Yo-Yo's Roomie

Why has Havoc booked himself against another one of Salina's guys?

12/9/15 Takeover: London go-home. Enzo and Big Cass Vs Corey Hollis and John Skylar: Hollis and Skylar have their own music now. This is to showcase an aggressive side to Enzo and Cass as they get ready to face Dash and Dawson at Takeover. They don't do their shtick coming out, but do cut a promo after the match, in theory a serious promo, but Cass looked and sounded absolutely ridiculous trying to be intense. Tom is with Dana and Emma backstage. Emma says there would be no divas revolution without her. The highlight of this is Dana making Tom scrunch down so she can pat him on the head. Let me speak on Dana real quick. I was all ready to just mercilessly take her apart, to talk about how worthless she is and how she has no redeeming qualities as a wrestler. Well, I was wrong. Dana is awesome. Super entertaining character, and really good in her role. Yeah, she's no great shakes in the ring, but she definitely deserved more on the main roster, and it's a shame that her only use on the main roster was being the Roadie to Charlotte's Double J (man, that's apt). As an all talk, no action lower card heel, Dana is the bomb. Asuka Vs Deonna Purrazzo: Emma and Dana come out mid-match, but the distraction doesn't work as Asuka hits Deonna with a roundhouse kick to win the match by ref stoppage. Emma looks very concerned. The Hype Bros Vs Blake and Murphy: Both teams have backstage bits before the match. The Hype Bros cut a promo in which Mojo compares Blake and Murphy to 'number twos'. This is absolutely terrible. Then Alexa blames Blake and Murphy for her loss to Bayley, but it turns out she's just trying to motivate them for this match. The Hype Bros are deplorable characters, but I like the energy they bring to the crowd. I miss Blake and Murphy as a competitive tag team. They look good in this match, and I think they might take it a couple of times, but ultimately it's the Hype Bros that get the win. Bayley vs Peyton Royce: Peyton is a heel, and her gimmick seems to be that she comes out with a flower that she likes to smell. Not a patch on Wade Barrett's flower-related gimmick. Short but competitive match won by Bayley. Nia Jax and Eva Marie come out. Eva starts to talk and gets the Vickie Guerrero treatment from the crowd (ie. they boo her so loud she can't continue). Then Nia grabs the mic from her and says she doesn't need anyone to talk for her. I beg to differ, as Nia sucks on the mic. Backstage, Finn Balor and Apollo Crews are getting ready for their tag match. Apollo says that after they win their matches at Takeover, they're going to settle the question of which one of them is that man in NXT. Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin Vs Finn Balor and Apollo Crews: This doesn't get long, but is decent enough. Finish sees Joe trap Finn in the Kokina as Corbin and Crews brawl to the back. Balor ends up passing out. They're really going all out to heat Joe up, and I like it. Takeover has been pretty well built up to, but on paper the card doesn't look too good to me. I think the only match I'm looking forward to, and have any expectations for, is Asuka/Emma. I guess I'm interested to see what Joe can do with Finn. I don't give a shit about Nia or Enzo and Cass challenging. Corbin/Crews does nothing for me either. We'll see, I guess. Episode MVP: Dana Brooke.

12/2/15 Baron Corbin Vs Tye Dillinger: Dillinger is really over with this crowd. Not with Corey though. He's on Corey's list along with Tommaso Ciampa. This is a really well-booked competitive squash. Corbin catches Tye coming off the second rope and transitions him into the End of Days, which to me looks like a super-impressive power move. Next week we're getting Corbin teaming with Joe to take on Apollo Crews and Balor on the Takeover go home. Crews cuts a promo in the back about that match. A new backstage guy is with Ciampa in the back. Where's Devin? I feel like I haven't seen her in a while. Getting worried. Ciampa is facing Joe tonight and says nobody else may think so, but he believes he can beat Joe. Nia Jax Vs Blue Pants: Okay, forget Devin- Blue Pants is back! I love you, Blue Pants. Ahem. Oh, she has new music too. But she gets squashed by Nia. Dash and Dawson are being interviewed by Tom Phillips in the back. They say they will put the belts on the line at Takeover against Enzo and Cass. James Storm Vs Adam Rose: I was starting to think Storm was a one-and-done. Man, he just doesn't look impressive to me at all. I don't remember Rose doing this no music, no fun gimmick at all. Was this before the Social Outcasts? I suppose it must have been. Storm rolls through him. We're getting Vaudevillains Vs Gable and Jordan tonight, and the Vaudevillains are in the back. They say they're going to win, but Jordan and Gable walk up and say nuh uh. The four of them shake hands. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable Vs The Vaudevillains: Pretty solid match that could have done with going a lot longer. It only got about 5 mins. The best part was definitely Simon Gotch and Chad Gable trading holds. Just 10 mins of those two going at it would be sweet as fuck I imagine. Gable and Jordan win, and the Vaudevillains refuse to shake their hands after the match. I'd be down for a rematch between these two teams. Emma and Dana are being interviewed in the back, and Dana is all worked up saying she's not scared of Asuka. Emma tells her to stay back here and cool down while she goes out for her match. Emma Vs Liv Morgan: Liv is not Marley anymore, and she has her own entrance and is doing like a hip-hop type thing and repping New Jersey. Emma batters her in entertaining fashion. After the match, Asuka shows up on the video wall working out with a heavy bag. She challenges Emma for Takeover. Yes! Bayley is being interviewed in the back. Nia Jax walks in. Nia got her hair straightened since her match earlier. Bayley accepts Nia's challenge for Takeover, and Nia throws her through a door. Samoa Joe Vs Tommaso Ciampa: This is an awesome short match. These two just stiff the shit out of each other for 5 mins or so. This is definitely the most impressive Ciampa has looked so far, and might actually be the best Joe has looked in-ring too. Joe ends up winning with the Kokina Clutch. They're really doing a good job making that move look deadly. Episode MVP: This seems like the best show in a while, with lots of contenders for MVP, including all the usual suspects like Gable, Gotch, Emma and Joe. I'm gonna go with Ciampa though. He really stepped up to the plate this week. 3 star match: Samoa Joe Vs Tommaso Ciampa.

11/25/15 We start the show with Michael Cole in the ring. He tells us that since William Regal is recuperating from surgery, he has been put in charge of NXT tonight. Fans boo. For some reason Cole is acting heelish. First up is the contract signing for the NXT championship match between Finn Balor and Samoa Joe at Takeover: London. Balor comes out first and cuts a very generic promo about kicking Joe's teeth down his throat. Joe comes out, marches straight into the ring, signs the contract and then leaves, all without even looking at Balor. This was pretty awesome heeling from Joe, and another way NXT found to make the contract signing gimmick interesting. Balor leaves but Joe attacks him on the stage. They end up in the ring, where Joe locks on the Kokina Clutch and Finn passes out. I almost wish they hadn't done that bit and just left it at Joe signing the contract and leaving. Dash and Dawson Vs The Vaudevillains: This is the Vaudevillains rematch for the tag belts, and is much better than the title change bout. The Vaudevillains get a couple of really good nearfalls, before English goes down to the Shatter Machine. As Dash and Dawson head to the back gloating, Enzo and Cass make their return and lay a beatdown on the champs. I guess that's out Takeover title match. Eva Marie is using Regal's office as her lockerroom. She introduces her friend, Nia Jax. The commentators tell us that this spells trouble for Bayley tonight. Asuka Vs Dana Brooke: This never gets started, as Emma jumps Asuka from behind and puts her in the Emma Lock. Asuka smiles as Emma and Dana leave. Give me Asuka Vs Emma at Takeover please. We get a Sami Zayn return vignette! Apollo Crews Vs Jesse Sorensen: Sorensen has his own entrance. Which doesn't really mean anything in NXT, but I like to point these things out. Crews squashes him, and then accepts Baron Corbin's challenge for Takeover. We see a video of Elias Sampson performing a song. I forgot Elias existed. This is well shot. Bayley Vs Eva Marie: Charles Robinson comes running out and talks to the ref and the announcer. It is then announced that, per 'WWE corporate', Robinson has been sent out to make sure their is no controversy in this match. What is this WWE corporate nonsense? Michael Cole dropped that earlier too. Was there no actual evil authority figure at this time, so they had to use this generic term instead? And why is, as is being implied here, Charles Robinson a heel referee all of a sudden? Eva comes out with Nia and gets put down fairly quickly with a Bayley-to-Belly. However, Nia pulls the ref out of the ring before he can count to 3. Now Robinson jumps in and quickly counts 2 as Eva rolls Bayley up in the confusion. Nia Jax is interfering liberally, and Robinson stops Bayley from charging Eva in the corner. What is this? Haha, Charles Robinson with an all-timer bump off a shoulderblock from Eva Marie. He made it look like he'd been speared by Goldberg. Amazing stuff. Bayley manages to neutralise Nia and hit a super Bayley-to-Belly on Eva as the original ref comes back in to make the 3 count. Some bizarre stuff here, but at least they're presenting Eva as the joke that she is instead of some actual competent wrestler. This would have been more effective had they done that from her debut, and this story of 'WWE corporate' wanting her to win hadn't just been thrown together this episode. Oh, Nia attacks Bayley after the match and lays her out. Seems awfully soon to be putting Nia into a title match. Episode MVP: Joe.

11/18/15 This aired on my birthday. Let's see, in 2015 I turned.... well, it doesn't matter how old I turned. Happy birthday to me. Nia Jax Vs Carmella: Nia's biggest challenge to date, and she pretty much runs through Carmella. I can't remember the last time Carmella won a match. Alexa Bliss is cutting a promo in the back on her women's title match with Bayley tonight. A ref comes in and tells her that Blake and Murphy are banned from ringside. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable Vs The Ascension: Jordan and Gable are really good, because this is probably the best Ascension tag I've ever seen. The Ascension remain popular at Full Sail for some reason. This doesn't go too long before Jordan and Gable pick up the win. Emma Vs Mary Kate: These names they're coming up with for the jobber women are getting worse. No idea who this Mary Kate is. I guess she wrestled in TNA. She's got a bit of size to her, and it seems like she pisses Emma off here, because Emma is really laying her shit in. That makes this a fun squash. Baron Corbin challenges Apollo Crews to a match at TakeOver: London. Dash and Dawson Vs Corey Hollis and John Skylar: This is like a proper Andersons squash, with Dash and Dawson just relentlessly working over a body part until the time comes to put their opponents away. Nice stuff. Tom Phillips is interviewing Asuka, but Dana Brooke walks in. She says Asuka earned her respect, and challenges her to another match. Asuka accepts and leaves. Emma comes in and she and Dana laugh at Asuka falling into their trap. Oh, they're so evil. Bayley Vs Alexa Bliss: Women's title match. I've gotta give Alexa some credit to start off here. I'm not an Alexa fan, but she's been really effective in NXT as a low-card heel. Kind of like a female version of CJ Parker or something. This is definitely her niche. So this is an okay match. Bliss is basically dominated, but then finds an opening by working over the arm. Bayley ends up winning with the Bayley-to-Belly. After the match, Eva Marie comes out and says that next week the inevitable is happening, and that she will challenge Bayley for the title. The fans are not pleased. Episode MVP: Emma.

I'd argue that there are very few wrestlers who project the image of being 'real world' cool, let alone who actually are. But most wrestling fans aren't 'real world' cool either, so it doesn't present a problem.

11/11/15 Tye Dillinger Vs Baron Corbin: This never gets started as Apollo Crews comes out and attacks Corbin. Corbin ends up running away. Good babyface work by Apollo. We're going to hear from Samoa Joe later tonight about his actions from last week. Bayley and The Hype Bros Vs Alexa Bliss and Blake and Murphy: Crowd is really hot for this. Bayley is so over. The heels are a low card act, but a fun one. With the match coming to a close, Bliss decides to steal Bayley's belt and do a runner. Bayley tries to go after her but is blocked off my Murphy. Bayley gives the Bayley-to-Belly to Murphy to a huge pop. Great moment. Bayley goes after Bliss and the Hype Bros put away Murphy for the win. Fun stuff. Blake and Murphy are great bumpers. I like them a lot. The Ascension cut a promo accepting the challenge from Jordan and Gable. I like them better as an over-the-top 80's parody than as a soul-crushing dominant force. I'd still rather not see them though. Nia Jax and Eva Marie have a secret meeting in the back. Discussing who sucks more, maybe. Nia Jax Vs Deonna: This is Deonna Purrazzo obvs. So glad they got away from the women just having one name. Its tacky as hell. Jax batters her. She's using a legdrop as a finish now, which works okay in these squashes as her opponents are all so much smaller than her. Bayley is in the back looking for Alexa. Alexa looks to be in some photo-shoot with the championship belt, which is weird. Either she had the shoot scheduled anyway, and showed up with the belt, or she just grabbed some random guy and ordered him to start taking pictures of her. When she sees Bayley coming, she drops the belt and runs off. Bayley retrieves her belt but then walks into Nia Jax. Alexa attacks Bayley from behind, knocking her down. Bliss runs off again and Nia hands Bayey her belt. Nice way to get some interaction between Bayley and Nia, while still building the Bliss feud. Dash and Dawson Vs The Vaudevillains: Tag title match, and this is disappointing. Dash and Dawson put on another tag team clinic, isolating Aiden English and destroying his leg, but sometimes a clinic doesn't equal the most compelling match, and this was a disappointing way for The Vaudevillains' short title reign to come to an end. I do like Dash and Dawson a lot though. Samoa Joe comes out and cuts a good promo explaining his actions. He basically said Balor accepted his challenge for a title match, but didn't back up those words with actions, and allowed William Regal to put him in a battle royal instead. Balor comes out and attacks Joe and they have a little pull apart which ends with Joe locking on the Kokina Clutch and putting Balor to sleep. Episode MVP: Bayley.

11/4/15 Asuka Vs Cameron: Cameron? Really? Asuka selling any offence for Cameron is just ridiculous. She wins fairly quickly, but not quickly enough. Tom Phillips interviews Dash and Dawson in the back. They say that next week they have their shot at the tag titles, and bring out a wheelchair with the Vaudevillains name on it. That should be a good match. By the way, all this time Rich Brennan has been the lead announcer for NXT, and I'd never heard of him before I started this project. I always thought Phillips was the main guy since pretty much day 1. I like Rich, even now on MLW. He does say some pretty cringey stuff from time to time, but he's generally pretty good. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable cut a promo in the back. They talk about wanting to prove they're the world's greatest tag team (Jordan tells Gable not to use those words). Gable says they'll prove they're the best by challenging the greatest tag team in NXT history (huh?), the longest-reigning tag team champs in NXT history (oh no!), The Ascension (noooooooooooooooooooooo!) Bull Dempsey Vs Angelo Dawkins: Dawkins comes out with Sawyer Fulton. Dempsey's thing is that he slaps his stomach like Kamala. I guess make of that what you will. Bit weird that Bull is getting a squash match here. Fulton looks disappointed in Dawkins and walks out on him. That might mean something if these guys had ever won a match, or had a promo or anything. Phillips presents the Vaudevillains with the wheelchair, and they cut a promo on Dash and Dawson. Then Phillips is with Bayley asking if she found tag partners. She did, and brings in The Hype Bros. Eh. Eva Marie Vs Marley: Aww, it's little baby Liv Morgan. She looks like a teenager here. She gets to show off a little bit of offence before Eva Marie puts her away with like a seated Flatliner kind of thing. It looked like trash whatever it was. Even worse than her Sliced Bread #2. Eva literally has no redeeming qualities as a wrestler. Phillips is in the back again, this time with Emma and Dana. Phillips putting in a shift tonight. Who was that guy before who used to be all over the backstage area? Oh yeah, Dolph's brother. Emma cuts a pretty good promo about how she isn't afraid of Asuka and is going to give her the welcome she deserves. Apollo Crews Vs Finn Balor: Okay, NXT title on the line. Crowd seems hyped for this. Handshake before the bell. I couldn't really get into this match. Not bad or anything, it just didn't really grab me. Crowd was very into it though. Kind of an unacceptable finish, as Baron Corbin comes out and starts beating down Crews, ending the match on a DQ. I think when you build a title match up for a number of weeks, and then have the guys go out there and put on a show, the crowd deserves better than this. Corbin goes after Finn next, and Samoa Joe comes out to run him off. And then there's your heel turn from Joe, as he lays a pounding on Finn. The commentators sell it as a shocking moment. Pretty good beatdown and way to end the show. Episode MVP: Man, just looking back over this show, it's pretty dogshit. I'm gonna give this to Crews this time.

10/28/15 Emma Vs Shazza: Shazza is another Australian. What's with the recent Antipodean influx? Emma is super-aggressive tonight, presumably to send a message to Asuka. I like this. Evil Emma is great. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable Vs Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano: Corey Graves ragging on Ciampa for no apparent reason. Graves has generally been trash on commentary, contrary to his 'he was good in NXT' reputation. Actually, he kind of reminds me of JBL from his vaunted Smackdown stint, in that he can add a lot to matches, but his work is brought down by him airing seemingly random grudges. JBL had a track record of helping people get over back then though (Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms spring to mind) whereas Graves I guess has Eva Marie. Anyway, I actually agree with Graves about Ciampa. I gather that the feeling is that Ciampa is the standout of the team, but at this point at least I think Gargano comes off much better. This match is really fun, and the crowd is super into it. Gable getting the majority of the love warms my heart. He does this rapid fire chain wrestling sequence early on here and the crowd pops for it like it's the People's Elbow. It's really great. Gable is the best. Yeah, really cool little match, this, with Gable and Jordan coming out on top. Nia Jax Vs Kay Lee Ray: The weird thing with all these jobber girls that are showing up is that they're all getting their own entrances, as though they're staying around. Kay Lee Ray is Scottish and stick thin. Nia seems a lot more slimmed down here than she would become. Sorry to harp on women's appearances- just making observations. Squash win for Jax. Enzo and Big Cass Vs Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder: This never gets started as Dash and Dawson attack Enzo and Cass as they make their entrance. Enzo gets showved off the ramp and Cass gets his leg brutalised in the ring. In the back, Alexa Bliss challenges Bayley to find two partners for a six-person tag. Part 2 of the special look at Apollo Crews airs, and doesn't really tell us anything. It's pretty much just a few highlights of his time in NXT. Samoa Joe Vs Tyler Breeze: We see footage of Breeze making his debut on Smackdown, so I'm guessing this is his farewell match. It's a shame, though not at all surprising, that he didn't get any traction on the main roster. Crowd is split for this one, probably more i favour of Breeze. Pretty good cat-and-mouse stuff with Breeze trying to evade Joe. Joe eventually locks in the kokina clutch to pick up the win. Episode MVP: Chad Gable. 3 star match: Jason Jordan and Chad Gable Vs Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.

It seems really strange, after watching this stuff, that Bayley beat Sasha in March Madness this year. What is the reasoning behind that, do you think? Does Bayley pad her case with more good stuff before the year ends, whereas Sasha was a bit lost in the shuffle on the main roster? Even so, Sasha is comfortably ahead on NXT work in my opinion, and I rate Bayley's 2015 quite highly, so that's not me being dismissive of her.

10/21/15 Asuka Vs Billie Kay: This is a better showcase for Asuka. Kay looks good eating her offence. Enzo and Big Cass Vs Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder: Short match. Dash and Dawson work over Enzo but Enzo gets a win with a small package. After the match, Dash and Dawson lay out Enzo and Cass. We get a Tyler Breeze promo challenging Samoa Joe to a match, and then an Eva Marie promo from Paris, saying she's on vacation but hopes the fans don't forget about her. Her delivery is as wooden as ever. James Storm Vs Danny Burch: Burch gets his own entrance, maybe for the first time. His opponent is unannounced, and the crowd pops big when Storm walks out. I know Storm was with NXT briefly, but didn't think he ever made it to TV. I'm not all that familiar with his work. Doesn't look too impressive here, but the fans are big-time into him and the commentators are putting this over as a huge deal. He wins with the '8 Second Ride', which looks like a terrible move. We get a nice little video package on Apollo Crews, similar to the one they did on Finn Balor to build him up for his match with Kevin Owens. It's nice to learn a bit more about these guys. Part 2 will be next week. Alexa Bliss Vs Peyton Royce: Peyton gets a nice reaction from the fans, but she's here to do the job and continue to build Alexa up for a match against Bayley. Solid enough. Joe Vs Breeze is announced for next week. Baron Corbin Vs Rhyno: This is based on Baron Corbin severing their union last week by eliminating Rhyno from the battle royal. This is pretty boring stuff, I found. Probably went too long. Corbin kicked out of a gore, and hit End of Days to win. I don't see much point in Rhyno being in NXT anymore. Show ends with Joe cutting a good promo in the back on Tyler Breeze. Episode MVP: Samoa Joe. That promo alone was the best thing on a pretty down week.

10/14/15 We start with Bayley hitting the ring. She cuts a standard babyface promo about making history yada yada. She comes off well and the crowd responds to it, so all good. She is interrupted by Blake, Murphy and Alexa Bliss. Bliss does her disingenuous babyface act that she has gone back to time and again, congratulating Bayley before stealing the women's title. Bayley tries to get it back but Blake and Murphy block her path. Alexa says it's going to be that easy to take the belt off her, and then tosses it back to her and leaves. Pretty good segment to set Bliss up as the next challenger. Bliss, Blake and Murphy is a good heel act, and should work for a nice first defense for Bayley. There's a backstage bit with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe celebrating their victory. Joe changes the mood by saying that he came to NXT to be champion and, since he's undefeated (is he? I guess he is, but it's quite sad how he doesn't really feel special any more), he thinks he deserves his shot. Balor agrees, but William Regal comes in and sees it differently. He says that there's going to be a battle royal to determine the new number one contender. That battle royal is going to be tonight, and we get some cool little backstage promos from a number of the participants, old school Royal Rumble-stylie. Rhyno, strangely, has my favourite. The Vaudevillains Vs Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins: None-title match. More good hot tag work from Simon Gotch. Short and sweet. Nia Jax Vs Evie: Evie is Dakota Kai. Crowd is really into Nia. It looks like she's supposed to be a heel, but I'm not totally sure. She doesn't look great, but picks up the win quickly. Number one contenders battle royal: This is a pretty good battle royal, but the most interesting thing about it to me was listening to the crowd, who were very vocal throughout. Big Johnny Wrestling chant early on, and Apollo Crews gets booed for throwing him out. Enzo is the next guy they latch onto, and he gets to eliminate both Dawson and Wilder at once, before being tossed by Tye Dillinger. After that the crowd is all in on Tyler Breeze, and we end up with a final four of Breeze, Joe, Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin. Joe takes out Breeze and gets booed for it, then Breeze illegally pulls Joe off the apron to eliminate him to 'thank you, Tyler' chants. So we come down to Crews and Corbin and the crowd is now very hot for Crews. This is all very surprising to me, as Crews is pretty bland and Corbin has, and I know how crazy this reads in the current climate, a cool heel vibe. Crews picks up the big win to earn a shot at Balor. I really didn't expect Crews to win this. For some reason I didn't think he ever got an NXT title match. I quite enjoyed that battle royal. Episode MVP: Tyler Breeze.

NXT Takeover: Respect Finn Balor and Samoa Joe Vs Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder: We're kicking off with the Dusty Classic semi-finals. Pretty good tag match. Joe and Balor both take a turn playing face-in-peril. Balor gets his leg worked over. Balor tags himself in for the finish, delivering a coup de grace to advance. Signs of dissension? Rhyno and Baron Corbin Vs Jason Jordan and Chad Gable: This is maybe an even better match. Gable and Jordan are really good. I can't wait for a long Gable/Jordan Vs Dash/Dawson match. Rhyno and Corbin pick up the win after Corbin delivers End of Days to Gable. Asuka Vs Dana Brooke: Emma is with Dana as always. Oh my God, Asuka mocks Dana's poses. A billion stars for that spot. This match is disappointing though. Dana gets way too much offence in. Asuka should have just run through her. And Asuka's offence didn't look all that good anyway for the most part. Asuka wins with the Asuka Lock, and then stares down Emma, who looks away in fear. Apollo Crews Vs Tyler Breeze: Decent match between these two. Very workrate-y but a good showcase for Crews. The fans are really into it. Crews wins with a powerbomb. Samoa Joe and Finn Balor Vs Rhyno and Baron Corbin: The final of the Dusty Classic. Nice touch to have Brandi Rhodes on ring announcing duties for this one. Balor is still selling his leg from the earlier match. Corbin and Rhyno dominate a lot of the match, and Joe eats a Gore, but Balor breaks up the pin attempt. In the end the Muscle Buster/Coup de Grace combo seals the win for Joe and Balor. Cody and Dustin Rhodes, along with their sister, come in to present the trophy. Cody pays tribute to Dusty, and the crowd chants 'thank you Dusty'. Joe and Finn pose with the trophy. I was waiting for Joe to turn on Finn, but I guess that comes later. The tournament was fine, but that's all really. Bayley Vs Sasha Banks: Here we go, the ironman match. I've actually seen this match a couple of times before, so I knew what I was getting here. Stephanie McMahon, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Lita are watching from ringside. Great atmosphere for this before the bell even rings with the fans chanting 'women's wrestling' and 'you deserve this'. That hiptoss early on where Sasha lands on her neck was nasty. They're respectful early on, going for quick pinfalls, but this soon gets heated. Sasha with the eye rake for the cheap first pinfall, but Bayley gets her back with the Bayley-to-Belly. Then this kicks into another gear completely with Sasha attacking Bayley on the floor, and stealing Izzy's headband. Izzy crying while Sasha mocks her in the ring and Bayley gets counted out is just next level stuff. 5 star heeling from Sasha here. I don't know if this is better than the Brooklyn match. Brooklyn was awesome, but this has so many callbacks and such great storytelling that it's at least its equal. Stuff like Bayley attacking Sasha's hand like Sasha did to her in Brooklyn, and Sasha reversing the poison rana. Bayley countering Sasha's dive into a Bayley-to-Belly on the floor, and Sasha getting her foot on the ropes from the top rope B2B are also great moments. And the finish with Bayley gutting out the Banks Statement and countering it into a sub of her own, with Sasha tapping, was perfect. The whole NXT roster comes out onto the stage to applaud the two women, which I didn't so much mind this time as it's Sasha's NXT swansong so she doesn't have to come back and be a heel after this. Is that Sylvester LeFort on the stage? He's still there? Triple H gets in the ring to raise Bayley's hand while Sasha is being consoled/congratulated on the ramp by Steph and the other Horsewomen. Really good stuff all around. Show rating: Well, it pretty much was a one-match show as I thought. The tag matches and Apollo/Breeze were all okay, but nothing memorable. And the Asuka match was disappointing. But that one match was pretty transcendentally great, perhaps the best match in NXT history to this point. I think that's enough to earn the show a 4-star rating. Show MVP: Who else but Sasha Banks. Bayley is an awesome babyface in this match, but Sasha's heeling was proper next level stuff. Sasha's locked in as wrestler of the year at this point. 4 1/2 star match: Bayley Vs Sasha Banks.

So, Dolph would probably handle Goldberg quite comfortably in a real fight, right?

I feel like I only post in the weekly threads to bitch about something, so I wanted to make a point of coming in and saying that I really enjoyed the closing angle on Smackdown, and am super hyped for a potential Bludgeon Brothers/Roman and Bryan match.