The Glimpse:
The Adam Rose party continues on and Bo Dallas does his best to rally to Bo-Lievers.
The Action:
Match 1: Adam Rose vs Danny Burch
Winner: Adam Rose via pinfall
There’s another anonymous puppet commentator out there. Or it’s the same guy. Who can even tell the difference? Alex Riley apparently doesn’t like the idea of parties or something. They’re desperate for him to be the “knows wrestling but is a heel” commentator and it doesn’t work because he’s without personality.
Rose eats a pair of uppercuts then pulls the “stop in the name of feet” kick in the ropes bit. Shoulder block for one, then repeat. Burch hits a chop and Rose makes a mean face and yells, then lands a circle of jabs and chops of his own. Mule kick in the corner then Rose hits his version of the Bronco Buster and a spinebuster. From the second rope, Rose hits a Hart-style driving elbow and wins it.
Jason Albert’s after match celebration proves that it is indeed just another robot commentator. What a waste of time and effort.
Match 2: Bayley vs Sasha Banks
Winner: Bayley via pinfall
Charlotte, who just doesn’t belong in this gimmick, accompanies The Boss of NXT for her rematch with It’s Bayley.
Sasha starts with a double leg and quick covers to avoid a repeat of last time. Shoulder block for another one count. Bayley tries a sunset flip but Sasha sits down for a two of her own. Bayley with a school girl for two of her own. Sasha goes absolutely ballistic on Bayley and bounces her head off the mat. Another two count and Bayley gets tossed to the corner by her hair. Sasha with repeated stomps in the corner then a strait jacket mid ring. Bayley fights back and tries the same O’Connor roll that won it for her last week but Sasha shrugs her off, only to eat a flurry off the ropes ending in a big back elbow, then one from the second rope. Bayley runs into a boot in the corner which Sasha turns into an elevated strait jacket. After she hops to the mat, Bayley slips down and under her, keeping a wrist lock and lands the Bayley to Belly to win it.
Match 3: Sylvester LeFort vs Mojo Rawley
Winner: Mojo Rawley via pinfall
Mojo’s gimmick is awful and I’ll say it every week he’s on my WWE Network. I know I’m about to see the French Stallion job to him and that makes me sad.
Mojo starts with a collar and elbow then literally rolling back and forth on his back like my kittens. Stinger Splash twice then Naomi’s Rear View. Now Hyper Drive and a waste of my time…I mean the three.
Brodus Clay meanders to the ring and proceeds to powerbomb LeFort. Brodus heads to the middle rope for a splash, amid a “Better than Batista” chant. Brodus takes offense to Neville being touted at ArRival and himself being ignored. Brodus demands Neville show his face and won’t be “held back”. Neville heads right out. He says that unlike Brodus, he won’t waste opportunities. Brodus says Neville has more bark than he should and Neville says he thought he’d be taller.
Oliver Gray is back and Camacho interrupts him. Camacho says Adam Rose is a poser. Camacho talks about sacrificing to survive while Rose parties his life away. Gray says not to look past him and offers a match as his return. Way to make both guys look like goof balls.
Khali is on my NXT. Why. Why is this happening. Bayley sneaks in for a hug. CJ Parker asks if Khali recycles and makes a human waste joke. Khali makes sounds. Bayley translates and says he’ll see him in the ring next week. What in the blue hell?
Bo Dallas Special Announcement
Bo says it’s still Bo Time and won’t step to the back of the title match line. Bo mentions the Yes Movement and Occupy Raw netting him a title shot (and insults him in the process) so he’s going to start the Bo Movement. Bo has summoned the Bo-Lievers via social media to Occupy NXT and half the crowd turns their back on him (literally). Bo reminds the crowd that he gave them cookies and was THEIR champion for 280 days. Bo pitches a fit and bails to the floor for his tantrum. Bo breaks down back in the ring and says it doesn’t make any sense. The crowd chants “no more Bo” and he responds with “No, ‘Let’s go Bo!”. “Bo-Tista” chant gets interrupted by the long-absent GM of NXT JBL. JBL mocks Bo, saying he doesn’t have enough people to occupy a see-saw (great line!). JBL offers Justin Gabriel up for a match with Bo instead. Personally, I’ll take that.
Match 4: Bo Dallas vs Justin Gabriel
Winner: Bo Dallas via pinfall
Gabriel with a pair of quick cross bodies and a pin for two. Dallas with a big right hand and a headlock. Takeover to mid ring and Gabriel can’t shake him. Gabriel with a headscissors to escape and then…I don’t know what happens. Looks like a screwed up hip toss counter, but they just sort of both laid down. Bo bails to the floor then teases returning only to bail again. Gabriel is having no part of it and gives chase but ends up getting his arm draped on the top rope. Dallas drops a knee back in the ring and gets one. Now to a cravat from the former NXT champ. Quick escape then back to the cravat until Gabriel tries to fight out. Dallas with a knee to the gut and a strong whip to the corner. Bo goes to the short arm back elbows then a clothesline for two. Gabriel resists another whip then reverses one, putting both men on the mat. Gabriel with a kick flurry then his usual back roll flip but Bo is way out of position, which causes him to get a wheel kick in the mouth. Springboard crossbody for two from Gabriel then a strike exchange midring. Gabriel headscissors his way into position for a reverse DDT but Bo turns it around into one of his own for a very near fall. Bo counters a double arm DDT with a northern lights suplex for two. Big kick to the back then Gabriel comes up empty on a top rope quebrada. Gabriel manages a small package for two but Bo kicks his knee out from the mat then lands his double arm DDT for the win.
The Reaction:
Good squash. Glad to see Rose show some fire and not just be “tee hee fun” guy in and out of the ring. Using the driving elbow over The Slice or even the old G3 is weird to me, but he’ll develop something something to use. Rose is immediately over with the NXT crowd and I think his entrance on a grander scale at Raw/Smackdown could be something the crowd enjoys.
That ending sequence was stellar. It still seems like they don’t trust most of the Divas-to-be with long matches if their names aren’t Paige and Emma, but they’re getting there. It’ll be a shame if someone as solid as Bayley or as improved as Sasha (seriously, a year ago I was writing about how atrocious she was) just ends up another one minute match on a three hour raw once a month. I’d rather see them stay in NXT and get to the point where they can handle a ten minute match on Raw and be trusted to do so weekly. There’s no excuse not to with the amount of time WWE has on TV each week.
The only good part of this for me was Brodus continuing the use of a good old fashioned powerbomb. The worst part (aside from Mojo’s match) was the fact that they’re obviously harping on the “Neville knows he’s small” thing as he comments on Brodus being not as tall as he should be. This is bad writing and bad booking. This is typical WWE and it’s a giant middle finger to people that follow the career of guys like Neville. As a champion, Neville shouldn’t even mention size discrepancies. He should talk about what he can and others can’t do in a wrestling ring and the fact that that’s why he holds a title.
Now that’s a well booked win. Bo whines about not getting support from the crowd, but proves himself a fighter by beating a former WWE Tag Team Champion. Given, Gabriel isn’t the most respectable opponent at this point due to how they’ve used him in the last year but anytime an NXT superstar cleanly beats a WWE superstar, it’s a sign. This is logical, as Bo is moving to the main roster very shortly (we’ve already got vignettes). Curious if they harken back to this and show/discuss it or if we kind of start from scratch with him. The vignettes indicate the latter, but Bo definitely has enough of a grasp on the shtick to work it with the big crowds.
The Preview:
The Great Khali takes on CJ Parker. This will end well.
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!
