After the awesomeness that was NXT: Takeover last week, it was inevitable that we would go back to the normal with pre-taped NXT episodes. That’s not to say they are bad. They’re always great, but there’s something about the live specials that kick it up several gears. This week was good apart from a couple of things that we will talk about as we go along but heres a hint. They rhyme with FloJo Bawley and Bryson Didd!
Ugh, Mojo!!
For those of you who haven’t read this column before, I greatly dislike Mojo Rawley and people of his ilk. Former footballers have no place in wrestling. They may be athletic and built, but those two things when added together do not add up to a wrestler, they add up to a footballer, or a good burglar! One of the main things that bothers me about him besides his distinct lack of ability inside a ring, is that his entire offense consists of “Let me throw my ass at you”. Naomi already does that better than you Mojo, please go away.
The match itself was good in so far as Aiden English managed to get some decent offense in before inevitably falling to the ass shot!
When Mojo makes it to the main roster (and he will, whether we like it or not!), I think I may quit wrestling for a while because people like Mojo are all that is wrong with it.
Women’s Wrestling That’s Worth Watching!
As much as I criticize Natalya, her match with Charlotte at NXT: Takeover was pretty amazing and a reason to believe in women’s wrestling. Only 50 percent of the credit goes to Nattie though, the other half has to go to Charlotte. She’s not Ric Flair’s daughter for nothing. She has a unique style, offense and way of presenting herself both in and outside the ring. The fact that she is NXT Women’s Champion now means that she has a spotlight to showcase that on a more regular basis and put on great matches with all the other very capable women on the NXT roster. That started tonight with Bayley.
People who read this column know that I love Bayley. She’s cute, energetic, and very talented in the ring. In ring ability seems to be common among the ladies at NXT and this makes me happy that they may one day replace the slop that comes from the cast of Total Diva’s on the main roster. The match between Charlotte and Bayley was very very good. Bell to bell, this match had better offense than most women’s (or men’s) matches both on NXT and on the main roster. Both women brought their A game tonight and I couldn’t be happier to see that.
I’m not sure how I feel about Summer Rae coming back to NXT to reform the BFF’s. Summer is a permanent fixture on the main roster now, is a cast member of Total Diva’s and is about to star in a movie alongside the Miz with The Marine 4. Her coming back to NXT to, I assume, eventually feud with Charlotte over the title isn’t what we, or Charlotte needs. It takes a spot from a more deserving person who is working their ass off down in NXT to get a shot. Why not give it to Bayley,extend the feud. Why not have Sasha Banks turn on her friend and have them feud. These are all better options than Summer. And when you consider that Paige and Emma (both also on the main roster) came to Bayley’s aid, why not have Paige feud with Summer on Raw and Smackdown instead of that abortion of life Cameron? 2 birds, one stone, zero Camerons. The way it should be.
Awkwardly Pushing Teams
The fact that The Ascension have been on a tear and running through every team in NXT is a good thing for them. It establishes them as a dominant team. The problem is, there aren’t enough teams in NXT to keep that up. Kalisto and El Local at NXT: Takeover were good opponents, but one of the men in that team is not a permanent wrestler, he’s barely a part time one, and if we go back to NXT: Arrival, they faced Too Cool, a team from the early 2000’s who were only brought in for sheer nostalgia value.
So what are they to do? They have to establish new teams because they haven’t been up to now. They can’t keep The Ascension off the tapings for months while they establish said teams, so they have to do what they did tonight; awkwardly establish a team so that they can go up against The Ascension immediately. You could hear it in the commentary, they were trying their hardest to make these guys look credible, but they have only had like 3 or 4 matches against no-name teams and haven’t really been around long.
Here’s a thought. There’s really nothing wrong with having them go straight after The Ascension and win. Fluke victories can get teams established and over just as quickly. This can then give The Ascension the push to the main roster that they need where they can feud with The Uso’s for the tag titles.
Tyler Breeze = Derek Zoolander
I’ve been really digging Tyler Breeze lately. He’s a great character, always has been. But I always form opinions on people baed on their ability to go in the ring. As of NXT: Takeover, I’ve come around to the idea that Tyler Breeze is a talented performer all round.
Tonight on NXT his character took a big douchey, brilliant step forward when he debuted his new “music video” to the NXT Universe:
It’s perfect and everything I would expect from a character like Breeze. This and his performance at Takeover has made me want to see him take the title off Neville. Speaking of…..
Variety Is The Spice Of Life
Adrian Neville is a great great wrestler. There is no denying that. And having him as NXT Champion opens the door for him to perform each and every week against all forms of opponents. But at the moment, that’s not happening. Last week at Takeover, he had a fantastic match against Tyson Kidd (read: Natalya’s husband) which was high flying, technical and just all round great. This week he had the same match against Justin Gabriel, or as I un-affectionately refer to him, South African Tyson Kidd. Having this match in a couple of weeks wouldn’t have raised my eyebrows an inch, but having it on the next show after Takeover seems lazy to me, I don’t know.
If he goes up against Evan Bourne next week, I quit.
And The Oscar Goes To…..NOT Tyson Kidd
Tyson Kidd is a hell of a performer with all the personality of a cricket bat. This was no more evident than tonight when he tried to look humble when begging for a rematch for the NXT championship. It was probably the most badly acted abomination I have seen since “Brie Bella in a car” from Raw. Less of this, more evenly spaced matches featuring Tyson Kidd and Adrian Neville please.
That’s gonna do it for this weeks NXT Revisited. As alwasys, please like, share, comment, tweet, and all the other cool kid things and feel free to give me a shout on Twitter @GameOverGary and we can talk about your views on NXT, RAW, Russia, climate change or any other topic you wish.
Peace out hombres.
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