REVIEW: NXT (July 29th, 2015)

Greetings to all. ZX is truly a kind individual and once again let me contribute to one of his already established blogs. I always thought that my first article about wrestling will be something grand and elaborate. An in-depth analysis why John Cena is underrated by the online wrestling community or maybe why The Undertaker shouldn’t have came back at “Battleground”. Yet, today I am writing my very first review of a wrestling show. And that show is the highly praised and beloved WWE NXT, which aired last night, July 29th. I won’t try to reinvent the wheel, so this article will be a simple match by match afterthoughts from a person who doesn’t think that she knows business better than a billion dollar company.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson

The night started with the traditionally comedic entrance of the “Jersey Shore” trifecta. I don’t know if it is just me, but Enzo’s tan always makes me cringe. But nonetheless, the gimmick is somewhat amusing and not every wrestler can make the crowd learn his entrance. Yet, I am not entirely sure that this gimmick can stay fresh for a long period of time. Especially if we’re talking about a possible call up to the main roster.

Facing the Mechanics (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) Big Cass and Enzo really got a run for their money. Of course, the match did follow the traditional tag team outline that can be seen not only on NXT, but also on the flagship WWE programming. The heels cornered in the faces, a few hot tags, cleaning house, the Jersey natives seem ready to finish this… And the team of Wilder and Dawson, taking out Enzo after a chase around the outside of the ring, score a win with quite an impressive finisher called “Shatter Machine”.

Since the Vaudevillains are building a feud with the current champs, it is lovely to see the other teams getting a fair chance to impress and build a feud of their own. Wilder and Dawson came off as strong contenders and I am actually interested to see how will they get booked in the future.

Baron Corbin vs. Jesse Sorensen

Let the squash matches begin. Baron Corbin defeated Jesse Sorensen (a TNA alumni) in 22 seconds. Okay. I think I somewhat understand where this is supposed to be going. An arrogant and douchy jock heel is being built up as a threat and (maybe) possible rival for the beloved “Demon” Finn Balor, who currently holds the NXT Championship. But the problem is that Corbin doesn’t come off as threat by beating “unknown” jobbers in less than a minute. Of course, the idea of him coming in, not even in his ring gear, applying his “End of Days” finisher and leaving sounds good on paper. Yet, the fact that he doesn’t fight NXT regulars and two weeks in a row had squash matches takes away from any possible heel powerhouse build up. Baron Corbin now comes off as someone that WWE desperately wants to push, but only pushes him face first into mud.

Levis Valenzuela Jr. and Elias Samson vs. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan

Squash #2. But since it followed Corbin’s “Blink and you might just miss it” match, this tag team showdown seemed a lot stronger in comparison. I wasn’t too interested to watch this one, since Jordan and Gable’s trash talking promo was okay (I still have this huge problem with wrestlers cutting promos while talking sideways, with their backs to the interviewer and most possibly reading cue cards with a blank stare), but I have to give props for managing to make the match seem refreshing after Corbin’s snoozefest. Gable actually got quite a huge pop from the crowd after tagging in and the guys seem to work well with each other. There is a chance that this tag team might actually work. But Jordan, please, next time doing a promo - emote.

Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke

Now this one was a doozy. I read in a few reviews of the match that Dana should have won. But personally I think the outcome of the match was clear from the get go when the battle of the blondes was announced last week. Charlotte is a prized possession. The former NXT Women’s Champion since her debut on RAW as a part of the Divas Revolution was booked as a dominant force scoring wins right of the bat and even overshadowing “Casper the Unfriendly Ghost” Paige in the process. You can notice that she is being groomed to eventually beat either Nikki Bella or her successor for the belt. So booking her against an improving, but still very mediocre Dana Brooke had a very easily predictable outcome. Plus, we know that next week the Nature Girl is facing Bayley, who is the only contender to challenge current champ Sasha Banks. With the possibility of Bayley pulling out a win to establish herself as a future NXT Women’s champion, there was no way in hell the creatives would have given Charlotte two loses in a row on NXT. Yet this match did have potential. But since it took around 5 minutes and some of the time was lost to squeeze in Emma’s cliche distractions and some trash talking in the beginning, we had less than that to see actual wrestling. Right now I am not sure what is in store for Dana Brooke and her confidante Emma, since neither of them look like legit threats that could take the division by storm or that they are ready to be the top heels who would go against the babyface Bayley.

Kevin Owens in Action

Since Dana got squashed in her match, I’ll let myself call this Squash #4. After last week’s contract signing for a main event (this kind of event was even mocked on RAW before Battleground by Paul Heyman) Owens had his first in ring appearance on NXT after losing the belt at “Beast in the East”. I don’t know what black cat walked between Owens and the bookers at WWE, but since “Battleground” all of his momentum has gone down the drain. With every show Owens looks weaker and tonight’s match seemed like a big step back from what we had at after his debut on the main roster. His match against “jobber” Martin Stone gave nothing, because just like with Corbin, Owens stomped on an unknown wrestler. And that takes away from the validity of the match. Sure, he did attack him afterwards and mocked Balor on the entrance ramp, but that didn’t make him look even half as dominant as he was that night when he debuted against John Cena. I think it is high time to let Owens go, let Balor retain at TakeOver and see if KO can stand tall against the Swiss Superman, Cesaro. His time here is simply up.

NXT Tag Team Title Match: The Vaudevillains vs. Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake

Hands down the strongest match of the evening. And not that it was that good. There was nothing better on the card. Well, maybe except for the opener tag match, which was on a similar level. The Vaudevillains dominated the ring and looked stronger than the reigning champions. I still don’t really get Blake & Murphy and what are they supposed to be. Adding Alexa Bliss as their manager didn’t help either. In my diletant opinion the team lacks chemistry. But that’s just me. The Vaudevillains are actually quite entertaining and their in ring abilities are more than impressive. I think that Gotch has a chance to shine in singles competition as well. Blake and Murphy act like typical heels, nothing new or that you could call “their own”. Well, at least the crowd had fun chanting “C’mon, Barbie, let’s go party!” at Blake’s ravishing bleach blond locks and bright pink tights. But that is pretty much where the fun stops as Alexa Bliss pulled on English’s legs, quick roll up and the match ended with Barbie Glam Squad retaining. I do hope that at TakeOver The Vaudevillains will get a rematch and will become Tag Team Champions. Gotch and English not only have quite the unique gimmick, but also are cemented as a strong tag team and look dominating in the ring. To me they seem better and more deserving title holders.

P.S. A note for the lovely Alexa Bliss. I do understand that she was once a cheerleader and they are supposed to paint their faces for the back row. But this is High Definition television. I noticed more than once that her makeup is waaaay too heavy and reminds of drag, when she is an insanely beautiful young woman. Just toning it down a couple of notches would be stellar.

All in all, I honestly think that this NXT was one of the more disappointing wrestling programs I have seen. 4 squash matches, 3 of them leading to nowhere, a title defense, with the outline that we know by heart and some stiff promos…. Yeah… Back to watching “Lucha Underground”.