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NXT - January 28, 2015

NXT
Date: January 28, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Alex Riley, Jason Albert, Tom Phillips

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

This is another big show as we're two weeks out from Takeover and the showdown between Owens and Zayn. The contract signing is tonight and Owens has promised to say what he has to say to Zayn to his face. Also tonight the tournament to crown a new #1 contender continues with more first round matches. Let's get to it.


Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Dragons vs. Buddy Murphy/Wesley Blake

Blake and Murphy are challenging and have some new, loud entrance music. We even get big match intros before we get going. Cara and Blake get things going with Wesley slamming him down in the corner, only to have Cara come back with a double springboard wristdrag.

Murphy dropkicks him out of the air for two though as the challengers are staying aggressive. Blake puts on a chinlock for a bit until Cara fights up and makes the tag to Kalisto. Everything speeds up and a sunset bomb gets two on Buddy as everything breaks down. Blake counters Cara's springboard and makes a blind tag. Kalisto hits Salida Del Sol on Murphy but the legal Buddy rolls him up for the clean pin and the titles at 4:00.

Rating: C. This is where NXT's booking pays off for them in the end. Murphy and Blake haven't won a bunch of matches over the months, but they've hung in enough of them that this isn't the most shocking win in the world. In WWE, a team like Slater Gator has been crushed almost every time they go out there and would have almost no chance in a title match. Even if they won, it wouldn't be accepted. On the other hand, this was fine and made sense, as well as giving us a fresh set of matches for the division.

We recap Bayley suplexing Charlotte last week and Regal making the fourway title match.

Charlotte yells at Bayley but Bayley says maybe she's been too nice. She saw what Sami Zayn did when he got more serious and now it's time for her to do it. Charlotte says if Bayley tries that again, she won't make it to Takeover.

Tyler Breeze is going to be watching the rest of the tournament very closely.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd

The fans are split on who they like best. They hit the mat to start for a nice counter sequence leading to a standoff. Adrian starts cranking on the arm before he takes Tyson down with a hurricanrana, sending Kidd scrambling to the floor. Neville even teases him with a dive but pulls back with a Tajiri handspring flip. Kidd keeps sliding under the corner and out the other side of the ring to break the count, eventually drawing Adrian outside where he gets sent into the floor.

We take a break and come back with Kidd hitting a hard dropkick to the face and rubbing the same face into the mat. Neville sends him right back outside with a clothesline and hits a big old flip dive to take him down. A standing moonsault gets two for Neville as the referee is drenched in sweat.

The spinning fisherman's neckbreaker snaps Adrian's neck for two but he flips out of a release German suplex and grabs a Batista Bomb (crowd: “Better than Batista!”) for two. Neville heads outside but a hard dropkick sends him to the floor. Back in and Kidd can't hook the Sharpshooter, allowing Neville to hit a running kick in the head (similar to the Helluva Kick), setting up the Red Arrow for the pin at 16:25.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the heck out of each other and it got better and better throughout the match. This is the basic idea of hitting each other really, really hard over and over again until one of them can't get up and that's a great way to enjoy a match. Really fun stuff here and worth checking out.

Neville says he's ready to face either Corbin or Dempsey. The fans seem very interested in Neville vs. Corbin. I can't say I disagree.

Becky Lynch implies she'd turn on Banks to win the title. Good, as I like her better than Sasha.

Murphy and Blake are thrilled to win the belts and would give the Lucha Dragons a rematch anytime anywhere. They're still getting the hang of this talking thing.

Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks vs. Bayley/Charlotte

The fans aren't as into Bayley as they used to be. Bayley and Banks get things going with Bayley hitting a springboard armdrag but botching a second attempt, allowing Banks to take over. Off to Lynch for a forearm to the back before it's already back to Sasha. Charlotte comes in and snapmares Becky down before tagging Bayley right back in. In a smart move, Bayley thinks about going to the ropes but realizes Banks would nail her in the back and opts for a jumping clothesline to a seated Lynch instead.

The villains use some cheating to take over and Sasha gyrates a bit, drawing a Sasha's ratchet/no she's not dueling chant. Becky comes back in and goes for the knee, only to get suplexed down, allowing the hot tag to Charlotte. She quickly gets Banks in the bridging Figure Four but Becky breaks it up as everything breaks down. Sasha Bankrupts Charlotte and Bayley makes a save but hits her partner in the process. Charlotte and Bayley start fighting each other and the opponents come in, drawing a double DQ at 5:50.

Rating: C. The match wasn't great but it was exactly the right booking. There was no need to have anyone get a pin here and it let Bayley show a lot more aggression. I'm still really high on Becky but she needs to show that she can do something in the ring as she's barely had any ring time so far. The fourway could be awesome if they let these four go nuts.

Hideo Itami comes up to Finn Balor in the back and says he brought Finn into the company and will take him out if he has to in order to advance in the tournament.

The returning Emma says things haven't gone as she planned since she left NXT so next week she's coming back to face Carmella.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Bull Dempsey vs. Baron Corbin

Baron sends him into the corner to start and runs him over with a shoulder. Dempsey bails to the floor but Baron is right back on top of him to send him back inside. Back in and a corner splash has Bull in trouble and the End of Days is good for the pin at 1:31. Total squash here with Dempsey getting nothing. That almost has to end the feud.

Baron Corbin says he just took a step closer to becoming NXT Champion and next week Adrian Neville takes a step closer to being erased. Dempsey comes up and says he'll knock Corbin's teeth out. Baron just walks away. That would seem to be the way out of Baron losing clean next week.

It's time for the contract signing. The champ comes out first but Regal is hesitant to bring out Owens. Kevin comes out and Sami looks sad as much as mad. Regal isn't going to let this turn into every other contract signing in WWE because he'll cancel the match if they make any contact. The fans chant OLE and Sami signs without saying anything. Owens looks at Sami instead of the contract. Sami asks if he's just going to look at him or if Owens is going to explain why. Owens doesn't move so Sami says he'll talk about the last 12 years.

They fought with and against each other so maybe he should have seen this coming. The truth is he didn't see it coming though and he never thought it would happen on a night like R-Evolution when both of them arrived. It doesn't matter though because Sami is going to beat the heck out of him at Takeover. Owens still won't sign because he doesn't like it being a non-title match.

What Owens did at R-Evolution was business because he'll fight anyone for the right prize. That title means more money and a better life for his family, so Owens isn't doing this unless it's a title match. Regal doesn't like Owens' last minute demands but Sami says wait a minute. Make it a title match because Owens really won't do it if he doesn't get what he wants. Regal writes something on the contract and Sami signs again. Owens eventually signs and throws the pen at Sami before leaving to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show was about moving things forward for Takeover and they've done a great job. The title change was a nice surprise as it was something you almost never get on TV but it made sense. That's the tagline I would use for almost everything on this show: it made sense. It's clear that someone is paying really close attention to these stories and has planned them out step by step. That's such an important thing to do and the matches are almost always worth the payoff. Good show here and they're doing a very good job of a short build to the next Takeover.

Results
Buddy Murphy/Wesley Blake b. Lucha Dragons – Rollup to Kalisto
Adrian Neville b. Tyson Kidd – Red Arrow
Bayley/Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch went to a double DQ
Baron Corbin b. Bull Dempsey – End of Days


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. A main event feud where the guy talks about the importance of the TITLE? That's just madness!

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  2. Can we get the bookers of NXT to run Raw and Smackdown?

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  3. "Lithen daddeh, I HAD mah bookin' time ifyouweeelll"

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  4. Dusty doesn't book anymore as far as I know. It's a dude named Ryan Ward and HHH.

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  5. Dumb. Next they'll have some of those dumb fights where one guy is mad at another guy and wants to beat him up.

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  6. Huh, I thought he still had a hand in it. It feels like a Dusty show.

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  7. Anyone else notice the "hacking" during Tyson Kidd's entrance? Maybe Solomon Crowe is finally going to debut?

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  8. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 28, 2015 at 8:25 PM

    Did he get hurt or where they just not ready for him to be on tv?

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  9. I wonder if they could face an FCC fine for that "glitch" during Kidd's entrance. Stranger things have happened.

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  10. It was the best tv taping cycle I can remember, the show just keeps getting better and better every taping I go to. Looking forward to seeing the last episode of the taping air, Fin Balor vs Hideo Itami was pretty good in person, sure hope it holds up.

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  11. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 28, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    What happened?

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  12. Yea Ryan Ward http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2305233-wwe-news-writer-behind-nxt-takeover-r-evolution-revealed

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  13. And the idea of creating heat by the betrayal of a friend! Man, who books this crap?

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  14. I don't know what the deal is, just been hearing rumors he will finally debut at the next live special. Plus in the hacking you could see the word "Solomon"

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  15. FCC only applies to OTA networks, not Internet or cable TV.

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  16. Triple H didn't like his hacker character, then he got revamped and was about to debut but got hurt. He's been in the dark match at the last two tapings now since returning from injury.

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  17. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 28, 2015 at 8:38 PM

    Ah gotcha. Thanks

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  18. Perhaps the work of a hacker?... *cough*Solomon Crowe*cough*

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  19. I don't really think the FCC fines people for special effect hacking glitches that are obviously part of the program.

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  20. A test pattern came up at the very start of Kidd's entrance.

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  21. Zayn's the only true star I see in NXT right now. He's smallish, but he's got enough going for him that he should be able to break through on the next level. He'll have the glass ceiling to contend with, but basically everyone not named John Cena, Randy Orton, and I soon to be Roman Reigns has that.


    Owens will be interesting for a few reasons. Vince will hate his body type first off. I wonder if they're going to try and make him get in better shape. But he's also kind of playing this menacing brute, and he's not really that big compared to the normal WWE roster, so I don't really know how he translates.


    Neville's a great worker, but limited charisma. Corbin's a long term project but cut from the company mold. And it's been covered a million times but Charlotte and Sasha are probably the two best women in the entire company let alone NXT.

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  22. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 28, 2015 at 9:12 PM

    Just caught it... Wonder how that kind of character translates. Plus I have no idea if he is any good

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  23. I see some good coming from Aiden English and Bayley.

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  24. Finn Balor should become a star. They'll have to work very hard to fuck him up.

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  25. Yeah, it goes without saying Aiden needs a new gimmick. I don't see Vaudevillains working at all on RAW.


    I like Bayley. She had a rough match tonight, I thought, but overall I like what she's done. I have a hard time seeing her as a big factor on the main roster. Her look is too wholesome for a Diva and she's too goofy. She might make it but I could very easily see them using her as someone to ridicule.


    I actually think one possible knock on Charlotte is she doesn't quite look like a WWE Diva. She has everything to succeed, but they don't really give a shit about most of that once the girls make the main roster, they care about who looks good on the Divas show.

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  26. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 28, 2015 at 9:20 PM

    I feel like the Owens, Itami, Balor group will suceed. Triple H taking Wolfpack selfies with them and what not. I think there will be a level of protection for them.

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  27. He's fighting his size. That vanilla midget stuff is real.

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  28. I love that Zayn initialed the addendum to the contract. Wrestling is so big and broad that I love it when they slip in a little detail.

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  29. Total marks, everyone knows wrestling isn't real and the titles are just props.

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  30. He's probably part of the process, but officially he isn't the booker.

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  31. By the way, if ever there was a way to legitimize women's wrestling. Bring Charlotte up, and have her run roughshod over that entire division for like a year, then see if you can pry Ronda Rousey loose (she's suggested she might be open to wrestling down the line but would only work heel) and throw those two at each other. That would be pretty interesting.

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  32. Recap:
    Vanilla midgets beats vanilla midgets for meaningless titles
    Vanilla midget beats vanilla midget
    Total Divas tryout
    BARON CORBIN THE FUTURE OF WWE
    Vanilla midgets yell at each other about vanilla midget things


    This show needs more authority figures

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  33. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighJanuary 28, 2015 at 9:27 PM

    Zayn at worst will have Christians role for another 10 years. Plucky "underdog" who crowd can get behind and entertaining matches can be had (just hope he doesn't inherite Christians durability)

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  34. Bayley would fill a niche - kids love her and I hope that keeps her far away from the Diva show.


    Aiden English's singing gimmick could work if done with restraint.

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  35. Yeah, that's a good call.

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  36. Oh, I'm sure there'll be a bullshit delay period where they deny that the fans like him because he's "small" and has an accent but like Punk, Bryan and Hardy before him, Balor, like, Zayn, has undeniable talent that I believe will shine through.

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  37. His Indie stuff was pretty good, especially his feuds with Kalisto and Neville

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  38. I think Aiden could go well in a tag team with Sandow when the Miz stuff is past, as just a couple of intellectuals.

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  39. I hope so, kind of worried he'll get Evan Bourne or Justin Gabriel's role instead though.

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  40. Cena vs Orton,one more timeJanuary 28, 2015 at 10:22 PM

    Zayn's not telegenic though,which will absolutely affect his standing with higher management.

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  41. I really think as Triple H gets more control he realizes that less big guys and more regular sized guys is the way to go long term. At least I hope so, the big guys look big then, and the regular sized guys are usually better workers and more athletic and you end up with a better product in the long term.

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  42. Easily one of the most effective contract signing segments I've seen. You don't need a fight; just a few words and Owens throwing the pen.

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  43. Lot of local wrestling fans celebrating in Australia. First ever WWE title held by an Australian in Buddy Murphy. Hey, we'll take what we can get.

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  44. I've had them teamed as "Arts and Entertainment" for a while.

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  45. Wrestling on a WWE show? What kind of sorcery is this?

    Also, I assume everyone's seen this: HHH thinks the "hardcore fans" will be upset by the focus on storylines as if THAT'S been the problem...http://www.givemesport.com/540418-wwe-triple-h-admits-storylines-most-important-part-of-the-product

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  46. Vince, Dunn, and Hayes would never allow it or understand how to do it.

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  47. Not entirely true. For lewd content, yes, the FCC doesn't regulate cable, but the emergency broadcast tone falls under their purview under any transmission. If you use that tone, or one that simulates it enough to create confusion, you can face a fine.

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  48. Based on that, it sounds like he IS the booker, and HHH is the guy who just okays it in the end.

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  49. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/01/viacom-and-espn-fined-for-using-emergency-alert-tones-to-advertise-movie/

    They're cracking down this year.

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  50. Crikey Mate Down Under AussieJanuary 29, 2015 at 12:38 AM

    I thought it was going to be Emma for awhile

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  51. It also sounds like he's a wrestling fan, and I was pretty sure WWE wanted none of them near the product

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  52. Dusty is obviously still around behind the scenes down there, I would guess he's at least NXT's version of an agent or something similar

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  53. How is the wrestling itself not storytelling? It certainly should be and it's WWE's fault if they're not training their athletes to be able to do it.

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  54. The Ghost of Matt_INDEED!!!January 29, 2015 at 4:44 AM

    -**** Not enough meaty thighs. Too many lazy milenials.

    -Vince

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  55. Telegenic - good word *makes note*

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  56. Did anybody watch Lucha Underground on Wednesday? What Cage did to the championship belt was something I've never seen before.

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  57. Bayley has the "It" Factor. When those NXT promo class leaks came out a few months ago, Bayley's promo was among the best of all of them, not just among the Divas (most of which were pretty bad) but the entire NXT roster. Two things that would work against her is her look and the positioning of the Divas on the card. She has that same underdog, everyperson quality that Daniel Bryan has. Among the NXT Divas, she's the one I believe have the most potential to make it.

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  58. This is the greatest feud in WWE right now (stolen from Reddit) (MmmGorgeous is Tyler Breeze)

    @MaffRogers:

    2015-01-28 21:58:07 UTC

    Thank you @HideoItami for beating @MmmGorgeous last week #NXT

    @HideoItami:

    2015-01-28 22:33:45 UTC

    “@MaffRogers: Thank you @HideoItami for beating @MmmGorgeous last week #NXT”

    "My pleasure"

    @MmmGorgeous:

    2015-01-28 23:12:41 UTC

    @HideoItami @MaffRogers don't worry Itami that was only round 1...

    @HideoItami:

    2015-01-28 23:45:06 UTC

    “@MmmGorgeous: @HideoItami @MaffRogers don't worry Itami that was only round 1...”

    Welcome talker! Don't worry. I beat you again and again.

    @MmmGorgeous:

    2015-01-28 23:54:44 UTC

    @HideoItami @MaffRogers you can sure try... Good luck

    @HideoItami:

    2015-01-29 00:23:44 UTC

    “@MmmGorgeous: @HideoItami you can sure try... Good luck”

    Shut up and play Barbie Doll.

    @MmmGorgeous:

    2015-01-29 00:26:15 UTC

    @HideoItami look idiot you're not the only one who can kick.... pic.twitter.com [Imgur]

    @HideoItami:

    2015-01-29 00:36:30 UTC

    “@MmmGorgeous

    Please wash my car! Mr car washing machine. pic.twitter.com [Imgur]

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  59. To be fair, Corbin is terrible as well, but he's huuuuge! :D :D

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  60. Star might be pushing it.. shuffling midcarder at best and in todays WWE, that's a pretty nice gig.

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  61. I'm not a big Baron Corbin guy, but I'll support anyone who squashes Bull Dempsey on a regular basis. Bull's terrible and I hate the no-kneepad look.

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  62. Gabriel is definitely taller than Neville, although Neville is more muscular. They both are high flying good workers with funny accents though.

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  63. I meant Sami Zayn, he's not exactly what I'd call "small." He's not super tall, but he's bulked up considerably from his Generico days it looks like.

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  64. That was all Regal, imo. Don't know why, just smacks of the sort of thing he'd know to do. Him editing the contract and having them initial the changes was brilliant.


    And I absolutely love the fact they basically swerved every wrestling fan alive by having a contract signing involve a contract being signed and nothing else. Fantastic!

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  65. There's a place for the Baron Corbins just as much as there is for the Finn Balors and Sami Zayns of the wrestling world. All it takes is some halfway sensible booking, which is the really dismaying part. It's not even complicated. They just endeavour to make it so.

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  66. If he gets to do his full-on entrance at a couple of PPVs, or when he debuts on the main roster, he'll have the crowd behind him instantly. Then they're his to lose.

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  67. Did you hear the crowd appreciation rise a notch when all he did was point at the title and say "that's important"?


    Fans WANT the belts to mean something. Wrestlers WANT the belts to mean something. Creative? Not so much.

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  68. Cage was like : "if can't get it, then nobody can"

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  69. "Sign, Owen Sign" was chant of the night for me

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  70. Just watched the show. The contract signing was brilliant. Perfect, I'd say. Simmering tension, attention to detail, realism - and most importantly it made me want to see them fight even more. Loved it.

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  71. Good show. Solid wrestling, nice booking - and a BRILLIANT contract signing.

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  72. The way he just pointed twice at the contract to Owens, with that scowl on his face in a long shot. Wonderful.

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