For Dusty.
Recap:
- After the main tribute package for The American Dream we've been seeing since Sunday, Enzo brings out the crew with the standard promo spiel.
- Nice long match for the six person tag; the babyfaces clear the ring to take us to "commercial".
- Distraction by Murphy allows Blake to get the upper hand on Amore, who plays the face in peril until Carmella takes the hot tag. Alexa Bliss quickly brings in one of her boys, prompting Big Cass to clear house and help Enzo fly for the win.
- A recap of Kevin Owens night at Money in the Bank is the intro to Samoa Joe spitting hot fire about the NXT champ.
Reactions:
- Very impressed that they've managed to get Carm over - NXT does not usually manipulate sound, so unless I'm hallucinating, Princess -ella got her own distinct pop. She's trying way too hard to make "Bye Felicia" happen, though.
- Love you 'Zo, but I thought the exact same thing that Corey Graves did when Full Sail started the "You look stupid" chant. Follow him on social media, though, and you'll know that his commitment to his look is legit, and will be a huge asset at the next level. Like his promos, Amore's appearance stands out.
- Bit of a tricky match type for six people who have some holes in their game, but they kept the crowd into it, which was really the only requirement here. That the fans were hot for a match without much on the line during the last show of a taping is a testament to what all involved are doing well, which is connecting. The rest of the stuff is what they're working on at the Performance Center, and will come.
- Actually, the action only really got wonky when the women were the legal competitors. Nothing horrible, but as great as Alexa Bliss is at her new character, she and Carmella are still among the greener members of the women's roster.
- Smacktalker Skywalker impressed in the ring at Unstoppable, tonight was Cass' turn. It wasn't much, but he's picking up steam as the (cheap plug warning) house afire, and looked great cleaning house.
- Why doesn't the seven foot splash have an official name yet?
- Hot damn that promo. Inspired Joe is one of my favorite pro wrestlers, and as much for mic work as his more lauded talents in the ring. He just knows how to find a rhythm, emphasize the right words & syllables to achieve the tone he wants and turn a phrase. Nobody - not Sami Zayn, not John Cena - has hit Owens with a lines like Samoa Joe's critique of his use of intimidation. A tool of the weak, a coward's tool. Hot damn.
Recap:
- 'Reality' era, NXT-style, in the house, with the first of a two part series designed to get us invested in Finn Bálor before July 4 in Tokyo.
- Another Australian Shimmer alumna gets fast-tracked onto television when Cassie does the job for Charlotte.
- Dana Brooke is misunderstood, missed patting Devin Taylor on the head and is coming to replace The Nature Girl.
Reactions:
- Now that's what I'm talking about! Straight out of the Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami how to build a NXT babyface playbook. Triple H and team know how to meld shoot and kayfabe into their own alchemy of 'Reality', but up until now, they'd chosen to rely on aesthics to get Finn over. And it worked. But the rise in profile Zayn & Itami's injuries has necessitated means they need to give us more, and this is the first thing they've done that's worked for me.
- Jumping ahead to tonight's "Demon" promo video, too, the "Finn is the best dude ever" perspective we get from Becky Lynch makes the slow introduction of his sacrifice to bring forth the darkness work much better, too. When we didn't know what he was sacrificing, it was a lot of mumbo jumbo. Now that we do...
- For folks concerned about a supernatural gimmick in this day and age, this can work with or without going Full Undertaker (never go Full Taker). Might be a real demon, might be a more cosplay-y version of Randy Orton "going to that place".
- This week's signs that the Dunn-pocalypse is upon us. Weird hair clearly announced Charlotte vs. Cassie as a "Divas" match, and the former Women's champ worked heel despite her heroic run-in from a few weeks back.
- Ric's baby girl is a weird case, alignment-wise, however. The more she acts like her dad at his Dirtiest Player in the Game peak, the more she's cheered. Woo-ing to the crowd post-match confirms her babyface status.
- Cassie is K.C. Cassidy, and the speed with which they've worked the indy ladies into the rotation is exciting. Could mean a bigger division, could mean some call-ups are imminent...
- Match was an extended squash, but they let the Aussie get in a fair amount of offense. The set-ups were a little deliberate, but that's probably down to not having a ton of time to work together. Charlotte is not the cream of the crop in terms of workrate, either. Thought her Spear looked great at full speed, for instance, but replay revealed it to be pretty basic.
- Dana's promo would be better if she looked at us, or Devin, instead of what I presume was reading off a teleprompter
- What was The Total Diva looking at during her interview? Content and delivery were solid, but either she was reading off a teleprompter, or was looking at the wrong camera. Really wish they'd ease off the throttle on Brooke, but when you put her in the intro package a couple of months after she debuts, they're sticking to their guns.
- Given that Char isn't exactly a ring general, I cringe thinking about their feud, or a long bout between the two of them. But we'll see what happens.
Recap:
- Slightly different version of the "Finn Bálor is coming" spot rounds out a good night of character development for the #1 contender.
- Every bit the clash of titans you hoped it would be, Joe vs. Owens sees both men get their stuff in before the desire to beat the crap out of each overwhelms the desire to win a wrestling match.
- Their post-bell pull-apart reaches epic status when the champ decks a couple of security personnel before we fade to black.
Reactions:
- They've got to do something with Joe's music. I don't hate it, and I even thought they'd figured something out with the way he stomped down the ramp during the upbeat portion last week. But it just doesn't work, and the worst thing might be that there's no way for him to emphasize his in-ring towel remove & hand signal.
- Uhhh, other than that, I really don't have much to say. This was everything I wanted it to be, and that they should have given us for "free" at this point. Pretty much spent the whole time trying to figure out how great it was to be watching these two fight in a WWE ring.
- KO's the MVP of WWE right now, right? I mean (knock wood, fingers crossed, etc, etc) if something happens to him, storylines on all of their shows and a key part of their business plan are all seriously damaged.
- His status as a Star at both levels makes his future booking here and on Raw very interesting. Don't care how or where they do it, if a belt's on the line...I need more Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens.
- Post-match wasn't the best of its kind, it was the only time the Samoan Submission Machine seemed to slow (especially during the ground and pound on the ramp) and the referees seemed a little unsure of their roles out there. As usual, the champ made up for any potential weaknesses by going the extra mile to sucker punch some rookies in security shirts.
- Wonder what General Manager William Regal will have to say about that?
This was a great mix of story advancement, wrestling of various types & skill levels, veterans and developmental performers. It could have been five minutes longer - why not give us a chunk of "Getting to know Finn" last week, and throw one of that show's four time fillers onto this episode? - but other than that, this was one of the more enjoyable editions of NXT we've gotten since the heyday of the Zayn/Neville feud.
Grade: A-
How was it for you, Cagesiders?