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| Pretty sure that's international for "Y'all done effed up now" Photo Credit: WWE.com |
The latest edition of NXT was bookended by a pair of return matches. Come next time around, Tyson Kidd gets the Resoian one more match against Adrian Neville and Charlotte, begrudging respect and all, will acquiesce to going in against Bailey again.
At least in the case of the main event rematch for the Tag Team Championships, it felt like something to burn through in order to get to the real story at hand: Hideo Itami is pissed off, and the Ascension are going to find themselves for the first time in some time in their NXT careers, if ever (and appropriately enough seemingly on their way out to the door to elevation) on the wrong end of a yahkicking. For a lot of you reading the BCB, you know Hideo's going to need a royal level of backup in order to do what he does best, and in a few weeks it's going to air when he gets it and Full Sail loses their shite.
But for now Hideo was content to come out and provide the LOLDISTRACTION that caused them to lose yet again to the Sliced Bimbo Numero Tres and the Lucha Dragons. Also, the camera didn't capture nearly enough of him kicking Konor down into a fine paste at the top of the ramp while Victor was still laid out from Kalisto's signature finisher, but accidents will happen. (Also, it's moments like this that showcase the benefits of accessing the Internet Hive Mind. GET 'IM, NOT KENTA.) It was noted the Ascension that came to regain titles wasn't the same unit that defended them for nearly a year: way more nearfalls, being pushed to two segments rather than two minutes, and new moves like rolling side headlocks and being able to slam somebody almost all the way across the ring. Height/weight advantages that look nearly cartoonish will do that, sure. To be fair, the Champs showed off a handful of really promising double team maneuvers they can use as signatures going forward, adding a headscissor/sliding D combo platter to the alley-oop two-man moonsault and wheelbarrow senton combo. Now all they need is a viable set of opponents going forward *cough THE VAUDEVILLAINS damnit cough* and the Ascension can go back to being grist for the future's mill.
Speaking of the future, let's take a minute to laugh at Mojo Rawley. Or, if you're particularly prone to cackling, several. Firstly, he gets a rematch against Bull Dempsey to kick off the show. He even starts fighting on the ramp, to show New! Aggressive! Mojo! You know, all that stuff he was alluding to in that creepy "I'm gonna show him what staying hype is all about" promo that happened before that Bull went Bull on him at Fatal Fourway. Rawley got in a brief flurry of offense but one running avalanche and divingheadbull headbutt later, doneski.
Then, when Tyler Breeze came out to the ring on his way to polishing off Justin Gabriel with a supermodelkick setting up the Beauty Shot, Rawley grazed Breeze as he was staggering up the ramp. While this solved his problem of staggering up the ramp, this then presented a new problem of Breeze running him into the post and sneering while he did his customary I-just-won-this-danceoff-and-you-just-got-served pose on the apron going into the first break. Damn, homie. Back in the spring you was the man, homie. The eff happened to you? Anyway, Breze -- he late of the Championship shots and possibly the sun around which Adrian Neville vs. the World had its planets orbiting around in its most exciting sequence -- picking on Rawley seemed to be a case of LeBron James challenging a fourth-place Special Olympian to HORSE, and Justin Gabriel didn't fare much better. Surely he misses the glory days of the suxeN. Alongside a flashy new seasonal residency in Finland just in time to commemorate the equinox's passing, Breeze avoided the 450 to light up Gabriel with the two-signature combo that should keep him in title consideration no matter who comes out the other end of Neville/Kidd III next week.
That, as you may recall, will also feature Charlotte/Bayley II, and the challenger got herself into fighting shape for that event by defeating Alexa Bliss in a match that never should have been allowed to happen because how dare they make us choose but whatever. It's easy to see why certain fans drove 900 miles to see Bayley, but it didn't seem to lessen Bliss' popularity any and gave the match a real Japanese quality of here's some wrestling - crowd applauds - here's some more wrestling - crowd applauds again - etc. It was especially froot to see Alexa take down Bayley with a headscissors off the ropes, get applauded by the crowd for the execution while she curtsied, and then exchange a double high-five with Bay about it. After that, it was all (a matter of time until the belly-to-) Bayley. That business done she asked for and received Charlotte, mentioning not only sleepless nights but how she'd let everyone down up to and including her mom who'd been watching at F4W. Charlotte rebutted by saying that match finally garnered her respect, and she'd be honored to give her a rematch. Granted, she said this abutted with things about the second verse being the same as the first and called Bayley kid before non-verbally saying "hey, the rematch is enough, I'm not hugging you right now", but watching her cosplay her dad in 1987 as one of the rare successful examples of tweenerdom has been awesome to see and the rematch should be just fine if not better.
Enzo Amore recovered from a nasty spill on a treadmill earlier in the week gawking at Carmella to win over Marcus Louis by, yes again, rolling up somebody with a handful of tights. Wouldn't it be awesome if Enzo had a finisher, even if it was a small package? Sure, the wearing of a Wu-Tang shirt during a workout gets bonus points, but in addition to the working out Amore should also be at least in theory working on his wrestling game along with the defollicilization of poodles and his ongoing hatred of the French, right? It's just a thought going forward.
Seriously, though -- next week is looking great, the reveal of Hideo's partner is going to make grown men squee out loud, and Kevin f'n Steen has yet to set foot in the building (at least on camera). Now moreso than ever, it's a fine day for you to be an NXT fan.
At least in the case of the main event rematch for the Tag Team Championships, it felt like something to burn through in order to get to the real story at hand: Hideo Itami is pissed off, and the Ascension are going to find themselves for the first time in some time in their NXT careers, if ever (and appropriately enough seemingly on their way out to the door to elevation) on the wrong end of a yahkicking. For a lot of you reading the BCB, you know Hideo's going to need a royal level of backup in order to do what he does best, and in a few weeks it's going to air when he gets it and Full Sail loses their shite.
But for now Hideo was content to come out and provide the LOLDISTRACTION that caused them to lose yet again to the Sliced Bimbo Numero Tres and the Lucha Dragons. Also, the camera didn't capture nearly enough of him kicking Konor down into a fine paste at the top of the ramp while Victor was still laid out from Kalisto's signature finisher, but accidents will happen. (Also, it's moments like this that showcase the benefits of accessing the Internet Hive Mind. GET 'IM, NOT KENTA.) It was noted the Ascension that came to regain titles wasn't the same unit that defended them for nearly a year: way more nearfalls, being pushed to two segments rather than two minutes, and new moves like rolling side headlocks and being able to slam somebody almost all the way across the ring. Height/weight advantages that look nearly cartoonish will do that, sure. To be fair, the Champs showed off a handful of really promising double team maneuvers they can use as signatures going forward, adding a headscissor/sliding D combo platter to the alley-oop two-man moonsault and wheelbarrow senton combo. Now all they need is a viable set of opponents going forward *cough THE VAUDEVILLAINS damnit cough* and the Ascension can go back to being grist for the future's mill.
Speaking of the future, let's take a minute to laugh at Mojo Rawley. Or, if you're particularly prone to cackling, several. Firstly, he gets a rematch against Bull Dempsey to kick off the show. He even starts fighting on the ramp, to show New! Aggressive! Mojo! You know, all that stuff he was alluding to in that creepy "I'm gonna show him what staying hype is all about" promo that happened before that Bull went Bull on him at Fatal Fourway. Rawley got in a brief flurry of offense but one running avalanche and diving
Then, when Tyler Breeze came out to the ring on his way to polishing off Justin Gabriel with a supermodelkick setting up the Beauty Shot, Rawley grazed Breeze as he was staggering up the ramp. While this solved his problem of staggering up the ramp, this then presented a new problem of Breeze running him into the post and sneering while he did his customary I-just-won-this-danceoff-and-you-just-got-served pose on the apron going into the first break. Damn, homie. Back in the spring you was the man, homie. The eff happened to you? Anyway, Breze -- he late of the Championship shots and possibly the sun around which Adrian Neville vs. the World had its planets orbiting around in its most exciting sequence -- picking on Rawley seemed to be a case of LeBron James challenging a fourth-place Special Olympian to HORSE, and Justin Gabriel didn't fare much better. Surely he misses the glory days of the suxeN. Alongside a flashy new seasonal residency in Finland just in time to commemorate the equinox's passing, Breeze avoided the 450 to light up Gabriel with the two-signature combo that should keep him in title consideration no matter who comes out the other end of Neville/Kidd III next week.
That, as you may recall, will also feature Charlotte/Bayley II, and the challenger got herself into fighting shape for that event by defeating Alexa Bliss in a match that never should have been allowed to happen because how dare they make us choose but whatever. It's easy to see why certain fans drove 900 miles to see Bayley, but it didn't seem to lessen Bliss' popularity any and gave the match a real Japanese quality of here's some wrestling - crowd applauds - here's some more wrestling - crowd applauds again - etc. It was especially froot to see Alexa take down Bayley with a headscissors off the ropes, get applauded by the crowd for the execution while she curtsied, and then exchange a double high-five with Bay about it. After that, it was all (a matter of time until the belly-to-) Bayley. That business done she asked for and received Charlotte, mentioning not only sleepless nights but how she'd let everyone down up to and including her mom who'd been watching at F4W. Charlotte rebutted by saying that match finally garnered her respect, and she'd be honored to give her a rematch. Granted, she said this abutted with things about the second verse being the same as the first and called Bayley kid before non-verbally saying "hey, the rematch is enough, I'm not hugging you right now", but watching her cosplay her dad in 1987 as one of the rare successful examples of tweenerdom has been awesome to see and the rematch should be just fine if not better.
Enzo Amore recovered from a nasty spill on a treadmill earlier in the week gawking at Carmella to win over Marcus Louis by, yes again, rolling up somebody with a handful of tights. Wouldn't it be awesome if Enzo had a finisher, even if it was a small package? Sure, the wearing of a Wu-Tang shirt during a workout gets bonus points, but in addition to the working out Amore should also be at least in theory working on his wrestling game along with the defollicilization of poodles and his ongoing hatred of the French, right? It's just a thought going forward.
Seriously, though -- next week is looking great, the reveal of Hideo's partner is going to make grown men squee out loud, and Kevin f'n Steen has yet to set foot in the building (at least on camera). Now moreso than ever, it's a fine day for you to be an NXT fan.