Tenken347
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|  #1 Posted on 29.1.16 0944.17
Reposted on: 29.1.23 0947.56 | We've got a loaded show this week, featuring the promised #1 contender triple threat, and so it's straight down to brass tacks with one of our promised matches. American Alpha is taking on one more team of former champions in Blake and Murphy. Something worth noting is that Corey Graves can't stop talking about how great AA is, even though they are most definitely faces and he's supposed to be the heel comentator. I guess they're just great, is all. As you'd expect, we start with chain wrestling, and AA have the clear advantae there, including Jordan doing a fun spot where Murphy's trying to get him with a heel trip, but he keeps hopping over the attempt until he counters with a takedown into an armbar. Gable comes in, does some more chain spots, and ends with a headscissors takeover followed by his judo throw for two. Blake and Murphy are in a real bad way here, so Murphy fakes a bad knee off a leapfrog. We all know he's not really hurt, heck, Gable knows he's not really hurt, but the ref has a duty to check on him, and while he's doing that, Blake distracts Gable and then Murphy miraculously recovers and nails a chop block to take advantage. They put the boots to him, including a cool bit where Blake on the outside picks up Bliss so she can nail Gable with both feet while the ref's not looking. This can't last, though, so Gable is eventually able to get to his own corner to tag in Jordan, who comes in with his traditional hot tag offense - flapjacks and suplexes all around. He grabs Blake in a belly to belly, drops him on top of Murphy, and then tags Gable back in so they can wrap this up with the Grand Amplitude.
Match Rating: They're Just Great, Is All.
Emma and Dana Brooke are backstage. Emma will be facing Carmella next week, but she's not sweating it. After all, it was Bayley carrying Carmella in that tag match last week. Heck, Carmella can't even beat Bayley, so how could she beat Emma? I mean, Carmella even lost to Blue Pants (and again, no one is sure if she works here or not). Emma is fantastic, and Dana's really grown into her role as sidekick. These two are a treat.
We get a spotlight package for Asuka, which is a little weird because there's no particular reason for it, except our next match is Nia Jax vs. Jersey (I'll use her real name when she earns it), and we are quite obviously trying to set up a Jax/Asuka feud. The match is nothing to write home about - Jax muscles out of a sunset flip attempt, locks in a Cobra Clutch, and then after some token (but not great) jobber offense, nails a sidewalk slam and her legdrop for the pin.
Match Rating: Jax Has Been In Better Squashes.
I feel like Better Squashes would have been the name of a gardening magazine back when magazines were still a thing. Anyhoo, Carmella is backstage with Enzo and Cass. Carmella's not big on Emma throwing shade her way, and wants Emma to know that she's got her number. The real story here, though, is Enzo and Cass still gunning for Dash and Dawson, with Enzo especially getting worked up after pointing out how miserable his Christmas was because they didn't win the tag titles. He gets even more wound up than usual and storms off the set, leaving Cass and Carmella looking a little concerned for him.
We've got a quick package for Baron Corbin (featuring the return of his truly incredible green screen effects) to pump us up for the main event that is still yet to come.
We've also got a repeat of the Gotch and English thing from last week. Vaud-Villainous.
Back to the ring, where Bull Dempsey will be facing...Alex Riley? Okay, I guess. Bulls still warming up with some light calisthenics, when Riley just jumps him. Riley's not really any better than you remember him, but he still has a straight beautiful spinebuster, but it is a completely random jumping knee strike that he's using for his finisher.
Match Rating: That's Not A Good Finisher.
Everyone wants to know who...and what is The Drifter?
But before that, Riley backstage. He wants to know if we were surprised to see him. We were! But not especially excited. And he seems to realize this, citing the fact that Sami Zayn got weeks of build for his return, while nobody even checked up on him while he was out. He says he knows what Apollo Crews had for breakfast thanks the the WWE Network, but nobody gives a damn about what he's been up to. That seems about right. Your Sad But Probably Accurate fact of the week is that Riley had a much brighter future at the commentary table than he does in the ring.
Anyhoo, it's time for Elias Samson to wail on Some Jobber for a little bit. The jobber appears to be wearing an old pair of HHH's tights. What happened, did he show up to Full Sail without any gear, and HHH was like, "Well, I guess I've got something you can borrow, just make sure you wash it before you give it back?" Is there a pile of discarded ringwear in the Performance Center? I have a lot of questions here, guys. For the purposes of accurate record keeping, Samson is a full heel now, and the ladies of NXT are definitely still screaming when he takes his shirt off. Again, what is with this handsome, soulful bad boy? Oh, right, the match. Samson punches the jobber until he pulls him into a swinging neckbreaker for the pin. Wait! That's it!
Match Rating: Swinging Neckbreakers! Ladies Love Swinging Neckbreakers!
I mean, what else could it be?
The Hype Bros are backstage, and there's some stuff, but let's cut to the chase - Mojo Rawley casually lets it slip that he watches Zack Ryder while he's sleeping. Zack is, not cool with this. Rawley walks off, but Ryder seems legit pretty concerned. In any event, they'll be fighting the Vaudvillains next week.
Here's a package on Samoa Joe for the main event.
Meanwhile, we spotlight the aborted Crews/Balor title match from a few weeks ago, as Finn's agreed to Crews's request for a non-title match. That's next week.
But this week, we have our main event. No package for Sami? I call bullshit on that. Anyhoo, everybody out and it looks like Corbin and Joe are going to team up against Sami, but Corbin stupidly turns on Joe instead. Sami then low-bridges Corbin out of the ring and into the Danger Zone, but before he can go for his big dive, Joe cuts him off. He pulls Sami outside and works him over a bit, then runs around the ring and bowls over Corbin for good measure. Sami slips back into the ring, but Joe's still all over him with punches. Sami tries to fire back, but can't compete with Joe's strikes. Joe puts him down and goes for a kneedrop, but Sami dodges. Not that it does him much good, because now Corbin's back in, and he's all over Sami. Joe doesn't care for that, though, and Corbin winds up in the middle of Joe and Sami. This, surprisingly, puts Sami in a position to dump the both of them outside, and it's a double Danger Zone dive! Sami appears to literally ricochet off of Joe and land on his own head on the grating. Ouch. Sami and Corbin go back into the ring, but Corbin nails a Deep Six! That's a potential finish, but Sami kicks out at two. Joe's back in, and he puts down Corbin, drops Sami on top of him, and nails a double senton. He puts Sami in the corner and lays into him, looking to set up the Muscle Buster. Sami won't let it come to that though, and so instead Joe nails him with an enziguri. Corbin's had enough time to recover though, so he takes out Joe for a minute and goes up to the top to...I don't know what, because Corbin doesn't have any top rope offense. Sami, realizing this, nails a sitting headbutt to stun Corbin, and then takes him back down to the ground and nails the Blue Thunder Bomb That Never Pins Anyone. Joe grabs Sami from the outside, and pulls him into a Kokina Clutch on the floor, hoping to immobilize him for a while. He puts a knee in Corbin's head, but Corbin comes back with the End of Days! End of match? No, Sami makes the save at two! Corbin thanks Sami for his interference by tossing him into the corner and laying in some big clotheslines. He gets greedy, though, and Sami catches him with an Exploder into the turnbuckle, and the Helluva Kick! Now Joe makes the save at two! Sami's so close he can taste it, so he takes a minute to put Joe into the ring stairs, and comes back at Corbin with...wait a minute, a Sharpshooter? That's a new one. Joe's not really out, though, so he comes back, and instead of breaking the hold, locks in a crossface on Corbin. Well, Corbin's got to tap to their combined might, but who wins?
Match Rating: You Should Not Have Called For The Bell There, Ref.
Afterwards is pandemonium. Sami and Joe are both certain it was their move that drew the submission, but the ref just kind of shrugs his shoulders and is like, "I don't know." So out comes GM Regal. Sami's not sure what the confusion is - he had Corbin in the Sharpshooter. Joe's counter is that it was a terrible Sharpshooter. C'mon, Joe, it's not like it was the Rock doing it. Regal's not thrilled about any of this, but promises to review the tape to make a proper decision, that I guess we'll get next week.
It's unusual for NXT to deliver a match without a clear-cut and definitive finish, but this is almost certainly leading to Sami vs. Joe one on one, so who's really complaining, right?
| Promote this thread! |             | Stefonics
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| #2 Posted on 29.1.16 1006.40
Reposted on: 29.1.23 1010.48 | The year is young and the sample size is small, but this is my least favorite NXT show of the year. Probably the least entertained I've been watching this show in at least 6 months. They can't all be home runs, I get that.
Nothing about this episode worked for me with the exception of American Alpha. Gable bridging on one leg because of selling was great attention to detail. Jordan's suplexes are beautiful. I love how they're beating former tag champs and are looking strong doing it. They are head and shoulders above everyone in the division now, as well as better than everyone who came before them. They are a treat to watch and were the only highlight for me.
Nia Jax bothers me. A lot. She still doesn't know what she's doing with her "character". Someone show her a tape of Awesome Kong and if she doesn't have that kind of time commitment, show her Kharma. Whatever she's trying to do isn't working. She's green as goose shit, which is understandable and acceptable, but the lack of character understanding and development pushes it over the edge for me.
I lied; Enzo is the best promo in NXT and always brings a smile to my face. He knows the sing along shit and does it well, but he's much more than that. It's a shame that "manager" is no longer a career field in WWE.
Alex Riley's rehab consisted of a steady diet of steroids and an extensive Triple H cosplay session. He's so tan, but not tan enough to hide his new bacne.
The ending of that Triple Threat was soooooo bad. And stupid. And lazy. Just, no. The impending Joe v Sami will be good, but that ending left a very sour taste in my mouth. | Hokienautic
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| #3 Posted on 29.1.16 1043.50
Reposted on: 29.1.23 1047.01 | | I'd love it if they have a clip next week of Regal asking Corbin, "So ... which move hurt you more? Which made you tap?" | BigDaddyLoco
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| #4 Posted on 31.1.16 1234.10
Reposted on: 31.1.23 1245.41 | Originally posted by Stefonics
The year is young and the sample size is small, but this is my least favorite NXT show of the year. Probably the least entertained I've been watching this show in at least 6 months. They can't all be home runs, I get that.
Nothing about this episode worked for me with the exception of American Alpha. Gable bridging on one leg because of selling was great attention to detail. Jordan's suplexes are beautiful. I love how they're beating former tag champs and are looking strong doing it. They are head and shoulders above everyone in the division now, as well as better than everyone who came before them. They are a treat to watch and were the only highlight for me.
Nia Jax bothers me. A lot. She still doesn't know what she's doing with her "character". Someone show her a tape of Awesome Kong and if she doesn't have that kind of time commitment, show her Kharma. Whatever she's trying to do isn't working. She's green as goose shit, which is understandable and acceptable, but the lack of character understanding and development pushes it over the edge for me.
I lied; Enzo is the best promo in NXT and always brings a smile to my face. He knows the sing along shit and does it well, but he's much more than that. It's a shame that "manager" is no longer a career field in WWE.
Alex Riley's rehab consisted of a steady diet of steroids and an extensive Triple H cosplay session. He's so tan, but not tan enough to hide his new bacne.
The ending of that Triple Threat was soooooo bad. And stupid. And lazy. Just, no. The impending Joe v Sami will be good, but that ending left a very sour taste in my mouth.
So, it's not just me. There is something not clicking with me on these shows lately either and I might just go back to skipping most of weekly outings. I think the Women's Battle Royal has been my favorite NXT match of 2016, but it's also the only one I clearly remember.
I'm not expecting instant classics every week and I'm fine watching developmental stuff, but right now I'm just not all that entertained. It's not awful by any means, but it's not totally worth finding time to dedicate an hour to either.
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