Really not feeling well and was hoping this would be a more lively/positive review, but I'll give it a shot...
It's weird sometimes. When going into NXT, I always immediately think of it as the current gold standard in terms of classic booking.
They always do little things to make us care about anyone with a modicum of talent, they even got Bull Dempsey into someone awesome. Hell, I'm excited to see Alex Riley back, more less people who are... ya know... not Alex Riley. I just think about how everyone is used to their potential, and that makes it dangerous to start the show with a Vaudevillians match.
: I mean these guys could have been so much more! They had the epic title win in Brooklyn but they've been total NPC's since...
But you know how to shake the gloom off the Villians' entrance? Villians' wrestling matches. I'm getting more and more of a kick out of the edgy, brutal, MANLY side of these two! Even as Clearance Store Bull Dempsey and The Terminated over there were getting in plenty of offense - that action figure throwing rad dropkicks was cool - Villians looked dangerous here. Commentary team wouldn't stop talking about the Hype Bros for some reason though and I TOTALLY forgot these guys were feuding. Yay multiple feuds in a division, but this feels... Directionless? Lame? It's a shame that these guys were passed over, but focusing on the teams with some actual main roster potential (Enzo and Cass/American Alpha) is the better call.
I chuckled at the emasculation bit from Emma, but it's so weird to see a situatlon like the one these two are in. Sure, Directionless Dana may be an easy fix, but now that these two have done their job of getting Asuka over there's nothing left for them storyline-wise, especially since Eva and Nia have completely devoured their spot... Of course Evil Emma is getting better and better by the week, but they don't seem to have a place on Raw, either. The whole "Diva in a Woman's World" gimmick would be Summer Rae with muscles/boobs/an even weirder face, trying to get Emma over in front of bored crowds who'll heckle her about an Ipad case is an uphill battle, and an overcrowded heel roster leads to the same problems. Why.
Anyway there's a paragraph about a ten-second segment, so here's 7 minutes of Evil Emma throwing chicks around with double-armed suplexes, toying with her opponents as she's doing innovative mudhole stomps and kicking the shit out of people. <3 Loved this.
speaking of things I love: Asuka still having that killer's vibe, and how speaking her name brings chills to the faces of anyone (MORE LIKE ALL DEAD EVERYTHING AMIRITE) who hears her name. If you say Asuka's name in the mirror five times... I'm afraid to find out, one of you all can try it D:
and then Regal came out for his big announcement and I was pretty happy for this. Shinsuke Nakamura signed with WWE, and I couldn't wait to see what it would be like to see Nak come down and see what his theme was like and how he'd be treated and WAIT WTF YAYYYYYYYYYYY WOOOOOOOOOO AUSTIN ARIES CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP AUSTIN MFn ARIES!!!!!!!!!!! YAY! THE GREATEST WORLD CHAMPION THAT EVER LIVED IS IN THE BUILDING MOTHERFUCKERS! Yessssssssssssss like the 18 dudes they've signed lately made me forget about A-Double heading to NXT and this was so. happy. Still my biggest mark-out moment in WWEF was Aries at Destination X 2012... then Corbin runs down and BRUTALLY ruins the fun, I was expecting him to yell at Regal "Look at your big New Japan signing now!!!" but that's the only thing that could have made this better.
When I heard Corbin attacked him, that was all well and good but I didn't know it would make (somewhat) storyline sense. Corbin being butthurt about being out of the #1 Contender's race has felt forced as hell, but it was just enough storyline to give this more impact. Corbin giving that IDGAF look at Regal as he raged was glorious, and that End of Days looked like a thousand deaths. Every moment of this ruled.
*sigh*
When I saw Steve Cutler in the ring... fine, but when that falling star sound happened and that acoustic guitar riff hit... I'll be honest... Seeing the fucking Drifter on this show pissed me off WAY more than it should have. You idiots followed this hot debut of AUSTIN HEALY ARIES (and Emma squashes) with this talentless asshole. Oh lord I screamed louder than I have about a wrestling show since 2012, not one of these all-caps for fun rants but... Man, seeing this guy just kills the entire mood of the show. Maybe it's working to get him Baron Corbin heat, but you literally just did that with Baron Corbin and it won't work on this clown.
anyway that darkness didn't last for long. FUCK YEAH BALOR VS NEVILLE!!!!! :yay: This match may be forgotten due to the Joe vs Zayn matches surrounding it, but THIS MATCH OMG I LOVED THIS. The Bloody Sunday finish, the dives, the reversals, this thing went on for 15 minutes and whenever the rare dull moment happened, there would be a flying enziguri a few seconds later to wake you the hell up when you don't need it. This ruled. There is no bigger guarantee to have an underwhelming match on Smackdown than Neville at this point, and it was so much fun to see him back here where the agents have a clue of what they're doing - shoot you wanna talk about people who can use a main roster callup, how about these agents who actually let an exciting back-and-forth contest happen? Neville looked revitalized instead of just being the three moves guy we see on the main roster... and...
It's time even I have to admit it: Finn Balor has went from "an entrance" to a total workhorse ace. The guy has been carrying anyone to a quality match lately and he definitely did more than his part in making this so much fun to watch. Balor might be the star everyone makes him out to be after all.
Still don't wanna see a Balor Club, but would LOVE another show as good as this one.
1: