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NXT - May 27, 2015

NXT
Date: May 27, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan

Reviewed by Tommy Hall


It's the week after Takeover: Unstoppable and the main story seems to be Kevin Owens fights everyone at once. After challenging John Cena on Raw, sending Sami Zayn away to get shoulder surgery, possibly putting Hideo Itami on the shelf, attacking Commissioner William Regal and getting a new #1 contender with Samoa Joe, Owens now has to deal with the debuting Samoa Joe. Let's get to it.


We open with a recap of last week, complete with a quick interview with Joe where he says he's coming for the title.

Opening sequence.

Sami Zayn's music opens the show but we get Kevin Owens instead. He was going to issue an NXT Title Open Challenge, but he isn't insecure enough to have to defend his title against anyone every week. The fans sing JOHN CENA SUCKS, but Owens finds it odd that they never say that about Sami Zayn and he sucks too. We won't be seeing Sami again anyway because Owens did exactly what he said he would do at Takeover. The only reason he did that was so he could keep the NXT Title and keep providing for his family, because that's what a good man does.

Another thing a good man did was to let Samoa Joe live last week. A lot of people have said that Joe is gonna kill him, but that's as ridiculous as the colors of John Cena's merchandise. If Joe ever steps in the same ring as Owens again, he'll drop Joe just like that. Speaking of dropping people, that's what he's going to do at Elimination Chamber when he shows John Cena that the champ is here.

This brings out General Manager William Regal, who says Owens is walking a thin line. Owens says Regal put his hands on Owens first, which Regal considers the only reason Owens still works here. Regal lists off all the people who have been taken out on a stretcher since Owens arrived, but Kevin denies being behind Itami's injury. Also, Sami's injuries are on Sami for asking for it and on Regal for making the match.

This brings out.....Solomon Crowe? Solomon heard Owens talking about how he isn't going to fight anyone unless they earn it and that means Kevin is scared. Kevin thinks Solomon has just earned an opportunity, so Regal makes the match. That means you can add Solomon to the list of people he's sent out of here on a stretcher (“Riley, Sami, Sami, Sami, and now him.”).

Look back at Hideo's arm injury last week.

Hideo says he's had surgery and when he comes back, there will be no stopping him.

We get an interview from last week with Zack Ryder, who was interrupted by Mojo Rawley, who freaked Zack out a little bit.

Emma vs. Bayley

Emma is flanked by Dana Brooke. Bayley gets stomped down in the corner to start and Emma cranks on an armbar, only to have Bayley throw her to the mat and just pound away with right hands. A kick to the face gets two near falls for Emma as the fans are of course completely behind Bayley. Emma throws her down by the hair a few times and grabs a leg drag, followed by the Emma Lock for the clean submission at 4:13.

Rating: D+. This was a glorified squash for Emma, which isn't something you often see in this division. Emma being more aggressive is a good change of character for her, but I'm not sure where Bayley goes from here. She's so ridiculously over that it's kind of a strange choice to have her lose like this.

Charlotte comes out for the post match save but gets beaten down as well.

Recap of Baron Corbin beating Rhyno last week.

Baron was being interviewed after his win last week when Rhyno came up and said they should do it again soon.

We see Becky Lynch's career retrospective from last week with new footage of her match with Sasha last week.

Elias Samson/Mike Rallis vs. Blake/Murphy

Non-title and Alexa Bliss is with the champs. Blake and Rallis get things going with Mike taking a quick beating. It's off to Murphy for a slingshot hilo and a chinlock as the champs continue to dismantle Rallis. Mike finally rolls over for a hot tag, bringing in Elias for some dropkicks. That lasts all of ten seconds before the running brainbuster into the frog splash is enough for the pin on Samson at 3:15.

Rating: D+. Another squash here to establish the new trio. The new look works very, very well for Bliss and she's very fitting as a woman who looks down on everyone around her. Blake and Murphy are good in these roles but I'm really not sure how far they can go after they lose the belts.

Samson takes a Sparkle Splash for some insult to injury.

Post break, Bliss says she gravitated to the team because they're all winners. Compare this to Carmella, who is famous for being from a garbage dump like Long Island. Next week, that's where Bliss is sending her.

Tye Dillinger vs. Finn Balor

Dillinger scores with a quick elbow to the face but Balor smiles at him. Some choking with a boot in the corner has some more effect on Finn and we hit the chinlock. Balor comes back with a running forearm and basement dropkick, followed by the Sling Blade. The Coup de Grace completes the squash for Finn at 2:45.

Jason Jordan says he's found the perfect partner when Chad Gable comes up, saying it has to be him. Gable lists off his qualifications but Jordan says he already has a partner. He also says the wrong name so Gable throws him a towel with his name on it.

Kevin Owens vs. Solomon Crowe

Non-title. Owens bails to the floor so Solomon goes after him, only to eat some right hands to the face. Back in and Owens throws him outside again and we take a break. We come back with Owens putting on a chinlock. That gets boring in a hurry so Owens just hammers him down and tosses Solomon back to the floor. The pop-up powerbomb finally ends Crowe at 9:24.

Rating: D+. Another dull squash but did anyone expect anything else? There was no need for this to be anything other than Owens crushing Crowe and it's not like you lose anything. Crowe is the definition of a guy who is just there and not doing a thing despite being a fairly big signing back in the day. Nothing to see here.

Owens loads up the apron powerbomb but Samoa Joe comes out big staredown, sending Kevin running to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This just wasn't very good. It's a big fallout show from Takeover, but unfortunately that meant little more than airing clips from the show and having the winners in squash matches. It wasn't the worst because not a lot happened, but this was one of the flatter shows they've done in a long time. Things should pick up when they start the big stories again soon.

Results
Emma b. Bayley – Emma Lock
Blake/Murphy b. Elias Samson/Mike Rallis – Frog splash to Samson
Finn Balor b. Tye Dillinger – Coup de Grace
Kevin Owens b. Solomon Crowe – Pop up powerbomb



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. 3 random observations:


    1. Alexa Bliss cut a hell of a heel promo and she'll probably wind up a bigger star than Vanilla & Vanillaer combined.


    2. That Balor-Dillinger match was probably the best 2-minute squash I've seen in a long time. Dillinger was bumping around like a pinball in there.


    3. Solomon Crowe came off like the jobbiest jobber whoever jobbed, even though it was at the right expense of making Owens look like a monster. Probably time to take him off TV and repackage him, because whatever his gimmick is doesn't work.

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  2. No inside knowledge or anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if Solomon Crowe maybe could have asked for a release and that is their way to take him off tv even. He was a somewhat known indy guy, you have to wonder if he sees the writing on the wall with how far down he is in NXT's pecking order already and could make more money on the indies.

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  3. He's only 27. It'd be a little surprising to see him do that.


    But, I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to repackage him.


    If they kept him as Solomon Crowe, repurposing some new version of GTV wouldn't be the worst idea for him

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  4. I also hate to get all Vince-ish and everything, but he does look kinda small too in there.

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  5. Regal is so awesome and it's so disappointing we're stuck with The Authority on RAW.

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  6. He needs a hook. It's not really enough to be a weird-looking small guy who is maybe a hacker, but maybe just really into dial-up internet service and wrestles in a onesie.

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  7. Team him up with Mojo Rawley as Team Caffeine.

    Just two psychotic-manic berserker types who pinball around in tag team matches...and, maybe like the Bushwhackers, don't even notice if/when they lose.

    I'm not saying this is a good idea. I'm saying its an idea.

    (And they'd probably be a great addition to Superstars.)

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  8. I only found out a few weeks ago that Tye Dillinger and Gavin Spears (from WWECW in 2008) are the same guy. He seems to have grown six inches since then.

    Also, Crowe and Owens have very similar riffs in their themes; it was impossible not to notice tonight. I miss Crowe's "Mega Man" theme.

    Speaking of themes, I don't like Joe's theme AT ALL. I'm glad that they kept the "monster movie"-esque opening, but after that, it's way too funky and upbeat for a guy whose gimmick is that of a humorless badass.

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  9. Solomon Crowe is soooo lame.


    And I don't know what you could do to fix him. With other guys like Hideo who have problems, there's still enough upside (godlike worker, great in-ring energy) to make up for it. Solmon isn't terrible (other than his look) but nothing he's done stands out. He's not cutting great promos, he's not having great matches and he's not having super fun backstage interactions.


    I don't know what you can do with him. But yeah, a repackage would probably be good.

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  10. Don't know why people are down on Blake and Murphy. They're a hell of a tag team and bumped their asses off for Enzo and Cass.

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  11. I think they're pretty great. I like how they're more character than gimmick, even though the characters are very, very eccentric and weird in an absurd way. And I haven't really seen Alexa Bliss wrestle (the twisting splash thing looked decent although I thought she slipped at first) but 1) wow she's hot and 2) she's a really good manager so far, matching her guys in attire and delivering a good promo (much better than Murphy or Blake has shown capable of)

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  12. I had to look up Solomon Crowe's age. He's 27 with the skin of a 40-year-old landscaper.

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  13. Owens perfectly illustrated everything lame about Crowe by making fun of his workin' voice.

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  14. They have to be setting something up with Bayley, don't they? I mean, she's quietly been on one of those patented "losing streaks" that the main roster's Creative seems to love so much.

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  15. I can't get past their generic look.

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  16. Owens shouldn't over-rely on that sort of kayfabe-breaking.

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  17. Not too much of it, but, hey, Edge and Christian are retired so there's room for some Canayfabe in wrestling.

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  18. Co-signed on Joe's theme. Doesn't fit him at all.

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  19. Normally Owens is on the right side of it.


    Like, when he called Alex Riley's stupid tattoo stupid, it made sense because yeah...we can all see it and it doesn't mean that we can't take Riley as a serious wrestler (Riley's work makes us take him less seriously as a wrestler).

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  20. I love their super RoH tag-style in a really 80s division (Enzo and Cass may be contemporary characters, but they're thoroughly 80s in their dynamic).

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  21. I'm presuming they're setting her up as the person to take the belt off of Sasha.

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  22. Hurm, sounds like a disappointing show. I'd only watched NXT through their specials lately and was thinking of watching the weekly product. I...think I'll hold off until next week.

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  23. Co-signing this as well. Thought it sounded corny last week. Still sucks this week.

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  24. It sounds like music they dub onto PPVs where they don't own the rights to the real music.

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  25. Owens is the last guy that should be commenting on anything in regards to someone's appearance.

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  26. That's what makes it so awesome.


    Kevin Steen has some of the worst tattoos this side of Scott Steiner.


    Steen is the guy who cuts promos about how its his opponents who are making it personal after he sends them to the hospital for being more popular than him.


    He's a self-loathing hypocrite who thinks that everybody else must be an asshole cause he's one. It's great.


    Stealing a line here, but he's the everyman if every man is an asshole.

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  27. NXT has a great atmosphere about it, even on an underwhelming show it has such a cozy, intimate, wrestling-loving feel to it that the shows are enjoyable by that alone.


    It's the good parts of indy wrestling, mixed with professional presentation and great talent.

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  28. I'm still confused on why you're wasting your time with another website thats supposed to be so low brow. I mean you constantly mock them and now you're copying and pasting what they're saying on another site but yet they got mocked when they even talk about people here? I kinda thought you were above all this Bayless.

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  29. Whether AJ signs or not, he can probably get New Japan to offer him a bigger deal to stay in Japan.

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  30. Steen Wrestled Bennett.

    Cena is better than and equally not indy.

    It'll be fine.

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  31. I didn't hate it. Not when Owens gets so much time to heel and Alexa Bliss cuts a really nice promo. Still, it was way outclassed by Lucha Underground once again.

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  32. Oh man, the actual cancel memo leaked?! How much in denial were TNAMecca when that hit?

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  33. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANMay 28, 2015 at 12:34 AM

    It's pretty effective and it fits their "we have no money" business strategy.

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  34. According to them ROH is TNA's NXT, not actual competition.


    Lol

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  35. When did this site become obsessed with that site? If I didn't know any better I'd guess people actually wanted to be a part of that community as much as they talk/ask/paste/post about them.

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  36. Argh. You are correct: June 24th live show, 25-27th tapings, 28th the PPV.

    Okay, adjust my rant by a month, the nerd rage is still about 75% accurate.

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  37. Was the TNA live show on the 24th next month supposed to be 2 hours or 3?

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  38. My wife even commented on his hair.


    Mrs Hoss: "Normally, I understand bad hair, and I'm ok with it. This is unforgivable."

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  39. Btw, I like that with Emma's heel turn, they've changed her look, and her music. I also like that they kept the original theme for a second or two.


    Regal is fucking genius.


    And, as I stated to start the NXT thread, Kevin Owens is my god.

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  40. The little known and less understood Triple C.

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  41. I'm up voting this for its last sentence.

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  42. It's okay because it's not npp talking about us, but we doing it to others.

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  43. Well yeah, but a 1.1 in the 18-34 demo, which dirt sheets were saying were the lowest for RAW in a long time. I just wanted an excuse to bring back 1.1

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  44. Cena has had more 3+ star matches than most main eventers in WWE history. Yes, longevity has a lot to do with it, but the point is cena can go.

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  45. TNA's crazy fans going after Meltzer and other reporters while sinking further into denial is a story. It's different because it's different, obviously.

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  46. From the new Observer, full of fascinating stuff, but this stands out:

    "At the last set of tapings, they were filming for a pilot episode of a Dixie Carter reality show"

    I'll just leave it here without comment.

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  47. Hopefully when WWE buys their tape library, we'll get that on the Network.

    It could be an insanely entertaining watch.

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  48. They do realise that WWE owns NXT and it is just their farm system, not a real independent company right?

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  49. Bigger question, will it still happen?

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  50. Any kind of package, really. The only gimmick the guy has is "I'm here to wrestle and win the championship" and he's a perfect example of why that's not enough in 2015, no matter what cranky old purists tell you. Not everything has to be the Vaudevillains, mind you, and "two guys who think they're the best fighting to prove it" has a place, but "I'm a wrestle who is here to wrestle and win the wrestling belt" is just visual white noise.

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  51. Carmella is from Staten Island, not Long Island. You may have had Monday's Raw on the brain when you wrote this.

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  52. I disagree quite strongly.


    Sami Zayn is just "good dude who wants to win the the title" and he's doing fine.


    Babyfaces just need to be liked, and Solomon...is just there. Finn is cool. Hideo has the pedigree and you see him fight hard and get his ass kicked. Solomon...could be a heel and nothing would change.

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  53. Agreed, I like them a lot. I'd say they're more old-school than generic (like Cesaro), but I can see where people would disagree.

    To me, they're kinda like a mix of Kid Kash and The Bashams.

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  54. Jeez, I definitely would have pegged him for late-thirties.

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  55. How was the Emma-Bailey match a squash?

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