[SPOILERS] NXT Tapings (Airs 1/20/16)

[RIPPA]

Per WON

 

 

NXT for 1/20

 

Sami Zayn beat Adam Rose

 

Apollo Crews beat Tye Dillinger.  Crews then issued  challenge to Finn Balor, saying he just wanted a match with him now and  it's not about the title.

 

Baron Corbin pinned Rich Swann with the End of Days

 

Bayley & Carmella beat Alexa Bliss & Emma.  They celebrate like best friends (which they are in real life)

 

Samoa Joe beat Johnny Gargano

 

Per PWI

 

 

Week 2

 

- Sami Zayn def. Adam Rose 

 

- Apollo Crews def. Tye Dillinger.

Post match: Crews talks about hating matches ending in a dq. He knows he hasn't earned a title shot, but he still wants a non title match with Finn Balor. 

 

- Baron Corbin def. Rich Swann (possibly a dark match)

 

- Bayley and Carmella def. Alexa Bliss and Emma (w/Dana Brooke)

 

- Samoa Joe def. Johnny Gargano 

 

[Goodear]

I would like to see Dillinger elevated a bit from his current role as he's clearly over but he just keeps dropping falls to the 'real stars'.  My distaste for Apollo probably doesn't help my feeling any.

 

Putting Sami up against Adam Rose seems like a waste almost since we've seen that match up before and there are fresher matches to have. 

 

If the Ciampa-Joe match is any indicator, the Gargano match will probably be pretty good.  Joe does his best work against smaller guys where he can monster all over them.

[Niners Fan in CT]

the combination of Emma/Dana Brooke and Alexa Bliss was highly entertaining. Emma was vicious and the other two talking so much shit, I'd love to see more of them.

[SirSmUgly]

Best parts were Dana's steady stream of shit-talking on the outside during the tag match and Joe slapping the shit out of Gargano, maybe literally because man that was a hard slap. 

[MGFanJay]

Perfectly functional show this week. Jordan and Gable got their new American Alpha name, and the Mechanics buried it. Alexa and Emma looked amazing tonight, and had a fun match with Bayley and Carmella. Carmella really isn't over even with this push, while Bayley remains a megastar to the audience. 

 

http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2016/01/nxt-1-20-16.html

 

Screens - 

 

 

...for the main roster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/2cfeqpwvv0c840uto8tld2ttauqeloko

[Niners Fan in CT]

Once I saw Alexa would be on the show I knew MGfan wouldn't be far behind. lol

[steve]

Sami tapping out Rose was cool, you don't see guys win with non-finishers that's also aren't rollups very much these days.

[JonnyLaw]

All three guys in the three way next week won without using their finisher. Assuming that was intentional, it was a great, subtle way to distinguish those guys.

[EVA]

While it probably doesn't speak well for Carmella's current level of development that she was booked to sit out most of the battle royal last week and tonight's tag match, she was straight fire coming in off the hot tag. Her head scissors finish looked tight and even her bronco buster looked hurty.

[Cristobal]

All three guys in the three way next week won without using their finisher. Assuming that was intentional, it was a great, subtle way to distinguish those guys.

The Coquina Clutch has been a secondary finisher for Joe.

[Greggulator]

Sami's earned a few tap-outs with his clutch, too.

I really liked the Baymella vs. Alexis/Emma tag match. It wasn't anything legendary, but just a very tight and well-told match. Dana Brooke is so great at ringside. Just a non-stop shit-talking bully. She might be my favorite person in wrestling right now. Bayley was so great as a face-in-peril. That's the least shocking sentence ever written, but it's so true. She did great work holding the ribs and showing pain and reaching out to her partner. Carmella was great on the apron and after receiving the hot tag. I thought her finish was really great as whatever set-up move she used flowed real nicely into her submission.

I am very much looking forward to that match. I do not want to see Carmella turn heel on Bayley. I want to see Carmella shockingly have Bayley on the ropes until the champ escapes after making Carmella's career. I'm thinking of something akin to a face vs. face version of Sabu vs. Stevie Richards, the match where Stevie went from clueless putz to "oh, he's actually pretty tough" status.

[Hollywood Cibernetico]

My favorite thing about Bayley's reign is it reminds me of a certain WWF champion in the mid-90's that didn't really have top talent to work with all the time, but functioned as a 'touring' champion taking on all comers. Bayley is a nice transition point for NXT as Asuka, Alexa, Dana, Jax, Athena and Billie Kay are the 'New Generation' post Bayley's exit (and hopefully Emma gets called back up).

[Cristobal]

My favorite thing about Bayley's reign is it reminds me of a certain WWF champion in the mid-90's that didn't really have top talent to work with all the time, but functioned as a 'touring' champion taking on all comers.

Bayley is Sid?

[J.H.]

I'd watch Bayley fist bump dudes and declare herself Mistress and Ruler of the world!

 

James 

[MoeCristyV.1.6]

She can scissor me any day.....am I right, guys? *high five*

 

No RIPPA, put that chair awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy.....*bonk*

[JonnyLaw]

All three guys in the three way next week won without using their finisher. Assuming that was intentional, it was a great, subtle way to distinguish those guys.

The Coquina Clutch has been a secondary finisher for Joe.

I almost said using their secondary finisher, but I didn't think I'd ever seen Corbin use his move before.

A subtle thing I like was Bayley clutching her title and slightly turning away from Carmella when she was talking about winning the title.

[Technico Support]

Joe and Gargano needed to get together before the match to discuss their gear.  Both guys wearing yellow and black made them look like they were partners.  Also, they matched the ring, so it was just weird looking.

 

And why is a guy from Cleveland wearing black and yellow anyway?

[Cristobal]

Joe's from Cleveland?

[Jrag]

Outside of the Sasha/Bayley program earlier in the year, Joe has been the best thing in NXT since his arrival.  He looks great and consistently produces interesting TV matches against damn near everyone they put in front of him.

 

I hope we get another Joe/Corbin singles match before they come to their senses and bring Joe up to the main show.

[JCM]

Emma should be on the main roster defending the divas belt against Becky. She's way too good to be used as enhancement talent for f'n Carmella. This mixing NXT booking with Breaking Ground needs to die a quick death. I don't watch it, and have no plans to start as I can't stand "reality" tv garbage. Crews has lost a lot of momentum he needs to step it up because to me he comes off as a RVD clone in the ring. A few cool spots and not much else(not even an annoying taunt to get the fans involved).

 

I'd be happy if I never saw the Ascension, Adam, Rose, Tye Dillinger, or Alex Riley again. Hopefully the next tapings leave most of the useless people at home. Corbin beating Swan was perfect for his indy hater gimmick. Swan looked ok, but there's a lot of talent coming in he'll need to do something to get over and stand out.

[Go2Sleep]

All three guys in the three way next week won without using their finisher. Assuming that was intentional, it was a great, subtle way to distinguish those guys.

Joe's won most of his matches with the rear naked choke thus far (plus he used it to KO Finn 3 weeks in a row), so I'd say it's his primary, but otherwise I agree completely. He didn't use the muscle buster setup, and the other two just won with signature spots. I think Sami has a couple subs with the koji clutch, but Corbin's deep six was just a "big match two count" move.

 

I thought Corbin/Swann was the best match of the three. Rich Swann made the most of his first appearance with some over-the-top bumping and got a couple good shots on Corbin that made him look competent, but didn't make Baron look weak. Pretty much an ideal enhancement match when you plan to use the jobber in a bigger role later.

 

Not sure how I feel about the name "American Alpha," but at least it doesn't have the word Team in front of it. And the promo to set it up was good too.

 

That Vaudevillains promo was strange. Guess they're dropping the gimmick and/or turning heel? Not that there's a lot left for them to do at this point.

[Cristobal]

They've been teasing a heel turn since they refused the respect handshake from Enzo and Cass before London.

[Brysynner]

So who's in no-man's land in NXT currently, here's the list I have:

 

Enzo/Cass (top babyface team but not in title picture, just lost to the champs)

Vaudevillians and Blake/Murphy (middle of the road heel team and former champions, not in title picture)

Samoa Joe (top heel, unlikely to get back-to-back shot against Balor)

Sami Zayn (top babyface, could possibly be reason Finn and Balor Club turn heel, seems above NXT though)

Baron Corbin (top heel, if they're turning Finn heel, he most likely is not getting title shot, so far above other faces in NXT. Unless they say he's the one who took out Itami because reasons)

Evil Emma (top-ish heel, jobber to Asuka and Bayley. Only reason to stick around would be to turn Dana face against her but that seems counter-productive)

[stro]

NXT's biggest strength (one hour show) is also its biggest weakness. Due to the time constraints, a lot of talent gets put on the backburner for months at a time, especially ex-champions, who seem to immediately vanish once losing a title. That means they can really only build the champ and immediate contender. You just have to wait your turn to get the push. 1 hour shows allows them to be focused and not drag, but 2 hours stretches the roster thin. It's a strange spot to be in. It's going to be even more crowded with Anderson and Gallows coming in, and Itami returning. 

 

A lot of people are going to get lost in the shuffle in the next few months. Presumably one of the bigger stars in NXT will get called up after WM, but that still leaves a lot of uppercard guys needing screen time.

[Greggulator]

Sami tapped out Tyson Kidd in one of my favorite all-time NXT matches. Total morality play because Kidd tapped immediately. He didn't even make an attempt to crawl out. He really showed himself as a gutless worm who got ahead by taking shortcuts and had no heart whatsoever. A perfect tap-out.