blitzkrieg

The Center Stage setup was a cool change of pace though it felt like the cameras struggled with the unfamiliar small space at times. Plus who doesn't love a ramp? Was also great early on when Corey asked Booker if that meant NXT was the mothership now. I want to watch some Saturday Night now. Cora/Roxanne vs. Giulia/Bayley was a good opener for the show. Was not expecting the announcement of the Giulia/Bayley/Roxanne for Vengeance Day, though I imagine Cora is going get added to make it a 4-way. The Eddy Thorpe video seemed a great progression from the ones he did as a face. The Grayson Waller Effect was better than I expected. Austin and Grayson did a good job of playing off the crowd in a manner that you can't really do outside of smaller venues. Feel like Oba feels even more comfortable on the mic compared to when him and Tony were on Miz TV. I laughed at the "Austin Theory turning on Grayson" bit. Expected to get some kinda Oba vs. Austin or Grayson out of this, was not expecting the announcement of a 3-way at Vengeance Day. Apparently edgier Trick wasn't either and he got a Fall From Grace for it. Not sure how I feel about Wes's hair dye job. He does at least continue to look more and more comfortable controlling matches without resorting to highspots. He also bumped like crazy for Trick. Great look on Wes's face as he transitioned from not being happy about being beaten up by Trick to happiness that he won by DQ. Gigi had the world largest furry boots on. Possibly the best I've seen Fallon look in a singles match since her heel turn. She looked good controlling Shotzi after the ringpost to the shin/knee spot. I love the spots where you can audibly hear the announcers cringe from a move and you got that when Shotzi hit that Coffin Drop on Fallon. So is Fallon's finisher a Hoe Down or a Ho Down? Why do so many people like Kelani hate love? I love love, so I hope that Karmen takes it to Kelani next week. Liked seeing Cedric and Page get some time. Cedric got to shine while Page perfectly kept using Cedric's injury to get back into things. I do miss the Ego Edge but the Twist of Fate is something that he can hit on anyone. Was a nice little thing that Je'von learned from the last time and was consistently dodging Page every time he swung at his jaw. Main event was fun and wouldn't hate to see it ran back some day. That handspring moonsault by Lash was super impressive. I do wonder if they'll bring up the questionable ref count up in the future with them also bringing up how long it's been since NXT has had tag titles. Another good episode that fit so much in two hours. I was apparently wrong with the idea that KO would get his revenge on Shawn tonight. Will be interesting to see what the teaser at the end of the episode leads to.

Opening Seth regrettably wasn't as much of the serious Seth that we've had recently. Gunther was fine on the mic but boy do I not care about the prospect of Seth and Gunther. Logan Paul comes out and Atlanta hates him and it's great. Much like Gunther, I want Logan Paul to face Gunther so that I can watch him chop his soul out of his body. The Punk/Sami bit was a nice little followup from last week. Always appreciate Karrion as a truth teller. Also, bit awkward between Cody and Sami. God I hope that JD is alright. First Zoey tries to kill Dakota last night and tonight the announce table tries to kill JD. Amazing things went so well considering that. Thoughts and prayers for JD. I could get behind Kaiser and Dunne uniting up, when is Tyler getting back? Love the running shtick of "...even they don't like us?" Great bit with Cathy listing everyone from Atlanta except Xavier Woods as it's favorite son. Last week I wasn't so sure about Kofi losing to Rey so soon after the heel turn but I'm starting to dig the vision. Xavier's family showing up late AND then turning their back on him, while debuting the New Day Sucks shirt, was a great way to continue to build the disconnect between Xavier and Kofi and the rest of the world. As bad as what they did verbally to Big E was, I assume that they're eventually going snap and do something worse to someone physically. Also if Zelina has any doubts about moving to Smackdown, I have one word for her...tranquilo. Nice to see Lyra and have her declare for the Rumble. Totally down for Ivy being potentially her first challenger. There were a couple awkward moments but an overall enjoyable match between Belair/Naomi and Liv/Raquel. I don't know if Bianca and Naomi were totally comfortable with it but I do love that Raquel seems to kinda work a bit of realism into things even if it doesn't necessarily make for the prettiest stuff. Totally cool with Liv and Raquel going after the tag titles since that should keep them away from Rhea. Nice moment with Bayley and Iyo. They have history! Penta package was nice and still treated him like a big deal with his entry into the Rumble. The Bloodline Edition cover of WWE 2K25 is really cool. Drew calling Punk Paul's boy! Was surprised that they ran back Sami/Drew so quickly after SNME but felt this match tonight got to breathe a little bit more. The two of them know each other so well that they can probably put a great match together in their sleep. Liked the callback to Drew losing to Jey when Sami got him with the crucifix after the missed Claymore. Like that every time Sami gets a little bit closer to beating Drew but ultimately Drew finds a way. Like Drew and KO both having the MO at this point of just attacking their opponents after they win. Cody comes to Sami's defense despite the awkwardness earlier because that's just the guy Cody is. Course KO shows up. Chaos ensues and once again Sami hits the wrong man...or did he? Is Cody concussed from that Helluva Kick because he certainly sounds out of it. Punk comes out and they go back and forth amazingly because they have HISTORY~! The final bit with each other going, "I'm not done..." as each tries to get the last word was great. I want like 10 different people to the win the Rumble now but only one can! Probably not as good as the last two weeks but a really good "go home" show. The Rumble matches feel important and that's good. I imagine we'll get the last bit of build for the ladder match on Smackdown. Will say the last few weeks I've started the show late and as a result I'm honestly surprised when the show actually is over which is a feeling I don't hate.

I hope the legends have chairs that spin around when they pick people for their teams.

Yeah, the finish was clunky. Do wonder if they might have had to go home quickly and as a result things got rushed. Been catching up this weekend with Genesis and Impact and it's super noticeable how much they treated the two as an introduction/re-introduction to viewers. As someone who started watching TNA because of the NXT crossover, fell off a bit, and is now re-watching because of the crossover it's probably not a bad idea. Also the Santino bloodline breeds nothing but comedy gold.

I'm penciling in Jey to win the KOTR and then finally win the championship at Summer Slam, potentially being the person to finally dethrone Gunther. The reaction to Jey finally winning the World Title in a stadium is too good to pass up. Announced for Raw: Sami vs. Drew Belair/Naomi vs. Liv/Raquel

Was watching on NBC so I got the bilingual first couple of minutes. Rhea and Nia had good chemistry at Elimination Chamber last year and that carried over to tonight. With the time they had they pretty much just went with all bombs and they're both well suited for that. Rhea also got to bust out some stuff that she couldn't do with 90% of the roster. Sheamus's quest for the IC Title is such an evergreen story to go to. Was probably a bit of a digest version of what they would normally do but was still stiff and aggressive. Thank you Sheamus for taking that spear off the ring steps. KO's shirt game remains undefeated. Cody and KO continue to excel with the emotion and fire. I also wouldn't be surprised if KO doesn't show up on NXT on Tuesday. Jacob is such a good talker, so glad that he's getting to show it off. I was a bit surprised that Braun got so much of the match early but it made Jacob destroying him that much better. Was not expecting the crowd reaction but Bronson Reed got the same a lot. People love big men flying. Gunther controlling Jey allowed Jey's spots to mean a little bit more than they do a lot of the times. Plus the crowd is always going be hot for him which makes every comeback and nearfall feel so much bigger. Think Gunther winning was pretty much inevitable but I think you have Gunther admit that Jey is more than a "funny man." Liked the end with Gunther countering the spear into the powerbomb and finally finishing him off with a second one and a deep pin. Thought all the matches delivered even if they all had very predictable outcomes. Probably didn't feel as big of a thing as the first episode but probably was a better show.

Love that MCMG seemingly is leading a tag team wrestling resurgence on Smackdown. Good match between them and Pretty Deadly. Will be interesting where things go with Pretty Deadly and DIY. Liked the Miz/Aldis segment and the carryover from Kross being upset at the Wyatts being moved to Smackdown and insinuating that Kross got Miz moved to Smackdown. The later segments with A-Town Down Under and Andrade where cute. Do wonder if the Andrade one, in particular, will lead to him getting a manager. There wasn't a whole lot to Piper/Chelsea vs. B-Fab/Michin. Did like them teasing how well Michin and Chelsea know each other with the Chelsea almost reversing Eat Da Feet into the Unprettier and then circling back around with Michin getting the win by reversing the Unprettier into Eat Da Feet. Not crazy about them speed running three US Title matches between Chelsea and Michin in like 2 months but hopefully it'll allow Chelsea to move onto a different challenger. Liked the Charlotte promo and the announcement that she'll return in the Rumble match. Everyone coming out and saying they were going win the Rumble wasn't anything special. Did love Nia telling someone in the crowd "Your mom sucks, kid" in response to them saying she sucked. It was also nice to see Liv get heat without needing Dom to be around. Thought the follow-up six women's tag team match was fun. I love how Candice does the little things in matches like getting hit by Bianca's feet on the backflip moonsault allowing Liv to get the knees up to counter it. Finishing sequence was also well done, I was actually surprised that Liv picked up the win. Apollo got to show off a lot of his impressive arsenal against Johnny, while Johnny got to dominate through underhanded tactics. Hopefully Apollo can build up some momentum after this. Jacob getting to talk is quickly becoming one of the highlights of Smackdown. Feel like tonight was the most Tama has really gotten to show in a match and his match with Knight was pretty solid. Jacob and Braun getting a "Holy shit" chant just for the two of them standing in the ring together is the definition of less is more. Hopefully we get a crazy brawl at SNME. I enjoyed Carmelo/Priest, though I agree that I was a little surprised how much 'Melo got to control against Priest. That said Priest is very much over with the crowd in a manner that he can take a beating and then just fire up and have them in the palm of his hand. Aldis got so many great smug moments tonight. Was expecting MCMG/DIY to get the usual "Smackdown main event before PLE" spot, excited that it's getting on the PLE and as a 2 out of 3 falls match. Like the continuing to simmer fued between Melo and Big Jim, especially with how surprisingly good the match last week was. KO's shirt game continues to be off the chart awesome. The actual match was a bit slow and plodding and had a lot of superkicks but I liked KO working the arm throughout the match. Cody really meant it when he said "on sight." Liked the transfer window actually seeming to be meaningful and all the people declaring for the Rumble. Probably either Priest/Melo or the six-women's tag match as my favorite match of the show. I'll be bummed when three hour Smackdowns go away.

Sounds cool but I'll probably be a dirty trade waiter on this one.

Page is also ultimately a big fish in a small pond, not a huge fish but certainly a bigger than normal fish. So he's in a situation where they don't want him in the title mix but it also doesn't make sense for him to be in a lot of the typical NXT angles. This current angle puts him in a situation where he can be regularly on tv doing something, while not being in the title mix or potentially hurting him in the long run.

Well that's kinda like the idealistic idea behind pirating. The idea that pirating is providing service/access that rights holders/potential right holders aren't. You look at the manga/anime scene which owes itself greatly to distributing(and translating) of stuff that they didn't have the rights to distribute. The rom/emulator scene which often times provides access to games that are only otherwise accessible on the second-hand market. That said the digital age has also made us all so much more entitled when it comes to access to things that just wasn't practical 20-30 years ago.

Enjoyed Ridge/Tony as I think Ridge has to be one of the most improved of '24. Like a lot of his matches he controlled the match and looked really good doing it. Hopefully they finally align Ridge with Spears because post-Chase U he's been pretty aimless and could use some direction. Bayley's promo came off as heartfelt and the mutual love society between her and Giulia was nice. I feel like I need to roll back to the Dom-era to see if even he got boo'ed as loudly as Cora and Roxanne did. I like the carry over from last week with using the PIP break to show the continuing brawl between the four of them and look forward to the tag match next week. Like them giving Dion some shine to develop some personality. Loved the hand print on Wes's face from Trick's slap. Dion looked great athletically and Wes bumped great for him. Good mix of rookie fire and veteran wiles. All business Trick has a nice edge to him that glad handing Trick didn't. Appreciated getting PIP for all of the Heritage Cup match. This might be my favorite of the matches the two of them have had. Dempsey always looks so smooth in the ring and Lexis held his own with him. Liked the swerve of teasing the brass knuckles in the bucket only for it to be an intentional low blow by Lexis getting the win. That said I rather see Dempsey get to do something that wasn't the Heritage Cup match. Least he had a fun match against Gable on Speed last week. Liked using the relationship between Ashante and Karmen to set up the match between Karmen and Jaida. Thought the match was better than I expected and it's nice to see Jaida continue to act moves to her repertoire and Karmen find new ways to work her kicks into matches. I feel like 90% of Jaida's losses are the result of her going for the Hipnotic only for get distracted because someone jumped on the apron. But I will always support love winning. The Family vs. Niko/Brooks was a fun little match. Niko didn't do a whole lot in the match but everything he did had intensity. Nice to see Spears crew finally pick up a win. I assume the long game is that Izzy is going to sow dissension in The Family to allow Spears group to get the North American title. Evil Eddy feels so much more natural than Babyface DJ Eddy ever did. I thought he looked really good tonight against Oba and hopefully they keep having him work his way into situations because he's been money so far. The end of the show seemed to be a tease for a potential Vengeance Day rematch. I feel like NXT has really found their groove on The CW. They fit so much into the show that I honestly get worried that they're trying to do much but it works every week. Really stacked show next week.

Think Jey and Gunther are doing a good job getting over what is pretty much an inevitable conclusion. The backstage segments with Kofi and Xavier continue to be good with even the scummiest of the scummy not being on the same page with them. Kofi and Rey had a couple miscues but overall was a fun little match. Bit surprised that Kofi took the loss here but they did get their heat back afterward. Completely down for Del Toro/Wilde versus Kofi/Xavier. Sami is always good at the fiery babyface promo and tonight wasn't any difference. Liked KO kinda sidestepping the obvious route while also playing mind games with Sami. I'm not sure if this was better than their Summer Slam match but overall this was a fine good match between Bayley and Nia. It also solved one of my main complaint about Bayley matches which is that the limb work doesn't actually factor into the match. They also didn't go too over ambitious in the match which was the problem with their Bad Blood match. Bayley busting out her own Annihilator was cute. Little surprised that Nia beat Bayley on her first night on Raw but Nia kinda needed it for her match with Rhea and who doesn't love a good Bayley comeback story? Also liked Roxanne and Bayley slowly building. Love the pyro for Penta's entance. Liked the story of every time Penta took control he got cocky and Pete took advantage of it. Pete made the Sacrifice look nasty. Two for two on them presenting Penta as a big deal. Will be interesting where things go with Gable learning the dark arts of lucha libre. Great promo by Punk which fit a lot of stuff in a small package. Loved the unexpected jab at Sami not being on his level. Loved even more Punk destroying Hogan. Zoey Stark tried to murder Dakota with the springboard dropkick. Wasn't crazy about Kai getting so little offense in after being in the IC Tourney Finals last week. Match was just kinda okay but it is great to see how over Iyo is. Really good Seth and Drew match as the main event. I feel like Seth has been reigning in some of his worst habits lately and Drew really doesn't put on anything but good matches. Probably one of the best things about the move to Netflix is being able to hear stuff in the ring better and Drew and Seth really used that to their advantage jawing at each other. Liked the flash pin victory for Seth and Drew going from saying they should be on the same side to attempted homicide. Maybe Sami really should retire the Helluva Kick and go with the Blue Thunder Bomb considering how often he hits the wrong person with it. Probably the best episode of the short Netflix era. All the matches got ample time, there wasn't an over abundance of talking, and the shows continue to not feel long. Seth/Drew was probably the match of the show but I give a lot of love to Bayley/Nia.

Bayley officially to Raw through the transfer window and faces Nia Jax, who is on loan from Aldis. Penta also wrestling tonight. BTS Footage of Penta's debut:

I was thinking about the potential surprises, outside of main roster returns and NXT people. On the men's side I'm thinking Hendry, Nic Nemeth, and an outside shot of Cardona. I can't come up with that many names on the women's side outside of Grace and Masha. It would also be kinda cool if they had someone from Noah, even if it would obviously be a bigger deal in Japan than it would be to the fans in attendance.

Think the thing is that people just generally aren't released from AEW, so there's not a whole lot of past situations to look at. Even if he was released and doesn't have a non-compete, I would be surprised if they put him in the Rumble just because I would imagine they'd want to figure out what they were going do with him first.

Thought the opening segment was a good use of Rey in his hometown. I'm not sure what's crazier: how well Owens has done at getting the crowd to turn on him or his incredible t-shirt game he has going on. Crazy that Rey and KO haven't wrestled a singles match till last night. Thought that Nia/Candice vs. Naomi/Bianca was better than the previous tag title match. Still was a bit surprised that they ran this back so soon. At this point it has to be Naomi that attacked Jade, right? Liked the Bayley interview with Byron, did a good job of making the match feel like a big thing. Liked Jimmy getting a mini version of Jey's intro with his cutting the promo on the way to the ring. Was surprised by the chemistry that Jimmy and Carmelo had, especially since during Jimmy's heel tenure he mostly just took a beating in single matches. I loved the shot of Jimmy on the top rope which then cut to reveal that the reason he was frozen was Jacob being on the opposite side of the ring. Will be interesting where they go with Solo but loved Jacob on the mic. The reaction for Braun and Jacob again was great and can't wait for the train wreck at SNME. Great to see a tag team wrestling match get as much time as MCMG/Los Garza got. It's great to see 'Berto and Angel in the last few weeks get the most focus they've had since their last trip down to NXT. In turn I feel like MCMG are really pulling crowds in with just tag team wrestling which is nice to see. Hopefully Los Garza doesn't fade into the background after this loss. Also, can DIY turn Pretty Deadly into sympathetic figures? Piper/B-Fab seemed mostly there to reintroduce B-Fab to the mix. B-Fab didn't really get to show as much as during the triple threat match or her Speed matches but everything she did looked good, despite her looking hesitant a few times. Imagine we'll get the Michin/B-Fab vs. Chelsea/Piper tag match that seemed like we were going get weeks ago. Thought Rey/KO was a good TV match. I like the subtle nature of KO not being able to get the win with his face finisher of the Stunner and instead having to go back to the Popup Powerbomb. The face running out to save the heel from injuring someone is always a nice beat and constant brawling between KO and Cody has been a nice way to keep the feud hot between the first SNME and the Royal Rumble. I thought Bayley and Tiffany was a good match but not a great match. One of my biggest complaints about Bayley's matches lately has been they're built around limb work and they have good limb work but the limb work never factors into the actual finish. I just like the finish playing into Tiffany not being able to get the cartwheel Alabama Slam the first time though they didn't get into it the cleanest either. Also wouldn't have minded Roxanne's presence being a bit more of a distraction to heat things up a bit. Another enjoyable week. I think there was a lot of dread with Smackdown going to three hours but I feel like they're basically doing their usual show and just giving everything more time. Nothing bad in-ring, I probably would say MCMG/Los Garza was my favorite match but that probably is just my soft spot for tag team wrestling. Roxanne challenging Bayley to come to NXT on Tuesday:

It was probably one of the better ideas for that period of WCW and that's not saying much. You also have the spiritual successor in the Kaentai overdub which birthed "Indeeeed."

I don't think it's really that much of a concern with how the WWE has been handling things under Trips. They've been more than willing to let talent cut pre-tape promos in their native languages and subtitling them. With the shows airing live in Mexico on Netflix, they might actually encourage it to a degree.

Thought the opening interview was a perfectly fine way to get Punk, Drew, and Rollins all into the Royal Rumble. Great crowd reaction for Punk alluding to Cena. I will say that Penta/Gable wasn't exactly the match I was expecting but I really enjoyed it. I honestly really appreciated how much Penta sold the leg throughout the match. Great presentation with Penta, crowd was super hot for him, look forward to where things go with him. Sheamus and Kaiser basically can't have a bad match with each other and that continued tonight. Looking forward to Bron/Sheamus for the IC Title at SNME, do they finally let Sheamus take the title this time? As a Dakota fan, I'm not sure what I'm hurt more by her not taking the belt or them replacing "Kombat" as her theme. Actually the most painful thing was that vertical suplex off the apron. The match felt a little short but both women looked really good and hopefully we get a rematch in the near future. Gunther has gotten so much more comfortable on the mic and Jey is both incredibly over and also learning how to use that in a more serious way. Chances of Jey winning are slim and none but the crowd is going want him to win so badly that it should make for a great environment. I laughed a little bit as they promoted Sami vs. Miz as happening before they actually showed the backstage segment. I do have to wonder if Final Testament gets ushered over to Smackdown to continue the Wyatt Sicks program. Sami won a match with the Blue Thunder Bomb, we truly are living in a new era. Nia coming out to interrupt Rhea's promo was unexpected but Nia also gets the most heat from the crowd out of the entire women's roster. I was expecting an announcement that Bayley was transfer window'ing to Raw but I imagine no big names are going move before the Rumble. Gotta keep the idea of them potentially winning the Rumble and picking another brand's champion as their opponent. Certainly wouldn't hate Rhea/Bayley at WM. As much as I hope that Priest can escape the Judgement Day orbit finally, the main event was fun. Liked the brawling through the crowd to setup the really great looking Broken Arrow through the tables. Was nice to see Damian go "Screw it" and attack Finn when he was on the stretcher. The match felt a little short but in a good way because they didn't unnecessarily drag the match out. Maybe give me a minute or two between Finn putting Damian through the table before he eat the Razor's Edge through the other table. This felt much more like a normal episode of Raw than last week. I appreciate them not really feeling the need to go "shock and awe" with anything and instead just putting on a good show.

Trips has said that he thinks the sweet spot is somewhere between 2 and 3 hours, so I would assume that is where they'll end up most weeks. With Smackdown's third hour being a temporary thing, the days of weekly three hour shows might be going by the wayside.

Opening segment was the usual quality from Heyman. Liked the follow up on Cody saying that it was "on sight" with KO which led into some establishing of The New Bloodline as a threat. Was a bit surprised that we got Chelsea/Michin for the title so quickly but the two of them do have good in-ring chemistry with each other. Liked Chelsea getting a clean win for a heel as the story remains that Piper's presence keeps potentially costing Michin the win. Los Garza and Pretty Deadly had a solid match despite a few spots that they didn't seem to be on the same page. Liked PD calling out desperately for DIY to come help them to no avail. Liked more Angel bringing back the tear away pants. Nice to see Angel and Humberto pick up a win, though oof on the velocity that Elton Prince got on the new version of their finisher. I liked Shin and Knight's match tonight better than their match at Survivor Series. They had a little bit more room to breathe tonight and tell a story. Was a nice bit of storytelling after Shin constantly coming out on top by using the environment finally bit him in the butt with the Kinsasha to the exposed turnbuckle. Only for Knight coming to regret throwing Jacob out of the arena when him and Tama attacked him. MCMG and A-Town Down Under had a better match than their previous encounter and they got a lot of time to develop the match. Both teams got to show a lot which was nice and I appreciated that it wasn't miscommunication that cost Theory and Waller. MCMG and Los Garza should be really good next week. Tiffy's in-ring segment was a little rough as she's apparently not a face which makes the crowd a bit confused as to how to react to her. The impromptu four way was fun, especially Bayley's segments with Naomi and Bianca. Liked the idea that all 3 women kept landing bombs on Nia but couldn't pin her because of the others saving the match. Was a bit surprised that Bayley got the win since I am fully expecting her to transfer window herself to Raw. Solid main event tag team match. '25 has to be such a big year for Jacob with how much the crowd is already into him. Liked bringing back from the start of the show that Cody is willing to abandon everything to go after KO which allowed Jacob to get the fall over Jimmy. The landing of Cody and KO when they went through those tables did not look fun. Appreciate that with the extra hour that the matches all get a little bit more time. Thought it was an overall good show with the women's 4 way probably being the best match of the night.

Will admit that I'm a little bummed, but not surprised, that the non-live version of Raw remains the US version instead of the global version for the US. If you're ad-free, Netflix just goes from before the commercial break to after the commercial break.

I haven't seen the Dr. Death/Windham match so I'll have to check it out. I imagine it requires a lot of back tracking to figure out when Nova originally invented a spot.

Thought that Roxy and Giulia clicked a lot better tonight than in their first match. Wouldn't have minded a little bit more selling of the arm from Giulia. Liked both the tease of the double countout with the Northern Lights Bomb on the floor and of a repeat of Chicago with Cora showing up. Finish felt a little abrupt but great moment for Giulia. Rematch at Vengeance Day? The four-way might have actually been better than the opener. Really great showcase for all four women. I loved how they had Lola constantly going for a submission during the match. Stephanie definitely seemed the right choice for the win but feels like everyone's stock was elevated after this. I really enjoyed the six women's tag match. I think Shotzi/Tatum/Gigi are a fun pairing and hope that they stay together for a while. I went into the match hoping that there were no topes but maybe the lope is safer for Shotzi. Liked the logic of Shotzi having an argument for a North American shot after pinning Fallon and using that to set up Stephanie/Shotzi for next week. Who thought that Lexis and Dempsey would have such great chemistry? Also was everyone just laying things in tonight and last night? So much hard way blood these past two nights. I expected Lexis to willingly cheat tonight but instead they ape the Dustin/Steamboat spot, just with Lexis pulling the trigger this time. Will be interesting where they go with things from here. Trick and Oba went out there and had what I thought was one of Trick's better matches since Trick and Ilja left. I kinda wanted Eddy to somehow pull off the victory but I'll settle for his presence ultimately being what allowed Oba to beat Trick. Look forward to all three facing each other in different variations from here. Rock on NXT ended up being a pretty cool moment. Liked Rock acknowledging the criticism of nice Rock as only he can. I want a backstage video of Shawn's face when Rock said he was going go all night. In the end he killed it. Tidbits: Liked the OTM promo vid to build up to them facing Fraxiom next week. Dug the whole Rock/Ava/Ethan segment in the back. Overall I would say that this might have been the best episode of NXT that I can remember. I'm not putting any of the matches in the all-time NXT match rankings but I can't think of any episodes that were this strong from start to finish. Also Corey is really happy that he's not getting paid per line. Edit: Rock actually nailed the time cue, CW really needs to complain to their affiliates that are cutting off NXT in some areas. Thankfully my local CW has switched to reruns of Friends after NXT and now doesn't cut off the end.

I think that Punk continues to try to put Rollins in his rear view mirror until Rollins does something that forces the issue again with him. Wouldn't be surprised if they use this to strip all the "over the top" stuff from Rollins. In a sort of reversal of Punk/Drew, I imagine Rollins does everything in his power to prevent Punk getting to main event Wrestlemania leading to the two of them at WM.