock is setting in. Crews throws him into the air for two off a big Samoan Drop, only to get caught in a Sling Blade. That’s fine with Crews who blocks the basement dropkick and gets two more off the gorilla press/standing moonsault. Balor kicks him in the head and scores with a second Sling Blade, followed by the Coup de Grace for no cover. Instead it’s the Bloody Sunday (not named) for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: B-. This was an interesting one with a nice story of Balor controlling because he’s just flat out better but Crews getting back into things when the match was wrestled in his style. Balor winning in the end with the bigger finisher worked, though the announcers and crowd really didn’t seem to get as into this as they were shooting for. Balor certainly has the stuff but Crews hasn’t really shown that he can do anything more than be athletic.

Balor helps him to his feet post match and they shake hands again. The announcers confirm that it’s Zayn vs. Joe in two weeks to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, they’re building up the big TV shows (taped in a bigger arena to make things feel more special) by using every bit of the TV time they have. Not only are they setting up stuff for the coming weeks, they’re also planting seeds for what’s coming at Takeover in Dallas. Watching this show is like watching your kid succeed in school and doing everything you want them to do. It’s such a nice feeling and they never let me down.

Results

Vaudevillains b. Hype Bros – Whirling Dervish to Ryder

Carmella b. Emma – Backslide

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady b. ???/??? – Rocket Launcher

Asuka b. Santana Garrett – Asuka Lock

Finn Balor b. Apollo Crews – Bloody Sunday

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume IV at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT
Date: January 20, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

We’re in a bit of a weird point in NXT as it’s still a few months before the next announced Takeover and we’re just starting to set up the big feuds before we get to the really big feuds. Next week it’s Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn for the #1 contendership so odds are they’ll get some focus tonight. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Sami Zayn vs. Adam Rose

Sami works on a wristlock to start and spins around into an armbar. We’re already well into the OLE chants but Rose cuts them off with a kick to the head. Some elbow drops set up a chinlock on Sami but he’s quickly on his feet. Rose chops him right back down though and drops a top rope headbutt for two before choking on the ropes. Sami shrugs those off as well though and grabs a Koji Clutch out of nowhere for the submission at 5:27.

Rating: D+. If there’s one thing Sami Zayn does better than almost anyone, it’s taking a beating and making a quick comeback to win while keeping it realistic. Bringing Rose back for a loss like this is the right way to use veterans here because having the big stars come down and treating them like a bigger deal than the NXT roster isn’t going to be accepted. That and Sami is a bigger deal than Rose anyway.

Johnny Gargano says he isn’t intimidated by a bully like Samoa Joe. His solution: punch Joe in the mouth. As long as his heart is beating, Johnny Wrestling will not back down.

Chad Gable and Jason Jordan talk about not being nominated for Tag Team of the Year while Blake and Murphy were on the list. They know they’re getting better and they’re going to the top. Another word for top is alpha and they’re both Americans, so they might as well be called American Alpha.

Tye Dillinger vs. Apollo Crews

Dillinger’s entrance is even more energetic than usual here. They circle each other a bit to start until Dillinger takes him down with a wristlock. A headlock puts Crews on the mat and it’s time for a quick victory lap with Tye giving himself a ten. That earns him a delayed vertical suplex with Crews only slipping a bit as Dillinger knees him in the head. It’s a bit more impressive than when Lashley does it. Dillinger rolls outside but slide back in to hit a dive on Crews. Something like a Codebreaker gets two on Apollo but he pops back up and hits his lifting sitout powerbomb for the pin at 4:35.

Rating: C+. Better match than I was expecting here with Dillinger putting in more effort than I’ve seen from him in a long time. Crews continues to be an amazing athlete but I still haven’t found a reason to connect with him yet. He’s just a guy out there doing a bunch of cool looking stuff with nothing more to him. Talented for sure, but he needs some fine tuning.

Post match Crews says he’s had something on his mind for a few weeks now. He isn’t one to have a match end in a disqualification. Now he knows he hasn’t earned a title shot, but he’d love to face Finn Balor one more time, even in a non-title match.

Alexa Bliss isn’t happy with Blake and Murphy losing in London but she’s going to lead by example tonight when she teams with Emma and beats up Bayley and Carmella.

We get a Vaudevillains vignette with the two of them looking very angry.

Stills of Kevin Owens appearing at the NXT Milwaukee house show.

Baron Corbin vs. Rich Swann

Swann is a longtime indy talent who recently signed with NXT. Corbin throws him into the corner to start and backdrops him into a 450. Off to something like a Tazmission from Corbin before Rich starts using some speed to avoids a few charges. A spinning kick to the face gets two on Corbin but Rich misses something off the top and charges into a big swinging Rock Bottom (called Deep Six) for the pin at 3:14.

Rating: C. Again a better match than I was expecting here with Swann looking solid in his debut. This isn’t a match to judge him off though as he didn’t have a character or anything like that. Then again that’s how a lot of people have started down in NXT and turned out just fine so I wouldn’t be worried. Corbin having a secondary finisher is a good idea as End of Days only works so well.

Bayley and Carmella are ready for their tag match tonight when Dawson and Wilder come in to say Carmella is a loser just like Enzo and Cass. Carmella is so upset that she’s being driven bananas (her words) but Bayley says save it for the match.

Carmella/Bayley vs. Emma/Alexa Bliss

Dana is here with Emma/Bliss. Emma gets in a cheap shot on Bayley and the champ’s ribs are damaged before the opening bell. Bayley starts anyway but is quickly dragged into the corner and stomped in the corner with the villains staying on the bad ribs. We take an early break and come back with Bliss holding Bayley in an armbar. Bayley gets up and hits a quick middle rope dropkick which only hurts her ribs even more. Emma breaks up the hot tag attempt and gets suplexed as a result, only to have Dana offer a distraction to prevent another tag attempt.

The Emma Sandwich (called a cross body in the corner) stays on the ribs and it’s back to Bliss for another armbar, even though Bayley’s hand is grabbing the ropes. Bliss drags her away and that’s good enough for the referee for some reason. Bayley fights out of the corner though and tags in Carmella to take over on Bliss as things speed up. Carmella’s little dance sets up a Bronco Buster and the leg crossface makes Bliss tap at 9:26.

Rating: C+. Standard formula tag match here with Bayley playing the perfect face in peril until Carmella gets to make the comeback for the win. It makes a lot more sense to have Carmella get the win here as she needs to be built up before the title match and what better way to do that than by beating one of the many midcard heels?

Balor agrees to give Crews a non-title match.

Johnny Gargano vs. Samoa Joe

The fans start a JOHNNY WRESTLING chant which is such an awesome name. Joe drives him into the corner to start and grinds his forearm over Johnny’s face before elbowing him in the jaw. Gargano snaps off a quick enziguri to put Joe on the floor, only to have him kick Johnny’s leg out to take over again. The snap jabs have Gargano in trouble again and Joe kicks the leg out one more time, sending Gargano into a near 360.

Another kick puts Gargano on the floor but he dives in at nine with Graves ripping on him for going back to the beating. Back in and a quick enziguri and DDT stagger Joe but he kicks Gargano out of the air on a slingshot attempt. Gargano is already knocked silly so the Koquina Clutch puts him out of his misery at 4:30.

Rating: C+. Joe is the kind of guy who can work this physical ROH style and make it look good in short bursts. The Ciampa match was better but this was another hard hitting match where both guys came out looking good, even though this was pretty one sided for the most part. Gargano is another name that should be fine.

Overall Rating: B. This is where NXT continues to amaze me. They can have a week of nothing but storytelling and then the next week they do almost nothing but solid wrestling. The triple threat is looking better and you have another big match to build towards with Crews vs. Balor, even though it’s non-title. As usual, they set up a goal and then they accomplish it, usually in the span of just a week. That’s unheard of in today’s wrestling and NXT does it nearly every single time. Well done, as usual.

Results

Sami Zayn b. Adam Rose – Koji Clutch

Apollo Crews b. Tye Dillinger – Lifting sitout powerbomb

Baron Corbin b. Rich Swann – Deep Six

Carmella/Bayley b. Emma/Alexa Bliss – Leg crossface to Bliss

Samoa Joe b. Johnny Gargano – Koquina Clutch

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT
Date: January 13, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

It’s the first regular show of the new year and we’re at the start of a new taping cycle. We’ve got a few months to go before we get to the next Takeover, assuming there isn’t another one before Wrestlemania weekend. In addition to that, we’re getting something like the NXT Slammy Awards tonight with the end of the year awards. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The announcers welcome us to the show for a change.

Here’s General Manager William Regal to announce tonight’s main event: a battle royal for the #1 contendership to the Women’s Title. With that out of the way, Regal introduces someone who hasn’t been here in a long time: Sami Zayn.

Sami thinks the fans remember him but gets cut off by OLE and WELCOME BACK chants. In case you don’t know him, he’s the lead singer of a band and that OLE chant is their lead single. He’s also a man responsible for building NXT and making what it is today. They just sold out a UK tour but it’s nice to be back home at Full Sail University. Sami is back for a reason though, and that is to become the first ever two time NXT Champion.

This brings out Samoa Joe who doesn’t seem to think much of Sami’s plans. Joe doesn’t know why Sami thinks he deserves another shot because the last time he had a title shot, it was Joe who had to come out here and save him. Finn Balor barely survived against Joe in London so if Sami wants to keep his shoulder in one piece, he better walk away right now.

Now it’s Baron Corbin interrupting to say that he actually won at Takeover. While Sami was gone, he was surpassed by someone more durable so Sami needs to go to the back of the line. Joe brings up choking Corbin out and tells Sami to mind his place in his ring. The ring is Sami’s place but Corbin jumps him from behind, only to get kicked in the face and knocked to the floor. Joe backs off from Sami who is left standing alone.

Bayley says she survived against Nia Jax instead of actually winning. Tonight she’s looking forward to seeing who survives in the battle royal and she might even give the winner a hug. She actually does hug Rich Brennan.

It’s time for the End of the Year Award winners, announced in a video package. The trophies are golden ring bells.

Tag Team of the Year: Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady

Female Competitor of the Year: Bayley

Male Competitor of the Year: Finn Balor

NXT Takeover of the Year: Takeover: Brooklyn

Match of the Year: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks – Takeover: Brooklyn

Overall Competitor of the Year: Finn Balor

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Danny Burch

Ciampa takes him down by the arm to start but Burch gets up and scores with a middle rope dropkick to take over. That just ticks Ciampa off so he blasts Burch in the face with a forearm. Something like a hanging Downward Spiral off the top rope gets two for Ciampa but Burch pops him in the jaw for the same. They slug it out until Ciampa takes him down and grabs a flip over armbar (picture Becky Lynch’s Disarm-Her but with Ciampa laying over Burch’s back instead of sitting on the shoulder) for the tap out at 3:42.

Rating: C. This was a hard hitting brawl while it lasted but I’m not entirely sold on Ciampa. The armbar was a nice finisher but it seems like almost everyone is using a submission hold these days. As usual though, NXT does a great job of using jobbers to set up bigger stars, which is almost unheard of on the main roster for the last several years.

Enzo and Cass say they haven’t forgotten about Dash and Dawson taking them out. The champs hid behind a woman like chicken tenders and next time business will be finished.

Billie Kay, Deonna Purrazzo and Emma all say they’ll win the battle royal.

Two weeks from tonight, Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin for the #1 contendership.

Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder vs. Ascension

Non-title. Wilder gets in Viktor’s face to start but gets pounded into the corner for his efforts. Ascension is the clear crowd favorite here which is really strange to see. It’s off to Dawson, who has a bit more luck by taking Viktor to the mat for two. The champs beat Viktor down in the corner and we hit the chinlock for a bit. Viktor fights up and catches Dawson in an STO, allowing for the hot tag off to Konnor. The flapjack drops Wilder and everything breaks down, allowing a blind tag to set up the Shatter Machine on Konnor for the pin at 4:10.

Rating: C+. I liked this a bit better and it’s probably due to the false hope that Ascension might actually start being booked like a power team instead of the goofs they’ve been since their Raw debut. Or maybe it was the Shatter Machine which is a really awesome looking finisher for such a slow paced team.

Nia Jax isn’t medically cleared for the battle royal. Eva Marie says she has this.

Carmella, Peyton Royce and Alexa Bliss say they’ll win.

Elias Samson vs. Corey Hollis

Samson forearms him down to start and stomps away in the corner. A throw sends Hollis flying and Samson stop to laugh. Samson looks down at him before grabbing a hard swinging neckbreaker for the pin at 2:20.

Samson says what this place needs is what he is.

Finn Balor says the match against Samoa Joe was the most draining match of his career but he faces every challenger head to head. Now he’s just going to wait to find out his next opponent. Corbin thinks he’s the uncrowned champion, Sami is a friend and Joe is the one that will never go away.

Cameron, Aliyah, Asuka and Liv Morgan promise to win. Well Cameron promises to win the battle royal to become #1 contender to the Women’s battle royal but you get the idea.

Battle Royal

Carmella, Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss, Aliyah, Cameron, Liv Morgan, Billie Kay, Deonna Purrazzo, Emma, Eva Marie, Asuka

Eva gets right in Asuka’s face to start and is quickly dropped with a shot to the face. The other nine all circle Asuka with Emma jumping her, starting everyone else into a brawl. Eva is out on the floor but not eliminated, likely to reduce her chances of severely injuring someone during the match.

We take an early break and come back with no eliminations but Cameron throws Aliyah out a few seconds later. Cameron gets rid of Purrazzo as well, followed by Morgan botching something that looked like a powerbomb. She tries it again but Bliss comes up from behind and tosses Morgan and Cameron at the same time. Emma gets Carmella in the Dilemma to send her underneath the ropes and out to the floor, meaning no elimination. Bliss chokes Emma, only to be put on the apron and punched off for an elimination.

We’re down to Emma, Royce, Kay, Asuka, Eva and Carmella, with the final two on the floor. Emma has to kick away the other two Australians, only to have Asuka kick her out of the corner for an elimination. Billie and Peyton put Asuka on the apron but of course start fighting over who gets to eliminate her. Asuka puts them both on the apron and hip attacks both of them to the floor to get us down to three. Eva sneaks in and eliminates Asuka, freaking out the crowd until Carmella throws Eva out for the win at 10:45.

Rating: C-. These things are always hard to rate but the false finish was a nice way to tease the crowd. It says a lot that they had to have two people on the floor until the end for the double false finish. The other good thing here though is they kept Asuka safe, likely for a big showdown in Texas against Bayley.

Carmella celebrates until Bayley comes out for a hug. Asuka gives them an evil smile to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show was much more about setting stuff up instead the show itself which is good long term but not the most interesting hour on its own. The triple threat in two weeks should be really good and they’re already doing a good job of setting up the women’s division with the new names. I mean, they’re not the Four Horsewomen but at least they’re trying and should be filling things in quite well. Good enough show here but again it’s about setting stuff up later on.

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NXT
Date: September 23, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

It’s another night in the Dusty Classic as we’re moving towards Takeover: Respect with the semi-finals and finals of the tournament as well as a thirty minute Iron Woman match for the Women’s Title. Tonight is likely to be about the tournament and filling in the rest of the card for the show on October 7. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Eva Marie vs. Carmella

Oh this one could hurt. Carmella shoulders her into the corner to start and throws Eva to the floor so we can get a Moonwalk inside. Back in and Eva’s suplex is booed out of the building as the announcers talk about Eva not being accepted for her improvements. A big boot drops Carmella for two (fans: “THAT’S A KICKOUT!”) and we hit a bow and arrow hold. Fans: “ALL BOTCH EVERYTHING!” Carmella fights back and starts dancing around like Enzo before ramming Emma into the buckle for two. Eva comes back by throwing Carmella to the floor for a big crash and a countout win at 5:10.

Rating: D. So here’s the thing: the story makes sense and yeah Eva is going to get a ton of heat when she probably takes the title from Bayley, but a lot of people, myself included, are going to get annoyed at sacrificing everything the women in NXT have built up for the sake of pushing someone because she’s occasionally on a reality show that doesn’t even draw a million people a week. Yeah that match that sold the Brooklyn show and was all successful and good, but now let’s get rid of it for a woman getting on the job training to be the next Nikki Bella. That’s life in WWE and it’s something we just have to live with.

Nia Jax is still coming. Nothing has changed since Takeover.

Recap of the announcement of the Iron Woman match.

Tyler Breeze vs. Bull Dempsey

Their tag team was a failure and Bull is getting in better shape. Tyler uses the referee as a shield to start and is thrown around like a doll. Bull messes with the hair to really get under Breeze’s skin, causing Tyler to send him out to the floor. Unlike Carmella though, Bull is able to get back in off a whip to the floor. Must be the Bull Fit. Fans: “BULL FIT WORKS!”

Back from a break with Tyler ripping at Bull’s face before opting for a regular headlock. Graves: “Now going down into the trapezius. I learned my anatomy from Gorilla Monsoon.” Bull throws him off and gets all fired up as Breeze punches him. Some left jabs drop Breeze but he’s able to roll to the ropes before Bull can drop the headbutt. Bull goes up again for some reason, only to have Tyler pull him off for the pin with his feet on the ropes at 10:19.

Rating: C. Bull Fit is a nice idea but Breeze winning here was the right idea. Breeze has the potential to really go somewhere in NXT and winning matches and feuds like this are a good sign for him. Dempsey needs to drop some more weight but the fans are getting into the gimmick which is the most important sign.

Clips of the Texas tour.

William Regal brings out Japanese star Kana, whose Titantron video says Asuka. Regal pronounces the new name as “Aska” and asks if there’s anything she’d like to say. Asuka says she’s happy to be here and wants to be NXT Women’s Champion. They sign the contract but here are Dana Brooke and Emma to interrupt. Regal chides them for their rudeness and it gets even worse as they mock Asuka’s English. They’re the ones who ran Charlotte and Becky Lynch off so Asuka better play nice. A dejected Asuka starts to leave but the fans chant her name. Azuka turns back and smiles before slowly leaving.

Tyler Breeze doesn’t have much to say about his match with Apollo Crews at Takeover. Crews comes up and is far more excited about the match than Tyler is.

Feature on the Dusty Classic. Here are the updated brackets:

Samoa Joe/Finn Balor vs. Colin Cassidy/Enzo Amore

Dash/Dawson

Hype Bros vs. Chad Gable/Jason Jordan

Baron Corbin/Rhyno

The Hype Bros and Gable/Jordan are both ready for next week.

Tag Team Titles: Vaudevillains vs. Blake and Murphy

Vaudevillains are defending in the rematch from Takeover: Brooklyn. Gotch shoulders Blake down for two to start and here’s Blue Pants to chase Alexa into the ring for a brawl. Both of them head to the back and English slaps a chinlock on Blake. Blake comes right back with a headlock of his own but Aiden armdrags both challengers down with ease. Murphy back suplexes English onto the apron and we take a break.

Back with English still in trouble off a kick to the face and a chinlock from Blake. Murphy’s chinlock keeps the match slow until English comes back with a hard slap to the face. Gotch and Blake come in with Simon’s screwy offense taking over. Everything breaks down and Blake gets his knees up to stop Aiden’s middle rope senton. English gets two off a rollup and sends Murphy to the floor, allowing Simon to come back in for the Whirling Dervish to retain at 12:17.

Rating: C-. That was certainly chinlocky. It was much more boring than bad though as there was almost no chance of the titles changing back here. I’m assuming the winners of the tournament, likely Gable/Jordan, are the next challengers, which makes more sense than anything else.

Enzo and Big Cass are thankful for everything Dusty did for them and want to win the tournament in his honor. They respect Balor and Joe as well, but respect goes out the window next week.

Balor and Joe say Cass and Enzo might be the realest guys in the room but they’re the toughest guys on the block and you can’t teach that.

Overall Rating: C. Not the worst show in the world here but it was much more about setting stuff up for later shows. The tournament is mostly set up now and we have a good chunk of Takeover set with the Iron Woman match guaranteed to take up thirty minutes and the tournament matches filling in most of the rest of the card. Fun enough show here but it was much more of a building episode than anything else.

Results

Eva Marie b. Carmella via countout

Tyler Breeze b. Bull Dempsey – Pin with feet on the ropes

Vaudevillains b. Blake and Murphy – Whirling Dervish to Blake

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NXT
Date: September 9, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves

The Dusty Classic continues this week as we get to see a few more first round matches tonight. The tournament has taken the promotion by storm and it’s already more interesting than I was hoping for it to be. We’re also just about a month away from the next Takeover, which needs a card built up in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Peyton Royce vs. Carmella

Royce used to be K.C. Cassidy but this is billed as her debut. Feeling out process to start as they trade rollups, followed by Carmella busting out a moonwalk. A suplex gets two more on Carmella and we hit the chinlock. Carmella fights back up an elbows Royce in the jaw before slapping on a chinlock of her own. Back up and Royce fires off some nice kicks in the corner, followed by a middle rope cross body for two. They’re already showing more energy than the Bellas have displayed in a long time. Carmella comes right back with that crossface with her legs for the submission at 5:03.

Rating: D. That’s one of the lower ratings I’ve given an NXT match in a long time but this didn’t work. A five minute match doesn’t need two extended chinlocks. The sudden finish didn’t do it any favors either as this felt like they jumped to the ending instead of building there like a normal match. Royce has some good potential but needs more molding.

Samoa Joe asked Finn Balor if he’s ready. The champ certainly is but Joe tells him not to forget his belt. Joe hands him the title, after staring at it a bit first.

In other first round matches, Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady beat Sawyer Fulton/Angelo Dawkins and Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder beat Elias Sampson/Tucker Knight. It’s really smart to not air the whole thing on TV as we don’t need to every single first round match.

Nia Jax is still coming.

Dusty Classic First Round: Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano vs. Bull Dempsey/Tyler Breeze

Ciampa and Breeze get things going with Tommaso getting in a great slap to the jaw. It’s off to Bull, who is dubbed as gorgeous by the crowd. Ciampa takes him down to the mat so it’s quickly back to Breeze, who is taken into the corner and rolled up for two by Gargano. Tyler is trying to recover in the corner and tags out to the big man, who gets kicked in the head upon arrival. Ciampa’s running knee to the head gets two and we hit the chinlock.

Back from a break with Ciampa on Bull’s back in a sleeper, so Dempsey just falls backwards for the break. Use the natural assets man. Gargano comes in and knocks Breeze off the apron, meaning there’s no one there for Bull to tag. Bull fights back on his own with a Bionic Elbow but knocks his partner off the apron again. Gargano grabs a sunset flip and Ciampa makes it a jackknife rollup to pin Dempsey at 8:44.

Rating: C-. This was more of a story than a match though it’s always cool to see some indy stars brought in to NXT. Dempsey vs. Breeze could be an interesting match if they have Bull act like his old self, though I’m not sure how far the Bull Fit gimmick can really go. Ciampa and Gargano were fine here but there’s only so much you can get out of a short match like this.

The Lucha Dragons are ready for their match and warn Joe/Balor to not overlook them because these dragons breathe fire.

Dana Brooke is mad (though not because she hasn’t patted Devon on the head recently) for having to see Bayley win that Women’s Title. She turned down a spot in the Arnold Classic in Spain to be here and now she wants her title.

Video on Tye Dillinger.

Dana Brooke vs. Billie Kay

They trade headlocks to start with Billie taking it down to the mat. A headscissors messes Brooke up even more as a weak Total Diva chant breaks out. Brooke slams her into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs as the confidence is back. The handstand choke sets up a chinlock on Kay which quickly switches to a headscissors choke. Brooke stops a comeback with an enziguri and the fireman’s carry driver is good for the pin at 5:23.

Rating: D+. These new girls are a far cry from the Four Horsewomen but Brooke is probably the furthest along of all of them and one of the best options to face Bayley. Billie is another one where we can’t really tell what’s going on in such a short performance, especially when most of it was spent on the mat.

Apollo Crews calls the fans the Apollo Nation. They’re ready to take over NXT. Can we please stop calling everything a nation or a team? You can come up with something more creative than that.

Bayley’s biggest fan Izzy was at the WWE Performance Center to meet Bayley in person. That’s always cool.

Bayley is back next week.

Dusty Classic First Round: Samoa Joe/Finn Balor vs. Lucha Dragons

This is from a Smackdown taping in Providence, Rhode Island with Tom Phillips and Jimmy Uso on commentary. Balor and Cara get things going and a loud NXT chant starts up. The champ tries to slow things down with an armbar but gets caught in a headlock instead. Jimmy is asked advice on how to win the tournament. Jimmy: “Don’t get kicked in the face like that!” Balor sends Cara to the floor and dives on both guys and we take a break.

Back with Joe tagging Balor in and the champion being slammed down in the corner. Kalisto gets two off a flipping splash and puts on a waistlock. Finn fights up and gets in enough shots to make the tag to Joe. The Dragons are thrown all over the ring but Cara comes back with a sloppy tornado DDT for two. Cara tries to charge at Joe in the corner and has to slip out of the Muscle Buster. Kalisto tags himself in and gets two off a quick hurricanrana, only to charge into the release Rock Bottom. The Muscle Buster into the Coup de Grace eliminate the Dragons at 11:16.

Rating: C+. This got a lot better as it went on and the last two minutes or so were really good. The best part here is either team winning would have made sense as the Dragons have been successful in NXT and it’s pretty clear that Balor vs. Joe is coming in the near future. It wasn’t a great match or anything, but it picked up a pretty lame show otherwise.

Overall Rating: C-. Definitely not their best show but the tournament kept it from being dull. They’re rapidly approaching the next Takeover and you can see some of the card, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had the semi-finals and finals at the show to fill in some time. The wrestling wasn’t great tonight though and the new featured women need some work. Then again, I said the same thing about Sasha and Bayley about a year ago and they’ve turned out very well.

Results

Carmella b. Peyton Royce – Crossface leg lock

Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano b. Tyler Breeze/Bull Dempsey – Jackknife rollup to Dempsey

Dana Brooke b. Billie Kay – Fireman’s carry driver

Samoa Joe/Finn Balor b. Lucha Dragons – Coup de Grace to Kalisto

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NXT
Date: July 1, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves

It’s the show before the big title match in Tokyo and we actually have a main event announced in advance. This week’s big match is Samoa Joe/Finn Balor vs. Rhyno/Kevin Owens, which isn’t exactly what the champ should be doing but it makes sense given the story. I can’t imagine Owens is champion next week but I’ve been surprised before. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is just a quick preview of the tag match.

Vaudevillains vs. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder

Gotch and Wilder start things off with Dash quickly shoving him into the corner for a tag off to Dawson. Well that was pointless. Simon gets a quick two out of the corner and it’s off to English for a MANLY elbow. A back elbow and knee drop put Simon down and Dawson drives elbows into the face. The manliness starts running low though so it’s off to English to squeeze the juice out of oranges and shave with broken glass. Or maybe for the Whirling Dervish from English for the pin at 3:07.

Rating: D+. This was basically a squash and a way for the Vaudevillains to say that they’re here as faces. The fans are going to cheer for the MANLY stuff because it’s goofy fun and the guys are good enough to make a pretty unique gimmick work. I like the team, but they need some better opponents than a pair of jobbers.

Becky Lynch has a hip flexor injury and will be out for a few weeks.

Baron Corbin vs. Tucker Knight

Knight looks a lot like Rusev. End of Days in 47 seconds.

The Vaudevillains and Enzo/Cass are in Regal’s office. As you might expect, he snaps after about ten seconds of chattering. It’s a #1 contenders match next week.

It’s time for the last part of the Finn Balor documentary. Balor talks about loving how he spawns creativity from fans with their art. Some of the pictures are cool and I know I’m right because Sami Zayn agrees. We see the Finn Balor debut with Prince Devitt popping up on screen and how he knew the fans were accepting him.

The name is a combination of an Irish warrior named Finwick who went to war against the evil King Balor. The fact that his dad is named Finn didn’t hurt either. Matt Bloom (Jason Albert, NXT trainer) says there wasn’t much in ring stuff to teach him but he had to learn cameras. Balor says every entrance is a movie, which is an interesting way to look at it.

Quick talk about the Demon giving him more confidence before it’s off to saying he’s ready to take the title in Japan. A music video of him with some kids doing the Balor pose and everyone talking about how amazing Balor is ends this. These three parts are collected in an NXT special and I really, REALLY recommend you take the thirty minutes to watch it. These are some of the best documentaries WWE has ever done and they make me think Balor is ready for the WWE main event scene right now.

Eva Marie trained earlier today as Regal watched. That could be anywhere between a pleasant surprise to my mind exploding in shock to exactly the disaster a lot of people are expecting.

Emma vs. Carmella

The lack of caring for Carmella when Enzo and Cass aren’t there is astounding. Feeling out process to start with Carmella taking her down in a headlock, followed by a hurricanrana out of the corner. Emma grabs the ropes (that’s kind of lame) and puts on a bodyscissors for a bit. Carmella fights back and hits a running boot to the side of the head, only to be pulled down into the Emma Lock for the tap out at 4:12.

Rating: D+. This is more proof that there are two kinds of NXT Divas. Some of them are capable of having a classic match if they’re given enough time and look as polished as any male wrestler. Then you have the lower level, who look about the same as most of the main roster Divas and do little for me. Guess which group these two are in.

Bull Dempsey tries to break open a vending machine when Regal shows up to yell at him. The chocolate on Dempsey’s lips don’t make things any better.

Jason Jordan is annoyed at losing again last week so Chad Gable comes up to offer his services again.

Tyler Breeze vs. Tye Dillinger

Dillinger charges into a boot to start but slugs Breeze down to take over. Tye mocks the photos and the fans give him a ten, which hasn’t been explained on NXT so far. A hurricanrana and right hands (straight out of Shawn Michaels’ playbook) set up the Beauty Shot for the pin at 2:50.

Emma and Dana Brooke interrupt a Sasha Banks interview to admire the Women’s Title. A challenge is thrown down and Sasha says she’ll find a partner.

Rhyno/Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe/Finn Balor

Joe is billed at 302lbs which sounds bigger than you would think, but it’s nice to just admit that he’s a bigger guy. Rhyno and Joe slug it out to start with Joe taking over and nailing the jumping kick in the corner. Off to Balor vs. Owens with Finn dropkicking him down but being sent to the floor for daring to try a suplex. Back from a break with the champ holding Balor in a chinlock. That’s really dull stuff so it’s back to Rhyno for a delayed vertical suplex with some squats thrown in.

Points to Rhyno for picking things up a bit. Owens puts on another chinlock but makes sure to stick out his tongue to the crowd because he makes chinlocks something special. Some of the time at least. We get the Cena finishing sequence but Balor escapes the AA and makes the hot tag to Joe. Rhyno plants him with a spinebuster and Owens adds something resembling a Pop Up Powerbomb. It’s back to Balor for a Pele though and the Gore nails the champ by mistake, setting up the Coup de Grace for the pin on Owens (first time in NXT) at 12:40.

Rating: C. This was fine, but what does Joe actually add to NXT? He’s just Joe at this point and hasn’t done anything other than his first big showdown. Maybe now that Owens is going to be shifting to the main roster he might have a story coming soon, but there’s nothing significant for him right now. I’d love to see him do something and it’s WAY too early to write him off, but so far there’s nothing special. There’s nothing to talk about with the match as it’s booking 101 to set up a title match.

Overall Rating: C. Much like the main event, this was fine but there’s not much you need to see here. Balor continues to look like a million bucks and Breeze is actually an awesome face due to the amount of hard work he’s put in over the last year or so. Overall though this feels like the doldrums that NXT hits when they’re about to start getting ready for a big Takeover, which I believe is around Summerslam time. Totally watchable show that set up some future matches, but not much on its own.

Results

Vaudevillains b. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder – Whirling Dervish to Dawson

Baron Corbin b. Tucker Knight – End of Days

Emma b. Carmella – Emma Lock

Tyler Breeze b. Tye Dillinger – Beauty Shot

Finn Balor/Samoa Joe b. Rhyno/Kevin Owens – Coup de Grace to Owens

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NXT
Date: June 17, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan

It’s a big week here in NXT as last week saw Samoa Joe challenging Kevin Owens to a title shot but getting turned down because he hasn’t racked up enough wins yet. Fair point said Commissioner William Regal, so it’s a non-title match tonight instead. This is probably just filler until we get to July 4 in Japan but NXT filler is still good stuff. Let’s get to it.

As you would expect, this show is dedicated to the American Dream Dusty Rhodes.

We open with the Dusty tribute video, which is still awesome stuff.

Opening sequence.

Blake/Murphy/Alexa Bliss vs. Carmella/Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady

Enzo’s speech this week is about Star Wars but he keeps it short. Carmella wants a piece of Alexa Bliss, and Cass is nice enough to spell out the one word that describes Blake, Murphy and Bliss. There’s a new ring announcer who sounds like he has no idea who any of these people are. He has a good, deep voice though. The fans think Blake and Murphy look stupid but switch to BONAFIDE STUD/CERTIFIED G.

Blake and his headlock slow Enzo down to start before a shoulder puts him on the mat. With nothing else working, Enzo opts to dance and hits a very unique cross body where he doesn’t actually jump but takes Blake down anyway. Everything breaks down and the Long Island guys (and Carmella) clean house.

Back from a break with Enzo slugging Blake down but getting dropped from behind by Murphy. We hit the headlock on the mat for a good while before Cass gets dropped off the apron. Enzo avoids a charge in the corner though and makes the tag off to Carmella, meaning Alexa has to come in. Carmella dominates in a hurry as everything breaks down again. Cass plants Blake with the side slam, setting up the Rocket Launcher for the pin at 10:22.

Rating: C-. This was fine, but there’s a major point that caught my eye here. Since turning heel, Alexa has been wearing more revealing attire and Carmella was wearing even less than usual tonight. However, other than Enzo calling Carmella hot during the entrance, their looks or attire are never addressed. The lack of comments from Lawler or the girls ripping on each other for their appearances and just fighting because they hate each other. I love that about NXT and it continues to show how lame and behind the times the Divas division really is.

Stills of Cena vs. Owens II and the aftermath.

Joe is here to deal with Kevin Owens but more than that he’s here because he wants to wrestle in places that are cutting edge. That explains the departure from TNA as I doubt they could even cut paper. As for Owens, his running away last week told Joe that he didn’t want to fight. Tonight though, the NXT World Champion (that’s a new one) is getting what he deserves.

We get the first part of a look at Finn Balor, mainly due to a sitdown interview. First question: who is Fergal Devitt? Balor talks about growing up in Ireland and how his dad built his way up from a cleaner to a train engineer in a cool story. One day a show called Superstars came on his TV and he was instantly hooked. We get some really cool clips of him in some tiny independents as well as Insane Championship Wrestling (Scotland) and Revolution Pro Wrestling UK.

Becky Lynch cries talking about how Fergal (her word) opened a wrestling school in Ireland and got her into the business as a result. She lied about her age to get into the school and so that Fergal might ask her out, which apparently he did. There are some really cool pictures of the two of them going through school and starting their careers, including stuff like being in the ring or just listening to music together so you could tell they were close.

There are clips from Insane Championship Wrestling with him in the demon paint where the announcers praise him for being amazing. Next up was New Japan but he said he’s be back to Ireland. This was about eight minutes long and totally awesome as it made me care about Balor more than I even have before. Part two is next week.

Charlotte vs. K.C. Cassidy

A headscissors takes Cassidy down to start but she comes back with a quick rollup for two. That goes nowhere as Charlotte kicks her in the face and chokes with the boot when asking the referee about the speed of the count. Charlotte’s cravate doesn’t work very well as K.C. comes back with a cross body for two, only to have her eat a spear (good selling too). The Figure Eight makes Cassidy tap at 3:50.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here to remind us that Charlotte is awesome before she gets back into it with Barrett and Emma for the big feud. That spear looked good and could be a good power finisher for her as Charlotte is tall and strong enough to make it work well. Cassidy has potential but is clearly not that experienced.

Dana Brooke says she’s misunderstood because she’s a current fitness competitor who isn’t scared one of Charlotte. She’s replacing Charlotte because she’s the total diva and not using her family name to get into NXT. I have no idea what Carmella was looking at that was just a foot or so off camera but it made her look really weird. She makes up for it just a bit by coming back to pat Devon on the head.

Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe

Non-title. The crowd going silent when Joe’s music changes tells you all you need to know about how horrible it really is. Owens bails to the floor to start but Joe goes right after him and gets in the champ’s face. Back in and the fans already think this is awesome. Not so fast kids. Owens: “THE CHAMP IS HERE!” That earns him a right hand to the face and a big chop to the head as Joe gets in the first offense.

A back elbow drops Kevin again as the fans are quieter than you would expect. The corner enziguri sets up the Facewash and the big running boot to the face to send Owens outside for a break. Back with Joe missing a charge in the corner, allowing Owens to hit a Cannonball, almost out of desperation. A chinlock keeps Joe in trouble and the second version slows things down even more. Fans: “HEADLOCK CITY!” It’s a chinlock but points for creativity.

The hold is finally broken and Joe drops his own backsplash for two. Something like a running enziguri gets the same on the champ but he fights out of the Muscle Buster. They fight to the floor but Owens can’t powerbomb the baron of the buffet. The referee gets shoved down and that’s a DQ at 14:39.

Rating: C-. This was more of an angle than a match but that chinlock in the middle killed everything they had going. I have a feeling they’ll move on to Balor vs. Owens for now before Joe gets his big title match, or maybe just a non-title match against Owens instead. Fun power brawl while it lasted, but that chinlock went on way too long. It was much more of a preview than a showdown.

They do the big brawl with security not being able to hold them back post match. Owens shouts that the champ is here to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It was another of those setting the future shows, which are often some of the best episodes NXT puts out. The Tag Team Title rematch is set, Charlotte looked dominant and Brooke is ready to fight her, there’s a reason for Joe vs. Owens II and you top it off with the really awesome Balor video. That’s quite an impressive use of 53 minutes as you have four stories set up, which could cover a month of upcoming TV. It’s back to efficient for NXT and that’s what they do best.

Results

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady/Carmella b. Blake/Murphy/Alexa Bliss – Rocket Launcher to Blake

Charlotte b. K.C. Cassidy – Figure Eight

Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe went to a double DQ when they both shoved the referee

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume III at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT
Date: June 10, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton

The big story tonight is the in ring debut of Samoa Joe, who debuted a few weeks back and has had some intense staredowns with NXT Champion Kevin Owens. It should be interesting to see who Joe’s first victim is, because it’s fairly clear that he’s coming for Owens and the title. Right now though, Finn Balor is the #1 contender and will be facing Owens for the title in Tokyo on July 4. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is all about Joe debuting in NXT and setting his sights on the title.

Opening sequence.

Zack Ryder/Mojo Rawley vs. Mike Rallis/Elias Samson

Ryder is WAY over here and the fans even seem happy to see Rawley. Mojo shoves Rallis down, slams Samson, but then stop, HAMMER TIME. Ryder comes in and takes some shoulders in the ribs, only to raise his knees in the corner to stop a charge. The middle rope dropkick sets up the Broski Boot but Samson offers a distraction to take over.

We hit the chinlock but a GET HYPED chant brings Ryder to his feet for the hot tag to Rawley. Mojo cleans house with some very fast paced offense, including a big running punch and capped off by a middle rope Hart Attack with the Rough Ryder instead of the clothesline for the pin on Samson at 3:55.

Rating: C. I’ve always liked Ryder and this was a good sign for him. A lot of guys could use a recharge down in NXT and Ryder is probably at the top of that list. He clearly still has a following as the fans were all over him. Rawley was doing exactly what he should have done all along here: cleaned house and never looked back. One of his biggest problems was getting beaten up until the last 45 seconds of the match for a big comeback. Guys like him should hardly ever be on defense and the reaction was a lot better as a result.

Finn Balor promo with his voice talking about how everyone has two sides. Shots of the demon paint keep appearing until “FINN BALOR ARRIVES – July 4 in Tokyo” comes on screen. Oh that’s going to be amazing.

Dana Brooke video. She’s the Total Diva.

Emma vs. Blue Pants

SHE’S BAAAAACK! Big Cass’ Price Is Right entrance music got one of the loudest reactions in recent weeks. The fans are smart enough to know that it’s Blue Pants’ birthday. Emma jumps her to start, making her the most hated woman in the promotion. A dropkick gets two and we hit the bow and arrow on Blue Pants. Fans: “BLUE PANTS ROCKS!” Blue Pants gets some rollups for two but it’s back to the chinlock. Emma drops an elbow to the back of the head for two more but Blue Pants comes back with some kicks to the head. Blue Pants gets going but Emma trips her down and the Emma Lock gets the submission at 4:40.

Rating: D+. Here’s the key thing about Blue Pants: she isn’t used that often. They could bring her in more often for some loud reactions, but they would eventually die down because Blue Pants is so beloved due to being a special attraction. If this were the main roster, she would be in five segments a night and people would get sick of her in two weeks. This common sense stuff is addictive.

Enzo, Cass and Carmella say that Blake/Murphy/Bliss wouldn’t last one week in the Hunger Games and if they grew up where they’re from, it would be time to go live with Uncle Phil. Six person tag next week.

Tyler Breeze vs. Bull Dempsey

Dempsey knees him in the head to start and we’re quickly in a chinlock. Fans: “BULL IS GORGEOUS/NO HE’S NOT!” Back up and the standing splash sets up the top rope headbutt but Breeze rolls away before the jump. Breeze gets him in a chance around the ring and Bull keeps getting winded. Fans: “CARDIO! CARDIO!” Breeze laps Bull, throws him inside and gives him a Beauty Shot for the pin at 2:49. Tyler is basically a face now due to all of his hard work and string of good matches.

We look back at Becky Lynch’s standing ovation after losing to Sasha Banks. Brennan’s nickname for her: The Lass Kicker. As much as I hate myself for this, I kind of dig that name.

Becky Lynch vs. Jesse McKay

Becky has a very high energy entrance now, complete with smoke along the entrance. The fans are responding to it and it’s easy to sey why. McKay used to wrestle in Shimmer under the same name. Jesse gets in a kick to the ribs to start, followed by another to the face. An armbar has Becky in some trouble but she comes back with a hammerlock suplex and some legdrops. “BETTER THAN HOGAN!” Let’s not get crazy here. Something like a torture rack Samoan drop sets up the armbar (Rich: “The Disgoosted Armbar!” Graves: “The WHAT?”) for the submission at 4:16.

Rating: D+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as Jesse got in way too much offense in what should have been a Becky showcase match. McKay was good enough in there though and could be something interesting if she’s allowed to develop like the rest of the girls down here have done. This was too much like an old Mojo Rawley match though: awesome entrance, next to no offense until the very end.

Regal announces that Owens will be on commentary for Joe’s match but Bull Dempsey comes in eating a bag of Doritos. He blames his loss on a lack of sleep. Regal gets serious and tells Dempsey to get his act together. The boss leaves so Dempsey pulls an open Snickers out of his singlet. Well they had to do something new with Dempsey so this works well enough.

Jason Jordan says he has another partner when Chad Gable comes in, saying it should be him. “I’m ready, willing and Gable. See what I did there?” Jason says no but Gable adds his name to Jordan’s locker.

Baron Corbin vs. Angelo Dawkins

Corbin throws him around to start and walks him around the ring before a slam. A bulldog attempt is countered by a huge clothesline and End of Days gives Baron the pin at 2:29.

Samoa Joe vs. Scott Dawson

Owens is on commentary and Joe’s music still sucks. He does however look a bit more toned. Fans: “PLEASE DON’T DIE!” How nice of them to be worried about Joe’s safety. They trade armbars to start until Joe takes it up a notch with a back elbow to the face. Owens: “Wow a back elbow! I’ve got a mean back elbow.” The release Rock Bottom out of the corner sets up the Muscle Buster for the pin on Dawson at 3:45.

Rating: C. Total squash here and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Owens is great on commentary as the guy trying to cut into Joe’s hype and this was a very fun use of about five minutes. Joe’s physique looked about as good as you can fairly expect. The guy is never going to look like John Cena and it’s unfair to expect him to, but he looked fine here.

During the replays, Kevin offers to get Brennan a Joe shirt from the merchandise table. Owens goes to leave but Joe calls him to the ring. Kevin won’t get in because he’s a good man who won’t drop Joe after his first match. Joe is a rookie here in NXT and one win isn’t enough for an NXT Title match. Cue Regal who agrees with Owens. Joe hasn’t earned a title shot, but he’s earned the right to a non-title fight against Owens next week.

Overall Rating: B-. Matches made for the future, six matches, some amusing promos, two in ring debuts and a new character for Dempsey. How in the world can they get all that inside an hour and have almost no filler? This was the efficient NXT that flies by every week because it’s very well put together. Couple that with an energetic crowd and you have one heck of a fun show.

Results

Zack Ryder/Mojo Rawley b. Elias Samson/Mike Rallis – Middle rope Rough Ryder to Samson

Emma b. Blue Pants – Emma Lock

Tyler Breeze b. Bull Dempsey – Beauty Shot

Becky Lynch b. Jesse McKay – Disgoosted Armbar

Baron Corbin b. Angelo Dawkins – End of Days

Samoa Joe b. Scott Dawson – Muscle Buster

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume III at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XOUNBEA

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6