[SPOILERS] NXT Tapings (Air Date: 1/13/16)

[RIPPA]

Per WON

 

 

NXT for 1/13

 

William Regal announces a Battle Royal with the winner getting a shot at Bayley's championship.  Sami Zayn came out, not to enter the Battle Royal, but to challenge Finn Balor for the NXT title.  Samoa Joe came out so this set up Zayn vs. Joe.  Both of these matches are expected to take place on 1/22 in Orlando.  Baron Corbin then came out and it set up a three-way for the next title shot.

 

Tommaso Ciampa beat Danny Burch

 

Dash & Dawson beat The Ascension

 

Elias Sampson beat Corey Hollis

 

Carmella won the Battle Royal.  Eva Marie stayed outside the ring and they teased she had won.  But Carmella was never eliminated and threw her out.  Bayley and Carmella celebrated after the match.

 

Per PWI

 

 

Week 1

- Sami Zayn came out for a promo, saying how good it was to be home. The crowd loved him. He said he was going to be the first 2 time NXT Champion. Samoa Joe came out and talked about how he saved Sami last time. Joe staked his claim to the number 1 contender spot. Baron Corbin came out and said they all needed to get to the back of the line. Joe told Corbin to back off. Sami and Joe went face to face until Joe backed off. Baron attacked Sami from behind, but Sami recovered and got the better of Corbin. Joe threatened to come back in, but decided not to.

 

- Tomasso Ciampa def. Danny Birch 

 

- Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder def. The Ascension 

 

- Elias Samson def. Cory Hollis 

 

- Carmella won an over the top rope battle royal to become the number 1 contender to the NXT Women's Championship, last eliminating Eva Marie. Interesting to note, Nia Jax did not participate.

 

 

 

[The Z]

Have they finally signed Ciampa or are they about to?

Otherwise that match would be two non-contracted wrestlers against each other, which would be very strange.

[RIPPA]

Tim can confirm this since I know he was there but supposedly they were handing out fliers for the EVOLVE show Rumble weekend before NXT

And Gabe tweeting something about it do.

 

So clearly they truly have worked out some sort of talent share with EVOLVE (or something)

[Matt D]

Carmella/Bayley interaction should be pretty funny.

 

It's a weird thing. This show looks like the bread and butter NXT that we all love, where they build people, they build to logical payoffs, etc. That just seems a little dull given the news of the week.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

Didn't they have Birch on as a jobber not long ago as Martin Stone?

[JonnyLaw]

Yeah, but he was previously signed as Burch, and I think his last recent match was also as Burch.

[Patrick B.]

Saw a list of battle royal participants.  Aliyah was in there(in her first TV appearance), but I didn't hear anything about Athena yet.  guess we'll see next Wednesday.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

Yeah, but he was previously signed as Burch, and I think his last recent match was also as Burch.

Yeah it was, I only saw the match against Crews the other day and assumed it was more recent than it was.

[EVA]

Saw a list of battle royal participants. Aliyah was in there(in her first TV appearance), but I didn't hear anything about Athena yet. guess we'll see next Wednesday.

Yeah, her name kinda piqued my interest, considering she was such a mess on Breaking Ground. I wasn't expecting to see her make TV in any capacity any time soon.

[Tim Evans]

Athena wasn't in the battle royal. The pop Carmella got when he eliminated Eva was the loudest pop I've ever heard in Full Sail. Way bigger than Sami Zayn's return.

[Goodear]

The elevation of Carmella is somewhat interesting since it is so out of left field.  She has basically been enhancement talent for Eva and Nia the last few months and has almost zero momentum.  Sending her up against BFF Bayley could be intriguing however especially if she doesn't heel it up at all.  It should be a good angle to have Bayley go in as the heavy favorite since she slides into underdog mannerisms at every turn.  This will be a good test of her adaptability.

 

The Ascension in NXT is usually pretty fun as they feed off the crowd a bit.  I expect D&D to feed them pretty well but I doubt Konnor or Viktor will be able to play along with the limb work especially well.

 

Hopefully, Elias will actually show off some character this time.

[Bustronaut]

I believe it's the first angle put together because of Breaking Ground.

[MGFanJay]

This wasn't the greatest show or anything, but it was a productive hour of TV. They got the Mechanics over more, gave Silas a win and boy did that do nothing for him. Loved the 2015 awards - they did more in a few minutes than Raw did in three hours with the Slammys mere weeks ago. Ciampa's squash was fun and stiff, while the opening deal made the wait for the Joe DLC in 2K16 nearly unbearable - I can't wait to have him face Zayn in that.

http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2016/01/wwe-nxt-1-13-16.html

Screens -

Sad Tummy, Sadder Hairline

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/9vovfz4v617hhw6co93akoehdbq20mw9

[SirSmUgly]

It's hard to stay out of these spoiler threads, but I did it, and it was worth it.

 

If you're going to have three guys talk for ten minutes to start a show, you could do worse than that opening. I love how it set up that everyone has a claim: Zayn is a former champ who was injured pre-rematch and didn't really get a straight-up shot at the gold after he lost it...and he didn't lose by pinfall or submission either time. Joe beat Corbin (and was a dick when he reminded Zayn who saved him from Owens) and had Finn on the ropes. Corbin beat Crews, who was the previous #1 contender. Simple and effective, and dick opportunist Joe is so much fun. 

 

I do enjoy Ciampa when he decides to work a limb. This match was sadly too short for much more of it than what we got. Also when Ciampa decides to slap the shit out of someone (and get slapped in return). Even if it doesn't lead anywhere, it's really enjoyable. 

 

"No backbone - chicken tenders." 

 

Dash and Dawson also have Arn and Tully's ability to make a virtual squash match a billion times more entertaining than most other wrestlers, minus the requisite WWE-style resthold in the middle of the match. More clubbering and targeted limb work, please. Also, Dash should do a straight-up gourdbuster just to top off the Arn cosplay. Maybe do one as his part of the Shatter Machine. 

 

Eva's terrible acting during that Nia Jax skit was awesome. It genuinely made me laugh. 

 

Elias Samson still not doing anything for me at this point, but it's early in the game for him. 

 

Emma was the MVP of the battle royal. Really active, good at scheming her way through the whole thing. Meanwhile, Eva and Carmella both being on the floor made me realize the finish as soon as Carmella went out and didn't immediately get back in the ring. That was a pretty funny finish, honestly. 

 

Eva Marie as Dick Dastardly with Nia Jax as her Muttley is actually really hilarious. Everytime it looks like she's gonna win the Wacky Races NXT Championship, things go tits up. 

 

I don't like that you have to watch Breaking Ground to get that Bayley and Carmella are friends in real life. Their friendship should have been better introduced on NXT television itself. 

[nofuture]

Gotta appreciate that in NXT, even the Women's Battle Royal don't do the lame middle rope eliminations WWE does.  So it looks like they're already setting up Asuka/Bayley for the Mania Takeover.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Yeah this will be one of those mini feuds for Bayley before she faces Asuka I'm thinking.  It should be good for Carmella. She's improved. 

 

Alexa and Billie Kay had good promos.  This episode reminded me of the early Rumbles where we'd hear from everyone in the match and how they're going to win. 

[hammerva]

Well I know this is a reach but they did show Bayley entering the building at last Takeover with Carmella.   So it isn't like they never knew each other without the Breaking Ground show.

 

I like the idea that they built up not one but two different angles with Bayley in one match.  It is like they have almost a long term plan with her which for a WWE product is shocking

 

If it wasn't for her history of being terrible, I would actually think that Eva Marie is getting this heel thing.  

[steve]

 Nia's face turn on Eva will be great.

[Greggulator]

Those women's promos throughout the show were great. It's awesome to see because there was a range of "actually good promos" to "this really weird and I have no idea what to think" to "hilariously awful." I want to go through them all and rank them.

Emma, Asuka, Carmella, and Alexa's were on the very good list. I love how Asuka just hangs against brick walls for some reason.

WTF was Billy Kay doing? She was essentially putting on underwear outside?

I think I can get behind Peyton Royce, the VENUS FLYTRAP of NXT. I don't really know what that means. "A Little Shop of Horrors" gimmick?

That Jersey girl rambling was just sorta there and then she made some hilariously weird noise.

Cameron saying "I'm more than just a Funkadactyl" or however she phrased it was A+ bad. I completely forgot they were a thing. That's probably not want she wants to hang her hat on.

Aaliyah has a lot of work to do on Season 2 of Breaking Ground.

[Cristobal]

They got me. I saw Eva go out early, and when she eliminated Asuka, I thought "Oh great," and totally forgot about Carmella, never mind I saw her go out, until she came back and eliminated Eva Marie. Really good finish.

The battle royal itself wasn't great, as we had a lot of green talent in there. Morgan and Cameron redoing the powerbomb/rana spot was a low point.

Carmella as Bayley's next opponent is fine, but I'd like to see Emma either as champ or #1 contender sooner rather than later. Not sure that happens until after Mania.

D&D vs Jordan/Gable will be great for the Mania show.

Not at all sure who I want to see go up against Finn. Corbin would seem to be the one most in need of elevation, though he's the third-best wrestler of the three, (not that that's s particularly harsh judgment, given the other two.) On the other hand, I can't help feeling Sami's not long for NXT.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

Did Carmella lose her accent?  It was hard to tell during her short promo.  Kinda wished they would have Carmella eliminate both Eva and Asuka at the end for a possible Asuka heel tease.  Is there a Takeover before Mania?

[Niners Fan in CT]

Pretty sure that was a gun reference from Liv.  She's a hip-hop head

[Ramo2653]

Did anyone else notice how much smoother Tom Phillips was compared to his Smackdown work? And the banter between him and Graves was great.

[muhammedboehm]

So is it me or does the WWE have an issue with battle royals where they reuse the same spots over and over. How was Eva or Carmela rolling out any different then Rusev doing the same thing last year at the Rumble?

[RIPPA]

Did Carmella lose her accent?  It was hard to tell during her short promo.  Kinda wished they would have Carmella eliminate both Eva and Asuka at the end for a possible Asuka heel tease.  Is there a Takeover before Mania?

Friday before Mania - TakeOver Dallas. It's gonna be almost exactly like Brooklyn in that they are doing a special and taping a week of TV (unless they changed their mind about the TV Taping part)