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NXT - December 18, 2014

NXT
Date: December 18, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Rich Brennan, Jason Albert
 
Reviewed by Tommy Hall


We're past R-Evolution and it was one of the best shows of the year with some outstanding matches and a great ending. The main surprise was Kevin Owens turning on his best friend Sami Zayn after Zayn won the title. Owens ended the show by powerbombing the new champ on the apron and establishing himself as the next challenger for the belt. Let's get to it.


We open with a recap of the R-Evolution.

Here's Adrian Neville to open the show. He talks about losing the title just a week ago at Takeover and the fans tell him that it was awesome. Neville can stand here a proud man and admit that the better man won a week ago. However, he saw someone attack Sami Zayn to end the show and he wants Kevin Owens out here right now.

Cue Owens to address what he did last week. Adrian immediately says shame on Owens for what he did last week, prompting a SHAME ON YOU chant. Owens doesn't care what the fans or Neville think because he's here to get to the highest level in the world. He's willing to fight anyone that he has to in order to get there, and that includes Neville.

We look at Becky Lynch attacking Bayley last week on the pre-show.

Lynch says her attitude hasn't changed. Her eyes have been opened though and it doesn't matter if people are cheering for her when she's losing every week. Now the only person she can rely on besides herself is Sasha Banks. Tonight, she's ending Bayley's career.

Tyler Breeze says he's taking some time away from NXT to do some modeling in Europe. Don't worry though because he'll be keeping us informed on where in the world he is.

Becky Lynch vs. Bayley

Brennan slips up by saying the pre-show was yesterday. Bayley takes her down and hammers away to start before driving an elbow into the back for two. Back up and Becky kicks at the knee to take over but Bayley pops back up with a suplex. Lynch finally goes after the knee with a hard kick before putting on an overly complicated hold that winds up in a reverse figure four (as in Lynch on her back and Bayley facing down but the same positioning of the legs called the Four Leg Clover) to make Bayley tag at 3:35.

Rating: C-. I liked the logic here and Bayley being very aggressive but I'm not sold on that finisher. It's not entirely clear if it would hurt or not and Becky's legs looked very loose around Bayley's. Lynch would seem to be the next challenger for the title, which has the potential to be really good.

Last week Charlotte said she proved she had a whirlwind week but she proved she's the best.

In black and white, the Vaudevillains come in to show Regal a clip from the end of their match last week. The wrong man was pinned, meaning there's going to be a rematch at some point in the future. Believe it or not, the show is already booked and there's no room for another match.

Bull Dempsey vs. ???

The fans don't count this time. It's total dominance again with Bull throwing the unnamed guy all over the place and ending him with the headbutt at 1:08.

Baron Corbin comes out during Bull's exit.

Baron Corbin b. ???

End of Days in 12 seconds.

Corbin tells Bull to bring it but Dempsey bails to the floor and backs off.

Recap of the major events of R-Evolution.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Ascension

Enzo and Cass give us a bit of the 12 Days of Christmas including 7 fists a swinging, 6 where it hurts, 5 golden rings (as sung very nicely by Cass), 4 letter words, 3 in the Benz, 2 tough guys and 1 one beating from the Certified G's. Cass and Viktor slug it out to start with Cass actually getting the better of it. Enzo tags himself in but spends too much time looking at Carmella, allowing Viktor to nail an STO for the pin at 1:00.

Ascension says the war with Itami and Balor isn't over.

Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens

Owens hides on the floor to start before walking into a jumping kick to the face. He goes back outside for another breather before knocking Adrian up against the ropes, only to eat a shot to the face. Adrian tries a baseball slide but gets slammed back into the barricade to give Owens his first real advantage. The beating continues and we take a break.

Back with Owens slowly stomping away and shouting that nothing he does makes him shameful. Neville was champion for almost a year and now look at what a joke Owens has made him into. Fans: “KEVIN'S BETTER! NO HE'S NOT!” Owens steps on him and gets two off a kind of reverse curb stomp. Back up and Neville finally starts getting in some offense with a few kicks putting Kevin down. A springboard dropkick gets two but Adrian dives one time too many and gets caught in a fireman's carry gutbuster.

Owens drops a backsplash for two and an Elevated DDT out of the corner ala Randy Orton gets the same. The frustration is setting in on Owens and Adrian fights back by whipping him chest first into the ropes for a German suplex. Owens rolls outside but gets caught with a big plancha. Adrian can't follow up though and Kevin sends him into the post for a double countout at 15:00.

Rating: B. I liked this more than I thought I would as they went in a different direction than I was expecting. Owens didn't destroy him here but he did look like a killer. I really like that they didn't have Neville lose the title and then fade away. He held the belt for nearly a year and lost in a classic so it's not like he should just go away and then never be heard from again. Good stuff here and Owens can get away with not winning here as it's more about punishing people and getting to Zayn than anything else.

Owens powerbombs Neville onto the apron like he did to Zayn last week. A stretcher is brought out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the first part of the NXT fallout and I'm sure we'll have some rematches in the coming weeks. We've had this after every Takeover show so far and there's nothing wrong with it. Owens looks like the killer heel that we haven't had in NXT in a good while and it's a very nice change of pace. The show is still riding high after last week and it's such a breath of air after the bloated and overbooked WWE shows.

Results
Becky Lynch b. Bayley – Four Leg Clover
Bull Dempsey b. ??? – Flying headbutt
Baron Corbin b. ??? – End of Days
Ascension b. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady – STO to Amore
Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens went to a double countout


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. Wait, isn't this on tonight? Has it already aired?

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  2. That's what I thought, too, until I turned on the Network live stream and KO was fighting Neville. So much for starting to watch NXT "live" after last week's special.

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  3. This was taped last week and airs earlier somewhere in Europe.

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  4. I'm very much on the east coast US and it just aired here. Didn't realize it was taped last week, though.

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  5. Yeah! I was gonna be all up to date on what's chill and fresh...

    (it's Noah's Arcade *crossed arms*)

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  6. "Believe it or not, the show is already booked and there's no room for another match."


    Wait, you mean there's a wrestling show that has everything planned in advance, and matches aren't just made up on a whim all night long? Weird, this concept.

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  7. And on the WWE Network every Thursday at 4pm. I've never quite understood why they only announce it at 9pm.

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  8. Jobber names: Dempsey beat Jesus DeLeon(who wrestles on the indies as "Mr. 450") and Corbin beat Rob Ryzin.



    I know someone cares.

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  9. Don't they do such things all of the time, without publicly announcing it?

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  10. Yes, I would be upset with any movie theatre or movie studio that engaged in censorship.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCaN3182pfI

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  11. rondo traded to dallas

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  12. That's not censorship. They're not saying "You can't make this movie." They're just saying, "I don't want anything to do with this movie."


    If somebody came to your house and asked if they could hang a Nazi flag on your door, you wouldn't be censoring them if you said no.

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  13. No, that's totally fine. Any business should be able to determine for themselves what they want to sell.

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  14. South Korean movies are quite good, however. Well, some of them. North Korean movies are all pretty terrible.

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  15. How did even happen?!

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  16. Living in NYC, I totally understand the skittishness here of not showing the film. Once someone invokes 9/11 as a threat, people get really edgy here. And I dunno...I've said this before, but my fear isn't North Korea making an attack, it's some crazy guy like the Aurora shooter thinking this is his opportunity to fight for a cause and kill a bunch of people in a theater.


    But like, some random movie theater in Cleveland, where I'm from? I can't imagine there being any harm in showing "The Interview" there. Does that make me a hypocrite? I dunno.

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  17. That's absolutely what it's all about. There's no actual concern for anyone's well-being here.

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  18. When I say I understand theaters not showing "The Interview" for fear of violence, I'm speaking as a guy who's been living in NYC and I've seen how scared people get here when threats are made. Hell, people lost their shit here over ebola and there was no chance of that spreading over the summer. Anyway, if anyone's been offended or upset by my perspective, I'm sorry. I'm not saying no one can ever see the movie; just I understand why NYC theaters wanted no part of it.

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  19. Al Qaeda does however have more shoes.

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  20. Where I live, you had the typical "OMG what pussies, we can't let the terrorists win" tone on the local newspaper comments section. But that same day there was a story about a local school that closed for the day due to somebody making a bomb threat or something. And everybody seemed to understand and support that decision.

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  21. I'm not sure who they expect violence from, exactly. Not a lot of North Koreans around here. Cyber attacks on customers? Pay cash.

    Maybe they just don't want to be associated with a movie that is (allegedly) an abomination aka a Franco-Rogen film.

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  22. Actually, now I'm wondering if they saw this more as a way to cost Japan a chunk of cash than 'moral outrage'

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  23. I'm perfectly willing to hand James Franco over to the North Korean government. Anything to feel safe again. Or, I don't even have to feel safe afterwards. Can we send James Franco to a North Korean prison camp?

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  24. Only if he takes the rest of the Apatow Crew with him. Except Jonah hill.

    ReplyDelete

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