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 – September 14th, 2016 – Grumpy-Joe Has landed!

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! What about that Cruiserweight Classic huh? Boy was I (and the rest of the Dirt Sheets) wrong about that. For what its worth, I’m glad. You know wrestling shouldn’t be obvious, I mean its great when the Babyface overcomes the odds and gets the win that everyone saw coming (a’la Daniel Bryan’s YES-Mania 30). But I’m a simple guy, mostly I just want it to make sense. And a TJ Perkins win is whats best for business.

What isn’t however is allowing for a disgruntled employee to beat up your World Champion.

I mean “C’mon Regal“. Read the tea leaves, get out that Big-ol’ White board of yours or perhaps watch your own product back because a Grumpy-Joe breakdown has been on the radar for a while now. And I think the storm has landed.

After a moving speech proclaiming that NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura was worthy enough to hold the title, I’ve got to be honest, I saw a glimmer of a Face turn for Joe … silly me. Perhaps I was just as naive as William Regal because shortly after the King of Strong Style excepted the former Champs rematch, Grumpy-Joe was unleashed and Nakamura was stretchered out of Full Sail.

Yikes!

Oh I set myself up for a segue there because Yikes is exactly how I describe Liv Morgan calling out the NXT Women’s Champ for a match (I assume) next week.

I’ve gotta say it. I don’t favour little Morgan’s odds here when you take into consideration that Asuka is not only a total badass but also undefeated in NXT. Yes her days are numbered when you factor in other Superstars undefeated streaks. I mean, if they can end Undertakers dominate run, anything can happen right?

We will see.

I know he has just come back for a lengthy injury but we don’t get enough of Hideo Itami. So any match with him in is something to savour.

I so feel for this guy given his journey with WWE. Not only does he enter NXT with a huge push which included a WrestleMania appearance but I am in no doubt if hadn’t been benched, that NXT Title would’ve been around his waist already. But that’s okay because if we had to wait for us to get an Itami Vs Austin Aires feud. Fates … you are forgiven.

Of course that isn’t what we got tonight but I’m enjoying the foreplay to their eventual match. Just don’t wait too long NXT, I don’t know if have the staying power.

So yeah, I’m just going to skip over The Authors of Pain yet another beat down of a randomly paired team of Superstars because we have the infinitely more entertaining Tye Dillinger.

Is this a push? Do I dare believe that The Perfect 10 may be on he cusp of greatness? To be fair when did Dillinger last get a backstage segment. And I know that House Shows doubt count as cannon, unless a pivotal Title Happens (yeah .. I’m still bitter ’bout that). But I’ve got to believe that pairing Tye with two of the biggest stars of Yellow Brand in the shape of Asuka and Nakamura means that the Big-Wigs are finally picking up what I (and countless NXT fans) have been laying down.

Last night, I performed along side some incredible talent. Let's do it again soon 🔟 @WWEAsuka @ShinsukeN #NXT @WWE pic.twitter.com/YqihvpaWI3

— Shawn Spears™️ (@ShawnSpears) September 9, 2016

The only thing lacking from this picture is Championship Gold around the waist of The Perfect 10.

Make it happen WWE.

Congratulations NXT! The only way I’m ever writing about No Way Jose is when paired against a Supertar worthy of a review and that defiantly  is The Glorious Bobby Roode.

Damn I’m so excited to have Roode in the WWE, and I say that with no previous TNA experience, so this is what I’m judging the guy on and he is just knocking it out of the park. Not that he brings anything new to the table, an arrogant-Heel, erm yeah … that’s new. But his conviction to the character is akin to other Superstars like Edge and Chris Jericho, whose Heel runs in WWE are the stuff of legend.

It’s no secret I’m a sucker for a Heel but I’m all in of Roode’s run in NXT.

Its gonna be Glorious!

Sorry, I had too.

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

The NXT Review – September 3rd, 2016 – Blood Moon On The Rise

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! With a relatively quiet week on the Main Roster, it was left to NXT to kick things into high gear.

Although he debuted in a losing effort, CWC favourite Tony Neese teamed-up with fellow WWE Network show brethren Ariya Daivari and put on a heck of show. With the Tag Team Divisions favourites TM61 (ugh … that name) in the other corner, I was hard pressed to believe that Neese and Daivari stood a chance. But as with the formers performance on CWC, I was suckered in as Neese dominated for much of the match before falling to a harsh clothesline from Shane Thorne.

At this point I’m sold on Nick Miller & Shane Thorne, so these kinda matches are superfluous in getting what I believe are the next big Babyface Tag Team to come outta NXT over with the crowd. With Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano seemingly done with developmental (?), its important to push TM61 further towards an eventual program with The Revival rather than a pointless feud with The Authors of Pain that we can all see coming.

Speaking of feuds, is it just me hoping that they push Ember Moon into a storyline with the NXT Women’s Champion Asuka soon as possible? I mean, I know its gonna happen while both of these incredible athletes are on the same show but c’mon … give me an early Christmas present all ready.

Coming off her big win at TakeOver Brooklyn II, Moon was paired with a debuting Leah Von. Unlike her first match with WWE, this time around we got see a lot more of the strength that Moon has in her arsenal. From a frickin’ sweet Butterfly Suplex to a brutal spinning Heel-Kick; Moon showed that she is a lot more than just a high-flying Werewolf.

A quick kudos on Ember’s ‘Werewolf/War-Goddess’ gimmick. Rarely do things in WWE just exist without being turned into something. Besides Tom Phillips mentioning Ember’s “Prophecy of Fire” on Twitter, subtly with regards to this aspect of her character really will come in to play when it comes to her longevity with the company.

Now of course I don’t expect that WWE plan on ‘Wolfing-out’ Ember anytime soon (Fingers so crossed on that one) but go ahead and keep mentioning those crazy-freaky-contacts and “Blood Moons” all you want. Showmanship after all is what makes Pro-Wrestling fun. Just keep it subtle and let Ember Moon do her thing.

Because what she does is great. #NXTWarGoddess

After his debut last week Steve Cutler looked to make a name for himself in the nights Main Event against none-other than the King of Strong Style himself, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Cocky Cutler may have played the big man early in the evening but the young up-start soon realised his mistake after Shinsuke went at him hard and fast. Showing why he had what it takes to force former NXT Champion Samoa Joe out of action and get the win tonight.

Unfortunately for Nakamura, Joe was healthy enough to sit at ringside for a majority of the match staking his claim on the title and hopefully a rematch in the not too distant future.

Now that I would like to see.

But until then we will have to enjoy the gift that keeps on giving which is Grumpy-Joe.

Cheer up mate! It might never happen … oh wait

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

The NXT Review – August 17, 2016 – Just Keep Smiling

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! First up I have to redact my hater-aid-waterfall of Mojo Rawley’s ‘Farewell‘ tour. Plenty of people get a kick outta him and his Hype–ness, I’m just not amongst them. That aside, my main complaint with the Main Event last week was that it was needless given that of the handful of NXT stars movin’-on-up, Rawley was by far the least deserving if my precious Alexa Bliss wasn’t to receive the same treatment.

Well what’d you know *Open Mouth, Insert Foot* soon as my complaint was out there and into the ether. We get a mucho-good 6-Women-Tag-Team match.

You know, there is a lesson to be learnt from all this. Never doubt NXT. Or maybe my whining echoed back through time and altered these pre-taped shows. I doubt it but, you know, Time Lordian powers. Just sayin’

Before we get to that, Hideo Itami faces off against another CWC competitor, Mustafa Ali.

It seems that Kota Ibushi’s NXT debut as opened the floodgates for Cruiserweight Classic alumni to appear on the brand. No bad thing in of itself but this match mirrored the meh appeal of Itami’s other match with Sean Maluta.

While this match told more of a story, Ali was nothing more than enhancement talent for Itami’s comeback. Which is what NXT should be doing with a guy like Hideo, push-push-push, but until we get someone to match his calibre (Shinsuke Nakamura anyone?), these matches become nothing more than pre-show level stuff.

Moving on.

It may have well been a 6-Women-Tag Team match but with Bliss and Carmella on opposing teams, this Main Event was about the veterans of NXT’s Women’s division paving the way for fresh blood on the roster.

Okay, confession time. As a watcher of Tough Enough and Total Divas, seeing Amanda ‘Mandy‘ Saccamonno finally debut on TV alongside Daria Berenato was an unexpected pleasure. While these two have worked numerous house-shows, giving them TV time now highlights WWE’s faith in presenting them as the future of NXT.

And it isn’t without justification.

Daria for her part worked her MMA background to perfection, highlighting her aggressive powerhouse style and submission moveset while Mandy Rose seemed more subdued in the ring, clearly  the more greener of the pair. That being said, I already feel protective over Mandy with the Eva Marie comparisons already echoing loudly from the future. Time Lord remember. But at this point its too early to tell. Sure she moves around the ring as if she is bored to be there but just because she is a former Fitness Model that John Laurinaitis would’ve lost his shit over. Doesn’t make her a lost cause … just yet!

Nikki Glenncross on the other hand showed why she is the self-proclaimed “best in the galaxy” and took it to the monster Berenato only to be in wrong end of a spear for her troubles. With all the glamour, swagger and sparkling attires the other five women brought to this match. It was refreshing to see a striped back Glenncross whose fighting Scottish spirit and superior wrestling skills spoke volumes in-between ropes. My only concern is that at this point she reminds me of a pre-Steampunk Becky Lynch. Without the right gimmick/defining style and prerequisite name change. Glenncross will easily be lost in the shuffle.

While all women took a fair share of the limelight (with Liv Morgan playing the sacrificial lamb), it was the departing Vets. that stole the show. While I’m Blissed-off that Alexa didn’t get a one-on-one match (but then again did she ever get enough singles competition on NXT?), its time to let my evil-pixie shine on SmackDown! Live. And with Daniel Bryan confirming another Women’s Title is on the way, maybe she’ll finally bag that elusive top spot.

We will see.

NXT Champion Samoa Joe closes the show in an interview with Byron Saxton and his TakeOver Brooklyn opponent Shinsuke Nakamura.

Poor Byron Saxton. Not only does he get mock mercilessly by JBL, and now his former NXT buddy Cory Graves over on RAW. But now he has to sit in-between these two forces of nature. One a brooding-narcissistic-champ, who can go off at any moment. The other a notorious Nose-Stealer and showboater who smiles widely when he thinks about the pain he afflicts to others inside the ring.

Surprisingly, not much besides raised voices and Saxton’s Roadrunner routine goes off here. I suppose Nakamura can placate his urges by merely fantasising about hurting Joe in the ring. But the Champ, he seems pre-occupied with levelling his vocal barbs at William Regal, a man that he insists doesn’t like him too much. And he has a point. How many times did Joe have to prove he deserved a shot against the then NXT Champ Finn Balor before he got his off-screen win?

I’ve lost count but this point but if Regal thinks Samoa Joe is going let that belt slip through his grasp easily, especially after the GM placed him in this match without his say so (how dare he). Nakamura has another thing coming.

Onwards to Brooklyn!

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

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 27, 2016 – ‘Kay, Kota & Cruiserweights’

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! In a week that gave us two new-ish shows (with fancy graphics and new theme tunes), a Legit new WWE Women’s Champion and SmackDown Live! already dropping the ball by not debuting American Alpha. If your shocked, I’m right there with you.
Its comforting to see that our little Brand can still show the big dawgs how to do it, by using their latest acquisition straight off the bat.

Step forward Kota Ibushi.

But lets leave the sure-to-be-winner of the CWC Tournament for later because the King of Strong Style has yet another match to win against a re-debuting Wesley Blake.

Re-debuting? Yes well, it kinda is when you get new trunks, tassels on your boots and a new entrance theme that sounds like a Moby concept track that was too depressing to make the final cut. That being said, anything that follows Shinsuke Nakamura’s music is gonna sound like … well, Wesley Blake’s new entrance music. So poop basically.

Lets talk about that match though because Blake puts on fine showing. So much so that it gives me hope for his future away from Buddy Murphy. Don’t get me wrong, with American Alpha moving-on-up, I feel that Blake & Murphy could be needed more than ever, but if that’s not what I’m getting, I’ll take a Blake push. A statement that seems at odds with the result of the match, but his in the ring with frickin’ Nakamura.

That’s a push in my book.

With the New Era Draft dramatically depleting the NXT women’s division, it seems that Billie Kay might be on the receiving end of a push herself. For a competitor that has appear numerous times on the Yellow Brand, tonight was the first time we actually received depth to her character. Not only did we learn via Corey Graves and Tom Phillips that the locker room talk is that Kay’s appearance on SmackDown has given her a big head but also her affinity for crushed velvet attire. Because any Ego-maniac knows, the furry-sweaty look is in this Summer.

Fo’reals tho, Kay handily put Santana Garrett away with an impressive Big Boot, the perfect finisher given the length of those legs. I did note a few no-sells on multiply occasions when Garrett tried fighting back but hey, Heels. What you going to do?

Back to that Ibushi tease.

With rumours that a deal has been signed (or something to that effect), there is no-doubt that Ibushi will reach the highest-heights of WWE. But whether or not the route that Triple H has planned for this guy will take him through NXT remains to be seen.

Think I’m crazy? Stay with me on this one.

Although plans are sketchy at the moment (but then again what hasn’t been with this Draft Malarky), we know that a Cruiserweight Division is coming to Monday Night RAW. As it stands there are maybe a handful of people who would be able to hold that division up, Neville being one of them, but he can’t do it alone.
Regardless of the commentators out there calling the CWC just a work to push Ibushi as the eventual winner, although they are probably right. The CWC is the basis with which RAW’s newest division will be built upon.

With rumours that Zack Sabre Jr., TJ Perkins and Noam Dar have all been offered contracts. Lets just say, I won’t be too surprised if that Tournament trophy also comes with the new Cruiserweight Belt attached.

My point is, Kota Ibushi’s appearance may extend past his excellent NXT debut, perhaps a TakeOver Brooklyn match is on the horizon? And I’m sure more CWC competitors will show up on our favourite brand sooner or later. But once that final episode is shown and a Winner is crowned, I won’t hold my breath for Ibushi, Perkins and Dar to become regulars on NXT but rather get fast tracked to RAW and start the next phase in Cruiserweight wrestling.

For what its worth, I hope I’m wrong. The idea of Ibushi dominating on NXT … #HolyHotPocket!

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