WWE Payback 2015 review

I didn't have particularly high hopes for Payback. The card was heavy on rematches and had what felt like a squandered opportunity to do something special in the main event. It didn't help that the pre-show got underway with R-Truth beating Stardust. Things didn't get better with The Ascension v Mandow and Axel but when the show proper started I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a fantastic show or anything (I knew it wouldn't be that) but it was good more than it was bad and all the matches I'd expected to be good were.

Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus opened the show. Cole claimed that the match had "become" personal. Was it not personal last month when they fought in a Kiss My Arse match? Because that seems like a fairly personal stip to me. Backwards booking of this feud aside the match was good. 'The Show Off' took the early lead. Sheamus turned the tables when he caught a super kick and elbowed Dolph's knee. Ziggler came back with a series of forearms before pulling up his trunks and rubbing his backside into Sheamus's face, retribution (or, if you prefer, payback) for the finish of their Extreme Rules collision. The pair traded finishers and signature moves to ratchet up the tension, Ziggler getting two counts off a Fameasser and a super kick. Sheamus got one of his own wren he trapped Ziggler in a cloverleaf. The match closed with a bleeding Ziggler being Brogue kicked for the three count.

After that Seth Rollins and Kane had an overly rehearsed exchange designed to get everyone up to speed on their grudge. Kane had been told by Triple H that he'd lose his Director of Operations job if Rollins lost the title. Kane told Rollins here that he didn't need that job and explained he still hadn't decided what he'd do in the main event. The segment ended with J&J threatening Kane. As a reminder this was all fine.

Better than fine was New Day's entrance promo. They talked about positivity and trashed a local sports team. It was, as these things go, highly enjoyable.

The first fall of this two-out-of-three falls match saw Cesaro and Kidd dominate Kofi and Big E with double team moves. Particularly impressive was Cesaro. He caught Big E in mid-air (just like last month) and made short work of Kofi with uppercuts and jumping stomps. The challengers got a quick pin after the Big Swing into a drop kick on Kofi. That prompted Xavier Woods to leap onto the apron screaming about the Freebird rule. Natalya pulled him down to the floor where he was wiped out by Tyson. That left Kofi and Big E to compete in the second fall. They got off to a better start here when E grabbed Tyson as he went for a suicide dive and gave him a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor.

The second fall was built around Tyson trying to tag out as he was worked over by New Day. New Day pinned him after E speared Cesaro off the apron and he and Kingston gave hit the double team Big Ending. They stayed on Tyson as the third fall began, still with Big E and Kofi as the legal men. Tyson tagged out almost immediately and Cesaro came in to batter Kofi with uppercuts and hit E with a double underhook power bomb. The uppercuts were incredible. The bomb was botched.

Kofi survived a wild Cesaro uppercut, a backbreaker-elbow drop combo, and a Kidd Sharpshooter before being hit with a pop-up by Kidd and an uppercut from Cesaro for what we were primed to see as the definite finish. Big E broke that up and as the referee busied himself getting him out of the ring Woods slipped into the ring and got a small package on Cesaro. The referee, unable to see Woods' face when he turned around, counted the fall and New Day retained. It was a good finish, one that played into New Day being cheats and kept the feud alive.

Backstage Ryback cut a Warrior-esque promo to Byron Saxton. He told us he's not a lab rat and that he lives his life by the motto "Start full, end hungry." It was entertaining stuff. As it turned out it was more entertaining than the match that followed it. Both Wyatt and Ryback have their strengths as wrestlers but they didn't mesh well here. They included some impressive spots (Ryback taking a DDT on the apron and Wyatt leaping from the ring to the floor with a senton) but overall the match was pretty basic. It got a better reaction than it deserved because both lads are over as characters. Wyatt won after shoving Ryback into an exposed turnbuckle (which just fell off as they tussled with one another, a lazy bit of booking designed to protect 'back) and giving him Sister Abigail.

The Final Confrontation Ever (for now) between John Cena and Rusev followed that. Before Cena was even in the ring the growing divide between Lana and Rusev was being emphasised, the crowd playing their part by chanting for Lana. It was clear Lana was going to play a part in the finish of the match. Rusev offering Cena the chance to quit before the match began didn't fool anyone. It did get amusingly mixed "Yes!" and "No!" chants when referee Mike Chioda asked Cena if he'd accept the offer though.

After Rusev had repositioned Lana on a chair by the commentary table (prompting Lawler to openly admit he'd perv on her as she was so close) the match got underway with some solid big lad action. Cena surprised Rusev with an AA. Rusev responded with some drop kicks and a heel kick then went to have a word with Lana. Moments later he had her pass him the Russian flag so he could wave it about. Cena turn surprised him with a Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Rusev quickly regained control. He threw Cena into ring steps on the outside and whipped him into the on the inside. A piledriver attempt on the steps failed but a sidewalk slam didn't. Cena withstood it, refusing to give up. Because that's his slogan, innit. He then got a desperation AA on the steps and lobbed the steps at Rusev's head after he rolled to ringside. 'The Super Athlete' sidestepped it.

Cena threatened to put Rusev through a crowd barricade if he didn't quit. Rusev refused so Cena did indeed spear him through the barricade. An extended brawl through the crowd followed. They spent several minutes playing around near an incredibly flimsy table before Rusev discovered the pyro tech area. He attempted to their Cehs onto it but Cena countered, giving Rusev a AA on a crash mat several feet away from the pyro shooters. This inexplicably caused some pyro to go off. The commentary didn't even sell it, so what was the point.

Lana ran to the entrance area looking concerned. Rusev refused to give him so Cena hit him with a guard rail. 'The Bulgarian Brute' put the guardrail to use himself by suplexing Cena onto it. Back in the ring Rusev Hulked up, kicked Cena in the face and applied the Accolade. Cena sold it for all of ten seconds before clambering to his feet and smacking Rusev into a turnbuckle. The hold remained locked in and Cena sagged back down to his feet. Cena passed out in the hold and Rusev celebrated like he'd win. When he was told he hadn't he undid the top rope and poorer water on Cena to revive him. His plan was to swing the metal corner piece into Cena's head but Cena ducked and dragged him down into the STF. Rusev started cutting a promo in Bulgarian, prompting Lana to slide into the ring screaming that he quit.

Yes, the finish was predictable but the match as a whole was very enjoyable. They were given plenty of time and a bunch of shortcuts and made the most of both. It was the best entry in their series. This sort of match is Cena's strength. Rusev has looked good in the environment too. If he's kept around the top of the card he could probably develop a pretty mean reputation in these sorts of brawling matches.

The mood was lightened after that, with New Day toasting their title victory by drinking milk. Byron Saxton rocked up and told the trio that they'd be defending their titles in an Elimination Chamber at the EC Network special. New Day weren't impressed. Big E said they were too big to fit in a pod. Kofi was the standout of the segment. He's doing great work as an antagonist.

After a fast-paced tag match pitting Naomi and Tamina against the Bellas, won by the heels after Naomi simply threw Nikki off the top rope, we were shown Lana and Rusev in the back. Rusev wasn't happy, obvs. He ranted in Russian before switching to English to tell Lana to get out. It would be nice if the sword to English was done because Rusev didn't feel Lana warranted Bulgarian or Russian but the reality was that the line needed to be in English to make it clear to viewers that Lana wasn't simply walking out on Rusev.

King Wade Bad News Barrett I versus 'The New Sensation' 'Don't Call Me Adrian' Neville took the pre-main event slot. WWE apparently still feel audiences can't handle two hot matches between headline talents in a row and pack in a lengthy cool down period before a main event. I think they should trust audiences more, to be honest. Better running orders could really benefit a lot of their pay-per-views. They didn't get long but they had a good match for the time they had. The finish was disappointing though: Barrett rolled out of the ring to avoid a Red Arrow and took a count out loss. He roughed Nev up after the match. Neville got the last laugh when he lamped Barrett with the plastic sceptre and launched himself off the top rope with the Red Arrow.

The main event was predictably excellent. Noble and Mercury grabbed Reigns and Ambrose at the start. Within moments Reigns had broken away to hit an impressive Undertaker-like leap over the top rope onto a human crash mat at ringside. Some fluid action followed from all four. Sadly it wasn't long before Kane interfered: he pulled Reigns from the ring as he set up for a spear on Rollins. Team Rollins then attacked Reigns and Orton, leaving Ambrose and Rollins to battle in the ring. They did the great work they always do with each other before Kane interfered again, this time choke slamming 'The Lunatic Fringe' just before he spiked Rollins with Dirty Deeds.

Orton and Reigns finally took care of Kane at ringside before 'The Viper' headed into the ring for his singles stretch with Seth. The highlight here was a high-arcing superplex from Orty. It also lead to the spot of the match: Orton clearing the announce table only to be beaten down and power bombed through it by Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns. Ambrose and Reigns turned on Rollins immediately afterwards and got attacked by Kane. That didn't the well for him. He was power bombed onto Rollins through the Spanish table. Twice, because it didn't break the first time.

Ambrose and Reigns slipped into the ring for a singles stretch opposite one another. Ambrose was easily the more popular, winning out on a yay-boo exchange, but it was Reigns who dominated. Ambrose kicked out of a Superman punch and countered a spear with the knee. Reigns escaped a Dirty Deeds attempt and dropped Ambrose with a spear. Rollins returned to break it up then did a lap around ringside to escape Reigns' wrath. Back in the ring Reigns was dropped with Ambrose's rebound clothesline and Rollins with Dirty Deeds. Kane made the save by pulling Ambrose out then smashed both of them with steel stairs.

Orton knocked Kane into a ring post and then headed into the ring to RKO J&J and catch Rollins with a power slam as the champ leapt off the top rope. 'The Big Red Machine' interfered again, distracting Orton long enough to allow Rollins to sneak in a Pedigree for a successful title defence. His reward for this victory was having his hand raised in the aisle by 'The Game' himself, Triple H. High praise indeed for 'The Future'.

***

Results summary:

Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler
New Day defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd to retain the tag team championship
Bray Wyatt defeated Ryback
John Cena defeated Rusev to retain the United States championship
Naomi and Tamina defeated the Bellas
Adrian Neville defeated King Barrett
Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE championship

Dark Day

Despite their general lack of direction WWE has a pretty strong top end on their roster right now. John Cena is experiencing something of a resurgence thanks to the varied opposition his fourth reign as US champ has provided him. They have cowardly, conniving heel Seth Rollins walking around as WWE champion without having fully earned the right. Roman Reigns is ready to be tipped over into headlining champ territory at a moment's notice. And there's Brock Lesnar waiting in the wings to make a triumphant return as an unstoppable monster out for revenge and the world heavyweight championship.

But despite this the company's hottest feud is between two mid-card tag teams.

The rivalry between Cesaro and Tyson Kidd's Brass Ring Club, Masters of the Universe or Best Team Ever (they're going through names like nobody's business) and the New Day trio of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods is an example of a wrestling company listening to their audience and reacting accordingly. Two months ago Cesaro and Kidd were bad guys but their ring work has been so enjoyable that audiences have been supporting them (a theme throughout Cesaro's career). New Day are the opposite of this. Even though they've been positioned as good guys and their matches have always been solid the stereotypical characters they've been given to play have seen audiences booing them. That they're essentially playing 80's-style clean cut babyfaces has probably been a factor too.

The smart thing for WWE to do was to take the two tandems, flip their roles and put them in a series against one another. So that's what they did. Cesaro and Kidd are now free to officially encourage the positivity crowds send their way and ramp up the pop-inducing sequences in their matches.

New Day heat.

It's the New Day lads who have really benefited from this, and not just because their status as heat magnets has resulted in them getting a tag team title reign complete with the Freebird Rule. When they were lobbed together last year it took the writing team months to figure out what they wanted to do with them. They were eventually cast as bland babyfaces with unclear motivations. They spoke like gospel preachers and liked to clap, that was it. There was no depth to them and it wasn't clear what they were meant to be.

No reason was provided to cheer them. So people didn't. The resulting apathy gradually turned to active dislike, perhaps because the three New Dayers remained so positive despite being in such an obviously poor spot on the roster. That's the kind of blending of storyline and playing on audience's heightened knowledge of pro wrestling's workings that WWE (and others) should do more often.

The turn itself has been handled well and has allowed New Day to tinker with their performances. One of the key moments for the trio came when Kofi interfered in a match on Woods' behalf. The look Woods responded with was perfect, conveying that he'd only just realised in that moment that there was nothing to stop them breaking the rules. It created a reason for New Day to be booed and set up a simple booking formula for them: the cheat to win matches. And they had a reason for this change in attitude too. They were being booed while trying to fight fairly, so what did they have to lose by cheating?

Playing heel also suits the three men well. Kofi Kingston is essentially playing a slightly more arrogant version of the character he's always played, which makes sense as for him to make drastic changes nine years into his WWE run would be odd. I remember him saying in an interview years ago, so it's nice to see him getting the opportunity to do so. Big E is more at ease than he has been since his time with Dolph Ziggler, showing passion and presence both in the ring and on the mic. He's playing a man who knows that his obnoxious hollering will get under people's skin but who doesn't care.

It's Xavier Woods who has the most interesting character right now. He's coming across as a man with a lot of pent up rage inside him, glaring into the distance as Big E and Kofi prattle on during promos, clearly wanting to speak out about the ridiculousness of what they've been given to do but not quite bringing himself to verbalise his anger. If he ever gets to cut loose in a promo he could deliver gold.

I like what's being done with New Day. There's nothing revolutionary or amazing about any of it. It's just simple, effective booking that takes into account the crowd's views on an act. It's what WWE should do all the time but don't, so when they do it's eye-catching.

The E in WWE

A couple of years ago Big E (then Langston) looked like he was going somewhere. After a successful run in NXT, including a stint as champion which began when he dethroned Seth Rollins, he debuted on the main roster at the end of 2012. Working as Dolph Ziggler's enforcer he was at 'The Show Off's' side in a tag match at WrestleMania XXIX and got to share the spotlight with him the following night on RAW when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight championship to a thunderous ovation.

An all too early split from Ziggler proved a setback but it didn't last too long. Big E would turn face in October and wrestle Shield member Dean Ambrose for the US championship. He didn't win that belt but he would take the Intercontinental championship from Curtis Axel (yeah, Axel was IC champ, sorry for reminding you of that traumatic experience) weeks later.

Big E and a giant yellow LEGO brick there.

While he didn't have an incredible reign even by modern standards Big E did have some good matches during his time as IC kingpin. His defence against Damien Sandow at the TLC pay-per-view at the end of 2013 was fun, his match with former boss Ziggler on the March 25 Main Event was better than expected, and his match with Jack Swagger at Elimination Chamber was one of the best matches of the year. No real thought was put into Big E's reign but he showed that he was capable of producing a level of match that could make his title mean something.

After losing the championship to Bad News Barrett on May 4 at Extreme Rules Big E got nothing to do until July. After losing a tag match he and partner Kofi Kingston were confronted by an angry Xavier Woods, who heelishly told the pair they should start taking. This angle was the beginning of The New Day faction. It wasn't until November that the creative team decided what they wanted the unit to be, at which point they were officially reintroduced to TV.

Unfortunately for Big E, Kingston and Woods what the creative team wanted them to be was a generic mid-card group. They became evangelists, wearing outfits of matching colour and singing with a choir. At the time I thought it had potential. Truth be told I still do. But true to form the writing team have taken the most basic route possible with the group, giving the characters no layers, no feuds, and little material to work with beyond the initial concept. After three months that's not enough.

As the man with the most singles potential in the group Big E would probably benefit from being split off on his own at this point. Woods looks like a jobber while Kingston has been knocking around the middle of the card for so long that it should be clear to everyone he's never going to progress further. Keeping E linked to them can only take him down to their level.

It would be nice if WWE not only split Big E away from the group but did so with an actual story and used the opportunity to do something about Big E's character at the same time. The most obvious thing would be to play on the established difference in Woods' and Bigster's characters. Woods initially got The New Day together  by saying they should take, which is classic disgruntled mid-carder fare. Even when he was a heel Big E has always been a character who's pretty laid back and has a sense of humour about himself and what he does for a living. There's a natural conflict between this laid back approach and Woods' entitled outlook.

A divide could appear between the two, Woods becoming  increasingly aggressive and Big E not approving of the change. Kofi could be stuck in the middle and be gradually won over by Woods' rhetoric. Big E could eventual snap and leave them to work as a regular tag team while he resumes his singles career. This could either be an amicable split or something that takes in a pay-per-view or featured TV match. The match approach would probably be better as it would give three guys something to do and create a match that people have a reason to care about on RAW.

Honma. A good-lookin' lad.

Whether we got Big E versus Kingston or Woods or Kingston and Woods or not Big E would be freed up for a gimmick refresh. I like the idea of him being remodelled on New Japan's Tomoaki Honma. He wears colourful tights, uses a lot of headbutts and goes for his finisher as soon as matches begin. Big E could throw a convincing headbutt and I'm sure he could splash out on some new singlets. Honma tends to wear red and yellow (presumably as a nod to Hulk Hogan, for whatever reason) but adds peculiar illustrations. Big E could get some primary coloured stuff made up with pop culture imagery on it. It would be different to what most people in WWE wear. Standing out in that way would give people someone to latch onto, and if people watching RAW need anything it's something to latch onto.

Being visually different is rarely a bad thing in wrestling. The same goes for having a distinctive move set, and while headbutts are simple they're also not something anyone else in WWE is currently noted for using. Big E wouldn't necessarily need to win all the time, or even often, but putting him by himself with some things to set him apart could, in time, help him get over. The slow route is what seems to earn the respect of fans these days. Why not put some promising guys in positions to take it?

Dawn of The New Day

Over the last month we've been introduced to WWE's New Day stable. More accurately we’ve been reintroduced. Two of the three members had previously been established as main roster mid-carders before disappearing a couple of months ago to allow for this repackaging. The other was a low-card guy who’d been called up to do a whole lot of nothing at the end of last year. They'd been loosely affiliated before their disappearance but only now are we getting confirmation that WWE actually knows what they want to do with them as a unit.

Another faction name considered was Guys in Suits.

The first man we were reacquainted with was Xavier Woods. He used to do a 90s pop culture gimmick¹. Before disappearing a few weeks ago the only thing he’d done of note since getting called up to the main roster was get The Funkadactyls to go to the ring with him for a while. He didn't really have much of a character at all beyond generic babyface loosely affiliated with R-Truth. So his transformation into an amalgamation of Little Richard and Ernest 'The Cat' Miller in a vignette on the November 3 RAW can probably be classified as an improvement.

Up next was Kofi Kingston. His exquisitely trimmed and incredibly pointy beard remained intact. So did his lack of charisma. That's always been Kofi’s problem. Perhaps being teamed with two guys with more personality will help him bring out his own on camera. Ultimately personality isn't the reason he's in the stable. He’s there because practically everything else that could conceivably get him over has been tried during his seven years on the main roster.

Finally the November 17 RAW featured a vignette in which Big E channelled Martin Luther King. Super relaxed in his jeans and T-shirt combo it was possible to believe he could become a star again. That's not something we've been able to say about him since before his premature split from Dolph Ziggler. If E can be as comfortable in front of an audience as he was in his video he'll go somewhere.

It seems as though the three have touches of a televangelist gimmick to them. They appeared in front of a choir and gave spirited, sermon-flavoured promos about a new day dawning. It was eye-catching and memorable. Alone it’s not enough to help them get anywhere but it was a good start.

It looks like they’re intended as a babyface trio. That’s a positive sign. WWE has had some success with those over the last two years in the form of The Shield and The Wyatt Family. The writers should have a good idea of what to do and what to avoid when it comes to handling a three man faction. Not least because it’s easy to see their interest in this new team waning quickly, something the previous trios didn’t have to contend with. The Shield was comprised of three guys considered future headliners while the Wyatts were built around a future headliner so they were guaranteed attention. New Day features a long term mid-carder and a man who was promoted on a whim. Only Big E has main event potential and he’s been subjected to stop-start booking over the last year.

If The New Day can get half as over as The Shield they'll be doing well.

It’s tough to know what to expect from The New Day. Both the Wyatts and The Shield started out as heels before becoming faces (albeit never officially in the case of the Wyatts) mostly due to the strength of their booking and their dynamic performances. What we’ve seen so far makes it look like New Day are going to begin their time together as faces. Perhaps they’ll go heel over time. That could work in storyline terms but it wouldn’t do much for the three individuals. Kofi and Xavier seem far better suited to the protagonist role and while Big E has appeared proficient at playing both heel and face right now a face run is what’s best for him. It will allow him to show his personality, giving people a reason to warm to him and showing that he’s more than just a body guy.

It seems unlikely the new group will achieve the success the Wyatts and ‘The Hounds of Justice’ did before them. Mostly because archetypal job guy Xavier Woods is involved. But maybe WWE will surprise us and give the team things to do. Like giving the tag division one of its periodic rejuvenations or putting together another trio to oppose them. Unlikely I know. I think the most realistic thing we can hope for is that the group gets something to do on RAW every week for the next six months and Big E gets treated as the man who’ll go on to singles stardom. If it ends up being the thing that launches him up the card it will have been a success.

***

¹ Not as cool as it sounds. Instead of using phrases from 90s TV shows for move names or in promos or putting 90s emblems and motifs on his ring gear he basically said “It’s morphin’ time” sometimes. There’s a load of iconography and phrases to latch on to from the 90s and Woods did a poor job of tapping into it. Our best hope for making use of the 90s gimmick now seems to be Angelo Dawkins. Not because he’s hinted that he might, but because it’s not a million miles away from the backpack-wearing self-aware nerd he’s playing now.

NXTweet 07.08.14

So here we are. Another Sunday, another compilation of tweets about NXT. It’s an easy post.

Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger v Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady

Tweet 1: And now some tweets about NXT.

Tweet 2: Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger have some wonderfully generic music going on.
Tweet 3: Also, it's not clear whether we're meant to like them for being all clean cut and athletic or dislike them for being generic and arrogant.
Tweet 4: Enzo and Big Cass though.
Tweet 5: You can't teach being seven feet tall. Sorta thing Kevin Nash would say.
Tweet 6: Commentary team pushing Cass's elbow is pretty lol.

Textbook pointing. Main roster pointing? Perhaps...

Tweet 7: Dillinger and Jordan have more than a little Benjamin and Haas about them.
Tweet 8: They should nick a few of the WGTT's moves. I was always partial to the German suplex-super kick combo.
Tweet 9: If Enzo and Cass don't get called up as a pair something will have gone very wrong.
Tweet 10: Pretty blah match as far as the wrestling went, but people are into Enzo and Cass so that's fine.

Sami Zayn chats to Renee Young, gets picked on by Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel, and then agrees to tag with Adam Rose

Tweet 11: Jason Albert and Alex Riley. #budgetcuts

Tweet 12: Sami Zayn doesn't have a tag partner. Uh-oh.
Tweet 13: Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel being recast as school bullies there.
Tweet 14: I like the idea that Adam Rose gets body surfed everywhere backstage. He's above walking.

CJ Parker v Xavier Woods

Tweet 15: CJ Parker needs to be announced from somewhere other than some place in Illinois. Maybe a National Park or something.

Tweet 16:  Stop frickin' frackin', kids. And wash your hands afterwards.

Sign Guy Parker.

Tweet 17: #XavierWoodseyeroll
Tweet 18: If CJ ever moves up to the main roster then he should debut by "protesting" with his signs. Wander all around the arena for an hour or so.
Tweet 19: I thought that double axe handle was going to finish Woods off. He's a tough dude to kick out of that...
Tweet 20: They should also work in some conspiracy theorist stuff to CJ's character.
Tweet 21: Forward roll into a clothesline? Not the best move, Xavier.
Tweet 22: Lots of kick outs going on but the moves being kicked out of are pretty standard.
Tweet 23: CJP winning is what's best for business.

Tyler Breeze addresses the arena on the Titantron

Tweet 24: 'The Definition of Delish'. I'm dying at that.

Tweet 25: So basically the Era of Gorgeous is coming. Lovely stuff.

Bayley v Eva Marie

Tweet 26: Wacky waving arm flailing inflatable tube men for Bayley's entrance there. It's simple stuff like that that makes me enjoy NXT.

Tweet 27: Even Eva Marie sitting on a box for her entrance isn't bad. It's pointless like her, so it fits her character.

Good headlock form from Eva there.

Tweet 28: Mike Chioda's on NXT ref duty again.
Tweet 29: That was unequivocally a wrestling match. Eva Marie's trying, bless 'er.

Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd v Sami Zayn and Adam Rose

Tweet 30: Why didn't Gabriel and Kidd walk to the ring together?

Tweet 31: Zayn's dancing is over with me.
Tweet 32: Jason Albert's dancing and nobody's thought to reference ‘The Hip Hop Hippo’. Poor.
Tweet 33: Renee would've been all over that.
Tweet 34: Justin Gabriel's robbed Heath Slater's haircut.
Tweet 35: "What could it mean for any of these four men to get a shot at The Ascension?" - Alex Riley

Just noticed Zayn's mismatched elbow pad colours as I posted this. So that'll be the comment.

Tweet 36: Kidd seems incapable of crowd interaction. It's fascinating.
Tweet 37: Sami Zayn, on the other hand, excels at it.
Tweet 38: Why is Adam Rose doing turnbuckle stuff on NXT? Unnecessary.
Tweet 39: "Whadda match!" - Alex Riley on an average match
Tweet 40: I've seen better episodes of NXT but that was still good. There's a reason for everything that happens. Rare in WWE. Non-existent in TNA.

NXT ArRIVAL review

I believe that NXT is WWE’s best weekly show. The one hour run time means that performer’s don’t become stale through overexposure. The focus on actual wrestling is refreshing and well-suited to the talented roster, featuring as it does many former indy standouts. Everyone on the show has something to prove and is hungry to impress to gain promotion to the main roster. And everyone there is a relative newcomer to the WWE system, meaning that the stagnation that plagues RAW and SmackDown isn’t present.

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.

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.

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.

The Debutants' Ball

At the moment most WWE viewers are scrutinising the headline matches, and distinct lack of mid-card matches, of WrestleMania XXIX. That's understandable. It will be the biggest and most financially successful wrestling event of 2013. That doesn’t mean it will be a creative success, but you can’t have everything.

The attention being paid to the April 7^th card is the main reason nobody's really thinking about what WWE will be doing on April 8^th. It's likely that all the part timers who have matches at WrestleMania (that's The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar) will be on the April 8^th RAW. That show will be about long term story plans involving those guys, timed to catch the viewers who generally only tune in around 'Mania time.

While The Rock will apparently be appearing at Extreme Rules it seems unlikely that Lesnar will join him and even more unlikely that 'The Game' and 'The Dead Man' will. From the April 15^th RAW onwards it's likely to be business as usual for WWE. Which may pose a problem, because they have a distinct lack of full time stars that can be given something fresh to do.

It's likely WWE are going to promote a few NXT guys to the main roster, giving themselves a year to create some big new stars for next year's WrestleMania XXX (the most adult of all the WrestleManias). Last year I posted a list of five guys (read it here) that I thought stood a chance of graduating from NXT and being the next batch of WWE Superstars™. Two of those five, Seth Rollins and Big E Langston, have made the leap.

The remaining three, Kassius Ohno, Richie Steamboat and Bray Wyatt, remain stationed in developmental. Ohno and Wyatt still both seem likely to follow in the footsteps of NXT’s first two champions. Sadly Steamboat has dropped off the radar and hasn’t had a televised appearance on NXT in quite a while. I still think he’d be a good addition to the roster but his lack of exposure indicates that that’s not likely anytime soon.

Going on current form both Ohno and Wyatt would perform similar functions: mid-card antagonists who would tangle with the likes of Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. WWE isn’t in desperate need of guys to do that though, they have enough interchangeable heels as it is. What could be done is to change the roles they play.

 

This man deserves a chance to make it in WWE. I'm talking about Bray Wyatt, not Yoshi Tatsu

 

I’ve never seen Bray Wyatt work as a babyface so I don’t know how good he is in the role. I do know how good he is at playing the disturbed southern preacher though. It’s a persona that deserves the chance to succeed on the big stage of WWE. Whether he gets called up alongside Erick Rowan and Luke Harper or not (and for the record I think they should all go up together) Wyatt would be best served playing his current character, perhaps recruiting one or two current members of the roster to swell the ranks of the Family.

Ohno could work as a babyface. WWE seems short on bankable good guys right now. Alberto Del Rio’s worked out nicely but The Miz is considered a flop and Sheamus has been a disaster as a top line performer. Ohno’s been around long enough to be able to start out as a good guy.

The trouble there is that it’s tricky to introduce good guys as anything other than underdogs. That works when the wrestler in question is the size of Kofi Kingston or Bo Dallas but it’s a trickier proposition with someone of Ohno’s build. He looks like he can take care of himself as is roughly the same size as most of the other guys under contract. If he’s going to start out as a good guy the underdog approach wouldn’t be available.

They’re not the only guys who could find themselves on the main roster come late April. Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey, the current NXT tag champs, would make an excellent addition to the tag team division. That would depend on WWE wanting to make their doubles scene watchable once WrestleMania’s out of the way, of course.

Conor O’Brian’s puzzling Ascension gimmick is not the sort of thing that would be a natural fit for WWE right now. It could work (for a while anyway) if he continued to play the character as he has in NXT while the commentary team, backstage interviewers and other wrestlers acknowledged how strange the character is. A joke that everyone except the performer is in on, if you like.

Gimmick aside O’Brian’s as ready as he’s going to get. He could find a role with a more straight-laced character but doing is current act for laughs would help him stand out.

 

The potential for comedy is staggering

 

Corey Graves is another guy who would be a nice fit for RAW and SmackDown. He looks and wrestles the part, though he has the same problem as Ohno in that he’d be another heel on the books. He may be headed towards a babyface turn in NXT thanks to his recent dispute with The Shield, so that could work to his advantage.

What may go against Graves more than anything else are his visual similarities to CM Punk. Anything that could be perceived as harmful to Punk (and sadly that includes Graves also having a torso full of tattoos) is going to be treated carefully by WWE’s writing and marketing teams. What may help to nullify this is Punk taking time off after WrestleMania. That seems likely because of various injuries he’s been working through and his busy schedule for the last couple of years. If Punk’s off TV by the end of April then Graves could be called up and established as his own man long before ‘The Second City Saint’ returns.

I mentioned Leo Kruger in my NXT recap on Saturday (available here). He’s ready to play a larger role in my view, but I think he’d need a character tweak. The South African walkabout nut doesn’t seem like something WWE would get behind.

There’s a strong chance some of the NXT Divas will get a call-up too. The Divas division is paper thin and requires some fresh blood. Bringing back old names is all well and good but new names are just as important. Paige, Sasha Banks, and Audrey Marie would be my top picks. Summer Rae’s still a little too wooden and generic when cutting promos.

WWE could surprise us with some promotions for guys who’ve yet to play an important role on NXT’s TV show. That’s what they did with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Xavier Woods has a fun 90s-centric character that many of WWE’s younger viewers could relate to. Sammy Sane (the former El Generico) would be an interesting choice too.

It’s going to be interesting to see who gets the nod to move up. We’ll know who the chosen ones are, if there are any, by early May. Hopefully there are more than one or two. The greater the number of people given an opportunity the greater chance there is of a new star being made.

NXTweet 20.02.13

The problems that have been brewing for the last few weeks between Conor O’Brian and Big E Langston finally led to a match on this week’s NXT. It wasn’t the greatest match you’ll ever see but it wasn’t supposed to be. It was supposed to be a hard-hitting collision between two powerful brawlers.

Considering the wrestling styles of the two men that was the best approach. They had a surprisingly entertaining tussle that mostly involved swapping holds and exchanging power shots. Predictably there was no clear winner. The first meeting between them had to end in disqualification or something similar in order to set up a rematch. It’s just the way things work in wrestling. It means that when the good guy eventually scores the win over his foe he will have overcome a greater obstacle than he would otherwise.

I like the Langston v O’Brian rivalry. It’s being built without the anarchic sense of rush that would be present on WWE’s regular programming. The far more sedate pace that NXT permits is of great benefit when constructing feuds that are designed to be easy to follow.

Big E, an enforcer for bad-guy-on-the-rise Dolph Ziggler on the main roster remember, is incredibly popular with the NXT regulars. It’s a promising sign for his future prospects. He’s not going to be a henchman forever. At some point he’ll go it alone. His popularity in NXT indicates that he could work as a babyface in WWE if used correctly.

Langston gets to show far more charisma on the developmental show. If you’ve only seen him on RAW and SmackDown you could be forgiven for thinking that he’s just a pile of muscles with a questionable taste in ring gear. He’s got a personality and a sense of humour (hence his ring gear), he just doesn’t get to show them much outside of NXT.

Conor O’Brian is not as effective as Langston. That’s to be expected though. If he were he’d have been called up by now too. Without Kenneth Cameron to team with The Ascension gimmick is, frankly, a little bit silly. There’s something about tag team wrestling that makes dressing like Conan the Barbarian and wearing bright contact lenses acceptable. If he’s to graduate from NXT O’Brian had better start devising a new character for himself.

How about a heel tree surgeon?

One final thing to note about NXT’s main event is the surprise appearance of Corey Graves. After Langston v O’Brian had been called off the champ posed with his belt in the ring, only for Graves to run in through the crowd, attack him, and leave with the belt. Graves is one of the best things on NXT at the moment. His promotion to a title feud with ‘Mr Five’ should mean we get some good matches and promos.

 

Future NXT champion?

 

Aside from that match the most striking thing about this week’s NXT was the fact that both the featured heel Divas are being booked almost identically. Both preen on the way to the ring, both cut daft promos about how they’re the most attractive creatures on the show, and both witter about being overlooked.

If Summer Rae and Audrey Marie, who are targeting Paige and Sasha Banks respectively, are to become useful assets to WWE then they’re going to have to be given their own characters at some point. Both women should sit down and figure out ways to make themselves stand out despite the vague and generic lines given to them.

Opening video

Tweet 1: NXTweet.

Tweet 2: Little summary of the tag title tournament final. Immortality was also on the line. Well, it was according to Dawson.
Tweet 3: Subdued recap.

Yoshi Tatsu v Bray Wyatt

Tweet 4: Here's Yoshi Tatsu. First time I'll have watched one of his matches in months. I don't watch Superstars.

Tweet 5: Bray Wyatt's wrestling? #win
Tweet 6: "I feel danger and I feel evil" - William Regal on Bray Wyatt
Tweet 7: Bray Wyatt wins! What a shock! WHAT AN UPSET!
Tweet 8: Are Luke and Erick supposed to be brothers?
Tweet 9: Bray likes to watch brothers with different surnames fight.
Tweet 10: I don't care that the segment made no sense, Bray Wyatt is GREAT.

He also has a nice line in shirts

Sasha Banks’ mystery admirer is revealed

Tweet 11: Rene Dupree? No, Renee Young.

Tweet 12: Sasha Banks gets to meet her secret admirer tonight! She's excited! We all are.
Tweet 13: That reveal was dull. I don't know who the secret admirer woman was. The commentators should've been on that.

Xavier Woods v El Local

Tweet 14: El Local looks familiar. I wonder if he'll do his own ring entrance...

Tweet 15: I like Xavier's dancing.

He's quite the mover and shaker

Tweet 16: If ECW were still going I can imagine Xavier being a member of the FBI.
Tweet 17: El Local has a distinctly La Parka physique.
Tweet 18: Did Regal ever wrestle in Mexico? That'd be a dastardly style clash to watch. He could pull it off though.
Tweet 19: "I'm an original raver, me. 1988" - William Regal #ImnotaraverImstraight
Tweet 20: This commentator is worse than Dawson.
Tweet 21: … Unless it is Dawson. It's difficult to tell and they've not introduced themselves.
Tweet 22: Xavier Woods wins with a tornado DDT. When was the last time that move got a win?

Various backstage shenanigans

Tweet 23: Here's Mike Sampson. He's saying words about Paige's fake shoulder injury. Compelling viewing.

Tweet 24: Ahhhh... it was Audrey Marie that attacked Sasha. The fiend!

Audrey Marie v Sasha Banks

Tweet 25: If Audrey Marie is supposed to be a heel someone should tell her not to high five kids in the audience.

Tweet 26: Regal with a subtle dig at the lack of imagination given to Divas feuds there.
Tweet 27: It was a short match but it was pretty decent. Heel Divas get booked strong in NXT.

Renee Young interviews Summer Rae

Tweet 28: Speaking of which... Summer Rae.

Tweet 29: Summer wants to be referred to as 'The First Lady of NXT'. I wonder where she got that nickname idea from...

Tyson Kidd in-ring promo, featuring Leo Kruger and Justin Gabriel

Tweet 30: Whoever's interviewing Tyson Kidd looks like a budget version of Lance Storm.

Tweet 31: James Andrews performed surgery on Tyson. What's wrong with Mike Sampson, eh?
Tweet 32: Tyson Kidd looks like a newsagent in his mid-forties.
Tweet 33: Punk makes a passing comment about Kidd being a workhorse and it becomes a gimmick. I can't wait till he comes back as 'The Workhorse'.
Tweet 34: Here's Leo Kruger with his 1970s racist BBC sitcom voice.
Tweet 35: Justin ‘The Hair’ Gabriel.

Big E Langston v Conor O’Brian

Tweet 36: How much of Big E will we see in this match?

Tweet 37: Conor O'Brian should form a tag team with Sin Cara. They'd save on lighting effects.
Tweet 38: People are loving Big E.

The champ is here

Tweet 39: Lots of lockups going on here...
Tweet 40: It's a perfectly sound match but there's nothing noteworthy about it. Power exchanges are the order of the day.
Tweet 41: The referee jumped between O'Brian and Big E and then disqualified them for hitting him. What a weak finish.
Tweet 42: The show goes off the air with Big E chasing Corey Graves backstage. Graves has stolen the belt. Next NXT champ? Maybe.