These were some of the reasons that I was excited when
WWE announced an NXT special would be airing. Another was that it would be
live. It’s in the live environment that WWE does their best work. I was also
pleased because it was essentially the equivalent of a pay-per-view for the
league, the chance for the regulars to perform for a wider audience and impress
new eyes. And I’m sure there were new eyes on the show, because it was
broadcast on the WWE Network.
Finally I was pleased because it showed that WWE has
faith in the NXT wrestlers. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have centred the first
of what one assumes will be many live special of the Network on them. It’s nice
that the company recognises how good the men and women in the league are.
Dramatic music and lighting started the evening. From the
gloom Triple H asked the crowd if they were ready (twice, naturally) and then a
spotlight turned on to reveal him stood in the ring. It was a particularly
unsubtle way of reminding us who the big star was. Thankfully it as the only
instance of overshadowing for the whole show and was easily overlooked. Some
fireworks went off and an NXT chant started before a hype video played that
showed the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin
before giving way to the NXT regulars.
The announce team Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and William
Regal welcomed us to the show as Sami Zayn and Cesaro made their entrances for
the night’s opening contest. Both were cheered, which wouldn't have surprised
anyone who watches NXT regularly. A "match of the year" chant started
up as the bell rung and became duelling chants of "We the people" and
"Sami Zayn" when they locked up.
Cesaro took charge for the first several minutes of the
match, doing a lot of out of the ring brawling. A particularly enjoyable saw
Zayn try to dive through the ring ropes in the corner only to be met with a
European uppercut. Not only was it a nice spot well performed but it was also a
call back to their previous encounter, something we don't get often in WWE,
even in bigger matches. It spoke of their time working for smaller, more
wrestling-focused organisations.
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| Cesaro, grinding that knee like a pro |
Cesaro continued to control the match back in the ring as
he switched his focus to Zayn's previously injured knee, stomping, grinding and
dragon screwing it before applying a single leg Boston crab. Zayn tried to turn
the tables with a moonsault after back dropping Cesaro to the outside but got
caught and dropped on the entrance ramp. The duelling chants were back when the
Canadian rolled back into the ring, turning to cheers when he head and arm
suplexed 'The Swiss Superman' into a turnbuckle. He stayed on offence with a
blue thunder bomb, which got him a two count, and the Koji clutch. Cesaro
twisted his way out of that and countered into the Stretch Muffler, damaging
Zayn's knee before he could reach the ropes. Cesaro followed up with his phenomenally
over Big Swing and a chunky uppercut in the corner. They exchanged pin attempts
before Cesaro double stomped Zayn's face.
Not to be outdone Zayn performed a top rope hurricanrana
and followed up with a yakuza kick for a close two count. Cesaro dropped Zayn
with an uppercut and told him to stay down. Zayn was up at three, only to get
put down again. He was slower to get up the second time, getting back to his
feet for seven. The time he staggered up to his feet Zayn managed to absorb
Cesaro’s uppercut and fire back with punches, then a crisp German suplex.
Cesaro tried coming back with a Neutralizer but Zayn countered with a rollup
for two. Seconds later he got another near fall with a sunset flip bomb. Zayn
kicked out at one from a Swiss Death, prompting Cesaro to go one better and hit
a rolling uppercut and a leaping Neutralizer to finally get the win in an
incredible bout.
Afterwards fans chanted "Match of the year!"
It's early to be saying that but I'll be surprised if it's not in a lot of top
match lists come December. It was easily the best match of the ArRIVAL show.
Cesaro swaggered around the ring posing and walked into
the aisle before looking back at Zayn, who was doing a beautiful job of selling
the importance of the loss and the devastation he was feeling. Cesaro returned
to the ring and stood over Zayn as the fans chanted "Hug it out!", a
call back to Zayn's time working as El Generico (as are the olé chants heard
during each of his matches). Cesaro pulled Zayn to his feet and, surprisingly,
they did hug. I'd expected a handshake. Cesaro then left Zayn alone to soak up
the cheers of the fans. I can't imagine a better match and post-match segment
to start a show designed to illustrate how good NXT is at its best.
The first man of the night to hear solid boos was CJ
Parker. His opponent was Mojo Rawley. His gimmick is basically that he has
unlimited energy. Perhaps he’s addicted to Red Bull. He also wears very large
trunks. Mojo won a simple but fast-paced match with his sitdown splash
Hyperdrive move.
Backstage Emma was shown prepping for her women's
championship match. Then a video was shown recapping her NXT career so far. It
did a nice job of blending the seriousness with which she approaches with the
more humorous aspects of her persona.
That was followed by a similar video for Konor and
Viktor, The Ascension. They came out to defend their titles afterwards. For the
record they now enter to generic rock music and have dropped the Game of Thrones
inspired entrance gear. It's a shame. That was one of the most interesting
parts of their act and something that helped set them apart. That said they’re
still considered "the total package" by none other than Kevin Nash,
so they must be doing something right.
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| The greatest act in NXT? They're definitely not the worst |
We were informed by Tom Phillips that The Ascension had
issued an open challenge for a title match. It was answered by Too Cool. Amazingly
they were heavily cheered. There are clearly lots of positive people in Orange
County, Florida. Grandmaster Sexay was kept isolated by The Ascension for
several minutes before he finally made the hot tag to Scotty 2 Hotty. He tried
for The Worm but got hung up on the ropes and hit with The Fall of Man (a.k.a.
Total Elimination) for the three. For what this was, an example of The
Ascension being a rough, tough and impossible to stop team and a chance to see
Too Cool again, it was a fine match.
Next up Paige got the video package treatment. She put
over the championship and Emma. Again, it did a very good job accomplishing its
goals. If the students at Full Sail University are involved in this area of
production, one of the reasons NXT is recorded there, then they’re learning from
some of the best.
Stephanie McMahon came out before the women's title match
and talked up the Divas divisions of WWE and NXT. She introduced Emma and Paige
and shook hands with both before the match. Presumably that was supposed to be
meaningful but it didn’t feel it. It felt like a misguided attempt at doing
some sort of women’s pride thing. When Triple H puts people over it has meaning
because he’s been a wrestler and a multi-time world champion. When Vince puts
people over it has meaning because he’s the greatest wrestling promoter ever
and knows a good act when he sees one. Stephanie is a former WWF women's champ, I suppose. But how many of you
actually remembered that? It’s certainly not what she’s known for.
Anyway, the story of the match was that the two knew one
another very well and were able to counter each other's moves and, to use a cliché,
their counters. Emma dominated Paige for a lot of the match, working over her
back with submission holds and even using a power bomb, not something you see
in the standard Divas' match. She was even able to kick out of Paige's usually
reliable Paige Turner. Eventually Paige applied a move Regal referred to as the
Scorpion Cross (it looks a little like a reverse Sharpshooter but sees the
person applying the hold taking their opponent's arms and hoisting the torso up
from the mat) and won via submission. It was a great match. The sooner Emma and
Paige are on the main roster facing AJ Lee the better.
A hype video was shown for Adrian Neville. He's the sort
of performer who lends himself to a highlight video because he performs so many
fun to look at aerial moves. It was excellent and once again not only showed
how good a wrestler its subject was but also saw the subject put over the
importance of the match they'd be having.
Before the main event it looked like we'd get Xavier
Woods versus Tyler Breeze. 'The Sultan of Selfies' got a better reaction than
R-Truth's protégé, including a "Breeze is gorgeous!" chants. The
match didn't happen though. Alexander Rusev stormed to the ring and jobbed out
both Woods and Breeze. Lana cut a pro-Rusev promo and got a “USA!” chant (c’mon
guys, it’s 2014). Rusev spoke in Bulgarian and got the “What?” treatment.
NXT champion Bo Dallas was the last man of the night to get the vid treatment. The focus was on establishing Bo as a face unaware that he's a heel for new viewers. It also covered some of his "Bo-lieve" highlights. Then a second video aired looking at the Dallas v Neville feud. That was just as good as the others that had aired. It was a good night for video package fans.
Shawn Michaels came out to hang the championship belt
above the ring and talk up the importance of NXT and the match we were about to
see. If WWE were willing to get him in for the first live NXT special surely
they could have got him for the first RAW of the Network era too? He would have
added something to what was otherwise a fairly flat episode of RAW. But that's
by the by.
 |
| Look at that action! |
The challenger got cheered when he entered. The champion
got heavy boos that petered out to a fairly flat reaction. Both got a handshake
from HBK. The match that followed was good. There have been better ladder
contests but it was impressive for two guys making their first attempts at the
gimmick. Neville took some hearty bumps and kept the crowd behind him. Dallas
took fewer spills but did do a good job when it came to ensuring the crowd kept
riled. That's one of his strengths as a performer.
The finish saw Dallas buckle bomb Neville into a ladder
and then get a ladder kicked into his face as he charged the flagging
challenger. Neville then scooped the champ onto a ladder and connect with a Red
Arrow and left him free to climb the ladder and snatch the belt for the win. He
got a long time to celebrate as the announcers talked up his winner and status
as a future star. To really hammer the point that he’s a man to watch home John
Cena was shown applauding him from the crowd.
This is something that could hint at an imminent
promotion for Adrian Neville. If it were to happen it’s unlikely the NXT belt
would be shown or even referred to, but Big E made the move to the main roster
just after losing the strap, as did Seth Rollins, and Dallas himself had
enjoyed a brief flirtation with the bright lights of Monday Night RAW only a
couple of months before he captured the gold. NXT title reigns are linked to
promotions if history is anything to go by.
 |
| I think more ladder matches are in Adrian Neville's future |
I like Adrian Neville but I hope that isn’t the case here. A call up while WWE’s
focusing on WrestleMania, or even in the weeks immediately following that big
card, would almost certainly result in him being left adrift. So would, I
suspect, moving him up as a singles performer. There are so many guys working
solo in WWE right now that it’s tough to imagine anyone, no matter how good
they are, making a sufficient impact.
Personally I think Neville would be best served working
on the main roster in a tag team with a fellow flier like Kofi Kingston, Justin
Gabriel, or Evan Bourne (remember that guy?). Being part of a team would lead
to more use as the tag division’s getting a little light, and it would also
allow him to grow on people over time. That said WWE have shown they know what
they’re doing with moving people up during the last eighteen months, so if
Neville, or anybody else, gets moved out of NXT I’ll assume they know what they’re
up to until I see otherwise.
WWE did an excellent job with NXT ArRIVAL. It highlighted
NXT’s excellent roster and illustrated why it’s a programme worth watching. As
special as it was it was not that far above the levels of quality seen on an
average episode, which speaks more to the programme’s consistency than anything
else. I hope a lot of people with the WWE Network (being in Britain I wasn’t
one of them) tuned in for this. It deserves to be regarded as a success.
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