And WWE is now pretending that CM Punk doesn't exist, as they have not mentioned him on air since last week.
Oh, and this week on Raw, the Emmalution was televised as Emma herself made her 'debut' in a dance-off with Summer Rae! But more on that below the break.
Down in NXT Land, while things steam toward NXT Arrival on February 27, the Rusev Legacy continues to slowly build momentum, while France battles Wales, English battles Canada, and as a heated rivalry erupts again as Corey Graves looks to avenge his concussion on the man who gave it to him, Adrian Neville.
NXT Stars Making Good
We've been treated to a series of vignettes on Raw and Smackdown, featuring Alexander Rusev and Lana. The Bulgarian Brute speaks in his native language, while Lana provides translations or other warnings about Rusev's power and aggressiveness. The commentary teams have been putting over the fact that, although Rusev didn't eliminate anyone, it still took four men to eliminate him, which is never something to be sneezed at. They clearly have some plans for Rusev on the main roster, and it'll be interesting to see where it goes.
Emma, on the other hand, has been spotted in the crowd over the past several weeks, conspicuously only when Summer Rae is out, doing the Emmalution dance and holding up Emma-themed signs. Last week on Raw, Santino Marella returned and challenged Fandango (or "Fandingo" as he called him) to a dance-off, and then brought Emma out of the crowd to have a dance-off of her own against Summer Rae ("Summer Day"). Emma then introduced the WWE Universe to the Emmalution, which won the fan vote, to the disgust of noted sourpuss JBL. Santino and Emma both returned on WWE Main Event to provide commentary during a Fandango match, where Emma brought out her "Emmatainment" and "Emmacrat" terms as well. ("What is 'Emmatainment?'" asked Cole. "What isn't Emmatainment?" was her answer.)
I hope like hell this means we'll get to see a main roster equivalent of the Santino/Emma vs Fandango/Summer match that I briefly summarized in my first blog post, which is still one of the funniest matches I've seen in WWE history. It probably won't get play on Raw or Smackdown, however, and will probably turn up on Main Event instead. However, if it goes over well there, we could get another version of it on one of the main shows.
This week, the trio was Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Renee Young (during the women's match) and an increasingly excitable Tensai. Tensai has been officially moved to commentator status on NXT (even acknowledged on WWE.com), and his learned veteran status gives an interesting take on things. He's definitely changed from his angry, yelling past, being a much friendlier sort, which may be related to family things. From some reports I've read, he's got young children now, and their getting out of the toddler years played a large role in his taking the job with WWE, so he can be Stateside more often for them, rather than spending half the year in Japan working for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Saxton's still settling into his heel apologist/spin doctor role, but I still find him far more palatable in that role than JBL. I've said it many times before, and I'll keep on saying it, but JBL is far too overbearing in his commentary and far too quick to dismiss any disagreements with him as Michael Cole being idiotic or a conspiracy theorist. Saxton is phrasing his own spins in less shouty ways, and this week at least they came across as partly believable, even if Phillips and Tensai don't let him get away with too much. (Such as Saxton coining the term 'veteranism' to describe a veteran using their experience to get an advantage on someone. Nobody at commentary let that one slide.)
Although perhaps JBL's commentary and the reason he can never really get any comeuppance for his views is because of the way that The Authority is booked as tweenish heels. The fans are supposed to hate them, because they're opposed to the fan darling Daniel Bryan, but Triple H and Stephanie McMahon position themselves in a way that they're still trying to be seen as more or less reasonable. This isn't helped by the way that Corporate Kane has been pushed as a more heelish rogue element in The Authority, as if to deflect criticisms away from the power couple.
But I digress. This blog is meant for talk about NXT, not so much about the main roster. Let's move on to this week's show.
Match #1: Sin Cara vs Alexander Rusev (w/ Lana)
This match came about two weeks ago, when Xavier Woods was booked, by Corporate Kane, to face Alexander Rusev, as punishment for Woods' part in getting Big Show (a thorn in The Authority's side) his job back. Rusev won in convincing fashion, and when he would not relinquish the Accolade, Sin Cara ran out to save Woods, setting up this match. Byron Saxton was trying to call Sin Cara's actions "selfish," implying that he only came out to save Woods, because he wants to be the guy to stop Rusev, not out of any altruistic sense of fair play. This is an example of Saxton's more reasonable approach to heel spin doctoring, and I approve.
Rusev was introduced by Lana, and came out to his badass new entrance theme that he debuted at the Royal Rumble, and which has been playing under his vignettes. I approve of the new theme, obviously, as well as Rusev's ditching the leather loincloth/diaper for plain black trunks. I still wish he'd bring back the board-smashing, though.
The story to the match was all about David-vs-Goliath, speed-vs-power. Sin Cara is working a newer style, with more strikes involved, which didn't go unnoticed by commentary. This is down, of course, to someone else wearing the Sin Cara mask (namely, Hunico) and adapting the style to suit. He's still got the screens over his eyes in the mask, necessitating the 'Sin Cara lighting effect' so he can see better, although some photos have surfaced of a newer mask with proper eye holes, so we may see this effect come to an end soon.
While Sin Cara had an early hope spot with a moonsault press, he soon ran into an honest-to-God dropkick from Rusev that let the Bulgarian take control. Rusev clubbed away with strikes, mixing up punches, knees, kicks, and headbutts, but without any impressive strength moves, but this didn't make the match too plodding, since Sin Cara soon rallied back with some agile moves like a tornado DDT, springboard crossbody, and a handspring elbow.
The luchador grabbed the idiot ball, however, when he sprang up onto Rusev's shoulders from behind. Rusev brought him down face first on the canvas, then clamped on the Accolade for an immediate tap-out. As we've seen previously, it took Lana calling him off to get him to release the hold, but the Russian signaled for him to re-apply it again, before calling him off once more.
This was basically a modified squash. It was meant to get Rusev over as a bulldozer, even if we didn't get to see a lot of Rusev's power moves in the match. It was also, however, meant to get Sin Cara over, and Hunico appears to be adjusting well to it. If they are modifying the mask so he can see better, that's very good, and should help avoid some of the botches that Sin Cara has been plagued by since his debut.
Match #2: Alicia Fox vs Emma
This marked Emma's big return to NXT after some injury, and commentary made sure to remind us that she is still the number-one contender to the NXT Women's Championship, after tapping Natalya to the Emma Lock five weeks ago. The only reason Emma hasn't gotten the match is because Paige, the current champion, is out with injury herself. This, at least, explains why most of the women's matches the last couple of months have been all about the BFFs and Natalya & Bayley.
Emma's still plenty over with the NXT Crowd despite her absence, as we got plenty of shots of the crowd doing the Emmalution dance with her. Even Tensai got into it at the announce table. Fox looked unimpressed, making a 'cut it' gesture at her neck instead of doing the dance with Emma, even slapping her hands down as if to tell her to 'stop it.'
Fox cranked on a wristlock to start things out, but Emma reversed it into a hammerlock that came close to being a kimura, until Fox grabbed the hair to break it up. She hit a dropkick soon after and mocked the dance before whiffing on a corner strike, where Emma tried to set up the Dil-Emma tarantula lock. However, Fox fought out of it, and snapped the back of her neck off the ropes to showcase her 'veteranism,' as Byron Saxton put it. (Yeah, I think it's dumb, too.)
Eventually, Emma fought out of a headlock and knocked down Fox in the corner, setting up the Emma Sandwich cannonball-crossbody, and a catapult that flowed neatly into the Emma Lock for the tap-out victory.
After the match, Emma got the microphone, sending her best wishes to Paige for a speedy recovery, since when Paige is fully recovered, Emma is finally getting her rematch for the Women's Championship. She started to celebrate with some more dancing, but then the BFFs ran out. Sasha Banks was thrown out immediately, and Emma managed to hold Summer Rae at bay, but then Alicia Fox joined in the attack, as did Charlotte, leading to a brief beatdown on the Australian. Natalya and Bayley ran out to make the save, running off Banks, Charlotte, and Fox, leaving Summer trapped between the three lady faces. Emma gave her a hair-mare that sent Summer running, and then all three lady faces did the Emmalution in the ring.
The women's division in NXT continues to spin its wheels, and hopefully Paige will be recovered enough by February 27, as a Women's Championship match will add a little more notability to what should already be a great show.
Match #3: Sylvester LeFort vs Mason Ryan
Sylvester LeFort has been lacking 'Legionnaires' to earn him lots of "monay" in recent weeks, since Scott Dawson is out with injury, and Alexander Rusev left him for Lana and hasn't looked back. LeFort held several 'auditions' for new Legionnaires over the last couple of weeks, but Mason Ryan, who has had issues with LeFort and Dawson, turned up and said he'd work for LeFort, if LeFort could beat him in a match.
This marks the first time LeFort has had a proper match. He's only had two matches prior to this, once teaming with Rusev, in which LeFort never even tagged in, and got betrayed in the process, and once against Rusev, in which he got zero offense and tapped out to the Accolade. LeFort's attire left something to be desired, being a plain pair of blue tights with gold piping on the legs, gold bicep-bands, and white boots with the French flag on them. Something that played into LeFort's "monay"-loving nature would have been a better fit, or even him coming out in street clothes to show how unprepared he is.
Then again, the entire point of LeFort's entrepreneur character is that he is the "brokest rich guy," not even paying his clients on time. So perhaps it was intentional.
Ryan was on fire from the get-go, muscling LeFort into the corner, but the Frenchman fired back with punches and kicks, yelling, "You will work for me!" Unfortunately, he ran straight into a stun-gun off the rope, then got mowed down with a running big boot. It was academic from there: Ryan hit him with the cobra-clutch slam for the three count. A glorified squash for Ryan, although LeFort is very well put-together, not at all like one expects from a manager-type.
We got a glimpse that this issue isn't over, however, with a during-commercial clip a little while later. A cameraman caught up with LeFort just after the loss, who declared "I don't wanna work with that guy anymore!" He swore revenge on Mason Ryan, it doesn't matter how, but he will get his revenge. Perhaps LeFort will bring up jobber after jobber, looking for one that can stop Ryan.
Backstage: Aiden English
We went backstage, where the Artiste was sitting in his director's chair. "Spotlight, please." The lights dimmed accordingly and he was lit by a spotlight. "Last week, I threatened a man in a wheelchair. But I'm not ashamed of this. No, in fact, I celebrate it. Because the truth is, that when that little greaseball Goodfella-wannabe ran over the Artiste's foot, he took it to the next level. So I simply repaid the favor unto his good friend, Big Cass. But alas, the curtain has fallen on that act, and I can look forward to my challenge tonight: the great Canadian grappling sensation, Tyson Kidd." He then smirked, placed a hand over his heart, and sang, "O Canadaaa / I hope I make you cryyyy..." before chuckling and walking off.
Commitment to a character is key to making that character work. So many of the NXT wrestlers have been careful to do that. It's what's allowed destined-to-fail characters like Tyler Breeze or Fandango to still find a place on the roster. It's what's turned Enzo Amore into one of the most popular members of the NXT roster. Aiden English has that same level of commitment to his Artiste persona, and all the little things they use to cement it in the audience's eyes are paying off.
Match #4: Aiden English vs Tyson Kidd
English gave one of his signature singing entrances:
Aiden English, you sing like a dream
You are the greatest thing that they've ever seen
When you perform, you come through the screen
Because Aiden English, you sound like a dream
Tensai was putting over Kidd's toughness, citing his graduating from the Hart Dungeon, and comparing him to an assassin in the ring. Kidd was controlling to start off, but he quickly got caught in the ropes off a crossbody, allowing English to take control. They went back and forth, with English using his size to his advantage, and trying to keep Kidd grounded and worn down to prevent him from taking to the air.
The finish came when BIG CASS himself came to ringside and stole English's scarf and beret, putting them on and mocking him. English was understandably distracted by this, and when he turned back around, Kidd caught him with a top-rope blockbuster-style neckbreaker (called the "No Kidding") to give the Canadian the win.
Kidd mocked English again by putting the beret over his face after the match. It's safe to say that English finally has heel heat, after weeks of face reactions, and all it took was getting on the wrong side of Enzo & Big Cass, the NXT Crowd favorites.
Match #5: Adrian Neville vs Corey Graves
This is somewhat long-running story, although it's really only been running for about five months or so. Then again, in the WWE, that's long enough to qualify as "epic rivalry," given most of the creative team doesn't have a memory that goes past three weeks ago.
These two men started out in different championship hunts. Graves had been working his way toward an NXT Championship shot against then-champ Seth Rollins before the latter turned heel and joined The Shield, and got caught up in a feud with the Wyatt Family when they got involved in his hunt against Big E Langston. Neville, meanwhile, had been NXT Tag Team Champions with Oliver Grey before the Wyatt Family took out Grey and forced Neville to find a new partner to re-challenge for the titles. In a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Graves and Neville teamed up to take on the Wyatt Family, taking the titles back from them, and the backwoods cultists went and "followed the buzzards" to the main roster and larger prey.
Neville & Graves held the titles for 84 days before losing them to The Ascension after a vicious rivalry. Upset about the loss, Graves blamed Neville for it, beating him down and breaking up their team. That led into a brief feud that culminated in a Two-Out-of-Three Falls Match on November 13, 2013, during which Graves suffered a concussion that left him on the sideline for ten weeks.
Graves returned last week, noting he hasn't forgiven Neville for it, and this match rekindled the rivalry. Of course, Neville is looking past Graves, since he has a title match against NXT Champion Bo Dallas at the live show on February 27, on "NXT Arrival." Graves is playing up his cool, calculating demeanor a great deal, staring at Neville during his entrance with a sort of detached contempt.
Tensai tried to talk up his silent dangerousness, saying he thought twice about talking to him backstage, "Looking into his eyes, he's not all there." This line could have been said better, depending on how Tensai wanted to phrase it. If he wanted to imply that Graves is a psychopath, it would have been better to say "he's got a screw loose" or something to that effect. He could have brought up the old axiom about how "eyes are the window to the soul," and then saying "there's nothing there" or "he's not all there" would have made Graves seem much more creepy and/or ominous. Commentary was certainly playing up his loner nature, with Tom Phillips saying he often sees Graves backstage, just watching people, thinking and plotting.
Most of the match was controlled by Graves, who steadily and heavily worked Neville's left leg. This is not unusual, since Graves' finisher is the Lucky 13 leg submission, and the best submissions experts soften up the part of the body they apply the hold to. Ric Flair always worked the leg before putting on the Figure Four Leglock. The Iron Sheik worked the back and neck before making his opponents humble with the Camel Clutch. So that was perfectly serviceable technical wrestling.
Graves also worked plenty of classic heel mannerisms into the match. He slid out of the ring when Neville took control, and baited him into an ambush so he could soften up the leg. There were a few points early on when Neville still got some impressive agility spots in, such as a handspring off the ropes and then a backflip to evade a strike, or even an impressive moonsault-con-hilo (moonsaulting from the mat over the top rope to the floor), but as the match wore on, and as Graves kept clipping out his knee, soon Neville could barely even stand.
The announcers commented on Neville's almost reckless attempts at offense late in the match, and even Graves' disregard for his own well-being, that neither of them seemed to care about injuring themselves long-term, but Byron Saxton pointed out that Graves has nothing to lose, while Neville still has to worry about facing Bo Dallas in three weeks.
Finally, Neville managed to hit a series of strikes to the head, playing up Graves' recent concussion, and laid him out with a kick to the head from the apron. He dragged himself to the top rope and managed to connect with the Red Arrow for the victory.
Even after the match ended, Neville was having trouble standing, which was when Bo Dallas came out on the stage, smiling the most openly evil grin he's ever sported. He took his time removing his suit coat and rolling up his sleeves, clearly intending to get in the ring and finish off Neville, but just as he was stepping in the ring, Triple H's music hit and the COO himself came out.
As he reached the ring, Triple H picked up the NXT Championship belt, and noted that both men will be going to war over it on February 27. That's going to be a special night, and Triple H wanted to make it memorable, so he'll do what's best for business. On Feb. 27, on the WWE Network, the title will be hung above the ring, and Bo Dallas and Adrian Neville will be in NXT's first-ever Ladder Match.
The two men stared each other down to end the show.
A Run Down of NXT Arrival
We still only have one confirmed match for the WWE Network debut of NXT, although we seem to be setting up some other feuds and rivalries for that show. If Paige isn't healed up, we may see a six-ladies tag match between Emma, Bayley, and Natalya vs the BFFs. We're almost certainly going to get Antonio Cesaro vs Sami Zayn again. Perhaps we'll also get something out of Aiden English and Big Cass.
- Ladder Match - NXT Championship - Bo Dallas defends vs Adrian Neville
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