I am at work with the wife and it is slow so I’m able to write about the NXT. My restaurant is located in a strip mall with the DMV so I have a lot of strangers giving me weird looks having NXT on while pouring them coffee.
NXT- Not sure if it started with intro video, was showing someone to the bathroom
Carmella vs. Peyton Royce
Peyton is new, like a lot of the competitors tonight. Not new to wrestling, been at it for 6 years. New to me though, and I’ll cheer for her cause it’s hard to get behind a Staten Island Girl .
Carmella and Peyton bump fists and high five, which leads me to believe they both fight for the good side.
Some basic wrestling but it is smooth and fluid, no clunky or awkward spots. Carmella goes for a pin, but doesn’t get Royce’s shoulders down all the way. Peyton rolls out of the pin and Carmella moonwalks like
Michael P.S. Hayes
as Corey Graves points out.
Carmella is starting to develop her signature spots and taunts. I’m surprised how much Carmella has improved in the past year. That could be due to the other women getting called up, so she has more time to work in front of a crowd.
Peyton Royce also showed a significant kick spot.
She just got done roundhouse kicking Carmella in the face and she then takes her right leg and back kicks in between the ropes.
Carmella takes another step in establishing her name in the women’s division with a submission victory.
And I’m Like… I don’t know if Carmella has improved that much or if Peyton is so good she raised Carmella’s performance. These girls just need a bit more chemistry and it will be fantastic.
Finn and Joe talk about their match with the Lucha Dragons.
Finn says let’s do it for Dusty, Joe reminds Finn to grab his championship belt before he leaves. It’s either forgetful Finn or foreshadowing a Joe alignment turn in the tournament. Cause you can’t spell tournament without turn.
We get footage of NXT live events where round one tag matches were happening.
Enzo and Cass beat Dawkins and Sawyer
Dawson and Dash beat The Drifter and Tucker Knight. Dawson and Wilder need a name, they lost The Mechanics, maybe Wrestling Inc. I don’t know!
We get a Nia Jax video. It’s pronounce N-eye-ah I keep saying knee-ya.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bull Dempsey and Tyler Breeze
I am somewhat familiar with Ciampa from his work in
ROH
. I’ve only heard of Gargano but never seen him work.
Bull’s theme song is so forced, he is growing on me, just not his theme song.
Graves says he knows a lot about these two new guys. “Gargano is very talented, Ciampa sticks his tongue out a lot.”
The story of the match revolves around Tyler and Bull not really getting along. Breeze seems to get beat up while Bull becomes an immovable object for a while. The crowd chants “Bull is Gorgeous” and “Buuulfit”. Bull taunts to Breeze as if to say “how are you having trouble with these guys?”
Tyler tags back in and Gargano hits an impressive flurry.
The last move is a reverse neckbreaker with a bit of pizazz. Johnny maximized his minutes and went ‘full Owens’ as in, in the debut match hit a shit load of high energy offense so people will remember you.
Once Tyler tags out he takes Johnnys momentum with him. Gargano runs into the brick wall that is Bull Dempsey.
Ciampa tags in and gets to show off his chosen offense of knees, stomps, and tons of headlocks. Tommaso tags out, Gargano kicks Breeze off the apron. Miscommunication on Bull and Breeze leads to the underdog victory for Gargano and Ciampa.
And I’m Like… A lot happened in a little bit of time. I went in excited to watch Tommaso Ciampa in a WWE ring, I left the match wanting to see more from Johnny Gargano.
Breeze post match attacks Dempsey and the feud of the someone who is vain and hateful vs. Somone who is changing to become better.
Lucha Dragons talk but my Spanish is up to par. It’ll be better once I finish my Spanish classes. Kalisto does say he wants to win for Dusty.
Dana Brooke says she is mad she beat Bayley, and Bayley is now champion. She gets all Seth Rollins about her interview where she has one point and reiterates it for 3 minutes. Pats Devin on the head too.
Tye Dillenger video. All it shows is the number 10 and the crowd saying 10….
Dana Brooke vs. Billy Kay
As Dana makes her entrance she does her signature pose FIVE times! She needs to learn new poses or do the one she knows less.
The crowd starts with a “we love Dana/No we don’t”
Every move Dana tries is reversed by Billy. Billy only does headlocks though, so their match reminds me of a football game. A lot of action then wait. Billy actually hit a flying head scissors, but quickly reapplied a headlock.
Dana does a chokehold in the corner. I like the move cause it makes her stand out and is easily reversible. Any signature spot that looks nice and can be reversed wins me over quickly.
And I’m Like… As Dana gets the win, we inch closer to having developed characters having good matches again on the NXT women’s undercard.
Apollo Crews says Apollo Nation is gonna take over NXT.
Then I get choked up cause…
IZZY YOU GUYS! She gets to see her hero and celebrate Bayleys victory together. She is like Bayleys
12th Fan.
We are taken to a Smackdown! Taping where round one of the Dusty Tag Classic continues.
Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons
We are in Rhode Island and Finn comes out in a leather jacket and does that Paige thing when he opens the jacket. As he makes his entrance you can tell the majority of the crowd does not watch NXT.
Instantly it’s easy to hear that, Jimmy and Tom are not familiar with NXT by the amount of silence in this match.
I don’t watch Smackdown so I can’t say for sure. But damn why is Jimmy so bad at commentary?
It’s weird seeing Finn get beat up by Sin Cara. I wonder what it’s like for strictly WWE fans seeing these jabronis beat up the Lucha Dragons?
The 450 monkey flip scares me so much. It seems so dangerous.
Finn was getting it taken to him pretty bad, once he hit the hot tag though, the crowd erupted. That is a testament to the ability of these four performers. Let’s be honest, not too many people in the WWE universe care about the Lucha Dragons and the ‘NXT Unknowns’, yet they care about how this match will end.
Kalisto gets caught in the Muscle Buster followed by the Coup de Grâce.
And I’m Like… That match was fun, I’m just wondering when their worlds collide and Joe steps up for a title shot.
I started this at about 4:30 am it is now 11:45 am. It was a steady day at work but slow enough to get this done early.
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, or verbally tell someone if you could. I gotta get ready for lunch rush. Yall have a good one.
-jake
