The Glimpse:
Adrian Neville takes on Bo Dallas as his new tag team partner to defend the tag titles against The Wyatt Family. Will Bo’s brigade be able to wrest the tag titles from the high flyer?
The Action:
Match 1: Damien Sandow vs Baron Corbin
Winner: Damien Sandow via pinfall
Sandow with a hammerlock and a shove, accompanied by a grin. Now a headlock and a snapmare. Sandow parts the ropes and invites Corbin to just walk away. Headlock takeover by Sandow and an escape from Corbin, who answers with one of his own. Sandow is back to his feet and pressures Corbin into the corner with strikes. Another snapmare and a kneedrop this time. Sandow rakes his with his laces and then boots him on the mat. Corbin tries to fight back from the mat but gets stomped down. Snadow keeps pressure in the corner and follows with a headbutt. Corbin explodes with a snapmare and a shoulder block, but Sandow immediately answers back with knees and the Russian leg sweep, followed by the Elbow of Disdain. Sandow hits his version of the Side Effect, calling it The Silencer and wins it.
Sandow challenges Big E Langston for the NXT Championship. Guess we’ll see how that pans out.
Match 2: Paige vs Bayley
Winner: Paige via pinfall
Paige gets the crowd clapping and ties up with Bayley, who backs the anti-diva into the corner then shoves her. Bayley begs off as Paige aggressively approaches, then they exchange arm wrenches. Paige flips out and hits a headbutt. Paige runs Bayley into the top rope neck first repeatedly, which has become a signature of hers as of late. Bayley kicks out at two. Front headlock takeover for Paige, then a wristlock takeover, both for one counts. Paige ends up on the apron and Bayley hits her hard, then rolls her in for a two. Bayley bounces Paige off the top turnbuckle twice and stands on her throat. Bayley tries the old “pull the legs out of the corner for a slam” bit and Paige gets about three inches off the mat. Arm bar on the mat that Paige fights up and out of, only to be tossed to the mat. Bayley on the middle rope with a big back elbow for two.
Bayley continues the attack with a suplex and another two count. Running knee drop now and yet another near fall. Bayley tries her suplex again, but Paige fights out and hits a release fisherman’s suplex. Paige ducks a clothesline and drops Bayley by her hair. Bayley is tossed to the mat and Paige strings her up on the middle rope and delivers knees to the midsection. Paige stomps a mudhole in the corner then hits a mule kick to the gut, followed by the Paigeturner.
After the bell rings, Summer Rae attacks Paige from behind with a forearm, then leaves. It’s like a scene from one of the WWE games.
Big E is in the back being interviewed and mentions his Yo-Yo collection. Sandow shows up and insults E. E quizzes Damien on basic math and tricks him into saying “Five”. A mix of the intense “five count” E and his naturally fun, goofy side is something I hope we see a LOT more of.
Match 3: Sakamoto vs Briley Pearce
Winner: Connor O’Brian…
Quick exchange with Pearce getting the better of his opponent and doing a headstand, borrowing from his WWE-roster brother. They actually point out that he is the brother of Ziggler, which always raises continuity silliness – why would his name be different??
Connor O’Brian storms the ring and hands out lariats and shoulders. Both men are whipped to the corner for an avalanche. Now a flapjack for Pearce. Sakamoto gets on the top and gets one of his own.
After a commercial, Pearce and Sakamoto challenge O’Brian to a handicap match. Yeah, real tough guys. Briley might need to talk to big brother about delivery on the mic…
Match 4: Kassius Ohno vs Camacho
Winner: Kassius Ohno via submission
Camacho is still around? I guess Hunico is still stuck south of the border. Ohno quickly transitions into his signature cravat, which Camacho powers out of. Then he just stands there. Ohno with a headlock, but gets shouldered to the mat. Camacho off the ropes eats a dropkick, then knees to the chest. Kassius hits a reverse chinbreaker (medulla buster? I dunno) and punches in the corner. Camacho gets his boots up as Ohno approaches, then hits a clothesline to the back of the head. Camacho stomps away and hits another scoop slam. High jumping leg drop for one count. Camacho roughs up Ohno then tries a belly to back which Ohno escapes. Camacho wants a fireman’s carry, but Ohno elbows out, then runs into a back body drop for two. Forearms to the face from Camacho and another two count. Camacho with a chinlock. Ohno gets to his feet and ends up back on the mat for another near fall. Camacho gets his belly to back and Ohno kicks out yet again. Camacho with a nerve hold which Ohno battles out of, then hits a running kick and a series of strikes. Running forearm in the corner from Ohno then a discus boot and the Kassius Clutch for the win.
Ohno grabs a mic and apologizes to William Regal as The Wyatt Family enters. Ohno turns to face Bray Wyatt. The Family attacks him from behind and Wyatt pulls them off, only to deliver Sister Abigail and laugh maniacally. Wyatt vs Ohno? Yes please.
Match 5: Wyatt Family vs Adrian Neville (c) and Bo Dallas, NXT Tag Team Championship
Winners: New NXT Tag Team Champions, Wyatt Family
I’ll throw this out there. I’m annoyed the actual Tag champ is overshadowed by Dallas’ entrance and that Dallas wears the Tag title to the ring. He’s not the champ, he’s a substitute. After a successful defense, you could make a case for him wearing the title.
Bo starts out against the much larger Rowan, then quickly tags in to Neville, followed by another quick tag. Neville tags Rowan and steps in – close enough. Neville goes to work on the leg with kicks and hits a crossbody for one. Bo is back in, but Rowan starts to power out. Bo hits a surprise dropkick and only gets a one count. Neville is back in again and a double back elbow drops Rowan for two. Huge forearm drops Neville to his knees and Harper tags in. Belly to back that Neville flips out of and hits a boot, then a second rope hurricanrana and a running elbow in the corner. Low dropkick to the face and a standing shooting star for two. Off to commercial.
Back in, Dallas makes a hot tag to Neville against Harper. Neville with offense on both big men and a twisting dive to the floor on Rowan. Kick to the head of Harper and the corkscrew Shooting Star, broken up by Rowan. Rowan gets the tag and lands a huge scoop slam, then another. Make it a trio and Neville kicks out. Rowan deadlifts Neville into a double choke which he turns into a small package for two. Neville wants the tag but gets cut off. Rowan lays Neville on the top rope like a table and the Family blasts away at his midsection. Harper covers him for two. Headbutt and elbow drop combination for two again. Long chinlock and Neville finally fights up, then counters a suplex into a roll up. Harper lays him out with a right fist, but misses a boot in the corner, tumbling to the floor. Rowan and Bo are tagged in. Bo lands forearms to everyone, then the gut shot, but gets cut off before he can capitalize. Rowan wants a powerslam, but Bo counters into a reverse DDT. Bo punches him in the corner then counters a lift attempt, wanting his powerslam finisher, but whiffs. Rowan with a pumphandle powerslam but Bo kicks out at two. Rowan wants another, but Bo escapes and hits the Spear for a two of his own. Bo takes out Harper, but gets thrown into Neville on the apron. Rowan hits a boot and tags Harper in, who screams and lands a discus clothesline for the win.
The Reaction:
Simple, straightforward. Nothing wrong with introducing a body via a hearty squash match. Sandow introduces a new secondary finish, The Silencer. Kind of out of nowhere, as his neckbreaker was fine, but variety is a very good thing, especially in modern WWE.
Nice to see another Diva hold her own against Paige offensively. More back and forth action is needed in this division. Paige continues to be the brightest star in the Divas division, at least in the ring. Summer’s attack from behind is weak, but that’s not her fault, it’s just what was scripted. Why come down, hit one forearm and walk away?
A minute of action and then O’Brian takes everyone out. Standard fare for any match with two guys like Sakamoto and Pearce.
NXT is a confusing place sometimes. No reason that should have gone anywhere near that long. Camacho is not here to be built and he beat the hell out of Ohno for half of that match. Ohno should be beating a guy like Camacho in a few minutes flat, with minimal problem. Good action – definitely not a problem there. Just questionable choices.
Well that was a quick title change. The Wyatt Family is the most cohesive unit on NXT, so nothing wrong with them touting the gold around. This sets up a potential rivalry with Neville and Dallas or even the returning Grey. Strong match back and forth for all involved. Of note, the NXT crowd still hates them some Bo Dallas. It seems like the crowds for these shows are comprised of a lot of those “internet fans” that Vince and co seem to dislike so much. When your star babyface is getting booed just for stepping in the ring, maybe it’s time to start reconsidering certain things, eh Vince? And above all else, we have the makings for Ohno vs Wyatt which can’t NOT be entertaining.
The Preview:
Big E Langston defends the NXT Championship against Damien Sandow. This makes the NXT title seem relevant, so WWE should really mention it on television. They won’t. But they should.
The Shill:
As always, if you like what you read here, let me know in the comments or on twitter @sbfantom. I sincerely would like to hear what people think and strike up some conversation!
