The NXT Review – October 26th, 2016 – “Think About This Mickie? … Okay!”

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! This week saw the end to the First Round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament. And While we got two great matches – One more-so than the other – it was slightly predictable in both instances which some-what took the fun out of the thing for me.

In the opening match we get Team DIY Vs newcomer (and the first ever signed Chinese superstar) Tian Bing & HoHo Lun, who I have to admit was one of my favourites in the Cruiserweight Classic. But for all that has been reported of Bing, from the numerous articles to WWE’s YouTube videos, I was left some-what Ho-Humed (Banzinga) when in comparison to the charismatic HoHo Lun.

Not to mention the talents of Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargarno, whose quick ascent to the top of the Tag Team division is not just down to Wrestling talent alone. Even if it was however … no contest.

Even with predictability accounted for, this wasn’t a boring match. Bing may well be as milk-toast as they come but surprisingly he has some weight behind, a fact that Ciampa found out to his detriment when Tian quickly took him off his feet with a swift kick to noggin.

Once the two big guys Tagged out things started to pick up with Gargano and Lun putting on a great show. Although I can safely say that I hold soft-spot for HoHo he still comes off as slightly green for me. Perhaps its unfair of me to assert that but his wrestling style and numerous gurning-faces seem amateuristic. Of course I will take that back if that is just his face, I mean ‘Face-gonna-Face’ and all that, but once he tightens up his move-set (and get his face in check) I’m sure he could become a cruiserweight contender to reckon with.

Sadly tonight wasn’t Lun or Bing’s night, as the obvious favourites to take the whole damn tournament make it through to the next round.

Poor Aliyah. Seriously, this girl can’t catch a break. Not only does she lose time-after-time but it also seems that her persona changes on a dime to suit whomever she is in a match with. So given that her opponent tonight Billie Kay is not only a Heel but seemingly on the upswing to a pretty significant push. It means that Aliyah herself has to play the Babyface – a role that I have commented before doesn’t suit her – but is also destined to lose.

She what? Oh she actually won … go Aliyah!

Okay, I’m not mad at this. If Liv Morgan interfering in the match means that Aliyah not only picks up a win but also gets inserted into this storyline. I can get on board with this feud evolving into Tag Team Warfare. Especially if it leads to Aliyah turning on Liv further down the line.

I can hope right?

Speaking of turns, Tye Dillinger is killing it as a Babyface.

Not that I’m shocked or anything, as a die-hard Perfect 10 supporter I’m more excited that Dillinger’s skill is being paid off with a well deserved push. What has surprised me however is the lack of tweaking to the gimmick that has been needed.

Perhaps more-so it speaks to the genius of the Perfect 10 moniker or that no matter what you present to the fans if you ‘over‘ with the crowd, your over no matter what you are, Heel or Face. But as an ‘over’ Superstar, Dillinger now occupies that rare ‘Tweener” status that opens the doors to the fairground of creativity. Especially when that Tweener Superstar is given mic time. Just look back to the days of Stone Cold Steve Austin or Heel-era CM Punk, arguable the biggest Tweener of the Reality Era.

If Tye Dillinger can take this feud with Bobby Roode and prove to the Big Wigs that he can take his character to the next level. Not only do I see a Main Event rise in his future but much over-due Championship Gold too.

We got the obligatory Auska destroy another women on her road to world domination. But the real story coming out of tonight was the announcement that Mickie James will face the NXT Women’s Champion at TakeOver in Toronto.

Of course rumours had Trish Stratus poised to take this spot but for James to get this spotlight seems perfect to me. For Auska to be undefeated for up-to-a-year now it seems only fitting that the only women to hold the WWE’s Women, Divas and TNA Knockout Title in Wrestling history, should get a shot at the prestigious NXT Women’s Belt.

Not only that but if male veterans of Pro-Wrestling can come and dominate on NXT, why can’t a female Vet do the same?

I am of course getting ahead of myself here, one match at TakeOver doesn’t mean we are getting full-time Mickie James but unlike Trish Stratus who has returned for numerous WrestleMania’s since her retirement. The prospect of seeing one of the stable members of the Ruthless Aggression era return to a WWE ring is tantalising.

Just leave the inappropriate crotch grabs at home, okay Mickie?

It was great to see the Winner of the CWC TJ Perkins team-up with Kota Ibushi, the Guy that myself (and I’m sure everyone out there) assumed was going to win that Damn tournament.

Who knows, maybe a Tag Team Tournament will be more in his wheel house.

Either way Perkins & Ibushi easily out-shown Mustafa Ali & Lince Dorado, a pair (like most in this Tournament) that seemed haphazardly thrown together. Perhaps the same could be said for the winners of this match but at least Perkins and Ibushi have some kind of history together. Much like last years winners Finn Balor & Samoa Joe.

Foreshadowing perhaps?

#TheNXTReview

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The NXT Review – October 19th, 2016 – Can’t We All Just Be Nese?

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! Last Week the NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura sure got his revenge on Grumpy Samoa Joe by the shows end. But given Joe’s complexity of bearing a grudge, I can’t see this working out for the King of Strong Style at TakeOver Toronto and the long-run in general when you also consider the big-mans lust for dishing out pain.

But does he care, does he heck.

Nope, instead the Champion swaggers out to tell Grumpy-Joe that he “is not done” with the one man wrecking machine only to get interrupted by Patrick Clark.

Okay, so this whole ‘Patrick Clark Experience‘ thing needs to be address. I’ve seen many people comment on this new gimmick for the former Tough Enough contestant and by in large the general consensus is one of confusion. So lets break it down and let’s be real for a moment. WWE can dress up this new ‘act’ as nothing more than an allusion to departed recording artist Prince all they want … but they ain’t fooling nobody.

This Patrick Clark Experience is nothing more than an antiquated Gay stereotype. And giving WWE’s insensitive history when it comes to bashing and exploiting the Gay community. This kind of ‘act’ really doesn’t belong on the grand stage that WWE has at its disposal.

I of course – like many wrestling fans – get that this is just entertainment. But it was quite fortunate that Clark happen to interrupt Nakamura, a man who I have reference to in the past as being some-what ‘Flamboyant’ himself. And who – unlike Clark’s act – doesn’t rely on dressing up androgynously to gain a response from the audience.

For a company that at the end of this month finally has two women fighting inside Hell in the Cell. Lets leave stereotypes at the door and let Patrick Clark’s talent speak for itself rather than a gimmick that not only doesn’t best represent himself but has negative connotations attached to it.

Moving on to something good and another first round match in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Although Rich Swan has forced my hand in even mentioning No Way Jose by teaming up with the goofball, I have to say that these two worked well together. Of course this was a chance for the competitors of the Cruiserweight Classic to shine but No Way Jose managed to keep up with the likes of Swan, Drew Gulak and Tony Nese. Making for highly competitive first round match.

As predicted this was a fast paced match-up but with Gulak & Nese in the mix, it was also a hard-hitting affair too. Although the Heels failed to pick up the win, they put on a great showing with a Revival-esque Heel-upside. Just with ‘Fists & Flips‘ included of course.

Although they failed to advance further, lets hope we see them Tag Team again very soon.

For a pair I had hoped we would see again in the future, It seems that the short-lived Glorious 10 was nothing more than a flash in the pan idea. But that’s okay, I’ll take the consolation prize of seeing The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger get a revenge match against The Glorious Bobby Roode at TakeOver Toronto.

My new favourite match on the card.

Have to say also, seriously digging Roode’s new sparkly robe. Better not let Ol’ Sparkle Pants Austin Aires see the new threads though, dude will get jealous.

With Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight taking on Aries in another first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The audacious Heel didn’t have time to get jelly over Roodes attire but he did have time find a world-class Tag Team partner in the form of new signee Roderick Strong.

The new pair overcame the mammoth team of Knight & Dozovic and will face TM61 in the next round.

Along with Eric Young’s return last week came the surprising re-branding of Nikki Glenncross, as she was revealed to be a part of Young’s Sanity posse. Now this wouldn’t be the first time we saw Nikki in action but I have to say this was a much-needed addition to her in-ring persona.

Unfortunately for Danielle Kamela this new attitude also comes part-and-parcelled with a seriously aggressive offensive that saw the still green wrestler fall quickly to a vicious beat down.

Move over The Authors of Pain. There’s a new Stable in town.

#TheNXTReview

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitchrated and the entire #SkatronixxxWrestling team.

The NXT Review – October 14th, 2016

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! This weeks NXT gave us another first round match in the 2nd (annual?) Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. I would be hard pressed to come up with a better opener than the Team of Glorious 10 Bobby Roode & Tye Dillinger.

Bum-flexes aside (is that what you’d call them?), I would love to see Glorious 10 pop up again in the future. For a team that I’d never consider putting together, the stars really aligned for these pair, much in the same vein as “Best Friends” Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens.

It’s just a shame we didn’t get much of Tag match here.

Talk about burying the lead, how could I not mention the return of Eric Young with his Sanity Posse. Remember the riot footage from D Generation X’s Titantron? These guys look like they just came from a riot around the corner. Or maybe a less Back Woods Wyatt Family.

Either way a newly reinvented Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton singled out Dillinger in the corner leading to the Glorious One deciding he would survive to fight another day and exited the ringside area. There goes Glorious 10 but here’s hoping this is the start of a feud between the two.

Hey, lesser things have started WWE Wars before.

My Hater-Aide is out because I disagree with NXT’s decision to go hard on Liv Morgan. It may be just me but her matches are just plain sloppy and not on the level of her competitor tonight, Billie Kay. I’ll give her the ‘early days’ card because – who knows – she might win me over but to waste Kay’s time in this “Liv is Scrappy” feud is just ridiculous. Especially given that she helped debut Ember Moon at the last TakeOver event.

I’m enjoying this Mean Girls team-up alongside Peyton Royce but if Liv Morgan is their only target. I don’t see how she is much of threat that justifies them teaming up against her.

Now NXT Women’s Champion Asuka on the other hand …

The tale of Blake & Murphy is a sadistic one. One minute they’re the hottest NXT Tag Team Champions only for them to get split up and enter a weird feud – if you can even call it that – where they wrestle infrequently only to lose. That ultimately culminates in a thrown together blood match where there isn’t much at stake.

At the end of the day, they’re both losers. Which explains why essential they were chum in the water for Grumpy Samoa Joe.

Yes, once again Grumpy Joe is on hand to squash another batch of NXT Superstars – If I was in the Locker Room about now I’d be asking for a check on my health insurance stat – and call out Shinsuke Nakamura. Who this week kindly obliged returning to in-ring action with a decidedly cold demeanour.

The two warning Champs went at it as security struggled to keep them apart. With Nakamura going so far as to attack the officials (or Trainee wrestlers dressed up as officials) to get at Joe. The action would eventually spill back into the ring where Nakamura gave Joe a much deserved Kinshasa for his time spent in the emergency room.

It won’t be too long before Samoa Joe gets his rematch at TakeOver Toronto on November 19th but I got a sinking feeling that something is gonna go down before then.

Stay tuned Wrestling Peeps!

#TheNXTReview

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

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