NXT Review and Reactions
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| NXT Champion Finn Balor |
This week's episode of NXT kick started with the new NXT Champion, Finn Balor as he was introduced to the ring by Greg Hamilton. Once in the ring, Balor conducted a small interview with Greg and cut a promo on becoming NXT champion and defending the championship. I was so glad to finally here from the new champ. It's been a couple of weeks now since Beast In The East took place and I think it's safe to say we all wanted to see Finn back in the ring and starting something new in NXT as the champion. He carried the promo really really well. It was so passionate and felt so real. he reaction he got from the crowd last night was insane. He's one hundred percent the fans champion and it's so clear why. He has such a great unique connection with the fans and you have to love it. It was also made official in the opening that later in in the night Owens and Balor would have a contract signing for their NXT Takeover Championship rematch.
The first match of the night was divas action and making her in ring return was Eva Marie. I'm not going to lie, I was actually really looking forward to this match. I'm far from an Eva Marie fan but there has been so much hype about her return and the improvements she has made in the ring that you naturally couldn't help but be excited. I did have pretty high expectations of Eva in this match because of the attention she has been getting over the past month or so. Coming back and not showing enough improvement wasn't going to go down well for Eva. So it was safe to say that she was under imminence pressure last night and trust me every single member of the WWE universe was watching her every move and judging her like there was no tomorrow and trust me there was no hiding for Eva Marie. She came to the ring debuting a new entrance theme and a whole new entrance. To be honest I never really liked her old theme but this new one isn't much better to be honest. I hated the gown she wore over the attire. I don't see the point of it and I don't think it did her any favours. It looked way too overly gimmicky and I just don't think she needed it. I think the WWE were going for the Maryse look but instead it looked like she was mocking Ric Flair. I don't know if I'm being to harsh but I just didn't like it. She did have much more confidence when she came to the ring. She came down looking like she knew who she was as a character and she embraced the crowed reaction so that was already something to be impressed by. We're used to seeing a much more uncertain, awkward Eva Marie. She did get a bad reaction from the crowd as was to be expected. The standard of women's wrestling in NXT is so so high and the fans have decided a long time ago that they are not for Eva Marie and that showed so much last night. We have seen her previously work in NXT and we know how bad that went. Her first NXT TV match witch against Bayley and I think it was some time last year. I remember her getting one of the worse reactions I have ever heard and so to come back so strong really shows how much fight she has in her. Eva's opponent last night was KC Cassidy, one of the new NXT Recruits from this year. KC is a very talented wrestler. She has a great image and works around the ring really well. I haven't had anything but positive things to say about her so far but she was easily the best first opponent for Eva. The actual match wasn't the longest but it was enough for Eva to show some improvements. Now don't get me wrong, she still was slow and lacked some confidence in the ring but it was much better than what we are used to seeing from her. I do think she tried way too hard to look sexy in the ring and she was clearly over thinking things but it was a decent return and I was impressed. The most important thing to remember is that she got one heck of a reaction last night. It was very split, some people hated her and some people were really backing her. She divides opinion and when you have someone especially a diva that gets such a reaction it has to be a good thing either way.
Up next Baron Corbin and once again he was working another squash match. I honestly could have
thrown something at my lap top last night when I saw that he was going to be wrestling in yet another squash match. But I just stayed calm and patient because I know that big Baron Corbin push is just around the corner. I don't want to reveal too much just in case some of you don't read the NXT taping results but sometime in August Baron does finally get that big push that he needs and he does start working with some of the bigger names on the roster so just stay patient. However, he will be working more basic, quick, simple, squash matches for a couple more weeks but hey, as a women who finds Baron extremely attractive, I ain't complaining about seeing more of him over the next thew weeks! He of course looked very dominate throughout the match last night and picked the win easily, without breaking a sweat. He is improving when it comes to character and charisma though. He has a great presence and he's really working on working that crowd. He just needs to be given time. You will see over the weeks that I do have some blog posts coming up on Baron so watch out for those in NXT month here on my blog.
More one on one action next and this time it was Samoa Joe taking on Mike Rallis. I don't have much to say on Mike. I don't know much about he's work so I don't have much of an opinion. I know he has worked the odd couple of matches for NXT TV but I can't really remember a time where he stood out a lot. It was basic booking for Samoa Joe and I would liked to have seen him in a stronger match but he is still in the early stages of NXT so I'm not expecting too much just yet. I know that he has a new feud starting in August witch I'm really looking forward too. I have mentioned about a million times that I was convinced that Owens was going to drop the NXT Championship to Joe so it was a surprised to me to see it go to Balor but I do think that Joe's time for the NXT championship isn't a million miles away it's just not yet. I would however still like to see some more work between Owens and Samoa Joe further down the line in their careers witch I'm sure we will see. It was great seeing that they had made some changes to he's entrance theme last night. It was much better and much better suited to him. Anyway, the match last night was not a very long but I did enjoy it. Joe dominated most of the match but it was nice to see Mike Rallis get some offence in the match. It flowed well and wasn't messy at all. Of course Samoa Joe picked up yet another victory. We also learnt that in two weeks time he will be going one on one with Rhyno.
Bayley made her in ring return also last night after taking some time out of action due to an injury. As promised, Bayley came back with one diva in mind. Emma. Finally getting her hands on the Australian diva, Bayley and Emma went one on one in the second divas match of the night. Of course I was delighted to see two divas match in one night again. The divas are taking over everywhere in the WWE right now and it's amazing. It's a great time to be a women in the WWE. I have enjoyed the work between Emma and Bayley. It's made sense and has been a great little storyline for both divas. I've loved the fact that Emma has started working down in NXT again. It's where her career really kick started and she's a true member of the NXT universe and the NXT divas divsion. These girls have great chemistry in the ring and worked so so well together. They both got a strong reaction from the crowd. With Bayley of course being the fan favourite and Emma...well she was Evil Emma again. It was a match that I found really easy to get into and enjoy. It flowed well, had some great spots and most important they told a great story and showed some amazing wrestling.It was the longest match of the night.I also really liked the character we got from Emma throughout this match, witch was great too. In the end it was Bayley who picked up the win. One hundred per cent the right booking decision. Bayley has been out of action or a while and so it made sense that she made a big return and picked up the victory over Evil Emma. After the match Bayley got onto the mic and said that she was back to become the next NXT Women's champion but first she wants a one on one match against Charlotte. I also want to quickly mention that I'm hopeing that Devin Taylor starts actually wrestling soon. We have got a new backstage interviewer and it does seem that Dana Brooks doesn't have a problem with her like she does Devin. Maybe if Devin is going to start wrestling she will be introduced as a wrestler in a feud with Dana.
NXT Tag Team Championships, Aiden English and Simon Gotch, the Vaudevillians, took on Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins. Of course a predicable match up. We all know how this was going to go but I do like all four of these superstars. I know that we haven't seen all that much from Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton but they have grabbed my attention and over the course of NXT month I do have a couple of blog posts where I talk about both of these superstars so watch out for that. The tag divsion right now in NXT is red hot. We have so many great tag teams that are stepping up the plate and I honestly cannot wait to see what we are going to get from the division week after week. The match last night was nothing special. What we did see however was great team working from both teams. Both the Vaudevillians and Sawyer and Dawkins worked so well together as teams. Sawyer and Angelo looked much better put together last night. It was an easy watch match. It flowed well and of course the Vaudevillians picked up another victory to add to their momentum and they received a great reaction from the NXT crowd once again. I'm loving just how over these guys are right now and I'm loving seeing them work as baby faces.
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| Eva Marie at NXT last night |
And finally, closing this weeks episode of NXT is was a good old fashioned contract signing between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens for their NXT Championship match at NXT Takeover in August. I don't know about you but I love a contract signing. It's just knowing that something is going to go down and when it's one between these two superstars in particular you have to be excited. Now, I just want to remind you that my prediction post for their Takeover match is done and I will be uploading that in a couple of weeks times so it will be up pretty early. I loved this contract signing last night. I loved seeing the passion in both superstars eyes.I loved the chemistry, the feel to it. I loved the brawl that started between them and I loved how William Regal played he's role. It all fitted together so so well and was the perfect way to end a great NXT show. The show this week had so much action and they managed to fit a lot into one hour. Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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