Yeah it’s New Day. These guys went from nothing to the most entertaining team since maybe Edge and Christian. WWE clearly just lets them do whatever they find funny and the goofier they get the more entertaining they are. It helps that they can have good matches if they need to, but the entertainment value more than makes up for any in ring deficiencies.
Let’s knock out some of the teams fighting for second place.
Getting it out of the way quickly: I do not like the Young Bucks and that’s the end of their discussion.
ReDRagon still isn’t my style in the ring but they’re still entertaining enough to last for a few more years. I know they’re a sought after team and I hope they get a spot on a bigger stage. I’m much higher on them as a unit than individually though so hopefully they’re not split permanently anytime soon.
Then there’s Enzo and Cass, whose pop in Brooklyn speaks for itself. These guys keep getting more and more over as the ultimate underdogs and when they finally win the NXT Tag Team Titles (say, in Texas?), the reaction is going to rival Bayley’s title win.
Finally there’s Jason Jordan/Chad Gable. These guys are clearly something special and are going to be a huge deal once they’ve gotten some more experience under their belts but their time isn’t quite here yet. Keep an eye on them though.
That’s about it really. The other main WWE teams (because there are really only about four or five at any given moment), meaning the Usos and Cesaro/Kidd, were too split up due to injuries and the Lucha Dragons were ok at best. This was ALL about the New Day and it’s just not even close.
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:
NXT Date: January 6, 2016
Hosts: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves
This is part two of the Best of 2015, meaning we’ll be seeing another hour of great stuff from last year. There’s still a lot of awesome matches they haven’t touched on yet which is really amazing given how much we saw last week. I’d assume a lot of this will be Finn Balor focused and there’s nothing wrong with that. Let’s get to it.
Again: these are the full reviews of matches even though the clipped versions are airing on the show.
We open with a package on Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens from Tokyo at Beast in the East.
Brennan and Graves welcome us to the show. That’s kind of backwards no?
From Beast in the East.
NXT Title: Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens
We get the Demon entrance and oh yes it’s still glorious. For a bonus, the camera changes to an arena shot at the crescendos of the music. To make it feel even more special, we get the full on flower presentation from geisha girls (Owens throws his into the crowd of course) and streamers for both guys. Get this through your head ROH: doing the same thing for every match doesn’t make it feel more special. Hideo Itami is shown in the front row and we’re ready to start. Balor has more paint than ever with his face, torso and left leg covered.
Balor charges at the bell and loads up the Coup de Grace in the first ten seconds. Owens rolls outside so Balor nails a big dive as the NXT chants start up. He tries to bail again and eats a baseball slide as Balor is all over him. Back in and Owens hammers away to take over for the first time. Owens: “AND THAT’S WHY I’M THE CHAMP!” We hear more of Balor’s accomplishments in New Japan as Owens takes some bows.
It’s off to Chinlock City before a forearm breaks up Balor’s springboard. The slow pace is working for Kevin here and it fits him very well. Finn beats the count back in but takes the backsplash for two. Back in and Owens snapmares him down and runs the ropes….before stopping for a chinlock. Owens: “Are you not impressed? I don’t care. I hate this country and all its stupid people!” Balor fights back again with a middle rope forearm for two so Owens does Cena’s finishing sequence, complete with an attempted AA.
Balor is afraid of a lawsuit over gimmick infringement (only Kurt Angle can steal that many finishers) and slips out twice in a row. Bloody Sunday is teased (and the fans gasp) but it’s a Pele Kick to put Owens down instead. Owens takes a big flip dive and a top rope double stomp to the back, followed by a reverse Bloody Sunday (not called that of course) for a VERY close two. The Coup de Grace misses though and Owens’ Cannonball gets two. The package piledriver slam gets the same but Balor hits a quick Sling Blade.
Another Coup de Grace is countered so Balor kicks him in the head and FINALLY connects with the stomp….for two. Dang I thought that was it. Owens can’t hit the swinging fisherman’s superplex so he settles for a middle rope Regal Roll for two. That looked great. Kevin’s Swanton hits knees and the real Bloody Sunday gets an even closer two. They’re trading bombs here and it’s getting awesome. Owens makes the eternal mistake of slapping a hero in the face and saying the hero can’t beat him. Balor dropkicks him into the corner, hits a running corner dropkick and a second Coup de Grace for the title at 19:30.
Rating: B+. Was there ever any doubt that this was going to be awesome? Owens is one of the best heels that I’ve seen in years and he does everything he can do to make you hate him. The fact that he can go as well as he does in the ring makes him even better, which is saying quite a bit as he’s that good as a character.
Here’s one of Elias Sampson’s songs.
We see the last few minutes of Tye Dillinger vs. Apollo Crews from the Wrestlemania XXXII ticket sale kickoff at AT&T Stadium on November 5. Joined in progress with Dillinger putting on a chinlock. After nearly a minute and a half, Crews finally breaks out and throws Dillinger to the side, followed by some right hands and clotheslines. Dillinger gets two off a superkick and both guys are down again. Back up and Crews kicks him in the head, setting up the gorilla press into the standing moonsault for the pin. What was the point of showing this? It’s barely three minutes long and nearly half was in a chinlock.
Video on the women’s division.
Video on Dusty Rhodes, leading to a recap of the Dusty Classic.
We look at some people going from NXT to the main roster.
From August 29.
Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady/Hype Bros vs. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder/Chad Gable/Jason Jordan
Enzo and Cass are over with the live crowd to put it mildly. They keep it simple this week though and just call their opponents sawft. Mojo drives Dash into the corner to start and hands it off to Ryder for a quick clothesline. The fans want Enzo but have to settle for Ryder’s missile rope dropkick instead.
Now they get Enzo who does a little dance and punches Dawson in the face, setting up a big eight man staredown. Everything breaks down and the heels are sent to the floor for a HUGE dive from Enzo (with an assist from Cass) to take them down again. Back from a break with Jordan getting two on Enzo and the fans cheering for their diminutive hero. Gable bends the arm over the top rope before it’s back to Dash to keep Amore in trouble.
The villains take turns on the arm and Gable monkey flips him into the corner to prevent a hot tag. Now the fans want Cass and a tornado DDT almost gives them what they want but it’s Jordan breaking up the tag this time. Enzo sends him into the corner and NOW the hot tag brings in Cass. The big man comes in to clean house and it’s time for the parade of finishers, capped off by the Rocket Launcher to pin Gable at 13:12.
Rating: C. Totally fine eight man here as the whole point was to get Enzo and Cass out there to fire up the crowd. That’s the kind of act you always need to have on the card as they can set the pace for a show and keep everything hot. Enzo playing Ricky Morton is such a simple formula and it worked just fine here.
We recap Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor.
From Takeover: London.
NXT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor
Balor is defending and we get the full demon entrance with Balor as Jack the Ripper from the vignette they’ve been running for a few weeks now. Feeling out process to start and the fans are split. Balor sends him outside for a kick to the face and a dropkick into the steps. The double stomp from the apron misses though and Joe plants him with the release Rock Bottom.
Back in and a corner enziguri gets two, followed by a knee drop for the same. There’s the Facewash but Balor nails an enziguri (WAY too common of a move as well) from the apron. His springboard is broken up though and Joe does his 300lb flying monster out of control suicide dive to take him out again. Back in and Joe puts on a Boston crab into a Crossface into a modified Rings of Saturn.
Balor gets his foot onto the ropes for the save and spins over into a DDT for a breather. It’s time for the chops from Finn but he runs into an elbow. Joe goes up but takes another enziguri to send him outside again. There’s the big flip dive to the floor, followed by a top rope double stomp for two back inside. The Sling Blade has Joe reeling but he sidesteps a dropkick and drops the backsplash. Balor counters the Muscle Buster into a sunset flip for two, followed by a Pele to put both guys down.
They slug it out again and Joe grabs the standing Clutch, only to have Balor send him into the buckle. Another enziguri is blocked (thank you) and Joe drags him back in by the throat. He can’t get Balor on the mat with the Clutch though as the champ rolls out and hits a quick double stomp. Another Sling Blade and some running dropkicks just tick Joe off so Finn dropkicks him down one more time. Balor has to shove him off the top to set up the Coup de Grace to retain at 18:20.
Rating: A. This was the heavyweight slugfest that everyone was wanting to see from these two. They beat each other up for nearly twenty minutes and had me believing that the title was in jeopardy a few times. I’m not sure who goes after Balor next but there’s a long list of people who could be up for a shot, which makes things that much more interesting.
Rich and Corey wrap it up.
Overall Rating: B+. It’s really hard to not enjoy a show that packs in so much of a great year from a great show. NXT continues to be probably the most entertaining wrestling show every single week and it’s cool to look back at what worked so well. This show was much more about Finn Balor and it’s hard to imagine him not making a huge impact in 2016 as well. This was a very fun look back and it worked quite well.
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:
NXT Date: December 23, 2015
Location: Wembley Arena, London, England
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We’re past Takeover: London now and the big question is where do things go from here. Before we can get to the next major shows though, we have a few matches taped at the Takeover show to get through here, including a four way tag and the return of someone you might remember. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap/highlight package from Takeover. I might be looking forward to Takeover more than Wrestlemania.
Opening sequence.
Vaudevillains vs. Hype Bros vs. Blake and Murphy vs. Chad Gable/Jason Jordan
One fall to a finish. The Vaudevillains are dressed as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Hype Bros aren’t the most beloved but Gable and Jordan’s eruption makes up for it. Gable and English get things going with Chad easily taking him to the mat. It’s off to Gotch for a wristlock but Chad easily takes him down to the delight of the crowd. Mojo tags himself in but Gable and Jordan clean house, leading to a four way staredown.
Back from a break with English having issues getting out of another Gable wristlock. Blake comes in and walks into a headscissors, followed by a dropkick. It’s off to Murphy who is caught in an armbreaker across the top rope, only to have Blake make a save (thanks to Bliss) with a stomp to the ribs for two. Blake starts in on Chad’s leg until English tags himself in to take over.
Gotch works on the leg as well but Gable gets the knees up to give himself a breather. Murphy breaks up the hot tag, only to have Gable backflip out of a double suplex and make the hot tag to Jordan. Everything breaks down and it’s suplex city on everyone, including one to Murphy onto the pile, setting up Grand Amplitude to Blake for the pin at 12:46.
Rating: C+. Fun match here as you would expect with this many people in the ring at once. Gable and Jordan are something special and there’s almost no way we’re not getting them vs. Dawson and Wilder for the titles sooner than later. I can’t imagine they’ll stretch the chase all the way out to Dallas as they’re too hot right now.
Dana Brooke yells at Emma for losing to Asuka. Asuka comes in and smiles so Dana turns around and asks Emma if Asuka left yet.
Sami Zayn is back tonight.
Video on the European tour.
Clips of Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe from Takeover.
Tye Dillinger is tired of people talking about Sami Zayn, who is not a perfect ten.
More from the song man, who debuts next.
Next week (and perhaps the week after) will be the Best of 2015.
Clips of Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin.
Corbin brags about his win and declares himself #1 contender.
Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
Sampson is confirmed as the drifting guitar player. Bull starts with some clotheslines so Samson stomps him down into the corner. The snap jabs and a shoulder put Elias down but he comes back with a quick knockdown. That gives us a creepy smile from Elias, followed by a top rope elbow to pin Bull at 1:37. Well that was quick. Not very impressive but quick.
After some clips of their title defense, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder say they’re awesome.
Clips of Bayley retaining over Nia Jax.
Tye Dillinger vs. Sami Zayn
We have to pause the start of the match due to some extended OLE chants. Tye starts going after the arm to start but Sami reverses into a wristlock of his own and we get a standoff. A pair of armdrags send Ty to the floor but he bails away from a dive, leaving Sami to flip back into the ring. They head outside with Sami being sent shoulder first into the post, taking us to our first break.
Back with Dillinger working on the arm and firing off some left hands to the head. Sami fights out of another armbar and clotheslines Tye a few times, followed by a fisherman’s suplex. Now we get the big flip dive and the fans are very happy to have Sami back. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but the Helluva kick is countered into a rollup for two (with a handful of tights). Tye starts fighting back but gets suplex into the corner, setting up the Helluva kick for the pin at 12:47.
Rating: C. This was little more than “hey Sami’s back”. He had a bit of ring rust but it’s a good idea to give him a relatively easy match like this to allow him to get his timing back. Sami is at his best when he’s fighting uphill, but it’s going to be interesting to see him as the returning hero instead of an underdog again. He looked fine here and that’s all that matters.
Sami says he’s back and soaks in some OLE’s. The trend in his career has been every time a dream comes true, it quickly turns into a nightmare. It happened when he won the NXT Title and it happened when he showed up on Raw but tonight broke the trend. This is just the beginning and 2016 will be even better for NXT and Sami Zayn.
Overall Rating: C+. These shows are always tricky as they’re really more WCW Saturday Night (in the Nitro era) than Monday Night Raw. It’s still a fun show and a really easy sit though and that’s all NXT needs to be. What makes it even better is how they make me want to keep coming back. I believed Sami when he said it’s going to get even better, which is mainly lip service most of the time. Another fun show here and the Best of shows coming up should be a nice flashback.
Results
Chad Gable/Jason Jordan b. Hype Bros, Blake and Murphy and Vaudevillains – Grand Amplitude to Blake
Elias Samson b. Bull Dempsey – Top rope elbow
Sami Zayn b. Tye Dillinger – Helluva kick
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:
NXT – December 2, 2015: I Believe In A Thing Called Joe
NXT Date: December 2, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan
Takeover: London is in two weeks and the card is mostly set. That leaves us with two shows to firm up the build, which means we could be in for some entertaining nights leading up to the next big show. The cliffhanger from last week saw Nia Jax throw her had in to the ring for the Women’s Title shot and Bayley doesn’t have an opponent for London yet. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Baron Corbin vs. Tye Dillinger
Some chops earn Dillinger a throw across the ring and Corbin chokes on the mat. Corbin is in his full slow mode here and it’s working as always. Dillinger comes back with a clothesline and a superkick for two, only to come off the middle rope and right into the End of Days for the pin at 2:52.
Apollo Crews is ready for Corbin at Takeover and is ready to team up with Finn Balor to face Corbin and Samoa Joe next week.
Tommaso Ciampa says Joe is dangerous, but Ciampa is even more dangerous because he has nothing to lose. When he pins Joe tonight, everything changes.
Nia Jax vs. Blue Pants
Pants has a modified version of the Price is Right theme. Jax takes her down by the arm to start and stomps on the hand. A toss by the head keeps Blue in trouble and her kicks have no effect. Some elbow drops and a Samoan drop set up the big leg to squash Pants for the pin at 2:10.
Dash and Dawson don’t want to talk about Enzo and Cass because they’d rather just hurt people. If the consequences of hurting people are the Tag Team Titles, they don’t have much to worry about. Last week Enzo and Cass jumped them because those two can just talk the talk instead of walking the way. Dash really doesn’t get why Enzo and Cass are getting the title shot in London when they haven’t beaten anyone. That’s fine with them because Cass has a good leg that they haven’t broken yet.
Adam Rose vs. James Storm
Rose orders his music cut off because this is serious business. Storm starts with a shoulder but Rose gets in some shots to the back to take over. A chinlock doesn’t get Adam anywhere as Storm comes back with his forearms and running neckbreaker, followed by the Last Call for the quick pin at 2:38.
The Vaudevillains are disappointed that they lost last week but they’re going to win here tonight. Cue Jason Jordan and Chad Gable to disagree. Really quick and to the point promos here.
Video on Sami Zayn winning the NXT Title last year at Takeover: R-Evolution.
Vaudevillains vs. Jason Jordan/Chad Gable
Gable takes Gotch to the mat to start but Simon grabs the arm, only to have Chad easily flip out. It’s off to Jordan to take English to the mat with ease and Aiden’s leapfrog is countered into an atomic drop. The fans say this is wrestling as English counters an Irish whip into the corner by standing on the middle rope and posing. Gable comes back in and goes after English’s bad leg but gets backdropped out to the floor for a big crash. Not that it matters as Chad slides over and makes the tag off to Jason for a bunch of dropkicks. The Grand Amplitude puts Gotch away at 5:28.
Rating: C. This was just a step ahead of a squash as Gable was barely in trouble for a minute before making the comeback for the hot tag. Those two could be something special in the future as Gable is getting quicker every week. Jordan has come out of his shell by bouncing off Gable, which has been the big trick they’ve needed for over a year now.
Gable and Jordan offer a handshake but the Vaudevillains walk away. Well it fits their name a lot better.
Emma and Dana Brooke are ready for Asuka in London.
We get another song from what seems to be Elias Sampson.
Liv Morgan vs. Emma
Morgan is formerly known as Marley and Gionna Daddio. Emma doesn’t seem impressed and grabs the Dilemma followed by the Emma Sandwich. Morgan comes back with a quick guillotine choke and a dropkick. That’s it for the jobber offense as Emma drops her again and gets the win with the Emma Lock at 3:48.
Rating: D+. Morgan has some good charisma and the fans like her but she’s still in the early stages of her NXT run, meaning these losses don’t mean much. This was clearly just a warmup for Emma before she gets ripped into 14 evenly divided pieces by Asuka in London. At least it wasn’t a total squash.
Emma is in the ring when Asuka pops up on screen, beating the fire out of a punching bag. She’ll see Emma in London.
Bayley says she’s ready for all challengers, including Nia Jax. This brings up Nia, who stares at the title. Bayley says she’ll accept anyone who comes at her, so Jax knocks her through a door.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Samoa Joe
Ciampa isn’t scared as Joe drives him into the corner and works on a wristlock before no selling a chop. Joe stays on the arm until Ciampa tries another chop. That just ticks Joe off so he forearms Ciampa’s head half off. They start slapping the taste out of each others’ mouths with Joe getting the better of it until Ciampa grabs a rollup and stomps on Joe’s arm.
More hard strikes stagger Joe and a guillotine choke has him in even more trouble. Make that a Kimura but Joe drives him into the corner again for the break. The enziguri knocks Ciampa half cold and a scoop powerslam makes it even worse. Joe Facewashes him in the corner and the release Rock Bottom drops Ciampa again. The fans are behind Joe until the Muscle Buster and Koquina Clutch end Ciampa at 6:37.
Rating: B. That might be a bit high but dang these two were beating the tar out of each other. Those were some incredibly hard strikes with Joe absorbing everything Ciampa threw at him and looking like a real killer for the first time with London looming. This has me even more ready for the title match and was a really, really fun surprise. Good stuff.
Overall Rating: B+. NXT is getting in six matches an hour. Can you imagine most other wrestling shows pulling that off? This is straight out of the old school WCW shows as they’re flying through squash matches to set up the big show with the showdowns you want to see. Awesome show this week and one of the best they’ve done in a while.
Results
Baron Corbin b. Tye Dillinger – End of Days
Nia Jax b. Blue Pants – Legdrop
James Storm b. Adam Rose – Last Call
Jason Jordan/Chad Gable b. Vaudevillains – Grand Amplitude to Gotch
Emma b. Liv Morgan – Emma Lock
Samoa Joe b. Tommaso Ciampa – Koquina Clutch
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:
NXT – November 18, 2015: Here She Comes To Ruin The Day
NXT Date: November 18, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
It’s another title defense this week as Bayley is already defending the Women’s Title against Alexa Bliss. This was expected to be one of the big Takeover matches so it should be interesting to see where they go for the title at the show in London. Eva Marie and Nia Jax are hanging around as well. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Nia Jax vs. Carmella
Carmella goes right after her with forearms to the face but gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Nia: “Hi Carmella, how you doing?” A bearhug has Carmella in trouble but she counters with a quick guillotine choke. Some dropkicks stagger Jax but she counters a hurricanrana into a spinebuster, followed by the legdrop to put Carmella away at 2:48.
Alexa Bliss says her hands are fine from carrying around Bayley’s Women’s Title but now her ears are hurting from hearing about that Iron Man match. Yeah Bayley won now stop talking about it. It’s her time now, but her rant is cut off by a referee who says Blake and Murphy will be banned from ringside.
Ascension vs. Jason Jordan/Chad Gable
Viktor and Gable start but all four quickly come in for a standoff. We settle down to Jordan vs. Konnor for the power battle. Jordan gets him into the corner and it’s a series of rotating shoulders to Konnor’s ribs, followed by a double northern lights suplex for two. Konnor comes right back by powering Gable into the corner for a bunch of hard stomps.
A chinlock keeps Gable in trouble but he fights up and backdrops Viktor to the floor, allowing for the tag off to Jordan. House is quickly cleaned and the straps come down for a suplex on Viktor. Everything breaks down and Viktor’s middle rope knee gets two on Jason as Chad and Konnor fight on the floor. Gable drops Konnor with a flip dive off the apron and the Grand Amplitude (such an awesome name) puts Viktor away at 6:12.
Rating: B-. Gable and Jordan are getting close to that rocket push up the ladder and you can see a showdown in London for the Tag Team Titles. The fans are eating them up and they can more than back it up in the ring. It’s the idea of finding a hot act and running with it, which is one of the most important things a wrestling promotion can do.
Video on Bayley vs. Bliss, showcasing the basic difference in their personalities.
Bayley says keeping the title is just as hard as winning it in the first place. Tonight Bliss is learning a wrestling lesson from the last Horsewoman. Bliss is going to find out what it means to respect this title and Bayley herself.
Emma vs. Mary Kate
Mary Kate used to be known as Rosie Lottalove but has dropped probably 120lbs to get down to a much more reasonable look. She runs Emma over to start but Emma trips her up and stands on the hair. Some choking on the ropes and rams into the buckle have Mary Kate in more trouble and the Emma Lock is good for the submission at 3:12.
Rating: C-. This was your standard new Diva gets beaten up in a few minutes before she has a character or personality. It also helped set up Emma looking more dangerous but Asuka crushes her, likely on TV before London. I could see Emma and Dana vs. Asuka in a handicap match with Asuka pulling off the upset, assuming you still consider that an upset.
We recap Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews.
Corbin challenges Crews for a match at Takeover.
Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder vs. Corey Hollis/John Skylar
Non-title. The Vaudevillains will be getting their rematch next week. Hollis gets caught in the wrong corner to start and the champs go after his knee. Dawson takes him down with a dragon screw leg whip and it’s off to Dawson to crank on the knee even more. There’s a knee crusher and the champs pull on the leg to continue their Andersons style. Graves gets in a great line about Dawson and Wilder: “No flips, just fists.” The third knee crusher of the match keeps Hollis in trouble but he kicks Dawson away and makes the tag to Skylar who walks right into the Shatter Machine for the pin at 5:08.
Rating: D+. There’s something so fun about watching these two rip someone’s leg apart. It’s a style that is going to work no matter what changes in wrestling because it’s so simple but makes perfect sense. The ending was amusing too as Skylar was all fired up and didn’t walk four steps before he got caught for the pin.
Dana Brooke interrupts an Asuka interview to challenge for a rematch. Asuka takes off her mask and gives a disturbing yes. The interviewer and Asuka leave and Emma comes in to be all evil about some plan they have.
Samoa Joe isn’t here tonight because William Regal is worried that Finn Balor is going to screw up the London main event. Next week they sign the contract.
Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley
Bayley is defending and the “HEY! WE WANT SOME BAYLEY!” chants start during the big match intros. Bayley throws her into the corner and stomps Bliss down to start, sending Bliss outside for a breather. A quick bulldog gets two for the champ and she cranks on Bliss’ arms a bit. The fans try some dueling chants but Bliss’ support isn’t the strongest. They head outside with Bayley going face first into the apron as we take a break.
Back with Bliss working on the arm and the fans chanting BOO/YAY with nothing really happening. Bliss starts going after the hand (which really should be better by now) but Bayley fights up with running ax handles. Alexa takes her right back down and moonsaults into double knees to the ribs. The Sparkle Splash is broken up with a powerslam for two but Bayley’s arm is starting to give out again. The running elbows in the corner stagger Alexa until she comes out with a sunset flip for two. Frustration sets in for Bliss, allowing Bayley to grab the Bayley to Belly for the pin at 11:47.
Rating: C. This was better than I was expecting as Bliss didn’t seem to have any chance of winning coming in. The arm work was fine for a story and the ending worked perfectly with Bayley staying calm and waiting for Bliss to get frustrated to finish her. Good little match here and that’s all it needed to be.
Post match here’s Eva Marie and my goodness this crowd hates her. She has to tell them to stop booing over and over to get her challenge out. I can’t wait to see how they word this on Total Divas to make Eva out to be some innocent victim. The title match seems to be next week, giving us a rare double title defense.
Overall Rating: B-. Another totally acceptable show with Bayley retaining the title in a big TV main event and a lot more stuff being set up for London. This is the NXT formula working to perfection and it still makes me want to see the big shows while giving me entertaining TV week to week. Good show here, but were you expecting anything else?
Results
Nia Jax b. Carmella – Legdrop
Chad Gable/Jason Jordan b. Ascension – Grand Amplitude to Viktor
Emma b. Mary Kate – Emma Lock
Bayley b. Alexa Bliss – Bayley to Belly
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book of Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
NXT Date: November 4, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves
It’s a big show this week as Finn Balor is defending his NXT Title against #1 contender Apollo Crews. NXT has spent the last few weeks building up Crews and giving us a person to care about but there aren’t any real personal issues between the two other than the title itself. That could make for a good match but it might not be the most interesting. Let’s get to it.
The opening video recaps Crews winning the battle royal and becoming #1 contender.
Opening sequence.
Asuka vs. Cameron
This could be interesting. Fans: “ASUKA’S GONNA KILL YOU!” Cameron tries a slap to start but gets caught in a cross armbreaker for an early submission attempt. A running kick into the splits drops Asuka but she comes back with a hip attack and mocks Cameron’s pose. Askua grabs a Fujiwara armbar before just smashing Cameron in the face. Fans: “REST IN PEACE!” The Asuka Lock is good for the submission at 3:41.
Rating: D+. I kind of feel sorry for Cameron as she has a horrible character and there is no way she’s going to be accepted no matter how good she gets in the ring. Some of the gymnastics and flexibility stuff worked for her here but the screeching makes people hate her more than anything. Asuka’s path of destruction continues to be awesome and her facial expressions make the squashes that much more entertaining.
We recap Big Cass’ leg injury from last week.
Dawson and Wilder laugh at Carmella for injuring her friends. They get their title shot next week and then they’ll be the baddest guys in the room. Wilder even brings in a wheelchair as a gift for the Vaudevillains.
Chad Gable and Jason Jordan want to keep moving up the card and one day they’ll be the world’s greatest tag team. Jordan: “Whoa whoa whoa I told you about that.” Their next idea is to wrestle the greatest tag team in NXT history. Gable: “We can’t wrestle ourselves.” This winds up being a challenge to the Ascension.
Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins
Dawkins has a Sawyer Fulton with him. The threat of a right hand makes Dawkins duck, allowing a knee lift to the head. Dawkins kicks him down and puts on a front facelock but Dempsey Bulls up. Bull punches one of the headbands off and a top rope seated senton gives Dempsey the pin at 2:53.
Fulton walks away from Dawkins post match.
The Vaudevillains are impressed with Dash and Dawson but they’re ready to add their names to the pantheon of NXT greats. They sent the wheelchair rolling away. Simple promo here but it was fine.
Crews looks at the NXT Title.
Bayley has the Hype Bros as her partners against Alexa Bliss/Blake/Murphy for a six person tag next week.
Eva Marie vs. Marley
Marley is a blonde in half of a football jersey. Eva armdrags her down and dances to celebrate before starting on the arm. The fans debate if Eva is rachet before she stops a comeback with a boot to the face. Fans: “WHAT WAS THAT???” Marley is on her hands and knees so Eva runs in for a very low downward spiral and the pin at 2:48. If that’s her finisher, she’s in an even worse place than I thought.
Dana Brooke and Emma respect Asuka but want to give her a better welcome to NXT. It’s Emma’s turn soon.
NXT Title: Apollo Crews vs. Finn Balor
Balor is defending and there’s no Demon this time. We get a spotlight and a staredown for the big match intros. That’s a really cool idea that I haven’t seen before. Feeling out process to start with neither guy’s headlock getting them anywhere. Back from a way too early break with Crews holding a headlock. Finn fights up and grabs a front facelock but Crews lifts him up into a delayed vertical suplex for two. Fans: “THAT’S TOO EASY!”
Off to something like a cobra clutch from the champ but Crews tries a sunset flip. That’s fine with Finn who rolls through and takes Apollo’s face off with a basement dropkick. Crews kicks him back down and goes to the middle rope, only to take an enziguri to put him on the floor. Finn nails a BIG flip dive to take us to our second break. Back with Balor firing off some running chops in the corner, followed by a clothesline for two.
Crews shrugs it off again and hits a fall away slam into a Samoan drop for two more. The fans are still split as Apollo nails a jumping enziguri, only to get caught in the Sling Blade. There’s the gorilla press but the moonsault hits knees. REVERSE BLOODY SUNDAY of all things gets two but the Coup de Grace misses. They trade kicks to the head and both guys are down until Baron Corbin runs in for the DQ at 15:09.
Rating: B. Give this a finish and it’s a borderline classic. These guys beat each other up for fifteen minutes and the shots were getting bigger and bigger every time. I’m sure we’ll see them fight again at some point and it’s going to be one heck of a war whenever they do. Really good stuff here but the ending was the right call as you don’t want either one losing.
Post match Corbin beats both guys down until Samoa Joe makes the save. Joe stars Corbin down but then takes Balor out to turn heel. Fans: “WHY JOE WHY?” A Muscle Buster lays Finn out and Joe holds up the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. Another week, another great use of an hour to advance a bunch of stories and give you a reason to come back next week. Balor needed a new top heel and Joe is going to be a great opponent when they probably fight in London. As usual, another good hour of wrestling TV this week as they set up matches and stories so smoothly that it’s like one big, long story that just keeps going, which is so much better than the start and stop style that you get elsewhere.
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I don’t know why I don’t do these for every Takeover since they’re NXT pay per views. This felt like a show that was thrown together for the sake of having another Takeover on the calendar, but this is NXT where you can actually have faith in your wrestling product for a change. Let’s get to it.
We’re going to do this one a little differently as there are four matches that matter so let’s get the filler out of the way first.
Asuka squashed Dana Brooke in her debut. This was exactly what it needed to be as Asuka destroyed Brooke like she was nothing and even got in a few shots on Emma for good measure. I’m not sure what Brooke and Emma do now but it’s pretty clear that Asuka needs to be pushed as something important. Save for Nia Jax, there’s really no one left to challenge Bayley so it almost has to be Asuka.
As bad as the reason is, I’m hoping that Eva injuring Carmella at that house show might show WWE that she’s just not ready to compete at this level. With Asuka right there and whatever Jax has (she’s an Anoa’i so you know she’s got a good Samoan drop), Eva really would stick out even worse than she did before. Anyway this was an awesome debut for Asuka as she showed a bunch of striking and submission abilities as well as some awesome presence. What more can you ask for in less than six minutes?
Apollo Crews beat Tyler Breeze in the featured non-main event level match. This was a match where I really didn’t know who was going to win going in, but it became pretty clear that Crews is a major deal in NXT. I’m not sure what they’re going to do with Breeze, but NXT is the kind of place where they can rebuild you after some losses. Breeze has earned the fans’ and my respect already by taking what should have been a nothing comedy gimmick and turned it into one of the most consistent characters on the roster.
Breeze could become one heck of a face who wins with last minute superkicks but right now he’s great as a gatekeeper heel who has good matches against anyone. Crews still needs a character but the same could be said of Finn Balor back in June and he turned out fine. I like that powerbomb better than the standing moonsault as you can only get so far on a move like that. It doesn’t seem like someone kicking out of it would mean that much, but the powerbomb is an upgrade.
That leaves us with just the tournament and main event to go so let’s look at the three tag matches in a row.
First up we had Finn Balor/Samoa Joe vs. the Mechanics. This was an old school work the body part, which makes perfect sense given that the Mechanics are basically Anderson tribute wrestlers. Balor tweaked his knee during the match which seemed to be the most logical idea going forward into the finals. That being said, Balor and Joe won anyway after a Muscle Buster into the Coup de Grace which hurt the knee even worse. This was old fashioned tag team work and amazingly enough it still worked just fine despite people saying that those old styles don’t work anymore.
In the surprise of the night (at least going on) Rhyno/Baron Corbin beat Jason Jordan/Chad Gable. I was really stunned when Corbin pinned Jordan, but the more I think about how huge of a reaction Gable received the more sense it makes. You really don’t want to divide the audience with something like Balor vs. Jordan and miss the reaction that you want with Finn. Gable is something really special and could be a big deal going forward in NXT.
As for the match, they changed up the formula here and went with a fast paced tag match with a ton of saves. This is another one of the many things that I love about NXT: they know how mix up a card and not be repetitive. That’s one of the things that drives me crazy about WWE. How many times do you see the same finish or the same kind of match either on the same card or in a row? Stop doing the same stuff and mix it up a little.
That takes us to the final which was the most disappointing match of the night. Balor/Joe won the tournament in a good enough match over Rhyno/Corbin, but Balor’s knee injury never went anywhere. Yeah the heels worked it over for a good chunk of the match but the injury never went anywhere. I kept waiting on the injury to cost Balor something and it just never came. I’m assuming it sets up Balor vs. Joe in the future and the match wasn’t bad but it didn’t do anything for me.
The Rhodes Family presented the winners with a trophy. Nothing came of this but it was a nice moment.
Oh and no Dusty Finish? Really? Not once in the whole thing?
And then there’s the main event. Sweet goodness how awesome are Bayley and Sasha together? This was one of the best put together matches I’ve seen in years as every single thing set up the next move. I’m having trouble picking the first thing to rave about in this. We’ll start with Sasha torturing Izzy.
This is one of the most inspired ideas I’ve seen in a long time as they took something so basic and simple as a major fan and turned it into a plot device. It’s thinking outside the box, which would probably get them protested on Raw because a bunch of stupid groups who claim they’re doing the best thing for children don’t understand the concept that kids can handle being sad if something good happens in the end.
Bayley wound up winning and Izzy was happy, but instead of experiencing joy, there are people out there who would rather kids never have any problems in their lives because that’s how things will work in the real world right? I’ll cut myself off there and stick with using Izzy was awesome and made the match.
Another awesome moment was Bayley stomping on Sasha’s head to make her tap in a callback to Sasha stomping on Bayley’s hand in Brooklyn in a failed attempt to make her give up. It makes Bayley look like the tougher of the two and the one who deserves to be champion for never quitting in the end.
I can’t praise this match enough and somehow it’s just a step behind their classic in Brooklyn. This is in the running for feud of the year and this is their second great match in six weeks. Those aren’t numbers you see very often and it more than lived up to the hype as the first time two women main evented a pay per view.
This show more than exceeded expectations and was carried by the wrestling instead of the storytelling, though the main event delivered on both. For a show that felt like it was there for the sake of having a show and to give a tournament a big stage, this worked incredibly well and I had a blast watching it. As usual, NXT doesn’t know how to fail at a major show. London should be outstanding, as almost everything they put on is.
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NXT Takeover: Respect Date: October 7, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Rich Brennan
This is one of the weaker looking Takeovers on paper as it’s only been about six weeks since the last special. However, there are four major matches taking place tonight with a thirty minute women’s Iron Man match for the Women’s Title and the final three matches in the inaugural Dusty Classic Tag Team Tournament. Let’s get to it.
The opening video talks about Bayley having the title but now it’s about earning respect.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Finals: Finn Balor/Samoa Joe vs. Mechanics
There’s no stage this time but just the screen and a flat aisle. Balor gets knocked outside to start so Joe pounds on Wilder. Dawson pulls his partner out of the way of a corner charge though and the villains take over. Balor finally gets back on the apron as his partner is getting beaten down but an enziguri allows for the tag to the champ. A pair of kicks put the Mechanics on the floor and Balor unleashes the big flip dive to get the crowd even more fired up.
Wilder saves Dawson from the Coup de Grace and Dawson chop blocks Balor to put the champ in trouble. The Mechanics start taking turns working on the knee, including wrapping it around the post and a half crab from Dawson. Balor avoids an elbow drop but Wilder takes Joe off the apron to keep Balor in trouble. This is classic tag team formula stuff so far and it still works. Wilder doesn’t have as much luck though as Balor dives over and makes the tag to Joe for some house cleaning. There’s the Muscle Buster to Wilder and Balor adds the Coup de Grace for the pin at 9:08 but Balor wrenched his knee again.
Rating: B. This is what NXT does best: simple, basic storytelling that accomplishes everything they needed to take care of. Balor’s knee is messed up going into the finals and you had a good match to get to the point. They didn’t just do a three minute match to set up the long final but rather took their time and gave us something entertaining in the less important match. Well done, as usual.
Clips of NXT at the Louder than Life festival in Louisville.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Semi-Finals: Chad Gable/Jason Jordan vs. Baron Corbin/Rhyno
Corbin throws Jordan around with ease so for some reason Baron tags out to Rhyno. A quick suplex gets two on Rhyno and Gable gets the same off a slingshot sunset flip. The fans are entirely behind Gable here (complete with a Gable chant to the tune of Kurt Angle’s old music) as he starts on Rhyno’s arm. Jordan comes in to do the same and a double northern lights suplex gets two on Rhyno.
Rhyno tries to throw Gable over the top but Chad grabs the armbar over the ropes to put him in even more trouble. Corbin gets in a few shots on the floor so Rhyno can take over with a chinlock. It’s off to Corbin for a chinlock of his own (fans: “SAVE THE GABLES!”) before Rhyno misses a top rope splash.
Gable crawls over and makes the tag and it’s Jordan coming in to speed things up. Everything breaks down with Jordan cleaning house but he has to save Gable after the End of Days knocks him silly. Gable O’Connor rolls Corbin out of the corner into a German suplex (awesome) but Rhyno makes the save. There’s a Gore to Jordan and the second End of Days puts Gable away at 10:27.
Rating: B. I liked this one a lot with all the insanity at the end but the ending is a big surprise. I really would have bet on Gable/Jordan winning the whole thing and then they don’t even make it to the finals? It’s not the worst idea in the world but it was the last thing I was expecting. Maybe they don’t want to see Gable getting cheered on the same level as Balor but I’m still surprised at the ending.
Kevin Nash is here.
Video of Asuka.
Asuka vs. Dana Brooke
Brooke has Emma with her. Asuka comes to the ring with a long robe and a white mask for a cool visual. Dana has no interest in a handshake and they fight over a wristlock with Asuka moving at twice Dana’s speed. A slap to the face takes the taste out of Asuka’s mouth but she just smiles at Dana. Asuka comes back with a quick striking rush and Dana’s pose followed by a Fujiwara Armbar.
Emma finally helps her partner with a distraction and the handstand choke has Asuka in some trouble. Asuka comes right back with a snap German suplex and a cross armbreaker followed by a cross face chickenwing. There’s a spinning elbow to knock Emma off the apron. Fans: “ASUKA CITY!” Dana is almost done and gets caught in another cross face chickenwing with a bodyscissors (the Asuka Lock) for the tap at 5:30.
Rating: B-. Well that worked. Asuka picked Dana apart and destroyed her in very short order with every bit of offense you could want to see in five minutes. This was a great debut for Asuka who looks like a killer and blows away everyone else in the division at the moment. Now as long as they keep it going this way instead of going with Eva Marie, everything will be fine.
Asuka takes Dana down again and stares at Emma post match.
Breast cancer is bad.
We look at Balor injuring his knee again.
Nia Jax finally arrives next week.
Apollo Crews vs. Tyler Breeze
Crews powers him up against the ropes to start and knocks Tyler to the floor like he’s nothing. A delayed vertical suplex gets two for Crews but Breeze leverages him out to the floor to take over again. Back in and Breeze starts in on the back with some knees and a chinlock with a knee in the spine. A sideways Backstabber gets two and sets up a Sharpshooter of all things from Breeze.
Apollo makes the ropes and nails a jumping clothesline, followed by a BIG kick to the face to knock Tyler silly. The back gives out though and Breeze Supermodel Kicks him for two. Tyler dives into a powerslam for two and there’s the gorilla press but Breeze gets the knees up to block the standing moonsault. Breeze gets all fired up with forearms but Apollo kicks him square in the jaw. Crews loads up a belly to back suplex but spins him around into a powerbomb for the pin at 9:47.
Rating: C+. I like the idea of having Crews do something other than the standing moonsault for a finisher as that’s only going to take him so far. It’s also really nice to see him face some adversity and overcome it for a change because it makes him easier to get behind instead of just someone to marvel over.
Hideo Itami is here.
We look back at tonight’s first two tournament matches.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: Finn Balor/Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin/Rhyno
Balor is limping to the ring. Finn and Rhyno get things going and Corey immediately declares this as a dumb idea. Rhyno shoves the champ around with ease and it’s off to Corbin for some feeling out. The knee starts to go out though so it’s off to Joe for the rapid fire strikes in the corner. Off to Rhyno who has some more luck with a knee to the ribs before Corbin comes in again to a chorus of booing.
A big boot gets two on Joe but he comes back with the enziguri in the corner. Joe tags off to Balor who uses Corbin as a launching pad into a dropkick to Rhyno. The knee seems fine at first but it gives out again when he charges into the corner. That’s fine with Balor though as he nails an enziguri, only to have Rhyno drill him in the knee again to take over. Balor’s comeback is stopped with a Boss Man Slam for two but he comes back again with a Sling Blade out of nowhere.
The second hot tag brings in Joe to take over on Rhyno with the Rock Bottom out of the corner and an STO to Corbin. A Gore gets two on Rhyno with Balor making the save, only to damage the knee again in the process. Another Gore is countered by a kick to the face and it’s the Muscle Buster into the Coup de Grace for the pin and the tournament at 11:09.
Rating: B-. No Dusty Finish? Other than that disappointment, I can’t find much to complain about here. The first two matches were better and the knee didn’t really play into the finish, but I’m sure this leads to Joe vs. Balor in some way. Rhyno and Corbin weren’t an option for winning the whole thing save for Balor and Joe imploding but at least they were an impressive looking opponent in the final. Also well done to have Rhyno take the fall instead of Corbin.
The Rhodes Family (with Stardust out of character) present Balor and Joe with the trophy. Cody talks about his dad being the oak of NXT and how his dad was beamed into homes around the world for over forty years. Tonight, we are all part of the Rhodes family. Dusty’s theme music plays with nothing from Joe or Balor.
Stephanie (of course), Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Lita are in the front row.
We recap Bayley taking the title in Brooklyn and Sasha wanting a rematch. The result is tonight’s 30 minute Iron Man match for the title. We also see some more of Bayley training in an awesome montage.
Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks
Bayley is defending and this is an Iron Man match, meaning the most falls (pin, submission, countout or disqualification) in thirty minutes wins. We get the entrances following the girls to the ring, thankfully with no talking from the announcers. Bayley has a cape and Iron Man colors, meaning my life is complete. Fans: “WOMEN’S WRESTLING!”
They stare each other down and there’s no contact until a little over a minute in. A lockup gets us to Sasha holding a headlock, followed by some rollups for two. Bayley gets some rollups of her own for two each and a pinfall reversal sequence gives us even more near falls. Sasha gets in the first big move with a dropkick to knock the champ into the corner but Bayley comes back with a Japanese armdrag to drop Sasha on her head for two. That looked bad but Sasha seems to be ok.
We’re five minutes in and Sasha sends her into the corner with a top rope wristdrag. Both finishers are blocked and Sasha chills in the corner. Sasha suckers her in and pulls the hair to get a quick two but it ticks Bayley off. Some hard elbows and a clothesline put Sasha on the floor. Bayley keeps the pressure on with a dropkick under the bottom rope (ala Sami Zayn) and a bulldog back inside for two. Both of them nearly crush the referee in the corner but Sasha uses this to her advantage and pokes Bayley in the eye for the first fall at 8:32.
Bayley rams her face first into the buckle over and over but gets sent into them herself. Both of them are banged up as we’re ten minutes in. The double knees in the corner are countered into something like Snake Eyes and the Bayley to Belly ties it up at 10:55. Sasha bails to the floor so Bayley tries the sliding kick again. Banks catches her coming in this time though (I love psychology) and slams Bayley into the steps, right in front of her family and Izzy in a nice touch. Sasha throws her into the steps two more times and makes sure to talk trash to the family. Bayley kicks out at two and the fans are chanting for Izzy.
The champ is thrown to the floor and bangs her knee on the landing. Sasha whips her into the video board and it’s a countout to give Sasha a 2-1 lead at 14:12. Banks steals Izzy’s headband and throws it at her, making Izzy cry to get the fans entirely on Bayley’s side. Bayley beats the count back in at fifteen minutes to go but Banks starts right in on her back. Sasha is brimming with confidence as she slaps on a Liontamer and stomps on the bad hand for old times’ sake. Bayley makes the rope and grabs a fluke rollup to tie us up at 2-2 with 12:38 to go.
The double knees in the corner miss again and Bayley makes the comeback with ax handles to the face followed by an awkward looking spinning facebuster for two. The middle rope back elbow gets the same and Bayley’s hair is almost down. Bayley puts her in the Tree of Woe for a running springboard elbow as we have ten minutes left.
Banks crotches her on top and now the double knees hit (great job of building that move up) for two. Bayley kicks her to the floor as the fans think it’s better than Raw (time for Vince and Dunn to crush this show then). Now Bayley starts working on Sasha’s hand and the fans want Izzy to slap Banks. The arm gets snapped across the middle rope and Sasha falls out to the floor again.
Bayley starts setting up the steps and Izzy looks like she’s about to cry again. Sasha’s hand is slammed into the steps again and a clothesline off the steps puts her on the floor. She’s still able to kick Bayley into the steps though and the champ is in trouble again. Sasha’s suicide dive is caught and a Bayley to Belly on the floor knocks her silly. Somehow that only gets two back inside and we’ve got five minutes to go.
Bayley puts her on the middle rope and a running super Bayley to Belly gets….two as the cover sent Sasha’s feet into the ropes. Three minutes left and they’re both spent. Bayley loads up the reverse hurricanrana but Sasha lands on her feet and hits a Bayley to Belly of her own. There’s the Bank Statement and Sasha spins her away from the ropes. She can’t get the full hold on though due to the hand injury from earlier.
Sasha kicks away from the ropes and gets a better version on with a minute left. Bayley reaches up and bends the hand back for the break before slamming the bad hand into the mat to get out. Sasha hooks the backbreaker to set up another Bank Statement but Bayley rolls through into an armbar while cranking on the hand with ten seconds left. Bayley KICKS HER IN THE HEAD until Sasha taps with three seconds left to retain Bayley’s title at 30:00 by a score of 3-2.
Rating: A. It’s not as good as the Brooklyn match (I underrated that one horribly. If that wasn’t an A+, nothing is.) but my goodness they were feeling the drama and storytelling here. The back work from Banks worked perfectly but it made sense that Bayley didn’t give up because of Sasha’s hand injury. Bayley got WAY more aggressive than she ever has before here and it felt like a battle instead of just a match. Really good stuff here and I had a blast with it.
Bayley looks drained as the roster comes out to the entrance to help Sasha up. HHH presents Bayley with a bouquet and she soaks in the cheers. Bayley and Sasha smile at each other to end the show.
Overall Rating: A. I’m still trying to catch my breath about five minutes after the show ended. This was AWESOME with the main event stealing the show all over again. Those two are something special and they know they are. The rest of the show was all really good stuff too with the worst match probably being Asuka putting on a show against Brooke. I had a blast tonight and it blew away my expectations, as these things almost always do.
Results
Finn Balor/Samoa Joe b. Mechanics – Coup de Grace to Wilder
Rhyno/Baron Corbin b. Chad Gable/Jason Jorda – End of Days to Gable
Asuka b. Dana Brooke – Asuka Lock
Apollo Crews b. Tyler Breeze – Spinning powerbomb
Finn Balor/Samoa Joe b. Baron Corbin/Rhyno – Coup de Grace to Rhyno
Bayley b. Sasha Banks 3-2
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For some reason I don’t think I’ve ever done one of these for a Takeover. These things are the NXT pay per views though so it’s definitely worth looking at a little bit closer. This one does feel like it’s slapped together and really not necessary, but at least you have a series of big matches that should eat up a lot of time. Let’s get to it.
Let’s get the smaller matches out of the way first.
I’ll take Asuka over Dana Brooke. Brooke has been built up as a threat but Asuka feels like something special. I’m not saying Asuka is going to be the next top challenger, but I’ll take her over Eva Marie’s comedy show any day.
Apollo Crews over Tyler Breeze, though Breeze really needs a big win at some point.
As for the main event, of course Bayley wins though Sasha is likely getting a fall here or there. I’m sure the ending will have a bunch of drama, likely with Bayley locked in the Bank Statement with time running out and wondering if she’ll give up or not. There’s no way they’re taking the belt off of her yet though. There has never been a repeat champion in NXT and I can’t picture it happening now with Sasha looking like she’s going after the Divas Title.
Now for the tournament, which could go more than one way. We’ll start with the only easy match in the field: Jordan/Gable beat Rhyno/Corbin. They’ve got something special with Gable and I think they know it. There’s no way they’re going to put Rhyno and Corbin over them and into a final they have no chance of winning.
That brings us to the more complicated match as Finn Balor/Samoa Joe face the Mechanics. It’s no secret that Balor and Joe are going to be feuding at some point in the future. However, the question becomes do they lose and argue over whose fault it was or do they win the whole thing and then fight over who was the more important member of the team? Or do they win the whole thing and then Joe gets a shot as a sign of respect? I’m not sure if they win the whole thing or not, but I do think they advance to the finals.
So that leaves Joe/Balor vs. Gable/Jordan for the title. I think I’m going with Gable/Jordan here as they’re a good choice for the next challengers to the titles and you can have Balor vs. Joe at the next Takeover. Or, they go with Gable/Jordan but a DUSTY FINISH gives it back to Joe/Balor. Seriously if they don’t go with a Dusty Finish at some point, I’m going to be disappointed.
Overall this show feels…..unnecessary. This feels like they’re giving Full Sail a Takeover to make up for Brooklyn because they’re afraid Full Sail will be offended. I have confidence in NXT to pull something off though and they’re guaranteed to have some entertaining matches along the way, but I’m hoping we don’t have another one of these for a good while. Like until London in late December.
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NXT Date: September 2, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves
The focus goes back on the tag teams tonight as we begin the Dusty Classic. This is a tag team tournament for a prize to be announced and with most of the participants to be announced as well. The idea is to have the past, present and future of NXT involved to honor the spirit of Dusty Rhodes. Let’s get to it.
The opening video hypes up the tournament and talks about paying tribute to the Dream.
Opening sequence.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Ascension vs. Rhyno/Baron Corbin
Rhyno runs Viktor over to start but Viktor rolls into a shoulder to put Rhyno down. Konor and Corbin come in but a quick double shoulder drops Baron. The double teaming doesn’t last long though and Viktor is sent shoulder first into the post, allowing Rhyno to get some shots in. Back to Corbin as it seems the Ascension are the faces here. Konor gets the hot tag and cleans house on Baron before avoiding a Gore. Corbin breaks up the Fall of Man though and Rhyno Gores Konor for the pin at 5:39.
Rating: D. This was an awkward match with both teams looking a bit off. It’s also very telling that the Ascension can’t even get a win over a thrown together team where the members don’t even get along down in NXT. They’ve just died since they got called up to the main roster and WWE has no issues with it.
Neville and Solomon Crowe are in the tournament. They’re both excited but Solomon freaks Neville out a bit.
Nia Jax is still coming.
Alexa Bliss vs. Blue Pants
Bliss takes Blue Pants down for a beating to start and throws her to the mat by the hair. Pants gets rammed into the buckle and a kick to the back sets up an armbar. Back up and Pants fires off some kicks and a northern lights suplex gets two. She misses a charge in the corner though and the Sparkle Splash gives Alexa the pin at 3:34.
Rating: C-. Total squash but that was exactly what it was supposed to be. Bliss is the evil mastermind and Blue Pants is nothing more than a cult favorite who can only win matches through interference. There’s no point in having her win here when she just shows up for goofy appearances so everyone is fine.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are in Regal’s office when Tyler Breeze storms in. Tyler demands a spot in the tournament so Regal gives him Bull Dempsey to face Gargano and Ciampa next week.
Emma says the Divas Revolution isn’t happening without her.
Apollo Crews vs. Martin Stone
Apollo starts fast with an armdrag but Stone clotheslines him down to take over. Off to a chinlock for a bit before Crews comes back with a standing enziguri. The gorilla press and standing moonsault put Stone away at 2:57. Crews looked good but he needs to do something besides just being all athletic and awesome.
Chad Gable and Jason Jordan say they’ll get to write this tournament’s history after winning the whole thing. Neville is flying too close to the sun and Crowe is going to be forgotten. Jordan finally says the Ready Willing and Gable line. Gable is money.
Finn Balor is ready to defend his title in Texas, but first of all he’s in the Dusty Classic. His partner, Samoa Joe, comes in and says he wants to win it all. Balor shakes his hand and says he’s ready. So I guess Joe is going to be the next major challenger.
Eva Marie vs. Billie Kay
We get an Eva chant to start, which I don’t buy as legit for a second. Eva fires off some shoulders in the corner and grabs a suplex for two. A seated abdominal stretch is countered by a small package but Eva comes back with a backsplash (that’s WAY too common a move these days) for two more. Kay makes a quick comeback with a clothesline and suplex for two of her own, but the interesting part is the fans booing Eva out of the building for kicking out. That was awesome in a way. Back up and Sliced Red #2 beats Kay at 3:45.
Rating: D. Eva is gorgeous and looks great in her gear, has awesome presence, but above all else, she’s just not that good in the ring. If they try to push her as a star in the division, the heat is going to be out of this world. The NXT fans simply do not want her in their company and it’s not surprising in the slightest.
The Hype Bros and Enzo/Cass argued over what part of New York to celebrate in after winning last week.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Solomon Crowe/Neville vs. Chad Gable/Jason Jordan
Gable takes Crowe to the mat to start and easily rolls him around into a backslide for two. Back up and Crowe counters a leapfrog into a flapjack (nice move) before it’s off to Neville for a very nice welcome home reaction. Jordan takes Neville down to the mat with some nice amateur stuff but Neville flips out of a suplex and sends Jason to the floor as we take a break. Back with Jordan throwing Solomon down just like he did to Neville before a wicked overhead belly to belly drops Crowe again.
Gable comes back in and mocks Solomon, even having Jordan fan him off while Crowe is on the floor. Jordan throws on a chinlock for a bit before Solomon adds a bow and arrow of his own. The hold is finally broken and Crowe dives over for the tag, allowing Neville to come in for his usual fast paced stuff.
Gable pulls Jason to the floor to break up the Red Arrow. That’s fine with Neville as he dives on both of them with Crowe following with a dive of his own. Back in and Jordan catches Neville’s next dive and throws him face first onto the mat. Crowe tags himself in and gets suplexed again, setting up the Grand Amplitude (the announcers don’t know the name) for the pin at 12:48.
Rating: C+. Good match here and Crowe tagging himself in might lead to a heel turn for him, which probably won’t save him but it’s better than whatever it was he’s been doing for the last few weeks. Neville really does come off as a star here and you can see what they’re going for with the superhero idea.
Overall Rating: C+. I liked the show for the most part and they’re making the tournament feel like a huge deal. That’s exactly what something this important should be and I love the fact that they’ve made the whole promotion want to get involved with it. Good stuff here and what is hopefully the sign of good stuff to come.
Results
Baron Corbin/Rhyno b. Ascension – Gore to Konor
Alexa Bliss b. Blue Pants – Sparkle Splash
Apollo Crews b. Martin Stone – Standing moonsault
Eva Marie b. Billie Kay – Sliced Red #2
Chad Gable/Jason Jordan b. Neville/Solomon Crowe – Grand Amplitude to Crowe
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