Stay Gold Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Yeah, solid episode. Loved the main event, obviously. Always liked Rhyno, and it was cool to hear his old WWE music again. You could tell he was thrilled to be there. Everyone marking out made him so happy. I enjoyed his run in TNA last summer, and I'm sure he'll be more motivated here. I'd like to see Rhyno take on Crowe, Neville, and Owens. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 If anything, Rhyno's return shows that it's entirely possible that WWE could sign Samoa Joe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 NXT could use a Regal/Finlay/Goldust figure like WWECW did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Guy Named Tracy Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 My appreciation for Rhyno increased after listening to his podcast with Colt. He showed a lot of personality and was a good talker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Z Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I think Neville just jumped to the front line as far as favorites for the March Madness tournament go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamBroken Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Awesome to see the massive pop for Rhyno. Always liked him and excited to see him here in this role. Definitely a great boost to the show. The later face off with Balor was a real cool little moment too. Usually my interest fades after the takeovers but this one actually kept a lot of good stuff going. I've always hated leva bates and think this gimmick is so lame as is most Enzo stuff, but Sasha continues to shine like a star, great work as always. Thought Crowe's debut came off unique and he did pretty well. I'm a fan of CJ Parker even if his role will always remain guy that everyone debuts against. I so much prefer Neville as the top babyface star of NXT and loved the main event. Awesome stuff, both guys looked good. Neville's reverse rana spot was killer. Great finish. Thumbs up for more of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodear Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I want to do a write up at some point about what differentiates Adrian Neville from other high flyers since I can't normally stomach the spotty style but Neville makes it work. Considering the match up had a 450 to the floor, a dead lift German suplex and a reverse rana, I never really thought it was overkill. Meanwhile I have this emotional revulsion to The Young Bucks even when it comes to GIF form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Just now watching the main event and when Neville hits that first German I thought to myself, "Huh, that wasn't as impressive as the comments in this thread led me to believe." And then he hits that second, real deadlift one and I fell out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I want to do a write up at some point about what differentiates Adrian Neville from other high flyers since I can't normally stomach the spotty style but Neville makes it work. Considering the match up had a 450 to the floor, a dead lift German suplex and a reverse rana, I never really thought it was overkill. Meanwhile I have this emotional revulsion to The Young Bucks even when it comes to GIF form. Let me try to hack at this. I saw AJ Styles vs Naito last week and thought AJ's beatdown of him was great, but when it came time for Naito to get his revenge, there was nothing behind his pretty offense. There was no intensity, speed but not any sort of visceral hatred. I get the reputation of being anti-physical skills sometimes, but the idea, in my mind is that athleticism is just a tool in the tool box and you have to use it as part of a greater whole instead of using it as a crutch so you don't have to call upon more character-driven elements of wrestling. In that match, he not only used a 450 to the floor and it wasn't overkill, but he made it feel hatefilled and intense. He made it not a flourish or showing off or something ridiculous for the sake of looking kewl, but you actively got the idea, because of his physical skills and how he was successfully utilizing them that the move hurt more than if he had just done a splash. Almost no one in the world is able to wrestle like that. And i don't think Neville was able to tap into that as well six months ago either. It's giving his athleticism consistent meaning and purpose in a way I've rarely seen and it's great to see him come into his own like that. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turk128 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thought Crowe's debut came off unique and he did pretty well. I'm a fan of CJ Parker even if his role will always remain guy that everyone debuts against. CJ Parker is the perfect wrasslin Glass Joe. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kennedy Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Neville has really come into his own in the past 6 months. Flippy, athletic guys are not usually my cup of tea but he makes it work as his basic stuff looks great too and he ties it all together really well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L_W_P Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 When Neville hit that reverse rana I had JR's call of the Foley HIAC bump go off in my head. "He killed him! Bah gawd as my witness he is broken in half!!!" God I love this show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 he's on par with all the great flyers of all-time in terms of crazy and/or graceful moves -- guys like Rey, Sabu, Waltman, Sasuke, Juvi, etc. I'd say Neville is way ahead of those guys (and everyone else in wrestling history) in terms of just flying moves. His combination of elevation, quickness, cleanliness, and degree of difficulty just blows away everyone I've ever seen. The amount of times he can rotate his body in a small space is amazing like doing a phoenix splash off the middle rope, the 450 from the apron to the floor, standing corkscrew moonsaults, etc. The red arrow is one of the most beautiful moves in wrestling, and he hits it, and everything else, dead on every time. He looks like he could be an olympic gymnast or diver, just so far beyond what you'd expect from even an elite wrestling flyer. The other thing I've noticed about Neville is that crowds are usually lukewarm when he comes out and often favor his opponent if it's someone of similar rank, but by the end of the match, he always gets a ton of heat. I've always been a fan of Neville, and I'm glad other people are coming around on him, even if the accompanying narrative that he became good in just the last couple of months is inaccurate. He's just been working with Zayn and Owens instead of Bo Dallas and Titus O'Neill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L_W_P Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I really want to see Neville bouncing around for Harper and Lesnar. How good would a Lesnar invasion of nXt be? Heyman can challenge Regal to getting say 3 guys for a one night showing to help Brock 'stay in shape' for Mania. Neville steps up straight away. Regal wont risk Zayn or Corbin due to 'injury' at the time. Owens backs out sighting a 'rostered day off' despite all his talk about being a fighter. nXt special would be say 6 matches - Lesnar vs Jason Jordan - Can be any member of the Shoot Nation. Work an real NCAA mat style that Lesnar wins with a kimura. Tag Title Match - Blake and Murphy v Enzo and Cass. Lesnar v Rhyno - Stiff as hell. Lesnar kicks out of a Gore (commentary team to point out obvious connection to Reigns' Spear) before hitting the F5. Womens Title - Banks v Charlotte in Charlotte's (unannounced) nXt farewell. Grudge Match - Parker v Solomon Crowe on debut. Main Event - Lesnar v Neville - Neville uses his agility to avoid all sorts of bombs from Lesnar while hitting all his own spots. Lesnar eventually catches Neville for some more back and forth before landing the F5 but Neville gets the rub by kicking out. Lesnar looks totally shocked but shakes it off, laughs a little, then picks Neville straight up and immediately hits a 2nd F5 for the win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 All this said, I still want Neville to have an orc gimmick. Dude just looks like a Lord of the Rings character. He can still do his shit as an orc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 It is unfortunate that Neville's face has to counter balance the beauty of his moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsey Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Once again, late to the party because I avoided this place like the plague until I watched the show yesterday. Let me open with this: I love NXT. NXT reminds me of the old WTBS Saturday World Championship Wrestling days. The shows are tight, economical affairs that get the job done with zero bloat. The talk segments are short but effective. The in-ring product is fantastic. The commentary gets the point across and still lets you know what's happening in the ring. You get serious workers, you get comedy workers, and you get them in balance. Look, I'm an AJPW mark so I truly dig SERIOUS WRESTLING BUSINESS but I also find myself digging the shit out of Blue Pants and Enzo with Big Cass. Vince NEVER got me to like anything he thought was funny. NXT is everything that Vince has tried to convince us wrestling shouldn't be anymore. Turns out, he's wrong. I'd rather watch 30 minutes of NXT a week than 3 hours of Raw. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamal Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Man, I really dig Blue Pants. I need them to offer Leva a contract ASAP. And I am so here for The Era of The Boss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuroresuFan Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm going to sit down tonight & rewatch the special, but my first impression was that Neville/Owens was a much better match than Neville/Bálor. I enjoyed the match at TakeOver but after watching this weeks show, I'm thinking my enthusiasm for the special might have made me less skeptical of the match than I might normally have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehabilitated Rick Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 he's on par with all the great flyers of all-time in terms of crazy and/or graceful moves -- guys like Rey, Sabu, Waltman, Sasuke, Juvi, etc. I'd say Neville is way ahead of those guys (and everyone else in wrestling history) in terms of just flying moves. His combination of elevation, quickness, cleanliness, and degree of difficulty just blows away everyone I've ever seen. The amount of times he can rotate his body in a small space is amazing like doing a phoenix splash off the middle rope, the 450 from the apron to the floor, standing corkscrew moonsaults, etc. The red arrow is one of the most beautiful moves in wrestling, and he hits it, and everything else, dead on every time. He looks like he could be an olympic gymnast or diver, just so far beyond what you'd expect from even an elite wrestling flyer. The other thing I've noticed about Neville is that crowds are usually lukewarm when he comes out and often favor his opponent if it's someone of similar rank, but by the end of the match, he always gets a ton of heat. I've always been a fan of Neville, and I'm glad other people are coming around on him, even if the accompanying narrative that he became good in just the last couple of months is inaccurate. He's just been working with Zayn and Owens instead of Bo Dallas and Titus O'Neill. I think Neville and Ricochet are this eras Messi and Ronaldo when it comes to flying wrestlers, Ricochet is as, if not more impressive in ability. But you're right, everything Neville does is clean and crisp, you never get the knots in your stomach that you did when you saw Kidman going for the Shooting Star or Punk spring boarding off the ropes with Neville, he hits everything with such precision. He's not one dimensional either, his strikes look good, he can brawl with the best and he's come on leaps and bounds with his promo work, he's an incredible talent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I think what Matt D said about Neville giving meaning to his moves is what separates Adrian Neville from PAC or even Neville of a year ago, with his title matches against Kidd. He's so much better at telling a story with those moves and in-between those moves now than he was before and to people who appreciate that art of storytelling and psychology more than the ability to crisply execute physical feats, that goes a lot farther in terms of "being a great wrestler." He's grown so much and has become just about the perfect high flyer archetype over the past three or four months. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCM Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I think the first Zayn match where Neville won due to Sami hesitating because of the Neville's "injury" off missing the red arrow is when I started to notice how good he was getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSJ Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Matt pretty much nailed it. What sets Neville apart and so far ahead of everyone else is that everything he does means something. He's not a high flying wrestler, he is first and foremost a wrestler who happens to have the amazing ability to perform a lot of high flying moves. What Neville does so well is to incorporate these moves into the storyline of the match. With other guys it becomes about the move and popping the crowd, with Neville, the move is part of business as usual and done to further the match. There's a lot of guys that should be analyzing what Neville does to make a match work, the guys that don't get it wind up like RVD (lots of flippy floppy stuff that looks impressive but doesn't mean a damn thing.) His growth in the last six months has been tremendous, promos are effective and his story telling in a match is as good as anyone in the business today. Really an amazing talent that's a joy to watch week in and week out. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Sugar Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 That Neville/Owens match this past week on NXT was INSANE. That reverse hurricanrana looked like it killed Owens. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Neville's gotta go on the short list of most purely athletic guys in the history of wrestling, along with Lesnar, Cesaro, John Morrison, and Shelton Benjamin. The way that guy is jacked for his size is just insane. J.R.: Billy Gunn too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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