NXT
Date: January 21, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, Jason Albert

Things are starting to pick up again in NXT with Kevin Owens making another appearance last week to lay out NXT Champion Sami Zayn after a successful title defense against Adrian Neville. These two are on a collision course and there’s no way the match isn’t going to be awesome. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens over the last few weeks. Neville promises revenge.

William Regal announces the next Takeover special for February 11. There will be a tournament for the #1 contendership starting tonight, as well as Charlotte defending against Sasha Banks. As usual, Regal keeps this quick as he was on screen less than a minute and announced a show, a tournament and a title match.

Opening sequence.

Sami Zayn vs. Tye Dillinger

Sami charges the ring and EXPLODES on Dillinger, knocking him to the floor before the bell rings. No match I’m assuming.

Zayn demands Owens get out here right now but he gets Regal instead. The champ says he isn’t wrestling one more match unless it’s against Owens so get him out here right now. Regal says he can’t do that because Owens hasn’t earned a title shot yet. Sami offers to make it non-title or whatever he has to do to get his hands on Owens. He won’t explode out of respect for Regal, but he’ll do whatever Regal asks him to get what he wants. Regal agrees and makes the showdown for Takeover.

Owens vs. Zayn at Takeover will be non-title.

Regal says Owens and Zayn will sign the contract next week.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Curtis Axel vs. Finn Balor

I love how foreboding Balor’s music is. Fans: “FINN’S GONNA KILL YOU!” Axel elbows him in the face to start so Balor knocks him to the floor for a big flip dive. Back in and Axel clotheslines him in the back of the head for two and nails a great looking dropkick. The fans keep it simple by telling Axel that he sucks.

We hit the chinlock before a running knee to the head gets two more. It’s amazing how much easier Axel matches are to sit through when he doesn’t have all the big expectations behind him. Heyman seems to have caused him more problems than good. Balor fights back up with the Pele and Sling Blade, followed by the top rope double stomp for the pin to advance at 4:55.

Rating: C-. Not much of a match here but Axel is fine for a generic heel. He has the skills to make a match work but all of the expectations put on him due to being associated with Heyman really brought him down. I liked his work in NXT (this one, not the old show) as McGillicutty and now he’s just a more intense version of that character, meaning he’s a lot easier to sit through. That being said, this was just a formality for Balor.

Here are the full tournament brackets.

Finn Balor

Curtis Axel

Adrian Neville

Tyson Kidd

Hideo Itami

Tyler Breeze

Baron Corbin

Bull Dempsey

Sasha Banks says Charlotte has no one to protect her tonight and it’s time to win the title. She doesn’t care if Devin has any more questions.

Bull Dempsey swears revenge next week.

Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

They grapple to the mat to start with Charlotte getting the better of it but having to nail Becky in the face. Back in and Charlotte hammers away but Becky comes in for the DQ at 2:15. Not much of a match due to time.

Bayley comes in for the save but eventually picks up the title. Charlotte isn’t cool with that and eats a Belly to Bayley. It doesn’t seem like a heel turn as Bayley almost looks like she regretted it. It worked for Rick Steiner back in 1989 (albeit in a face turn) so why not here? Regal comes out and makes a fourway title match for Takeover.

Kevin Owens doesn’t want to be interviewed and will say whatever he has to say to Sami’s face next week.

Vaudevillains vs. Buddy Murphy/Wesley Blake

The Vaudevillains have been doing dinosaur training to make up for their recent losses, which apparently involves the Iron Sheik’s Persian clubs. English misses a forearm to Murphy in the corner to start and eats a running forearm, only to take Buddy into the corner for a beating. Off to Gotch for a suplex for two and English hooks a chinlock. Murphy finally rolls over for the tag to Blake who gets a fast two off a powerslam with Gotch making the save. With the referee getting Gotch out of the ring, Murphy sneaks in a kick to the head, giving Blake the pin at 3:58.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing special but I really like the booking. Murphy and Blake have been around long enough that people are familiar with them and they’ve gotten close enough to picking up wins that this isn’t a huge stretch. It gives the Dragons fresh challengers for the titles and keeps the cycle moving. That’s one of NXT’s strengths and something I really wish WWE would get better at. Keep the future challengers safe instead of squashing them, because you never know when you might need them.

Tyler Breeze is ready to implement his plan to separate the gorgeous ones from the uggos.

Murphy and Blake say that wasn’t an upset and want a title shot next week.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze

Marcus Louis is seen looking at Breeze from behind the stage during Tyler’s entrance. Breeze avoids a big kick to start and wags a finger at Itami. Another kick misses and the fans call Breeze a TOTAL DIVA. Breeze suckers Itami in for a kick of his own before running into a knee to the ribs. Back up and Itami gets sent face first into the middle buckle and tossed out to the floor. A dropkick (noticing a theme here?) gets two for Breeze and a neckbreaker gets an even closer near fall as we take a break.

Back with Breeze holding a chinlock but Itami fights up with clotheslines and a tornado DDT necksnap. There’s the top rope clothesline followed by a release fisherman’s suplex for two on Breeze. Back up and Breeze blocks an O’Connor Roll and DRILLS Hideo with the Supermodel Kick for two.

Itami is shaken up in the corner so Breeze crawls onto his back for a kind of snap crucifix for a fall so near that the referee looked like he had to slow down for the kickout. Tyler shouts that this is about him but Itami screams at him. More kicks have Breeze rocked and the running dropkick in the corner sets up a running boot to the face for the pin at 14:24.

Rating: B-. I’m trying really hard to care about Itami and it’s just not quite there. His offense has definitely gotten better but I really have no reason to care about him. There are a lot of guys who kick really hard and Itami hasn’t shown he has much to differentiate himself from the pack. Breeze continues to live way beyond his gimmick and looks more and more comfortable every week.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was much more about moving things forward than the wrestling itself. They’re rushing to the next Takeover with only about six weeks since the least one, but with the main event they have set up, they would be crazy not to go with it right now. The rest of the card could be excellent with the fourway being wide open and the tournament having some potentially awesome finals. Another good show this week but in a different way.

Results

Finn Balor b. Curtis Axel – Top rope double stomp

Charlotte b. Sasha Banks via DQ when Becky Lynch interfered

Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy b. Vaudevillains – Kick to the head

Hideo Itami b. Tyler Breeze – Running kick to the face

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NXT
Date: January 14, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee Young, Rich Brennan, Alex Riley

It’s the first show on Wednesday nights and we’re starting with a bang as Sami Zayn is giving Adrian Neville his rematch for the NXT Title. Kevin Owens is still lurking around and there’s always a chance he could get involved. We also have the continuing story of crazy Marcus Louis stalking Tyler Breeze. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Tyson Kidd vs. Finn Balor

Balor has the full entrance minus the face paint, which is still awesome. On another note, does Charles Robinson age? He looks identical to how he looked back in 1999. Balor starts with a running dropkick at the bell but misses a top rope stomp. That’s fine with Finn as he takes Tyson into the corner for a running basement dropkick, sending Kidd out to the floor. The Irishman follows but gets speared into the barricade for a loud crash. The fans seemed to like that one and I can’t say I disagree.

Kidd has dedicated this match Charlotte. His cat, not the wrestler. Back in and Kidd shouts at Finn to kill him before we take a break. We come back with Kidd catapulting him face first into the bottom buckle for two before we hit a chinlock. A dropkick in the Tree of Woe gets two for Kidd but Balor nails a Pele Kick to get a breather. I’m glad someone in WWE finally started using that move. A running sleeper drop puts Kidd down so he bails to the floor, only to have Balor nail a great flip dive.

Kidd pops back up with a running chest kick from the apron and the springboard elbow drop for two. They’re just beating the heck out of each other here. The Sharpshooter goes on but Finn finally crawls over to the ropes. A slingshot Fameasser misses Balor so he grabs a reverse Impaler, followed by the top rope double stomp to end Kidd 11:55.

Rating: B+. These guys were beating the tar out of each other and it was awesome. Balor has such a presence to him and is more than ready to be on the main roster. Based on that, I’d be surprised if he makes it there in the next year because WWE won’t bring people up to the main show for reasons I don’t understand. Granted the longer he’s here and doesn’t have to get “fixed” by the writers, the better he’s going to be.

Package on Zayn winning the title at R-Evolution minus the post match beatdown. This is all about Neville vs. Zayn.

Bull Dempsey says he’s just as undefeated as Baron Corbin and tonight will be Corbin’s End of Days. The last thing he’s going to hear is BULL BULL BULL.

Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey

The fans start the counting as they hammer away on each other with Bull going down first. Thankfully the fans give up after about twenty seconds and the fight heads outside. Back in and Bull slams him down but misses his flying headbutt. End of Days is good for the pin at 1:36. This was exactly what it needed to be and Baron looked like a monster.

Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch vs. Natalya/Charlotte

Banks’ theme song is rapidly growing on me. Natalya headlocks Becky to the mat to start before getting two off a rollup. Renee tells us about Natalya and Lynch tagging in Japan about nine years ago as the villains are sent to the floor, setting up stereo baseball slides from Natalya and Charlotte. A double delayed suplex gets two on Becky before Charlotte wheelbarrow slams Natalya on top of her for two.

Banks comes in and gets snapmared down, allowing Natalya to step on the back of her head to drive Sasha’s face into the mat, immediately followed by a low dropkick. Sasha pops back up with two knees to the ribs as things FINALLY slow down a bit. The men on the main show can’t keep up a pace like that most of the time. Off to Charlotte for a neckbreaker for two as everything breaks down. Banks hits a neckbreaker of her own on Charlotte and grabs the tights for the pin at 4:20. Banks: “I WON!!!”

Rating: B-. I really wanted more of this as Charlotte and Natalya were looking like a polished team out there while Lynch and Banks have more than enough attitude to carry themselves. I still want to see more from Lynch as she has a great look and persona, but Banks is getting almost all of the spotlight, which she certainly deserves.

NXT Title: Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville

Sami is defending. They shake hands to start and Sami scores first with an armdrag. The champ hooks a headlock but charges into an armdrag, sending him out to the floor for a second. Back in and Neville sends him into the corner but gets caught in his third headlock in three minutes. Sami leapfrogs over Adrian and avoids a dropkick, sending Neville into his first frustration of the match.

Adrian slaps him in the face and Neville says he’s sorry. Sami says sorry and forearms him in the face, starting the slugout with Neville getting the better of it and sending the champ to the floor. A big dive puts Sami down again as we take a break. Back with Neville hitting a running uppercut in the corner for two and hooking a hurricanrana for an even closer near fall.

Sami grabs the leg to block the Red Arrow but Neville won’t let him hit the Blue Thunder Bomb. The power of OLE lets Sami force him up on the second try but Neville kicks out again. Zayn rolls some Germans but Neville flips out of a chicken wing/half nelson suplex. Neville cartwheels onto Sami’s shoulders and snaps off one of the hardest hurricanranas you’ll ever see for two. The referee has to check if Sami can continue but he shakes his head yes.

Zayn half pops up into a Koji Clutch attempt but Neville rolls away, only to have to bail outside to avoid the Helluva Kick. Sami loads up the diving DDT through the ropes but Neville superkicks him into a state of shock. Back in and Adrian has to bail out of the Red Arrow but avoids another Helluva Kick into a sweet bridging rollup for two. Sami goes into Beast Mode and grabs the exploder suplex followed by the Helluva Kick for the pin at 13:56.

Rating: A. This was a completely different kind of match than the title change. While that one was about the drama and storytelling, this was about two guys beating the living tar out of each other and actually making me believe the title was in jeopardy. Outstanding match here and both guys come out looking awesome.

Sami celebrates but Owens comes in with a pop up powerbomb and puts his boot on Sami’s face. Owens kicks the title over to Zayns’ head to end the show.

Overall Rating: A+. This was as good of an hour of wrestling television as I’ve ever seen. Ignoring a 96 second power brawl (which was entertaining as well), the worst match would have been the best Divas match on the main roster in probably six months. Between Balor and Kidd just beating the heck out of each other and Neville and Zayn beating the heck out of each other even harder, I haven’t had this good of a time watching a show since…..oh I’d say the last big NXT show. Go out of your way to see this episode as they debuted on Wednesday with a major bang.

Results

Finn Balor b. Tyson Kidd – Top rope double stomp

Baron Corbin b. Bull Dempsey – End of Days

Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch b. Natalya/Charlotte – Neckbreaker to Charlotte

Sami Zayn b. Adrian Neville – Helluva Kick

NXT
Date: January 1, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Renee Young, Corey Graves

We’re starting a new year here and Sami Zayn is still on the shelf due to his attack at the hands of Kevin Owens. Last week was the Best of 2014 special with the only plot advancement being Charlotte defeating Sasha Banks in an R-Evolution rematch. I’m sure there will be other rematches in the future so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Lucha Dragons vs. Jason Jordan/Tye Dillinger

Non-title. Dillinger chops Kalisto up against the ropes to start so Kalisto comes back with a three bounce springboard armdrag. Off to Jordan who tries the different approach of a release fall away slam to put the champions in early trouble. Jordan mockingly bows to Cara on the apron to allow some cheating. Renee keeps talking about how pretty the villains are but still manages to be adorable. That takes talent.

Dillinger slams Kalisto down again and draws a nice Tye chant. Back up and Kalisto flips forward to escape a backdrop and the hot tag brings in Cara. Everything breaks down and Kalisto takes Jordan out with a corkscrew dive, allowing Cara to hit a super victory roll for the pin on Dillinger at 3:07.

Rating: C. Standard pairing here but the match worked well enough. Dillinger and Jordan are fine for a pretty boy team with some nice technical skills. If nothing else they’re much better in this role than as the second (and more talented) version of the American Males. The Dragons need some better competition though as this is getting a little repetitive.

The Vaudevillains come out and jump the champions post match.

CJ Parker is worried about facing Baron Corbin but Bull Dempsey comes in and tells him that taking down Corbin is for the better good. This sounded a bit like a bounty.

NXT moves back to Wednesdays in two weeks.

Enzo and Cass are here to introduce Carmella’s opponent and the BLUE PANTS chant is just ridiculous. The guys give her an over the top entrance, complete with superlatives and a hummed theme song. Cass: “Inspired by Sami Zayn and straight from the discount rack!” Enzo: “Since we have last seen Blue Pants, she has met up with Steve and gotten a Blue’s Clue.”

Carmella vs. Blue Pants

Carmella runs her over and steps on Blue Pants’s hair, thus freaking Renee out again. Enzo gets on the apron and…..dances I think? The distraction lets Blue Pants grab a small package and BLUE PANTS WINS!!! Cass: “DUH-DUH-DA-DA!” Match ran 1:13.

This is another reason I love NXT: if this sort of reaction took place on Raw, WWE would make sure to either destroy Blue Pants and have people make stupid jokes about her or never bring her back in the first place. Here they give her a win to advance a story. The audience is happy, Blue Pants doesn’t have to go anywhere else (though she could) and Carmella’s story is advanced. What more can you ask for?

Carmella is mad at Enzo post match but Cass breaks it up.

Baron Corbin vs. CJ Parker

Parker’s sign: “You can break my sign but you’ll never break my spirit.” Fans: “BREAK HIS SPIRIT!” Bull Dempsey is at ringside and watches snake eyes and a big boot set up End of Days for the pin at 0:29.

Post match Corbin asks if Dempsey is going to stand there or if they’re going to do this. Dempsey goes after him but referees quickly break it up.

Regal announces that Sami Zayn will be back next week. Curtis Axel comes in and says he’s barging in on Regal’s interview. The boss never got back to him, even though Axel is a former Intercontinental Champion who has beaten HHH and John Cena. That sounds good to Regal and he makes Axel vs. Itami next week. Regal just made an announcement and a match for next week. His total time on screen: 74 seconds.

Here’s Charlotte for a chat. She’s asked what her new challenge will be and the Blue Pants chant starts up. Charlotte tells the crowd to not chant while she’s talking, even though she wasn’t saying anything yet. NXT is revolutionizing women’s wrestling but she’s beaten Sasha Banks twice now. Cue Banks and Lynch to surround her but Natalya comes out for the save before anything happens. That was a very odd response to the fans from Charlotte when she’s clearly been a face for at least a month now.

The Vaudevillains get their title rematch next week.

We get a video from Sami, who is home for the holidays but doesn’t know what to say about what’s happened to him. He worked so hard to win the NXT Title but he can only think about Kevin Owens. When he comes back he’ll say everything to the fans and to Owens himself. This was shot with a handheld camera instead of a professional camera and it gave the video a much more realistic and gritty feel.

Kevin Owens sits down with Renee Young. He didn’t steal anyone’s moment because Sami got his big celebration. That’s enough of the interview for him though because he doesn’t like being accused of things.

Hideo Itami/Finn Balor vs. Ascension

I know Balor’s face paint (not here this time) got all the attention but I really like Hideo’s gi inspired attire. They go at it immediately with the dream team taking over. Ascension bails before the seated corner dropkicks can connect until it settles down to Viktor vs. Balor. Finn charges into the corner with a running chop before it’s off to Itami, who the fans are really excited to see.

Back to Finn for more forearms and chops before Itami drops a knee for two. We hit the chinlock on Viktor as a Hideo chant starts up. Finn does a nice jump over the ropes to avoid a charging Viktor before kicking Konnor off the apron. The distraction lets Viktor get in a big uppercut to knock Balor outside though as we take a break.

Balor fights out of a chinlock from Konnor but the Ascension uses their old school double team beatdown to keep him in trouble. It worked for the LOD and Demolition so why not here? Off to a reverse chinlock from Konnor for a bit before a big uppercut gets two. Finn gets spiked like a football to break up a hot tag attempt as the beating continues. Slugging it out with Viktor goes as well as you would expect it to go so it’s back to Konnor to just hammer Balor in the head.

The Pele Kick finally gives Finn an opening and the double tag brings in Itami and Viktor as things speed up. Hideo snaps Viktor’s neck across the top rope and scores with a top rope clothesline, only to walk into an STO for two. Itami teases the GTS again to another big reaction (and a GTS chant) but Konnor makes the save. Finn takes Konnor to the floor, leaving Itami to kick Viktor in the head for the pin at 16:15.

Rating: B-. I liked this one a bit more than the first match, even though I’m not sure why this match needed to exist. It’s basically the same thing they did in the first match but with less hype. I still liked it a good deal though and it was more than enough for a TV main event. The reaction to Itami is a very good sign though as I don’t remember people being into him like that since his debut. Also he was showing a more varied offense here and not just kicking all the time so he’s growing in the ring. Good signs all around.

Overall Rating: B. Story advancement, matches made for next week, everything moving. This show is the anti-Raw and it still gets more done in an hour than Raw can get done in three. Sami coming back to face Owens is going to be great and you can imagine how awesome their promos are going to be before setting up the big showdown. Really good and fun show this week that got a lot done in a little time.

Results

Lucha Dragons b. Tye Dillinger/Jason Jordan – Super victory roll to Dillinger

Blue Pants b. Carmella – Small package

Baron Corbin b. CJ Parker – End of Days

Hideo Itami/Finn Balor b. Ascension – Kick to Viktor’s head

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NXT
Date: December 25, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Rich Brennan, Alex Riley
Hosts: Renee Young, Corey Graves

Back in the 1980s, Fritz Von Erich had a great insight about Christmas: Once you open the presents, what else is there to do? Well apparently we can watch NXT, which is on a roll as of late. The main story coming out of last week was Kevin Owens destroying Adrian Neville just like he did to Sami Zayn the week before. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

And we have an empty arena with only Renee Young and Corey Graves in the ring, meaning we have a Best Of show. There will however be a new match with Charlotte defending the Women’s Title against Sasha Banks in an R-Evolution rematch.

We start by looking at some of the stars who came from NXT up to the main roster, including Paige, Bo Dallas, Lana and Rusev. There’s nothing to say here as they’re just saying the names and showing maybe a ten second clip.

Video on NXT: Arrival. That feels so long ago even though it was only February.

This leads to a package of Adrian Neville going home to Newcastle, England. Wearing glasses, which is an odd look on a wrestler for some reason, he goes to see his mom and talks about soccer for awhile. His original plans were to play soccer for Newcastle United but then he saw something called WWF and things changed. We get some clips of his training and developing the high spots, which we then see in NXT. He even got to wear a Newcastle jersey to his match in the Newcastle arena for a very cool moment.

Tyler Breeze is still off modeling but wants to tell all the Wannabreeze that he’ll be adding gold to his ensemble in 2015.

We see the last six or so minutes of Zayn vs. Neville, plus the entire post match celebration and Owens’ heel turn to end the show.

Curtis Axel comes in to see Regal and thinks he needs to recharge his career. He wants in on this NXT thing but Regal tells him to make an appointment.

Lucha Dragons video. Sin Cara still hates to do the pre-match pose.

Vaudevillains video, of course in black and white.

We get about four minutes of the Lucha Dragons vs. Vaudevillians match from R-Evolution. There will be a rematch due to Kalisto pinning the wrong man.

Next week we’ll have Finn Balor/Hideo Itami vs. Ascension II.

Itami and Balor promise to destroy the Ascension. Itami’s English is improving by leaps and bounds.

We look at some NXT debuts this year, including Baron Corbin, Bull Dempsey, Hideo Itami, Finn Balor and of course Kevin Owens.

Owens says he’s sent the former champion and the new champion to the hospital in the span of seven days. If he’s done that to people he considers friends, what is he going to do to people he doesn’t care about? He’ll fight anyone and everyone until he’s the only one standing. “Why don’t you put that on a t-shirt?”

Time to look at NXT people making splashes on the main roster: Paige, Bo Dallas, Emma, Summer Rae, Adam Rose, Rusev and Lana.

Earlier this week, Bayley was watching the HHH DVD to see how he came back from his knee injury. It motivates her to come back bigger, better and stronger, just like HHH. So she’s gaining 40lbs of unnecessary muscle, slowing down and stopping everything that made her awesome in the first place?

Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Sasha is challenging and this is a rematch from R-Evolution. She has Becky Lynch with her, so Charlotte comes out with her dad, Ric Flair. Ric looks sober tonight so this should be good. He says that he has two Hall of Fame rings (only wearing one here) but his daughter took the torch from him. Two weeks ago Sasha and Charlotte had one of the best matches ever (to Sasha: “Yeah I’m talking about you. You were great.”) and tonight they’re going to do it again.

They slug it out to start with Sasha diving at the champ, only to get caught in something like a spinebuster. Charlotte goes after the knee by wrapping it around the post, only to get pulled face first into the steel. We take a break and come back with Sasha in control and slapping Charlotte on the back. That’s not exactly the best offense. The announcers actually mention the “internet wrestling community” sending HHH a fruit basket as a thank you for R-Evolution. That’s such a cool story.

Banks drives two knees into Charlotte’s ribs and puts on Bankrupt, only to have Charlotte fight to her feet and escape with something like a jawbreaker. She’s really good at using her athleticism to get out of things like that, which really isn’t something most of the other women can do. Charlotte fires off some chops and a neckbreaker but gets caught in a double arm neckbreaker (Regal Cutter) for two more.

The Banks Statement goes on but it’s right next to the ropes. Another thing I like about NXT: heels feel like they could win a big match by submission. That’s what always annoyed me about heel Del Rio: he wasn’t going to make anyone big tap and the armbreaker felt like a waste of time. They fight up top with Banks nailing a nice superplex (Riley: “She’s straight gangsta!”), only to get caught in the Figure Four with the bridge to retain Charlotte’s title at 10:45.

Rating: C+. While it was nowhere near as good as the R-Evolution match, it was still another solid effort from the NXT girls. Banks is impressing me in the ring for the first time as she’s very feisty in there. She has the attitude down and the matches are getting better every week. I still think Lynch is the star of the team, but Banks is nailing it in NXT.

Overall Rating: C+. These are always hard to grade so I’ll just go with the same rating I gave the match. I really liked the Neville video as it’s the kind of personalized profile that you just do not get in WWE anymore. I would have liked to see more Sami here as he only won the title at the end of the year but he was still a huge part of NXT all year. The attention to detail in this promotion blows away everything else and it’s my favorite wrestling show to watch every week. If next year is as good as this one was, everything will be fine.

Results

Charlotte b. Sasha Banks – Figure Four

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NXT Takeover: R-Evolution
Date: December 11, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Alex Riley, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves

We’re at the latest major show for NXT and the main event is a pick em at this point. We have Sami Zayn putting his NXT career on the line for one more shot at Adrian Neville’s NXT Championship. Other than that we have Hideo Itami/Finn Balor teaming up to take on the Ascension and the debut of Kevin (Steen) Owens. The card is stacked so let’s get to it.

The opening video focuses on the main event but also gets in a bit of Kevin Owens.

Kevin Owens vs. CJ Parker

Owens hits two straight running clotheslines in the corner at the bell and the Cannonball crushes Parker in less than fifteen seconds. He rips up Parker’s My Fight Matters sign and hits a HUGE flip dive over the top to take Parker out. Back in and Owens hammers away, only to eat a boot to the jaw.

Parker misses a running backsplash but the Third Eye gets a VERY close two. Back up and Owens no sells a charge in the corner and takes CJ’s head off with a clothesline. Owens is bleeding from the eye as he picks up Parker for a kind of pumphandle shoulder breaker. He throws Parker up and powerbombs him in half for the pin at 3:22.

Rating: B. WHOA. Yeah the rating is high but this was one of the most impressive debuts I’ve seen in a very long time. Owens looked like a killer out there and just destroyed Parker. I even dug that they gave Parker some offense and a near fall to add some drama. Owens is the kind of insane guy that they haven’t had in awhile and seemed a lot like what they were shooting for with Dean Ambrose. Excellent stuff.

Neville is ready.

Lucha Dragons video.

Tag Team Titles: Vaudevillains vs. Lucha Dragons

The Dragons are defending and beat the Vaudevillains in the #1 contenders tag team tournament a few months back to give the Vaulevillains a reason for revenge. Gotch and Cara get things going with a standing Lionsault getting two for the champ. A headscissors/armdrag combo takes both Vaudevillains down before it’s off to Kalisto for a front facelock. Back to Sin for a dropkick as the fans are entirely behind the challengers. English comes if off a blind tag and low bridges Cara out to the floor. Fans: “THAT WAS MANLY!”

They head back inside with Gotch cranking on the neck before getting two off a crucifix. English sends him outside for a baseball slide, earning him a chant of his own. The villains keep taking turns on Cara with Aiden cranking on a chinlock. Sin finally pops up and flips over English to make the tag off to Kalisto. Things immediately speed up and everything breaks down. The Dragons send them to the floor for a big double dive, only to have English shove Gotch out of the way to take the shot himself. Fans: “CHIVALRY!” Back in and the Salida Del Sol on Gotch retains the titles at 6:50.

Rating: C. The match was pretty standard but the ending was really a surprise as I would have bet on the Vaudevillians to pick up the belts here. That being said, it’s not the worst idea in the world as the Vaudevillians are being turned face by the audience reactions alone so it’s only a matter of time anyway. Still a surprise though.

Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin

As usual the fans count the time of Corbin’s match, ending at a far higher than usual 39 seconds with End of Days. The match was so short that I didn’t have time to mention Bull Dempsey watching from ringside.

Sami is in the locker room and turns down Cass and Enzo’s offer of milk. He looks over and sees Owens looking back at him. We can’t hear anything said (if anything was) as we’re listening to an inset interview from yesterday with Sami saying he’s ready.

We recap Hideo Itami/Finn Balor vs. Ascension. Itami is a hotshot rookie and Ascension are bullies. Balor debuted to help Itami in his war and this is the showdown.

Hideo Itami/Finn Balor vs. Ascension

Balor has an insane entrance now with a pounding red light that sounds like a heartbeat, a ton of smoke and face paint that looks like a cross between Delirious, Great Muta and Ultimate Warrior. Ascension looks stunned as the fans are bowing to Finn. It’s a brawl to start before the bell with Ascension getting pounded down in the corner. Stereo corner dropkicks send them out to the floor and we get the opening bell.

Itami dropkicks Viktor down to start and it’s off to Finn for a slingshot stomp. Balor charges into a knee in the corner to change control and it’s off to Konnor. Back to Itami who hammers away but eats a flapjack as Ascension keeps control. Viktor breaks up a hot tag attempt with a hard elbow drop to the back for two. Off to a reverse chinlock followed by a fist to the head and yet another chinlock. Ascension keeps up the double beatdown as Viktor puts on another chinlock. Hideo finally kicks Konnor to the floor and dives for a tag, only to have Konnor knock Finn off the apron.

The hot tag comes a few seconds later and Finn cleans house with enziguris. Viktor avoids the top rope double stomp but eats a reverse Impaler. Konnor makes the save but Itami takes him to the floor, only to have to save Finn from an STO. Itami loads up GTS (his invention) and the fans go NUTS, but Konnor makes the save. Hideo breaks up the Fall of Man and the super team goes up for double foot stomps for the pin on Ascension at 11:45.

Rating: C+. This was better than I was expecting but the ending was never in doubt. I can’t get over that ROAR for the GTS attempt though. It’s a good sign that Itami can do more than kick because he really hasn’t shown me much yet. Ascension is ready for WWE and has been for like a year, so this is probably their swan song.

Roman Reigns is in the back and says he’s here to see an awesome main event. His goal is to be the first NXT alumni to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion, which creates some continuity issues as that would be Daniel Bryan. I know it’s a different version of NXT but it’s a bit confusing.

Ric Flair is here and gives Charlotte a hug for luck.

We recap Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks. They used to be friends but Charlotte won the Women’s Title. Banks says that belongs to hear and tonight is the showdown.

Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Sasha throws her modified Charlotte shirt (Charlotte: “Do it with some Flair!” Banks: “Do it like a Boss!”) and the champ chases her to the ropes. They trade chops in the corner with Charlotte getting the better of it (of course) but Banks gets in a quick kick to the head to take over. She sends Charlotte hard into the steps for two back inside but stops to yell at Little Naitch.

Banks drives her into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs before a double knee to the ribs has Charlotte in even more trouble. She mocks the strut though and Charlotte gets all fired up. The champ is so fired up that they mess up a spot, followed by a Backstabber into a double arm stretch from Banks. She pulls Charlotte down by the hair out of the corner and puts on a Figure Four neck lock, complete with a WOO. Charlotte finally lifts her up for an electric chair drop to put both girls down.

A series of forearms puts Banks down and a suplex into a neckbreaker gets two on Banks. Charlotte misses a charge though and falls out to the floor, setting up a pretty bad looking suicide dive from Sasha. They slug it out with Banks getting the better of it but eating a big spear to give Charlotte control again. She charges into a boot but counters the Bank Statement.

The Figure Four is countered into a small package for two and Banks gets two off a neckbreaker. A big suplex sends Banks flying and the fans think THIS IS WRESTLING. Charlotte tries a moonsault but has to land on her feet, only to flip forward for a backsplash for two as Banks gets her feet on the ropes. Sasha sends her hard face first into the middle buckle but Charlotte throws her off to block a superplex. A top rope Natural Selection is enough to retain the title at 12:06.

Rating: B. The Women’s Title match has become a highlight on all these shows and Banks just had her best match ever by about a million miles. Much like Ascension, Charlotte has been ready for the next level for months now and really should be on Raw like tomorrow. Well Monday but you get the idea. Really solid match here and a great match that happened to have women in it rather than a good women’s match if that makes sense.

Long recap of Zayn vs. Neville. The short version is Zayn has never won the big one but has to win the title here or leave NXT.

NXT Title: Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville

Neville is defending and they have over thirty five minutes for this. After the big match intros, we’re finally ready to go. Feeling out process to start with no one able to get an early advantage. Neville cranks on a wristlock but Sami takes over with one of his own. They head back to the mat with Adrian working on a hammerlock before grabbing a chinlock. The champ grabs an armbar and another OLE chant starts up.

Sami spins out and grabs a wristlock of his own but Neville flips over to land on his feet instead of on the mat. Adrian says bring it but gets caught in the armbar again. Neville flips into the corner again but walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to give Sami his first real advantage. The champ rolls outside and takes the bouncing moonsault as Sami is in full control. Neville takes his time getting back in and gets rolled up for two. He sends Sami into the buckle to take over and a dropkick to the back of his head gets another near fall.

We hit the chinlock for a bit before a big uppercut gets two for Adrian. Neville drops a series of knees to the chest for two more and we hit another chinlock. A nice middle rope dropkick gets the same result and Neville is slowly getting frustrated. Neville kicks him in the face a few times but eats a hard clothesline and dropkick to give Sami an opening. Back to the floor but Adrian rolls back inside to avoid the dive and snaps off a hurricanrana to send Zayn to the floor. Sami does the exact same thing to avoid a dive and backdrops him to the floor, setting up the signature flip dive to take over again. Sweet sequence.

Back in again and the high cross body gets two for Sami. Neville tries to cartwheel at Sami but winds up on Neville’s shoudlers for a spinning Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Now the real pressure is starting to get to Sami but a jawbreaker brings him back to reality. A running boot to the face and a bridging German suplex get two for Neville and both guys are getting winded. Sami runs the corner but gets caught in a sitout powerbomb, landing HARD on the back of his head for two.

Back up and Neville fires off some hard forearms to the head but Sami gets right in his face and they slug it out until Zayn takes his head off with a clothesline. Neville takes him right back down with an enziguri out of the corner. Fans: “NO! NO! NO!” The Red Arrow hits knees and there’s the Koji Clutch but Adrian gets his foot on the ropes, nearly sending Sami to tears. Neville counters the suplex into the corner with a rollup but the referee gets bumped off the kickout.

He’s back up quickly though but a loud superkick and a reverse hurricanrana (Sami landing on his head again) gets a VERY close two on Sami after he checked on the referee. Back up and Sami charges into a forearm but starts rolling Germans, capped off by a half nelson/chicken wing suplex. Neville bails before Sami can try the Helluva Kick but Sami follows him out for the dive through the ropes into the tornado DDT. Back in again and the Helluva Kick connects but the referee goes down again with Adrian possibly pulling him into the path of the kick.

Neville throws in the title belt but a big boot knocks him down. Sami looks at the belt and picks it up, drops some F Bombs, but can’t bring himself to cheat. Neville grabs a rollup for two but walks into the exploder in the corner. The Helluva Kick connects and Sami FINALLY wins the title at 23:55.

Rating: A. Oh yeah it rocked. This was exactly what it should have been with Sami finally exorcising his demons and winning the belt. I loved that section near the end where he wanted to cheat but finally threw it down and won with what brought him to the dance. This was the outstanding showdown main event and exactly how they should have done it. Adrian comes off looking like a warrior who might have cheated (it wasn’t clear) to try to keep the title. Great stuff here with some very close near falls and incredible drama.

You can hear the fans thanking Neville during the replay package.

The locker room comes out to celebrate and Owens hugs his friend. Even Pat Patterson is here to celebrate. Neville gets back up and stares Sami down. The new champ extends a hand but Neville kicks it away and pulls him in for a hug. Everyone clears out and Sami gets to do a victory dance. One more hug from Owens looks to end the show….BUT HE BLASTS SAMI WITH A RIGHT HAND AND POWERBOMBS HIM ON THE APRON! What a perfect fake out as everything looked finished and then they throw that curve.

Overall Rating: A. As usual, this show blew the roof off the place and continues to be the show I look forward to more than almost anything else. The worst match on the show was a totally fine tag match and Owens was about a thousand times more awesome than I was expecting. Couple that with a Match of the Year candidate with the perfect ending and there’s almost nothing bad here. Outstanding show and again worth checking out.

Results

Kevin Owens b. CJ Parker – Powerbomb

Lucha Dragons b. Vaudevillians – Salida Del Sol to Gotch

Baron Corbin b. Tye Dillinger – End of Days

Hideo Itami/Finn Balor b. Ascension – Double pin after top rope foot stomps

Charlotte b. Sasha Banks – Top rope Natural Selection

Sami Zayn b. Adrian Neville – Helluva Kick

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

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NXT
Date: December 4, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

It’s the last show before R-Evolution and I’d assume tonight is just going to be about firming up matches for next week. I’m really hoping we don’t get a rushed heel turn from Neville as the match would be far more entertaining with both guys staying on the paths that got them here. Other than that we might have some fallout from Bayley calling out Lynch and Banks last week. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Charlotte vs. Mia Yim

Non-title. Charlotte starts with a WOO before sending Mia into the corner for a slap to the back. Natural Selection is good for the pin at 51 seconds.

Post match Sasha Banks, in a Charlotte shirt, comes out and says just give her the title now. Charlotte tells her to bring it and starts a ratchet chant. Sasha says she has more flair than Charlotte and her daddy. She’s going to beat Charlotte so badly that she’ll be a bigger loser than her old man. This brings out Bayley in a big leg brace and on crutches to tell Sasha to shut her ratchet face. Banks kicks her in the knee and runs off when Charlotte comes up the ramp. Sasha tries to get a cheap shot but Charlotte drags her to the ring and says get a ref out here. Becky Lynch sneaks in from behind though and Banks lays out the champ.

Time for another silent movie from the Vaudevillains! This time the police commissioner calls them to say the Lucha Dragons are dropping water balloons off the roof of city hall. After a training montage (complete with Gotch fighting a video of a tiger), the Vaudevillains attach an anvil to the Dragons, sending them down…..into a mushroom cloud? Gotch is glad that they took the belts away because they would have just weighed the Dragons down even more. Keep in mind though that no Lucha Dragons were harmed in the filming of this motion picture, but that won’t be the case next week. These things are brilliant.

Vaudevillians vs. Buddy Murphy/Wesley Blake

English jumps over Blake to start but dives into a powerslam for two. A snapmare sends Wesley into the ropes though in a nice idea. It’s off to Murphy as the fans sound like they’re sighing for some reason. Off to Gotch for some Hindu Squats while holding Buddy in an Indian Deathlock. English comes back in for some elbows to the leg before it’s back to Gotch to stay on the leg. Murphy finally rolls away and makes the tag as everything breaks down. Blake is sent to the floor for a big crash and the Whirling Dervish ends Murphy at 4:15.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but the Vaudevillains are getting better in the ring. Those vignettes are as good as anything I’ve seen in a long time. Murphy and Blake are decent in the ring but they really need to stop losing every time if they’re supposed to have a future.

Regal is in the back with Tyler Breeze, who hasn’t seen Marcus Louis since he wandered off last week. Tyson Kidd comes in and says he wants a rematch with Balor, but Regal makes it a tag with Itami/Balor vs. Kidd/Breeze. This took less than a minute and covered two stories. Why does it take Raw twenty minutes to cover one?

Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson

The fans count until the flying headbutt ends Samson at 22 seconds.

Baron Corbin vs. ???

End of Days, 11 seconds. Of course Bull was watching from the stage.

Kevin Owens video, talking about how he’s fought and teamed with Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Adrian Neville, and Sami Zayn (called Owens’ best friend), but WWE called all of them first. Now it’s his turn.

Tyler Breeze/Tyson Kidd vs. Hideo Itami/Finn Balor

Kidd holds the ropes open for Natalya and offers to do the same for Breeze in a funny bit. Itami and Kidd get things going but it’s quickly off to Breeze, whose arm is quickly yanked. Balor comes in with a slingshot stomp for no count but Kidd makes a blind tag and decks Finn to take over as we go to a break. Back with Breeze coming in to stomp Finn in the corner before it’s quickly back to Kidd for even faster stomping.

A neckbreaker gets two for Tyson and we hit a bow and arrow. Balor fights up but misses a dropkick to put him right back down. Breeze grabs a neckbreaker of his own for two before Kidd comes back in for a hard kick to the leg. A slingshot legdrop to the back of the head gets two for Kidd but he eats a Pele (now called a soccer kick), allowing Finn to tag Hideo. Itami fires off a series of kicks to destroy Breeze before hitting a delayed running dropkick in the corner to a sitting Tyler. Everything breaks down and Balor hits Shadows Over Hell, setting up Itami’s kick to the back of the head for the pin at 11:30.

Rating: C. Pretty standard tag match here but Itami continues to look totally one dimensional. I know he isn’t the biggest guy in the world but he needs to do something more than just kick a lot. Daniel Bryan has proven that a smaller guy can do more than just strike while still having it be a major part of his offense so it certainly can be done.

Post match Finn tells Ascension to bring everything they have because he’s going to show them something they’ve never seen before.

Here’s Adrian Neville for the final speech before the title match. A lot of people have said he should be conflicted by this match, but his goal is the same as always: to win at all cost. Some people say that he should be ashamed of what he did to retain the title at Fatal Four Way and every other title match. If he had it his way, it would have gone completely differently, but that’s the fundamental difference between himself and Sami: Zayn doesn’t have the killer instinct and that’s why he’ll never be NXT Champion.

This brings out Sami who says he’s been listening to everything Neville has been saying and it’s ticking him off. Who is Neville to act like Sami’s babysitter and tell him how he should live? Whatever Sami decides to do after the match is up to him and his actions, not Neville’s. Adrian backs off a bit and says he respects Sami more than anyone else and next week it’s going to be an honor to face Sami in the match of their careers.

Adrian offers a handshake but Sami says no. This is where he goes wrong every single time but he won’t do it here. This isn’t about respect and he slaps Adrian in the face. Neville doesn’t get to end him because it’s going to be Sami ending Adrian’s story and taking that title. This wasn’t a heel turn for either guy but rather Sami just being more intense this time around.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling wasn’t great here but I’m wanting to see Takeover a lot more than I did coming in. That main event has me drooling because you know those two are going to tear the house down with the near falls. The only match that doesn’t do much for me is Ascension vs. Itami/Balor as there doesn’t seem to be a ton of drama there, but whatever gets Ascension onto the main roster is a good thing at this point. This show did exactly what it was supposed to do and sets up a good looking card for next week.

Results

Charlotte b. Mia Yim – Natural Selection

Vaudevillians b. Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy – Whirling Dervish to Murphy

Bull Dempsey b. Elias Samson – Flying headbutt

Baron Corbin b. ??? – End of Days

Finn Balor/Hideo Itami b. Tyler Breeze/Tyson Kidd – Kick to Breeze’s head

NXT
Date: November 27, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Renee Young, Jason Albert

The big story this week is Finn Balor facing Tyson Kidd in his first singles match in NXT. It’s going to be interesting to see how much more impressive he is than Itami, who hasn’t done much for me, though he needs a longer match than he’s had so far. Other than that we’re gearing up for Zayn vs. Neville II in two weeks and it should be glorious. Let’s get to it.

Marcus Louis vs. Tyler Breeze

Louis continues to be in a state of shock and potentially psychotic over losing his hair. He doesn’t take his towel off for a few moments as Tyler looks disgusted by Louis. Fans: “WHERE’S YOUR EYEBROWS???” Breeze says he can’t be asked to take on the uggo of all uggos and won’t be the precious to Louis’ Gollum. Marcus takes the towel off his head and Breeze is even more disturbed. Now he thinks Louis is an idiot and a freak. “NOBODY WILL EVER LOVE YOU!” Louis looks away and turns around into the Beauty Shot for the pin at 2:28. Breeze was as evil as I’ve ever seen him here and I LOVED IT.

Louis rolls out and screams as he leaves. I could go for more of this Louis Is Nuts thing as he’s selling the heck out of it. Marcus gets back in the ring and the fans think this is awkward. After a break, Louis very slowly walked out the front door of the arena.

Carmella vs. Blue Pants

Enzo says he has a surprise for Carmella (Fans: “BLUE PANTS! BLUE PANTS! BLUE PANTS!”) and of course it’s Blue Pants, complete with Big Cass humming a theme song for her. He does the entrances and the fans actually give her a standing ovation. Fans: “REMATCH! REMATCH! REMATCH!” Carmella runs her over to start and does it again with a dropkick. Off to the leg crossface from Carmella for the submission at 0:48.

Carmella laughs at Enzo post match. They better not split up Enzo and Cass.

Balor says Kidd should send a tape of their match tonight to Kidd’s uncle Bret.

Lucha Dragons vs. Tye Dillinger/Jason Jordan

Non-title. Cara and Dillinger get things going with Sin grabbing the arm and taking him back into the corner for a tag off to Kalisto. The champs keep taking turns on the arm until Dillinger takes Sin over to the corner for the tag off to Jordan. In something you don’t see all that often, Jason covers him for no count. Back to Dillinger for some stomps but we get heel miscommunication to frustrate Dillinger. The hot tag brings in Kalisto to speed things up with a very high springboard wristdrag to Tye. Cara’s suicide dive takes Tye out again and the Salida Del Sol pins Jordan at 3:35.

Rating: D+. Glorified squash here but the Dragons looked good going into their title match against the Vaudevillains at the next Takeover. The problem though is their reign hasn’t had the time to build yet, and when you’re coming off a year long title reigns, it’s kind of hard to get into one that has consisted of the rematch with the champs and potentially the feud where the titles change. At least there’s been a bit of build to the upcoming defense though.

We recap Sasha Banks costing Bayley a match against Becky Lynch last week and Charlotte making the save post match.

Kevin Owens, complete with a FIGHT t-shirt, is coming in two weeks.

Here’s Bayley with something to say. She doesn’t have a match tonight (“BOO!”) but she has to deal with something tonight. Charlotte may not be here, but she’s used to dealing with bullies like Lynch and Banks. When she was a kid she was bullied every day and when she came home from school crying, her mom told her to go back the next day and stand up to the bullies because they’re cowards. Cue Banks and Lynch to shove Bayley but she nails Sasha in the face. Becky nails her from behind though and they stomp away until the referees come out. Again, Lynch looks like a star here.

Natalya is excited for her husband to get to face Balor tonight. Tyson cuts her off (Natalya: “But I’m putting you over!”) and says Justin cost them that match because he has a knack for losing. Tyson has been working with Bret recently and is the new Hitman. Balor is a guy who can’t live up to his hype. Yeah he’s good, but he’s not THAT good. Natalya goes to hug him but Tyson has to go Facetime with the cats. She doesn’t seem too bothered by this.

Time for a silent movie starring the Vaudevillains. The Lucha Dragons are trying to rob a bank and it’s up to the Vaudevillains to stop them. But first, TRAINING MONTAGE! English does push-ups while Gotch gets in a fist fight WITH A BEAR. They go for a run before heading to the bank where they find a box of TNT. It’s the Mini Lucha Dragons behind it of course, and they wind up getting blow up, somehow making Gotch and English the NXT Tag Team Champions. Voiceover: “No Lucha Dragons were harmed in this production, but at NXT Takeover: R-Evolution, we make no such promises!” This was GREAT.

We run down the Takeover card and Sasha vs. Charlotte is confirmed.

Finn Balor vs. Tyson Kidd

Itami/Balor vs. Ascension is confirmed too. Technical sequence to start with Tyson grabbing a wristlock to take over but Balor spins him down to the mat in a nice counter. Kidd comes back with a chinlock as the fans call him Nattie’s Wife. It turns to a TYSON CHICKEN chant as Balor dropkicks him to the floor, only to have Kidd hide behind Natalya to avoid a dive.

We take a break and come back with Balor kicking Kidd from the apron but having his springboard broken up. Kidd knocks him out to the floor and follows up with a neckbreaker outside. Back in and Tyson hammers away in the corner before catapulting him face first into the bottom turnbuckle for two. Another chinlock doesn’t last that long but Kidd stops the comeback with a kick to the ribs. Tyson puts him in the Tree of Woe for some knees but stops to yell at Natalya for not helping him cheat.

There’s a running dropkick in the corner for two and we hit another chinlock. Kidd: “ASK HIM!” Referee: “He said no!” Kidd: “WELL ASK HIM IN IRISH!” Back up and Balor escapes a suplex and fires off some chops followed by a Pele. A spinning suplex gets two for Finn but he charges into a boot in the corner. Balor kicks him off the top but misses the top rope stomp. Tyson can’t hook the Sharpshooter so he sends Balor face first into the buckle again. The springboard elbow hits knees so Finn hits a running knee to the face. Up top again for the stomp but Ascension runs in for the DQ at 14:41.

Rating: B-. Good but not great match here as they were just getting going near the end. Balor continues to look like a much more well rounded guy than Itami, but again I need to see Itami in a long match like this one to get a better feel for him. Kidd is still the work horse of this show and I’m glad that he’s getting some shots on Raw as a reward.

Itami comes in for the save and a big pull apart brawl ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I want to see R-Evolution. That’s the key to TV shows like this and it’s worked like a charm here. They spent last week building up the main event and this week it was all about almost every other match on the card. This was a good, entertaining episode with more wrestling to balance out last week’s talking heavy show. Good stuff again and the big show looks like it could blow the roof off the place again.

Results

Tyler Breeze b. Marcus Louis – Beauty Shot

Carmella b. Blue Pants – Leg crossface

Lucha Dragons b. Tye Dillinger/Jason Jordan – Salida Del Sol to Jordan

Finn Balor vs. Tyson Kidd went to a no contest when the Ascension interfered

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

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NXT
Date: November 20, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee Young, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

We’re getting close to the end of the year and ultimately the next Takeover special, but now the main event isn’t as clear. Last week Sami Zayn was tricked into losing his NXT Title shot against Adrian Neville, leaving his future up in the air. Other than that we have Itami/Balor getting ready for their showdown against the Ascension which will be the newcomers’ official welcome to the company. Let’s get to it.

We recap Sami’s loss last week.

Opening sequence.

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

Bayley is sent out to the apron to start and gets dragged right back in. A release northern lights suplex and legdrop give Becky two and we’re already in a chinlock. They get right back up with Bayley hitting some quick ax handles to the chest for two. Sasha offers a distraction from the floor though, allowing Lynch to pull the hair and grab a rollup and tights for the pin at 2:14.

Charlotte comes out to save Bayley from a post match beatdown.

Bayley thanks Charlotte for the help but warns her to stay away from Sasha. They hug and everything seems ok.

Here are the Vaudevillains with something to say. They’re patient gentlemen, but they deserve the title shot that they’ve earned. Cue two mini wrestlers dressed like the Lucha Dragons (Renee: “Kind of like Lucha-Loompas!”) and we’re actually having a match.

Mini Lucha Dragons vs. Vaudevillains

The full sized guys takes turns with airplane spins on #1, even handing him off between each other instead of dropping him. #2 gets tagged and doesn’t want to come in. A quick neckbreaker from English gets the pin at 1:29.

Kevin Owens (Steen) is coming on December 11, 2014.

Baron Corbin vs. Elias Sampson

End of Days, 22 seconds. The fans were counting again.

Bull Dempsey comes out for his match and stares Corbin down on the way.

Bull Dempsey vs. Steve Cutler

The fans start counting again. Fans: “21! 22! 23! BARON’S BETTER! BARON’S BETTER!” Bull destroys Cutler and no sells some right hands before the top rope headbutt ends this at 54 seconds.

Tyson Kidd vs. CJ Parker

It’s the rare heel vs. heel match here. Kidd grabs a hammerlock around the ropes as the fans chant TOTAL DIVAS. Parker nails a quick kick to the face for two but Kidd knocks him out to the floor. A dragon screw leg whip onto the ropes has Parker in even more trouble and the Sharpshooter ends him at 2:59.

Kidd offers to excellently execute Finn Balor next week.

Enzo takes credit for Carmella’s success but nothing comes of it.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson

Enzo and Cass aren’t the Parker Brothers, but they’ll scrabble your headpiece, monopolize you, connect your four eyes and never feel sorry for it. Enzo grabs a headlock on Dawson to start as Renee critiques Amore’s hair. Off to Cass to clean house before shouting “ENZO! I’M GONNA TAG YOU IN!” Cass kicks Dawson’s head off, giving Enzo the pin at 1:38.

Ascension runs in and destroys Wilder with the Fall of Man. Fans: “SEVEN MORE TIMES!” They’re going to kill Itami and Balor before they rise again.

Zayn thanks Regal for the chance to get something off his chest tonight. End of scene.

Here’s a serious looking Sami Zayn to talk about last week. He’s known he has what it takes to be a champion his entire life, but last week proves otherwise. We see a similar video to the opening montage of Neville pinning Sami in the title match last week. Fans: “YOU GOT ROBBED!” Sami asks Neville to come out so here’s a limping champion.

Sami talks about having no business being here if he can’t win the big one. Now Neville doesn’t owe him anything because he gave him a title match last week, but if their friendship means anything to him, Adrian will give him one more chance at the NXT Championship. If Zayn can’t win that one, then he’s done. Neville says he’d give him a rematch tonight but that’s not his decision.

Above all though they’re friends, and Neville thinks Sami has nothing left to prove. Zayn gets mad and says the only thing he has left to prove is on Adrian’s shoulder. If he can’t beat Neville for that title, then he doesn’t need to be here. Sami sounds like he’s on the verge of tears. Cue Regal who says Zayn is far from a failure.

Sami was part of NXT Arrival and Regal can’t think of any main event better than Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville. That rematch will take place at NXT Takeover: Our Evolution on December 11. Neville is pleased but he doesn’t want Sami’s career on the line because he won’t be responsible for ending Sami’s dream. Zayn again says he’s done if he loses and drops the mic to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a hard one to grade as everything went by so fast. I kind of like it that way though as the matches may have been short but they all did their jobs efficiently enough, especially when two of them were about winning as fast as they could. Sometimes you don’t need to keep a match going just for the sake of keeping it going and NXT was smart enough to realize that. Sami’s promo at the end was awesome but it kind of telegraphs the ending to the match. Still though, solid show tonight as NXT continues to destroy the main show in making the most out of their time.

Results

Becky Lynch b. Bayley – Rollup with a handful of tights

Vaudevillains b. Mini Lucha Dragons – Neckbreaker to #2

Baron Corbin b. Elias Sampson – End of Days

Bull Dempsey b. Steve Cutler – Top rope headbutt

Tyson Kidd b. CJ Parker – Sharpshooter

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady b. Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson – Big boot to Dawson

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

NXT
Date: November 13, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

Tonight is a big show for NXT as we have the showdown between Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville for the NXT Title. I don’t quite believe we’re getting the full match tonight though, or at least we’re not getting a clean ending. Other than that we have the fallout from the debut of Finn Balor, who will be helping Itami in his war against the Ascension. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Itami vs. Ascension and Balor debuting last week.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Balor to open the show with a rather epic entrance. He says he’s here in NXT because he’s the future….and here are Natalya and Tyson Kidd arm in arm. Tyson is sure that Balor has a fascinating story but no one cares. Fact. Kidd was brought into this business as a Hart, so the first thing he was ever taught was respect. Cue Justin Gabriel who says a new international superstar is here every week to be a top guy. Finn has to get through them first though, but let’s pause for a WHO ARE YOU chant at Gabriel. Kidd and Gabriel get in the ring but here’s Itami, walking very slowly out to save his buddy.

Finn Balor/Hideo Itami vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

This should be good. Gabriel and Itami get things going but it’s quickly off to Kidd for a wristlock. Balor comes in for the first time and Tyson is already out for Gabriel. A dropkick puts Gabriel down but he bails to the floor, setting up a big flip dive from Balor as we take a break. Back with Itami putting Justin in a chinlock and getting two off a kick to the chest. Off to Balor vs. Kidd with Tyson taking him outside for a neckbreaker on the floor. Gabriel hits a LOUD chop on the floor before kicking Finn in the back.

Tyson does the same for two as the heels take over on Finn in the corner. We hit the chinlock on Balor before Justin cranks on both arms at the same time. Kidd and Gabriel keep making the fast tags until Balor nails Tyson with a Pele Kick. The hot tag brings in Itami to clean house and a big kick gets two on Kidd. Justin dives into a knee to the ribs for two as everything breaks down. The newcomers hit stereo corner dropkicks, setting up a top rope double stomp to end Gabriel at 10:34.

Rating: C+. This was a much more promising match from Itami than the previous weeks singles efforts. Balor continues to look like the star of the team though and the more complete wrestler. Itami is coming around though and just needs some more time to get used to the WWE style.

We look back at Zayn vs. Neville from about a year ago in a great #1 contenders match.

Zayn says tonight feels different than all of the previous times. The road to redemption is more than just a nice tagline because destiny never makes mistakes. Tonight is going to unfold just like it’s supposed to.

Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss

Banks sends her into the corner to start and nails a low clothesline for an early two. The fans argue over whether Sasha is ratched as she puts Bliss in a modified surfboard. Bliss nails a dropkick but gets caught in the Backstabber into the Bank Statement for the tap out at 2:18.

Banks wants to make her title match against Charlotte official.  She doesn’t do anything to accomplish that but she does indeed want it.

Neville says Sami is his friend but he’s going to be disappointed again tonight.

Lucha Dragons vs. Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy

We need new jobbers around here. Non-title again. Kalisto throws Blake around to start but Murphy sneaks in to catch Kalisto in mid air for a suplex. Murphy gets two off a clothesline before it’s back to Blake for a top rope stomp to the back for two of his own. Buddy comes back in to hammer away but Kalisto slips through his legs to tag Sin. Cara speeds things way up but gets thrown into Blake to knock him off the apron. Kalisto hits a HUGE corkscrew plancha to drop Blake again, setting up the Swanton from Cara to Murphy for the pin at 5:07.

Rating: B-. Those dives from the Dragons are just nuts and made the match that much better. This was in the classic power vs. speed mold and worked as well as you would have expected it to. Murphy and Blake have a future if they’re allowed to get some more ring time. They’ve got a look and aren’t bad in the ring which puts them ahead of a lot of teams.

The Vaudevillains applaud the Dragons but tell them to keep the titles polished.

NXT Title: Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn is challenging and quickly flips Adrian down to send the champion into the corner. He does it again before avoiding some dropkicks and dropkicking Adrian out to the floor. Sami loads up a dive but backflips back in when Neville moves. The OLE chants start up as Sami holds the ropes open but Neville flips back in. Now it’s the champ’s turn for some rapid fire kicks and Sami is in trouble.

Back from a break with Neville holding a chinlock to slow things down. Sami fights up but is pulled right back down into the same hold. Back up again with Sami nailing three clotheslines because that’s the standard comeback anymore. The third puts Neville on the floor and now the flip dive connects. Back in and Sami hits the cross body but hurts himself on the impact. Adrian hits a quick standing shooting star for two but can’t hook a powerbomb.

Sami gets back up and catches Neville on his shoulders for a BIG spinning powerbomb and two. Fans: “THAT WAS THREE!” Neville nails another kick but Sami ducks the second and rolls some Germans, capped off by a release half nelson suplex for two. The Helluva Kick is blocked by a kick to the face and the exploder is countered with a rollup for two more. Neville goes up for the Red Arrow but only hits mat to put both guys down. Adrian comes up holding his knee and Sami won’t go for the Helluva Kick. The referee throws up the X so Sami goes to check on Adrian….and gets rolled up for the pin at 15:33.

Rating: B. They were starting to feel it here but it’s clear that they’re setting up another match down the line. I’m glad that this didn’t come off like a full heel turn but rather Adrian continuing to do whatever it takes to retain the title while staying within the bounds of the rules. Sami is getting the title though and the match at Takeover (you know it’s coming) is going to blow the roof off the place.

Sami is stunned as trainers check on Neville to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Two good matches and a nice debut from Balor are about as good as you can get out of an hour of wrestling. Sami’s road getting stopped for a bit is a nice twist but you know Zayn vs. Neville is headlining the next special. This was an awesome show though and felt like a big one even though it only had one major match. Really good stuff.

Results

Hideo Itami/Finn Balor b. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel – Top rope double stomp to Gabriel

Sasha Banks b. Alexa Bliss – Bank Statement

Lucha Dragons b. Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy – Swanton bomb to Murphy

Adrian Neville b. Sami Zayn – Small package

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

NXT
Date: November 6, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

It’s a big night in NXT as we have two major stories to get to. First and foremost, Tyler Breeze is Sami Zayn’s latest obstacle on his road to redemption. Breeze is one of the only guys that Sami has never beaten and tonight they square off in what might be a #1 contenders match. Other than that we get to find out who Hideo Itami has found to help him in his war with the Ascension. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Zayn’s road to redemption. I like this story more every time I see it.

Opening sequence.

Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze

Feeling out process to start with Tyler getting two off an early backslide. Sami flips out of an armbar and nails an atomic drop before taking Breeze into the corner. Tyler comes right back with some stomps in the corner before bulldogging him face first onto the middle buckle for two. We take a break and come back with Sami fighting out of a chinlock but eating an elbow. Back to the chinlock as the fans are chanting for Breeze.

Zayn fights up again but Tyler fights out of the Blue Thunder Bomb and drops Sami with a neckbreaker for two. Sami shoves him off the top rope but Tyler dropkicks him out of the air. The Koji Clutch is quickly broken and neither guy can hook a German suplex. A HUGE Supermodel Kick gets two on Sami and frustration is setting in. Breeze takes him into the corner but walks into the exploder suplex, followed by the Helluva Kick to give Sami the pin at 14:43.

Rating: B-. It’s good but they weren’t going to be able to live up to their Takeover match with the time they had. Sami getting a clean pin over Breeze is a big step for him and he looked all fired up throughout the match. They’re doing a great job of making Sami look unstoppable leading up to the showdown but I’d like to see Adrian get in some big wins of his own. Good stuff here.

Neville isn’t afraid of Sami because he can’t win the big one.

Dash Wilder vs. Tyson Kidd

Wilder runs him over to start so Tyson begs off in the corner. Kidd unloads in the corner and catapults Wilder face first into the bottom turnbuckle. A kick to the back gets two and we hit the chinlock on Dash for awhile. Wilder finally gets up and nails a powerslam for two, only to get kicked in the head again. A Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza sets up the Sharpshooter to make Dash at 4:28.

Rating: D+. That chinlock took way up way too much time and it hurt whatever they were going to be able to do here. Wilder was being treated like a bigger deal than usual here, even though he only had limited offense. This is the kind of stuff I’d like to see on Raw: let some of the guys that don’t get much time show up on TV and have a quick match instead of doing star vs. star all the time.

Marcus Louis is completely insane and ranting like a crazy man. I didn’t recognize him at first.

Sami Zayn says he feels like the Count of Monte Cristo by beating all of these people in a row. The road to redemption is more than just a tag line and he wants his shot at Neville next week.

Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte/Bayley

Bayley and Becky get things going with Bayley driving Lynch into the corner with aggression to start. Off to Banks who gets dropped with a clothesline and knee dropped for two. Charlotte and Becky come back in with the champ taking Lynch down in a cravate. We take a break and come back with Charlotte taking her back down with another cravate.

Charlotte talks trash to Sasha on the apron before whipping Lynch into the corner to knock Sasha to the floor. She spends too much time yelling at Banks though and gets nailed for two. Banks comes in now for a few shots and immediately tags back out. Charlotte comes right back and drops a knee on Lynch’s head before bringing in Bayley. Lynch takes her into the corner and tags in Banks for some forearms to the back.

In an evil nod, Banks hooks Bayley in a figure four neck lock and drives her face first into the mat ala Charlotte. The heels take turns on Bayley until she finally suplexes Banks down for a breather. Sasha knocks Charlotte off the apron and gets rolled up, only to roll through on Bayley and grab the tights for the pin at 11:34.

Rating: C. This was about setting up two future matches and there’s nothing wrong with that. I like Banks being more of a cowardly heel now as it fits her personality to show that she can win on her own but want everyone else to do it for her. Lynch continues to look like the biggest star in forever though and seems more than ready for the main roster.

Regal confirms Neville vs. Zayn for the title next week.

Here’s the Ascension to call out Itami. They tried to be patient but Itami has done nothing but make threats. Get out here right now so we can finish this. Itami comes to the stage and is joined by…..FINN BALOR! I believe the screen was originally supposed to say Prince Devitt and then turn into the new name but it just said Finn Balor (pronounced like valor). They charge the ring and destroy Ascension with a variety of kicks and knee shots as the fans chant THIS IS AWESOME and DREAM TEAM. Finn goes to the top for a double stomp to Konor’s back to end the show. Finn looked AWESOME here and the fans ate him up.

Overall Rating: B. This show was a blast and proof of what you can get if you actually take your time to set something up. It has me wanting to see the next Takeover show because the card is going to be stacked with matches that are waiting for a blowoff. Something tells me we’re not going to get a clean finish to the title match next week and there’s nothing wrong with that. Really solid show this week Balor’s debut being a highlight.

Results

Sami Zayn b. Tyler Breeze – Helluva Kick

Tyson Kidd b. Dash Wilder – Sharpshooter

Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks b. Charlotte/Bayley – Rollup to Bayley with a handful of tights

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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