Hello everyone, I am reviewing NXT as it happens tonight and not during work like usual. My brother had a successful heart surgery and is recovering, he is in pain but that’s expected. I’ll watch NXT and review it like I do Raw. Then rewatch it for screen grabs.
NXT Opening Video
- We get a Takeover:Respect video package.
- I’ve watched that Sasha and Bayley match three times now.. Still gets me!
- This video package makes this Ironman match seem even more epic than it was when I watched it for the first time.
- Love you NXT!
Bayley Promo
- Bayley comes out to the crowd clapping along to the beat.
- Huge air fives to everyone in the crowd and “Bayley” chants
- Before she can start her promo, she looks very proud and humbly receives “match of the year” chants
- She says the whole Takeover Special was all about Respect.
- Dusty Rhodes is a huge reason why the Diva’s are where they are
- Bayley reiterates that she always dreamed of this, just like Sasha Banks. “You Deserve It” chants fill the arena
- She said they raised the level in the Diva’s Revolution. “Woman’s Wrestling” chants and she said “Yes we want Woman’s wrestling to be respected.”
- Alexa Bliss comes out? Surprising!
Alexa Bliss Confronts Bayley
- As Alexa stands there she is showered in boo’s
- “Bayley, what you accomplished last week, was incredible, I was in total awe. No one deserves to be champ more than you do right now. That’s really all I had.”
- Alexa looks like she is a bout to cry and says she is happy to share this moment with Bayley
- She then steals the Woman’s belt. “I’m not like you Bayley, I didn’t write about this when I was 10.”
- My wife says Bayley doesn’t look threatened.. she looks like “bitch please”
- Alexa says Bayley doesn’t deserve to be champion.
And I’m Like… Intrigued that Alexa is the new challenger. Bayley is a fighting champion and I’m sure she can put a good match on with any Diva. Good starting off point, we are already emotionally invested and Alexa is already getting “your not worthy” chants.
Finn and Joe have a post-match interview on WWE.com about their win. William Regal shows up to congratulate them. Joe says that tagging with Finn was an honor. He tells Balor he could have gone about it many different ways but he would like a shot at the title. Finn says you got it. Regal says well “it’s not that easy, focusing on the tag tournament, we’ve lost focus on who is number one contender.” Regal says next week(which is this week) is a Number One Contender Battle Royal. Joe looks frustrated.
And I’m Like… NXT is awesome, in under 10 minutes, they begin two new title feuds and both make sense, have a tangible sporting aspect to it, and have characters with emotions. No matter what that battle royal will be fun cause there will be consequence.
Another Breaking Ground preview and my wrestling allergies are starting to flare up. This will be such a linchpin to caring about the NXT Superstars.
Tye Dillenger talks about tonight’s battle royal “There can only be ONE number one contender, and that’s the perfect 10”
Apollo Crews “Since day one since I got here I said I wanted to be NXT champion. Once I win and beat Finn Balor I’ll be the NXT champion”
Rhyno “In my mind I’ve already won the battle royal because I was the face of a revolution, I was the last ECW Champion, and tonight when I win the battle royal I will be the face of the New Revolution”
Vaudevillians vs. Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton
- The Vaudevillians have quite the following in NXT and have such a great entrance. Talk about creating an image and setting yourself apart.
- Sawyer looks like The Barbarian
- Angelo looks like MVP’s little brother
- Byron Saxton says that Sawyer Fulton is weird because “he once told me he wrestles with thumbtacks in his boots to keep him on edge.”
- Simon Gotch hits a beautiful innovative hot tag combination. “That was manly” chants
- The Whirling Dervish puts away Angelo Dawkins and the Vaudevillians get the crowd a clapping in approval
And I’m Like… Reminded that the Villains are our champions of the tag division and that the teams waiting in the wings are still looking pretty good.
Carolina Wrecking Crew ask Devin Taylor if they thought the match was impressive. They say it’s impressive to the untrained eye. They do some math with dividing and rounding and figure themselves Number One Contenders. Dawson says in his mind “We are the champions right now.” Dash shows humor with “oh what a beautiful mind.” CWC puts The Realest Guys in the Room on notice. “When we render a body part useless, we completely tear apart their anatomy.” They tell Devin to ask Enzo and Cass “how you doin?”
And I’m Like… Happy we can see some character work out of CWC. Kinda cocky and goofy. Serious in the ring though, I like it.
Asuka and Dana Brooke recap, we are reminded how Asuka is THE badass. Dana gets her neck checked by the trainer as Asuka shows up to pat Brooke on the head and smile at Emma. Dana says she beat Asuka and Emma tells the trainer to “check her head”
Evie vs. Nia Jax
- Evie? That will confuse my cousin cause there is already a Eva Marie that my cousin calls Eve. AND THERE IS AN OLD DIVA NAMED EVE!
- Nia is debuting and supposed to be dominating.. First thought, her song is not frightening
- Nia is like Beth Pheonix and Awesome Kong had a kid. I want to see her against ODB!
- Nia is using her weight to her advantage. She does running splashes and hip attacks. The crowd is trying to be hype but it’s not really working.
- Nia starts talking poop to Evie and Evie lands a few kicks but then gets caught in the Verdict made famous by David Otunga
And I’m Like… Waiting to form an opinion, this was my first glance and I can’t really decide if I like her or not. We will see.
We see a video package of Sasha and Bayley again. It’s different than the earlier one. This time we have actual Superstars talking about how amazing the match was. My cousin did not like it “cause we knew what would happen”. I’m glad he will see that he is in the minority and this is something to get accustomed too. Once the pride of what these women are doing wears off, this will become routine and not so emotional. Damn though! I’m loving this ride we are on.
Tyler Breeze “Anyone who needs an opportunity at the NXT Title, It’s me Prince Pretty.”
Baron Corbin “when its all said it done there will be one man left standing, the Lone Wolf, your new number one contender, All Hail”
Eva Marie cuts a promo in Paris. Her promo is super shitty. She says she has had grueling matches, I won’t boo her for that, I will boo her cause she is not good at her job…. yet?
Number One Contender Battle Royal
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We join during Rhynos entrance followed by Baron Corbins, the majority of the competitors are already in the ring. - Samoa Joe comes out next. This NXT entrance trope has me believing that whoever we witness coming out will be one of the guys that win.
- CWC and Rhyno and Baron Corbin all beat on Joe cause he was part of the team that eliminated all 4 guys in the Dusty Tag Classic
- Joe almost got eliminated. I remember Jim Ross saying Battle Royals are the hardest to call. That makes sense to me because I’m trying to find talking points but there is just so much going on.
- I always wondered, maybe it has happened but not to my knowledge, why hasn’t anyone handcuffed themselves to the middle rope in a battle royal?
- Steve Cutler got eliminated and so did Danny Burch and The Drifter, all by Apollo Crews
- Apollo throws Johnny Gargano over the top onto the enhancement talents and Commercial?
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We are back from commercial and I don’t know who has been eliminated - Enzo has polka dot pants.. Sweet.
- Alot of near eliminations but alot of standing around too.
- I realized I like Royal Rumbles better than Battle Royals because of the countdown. When there is more than like six people in the ring I get too lost in what’s going on. I like stories in my matches. Royal Rumble has the ability to tell so many stories. I guess Battle Royals do too, it’s just harder for me to follow personally.
- Big Cass and CWC were eliminated, also some tall guy.
- Enzo was tossed over by 10 Dillenger, Tye was beat up and thrown over by Bull Dempsey.
- Bull gets eliminated by Corbin and Rhyno. Mojo too. Thank you Baron
- Zack Ryder is in this and Woo Woo Woo! That’s sad for his career. I mean I know people like Tyson Kidd re-energized his career in NXT but Ryder has never evolved from who he was in 2012
- Breeze is getting all the cheers from the crowd. He is who the NXT crowd wants to win.
- Zack Ryder gets thrown out and we hear “Let’s Go Tyler” Corbin throws Rhyno over the top and I’m sure Rhyno will respect that and want to do that again.
- We are back from another commercial and we got Blake, Murphy, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Samoa Joe and Tyler Breeze
- Ciampa was thrown over the top during commercial, Blake and Murphy get eliminated simultaneously by Samoa Joe as the crowd goes “Breeze, Breeze”
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Joe eliminates Breeze and boo’s fill the arena. Does this happen in every Battle Royal now? - Corbin got out of the Muscle Buster, Corbin tried eliminating Joe but Joe held on until Breeze took Joe out to “Thank You Tyler” chants? Why are we all against Joe all of a sudden?
- “Apollo” chants, I kinda feel like Corbin is winning cause Apollo doesn’t need the win to still look like he belongs.
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Baron Corbin will beat the Demon if Hideo Itami cannot. NXT crowd is chanting “We Want Tyler” and they became the evil fans I talked about on my Raw review.
- Apollo got all 5 moves of doom in until the Standing Moonsault that Corbin reversed. Apollo still lands like 4 kicks and clotheslines Corbin over the top.
And I’m Like… Whhhhaaaatt? That is surprising, this kid is getting pushed to the moon, Alice. I am not too satisfied if only for the fact that I’ve yet to become an Apollo Crews fan. I am so indifferent towards him, I’m not inclined to cheer or boo. Hopefully these next few weeks will build up some emotion for me.
That was a quick show, thank you for the read and if you like or share or tweet or pin I will thank you even more.
You all have a good one
-Jake
