TV Review: WWE NXT #200 (James Marston)

After NXT Takeover: The End of the Beginning last week, it was back to normal this Wednesday (15/06/2016) with an hour long edition of the show airing on the WWE Network. 

Headline Segment

Shinsuke Nakamura confronts Finn Balor

How was the show, though? Let's take a look!

fast-forward...Three minute recap video of NXT Takeover: The End of the Beginning...The Authors of Pain (Gzim Selmani & Sunny Dhinsa) accompanied by Paul Ellering destroyed their opponents, CJ O'Doyle & Sean Swag, in the tag teams TV debut match...

The show really got going with another short bout, that saw Carmella pick up a submission victory over Tessa Blanchard. This was Blanchard's third match with WWE and she came out with a new attitude, suddenly becoming a heel. I've missed a few weeks of NXT some maybe I missed something, because the commentary team didn't mention it. I suppose it's because her previous matches had been against Nia Jaxx and Alexa Bliss, both heels, and I suppose most viewers wouldn't notice. However, considering that NXT is aimed at the savvy, wrestling fan it felt like a lack of attention to detail and continuity. For what it was I thought Carmella looked pretty good here, her offence looked decent and managed to get the crowd going in a fairly short space of time. She's still got a long way to go, but there's definitely signs of improvement from the Princess of Staten Island. 

fast-forward...Cathey Kelly interviewed Blake and Murphy ahead of their match with more tension being teased between the former NXT Tag Team Champions...

Blake & Murphy's losing streak continued as they fell to TM-61's Nick Miller & Shane Thorne, giving the newcomers their first win on WWE TV. For me, the match was slow to get going and having missed the last few weeks, I thought it was difficult to see which team were working as the babyfaces. The action was a bit stunted until Blake & Murphy took control of the match and from here on in things picked up. The continuation of the storyline that's seen Blake & Murphy unable to win a match since dropping the NXT Tag Team belts back in August played well into the match with some brilliantly worked heel miscommunication that would lead to Miller's hot tag. A quick finishing sequence saw TM-61 hit their impressive Thunder Valley double team for the win.

fast-forward...After a recap of Nia Jax defeating Bayley on NXT #197, an injured Bayley was interviewed revealing she'd possibly be cleared to compete by next week...

In a rematch from Takeover: The End of the Beginning, Andrade Almas picked up a fairly comfortable victory over Tye Dillinger in a technically sound encounter. Credit to Dillinger for bumping like a machine for Almas and allowing his opponent to look as good as he did, but I'm not sure that he's currently the best choice of personnel to put over debuting babyface talent. The fact is he's too over with the crowd, who enjoy the "Ten" count thing and therefore they sided with Dillinger over the new comer for most of the match, with this not being helped by Almas being almost completely dominant throughout. Either switch up Dillinger's character to make him more dislikable or find Almas a different opponent to allow him to build his own relationship with the crowd. Also, the sooner Almas drops the white feather hat and other get up he comes to ring in the better.

The main talking point from the show comes in the form of the superb in-ring segment between Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura. Advertised as Balor addressing his future on the show, Balor's interaction with the crowd at the start of the promo was a strong piece of work as despite him not him having the world's best solo promo skills, he turned things into a conversation with the Full Sail Arena, taking advantage of it's fairly intimate settings. The lead-in to Nakamura's interruption was planted nicely with Balor repeatively saying "What's next for Finn Balor?" before the arena erupted at the sound of Nakamura's The Rising Sun theme music.  Shinsuke is just Shinsuke, isn't I? I mean, I could try to explain why the man's just completely fascinating to watch speak, but I feel that trying to pick apart the reason why, would take away part of the magic. Plus, at the end of the day we're getting Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura on WWE television at some point, so who gives a fuck about anything else. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale rating - 4.5/10

Similar to this week's IMPACT Wrestling, the 200th edition of NXT was pretty much rescued by it's headline segment. Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura brought the star power and the performances to match in front of Full Sail Arena and getting an electric response in between. The rest of the show however was a bit damp as NXT attempts to get a number of newer stars over, with mixed results. Problems with heel and face dynamics seemed to plague the show, with a lack of attention to detail from performers, as well as the booking staff. It's easy to get a crowd excited about Balor vs. Nakamura, but NXT needs to start developing some stars of it's own sooner rather than later.

TV Review: WWE NXT #185 (American Alpha vs. Blake & Murphy)

Broadcast on the 24th February 2016 (Taped 22nd January) on the WWE Network, the 185th episode of WWE's NXT emanated from the CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida, USA. With 37 days until Takeover: Dallas, American Alpha faced off with former WWE NXT Tag Team Champions Blake & Murphy...but was it any good? Let's find out

match card

Match 1 - Tag Team - American Alpha vs. Blake & Murphy with Alexa Bliss

Match 2 - Singles - Apollo Crews vs. Christopher Girard

Match 3 - Singles - Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bull Dempsey

Match 4 - Tag Team - Nia Jax & Eva Marie vs. Carmella & WWE NXT Women's Champion Bayley

american alpha defeat blake and murphy via pinfall

This week's WWE NXT kicked off with the main event, as the tag team division got another chance in the Spotlight with American Alpha's Chad Gable & Jason Jordan going over Blake & Murphy. Whilst technically sound throughout, this contest struggled to fully connect as the CFE Arena didn't seem particularly into the action for large portions of the contest. There was still things to enjoy, like Gable's lengthy arm lock sequence on Blake, but even that felt like it would have been more fitting for a longer bout and not quite suitable for the two teams current roles in the brand. The booking of American Alpha however continues to be very satisfying however, as Jason Jordan made short work of his hot tag sequence powering through both Blake and Murphy, before the babyface duo picked up the W with their Grand Amplitude double team move. Despite, the dominant finish the fact that Blake & Murphy haven't won on TV since they drop the WWE NXT Tag Team Championships to the Vaudevillains at Takeover: Brooklyn in August and that AA had already defeated the duo on NXT #181 took a little bit of the shine away from things, despite this being Gable & Jordan's sixth victory in a row on TV.

apollo crews defeats christopher gerard via pinfall

Whilst Apollo Crews still seems to be struggling to connect with the NXT audience, he was part of an entertaining extended squash match against the debuting Christopher Girard. Girard is perhaps better known as former CZW World Heavyweight Champion Biff Busick. Despite an almost silent crowd, Girard impressed me on his WWE debut, booked to hit enough of offence to show of his style. Lots of hard strikes from "The Manliest Man" and great moment where he held onto a chin lock as Crews flipped over his back, alongside a lot of angry facial expressions introduced Girard a something different to the rest of the NXT roster. It was a shame there was a slight slip by Girard as he got sent over the top rope and seemed like he was supposed to land on his feet on the apron to get leveled with enziguiri, as it meant the finish wasn't quite as smooth as it could been with Crews having to wait to hit his move. A spin out Powerbomb got the win for the former Uhaa Nation, setting his momentum rolling again following his defeat to Finn Balor on NXT #182.

fast-forward...Recap of Bayley vs. Carmella over the WWE NXT Women's Championship from WWE NXT #183, as well as the aftermath with Nia Jaxx, Eva Marie and Asuka...A pretty straight forward interview with WWE NXT Women's Champion Bayley & Carmella by Alex Reyes about their upcoming Tag Team Match with Eva Marie & Nia Jaxx, with the added interest of a question about Asuka intentions for the WWE NXT Women's Championship...CCTV footage from outside the WWE Performance Center of WWE NXT Tag Team Champions Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson attacking Enzo Amore, before Colin Cassady appeared to make the save and security separated them in a pleasingly different way of keeping the feud ticking over...

 

tommaso ciampa defeats bull dempsey via submission

Weirdly, Bull Dempsey was the most over character on the show so far with the Orlando crowd. They seemed to absolutely love him, chanting "Bull-Fit" and cheering when he finally managed to get his T-Shirt off. However, they went quiet pretty quickly when Dempsey and Tommaso Ciampa dropped the comedy and began to work a psychological match-up. Of course, I rather liked this part of the match, as Ciampa focused on Dempsey's arm for his Bridging Fujiwara Armbar submission. Dempsey sold things well, as the former ROH World Television Champion picked up a pretty straight forward submission victory. Off the top of my head, this might be my favourite Bull Dempsey match! Ciampa now has two victories in a row on NXT, maybe this is a sign that he'll be getting a full-time contract with WWE soon or maybe he's just being built up to put over a regular later down the line. 

nia jax & eva marie defeat carmella and wwe nxt women's champion bayley via pinfall

A pleasantly surprising tag team, both in terms of content and the result. Nia Jax and Carmella both impressed me here, as both women seemed to have improved a hell of a lot with the two girls more than pulling their weight, alongside the hard working Bayley. The two were involved in the bulk of the contest, as Nia used her size and strength to dominate Carmella in the face in peril role. The Princess of Staten Island applying her version of the Guillotine Choke that allowed Bayley to retain the WWE NXT Women's Championship over Nia was a top quality addition. I hate to say it, because she does have a tremendous amount of heat, but Eva Marie still isn't ready for this kind of match and ended up letting the side down here. The bumps she took during Bayley's hot tag sequence off a handful of clotheslines looked awful and ended up taking me right out of what had been a well crafted moment. Nia was booked very strong in the closing stages, managing to save Eva from losing the match to a Bayley to Belly and Carmella's Modified Figure-Four Headscissors, take out Bayley, drag Eva to the corner for a tag and then hit three consecutive Running Leg Drops on Carmella. I have to admit, "The Flame Haired Femme Fatale" tagging herself in just before the third leg drop and getting the pin did raise a smile. The result blows the Women's division wide open, with previous Number One Contender Carmella, being pinned by Eva Marie, whilst Nia Jax has more than an argument for having won the match for her team, but neither managed to pin the Champion, Bayley (who was on the losing side of a match for the first time since NXT #148 aired in May 2015)

fast-forward...William Regal spoke to Finn Balor about edging closer to becoming the longest reigning NXT Champion, before revealing that he'd be facing the man who currently holds that record, Neville, in the main event for next week...

finally...

atpw scale rating - 4.5/10

Not a classic episode of NXT this week, as the highest profile bout, struggled to take advantage of the spotlight. American Alpha and Blake & Murphy put on a watchable tag team match, but it was still one that just didn't quite manage to find the right connection inside the ring for the majority of the contest. Apollo Crews and Tommaso Ciampa's extended squash bout opposite a debuting Christopher Girard and Bull Dempsey both provided some cracking action, but the CFE Arena only really cared for Dempsey's comedy Bull-Fit routine. The highlight of the whole show for me was the Women's Tag Team match as Nia Jax and Carmella showed signs of improvement and the result of the match opened up a number of different option for the Women's division heading into Takeover: Dallas. 

With WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor scheduled to take on the man who holds the record for the longest NXT Championship reign in history, Neville (returning to the show for the first time since NXT #162 in September) next week's show should be an improvement on the strength of the main event alone, as we edge closer to Takeover: Dallas on 1st April.

WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Preview and Predictions.

In the shadow of SummerSlam and over THIRTEEN WEEKS since Samoa Joe debuted at the conclusion of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn's NXT Championship no contest at Takeover:Unstoppable, it's finally time for another NXT Takeover! With over 13,000 tickets sold, the first Takeover to emanate from outside of the Full Sail Arena is set to be the biggest one yet, but what exactly do we have to look forward to? Let's have a look.

Finn Balor and Kevin Owens picked up our Match of the Month award for July with their terrific bout from Live in Tokyo: Beast in the East, so to say that I'm a little bit excited about seeing a rematch is a bit of an understatement! Then simply because they can, they made it a Ladder match, because why the fuck not? Anyone who followed Owens' career on the independents will know the kind of matches he is capable of putting on when there's a ladder involved, and those that didn't are about to find out. Balor has shown he's one of the most creative wrestlers on WWE's roster since his début in January, so I'm expecting these two to put on something special in Brooklyn.


All the signs would seem to point to Balor retaining here, with Owens now a permanent feature on Monday Night RAW and Thursday Night Smackdown thanks to his blistering feud with John Cena. However, Owens having a match the very next night with former NXT favourite Cesaro makes things a little more interesting. Could we see Cesaro involved in the match to further the issue between the two? It's possible, but certainly not desirable in such a big match for the developmental promotion. But we may well see a finish that allows Owens to shine, to allow him to stay strong going into his match at SummerSlam.


Prediction - Balor retains the NXT Championship

How good is it to see a women's match promoted as a co-main event on a WWE produced show? Could anyone have imagined such a thing a few years ago, when Michael Cole was taking the piss out off everyone on the all female series of the original NXT concept? Sasha and Bayley more than deserve this spot after working their arses off this year, with both their in-ring performance and character work seeing a marked improvement. I expect the crowd could be red-hot for this one, as the likeable Bayley challenges the cocky and confident BOSS for the silver belt. 


Sasha is another performer who's working both Takeover: Brooklyn and SummerSlam this weekend, as she features in a big Three Way Nine Woman Elimination Tag bout on Sunday night, so that very well could play into this match as well. Hopefully we'll see Bayley and Sasha get to tell a story between just the two of them, rather than any of Team B.A.D getting all involved, as there just isn't really any need to overbook things here. I'm expecting Bayley to finally get her hands on the title after numerous attempts in a hard fought battle and a BIG reaction from the Brooklyn crowd. 


Prediction - Bayley wins her 1st NXT Women's Championship

The main question heading into this one is who The Vaudevillains will have in their corner to counter the presence of Blake and Murphy's valet Alexa Bliss, as has been teased over the last few weeks of NXT. It could easily be a debuting performer as WWE has a few fresh female faces waiting in the wings at the Performance Centre, but with the way it's been built on television I'm expecting it to be something a little more special. The match itself is a real opportunity for these four guys to make a mark on NXT and make a case for why they deserve to be stepping up above to the main roster. The Tag Team division is certainly the weakest division in NXT at the moment, so it's time for these boys to change that tonight.


Prediction - Blake and Murphy retain.

Still can't quite get my head around Jushin Thunder Liger being on a WWE show in 2015...it's going to be very surreal when Liger walks out for his match with Tyler Breeze. Prince Pretty is the perfect NXT opponent for Liger in my opinion, as his character should gel well with the 11 time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and, as we've seen in matches with Sami Zayn and Finn Balor, Breeze is more than capable of putting on a quality bout. It would make sense for the Lance Storm-trained star to pick up the win here and head towards an NXT Title shot at the next show, but I still expect this to be a hard fought battle, with a focus on allowing Breeze to shine.


Prediction - Breeze wins.

I've made it known before that I am not a fan of Bourbon Corbin with him still to show any signs that he's been in WWE developmental for FOUR YEARS! Samoa Joe is also yet to have a standout match since making the jump to NXT, so I can't say I'm holding out much hope for this one. Both men need a win here badly, so I'm at least interesting to see who is given the nod and get's the continued push in the brand. I do wish that I cared at least a little bit about this one, but I just can't do it.


Prediction - Joe wins.


We also have the long awaited debut of Apollo Crews (formerly Uhaa Nation in Dragon Gate and elsewhere). If you've never seen Crews before you're certainly in for a treat when he walks into the Barclay's Center.

Finally....

It's a big weekend for WWE and I expect that they'll kick it off in style here. With the exception of Joe vs. Corbin, there's something that I'm looking forward to in every match on the show, and this one has potential to be one of the greatest events in the short history of NXT. All the best to all the performers and production team on the show and I'll see you back here tomorrow for our review, as well as a preview of SummerSlam!