The Glimpse:
Bo Dallas’ Invitational has backfired on him and he’s suffered a loss to the “unworthy” Sami Zayn – Now the Canadian gets his NXT Championship shot.
The Action:
Match 1: The Ascension (c) vs Adrian Neville & Corey Graves
Winners: The Ascension via pinfall
Graves starts with Victor and out boxes him. Graves lights Victor up in the corner and delivers a bevy of forearms. Victor reverses a whip but runs into an elbow and Graves locks in a headscissors over the top rope. Neville tags in and hits a springboard dropkick followed by a forearm in the corner. Neville with a scoop slam and he heads to the top – O’Brian runs interference and distraction, then dumps Neville to the floor. O’Brian tags in and chases Neville on the floor as NXT goes to commercial.
Back to action, Neville is fighting back but O’Brian catches him and throws him across the ring for an awkward landing. Neville tries to roll past O’Brian and manages the tag to Graves who unloads on O’Brian. Graves snaps off an STO and a fist drop. Graves hits a chop block and puts O’Brian in Lucky 13, but Victor makes a quick save. Graves crawls to Neville for a tag on the apron, although Neville isn’t even on his feet from the earlier throw. Neville still puts up a fight but O’Brian hits the bum leg with a low drop kick (that looked terrible for Neville – his leg didn’t give at all). O’Brian throws Neville to the ring post and tags in Victor for a two count. Neville hits a kick from the mat and crawls for Graves; Victor hits a knee to Neville’s back and it jettisons him into Graves who is knocked to the floor. Ascension hits their version of Total Elimination on the hurt Neville for the win. O’Brian can be heard talking to Neville, likely asking him if his leg is hurt after the throw and nasty dropkick.
Graves rolls in and berates Neville for ruining their shot, then stands him up. Graves hits the ropes and chop blocks Neville then mounts him and rains fists onto his head.
Match 2: Tyler Breeze vs CJ Parker
Winner: Tyler Breeze via pinfall
Fun gimmick vs the gimmick nobody buys or cares about. Parker opens with an explosive chop and the airplane spin. Parker shoves Breeze to the floor and then tricks Breeze into dropping an elbow back in the mat. Parker with a sunset flip and an arm wrench. Breeze protects his face and then shoves Parker, who drops him in the corner and slams him. Parker tries a dropkick but Breeze grabs the ropes and Parker suffers gravity’s wrath. Breeze snaps a selfie and then wallops Parker with forearms on the mat. Parker teases his palm strike and Breeze bails to save his face, so Parker grabs La Majistral for two. Parker with a clothesline and Breeze begs off and tries to crawl to the floor. The ref fixes the apron, which lets Breeze hit a thumb to the eye and his spinning heel kick to win it.
Parker hits his palm strike after the match and steals Breeze’s phone. The feud continues.
Match 3: Paige (NXT Women’s Champion) & Emma vs Summer Rae & Sasha Banks
Winners: Summer Rae & Sasha Banks via pinfall
Paige and Emma argue over who should start the match. Paige finally confirms Emma to take to the apron and she pounces on Sasha. Paige throws her to the top rope and she tags Summer, who suffers the same fate. Emma tags in and Summer Rae runs for her life to tag in Sasha. Emma meets her with a drop toe hold and sends her to the top turnbuckle head first. Sasha reverses a whip but runs into the corner then gets rolled up for two, then an Oklahoma Roll for two. Sasha with a kick to the gut, but she runs into one from Emma when she grabs the ropes. Summer runs interference and drops Emma by her hair from the apron. Sasha keeps the pressure on and tags in Summer to choke Emma in the ropes. Summer throws Emma face first to the mat then hits a facebuster and a kick to the ribs. Summer stretches Emma’s arms on the mat (her shoulders are down, but Mike Chioda doesn’t seem to care). Emma rolls back to escape for an odd two count. Summer takes Emma back to the mat and she tries to crawl to Paige, which she manages with a slow roll. Paige tosses Sasha off the apron and takes Summer to the apron for knee strikes.
Sasha interferes from the floor but Paige still manages a dropkick on Summer then a fisherman’s suplex for two. Sasha makes the save and then tosses Emma to the floor. Paige drops Sasha out after her and Summer surprises her with her leg drop reverse DDT for the win.
Match 4: Sami Zayn vs Bo Dallas (c), NXT Championship
Winner: Sami Zayn vis pinfall Bo Dallas via pinfall
The crowd is, of course, fully behind Sami Zayn. Early feeling out process with arm wrenches traded. “Bo has cooties” chant from the crowd. Zayn outwrestles Bo again with a snapmare and a crucifix, then another roll up and a third. Bo takes to the corner to regroup himself. Zayn transitions from headlock to hammerlock back to a headlock. Bo reverses to a headlock of his own and lands a forearm to the head. Bo drops knees on the head of the challenger and gets a one count. Back to the knees and another one count. Bo has a look of early desperation as he locks in a cravat. Zayn fights to his feet but Bo cranks his neck and grounds him again. Zayn punches out but gets whipped to the corner. Zayn kicks out at one and explodes out of the corner with a pair of clotheslines and a back body drop. Zayn wants a Yakuza Kick and tags Bo with it for a three count, but Bo’s foot is blatantly on the rope. JBL immediately walks out, since he was apparently sitting right at the curtain to watch this. JBL demands the match be restarted.
Bo blindsides Zayn with a forearm and he tumbles to the floor. After a commercial, Zayn has Bo on the floor and hits a picture-perfect tope con hilo on the Champ. Zayn throws Bo back in the ring and heads to the top rope for a high cross body and a very near fall. Zayn wants another Yakuza Kick but Bo catches his boot this time – It’s to no avail as Zayn hits Blue Thunder for a two. Bo delivers a gut shot and a boot to the head, followed by a rope running bulldog for just shy of three. Dallas follows with a reverse DDT and still only gets two. Bo whiffs his belly to belly and Zayn hits a spear out of nowhere for yet another near fall. Zayn grabs a knuckle lock and wants his springboard DDT, but Dallas breaks the knuckle lock which drops Zayn on the top rope. Dallas is in position for a spear and nails it, but Zayn still fights out. Bo hits a big forearm in the corner then seats Zayn on the top rope. Bo meets him up top and readies for a superplex, but Zayn resists. Zayn hammers on Bo’s back and hits a sunset flip powerbomb, but Bo kicks out at two. Zayn with a German suplex and he keeps the waist lock. Bo wants the top rope to escape, but Zayn hits a second German. Bo grabs the rope this time and runs Zayn into an exposed turnbuckle, then rolls him up to win.
The Reaction:
And there’s the breakup. Saw it coming eventually and it was safe to assume that Graves would turn heel. Only problem is even with him mounting and punching a guy, I still don’t buy Graves as a tough guy. Knocking O’Brian down with right fists was hard to swallow too. Graves has his fans, but I’m just not buying him at all. Neville is better suited on his own as a high flying star in the long run. Match was pretty average, aside from that low dropkick from O’Brian that looked like it hurt like hell. Need to confirm if Graves is actually hurt or if that just came across as a nasty visual. Doesn’t take much to pop a knee with a strike like that.
Breeze is the heel that will get his comeuppance when he’s in a no DQ match or some other situation where he can’t shenanigan his way out of it. Still don’t buy the spinning heel kick as a finisher. It’s ok for a surprise win like this, but he still needs a more proper finish.
Aside from some really oddly timed movement, an ok match. Summer and Sasha are still a bit awkward in the ring, but this is the place to work those kinks out. Paige is ready for the main roster and Emma could absolutely hold her own up there. This is another feud that will continue only because there’s not really any other competition for the women, aside from Bayley.
This match and this crowd reaction is proof that ROH isn’t that far off on the whole “many nearfalls” concept. Dallas picks up a dirty win after a great match. Apparently JBL isn’t too upset about this bullcrap finish, since the heel won. Zayn showed why he’s an international star in this match and Bo seems like he can hang with a more talented and experienced wrestler. That’s a good sign for him too. This is a rivalry that will continue out of necessity – The squeaky clean baby face can’t possibly go down like this.
The Preview:
Someone will wrestle someone…they just didn’t tell us who!
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!
