Well, where do I start with this weeks
NXT? I could talk about the appearances of Dolph Ziggler and Diva's
Champion AJ Lee, I could talk about the re-debut of CJ Parker, but no
there's only one thing that I can start this blog with...Sami Zayn
vs. Antonio Cesaro, Two out of Three Falls.
Two out of Three Falls Match:
Sami Zayn
vs.
Antonio Cesaro
So after months of
build up between Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro, here we were the
rubber match. Now this rivalry has been so incredibly well booked
since late May this year, with the two featuring in various match ups
also involving NXT Champion Bo Dallas and Leo Kruger, where their
rivalry was always made clear during the bouts. Not many WWE
rivalries last three months before having their big blow off, but
this one certainly did. With the wrestling being so good in their
original two contests, expectations were high here and Zayn and
Cesaro really had to perform. My intrigue to this one was increased
even more when it was made a Two out of Three Falls bout, because of
some of the fantastic bouts of this style that we've seen in the
past, which usually favour the more technical, scientific wrestler
like Zayn and Cesaro. The stipulation present and interesting
structure on which to build the story of the match, with the placing
of the falls being vital in building the flow correctly.
I didn't for a
second doubt that this would be a superb match, and seconds in and we
were already into the action with Zayn hitting a front flip plancha
onto Cesaro as he headed to the ring, after this Zayn quickly got a
pinfall via a school boy roll to go one up on Cesaro. It was an
interesting way to start the match and really set a different dynamic
going forward. We are used to seeing a quick fall in two out of three
falls bouts, but usually it's the second fall to quickly even the
score. The bout continued with Cesaro quickly gaining control, and
despite Zayn attempting to fight back, he would often get caught in
one Cesaro's impressive power moves, including a powerbomb after
Cesaro had blocked a kick from Zayn. The theme of the second fall
would see Cesaro repeatedly attempt to lock in a Chinlock, with Zayn
escaping on occasion for a roll up varation for a near fall. With
Cesaro eventually hooking the Chinlock in deep, swinging Zayn around,
with Zayn unable to break the hold and on the verge of passing out,
he just about managed to tap out, giving Cesaro the second fall and
evening the match at one fall a piece. Another interesting move in
the bout, which would not usually see a submission until the third
fall, if at all. Having Zayn tap out to what is usually seen as a
rest hold, only worked here because Cesaro locked it in so
convincingly and Zayn sold it so well, don't expect to start seeing
this in Great Khali matches anytime soon.
So we headed into
the final and ultimately strongest fall, with even more power moves
from Antonio Cesaro and even more heart shown by Sami Zayn. Cesaro
used the spot we've seen him use before when he superplex's an
opponent from the apron into the ring, before an attempt to suplex
Zayn out of small package attempt was thwarted by Zayn who slipped
out of the suplex in a school boy roll up for another near fall. The
great thing about this match was that it remembered what had happened
before and built upon it, it was essentially variations on a theme in
wrestling. Throw in some great set pieces like Zayn flying threw the
turnbuckles to hit a tornado DDT onto the floor and you had the
perfect recipe for an outstanding wrestling match. The ending once
again remembered what had happened else where in the match, with Zayn
looking for another tornado DDT, this time using the ropes to
springboard into the move, only for Cesaro to show an outstanding
feat of strength halting Zayn mid DDT, throwing him onto his
shoulder, then up into the air for an awesome European Uppercut,
before lifting Zayn up into the Neutralizer to pick up the pinfall
victory and his second fall to win the match. After the match had
built so well, the ending had to deliver and it did in so many ways,
the impressive nature allowed Zayn to come out of the battle still
looking strong, whilst keeping Cesaro looking like an absolute beast.
Now, the way
Cesaro has been booked on NXT, makes his current situation on the
main roster even more upsetting. This week alone we've seen Cesaro
lose on Raw in tag team action against The Prime Time Players, before
managing Jack Swagger to a loss against The Great Khali on Main
Event, and he certainly deserves a lot more. We've seen failed
gimmick after failed gimmick head Cesaro's way, from American flag
waving Anti-American to Swiss Yodeller to boyfriend of Aksana and
Teddy Long love rival, and at the start of The Real American gimmick
with Zeb Colter I felt that the tide could be turning for Cesaro,
however he now seems to be being punished for Jack Swagger's extra
curricular activity and stuck going nowhere once again. He's taken to
all his gimmick as well as he could, but they were just never going
to get over, if you see a man yodelling you don't do say “I hope
this man get's his arse handed to him” you say “I'll probably
watch something else for a bit”. This match with Zayn, along with
his match against Daniel Bryan a few weeks back on Raw, could be put
up against anything WWE has done in the last year and still look
great, hopefully WWE realise the talent they have sooner or later. As
for Zayn, he was only helped by this series with Cesaro in the eyes
of WWE fans, and title bout with Bo Dallas would seem the logical
move for the former Generic Luchador.
Best of the Rest (In The World)
Now I can't
imagine that when Dolph Ziggler was advertised as appearing on NXT
this week, that the first person everyone thought of as an opponent
for the former two time World Heavyweight Champion, was Alexander
Rusev. We haven't really seen a lot of Rusev since Florida
Championship Wrestling morphed into NXT, and he didn't make his
television debut until a battle royal at the end of May. Rusev
character feels like a bit of a throwback to me, in his unique
attire, he does stand out, aided by his size which intrigued me from
the outset, how would Ziggler mold with Rusev's style and what kind
of story would they have to tell.
I was actually
very impressed with Rusev, he works the big foreign heel role very
well, with some creative offense, including holding onto the ropes to
allow him to deliver some vicious knee strikes to Ziggler's midrift.
Continually speak what I imagine is Bulgarian constantly throughout
the match, gave him an exotic feel really drawing me into the
character, with Ziggler being a great opponent because his selling is
so good. Ziggler's speed and precision offense, including a beautiful
dropkick, afforded him a way back into the match, eventually allowing
him to pick up the victory after Rusev had missed a splash from the
top rope, and Ziggler had hit a Zig Zag. It will be interesting to
see how Rusev does against someone with less experience and talent as
Dolph Ziggler, and if he still looks as impressive as he did here.
The Diva's
Championship was also on the line this week in a short but fun bout
between Champion AJ Lee and challenger Bayley. Bayley's unique
character was a good fit opposite Lee and it was clear that the two
had a lot of fun putting on this bout, and that transferred to the
viewer. Whilst Bayley has her character nailed on, she still needs
work on her in ring work, with a pinfall attempt whilst Lee was under
the ropes standing out for me. Following a diving Corkscrew Elbow
from Bayley, Lee feigned injury suckering the naïve Bayley in,
before hitting a Spin Kick to the gut, and finishing the challenger
of with a Shining Wizard for the pinfall victory. The bout was what I
expected it to be, telling a good story with the characters meshing
together well, although there wasn't a whole lot of wrestling on
display, it was still entertaining to see.
CJ Parker
continued to appear backstage, photo bombing Tyler Breeze as he got a
fan to take a photo of him, it wasn't particularly funny but set up
the idea well enough. Parker went onto have his re-debut in NXT later
on, against Baron Corbin. Parker has been given a new hippy style
gimmick, which is reminscent of Spanky's run as The Brian Kendrick in
WWE between 2008 and 2009 in characterisation. The bout ended quickly
with Parker picking up the victory with a unique variation of a DDT.
The bout was quick and was only really there to serve as a way of
showcasing Parker's new gimmick, which looks promising. After the
bout, Breeze interupted an interview between Parker and Renee Young,
to confront him about the photobomb. It was a bit goofy, but worked
for these characters, with Parker eventually going to punch Breeze
only for Breeze to quickly escape. I expect more from these two in
the coming weeks on NXT.
The Ascension
continue to plough through numerous enhancement talent on NXT and
this week Conor O'Brian and Rick Victor were in action against Ron
Hicks and Michael Zaki. This bout was pretty similar to the contest
The Ascension had on 24th July, as they destroyed Hicks
and Zaki with a number of tag team moves used in that bout, including
finishing off Hicks with their version of a High Low to allow Victor
to get the pinfall victory. It would seem that The Ascension will be
getting an NXT Tag Team title shot against Corey Graves & Adrian
Neville soon, mainly because they are the only real heel tag team
that we've seen on NXT, since The Wyatt Family have left.
Finally...
What did I learn from this weeks NXT?
1. Cesaro and Zayn are two of the best wrestlers in WWE.
2. Alexander Rusev has potential in the Bulgarian Big Man role, if he can perform against opponent not as good as Dolph Ziggler.
3. Alex Riley would be a good commentator, if he didn't constantly keep referring to his storyline with The Miz (It was two years ago Alex)
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