You can consider me the Paul Heyman of women’s wrestling. However, the part of the match I did see was well done. I liked the fact that this was a competitive match-up, allowing Crews to show he isn’t just a one-dimensional power-house.
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NXT’s understanding of what makes wrestling important to people (and what makes it work) doesn’t stop in the ring. There, feuds can’t be based on respect and competition or even just a desire for championship belt or trophy and to prove oneself as the best. And it’s what makes Bayley, Banks and everything about NXT Women’s Division so special. It’s just all these things and events happening at the same time that we’re empowering women.
The 30-Minute Iron Man Match between Bayley and Sasha Banks for the NXT Women’s Championship is going to be fantastic. Dusty was a huge part of NXT and the tournament was the ideal way to pay tribute to him. A great finish for what will likely play into the main event. Up is up and down is down, and it’s so awesome. All of the talents are performing in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which will culminate this Wednesday at TakeOver.
Rating: B. This is what NXT does best: simple, basic storytelling that accomplishes everything they needed to take care of. The tag tournament was great fun and the in-ring presentation was incredibly emotional. It felt like a ideal end of an era, as the division, and the brand as a whole really heads into a transitional time. Tag team psychology is an upsettingly lost art, and the argument that an actual, well-oiled tag team should nearly always beat two singles stars is absolutely valid. He goes after Rhyno, but is much more ginger about his movements. But it’s hard to deny the quality of either of the Semi-Final matches.
A side note in the tag team division: Chad Gable is really over with the fans. As far as Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson goes, I thought they would come out with the win. Plus, if we want to talk ring awareness, I’m fairly certain they know the secret to being everywhere at once.
– As seen in this photo one of our correspondents at Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings, NXT Champion Finn Balor is carrying a few sort of ball with him to the ring now. That was weird. Finally Rhyno cuts off Gable with his brute strength, but Chad still manages to out wrestle the Man Beast and tag in Jordan. It’s time for Breeze to come to the main roster. That happens when he’s entering the ring. Breeze almost had the win with a small package, but Crews dispatched him shortly thereafter.
There is no denying that he is athletically gifted in a way most of us can only dream of, but it takes more than the ability to do a standing moonsault to connect with the WWE Universe. You know it’s going to be a good one! Luckily, that’s what developmental is for. Very clever. At one point, Corbin has the match won but Jordan is distracting the ref. Not sure if that was a planned spot or if Jordan was just out of position.
You can see the video of Charlotte’s comments above.
This match was decent. She and Dana Brooke worked very well with each other, which initially was a concern of mine. A pair of kicks put the Mechanics on the floor and Balor unleashes the big flip dive to get the crowd even more fired up. Definitely! The little details were there too, with Dana looking out of her depth from the start, Asuka sporting that slightly psychotic smile and Emma looking positively terrified at the end. She showed off her moveset and charisma, and her post-match stare down of Emma was ideal. Except for maybe Eva Marie, but that’s a long conversation for another time. I’ll be honest: The Iron Man match is obviously a good match if you haven’t seen the match from TakeOver: Brooklyn, but it’s really a great match if you do have that context. When Bayley is announced as the victor, the crowd explodes.
Tonight wasn’t prince pretty’s best night. They set the tempo from the beginning and put on a great match. Heck, even Sasha said she didn’t want to leave NXT. These two did way better than what was expected and the expectations were already sky high after what they did in Brooklyn.
What We Disliked: That we don’t get to watch Sasha Banks compete against Asuka in NXT? Seeing Bayley resort to aggressive strategies like bashing Sasha’s hand off the steps or putting her in the Tree of Woe really sold her passion to me. Dana has no interest in a handshake and they fight over a wristlock with Asuka moving at twice Dana’s speed. Sasha survived a Bayley-to-Belly off the second buckle and then somehow delivered her own version of Bayley’s finisher. Remember what I was saying about her connecting with the crowd? Sasha pranced around the ring wearing the bow right before she threw it back into the crowd. Bayley regains control with her lucha arm drag, elbow to the corner and low clothesline. Bayley gets a near fall with a springboard elbow to Sasha while she was in the Tree of Woe. Sasha collapsed to one knee in front of the roster and took her flowers. Sasha had gotten her wins via eye poke and count out, respectively.
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Banks crotches her on top and now the double knees hit (great job of building that move up) for two.
