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| Mmmm Gorgeous Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Nothing is more boring than invincibility. There's a reason phrases like deux ex machina and fait accompli permeate the language when a surfeit of users couldn't spell Latin. For 2014, Adrian Neville has lived life in Full Sail as -- well, not the English Cena, but very much in a vein of that strain. Quite simply, he's been the definition of a Champion to such an extent that an outcome hasn't been in doubt no matter what he's been up against. You could shorthand everything to "stuff happens, Red Arrow, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Sheila McRae, g'night everybody!"
It hasn't mattered whether it's been against members of the main roster, former NXT Champions, or anything else alike; he's bested faces, heels, and all alignments between.
And yet on a show in which he hit one move, Tyler Breeze has suddenly derailed the titleholder's Inevitibility Express and put some serious credence into him catapulting into the face of NXT as its Champion sooner rather than. It began early when he engaged Mojo Rawley in the former footballer's best match ever: Breeze complaining about his finger, dodging a blow, and hitting the Beauty Shot. Even though he wasn't on commentary this week you could hear William Regal cackling in the back the way some viewers may have as well. He didn't get tricked, he stayed tr...well, you get the idea. When Neville came out for the woefully underhyped main to go against Alexander Rusev, the whiff of chicanery and coffee body scrub was practically in the air. Neville got the brakes beaten off of him because of course he did, only to come back with a wide array of kicks not only super but shoot and drop, springboard and Bryanesque to finally get the biggest member of the Putin Fan Club on his back. As you know, stuff happens. But before he could fire the Arrow T-Breezie was out to stop him. Seconds later, Neville was down after an Accolade, and the music video maven was smirking at his flawless execution on the ramp. Far be it from this corner to note the tail end of August would make it three months since the last NXT live Network Special and they seem to be running on a seasonal basis, or Breeze's undeniable ring skill, or the fact that'd be the biggest platform for someone so vainglorious and spotlight addicted, etc.
Speaking of vainglorious and spotlight addicted, in a show with both the holder of the Big X and the male model in pursuit of said Championship it turned out the BFF Implosion got the most time to burn on the show with Summer Rae going against Charlotte for the Women's Championship in the cleanup position of the program. (This was especially highlighted considering the opening two showcases were another Ascension Rosey and Jamal special followed by the Breeze/Rawley epic.) While this was a hotly contested battle, two things stood out. Firstly, there was a noticeable maw where a babyface usually goes. The crowd at one point started a Wave around the arena while Summer was fighting back, and it wasn't like they were going to cheer Summer no matter what garbage RAW and Warning: Smackdown May Contain Wrestling Like Substance tried to pump into the veins of the NXT Constellation with her and Lay. In addition to that, this was a pretty dominating performance by the Champ, won clean by the Bow Down and highlighted by her locking in the figure 4 headlock multiple times and making Rae scream about her beautiful face getting ruined.
It wasn't Sasha ripping the wings off of Alexa last week, but it was in the neighborhood. As a result, this may be the sort of thing that puts the kibosh on what would be an interesting Sasha/Charlotte match that'd put a button on the meltdown and also vaults Bayley into position to get the next major run at lifting the strap from the Flair of NXT; remember: if you don't love Bayley, you're wrong.
The other thing of note on the show was Kalisto pairing with Sin Cara to take down the Vaudevillains, with Special K himself laying out Simon Gotch with the Bimbo Numero Tres para la victoria. It would seem to be that the old-timey strongmen, despite their being loved by the crowd, are still somehow the black hats. At this point, the challengers to the Ascension seem to be masked, and pretty damn good at what they do as well.
Taking a beating from a team almost as new as they are like men? Yup. Not Hunico's one-armed powerbomb, probably the most underrated move in the entirety of the WWE? Skoal! And Kalisto getting the hot tag and turning everybody into Black Rob with barely describable offense before a high-impact but artistically pretty finisher? What, did you just get here? Whether they'll end up being the Uno Dos Tres Niños to the Ascension's Razor is anybody's guess, chico. But to be real, you could go a myriad of worse ways than that putting us down a path where this would be a title match before the year ends.
Or, you know, before the summer does, either. By that point, it could be Breezie's world and we'd all just be Instagramming it.
It hasn't mattered whether it's been against members of the main roster, former NXT Champions, or anything else alike; he's bested faces, heels, and all alignments between.
And yet on a show in which he hit one move, Tyler Breeze has suddenly derailed the titleholder's Inevitibility Express and put some serious credence into him catapulting into the face of NXT as its Champion sooner rather than. It began early when he engaged Mojo Rawley in the former footballer's best match ever: Breeze complaining about his finger, dodging a blow, and hitting the Beauty Shot. Even though he wasn't on commentary this week you could hear William Regal cackling in the back the way some viewers may have as well. He didn't get tricked, he stayed tr...well, you get the idea. When Neville came out for the woefully underhyped main to go against Alexander Rusev, the whiff of chicanery and coffee body scrub was practically in the air. Neville got the brakes beaten off of him because of course he did, only to come back with a wide array of kicks not only super but shoot and drop, springboard and Bryanesque to finally get the biggest member of the Putin Fan Club on his back. As you know, stuff happens. But before he could fire the Arrow T-Breezie was out to stop him. Seconds later, Neville was down after an Accolade, and the music video maven was smirking at his flawless execution on the ramp. Far be it from this corner to note the tail end of August would make it three months since the last NXT live Network Special and they seem to be running on a seasonal basis, or Breeze's undeniable ring skill, or the fact that'd be the biggest platform for someone so vainglorious and spotlight addicted, etc.
Speaking of vainglorious and spotlight addicted, in a show with both the holder of the Big X and the male model in pursuit of said Championship it turned out the BFF Implosion got the most time to burn on the show with Summer Rae going against Charlotte for the Women's Championship in the cleanup position of the program. (This was especially highlighted considering the opening two showcases were another Ascension Rosey and Jamal special followed by the Breeze/Rawley epic.) While this was a hotly contested battle, two things stood out. Firstly, there was a noticeable maw where a babyface usually goes. The crowd at one point started a Wave around the arena while Summer was fighting back, and it wasn't like they were going to cheer Summer no matter what garbage RAW and Warning: Smackdown May Contain Wrestling Like Substance tried to pump into the veins of the NXT Constellation with her and Lay. In addition to that, this was a pretty dominating performance by the Champ, won clean by the Bow Down and highlighted by her locking in the figure 4 headlock multiple times and making Rae scream about her beautiful face getting ruined.
It wasn't Sasha ripping the wings off of Alexa last week, but it was in the neighborhood. As a result, this may be the sort of thing that puts the kibosh on what would be an interesting Sasha/Charlotte match that'd put a button on the meltdown and also vaults Bayley into position to get the next major run at lifting the strap from the Flair of NXT; remember: if you don't love Bayley, you're wrong.
The other thing of note on the show was Kalisto pairing with Sin Cara to take down the Vaudevillains, with Special K himself laying out Simon Gotch with the Bimbo Numero Tres para la victoria. It would seem to be that the old-timey strongmen, despite their being loved by the crowd, are still somehow the black hats. At this point, the challengers to the Ascension seem to be masked, and pretty damn good at what they do as well.
Taking a beating from a team almost as new as they are like men? Yup. Not Hunico's one-armed powerbomb, probably the most underrated move in the entirety of the WWE? Skoal! And Kalisto getting the hot tag and turning everybody into Black Rob with barely describable offense before a high-impact but artistically pretty finisher? What, did you just get here? Whether they'll end up being the Uno Dos Tres Niños to the Ascension's Razor is anybody's guess, chico. But to be real, you could go a myriad of worse ways than that putting us down a path where this would be a title match before the year ends.
Or, you know, before the summer does, either. By that point, it could be Breezie's world and we'd all just be Instagramming it.