Tenken347
Knackwurst
Level: 116
   
Posts: 2511/3262
EXP: 16966631
For next: 357514
Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown
Since last post: 178 days
Last activity: 98 days
|  #1 Posted on 5.2.15 1053.12
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1057.16 | It's the go-home show for Takeover, and we've got some final brackets to fill in the #1 contender tournament tonight. Our main event is going to be Balor/Itami, and we're also going to watch Adrian Neville beat Baron Corbin (oh, don't pretend that's a surprise). Before we get to any of that, though, Enzo and Cass bring out Carmella. They do their whole spiel, and I want to talk about Enzo for a second. While I still think his Jersey Boy gimmick is a little too indy for the main show, I've come around 180 degrees on this guy. I think he could probably do anything they send him out to do, and I think he could get it over with any crowd he's in front of. Whatever "it" is, he's got it. He's better than his gimmick. That said, I don't know what kind of shot he'll ever get on the main roster - personally, I'd make him a manager, and just have him start getting guys over. If he can do it for Cass, and especially for Carmella, he can do it for anybody.
Anyhoo, this is actually a match. Carmella is taking on the returning Emma. Welcome back, Emma! I am sorry, but not surprised, to see you back down in Florida. Also, I'm not really sorry, as I would much, much rather watch Emma wrestle than do whatever on RAW. I'm not talking much about this match, because there's really not much to talk about. Carmella does a neat bit where she starts pulling off invisible rings so that she can throw down, but honestly, Carmella's still not very good. She still wins with her leg choke thing, though.
Match Rating: Not Very Good.
Afterwards, Emma makes sour faces on the outside, and I wonder if they're doing a heel turn with her.
There's an ad for Takeover after this. It evidently does get a colon - now it's going to be Takeover: Rival, replacing last year's ArRival, which is probably for the best considering NXT has already arRived, and also it's a lot easier to type.
We come back for Neville/Corbin, and it's pretty much what you expect. They do the classic power vs. speed contest, with power leading early on. Neville goes on offense after he hits a pretty nice dropkick to Corbin's knee, which puts him face-first in the turnbuckle. Corbin's really not bad here at all. Neville's really carrying him, but I don't mean that in a bad way, and Corbin might genuinely turn into a pretty solid player in the future. The finish comes when Bull (of course) interferes on the outside, leading to a situation where Neville can pick up the win with the Red Arrow.
Match Rating: Genuinely Better Than I Anticipated.
We get a look at the brackets here, and it now appears that Adrian Neville has eaten his entire half of the tournament. Seriously, this is a picture that is substantially more comical than they were shooting for. The commentary team (Riley, Rich, and Graves, tonight) also makes mention that Corbin/Dempsey is being added as a no-DQ match to Rival.
We also get some comments from Sami Zayn on his upcoming match with Owens. At least in retrospect, Sami recognizes that he got conned like a chump, but he still thinks there's a personal angle to this. Owens' betrayal will not go unpunished at Rival.
The next match is Bayley against Becky Lynch. This is a really good match, but my favorite part is actually before it starts. During Becky's entrance, while she's doing her "punk rock" routine, the camera cuts to Bayley, who is just rolling her eyes and completely no-selling the entrance. There's also another bit later on where Corey Graves on commentary calls Becky out as "the girl who wears the band's shirt at the concert," which is a sick burn if I've ever heard one. Anyoo, the match itself is really, really good. Lynch works Bayley's injured knee, as we knew she would, even using a wicked Dragon Screw to cut off Bayley's rally. Bayley, however, eventually does get on offense, and turns the tables on Lynch by working over her knee. Sasha Banks comes out to "encourage" Lynch, but eventually rolls her back into the ring before she's ready, and Lynch eats a Belly to Bayley because of it.
Match Rating: This Would Have Been The Best Match Of The Night On Most Shows.
Afterwards, Sasha and Becky mix it up a bit before Charlotte comes out to stare everyone down. I'm telling you guys, this is the sleeper match of Rival.
We get some comments from Kevin Owens now, but, as is his typical MO, he doesn't say much. He wants that belt.
We also get another Solomon Crowe "hack," and I'm thinking he probably shows up next week. This goes over the announcement that the Lucha Dragons are getting their tag title rematch at Rival as well.
Before we get to our main event, we get an update from Tyler Breeze. He's a little bothered by his loss in the tournament, but he says he's only lost one match so far this year, and anyways he's more concerned with watching the rest of the tournament play out (also, watching himself).
Now it's time for Balor vs. Itami. Before the match starts, Adrian Neville joins our commentary team, and brother, he is Not Very Good. He can cut a pretty competent promo, but in terms of working back-and-forth in the moment, he has a lot of trouble. Even with Riley and Graves trying to help him out, he really struggled, and honestly it got a bit distracting a few times during the match. The match itself was phenomenal, one of the best matches they've delivered on a regular tv episode. There is some fantastic chain wrestling to start, and a dropkick from Balor takes us to break, but when we come back Itami's already recovered and gone on offense. When Balor finally gets back into the swing, he actually slows the pace down with some cool-looking rest holds - a lot of modified abdominal stretches and surprisingly painful-looking headlocks. Eventually Finn gets tired of rest holds, and starts striking, but we already know that this awakens Itami's Fighting Spirit! The combo this week is not as brutal as it was against Breeze though, and Balor is able to survive it. He comes back with a MASSIVE dropkick to Itami, which shoots him back about three feet head-first into the turnbuckle. He's stunned long enough that Balor is able to get up and nail his top-rope double stomp for the pin.
Match Rating: This Is Awesome (ClapClap, ClapClapClap).
Afterwards, they replay the dropkick about a dozen time - for real, it's great, and then Balor offers the Hand of Friendship to a distraught Itami. Itami accepts, and we have the Indy Respect! Not to be out Respected, Neville applauds Balor's win, and also offers him the Hand as Balor makes his way up the ramp. Balor accepts, and we're out.
Wait, no we're not. They do a great video package on Zayn and Owens, going way back to their early years, talking about the relationship between them, and doing a wonderful job telling the story and setting up their match. Zayn/Neville was all about this title, but Zayn/Owens is something else. This Time, It's Personal.
Okay, super-hyped for for Rival next week (and when I Get Hyped, I Stay Hyped). See y'all next week.
(edited by Tenken347 on 5.2.15 1351) | Promote this thread! |             | Greymarch
Boudin rouge
Level: 52
Posts: 396/517
EXP: 1070723
For next: 13125
Since: 24.2.03
From: Toronto, Canada
Since last post: 2738 days
Last activity: 1926 days
|  #2 Posted on 5.2.15 1116.00
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1116.32 | | The only blemish on that main event was A-Ri's gawdawful commentary. I mean Neville's not the best talker but Riley kept asking him the same questions over and over and over and over again while completely ignoring the awesome match going on. | wannaberockstar
Frankfurter
Level: 62
Posts: 678/745
EXP: 1891244
For next: 93453
Since: 7.3.02
Since last post: 3329 days
Last activity: 792 days
| #3 Posted on 5.2.15 1123.16
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1125.09 | Loved the show but I really hope that Triple H's wish about taking them on the road comes true - at least for a little bit - as I don't want to see NXT become like the Impact Zone.
As a side note, to anyone more knowledgeable than I, what exactly is "sawft" and why do I care if somebody is or isn't "sawft"? Because I enjoyed the speech but I always scratch my head over it. Granted I haven't been watching NXT for a long time... is it Arrested Development style callback to something? I mean I'm not from Jersey (thank god).. so it could be a Jersey thing? Or Italian thing?
(edited by wannaberockstar on 5.2.15 1224) | Tenken347
Knackwurst
Level: 116
Posts: 2512/3262
EXP: 16966631
For next: 357514
Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown
Since last post: 178 days
Last activity: 98 days
| #4 Posted on 5.2.15 1132.17
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1139.49 | Originally posted by wannaberockstar
Loved the show but I really hope that Triple H's wish about taking them on the road comes true - at least for a little bit - as I don't want to see NXT become like the Impact Zone.
As a side note, to anyone more knowledgeable than I, what exactly is "sawft" and why do I care if somebody is or isn't "sawft"? Because I enjoyed the speech but I always scratch my head over it. Granted I haven't been watching NXT for a long time... is it Arrested Development style callback to something? I mean I'm not from Jersey (thank god).. so it could be a Jersey thing? Or Italian thing?
(edited by wannaberockstar on 5.2.15 1224)
They've already been doing some limited touring around Florida, and even a couple shows up in Ohio, but I don't think there are any plans for them to do a full nation-wide tour.
As for "SAWFT," unless somebody knows better than I do, it's just a Jersey'd up way of saying "soft," as in, you're too soft and weak to fight us. | Spiraling_Shape
Andouille
Level: 94
Posts: 1502/1972
EXP: 8174965
For next: 181723
Since: 2.1.02
From: PA
Since last post: 72 days
Last activity: 71 days
| #5 Posted on 5.2.15 1152.08
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1157.36 | After Reilly claimed that Itami and Balor "grew up together," he tried to say the same thing about Sami and Neville, but Neville was there to correct him. He probably meant something like "came up through the business together" but it came out sounding like they went to elementary school together...
Originally posted by Tenken347
Afterwards, Emma makes sour faces on the outside, and I wonder if they're doing a heel turn with her.
At this point, Carmella is (and has been for a while) the heel. Enzo & Cass just haven't split from her yet (and hopefully they won't because she won't hook up with Enzo, but because they realize they created a monster). She gets booed vs. Blue Pants or Emma or whoever she wrestles, and acts like a heel...she's just still pared with 2 loveable goofballs. | CruelAngel777
Sujuk
Level: 70
Posts: 878/1017
EXP: 3011072
For next: 4754
Since: 7.4.02
Since last post: 3385 days
Last activity: 3367 days
| #6 Posted on 5.2.15 1722.04
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1723.01 | On WWE's youtube channel Hideo attempted to give an interview about losing to Finn but got stomped into a locker by Tyler Breeze who is apparently quite upset about losing tothe man that lost to Balor. I truly enjoyed their first match and am loving the idea of a full feud with these two. Will Hideo finally dig deep in his burning spirit and trigger his Go 2 Sleep to break the face of NXT's most beautiful face?
This story already feels like a anime I'd totally watch. | Oliver
Scrapple
Level: 140
Posts: 4992/5007
EXP: 32752059
For next: 534428
Since: 20.6.02
Since last post: 3908 days
Last activity: 3902 days
| #7 Posted on 5.2.15 1748.05
Reposted on: 5.2.22 1749.02 | Bayley's shoulder shrug before the high five whatever to the crowd was hot. I watched that bit about fifteen times.
Balor/Itami could easily be a MoTY candidate for NXT, but to be honest, with the quality of wrestling on that show, we're gonna have so many more to consider by the time the year is out.
I'm not sure I agree with Tenken347 on his opinion on Adrian Neville's commentary. I think he handled himself just fine, he's soft spoken like Regal. I'm surprised that Alex (#freeRiley) Riley didn't revert to his usual heel schtick.
I really appreciated the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn video package at the end of the show. I liked how they're not painting Owens as a true heel; he's just doing it to get ahead and to support his family. Wednesday's title match is going to be off the hook. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
| | | | | | | |
