And then he compounded it by duping Bryan with fake cops, got him handcuffed, and then delivered an absolutely sick beatdown to the leader of the Yes Movement.
Down in NXT Land, the 'Hype Man' stays hyped, but CJ Parker is getting ready to release some eco-justice on him, Corey Graves tried to make sure Sami Zayn 'stays down,' the Adam Rose Experience continues, Bayley showed some new personality against Sasha Banks, and Sheamus came down to NXT to steal the spotlight from 'The Artiste.'
I don't have much else to say about this week, and even commentary doesn't have a whole lot I need to talk about this week. For the record, the team was Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and William Regal, with Renee Young coming out to join the team for one match.
One problem Mojo's first few matches on NXT had was that during his entrance, the camera would stay fixed on the ramp as Mojo came blitzing out and ran out one side of the frame before coming back. It looked silly, and amateurish. This week, the camera was doing a better job of keeping Mojo in-shot as he ran back and forth on the stage.
It's worth noting that during this set of tapings, there was a noticeable contingent of fans wearing Mojo Rawley shirts across from the hard camera. This week, we found out that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was part of that contingent. Gronk and Mojo apparently know each other from Mojo's brief football career, and Mojo was very 'hyped' to see him in his fan club.
Bull Dempsey has a real old-school look to his in-ring attire, with the double-strapped singlet and the chest hair. The fact that the singlet dips low enough in front to show his navel certainly helps sell it. Commentary was talking him up a bit as well, saying he calls himself a "throwback" and "the last of the old warriors." He went on the attack early and wrestled a smash-mouth brawling style. He got a decent amount of offense in and even a couple of near-falls. He makes a capable named jobber, and when the NXT roster opens up a bit, he'd be a solid heel type.
Eventually, Mojo reversed a headlock with a back suplex, then went to his football stance, tackling Dempsey back into the corner and then hitting a pair of stinger splashes. The camerawork was a lot better on these, as well; one of my criticisms about Mojo's splashes is that while he has great horizontal leaping ability, he was very obviously not getting a lot of vertical height on them, which makes the splash look weaker. This week, the camera was zoomed in more, so it wasn't clear how far off the canvas he was, which makes them look a lot better. From there, Mojo hit a Rear View, then the Hyperdrive for the three-count. Post-match, he went into the crowd to his 'fan club' and celebrated with them and Gronkowski.
Backstage with CJ Parker
Devin Taylor interviewed CJ Parker, who showed up ... in a suit?! That look doesn't suit him, to be honest, at least not without some holier-than-thou spiel about how it's hand-woven with eco-friendly materials, so much better than clothing made in sweatshops or something. Devin asked him how he feels about his loss to Mojo at "NXT Arrival." "Shocked and sickened. And I'm not talking about Mojo's in-ring ability. I am strictly talking about his lifestyle choice. I mean, he says it all the time, 'I don't get hyped, I stay hyped.' And he's right, Devin, Mojo does stay hyped. On genetically-modified, highly-processed, empty-calorie fast foods. Rawley is the kind of guy who swings through a drive-thru, buys ten double cheeseburgers, burps, and throws the wrappers out the window. In one week, I am going to humanely dispose of Mojo Rawley." He then held up a recycling bin and dropped a wad of paper into it.
To give Parker credit, he's taken his heel turn to heart, and his 'more environmentally conscious than you' hippie character has some decent legs to it. It certainly allows the NXT Crowd, notably apathetic about him, to hate him for a good reason. Who knows, perhaps after Parker runs out of 'eco-justice' to defend, he could become a 'social justice' warrior, which is sure to get people to hate him.
Match #2: Tyler Breeze vs Sami Zayn
Breeze's entrance this week had a great moment where his "selfie-tron" behind him at one point showed himself preening behind himself, to the point where it almost went recursive. The cameramen at Full Sail University need to get a decent shot of that for Breeze's hype videos, or at least a still shot of it to put up on the website. Regal made a point, as they do on commentary, to state that Breeze's fur hood and boots were Peruvian chinchilla, made by a Bolivian tinker.
They talked about Breeze's recent interactions with Xavier Woods, as well, with Breeze attempting to push his way into Woods' match against Rusev last week. When Woods refused to let Breeze jump the line, the 'Gorgeous One' cheap-shotted him, which let Rusev dominate the match. This is important because of next week's match, but I cover that at the end of this blog entry.
Sami Zayn was in mid-entrance when Corey Graves jumped him from behind, ramming him face-first into the ring post. Even retired monster William Regal took exception to this, since Sami had just high-fived a little girl. Graves looked insufferably pleased with himself and flashed his 'STAY DOWN' knuckle tats as officials checked on Sami and sent Graves to the back. Sami looked dazed, and eventually had to be helped to the back. The match with Breeze never took place.
Backstage with Sheamus
Devin Taylor interviewed 'The Celtic Warrior' Sheamus, who greeted her in a friendly fashion. She asked him how it felt to be back in NXT. He started talking about how he came up through NXT, which was a blatant bit of continuity error. Sheamus didn't come up through NXT, he went through WWE's old developmental program at Florida Championship Wrestling, and debuted on WWE's ECW brand. However, Sheamus didn't get far into what he was saying before he was interrupted by Aiden English. "Sheamus, I don't believe you and I have been properly introduced. My name is Aiden English, the man who single-handedly using this company as a stepping stone to the brighter lights of Broadway."
Sheamus looked bemused by this. "Using this a stepping stone to the brighter lights of Broadway? Well, funny you should say 'stones,' 'cos from the sound of your voice, it's obvious that your stones haven't dropped yet. But don't worry about it, because I'll go have a chat with me old friend JBL, and we'll make sure that problem is finally put to bed. See ya out there, kid."
Match #3: Adam Rose (w/ The Rosebud Party) vs Camacho
Adam Rose's entrance has already been remixed by NXT's version of Jim Johnston, CFO$. The remixed "World Goes Wild," at first listen, isn't as good as Above Envy's version. The "Oh oh oh" chorus has been replaced with "Hey hey hey" and the "Woooo!" has been replaced with another "HEY!" There's some lyrics to the theme as well.
Renee Young was on commentary for this match, and all four of the commentary team were dancing during Rose's entrance. Rose continues to be extremely over with the crowd, and I'll admit it's fun to see all of the "Rosebuds" dancing up a storm. It must be fun for all the not-used talent to just put on a weird costume and go out and just go crazy with dancing.
Camacho, who was already in the ring, was unimpressed with the party, and with the "Adam Rose" chants that started up. The crowd was even singing the chorus and dancing (a la the 'Fandango-ing' dance) for a while as Rose pranced about the ring. Camacho took control off a lockup and clubbed away at Rose's shoulder in a wristlock. Rose somersaulted out of the hold, then kept rolling around the ring, frustrating Camacho greatly as Rose started prancing again.
Camacho ended up eating a back elbow, at which point Rose rocked back through the ropes and 'rode a bicycle' to keep him back. When the big man finally pulled Rose's feet down, the party guy nailed him with a forearm. Rose went to a headlock, but Camacho powered him up and dropped him with back suplex. From there, he took control, unleashing some violence in the corner, to "Party Pooper" chants. Camacho got a nearfall of some more violence, as the crowd started singing the chorus to Rose's theme again.
Commentary went off on a bit of a tangent about Rose's parties, which Phillips and Saxton haven't been to. Renee suggested that "it's one of those parties where you have to send a text, they send you a password, is it the blue or the white clam chowder..." which Saxton immediately compared to a gag in the first Ace Ventura movie.
Camacho kept slugging away, then hit a clothesline in the corner before mocking Rose's prancing. It was either this, or the fact that Rose had been bloodied up by the big man's assault (or possibly both), but Rose went nuts, tackling him and slugging away. Camacho ended up seated in the corner, where Rose jumped on him Bronco Buster-style, but only for a single bounce. Rose let out a "Woo!" and planted him with a spinebuster, then set up for his lariat finisher, doing his hip-thrusts, then yelling out "Choo-choo!" before connecting with the move for the win.
After the match, the crowd all started dancing as Rose's theme started playing, and as the Rosebuds returned to the stage. In retrospect, though, CFO$'s remix isn't bad, but I think it needs another remix, to return the "Woooo!" to the chorus.
Much like Bull Dempsey earlier, I liked some of what I saw here out of Camacho. He's a solid worker in a somewhat limited capacity, so I hope they find him a new tag partner and give him some tag work, since Hunico has apparently moved on to be Sin Cara.
Match #4: Sasha Banks (w/ Charlotte & Summer Rae's head) vs Bayley (w/ Natalya)
William Regal, during Bayley's entrance, talked about how popular she is with his nieces, who are always calling him up to talk about how much they like her. He said he's planning to bring them over for the next set of tapings. This match was set up last week, when the BFFs (minus Summer Rae) tried to mock Bayley and Bret Hart, prompting Bayley to make fun of the BFFs by "imitating" Summer Rae.
Natalya lead a "Bayley" chant as the two locked up, but Bayley muscled Sasha back into the corner, where 'The Boss' cowered in the face of Bayley's fists. She charged at her, but ran right into a full nelson from Bayley. Bayley took her down with a snapmare, then a shoulder block. Sasha tried to fire back with a kneelift to the gut, but Bayley just clamped on another full nelson. Sasha managed to get to the ropes, propping her feet up on the top rope. Bayley obediently broke the hold before the five-count, prompting dropping Sasha to the mat.
At this point, Bayley showed more of her personality as she stole Sasha's sunglasses and mockingly strutted about the way that she does. Sasha, when she saw it, was understandably furious and yelled at her about it, but Bayley just mocked Sasha's gesticulations, and took her down as Sasha charged. Bayley mocked her again while sitting on her back, while Charlotte jaw-jacked with Natalya on the outside. This was some great character work for Bayley, showing she's growing out of her 'starstruck newcomer' phase. She's still got that awkward charm about her, but it's good that she's not letting herself get pigeon-holed into it.
Bayley caught Sasha in the corner with a flapjack, but missed on a splash, allowing Sasha to flail away at her back, then hit a nasty dropkick to the back. Sasha continued with her girl-bully offense, even stealing Sasha's hairband and wearing it to mock her. She worked over Bayley's back before clamping on a deep headlock. Bayley started to fire back with forearms, then whipped Sasha into the ropes, but 'The Boss' put on the breaks and let Bayley whiff on a dropkick before dumping her to the floor. Charlotte moved in with bad intentions, only to be cut off by Natalya. Bayley got back in the ring, and as soon as Natalya wasn't looking, Charlotte cheap-shotted her, distracting Bayley for a roll-up from Sasha. However, Bayley reversed the pin and picked up the victory.
As noted, great improvement shown here by Bayley, with her character developing nicely. The personality shown, especially the tactic of mocking the bullies back, is something that anyone who's dealt with bullies can get behind. In addition, Bayley is showing some decent ring-savviness too. I see big things in her future.
Match #5: Aiden English vs Sheamus
As usual, Aiden English serenaded us during his entrance:
In that lonely center ring
You've heard The Artiste sing.
Finally, a man that NXT,
Who can finally be
The greatest performer in WWE
English was singing in a lower key than he usually does, and he was actually getting some boos during his performance, although he still got "Encore" chants. Sheamus entered to a big pop of his own, but English still had the microphone. "Ahem! Sheamus, it seems a few of the people here know you. But you see, this is the theatre that The Artiste built. And I don't know if you knew this, but I'm the man who's going to use this building, this ring, and this company to make my way to the brighter lights of Broadway."
Sheamus swiped the mic. "So you wanna go to Broadway, right? Does anyone here think this man is gonna make it in Broadway?" The crowd yelled "NOOO!" before chanting, "No No No!" ("I do," says Regal.) "I know you like to sing a lot, 'cos obviously I heard you come out here and destroy everyone's eardrums, and you do that week after week here on NXT, but where I come from, when we sing, it's a celebratory sort of thing. We celebrate with song! So I was wondering if I could share an old Irish song with everybody here on NXT? 'No?' I have been practicing. Can we get a clap going?" The crowd obliged, and Sheamus started singing "The Irish Rover:"
On the 4th of July, 1806
We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the Grand City Hall in New York
We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the Grand City Hall in New York
'Twas a wonderful craft, she was rigged fore and aft
And oh, how the wild wind drove her--
And oh, how the wild wind drove her--
At that point, English stole the mic. "This is my show, these people--" An angry Sheamus took the mic back.
She withstood several blasts,
She had twenty-seven masts,
And they called her the Irish Rover--
Now English clobbered him from behind. Furious, Shameus called for the bell and gave chase as English ran away, but suckered Sheamus back in the ring for stomps and clubbing blows in the corner. He did a great job keeping him cornered for a while, until Sheamus got his feet under him and returned fire. English evaded a clothesline and tried to get out of the ring, but this just set him up for the Beats of the Bodhran chest-clubbing. Sheamus bealed him back in the ring, then went for the Brogue Kick, but English bailed to the floor as we went to an ad-break.
As we returned from break, English was in control, slugging away at Sheamus, who started to rally back with some shots of his own and threw English over the top to the floor. Sheamus pursued him, throwing him around the ringside area, but when English rolled out of the ring again, he suckered Sheamus in and threw him into the ring post, then slammed him face-first off the steps. English took control and wore him down with a rear chinlock that was almost Cesaro-esque in the way he was cranking it, wearing Sheamus down when the Celtic Warrior tried to get to his feet.
Regal defended English's talk of "making it to Broadway" as not being literal. He explained that English is using Broadway as a metaphor for the top of the industry. He also admitted to having a man-crush on The Artiste.
English throttled Sheamus on the ropes, but was driven back by punches to the gut. Sheamus went for a whip to the ropes, but English reversed and caught him on the rebound with a knee to the gut. Sheamus was down in the corner, but bought himself time by kicking out English's knee before getting to the top rope. English stopped him, however, and brought him off the top with a vicious looking neckbreaker for a near-fall. English went back to the rear chinlock, desperately trying to keep Sheamus down by applying a bodyscissors as well. Sheamus fed off some "Let's Go Sheamus" chants, elbowing his way free and arm-dragging English off, then connecting with a series of Irish Hammers.
Sheamus kept building up a head of steam, planting English with a running powerslam, then signaling for the Brogue Kick. He connected with it and picked up the win.
English showed a lot of solid work this week, and I'd be in favor of calling him up soon to the main roster. He would make a solid partner for the intellectual Damien Sandow, and a team between the two of them would be a good addition to the tag division.
Next Week: VENGEANCE WEEK
Before the main event, we were treated to a hype segment for next week, which NXT is billing as "Vengeance Week." It's all about continuing issues, particularly ones left over from "NXT Arrival" or that have built up over the last month. I like the idea that every month (or two), NXT has these "named shows" to have major matches.
On tap for Vengeance Week, Natalya will take on Charlotte, CJ Parker will go up against Mojo Rawley, Xavier Woods will look for revenge on Tyler Breeze, and in the main event, Adrian Neville will defend the NXT Championship against Bo Dallas
Weekly Rundown
- Mojo Rawley defeated Bull Dempsey with the Hyperdrive.
- CJ Parker challenged Mojo Rawley to a match next week.
- Tyler Breeze vs Sami Zayn was a no contest after Corey Graves jumped Zayn before the match.
- Aiden English interrupted an interview with Sheamus.
- Adam Rose defeated Camacho with a lariat.
- Bayley defeated Sasha Banks with a roll-up.
- Sheamus defeated Aiden English with the Brogue Kick.
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