Hey, it’s WWE NXT! The show that makes you do the impossible and root for Alex Riley!
The show started with Alex Riley in William Regal’s office. Riley demanded that Regal make a match between he & Kevin Owens, after last week’s attack by the NXT Champion on the announcer.
Regal told Riley that he couldn’t be an announcer and a wrestler, and had to pick one. Riley pointed out that Regal did both, and Regal told him that that ended his career.
Riley said he was in his prime but Regal told him to pick one or the other. Riley left to announce on the show without giving an answer.
Hey, it’s Adam Rose! He’s back on NXT, and he’s brought his Rosebuds! And he was happy! Yay! He’s fighting Tyler Breeze, who made his way to the ring with his furry selfie stick.
This was all Adam Rose, completely dominating Tyler Breeze. Breeze got the win, though, with a Beauty Shot out of nowhere. Good comedy match, with both men looking good.
Backstage, Enzo, Big Cass, and Carmella talked about Blake & Murphy. They vowed to become the number one contenders, and Cass said they would “beat the bacon off their backs.”
Alex Bliss cut a talky saying she was coming for Sasha Banks, whether or not she was still the champion after tonight’s match with Charlotte.
Hey, it’s the Dubstep Cowboys, Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy! The NXT Tag Team champions are fighting two scrubs who don’t get entrances, Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton.
[These guys are part of the Shoot Nation stable that’s been on house shows, and is led by Jason Jordan, who walked out on his partner last week…]
Fulton, wearing ear protectors to stop those cauliflowers, had some some success early on, grounding Blake with some amateur offense. Murphy tagged in and got the hat on Fulton, who tagged out to Dawkins. Kick, running brainbuster, and the frog splash from Blake saw the champs home.
Backstage, Bayley wished Charlotte luck for her match with Sasha Banks, and Charlotte told her she didn’t need it.
Emma walked up and reminds Bayley that she could have been in the match instead of Sasha Banks, but she was too nice. She said that she did the same thing when she was on Raw and now she was back on NXT. “Just something to think about…” Emma said, and left.
They showed an awesome Rhyno video package that instantly re-established him as a major player here. presumably to be fed to Finn Bálor or someone, but still.
Hey, it’s Baron Corbin! He’s back to short squashes, and here makes quick work of Tony Briggs.
During the match, Kevin Owens appeared, behind Alex Riley at the announcers’ table. After the match he stole Riley’s water bottle, took a swig, and then poured water on Riley’s head.
Riley immediately jumped to his feet and went nose-to-nose with Owens before Albert stepped in and held him back. They stared at each other and Owens walked off, calmly. The crowd were chanting for Riley. That’s a first.
Sami Zayn sent in a video from his home in snowy Montreal. He apologised for not being there and said that, for the first time in thirteen years, he didn’t feel mentally-prepared to be in the ring. e said he hadn’t seen Rival yet, but when he did he’d be ready to face Owens again.
CJ Parker was in William Regal’s office, moaning about Solomon Crowe beating him down on last week’s show. Alex Riley burst in and asked Regal if he’d seen what had just happened. Regal said of course he hadn’t, because Parker had been hassling him.
Riley quit as a commentator and demanded a match with Owens. Regal told him he wouldn’t get that until he thought he was ready. Parker laughed at the idea of Riley taking on Owens, and Riley demanded a match with him next week.
Hey, it’s Bull Dempsey! Yeah, he’s still here! He’s fighting Solomon Crowe, who hasn’t hacked anything in over a week!
You know what? Bull looked okay here. Crowe looked dull. But he has that brawling style that you can’t really bust out for a three-minute TV match. I don’t know what that means for him.
Anyway, Crowe won with his springboard headbutt thingy, which I am apparently in a minority for liking. *Shrug*
Wow, up next – and as our main event, because it’s the most important match on the show, right? – is the NXT Women’s title match between Sasha Banks and Charlotte!
The crowd seemed split between these two, with Charlotte the nominal babyface and Banks the local girl made good.
Banks played chicken early on, and even tried to take a count-out loss, but Charlotte pulled her back in the ring and put the hurt on.
After a break, they announced Owens versus Bálor would take place on March 25th.
Banks was on top when the match resumed and hooked on the Bank(s) Statement, which she transitioned into the same pin that won her the title. Charlotte kicked out and came back, hitting a slam and then going up top.
Banks avoided a moonsault but Charlotte landed on her feet. She hit a dive but Banks got her knees up. Banks then used kicks and stomps, and hit her double knees in the corner.
Charlotte got trapped in another submission, and sold the ouch really well. She powered out and got a nearfall with schoolboy, but Banks hit back with a dropkick, a back-cracker, and into another Bank(s) Statement.
Charlotte is a very flexible woman, and was almost bent double. She almost escaped but Banks gator-rolled the hold back on. Eventually Charlotte made it to the ropes.
Charlotte sent Banks to the outside and both women looked done. They traded shots in the ring, and Charlotte folded Banks in half with a spear, which the crowd greeted with, “better than Reigns!”
Banks escaped a suplex but got caught in a wheelbarrow, which she reversed into a faceslam for Charlotte. She went for the figure four, but Charlotte kicked her away and put on one of her own around the ringpost, narrowly avoiding a DQ.
Back in the ring, Charlotte went up top for a super Natural Selection, but Banks held the ropes and made a cover, feet on ropes, for the sneaky win.
This was GREAT. These two have nothing but great matches, and tonight was no exception. It totally deserved the main event, and never failed to deliver.
This was a Good Show. The main event was outstanding, and the rest of the matches – although short – delivered what they were aiming to do. AND it’s a show that made me care about Alex Riley. Miracle workers, I tell you!