Hello! Well, wasn't last night a fun one? I had reasonably high expectations for last night, as I'm sure most people did- but even with my expectations I had a feeling that last night would be a bit weird. For the simple fact of its name being "The End". I saw a lot of speculation about what "The End" means, most of it hilarious. The main theory I saw some people working with was it being "The End" of NXT, at least as we currently know it. The reason I loved this theory so much, was the fact they'd already booked the Barclays Centre for Takeover: Brooklyn 2 Electric Boogaloo this August. I think they've even got it booked for next year as well.
So what does "The End" actually mean? Well, firstly it's the end to the Joe/Balor feud. That's what I always saw the name as being, because it's a simple fact. They've been feuding for over half a year now, so I think the end of the feud is a big deal. Now going into more speculative territory, I hope it's the end of Takeover's at Full Sail.
I'm not one of the people who bashes the Full Sail crowd, they're absolutely great for the most part. They can get almost any gimmick over if they attach themselves to it. No Way Jose being the latest example of a gimmick that would completely flop outside of Full Sail. However, and this was my main issue with last night- NXT in its current form has out-grown Full Sail. Especially for Takeover's. I was watching NXT when they were giving Free Tickets away to Full Sail students, and I'm watching it now- and it's clear they've just outgrown Full Sail. I'm not suggesting taking the TV Tapings away from Full Sail, but the Takeover's need to be in bigger arenas. I think those in charge know that as well, given the fact last night was only the second Takeover they've had at Full Sail in basically a year. Especially with the Takeover model of only doing 4 a Year, they can definitely afford to do them in bigger arenas- and I hope that's what they're going to do now.
Now for "The End" that I think a lot of people are anticipating. With the RAW/Smackdown Draft about a month away, the "top tier" of NXT guys I'd say are almost definitely being called up. So that's Balor, Joe, Nakamura, American Alpha, Bayley and quite a few other "TV Ready" guys they've got down in the Performance Centre. The real "last stand" of all these NXT guys will be Takeover: Brooklyn, where I'd expect all of the names I've just mentioned except Balor to appear and work a double shift that weekend. After Takeover: Brooklyn, I'm expecting a new wave of Performance Centre bred talent to be pushed on NXT TV- combined with the star power of people like seemingly Roode, likely Austin Aries and a few more. Added onto that with a new wave of Indy guys coming in, with Tommy End signed and people like Moose, Roderick Strong, Adam Cole- and then some of the Cruiserweight Series guys like Zack Sabre Jr probably being at the top of the "list".
Right then, last night may have been "The End" of many things- but this is only the start of the Review so let's get into it.
Andrade "Cien" Almas v Tye Dillinger
In order of people most over on the show, it went Shinsuke Nakamura, American Alpha, Tye Dillinger. If Dillinger's not called up in the Draft, and I'm in two minds about whether I'd want that or not- he could very well be one of the top guys of the "new" NXT. He's just absolutely great, and the crowd know how great he is. In short, Tye really is a Perfect 10- and I hope he gets the booking to match that fact ASAP.
The match was actually really good. Almas' debut reminded me a lot of Apollo Crews'- and not because they were both against Dillinger. They both looked absolutely great in the ring, but you just know that the character isn't quite there yet. More so in Almas' case, I didn't really like his Entrance Music, the weird Godfather Hat was just bizarre and I've got no idea why he was wearing the tearaway White Trousers. So in short, Almas needs work. That's why he's in Developmental. I don't doubt he'll be a star though, his athletic and in-ring ability combined with WWE's need to have a top Hispanic Babyface means he'll probably be called up before 2017.
The Revival v American Alpha- NXT Tag Titles
It was funny actually, I tweeted about a third of the way into the match that Alpha were looking so good that they must be losing- or something along those lines. What do you know, they did. It's fairly obvious where American Alpha are heading now with the Draft just around the corner, and I'm all for it. Jordan and Gable are absolute mega-stars, without a doubt in my mind. These two looked absolutely fucking amazing last night. The match was all kinds of great. We had everything from the traditional "creative hot tag stop" from Dash and Dawson, to sequences that would give Vader a coronary and so much more.
I'm happy that The Revival won, because they've improved so much in the last 6 or so Months- but crucially they can still improve a lot more. I also think Scott Dawson is one of the more respected guys down in NXT now- so having him around with all of the new guys after the mass call-up will be a big plus. In short, this match was absolutely great- and I can't wait to see where both teams go next.
We then of course had where one, or both teams may be going next debut. The "Authors of Pain" debuted with Paul fucking Ellering managing them. I don't have really high hopes for them as a team yet, but given time and if they put the work in and all that stuff they could be a really cool team. With the size of both guys, they could be perfect for the Main Roster- so it's really just a case of them working their arses off to get better in the ring.
Shinsuke Nakamura v Austin Aries
I said this on Twitter last night, and I'll go into more detail here. I wanted Austin Aries to win last night, without a doubt in my mind. For a number of reasons, of which I shall discuss. Firstly, who needed the win more? Austin Aries has just turned Heel and he's not really been fully accepted by the crowd yet, a win- even if it was a cheap one would've done everything for Aries. He could show up at the Tapings with the most smug look on his face and the crowd would absolutely fucking hate him. In short, the win would've made Aries last night.
Then we get onto what this match meant for the Title picture. It was a #1 Contender Match in all but name given the build. Nakamura is without a doubt in my mind getting called up, Aries on the other hand may not. Nakamura, Joe & Balor are the three top NXT guys who will be thrown straight into big angles when they get called up. Aries may not be called up, and having him as NXT Champion post mass call-up feuding with Itami, Roode, Eric Young etc. would hardly be a bad move.
Lastly, you have to ask if a loss would have hurt Nakamura? Absolutely not. Especially if it was a cheap one, Nakamura would still be just golden. You can't tell me that the crowd would suddenly stop caring about Nakamura because Aries heel'd his way to victory last night. So yeah, outcome wise I was a bit disappointed.
The match was really good. I saw a few people saying how "it wasn't Nakamura/Zayn". I mean, is that even a criticism? Saying it wasn't as good as a match that has a 99% chance of being the Match of the Year in WWE- with at this stage AJ/Cena being the only one I can see getting close is hardly a bad thing.
They structured the match really weirdly, I will admit that. I'm not sure what Aries has done to his Ribs, but I'm assuming the fact he took about 85% of the match had something to do with Aries not being 100%. The one thing I won't hear is people calling this match boring because Aries kept Nakamura on the apron for a large chunk of the match. Aries was being an actual Heel. That's such a foreign concept in modern WWE it's astounding. I think that's why I've grown to like The Miz so much. I thought Aries had killed himself on that dive spot just before the finish, Nakamura got the win and we're presumably getting Nakamura/Joe for the Title in Brooklyn.
Asuka v Nia Jax- NXT Womens Title
This was another match where I thought we could get the "American Alpha" booking, in regard to giving the Title to someone who's likely to still be in Developmental after the Draft in Nia Jax. Although I'll admit there's not an urgent need for new Women, especially if as I've seen rumoured they're going to remain specific to one brand with Tag Teams on the other.
I've also seen some people talking about Nia Jax being called up, which is a mixed bag for me. Last night was by far Nia's best showing so far, but she still has a long way to go to be Main Roster ready. But, at the same time she probably doesn't have that far to go in some eyes- because she could probably spend the first 3 or so Months of her Main Roster squashing people and not even selling. If they went that route and had Nia still working on her performance I wouldn't be that against it I will admit. My thing with Nia is, she does still have a long way to go- but she's really grown into her role as the "big" character and she knows how to play that off well in the ring as we saw last night. So basically, keep her in NXT for now.
As already said, the match was Nia's best so far- and it was a better match than Bayley/Nia in my opinion. Although that's probably not that much of an "out there" statement because Asuka's probably a better worker than Bayley. Asuka and Nia played off each other really well, and the finish with Asuka just kicking Nia's head off was great I thought.
Bobby Roode spotted Backstage
I'm assuming that the Tapings for NXT are tonight, although I don't actually know. In any case, it'll be interesting to see what Roode's role is in said Tapings. He's actually an interesting one, because if he's down in NXT after the big call-up I'd be surprised because of all of the TNA guys they've brought in Roode is probably the most "WWE" ready in my opinion. However, the fact he's only just coming in now would suggest he will be in NXT- when before this segment I thought if he hadn't shown up he would've been a surprise in the Draft.
Samoa Joe v Finn Balor- Steel Cage Match for the NXT Title
Taking away from the fact that the Cage was (understandably) tiny, which was a bit distracting for me- I thought this match was really good. The Cage being small is probably a good thing given the finish of the match actually, but half of the drama of Cage matches nowadays is the "climb and catch" aspect of it- which is sort of taken away when you can probably reach the top of the Cage without even having to really climb.
In that respect, I wish Joe and Balor had just done away with the whole trying to climb out of the Cage stuff- but as far as how the match was structured that was my only real issue. These two have wrestled each other enough times, and are good enough workers to have a good match regardless of circumstance- so adding in all of the stuff surrounding the match basically guaranteed it'd be good- and it didn't disappoint. The Super Musclebuster looked great, and it was a worthy finish to finally beat "The Demon" down in NXT in what is likely to be Balor & The Demon's last match.
We didn't have one absolutely amazing, 6 Star, Match of the Millennium match last night. What we did get was a card top to bottom that was absolutely stacked talent-wise and every match delivered. As I already said at the start, my only real issue with last night was the fact that it just felt too small to me.
The next set of NXT TV Tapings will be interesting- but not nearly as big as the ones will be Post-Brooklyn. I'm intrigued to see what they do with Bobby Roode, but apart from that I think everything else is almost set in stone as far as big angles go. We'll be getting Nakamura/Joe, Asuka/Bayley and Alpha/Revival as the three Title feuds. It would be interesting if they had Aries and Roode cross paths actually given their history. Anyway, that's all to be seen at a later date.
Thanks for reading as always, hopefully you enjoyed this Review and will be here for the RAW Review next Tuesday. If you haven't already, I'd recommend reading my RAW Review from this week as we edge closer to Money in the Bank which is of course next week. That means on top of the usual RAW Review, you'll be getting the Predictions and Review of Money in the Bank next week so hopefully you stay tuned for those. Thanks again for reading, if you're watching the Euros let's hope it's a good one.
What's left to say other than, the end. See what I did there?
No comments:
Post a Comment