NXT Tampa 8-29-14

Tonight the weather in Tampa Bay was wet and humid, but inside the UADC Gymnasium the action could not have been any hotter as the athletes of NXT brought the fight back to the city where it all started. Rivalries continued and perhaps the future was foreshadowed on the road to NXT Takeover.

In the opening bout of the evening The Mechanics took on fan favorites The Vaudevillians. The two teams fought hard in a match that was a highlight of the night. The antics and showboating of Gotch and English stand in sharp contrast to the tough no nonsense team of Dawson and Wilder. The Vaudevillians are looking better every match, between the unique gimmick of Gotch and the charisma of English it's no wonder they are so over with the fans right now. However, don't overlook The Mechanics who have all the tools to make it to the top of the division and are quickly becoming a favorite of this blogger. Tonight the Vaudevillians would find themselves victorious as English pinned Wilder following an impressive senton from the second turnbuckle.

Baron Corbin made his way to the ring with an eerie intensity to take on everyones favorite hippy CJ Parker. Surprisingly Parker got in quite a bit of offense and presented Corbin with his biggest challenge since he's taken this new direction. However, it wasn't enough to faze the 6' 8” beast who easily made quick work of CJ Parker. It was a short match that was still a step up from the last few squash matches, but still did a great job of making Corbin look like a very dangerous man and a future major player.

The action continued with divas tag team action as the team of Sasha Banks and Carmella faced the surprising pairing of Becky Lynch and Kendall Skye. I've went on record before stating that I expect great things from the natural heel Carmella and the highly athletic Skye, but tonight the stars of the match were most definitely Lynch and Banks. The two continue to prove that they are indeed the future of the divas division. Despite the fact that it was a very pro-Becky crowd, the bad girls managed to snag a victory when Kendall Skye tapped to Banks Boss Lock.

Next, Solomon Crowe made his way to the ring to deliver an excellent promo. He made sure to remind us that before he made his way to this company he was a big deal, but it doesn't matter now because he is in NXT which is the best thing going on in wrestling today. He tells us he is willing to start at the bottom but he will kick in opportunities door when the time is right. Crowe appeared very comfortable behind the microphone, and the promo was an improvement upon an already good promo. Hopefully a big Crowe push is not far away.

Sylvester Lefort accompanied to the ring by Marcus Louis took on the highly charismatic Enzo Amore accompanied by Big Cass. The match began with plenty of trash talking and hijinks before referee Drake Wuertz had enough and ejected both Louis and Cass from ringside. Lefort kept control most of the match while Amore mounted offense in small bursts. In the end, the perhaps over confident Frenchmen was duped by a surprise pin leaving Amore victorious. Louis ran to the ring to commence a post match beat down before Big Colin Cassady made the save, along with the trusty bucket of hair remover. If Amore can pull this off again a mere weeks away at Takeover Lefort will lose a lot more than a match, but his head full of locks as well in a hair vs hair match.

More tag team action followed as the two man juggernaut known as The Ascension took on the team of Kalisto and Justin Gabriel. NXT has done a great job of building up The Ascension, they seem so indestructible that you never believe anyone will beat them, even a team made up of frenetic Kalisto and former Nexus member Justin Gabriel. It was a surprisingly slower paced match that saw Konnor and Viktor in control much of the match keeping the two high-fliers grounded. At one point Gabriel gave Konnor a legit busted nose which seemed to slow the match a little bit. In the closing moments of the match Kalisto found himself victim to The Fall Of Man leaving NXT tag team champs The Ascension victorious yet again.

Underdog Bayley once again went to battle with NXT womens champion Charlotte. I've seen these two compete several times now and it has become apparent that fans will be in for a treat when these two wrestle with the title on the line at Takeover. Bayley brought the fight to Charlotte but came up short in the end. Will history repeat its self at Takeover? At this point I could see it going either way.

The always hyped Mojo Rawley attempted to gain a little retribution from NXTs resident wrecking ball Bull Dempsey. It was a short match that featured a lot of back and forth action from the two big guys. The highlight of the match came when Bull performed a surprising flying head butt from the top rope giving him the pinfall victory over Mojo. I enjoyed the new offense from Dempsey.

Our main event and Takeover preview was a non-title fatal four way featuring Tyson Kidd vs Tyler Breeze vs Sami Zayn vs Adrian Neville. The match started building slowly until you couldn't blink for fear of missing the action. The crowd was on the edge of their seats, and many times standing to see the bodies flying in and outside the ring. I was never too big of a Kidd fan before tonight despite his obvious athleticism, but I find myself a fan now. Kidd trying to start his own "Tyson" chant was priceless. He seems to be finding his footing in the heel role while the other three men stole the show as always. The action was fast and the jaw dropping moments were numerous. In the final chaotic moments of the night Zayn hit a helluva kick to Neville in the corner and went for the pin. Kidd pulled Zayn out of the ring by the feet and stole the pinfall victory. His celebration would be short lived though when Zayn gave him a helluva kick and ejected him from the ring. I say with confidence if these men can repeat this performance at Takeover mere weeks away we will have a match of the year contender on our hands.