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NXT - November 20, 2014

NXT
Date: November 20, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee Young, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We're getting close to the end of the year and ultimately the next Takeover special, but now the main event isn't as clear. Last week Sami Zayn was tricked into losing his NXT Title shot against Adrian Neville, leaving his future up in the air. Other than that we have Itami/Balor getting ready for their showdown against the Ascension which will be the newcomers' official welcome to the company. Let's get to it.


We recap Sami's loss last week.

Opening sequence.

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

Bayley is sent out to the apron to start and gets dragged right back in. A release northern lights suplex and legdrop give Becky two and we're already in a chinlock. They get right back up with Bayley hitting some quick ax handles to the chest for two. Sasha offers a distraction from the floor though, allowing Lynch to pull the hair and grab a rollup and tights for the pin at 2:14.

Charlotte comes out to save Bayley from a post match beatdown.

Bayley thanks Charlotte for the help but warns her to stay away from Sasha. They hug and everything seems ok.

Here are the Vaudevillains with something to say. They're patient gentlemen, but they deserve the title shot that they've earned. Cue two mini wrestlers dressed like the Lucha Dragons (Renee: “Kind of like Lucha-Loompas!”) and we're actually having a match.

Mini Lucha Dragons vs. Vaudevillains

The full sized guys takes turns with airplane spins on #1, even handing him off between each other instead of dropping him. #2 gets tagged and doesn't want to come in. A quick neckbreaker from English gets the pin at 1:29.

Kevin Owens (Steen) is coming on December 11, 2014.

Baron Corbin vs. Elias Sampson

End of Days, 22 seconds. The fans were counting again.

Bull Dempsey comes out for his match and stares Corbin down on the way.

Bull Dempsey vs. Steve Cutler

The fans start counting again. Fans: “21! 22! 23! BARON'S BETTER! BARON'S BETTER!” Bull destroys Cutler and no sells some right hands before the top rope headbutt ends this at 54 seconds.

Tyson Kidd vs. CJ Parker

It's the rare heel vs. heel match here. Kidd grabs a hammerlock around the ropes as the fans chant TOTAL DIVAS. Parker nails a quick kick to the face for two but Kidd knocks him out to the floor. A dragon screw leg whip onto the ropes has Parker in even more trouble and the Sharpshooter ends him at 2:59.

Kidd offers to excellently execute Finn Balor next week.

Enzo takes credit for Carmella's success but nothing comes of it.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson

Enzo and Cass aren't the Parker Brothers, but they'll scrabble your headpiece, monopolize you, connect your four eyes and never feel sorry for it. Enzo grabs a headlock on Dawson to start as Renee critiques Amore's hair. Off to Cass to clean house before shouting “ENZO! I'M GONNA TAG YOU IN!” Cass kicks Dawson's head off, giving Enzo the pin at 1:38.

Ascension runs in and destroys Wilder with the Fall of Man. Fans: “SEVEN MORE TIMES!” They're going to kill Itami and Balor before they rise again.

Zayn thanks Regal for the chance to get something off his chest tonight. End of scene.

Here's a serious looking Sami Zayn to talk about last week. He's known he has what it takes to be a champion his entire life, but last week proves otherwise. We see a similar video to the opening montage of Neville pinning Sami in the title match last week. Fans: “YOU GOT ROBBED!” Sami asks Neville to come out so here's a limping champion.

Sami talks about having no business being here if he can't win the big one. Now Neville doesn't owe him anything because he gave him a title match last week, but if their friendship means anything to him, Adrian will give him one more chance at the NXT Championship. If Zayn can't win that one, then he's done. Neville says he'd give him a rematch tonight but that's not his decision.

Above all though they're friends, and Neville thinks Sami has nothing left to prove. Zayn gets mad and says the only thing he has left to prove is on Adrian's shoulder. If he can't beat Neville for that title, then he doesn't need to be here. Sami sounds like he's on the verge of tears. Cue Regal who says Zayn is far from a failure.

Sami was part of NXT Arrival and Regal can't think of any main event better than Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville. That rematch will take place at NXT Takeover: Our Evolution on December 11. Neville is pleased but he doesn't want Sami's career on the line because he won't be responsible for ending Sami's dream. Zayn again says he's done if he loses and drops the mic to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a hard one to grade as everything went by so fast. I kind of like it that way though as the matches may have been short but they all did their jobs efficiently enough, especially when two of them were about winning as fast as they could. Sometimes you don't need to keep a match going just for the sake of keeping it going and NXT was smart enough to realize that. Sami's promo at the end was awesome but it kind of telegraphs the ending to the match. Still though, solid show tonight as NXT continues to destroy the main show in making the most out of their time.

Results
Becky Lynch b. Bayley – Rollup with a handful of tights
Vaudevillains b. Mini Lucha Dragons – Neckbreaker to #2
Baron Corbin b. Elias Sampson – End of Days
Bull Dempsey b. Steve Cutler – Top rope headbutt
Tyson Kidd b. CJ Parker – Sharpshooter
Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady b. Dash Wilder/Scott Dawson – Big boot to Dawson


Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Comments

  1. You guys are hilarious with the, "They should end it with everyone turning on Cena then Cena goes away and never comes back and then they should cut to Daniel Bryan waking up and it was all a dream and he's still champion and CM Punk is there and The Shield never broke up..."

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  2. Only if Daniel Bryan gets into the shower with Patrick Duffy.

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  3. And you're not hilarious with the usual anti-smark bullshit.

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  4. So I was reading somewhere that the stip announced isn't even "the whole team gets fired", it's "the whole team except Cena gets fired because Cena isn't worthless like those other 4 guys".

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  5. So the question becomes do they do a bait and switch with The Authority not actually losing power or run an angle where Cena has to fight to get the other four guys their jobs back?

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  6. If he's so valuable to the company, what exactly is Triple H's beef with him in the first place?

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  7. Well, Netflix also has a ton of other people's content which helps them survive, even if Netflix streaming only lineup has dropped considerably, they still have like 10,000 movies and tv shows you can watch. HBO does the same thing, albeit with more original programming but still, lots of sports, a few thousand recent films. Point being, there are multiple reasons a person might want to buy either of those services. From Game of Thrones, to Netflix's huge archive of shows for children.


    WWE only has WWE. Different eras aside, it's all just one product.

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  8. Steen is coming.


    Fantasy booking mode activate!


    Zayn wins the title at Takeover, while he's celebrating Steen comes out and package piledrives him, grabs the mic and says "guess who's here now boy?".

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  9. Because he wants to do things "his own way," "his own way" being a role model to children, doing radio interviews at 5 AM...SO INFURIATING as a boss!

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  10. Oh God is this Survivor Series lineup bad.

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  11. It's squash week at NxT

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  12. Indeed. The point this week was advancing stories and it did its job. THere's a lot more to a wrestling show than just the in ring action.

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  13. That BASTARD!

    It would actually make a little bit of sense at least if he did something as simple as rebelling against the dress code or some such. "I refuse to wear business casual to the airport or tights for my matches, you can have my jorts when you pry them off my cold, dead body." But I think Cena adheres to the dress code, doesn't he? Which makes his fucking jorts look that much stupider.

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  14. According to the Punk/Undertaker dress code story, certain guys have exemptions from the dress code and Cena's one of them.

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  15. I'd be fine with that. I rather see Zayn win the title. Owens come out. The announce team should acknowledge their friendship, them being partners in the indies and talk about them putting their past grievances aside. Owens then piledrives him, relaunching a new chapter to their heated feud. I doubt WWE will do it, though. But NXT surprises me time to time.

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  16. Tensai said NJPW and acknowledged Devitt's time in there.

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  17. That was a really sad read. I hope WWE does something to help the poor guy out. They help other dudes who have slagged the company...buy Kamala a new wheelchair or something.

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  18. I read a lot of comments at the time that they thought that WWE should have helped Kamala out during Linda's campaign for some positive PR, but they never did, so seems even more doubtful they'd help him out now.

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  19. In Cena's defense Ryder is nowhere near the level of Andre, Orndorff or Savage.

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  20. It could be positive PR but I could also see the story easily switching from "WWE helps ailing wrestler" to "Another Wrestler in health trouble"

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  21. This PPV is gonna blow but I'll take the good baby steps. At least we have twelve guys doing something with stories. No Dolph vs Miz just because matches here.

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  22. Yes, you are correct.

    Also, this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality

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  23. That this is the second most-liked comment is depressing.

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  24. 6 matches and all are under 3 minutes?? Are you shitting me?

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  25. Even so, its still a pro-wrestling show. You can throw in whatever 2014 WWE logic to that its about stories and characters, but not one match over 3 minutes is wtf

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  26. Not really. They don't have a lot of time to work with and they managed to get in as many matches as Raw, plus a promo. Now people call Raw and Impact garbage when they have long matches, now NXT is wtf when it has short matches. What exactly is needed to make a good show?

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  27. The worst thing is that it's not actively bad, just incredibly boring and nonsensical most of the time. That's a deadly combination for a company that needs fans to invest heavily in them now, because they're slowly eroding their regular fanbase and running out of part-timers to bring back for ratings pops.

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  28. Poor bastard. My little brother was terrified of him as a kid. Like, legit.


    Just from reading this, I get the idea that he would be a tough guy to help out, in that I get the sense that he makes a lot of poor choices. But it would be nice if he could find some sort of happy ending.

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  29. She got fired before Summerslam and her job was restored in order to fight Stephanie. That match had no actual stips.

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  30. Do You enjoy 6 straight matches under 3 minutes each?

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  31. They really need to focus on quality writing & athleticism. The brand itself is strong enough, continually draws in new fans, so they don't need to have cartoon superhero characters like Hogan, Warrior or Cena. This also isn't the best time or environment to go Attitude Era again with shock-for-shock's-sake. Just get back to the basics. Not worry about characters but just men & women with talent and personalities. Make winning matches and titles mean something again. Let fans think of it as a sport, not sports entertainment. Then once you've reset that baseline you can then experiment, find out where the boundaries are to push against. Wrestling's been around and continually growing for like a hundred years; so don't just look to the boom periods of Hulkamania and the Monday Night Wars for inspiration.

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  32. You know what one thing brought me back to wrestling this year more than anything else? Cesaro vs. Cena on RAW. That, and the Network being announced; and one of the first things I checked out on there was NXT, which gave me Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn. That in turn led me to checking out what I'd been missing with Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, the Shield...

    So even simpler answer: Fresh faces. And it's seeing them being so misused which is just as quickly driving me away from wrestling again.

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  33. Oh, Mr Nanny. I thought you were talking about that Sitcom with that curly brunette.

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  34. I remember he complained that he got a super low payday compared to Taker at the 1992 Survivor Series. I think he needs to understand that Taker was the draw, and he was just "Generic heel #57" to feed to him. Could have really been Taker vs any big dude. I think the payday made sense. (Sort of like Hogan vs "opponent of the month" int he 80's. Hogan was 99% the draw, who ever he faced.

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  35. In this case yes. I get annoyed when matches are clearly being drawn out to fill in time like when we're sitting in three chinlocks a match or not just ending the match because we need to hear Cole, Lawler and JBL chatter on about whatever unfunny lines they're trying to get in. I didn't enjoy the old Raw style of mid level name vs. nobody which doesn't get anyone anywhere. I didn't find that to be the case here.

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  36. Not disputing anything you said, as its all reasonable and very likely, but I think yiou have to remember he was also a pro wrestler. I'd imagine that its mostly true with a smidge of bullshit as he's probably trying to work us a little as well.

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  37. CruelConnectionNumber2November 20, 2014 at 7:46 PM

    Zayn wasn't tricked last week. Neville hurt his knee, he wasn't playing possum. Zayn showing compassion is why he lost and was small packaged.

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  38. CruelConnectionNumber2November 20, 2014 at 7:46 PM

    And this show SUCKED.

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  39. Virgil's Gimmick TableNovember 20, 2014 at 10:28 PM

    If I was missing two limbs and was in a horrible place in life, I'd try to work people too. Wrestler or not.

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  40. Kamala was scary. I actually believed he was what he portrayed. Its still weird now watching him talk like a normal person.

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  41. Adam "Colorado" CurryNovember 20, 2014 at 11:19 PM

    I can now see HHH's influence on this show.

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  42. Kamala does shoot interviews calling Vince gay and then cries because Vince won't give him money. for a condition that was definitely not caused by wrestling. Fuck this fucking carnie. Ill bump him up a spot in my death pool.

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  43. Those fans just. laid a hell. of a good story at Corbin and Dempsey's feet: two guys competing over who can squash their opponents faster while the fans count.along? That's gold.

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  44. He does not understand that Taker was the draw, and that he was enhancement? I never got that impression.

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  45. I don't doubt for a second that he pissed away all of his money, never thinking to save or invest any of it, but it's still heartbreaking. He did everything the millionaires of the business did as far as working matches and traveling, so it's not fair that he made less. But wrestling isn't fair, and these guys know that going in.

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  46. "TNA could get its fans cheering for a Mighty Mouse cartoon."



    Doesn't that imply that they're good?

    Also, as other people have said,the ECW chants can be turned into TNA chants. I remember Bully Ray did this perfectly earlier this year.

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  47. Ok a fool would try to claim that Lashley's reign hasn't been booked head and shoulders above lesnar's

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  48. Did well enough for 1998 WWF. I wouldn't want to see it every week, but then 60 minutes of straight wrestling wouldn't do it for me either

    (Or 60 minutes of gay wrestling etc.)

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  49. Not really. It implies that they have an easily led fan base who will cheer no matter what. Again though, that doesn't mean the masses are going to watch, which is the important thing.

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