Peter Kostka
Tracking the Callups:
Neville: Another really good TV match for Neville against a top guy (at least to the fans). Obviously it would be nice to see him get some wins, but he has looked strong in all three of his RAW matches so far and is eventually going to get a good fan following as long as they keep this up. Neville matches are like the one thing I look forward to on Monday nights now.
The Lucha Dragons & The Ascension: They had a fun match that showed that, when they aren’t made to look like complete fools, the Ascension are not that bad. The Dragons and K-Swiss would be a damn fine match for Extreme Rules.
From The NXT Arena at Full Sail University. Your commentators are Rich Brennan and Corey Graves.
CJ Parker vs. Solomon Crowe
Parker seems to have dropped the “environmentalist” part of his gimmick and shows more aggression in this match. It’s kind of too bad he left because he is actually a lot better without a really basic and constricting gimmick holding him back. This is also a much better showing from Crowe than his first match a few months ago as they have a nice back and forth opening match. Crowe blocks a senton with his feet and hits a flying splash to the knee before getting the submission with a stretch muffler which is about 10000x better than whatever the hell he did to finish Bull Dempsey.
Tonight: Dana Brooke finally debuts!
Baron Corbin is back to his squashing ways as he dispatches Steve Cutler in 25-ish seconds.
Backstage, Sami Zayn isn’t surprised that he still has a target on his back but promises to punish Rhyno for trying to cut in line for the NXT championship.
Enzo Amore and BIG CASS (w/Carmella) vs. Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton
Among the many self-appointed nicknames for Enzo this week:
– Smacktalker Skywalker
– The Michael Jordan of Jargon
– “Last name ‘Damn’, first name ‘DON’TGIVEA’!”
Of course Enzo starts the match, chest puffed out, but is immediately dominated and has to tag in Big Bro Cass to do the work. That’s what I love about these guys; they are a heel team through and through, but they manage to be SO damn entertaining and engaging that the crowd absolutely eat it up. It helps that Enzo is a fantastic seller. Enzo goes up top with all the grace that I probably would and gets crotched and here come the Dubstep Cowboys with flowers for Carmella, an apology for knocking her off the apron at the Columbus show. She seems to be impressed and can’t stop smelling them (the flowers I mean). I just noticed she’s wearing the bracelet they gave her too. Enzo continues to get his ass kicked until he makes the hot tag to Cass who runs wild and tags in Enzo for the Rocket Launcher for the pin. Carmella can’t stop smelling those damn flowers! This also gives us the best commentary line of the night:
Rich: “Is this some kind of love triangle?”
Corey: “There are five people. Clearly it’s a love pentagram.”
Can these guys just do an alternate commentary for RAW on the app or something?
Alex Riley challenges Kevin Owens to meet him in the ring next week. Oh Alex…honey…no. Remember the gif! If you haven’t already, PLEASE follow Owens on Twitter and revel in him completely shutting down Riley’s angsty Tweets towards him. It’s glorious.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL’ BLUE PANTS vs. Dana Brooke
Well, we can now add a few more things to Dana Brooke’s description. She’s blonde, has muscles, cuts wooden “arrogant” promos, can’t stop doing the same soap commercial arm rubbing pose (or rubbing herself in general), has crappy Paramore knockoff theme music and sucks in the ring. Ok, maybe that is kind of unfair given that this IS developmental, but I guess I’m spoiled with the rest of the women in this division. She does accidentally kick Blue in the vagina at one point, so there’s that. Blue sells for her the best she can and Brooke wins with a fireman’s carry slam.
NEXT WEEK: It’s a triple threT #1 contender’s match between Charlotte, Bayley and Becky Lynch. Yay!
Sami Zayn vs. Rhyno
Smart booking here by putting Zayn up against an opponent that is similar to Owens. Rhyno powers him around and Zayn sells apprehension but he comes back in and sends Rhyno to the outside with a headscissors. Zayn tries to build momentum, but Rhyno bulldozes him down as we take a break.
Rhyno stays in control as we return, but Zayn is scrappy and keeps fighting back, eating a spinebuster for his trouble. The way the commentators are putting over Rhyno as a killer and wondering what a Rhyno/Owens match would be like is awesome. So much better than JBL yelling things LOUDLY TO MAKE HIS POINT, MAGGLE and Cole laughing at him. Rhyno punks him out and Zayn makes the FIRED UP COMEBACK and hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. He goes for a crossbody, but Rhyno catches him and hits a TKO for a close 2. Sami slaps him, so Rhyno pounds on him in the corner and goes up, but Zayn blasts him with an elbow to the outside and follows up with a dive. Back in, Rhyno surprises him with a suplex throw and goes for the GORE, but Sami moves and charges in with the Heluva Kick for the pin. Surprisingly great TV match that put Rhyno over and showed that Zayn can beat someone like Kevin Owens. Can’t ask for more than that.
OVERALL: The road continues to the next live special as the big angles continue to take shape. A pretty short episode at only 47 minutes, but there’s a lot to like here.
Until next week.
