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| But can the Champ get the last laugh next week? Photo Credit: WWE.com |
The holding pattern is over, the brave new Networkified world awaits, and thank Crom for that. Watching NXT the past few weeks must be what it's like to celebrate Lent. Just a slowly receding tide of delayed gratification until we get to Thursday and Arrival, where the singles belts will be on the line and the match that Full Sail into wider prominence a mere six months ago will finally have another chapter added to its legacy.
So let's start at the top of the food chain with the ever-smiling Champion, who made his presence known after the once and current #1 contender dispatched of Tyler Breeze. What a 180 from last week; this was the Bo Dallas we've all come to know and tolerate over his lengthy title reign that's on Day 255 and might not make 260. He allowed himself to be impressed by Neville, and even laughed at his unbolievably bad ladder of success joke. And then Neville dared him to get in a free shot, and he...relented, and left the ring. How this'll translate to a first-time viewer that you have an obstenible heel here who doesn't do anything outwardly dastardly is up in the air, but then again so was his challenger in the night's main event match.
Having cost him the first time he'd faced Bo for the belt and properly horrified that The Man That Mother Nature Forgot To Make Good Looking could dare ascend to being the face of NXT as its Champion. Looking better than he ever has in the best outfit he's ever been in and the Eddy/Shawnesque top turnbuckle hammock selfie were a good start, but there's one problem: he couldn't interfere on behalf of himself. And short of Breezeterference, the last few months of Neville's ledger have been more dub laden than Mack 10, Ice Cube, and WC. It didn't matter how nice how his dropkick was or how absolutely bone-crunching his superkick was, it came down to this: he couldn't pull off the Beauty Shot, and Neville after his usual display of aerial derring-do replete with a more aggressive style between the ropes tied a bow on the match with his signature Red Arrow. Instinctually, it feels like Bo going full Wyatt during the match is the way for him to retain the title, but that ties into another question: is Sami Zayn really going to go on the rocket straight to the main roster without so much as even getting another shot at Bo? It seems unlikely, but unlikely and impossible are two vastly different things.
For instance, it seemed impossible NXT was going to be made one of the centerpieces of the new vanguard, but here we are. It seemed unlikely that Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro could get into a face-to-face interview days before their fourth go round without falling into fisticuffs, and yet one little McGuffin later here were were, even if Renee wasn't for most of it. See, brawling would've led to Sami losing his shot at Cesaro and the latter losing his shot in the Chamber. A beautifully done and simple way to answer the question "If these guys hate each other so bad, why aren't they trying to maim each other right now?" in a simple barely mentioned stroke, the sort of minutae that NXT's made it's name on since it was FCW FFS. Failing to get his hands on Sami, the Boss of the World tried to goad him into making the inverse happen to waiver the match. He interrupted Sami constantly, he noted his leg may be medically cleared but that there was an ocean between that and being healthy. Most Cheneyish, he called Renee Young cute for a Canadian. Sir. Don't make me reach through the screen and injure your knuckles with my face. Fortunately, this close to closing in on his deal, the ginger Syrian cut off Cesaro and got in his face with some parting words. Do I actually have to see the match happen before it goes on the 2014 MOTYC evernote or no?
And to complete the trioka, Emma followed the Neville pattern right down to the dispatching of the most annoying rival the week before The Rilly Big Shew. With Summer Rae backed up by the rest of the BFFs and a sign-waving Bayley in Emma's corner, it seemed to be the odds were against everybody's favorite bubbly blonde. Au contraire, mon frere (which as I understand it is French for nuh-uh, honey). Emma came out of the gate busting out rollups before transitioning to the chain wrestling in which she's steeped. Summer got in her corner Keibler boot choke and locked on her signatue full nelson, but it was all to no avail. Not even Sasha helping her with a slap was enough to keep down the #1 contender to the Women's title, and when Emma sent Summer into her Gretchen Wieners which sent her into her Karen Smith, and the rest was getting Emma Locked. It went about as well for Summer as it did for NattieKat and Alicia Fox, too.
You see that thing coming up on the right? That's the fireworks factory. And while it may not be the rebirth of Chikara, you better prepare yourself for loud noises and eye dazzling. After the trip we've been on, it's about time for some stuff to get blown sky-high but good.
So let's start at the top of the food chain with the ever-smiling Champion, who made his presence known after the once and current #1 contender dispatched of Tyler Breeze. What a 180 from last week; this was the Bo Dallas we've all come to know and tolerate over his lengthy title reign that's on Day 255 and might not make 260. He allowed himself to be impressed by Neville, and even laughed at his unbolievably bad ladder of success joke. And then Neville dared him to get in a free shot, and he...relented, and left the ring. How this'll translate to a first-time viewer that you have an obstenible heel here who doesn't do anything outwardly dastardly is up in the air, but then again so was his challenger in the night's main event match.
Having cost him the first time he'd faced Bo for the belt and properly horrified that The Man That Mother Nature Forgot To Make Good Looking could dare ascend to being the face of NXT as its Champion. Looking better than he ever has in the best outfit he's ever been in and the Eddy/Shawnesque top turnbuckle hammock selfie were a good start, but there's one problem: he couldn't interfere on behalf of himself. And short of Breezeterference, the last few months of Neville's ledger have been more dub laden than Mack 10, Ice Cube, and WC. It didn't matter how nice how his dropkick was or how absolutely bone-crunching his superkick was, it came down to this: he couldn't pull off the Beauty Shot, and Neville after his usual display of aerial derring-do replete with a more aggressive style between the ropes tied a bow on the match with his signature Red Arrow. Instinctually, it feels like Bo going full Wyatt during the match is the way for him to retain the title, but that ties into another question: is Sami Zayn really going to go on the rocket straight to the main roster without so much as even getting another shot at Bo? It seems unlikely, but unlikely and impossible are two vastly different things.
For instance, it seemed impossible NXT was going to be made one of the centerpieces of the new vanguard, but here we are. It seemed unlikely that Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro could get into a face-to-face interview days before their fourth go round without falling into fisticuffs, and yet one little McGuffin later here were were, even if Renee wasn't for most of it. See, brawling would've led to Sami losing his shot at Cesaro and the latter losing his shot in the Chamber. A beautifully done and simple way to answer the question "If these guys hate each other so bad, why aren't they trying to maim each other right now?" in a simple barely mentioned stroke, the sort of minutae that NXT's made it's name on since it was FCW FFS. Failing to get his hands on Sami, the Boss of the World tried to goad him into making the inverse happen to waiver the match. He interrupted Sami constantly, he noted his leg may be medically cleared but that there was an ocean between that and being healthy. Most Cheneyish, he called Renee Young cute for a Canadian. Sir. Don't make me reach through the screen and injure your knuckles with my face. Fortunately, this close to closing in on his deal, the ginger Syrian cut off Cesaro and got in his face with some parting words. Do I actually have to see the match happen before it goes on the 2014 MOTYC evernote or no?
And to complete the trioka, Emma followed the Neville pattern right down to the dispatching of the most annoying rival the week before The Rilly Big Shew. With Summer Rae backed up by the rest of the BFFs and a sign-waving Bayley in Emma's corner, it seemed to be the odds were against everybody's favorite bubbly blonde. Au contraire, mon frere (which as I understand it is French for nuh-uh, honey). Emma came out of the gate busting out rollups before transitioning to the chain wrestling in which she's steeped. Summer got in her corner Keibler boot choke and locked on her signatue full nelson, but it was all to no avail. Not even Sasha helping her with a slap was enough to keep down the #1 contender to the Women's title, and when Emma sent Summer into her Gretchen Wieners which sent her into her Karen Smith, and the rest was getting Emma Locked. It went about as well for Summer as it did for NattieKat and Alicia Fox, too.
You see that thing coming up on the right? That's the fireworks factory. And while it may not be the rebirth of Chikara, you better prepare yourself for loud noises and eye dazzling. After the trip we've been on, it's about time for some stuff to get blown sky-high but good.