Thursday night was the coming out party of several NXT superstars. Sasha Banks, Finn Bálor, Hideo Itami, Sami Zayn, and a debuting Kevin Owens shined brightly on NXT's biggest show of the year. Obviously, The Ascension, Adrian Neville, and Charlotte Flair are all getting called up to WWE's main roster soon, so the show was an opportunity for NXT to showcase their latest crop of talent. Sasha Banks has been on NXT the longest of anyone, but this was the first time anyone really had the chance to see her evolve from just another pretty diva to a legitimate competitor in the ring.
For a long time Kevin Owens was that one big indie "get." After CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens was that one indie darling that the Internet fawned all over. They said he'd never make it to the WWE. His detractors said he was too fat, his finisher (the Package Piledriver) was too dangerous, and he would never get over with a casual audience. After his debut outing, people can't stop talking about what a tremendous talent this guy is.
The show got underway and the crowd was confused when they first heard the music. They weren't sure what it was at first, but when they saw Owens' head on the Tron they gave the loudest pop I'd heard in Full Sail University Arena in a long time. CJ Parker had the unfortunate honor of being Owens' first opponent. The bell rang and Owens got Parker in the corner, where he gave him his famous cannonball dive. The crowd was super into Kevin Owens, and it looked like a new NXT superstar was born. The two men tussled for a few minutes, which lead to Parker breaking Owens' nose with a palm strike to the face. Owens wrestled the rest of the match with a bloody face. It was quite a fitting introduction for Kevin Owens, as he pinned CJ Parker after a devastating power bomb for the 1-2-3.
The show got underway and the crowd was confused when they first heard the music. They weren't sure what it was at first, but when they saw Owens' head on the Tron they gave the loudest pop I'd heard in Full Sail University Arena in a long time. CJ Parker had the unfortunate honor of being Owens' first opponent. The bell rang and Owens got Parker in the corner, where he gave him his famous cannonball dive. The crowd was super into Kevin Owens, and it looked like a new NXT superstar was born. The two men tussled for a few minutes, which lead to Parker breaking Owens' nose with a palm strike to the face. Owens wrestled the rest of the match with a bloody face. It was quite a fitting introduction for Kevin Owens, as he pinned CJ Parker after a devastating power bomb for the 1-2-3.
The throwback tag team of the Vaudevillians took on the NXT tag team champions, the Lucha Dragons in the next match. Aiden English and Simon Gotch, the manliest of men, couldn't keep up with the high flying abilities of Calisto and Sin Cara. While the match was amazing, and the Vaudevillians entertained the Full Sail crowd, I can't help but think the English and Gotch got the raw deal. The crowd loved them, and even tossed a few chants their way, especially when one sacrificed himself from the Dragons and their out of the apron maneuvers. The crowd chanted "Chivalry" after that crazy spot. And while I love the Lucha Dragons, their style has become the norm in the WWE. You can blame the Uso Brothers and their high flying death-defying moves, since that's all we ever see on Raw and Smackdown anymore. When Owens did an aerial outside move it was impressive, because he's a pretty huge guy, and big guys don't go to the outside like that. Maybe I'm the loopy one. I have been watching an exorbitant amount of WCW cruiserweight action lately.
I'm not 100% familiar with the NXT roster. That being said Baron Corbin's squash of Tye Dillinger was odd to me. Apparently Corbin has been beating his opponents in record time. This is okay, I guess, if we're just gonna keep this at NXT. It wouldn't work on the main roster, since we already have a streaky guy, Rusev, running through the WWE roster. Corbin getting called up and getting the Rusev treatment after Rusev just wouldn't be believable, and it would make the roster look like a joke. In NXT, it's perfectly fine, because everyone there is a rookie, and they're all learning. While the match was a squash, the part I did like happened afterwards. Bull Dempsey stood in the crowd and just watched. Baron Corbin came over to him and the two had a stare down. Great. Can't wait to see this match.
I'm not 100% familiar with the NXT roster. That being said Baron Corbin's squash of Tye Dillinger was odd to me. Apparently Corbin has been beating his opponents in record time. This is okay, I guess, if we're just gonna keep this at NXT. It wouldn't work on the main roster, since we already have a streaky guy, Rusev, running through the WWE roster. Corbin getting called up and getting the Rusev treatment after Rusev just wouldn't be believable, and it would make the roster look like a joke. In NXT, it's perfectly fine, because everyone there is a rookie, and they're all learning. While the match was a squash, the part I did like happened afterwards. Bull Dempsey stood in the crowd and just watched. Baron Corbin came over to him and the two had a stare down. Great. Can't wait to see this match.
The first time Hideo Itami stepped into an NXT ring he was attacked by The Ascension. They beat him up several times after that. Then, he said he was gonna bring a friend. That friend turned out to be none other than Finn Bálor, that man that wrestling fans remember from his days in NJPW, NWA, CMLL, and ICW. The highly decorated ring veteran came to NXT with much fanfare. Bálor was known for not only his talent, but for his crazy face paint. He's been everything from The Punisher, to Carnage, to The Joker. People used to clamor to see what he'd be next.
So far in NXT he came out normal, with no face paint. At NXT Takeover: R/Evolution, however, that would all change when he came out with the craziest entrance ever. There was dry ice, cool lights, and Bálor looking like some weird non-licensed character. It was great. At this point Hideo Itami was an afterthought. The Ascension, NXT's version of The Eliminators are on their way out. Their promo videos have already started showing up on Smackdown. They needed to lose in order to get Itami and Bálor "over" on NXT's biggest show so far. The best spot was when Hideo Itami teased the GTS finisher. The crowd popped, but I'm guessing they're saving that for either a title match, or an actual WWE pay-per-view match. It would have been an amazing spot. The match ended when both Itami and Bálor gave The Ascension the double foot stomp and pinned them. What a match! It also lead to this moment backstage.
I never knew Sasha Banks had it in her. I've been a fan of "The Boss" for quite some time, and while I always knew she had Moxie, I didn't know she had the stuff to keep up with, and give Charlotte Flair a serious run for her title. Charlotte and Sasha used to be BFF's (Beautiful Fierce Females). That all changed the night Charlotte retained her title against Bayley. Having gained a newfound respect for her, Charlotte was not about to stand by as Sasha jumped in the ring and pounced on a fallen Bayley. Charlotte quickly put a stop to that, and a feud was born. Sasha did everything to get under Charlotte's skin, including making fun of her father, Ric, and altering Charlotte's T-shirt to fit her own catchphrase.
Charlotte didn't do herself any favors on Monday Night Raw, losing to Natalya Neidhart in two minutes and thirty nine seconds. This, a week after she defeated current SHINE Wrestling champion Mia Yim in a squash match. I went into this match thinking Sasha was gonna get her butt handed to her. Instead, she went hold for hold against the NXT Women's Champion, almost submitting her at some points. Anyone who isn't familiar with women's wrestling, or only watches the 3 minute Divas matches on Raw and Smackdown, wasn't used to the kind of back and forth action between women that we saw Thursday night. While Sasha was able to hold her own for a while, in the end Charlotte Flair was able to pick up the victory and retain her championship once again. Both women deserve kudos for this match.
Charlotte didn't do herself any favors on Monday Night Raw, losing to Natalya Neidhart in two minutes and thirty nine seconds. This, a week after she defeated current SHINE Wrestling champion Mia Yim in a squash match. I went into this match thinking Sasha was gonna get her butt handed to her. Instead, she went hold for hold against the NXT Women's Champion, almost submitting her at some points. Anyone who isn't familiar with women's wrestling, or only watches the 3 minute Divas matches on Raw and Smackdown, wasn't used to the kind of back and forth action between women that we saw Thursday night. While Sasha was able to hold her own for a while, in the end Charlotte Flair was able to pick up the victory and retain her championship once again. Both women deserve kudos for this match.
Sam Zayn is the lovable loser. He's NXT's version of Charlie Brown. He's the ultimate good guy right now. After never being able to win the big one, Sami went into this match with a lot of people behind him. His turn to move up the roster is coming up soon. He said he wants to be the NXT champ at least once before moving on to greener pastures. Standing in his way was Adrian Neville, the guy who had been a thorn in Zayn's side for a very long time. After some ref bumps and near falls, a spot happened where Sami could have capitalized on Neville while the ref was out, by leveling Neville in the head with the title belt. Sami thinks about it, and as always, good guy Sami Zayn came to his senses and put the belt down, opting instead to win clean. Zayn eventually came away the victor, and it was much deserved.
After the match the entire locker room spilled out to congratulate Sami Zayn, including Zayn's best friend and longtime rival, Kevin Owens. The pair used to be a tag team in Ring of Honor, and had one of the best feuds ever in that organization. Their last match in Ring of Honor came at Final Battle 2012 in a Ladder War. Those two had been through the fires together, so it was only fitting that Owens be the first guy to congratulate Zayn on his first NXT title win. The rest of the locker room put him up on his shoulders, and even Adrian Neville came in to hug his opponent before leaving the ring, an obvious passing of the torch, since Neville is on his way out. Then, tragedy struck...
As Zayn was preparing to leave the ring and the WWE sign-off logo came up, Kevin Owens showed his true colors and power bombed his best friend on the apron. It reminded me of this classic moment from their Ring of Honor days. This was some really good storytelling. It makes me look forward to next week's NXT show. Because you can't just walk away, you have to see what happens next.
4.5 out of 5 Stars. I really didn't care about Dillinger vs Corbin.
4.5 out of 5 Stars. I really didn't care about Dillinger vs Corbin.