Peter Kostka
Taped at Full Sail University. Rich Brennan, Jason Albert and Alex Riley are your commentators.
It’s Championship Week on NXT! We recap how both title matches came to be as we start.
Bayley! vs. Charlotte (C) (NXT Women’s Title match)
I already want Riley to shut the fuck up. Bayley tries a series of rollups for a quick win but Charlotte powers out and a series of armdrags sends Charlotte outside to regroup. Bayley keeps her grounded and goes for pins which is a different strategy than her last match. She tries a backslide but the stronger Charlotte powers out and goes to work on her knee, bending it in some nasty angles. She mocks the “let’s go Bayley” chants as we go to break.
The legwork continues as we return but Bayley surprises her with a rollup and begins to fight back but Charlotte avoids a charge and clips the knee and then rams the knee into the post. Man, this is some ruthless stuff from Charlotte. Figure-four is locked in and she adds leverage by bridging off the mat like Bray Wyatt’s spiderwalk. Good god. Bayley manages to reverse the pressure to break and avoids a kneedrop as she is basically in survival mode right now. She hits a flying back elbow for 2 and goes for a slam, but Charlotte turns it into a neckbreaker and hits a sloppy Natural Selection for the pin. Charlotte gives her the Hug of Respect afterwards.
Thoughts: Yeah they are still kind of sloppy in the ring, but damn can these two tell a story. That was some Anderson-like ruthlessness by Charlotte and Bayley continues to be a tremendous seller who you can’t help but root for.
Hideo Itami vs. Viktor is basically an excuse for he and Konnor to beat the shit out of Itami after last week. Albert points out that Itami has no friends in the locker room. Yet. I may have read the spoilers for next month.
We cut to footage of Enzo Amore giving Carmella a lesson in the ring. He teaches her a basic lockup and she proclaims his arm as “SAWFT”. Don’t take that shit, Enzo! Enzo gets frisky so Carmella dropkicks him out of the ring.
Enzo: “Did that just happen?”
Cass: *Turns camera to himself* “Yes, that just did.”
Enzo: “Don’t post that.”
NEVER BREAK THESE TWO UP. I WILL CRY.
Baron Corbin vs. Troy McClain
Baron kills the guy that was released before this aired. Still looks impressive, but let’s hope we don’t get 6 months of this like the Ascension.
Dirtbag Tyson Kidd always wanted just one more opportunity for the title. He walks off disgusted when it is insinuated that he got this shot because of his wife.
The Legionnaires challenge Enzo and Cass to a match next week.
The Vaudevillians vs. Tye Dillinger and Jason Jordan
The Vaudevillians have new music and I don’t like it a bit. English puts the brakes on a whip to the corner and offers a gentlemanly bow, but Dillinger flexes in anger. That made me laugh more than I care to admit. Vaudevillians double team and the crowd is 100% behind them. The teams trade momentum and Tye takes control on English to “You’re not manly!” chants. Gotch gets the hot tag and gets the AIRPLANE SPIN OF DISCOMBOBULATION into a senton roll and That’s a Wrap finishes. Man that music sucks.
Titus O’Neil takes a seat in the front row for the main event.
Itami is icing his shoulder in the back when Funaki appears. He says he has Hideo’s back against the Ascension. TAG MATCH!
Bayley vows to keep fighting for the girls who believe in her. She is jumped by Sasha Banks who says she will take care of Charlotte. I would believe these women hate each other more if they had a reality show.
Dirtbag Tyson Kidd vs Adrian Neville (C) (NXT Championship match)
Back and forth for the first few minutes and Kidd lays in some hard chops which Neville answers. Kidd tries to sucker him outside but Adrian is smart to it and kicks him right in the face as we go to break.
Kidd takes control as we return and locks in an armbar. Neville powers out with a powerbomb and kicks away, but Kidd answers with a spinkick for 2. He hits a corner kick and follows with a flipping slam from a stunner position for another 2. Kidd goes up but Neville catches him with a kick. They fight on top and Kidd tries a sunset powerbomb, but Neville does a goddamn backflip, lands on his feet, dropkicks Kidd and hits a SICK sitout powerbomb for 2. This fucking guy, man. He goes for the Red Arrow but Kidd avoids him and then catches a springboarding Neville by the feet to lock in the Sharpshooter. This match picked up nicely. Neville reaches the ropes quickly and then catches a charging Kidd with a kick. He ends up outside in front of O’Neil who devides to get involved and Sami Zayn runs down to take care of Titus. Neville beats the count, slams Kidd off the top and finishes with the Red Arrow to retain. Neville doesn’t seem too pleased that Zayn is out there. They should fight a three hour Iron Man match right now to settle it.
Please?
Thoughts: Some cool spots but the match never really got going for me. Seemed more to further the Zayn/Neville slow burn and whatever Titus is doing than actually focusing on Kidd’s “last shot”.
FINAL THOUGHTS: We are on a roll right now as NXT seems to have a great focus on certain characters and storylines instead of just throwing stuff out there. Everything on the show seems to have some sort of point to it and it makes for a great viewing experience for the fans. Definitely the best wrestling show on TV right now.
Now nobody tell Vince it exists.
