JT on NXT March 4, 2015 – Tyler Breeze, Solomon Crowe, Sasha Banks

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It’s NXT time and we start out with a recap of Kevin Owens impactful entrance to the WWE universe, including his recent casual beatdown of commentator Alex Riley.

We cut to Riley with William Regal, demanding a match with Kevin Owens. Regal tells him he has to make the choice of being a commentator or an in-ring competitor, and Riley wanders off to consider his decision.

Match 1: Adam Rose vs Tyler Breeze

After a pretty disastrous run on the main roster, Adam Rose is back in NXT, and he’s facing Prince Pretty Tyler Breeze. The match starts off with the competitors sitting on the ropes in opposite corners, pouting at each other. This is compelling stuff, folks. Breeze eventually puts down the selfie stick and they circle each other, with Rose chasing Breeze around the ring before pausing to pose for the crowd.

Lockup and Breeze takes Rose down with an armdrag, followed by more stalling. Rose does a series of forward rolls around the ring, then poses for the crowd once again. Seriously, get the f**k on with it, so we can move on to a match that actually matters. Breeze runs at Rose but the party boy catches him an hits a delayed atomic drop, then slams his head into the turnbuckle.

Rose goes to the second rope but gets hit with a nut shot on the way down, and these guys really seem to like each others testicles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Chop from Rose, followed by one from Breeze. Rose does his sit in the ropes spot, finally connecting with a kick to the chest and following up with a trio of shoulder blocks.

Scoop slam from Rose followed by a slice in the corner, but Breeze hits the beauty shot out of nowhere for the pin. As he leaves Breeze fends off the Rosebuds with the selfie stick, which I have to admit is vaguely amusing.

Pointless match that did little to put over either competitor.

Interview with Enzo and Cass, putting down the tag champs Blake and Murphy. Credit to Amore for looking more ridiculous than last week.

Match 2: Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy vs A Couple of Jobbers

Murphy starts out with Jobber #1, who has a mohawk and a Rick Steiner style headgear. Jobber takes Murphy down with a couple of amateur style slams, and the commentary team mention that his name is Sawyer. Armbar to Murphy, who elbows out and tags in Blake.

Double leapfrog from the champs followed by a double back elbow, followed by a headlock from Blake. Sawyer reverses and hits an uppercut and tags in Jobber #2, who you probably don’t remember as Angelo Dawkins. Blake tags in Murphy, who is immediately hit by a Clothesline and punches from Dawkins, but Murphy hits a jumping back kick and kips up.

Murphy drags Dawkins to the corner and tags Blake, who goes to the far turnbuckle as Murphy hits a big suplex. Frog splash from Blake half way across the ring for the pin and the three count.

Short but good match for the champs, can’t see Sawyer and Dawkins going very far.

Backstage segment with the divas, followed by a Rhyno return package. Lots of shots of him hitting the gore on Kurt Angle, which must amuse Vince.

Match 3: Baron Corbin vs yet another Jobber, because it’s 1992 all over again

Really? A Baron Corbin match? What have we done to deserve this?

Corbin has ‘intangibles’ according to the commentary team, which in my opinion is not a good substitute for charisma or wrestling skill. The jobber has Briggs written on the back of his tights, which is handy.

Lockup and Corbin shoves Briggs back into the ropes, and the ref spends the next minute trying to hold the two men apart for some reason. Cut to the commentary desk and Kevin Owens is standing behind Alex Riley, telling him to pay attention. To be fair this is far more entertaining than anything going on in the ring.

Another lockup and Corbin shoves Briggs back again, then hits a big right hand knocking him to the canvas. Corbin picks him up, hits the end of days and pins him for the three count.

Complete waste of time.

Owens continues to stare at Riley with his arms folded, then steals his water and pours it over his head. Classic heel move. Riley gets to his feet but Albert holds him back as Owens looks at him with contempt and walks slowly to the back.

On the street in Montreal promo from Sami Zayn talking about how NXT has changed while he has been away, and how he’s not mentally prepared to come back just yet.

Back from the break and Regal is in his office questioning some dirty hippie about why he still has a job. Alex Riley storms in and quits as a commentator, demanding to face Kevin Owens in the ring. Yeah, that’ll end well.

Match 4: Solomon Crowe vs Bull Dempsey

Poor Sami Callihan. His first match in NXT and he has to carry the wrestling equivalent of Mr Potato Head.

Dempsey starts out with kicks and punches, using his superior fatness to overpower his opponent. Crowe fights back, hitting a couple of elbows to the face followed by a headbutt. Dempsey fires back with a headbutt of his own, then mounts Crowe and lays in some punches.

Bull lifts Solomon up by his hair bur Crowe punches him square in the face, then tries a scoop slam that doesn’t really work out as the fatness once again takes effect and Dempsey falls on top of him for a two count. Crossface punches and stomps from Bull, followed by a quick pin and a chinlock.

Crowe fights back to his feet and hits a successful scoop slam, going for a running charge but getting hit with Bull’s big hug. Dempsey goes to the top for the flying headbutt but Crowe rolls out of the way, then hits a running knee in the corner.

Running elbow from Crowe takes Bull down, allowing Crowe to hit the rope rebound headbutt to Bull’s massive gut for the pin and the three count. Not a bad debut for Crowe considering his opponent.

Match 5: Charlotte vs Sasha Banks

Banks dodges Charlotte to start and talks some trash, which seems appropriate. Attempted kick from Banks is blockes and Charlotte responds with an elbow to the face, then a couple of stiff chops. Irish whip into the ropes and Sasha bails to the outside, grabs the belt and starts to head to the back.

Unfortunately, she walks very slowly and Charlotte grabs her by the hair, picks her up and runs her back into the ring apron. After throwing her back into the ring Charlotte rams Sasha’s head into the turnbuckle and rolls through the ropes into a pin attempt, but Banks kicks out at two.

Knees to the face from Charlotte as she continues to completely dominate the match, then locks in the figure four leglock. Sasha screams in pain and tries to make her way to the ropes, eventually getting there and forcing Charlotte to break the hold. Back to the outside for Banks as we go to the final ad break for the program.

Back from the break and Banks has a crossface locked in on Charlotte, but Flair uses her superior strength and lifts Sasha up onto her shoulders. Elbows from Banks don’t stop Charlotte from hitting a package stunner. Charlotte heads to the top rope and tries for a moonsault, but lands on her feet as Sasha rolls out of the way. Flipping senton onto Banks but the Boss gets her knees up, then lays in some stomps.

Banks continues to work Charlottes injured back, then slams her head into the turnbuckle and gives her a nasty second rope face wash with her boot. Banks ties up Charlotte in the corner and hits the double knees to the back, then wraps her around the turnbuckle from the outside, only breaking the count at four.

Cover and a two count from Banks, who then locks in a cravat and hits a lungblower, holding on to the cravat for a submission. The hold stays locked in for a long time as Banks talks more trash and woos in Charlotte’s face to taunt her, which fires Charlotte up and allows her to fight back to her feet. Dropkick from Sasha and a two count, followed by another lungblower into the Bank statement. Charlotte eventually reaches the ropes to break the hold, and Banks hits a nasty bump to the outside off a missed charge.

Back in the ring the divas exchange elbows, before Charlotte hits a spinning neckbreaker followed by a spear. Pin gets a two count, followed by a couple of reversals including an ugly looking front sunset flip which slammed Charlotte face first into the mat.

Chop block from Charlotte who follows up by a ring post assisted figure four, then a climb to the top. Sasha pulls her down and pins, getting her feet on the ropes for a leverage pin and the three count.

Sasha Banks retains the championship in an impressive competition, although I can’t help thinking that she is going to injure herself or someone else through her sloppy moves before too long.

Overall an average show, suffering from the lack of top tier talent like Itami, Balor, Owens and Zayn.

JT is a hot air balloonist, writer and tattoo aficionado. He writes about movies, science, music, video games, action figures and professional wrestling.