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Yo-Yo's Roomie

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On 10/1/2019 at 2:25 PM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

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?

IMO, that's exactly what happened. Bayley rather effectively polished a lot of things that would never turn into diamonds while Sasha's wheels spun.

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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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.

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So Cole's heeling was supposed to be a continuation of when he was on the game show version of NXT.  He shat on the whole thing then and somebody thought him as heel was a good idea.  It as you could tell was pretty stupid and thankfully they haven't tried it since.  But it led to Bayley/Eva Marie which i remember had a lot of smoke and mirrors to make it entertaining.  It was a fun enough time-killer to set up the Takeover title match.  It's definitely not Bayley/Sasha but I think you'll like that one when you get to it.

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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.

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I'm partial to the IronWoman match just because that's my favorite gimmick match. But they are both just pretty much professional wrestling at its best. I think I would show both of those matches to someone who has never watched wrestling as an entry point. If you don't like wrestling after those matches with all of those iconic moments and the great stories in both -- Bayley digging down deeper than she ever thought she could to win in Brooklyn bookended with Sasha showing her true heel coward self and not gutting it out for a few more seconds in the IronWoman -- than you just do not like wrestling. 

I really wanted Sasha and Bayley to be tied that year, I believe. If I absolutely HAD to vote, I'd go with Bayley. That is not taking one thing away from Sasha, obviously. But I think it's a lot harder to be a babyface than it is to be a heel. Bayley''s persona was also not some ass kicking, brash in-your-face type that we usually associate as faces. She was a nice person who tried to do the right things and be a role model. She started out with people thinking she might have been a female Eugene. When she finally bested Sasha and was the last Horsewoman left, she was arguably the most over character in NXT history up to that point -- and even maybe still to this day. And that character had a lot of legs to it, considering she finally made her turn to the darkness tonight.

That's just such a hard gimmick to pull off. Sasha's act has a lot more layers to it than what it looks like on its face -- she's not just some blinged-out snot, she's actually a completely insecure person who puts on this false bravado as The Boss. But Bayley's role is a lot harder. 

Also, Bayley had so many fun matches after the Ironwoman match. I remember really liking the Eva Marie match a lot -- just a really great bells-and-whistles performance where Bayley got to show her stuff against someone who was truly awful at professional wrestling. 

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On 10/5/2019 at 12:06 PM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

11/11/15

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.

That does sort of sound like something she'd do.

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Regarding the Bayley/Eva Marie match, it was more meta than anything. So you had the Eva gets training from Kendrick thing, plus the Total Divas stuff, plus the "WWE Corporate" stuff since I assume, HHH didn't want it to be the Authority since he wants to be NXT papa and not a heel at the time. All those things played into a fun TV match that didn't mean much in the long run. I thought it was a really fun match and a culmination of a lot of things going on, especially if you were a person that watched the main roster/NXT/Total Divas shows plus some dirtsheets.

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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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

NXT Takeover: London

The show starts with the lights in the arena coming up, and Triple H standing in the ring. He gets a big pop. Now, I had my 1-year-old with me while I was watching this, and he saw the crowd cheering and clapping, so he started doing the same. I know he was just imitating what he was seeing, but it really looked like he was marking out for Triple H.

Asuka Vs Emma: You guys were right. This rocked. Easily the best Asuka has looked yet, and Evil Emma is just awesome. I'd say she's easily the third best woman in NXT history (to this point), behind only Sasha and Bayley. Which I consider high praise, because those two are two of the best acts period, and Emma is right on the cusp of that conversation. Dana is a good second, but needed to be involved more in the body of the match. The finish is all about Dana trying to interfere though, and the crowd are red hot for these nearfalls thinking that Emma is going to steal the win. In the end Asuka wins with the roundhouse kick. They got about 15 minutes, and if any match tops this tonight, this will be a great show.

Dash and Dawson Vs Enzo and Big Cass: The crowd really helped this one. It was a decent match using sound tag psychology, but the crowd being so hot for Enzo and Cass definitely made it a lot more enjoyable than it otherwise might have been. Great nearfall off the rocket launcher, but Dawson pulled Enzo out of the ring before the 3. Shatter Machine off the top rope on Enzo for the win. Dash and Dawson are going to get over big for their work.

Baron Corbin Vs Apollo Crews: This was the come-down match, for me at least. Not technically bad at all, but a little dull, and the crowd were noticeably not as invested. In fact, they almost threatened to turn on the match completely at a couple of points (though never actually did). Crews is just not the kind of babyface that I would expect a UK crowd to rally behind. I was surprised they put Corbin over clean in this one, with the End of Days. First loss for Apollo.

Bayley Vs Nia Jax: Before the match, Jax is being interviewed in the back and has a little staredown with Asuka who was passing by. This match continues the show's downward trajectory. I didn't think this really worked at all. It went way to long, and had way too much of Nia dominating, with Bayley's only hope spots being kick outs and the guillotine choke that would eventually win her the match. Someone needed to watch Hogan/Andre to check out how to do this kind of psychology properly. I think it was a bad decision to put Nia in this match so soon after debuting anyway, and probably a worse idea to have her tapping out. That's the kind of WWE move that NXT usually knows better than to do. Crowd was huge into Bayley though. Maybe the most over act on the show, which at least led to a good atmosphere for the match. This was the debut (as far as I can tell) of the 'Hey Bayley' song.

Finn Balor Vs Samoa Joe: Do people not like this match? I can only ever remember people shitting on the Balor/Joe matches, but I thought this was pretty good. Really good monster heel performance from Joe, and just in general these guys wrestled the match like it was a war. I admit, my expectations were low, especially when Balor came out in a Demon/Jack the Ripper ensemble that made him look like the Spirit of Jazz from the Mighty Boosh (people had to be making that joke at the time). I mean, the Demon always looks stupid as hell, but this was something else. But these guys, Joe especially, just brought the intensity and violence to the match. I really think they should have put Joe over here though. The company would just be more interesting with Joe as the unstoppable beast that people have to conquer as champion, than Balor doing the generic fighting champion thing.

Show rating: Two good matches sandwiched a very hit-and-miss midcard stretch, but as always with these things, this was a very easy show to watch, with nothing that I would really consider outright bad (maybe the Bayley/Nia match, but the crowd was at least engaging). Grand scheme, I'd call this one of the weaker, and maybe the most forgettable, of all the Takeovers, but still put it at 3 1/2 stars.

Show MVP: Samoa Joe.

3 1/2 star match: Emma Vs Asuka.

3 1/4 star match: Finn Balor Vs Samoa Joe.

Edited by Yo-Yo's Roomie
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12/23/15

The last show of the year (next week's is a recap). We're still in London, and the big selling point here is the return of Sami Zayn.

Chad Gable and Jason Jordan Vs The Vaudevillains Vs The Hype Bros Vs Blake and Murphy: Gable is insanely over here. Maybe the most over person on the roster across the two London shows. Based on this reaction, it wouldn't be insane to put the NXT title on him. Really puts this Shorty G crap in perspective. The Vaudevillains come out dressed as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. That's how you do London-themed dress-up, Finn. Blake, Murphy and Alexa are in their Freddy Kruger-inspired duds. "The Vaudevillains are dressed as Holmes and Watson, Blake and Murphy are dressed as Freddy Kruger, and the Hype Bros are dressed as a couple of idiots". Graves telling it like it is. Like the last time the two teams met, the Gable/Gotch exchange is the best part of this match (I'm still hoping for that singles match), but all of this was pretty fun. Hype Bros got booed, by the way. Gable gets the win over Blake to pop the crowd.

We see Emma and Dana in the back after Takeover. Emma is being treated for a fat lip or something. Asuka comes in and mocks them and then leaves. Dana says playtime is over. I'm down for more Asuka/Dana/Emma interaction.

Tye Dillinger cuts a promo on Sami. I guess he's his opponent for tonight. Dillinger is in that role of being a heel or face depending on who he's facing.

Elias Samson Vs Bull Dempsey: This is billed as Samson's debut. It isn't even his debut in this gimmick. In fact, I think they fed him to Bull before on the episode taped in Brooklyn. The Drifter is just the kind of wrestling character I can get behind. He doesn't show much in the ring though. Really he gets battered, but then hits the jumping knee and finishes it off with a flying elbowdrop. I never got why Elias has this electric guitar music when he's supposed to be a folksy troubadour type. Still, I like the whole aesthetic of the gimmick at this point. Weird that Graves is always a total cheerleader for Bull, and shits on Elias.

Sami Zayn Vs Tye Dillinger: Dillinger is really over with the 10 gimmick. Actually, it's a bit of a disservice to Sami to put him in there with someone so popular. Sami, of course, gets a big pop for this return. Nice little match with Sami having some ring rust and Tye taking advantage, until Zayn finds his feet and wins with the Helluva Kick. He then cuts a promo promising big things for 2016. I'm expecting big things in 2016 too, Sami.

Episode MVP: Chad Gable.

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2015 year end awards.

Male wrestler of the year: I really had to think hard about this one, as I think this year has undoubtedly been carried by the women, and on the men's side, things are pretty much split down the middle with guys who excelled in the first part of the year (the 'old guard', if you like, of Sami and Neville), and guys that came on towards the end of the year, like Joe. But even Joe had a period where he was kinda caught in limbo, and it was really only the heel turn that reinvigorated him. Then I thought about a low-key pick like Scott Dawson who is solid all the time, or even someone like Gable who just burst on the scene and was never not awesome. In the end though, I think the right pick for me is Kevin Owens. Owens has his critics, and I'm not a particularly big fan of him myself, but I think he really carried the men's main event scene for a good portion of the year, mostly with his promos, heeling and character work, and he was the kind of guy that gave focus to the show because you believed that everyone was gunning for him. That went away when Finn got the belt.

Female wrestler of the year: Okay, wait for it. This is going to be a shocker. It's Sasha Banks. Sasha is actually my all-round NXT wrestler of the year, with Bayley a close second. I mean, I've waxed lyrical about her all year, so I don't really need to add anything else at this point. She just stole the show pretty much every time out.

Tag team of the year: Dash and Dawson. Yeah, it was only towards the end of the year that they were really taken seriously as a team, but even before that I thought they looked the best team in the company from an in-ring standpoint. Gable and Jordan were close for similar reasons. Shout outs to the Vaudevillains (my personal fave, and had some good highs) and Blake and Murphy (a nice find for me).

Character of the year: I see this as another battle between Sasha and Bayley. I literally just wrote I was giving it to Bayley and then deleted it when I remembered Sasha making Izzy cry, which was the most enjoyable bit of character work all year. Yeah, Sasha as the Boss takes this. Honourable mention to Evil Emma, obnoxious Kevin Owens and ridiculous Dana Brooke. Oh no, it's Blue Pants! It's Blue Pants.

Match of the year: Sasha Vs Bayley. Which one? I don't know. Which one did I say I liked better last time? The ironman, right? Yeah, the ironman. 

Feud of the year: Sasha Vs Bayley. They had the two best matches of the year, the great contract signing, the characters worked so well off each other, and they took women's wrestling to a new level in the US. It has to be them.

None-wrestler of the year: Hideo Itami. Ha. No, really, I'm gonna give this to my girl, Devin Taylor. Because why not? I think she's gone now. I haven't seen her in a while, and Dana is doing the head-patting angle with Phillips now. So this is my parting gift to you, Devin. Thanks for the memories.

Show of the year: Brooklyn. The best of a strong bunch of Takeovers.

2015 was a lot of fun, but I might take 2014 overall as a stronger year.

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Catching up on your reviews, and I’m glad to see Asuka/Emma getting love. It easily one of the best examples ever of playing with fans expectations, as it really had fans biting on the near falls after interference. It helped of course that Asuka’s streak wasn’t really a thing yet.

That Bailey/Eva match was similar, as IIRC there were rumors Eva was about to get a huge push and win the title, so people were fearful of a short Bayley title run leaving to Eva with the title.

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1/13/16

New year, new commentary team, as we get Phillips back in the booth with Corey.

The show starts with William Regal returning to Full Sail. He tells us that tonight will be a battle royal to determine the new number one contender for the women's title.  He then introduces another man making his return, Sami Zayn. Zayn says his goal in 2016 is to become the first 2-time NXT champion. That brings out Samoa Joe, who says that Finn Balor barely survived him at Takeover, and Sami has to get to the back on the line. Next, Baron Corbin comes out and says that as far as he's concerned, he's the uncrowned NXT champion. Joe leaves and Corbin attacks Sami from behind, but Sami fights back and knocks Corbin out of the ring. Joe looks to sneak back in, but Sami sees him coming. Decent segment to start the year, establishing who the top contenders are going to be the title.

Rich Brennan has been relegated to backstage interviewer, and is with Bayley, who wishes the competitors in the battle royal luck.

A video package shows the winners of the 2015 NXT awards, as voted for by the fans. Enzo and Cass are tag team of the year, Bayley is female competitor of the year, Balor is male competitor of the year, Takeover Brooklyn is Takeover of the year, Sasha Vs Bayley from that show is match of the year, and Balor is overall competitor of the year. 

Tommaso Ciampa Vs Danny Burch: This is the most competitive Burch has been allowed to look. They're obviously running with Ciampa now as a rugged stiff kind of wrestler, based on his impressive match with Joe, which gets referenced here. Burch is a good opponent for him to get this style over, and this is a fun little match. Ciampa is growing on me. Graves has started putting him over now as well.

Enzo and Cass cut a promo in the back saying that they're not done with Dash and Dawson.

Regal makes a triple threat number one contenders match between Zayn, Corbin and Joe for two weeks out.

Dash and Dawson Vs The Ascension: Please stop bringing the Ascension back to NXT. Dash and Dawson beat them pretty quickly at least.

In the back, Nia Jax is being tended to by a medic. Eva Marie is with her. Regal comes in and says he needs to know if Jax is going to be able to compete in the battle royal. The doctor says she can't, and Eva Marie is seen pumping her first in celebration in the background, before acting sympathetic. Eva Marie says she'll win the match for both of them. I feel like the Eva/Nia friendship could have been developed a little better. This is also doing Nia no favours. Not only did she tap out to Bayley, but three weeks later she still isn't ready to compete.

Elias Samson Vs Corey Hollis: Quickish win for Elias, this time using the spinning neckbreaker he does. Corey is still bashing him on commentary. He looks very rough in the ring.

Number one contendership battle royal: This match really exposes the lack of depth in the NXT women's division. You've got Asuka and Emma, who I would consider the stars of this match. Then you have Alexa Bliss, Eva Marie and Carmella. Bliss and Eva have already had shots and lost definitively, and aren't really presented as serious threats. I can't remember the last time Carmella won a match. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce have never won a match, but at least get to be competitive. Deonna Purrazzo is a pure jobber. Liv Morgan is a pure jobber too, but at least kind of has a gimmick. There's a girl named Ailiyah making her debut. I guess she's of Arabic descent, which is the kind of thing they'd probably push hard now, though it isn't mentioned here. Oh, and Cameron is thrown in too, which isn't helping anything. I don't know if Nia was legit hurt here or they didn't want her doing another job or what. No idea where Dana is. Everyone got a little promo time during the show. The "highlights" are Peyton referring to herself as the Venus flytrap of NXT (and still sniffing on that flower, Ailiyah doing a very uncoordinated spin and just generally coming off like a nobody jobber, and whatever it is Liv Morgan did. It was some kind of hip hop reference or something, I'm guessing? The match itself was okay. Eva Marie gets knocked out by an Asuka kick right off the bat and rolls under the ring. I guess we'll be seeing her lately. Ailiyah is the first one out. Great debut for her. It comes down to Asuka, Peyton and Billie. Nice spot for the future Iiconics to be in. Asuka takes care of them, but Eva comes back in and eliminates Asuka. It really looked like Asuka begrudged doing that job. Crowd boos, but then pops huge when they realise Carmella had also been selling on the outside. She comes back in and throws Eva out to win the match. Bayley comes out to congratulate her and commentary puts over the great friendship between the two, which I guess was established by the two if them arriving to Takeover together. I did like the finish. Nice to see some subversion of the 'wrestler hiding on the outside' trope finally. And it was a smart way to get Carmella a big pop for winning. But, if Carmella won, that means Asuka lost. Which means her undefeated streak was a lie all along...

Episode MVP: Ciampa.

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There was a show on the Network at this time called Breaking Ground, which was a docuseries "behind the scenes" thing about the PC and NXT, of which Aliyah was a significant part of.  As was Bayley and Carmella and a few others. It was actually a really good show and I wish it were still on. 

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1/20/16

Sami Zayn Vs Adam Rose: It's funny. Since the start of NXT I've seen Rose go from campy, 1930's adventure movie-style bad guy to deranged hunter to party-loving babyface to angry, party-loving heel and now to serious, the-party's-over guy. He can't be much longer for this company. Zayn puts him away with the koji clutch. 

Jordan and Gable are cutting a promo where they decide on the team name, American Alpha. "We're American. And we're alpha males..." Might have been better if that was something that was bestowed on them by Graves on commentary or whatever. 

Apollo Crews Vs Tye Dillinger: Crews wins a basic match. Then he cuts a promo saying he wants to finish what was started a few weeks ago, and challenges Finn Balor to a rematch. None-title since he knows he hasn't earned a title match.

A little vignette shows the Vaudevillains all smiles while their music plays, then the music goes sinister, and they start to scowl. I guess that's the heel turn. Interesting to just do a heel turn with a vignette rather than actually letting that story play out in the ring.

Baron Corbin Vs Rich Swann: Wasn't expecting Rich Swann here. He gets an entrance and a little bit of hype from commentary too. He gets to show some of his stuff, before Corbin puts him down with the Deep 6. 

Bayley and Carmella are being interviewed in the back. They team up tonight against Emma and Alexa Bliss. Dash and Dawson come in and start talking shit about Enzo and Cass. 

Carmella and Bayley Vs Emma and Alexa Bliss: Dana Brooke is with Emma. Why isn't she in the match? Carmella makes Alexa tap to the Code of Silence. She needed a win to help make her a credible challenger to Bayley. 

Samoa Joe Vs Johnny Gargano: So, Ciampa managed to make a short match with Joe really entertaining, and get himself over in the process,  just by matching him for stiffness. Let's see what Gargano can do in a similar spot. Well, this is pretty fun too. Gargano's approach is pretty much just to take a holy beating, and throw in some big bumps. Joe wins with the kokina clutch. Joe's heel act is great right now. He's such a killer. I hope he wins the triple threat next week. Actually, I wish the match was just Sami Vs Joe because that could be really good.

Episode MVP: Joe.

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@Yo-Yo's Roomie, I agree with every single winner in your 2015 NXT Year End Awards. 2015 and 2018 are the two best years in NXT history. 2018 was probably the best of them but 2015's my favourite if that makes sense as it was the first year I really got into NXT and that was the year of the Legit Boss, Sasha Banks who delivered on all four of her TakeOver matches.

Edited by The Natural
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1/27/16

American Alpha Vs Blake and Murphy: This is really fun. Probably the best Blake and Murphy match I've seen, and I've enjoyed a few of theirs. Gable gets his knee worked over and makes the hot tag to Jordan. AA finish with the assisted German. Gable holds his injured leg off the mat when he does his bridge, and I fall deeper in love with him. These guys against Dash and Dawson is gonna be lit.

Dana and Emma cut a promo in the back. This is the best way to start NXT- a Gable match followed by a Dana promo. They talk some trash about Bayley and Carmella.

Nia Jax Vs Liv Morgan: Jax is accompanied by Eva Marie. She squashes little Liv.

Alex Riley Vs Bull Dempsey: Riley? Now there's a surprise. He looks disgusting. All greasy and grungy. But massive. He puts Bull down with some shitty running knee thing. In the back he cuts a promo about how when Sami Zayn was coming back from injury, he got hype videos and they announced it beforehand. But he got nothing, and no-one even checked on him when he was out. We'll see where this goes, I guess.

Elias Samson Vs John Skyler: Elias doesn't seem to be getting over at all. Probably because he's dull as ditch water in the ring, and his character hasn't really been developed at all. He always seems really blown up too, which isn't a good sign in these short squash matches where he's not really doing anything.

Sami Zayn Vs Samoa Joe Vs Baron Corbin: Number one contenders match. The finish of this can fuck right off. Zayn puts Corbin in a sharpshooter. Joe comes in and locks in a crossface, and Corbin taps. The ref calls for the bell, but doesn't know who to award the match to. I fucking hate these finishes. It makes your referee look incompetent, it makes the whole company look stupid for not having a plan for this eventuality, and makes the wrestlers look dumb too for standing around arguing. William Regal comes out and says he's going to have to review the footage, and that's how the show ends. Big disappointment, with the only saving grace being that I'll probably get that Sami/Joe singles match I was wanting.

Episode MVP: Gable.

 

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