The NXT Review – November 9th, 2016

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! Due to some technical difficulties last week it was impossible to get a Review to you on time, so apologies for that. But lets not cry, swear, and break-things over Internet failings, instead dive into this weeks humdinger of a show.

With only four teams remaining in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament, I have some nagging questions that as-of-yet remain unanswered. Like besides that nifty looking Trophy, does whichever team reign supreme get a shot of the NXT Tag Team Titles? And if so, when will said match happen? TakeOver Toronto?

See, nagging questions aplenty.

And it’s not even as-if a president has been set for how this Tournament ultimately ends. I mean, considering last years winning team of Finn Balor & Samoa Joe pretty much broke-up after Joe contracted a nasty case of Heel-itus. So even if they were granted said title-shot, I don’t think Grumpy-Joe would have been interested. But surely there is some greater prize than just the Cowboy Boot Trophy … no?

Team DIY were on top-form as usual. But even with rare spots in the match were they took command over the dominate team of the Authors of Pain, Paul Ellerings’ monster Heels came out on the winning end. Because – you know – booking dictates that the undefeated Heel-Team must steamroll the competition no-matter how predicable it makes the overall outcome of the Tournament.

The only glimmer of hope which I’m desperately holding onto is TM61 beating AOP in the finals at Toronto (one question answered). I mean it, there better be a CWC-esque swerve coming some where down-the-line because if these two chumps win this whole damn thing … I riot!

Or construct an enthusiastically damning Review. Either way, pissed!

Ember Moon may serve as an unconventional counter-point to the aforementioned Authors of Pain. For starters she is lone female and twice as exciting between the ropes. But more-over her win-loss record so far in NXT may be as predictable as AOP be but at least her matches are far more entertaining.

Whereas I’d happily see the back of Rezar & Akam, Moon is destined for bigger things. Tonight – unfortunately for Rachel Evers – her opponent is merely a speed bump on the road to greatness and possible serious consequences for her health. I mean, who else right now is the top candidate to bring Asuka’s reign of tyranny to an end? I’m certain Mickie James will turn out to be tough competition for the NXT Women’s Champion at TakeOver Toronto. But even if James’ appearance isn’t a one-and-done deal, I don’t see the veteran breaking Asuka’s undefeated streak anytime soon.

Ember Moon on the other hand … we will see.

When was the last time a contract signing ever went to plan? And when I say “to plan“, what I mean is the way that ‘normal’ folks like you and I would end a civil contract signing. With a hearty handshake, an invitation for drinks or – if you’re so inclined – a Bayley approved hug?

Nope, when it comes to WWE, contract signings often mean stare-downs, fisticuffs and splinters.

That is unless your Grumpy-Joe whose own self-preservation meant that a ramp-lengh distance between himself and NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura meant that no violence was enacted, not between those two at least. But it did mean that Joe was able to shame NXT GM William Regal in an endless tirade of passive-aggressive actions between the two.

If Joe’s loss at TakeOver Toronto isn’t due to outside interference from Regal I’d be shocked. Not that I question the GM’s integrity (he is British after all) but I do question how long someone can be bullied before they snap and bring out the ol’ Brass Knuckles.

C’mon Regal, no-one would blame you.

#TheNXTReview

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The NXT Review – October 6th, 2016 – Dusty ‘off Those Brass Knuckles

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! Firstly, apologies for my MIA status last week but I had schooling to attend too. Drinking in the knowledge and applying for classes. It was the best of time and the oh so annoying of times (seriously … admin … seriously) but I am back.

And what a week to return to with the Second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

The Bollywood Boys are fun no? Just two dudes comfortable in Pink – with killer dances moves – kicking arse and smiling the entire time. I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of either two during the Cruiserweight Classic (going hard on the use of Classic within the WWE these days right), but hey go-figure given the name, that these two work far better as a Tag Duo than individual competitors.

Everything was going fine for the Bollywood Boys. Nice entrance, got the crowd up-on-their-feet. And then, in walks the Authors of Pain. sigh

The immediate drop in crowd enthusiasm for this match speaks volumes for how our expectations for a ‘Good Match’ when the Authors of Pain are involved is never that high. But by this point, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one that is less than impressed with this pair.

And it’s not even that their bad, If they were at least I’d be justified. It’s just the continuous squash matches with them ending out on top that just has me rolling my eyes and resisting the urge to fast-forward to the predictable end.

At this point. I’m almost certain that they’re going to be in the final. Lets just hope whomever meets them there, will get a Helluva push after they beat Paul Ellerings’ lads.

#HopeTooHard

Speaking of Hope, last week Liv Morgan had no hope when she foolishly challenged the NXT Women’s Champion Asuka to a match. Of course the petite Morgan was destined to lose but the story coming-out of it was the budding friendship between Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. An Australian duo who seem to be the new Mean Girls on the block as they mercilessly taunted Liv in a WWE.Com exclusive segment backstage.

With Kay seemingly at the forefront of a push its interesting to note that with Royce by her side, could they be the new Emma & Dana Brooke? Well if Royce’s performance against newcomer Danielle Kamela is anything to go by. Heres hoping.

Tye Dillinger. Bobby Roode. Tye Dillinger and Bobby Roode. Dillinger & Roode! Why, what, when? So many questions. When did this happen?!

These two are my favourite to win the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Damn it, make it bloody so NXT. Could this be the foreshadowed push that Tye Dillinger has been waiting for. That I’ve been hoping – nope – praying to the Gods of WWE for.

G’ah so excited for next week.

#Glorious10

Not sure about debuting Superstar Dan Matha’s X-Files-esque entrance music. With the recent track success enjoyed by Shinsuke Nakamura and the Glorious Bobby Roode. Matha got screwed on entrance-music induction day.

Fo’reals tho, the mans a beast. Bland but beasty. But for a debut match who isn’t the tiniest bit bland. I’m sure if I stepped into the ring – well, I would die – but I’d be bland whilst doing it.

At least Matha didn’t die … I think. It sure wasn’t through the lack of trying on Grumpy Samoa Joes’ part

Is it just me, but the longer this animosity that Grumpy-Joe has with NXT GM William Regal goes on. The more I hope that we get a match between the two. I know it’s not going to happen. I know that not everyone can be an Authority figure type like Triple H (and Stephanie McMahon for that matter … remember SummerSlam?) who handles his business both in and outside the ring.

But the longer this continues I won’t be satisfied until Regal gets his Brass-Knuckled revenge inside an NXT ring.

After their stellar match from two weeks past. Andrade Cien Almas & Cedric Alexander pair up for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in the Main Event. But their path to greatness must first pass through the NXT Tag Team Champions themselves, The Revival.

Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder are not Tag Champs for nothing and unfortunately for the hot-new-freshness Alexander. Tonight really wasn’t his night. Seriously, losing in the first round only for your tag partner to turn Heel on your ass. Damn! Bad-Bad-Night.

On the upside, Cien finally became interesting with the up-up-side being that we get to see these two Super-humans face-off once again.

“Thank You” Cien. Cedric … ? You get better okay.

#SkatronixxxWrestling

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitchrated and the entire #StatronixxxWrestling Team on Twitter & Skatronixxx.com

The NXT Review – August 24th 2016 – Barclays, Bayley & Tears

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! After TakeOver Brooklyn 2, those that were left off the card got their chance to shine tonight. But then again, these matches were pre-taped before the event so in reality its nice to see that Fan-Faves such as Tye Dillinger and TM61 still got to perform in front of a packed-out Barclay’s Centre.

Speaking of Perfect 10, Dillinger has been conspicuous by his absence, especially for this NXT fan. Last seen, the Perfect 10 was on a bit of a losing streak. Particularly disheartening when I believe Dillinger is some-what underused given the immense talent at his command.

Just like The New Day at the beginning of their crazy Unicorn Ride. Tye Dillinger is a Perfect (10) Heel with whom the crowd just love to cheer for. This isn’t unusual for WWE fans but it is maddening that NXT has yet to capitalise on this. For crying out loud! Put this guy up against your biggest and best babyface and sit back and watch as the magic happens.

At present, I’ve given up on the hope that we will see the era of a Perfect 10 NXT Title run (whoa, mouthful). But with a win against Wesley Blake now under his belt, are we witnessing the upswing for Tye Dillinger?

*Fingers Cross*

With only two matches on the card tonight, Paul Ellering’s Authors of Pain got the chance to takedown Nick Miller & Shane Thorne in Tag Team action for the Main Event.

And it was okay. Rather than the beat down that we have become accustomed too when it comes to Ellerings’ Lads showing in the ring. TM61 got some impressive offensive in before ultimately falling victim to the killjoys of NXT.

This was also the longest match that both Rezer and Akam have had since debuting on the yellow brand. Oh yes! They also have names now, so yeah … progress. Very slow progress.

With this episode functioning as more of a Look-back to TakeOver Brooklyn 2, I feel like I should mention our dearly departed Bayley.

After losing to Auska. The Huggster did what every plucky underdog does; tighten her side pony-tail and immediately make her Monday Night RAW debut to rapturous applause. Although I’m sad to see her go, let’s be honest. Its way past due.

Although I (like many) lamented her exclusion when the other members of the Four Horse-Women of NXT made their Main Stage debut last year. It has served Bayley to remain on NXT.

Without Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Sasha Banks by her side. Bayley took the mantle as Veteran of the NXT Women’s Division and showed that the foundations that have been laid for women’s wrestling are strong, viable and ready to be built upon, not only in NXT but WWE as a whole.

What Bayley leaves behind in NXT is far greater that what she takes away from the product. A feat that many wrestlers only dream of achieving.

Although the Huggable one will be missed. I’m excited to see what comes next for the future Hall of Famer.

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitchrated only on #SkatronixxxWrestling

The NXT Review – August 10th 2016 – “Okay, Okay, Okay, Okay!”

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! I feel that I’ve come to a point in my NXT watching Career that I have become accustomed to the ebb-and-flow of our special little brand. Peeps come in, get mega over with the Full Sail Crowd, get tested on TakeOver before moving onto the bright lights of Main Roster Fame.

It’s a tried and tested formula. It works, we’ve seen it work, so if it aint broke yadda-yadda you know where I’m going with this.

And so with the familiarity of seeing this process play out we come back-around to the hitting of the reset button. I should be quick in mentioning that I believe this already happened last week with Bobby Roode’s Glorious promo. But tonight, gauntlets were thrown down and names were dropkick into fans minds.

It may be new era on Raw & SmackDown but we just got a flesh lick of paint baby.

Speaking of which, Heel-Asuka is my Patronus right now. I’ve spoken before about how her lack of fluency in English shouldn’t be (and isn’t) a problem because those eyes do all the talking. But Asuka going agro at Bayley’s comment during the contract signing is every-thing! Please someone caption “Okay!” over a picture of a Crazy-Eyed-Asuka and Gif it instantly. It’s probably just me but I LOLed so hard.

Fo’Reals Tho, Asuka right now is where she needs to be. I loved her on entering NXT but now … I have to say, not a fan of this arrogant look and smirky-smirk going on. I mean, she has always smirked but now theres this whole other “Bayley you can’t defeat me” subtle undertone to it that makes me squirm. That Huggster gets me in the feels you know, so the possibility of her losing at TakeOver Brooklyn … I just can’t *Bites Fist*

But hey, girls living the Heel-life, Heel-gonna-Heel and all that. Job done Asuka … I some-what hate you now.

Paul Ellerings’ lads gave us the first in-ring action of the night, and it was a squishy-squashy affair. It felt like NXT were taking a note out of new era Raw’s use of enhancement talent with this one but to be fair to those guys, they did enhance the Authors of Pain here.

Look, I flip-flop when it comes to these guys but I’m willing to give them a shot. With TM61 running in at the end of the match, I see where there going with this so I’m not mad at it. But pull the trigger on this faction already and make them mean something to overall landscape of NXT.

Andrade Cien Almas, sorry dude but there is no-way all of your name is making it up to the Main Roster. If Adrian Neville got abbreviated then you stand no chance and maybe thats for the best. Selfishly speaking, my spell checker gets a workout.

That being said, I love this guy. For me Cien has had a massive turnaround since his underwhelming debut. He has the flashy style, that’s for sure, but shows substance in his mat-psycology and timing. If the CWC wasn’t the Kota Ibushi show (bare in mind I’m not caught up, but has the dude won yet?) then maybe Cien would have benefited from a few rounds of showing off his skills there before coming to NXT. But when you’ve got a match against Roode scheduled at TakeOver already, then what do I know?

Quick shout out to the overzealous “Choke his ass out” yelling from the Angelo Dawkins fan. Didn’t know they existed.

Back to Roode for a second. I know this was just set-up and all but can we not get Roode coming out after every match to critique the winners performance?

Make it so Universe.

How did we get here? Mojo Rawley in the Main Event against Samoa Joe. Is this some Mirror Universe shit or what?

Lets be clear, Mojo is fine. Hype Bros are fine. He is on SmackDown now which is … fine. But that’s the problem, he is just fine. Personal taste, I get it, but this match was nothing more than feeding time at the Zoo before Joe meets Shinsuke Nakamura at TakeOver.

On a night that set up the next stars of NXT, this was a hangover. Considering more exciting draft picks like Alexa Bliss and Carmella had their goodbye matches off-screen. Did we even need this?

But I think I’m skipping over the Main Headline which is, Nakamura’s got your Nose Joe!

Oh hell, shit just got real!

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitchrated only on Skatronixxx

The NXT Review – July 20, 2016

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! Okay first up. Mahooooosive apologies for being MIA the past weeks but Vacay days were calling and trips to Middle Earth had to be taken. So “sorry” all round but I am back.

And could I have timed it better? DRAFT BABY! Pop-shots first and ‘feels‘ all round but I was slightly disappointed. Besides the totes-obvs call up of Finn Balor (so many mixed-feels on this one guys) but the other picks just didn’t make sense. For reals time though, because logic dictates that GM’s Daniel Bryan and Saint Mickles could have cherry pick ANYONE.

*Sorry for the atrocious use of caps but, you know, my fingers are shouting right now.*

So once Balor and American Alpha were drafted (feels), is it really logical with the wealth of talent that NXT has right now that the likes of Mojo Rawley, Alexa Bliss and Carmella would see a call-up over the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries and the NXT Champ himself, Samoa Joe?

And lets not forget The Huggable One Bayley … but more on that later.

Seriously though, I’m not hating on the wrestlers but maybe the good ol’ random draft pick generator for NXT would have made more sense here.

But enough of that because we have the return of Rhyno to talk about. yay

I’m all for past legends of the ring making a return to WWE via the halls of NXT, sucking up that valuable star-dust before the jump to the main roster, but only if they contribute something, anything, before that day comes.

Lets look at Austin Aries. After Tuesday night, I’ve heard many call out that Aries is not destined to make the move up (an opinion that I don’t subscribe to myself) but even if that was the case, at least Sparkle-Pants has gotten over fledging talent and bolster the ranks of the Yellow Brand viewership with name power alone.

Can Rhyno make such a claim?

To be fair, the mans a walking bulldozer, and as such does what is in his nature. Goring to his heart content. But I can do without it when so many other CWC contenders could be making a splash right-now.

moving on

So with Jason Jordan & Chad Gable moving to SmackDown! this would be their goodbye match. And as always, had a strong showing while getting The Authors of Pain over on their way out. Skills!

That being said, I’m not totally sold on AOP but they looked strong tonight. I concede that it is American Alphas innate storytelling ability rather than Paul Ellerings’ boys in-ring charisma that got the job done but they have time to work on that. Gable & Jordan on the other hand, its time for them to move on up and start crafting the possibly of my fantasy match against The New Day.

Here’s hoping.

Speaking of time. Like American Alpha, Nia Jax has done it all in NXT. Yes, she was never able to get the elusive title from the clutches of Bayley or Asuka but I have no-doubt that bigger things await Jax on Monday Night RAW.

Bayley on the other hand, her time will come and like many fans out there I was upset that she wasn’t drafted. But a few days removed and would it have been the best outcome for her, really? Think about it. Sure she would’ve been a great pick for either GM, presumably RAW given that The Boss Sasha Banks remains on the Red brand for now. Meaning that if we are to see the pair recreate some of their legendary matches to date, on RAW is where that would happen.

In my eyes though, Bayley is as big a deal as Finn Balor, more so perhaps. But for your average Wrestling fan that still doesn’t watch NXT (believe me folks, they are out there), she would have been nothing more than a name on a list. Nope, she deserves more than that. She has earned more than that.

I can wait until Sasha wins the Women’s Championship at Summer Slam (if the rumours and fan-speculation be true) if it means that Bayley will debut soon after and walk straight into a feud with The Boss for the title.

Or even Nia Jax if she has the belt by then, who knows. But with so many NXT women dominating the main stage. The future looks bright for Women’s wrestling in the WWE … finally!

Lets just hope the don’t F@#k it up by introducing another tacky belt with a damn butterfly stamped on it.

*shudders*

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

The NXT Review – June 15th 2016

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! NXT seemed to suffer with a hangover after last weeks epic TakeOver. Not to say it was bad, after all we got that Fantasy booking at the close of the show, but leading up to that moment. The usual Brass-Ring-Grabbing stars of the Yellow Brand, weren’t at their best.

I’ve got to be fair though because the show didn’t get off to the best of starts either with Paul Ellering’s new Tag Superstars (or so the Big Wigs seem to hope) The Authors of Pain, stinking up the place.

I’m all in for new talent. With the rumoured mass Exodus coming to the NXT with the New Era Brand Extension, we need them more than ever. But playing the ‘wait and see game‘ that Ellering purposes with his crytic rebuttal when asked what he and his low-Rent Shield imposters are doing in NXT. Isn’t the way to go.

Here’s the thing. I’ve stayed away from searching out who exactly these guys are. Probably because they’re rather muted arrival has not prompted me to do so but I want to play into WWE’s game. Because – hey if anything – I’m a team player. But I’m interested to see if the company can get these bland and generic characters over and make me care about a team that so far, I’m being told I should be excited for because Ellering is at the helm. Rather than proving it with talent alone.

So as of right now, I reserve opinion until WWE proves I should care about these new Heels on the scene.

Badda-Bing, the Hottest chic in the ring got the win … at the expense of anything exciting going on inside of it mind you.

For a match involving the Princess of Staten Island, the energy was lacking in places, but that wasn’t down to Carmella but rather her opponent.

This marks the second showing on TV for Tessa Blanchard and while she shows promise and physicality that is imposing to boot. It doesn’t translate to her matches inside the ring.

While I can’t say that her skills are awkward they don’t necessarily – or haven’t yet – gelled with her two on-screen opponents. But from those who have seen Blanchard on House Shows, all signs point to something special when given the time to show-case what she has in her arsenal.

I still believe that Carmella has yet to find her best opponent to enter a long-term feud that few women on the small brand get a chance to initiate. At one stage I thought that the nuclear heat that Eva Marie generates would benefit a super-over Carmella. But with a lack of air-time for Eva at this stage, I see Alexa Bliss as the next best opportunity for these women to go at it in the future.

Think I just wrestle-gasmed at the thought.

Speaking of Bliss. It was she who a reunited Blake & Murphy blamed for their past misgivings in recent weeks. Now, as a Bliss fan, this hurts me deeply. But if it means that these two’s ‘Man-splaining‘ means they stay together, however briefly, I’m down with that.

Although I still hate the name, TM61’s Nick Miller & Shane Thorne put on a great show. And to actually have Blake accidentally take out Murphy with a brutal clothesline just highlighted that, for whatever reason, these two former Tag Champions just can’t get on the same page.

So with TM61’s first win on NXT at the expense of Blake & Murphy’s continued losing streak. It does leave me wondering if this reunion is short-lived, finding myself once again in limbo as to the fate of one of the best Heel teams left on NXT.

I can’t deny Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas’ talent but this is a rematch I just didn’t need to see, unless it meant payback for The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger of course.But to make matters worst for this die-hard Dillinger fan, I don’t think the Perfect 10 got in a meaningful bit of offensive in the entirety of the match. Yet it was perfectly acceptable to have Cien repeat nearly every move from the previous match-up. Which was only a week ago!

Okay, so at this point, I’m over with Dillinger languishing in the mid-card. He may get to square off against great competitors such as recent additions like Shinsuke Nakamura, but a push for this guy well and truly overdue.

It was left to Finn Balor to close the show with an impassioned speech asking “what is next for Finn Balor” after his war with NXT Champion Samoa Joe came to a disastrous end at last week’s TakeOver.

Although Full Sail reflected the hopes of many with “Balor Club” chants – a thought that the Irish Demon acknowledged with a “too sweet” comeback – it seems that the “Thank You Finn” chants may be a tad premature. As our NXT love-in was interrupted by the King of Strong Style himself, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Before Nakamura could speak, it became apparent that Balor would not be leaving the Yellow Brand without facing his New Japan buddy and at the same time, blowing the minds of fan-boys everywhere.

At this point, it seems all but certain that, like Sami Zayn before him, Nakemura will be Balor’s Goodbye Match Opponent. Notable symmetry given that Nakamura deems Balor “Iconic” in NXT, a position that the Japanese wrestler looks to take as his own. Even though it could be argued that Nakamura is already an Icon inside – and outside – the WWE. This is a match that needed to happen.

Although the match is set, where and when are the next questions that need to be answered. With NXT hitting Brooklyn for a sequel TakeOver. Can this match-up wait until then?

Can I wait till then? Can You?

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx