The Superstars of NXT made one last
stop on the way to NXT Takeover to bring their unique brand of
hard-hitting action to Citrus Springs, Fl for the first time. The
lively crowd filled the Citrus Springs Community Center for a night
of excitement that would feature continued rivalries, an
international superstar, and divas stealing the show.
Troy McClain made his way to the ring
in his usual ring gear but without his headset microphone to take on
the 2012 Olympian Chad Gable. This was my first time witnessing the
young Olympian perform and I could tell from the opening moments of
the contest that I would be a fan of Gable.
It was an entertaining opening bout
that did a good job at presenting the newcomer Chad Gable who managed
to snag the win with a bridging fallaway slam. With all the highly
anticipated acquisitions recently signed to the WWE it would be easy
for one to get lost amid the buzz, however I don't think that will be
a problem for Gable who will soon be making waves of his own in NXT.
The evening continued with womens tag
action as the team of Carmella and Sasha Banks took on the team of
Kendall Skye and Alexa Bliss in a match that was a highlight of the
night. Great job by all four women, Carmella has gotten good fast and
deserves an in-ring television debut sooner than later. Alexa Bliss
has come a long way as well. I see much potential in the highly
athletic Kendall Skye and much enjoy her offense of kicks. For me
though the star of the match was clearly Sasha Banks who continued to
prove that she is indeed the boss. In the closing moments of the
match Banks hit her patented back stabber transitioned into a
crossface aka Boss Lock leaving Skye no choice but to tap out giving
the victory to Banks and Carmella.
Next up, NXT commentator Rich Brennan
made his way to the ring to introduce international superstar Kenta,
one of the most eagerly anticipated athletes we've seen in a long
time. Kenta gave a short promo promoting Takeover and even made his
own network 9.99 reference. When Brennan asked for his prediction for
the upcoming fatal four way match a mere five days away, the
originator of the GTS made one thing clear; regardless of who walks
out of Takeover as champion he will be meeting them in the future.
Our next match featured the last of a
dying breed Bull Dempsey taking on Angelo Dawkins. Once again, I am
not a fan of Dawkins gimmick at all, though that is no reflection on
his athletic ability of which he has plenty. His potential shines
though when he is not booked in squash matches and he put in a decent
effort tonight against the human wrecking ball. Bull Dempsey looked
especially aggressive and mean tonight as if he was out to prove all
his naysayers wrong. Dempsey won the match with a perfectly executed
flying headbutt off the top rope.
Sylvester Lefort made his way to the
ring accompanied by Marcus Louis to take on the charismatic trash
talker Enzo Amore followed by Big Colin Cassady with a bucket of
permanent hair remover cream. Hilarity ensued as the Frenchman were
running scared from Enzo and Cass with their trusty bucket of cream
before referee Drake Wuertz had enough and ejected Louis, Cass, and
the bucket from ringside. Without distraction the match continued
with Sly in control for much of the match dishing out punishment to
the underdog Amore. In the end when all hope seemed lost Amore
managed to roll up the overconfident Frenchman from out of nowhere
for the pinfall victory. A very angry Marcus Louis ran to the ring to
commence a post match beatdown on Enzo before Big Cass with bucket in
tow to clear the ring of the two villians. Props to all men,
including Wuertz for really selling this one.
After a short intermission the action
continued with six man tag action. The team of Ty Dillinger, Jason
Jordan, and Sawyer Fulton faced off against Wesley Blake, Buddy
Murphy, and Kalisto in a hard fought contest. The match began with
plenty of back and forth wrestling until the heel team of
Dillinger/Jordan/Fulton found themselves in control keeping Blake in
for much of the match. In the end however as these matches often do it
evolved into chaos with bodies everywhere and Kalisto getting the win
over Dillinger. This was a highly energetic contest with often
underrated athletes.
The intense Baron Corbin took on CJ
Parker in one of my favorite bouts of the evening. Parker put in a
good showing trying to take down the big man, and at some points the
match could of went either way, as it has in the last few weeks.
Ultimately, the hippie was no match for the especially intimidating
Corbin. I've seen these two wrestle several times now and this was
definitely their best outing.
Next, The Vaudevillians took on The
Mechanics. I'm a big fan of both teams and found myself rooting for
both of them at several points. It is the team of Gotch and English
who are clearly over with the crowd, and it is puzzling to me that
they are not booked for Takeover. Dawson and Wilder are a great, mean
team and would love to see them feud with the aforementioned Blake
and Murphy one day.
However, The Mechanics would be no
match tonight for crowd favorites The Vaudevillians.
In our main event womens champion
Charlotte wrestled Bayley in a non-title match. I've witnessed these
two ladies compete several times now, and while they have never
disappointed this was easily their best match to date. The match went
back and forth until Charlotte found herself in control. For much of
the match it looked as if she had the match won until lovable
underdog Bayley mounted a comeback and beat the champ cleanly in the
middle of the ring. Can she pull this off again in just five days at
NXT Takeover?
All in all, it was another fun night of
NXT action that sent the crowd home happy. With many of the usual
headliners away with the WWE this weekend, it gave other superstars a
chance to shine a bit.... and indeed, they did shine.
Next stop: NXT Takeover
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