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| At the risk of sounding cliche, queen reigns supreme Screen Grab via Predadora the Explora Tumblr |
There's a difference between being in peril against being swept out to sea; a difference between a long two-count and a win; the sometimes razor-thin margin being top contender and Champion.
In the first installment of NXT-in-2013's final taping, both NXT Champion Bo Dallas and the Women's Champion put their belts on the line against quality competition in, respectively, Adrian Neville and Natalya. But while the Anti-Diva shut the door firmly on the NattieKat challenge by merking her with a Paige Turner No Not Her Out Of Nowhere™, Dallas' countout loss in a slightly lesser bout leaves the door open for questions, longest-reigning NXT Champion ever or no.
Let's start the same way the show did, with the women's title on the line in what turned out to be Paige's best match since she got a hold of the belt and Nattie's best match in at least years. In a top 10 list of reasons why NXT is better than RAW, one of them for the hard rocks like myself and probably you the loyal Boliever is that on the big league shows, the women are there to be attractive and remind people about Total Divas. Having quality matches is almost (?) ancillary. Down Full Sail way, however, being a total diva means when the bell rings it's time to start swinging lumber, and both champion and challenger were more than up to the task in the best match on the show. It was very reminiscent of the Zayn/Neville match a fortnight ago in that it started off with some high-quality chain wrestling before the throttles were opened up.
But where that match turned into a fight that threatened to bring forth aerial armageddon this one was just this side shy of a bar brawl. Paige's stomp party was met in kind with one from Nattie, and the Calgarian's turning a handshake into her own offense was met with the notorious knee strikes that the enchanting raven-haired lady is feared and known for. Paige even took Nat's .7 Harper MURDERDISCUSKILL lariat and found an awesome Sharpshooter counter by turning into it and using her core and remaining leg strength to fling the bigger woman into the turnbuckles, where she'd smack into the middle one with a hard impact. It was the only opening Paige would get to hit her finisher; fortunately for her, it'd be the only one she'd need. Their cries and hugging post-match felt earned, the signifier of hail fellow wrestler well met, and the only thing left in the wake is who's going to fall prey to the champion next.
Bo Dallas wishes he had it that easy.
Trying to outwrestle Neville early didn't work. Talking to himself to stoke himself up bought him some time out on the floor, but even after getting the advantage back inside the ring he couldn't shut Neville down. Not even a patented bulldog could hold off the former 2x NXT Tag Champion, and the second rope kneedrop attempt was a misssssstaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkeeeeeeeeeeee to say the least. Trying to match aerial warfare with the Englishman is an invitation to disaster, obviously, and thus Neville after a crazy inside-out handless twisting Asai moonsault and plancha won a victory, but only a countout one. Could Bo have recovered from that and gotten back in the ring, given how close he came to pulling it off? Is this angling towards a rematch or a triple threat with Zayn? And between the murky nature of the loss and the possibly accidental forearm shot to Neville in what should've been a clean break, is the NXT Champion after 200 days atop the mountain starting to follow his brother's long, winding path down the dark side?
Of course, if Sami Zayn is going to be in such a match -- one he wants, as he does the title -- he'll have to fade Leo Kruger first. Having renewed hostilities in the Beat The Clock challenge closer, Kruger decided he wanted in on the Real Americans, and Antonio Cesaro intimated if he could swat the lead dog in the El Generico Fan Club sled that such a possibility was open to him. So Kruger beat up Sami, only to see everybody's favorite ginger come out while he had Tyson Kidd in the Sharpshooter looking to put away the man he'd jumped while injured way back in February and got rolled up as a result. Too predictable, to be sure, but it opens the door for a Zayn/Kruger rematch on next week's show in which LA(N)X(T)'ll get their shot at the Ascension for the tag straps as well.
As for Antonio Cesaro, well... hopefully before he goes down giant swinging, Master Regal can beat a lesson about niceties into that bald skull of his. What can you say about a hulking behemoth of a man forcing an African-American in 2013 to say We The People before throttling and slapping down an announcer that's not even half his size? Well, one could say it's the history of America being accidentally told through grown men in spandex, but the fact remains on a week where Regal wasn't anywhere to be found Cesaro sent him a message--the opposite one of the roses thrown at Aiden English's feet after he disposed of Some Guy. Cesaro/Regal is coming soon, and all the villanry one can muster in a match may spawn as a result. Five languages or not, evil translates easily in actions, especially given the participants to be involved. But that'll have to wait for another day.
In the first installment of NXT-in-2013's final taping, both NXT Champion Bo Dallas and the Women's Champion put their belts on the line against quality competition in, respectively, Adrian Neville and Natalya. But while the Anti-Diva shut the door firmly on the NattieKat challenge by merking her with a Paige Turner No Not Her Out Of Nowhere™, Dallas' countout loss in a slightly lesser bout leaves the door open for questions, longest-reigning NXT Champion ever or no.
Let's start the same way the show did, with the women's title on the line in what turned out to be Paige's best match since she got a hold of the belt and Nattie's best match in at least years. In a top 10 list of reasons why NXT is better than RAW, one of them for the hard rocks like myself and probably you the loyal Boliever is that on the big league shows, the women are there to be attractive and remind people about Total Divas. Having quality matches is almost (?) ancillary. Down Full Sail way, however, being a total diva means when the bell rings it's time to start swinging lumber, and both champion and challenger were more than up to the task in the best match on the show. It was very reminiscent of the Zayn/Neville match a fortnight ago in that it started off with some high-quality chain wrestling before the throttles were opened up.
But where that match turned into a fight that threatened to bring forth aerial armageddon this one was just this side shy of a bar brawl. Paige's stomp party was met in kind with one from Nattie, and the Calgarian's turning a handshake into her own offense was met with the notorious knee strikes that the enchanting raven-haired lady is feared and known for. Paige even took Nat's .7 Harper MURDERDISCUSKILL lariat and found an awesome Sharpshooter counter by turning into it and using her core and remaining leg strength to fling the bigger woman into the turnbuckles, where she'd smack into the middle one with a hard impact. It was the only opening Paige would get to hit her finisher; fortunately for her, it'd be the only one she'd need. Their cries and hugging post-match felt earned, the signifier of hail fellow wrestler well met, and the only thing left in the wake is who's going to fall prey to the champion next.
Bo Dallas wishes he had it that easy.
Trying to outwrestle Neville early didn't work. Talking to himself to stoke himself up bought him some time out on the floor, but even after getting the advantage back inside the ring he couldn't shut Neville down. Not even a patented bulldog could hold off the former 2x NXT Tag Champion, and the second rope kneedrop attempt was a misssssstaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkeeeeeeeeeeee to say the least. Trying to match aerial warfare with the Englishman is an invitation to disaster, obviously, and thus Neville after a crazy inside-out handless twisting Asai moonsault and plancha won a victory, but only a countout one. Could Bo have recovered from that and gotten back in the ring, given how close he came to pulling it off? Is this angling towards a rematch or a triple threat with Zayn? And between the murky nature of the loss and the possibly accidental forearm shot to Neville in what should've been a clean break, is the NXT Champion after 200 days atop the mountain starting to follow his brother's long, winding path down the dark side?
Of course, if Sami Zayn is going to be in such a match -- one he wants, as he does the title -- he'll have to fade Leo Kruger first. Having renewed hostilities in the Beat The Clock challenge closer, Kruger decided he wanted in on the Real Americans, and Antonio Cesaro intimated if he could swat the lead dog in the El Generico Fan Club sled that such a possibility was open to him. So Kruger beat up Sami, only to see everybody's favorite ginger come out while he had Tyson Kidd in the Sharpshooter looking to put away the man he'd jumped while injured way back in February and got rolled up as a result. Too predictable, to be sure, but it opens the door for a Zayn/Kruger rematch on next week's show in which LA(N)X(T)'ll get their shot at the Ascension for the tag straps as well.
As for Antonio Cesaro, well... hopefully before he goes down giant swinging, Master Regal can beat a lesson about niceties into that bald skull of his. What can you say about a hulking behemoth of a man forcing an African-American in 2013 to say We The People before throttling and slapping down an announcer that's not even half his size? Well, one could say it's the history of America being accidentally told through grown men in spandex, but the fact remains on a week where Regal wasn't anywhere to be found Cesaro sent him a message--the opposite one of the roses thrown at Aiden English's feet after he disposed of Some Guy. Cesaro/Regal is coming soon, and all the villanry one can muster in a match may spawn as a result. Five languages or not, evil translates easily in actions, especially given the participants to be involved. But that'll have to wait for another day.