And gloriously, the WWE Universe voted for the Almighty Cena to face the entire Wyatt Family in a 3-on-1 handicap, leading to a big beatdown, and the lingering shot of Wyatt cradling Cena's head while singing "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands."
Down in NXT Land, the NXT Women's Championship is now vacant, awaiting a new champion following a tournament, while the BFFs' Charlotte & Sasha Banks tangle with Emma and her mystery partner, Tyson Kidd looks to re-establish himself as a premier talent in NXT, Tyler Breeze has entered the building, and in the main event, tag team champions collide as The Ascension and the Usos team up with Corey Graves and Sami Zayn for a six-man tag team spectacle.
Sigh. I'm really sorry that I keep slipping on posting these on time. I'm still working on fixing it.
NXT Stars Making Good
We're still on track for the main roster debuts of Bo Dallas and Adam Rose, as the vignettes continue for both men. Unfortunately, I'm starting to get the feeling that Adam Rose's schtick may not catch on very well on the main roster in front of different crowds every week, and that he may not be coming to the ring with his Rosebuds for very long, either. Bo, meanwhile, I think might do well, depending very much on how his debut and first feud are handled. WWE's Creative Team doesn't have the best track record when it comes to lower card booking.
Paige, meanwhile, is very quickly establishing herself as a fighting champion, and they seem to be building a story, of sorts, in that all the other Divas think her title win was a fluke and that she won't last long. Yet, despite this, Paige is being booked strongly and is being protected pretty well. She may take more offense than she gives out sometimes, but she's still picking up wins rather than losses, which is a good thing. And speaking of Paige...
Earlier Today
NXT General Manager JBL met Paige walking the halls of Full Sail University. He congratulated her on being a double champion, says he's proud of her accomplishment, but admits he has a problem. With her being on the road defending the WWE Divas Championship, the NXT Women's Championship isn't "home," and that's not fair to the competition there. JBL reluctantly says that the decision has been made to strip her of the NXT Women's title.
Paige, understandably, didn't like that, refusing to surrender it, almost sounding about to cry at first. JBL agrees it's not fair to her, but says he's initiating a tournament to crown a new champion, one he hopes will be able to fill the shoes she's left behind. Paige says she was willing to fight to the bitter end for it, but reluctantly parts with it. "Let the games begin," she says.
I don't much like it when a champion is stripped of a title. It wouldn't have been that difficult to use a tournament to establish the #1 contender and then have Paige make an appearance on NXT to defend, and drop, the title. On the other hand, that would have made the WWE Divas Champion look weaker by losing to someone on NXT, so I can sort of understand why they chose to go this direction instead.
Match #1: Alexander Rusev (w/ Lana) vs Travis Tyler
Lana came out first, speaking in Russian, before switching to English, "Now, America, rise for the man invading WWE, the Bulgarian Brute, he is the Super Athlete, Alexander Rusev!" Travis Tyler is just one of These Guys-- the NXT job squad-- but he came out with a dropkick that pissed Rusev off more than it hurt him, and Rusev smashed him with a Vader Attack for it.
The crowd, it must be said, very quickly lost interest in the match, spending their time singing Adam Rose's theme, or gamely trying to throw their support behind Tyler with a "Let's Go, T.T.!" chant. Rusev beat on him for a while, even yelling out the hook to his theme (which translates to "Rusev Smash! Rusev Crush!") before delivering that Clean-Jerk Samoan Drop, which is becoming more of a Fallaway Slam than anything.
After some more smashing strikes and elbows by Rusev, he finished Tyler off with the lifting uranage slam and the Accolade for the tap-out. After the match, Lana came into the ring and declared, "Rusev hit, Rusev crush!" before giving Rusev the microphone to speak in Bulgarian-- or "Bulgarese" as Jason Albert kept insisting throughout the early part of the match.
Backstage with Adam Rose
Devin Taylor was backstage with the Rosebuds, who were dancing and singing Rose's theme, and was shortly joined by Rose himself, carried in by some more Rosebuds. He shushed them for the interview, as Devin brought up Camacho's harsh words about his [Rose's] lifestyle, asking his opinion. "Well, Camacho, I've got two words for you-- Party. Pooper." (The Rosebuds started chanting "Party Pooper" at this point.) "'Cuz that's what you are, a party pooper. Not just that, Camacho, but you're also boring." (Now the Rosebuds started booing and chanting "Borrrring!") "So anytime you want to pick a fight with this boy Adam, you let me know and you can become a victim of the Rose Experience. Camacho, don't be a lemon, be a Rosebud." Rose and the Rosebuds very quickly started partying again as the segment ended.
Match #2: BFFs (w/ Summer Rae cutout) vs Emma &
In recent weeks, the BFFs had a problem in that they hadn't been winning a whole lot of matches, with Sasha Banks in particular being the 'weak link' and eating the pinfalls or submissions. Charlotte had called her out on it, before challenging Emma to a tag match with a partner of her choosing. Emma had intimated that she might not have a partner yet, before applying her "confusion fu" and suggesting that she did. As it turned out, Emma's partner was the former NXT Women's Champion and current WWE Divas Champion, Paige.
Emma and Banks started out in the match, with Emma doing her dancing and getting forced back into a corner by Banks. Emma reversed a whip off the ropes, not seeing Charlotte blind-tag herself in, but she still managed to catch her with a back elbow, then threw Banks at her to send her back into the corner for a monkey-flip and a one-count. Around this point, the NXT Crowd started a new chant for Emma, clearly inspired by football (soccer) chants, with one fan (or small group) shouting, "Emma, Emma, Emma!" and the rest of the crowd shouting, "OI, OI, OI!"
Emma tagged in Paige and they hit a double-team suplex on Charlotte for another one-count, before the BFF picked a leg and cranked on Paige's ankle. Paige managed to counter and flip her out of it, and Charlotte begged off in true Flair fashion before grabbing a waistlock by the corner. The Divas Champion just forced her back into the turnbuckles, then smashed her with a series of alternating back elbows for a two-count. A hairmare put Charlotte down by the face corner and Emma tagged in. Now the "Dirtiest Diva in the Game" fired back with a forearm and a kneelift to Emma, before mocking Paige's "primal scream."
Emma tried to monkey-flip her again, but Charlotte showed her gymnastics background and landed on her feet, quickly tagging in Banks, who caught Emma (who didn't see the tag) by surprise with a Thesz press and started her bully-girl offense. The BFFs kept her isolated as they choked her against the ropes and Charlotte applied a leg-scissors to her head, while the fans chanted for the Aussie. ("Emma, Emma, Emma!" "OI, OI, OI!") Emma tried to turn her over and then flip her out of the hold, but Charlotte held on, then bounced her face off the canvas a few times and reapplied the leg-scissors. Emma tried to bridge back for a pinning predicament, and Charlotte finally had to release the hold to kick out. She dragged her away from the hot tag, but then whiffed on an elbow drop, setting up the hot tags.
Paige caught Banks with a pair of short-arm clotheslines before unleashing her "primal scream" in Banks' face, then hit a third clothesline before flooring her with a dropkick. Paige started to set her up for the Scorpion Cross Lock, but Charlotte snuck in and dropkicked the back of her knee. Emma came in and tried to toss her, but Charlotte reversed and dumped her to the floor. Banks tagged in Charlotte, who caught the unaware Paige with the front-flip cutter for the three-count, giving the BFFs a much-needed and big-time win, surely placing Charlotte as a favorite in the upcoming NXT Women's Championship Tournament.
Match #3: Tyson Kidd vs Mason Ryan
This marks Kidd's return to NXT after a several month absence. I don't much care for Kidd's new CFO$ theme "Right Here, Right Now," much preferring his old "Bed of Nails" theme by Neil Griffiths & Ronnie Stone. Then again, CFO$ is pretty much doing every theme on NXT these days, so why should I be surprised.
Ryan got the "Better Than Batista" chant again, a subtle little nod to Ryan's physical resemblance to Batista and his IWC-inspired nickname of "Welshtista." Kidd evaded to start the match out, and his initial kick to the side just pissed Ryan off. Kidd attempted a monkey-flip, but Ryan shoved him off, whiffed on a couple of clotheslines before catching him and hoisting him up for a powerslam. Kidd slipped free, but got caught on a kick and was muscled back into the corner, where Ryan clobbered him with a clubbing blow. A body slam and leg-drop got a two-count.
Kidd came back with some kicks, clipping one of Ryan's legs and setting him up for a kick to the face to put him on the mat. Kidd followed this up with some kicks to the head, and then laid him on the ropes for a slingshot guillotine leg-drop on the apron. This got him a two-count, and Kidd kept him grounded with a front chancery. Ryan still got up and shoved him away with a kick. Kidd attempted to springboard, but Ryan caught him in a gorilla press and dropped him to the mat before utterly demolishing him with a corner clothesline.
At this point, Ryan took too much time setting up for the next move, allowing Kidd to catch him off a charge with a kick in the corner, then connected with the No Kidding (top-rope blockbuster neckbreaker) for the victory. This was a solid match to establish Kidd's bona-fides as an agile, technical workhorse.
Post-match, Renee Young interviewed him at ringside."Tyson Kidd, it is so awesome to have you back here on NXT, we haven't seen you in action for quite some time. How did it feel to be back in the ring?" "This, this is the rebirth of Tyson Kidd. With the launch-- and more importantly, the success-- of the WWE Network, NXT is the place to be. And with more eyes on NXT than ever before--" (NXT Chant) "--what better time to show my total display of ability. If you wanna fight, I'll brawl. If you wanna fly, I'll soar. If you wanna test me, I will prove you wrong! NXT is the platform for the ultimate opportunity!"
Match #4: Angelo Dawkins vs Tyler Breeze
This is my first time seeing Dawkins, who comes out in some... let's call it "eccentric" attire with his ring gear, including a sideways baseball cap, headphones around the neck, a backpack, a plaid shirt, and colorful glasses-- not sunglasses, glasses. He does a lot of juking and jiving and dancing on his way to the ring as well. I was half-expecting Breeze to have some snide remarks to have about Dawkins' sense of fashion, but no, just a typical Breeze entrance, full of preening and selfies.
Dawkins caught him by surprise with a quick schoolboy at the start of the match for not even a one-count, while the NXT Crowd entertained itself with singing Adam Rose's theme. Dawkins surprised him again with a go-behind and amateur-style take-down, and Breeze scrambled to the ropes to break the waistlock. Now Breeze let out his new aggressive side, losing his temper and striking away fiercely, including a snapmare and a running punt to the spine for a two-count.
Breeze cranked on a rear chin-lock, snapping "Don't touch me!" when Dawkins tried to reach back to grab the head to try to break the hold. Dawkins fought up to a knee and managed to break the hold with an arm-drag, but Breeze caught him with a kick and mounted strikes. From there, he pulled him to his feet, looked him in the eye, and then hit the Beauty Shot for the win.
Last Week
Brodus Clay challenged Adrian Neville to a non-title match, something the champion took him up on, but the match ended in a count-out win for Neville as Clay whiffed on a splash on the floor, allowing the NXT Champion to make it back in the ring before the count of ten. Clay wasn't happy about the loss. Not one bit.
Which is why, backstage after the match, after the show went off the air, Clay ambushed Neville and beat him down severely enough to knock out some of his teeth! It's clear the Clay/Neville rivalry isn't over yet.
Match #5: Corey Graves & The Ascension vs Sami Zayn & The Usos
(Bear with me, readers. In the early part of the match, I was trying to be sure I had the Usos' identities clear, but I may get them wrong.)
The NXT Crowd started an "U-SO!" chant as the match got started with Jimmy Uso and Viktor, who charged but got evaded. Viktor managed to catch him with a shoulder block, but then Jimmy caught him with a throat jab. Viktor tagged in Graves, and Zayn very quickly tagged in as well. They circled each other, and Graves then immediately tagged out to Konnor. (Cue the "Yah!" chants from the crowd.) They locked up, and Konnor kicked him down, then clubbed him into the heel corner, where Graves happily tagged in again. Zayn, however, quickly caught him with a double-leg takedown and started slugging away. Graves scrambled back to the corner and tagged in Viktor, who caught Zayn with a kick to the knee, then sent him into a neutral corner.
Zayn caught his charge with an elbow, then a leg lariat for a one-count. Tag to Jey Uso, who came off the top rope with a sledge to the arm, then started punching away. Tag to Jimmy, and they hit Viktor with a dual back elbow, then a double-team elbow drop for a near-fall. Jimmy delivered a chop, tagged in Jey, and they sent Viktor into the ropes. The Ascension's "scalpel" put on the brakes and attempted a "meeting of the minds" noggin-knocker, but the Usos are Samoan, and they no-sold it by doing some dancing, then caught him with a dual throat-thrust. Jey took Viktor into the corner for another big right hand, then took him down with a flying shoulder block for a near-fall. Tag to Jimmy, who hit a running falling headbutt for another near-fall. Jimmy clamped on an arm-lock, tagging in Zayn, who came off the top with an elbow to the arm, as the fans chanted "Olé!"
Zayn delivered some strikes of his own, then tagged Jey back in, but he ran into a clothesline from Viktor, who muscled him back into the heel corner, where the Ascension's "bludgeon" tagged in, stomping a mudhole into him before planting him with a huge flapjack and clotheslining him to the floor as we went to an ad-break.
When we returned, the Ascension were still taking Jey apart in turns, before Jey started rallying back with some big right hands, only to have Konnor smash him with a back elbow and then a huge right hand of his own. Graves came in with some stomps of his own, then a gourdbuster and fist-drop. He started cranking on Jey's neck before transitioning into a front chancery. Jey fed off the crowd and fought up, but Graves just took him back into the heel corner, where Viktor tagged in and started going to work again.
Jey tried to return fire with some chops of his own, but Viktor just took him into the corner with an uppercut and unleashed some violence with a flurry of strikes, but only for a two-count. Viktor tried to wear him down with a rear chinlock, but Jey fought back up to his feet and hit a back drop suplex to break the hold. Konnor tagged in and cut off the tag, going for another flapjack, but Jey reversed it into a sunset flip for a two-count. He caught the big man with a right hand to the temple, stunning him. Even so, Konnor showed great ring presence and kept himself between Jey and his corner. Jey managed to dump him to the floor, but Konnor just grabbed his ankle and kept him back. Jey kicked him away, but Viktor tagged in and knocked Zayn to the floor, cutting off the tag-- only for Jey to go between his legs and tag in his brother Jimmy.
Jimmy caught Viktor with a clothesline, knocked Graves to the floor, then hit a flying back elbow to Viktor. A thrust kick to the midsection, and Jimmy sent him into the ropes and caught him with a Samoan Drop, then another one for Konnor. Viktor ate a superkick on the chin that put him on his ass in the corner, allowing Jimmy to set up the running stink-face. Graves tagged in while Jimmy wasn't looking and clipped his knee, but Jimmy reversed the Lucky 13 into a small package for a two-count. Zayn tagged in as Jimmy staggered Graves with a cyclone kick, allowing the Canadian to flatten Graves with a high crossbody for a two-count. Now Zayn lined him up for the Helluva Kick, but Graves countered it into a fireman's carry, only for Zayn to escape and connect with the Blue Thunder Bomb. The Ascension broke up the pinfall that followed, but Jimmy and Zayn sent them to the floor.
Graves was up in the face corner, and Zayn nailed him with the Helluva Kick and tagged in Jey Uso. Jimmy and Zayn then hit dual tope con hilos to the Ascension on the floor, while Jey Uso hit the Superfly Splash on Graves to give them the victory.
Weekly Rundown
- Paige is stripped of the NXT Women's Championship, a tournament will crown a new champion.
- Alexander Rusev defeated Travis Tyler with the Accolade.
- Adam Rose told Camacho to stop being a party pooper.
- Charlotte & Sasha Banks defeated Paige & Emma when Charlotte hit Paige with the front-flip cutter.
- Tyson Kidd defeated Mason Ryan with the No Kidding.
- Tyler Breeze defeated Angelo Dawkins with the Beauty Shot.
- Last week, Brodus Clay knocked out some of Adrian Neville's teeth.
- Sami Zayn & The Usos defeated Corey Graves & The Ascension when Jey Uso hit Graves with a flying splash.
In Other News
There is talk going around off the latest set of tapings that another NXT Live Special is coming up, supposedly called "Takeover." So stay tuned for that!
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