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February 10th, 2016 On commentary tonight, at CFE Arena in Orlando, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Opening Segment Singles Match: Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano A little taunting to begin this match…Corbin approaches Gargano in the corner but Gargano runs away and resets. Crowd chants “Johnny Wrestling” which motivates Gargano to punch and chop at Corbin. This just angers the big guy. In the corner, Gargano dishes more punches but Corbin chucks him to the mat and retorts with his own right hands to Gargano’s face. He presses Gargano’s neck, hard against the ropes, with his knees. Wearing him down some more, he swings Gargano into the opposite turnbuckle, leaving Gargano writhing in pain on the mat. Although he gets up punching, Corbin stomps and punches Gargano back to the mat. The referee stops him from further attack. Corbin mouths off to the ref before locking Gargano in a Gator submission, torquing the neck. Gargano fights out of it. Corbin picks him up and Gargano transitions it into a sleeper hold, but he can’t sustain it as Corbin stumbles back, slamming Gargano into the corner. The pace picks up a little. Gargano goes for a roll-up which Corbin rolls out of right into a kick. Gargano hops over Corbin in the corner, walks the apron and spears Corbin through the ropes and pins Corbin for a 1 count. Corbin’s hurting when Gargano runs at him, but he’s able to dish out a Deep Six slam. He picks up Gargano by the chin, gets flak from the referee for the move, and Gargano is able to deliver a huge superkick to the chin of Baron Corbin. It’s enough to knock Corbin out of the ring. Gargano chases him there and then back into the ring, which was enough distraction for Corbin to resume the advantage. He delivers End of Days to Gargano to get the win. Winner: Baron Corbin via pinfall in 8 minutes One cool point for Baron Corbin, looking very strong in a victory over a pesky and persistent Johnny Gargano. I feel as though he hasn’t won a significant match in a while so this was good for him to stay relevant. Promo: Lookback at the #1 Contender’s Triple Threat match two weeks ago. Backstage, Al Reyes asks Sami Zayn about GM William Regal’s decision to have him face Samoa Joe to decide the #1 Contender’s spot. Zayn says he isn’t too happy but he understands. The match will happen next week. It’s going to be a fight and he won’t let Joe stand in the way of Zayn becoming the first 2-time nXt champion. Coming Up: Bayley vs. Carmella for the nXt Women’s Championship Second Segment Tag Team Match: The Hype Bros. vs. John Skyler & Corey Hollis Corey Graves says you’ve got Zack Ryder, former US Champion and Internet Champion and then you have his blithering idiot partner. That might sum up the feelings of many nXt fans right there, but we’ll see how tonight’s match goes against the talent enhancement. Skyler and Ryder battle first. Ryder delivers a big dropkick, showing off a distinct height advantage. Rawley gets tagged in and he delivers the Smackdown on Skyler with a clothesline. He gets the crowd chanting and hyped up. Hollis runs in but it doesn’t help. Rawley double clotheslines them. He tags in Ryder who delivers a double kick through the ropes on his opponents. When they return to the ring, it’s Skyler and Hollis who assume the advantage, using quick tags to beat down on Ryder in their home corner. They attempt a double team move but Skyler gets hit with double knees. Ryder tags in Rawley who delivers his massive, football influenced attack with splashes and tackles. Hollis receives a Hyper Drive from Rawley, and a rough looking Broski Boot from Ryder. Just to put the icing on the cake, Rawley holds Skyler up for the Hype Ryder from…Ryder and pins for the win. Winner: The Hype Bros. via pinfall in 3 minutes One cool point for the Hype Bros. victory, rebounding from their first loss last week. They looked a lot better in this match, and both guys had opportunities to show off their power and agility. Crowd was on their side, too. Backstage, Rich Brennan interviews Bayley and Carmella. Bayley says it’s been harder keeping the Women’s Championship than winning it. Bayley’s proud of Carmella but she’s not ready to let it go yet. Carmella says this is her first title shot and she doesn’t know if she’ll get an opportunity like this again. They’re best friends and the match won’t affect that, but when the bell rings, may the best woman win. Third Segment Next Week: #1 Contender’s Match: Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe Singles Match: Alexa Bliss w. Blake & Murphy vs. Cameron Bliss and the boys are sporting new gear tonight, teared red and black shirts and trunks. Seems like we have 2 villainesses fighting tonight. Interesting. Cameron gets some boos after flipping Bliss on to her back and taunting her. Bliss does the same in return and we get a vicious grapple by the ladies. Cameron knocks Bliss down with an awkward punch. She runs the ropes and delivers double knees to the back of a kneeling Alexa Bliss. Bliss leaves the ring and it looks like she might leave the match, too. Then she aggressively enters the ring and laces into Cameron repeatedly. She invites Cameron’s face to meet the mat and then stands on Cameron’s back, stomping her head into the mat. Cameron retorts with a takedown, a few punches and a hair pull. In the corner, she stomps Bliss down to the mat. She follows it up with a splash and another takedown. 2 count. Bliss rolls up Cameron for a sneaky 2 count. Off the ropes, running somersault neckbreaker by Cameron for a 2 count. It doesn’t affect Bliss much as she quickly regains control. She delivers an awkward looking double knees to Cameron and then decides to go up to the top rope for a Sparkle Splash, and a 3 count pinfall. Winner: Alexa Bliss via pinfall in 4 minutes. Bliss has to be restrained by Blake & Murphy from further attack after the match. They lift Bliss on to their shoulders to celebrate. One cool point for Bliss for realizing she needed to finish that match with a stronger move. Also, she brings an attitude of intensity and sass to the ring that is unique to the Women’s Division. I think she’ll find herself amongst the top ladies later this year, but she’s not yet at the calibre of athleticism and strategy of wrestlers like Asuka and Emma. Personality-wise, she’s definitely ready. Coming Up: nXt Women’s Championship Match Backstage, they show Carmella stretching and prepping for the match. Fourth Segment Backstage, Enzo & Big Cass rhyme, ensemble, about coming after Dash & Dawson’s championships, and that they will repeat as Tag Team of the Year in 2016. They’ll be “back to back”. Cue Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, the latter of whom enters trying to rap the Drake song but failing. All 3 other guys say those aren’t the lyrics, but Jordan follows up saying it doesn’t matter cause they’re not going back to back. It’s an Olympic year and Enzo puts the pieces together, saying that must mean it’s going to be your year. The two teams banter a little and then bring it back to their tag matches next week. Gable tries to get everyone to do the “Ready, Willing & Gable” but they all say different names at the end. Pretty entertaining promo. Seemed genuine and the two teams have good chemistry. More of that please. Singles Match: Elias Samson vs. Jesse Sorensen Sorensen’s back and this time he’s facing “The Drifter”, who says what nXt needs is what he is. Graves doesn’t know what that’s supposed to mean, as we watch Samson sit on top of the turnbuckle, brooding. Phillips says there’s not much we know about this guy. He doesn’t even play his guitar. Graves’ research says nobody’s ever seen this guy on the streets, but they have seen him sitting by the jukebox at the bar, playing Nickelback songs. Samson starts out pretty rough with Sorensen. The ref asks him to knock it off and move off the ropes. After some persistent badgering from the ref, Samson throws Sorensen off the ropes and clotheslines him down. The crowd tells him to “drift away” and he just smiles before continuing to deliver the knees to Sorensen’s head and upper body. He drives Sorensen’s jaw into his knee, holding it there for a submission. Huge jumping elbow drop to the sternum. Off the ropes, jumping knee to the head. He asks the crowd to be quiet and then delivers a swift neckbreaker to Sorensen. 1-2-3. It’s over. Winner: Elias Samson via pinfall in 2 minutes One cool point for Corey Graves’ commentary during this match. He poked fun at Samson but was able to admit that he brought more impact and aggression to his offensive game this week. He applauded Samson for that improvement and that’s the kind of measured commentary I can really appreciate. One cool point for Samson’s use of his knees to get the win. Dominant victory. Backstage, Reyes asks Apollo Crews about last week’s loss to Finn Balor. Crews doesn’t feel bad. He now knows what he needs to do to win at that level. The next time you see him in the ring, you’ll see a new and improved Apollo Crews. Sounds good! We cut to Bayley who is walking to the ring with the title belt. Up Next: Bayley vs. Carmella for the nXt Women’s Championship Closing Segment nXt Women’s Championship Match: Bayley (c) vs. Carmella It’s Fabulous vs. the Hugger. Champ vs. Challenger. They hug to begin the match and then get to business. Bayley with the side headlock. Carmella reverses it. Bayley works the arm, high-fives it a few times, and Carmella grabs Bayley from behind. They continue this for a few moments. Carmella with the atomic drop and then both go for dropkicks that miss. The girls take a moment to assess the next move. Back to the twisting arm and wristlock by Carmella. Bayley rolls out and reverses it for a cover. 1 count. Bayley runs the ropes and delivers an elbow drop to Carmella. Then, a jumping knee to the torso for a 2 count. Carmella struggles to her knees as… We go to commercial. Did you know Wrestlemania is 53 days away? “My House” is pretty catchy. I like the bass piano riff. Back to the match, Carmella rolls up Bayley for a 2 count. She delivers a few Lou Thesz presses before having Bayley’s face meet her boot in the corner. She seems to be on a roll when Bayley garners enough energy to rise from the mat and clothesline a quickly approaching Carmella. Bayley tries to follow up but Carmella rolls her up for a 2 count. Bayley gets the crowd into it with some corner splashes and elbows. She lifts Carmella on to her shoulder, 360 and a slam. 2 count and a slow kickout from Carmella. Bayley stands up on the second rope but Carmella forces her feet up and over for a nasty fall to ringside. Carmella looks back at the ropes a few times, a tense look on her face, before running the ropes and successfully landing an outside dive on Bayley. She screams in excitement, but it turns to apprehension about what to do next. She rolls back in, takes a deep breath and lands another outside dive on Bayley! Carmella tosses Bayley back into the ring for a 2 count. Then, another 2 count. Then, one more 2 count but Bayley kicks out every time. Carmella asks the crowd, “HOW YOU DOIN’?” before bronco busting Bayley in the corner. Bayley and Carmella trade roll-up attempts in a pretty impressive series of reversals, which concludes with one, final, tight pin by Bayley to win the match! Winner: Bayley retains the Women’s Championship via pinfall in 12 minutes Post-match, Bayley takes a moment to catch her breath. Carmella does likewise and then the two embrace mid-ring. The crowd cheers them on as Bayley holds Carmella’s hand high. Carmella defers to Bayley, though, and exits the ring. Suddenly, the music ends because Eva Marie and Nia Jax have attacked Carmella in the aisle. Bayley tries to defend her friend but she gets taken out, too. Nia brings Carmella into the ring and delivers 2 heavy leg drops. Eva Marie keeps Bayley from entering the ring. Nia holds Carmella by the arms as Eva kicks at her. They stop when they see Asuka, on the apron, staring down Nia and Eva. The crowd is loving this. Asuka walks ever so slowly towards Nia, wearing an evil smile, looking as if she might attack at any moment. Eva and Nia decide it’s best to walk away this time but they do not stop staring at each other, trying to intimidate. The crowd’s busy chanting “Eva sucks” and forgetting that something neat is happening in the ring. Bayley’s arrived and Asuka touches the Women’s Championship a few times, as if to suggest she wants her shot. The crowd chants “Yes!” to this a few times. Bayley tends to Carmella as the cameras cut backstage…. where it’s Samoa Joe, calling out Sami Zayn, saying he saved his career. Now, Joe must take that away. There’s no triple threat to hide behind. It’s one on one next week. Joe says he’ll be the next nXt champion. Two cool points for a friendly but competitive bout from both women. I liked all the reversals which demonstrated the two were evenly matched. Carmella showed some great character by attempting the two outside dives, admirably showing the conflict she had in pursuing the victory but also hurting her best friend. Bayley wins, which is sensible, because this match doesn’t have enough hype or rage to carry it into a feud. Great transition, though, in revisiting the ongoing feud with Eva Marie and Nia Jax who attack Carmella as she leaves the ring. One cool point each for them. Further complicating the top of the Women’s division, Asuka shows up to scare off the dastardly dames, earning her a cool point. I appreciate how many directions they can take things. A tag match between the two sides would be likely, as would a rematch between Bayley and Nia. Planting seeds for an eventual Bayley/Asuka match continues to whet the appetites of nXt fans. Fans would likely enjoy a Carmella/Eva match, too. Great things happening in the Women’s Division, and each weekly episode of nXt highlights how strong a division it is, even without Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Feel free to share your thoughts on the night, as well as your cool point suggestions on tonight’s episode. Peace!
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