WWE NXT results, recap, reactions from January 8, 2015: We write the songs

My fear of NXT spoilers often leads me to be completely wrong about what will appear on any given week's episode...and I love it.

Segment One

Recap:

• The champ returns for an emotional moment with the NXT Universe, and delivers the most Sami Zayn-est promo ever.
• Mentioning Kevin Owens actions triggers a declaration to defend the belt any time, any where.  That brings out Adrian Neville for a little mutual admiration, which William Regal joins briefly to book a rematch between the two friends for next week's show.
• The #1 contenders for the tag belts get some promo time from the locker room and promise to show the fans why they're so manly.
• My dream match happens a week earlier than I thought it would, with Hideo Itami eking out a slightly rough-looking victory over Curtis Axel in a very stiff-looking contest.

Reactions:

• If you weren't a little verklempt for the impromptu trip into the stands and the "You Deserve It" chant, we will probably never exchange friendship bracelets.
• Zayn, like Daniel Bryan, has an hard-to-describe mixture of being both impressive and relatable.  It's a similar trait to the "it" factor that gets ascribed to Finn Bálor or Roman Reigns, but different.  They're like your friend in middle school's older brother who's into all the same stuff that you are but who somehow manages to get laid.  Maybe your middle school experience was different from mine...that's not the point.  The point is, if anyone else cut the promo that Sami did to open this episode, I would probably have made gagging noises and wrote snarky things about it.  With Happy, Bearded Guy, I was grinning while getting teary eyed and fired up all at the same time.
• Even "Sami Zayn and the Zayn-iacs" worked for me.  Sue me, I'm a mark.
• Would love to get a little more background on the situation with Owens.  They have plenty of time to deliver on that front, but I worry they're leaning on the non-WWE history a little too much.  Since Neville is clearly a true blue babyface again, I'd love to finally see an acknowledgement from him about bending the rules, with or without a "power corrupts" excuse.  As part of Zayn's story is that he became champ without cutting corners, it would be a nice way to tie off Adrian's arc.
• Just a hunch, but KO might get involved with that rematch next week.
• My understanding of what they're trying to accomplish with the Vaudevillains promos is the inverse of how much I enjoy the Vaudevillains promos.
• I should probably recuse myself from reacting to the Axel match, because I seriously geeked out seeing him return the Mr. Superstars form I connected to as a young(er) wrestling blogger.  And for the non-McGillibuddies in the audience that means - ring general who snaps off crisp moves and stiff strikes while adorkably talking trash before getting beat.  So you can see where this checked off all those boxes.
• Really enjoyed commentary again this week, especially Corey Graves and Jason Albert.  In this bout, I liked their pointing out that the Axe-man giving Itami time to recover from head strikes was probably a mistake.  It's kind of weird to hear the Savior of Misbehavior talk about head trauma, though.
• Hideo's progress continues - I like that the running short drop kick is more clearly not a Busaiku knee, and the DDT off the top rope is super-cool.  But from the Perfect-Plex counter through whatever exactly the low spin kick finisher is, we're still not there.