All Things NXT:
NXT Episode 255 from 12/18/14 Edition
I going to try something different here and believe me it will be better for everyone in more ways than one. I will be switching to a more review and opinion based blog. Opposed to the mostly summary based blog with some analysis and a little bit of opinion. It was basically a school essay. Those are no fun and they take way too long. So, before we get to my review let me just say that this new style of blogging should be faster, shorter, and most importantly more fun to write and read. Now that we got that out of the way lets get in the fallout of NXT Takeover: R Evolution.
NXT started off with Adrian Neville coming out to the ring and cutting a promo saying that his friend Sami Zayn should have been in his place talking about his amazing and well deserved championship win at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution one week prior. Instead, he was recovering from the blind sided attack he suffered from a debuting Kevin Owens (thought to be his Best Friend in the world). Owens came out and listened to the former NXT champion trash talk him. Owens later said, he had no issues with him but he wanted to fight he would fight him. The two men would face off in the main event (more on that later).
I’m not a big fan of starting any show with 10-15 of talking and either recapping what happened previously or setting up the rest of the show. However, I think in this particular case that, this opening promo was okay. It served it's purpose by reestablishing Neville as a face and further established Steen… I mean Owens, as a heel. It didn’t drag on.
After a quick intermission, Devin Taylor would interview Becky Lynch about her actions last week on the R Evolution Pre Show. Where she attacked the injured knee of Bayley after she interpreted Sasha Banks’ interview with one Alex Riley. Lynch says that “Sasha Banks opened my eyes to what it takes to get to the next level of NXT. That smiling and having the fans cheer doesn’t mean anything when I’m losing week after week after week”. Lynch, in my opinion did a very good job at delivering the typical heel understudy type of promo. Giving credit to “The Boss” for showing and teaching her what she had to do to make it to the top.
I do have to point out the fact that Devin Taylor asked Becky Lynch if she had time to answer a quick question. Which Lynch responded with: I have a match to prepare for. However, Taylor when on to ask the question anyway and Lynch stopped what she was doing to answer it. I have to admit that Devin Taylor does a great job at her job and I know she was just trying to be a good journalist. That doesn’t change the fact that the whole setup made me laugh a little bit.
Next up would be the first match of the evening between Bayley and Becky Lynch. Lynch came down to the ring without Sahsa Banks much like Banks went to the ring without her at R Evolution. She also got a new version of her theme song “Celtic Invasion” to come out to the ring with as well. Bayley dominated most of this match, showing a different side to her that no one has seen before. She was running on pure anger and determination until the fiery redhead attacked her injured knee. It took Lynch longer than I thought to go after the knee, since the commentary team of Jason Albert, Rich Brenan, and Corey Graves were taking any opportunity to point it out. Jason Albert (formerly known as Tensi and Sweet T) even pointed out that he would put the knee brace on the good knee to try and trick his opponent. I know this is not practical but, after all this is a predetermined show; so yeah.
It doesn't take fighting Irish woman long to get the win after her initial attack on her wounded opponent. All and all I thought this was a solid match. There was good technical wrestling. The match kept my attention and it is nice to see the NXT writers take the time to start to really flesh out this rivalry between the fun loving Bayley and the bossy Bostonian along with her Irish counterpart.
Later, We find out that next week on the Christmas day Charlotte will defend her title against Sasha Banks in a rematch because why not. It ought to make a superior Christmas present. Speaking of championship rematches, the Vaudevillians go to William Regal’s office to get a rematch for the NXT Tag Team championships in the next segment.
The team of Simon Gotch & Aiden English show the GM video on a tablet (something 1920’s strong men should not know how to use but, again kayfabe) of the Lunca Dragons pinning the wrong man and how the referee made a mistake. They say that this is unfair and that they deserve a rematch. Regal agrees to give them a rematch sometime in the future. Not much I can say about that.
After that, came the match that the viewer was being told about the whole show. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady with Carmella vs The Ascension. I was starting to wonder where the Bona Fide G, Big Cass who is 7 foot tall, and “Hottest Chick in the Ring” were so it was nice to see them. How you doin’?! The Ascension would come out and the match would get under way. Now this match was due to the fact, that the Ascension attacked Enzo and Big Cass after their match sometime ago. I don’t remember that but, it is not going to really matter considering this match it not going very long.
After around a minute into the match, Cass and Konnor tag their partners in. Enzo who mount some offense on Victor and began to show off, trying to impress Carmella. That it did not go over very well because Victor would get up from the mat and hit the Certified Stud with a high impact move that would win the match for the Ascension. Now, I’m no dating expert but, I’m positive that you don’t show up to impress any girl or boy while you are in the ring with the longest and most dominant champions in NXT history. To top it all off, Enzo got beat with an S.T.O. of all moves. Don’t get me wrong that is a powerful move. However, the S.T.O. should not be a winning move. I’m sorry Enzo but that is just S A W F T, SAAAAWWWFFTT!
Last but, certainly not least, we have the main event. Adrian Neville vs Kevin Owens. Both men look strangely odd coming to the ring for this match. Nevile looked odd without the title he held for 300+ days. Along with wearing a pair of trunks I have not seen him wear since March. Owens, on the other hand, came to the ring with his broken nose bandaged, the hair of the back of his head (or what remained of it gone), and the Sami Zayn wristband gone from his wrist that he had on at the top of the show. When the 2 men got into the ring and the bell rang it was not long after that each wrestlers game plan was revealed. “The Man That Gravity Forgot” was going to try to win with his fast paced, high flying offense. Well, K.O. was going to be patient and keep sliding out of the ring as soon as his opponent mounted any offense on him whatsoever. He waited for Neville to make the mistake, which he did when he tried to hit Owens with a baseball slide but, Owens caught him and slammed him head first into the floor.
It is from that point on that a big, angry Koala turned into a giant, merciless monster. Every time Neville got some momentum going K.O. put a stop to it. In the past year i have not seen my guy, Adrian Neville decimated as much as he was in this match. Eventually, the master of the Red Arrow did take control of the match. It didn’t take long for Owens to once more slide to the outside. This time, he would not get a breather. “Air Neville” took flight over the top rope and landed square onto the merciless monster like he was a land strip. Then, the “landing strip” fought back. He slung his head into the steel ring post. The match would end in a double count out. After a little while Owens got up, and picked Neville up for what is quickly became his calling card. The powerbomb on to the edge of the ring apron. Leaving the former champion on the ground while the medical team attended to him and the screen faded to black.
This match was surprising entertaining. Not that I doubt these two world class athletes. I just had wasn’t sure how far these two competitors were going to go and if it was going to mesh with the style we have become accustomed to seeing at NXT. I'm sure this isn't the last time these two will face off in Full Sail University. However, I do have to point out that during NXT TakeOver: R Evolution we were told that we were promised that Renee Young was going to interview Kevin Owens on his debut the following week. Well, that obviously didn’t happen. At first, I was unhappy but, once the main event got underway I became glad that interview did not happen. It gives Kevin Owens the chance to keep a certain mystique about him. Leaving us wondering why he keeps injuring his best friends in the world. Overall, this was a surprising entertaining match as I said before. It also, was not your typical “Make the new guy look good but destroying an established star” type of match. It had a different aura about it.
This match was surprising entertaining. Not that I doubt these two world class athletes. I just had wasn’t sure how far these two competitors were going to go and if it was going to mesh with the style we have become accustomed to seeing at NXT. I'm sure this isn't the last time these two will face off in Full Sail University. However, I do have to point out that during NXT TakeOver: R Evolution we were told that we were promised that Renee Young was going to interview Kevin Owens on his debut the following week. Well, that obviously didn’t happen. At first, I was unhappy but, once the main event got underway I became glad that interview did not happen. It gives Kevin Owens the chance to keep a certain mystique about him. Leaving us wondering why he keeps injuring his best friends in the world. Overall, this was a surprising entertaining match as I said before. It also, was not your typical “Make the new guy look good but destroying an established star” type of match. It had a different aura about it.
Credit to all the people who own the photos in this blog post.
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