NXT
Date:
July 24, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Renee Young, Rich Brennan, Alex Riley
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
As
usual with NXT, there are a few matches already set for this week.
Tonight we're getting Summer Rae vs. Charlotte for the Women's Title
to likely blow off the BFFs once and for all as well as Kalisto
finding a partner to help him fight off the Vaudevillains. That's
one of the things I like best about NXT: they don't have to start
from scratch every week and it saves them so much time. Let's get to
it.
We
open with a recap of the collapse of the BFFs and Charlotte's rise to
the Women's Title.
Opening
sequence.
Ascension
vs. ???/???
Viktor
destroys Jobber #1 to start and throws him into Jobber #2 in the
corner. Konnor comes in and Jobber #2's chop just ticks him off.
Jobber #2 gets destroyed for a bit and Fall of Man ends Jobber #2 at
2:37.
Tyler
Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley
Beauty
Shot ends this at 30 seconds in the only move of the match. So much
for Rawley.
Women's
Title: Summer Rae vs. Charlotte
Charlotte
is defending. Heaven help me but Summer's theme song is growing on
me. They get in each others' faces to start before Charlotte shoves
Summer down. She mocks Summer's dancing and we go into the catfight.
Charlotte takes over with some knees to the back and a Figure Four
Neck Lock. We take a break and come back with Summer in the same
hold and shouting about her beautiful face.
Charlotte
flips her forward but gets sent to the floor to give Summer control.
She slams Charlotte face first into the mat for two and puts on a
bodyscissors. We get the very rare BORING chant in NXT as Charlotte
gets caught in a half crab. Charlotte bites her way out and now the
fans are doing the wave. A double clothesline puts both girls down
but it's Charlotte up first and taking control. She grabs a quick
Bow Down to the Queen to retain at 9:50.
Rating:
D+. Summer is no Natalya for
sure. This was a really dull match and thankfully they kept this a
lot shorter than the Takeover match. Both girls are almost all
character, but it's nice to see them trying to have a match instead
of doing the stupid catfight stuff. Summer needs a lot more work
though.
Video
on Alexa Bliss.
Sin
Cara/Kalisto vs. Vaudevillains
Not
a huge surprise but it's the right choice for a partner. English
and Kalisto get things going with the masked man taking him down in a
headlock. Off to Sin Cara for a loud chop and a cross body into a
series of right hands to the head. Aiden
dropkicks a springboard cross body out of the air for two and it's
off to Gotch. Renee: “Gotch
isn't allowed in England for trying to capture the Loch Ness Monster
but getting Giant Haystacks.”
Gotch
hammers away and gets two off a sunset flip before it's back to
English for a hard stomping.
English gets caught in an armdrag into a powerbomb and it's off to
Kalisto to speed things up. Everything
breaks down and Sin dives out onto English and Kalisto hits a
standing Sliced Bread #2 for the pin on Gotch at 6:00.
Rating:
C-. This was fine and the match
made the new team look good. The Vaudevillains are going to be over
because of how zany they are and a loss really doesn't hurt them all
that much. Also adding in a new face team that could eventually
challenge the Ascension is a good thing.
Rusev
vs. Adrian Neville
Non-title.
Lana does her thing and talks about America's obsessions with stars
before the match. Rusev even speaks some English and talks about
being the super athlete. Neville moves around as much as he can to
start but gets caught in the corner and the beating begins.
The
champion gets up some boots in the corner to stop a charge but the
rest of his kicks don't have much of an effect. Rusev grabs the leg
and gets choked in the air. Neville comes back with a springboard
missile dropkick. Tyler Breeze comes out for a distraction though
and Rusev runs Neville over. Adrian escapes the fall away slam and
nails a big kick. He loads up the Red Arrow but Breeze shoves him
off for the DQ at 4:02.
Rating:
D+. This was an angle instead
of a match. They've done a REALLY good job at making Neville look
like a superhero in the NXT Arena though and that's going to make his
title loss look like a big deal. Breeze is still a really good
choice for #1 contender and I'm actually buying him as a possible
champion.
Rusev
puts him in the Accolade and makes Neville tap after the bell.
Overall
Rating: C-. Not a very good
episode this week as it felt like a placeholder. It's still very
acceptable for an hour long show but it wasn't very entertaining.
I'm glad Rusev didn't beat Neville and it's nice to see him coming
off as a treat for the fans. Breeze vs. Neville is going to be a
clash when it finally happens.
ResultsAscension
b. ???/??? – Fall of Man to ???
Tyler
Breeze b. Mojo Rawley – Beauty Shot
Charlotte
b. Summer Rae – Bow Down to the Queen
Sin
Cara/Kalisto b. Vaudevillains – Standing Sliced Bread #2 to Gotch
Adrian
Neville b. Rusev via DQ when Tyler Breeze interfered
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
I finally started watching NXT regularly in the last month, and it's great and all. Flies by. But the downside of an hour-long show is getting into a wrestler and then there just isn't time for them every week. I dug that Bull Dempsey dude when he debuted three weeks ago, haven't seen him since. No Sami Zayn this week. No Tyson Kidd. This week was the first Ascension match in the last few shows, I think. And so on.
ReplyDeleteI actually wouldn't mind it as much on Raw or Smackdown, where it'd make appearances by established stars more special. But these are new characters, mostly, that need the exposure and more importantly, the TV experience.
For reference, jobbers were Johnny Vandal and Aaron Solo.
ReplyDeleteNoted. Even the announcers were just calling them "this guy".
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The Vaudevillains as nothing more than a sideshow act? I believe that's the perfect amount of irony.
ReplyDeleteYou lost me with your love of Bull. Feels too jobber to me, idk.
ReplyDeleteBut, at the same time...you don't want to burn out on the characters too quickly (I'm looking at you, Mojo Rawley).
ReplyDeleteI grew up with AWA's All-Star Wrestling. You didn't get Jesse The Body or The Crusher or Baron Von Raschke (etc) every Sunday...but when you did, hoooo boy!
(Of course, we DID get to see Scrap Iron Gadaski & Kenny "Sodbuster" Jay almost every week.)
Surprised you didn't mention Cara picking up English with one arm. That impressed the hell out of me.
ReplyDeleteGood character and unique look. But yeah he doesn't impress me in the ring.
ReplyDeleteYeah I thought that was awesome too.
ReplyDeleteMojo's a job guy. Pushing him as anything more is folly.
ReplyDeleteBut WWE needs job guys.
WWE used to exist on this model. You had a an hour of Superstars and an hour of Challenge and way too much talent for every guy to wrestle between both shows.
ReplyDeleteRandom: Ed Reed got 2 games? What the FUCK? And Justin Blackmon is suspended indefinitely for weed? Fuck Goodell and fuck the NFL.
ReplyDeleteGoodell isn't in charge anymore.
ReplyDeleteWho is?
ReplyDeleteOops, was thinking about the NBA.
ReplyDeleteCJ Parker would be so perfect in that role.
ReplyDeleteOh, Adam Gold or whatever? The Sterling thing was horseshit too, but he needed to be gone long ago anyway.
ReplyDeleteNext week starts a fresh taping cycle so the crowd should pick back up. Also I'm assuming the next live show is August 21st? Or is there one more taping cycle to go through?
ReplyDeleteThere are no live shows. Last week's show, tonight's show, and the next 3 shows (July 31, Aug. 7, Aug. 14) were all taped over three days back on June 25, 26, and 27.
ReplyDeleteOn Aug. 5, 6, and 7, they'll be taping shows that will begin airing on Aug. 21. Assuming they tape two per night, the last one will air September 25.
You mean Ray Rice?
ReplyDeleteand possibly also Josh Gordon instead of Blackmon (can't remember if its weed for Blackmon) but either work possibly.
ReplyDeleteOh, you're probably right. But he's a throwback, surly ruffian type and I kinda liked his debut. Whether he's good or not isn't the point, really, he debuted and then he's just not there for the next 2-3 weeks because there's not enough time.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree about not burning out characters, which is why I said it wouldn't bother me if this was how Raw still worked (and, like everyone else, it obviously sure as hell wouldn't bother me if Raw would lose the third hour, but that's a barely related discussion).
ReplyDeleteBut more than just my edification as a viewer, these are new performers who need the TV experience, because they're the WWE's future.