1. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team classic kicking off with The Ascension vs Corbin and Rhyno is not the strongest start in the world, as I have always thought 3 out of 4 of these wrestlers suck.
2. A slightly better match than I expected, with Rhyno selling like a champ before the inevitable comeback and Corbin managing not to stink up the joint too badly. The Ascension still suck though.
3. Hey, Neville’s partner is Solomon Crowe. He feels great about their chances in the tournament. I am not sure I share his confidence.
4. Alexa Bliss really is tiny. I wonder how long it will be before they put her up against Hornswaggle. Decent match against Blue Pants, although the Budget Diva seemed to be doing a lot of the work.
5. With the recent announcement of 2oolander, how long will it be before we see Tyler Breeze interacting with Derek Zoolander? Because I would quite like to see that.
6. Gargano and Ciampa are in NXT using their indie names. I did not expect that. The title of ‘hottest free agents’ suggests this could be a short term or tryout deal, but it’s cool either way.
7. Speaking of cool, it’s Apollo Crews. While his match against Mark Stone wasn’t fantastic, Crews is an impressive physical specimen with some great moves, and I look forward to seeing him develop in NXT. Can he pull off the Crews Combination on someone the size of Big Show or (please no) Bull Dempsey?
8. A team of Samoa Joe and Finn Balor? Hell yes. An Eva Marie match? Hell no. Worst sliced bread ever.
9. I’ve had a few people tell me that Chad Gable is awesome, but so far I’ve remained unconvinced. After the match against Neville and Crowe, I may be starting to change my mind. Both Gable and Jason Jordan seem to have stepped things up a notch in the ring, and their win seemed legitimate rather than a fluke. Bummer for Crowe, I guess.
10. Overall a pretty solid episode of NXT, with Apollo Crews and Chad Gable vying for the role of MVP. Who would have thought?
