"NXT FANS STILL OKAY WITH WASTED EPISODE"
I've been lazy again. I had much higher hopes for the Japan show but it was just a glorified house show and there was nothing to comment on bar the NXT Championship match so I decided to just skip the entirety. Kinda like Raw at this point. Hence the complete lack of Raw posts. Oh, and I just forget to watch NXT in time for a proper post. UNTIL THIS WEEK!
DANA BROOKE & EMMA vs. SASHA BANKS & CHARLOTTE
I hope I'm not the only person who marked out at the idea that Sasha was going to actually compete willingly in a handicap match...
Sasha willingly competing in a handicap match would've been far from Cena-tier so-close-to-braggadocio-that-no-one-wants-to-see-it. It would have been great to see a heel... or, I guess a tweener now... actually be cocky enough to do this without trying to cheat or weasel out of it, which I think is how Sasha would have the match, even if she'd have lost.
Though unfortunately for me the most obvious teammate joined Sasha and turned it into another tag team match instead of something interesting for once. Yet again proving NXT has become stagnant and not attempting to book anything interesting or slightly daring, sticking with their guns at being "normal", which in some ways is worse than Raw, because even though Raw sucks most of the time now, it's at least trying to put something different on every couple of weeks. When was the last time NXT did something different? It has been a long time.
The quality of the match was as expected. Nothing incredible, It's just a random weekly NXT episode, why put the effort in, right? Dana sucks as usual, but again I suppose it's okay because she's developmental. The main issue here is Dana's wrestling ability when in the ring with Emma, Charlotte and especially Sasha looks worse than it really probably is, and we all know to blame the scouts for signing only one pre-existing wrestler in that group of women in Becky who has already worked extensively on TV. Dana should really be behind Jessie and Cassie, among a couple of others yet to debut on TV, as they'd wrestled beforehand.
The little BFF mannerisms were nice to see. I don't know anything about the rumours of pushing these women up as "a team" or whatever, but I'm not entirely against it. Though, debuting a team bound to split is basically asking for a 'Rockers' situation. And if Sasha is put with Charlotte, Charlotte might unfortunately get the better part as a second generation wrestler and daughter of one of the all-time greats, whereas Sasha, who is undoubtedly better in all aspects, gets the short end of the stick.
FINN BALOR vs. KEVIN OWENS (c)
A championship rematch!!!
In the same arena!!!
Wait a minute, Owens is still the champion...
Is this de-ja-vu?!
Yes, it is.
What a complete waste of fucking time this was. I can see a lot of people finally realising how stupid this kind of shit is, but still reluctantly criticising it as their heart is still behind Triple H and the concept of knowing you're being mocked but enjoying it anyway.
I mean, damn. It's a good match, and in Japan, so it was immediately interesting and worth watching as well as worth anticipating too, but replaying it? And wasting even more time on NXT? Yet again, for Finn Balor? It's way over the top now. They've went so far into this territory it's mocking everyone who watches NXT.
What I don't understand is replaying it in full when, well, both the Japan event and NXT itself is Network exclusive. Why not just dedicate 30 seconds to remind people that they can watch it on the Network instead?! Much better than wasting 30 minutes replaying something that's already on the Network for fuck sake.
And then after playing the match in entirety, they show Balor shaking hands with Cesaro and Neville? Wow. They really are putting all of their eggs into the proverbial Balor basket here.
And the completely "necessary" John Cena involvement. LMAO. I kinda feel bad for Balor there.
But then I remember how disingenuous he is. Constantly saying how he loves NXT and being NXT Champion is one of his "life goals". Yea, yea, it's booked and he's told what to say, but under the guise of his legitimate honesty. That's why he declined normal contract offers to move from NJPW right?
Owens was a star in that match anyway. Him dropping the title was planned, obviously, and I guess losing the NXT title and moving up to the main roster is best for him because he's the best in NXT bar none anyway.
MARCUS LOUIS vs. SOLOMON CROWE
Fuck the match, I was too busy browsing the forum to see how many people didn't bother commenting on the previous 30 minutes.
I did stop and watch what was going on when Crowe was writhing in pain though. That was a great selling of such a submission in honesty. Still doesn't make Crowe look good enough for me though.
And that's a testament of how NXT is, as some call "smark bait" (which I find a bit condescending in honesty and don't agree with). A guy like Crowe keeps getting mini vignettes hyping his matches, and he, well, keeps getting matches, despite doing nothing decent at all in any of them and proving nothing to anyone. The best thing he has done in the whole time he has been on TV is sell an abdominal stretch with the ripping of the rib, or whatever that was. And despite it being good, was nothing to write home about.
Crowe impresses no one in his matches and gets more. Guys like Dillinger, who impress in the short allotted TV time they get, make guys like Kevin Owens note how underrated and talented they are, still lose in short matches almost akin to being a generic jobber. Certainly no favouritism here...
ENZO & CASS w/ CARMELLA vs. THE VAUDEVILLAINS
For the #1 Contendership to the NXT Tag Team Championship
I have a weird feeling that because a match between three developmental talent and Simon Gotch wasn't exactly a four star match people will use it as fodder as to why non-indie talent shouldn't be main eventing NXT, and in a way I kind of agree. This match was far from bad but it didn't live up to the standard that other people on the show could have had (see: Sasha Banks again, which should have main evented).
I firmly believe that the best matches should end the show, at least on NXT, but I don't think that necessarily means the same few guys have to main event each week. The length of a main event isn't that bad. 10 or 15 minutes is okay for a 60 minute program (20 is pushing it), but when it's the same people constantly that's when it becomes a problem.
Anyway, Enzo does pretty well getting the crowd behind him as the face in peril and it contrasts amazingly with how good Cass looks when he gets the hot tag. The aesthetic of Cass running in with his TEST HAIR waving around as he figuratively-literally cleans house and dominates the enemy team is fantastic. They work so well together in every aspect they're easily the best team in NXT right now.
The fact Cass comes in and just demolishes everyone is great though. Enzo is clearly the weak link of the tag team but it's not gonna break them up (hopefully anyway), it just allows Enzo to be good at what he's good at, and hide his flaws in the ring, and allows Cass be a true monster in the ring without falling for a pin or getting whipped around by guys smaller than him. The consistency is great and is probably the best example of hot tag based tag team matches in WWE.
The Vaudevillains are in their own right a good tag team too. I'd put them at number 2 only because Blake & Murphy haven't been able to display much of anything in comparison to either Enzo & Cass or the Vaudevillains. But their characters work so well together, and they are pretty fluid in the ring as well. Certainly not bad, but not good, in promos either.
I always like it when these two teams face off, because despite not having fantastic matches, it's always a great, great example of developmental wrestling, and how they always show fluidity as teams and as opponents, and that makes me believe that they can have classics eventually down the road.
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