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NXT - June 24, 2015

NXT 
Date: June 24, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves

Reviewed by Tommy Hall


We're getting closer to the big July 4th showdown for the title and that means Finn Balor needs to rack up a few wins. Up first we have the second half of the big sitdown interview with Balor, which is likely focusing on his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Other than that we might get some fallout from Joe vs. Owens from last week. Let's get to it.


We open with the roster on the stage and HHH talking about the loss of Dusty Rhodes. Dusty was family to everyone on this stage because he thought they were his kids. HHH, barely able to keep his voice together, asks for a moment of silence as the bell rings ten times.

Opening sequence.

Here's Hideo Itami for his first comments since being injured. He acknowledges that he'll be out another 3-4 months due to his shoulder injury but promises to come back and win the NXT Title. This brings out Kevin Owens, who is glad Itami will be in Japan for the July 4 show, but it's cute to hear Itami imply that Owens won't be leaving Japan as NXT Champion. Owens slips up on the word delusional but makes up for it by saying he sounds like Itami trying to speak English.

However, there are two things Kevin wants to make clear. First of all, he didn't hurt Itami because if he did, there's no chance Itami would be standing there. The other reason is because Owens wants an apology for Itami implying that Owens attacked him. Itami calls him a terrible human being, so Owens thinks that if he's going to be accused of hurting Itami, he might as well do it. Kevin comes to the ring but Balor comes out for the save, only to have Rhyno jump Balor and knock him off the stage.

Balor vs. Rhyno later tonight.

Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Jason Jordan/Sylvester LeFort

The entrance sounds a bit faster this week but Enzo makes up for it by saying he sees two mushrooms from Mario's world in the ring: they're about to get flattened. Cassady's part didn't sound very smooth but he got the lines out well enough. I had been wondering what happened to LeFort. Colin puts Sylvester down to start and slams Enzo down on top of him for two, only to have Jordan tag himself in and catch Enzo in a slam. LeFort's cobra clutch doesn't get him very far so it's quickly off to Jordan, who gets rolled up for the pin at 2:32.

After last week's main event, Joe talks about hearing the people chant LET THEM FIGHT. He got the fight he wanted but he didn't get the fight he wanted (not a typo) because Owens is still walking. Joe wants Owens again.

Dana Brooke vs. Cassie

Brooke has Emma in her corner and Cassie is K.C. Cassidy. A quick rollup gets two on Brooke and a headscissors puts her down again. That's enough for Dana as she throws Cassie down and gets two off a slam. Dana cranks on an arm and leg at the same time while advising Cassie to tap. Cassie comes back with something like a Thesz press and some clotheslines but Dana Whiplashes her off the top for the pin at 3:36.

Rating: D+. This wasn't quite a squash as Cassie got to show some spunk, which means she'll probably be pushed as something more serious when she gets some more ring time. Brooke is still definitely a work in progress, but if there's one thing NXT has shown it can do, it's take their girls and improve improve them about ten fold overnight.

Charlotte isn't worried about Dana.

It's time for part two of Balor's sitdown interview, which starts with some clips of Sami Zayn hanging out at his house. Balor likes to put jigsaw puzzles together (amen brother) and still plays with Legos while watching old pay per views. Suddenly I'm digging the heck out of this guy.

NXT head trainer Matt Bloom (actually called that here instead of Jason Albert) talks about meeting Fergal Devitt in Japan about eight years ago. We get some pictures of them hanging out over the years, including Bloom pulling Devitt's pants down as they posed for a picture. Bloom explains the concept of a young boy and we see some stills and videos of Fergal's time in new Japan. Prince Devitt was someone obsessed with trying to master the Japanese style and he felt more like Prince than Fergal over there.

Then WWE came calling right around the annual Tokyo Dome show and Fergal wasn't sure if he could do it or not. He had to try though because there was nothing left for him to prove in Japan so here he is, with Sami Zayn and Mojo Rawley sitting on his couch in the background. He calls it an incredible journey but it's still continuing. Next week: the NXT days.

Bull Dempsey has been trying to get in better shape without much success. This is shown through a series of Instagram shots of Dempsey falling asleep while trying to train. So he's narcoleptic instead of just fat?

Hype Bros vs. Sawyer Fulton/Angelo Dawkins

That would of course be Rawley and Zack Ryder. You know what? Why not? It's not like Ryder has ANYTHING better to do. Mojo runs Dawkins over to start and it's off to Ryder for a nice dropkick to Fulton. Back to Rawley for HAMMER TIME, allowing the amateur guys to take over with the old Benjamin jumping over Haas' back onto Mojo's back spot. A backdrop ends Angelo's offense and it's off to Ryder for all his usual stuff. The Broski Boot gets two and everything breaks down. Rawley holds Dawkins up for a middle rope Rough Ryder and the pin at 4:00.

Rating: C-. Ryder and Rawley have a weird chemistry together and I've always been a fan of Zack so it's cool to see him do something other than losing to Rusev in 45 seconds. Fulton, Dawkins and Jordan seem like the perfect choice for a stable along with Chad Gable but for some reason the Shoot Nation stable was called off. They're still fine for roles like this though and you can easily rally them together later.

Eva Marie wants a match but Regal needs proof that she has more than charm.

Finn Balor vs. Rhyno

Kevin Owens comes out and shoves Byron away from his chair to do commentary. Balor takes it to Rhyno to start and slugs him down in the corner. Rhyno gets sent out to the floor as Owens denies attacking Itami again. A big flip dive puts Rhyno down again and gets two back inside. Owens promises to win on July 4, even though he doesn't know what it is. “I'm Canadian so it doesn't mean anything to me. Independence Day? Will Smith? Good movie.”

Rhyno gets in his first offense with a spinebuster and puts on a bearhug. Owens has completely taken over commentary by ripping on Brennan, because Kevin doesn't believe that Brennan has talked to anyone on the roster. “I've seen them running away from you.” Owens now has his arm around Saxton and has pulled Byron's head onto his shoulder. We take a break and come back with Balor fighting out of a second bearhug.

Owens is annoyed at all the questions Brennan is asking him as Balor gets two off a dropkick to the side of the head. That earns him a northern lights suplex but Balor staggers him with a Pele Kick. The Coup de Grace is loaded up but Owens comes down for a distraction, allowing Rhyno to hit the belly to belly. The Gore is countered by a kick to the face though and the Sling Blade sets up the Coup de Grace for the pin at 11:40.

Rating: C+. This was fine. The idea behind Rhyno is that he's intense enough to lose every big match he's in, beat some jobbers, and then come back for another loss to make someone look good. There's awesome value in that and it's something you can never have enough of. Balor vs. Owens is going to be awesome, especially if the demon shows up.

Owens comes in and double teams Balor until Samoa Joe comes in for the save, likely setting up a tag match next week.

Overall Rating: C. Not their best show this week but they did a good job of setting up Balor vs. Owens in less than two weeks. Other than that they have enough feuds and stories going on to set up a big non-Takeover show before we get to the REALLY big stuff down the line. Good effort this week, even though it was mainly a placeholder outside of the main story.

Results
Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady b. Jason Jordan/Sylvester LeFort – Rollup to Jordan
Dana Brooke b. Cassie – Whiplash
Hype Bros b. Sawyer Fulton/Angelo Dawkins – Middle rope Rough Ryder to Dawkins
Finn Balor b. Rhyno – Coup de Grace

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. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJune 24, 2015 at 7:17 PM

    RTC was the perfect set up for Raven to come in with a new Flock type group to feud with Stevie. Saturn, Snow, and Mosh were doing very little at that point. Gangrel might have even been on the roster still

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  2. Saxtonmania is running wild!

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  3. A few thoughts.
    * Was it just me, or can does the rough rider actually work pretty well as a neat looking finisher as a tag team move? Get Hype!
    * KO was getting a bit too KO on the commentary mic. I like it, mind you. But he could give people a little room to breathe. The English as bad as Itami was gold, though.
    * Speaking of Itami. I really hope he takes some time from rehab and learns English a little better. I felt like everyone wanted to connect to him, but it's hard with the language barrier. Not impossible of course. Tajiri absolutely killed it with the audience. I hope Itami can find something.
    * This Finn Balor video package has been amazing. I'm hoping this is a testing ground for future installments, because it does a LOT to humanize the guy and makes me like him even more. I'd actually quite like to see some bits like this on Raw too. You can't take four minutes a week to try and market your own guys, which is essentially, your product?
    * Matches were all decent. Rhyno is perfect in this niche.

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  4. Boobies McMahon http://i.imgur.com/Cq7iMyt.gif

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  5. They're doing great work with Finn, honestly I think his debut to title win was almost absolutely perfectly booked and they should try to basically copy the exact same shit for his main-roster debut.


    Mostly because...none of his booking is opponent specific, Finn is just as cool no matter who he faces.

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  6. Ok, as good as the retrospective video on Balor was, the new hype video for the Tokyo show was a damn fine piece of work, too.

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  7. No mention of Enzo's tribute to Dusty?

    For anyone who didn't notice, Enzo had his hair shaved into polka dots. I thought that was a pretty cool touch.

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  8. Carmella has really, really grown on me. Green as hell (to be expected), but she oozes charisma. Seems to be winning over the crowd too.

    In a better world, Jason Jordan's perfect partner is a returning Kurt Angle....who then goes on to wage war for the heavyweight title. Is Angle any good anymore though?

    Holy shit do I ever love Owens on commentary. What I don't like. If you're going to be a heel commentator Graves, be a heel commentator. None of this half in shit.

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  9. ...it's not quite "Winona Ryder running down steps" but still...ouch.

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  10. The Devitt video again. Incredible work. I can't get my head around seeing Bullet Club merch on WWE.

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  11. Has anybody ever explained what is going on with Sasha Banks? I'm assuming injury but NXT seems to be very open about those sorts of things.

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  12. Joe/Balor vs Rhyno/Owens next week. Looking forward to that one.

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  13. My nephew is just now old enough to play with real Legos instead of the big blocks, so last time I had him for the day I got a tub of my old Legos out of the attic. I'm not going to lie - that was ridiculously fun.

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  14. Owens promises to win on July 4, even though he doesn't know what it is. “I'm Canadian so it doesn't mean anything to me. Independence Day? Will Smith? Good movie.”

    Awesomeeee

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  15. I like Owens' overbearing behaviour, particularly when he's a dick to commentators/interviewers. He's like your friend's older brother who is just a little bit too aggressive for no reason.


    Why WWE isn't doing this kind of video on the main roster I don't know. For a guy like Balor, who is self-admittedly a little introverted, it's the perfect way to understand who they are. Also LEGO!

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  16. I'm super glad she didn't turn on Enzo and Cass. Because now, whether or not she's heel or face, there's a respect there for sticking with her boys. And it's believable. I know a ton of gals like that.

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  17. I like it too, but I found it hard to concentrate on the match.

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  18. MAYBE IT'S JUST ME BUT I FOUND BALOR PLAYING LEGOS WHILE WATCHING SUMMERSLAM 95 OF ALL PPVS TO BE REALLY FUCKING WEIRD AND CREEPY. IF HE WASN'T SO GOOD LOOKING, HE WOULD BE DEEM A PEDOPHILE

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  19. Becky Lynch is ready to take over the top spot at NXT if they want to send Charlotte and Sasha up at the same time. Jessie McKay is talented and hot enough to be put in a feud with Becky that would entertain everyone. Dana, Carmella and Alexa would be a decent mid card female group until they are ready to put on some great matches. I think they are pushing the blondes to the top way too fast.

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  20. She left the taping to be with her fiancee/boyfriend (don't exactly remember their relationship) who got hurt and went to the hospital.


    She's fine.

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  21. This was from the following taping.

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  22. Has it turned over?


    Well, they usually let a couple weeks go between appearances.

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  23. What about Bailey?

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  24. Owens stumbles over a promo and then immediately redeems himself with a crack about Hideo's English. If you're easily offended, it might have made you cringe, but it was another brilliant bit of heeling.

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  25. Yeah, the money is in Bayley/Sasha. That's the feud they've been building since forever.


    Honestly, Becky can go up without winning the belt.

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  26. CruelConnectionNumber2June 26, 2015 at 10:37 AM

    Your gimmick sucks.

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  27. This was episode one of a new taping. Without spoiling keep watching for Sasha.

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  28. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, CUNT

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