The Glimpse:
Adrian Neville tries to exact revenge on Corey Graves for his recent treachery in a 2/3 falls match. But before that, NXT Divas in action and another encore-worthy performance by The Artiste.
Also, apologies for this being as late as it is. Just bought a house…ludicrous amount of stuff to do before we can actually move in and enjoy it.
The Action:
Match 1: Bayley & Charlotte vs Summer Rae & Sasha Banks
Winner: Summer Rae & Sasha Banks via pinfall
Bayley presents her opponents with their very own headbands…which they quickly dispose of.
Sasha and Charlotte tie up and Sasha gets tossed around the ring. Charlotte grabs a hammerlock on the mat then bridges over for added pressure and drops a knee on the arm on the way back down. Sasha kicks out at one and Bayley tags in but gets a knee to the gut. This lets Summer tag in but Bayley lands forearms and a corner splash. Bayley hits a fireman’s carry next and looks to Charlotte with a thumbs up, so Summer levels her with a clothesline. Banks tags in and after a commercial has a chinlock on Bayley. Summer tags back in and chokes Bayley with her leg in the ropes (although the position didn’t require the ropes at all) then she applies a Lotus Lock. Bayley tries to bridge back and Summer rolls her around for a two. Sasha back in and Bayley escapes a scoop slam with a roll up. She can’t make the tag after Sasha kicks out and ends up getting her face bashed into the mat. Another tag to Summer who chokes Bayley with her foot then back to Sasha who grabs a chinlock and body scissors. Bayley stands up and backs Sasha into the corner then hits a belly to belly and wants the tag from Charlotte…who levels her with a slap! Charlotte hits her low flipping cutter then gets back on the apron. Sasha scampers over and pins Bayley.
Summer and Sasha seem happy to have a big new friend and Bayley laments the betrayal.
Aiden English is doing vocal exercises in the back. That was the whole skit.
Match 2: Camacho vs Aiden English
Winner: Aiden English via pinfall
Camacho powers English back to the corner and he takes exception to it. They tie up again and bounce to a different corner where English takes the advantage. Camacho explodes out of the corner with a clothesline and a scoop slam for two. Camacho runs into a back elbow but throws English with a back drop. English begs off and offers a handshake, which Camacho accepts with boots to the gut. Camacho mocks English with a bow then hits a belly to back. Camacho follows with a leaping leg drop and wants a fireman’s carry, but English slips out and hits the Director’s Cut to end it quickly.
Alexander Rusev is in the back with Mystery Blonde. She gives him a pep talk in what I’ll go ahead and assume is Bulgarian or a reasonable facsimile thereof. So we establish they speak little to no English. This doesn’t really help anybody.
Match 3: Danny Burch vs Mason Ryan
Winner: Mason Ryan via pinfall
Oh Danny Burch…your fall jacket isn’t going to protect you.
Ryan forces Burch to the corner and hits a clothesline. Into the other corner but Burch answers with an elbow this time. Ryan explodes off the ropes with a shoulder. Burch fights back with strikes in a corner before the ref breaks it up. More striking back and forth which fires Mason up. He throws Burch into the ropes by his neck and punches him, then snake eyes him on the ropes followed with a boot to the face. Ryan hits his take on the One and Only for the win.
Match 4: Adrian Neville vs Corey Graves, Best 2/3 Falls
Fall 1: Adrian Neville via pinfall
Fall 2: Corey Graves via submission
Fall 3: Adrian Neville via pinfall
Graves is out in his jean vest. I thought he was a guy who wears a suit now and is straight laced and this was all an act?
Neville with a leapfrog and a back kick and wants quick fall attempts. Graves drops him with a back elbow and takes him to a corner headfirst. Graves tags Neville with a headbutt and a snap suplex for two. Scoop slam and a fist drop from Graves for another nearfall. Neville is up and over on a suplex attempt and hits forearms and another back kick, then a spin kick. Neville with an Oklahoma Roll for two. Graves reverses a whip and Neville goes up and over. Kick from the apron and Neville hits Red Arrow to take the first fall.
Graves bails to the floor so Neville hits a baseball slide. Big chop on the floor and Graves answers with right fists. Another Neville chop and a kick. Graves is rolled back in and Neville is thinking Red Arrow again but Graves rolls away. Neville gives chase to the floor but Graves scampers back in and kicks his leg out from under him. Graves beats on the knee on the floor and rolls Neville back in for two. Graves lays in with forearms and his Sting strikes. Graves keeps on the leg into commercial. Back from it, Graves is dropping forearms and gets a two. Graves wraps Neville’s leg around the ring post. Neville is limping around the ring while Graves continues to stomp away at the left leg. Graves with a half crab that he drags to the middle of the ring. Neville rolls through and twists Graves off, but he’s left in a bad way. Neville fights up from his knees and tries a sunset flip for two. Graves sweeps Neville but he kicks him off twice before Graves chop blocks him and locks on Lucky 13. Neville fights but has to tap.
Neville tries to fight out of a corner but Graves stays on him. Graves wants some…I assume it was going to be a kneebreaker of sorts, but Neville springs out and kicks Graves in the head, so he rolls outside. Neville elbows his way out of the corner when Graves returns and chops him across the ring. Right hands now followed by forearms. The ref pulls Neville off and Graves sneaks in a kick to the kneecap. Graves wants another chopblock but runs into a low dropkick for a very near fall. Neville heads toward the corner for another Red Arrow attempt and sells trying to do it with one leg. Neville falls to the mat and Graves locks on Lucky 13 again. Neville makes it to the ropes to break so Graves goes right back to Lucky 13 but Neville grabs a cradle to win it.
The Reaction:
Well that was unexpected. Thought Charlotte was going to be the happy, peppy, flippy Nature Girl. The BFF’s are now a threesome, and that doesn’t leave a whole lot of babyfaces to take them on in conjunction. The match was…a match. Everyone does the things they’re supposed to do, but a lot of it lacks that “snap” you want from a wrestling match.
Regal takes Tensai’s kerchief from his jacket pocket and blows his nose in it as he tears up for The Artiste. Regal is taking a good, fun gimmick and elevating it from the commentary booth. Michael Cole, take note – THAT’s your job. Camacho is pretty solid in the ring; surprised they haven’t done much more with him. He’s huge, he’s strong and the jump on that leg drop was high as hell. Quick finish by The Artiste out of nowhere and he actually shows some frustration by demanding the spotlight after his win. Subtle, but very good.
Yeah, he’s still Mason Ryan. This show would be just fine, take or leave this match.
I’m continually impressed by Neville’s accuracy with Red Arrow. Seeing guys miss Shooting Stars and come up short and crack dudes with knees instead of their bodies makes his ability to hit a twisting one dead on all the more astounding. This match went pretty by the books – Face wins first, heel attacks body part to win second, face rolls up to win it. Now that’s a 2/3 falls match. That should about be the end of the rivalry but we all know how WWE likes to keep these things moving. There’s definitely worse things they could be putting on display for us on NXT. And they had me going for just a second there – I actually believed Neville was going to attempt a one legged Red Arrow.
The Preview:
Bo Dallas returns.
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!
