Oh, and Paul Heyman cut the craziest promo in the last ten years as he ranted about hot boiling lava and CM Punk, while The Ryback stared vacantly into the middle distance. Curtis Axel, meanwhile, tried not to corpse as he, like everyone watching, waited for Heyman to issue a "skronk" and talk about "Ho Kogan" and cockpit doors.
Down in NXT Land, it seems to be that the bad guys still get to win, as the theme of those-in-authority holding down the fan-favorites continues to trend with Sami Zayn, and Corey Graves starts to reinvent himself as the heel he was always meant to be as he kicks off his feud with Adrian Neville.
The show started off with a recap of how Neville & Graves lost the NXT Tag Titles to the Ascension, with Neville the pinfall and Graves snapping on him after the match. We then launched into a cold opening with Graves, on the stage... in a suit. I gotta say, he is one of those guys who looks good in a suit. Graves teased us an explanation, but before he could even begin, Neville attacked him from behind, leading to a pull-apart brawl.
The problem with this is, however, is that the commentator Tom Phillips referred to Graves' explanation later on in the main event, an explanation we never saw. Phillips told us that Graves blamed Neville for losing the titles, noting that Neville had eaten the pin in the non-title match, and then again in the title match itself, and compared Neville to "baggage that had been weighing him down." The suit was also given an excuse, again relayed to us by Phillips, that the "grungy person was an act... so I could stand out," that the clean-cut suit-wearing person is who he really is. Phillips even made reference to Graves wanting to lead a "purity parade."
This all would have been fine, but for a few things. First, we're told all this, not shown it. It's often been said that one should always "Show, Don't Tell." Telling us these things about Graves doesn't have the same impact as hearing it from his mouth on the show. Secondly, if the "grunge look" was just an act and the clean-cut look is who he really is, Graves really should have followed through. He came out to the ring for the main event in a sleeveless denim jacket festooned with his grunge look. Finally, the idea of Graves-- who had previously been referred to as the "leader of the filth parade"-- wanting to basically do a 180 and lead a "purity parade" seems ludicrous to me.
This week's commentary team was Tom Phillips (who at least I won't ever confuse with Tony Dawson again, since Dawson was released), Alex Riley, and Tensai. Apparently someone up in WWE management saw Tensai's analysis during the Battleground pre-show and decided "hey, this guy's all right." I'm sure having another veteran with world-travel experience around for the NXT wrestlers to learn from was a bonus as well. Some of the banter during the matches revolved around Riley making the occasional crack about Tensai's age or size, but to his credit, Tensai gave as good as he got. (Riley: "The table's slanting to the right with you out here!" Tensai: "It's all the talent you've lost, man.")
Match 1: Emma vs Sasha Banks (w/ Summer Rae)
Seeing the difference in in-ring talent between the WWE Divas and the NXT women's wrestlers is amazing. Most of the Divas on the main roster have very little in-ring experience, and even less distinction between their personalities. Until AJ Lee came along with her "crazy" bent, most heel Divas were all of the "mean girl" archetype. The only exceptions I can think of are Stephanie McMahon (who is a heel because she's a McMahon), Lita during her days associated with Edge (heel because she was a backstabbing heart-breaker), and Trish Stratus in her latter days (heel because she knew she was just better than everyone else and could back it up).
On NXT, meanwhile, the women have some distinct quirks to their characters or at least distinct looks. Paige has her pale complexion and 'Anti-Diva' character, Emma has her pseudo-ditzy kooky dancing, Bayley has her ingenue star-struck awe... But the heel ladies haven't really gotten a distinct quirk to themselves apart from their "mean girls" clique in the BFFs, but there are signs that this might change, with commentary playing up Summer Rae's manipulative nature, noting how she corrupted Sasha Banks to her cause and suggesting she may have done the same with Fandango in order to get on the main roster.
In addition to the characters starting to get better defined among the ladies, they're showing much better skill in the ring. They don't look as lost as some Divas on the main roster (JoJo, Eva Marie, I'm looking in your direction) and much of this can be pointed to the addition of Sara Del Rey to the NXT trainers. Del Rey is a highly-regarded competitor who is best recognized on the indies for her work in CHIKARA Pro and especially in Shimmer, and considered by some to be one of the best women's wrestlers on the indies. Many hoped when she signed with WWE that she would get to kick ass in the ring, but by all accounts, she's very happy being the trainer rather than a competitor. If her work results in the improvements I've seen in some of the women in NXT and even those Divas who pop down to NXT for a visit, then I say more power to her.
Emma's probably not one of the women who needed Del Rey's help, as commentary noted that she was trained by Lance Storm, who is well-renowned for his training academy in Calgary (dramatic pause) Alberta, Canada. Sasha Banks, meanwhile, is starting to add a little more character to her matches, taunting her opponents and the crowd, showing a little more aggression to her moves as well. She even played up her moniker of 'The Boss' by coming out in a ring jacket bedazzled with her initials, and even a 'BOSS' necklace.
The match helped further the BFFs' manipulative ways and chicanery as well. Emma rallied back strong at the end of the match, hitting Sasha with all of her signature moves (the Dil-Emma, the cannonball crossbody (apparently called the 'Emma Sandwich'), and the Emma Lock) before Summer Rae jumped on the apron. She was very quickly clobbered by Emma, then yanked to the floor by an emerging Paige, but this distraction let Sasha thumb Emma in the eyes for a small package and the win.
In the aftermath, Paige got in the ring, looking to exact some revenge on Sasha, but mistakenly leveled Emma instead. While the BFFs celebrated and made their exit, Paige tried to help Emma up, and got shoved back for her troubles, continuing the friction between Emma and the NXT Women's Champion. Emma was the aggressor here, which is usually indicative that she'd be the one turning heel down the line, but I think NXT is instead going to turn the usual wrestling trope on its ear and have Paige turn heel instead, since it would fit her 'Anti-Diva' character better.
Bo Dallas, Sami Zayn, JBL, and the NXT Championship
There were three separate segments spaced throughout the show regarding the controversy in the NXT Championship defense last week. To cover the absences of Bo Dallas and Sami Zayn, who were sent on the WWE's Middle Eastern tour, Bo's interview (filmed for a WWE.com exclusive last week) perfectly summarized his 'all about me' delusional character, as he waved off the controversy ("I'm still the NXT Champion, that's all that matters") and instead announced that he's going on a well-deserved vacation. Dubbing it the "Bo Dallas versus The World Tour," he revealed he'll be visiting "Bo-livia" to deliver "thousands of squirt guns to starving children." He finished it up with a classic line: "Konnichiwa. That's Japanese for 'goodbye!'"
Sami Zayn, meanwhile, took exception to how the match went down. In his own WWE.com exclusive interview, he noted he had no problem with interim NXT General Manager JBL restarting the match when Bo's foot was on the ropes. He did, however, have a problem with him not restarting the match when Bo Dallas used the turnbuckle to knock him loopy enough for the pin. He sympathized with Daniel Bryan's struggles against the Authority, and then got a little bit meta. He noted that Triple H "runs the show from top to bottom, and now all of a sudden JBL is in charge? ... I'm not saying it's a conspiracy, but it's a hell of a coincidence."
JBL had an interview with Renee Young that showed that he was firmly in the pocket of the Authority, just in case his commentary on Raw or Smackdown didn't clue anyone in to that fact. When Renee brought up Sami's "conspiracy theory," JBL instantly dismissed it, implying it was shifting the blame away from Sami's failure to win and trying to pin it on JBL instead. JBL stated that Sami needed to learn some respect, and to call his office once he's done so. Until then, Sami Zayn "will not be here until we decide he can come back."
Quite often, NXT is self-contained, with actions that occur on its show not having many repercussions on the main shows, which is fine, since NXT is explicitly WWE's developmental program, and having "rookies" and their matches impacting Raw or Smackdown would not make much sense. Sometimes what happens on Raw or Smackdown trickles down into NXT, on the other hand, and this is a good example of it. It ties into the Authority storyline and helps associate Sami Zayn in an oblique way with fan-favorite Daniel Bryan, which will only help get Sami over with the more casual WWE fans who don't watch NXT as often.
Match 2: Casey Maron & Tommy Taylor vs The Ascension
There's not really a whole lot to say about this match. Maron & Taylor got the "jobber" introduction, being already in the ring when returning from the break, and this was emphasized by the fact that they got absolutely zero offense during the match. Taylor didn't even get tagged in, as Maron just got annihilated by Conor O'Brian & Rick Victor. This didn't stop the NXT Crowd from briefly supporting them with a "Let's Go These Guys" chant.
Tensai perfectly summarized the differences between O'Brian and Victor on commentary, when he pointed out Victor's precision and technical expertise, comparing it and him to a "scalpel." This led perfectly into comparing O'Brian, with his raw power and brute force, to a "bludgeon." O'Brian continues to summarize that his character isn't just "dumb muscle" with the 'little things' he does in the ring, like shooting a quick look at Taylor to make sure he isn't going to jump in the ring before going for a big move.
The Ascension eventually put Maron away with a variant on the old Harris Brothers' H-Bomb, then the Fall of Man. The H-Bomb fits the Ascension better than the Fall of Man, although I still advocate a flying uppercut/powerbomb combination would suit them better, letting Victor show off his agility and O'Brian his power.
The match was solely to establish the Ascension's dominance, but it sadly also established how thin the tag roster is. This is a common criticism of WWE and indeed of most wrestling promotions, that the tag team division is often neglected. WWE has even been accused of seeing tag teams as solely an engine for getting over two individual solo wrestlers. With the Neville/Graves team broken up, this leaves NXT with exactly one face tag-team (Enzo Amore & BIG CASS) and two heel teams (the Ascension and LeFort's Legionnaires). It might be time to let some of the NXT jobbers team up and develop some characters for themselves, even if they won't get the main focus for a while.
Match 3: CJ Parker vs Alexander Rusev
CJ Parker seemed poised to be an NXT midcarder when he debuted his 'Moonchild' character, but it seems like his failure to get over with the NXT Crowd has shunted him into the jobber status again. Parker came out to the ring with Tyler Breeze's phone in hand, tacitly reminding everyone that he stole it last week. Curiously, Rusev came out by himself, with no sign of Sylvester LeFort or Scott Dawson. He also didn't carry his traditional wooden plank with his opponent's name on it.
This departure from the norm seems to indicate a possible solo run for Rusev is in the outing. This was further emphasized when a mysterious blonde woman came out to ringside, seeming to be interested in Rusev's match and impressed by his victory. She was never introduced, she never spoke, she just came out, circled the ring while watching Rusev, and then left again. Commentary speculated on who she was, but had no idea either.
The match was a squash for Rusev, who beat Parker around like he owed him money. He finally put him away with the wrecking-ball splash in the corner, then tapped him out to the Accolade. Of interest was what happened further after the match, and was shown in a 'During the Break' video. Tyler Breeze came out to the ring, hit Parker with his spin kick finisher (dubbed the 'Beauty Shot'), then took back his phone. To add insult to injury, Breeze then pulled out a pair of scissors and cut off a couple of Parker's dreadlocks.
Main Event: Corey Graves vs Adrian Neville
I already spoke on the new direction they appear to be sending Graves in, and how I'm not entirely in favor of it. Graves was back to the slow-paced technical style that he seems more comfortable with, a style that plays in well with a heel character. Neville came out of the gate swinging, hitting a few big moves and dominating the early portion of the match, before Graves cut his leg out from under him.
Graves controlled much of the match, and was continually targeting Neville's knee. Tensai played up the strategy behind this. On the one hand, taking out the knee of a high-flyer like Neville makes it harder for him to pull off those aerial maneuvers, and possibly even takes his finisher, the Red Arrow, off the table. On the other, it also softens up the knee for Graves' patented Lucky 13 submission. One of the holds Graves wore down Neville with was a kind of standing figure-four, which Tensai noted, "he's doing the right thing [targeting the knee]. I've never been in that hold, but I have used it, and he's using it correctly." Little things like criticizing technique is what color commentators should be doing, and if Tensai transitions into this role going forward, I'm all for it.
Graves picked up the victory here, as all his leg-based offense paid off, tapping Neville to the Lucky 13 for the win. After the match, Graves re-applied the hold in the aisle, as one last little 'screw you' to Neville, before he was pulled off by the officials. The final shot was of a bloody-mouthed Graves looking pleased with his handiwork, and really helped summarize his character.
Next Week:
The Tyler Breeze/CJ Parker feud continues as they lock horns again, and with Breeze cutting off a couple of Parker's dreadlocks, I'm wondering if we're building to a hair-vs-hair match or something. Breeze is reportedly working dark matches on the main shows, so he may be looking at a call-up soon.
The Paige/Emma/BFFs storyline also continues as Paige faces Summer Rae. The match appears to be non-title, but I think Summer gets a win here as well, possibly due to a miscommunication from Emma, to set up a future title shot.
-=Jay 2K Winger=-
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