NXT
Date:
February 18, 2015
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, Jason Albert
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Last
week, evil won. Kevin Owens destroyed NXT Champion Sami Zayn and
powerbombed him into oblivion over and over until he just couldn't
get up again, leading to the referee stopping the match and awarding
the title to Owens. The question now is what is he going to do with
the title, because Zayn can't possibly be back that soon. Let's get
to it.
We
open with a recap of Rival, mainly focusing on the title change.
Commissioner
Regal says the title can change hand by referee's decision so the
title change stands. However, Owens doesn't have authority here
because he's won the title. Therefore, tonight Owens will face
Adrian Neville in a non-title match as Neville hasn't earned a title
match. However he has earned the right to get revenge on the man
that put him in the hospital. A new era begins tonight.
Opening
sequence.
Here's
the new champ with something to say. The fans are almost completely
divided on their opinion of him. Some people may have issues with
how he won the title, which draws a WIN OWENS WIN chant. Those
people who are upset have no right to be angry at anything. He
hasn't lied or pretended to be anything he isn't. He said he would
fight anyone and everyone to make things better for his family and
that's exactly what he did.
Who
he beat and how he beat them is irrelevant because Sami Zayn is now
the past. That means it's time to look to the future, and that is
Finn Balor. Owens is well aware that Balor is the #1 contender for
the NXT Title, so go to Regal and pick whatever date you want.
However, what happened to Sami at Takeover is what's going to happen
to Balor, because no one is taking this title from him. It takes a
lot to instantly make me care about a new champion like this but I'm
digging the heck out of this already. Hearing him say Balor is next
gave me a big smile.
Rhyno
vs. Elias Samson
Yes
THAT Rhyno, who wins with the Gore in 33 seconds. The only note here
is that the announcers said Rhyno invented the spear, which is
completely inaccurate but his version has enough impact that it works
like a charm. I can also totally get behind the idea of people like
Rhyno showing up for short stories or even one night cameos like this
for a surprise.
Finn
Balor says he has a high opinion of himself too. Owens calls himself
a prize fighter, but Balor fights for a prize too. Before he can
finish what that is (the NXT Title), Rhyno comes in for a staredown.
The fans REALLY like that idea.
Vaudevillains
vs. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady
Enzo
and Cass get a great reaction but Carmella isn't exactly beloved by
the fans. Amore now has a blond beard to go with his black handlebar
mustache. Cass say they wan the titles. Gotch grabs Amore's foot to
start but English gets in a cheap shot to give the Vaudevillains
early control. Aiden stomps away but Enzo ducks a clothesline and
dives over for the tag. The big man cleans house and throws English
into the corner. Enzo is thrown onto him for good measure and Cass'
big boot is good for the pin at 2:03.
Blake
and Murphy pop up on screen and say that's not enough for a title
shot before hitting on Carmella.
Adrian
Neville says he can be the hunter tonight and he wants revenge for
Owens putting him on a stretcher.
Bayley
says her night is coming.
Becky
Lynch gave it her all last week but Bayley cost her the title. At
least Charlotte lost.
Here's
a ticked off CJ Parker to rant about not being on the show last week.
He's ending this show by taking it hostage, meaning he starts tying
caution tape across the ring. Cue the long awaited debut of Solomon
Crowe who quickly destroys Parker and returns us to our regularly
scheduled broadcast. As usual with NXT debuts, this worked.
Sasha
Banks vs. Blue Pants
Non-title
and Blue Pants is billed from the clearance rack. Sasha offers her
the chance to leave but Blue knocks her out to the floor. A rollup
gets two on the Boss but she cranks on Blue's arms to take her down.
Sasha plants her down and the Bank Statement is good for the tap out
at 2:30. Just a feel good moment before the squash.
Sasha
says its her time.
A
doctor looked at Sami and says he'll be back strong.
Kevin
Owens vs. Adrian Neville
Non-title.
Owens bails to the floor at the bell but Neville is right there with
him to hammer away. Back in and Neville takes him down with a kick,
only to walk into a gutbuster. He hammers on Adrian with big right
hands as this is starting similar to last week's title match. The
fans tell Owens to fight but another faction is behind Neville. We
hit the chinlock for a good while before Kevin throws Neville to the
floor and us to a break.
Back
with Owens stepping on Neville's head (such a simple yet effective
heel move) before kicking him in the back. Another chinlock has
Adrian in trouble but he fights up with more kicks and hits a
springboard dropkick for two. That sends Owens outside again but
this time Neville dropkicks him through the ropes, followed by a 450
from the apron. Back in and Adrian rolls some Germans for a very
close two.
Owens
just takes his head off with a clothesline, but the Cannonball is
broken up with a superkick. A reverse hurricanrana gets two and the
fans are WAY into this. The Red Arrow has to be canceled in mid air,
setting up the popup powerbomb to give Owens the pin at 15:34.
Rating:
B. This is the kind of stuff
that that NXT excels at: take two guys, give them some time and let
them beat each other up. Owens looked great as always and a win over
Neville still means quite a bit since no one could pin him for so
long. The match with Balor could tear the house down and hopefully
they get a lot of time to do so.
Overall
Rating: B+. Tonight was about
setting up new stuff for NXT and they did a great job of doing so.
Sami being gone opens up some room at the top of the card, but his
return for revenge is still going to rock. As usual, the future
looks incredibly bright in WWE and it looks even brighter for the
next few months down here. Really solid show this week and a good
followup to last week's classic show.
Results
Rhyno
b. Elias Samson – Gore
Enzo
Amore/Colin Cassady b. Vaudevillains – Big boot to English
Sasha
Banks b. Blue Pants – Bank Statement
Kevin
Owens b. Adrian Neville – Popup powerbomb
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:
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Did evil really win? He was just trying to make life better for his family
ReplyDeletePowerbombing your friend on the apron after he had a thirty minute match and the biggest win of his career isn't exactly heroic.
ReplyDeleteSo many great things about that main event. I like Owens jawing with the crowd during the rest hold spots. I like him getting out of the ring and "chickening out" whenever Neville started to get momentum. And I like the story of the match that got across how Owens can just take a beating and seemingly feel no pain.
ReplyDeleteHe's either a psychopath or a tragic Darth Vader type villain.
ReplyDeleteWe better get Rhyno vs Bull...
ReplyDeleteIt is where I come from!
ReplyDeleteI'm from the streetz
I'd have no problem of Corbin beating Rhyno.
ReplyDeleteAlso Snitsky was not at fault. I love the lying shitbird heel the very most - Owens is a classic Anderson-style heel.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to write a list of "wrestlers I didn't expect to mark out over this week," Rhyno would have been there.
ReplyDelete