Meanwhile, CM Punk sowed the seeds of discontent within The Shield by asking them which of the three was the best, saying it's not Dean Ambrose ("'cuz I've beaten you before") and implying it was Roman Reigns, until Seth Rollins stepped up and said he'd fight Punk instead. And at the end of the show, Daniel Bryan fought his way through the Wyatt Family, before his resolve crumpled, and he agreed to join them instead...
Down in NXT Land, the Bulgarian Brute continued his path of silent fury, Sylvester LeFort started looking for a new client, a #1 contender to the NXT Women's Championship was determined, there was a surprisingly good sing-off between the Artiste and BIG CASS, and in our main event, Sami Zayn went toe-to-toe with Leo Kruger in a Best-of-3 falls match.
Apologies for the delay in this blog update. NXT usually posts to Hulu on Thursdays, and on Thursday last week, I spent an inordinate amount of time at the DMV to try to renew my registration, only to be told I had to pay some b.s. property tax first, which I can't do at the DMV. Then I was out of town at MAGFest, and unfortunately, the hotel where we were staying has gotten cheap since last year, and only two devices per reservation are allowed WiFi access for free, and both of those devices were already hooked up by the time I got there. I didn't get back until Sunday, and between decompressing from the convention and then work, I didn't have a chance to watch this week's episode until Tuesday, and then I got sick and couldn't finish until Wednesday.
They appear to be settling into a regular trio of Tom Phillips, Alex Riley, and William Regal for NXT's commentary, although they do change it up from time to time. I have no problem with announcers getting on one another's cases for stupid or half-witted commentary, but not when it's happening every single match. (JBL, I'm looking in your direction.) Regal and A-Ry seem to be developing a rivalry of sorts at the booth, with Regal frequently taking Riley to task for his inexperience, and Riley in turn criticizing Regal's British-isms. It's starting to wear on me, however, and I think it needs to be toned back a bit.
This week, one of the themes in the Regal/Riley dynamic was Regal accusing Riley of having "an education you didn't pay for," and not paying attention in class or otherwise being ignorant. It's a clear shot at the American educational system, which has its flaws. Riley was able to return fire with a reference during the sing-off by identifying the song being used and bringing up "that education I didn't pay for, huh?" Things like that, I have no problem with.
Regal did touch briefly on his match with Antonio Cesaro last week, simply saying that he was beaten "by a man ten times the man I've ever been."
Match #1: Alexander Rusev (w/ Lana) vs Kofi Kingston
I'm still not sold on Lana. Foreign wrestling heels are a tried-and-tested means of getting cheap heat, as Futurama has taught us, but thus far, I'm not seeing anything out of Lana to make her worth my time. She speaks Russian and Bulgarian, we're told, but she doesn't really do anything else to make her interesting. Compare this to the flamboyant and charismatic Sylvester LeFort, who can get some heat just by walking out in those loud shirts of his. Commentary was describing her as Rusev's "translator and adviser," which just prompted Regal to say, "It's got to be easy managing Rusev; it's just point, destroy."
Commentary was also talking up Kofi's accomplishments in the WWE, citing his ten championship reigns (scattered among the Tag, Intercontinental, and United States divisions), but Regal was quick to point out, "It means absolutely nothing against someone the stature of Rusev." This one line does a lot to sell Rusev's size and power as intimidating, although it was helped by some of the displays of power Rusev made during the match, such as jerking Kofi cleanly up to his shoulders for a Samoan Drop from a fallaway slam position.
Kofi rallied back late in the match, working in many of his signature spots (the leaping clothesline, the Boom Drop, the pendulum kick), but when he went to the top rope, he got distracted by Lana, allowing Rusev to beale him out of the corner and then lock in the Accolade for the tap-out victory. Commentary again put over the significance of a relative newcomer like Rusev beating a well-established WWE superstar like Kofi.
Backstage Interview: Sylvester LeFort
The gist of this segment was to establish that LeFort is looking for a new client. LeFort's Legionnaires faction has had its ups and downs. Scott Dawson's initial tag-team partner, Garrett Dylan, left barely two months after he debuted on NXT, stalling Dawson's progress. Then Rusev came and went without much fanfare from the faction as well, leaving LeFort with a client base of one. To that end, LeFort said he was having "auditions" for a new client.
The only one we saw was Bull Dempsey, a big heavyset guy with a King Kong Bundy-esque singlet, hairy chest, and a chain draped around his neck. LeFort was quick to dismiss him. "First of all, you are too fat to work for me." He laughed off Dempsey and told Devin Taylor, "I'm looking for a bigger-than-life superstar." Cue Mason Ryan. LeFort asked him if he was here for the auditions, but Ryan just said, "What auditions?" LeFort explained his situation, and said, "With me, you can make a lot of money," demonstrating this by holding up a $1 bill. This is a great way to sell LeFort's "brokest rich guy" gimmick, which has been touched on with little references to his failing to pay Dawson on time. Ryan just responded to this by taking the bill and shoving it in LeFort's mouth, muttering, "Idiot." LeFort got offended and started muttering in French to end the segment.
Match #2: #1 Contender's Match - Natalya vs Emma
This match was set up two weeks ago, when Emma got on Natalya's case for jumping ahead of her in line for a shot at Paige's NXT Women's Championship. Natalya challenged her for the contendership, which Emma was only too glad to agree to. Much of that segment touched on the Total Divas thing, with Emma accusing Natalya of "not having time for the little people" since becoming a "reality TV star." This whole Total Divas-vs-regular Divas angle is starting to wear on me, since it basically splits it into an A-vs-B dynamic, painting the Total Divas stars as the faces and the rest as the heels, which seems unfair to those on the women's roster who were passed over for a slot on the show.
Natalya got a big pop from the NXT Crowd, who seem to be embracing her as the returning veteran. She even posed by and autographed a fan's "Queen of Harts" sign. Commentary was talking up the reasons for the match with Emma, while also mentioning her recent marriage to Tyson Kidd. Regal simply said, "I give it eight months." When Phillips and Riley got on his case for such a 'Grinch-like' statement, Regal defended it by pointing out that "entertainment marriages never last long... I should know, I've had seventeen." (Riley: "Maybe it's you.")
Emma's still very over with the crowd as well, as we were treated to a shot of a group of little kids doing the Emmalution dance. She's starting to get much smoother on her 'skin the cat' ring entrance, too, whereas before her inability to do it in a smooth manner was part of her ditzy charm. Natalya was unimpressed by the dancing, and even seemed to get offended that Emma was spending more time popping bubbles than facing her.
There was a stretch of chain wrestling to start it off, as befits two women who both trained in Calgary, Natalya at the Hart Family Dungeon, Emma at the Storm Wrestling Academy, both of which emphasize a technical wrestling style. The fans seemed a bit torn on who to cheer for, leading to some loud dueling "Let's Go Nattie!"/"Let's Go Emma!" chants, before settling on "Let's Go Both!" The chain wrestling came to an end when Emma picked up a near-fall and did a little pose, prompting Natalya to power her into the corner, only to get another roll-up from Emma before hooking in the 'Dil-Emma' Tarantula. Natalya rolled out of the way of the Emma Sandwich, then hit an Anvil-esque discus clothesline to take control.
Natalya slowed it down by putting on an Abdominal Stretch, grabbing the free leg and torquing it back to increase the pain. Emma got free, but Natalya just threw her back to the mat and then stretched her into a modified inverted surfboard. Again, Emma wriggled free, but was clearly in pain. Natalya tried to take control with a bodyslam and a legdrop, but Emma rolled out of the way and then we moved into a smooth series of reversals: Emma charged in, only for Natalya to take her down and start setting up the Sharpshooter. Emma rolled her up, then immediately flowed into the Emma Lock in the middle of the ring. Too far from the ropes, Natalya was forced to tap out, allowing Emma to retain her number-one contendership to the NXT Women's Championship.
Regal tipped his hat to Emma for out-wrestling a submission specialist like Natalya. The two women stared each other down for a moment, but Natalya raised Emma's hand and then allowed the Aussie to teach her to do the Emmalution.
Sing Off: Aiden English vs Colin Cassady
Two weeks ago, this little competition was set up when Cassady and Enzo Amore came across English doing his vocal exercises backstage. In their own imitable way, the 'realest guys in the room' mocked him, and claimed that Cass was a better singer than English, who made the challenge.
Renee Young welcomed us to the "First-ever NXT Sing-Off." English came out first, calling for "Spotlight, please!" but declining to sing, since he was saving his voice for "the main stage in the ring." BIG CASS came out, rockin' a suit, delivering fist-bumps en route without Enzo in tow. The rules of the sing-off were simple. Each man would get to sing a song, and the NXT Crowd would vote on the winner.
English started out, called for the spotlight, and treated us to a "little opera italiano." He sang, very briefly, in an operatic fashion in Italian. Then it was Cass' turn, and he played up like he was having some stage fright, or voice problems, much to English's amusement. (A couple of wiseacre fans called for "Freebird!" and sang out, "I came in like a wreckin' ball!") But then, we got to see Cass show off as he sang, to the tune of "Danny Boy"--
Oh, Aiden boy, your pipes, your pipes are failing
You tried to sing and sounded like you coughed
And here I am, my ship is always sailing
You are S-A-W-F-T... SAWWWWWFT!
Everyone was rightfully impressed by Cass' pipes, and Renee even said, "I didn't know you had it in you!" The one dissenter was Regal, who took umbrage at the insult to his favorite in English. The fans booed for English in the votes, and cheered for Cass. English declared the fans to be wrong and demanded another chance to prove his superiority. Cass said, "By all means." So English called for the microphone and sang:
How dare you cheer for him
You people, you have no taste
This fool in front of me is more than I can stand!
Which, come to think of it now, doesn't rhyme. Then it was BIG CASS' turn again, and we got, to the tune of "My Girl"--
I've got spotlight on NXT
Aiden English's voice's the worst it can be
Well, I think you suck,
All these people here think you suck
You suck ("You suck... you suck...")
We all think you suck-- ("YOU SUCK!")
And that's about the point where English clipped the leg and stomped him down in fury. Regal was approving of English's attack, while the other announcers were calling him a "sore sport." The fans nonetheless called for an encore from the Artiste, but English angrily yelled, "You don't get an encore!"
This was as good as the sing-off could have been, but I think everyone was surprised at how good a singer Colin Cassady is. A brief English/Cassady feud might be some fun, especially if Enzo gets involved somehow.
Match #3: Tyler Breeze vs Mason Ryan
They're playing up Breeze's vanity more this week. At the top of the show, Byron Saxton (pulling ring announcer duty this week) declared, "I have just been informed that Tyler Breeze has entered the building!" There was a brief continuity issue before this match, as Breeze was featured in a brief "up next" bumper before an ad break, where he was wearing a white fur outfit. When he came to the ring, however, he was wearing a dark purple one instead. I actually don't mind this, since Breeze's character is just vain enough that you could picture him changing his attire like that. He's also now being billed from a new seasonal residence, in Campo Grande, Brazil. This factored into his attire, we were told, since it was made from "Brazilian polecat."
Breeze was understandably nervous about facing Ryan, still being called 'The Colossus of Cardiff,' but Sylvester LeFort came out to distract Ryan. This allowed Breeze to immediately leap in to start beating him down. Ryan rallied back and hot-shotted Breeze off the ropes, then immediately slid outside and clotheslined LeFort to the floor. Ryan got back in the ring and ran straight into the Beauty Shot to give Breeze the victory.
Adding Breeze to LeFort's faction would be a great way to continue the LeFort/Ryan feud, and it would give Breeze something to do besides preen and take selfies. A "beautification" angle with Breeze and LeFort trying to gentrify Scott Dawson might be amusing, too.
Match #4: 2 Out of 3 Falls - Leo Kruger vs Sami Zayn
This match got its start last month, when Kruger schemed with Antonio Cesaro to make life a little more miserable for Sami in exchange for a good word with the Real Americans. Since then, Kruger and Sami have exchanged a couple of losses to one another, leading to this Best-of-3 falls match. Commentary noted that it's becoming a "rite of passage" to have this kind of match on NXT. I wouldn't be opposed to that becoming a 'thing' on NXT, either.
Commentary was talking up how these kinds of matches require one to "pace yourself," since it's not one-fall-to-a-finish, but a "chess game" of knowing your opponent's style and technique and working to oppose it and use it to your advantage. Riley was backing Sami to win, citing the test he had against Cesaro in a similar match, while Regal picked Kruger, because he doesn't think Sami's fully recovered from that match with Cesaro, "because I'm still recovering from my match with him." I don't know how true that is, since Sami's big match with Cesaro was in May, and it's now more than six months later.
Much of the early part of the match was brawling, with Kruger dominating it, taking Sami outside the ring and throwing him around and otherwise brutalizing him. Eventually, however, Sami rallied back, catching Kruger with an Exploder suplex into the turnbuckles, then connecting with the Corner Boot for the first fall. When we returned from break, Sami appeared to be setting up for a superplex (although part of me still hopes we'll see the BRAINBUSTAAAH!!! in WWE), only for Kruger to fight out and shove Sami to the floor! That was a sick bump to take and it kept Sami down and out of the ring until the count of nine. He made it back in the ring, only to run immediately into a DDT from Kruger, but only for a near-fall.
Kruger was again in control for a while, but Sami put the brakes on off an Irish whip twice, rallying back with a flurry of offense and then hit the Blue Thunder Bomb for a near-fall. He went to the apron, where Kruger cut him off with a forearm, then brought him in with a dangling twisting neckbreaker, again for a near-fall. He looked for the GC3, but Sami made it to the ropes before it could get locked in. He went to the top again, and after fighting off the South African, he whiffed on a top-rope crossbody. Now Kruger was able to lock in the GC3 submission, but Sami fought and made it to the ropes for force the break.
Kruger slugged away as Sami clawed his way to his feet, and then cut him off with a sick spinebuster. He lined up for the Slice, but Sami ducked and hit a reverse STO and then immediately locked in a Koji Clutch! (Somewhere, Christopher Daniels is smiling.) Kruger was forced to tap out, giving Sami the 2-0 victory!
This match really sells Sami's resilience. He was taking a hellacious beating throughout the match, and he always rallied back and managed to hit a big move to take the momentum back. If there was anything to sell Sami's "will not go away" tendency, this match was it.
Next week: Tornado Match - The Ascension vs Hunico & Camacho
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