Peter Kostka
Recapping a show like this is kind of tough when some weeks there honestly isn’t that much to talk about. Like last week, where we got some squashes and a boring main event in front of a tired crowd. So let’s change the formula a bit. Instead of trying to recap what happened on the show with my opinions sprinkled in, now I’m going to just break the episode down into things I thought Worked for me and things that Didn’t Work, followed by final thoughts. I want to write this piece to give my opinions on things, not just give results. You can go to a lot of places for that.
So, let’s see how this goes.
- What Worked For Me
– Sami Zayn on a Mission: It’s nice that they finally acknowledged Sami Zayn’s constant losing and turned it into a motivational tool for him to go for the title, which the crowd absolutely wants him to do. The addition of Dirtbag Tyson Kidd coming out and being his usual dick self (including wearing a Zayn shirt) led to a good exchange between two guys that are decent on the mic and set up the main event nicely. Kidd’s line about not having to call Natalya to OK anything, but he’s gonna make a phone call to “make sure the cats are OK” was hilarious.
– No Mo Mojo: Mojo Rawley needs time away to retool his character. Using Tyler Breeze injuring his shoulder was a perfectly fine way to write him off for a while and give him a ready made angle when he comes back.
– Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte: It really is amazing that Charlotte has gotten so comfortable in the ring barely two years in the business and Becky Lynch is a spitfire out there. They meshed together very well which led to an entertaining match. The commentary seemed to be foreshadowing a Charlotte face turn (though the hug with Bayley may have done that already) and it is interesting how, like her father, she can easily slide into a face/heel role without altering her character all that much. The brief promo between Lynch and Sasha Banks in the locker room afterwards was also a good setup to either a Becky heel turn or a feud with Banks. I’d be fine with either.
– #Howyoudoin?: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady are THE most entertaining duo in all of WWE. Full stop. They both ooze so much charisma that it really doesn’t matter to me that they seem to have really short matches as long as they cut a fantastic promo beforehand. This week we also got the debut of Carmella, adding another great character to this team.
– Itami/Ascension feud: No major developments this week, but it’s being kept fresh in fans minds as a major angle in NXT. Nice that they’ve given the Ascension something meaningful to do after losing the tag titles while allowing the rest of the division time to shine.
– Main event: These guys really can’t have a bad match. The fresh crowd helped (this was the first episode of a new taping), but Kidd at the very least is a lot more flashy and interesting as he worked on Zayn than O’Neil’s boring slams and bearhugs last week. The right finish here as well as Zayn gets the definitive, decisive victory. The crowd is already behind him so all he needs is some victories to keep the snowball rolling.
- What Didn’t Work For Me
– Baron Corbin Squash….Again: Hey, he’s a cool character and all, but I’ve already seen six months of this kind of thing from the Ascension. At least put him in a feud soon.
– Lucha Dragons: They really don’t do all that much for me. Kalisto is really great, but it kind of feels like he’s stuck with Sin Cara in this team. Buddy Murphy turning a DDT into a suplex was a cool power spot, however.
- FINAL THOUGHTS
A good rebound after last week’s snooze as they are building towards their December special quite nicely with plenty of stories coming to a head. Still the best wrestling show on TV right now.
