[NXT SPOILERS] For FEB 10 (Taped 1/22)

[RIPPA]

From WON

 

 

Dark Match:

 

Manny Andrade (La Sombra) beat Rich Swann

2/10 TV show:

 

Baron Corbin beat Johnny Gargano

 

Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley beat John Skyler & Corey Hollis

 

Alexa Bliss pinned Cameron

 

Elias Samson pinned Jessy Sorenson

 

NXT Women's Champion Bayley pinned Carmella to retain. After the match, Nia Jax and Eva Marie attacked Carmella & Bayley until Asuka made the save. Asuka ran Eva Marie & Nia Jax off and then had a staredown with Bayley.

 

From PWI

 

 

Dark match: Manny Andrade defeated Rich Swann. 

 

Week 1

- Baron Corbin defeated Johnny Gargano. 

 

- The Hype Bros defeated Cory Hollis and John Skylar.

 

- Alexa Bliss defeated Cameron. 

 

- Elias Samson defeated Jesse Sorensen. 

 

- NXT Women's Champion Bayley defeated Carmella to retain the title.

 

Post match: Carmella is leaving when she is attacked by Eva Marie and Nia Jax. Bayley tries to make the save but is also beaten down. Nia drags Carmella to the ring to work her over some more. Bayley tries again to make the save, but is thwarted. Asuka comes out and stares Nia and Eva down until they leave. Bayley comes back in the ring to check on Carmella and comes face to face with Asuka until Asuka leaves.

 

 

[SirSmUgly]

Gargano kinda sucks, but Corbin is always entertaining, shit-talking the fans while beating up Gargano and selling for that superkick and such. I wish they'd put the title on him because he's drawing legit heat. 

 

Hype Bros, Alexa, Cameron was run-of-the-mill mediocrity. Well, Cameron threw utterly shitty strikes in this match, so she was a bit worse than mediocre. 

 

Let's just have Gable, Jordan, Enzo, and Cass have a segment each week for awhile. 

 

Bayley was super-vocal tonight. She looked like she was mostly just fucking around for the first five minutes, which she can get away with because she has charisma. After the break, they picked it up, though. Bayley bumped around and sold for Carmella nicely and Carmella did what she could to keep up. I really dug the dive spots to pop the crowd, particularly where she was trying to figure out whether to go for it again, then decided that this was her one chance and hit it for the second time in a row. That got the crowd behind her and was really well-laid-out. The finish was also really good and surprised me. Good match! 

 

Not to take away from Carmella, who looked better than she has ever looked by far in this match, but I think there is no coincidence that she looked so good opposite Bayley. Bayley deserves a bit more love for her ring generalship. The Eva Marie match had a lot of jibber-jabber to help Bayley along, but pair it with the Jax and Carmella matches and I think Bayley is clearly one of the better workers in the company at this point, maybe top ten or twelve or so. In a company full of awesome workers, that means something.

 

The end sequence with Nia Jax, Eva Marie, and Asuka was pretty awesome, too. Asuka turning to look at Bayley and Bayley being like "Aw, shit" was priceless. 

[Josh Mann]

NXT: Friendship Is Magic, Asuka is Murder

[Niners Fan in CT]

Enjoyable show, I liked how they did Carmella losing a hard fought battle and then they remained best friends. Good stuff. Carmella isn't jealous or bitter and all that bullshit you'd see on the main roster. 

 

The post-match stuff was great.   Nia Jax and Eva Marie had tons of heat and then Asuka comes out and everyone is losing their shit..  the women have been booked so perfectly for a very long time now.

[The Man Known as Dan]

I thought Elias was out right good in his squash tonight. Like, 3rd best wrestler on the show good behind Corbin and Bayley. 

 

Corbin is really good now a days.

[RandomAct]

I thought Gargano/Banter Corbin was a lot of fun.  Bayley vs Carmella was really better than it had any right to be.  I hate The Drifter.

[JCM]

The main event stuff ruled. That was by far the best Carmella has looked. I got a kick out of Bayley not being able to hold her smile back after Carmella hit the first dive. Bayley is easily the best champion in WWE and it's not even close. She's the perfect babyface ace she's over, she has great matches, and she elevates everyone she works with. Asuka just fucking rules. When you can come out and not lift a finger or say a word and get so many things accomplished you're a great talent.

 

I don't buy anything Gargano does he looks like a 12 year old pretending to be a wrestler. The idea of him spearing Corbin is comical, and it looked comical when Corbin had to sell it. Cameron was pretty rough, but that match was probably just booked to be MGFanJay fan service.

[Cristobal]

FFed through The Drifter and Hype Bros matches.

I also thought Corbin/Gargano was a lot of fun. Good story, too, with Gargano being quicker and elusive and then countering with flurries but then getting flattened when Baron got a good shot in.

Bliss looked good in her match. Cameron not so much.

Everything about the main event and the aftermath was on point.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

I wondered where they found Vanilla Midgets 2.0 when the name Corey Hollis clicked.  Saw him wrestle Dalton Castle at the ROH show here in Atlanta last month.

 

I've not seen anything of Gargano outside of NXT but am I crazy thinking that he would be a better heel?

[EVA]

Corbin/Gargano was really good for what it was. Middle was kinda there, but the opening segment building up to Corbin's first punch and the ending sequence were very cleverly laid out.

I am, however, going to pull an Austin here and say Corbin should go for more pinfalls.

[Kyuubi]

...So Cameron has gotten better.

[MGFanJay]

This was a pretty good overall show despite the matches themselves not being so great. Hype Bros match was nothing, while Alexa vs. Cameron was awful and botch-filled, but amusing and kinda hot thanks to Bliss. But damned if the build towards Joe vs. Sami wasn't good, and everything with Bayley vs. Carmella was fantastic.

 

Their entrances were well-done and I loved the spotlight on them before the match began. It was a perfect face vs. face match too - with them doing a lot of holds before going into physicality. I loved Carmella hitting some big dives and really looking strong here. Bayley won not with her big move, but with a cradle reversal ala Bret-Bulldog, and then they set up the future perfectly with Nia and Eva, with Asuka saving. So they've got a great series here with Asuka and Bayley facing some combo of Nia and Eva in singles and then a tag before Bayley vs. Eva, which is likely the best big Takeover match for the division.

 

http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2016/02/wwe-nxt-2-10-16-bayley-vs-carmella.html

 

Screens - 

 

 

 

 

 

#girlbotch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screen Gallery - 

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/b1h4jtxyzpoge3pwbjobj4re4kntzc8a

[EVA]

I think Carmella made herself a star with the two dives. I wonder if that was planned or if Bayley called that on the fly after the insane reaction the first one got. If it's the latter, she's even more of a genius than I thought.

[Spritenaut 32]

I've not seen anything of Gargano outside of NXT but am I crazy thinking that he would be a better heel?

 

That;s my opinion of him, and I've been watching him practically since he broke into the business (his feud with Gregory Irons in Pro Wrestling Ohio would probably make my short list of great feuds three people saw).  I generally find him meh as a babyface but a pretty good chickenshit heel.

[Hagan]

Hype Bros and BAMF would do perfectly well on main roster at this point. Not that they'd light the world on fire but they'd provide needed depth for the tag division and there's really nothing for either team in NXT. 

 

The Drifter might be the most dead end gimmick in WWE in years. I mean, it's right there with Stardust but at least Cody has some intrinsic goodwill with the crowd. The Drifter is shit that Palmer Cannon would have brought in to SD years ago. 

[Patrick B.]

Like Bayley-Carmella a lot.  Going in, both were popular though Bayley was clearly the crowd favorite (as the commentators noted).  After the two suicide dives, Carmella was getting some How You Doin' chants.  The pin reversal sequence made it a close finish and Carmella looked strong in defeat after not really being expected to win.

[Greggulator]

The final match and segment was pretty much perfect professional wrestling.

 

I really liked Carmella and Bayley a lot. That was such a great story. It was the first time we've really seen Bayley as the favorite in a title defense. She had to deal with Alexa and her goons, a rigged game with Eva and the size of Nia Jax. I thought she was really great in the role. Carmella's far from crisp but she knows how to perform as a character. I really loved her floor dives -- she went from concern for her best friend to realizing what was on the line very well. I loved her exasperation/frustration/inexperience when she couldn't get the pinfall. And I loved how her and Bayley did a bunch of Malenko/Guerrero roll-ups to end the match. It makes sense: The announcers touched on how much they've trained and have studied together. Bayley is just awesome at telling in-ring stories.

The post-match stuff was great. Eva (and Nia) have issues with Bayley and especially Carmella. So they take 'Mella out. But Asuka hates Eva for eliminating her at the Battle Royale so pathetically and comes out. But Nia wants some, and they've already had a stare down. But then Asuka and Bayley come together for the first time and Asuka makes it clear what she wants and Bayley is finding that the crown is very heavy to wear.

A+.

(I will ignore how awful Eva's kicks to Alexa looked.)

ALSO

That was the most tolerable Gargano has been to me so far. I think that's largely because that match was 80% Corbin just beating the crap out of him. Gargano only did one dumb thing, which was some awful face he made after his apron move. (And, yes, I am being so incredibly petty and nit-picky about him.) That superkick was great. One issue I had with him was in one of his tag matches how EVERY other move had the leg crack superkick noise. Like... save the sound effect. Less is more. He saved it in this match and it resulted in a really good near fall. So good on him. Corbin has gotten super and is going to translate really well if and when he gets called up.

Alexa is good in the ring but obviously nowhere experienced enough yet to get anything out of Cameron, who is absolutely worthless. I'd like to think that, since it's NXT, an agent or whoever sat Cameron down and told her she was going to work face in this match and she has no idea what that means. Or maybe they just realized it didn't matter at all since the crowd was going to jump down her throat. Man, she is absolutely awful.

The American Alpha/Realest Guys joint promo was fantastic.Gable talking about how layered and deep his is was hilarious. Jordan's reactions to him are golden, too.

I actually liked The Drifter a lot. He works really friggin' snug. He's still figuring it out but he upped the nasty a lot tonight.

[EVA]

I think it would help if they elaborated on Samson's character more. Are we supposed to be taking him seriously, or is he a joke and a poser, which is what Graves is selling on commentary?

[Cristobal]

Graves' commentary ("Someone matching his description has been seen standing at the jukebox at Mario's playing Nickelback on his guitar.") is the best thing about the character.

[Phantom Lord]

Graves' commentary ("Someone matching his description has been seen standing at the jukebox at Mario's playing Nickelback on his guitar.") is the best thing about the character.

 

I couldn't stop laughing at that line. I like the character. In the ring he's not bad. It's good he's in NXT cause if he were in the main shows he would be gone by now. He has such a striking resemblance to Damien Sandow. Can't they send Sandow down to NXT and make him his older brother or something? "You bring shame to the family with this drifting thing...mother paid good money for classical guitar lessons and here you are playing in bus stations for spare change".

 

That's way more thought than they gave it.

 

Bayley/Carmella was such a good match. Way better than I was expecting. Bayley continues to be the female Ricky Steamboat. Carmella sure has come a long way from being hated by everyone at Pure Sail. The crowds used to hate her. Oh she's gonna bring down Enzo and Cass. Now everyone loves her. That's a testament to her that she got over on her with her skill and work like that.

 

Asuka vs. Nia is a match I want to see. Asuka vs. Eva would be televised slaughter so I couldn't imagine they would do that.

 

Overall I loved the presentation. It's night and day between the main shows. I hope whomever is producing/directing these shows is on Triple H's shortlist the moment he takes over and can finally show Kevin Dunn the door.

[Stoychers]

Corbin/Gargano was fantastic. A really solid TV match. Well laid out. Good psychology. Great selling. I really enjoyed this.

Gable/Jordan/Enzo/Cass was a fun interaction. Gable saying he was layered, and then Enzo calling him tiramisu made me laugh.

Sort of worked out how they'd play out the ending but didn't factor in Asuka. Great that Asuka wasn't buddy buddy with Bayley as well, so it leaves doors open for all kinds of possibilities there.

[Craig H]

Not tiramisu...tiaramisu. That had me cracking up. Same with Corey Graves' Nickelback line.

[RIPPA]

[Craig H]

Something else that occurred to me was that I think it's impossible for Apollo Crews to not smile. Dude has the smiliest face ever.

[Goodear]

I think Carmella had her best performance that I have seen out of her.  Offensively, she's still not good although some pieces are there (the ram the opponent into the corner boot is quick and effective) and some should be discarded (dropkicks are not her forte).  She can get over the top with some of her mannerisms like the set up to the bronco buster can seem very artificial. However, her reactions during the dive sequence was probably her best minute as a performer as she was able to get over so many emotions in a short period of time from apprehension, to elation and back again.  The follow up to the second dive being a very quick roll into the ring to a cover could have been even better on Bayley's end if she could have milked the count to a closer fall.  It felt earned to go to a 2.9 count there rather than the 2.3 we got.  I felt as though the roll up sequence as a finish was appropriate to me as a way of demonstrating that Bayley is the more experienced and more polished wrestler but making it seem like the margin between the two is not as wide as you might think.