It's the final night from the tapings at CFE Arena, and we're closing it out with a main event of Takeover-level proportions: Finn Balor vs. Adrien Neville. But before we can get to that, we've got a bunch of other stuff. We start out with the Vaudvillains taking on Some Jobbers. Aiden English is respendlent in his finery as he walks to the ring, while Simon Gotch is sporting a fancy new haircut. One Jobber opens up the match with a dropkick, but that's about all he gets before English starts wailing on him. He tags in Gotch for a double-chop, then English comes back in to continue the assault. English starts rubbing the jobber's face in the mat, which is something of a metaphor for this entire match. It's not bad, as squash goes, but a Whirling Dervish was always the inevitable conclusion here. Match Rating: As Squash Goes.
Emma and Dana are backstage, and Emma wants us to know that she's going to be making an example out of her jobber tonight. I want you to remember those words.
We get a spotlight package for Finn Balor (in case you didn't already know, somehow), and then we recap the parking lot beating that Enzo took from Dash & Dawson, who we are now referring to as the Revival. I liked the Mechanics better, frankly. Anyhoo, Enzo and Cass want the Revival to know there won't be anywhere to run to the next time they get their hands on them. The Revival get their own segment, though, to let us know that they think Enzo and Cass are all talk. It all comes down to Roadblock(!), where Enzo and Cass are going to get another tag title shot.
Roadblock, huh? That's neat. Off topic, Roadblock is a way better name than Fastlane, right? Like, Fastlane should just disappear after this year.
Emma's out, and she'll be squaring off against Santana Garrett, as was foretold by PowerPB13 a few weeks ago. Santana had a great match against Asuka, so I'm looking forward to this. Emma starts by mashing Santana's face into every turnbuckle in the ring. Not, uh, not an auspicious start for Santana. She tries to block another turnbuckle spot with her leg, but Emma just blasts it out from under her and smacks her around anyways. Emma keeps it up with a Tiger suplex, followed by a hair stand and her patented snap hair takeover. She ties Santana up in the ropes and starts yanking on her hair, and at this point I'm pretty sure Emma's got some kind of legit beef with this woman. Emma locks in her seated surfboard rest hold, but that seems a little tame at this point, so she starts driving her knee into the small of Santana's back. I know she's here to do the job, but is Santana going to get anything in here? Wait, yes! A big boot gives her an opening for a couple clotheslines and nice side-Russian legsweep, followed by a handspring elbow. Santana goes up top, but Emma dumps her into the tree of woe. Dana gets in a few shots while the ref's not looking, and then Emma nails a curbstomp into the Emmalock for the tapout. Match Rating: I Told You To Remember What Emma Said.
Although, I still thought Santana looked good here.
Shout-out to InVerse, as we go backstage to Jax-E. They're having a chat with GM Regal, as they would like to be treated like the stars only they think that they are. Regal agrees, and sets a tag match between them and the team of Bayley and Asuka. Well, that's better than their last outing, but I'd rather have someone who can wrestle on both sides of the match.
Regal heads out to the ring to welcome NXT's newest addition, who is in fact Austin Aries. Before Aries can even make it to the ring, though, Corbin nails him from behind and bounces him off the apron lightboard. He shouts "An eye for an eye!" at Regal, and I assume that he does not know what that sentence actually means.
Actually, I think Corbin's a pretty good first program for Aries. He's going to need someone to wreck at Takeover, and Corbin carries a bit more weight than, say, Tye Dillinger, so this win should actually mean something for Aries.
Hey, the Drifter's out! Some Jobber tries to do some mat wrestling, but instead Samson plays air guitar (no, really), then hits him hard enough to draw blood. Well, that escalated quickly. Standing elbow drop, jumping knee strike, swinging neckbreaker. Match Rating: Drift Away.
The Hype Bros are glad they ate a loss to the Vaudvillains, because now they're motivated to stop playing around and fight for real. Meanwhile, THE VAUDVILLAINS ARE LURKING IN THE ACTUAL SHADOWS BEHIND THEM. I love the Vaudvillains, they are the best.
Hey, here's a quick reminder in case you forgot that Adrian Neville is amazing. The way he's booked on RAW, you probably did actually forget that.
Speaking of reminders, Sami Zayn faces Samoa Joe in a two out of three falls match next week. Okay, so: Zayn/Joe/Corbin, Balor/Crews, the surprisingly good Bay/Mella, Balor/Neville this week and then this match next week. Outside of last week's tag disaster, we have been unusually blessed. Is it, like, wrestling sweeps or something? Heck, look at the Lucha Underground thread when it goes up to see what they did this week. We live in crazy times.
Anyhoo, it is time for our main event, and I'm just going to get right into it. We start with NXT main event style holds and reversals, culminating in Finn tangling Neville up in the ropes. Finn offers the clean break as a show of sportsmanship. We go back to some chain wrestling, with neither man really getting an early advantage. Neville decides to pick up the pace, landing a handspring into a dropkick, and then goes for a sunset flip off the ropes. Finn counters through, popping up with a dropkick of his own. Finn tries to slow things down again, but Neville keeps going with a snap suplex and some elbow strikes. He shoots Finn hard into the turnbuckle, and Graves almost says that even though Neville's on RAW now, he's still good at wrestling. No, listen to the commentary and tell me that wasn't where he was going with that. Anyhoo, this is a real return to form for Neville, who is once again wrestling under the persona of a true professional competitor, one who values victory over everything else. He is all over Finn now. He backs Finn into the corner, and will he give Finn the same clean break he was given earlier? Hell no. This is where we get reminded that, in the ring, Neville's kind of a son of a bitch. He's not a cheater, exactly, but he wants to win. Finn manages to catapult Neville to the floor, but than only buys him a few minutes. Neville's back in, and back in charge. He sends Finn outside, and follows up with a big, beautiful moonsault press to a standing Finn. How on earth does he do that move so perfectly every time? Balor finally gets back in with a pele kick, leading into a great spot where Neville drops down, and when the ref goes to check on him, he just falls over. It's actually my favorite part of this entire match. Finn starts whipping Neville from post to post, chopping him down as he goes. Neville goes outside, and Finn continues with a baseball slide and a big kick from the apron. That only gets two, though. Finn measures Neville, and goes in for his inverted suplex slam, but Neville gets loose and starts nailing hook kicks. He shoots Finn in for a German suplex off the ropes, then deadlifts him into a second one. That second suplex has absolutely the prettiest bridge I've ever seen. Neville goes up top for the Red Arrow, but Finn gets to his feet and knocks him down. Neville gets back in control with an enziguri, and goes up top again, only to be knocked to the floor by an enziguri from Finn. Finn sees Neville in the Danger Zone, and now it's his turn to hit a big dive onto the floor. Again, absolutely beautiful. Neville gets tossed back in, and now Finn's up top. Neville counters this time, and hits a gigantic top rope huricanrana. Neville goes for the Red Arrow one more time, but Finn dodges and hits the sling blade. Neville tries to turn things around with a rollup, but Finn gets loose. Neville goes for another hook kick, but Finn catches his boot, hits a clothesline, and then nails the knockback dropkick. That's enough to keep Neville down for the Coup de Grace, but Finn's not done. Once again, he picks Neville up for the Bloody Sunday (which still needs an NXT name), and that will get the three. Match Rating: Yeah, It Delivered.
Afterwards, Finn asks for the handshake of respect. Did Neville learn a lesson about friendship, like he did in the match with Sami Zayn? Not really; this time, he can barely bring himself to accept the handshake and raise Finn's hand before he dives out of the ring, disgusted with himself for losing. I love it; it's not that Finn beat him, it's that anyone could beat him. I miss Adrian Neville.
And, before we go, we've got final comments from Joe and Sami, who are together in the same place for this one. Nothing you wouldn't expect from our competitors here, but Sami's about done with Joe's attitude, and this two out of three falls match might actually be even better than the match we got tonight. What a time to be a wrestling fan.
You know what? Finn Balor just does nothing for me. I want to like him, but I never feel engaged in anything he does. It's similar to how I feel about Randy Orton even though Finn is better. The match was good, but you know .... just meh.
Bitter Baron Corbin wiping out these indy turds is something that will never get old to me. Somewhere Alex Riley weeps softly because he hates these indy turds and wishes he could be the one who gets programs, but he sucks and is Alex Riley. I'm excited to see what kind of lifts Aries wears as well as seeing him fight this fuckstick Baron Corbin who I no longer think sucks. Maybe one day Balor will win me over too.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoYou know what? Finn Balor just does nothing for me. I want to like him, but I never feel engaged in anything he does. It's similar to how I feel about Randy Orton even though Finn is better. The match was good, but you know .... just meh. (edited by BigDaddyLoco on 4.3.16 1342)
We were all discussing exactly that question during the match, and it's a puzzler. There's nothing WRONG with Finn. He can speak (if diffidently), he's in superb shape, and he moves well. He obviously works hard and I'm sure he has the respect of his peers. He just doesn't leave much of an impression.
The demon business doesn't seem to go deeper than the fancy paint job - the idea of anyone being afraid of this polite young man's inner monster is a little silly.
The demon business doesn't seem to go deeper than the fancy paint job - the idea of anyone being afraid of this polite young man's inner monster is a little silly.
I also wish they would do more with "the demon." I'm hoping they are saving it for his eventual heel turn. I think the problem isn't Balor so much as his booking. Lately the focus on NXT has been on the women's and tag team belts, and the championship picture has been pushed a bit towards the background. Hopefully once we have a definitive number one contender things will get better. There is nothing not to love about Balor, he just hasn't had too much to do as champ.
It's the most important meal of the day.
http://toomuchbreakfast.tumblr.com/
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoYou know what? Finn Balor just does nothing for me. I want to like him, but I never feel engaged in anything he does. It's similar to how I feel about Randy Orton even though Finn is better. The match was good, but you know .... just meh. (edited by BigDaddyLoco on 4.3.16 1342)
We were all discussing exactly that question during the match, and it's a puzzler. There's nothing WRONG with Finn. He can speak (if diffidently), he's in superb shape, and he moves well. He obviously works hard and I'm sure he has the respect of his peers. He just doesn't leave much of an impression.
The demon business doesn't seem to go deeper than the fancy paint job - the idea of anyone being afraid of this polite young man's inner monster is a little silly.
He's like Avatar, the movie: it's a great movie, its pretty, its a technical achievement, but in the long run, it's just a movie that's entirely forgettable.
We bought it on Blu-Ray when it was released and watched it once. It hasn't been taken out of the case since.
Take Two "I don't give a damns" and please...don't call Me In The Morning
Hey, I got Direct TV Monday so I traded random CMLL on On-Demand for 3 hours of AAA a week on Galavision. So here ya go. I haven't watched AAA in years but not because I didn't want to.
Thread rated: 7.50
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