|
February 3rd, 2016 On commentary tonight, at Full Sail University, are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Opening Segment Tag Team Match: The Vaudevillains vs. The Hype Bros. Aidan English and Mojo Rawley square off in burgundy and neon green trunks, respectively. Mojo hits a crossbody splash off the top for a big moment. The two grapple, and Mojo lugs English to his corner to tag in Ryder. He and English trade moves until Gotch drags English off of Ryder’s shoulder, to the safety of their corner. In return, Ryder arm drags him. English clobbers Ryder from behind, yells at the crowd and then delivers a vicious back kick and running splash in the corner. He gets a 2 count and tags in Gotch to continue. They both nail Ryder with a double chop and punch. Gotch bashes Ryder’s chest and covers him for a 2 count before clutching Ryder’s jaw for a few moments. English tags in and brings the kicks to Ryder. He drives his knee into Ryder’s neck briefly before tagging Gotch in again. They go for a double team move but Ryder sees it coming, kicks Gotch, enziguri on English and kicks away Gotch again. Mojo’s tagged in and he’s running the ropes with hype! Huge splash on Gotch. Misses the second one and Ryder tags himself in. He knocks English off the apron, double knees, followed by a top rope dropkick on Gotch. Woo! Woo! Woo! Nobody’s home for the Broski boot. Gotch tags in English. He delivers a huge uppercut and then English gives him the Whirling Dervish for a long-awaited victory. Winner: The Vaudevillains via pinfall in 4 minutes Phillips lauds them for showing a newfound aggression in this match. Graves agrees. One cool point for Mojo and Zack’s energy, although it’s a shame they didn’t get much time to show it. One cool point for the Vaudevillains who displayed a very fine tag team strategy of quick tags, isolation of their opponents, and timely double team moves. They proved to be a smarter tag team than the Hype Bros, which might be holding back those brothers from getting further in the tag division. Promo: Lookback at the Women’s Battle Royal, 3 weeks ago, seeing Carmella win, eliminating Eva Marie last. Earlier today, Tom Phillips interviewed Carmella, #1 Contender for the Women’s Championship. She says it was an unforgettable feeling to win that match. Carmella shares that her father was a WWE wrestler in the 90s, so wrestling is in her background. Next week, she’ll face Bayley for the championship. Phillips asks if the match will affect her friendship with Bayley. Carmella says no, they are both mature, and they will be able to support each other no matter what. Tonight, she’ll face Emma, who is very good, but she’ll prove why she deserves to be #1 contender and the next nXt Women’s champion. Coming Up: Finn Balor vs. Apollo Crews Second Segment Backstage, Alex Reyes is with the nXt Tag Team Champions, Dash & Dawson. He mentions the harsh words they had for Carmella, Enzo & Big Cass. Dash calls them groundhogs who give the same old song and dance. Those guys lost in London and they can talk the talk, but they will never beat them. Dawson says they’re on their way to becoming the greatest nXt Tag Team Champions of all time. If Enzo & Big Cass want another opportunity, we’d love that, but the same thing will happen. They’ll lose. Singles Match: Carmella (#1 Contender) vs. Emma w. Dana Brooke The ladies tie up with Emma pushing Carmella into the corner. Carmella quickly grabs Emma into a side headlock. Emma gets out of it and applies her own headlock. Off the ropes and Emma slams into Carmella. She tries to walk away but Carmella trips her, which leads to a 1 count pinning attempt. Into the corner again and Emma clotheslines Carmella hard to the mat, laying into her with punches to the head. 2 count cover. She pulls Carmella up by the arms while stepping on her long, blonde hair. Ouch. Still stretching the arms out on the mat, feet against her shoulders, as Dana Brooke yells that Emma is #1. Quite a unique submission. 2 count pinfall. Emma firmly with the advantage. Crowd’s pretty quiet for this match. Carmella gets a burst of energy, laying in with some punches and a Lou Thesz Press. Off the top turnbuckle, a hurricanrana brings Emma to the opposite corner. Broncobuster from Carmella as the crowd chants “How you doin?!”. Emma counters Carmella’s move with a hair pull, bringing Carmella to the mat. Spears in the corner bring Carmella to her knees. Emma goes for an underhook suplex which Carmella turns into a back slide pin for a 3 count! Winner: Carmella via pinfall in 5 minutes I know that Carmella won the match but, honestly, one cool point for Emma who showed her experience and her unique moveset in this match. She’s a great villainess who does the little things to perturb and humiliate her opponent. I’m sure Carmella and Bayley will have a good match, but Carmella needs more time to hone her craft. Promo: We see video from last week’s Triple Threat #1 Contender’s Match with the controversial finish. Sami Zayn is hoping GM William Regal will make the right decision. In his opinion, Zayn had the sharpshooter on Corbin for a longer period of time but he has faith that Regal will do what’s best. Samoa Joe is asked for an opinion on what happens and he lunges at the interviewer without saying a word. The Resolution will be given later tonight. Third Segment Pre-match: Enzo’s on the mic to reiterate something they said in London. If they had a dime for every time they got knocked down and didn’t get back up, they would have no dimes. They have lint in their pockets cause one thing never changes, they are “hard body”. Anyone trying to knock them down are...SAWFT, says Cass. Tag Team Match: Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. Graves makes a hilarious statement to begin that he broke his New Year’s resolution never to watch Enzo wrestle again. With that, Enzo starts things off against his Miami Dolphins-trunk wearing opponent. They grapple, run the ropes and Enzo knocks his opponent down. He steps on his back and then does a little taunting dance. Big punch to the gut, followed by a hard knee lift and he tags in Big Cass. Enzo runs towards Cass and jumps, and gets thrown into their opponent. Cass uses his size to throw his opponent off the ropes and deliver a big boot. The red trunk tag partner tries to attack Cass but it’s to no avail. Cass chucks him out of the ring and the guy lands with a sick thud on the ramp. Cass with a huge tilt-a-whirl slam. He tags Enzo who climbs to the top rope, jumps and gets an extra push from Cass down on to their opponent for an easy victory. Winner: Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady via pinfall in 2 minutes. One cool point for the lads continuing to show a more intense and serious attitude, which they will need if they’re going to defeat Dash & Dawson the next time they wrestle. I would love to see more power moves from Big Cass. I don’t think he’s taken the opportunity to show off his full potential yet. He and Enzo seem primed and ready for a major feud. Backstage, the cameraman asks Apollo Crews about tonight’s match. Crews says he was robbed of the nXt championship a few months ago by Baron Corbin. Crews knows, deep down in his heart, he has what it takes to beat Finn Balor, and to prove exactly what he is capable of to the nXt universe. Up Next: William Regal’s Resolution regarding the finish to the nXt #1 Contender’s Triple Threat match Fourth Segment Backstage, William Regal is in his office. He has come to a decision. There will be a rematch. Baron Corbin barges in, at that moment, to ask about what’s going on. Regal said what is 100% sure is that Corbin lost so he won’t be in it. Corbin says this is a joke and leaves. Regal says Zayn and Joe will wrestle again, and the winner will face Finn Balor for the nXt championship. He doesn’t say when the match will be. Singles Match: Asuka vs. Santana Garrett The ladies lock up, yell at each other a little as Garrett gets her slaps in early. Asuka just smiles, licks her lips and then catches her with a running/flying hip into the ropes. Asuka brings the kicks to Garrett, misses a roundhouse one but returns with a big right hand to the face. Garrett sits on the mat. Asuka goes for a soccer kick; Garrett ducks and rolls her up for a 2 count. Russian leg sweep for another pinfall attempt. Garrett locks Asuka’s leg in place and stretches back the arm but it doesn’t last. Asuka clutches Garrett from behind but is unable to manoeuvre her opponent. Garrett breaks free, runs the ropes and gets caught in the armbar. This lasts a few moments but Garrett fights out so Asuka puts her in the Asuka lock and Garrett taps. Winner: Asuka via pinfall in 2 minutes One cool point for the viciousness of Asuka’s submissions. Seriously, how can she be stopped? She has a number of submissions she can pull out at any time. It’s only a matter of time before she gets a title shot. The question is: Will it be at the next Takeover or will it be prolonged until the summer? Backstage, Reyes asks Balor about the controversy of last week’s #1 Contender’s match. Balor says GM Regal made the right decision because, in nXt, we settle things in the ring. Tonight, Crews doesn’t have to wonder about beating him. He will find out that Balor is the best. Next Week: Bayley vs. Carmella for the Women’s Championship Closing Segment Singles Non-Title Match: Finn Balor (nXt Champion) vs. Apollo Crews A respectful handshake between the two wrestlers and we’re off. Things start slow with Balor applying an armlock on Crews. Crews reverses it into a wristlock. Arm drag into a side headlock by Balor. Crews fights back to his feet, tries to run the ropes but Balor hangs on. He arm drags him again. Crews breaks free. Balor brings him down to the mat once more with the side headlock. Crews tries to lift Balor up and out of it but Balor hangs on. 2 count. Headlock still applied. Crews rolls up Balor for a brief 2 count but Balor reverses it and doesn’t let go. Crews tries to push Balor off again, using the ropes, but Balor simply will not release the hold. This is seriously more interesting than it reads, folks. Crews pushes Balor into the corner and the official forces Balor to break the hold. Crews locks in his own side headlock but he can’t keep it locked on. Balor reverses it and returns to wearing Crews down with the side headlock. Smart move since Crews is so quick and explosive if given enough room. Crews kicks out but Balor takes him down again. Finally, Crews pushes Balor off, jumps over him, under him and dropkicks Balor straight out of the ring. We go to commercial. And we’re back with Balor’s head snugly inside Crews’ left arm. Balor punches his way out. They run the ropes. Crews flips over Balor going for a sunset flip pin but Balor rolls out and delivers a two foot kick to Crews’ face. He follows up with a pinning attempt and reapplies the side headlock. Crews gets to his feet but Balor trips him and applies an armbar, while someone in the crowd yells, “Armbar city!” In the corner, the referee tells them to break the hold. Balor with a strike and a kick, covering Crews for a 2 count. Now, he’s chopping Crews in the corner, perhaps out of frustration. They go to another corner and Balor chops him, brings him to the mat and pins Crews for 2. Balor’s firmly in control of this one, wrenching Crews’ arm back on the mat. Crews finally gets out of it and the clotheslines and splashes begin from Crews. Balor jumps out of the way of the second, but Crews does his own jumping clothesline to knock Balor to the outside. Backflip off the apron by Crews while Balor slides into the ring, runs off the ropes and hits a front flip plancha on Crews! He rolls Crews into the ring and connects with a double stomp to Crews’ head. 1-2-KICKOUT! Crews tackles Balor to the mat. Then he delivers a beauty of a Samoan Drop for a 2 count. Who has more left in the tank, asks Graves. Crews misses the enziguri. Balor connects with the slingblade. Both guys run out of opposite corners and Crews connects with a big boot. Huge gorilla press. Standing moonsault and the cover...Finn kicks out! Crews looks for the powerbomb but Balor jumps out of it. He connects with another slingblade, followed by a front kick, and up to the top rope. Coup de grace! He follows that up with a Bloody Sunday (lifting underhook DDT) and it’s finally enough to get the pinfall victory. Winner: Finn Balor via pinfall in 12 minutes Two cool points for Finn Balor who gets to do what Seth Rollins isn’t allowed to do...stomp a guy’s head. Also, his strategy of wearing down Crews by keeping him close and not allowing him to run the ropes was smart. It didn’t work for the whole match but it certainly helped. One cool point for Crews. He can keep up well with Balor and his power moves are all the more effective against a guy Balor’s size. For two guys fighting for pride, they were quite competitive without needing to be malicious or cheap with one another. Good sportsmanship at the end, too. It wasn’t an overly eventful show, but I would argue that everyone who won tonight, especially the tag teams, gained a necessary push towards their next marquee matchup. The Vaudevillains needed to prove they could get back to their winning ways, and Enzo & Big Cass needed a win to keep the fire stoked for a championship rematch. Feel free to share your thoughts on the night, as well as your other insights and cool point suggestions on tonight’s episode. Peace!
|
