NXT
Date: June 24, 2015
Date: June 24, 2015
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We're
getting closer to the big July 4th
showdown for the title and that means Finn Balor needs to rack
up a few wins.
Up first we have the
second half of the big sitdown interview with Balor,
which is likely focusing on his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Other than that we might get some fallout from Joe vs. Owens from
last week. Let's get to it.
We
open with the roster on the stage and HHH talking about the loss of
Dusty Rhodes. Dusty was family to everyone on this stage because he
thought they were his kids. HHH, barely able to keep his voice
together, asks for a moment of silence as the bell rings ten times.
Opening
sequence.
Here's
Hideo Itami for
his first comments since being injured. He
acknowledges that he'll be out another 3-4 months due to his shoulder
injury but promises to come back and win the NXT Title. This brings
out Kevin Owens, who is glad Itami will be in Japan for the July 4
show, but it's cute to hear Itami imply that Owens won't be leaving
Japan as NXT Champion. Owens slips up on the word delusional but
makes up for it by saying he sounds like Itami trying to speak
English.
However,
there are two things Kevin wants to make clear. First of all, he
didn't hurt Itami because if he did, there's no chance Itami would be
standing there. The other reason is because Owens wants an apology
for Itami implying that Owens attacked him. Itami calls him a
terrible human being, so Owens thinks that if he's going to be
accused of hurting Itami, he might as well do it. Kevin comes to the
ring but Balor comes out for the save, only to have Rhyno jump Balor
and
knock him off the stage.
Balor
vs. Rhyno later tonight.
Enzo
Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Jason
Jordan/Sylvester LeFort
The
entrance sounds a bit faster this week but Enzo makes up for it by
saying he sees two mushrooms from Mario's world in the ring: they're
about to get flattened. Cassady's
part didn't sound very smooth but he got the lines out well enough.
I had been wondering what happened to LeFort. Colin puts Sylvester
down to start and slams Enzo down on top of him for two, only to have
Jordan tag himself in and catch Enzo in a slam. LeFort's
cobra clutch doesn't get him very far so it's quickly off to Jordan,
who gets rolled up for the pin at 2:32.
After
last week's main event, Joe talks about hearing the people chant LET
THEM FIGHT. He got the fight he wanted but he didn't get the fight
he wanted (not a typo) because Owens is still walking. Joe wants
Owens again.
Dana
Brooke vs. Cassie
Brooke
has Emma in her corner and Cassie
is K.C. Cassidy. A quick
rollup gets two on Brooke and a headscissors puts her down again.
That's enough for Dana as she throws Cassie down and gets two off a
slam. Dana cranks on an arm and leg at the same time while advising
Cassie to tap. Cassie comes
back with something like a Thesz press and some clotheslines but Dana
Whiplashes her off the top for the pin at 3:36.
Rating:
D+. This wasn't quite a squash
as Cassie got to show some spunk, which means she'll probably be
pushed as something more serious when she gets some more ring time.
Brooke is still definitely a work in progress, but if there's one
thing NXT has shown it can do, it's take their girls and improve
improve them about ten fold overnight.
Charlotte
isn't worried about Dana.
It's
time for part two of Balor's sitdown interview, which starts with
some clips of Sami Zayn hanging out at his house. Balor likes to put
jigsaw puzzles together (amen brother) and still plays with Legos
while watching old pay per views. Suddenly I'm digging the heck out
of this guy.
NXT
head trainer Matt Bloom (actually called that here instead of Jason
Albert) talks about meeting Fergal Devitt in Japan about eight years
ago. We get some pictures of them hanging out over the years,
including Bloom pulling Devitt's pants down as they posed for a
picture. Bloom explains the concept of a young boy and we see some
stills and videos of Fergal's time in new Japan. Prince
Devitt was someone obsessed with trying to master the Japanese style
and he felt more like Prince than Fergal over there.
Then
WWE came calling right around the annual Tokyo Dome show and Fergal
wasn't sure if he could do it or not. He had to try though because
there was nothing left for him to prove in Japan so here he is, with
Sami Zayn and Mojo Rawley sitting on his couch in the background. He
calls it an incredible journey but it's still continuing. Next week:
the NXT days.
Bull
Dempsey has been trying to get in better shape without much success.
This is shown through a series of Instagram shots of Dempsey falling
asleep while trying to train. So he's narcoleptic instead of just
fat?
Hype
Bros vs. Sawyer
Fulton/Angelo Dawkins
That
would of course be Rawley and Zack Ryder. You know what? Why not?
It's not like Ryder has
ANYTHING better to do. Mojo
runs Dawkins over to start and it's off to Ryder for a nice dropkick
to Fulton. Back to Rawley
for HAMMER TIME, allowing the amateur guys to take over with the old
Benjamin jumping over Haas' back onto Mojo's back spot. A
backdrop ends Angelo's offense and it's off to Ryder for all his
usual stuff. The Broski Boot gets two and everything breaks down.
Rawley holds Dawkins up for a middle rope Rough Ryder and the pin at
4:00.
Rating:
C-. Ryder and Rawley have a
weird chemistry together and I've always been a fan of Zack so it's
cool to see him do something other than losing to Rusev in 45
seconds. Fulton, Dawkins and Jordan seem like the perfect choice for
a stable along with Chad Gable but for some reason the Shoot Nation
stable was called off. They're still fine for roles like this though
and you can easily rally them together later.
Eva
Marie wants a match but Regal needs proof that she has more than
charm.
Finn
Balor vs. Rhyno
Kevin
Owens comes out and shoves Byron away from his chair to do
commentary. Balor takes it
to Rhyno to start and slugs him down in the corner. Rhyno
gets sent out to the floor as Owens denies attacking Itami again. A
big flip dive puts Rhyno down again and gets two back inside. Owens
promises to win on July 4, even though he doesn't know what it is.
“I'm Canadian so it doesn't mean anything to me. Independence Day?
Will Smith? Good movie.”
Rhyno
gets in his first offense with a spinebuster and puts on a bearhug.
Owens has completely taken over commentary by ripping on Brennan,
because Kevin doesn't believe that Brennan has talked to anyone on
the roster. “I've seen them running away from you.” Owens
now has his arm around Saxton and has pulled Byron's head onto his
shoulder. We take a break and come back with Balor fighting out of a
second bearhug.
Owens
is annoyed at all the questions Brennan is asking him as Balor gets
two off a dropkick to the side of the head. That earns him a
northern lights suplex but Balor staggers him with a Pele Kick. The
Coup de Grace is loaded up but Owens comes down for a distraction,
allowing Rhyno to hit the belly to belly. The Gore is countered by a
kick to the face though and the Sling Blade sets up the Coup de Grace
for the pin at 11:40.
Rating:
C+.
This
was fine. The idea behind Rhyno is that he's intense enough to lose
every big match he's in, beat some jobbers, and then come back for
another loss to make someone look good. There's awesome value in
that and it's something you can never have enough of. Balor vs.
Owens is going to be awesome, especially if the demon shows up.
Owens
comes in and double teams Balor until Samoa Joe comes in for the
save, likely setting up a tag match next week.
Overall
Rating: C.
Not their best show this week but they did a good job of setting up
Balor vs. Owens in less than two weeks. Other than that they have
enough feuds and stories going on to set up a big non-Takeover show
before we get to the REALLY big stuff down the line. Good effort
this week, even though it was mainly a placeholder outside of the
main story.
Results
Enzo
Amore/Colin Cassady b. Jason Jordan/Sylvester LeFort – Rollup to
Jordan
Dana
Brooke b. Cassie – Whiplash
Hype
Bros b. Sawyer Fulton/Angelo Dawkins – Middle rope Rough Ryder to
Dawkins
Finn
Balor b. Rhyno – Coup de Grace
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6