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NXT - June 17, 2015

NXT
Date: June 17, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan


It's a big week here in NXT as last week saw Samoa Joe challenging Kevin Owens to a title shot but getting turned down because he hasn't racked up enough wins yet. Fair point said Commissioner William Regal, so it's a non-title match tonight instead. This is probably just filler until we get to July 4 in Japan but NXT filler is still good stuff. Let's get to it.


As you would expect, this show is dedicated to the American Dream Dusty Rhodes.

We open with the Dusty tribute video, which is still awesome stuff.

Opening sequence.

Blake/Murphy/Alexa Bliss vs. Carmella/Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady

Enzo's speech this week is about Star Wars but he keeps it short. Carmella wants a piece of Alexa Bliss, and Cass is nice enough to spell out the one word that describes Blake, Murphy and Bliss. There's a new ring announcer who sounds like he has no idea who any of these people are. He has a good, deep voice though. The fans think Blake and Murphy look stupid but switch to BONAFIDE STUD/CERTIFIED G.

Blake and his headlock slow Enzo down to start before a shoulder puts him on the mat. With nothing else working, Enzo opts to dance and hits a very unique cross body where he doesn't actually jump but takes Blake down anyway. Everything breaks down and the Long Island guys (and Carmella) clean house.

Back from a break with Enzo slugging Blake down but getting dropped from behind by Murphy. We hit the headlock on the mat for a good while before Cass gets dropped off the apron. Enzo avoids a charge in the corner though and makes the tag off to Carmella, meaning Alexa has to come in. Carmella dominates in a hurry as everything breaks down again. Cass plants Blake with the side slam, setting up the Rocket Launcher for the pin at 10:22.

Rating: C-. This was fine, but there's a major point that caught my eye here. Since turning heel, Alexa has been wearing more revealing attire and Carmella was wearing even less than usual tonight. However, other than Enzo calling Carmella hot during the entrance, their looks or attire are never addressed. The lack of comments from Lawler or the girls ripping on each other for their appearances and just fighting because they hate each other. I love that about NXT and it continues to show how lame and behind the times the Divas division really is.

Stills of Cena vs. Owens II and the aftermath.

Joe is here to deal with Kevin Owens but more than that he's here because he wants to wrestle in places that are cutting edge. That explains the departure from TNA as I doubt they could even cut paper. As for Owens, his running away last week told Joe that he didn't want to fight. Tonight though, the NXT World Champion (that's a new one) is getting what he deserves.

We get the first part of a look at Finn Balor, mainly due to a sitdown interview. First question: who is Fergal Devitt? Balor talks about growing up in Ireland and how his dad built his way up from a cleaner to a train engineer in a cool story. One day a show called Superstars came on his TV and he was instantly hooked. We get some really cool clips of him in some tiny independents as well as Insane Championship Wrestling (Scotland) and Revolution Pro Wrestling UK.

Becky Lynch cries talking about how Fergal (her word) opened a wrestling school in Ireland and got her into the business as a result. She lied about her age to get into the school and so that Fergal might ask her out, which apparently he did. There are some really cool pictures of the two of them going through school and starting their careers, including stuff like being in the ring or just listening to music together so you could tell they were close.

There are clips from Insane Championship Wrestling with him in the demon paint where the announcers praise him for being amazing. Next up was New Japan but he said he's be back to Ireland. This was about eight minutes long and totally awesome as it made me care about Balor more than I even have before. Part two is next week.

Charlotte vs. K.C. Cassidy

A headscissors takes Cassidy down to start but she comes back with a quick rollup for two. That goes nowhere as Charlotte kicks her in the face and chokes with the boot when asking the referee about the speed of the count. Charlotte's cravate doesn't work very well as K.C. comes back with a cross body for two, only to have her eat a spear (good selling too). The Figure Eight makes Cassidy tap at 3:50.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here to remind us that Charlotte is awesome before she gets back into it with Barrett and Emma for the big feud. That spear looked good and could be a good power finisher for her as Charlotte is tall and strong enough to make it work well. Cassidy has potential but is clearly not that experienced.

Dana Brooke says she's misunderstood because she's a current fitness competitor who isn't scared one of Charlotte. She's replacing Charlotte because she's the total diva and not using her family name to get into NXT. I have no idea what Carmella was looking at that was just a foot or so off camera but it made her look really weird. She makes up for it just a bit by coming back to pat Devon on the head.

Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe

Non-title. The crowd going silent when Joe's music changes tells you all you need to know about how horrible it really is. Owens bails to the floor to start but Joe goes right after him and gets in the champ's face. Back in and the fans already think this is awesome. Not so fast kids. Owens: “THE CHAMP IS HERE!” That earns him a right hand to the face and a big chop to the head as Joe gets in the first offense.

A back elbow drops Kevin again as the fans are quieter than you would expect. The corner enziguri sets up the Facewash and the big running boot to the face to send Owens outside for a break. Back with Joe missing a charge in the corner, allowing Owens to hit a Cannonball, almost out of desperation. A chinlock keeps Joe in trouble and the second version slows things down even more. Fans: “HEADLOCK CITY!” It's a chinlock but points for creativity.

The hold is finally broken and Joe drops his own backsplash for two. Something like a running enziguri gets the same on the champ but he fights out of the Muscle Buster. They fight to the floor but Owens can't powerbomb the baron of the buffet. The referee gets shoved down and that's a DQ at 14:39.

Rating: C-. This was more of an angle than a match but that chinlock in the middle killed everything they had going. I have a feeling they'll move on to Balor vs. Owens for now before Joe gets his big title match, or maybe just a non-title match against Owens instead. Fun power brawl while it lasted, but that chinlock went on way too long. It was much more of a preview than a showdown.

They do the big brawl with security not being able to hold them back post match. Owens shouts that the champ is here to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It was another of those setting the future shows, which are often some of the best episodes NXT puts out. The Tag Team Title rematch is set, Charlotte looked dominant and Brooke is ready to fight her, there's a reason for Joe vs. Owens II and you top it off with the really awesome Balor video. That's quite an impressive use of 53 minutes as you have four stories set up, which could cover a month of upcoming TV. It's back to efficient for NXT and that's what they do best.

Results
Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady/Carmella b. Blake/Murphy/Alexa Bliss – Rocket Launcher to Blake
Charlotte b. K.C. Cassidy – Figure Eight
Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe went to a double DQ when they both shoved the referee


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

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

Comments

  1. Randy Orton should go heel and adopt CHINLOCK CITY, BITCH! ad his mantra.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Could use that if they ever have him feud with Brock...

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  3. kbwrestlingreviewsJune 17, 2015 at 7:32 PM

    I have no idea why we've never seen that. It's a pretty easy feud that could be built several ways.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bring back SSW reviews!

    ReplyDelete
  5. "GODDAMNIT MY BROTHER!! STOP RAPING PEOPLE!!! TESTIFYYYYY!!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's weird. That Bad News character could get over as a babyface but nope he has to be a heel just like they did with Cesaro.

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  7. Nothing was up to par with Lucha Underground's 40 minute match between Puma and Mundo, but a decent show overall.

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  8. Parallax: What's SSW?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I still want him, Seamus, Neville and Paige to form a stable, and call themselves The United Kingdom. If not, at least put him and Seamus into the Authority and get rid of Big Show and Kane.

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  10. DOUBLE POSTS? I thought I was going crazy for a second but then Harvey my talking rabbit friend told me I was good.

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  11. Injury prone is the only knock against him I think of. But that's not enough to bury him like this

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  12. He could have quite easily had Kane's spot in the Authority and the past few months would have been so much more bearable, and Rollins' title reign would have been so different.

    Imagine the pop when after weeks of humiliation and dissension Barrett had said he had some 'bad news' and hit Rollins with a Bullhammer.

    But instead he's jobbing to r truth on a preshow.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dana screams star as well as goofing on purpose.

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  14. Somehow, the depressing nature of Barrett's status didn't really hit me until the second time this posted.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Insane Championship Wrestling is Scotland, dude, not Ireland.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Becky and Finn were a couple once...huh.


    I always find it interesting when two wrestlers who knew each other and were friends from the very beginning make it to WWE. Or even make it in general. Colt/Punk. Jericho/Storm.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fun episode. The Balor video package was excellent and Joe/Owens was a nice taster for the future.

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  18. Stealing my gimmick bro. Not cool.

    ReplyDelete
  19. AverageJoeEverymanJune 18, 2015 at 8:04 AM

    or how brothers like Kane and Undertaker can both make it even being estranged for so so long. Or how brothers (initially) can lose their familial relationship and become best friends instead such as Edge and Christian.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Insane Championship Wresting (Ireland) ? Really? Never knew Glasgow was a suburb of Dublin... :P

    ReplyDelete
  21. Uh I think you might have misheard, Thomas--I think Becky said she lied about her age so that Fergal wouldn't ask her for ID. Then again, the next photo looked like they had their arms around each other so who knows?

    ReplyDelete
  22. kbwrestlingreviewsJune 18, 2015 at 10:49 AM

    It wouldn't be the first time.

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  23. kbwrestlingreviewsJune 18, 2015 at 10:49 AM

    Yeah I've been told.

    ReplyDelete
  24. They were never a couple.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Misread the article.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Well with Edge and Christian, I think they were brothers in a legally binding vampire sense. Then after the head vampire died, they stopped being vampires so they weren't brothers anymore, but still good buddies. Ken Burns talks about it in that "Lost Boys" documentary.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Did you know that that you can make cash by locking selected sections of your blog / site?
    Simply join AdscendMedia and use their Content Locking tool.

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