NXT
Date:
July 1, 2015
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It's
the show before the big title match in Tokyo and we actually have a
main event announced in advance. This week's big match is Samoa
Joe/Finn Balor vs. Rhyno/Kevin Owens, which isn't exactly what the
champ should be doing but it makes sense given the story. I can't
imagine Owens is champion next week but I've been surprised before.
Let's get to it.
The
opening video is just a quick preview of the tag match.
Vaudevillains
vs. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder
Gotch
and Wilder start things off with Dash quickly shoving him into the
corner for a tag off to Dawson. Well that was pointless. Simon gets
a quick two out of the corner and it's off to English for a MANLY
elbow. A back elbow and knee drop put Simon down and Dawson drives
elbows into the face. The manliness starts running low though so
it's off to English to squeeze the juice out of oranges and shave
with broken glass. Or maybe for the Whirling Dervish from English
for the pin at 3:07.
Rating:
D+. This was basically a squash
and a way for the Vaudevillains to say that they're here as faces.
The fans are going to cheer for the MANLY stuff because it's goofy
fun and the guys are good enough to make a pretty unique gimmick
work. I like the team, but they need some better opponents than a
pair of jobbers.
Becky
Lynch has a hip flexor
injury and will be out for a
few weeks.
Baron
Corbin vs. Tucker Knight
Knight
looks a lot like Rusev. End
of Days in 47 seconds.
The
Vaudevillains and Enzo/Cass are in Regal's office. As you might
expect, he snaps after about ten seconds of chattering. It's a #1
contenders match next week.
It's
time for the last part of the Finn Balor documentary. Balor
talks about loving how he spawns creativity from fans with their art.
Some of the pictures are cool and I know I'm right because Sami Zayn
agrees. We see the Finn
Balor debut with Prince Devitt popping up on screen and how he knew
the fans were accepting him.
The
name is a combination of an Irish warrior named Finwick who went to
war against the evil King Balor. The fact that his dad is named Finn
didn't hurt either. Matt
Bloom (Jason Albert, NXT trainer) says there wasn't much in ring
stuff to teach him but he had to learn cameras. Balor says every
entrance is a movie, which is an interesting way to look at it.
Quick
talk about the Demon giving him more confidence before it's off to
saying he's ready to take the title in Japan. A music video of him
with some kids doing the Balor pose and everyone talking about how
amazing Balor is ends this. These three parts are collected in an
NXT special and I really, REALLY recommend you take the thirty
minutes to watch it. These are some of the best documentaries WWE
has ever done and they make me think Balor is ready for the WWE main
event scene right now.
Eva
Marie trained earlier today as Regal watched. That could be anywhere
between a pleasant surprise to my mind exploding in shock to exactly
the disaster a lot of people are expecting.
Emma
vs. Carmella
The
lack of caring for Carmella when Enzo and Cass aren't there is
astounding. Feeling out
process to start with Carmella taking her down in a headlock,
followed by a hurricanrana out of the corner. Emma grabs the ropes
(that's kind of lame) and puts on a bodyscissors for
a bit. Carmella fights back and hits a running boot to the side of
the head, only to be pulled down into the Emma Lock for the tap out
at 4:12.
Rating:
D+. This is more proof that
there are two kinds of NXT Divas. Some of them are capable of having
a classic match if they're given enough time and look as polished as
any male wrestler. Then you have the lower level, who look about the
same as most of the main roster Divas and do little for me. Guess
which group these two are in.
Bull
Dempsey tries to break open
a vending machine when Regal shows up to yell at him. The chocolate
on Dempsey's lips don't make things any better.
Jason
Jordan is annoyed at losing again last week so Chad Gable comes up to
offer his services again.
Tyler
Breeze vs. Tye Dillinger
Dillinger
charges into a boot to start but slugs Breeze down to take over. Tye
mocks the photos and the fans give him a ten, which hasn't been
explained on NXT so far. A
hurricanrana and right hands (straight out of Shawn Michaels'
playbook) set up the Beauty Shot for the pin at 2:50.
Emma
and Dana Brooke interrupt a Sasha Banks interview to admire the
Women's Title. A challenge is thrown down and Sasha says she'll find
a partner.
Rhyno/Kevin
Owens vs. Samoa Joe/Finn Balor
Joe
is billed at 302lbs which sounds bigger than you would think, but
it's nice to just admit that he's a bigger guy. Rhyno
and Joe slug it out to start with Joe taking over and nailing the
jumping kick in the corner. Off
to Balor vs. Owens with Finn dropkicking him down but being sent to
the floor for daring to try a suplex. Back from a break with the
champ holding Balor in a chinlock. That's
really dull stuff so it's back to Rhyno for a delayed vertical suplex
with some squats thrown in.
Points
to Rhyno for picking things up a bit. Owens
puts on another chinlock but makes sure to stick out his tongue to
the crowd because he makes chinlocks something special. Some of the
time at least. We get the
Cena finishing sequence but Balor escapes the AA and makes the hot
tag to Joe. Rhyno plants him with a spinebuster and Owens adds
something resembling a Pop Up Powerbomb. It's back to Balor for a
Pele though and the Gore nails the champ by mistake, setting up the
Coup de Grace for the pin on Owens (first time in NXT) at 12:40.
Rating:
C. This was fine, but what does
Joe actually add to NXT? He's just Joe at this point and hasn't done
anything other than his first big showdown. Maybe now that Owens is
going to be shifting to the main roster he might have a story coming
soon, but there's nothing significant for him right now. I'd love to
see him do something and it's WAY too early to write him off, but so
far there's nothing special. There's nothing to talk about with the
match as it's booking 101 to
set up a title match.
Overall
Rating: C. Much like the main
event, this was fine but there's not much you need to see here.
Balor continues to look like
a million bucks and Breeze is actually an awesome face due to the
amount of hard work he's put in over the last year or so. Overall
though this feels like the doldrums that NXT hits when they're about
to start getting ready for a big Takeover, which I believe is around
Summerslam time. Totally watchable show that set up some future
matches, but not much on its own.
Results
Vaudevillains
b. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder – Whirling Dervish to Dawson
Baron
Corbin b. Tucker Knight – End of Days
Emma
b. Carmella – Emma Lock
Tyler
Breeze b. Tye Dillinger – Beauty Shot
Finn
Balor/Samoa Joe b. Rhyno/Kevin Owens – Coup de Grace to Owens
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