Hello and welcome to my humble opinions on the goings on in WWE developmental, otherwise known to my dear readers as the ‘NXT Report’, exclusively available at The Wrestling Mania.
Natalya, Emma & Bayley vs. Summer Rae, Sasha Banks & Alicia Fox w/ Charlotte: Winners: Natalya, Emma & Bayley
My god, we really need all these participants in one match? It’s like watch the Total Divas trade wins with AJ Lee and others on RAW.
I like Renee Young on commentary, she’s good at it. I don’t like Renee Young only commentating on Divas matches, just because she’s a woman does not mean she can’t call male matches (Michael Cole seems to manage it). I LOVE Renee’s Ralph Wiggum reference.
From Divas Champion to a meaningless member of a developmental faction. Oh how the mediocre have fallen.
The lack of Emma’s entrance music and dancing makes me sad. Her facing Page on the live special for the NXT Women’s Championship makes me happy though. This is shaping up to be one hell of a show.
Nattie, facing Sasha Banks, looked great. Banks couldn’t keep up with her.
I never thought a day would come when I would suggest that Sir William Regal HRH is wrong but I am distraught to announce that it has. “Alicia Fox is my favourite Diva, as far as talent goes.” My word.
I never really expected to like Summer Rae but she is probably the most in-sync with her character, of all the Divas in NXT, and has the skills to back it up. Kudos.
Emma, ahead of her title match, was right to win this one.
Although I’m not a fan of all the women being lumped together, it was smart to have Alicia take the loss here and the BFFs to abandon her.
That being said, there were too many cooks here and it felt cluttered. Since turning heel and joining the BFFs, Charlotte has done virtually nothing. That is more a creative fault than her own though.
“The Artiste” Aiden English vs. Colin Cassady – Winner: “The Artiste” Aiden English
The transformation of English to gaining such heat from a crowd that seemingly adored him just a few short months ago is a real compliment to creative and even more so to Cassady and English.
That neckbreaker from English was lov-er-ly.
I still don’t really get the SAWFT thing but it certainly seems to resonate with the live crowd.
I was enjoying the match; I’m surprised it was so short. I’m even more surprised that English won as clean as he did. Strange decision, in my book.
Sami Zayn calls out Antonio Cesaro
I liked the idea of Zayn obsessing over losing that great match last year.
There’s talk of Cesaro having a babyface run on the main roster. Other than the ever impressive ‘big swing’, he seems a born heel. To me, at least.
Cesaro’s line about Zayn having a great career ‘down here’ was very enjoyable.
Zayn was respectful and determined, it was played perfectly. Nothing complicated, just a willingness and urge to beat Cesaro.
Both men going along with the Pinky Promise chant was just brilliant.
Do we really need Triple H setting up another match for the live show? What happened to JBL?
That being said, with this match added, you’d be crazy to miss the 27th February edition of NXT.
Tye Dillinger vs. CJ Parker – Winner: CJ Parker
I just don’t care about Parker, I don’t see any attraction to him or his character.
An aeroplane spin and what is undoubtedly categorised within the worst wrestling moves of all time. Hardly a convincing win and it is hard to see where Parker is going, if anywhere at all.
With his promo afterward, it was just dull. It seems to be they are reacting to Parker getting a negative reaction like they did with Bo Dallas. The major difference here though is that Dallas proved that he had talent. Thus far, we’ve seen no such evidence that Parker does too. The next few months are critical for him.
The Wyatt Family vs. Jason Jordan & Marcus Louie – Winners: The Wyatt Family
Rowan and Harper looked great in a truly dominant display.
Bray paying homage to NXT in his own unique way was a great touch and such a glimpse has me excited for what I assume will be their involvement in the love show.
Overall Show
This edition was pretty strong, in my opinion, all things considered. It seemed to breeze by and was never a chore to watch.
Granted there were negatives and opportunities to improve but that is exactly the reason for NXT to exist in the first place. I think we are all sometimes guilty of forgetting that, especially when there have been such highlights in recent times.
The upcoming live show on the WWE Network is dominating things at the moment and I could understand the logic in some suggesting this to be a negative aspect of this edition.
It is my view though that NXT is building toward the nearest thing it will get to a PPV and the importance of such should not be ignored. With many intrigued to investigate and explore the WWE Network, there are more potential eyes on NXT than there have ever been in the past, especially in the US.
Looking at the card that is coming together and the participants looking most likely to be involved, I am in no doubt that this will be a monumental edition of NXT, on February 24th and one that I strongly urge you not to miss.
Whilst I myself, living in the UK, must wait a little while longer for the Network, you can be sure that you will find my thoughts on the live show right here, exclusive to The Wrestling Mania.
Thanks, as always, for checking out the thoughts of this particular fan. Please let me know your own in the comment section below.
– By Richard Thompson