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Network Synopsis: LIVE! 2-hour Special Event. The next generation of WWE Superstars in action, including the first ever Ladder match for the NXT Championship.
Author’s note: I’m a fairly new NXT viewer. I’ve seen a few episodes on HULU and I’m familiar with some of the wrestlers, either from their main WWE roster work or from their previous work on the independents, but I’ve never been a regular viewer of the show. Let’s see if ArRIVAL can sway me to tune in each week!
Opening up to a dark arena and a bit of a laser light show. “ARE YOU READY??!” Triple H welcomes us to NXT ArRIVAL and receives a loud “NXT” chant from the fans in attendance at Full Sail University. After Triple H introduces us to the next generation, we segue into the opening montage/music video.
Back in the arena, we are now being welcomed by Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and William Regal as Sami Zayn makes his way to the ring.
Cesaro is out now – “WE THE PEOPLE!” Damn, the crowd loves chanting along with that. Give a heel a catch phrase, and you essentially turn them face. Cesaro loves it too.. a little smirk on his face as the crowd chants along. Regal calls Cesaro ten-times the wrestler he ever was. High praise, and well deserved, in my opinion.
CESARO vs SAMI ZAYN
Bell rings and these two stare each other down. This is about respect for Zayn. Since their 2-out-of-3 Falls match 6 months ago, Zayn has been obsessed with defeating Cesaro, not unlike Shawn Michaels and his obsession with defeating the Undertaker a few years back. A few locks and a take down by Cesaro. Great exchange on the mat ending with a solid dropkick from Cesaro. Zayn in control now with a front facelock on the match, Cesaro flips him over.. Zayn into the ropes and tries for a rana, but Cesaro is able to hoist him out of it. Cesaro tosses him buy Zayn flips over and lands on this feet! Cesaro to the outside. Zayn FLIES! Swanton over the top rope onto Cesaro!
“THIS IS AWESOME” chant! Damn right! Zayn off the top with a crossbody, but Cesaro catches him and tilt-a-whirl slams him to the mat for a 2 count! “WE THE PEOPLE!” / “SAMI ZAYN!” dueling chants. Cesaro takes over, tossing Zayn from one side of the ringside area to the other. Back in the ring, Cesaro again tosses Zayn to the outside. “OLE!” chant brings Zayn back with a few shots at Cesaro, but it’s fended off by Cesaro as he literally picks up Zayn and throws him back into the ring. Zayn again tossed to the outside. Cesaro is in control as he sends Zayn into the guardrail and works over his back on the side of the ring. Cesaro tries to smash Zayn’s leg into the steel post but Zayn is out of it. ZAYN FLIES THROUGH THE CORNER OF THE RING POST AND TURNBUCKLES WITH A SUICIDE DIVE! CESARO COUNTERS WITH A EUROPEAN UPPERCUT! AMAZING!
Loud “HOLY SHIT!” chant! Cesaro back to his plan to bash Zayn’s knee off the ringpost. Back in the ring and Cesaro works over the injured knee. Cesaro hits a sick dragon screw legwhip! Thank you Regal for calling actual move names! Zayn makes a small comeback, but again Cesaro is able to easily take back over by going to work on Zayn’s injured knee. “WE THE PEOPLE!” ANOTHER dragon screw! A THIRD DRAGON SCREW! Zayn stops Cesaro from hitting a fourth. Goes for an enzuigiri, but Cesaro ducks and now has Zayn locked in a sick looking single leg crab. Zayn breaks the hold at the ropes. Zayn fighting back now. Boot to Cesaro’s face. Cesaro charges and Zayn sends him over the top and to the floor. GOOD GOD! Zayn with a rope flip Asai moonsault to the outside but Cesaro catches him and again with a tilt-a-whirl slam, but this time to the entrance ramp!
“NXT!” chant! Zayn barely beats the count and crawls back into the ring. Cesaro charges Zayn in the corner but Zayn COUNTERS! EXPLODER SUPLEX INTO THE CORNER! Again Regal calls the name of the move! Loving him on commentary! Zayn trying to take over with a back suplex but Cesaro counters.. Zayn brings him back in.. BLUE THUNDER BOMB! Tom Phillips called that one! Colour me impressed! The commentary here is night and day compared to main roster WWE. Zayn busts out a KOJI CLUTCH! Cesaro breaks it! NO! He counters it.. into a freaking BROCK LOCK!! Aka, a modified stretch muffler submission! Right on Zayn’s injured knee, too! Good lord this match is amazing. GIANT SWING! Zayn counters into a victory roll! 2 count! Cesaro takedown! GIANT SWING!! 10-revolutions out of this one! Zayn is busted open, too. Chargin European uppercut into the corner! A series of near falls. Cesaro frustrated now.
“THIS IS AWESOME!” This crowd is REALLY into this match. Love it! Cesaro tries to take Zayn to the top turnbuckle. Zayn counters and boots Cesaro in the face! Zayn! TOP ROPE HURRICANRANA! CESARO TRIES TO POWERBOMB HIM BUT ZAYN RE-COUNTERS AND HITS THE RANA! Across the ring and into the corner.. Zayn NAILS the Helluva/Olé Kick! Zayn gets a 2 count! Cesaro puts Zayn down with a European uppercut. Zayn crawling back up and gets put back down with another uppercut! “STAY DOWN!” But Zayn comes back for more. A third uppercut puts Zayn down on the mat. Zayn wants more! Fourth uppercut! Zayn fires back! Exchanging shots with Cesaro now. GERMAN SUPLEX BY ZAYN!! Charges Cesaro in the corner but Cesaro with a big boot to the face!! Cesaro brings him in.. Neutralizer? Zayn counters into a pin! 2 count! Cesaro again for the Neutralizer.. but Zayn counters it with a Code Red! Sunset flip powerbomb! 2 count! Cesaro launched Zayn into the air and nails an uppercut on the way down! Only a 1 count! CESARO DISQUS UPPERCUT!! NEUTRALIZER!!! ONE! TWO! THREE! Cesaro wins!!
Zayn obviously upset that he’s lost the match. Cesaro about to leave but heads back up into the ring. He pulls Zayn up and they share a hug. It’s been a long time coming for both of these two since their independent days and it’s so great to see them on the main stage like this. Zayn’s got his respect and looks pretty satisfied now. Still, I’d never turn down the chance to see these guys work another match together. Early candidate for MOTY for sure.
I don’t know how you follow this. Apparently with a bit of a cool down match for the fans. Smart move. CJ Parker is out next. Kind of a hippie gimmick. Oh, he’s a hippie that blames the audience for the shitty shape of the world today. A heel hippie, I can dig it.
CJ PARKER vs MOJO RAWLEY
Mojo is a spitting image, facially, of Nikita Koloff and has the build of a younger Nikolai Volkoff. He’s also wearing red and yellow. Someone give this guy an evil Russian gimmick – stat! Rawley says that CJ ain’t hype enough! CJ has a great facial expression here. Rawley takes over and eventually hits Hyper Drive – essentially his version of the Earthquake splash for the win. The crowd seems into Rawley and Parker actually sells really well so it was not a bad filler match, at all.
Promo on Emma, who is challenging Paige for the NXT Women’s Title this evening.
Promo on Konnor and Viktor – the Ascension – also the NXT Tag Team Champions, which leads us to their entrance into the arena. They’ve changed their entrance music. It’s not bad but I prefered the older music. It fit their entrance much better and made it feel much more ominous.
NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
THE ASCENSION (C) vs… TOO COOL
Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty are coming to the ring, and.. wow. Scotty is bald! He kind of has a Gillberg look going with that lack of hair, no offense. The Ascension has held the titles for 148 days and something tells me that Too Cool aren’t going to be the ones to dethrone them. Regal suggests that Too Cool may want to re-retire after this match. Good advice. The thing I like about the Ascension is that they are an actual tag team gimmick. They have the same tights, a similar look, they’re a unit and it’s obvious. We need more actual tag teams like the Ascension in WWE. The match is pretty basic. Similar to Mojo vs CJ, a back and forth affair. Scotty 2 Hotty hits his signature WORM (well, most of it) but it’s obviously not enough to put away the Ascension. Konnor comes in and he hits the FALL OF MAN with Viktor for the win. Love that finisher. “NOBODY STOPS US!!”
Paige getting ready in the back, we cut to a promo on the NXT Women’s champion (218 days and counting) to find out what she’s all about.
Stephanie McMahon is out next to intro the NXT Diva’s division. The fans tell her, “YOU STILL GOT IT!” To which she replies, that she never lost it.
NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
EMMA vs PAIGE (C)
Emma is out first and Paige follows. The two competitors have a staredown in a battle of the off-center labret piercings. Short catfight style brawl to start things but then we get an actual lock up. Paige with a kick to the gut, backslide by Emma for a 1 count. Pinning sequence from Paige and a dropkick. Paige is really aggressive, and makes it look legit. Good shit. Big slam from Paige and another pin for a 2 count. Dueling chants for both women. Paige slowing things down with a side headlock on the mat. Turning into a rear naked choke now. Regal dropping Lance Storm’s name as he trained Emma. Emma comes back. Slingshots Paige into an Emmalock but Paige boots out of it. Paige taking it to the ring apron. Knee to the face! A barrage of knees! Emma coming back with a Tarantula, which she calls the DilEmma, in the corner! Emma Sandwich – cross body – into the corner for a 2 count on Paige. Regal says he’s been married 17 times because he’s addicted to wedding cake. Legit LOL. Emma trying to stretch out Paige, almost turning the hold into a surfboard. Emma working over Paige in the corner now, boot on the throat. Emma trying for the pinfall but it’s not enough. Into the corner. Paige reverses. Tries to send Emma face first into the ringpost but Emma stops her. Up top. Both women up top now. Paige with a superplex! Emma battles out of it! Sunset Flip! SITOUT POWERBOMB! 2 count! This is already 100x better than any women’s match on the main roster. It’s nothing complex but it’s telling a story and it’s believable as both of these wrestlers obviously know what they’re doing. I’m scared for what will happen to either of these two when they are called up to the main roster to work the “WWE Diva” style.
Paige comes back from being laid out with that powerbomb to hit a nice lariat on Emma. PAIGE-TURNER! Think of it as a swinging leg hook fireman’s carry slam.. not unlike an Angle Slam with no lift on it. So close to a 3 count! “THIS IS AWESOME!” Paige locking Emma into what looks like an inverted Sharpshooter.. but she pulls Emma’s arms into it.. lifting her off the mat! Regal is calling it a Scorpion Crosslock and Emma is tapping out! Paige retains the title! That was a sick hold! Great match!
Adrian Neville promo! He’s ready to take the title!
For now, we have Xavier Woods making his way to the ring.
XAVIER WOODS vs TYLER BREEZE
So this is the point in the livestream that the majority of us were TYLER’D!
Luckily, I am watching OnDemand, so the show will continue! Tyler Breeze has seasonal residences, so I’m already a fan of this gimmick. UH OH!! ALEXANDER RUSEV enters with LANA! Rusev rushes the ring and attacks both men! Jumping savate kick from this guy is pretty impressive! Rusven absolutely destroys both men! Obviously a no contest here! Lana tells us to recognize. Rusev gets on the mic.. and tells us some stuff in Bulgarian. Cue the music!
Coming up next.. time to BOLIEVE! Bo Dallas as a cocky/goofy heel is SO much better than Bo Dallas the plucky face from NXT that participated in the Royal Rumble. Great promo on Bo to lead us into a promo on the history between Bo and Adrian.
Shawn Michaels joins us in the ring to plug his DVD but to also offer his expertise on the ladder match.
NXT CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH
ADRIAN NEVILLE vs BO DALLAS (C)
PAC, I mean Neville, is out first. Several ladders around the ring, including one massive one at the top of the entrance ramp. Bo Dallas is out next. He’s been NXT champ for 260 days! HBK shakes both mens hands and exits the ring. Official ring introductions now. Up, waaaaay up, goes the title!
Dallas immediately tries to go for a ladder but Neville barrages him with some kicks. Second rope missile dropkick from Neville. Up top. But Dallas rolls out of the ring. Bo taking over back in the ring after an exchange on the ring apron. Bo delivering several elbows to the side of Neville’s face. Sort arm lariat sends Neville for the ride. Dallas locks Neville’s leg up in the ropes and heads to the outside to get a ladder. Byron Saxton is very impressed with Bo’s strategy. Neville frees himself and dropkicks the ladder into Bo’s face and then slingshots over the top rope and dives onto Bo. Dallas comes back again and this time traps Neville’s arm in the ring apron skirt. He goes for ANOTHER ladder (the first one is in the ring) and rockets it into Neville’s face.. luckily, Neville ducked. Double underhook on Neville, but Neville backdrops out of it.
Neville back in the ring and setting up a ladder. Starting the climb. DALLAS THROWS THE SECOND LADDER INTO NEVILLE! He literally launched it at him. Dallas now beating on Neville with the ladder. The fans want tables! Dallas sets up the ladder on TOP of Neville, pinning him down, and starts to climb. Neville POWERS out of it! Dallas falls off! Neville now going up, but Dallas shoves the ladder over, causing Neville to hotshot himself on the top rope! Both men going to great pains to gain control of the ladder, ending up with Neville being pinned into the corner. Dallas trying to slingshot Nevill, but Neville comes back. Headlock into a tornado DDT using the ladder as a step! Neville climbing again but Dallas brings him down. Both men crash face first into each other. Ladder falls on Neville’s head! Damn!
Dallas with a series of lariats in the corner on Neville. Bo with a bulldog but Neville tosses him off into a ladder propped up in the corner. Neville setting up a ladder again. Bo Dallas climbing the other side of the ladder. Battle on top of the ladder – both men come down. Neville over the top rope. Bo goes after him but gets kicked in the head. Neville to the top turnbuckle – Dallas SHOVES him off to the outside! Bo climbing now.. halfway up.. Neville jumps OVER Bo and lands on the rung above him! WTF! That was awesome! Neville reaching but Dallas is right there. Dallas going for a belly-to-back suplex. Neville elbows Bo down. Dallas for a powerbomb! Powerbombs Neville onto a ladder in the corner!!
Bo charges.. Neville catches! Front slam ONTO a ladder! Neville to the top! Neville STARDUST PRESS! RED ARROW!! “NXT! NXT! NXT!” Neville setting up a ladder.. climbing.. Bo is trying to get to him.. NO! NEVILLE DOES IT!! NEVILLE WINS!! NEW NXT CHAMPION!!
What a card. Amazing main attraction matches. Non-offensive filler matches. The pacing for this entire event was perfect, and lots of heads were turned, in my opinion. Will definitely be watching NXT next week to see how they follow up on the program.
