As usual with NXT, there are a few matches already set for this week. Tonight we’re getting Summer Rae vs. Charlotte for the Women’s Title to likely blow off the BFFs once and for all as well as Kalisto finding a partner to help him fight off the Vaudevillains. That’s one of the things I like best about NXT: they don’t have to start from scratch every week and it saves them so much time. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the collapse of the BFFs and Charlotte’s rise to the Women’s Title.

Opening sequence.

Ascension vs. ???/???

Viktor destroys Jobber #1 to start and throws him into Jobber #2 in the corner. Konnor comes in and Jobber #2’s chop just ticks him off. Jobber #2 gets destroyed for a bit and Fall of Man ends Jobber #2 at 2:37.

Tyler Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley

Beauty Shot ends this at 30 seconds in the only move of the match. So much for Rawley.

Women’s Title: Summer Rae vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending. Heaven help me but Summer’s theme song is growing on me. They get in each others’ faces to start before Charlotte shoves Summer down. She mocks Summer’s dancing and we go into the catfight. Charlotte takes over with some knees to the back and a Figure Four Neck Lock. We take a break and come back with Summer in the same hold and shouting about her beautiful face.

Charlotte flips her forward but gets sent to the floor to give Summer control. She slams Charlotte face first into the mat for two and puts on a bodyscissors. We get the very rare BORING chant in NXT as Charlotte gets caught in a half crab. Charlotte bites her way out and now the fans are doing the wave. A double clothesline puts both girls down but it’s Charlotte up first and taking control. She grabs a quick Bow Down to the Queen to retain at 9:50.

Rating: D+. Summer is no Natalya for sure. This was a really dull match and thankfully they kept this a lot shorter than the Takeover match. Both girls are almost all character, but it’s nice to see them trying to have a match instead of doing the stupid catfight stuff. Summer needs a lot more work though.

Video on Alexa Bliss.

Sin Cara/Kalisto vs. Vaudevillains

Not a huge surprise but it’s the right choice for a partner. English and Kalisto get things going with the masked man taking him down in a headlock. Off to Sin Cara for a loud chop and a cross body into a series of right hands to the head. Aiden dropkicks a springboard cross body out of the air for two and it’s off to Gotch. Renee: “Gotch isn’t allowed in England for trying to capture the Loch Ness Monster but getting Giant Haystacks.”

Gotch hammers away and gets two off a sunset flip before it’s back to English for a hard stomping. English gets caught in an armdrag into a powerbomb and it’s off to Kalisto to speed things up. Everything breaks down and Sin dives out onto English and Kalisto hits a standing Sliced Bread #2 for the pin on Gotch at 6:00.

Rating: C-. This was fine and the match made the new team look good. The Vaudevillains are going to be over because of how zany they are and a loss really doesn’t hurt them all that much. Also adding in a new face team that could eventually challenge the Ascension is a good thing.

Rusev vs. Adrian Neville

Non-title. Lana does her thing and talks about America’s obsessions with stars before the match. Rusev even speaks some English and talks about being the super athlete. Neville moves around as much as he can to start but gets caught in the corner and the beating begins.

The champion gets up some boots in the corner to stop a charge but the rest of his kicks don’t have much of an effect. Rusev grabs the leg and gets choked in the air. Neville comes back with a springboard missile dropkick. Tyler Breeze comes out for a distraction though and Rusev runs Neville over. Adrian escapes the fall away slam and nails a big kick. He loads up the Red Arrow but Breeze shoves him off for the DQ at 4:02.

Rating: D+. This was an angle instead of a match. They’ve done a REALLY good job at making Neville look like a superhero in the NXT Arena though and that’s going to make his title loss look like a big deal. Breeze is still a really good choice for #1 contender and I’m actually buying him as a possible champion.

Rusev puts him in the Accolade and makes Neville tap after the bell.

Overall Rating: C-. Not a very good episode this week as it felt like a placeholder. It’s still very acceptable for an hour long show but it wasn’t very entertaining. I’m glad Rusev didn’t beat Neville and it’s nice to see him coming off as a treat for the fans. Breeze vs. Neville is going to be a clash when it finally happens.

Results
Ascension b. ???/??? – Fall of Man to ???
Tyler Breeze b. Mojo Rawley – Beauty Shot
Charlotte b. Summer Rae – Bow Down to the Queen
Sin Cara/Kalisto b. Vaudevillains – Standing Sliced Bread #2 to Gotch
Adrian Neville b. Rusev via DQ when Tyler Breeze interfered

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We have a new big bad coming out of last week as Tyson Kidd allowed his wife to be shoved off the apron in order to finally get a big win in NXT. Kidd thriving is another problem for NXT Champion Adrian Neville to deal with as he now has Kidd and Gabriel coming after him as well as #1 contender Tyler Breeze looming. Let’s get to it.

Opening video.

Vaudevillains vs. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady

English cranks on Amore’s arm to start while shouting a little song. Enzo drags him over to the corner for the tag to Big Cass, who gets to pound on Gotch’s back. This brings out the Legionnaires, and since it’s a WWE product, Colin can’t handle seeing people in the same arena gets gets rolled up for the pin at 2:25.

The Ascension wants more competition.

We recap the breakup of the BFF’s and Summer earning a shot at Charlotte. The match is next week.

CJ Parker vs. Xavier Woods

Woods cranks on the arm to start as the announcers talk about Parker’s attempts to better the world. A headscissors puts Parker down but CJ whips him face first into the ropes for a unique reversal. Byron Saxton compares Parker to Oprah and Ronald Reagan, earning disdain from his fellow announcers. Parker puts on a chinlock but Woods quickly fights out with chops. Woods comes back with a DDT off the ropes for two but he misses a charge in the corner and gets rolled up with Parker grabbing the ropes for the pin at 2:00.

Sami Zayn says we’re seeing the real Tyson Kidd who is really insecure over his wife’s success. This jealousy is just making Kidd look bad.

Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks

Bliss takes over with some forearms to start but gets taken down into a cravate. It doesn’t last long though as Bliss fights up, only to miss a flip out of the corner. Banks takes her down with a backstabber and flips Alexa over for a crossface without the arm trap for the submission at 2:52.

Tyler Breeze is asked when he’ll be facing that uggo Adrian Neville. He talks about everyone rushing nowadays and how he won’t be rushing to face Adrian after his hand modeling injury. The contract is being drawn up, but until then, here’s his music video again.

We recap Tyson Kidd being evil last week.

Kidd says there’s nothing to his actions and he isn’t jealous of his wife.

Adam Rose vs. Jason Jordan

Jordan says his partner Tye Dillinger is injured but was last seen partying with the Rosebuds. Rose dances around and takes him down with a headlock. Jordan fights up and nails a clothesline to take over before slapping on a chinlock. Rose will have none of that and hits the CHOO CHOO Bronco Buster followed by the Party Foul for the pin at 3:18.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing more than a treat for the live crowd. Rose is great in a small atmosphere like this but he’s going to need a lot more to make it on the main roster. That’s the problem with a character like him: he’s really good at promos and vignettes, but the in ring stuff just isn’t there.

Kalisto says he and El Local parted ways but the Vaudevillains interrupt. They mock the masked man but he promises to find a new partner to face them next week. The Vaudevillains contemplate this with a hearty chin rub.

Tyson Kidd vs. Sami Zayn

Tyson hides in the corner to start before heading to the floor for more stalling. Back in and Tyson slides right back to the floor after minimal contact. Kidd gets in again and is sent to the corner for the Helluva Kick but he bails to the floor again. Kidd sends him to the floor and hits a nice dive off the apron to put both guys down on the ramp as we take a break. Back with Kidd putting on a chinlock before putting Sami in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick to the face.

Sami fights back with elbows to the face and a dropkick to send Kidd outside. The slingshot moonsault puts Tyson down again and Zayn is all fired up. Back inside and the top rope cross body gets two on Kidd but the Blue Thunder Bomb is countered into a German suplex for two. Kidd’s top rope elbow hits knee though and the Blue Thunder Bomb connects for two. The Blockbuster gets two on Sami and he gets caught in the Sharpshooter. Kidd gets it full on in the middle but Zayn is still able to crawl over to the ropes. Tyson goes up but dives into the Koji Clutch for the submission at 10:50 shown of 14:20.

Rating: B-. Did you expect anything but a good match from these two? It’s so strange to see Sami getting back to back wins and have him on a winning streak but it’s nice to see. Kidd’s heel turn is good but he needs to get a big win out of it at some point. Thankfully it wasn’t at Sami’s expense again.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event was good but the rest of the show was almost all too short to rate. NXT is on another roll at this point and getting better every week. The main event scene is solid and it seems like Breeze’s title shot is coming down the road. They’re making that a huge deal and it’s likely main eventing the next big show.

Results
Vaudevillains b. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady – Rollup to Cassady
CJ Parker b. Xavier Woods – Rollup while holding the ropes
Sasha Banks b. Alexa Bliss – Crossface
Adam Rose b. Jason Jordan – Party Foul
Sami Zayn b. Tyson Kidd – Koji Clutch

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This is another show that has been built up for a few weeks and there’s a good chance we get the payoff tonight. Coming off last week, we should be coming up on Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel. The match isn’t going to be a masterpiece or anything, but it’s going to be a well done match with a lot of high flying entertainment. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.
Bayley vs. Summer Rae

The winner gets a shot against Charlotte at some point in the future. Summer sends her into the corner to start but Bayley takes her down with a drop toehold and puts on an armbar. Bayley spins around on Summer’s back and Rae bails to the floor. Back in quickly and Summer nails a kick to Bayley’s ribs for one. Summer pulls on the arms with her feet on Bayley’s shoulders as Charlotte is watching from the back.

The referee breaks up a hair pull and Bayley flips Summer over, only to have her head rammed into the mat. Bayley comes back with a suplex, drawing a BAYLEY’S GONNA HUG YOU chant from the crowd. A spear and suplex get two on Rae but she kicks Bayley in the face for two of her own. Bayley comes back with a top rope elbow to the jaw but Summer counters the Belly to Bayley into the Summer Crush (standing legdrop) for the pin at 5:23.

Rating: C-. Nothing special here but Summer vs. Charlotte is going to be a solid match that belongs on a big stage. Summer isn’t great in the rings but she looks good and has the attitude that a Diva needs. Bayley needs to stay in NXT as long as she can so WWE can’t ruin her on the main roster.

Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville are banged up but they’re coming for Gabriel and Kidd.

Justin Gabriel is with Tyson Kidd and says he’s not going to be a loser anymore. He started in NXT and now somehow he’s back. There’s talent here, but it’s not on his level. Tyson was right and it took one more loss to prove him right. Sometimes in life, you have to break some rules.

Tyler Breeze has entered the building.

Sin Cara vs. Wesley Blake

Some quick rollups get two on Blake and a clothesline sends him to the floor, setting up a suicide dive. Back in and Blake takes him down by the arm for two before hooking an armbar. Cara comes up with a jawbreaker followed by a springboard headbutt. A springboard cross body gets two and a kick to the head sets up the Swanton Bomb for the pin at 3:32.

Rating: C-. Just a squash here but Sin Cara looked fine. He could use a few nice wins down in NXT, even though it isn’t going to mean much for him in WWE. The original Sin Cara’s run was just so bad that even the new performer can’t do much with the character anymore. Still though, not bad.

Tyson Kidd and Natalya get in an argument over his recent actions. He tells Natalya to not come to the ring with him tonight.

Summer thinks she and Sasha should stay friends but Banks doesn’t seem interested.

CJ Parker calls out Xavier Woods to talk about what happened last week. Parker apologizes but Woods doesn’t seem to accept. CJ offers peace before laying Woods out from behind.

The Vaudevillains talk about becoming the next Tag Team Champions and share an awesome laugh.

Video on the Ascension for the fans that are watching on the free preview.

Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins

A quick armbar takes Dawkins down and he makes the mistake of trying a sunset flip. The much bigger Dempsey sits on his chest and hammers away with headbutts and elbow drops. Dempsey chokes a lot and shrugs off a quick comeback attempt, setting up the Bulldozer powerslam for the pin at 2:55.

Dempsey says he isn’t quitting until he’s NXT Champion.

Zayn and Neville are ready.

Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Natalya is here with Kidd despite the argument earlier. Kidd and Neville get things going as the announcers plug the Network. Off to Sami who cranks on the arm before it’s back to the champion for more of the same. Zayn drops to the mat and Neville gets on his back for a corkscrew splash. Albert: “Rich can I try that off your back?” Renee: “I’ll give you a dollar if you do!” Neville hits a middle rope cross body for two before it’s off to Zayn for some chops. Justin offers a distraction and Tyson sends Zayn to the floor as we take a break.

Back almost immediately with Gabriel putting on a double chicken wing. That goes nowhere so Sami gets tied in the Tree of Woe, only to have Justin nail him from the apron. A double kick to the head gets two on Zayn and Tyson puts on a front facelock. Sami is in trouble but finally throws Kidd off and dives over for the hot tag. A standing moonsault gets two on Gabriel and a sitout powerbomb gets the same.

Adrian levels Kidd for two and the fans want Nattie. Justin’s distraction prevents the Red Arrow and Kidd knocks Adrian off the ropes for the springboard elbow and two. Sami sends Justin outside but makes a blind tag, setting up a big high cross body for two as Adrian dives onto Gabriel. I thought that was it. Tyson grabs Sami’s face but gets backdropped to the floor. Sami is left alone for the BIG flip dive to take out all three other guys. Kidd claims a knee injury but it’s a fake. Sami punches him in the jaw but it knocks Natalya to the floor as well. Tyson fakes going to check on her and grabs a quick rollup for the pin at 10:35.

Rating: B. Take four guys and let them fly around the ring for eleven minutes and freak the crowd out. It’s an idea that has worked since professional wrestling began and it’s always going to work. The match was the usual solid stuff and Kidd looks like the most evil guy in all of NXT. Well done.

Kidd leaves with Gabriel.

Overall Rating: B. If the idea tonight was to get people to want to buy the Network to see NXT, they did a great job. You got some WWE names, some good matches, angle advancement, and a sense of “why am I not watching this?”. That’s the point of a show like this and it worked like a charm. Good stuff and a good regular episode too.

Results
Charlotte b. Bayley – Summer Crush
Sin Cara b. Wesley Blake – Swanton Bomb
Bull Dempsey b. Angelo Dawkins – Bulldozer
Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel b. Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville – Rollup to Zayn

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Last week’s show saw some new names rise up on the NXT roster with the Vaudevillians providing as much entertaining as you could ask for from a single act. Other than that we’re getting ready for some new stories to get going this week, which usually makes for a good show. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester LeFort

Big Cass says that Pepe Le Pew is about to get dissed. First he’s going to get disfigured, then he’s going to get dismissed. LeFort continues to look better than half of the roster and can talk better than most of them as well. Big Cass starts in a hurry and it’s the East River Crossing and the Empire Elbow for the in at 55 seconds.

Adrian Neville says it was an honor to beat Rob Van Dam. Tyler Breeze comes in and says he’s impressed that Neville could focus that well with Breeze just twenty feet away. It must be killing Neville not knowing when Tyler is cashing in his title shot. “Just like your uggo face is killing me.” Neville offers to give Breeze a title shot tonight but Breeze claims a finger injury during a hand modeling session.

Video on Bull Dempsey, the last of a dying breed and the last real man in professional wrestling.

Charlotte/Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch/Bayley

Bayley says Becky is her BFF: Bayley Friend Forever. Sasha and Bayley get things going with Bayley taking her down by the arm. Off to Becky, drawing a great Irish accent from Regal. Charlotte comes in and gets caught in an armbar before Bayley comes in to work over the arm as well. A double suplex drops Charlotte and a double clothesline does the same to Sasha as we take a break.

Back with Bayley getting sent into the apron before Charlotte works her over in the ring. The BFFs double team Bayley in the corner and Charlotte gets two off a knee drop. Sasha works on a chinlock before it’s back to the champ for a choke in the corner. Bayley finally kicks Sasha into Charlotte and Becky gets the hot tag. A series of legdrops get two on Sasha and everything breaks down. Bayley is sent to the floor and Charlotte comes in legally for Bow Down to the Queen on Becky for the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C. Basic formula match here and there’s nothing wrong with that. The BFFs aren’t likely to be around much longer as Charlotte doesn’t need Sasha at this point. Sasha isn’t holding her down but there’s just no need for her. Becky was much like over the top Irish here and that’s a good thing for her.

Bayley shoves Sasha to the floor to prevent an attack on Becky.

Justin Gabriel is ready for Sami Zayn tonight when Tyson Kidd comes in. Tyson tries to get him to turn to the dark side but Gabriel says Tyson is wrong, and he’ll prove it tonight.

Sasha yells at Charlotte for not having her back after the match. Charlotte says the team is done because she’s the champion. Sasha implies that she’s coming for the belt.

CJ Parker vs. Steve Cutler

Parker’s sign now has the word Woods crossed out. He runs over Cutler to start and says that Steve is ruining the world, just like all of them. Parker hammers away and hits a side kick for the pin at 1:30.

Parker rants about Xavier Woods being so educated but doing nothing on the main roster. If he had Woods’ chances, he’d win titles and change the world along the way.

We get a sitdown interview with Tyson Kidd who says he wasn’t in a mood to do the fallout show at Takeover and left before he said something stupid. He didn’t know Natayla was there and didn’t blow her off on purpose. Interviewer Renee Young asks what was up with freaking out on Natayla for telling the referee that Neville had his foot on the ropes. He went nuts during the match and is glad Natalya calmed him down. Tyson goes on in a calm manner about not wanting to win the titles that way but walks off when Renee asks about possible marital problems.

Summer Rae vs. Bayley next week for the #1 contendership.

Sami Zayn vs. Justin Gabriel

Tyson Kidd is at ringside, drawing a Nattie’s Husband chant. They trade wristlocks to start as Regal thinks Kidd and Natayla are having issues. Justin wrenches on the arm to escape a chinlock. Sami cranks on one of his own but Justin makes it to the ropes. They’re still in first gear here. Gabriel runs him over with a clothesline for the first hard move of the match. He hammers away at Sami’s head and we take a break.

Back with Gabriel getting two off a kick to the head and putting on a double arm crank. Gabriel gets another two and seems to be getting frustrated. He hammers at Sami’s head but Zayn fights back with dropkicks and a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. The Helluva Kick misses though and Justin hits a middle rope kick to the chest for two. Sami blocks a German suplex but gets caught in an over the shoulder backbreaker for two. A huge moonsault gets two and Justin can’t believe this. He loads up the 450 but Sami rolls out of the way. A downward spiral into a Koji Clutch makes Justin tap at 13:00.

Rating: B-. My goodness it’s nice to see Sami get a win for a change. It’s not a great match or against a top level opponent but Sami did his underdog thing and then came back to get the win. That’s a nice change for him and the best thing is he hasn’t lose his heat with all the losing.

Tyson jumps Sami post match and Justin turns heel and joins in. Adrian Neville comes in for the save and I’m sure we’ve got a tag match coming up.

Overall Rating: B. The main event scene has gone from nothing to awesome in a single hour. We have the tag match coming up which could spin off into some more matches and Tyler Breeze looming over the whole thing. This was a really solid episode for storytelling and we had a solid main event to cap it off. As usual, NXT knows how to run a wrestling show.

Results
Colin Cassady b. Sylvester LeFort – Empire Elbow
Charlotte/Sasha Banks b. Bayley/Becky Lynch – Bow Down to the Queen to Lynch
CJ Parker b. Steve Cutler – Side kick
Sami Zayn b. Justin Gabriel – Koji Clutch

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NXT is coming in off a bad show which isn’t something I have to say all that often. Last week’s show was pretty boring with Tyler Breeze having one of the least interesting matches I’ve ever seen from the promotion and the main event being an angle instead of a match. Things down here have a habit of turning around quickly though so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

T. Perkins/Matt Sugarman vs. Vaudevillians

The Vaudevillians are introduced at a combined height of 12’7. Renee says Sugarman is a Bastion Booger fan because that’s how awesome she is. Gotch takes Sugarman down with an armbar before putting on a headscissors so he can do clap pushups. A slam puts Sugerman down and the top rope Swanton (That’s A Wrap) from English gets the pin at 2:45.

We recap the main event from last week. Zayn says Tyson is a weird kind of cat because he never learned how to lose. They’ll be hearing from each other again.

Xavier Woods vs. Bull Dempsey

CJ Parker’s crusade in the crowd continues. Dempsey gets a full entrance and has a theme song with the word BULL being shouted over and over. Dempsey grabs a headlock to start and hammers Woods down with pure power. A headbutt gets two before Dempsey just drills Woods with forearms to the chest. Dempsey is in a short singlet, earning him a PUT SOME PANTS ON chant from the lively crowd. Woods fights out of a chinlock with a jawbreaker but jumps into a right hand to the face. A sitout slam (the Bulldozer) gets Bull the pin at 4:40.

Rating: D+. Total squash here and Dempsey looked good the whole way. There’s nothing wrong with a powerful brute like this and the match worked well. His music is really catchy too and was stuck in my head the entire time. That’s a good sign as it’s just his name over and over, set to music.

Bull says the children have run NXT for too long and he’s the last of a dying breed.

Summer Rae vs. Becky Lynch

Becky is an Irish redhead in green. The fans chant for her to start and Lynch does a jig. Becky takes her down with an armbar but she gets kicked in the face for two. Charlotte tries to interfere but Summer shouts that it’s her match, allowing Lynch to get a VERY close two off a rollup. Lynch hits three straight legdrops for two followed by a capture suplex for the pin at 2:59.

Sawyer Fulton vs. Colin Cassady

They circle each other for a bit as the announcers hype Cassady up as a future NXT Champion. Fulton shoves Cassady to start but walks into a big boot and the S-A-W-F-T Elbow gets the pin at 1:26.

The Legionnaires come out to go after Colin but Enzo Amore runs out for the save. Catchphrases are spoken.

Adrian Neville vs. Rob Van Dam

Tyler Breeze is on commentary. Non-title and set up as RVD wanted to face the best NXT had to offer. Neville takes over with a headscissors on the mat and an armdrag sends Van Dam out to the floor. Back in and a rollup gets two for Adrian as Renee says Van Dam is Neville’s idol. Van Dam kicks Adrian to the floor and nails a shot off the apron to put both guys down. Adrian is back up first for a big moonsault to take Rob down again.

We take a break and come back with Adrian holding a front facelock but getting caught in an atomic drop. Renee asks Tyler about a potential full length album but Breeze says his one hit will last for awhile. Van Dam kicks Neville in the face and does it again in the corner. Neville’s sunset flip is countered for two and he gets tied up in the Tree of Woe. A running kick to the ribs has Neville in even more trouble but he escapes a German suplex.

Adrian’s springboard clothesline gets two on Van Dam but he comes back with a jawbreaker. The split legged moonsault only hits mat and a small package gets two for the champion. Van Dam throws Adrian into the air for a kick to the chest to take over again. The Five Star misses though and Neville comes back with a running DDT, followed by the Red Arrow for the pin at 13:56 shown of 16:26.

Rating: C+. There was a nice story here with Neville knowing Van Dam so well due to being a fan for so many years. I’m not the biggest Van Dam fan in the world but it’s nice to see him putting people over clean like this. I expected Van Dam to get the pin so this was a very nice surprise.

They shake hands post match and the announcers don’t treat this like a big upset.

Overall Rating: C+. And of course NXT bounces back with a good show this week. This was about bringing in some new stars and giving some new people pushes, which is necessary when WWE brings people up so often. Neville is reaching a point where losing the title is going to be a big deal and that’s a very good thing. Solid show this week.

Results
Vaudevillians b. T. Perkins/Matt Sugarman – That’s A Wrap to Sugerman
Bull Dempsey b. Xavier Woods – Bulldozer
Becky Lynch b. Summer Rae – Capture suplex
Colin Cassady b. Sawyer Fulton – S-A-W-F-T Elbow
Adrian Neville b. Rob Van Dam – Red Arrow

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Adding on to that, the losing streak for Raw was 86 weeks (or something like that as it changes every time I hear it). That’s about a year and nine months, or if you flash back from today, roughly October 2012. That’s when Ryback still meant something and CM Punk was still WWE Champion. It really isn’t that long a stretch of time, but man alive did a lot of stuff happen in that span about 17 years ago.

We don’t have a ton of stories coming into this week as a lot of stuff was wrapped up last week. There’s a chance we’ll get more from Mr. NXT Bo Dallas as his comedic antics to get back into the NXT Arena continue. Other than that there’s fallout from Tyson Kidd seemingly turning heel last week. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s main event.

On Raw, Natalya appealed to JBL to let Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd form a tag team. JBL likes the idea but doesn’t sign off on it.

Opening sequence.

Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss

Set up via a challenge from Bliss last week. Summer won’t do the snap during the entrance and looks annoyed. Banks slaps on a headlock to start before running Bliss over. Bliss flips around a lot and armdrags Sasha down before a small package gets two. A backbreaker gets two on Bliss as Summer continues to look like she would rather be anywhere else. Sasha puts on a surfboard but Charlotte and Summer get in an argument, allowing Bliss to grab a quick rollup for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: C-. It didn’t have time to go anywhere but this worked well enough. Bliss is tiny but cute and has good facials during her match. She was just backdrop for the real story though and there’s nothing wrong with that. The BFF’s splitting up is going to be a big deal when it happens and it’s clearly coming soon.

Natalya and Tyson are in the back and Kidd doesn’t seem pleased that Natalya got him and Sami a Tag Team Title shot tonight. Kidd says he could have gotten it on his own and leaves to talk strategy.

Simon Gotch and Aiden English, collectively known as the Vaudevillians, want the titles. Their speech is in black and white and looks like a silent comedy (minus the silent) from the 1920s, complete with overdone laughs and EXCELSIOR! These two should be great together.

Mojo Rawley vs. Garrett Dylan

Mojo grabs a headlock to start and shoves Garrett into the corner, only to be kicked in the ribs to give Dylan control. Garrett keeps stomping away and puts on a long abdominal stretch to slow things down even more. Not a bad idea against someone that moves so fast. Mojo makes an easy comeback with some shoulders and a corner splash, followed by Hyperdrive for the pin at 3:41.

Rating: D. Same formula for Mojo who is the exact same character that he was when he debuted. That’s the problem with him in a nutshell: there’s nowhere for his character to go and once you see his entrance a few times, the interest just isn’t there anymore. There’s enough energy there for potential but he needs something more than what he’s giving us so far.

Sami and Tyson are ready for their match and call it the restart.

CJ Parker’s crusade for the environment continues. Regal: “I want to run him over with my SUV.”

Vaudevillians vs. Angelo Dawkins/Travis Tyler

The entrance is straight out of the 1920s, complete with a big horn to shout though. Gotch, the strongman, easily takes Jordan does one arm pushups on the pretty boy’s back. The fans are chanting YES at the Vaudevillians. Aiden comes in with a legdrop and it’s back to Gotch for exercising and more shots to the head. Off to Dillinger who takes a rolling fireman’s carry from Gotch (complete with exercises) and a middle rope Swanton Bomb from Aiden for the pin at 3:30.

Rating: C. The team is hilarious but I’m surprised they jobbed out the pretty boys this fast. I can’t imagine the Vaudevillians being a success on the main roster anytime soon as the announcers would laugh them out of the building, unlike Regal who LOVED them and told stories about working on the carnival circuit.

Colin Cassidy sings about the moon hitting your eye like a big pizza pie but stops before the last line (that’s amore), hinting that Enzo is back soon.

Rob Van Dam wants to face Adrian Neville. That should be interesting.

Tyler Breeze vs. Kalisto

They circle each other to start until Kalisto tries to speed things up. Breeze slows him down with a headlock onto the mat and keeps it on for over two minutes straight. Kalisto finally fights up and hits a springboard corkscrew dive followed by a headscissors to send Tyler to the floor as we take a break. The break lasts all of two seconds and we come back with Breeze sending him into the corner but having to adjust the leg tassels.

Off to a front facelock on Kalisto for a good while before Breeze just hammers away. Back to the front facelock as this match has somehow been going eight minutes already. Kalisto fights out and hits a top rope cross body but both guys are down. The masked man finally covers for two before walking into the Beauty Shot to finally end this at 10:33 shown of 14:03..

Rating: D. What in the world was that? Breeze literally had on facelocks or headlocks for over five minutes and did nothing with them at all. Kalisto is capable of having a decent match out there but for some reason they just let them lay around and do nothing for the whole time. I have no idea what they were going for here but it didn’t work.

Tag Team Titles: Ascension vs. Tyson Kidd/Sami Zayn

Viktor pounds on Sami to start and Zayn is taken into the corner for a double beating. The fans are way into the beating from Ascension and chant along with the stomps in the corner. Sami rolls away and tries to get a tag but Viktor pulls him back. Kidd gets down on the floor and says if Sami wants to do the whole thing on his own then he can. Zayn finally hits a top rope cross body and looks for a tag but it’s just an empty corner. Konnor comes in and crushes Sami with a splash, setting up the Fall of Man to retain the titles at 4:00.

Rating: D+. This was an angle instead of a match. Tyson vs. Sami will be good but the Ascension really needs challengers. They’ve held the titles for eight months now and cleaned out the division about six months ago. This loss is much more acceptable for Sami as losing a handicap match to the Ascension is hardly a shame.

Overall Rating: C-. Not their best effort as the matches were pretty lame but the angle advancement worked. The Vaudevillians look like they could have some hysterical stuff in the future and the fans are going to cheer for them no matter what. If that’s what we need to give the Ascension challengers then so be it. Not a great show but other than the WAY too long front facelocks from Tyler there was nothing too bad.

Results
Alexa Bliss b. Sasha Banks – Rollup
Mojo Rawley b. Garrett Dylan – Hyperdrive
Vaudevillians b. Tye Dillinger/Jason Jordan – Middle rope Swanton Bomb to Dillinger
Tyler Breeze b. Kalisto – Beauty Shot
Ascension b. Sami Zayn/Tyson Kidd – Fall of Man to Zayn

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The main story coming out of last week is we’re going to get Kidd vs. Neville II after Adrian successfully defended the title at Takeover. Other than that last week was pretty much just a placeholder show until we get to the next big show around here. Even last week’s relatively meaningless show was fine though and that’s a nice thing to say about a promotion. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Tyson Kidd failing to win the NXT Title and thinking of himself as Natalya’s husband rather than a superstar. Then he lost and wouldn’t shake Adrian’s hand, only to request and receive a rematch last week.

Opening sequence.

Bayley/Paige/Emma vs. BFF’s

Charlotte takes Emma into the corner to start but gets shouldered in the ribs and caught in a sunset flip for two. Back up and Emma slaps the champion in the face so Charlotte drags her back into the corner for a tag off to Banks. Summer looks annoyed at not getting the tag. Charlotte is back in less than fifteen seconds later but Sasha trips up Emma to slam her face first into the apron. Emma is in trouble and we take an early break.

Back with Summer holding Emma in a chinlock before mocking the Emma Dance. Charlotte comes in again with a figure four neck lock to keep Emma in trouble. Another tag brings in Sasha who gets rolled up for two but Emma still can’t make the tag. The BFF’s make some switches in the corner sans tags as Renee seems to like Summer’s legs. All three keep taking their shots on Emma as this has been totally one sided so far.

Sasha hooks a chinlock but Emma is quickly up and avoiding a charge into the corner. The hot tag finally brings in Bayley to clean house, including a belly to belly for two on Charlotte. Everything breaks down and Charlotte gets two off a bridging rollup on Bayley. Summer accidentally distracts Charlotte though, allowing Bayley to grab a rollup for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C. This was fine but I’m surprised Paige didn’t get in there to clean house a bit. Bayley getting the pin sets her up as the next challenger while also advancing the feud between the BFF’s. I love it when booking is able to cover that many things at the same time and it’s hard to do for some reason anymore.

A masked man was signed to a contract earlier in the week. He Bolieves he’ll make a great impression. JBL seems to know something is up.

The BFF’s are freaking out in the back when Alexa Bliss comes up and asks for a match with Charlotte. The champ tells her to go away which Bliss interprets as a yes.

Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester LeFort

Cassady throws him around to start but LeFort goes after the knee to take over. The fans chant USA and Colin comes back with some loud shots to the ribs. Cassady nails Sylvester again and hits the S-A-W-F-T boot and the East River Crossing gets the pin at 2:26.

Natalya says she can be out there with Tyson tonight but Kidd thinks it’s about him instead of her. The wife isn’t pleased.

Aiden English is singing about how no one knows the trouble he’s seen when a guy with a mustache comes up and offers to shake his hand. The guy won’t talk, walks off screen, does something that amazes Aiden, and comes back with a piece of the set over his shoulder. Ok then.

Sami Zayn vs. Mr. NXT

He’s the masked man from earlier and it’s clearly Bo Dallas, down to the entrance and running around the ring. Apparently he’s a Mexican gold medalist in wrestling. Sami rolls his eyes at this but gets caught in a headlock. Mr. NXT celebrates and draws a dueling YOU CAN’T FOOL US/YES HE CAN chant. Some armdrags drop the masked man and now Sami celebrates a bit. Mr. NXT comes back with elbows and says he is NOT Bo Dallas. The Bodog is countered and Sami rips the mask off to reveal Bo. Fans: BO LEAVE! The Helluva Kick gets the pin for Sami at 4:06.

Rating: C. Comedy match and there’s nothing wrong with that. Bo is great at wanting back in NXT because it’s his life and it’s totally different from his run on Raw and Smackdown. It’s also nice to see Sami get a win over a big name instead of coming so close and then losing at the last minute.

NXT Title: Tyson Kidd vs. Adrian Neville

Tyson is challenging and we get big match intros. Feeling out process to start with both guys gaining and losing quick control. Tyson grabs a top wristlock before taking him down to the mat for a hammerlock. Neville speeds things up and backdrops Tyson to the floor for a big crash. There’s the flip dive from the champion for two back inside and now it’s Neville cranking on an armbar.

We take a break and come back with Tyson holding a chinlock and drawing a NATTIE’S HUSBAND chant. Neville fights up but is quickly backdropped for two and it’s back to the chinlock. Back up again with Neville getting kicked in the ribs, only to come back with an enziguri. Adrian goes to the apron but gets kicked in the head as well, allowing Tyson to hit a top rope flip legdrop with Adrian in the ropes for three, but Adrian’s foot is in the ropes, as pointed out by Natalya (looking stunning all dolled up here).

Kidd ties him up in the Tree of Woe for some knees to the ribs and a running dropkick to the face. The Sharpshooter goes on but Neville crawls to the ropes. Kidd gets kicked in the head but still manages to break up the Red Arrow. The Blockbuster gets two so Kidd drops a top rope elbow for another near fall. Kidd is very frustrated so he goes outside and gets a chair. Natalya takes it away, allowing Neville to kick his head off and hit the Red Arrow to retain at 14:35.

Rating: B. This was a totally different kind of match than they had at Takeover and it still worked very well. This was much more about Kidd going to further and further extremes to win the title and getting caught when he went too far. Very good match here and it told a totally different story.

Natalya consoles her husband to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Set up stories one week, pay them off the next week. That’s wrestling storytelling at its finest and that’s all you need to do a lot of the time. The fact that the wrestling was good on top of all that makes things even better. The Bo Dallas stuff was funny as usual and the whole show just worked. Totally fun hour of wrestling TV.

Results
Bayley/Paige/Emma b. BFF’s – Rollup to Charlotte
Colin Cassady b. Sylvester LeFort – East River Crossing
Sami Zayn b. Mr. NXT – Helluva Kick
Adrian Neville b. Tyson Kidd – Red Arrow

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He’s got the whole world in his hat. Today is Bray Wyatt.

Jon Cutler/Lance Hoyt vs. Vic Adams/Duke Rotundo

This is Adams/Rotundo’s TV debut. Duke runs over Cutler with ease before cranking on a headlock. Off to Hoyt vs. Adams with Vic cranking on the arm to take over. Hoyt drives him into the corner so Cutler can get in a cheap shot from the apron, setting up Lance’s wicked release high collar suplex.

Back to Cutler for a one armed camel clutch and a chinlock before Lance comes in again to hammer away. Adams finally avoids a charging Cutler and dives into the corner for the hot tag to Duke. The running backsplash gets two on Cutler as Hoyt breaks up the pin. Everything breaks down and Adams hits what looked to be a Rock Bottom for the pin on Cutler.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing of note but it worked well enough. Adams had a decent look and some nice power but Cutler was as generic as you can get. Duke had the best look of the four and even then it wasn’t anything all that great. That being said, this is what FCW is about: getting people ring time.

Duke would hook up with his brother and win the FCW Tag Team Titles soon after this and defend them on September 6, 2009’s FCW TV.

FCW Tag Team Titles: Bo Rotundo/Duke Rotundo vs. Vance Archer/Dylan Klein

Archer is Hoyt under his more famous name and this is the first title defense. Bo cranks on Klein’s head to start before driving some shoulders into the ribs. Archer pulls him off the apron to send Bo face first into the apron before dropping a leg back inside. The challengers take over with Klein getting two off a snap suplex. Bo slips into the corner for the hot tag to Duke, who does the splits to avoid a cross body. Everything breaks down and Duke hits a swinging Rock Bottom for the pin on Archer.

Rating: C-. Not a great match again but the Rotundos looked better than Duke and a random partner. This was also much more about showcasing Duke than anyone else as he got the hot tag and then cleaned house for the win. It seems to be the right call a few years later too as he’s the biggest star of the four.

Rotundo would be one of the rookies on the second season of NXT. One of his first matches was on June 29, 2010.

MVP vs. Husky Harris

Harris is 0-1. They go really slowly to start. Harris apparently is mad at Rhodes for embarrassing him on Friday. Crowd isn’t that thrilled here. Mark Henry is on assignment apparently. Dang Harris is a dull guy to watch. This is just a slow and boring match with NOTHING of interest going on in it. Harris misses his back splash as the crowd is DEAD. When Ballin is barely able to get a pop you can tell the match sucks. MVP hits a Downward Spiral and Harris is 0-2. Dang I hate that move too. Harris won’t shake MVP’s hand post match.

Rating: F. This was just boring. No one thought Harris had a chance and no one cared at all. This did nothing at all and deserves to fail. Even the overrated Ryder could have gotten a better match out of him here. MVP isn’t the guy you want carrying a match and here is your proof.

Here’s a slightly better match from July 27, 2010.

Kaval vs. Husky Harris

This should go short as it’s getting close to 10:45 and we have a poll to do. Kaval was at a Lady Gaga concert apparently with Laycool. We talk about the Cowboys for a bit regarding the Dez Bryan/Roy Williams incident which was overblown. Kaval uses stuff other than kicks here which is a nice perk for him. Laycool gets knocked to the floor and Kaval checks on them. A reverse suplex and the back splash end it with Harris getting the win.

Rating: C-. Kaval uses stuff other than just kicks here which is a big step up for him. That’s his main issue: he needs to vary up his offense which is what he did. Harris is still not someone I can get into but I can tolerate him more now than I could before. This was fine for what it was and Kaval showing concern for his pros was cool.

Harris would join the Nexus in the fall and have a pretty high profile match on October 18, 2010’s Raw.

John Cena/Randy Orton vs. Husky Harris/Michael McGillicutty

Nexus comes out to stand on stage. Michael and Cena start us off as Cena hits a release fisherman’s suplex where McGillicutty lands on his back. Back and it’s Orton hitting his perfect dropkick on the perfect son. Not much going on here as you’re just kind of waiting on the big thing to happen. McGillicutty hits his neck snap off the middle rope which was kind of nice. Hot tag to Orton who comes in to beat the heck out of everyone. He points at Barrett and sets for the RKO. BIG FU to Harris and the RKO ends McGillicutty. Cena has a big old celebration and is clearly rather happy.

Rating: C. Average stuff here and the ending was appropriate. There was no way the Super Friends were losing here and they shouldn’t have. This was of course to set up the post match angle which is fine. Using a match to set up an angle is fine and it worked rather well here I though. Average match and nothing special but nothing bad either.

We’ll jump ahead a bit to Harris being back in FCW and look at one of the big matches in his long feud with Percy Watson.

Husky Harris vs. Percy Watson

Lumberjack match. Harris slugs him down to start but Percy knocks him out to the floor. Back in and Harris gets caught in a headlock but he drives Watson throat first into the top rope. Back up and we hit a chinlock on Watson followed by a chinlock. Watson fights up and hits some dropkicks but his enziguri gets caught in a half crab. That goes nowhere so Percy fights up and hits a floatover DDT for two. A reverse DDT puts Harris down again but Michael McGillicutty puts his foot on the ropes. Watson is sent outside again and the distraction allows Harris to hit the release Rock Bottom for the pin.

Rating: D. This was really dull stuff due to the lack of any real anger. If we’re going to have a lumberjack match, it needs to be over two people that can’t stand the sight of each other. Watson was energetic, but at the same time I find it hard to get interested in someone named Percy. It’s just not that interesting of a name.

Here’s a match that would be WAY different today. This took place at Wrestlemania XXVIII Axxess.

Bo Rotundo/Husky Harris vs. Damien Sandow/Antonio Cesaro

Rotundo is of course Dallas and Harris’ real life brother. Sandow has Summer Rae with him. Damien is called a Diva due to his manly pink trunks and gets to start with Harris. They fight into the corner with Sandow hiding several times in a row. A big right hand puts Sandow down and he hides with Summer in the corner again.

Cesaro comes in and wants Bo but first demands SILENCE. The brothers double team Cesaro for a bit until a Sandow distraction lets Antonio knee Bo to the floor. Sandow comes in and hammers away for a bit before it’s back to Cesaro for more stomping. Bo breaks out of a front facelock from Sandow and makes the tag to Harris. House is cleaned and some misdirection lets Bo spear Sandow for the pin.

Rating: D+. Nothing much to see here but to be fair it wasn’t supposed to be anything of note other than to give the live fans something to see. It’s so strange to see Harris as a face knowing what he’ll become in just a year or so. Bo using a spear just didn’t work at all given how small he is.

We’ll jump ahead a bit now as Harris was repackaged as Bray Wyatt, a swamp preacher and borderline cult leader. We’ll pick him up on February 20, 2013 on NXT after Bray returned from an injury.

Yoshi Tatsu vs. Bray Wyatt

This is a good idea as the Wyatt Family lost last week, so having Wyatt himself get in the ring, I believe for the second time on NXT, is a way to redeem the Family. Wyatt no sells everything and throws Tatsu down with a wicked release Rock Bottom. A BIG running splash crushes Tatsu in the corner and a fast spinning Downward Spiral gets the pin at 1:37. Total squash.

Bray and his Family (cult followers) would debut in WWE in early June and set their sights on Kane. Wyatt’s debut match in WWE was a Ring of Fire match against Kane at Summerslam 2013.

Kane vs. Bray Wyatt

Wyatt and his Family debuted a few weeks ago and attacked Kane. Tonight the ring is surrounded by fire to prevent interference but you win by pin/submission. This is Bray’s in ring debut. Kane pounds him into the corner to start and clotheslines him down, sending the flames shooting into the air. The Family tries to get closer to the ring and there goes the fire again. Nice touch. Bray charges right at Kane and pounds away but can’t hit a suplex.

Kane suplexes him down instead, sending the fire up again. Bray avoids the low dropkick but misses a charge, sending himself into the ropes and near the flames. Wyatt crushes him in the corner with a splash and mostly misses a cross body. They’re lucky that the flames are covering up a lot of these misses. Bray slugs his way out of a chokeslam but Kane “hits” a big boot. Are the flames really messing them up that badly? That’s like three moves that have mostly missed. Kane side slams him down for no cover but Bray gets in a shot to take Kane down.

Wyatt asks for a weapon but as Harper loads up a kendo stick the flames go up, catching the stick on fire. Firemen put it out so Rowan steals the extinguisher, but it has no effect. There’s the chokeslam to Wyatt but Kane hits a second one for revenge. He calls for the tombstone but the Family puts a blanket over the flames, allowing the monsters to come in and beat Kane down. There’s no DQ though so this is all legal. Kane is destroyed and Sister Abigail is good for the pin at 7:49.

Rating: D+. This was disappointing. The visuals were cool but just putting a blanket over the flames was a pretty lame way to have the monsters get inside. I was expecting something a bit more supernatural instead of fire safety tips with the Wyatt Family. Also what was up with those botches?

Next up for Bray was the white hot Daniel Bryan, who had joined the Wyatts for about two weeks before rebelling against them, setting up this showdown at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt

The Family is with Bray here, despite the idea of the match being that they’re not supposed to be here. Daniel fires off kicks to the leg and takes Bray down with a running knee but Bray gets in a shot of his own to take over. The Wyatts get in a few blows of their own and are ejected, with Bray saying he doesn’t need them to fight this war. Back in and Daniel gets in some kicks to the leg and a high cross body for two, only to be sent to the floor. Bray misses a charge into the steps and injures his knee again, giving Bryan the opening he’s been needing.

Daniel hooks something resembling an Indian Deathlock before stomping Bray’s face into the mat for two. They slug it out on the apron with the fans chanting YES/NO in time. Bray headbutts Daniel to stagger him and wrings his arm down onto the apron to take over. Back in and Bray is in serious mode now. We hit the chinlock but Daniel quickly fights up with forearms, only to be backdropped to the floor.

The annoying fans chant Jerry Lawler as Bray rams Daniel’s head into the post and drives in forearms for good measure. A running senton backsplash has Daniel in even more trouble and Bray asks the fans why they don’t help him. Bray catapults Daniel throat first into the ropes and we hit another chinlock. Wyatt does his spider walk out of the corner and the announcers of course laugh at Linda Blair jokes. He stays on Daniel’s neck with another chinlock but Daniel gets in a shot to the head and shakes the ropes before firing off even more strikes.

A drop toehold sends Bray into the middle buckle and there are the YES Kicks to the chest and leg. Daniel hooks a hurricanrana from the middle rope to send the big man flying but he’s out at two. Now the fans are into it by saying this is awesome and there’s the moonsault in the corner. Daniel loads up the clothesline but thankfully Bray knows what’s coming and hits a running elbow to stop Bryan’s comeback.

Bray misses a charge and falls to the floor, allowing Bryan to hit a running tornado DDT off the apron. Awesome looking move. There’s the running dropkick to knock Bray into the barricade and the missile dropkick puts him down back inside. Now the real YES Kicks have Bray in even more trouble as the fans are going nuts. The big kick to the head gets two and Daniel loads up the running dropkicks in the corner but Bray clotheslines him inside out for a very near fall.

Sister Abigail is countered into a rollup for two and there’s the YES Lock but Bray bites the hand for the break. Bray’s superplex is countered with headbutts and Daniel hits a top rope splash to crush Wyatt. Daniel loads up the running knee but Bray bails to the floor. Bryan dives at him with the FLYING GOAT but Bray catches him in midair and hits a wicked Sister Abigail into the barricade. Sister Abigail connects for the pin at 21:37.

Rating: A. Well that was awesome. This was a good example of a match where both guys could look great and only one could win. Daniel losing here isn’t a bad thing as he could still come back later and win the Rumble to make up for this. Both guys look better coming out of this and Bray was the one that needed the win more. As soon as he loses, a lot of his mystique is gone. Outstanding match here and something Bray needed.

With the Wyatt Family totally dominant, there was only one team that could take them on: Shield. This was the biggest match of the night at Elimination Chamber 2014.

Wyatt Family vs. Shield

The Wyatts take their sweet time as is their custom and we get a long staredown as the fans think this is awesome before busting out the dueling chants. This is what you get when you actually build up a feud to the point where you can’t imagine either team going down clean. Ambrose jumps the Family and the Shield clears out the ring before the opening bell.

Rowan vs. Rollins gets things going with Erick being drokicked into the Shield corner before it’s off to Reigns for a pop. He’s out just as quickly as it’s back to Rollins who gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Harper comes in for some hard right hands before it’s off to the boss for some knees in the corner. Rollins is thrown into the corner and the tag brings in Reigns. You can feel the fans get excited for this showdown.

They trade right hands with Bray getting the worst of it so a tag brings in Harper. Luke can’t suplex Reigns so Roman counters into one of his own and brings in Dean. Ambrose pounds away in the corner before it’s back to Reigns for two off a HARD right hand. Dean gets two off the dropkick against the ropes and it’s back to Seth for a headbutt to Luke’s back. The Shield starts their fast tagging with Dean coming in to rake his forearm over Luke’s face. A middle rope elbow to the jaw puts Luke down but Rowan offers a distraction, allowing Harper to hit a dropkick of all things.

Bray gets the tag to pound away on Dean as the Family takes over again. A running splash in the corner crushes Dean and it’s back to Rowan for the head vice with two fists. Rowan gets two off a side slam and brings Harper back in, only to have Dean grab a swinging neckbreaker to get a breather.

Rollins comes back in with a nice running dropkick but he gets caught on the top rope. Luke loads up a reverse superplex but Seth lands on his feet and sends Harper to the floor for a suicide dive. Back inside and the top rope knee to the side of the head puts Harper down again and Seth has a fired up look in his eyes. Harper kicks his head off for a very close two and it’s back to Bray after the best sequence Rollins has ever had in WWE.

Bray sends Rollins outside and hits the running backsplash on the floor before it’s back to Rowan. The dueling chants begin again before the fans say they want tables. Back to Harper who hammers away in the corner and scores with a running clothesline. Wyatt demands to be tagged in but runs into a boot in the corner. Rollins goes to the middle rope, only to dive into a chokeslam of all things for two. Ambrose tries to make the save but Harper kicks his head off, sending him to the floor.

Rollins finally gets in a shot to Harper’s head and the hot tag brings in Reigns to clean house. A Samoan drop puts Rowan down but Harper saves his partner. There’s the dropkick from the floor for two on Erick as everything breaks down. Dean takes Bray down and hammers away before dropkicking him out to the floor. Harper dives through the floor to take out Ambrose but Rollins hits a swanton dive over the top to take Luke out. Reigns rolls up Erick for a VERY close two but they clothesline each other down.

Seth loads up the Spanish announce table but Bray decks him from behind. Ambrose saves Rollins from being sent through the table and takes Bray into the crowd with another charge. AWESOME stuff here. Rowan and Reigns slug it out and Roman goes shoulder first into the post, only to come back with a running clothesline for two. Rollins hits Harper with a monitor to the ribs but Bray comes back and loads up the other announce table. Rowan takes Reigns down in the ring and sends him to the floor with a fallaway slam.

The Family has Rollins surrounded and the monsters double chokeslam him through the announce table. Ambrose is still gone so it’s pretty much Reigns vs. all three Family members. They slowly get back in the ring and Roman sees what he’s up against. He goes right for Bray but the numbers are too much for him.

Harper kicks Reigns’ head off and drops to his knees for the tag off to Wyatt. Bray does his upside down thing in the corner but Reigns powers out of Sister Abigail and Bray is terrified. Reigns goes into Beast Mode and Samoan drops Bray before hitting Rowan and Bray with Superman Punches. The spear puts Harper down but Wyatt runs Reigns over, setting up Sister Abigail for the pin at 22:45.

Rating: A+. When you expect a match to be one of the best match you’ve seen in a long time and get blown away, you’ve seen something special. This was outstanding stuff and had me glued to the screen which doesn’t happen every day. Outstanding match where neither team looked bad at all. Find this match if you didn’t catch it tonight.

Bray would set his sights on John Cena, attacking him later in the night. The showdown was at Wrestlemania XXX and the battle was over Cena’s legacy as a hero.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray is played to the ring in an awesome visual, complete with barrels fire, what appears to be a voodoo woman dancing with swords and I believe an altar. No special entrance for Cena this year but he gets more booing than cheers. The cheers are there though. Bray bounces on the middle rope to start before kneeling in front of Cena and begging John to be a monster and hit him. FINISH ME JOHN! Cena says get up and fight before taking Bray down with a headlock. Bray headbutts Cena several times to take over while shouting a lot.

An elbow drop gets two and he asks the fans if this is their hero. Cena comes back with a HARD clothesline before looking furious in the corner. He hammers away on Bray but Wyatt laughs and invites Cena to do more. John drives in more right hands, drawing Harper and Rowan to the apron. Wyatt keeps laughing (very 1998 Raven) and Cena isn’t sure what to do. He chokes away which is exactly what Bray wants as Cena is unleashing the monster inside. A big boot drops Bray but Cena is angry at himself for losing control.

Bray lifts Cena up for a suplex but slams him down instead in a cool visual. John comes back with a dropkick but gets caught in a sleeper. It shifts into a chinlock but Cena counters with the ProtoBomb. He loads up the Shuffle but Bray bridges up into the spider stance. Fans: “THAT WAS CREEPY!” Bray runs him over and conducts the crowd as the arm swaying begins. Cena comes back with a tornado DDT but the Fameasser is countered into a wicked powerbomb for a very close two.

Cena comes back again and hits the Shuffle but Bray counters the AA into a spinning gutbuster for two. Bray takes him to the apron for a DDT and another near fall as the fans starting singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. Now THAT is a creepy moment. John is able to fight out of a superplex and loads up the Fameasser, only to dive onto the Family instead. Bray is right back on him though and sends Cena hard into the steps. Wyatt says he’s figured it out but gets knocked down by a hard shot.

Now we get to the interesting part as Cena picks up the steps but can’t bring himself to embrace the hate. Back in and the hard cross body gets two for Bray and it’s time for more singing. He misses a backsplash though and Cena nails the AA for two. This kicking out of finishers thing is really getting old. Rowan tries to interfere, allowing Harper to superkick Cena down. Now the backsplash gets two and Bray is getting frustrated.

He sends Cena outside so John spears Luke through the barricade for some revenge. That’s what Bray wanted though so he throws Cena back inside and bends over backwards in the corner. Sister Abigail is countered into the STF but Bray makes the ropes. Back up and a quick Sister Abigail is good for two. Wyatt is smiling again and heads outside to load up the announce table.

Then he goes over to get a chair (giving us a visual of Harper still out cold two and a half minutes after he was laid out) but slides it to Cena instead. Bray gets on his knees and tells Cena to hit him. This is the big moment as John heavily thinks about it but is able to control himself and knock Rowan off the apron with the chair instead. Sister Abigail is countered into an AA for the pin out of nowhere at 22:28.

Rating: B. The match was the usual big match style here with both guys hitting all their big stuff. However the important part here was the psychological war instead of the physical aspect. I’m REALLY not sure on Cena winning, but the story is clearly going to continue in some gimmick matches. That’s where Cena can be pushed even further and go too far with the violence ala Magnum vs. Tully where Magnum went nuts and then realized what he did.

The match worked well enough but the ending leaves a lot of questions to be answered. The biggest of all though is what happens to Wyatt. Hopefully the magic isn’t gone after the loss but we’ll find that out very soon. He’ll be way over in his home state and the gimmick is cool enough to keep him over for years.

After Cena got the better of him at Wrestlemania, they met again in a cage match at Extreme Rules 2014.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

The fans sing John Cena Sucks to the tune of his music. Bray gives Rowan and Harper some instructions before the match gets going. He shouts that this is what Cena wanted but gets caught in a headlock. Cena jumps over Bray coming off the ropes but Wyatt just blasts him in the back with a forearm. A release fisherman’s suplex puts Bray down but Harper stops Cena from climbing the cage, allowing Bray to take his head off with a right hand.

Cena goes face first into the cage and Bray demands that he spologize to all these people for making them watch this. Rowan rams into Cena against the cage and Bray runs him over for two. John comes back with a catapult into the cage but Bray pulls him back in over the top. They slug it out on the top with Cena winning but Bray crotches him down on the top rope to take over again. We get the old dancing with the limp body spot before a release Rock Bottom gets two for Bray.

Cena comes back with a slam and tries to climb out but Bray does the spider walk towards the door. The running body attack gets two for Wyatt and a few rams into the cage have Cena in more trouble. A reversal finally sends Bray into the steel, allowing Cena to initiate his finishing sequence. Bray escapes the AA and tries to climb but Cena pulls him off the ropes with a Batista Bomb for two.

John calls for the door to be opened but Rowan closes it right back. It turns into a test of strength with Cena winning until Harper comes over to help. Cena shoves BOTH of them away from the door but Bray is back up with a jawbreaker for the save. Another ram into the cage puts Bray down again but Rowan shoves Cena back over the top of the cage.

Wyatt is back up as well but gets bulldogged off the top for two. Now it’s Harper climbing the cage for a fight with Cena, so John pulls him down into the cage. Cena kicks the door onto Bray’s head but Rowan is waiting with a chair. John climbs back in and gets caught in the suplex slam followed by the senton backsplash for two. Sister Abigail is countered into the STF but Bray crawls to the door.

Cena lets go because of the ropes being in his face which is better than a rope break at least. Harper is sent into the cage but Bray sends Cena in as well. He climbs up but gets pulled back down for an AA off the top, only to have Harper make a save. A clothesline puts Harper down but Cena is favoring his arm.

Rowan makes ANOTHER save so Cena grabs him by the beard and rams him into the cage. The top rope Fameasser puts Harper down but as Cena goes for the door we get the Wyatt satellite hijacking. The lights go out and come back to show a child singing in a demonic voice in Cena’s face. Sister Abigail puts Cena down and Bray walks out for the win at 21:12 in front of the terrifying child.

Rating: B+. This was too overbooked for my taste. The Wyatts interfering about 857 times was too much but the child coming in for the save was a nice touch and tied into the storyline well. That being said, Bray needs to get a win on his own over Cena soon. It’s not like it’s going to hurt Cena or anything.

Bray Wyatt is a great example of someone who had talent and WWE kept searching until they found the right formula for him. That’s something that is so necessary but you hardly ever see it. So often you’ll see one gimmick not work and then WWE throws up their hands and gives up (see Chris Masters for one of many examples). Thankfully with Bray they took their time and allowed him to find the character that blew the doors off the place. The guy is 27 as of this writing and is going to be a big deal for awhile.

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