This week in WWE, Smarkageddon began. Daniel Bryan lost inside Hell in a Cell, thanks to some last-minute Sweet Chin Music from HB-Shizzle, paving the way for the Authority's hand-picked "Face of the WWE" Randy Orton to claim the title once again. They teased a potential student-vs-mentor feud when Bryan put Shawn Michaels in the Yes Lock on Raw, but the Wyatt Family sent him to
Oh, and Alberto Del Rio lost the World Heavyweight Championship to some guy named John Cena, who also successfully defended it against Money in the Bank holder Damien Sandow. I dunno, I think WWE wants this Cena guy to become a big deal, fairly quick.
Down in NXT Land, Thanksgiving came early as a couple servings of squash were handed out. The rivalry between the BFFs and Paige & Emma continued to simmer, especially as Paige and Emma seem poised to erupt into a feud in their own right. In an unlikely main event, 'Moonchild' CJ Parker looks to avenge the loss of two of his dreadlocks against the vain Tyler Breeze.
Something else this episode showed me is the disconnect between the booking and the fan reactions. The NXT Crowd is definitively different from the regular WWE audience, and can really be compared to the generally more-informed audience one would find in an indie show crowd. These more informed fans-- the notorious "smarks"-- can be more likely to cheer for a heel over a face, because they find the heels more interesting than the faces. This tendency led to some changes in the NXT booking-- turning Paige face, which worked very well, and turning Bo Dallas heel to fit the reactions the fans were giving.
However, this episode showed two different cases where fan reactions don't match the characters, and it's pretty jarring. The first was with Aiden English, whose "Drama King"/"Artiste" character is tailor-made for a heel, but the NXT Crowd was cheering and chanting for him throughout the match. Secondly, the main event, where both men were getting reactions opposite to the characters' booking.
Match 1: Enzo Amore & Colin Cassidy vs Sylvester LeFort & Alexander Rusev
NXT got off to a fun start as Enzo Amore & BIG CASS came out and cut one of their classic promos on LeFort's Legionnaires. Enzo in particular got to coin a couple of monikers for himself and his partner ("E.A. All Day" and "The Big Bambino," for those curious), as well as interject in the midst of Cassidy's speech on the Legionnaires, which really helps sell Enzo's speak-first-think-later character. BIG CASS addressed the Legionnaires' tactics of attacking after a match and beating people up as showing they have "no backbone-- boneless!" Enzo's interjection of "Chicken tenders!" was a bit out of nowhere, and the crowd clearly loved it, since they chanted "Chicken Tenders" later in the match. Cassidy got to use his "sloppy jalopies" tagline, and set up the catch-phrase by saying "there's one word to describe you." "Do I gotta spell it out for 'em!? S-A-W-F-T! SAWWWFT!"
For whatever reason, Scott Dawson wasn't present this week, but Sylvester LeFort was dressed to wrestle, for what would have been his first time competing in an NXT ring. I say "would have been," because the match was all about Rusev. The Bulgarian went on a complete tear, beating BIG CASS around the ring, and finally laying him out with a running splash on the ropes. Then he dragged Enzo in the ring, and hit him with a running splash as well.
The twist came when LeFort got in the ring to congratulate Rusev on all the carnage he'd caused, only for Rusev to hit him with a running splash. Everyone was shocked by this event, which set up Rusev tapping Cassidy to the Accolade for the victory. As Rusev left, the mysterious blonde woman from last week turned up on the ramp, looking on with apparent approval. She left following Rusev, and still nothing was revealed about her.
It's clear that going forward, Rusev will likely be accompanied by Miss Blondinka, or whoever she is, and this may spell the break up of the Legionnaires, which I don't like. The tag-team scene is thin enough on NXT as it is, with the break-up of several teams that we had just a few months ago. Obviously, if LeFort is going to be wrestling, the team could still exist in a new form, but I don't particularly like that either. LeFort wrestling means we're down a manager, and managers are something that WWE needs more of.
Match 2: Jason Jordan vs Aiden English
I mentioned earlier that Aiden English is getting more face reactions from the NXT Crowd. They were cheering and chanting "Encore" for English when he finished his customary singing entrance. It was clear from the get-go that this would be a squash for English, since Jason Jordan had gotten the traditional "already in the ring" jobber entrance. English is getting a little more polish and flair to his character, from an appropriate Twitter handle (@WWEDramaKing) and a theater-esque backdrop on the NXT-Tron.
Jordan got little offense in the match, while English got to show off some great speed to go with his serviceable technique. The best bit of extra character that English added, however, was singing a lullabye to Jordan while he had him in a sleeper. English also changed up his finisher from a modified side Russian leg-sweep, to a sort of cobra clutch side slam, which has been dubbed the Director's Cut. This works better than the original version, and this kind of experimentation and modification is what NXT is meant to accomplish.
After the match, fans were cheering for English's encore performance of his song, and they were even throwing roses into the ring for him. Of course, those roses might have been thrown by plants. (No pun intended.)
Last Week: Adrian Neville's down, but not out
After being treated to a recap video to the close of last week's main event, and the follow-up re-application of the Lucky 13 on the ramp, we got to see what had been a WWE.com Exclusive video. After being checked on by a WWE medic, Adrian Neville told Corey Graves, "Well done. I hope you're proud of yourself, boy." He said that, as the 'Jumping Geordie,' by going after his knee, Graves was going after his livelihood. He simply said this was only the beginning.
A continuation of the Graves/Neville rivalry is fine by me, although when I saw the recap vid of Graves locking on the Lucky 13, I was hoping we'd instead get a follow-up on the strange commentary about Graves' "purity parade" change in character. Then again, Neville's former partner Oliver Grey-- who suffered a knee injury just days after he and Neville won the NXT Tag Team Championship-- is reportedly healed and ready to return. Perhaps Graves will acquire a new partner himself soon to further that "purity parade" angle and we'll have a couple of new tag teams out of the bargain.
Match 3: Summer Rae (w/ Sasha Banks) vs Paige
This was a perfectly serviceable women's wrestling match, and it helped show how far Summer Rae has come. She displays more little things in the match, and expands her moveset by using more unique moves or at least uncommon ones. I again will credit this to the presence of Sara Del Rey in WWE Developmental, using her experience to help turn around the state of women's wrestling in WWE.
Paige also showed some differences to her moveset, such as using several headbutts. Commentary pointed this out and how unusual it is to see from a women's wrestler. Those kinds of brawling moves I welcome, since I think it works out with Paige's "Anti-Diva" character.
Part of the commentary was dedicated to the change in Sasha Banks' character since associating herself with Summer Rae. They noted that Sasha had been "such a nice girl," and compared Summer Rae's manipulations to brainwashing.
Paige won the match with the Paige Turner, and the aftermath started immediately. Sasha ran back out (she'd been thrown out earlier for interfering) and attacked Paige, but Emma was fast on her heels, attacking her viciously in the corner. The drama came when Paige, approving of Emma's viciousness, tried to pull her aside so she could join in-- only for Emma to blindly lash out and clobber her. This led to an intense stare-down between an apologetic Emma and a furious Paige.
It's pretty clear that they're building to a big match between Emma and Paige, but they're taking the slow burn approach to the feud here.
Video: Luke Harper gets creepy
A month ago, a returning Kassius Ohno looked for revenge against the Wyatt Family, specifically against Luke Harper. It was a losing effort, which at the time seemed a little unusual. Well, we got an answer here.
The video was filmed in a way reminiscent of the regular Wyatt Family videos, Luke Harper talked about Ohno, calling him a "new plaything." He said, "When I'm done playing, I'm going to leave Ohno for the buzzards." It was nicely creepy and gave some additional character to Harper's character, which is never a bad thing.
Match 4: Tyler Breeze vs CJ Parker
Let me start by saying this match was perfectly serviceable. I've used this phrase quite a few times-- and will carry on using it going forward. It means that the match wasn't boring, the wrestlers involved stuck to their characters well, but it just wasn't otherwise great. In this case, what the match lacked was a crowd that was reacting more fitting to the booking. Tyler Breeze's vain model character is meant to be a heel, and even if CJ Parker's "Moonchild" character has failed to connect very well as a character, the fans should have been booing for Breeze, not cheering.
Furthermore, this feud, remember, started when Parker kept photo-bombing Breeze's interviews, and then stole his cell phone. William Regal bemoaned this fact on commentary, noting that this is what the modern world has given us, compared to his days, when men would fight over women and such. The feud appeared to have been finished after their last match, but Breeze cut off a couple of Parker's dreadlocks last week, so this feud must continue!
Both men had those little things that furthered their characters this week. Breeze had accessorized his iPhone with a furry phone cover that matched his jacket and boot tassels, a fact which had Renee Young utterly bewildered. Parker kept pulling and pointing at his dreadlocks, and motioning at his face before attacking Breeze, knowing that Breeze hates his face being hit.
The match ended when Parker ducked the Beauty Shot and hit his palm strike finisher (dubbed the 'Third Eye') for the win. Afterward, Parker picked up the barber's shears that Breeze had brought out (with the severed dreadlocks tied to them) and looked to cut off some of Breeze's hair in retribution, but Breeze escaped with his mane intact. I think it's safe to say this feud will continue still further, but if it doesn't end with a Hair-vs-Hair match after all these shenanigans, then I'll be very disappointed.
Next week: Luke Harper vs Kassius Ohno; Sylvester LeFort vs Alexander Rusev
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