Tenken347
Knackwurst
Level: 114
   
Posts: 2787/3251
EXP: 16077251
For next: 232366
Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown
Since last post: 7 days
Last activity: 14 hours
|  #1 Posted on 20.5.16 1553.41
Reposted on: 20.5.23 1557.58 | Okay, so first, I kind of want to respond to something somebody posted in another thread. It's a little after the fact, but I really felt like the NXT recap was kind of the best way to respond.
Originally posted by Quezzy
I marathoned through about a year and a half of NXT in the last month NXT has been a glorified Superstars for pretty much that entire year and a half. So unless Ward was called up a year and a half ago I'd say it's the same show it's always been. OCCASIONALLY there are two good matches in a show but usually it's garbage and then a good main event. I think the talent is starting to diminish too. I honestly don't know why people rave about NXT. The Takeovers are great but the weekly show is just not good.
The emphasis there is mine, and I don't want to start shit with Quezzy or anything, but this is really worth responding to - after the recap. I'm just going to leave this up here for right now, and I'll come back to it.
Ah, the show itself. We open with Blake and Murphy against Austin Aries and his mystery partner. It's gotta be Roode, right? Even the crowd is chanting for Roode, which has to be a first. So bring him out already. Lights go out, and it's...Shinsuke Nakamura! Okay, you got me, NXT. But this is so, so much better (and not just because it means one less TNA guy in here right now). Aries starts out with a nice dropkick, but quickly brings in Nakamura to start raining knees on Murphy. Nakamura drags him over to the corner, and they do a thing where Aries is on the outside and Nakamura slingshots Murphy into a forearm, then Aries springboards in with a senton onto Murphy, who's now prone across Nakamura's knees. It's pretty cool. Blake manages a distraction, and Murphy's able to hit a big clothesline on Aries so that he and Blake can go on offense. Mostly, it's just a little bit of headlock and a jawbreaker, before Aries fires back with a forearm so he can tag in Nakamura, who fucking murders Murphy with a forearm of his own. Then Nakamura hits a spinning heel kick, and Blake considers helping his partner, before deciding instead to take off. Then it's top-turnbuckle knee/inverted exploder/Kinshasa, while Aries tries, and fails, to get himself tagged back into the match for the finish.
Match Rating: Not A Real Match.
Really. It looked like a match, but the whole thing was like five minutes long, and it really only exists to set up two angles. Number one, and this is sad, is the breakup of Blake, Bliss, and Murphy, who I've always loved as a group. Number two, and this is great, is moving Aries and Nakamura forward when they had both stalled out a little after Takeover. Aries wanted this match to spotlight himself, but instead it was Nakamura who got all the glory. This gives Aries a reason to turn heel (which he needs) and a quality opponent in Nakamura (which they both need). This was spectacular, and economical, storytelling.
Bayley's backstage with some comments about Nia Jax, who she'll be facing in the main event. See, Jax uses her size and power to intimidate people, but Bayley's not afraid. She just wants to refocus on getting the title back.
We've got a video package for Asuka, but honestly this one's not great. Take a pass on it if you're fastforwarding here.
Backstage, No Way Jose wants everyone to know that his smile and positive outlook shouldn't make people underestimate him. That's cool and all, and I like his can-do attitude, but if he's worried about people underestimating him, he probably ought to get better at wrestling.
Carmella's feeling chatty too. She wants us to know that she's proud of Enzo and Cass, but she's staying in NXT. She's got a goal to be women's champion, and she's not leaving yet. In fact, she's got a match up next, against Peyton Royce, who I guess has decided to rock a Poison Ivy gimmick. I've seen worse ideas. Anyhoo, this one's by the numbers. Royce starts strong with basic punches and kicks, followed by a boot choke in the corner. She goes for a headlock, but Carmella counters out with a rollup, then a crucifix, but neither get more than two, so she hits a monkey flip followed by some mounted punches. Royce comes back with a leg whip, then a trio of suplexes that ends with a fisherman's suplex into a cradle for two. I like that variant. She misses with a roundhouse, and Carmella goes straight into her full offense: Thesz press, turnbuckle head-to-boot, headscissors takeover, thrust kick, inverted triangle submission. Badda bing.
Match Rating: Closer, But Still Not A Real Match.
Squash city, yo. Highlights for Carmella, although I think Royce might be getting closer to actually winning a match soon. The whole thing is pretty good rebuilding for their depleted women's division, though.
We get some highlights from a Portland house show. Seems that Finn and Joe can't keep their hands off each other, and a brawl erupted that spilled out into the crowd. We cut to GM Regal's office, where he lets us know that, due to the potential risk to the crowd, he has decided to amend the contract for Takeover to make the title match a Steel Cage match! Good, it needed a stip. Joe starts talking shit as soon as he signs the contract, but Finn's not backing down here. One way or the other, it ends at Takeover.
Blake, Murphy, and Bliss explode! Okay, maybe that's an overstatement, but they're in the locker room, and all three of them seem to have had it with each other. Bliss walks, followed by Blake, leaving Murphy looking sad and...hungry? Let's go with hungry. Anyhoo, I'm not sure if this is the beginning or the end of this angle, but either way I am very sad to see them split.
Up next, the Indy Guys take on Some Jobbers. Today's Jobbers are Danny Burch, who's alright, and Robby Ryzin(sp?!) who is not alright. I mean it; he's fucking terrible. He starts out by getting chain wrestled by Johnny Wrestling. He ends up in a wristlock, but he counters out into a headlock, but a rope-run spot breaks JW free. He goes into an armbar at this point and brings in Ciampa. They hit a double armdrag, and then go back into the armbar before hitting an absolutely killer combination: drop toehold into a dropkick to the back of the head into a running knee to the side of the head. Hereabouts is where I tune out of the match, because I'm not kidding. Ryzin is about the worst wrestler I've ever seen in NXT. Eventually, though, this thing moves into the finishing sequence. Johnny Wrestling hits a battering ram, then moves his opponent into the corner so that he and Ciampa can hit their double running kick spot. That sets up their finisher, a wicked superkick/running knee strike combo. It's a great finisher.
Match Rating: So Very Nearly A Real Match.
Maybe if they didn't have to work with Ryzin, although I suspect that there are some folks who enjoyed this one just fine.
Afterwards, Regal appears on screen. He congratulates teams like Enzo and Cass and the Vaudvillains, who've made a big splash on the main roster, and uses this to announce that the Revival will be getting their tag title rematch at Takeover.
This brings us to the main event. During Bayley's entrance, the commentary team points out that when they're in Full Sail, Bayley's like the home team, and that's such an appropriate metaphor. The story of this match is pretty simple. How has Nia Jax managed to improve since their last meeting in London? For the record, the answer is "a lot." In another year or so, Nia Jax is really going to be something, and I mean that. Here, though, it's still a little early on for her. Basically, the whole match gets laid out in the first few moments: They lock up, and Jax powers out. Then Bayley tries a go-behind waistlock, and Jax powers out. There's a lot of that. Bayley comes off the ropes and goes for a choke, and Jax powers out. Headlock, power out, and cover gets two. Then, Jax lays in some shoulder tackles in the corner, until Bayley gets her boots up. When she tries to go on offense, Jax powers out and hits a bodyslam. She lays in a rope choke, then hits a few more shoulders in the corner. Bayley reverses an Irish whip and starts throwing fists, but Jax powers out and gets another two count. Bayley gets her boots up in the corner again, and Jax powers out again. Bayley throws some punches, and Jax powers out, hitting an inverted shoulder breaker, another shoulder tackle in the corner, and then she just stands on Bayley's wrist for a while. Bayley hits some elbows, but Jax powers out, landing a big kick and then slapping on a cobra clutch. Commentary points out that taking out Bayley's arm is a smart move, and I agree. Bayley hits some more elbows, but Jax hits a big clothesline for two, and then goes right back into the cobra clutch, before switching it up into a bearhug/hammerlock combo. This is a mistake, though, as Bayley tries to clamp a guillotine choke on. Her injured arm prevents a full choke, though, and Jax rushes her to the corner. Bayley tries to counter with a sunset flip, but it's a no go on Jax. Bayley does manage to maneuver her into the corner, though, where she can hit her trio of running elbow strikes. She nails a big dropkick, and sends Jax out to the floor. She goes for a 'rana, but Jax blocks it, trying to turn it into a powerbomb. Bayley powers back, and does manage to hit the 'rana. She brings Jax back into the ring and hits a big crossbody block for two. She attempts the Belly to Bayley, but her arm is no good, and Jax headbutts her way out. She misses in the corner, though, and Bayley comes back with the guillotine! Is that it? No, Jax powers out into a suplex, but Bayley escapes, and hits huge DDT for two! It looks like Bayley tweaked her knee on the way down, though, which is all Jax needs to take advantage. She hits an avalanche in the corner, then nails a Samoan Drop, and it looks bad. She drops a leg on the knee, then a leg to the back of Bayley's head, and Jax scores an upset victory on the former champ.
Match Rating: "Usually It's Garbage And Then A Good Main Event."
I mean it; this was a good match. It probably doesn't look like it written down, and was far from a technical masterpiece, but it told a great story all the way through, building on Bayley's loss to Asuka and what that means for her career, and also building up Jax as a viable contender. It really worked, even as limited as the action was. And that's kind of what I wanted to get into as far as a rebuttal to Quezzy. Because, in a way, he's right. Most weeks, the matches aren't too much to look at, especially if you are in it for the technical stuff. But let's look at this show. One real match, one squash, one advanced squash, and one angle masquerading as a match. But everything on the show had a reason to be there, pushed somebody forward, and set up a direction for them. The week-to-week show that I recap here isn't about matches, really, it's about story. That's why I never do a real recap for Takeovers: I'm too busy watching the matches to write stuff down. On these shows, though, I can really take my time, and absorb what they're trying to do, and honestly that's one of the big reasons I like doing these recaps - they let me digest the show in a way that you don't normally, if you're not really thinking about how everything's laid out and what the plans for the future are. I think that how much you like the weekly NXT show really comes down to how much you like story and how much you like action. Some weeks have both, but usually you're going to find the action at Takeover. | Promote this thread! |             | J. Kyle
Banger
Level: 103
Posts: 2467/2552
EXP: 11454053
For next: 17392
Since: 21.2.02
From: The Land of Aloha
Since last post: 1384 days
Last activity: 1164 days
| | | Y!: |  |
|
| #2 Posted on 21.5.16 0206.27
Reposted on: 21.5.23 0207.33 | What NXT does is remember that the weekly is supposed to be the first two acts of a serial story, and the specials are the third act, complete with occasional cliffhanger endings or epilogues setting up the next story.
The story is usually A vs B in a wrasslin match and I appreciate the interactions in matches being limited between specials because even matches I love to death on Raw don't mean anything because I've already seen them 45,000 times in a calendar year.
So I do prefer squashes, semi squashes, and the like on the undercard of weekly shows because as Tenken said NXT uses these to advance the greater story as well as develop talent. Asuka kills girls while Ema and Dana try to get into her head and fail, then end up having Asuka in their heads. Corbin and Dempsey (WE MISS YOU) compete to see who can stomp jobbers with the most style points until Corbin beats Dempsey, gets full of himself and attacks someone he's not ready for (Joe), hell even guys like Jason Jordan who show up and lose a bunch of tag squashes until they find the right partner (HANG IN THERE DAWKINS!)
A weekly NXT show may not look like much out of context but neither would chapter 4 of the 5th book in a Tom Clancy series. | BigDaddyLoco
Scrapple
Level: 146
Posts: 5400/5690
EXP: 38253828
For next: 259558
Since: 2.1.02
Since last post: 150 days
Last activity: 150 days
| #3 Posted on 22.5.16 0015.03
Reposted on: 22.5.23 0015.44 | I get that Balor and Joe have a heated rivalry, supposedly one for the ages, but seeing Nakamura out there during the pull apart and then as cannon fodder for a Balor dive just doesn't fit the narrative I think they need to be going for with him. Yes, it is a Portland Oregon house show and I am splitting hairs here, but I no it does not work.
I was thinking that these shows remind me of the old WCW weekend shows before Nitro. They seem unimportant on the surface and you can skip them and watch the PPVS and be perfectly entertained, but you are going to miss the layers upon layers of incidents, many of them minor, that brewed all the bad blood that is about to be unleashed. NXT is being run basically the same way the big companies did things before monthly PPVs. It's refreshing for someone my age to see, but I can understand why anyone who came along during the Monday Night Wars or later might not get it.
| texasranger9
Frankfurter
Level: 57
Posts: 510/754
EXP: 1411772
For next: 74165
Since: 9.1.11
Since last post: 1276 days
Last activity: 1276 days
| #4 Posted on 25.5.16 2240.30
Reposted on: 25.5.23 2242.59 | Originally posted by BigDaddyLoco
I get that Balor and Joe have a heated rivalry, supposedly one for the ages, but seeing Nakamura out there during the pull apart and then as cannon fodder for a Balor dive just doesn't fit the narrative I think they need to be going for with him. Yes, it is a Portland Oregon house show and I am splitting hairs here, but I no it does not work.
I was thinking that these shows remind me of the old WCW weekend shows before Nitro. They seem unimportant on the surface and you can skip them and watch the PPVS and be perfectly entertained, but you are going to miss the layers upon layers of incidents, many of them minor, that brewed all the bad blood that is about to be unleashed. NXT is being run basically the same way the big companies did things before monthly PPVs. It's refreshing for someone my age to see, but I can understand why anyone who came along during the Monday Night Wars or later might not get it.
That's vibe I always get from nxt. It's like wCw in the early nineties to me. Small matches on a short program that builds to big PPV payoffs. Unlike WWe PPVs in NXT both participants in a match have win streaks going into the contest. No even steven bookings. Plus it is the development system so they are paid less than the main roster. You get the feeling that their fighting to get to the pay-windah. If you read old wCw at www.kickoffear.com you'll know how important it is to get to that pay-windah.
| lotjx
Scrapple
Level: 129
Posts: 4471/4785
EXP: 24559503
For next: 490218
Since: 5.9.08
Since last post: 1504 days
Last activity: 1343 days
| #5 Posted on 26.5.16 0855.18
Reposted on: 26.5.23 0855.32 | | Not happy with Bayley losing clean and no one for her to really work with if not Asuka. They have to get more women in NXT from the Indys or move her up. The woman's division is so divided on both shows I fear for its future. I love Rock, but I am sick of his family members. | | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
| | | | | |
