By Graham "GSM" Matthews Asuka def. Billie Kay Although I wasn't exposed to any of Asuka's work prior to her coming to NXT, she is quickly growing on me. Not only is she an excellent wrestler as she demonstrated here, but she's also a hell of a character. She connects with the crowd so easy, and I can't remember the last time that was the case with a woman in WWE (obviously, Sasha Banks and Bayley and others are over like crazy, but they weren't when they first started). For whatever reason, Japanese competitors rarely get above a certain level in WWE because they're often booked so badly, but I feel Asuka as well as Hideo Itami can be the exceptions to that. As for Kay, she looked competent in this match and I hope to see more of her in the ring going forward. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady def. The Mechanics Finally! A story in the tag team division! The best part is that it's not over the titles, because not everything has to have a championship at stake. However, that just means The Vaudevillians are afterthoughts at the moment, but that's a rant for another day. The match wasn't much of note; in fact, it was a more of an angle than it was a match with the babyfaces winning in "fluky" fashion only for the heels to attack them afterward. I'm not sure if this was taped before or after Cassady was injured, but if it was taped before, this could work out very well considering Cassady might be out for a while and Amore will have to fly solo. The Mechanics have the potential to be a strong heel tandem in NXT and they should be a solid set of challengers for The Vaudevillians when the time comes.
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews Sasha Banks def. Brie Bella Technically, Banks is still a heel because she certainly acts like one, but there's no doubt that she was the fan favorite in this match against Brie. Her Daniel Bryan-esque taunts mocking Brie were hilarious and while I'm not sure if her intent was to elicit cheers, it might as well have been considering this was another weird heel vs. heel match. I'm not the biggest Brie Bella fan, but she's competent enough in the ring when she has the right opponent and Banks got the best match she could out of her. Them getting the ample amount of time they did didn't hurt, either. The Wyatt Family def. The Prime Time Players Isn't this the third week in a row that The Prime Time Players have lost to members of The Wyatt Family? Poor Prime Time Players. I guess the only difference was that Erick Rowan was wrestling and not Luke Harper, which didn't make the match any better. In fact, it was likely worse because Harper is an infinitely better worker than Rowan, but the bout on the whole was fine for what it was and it gave the Wyatts a dominant victory. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Brock Lesnar Interrupted The Undertaker Well, opening the show with Stone Cold Steve Austin was pretty damn cool. It's been over four years since he last appeared live on the flagship show, so that was a cool treat even if it was only for a minute or so. The back-and-forth between Paul Heyman and Undertaker was well done, but there's only so much that can be said at this point and fans just want to see them fight. Nevertheless, it was a solid segment that effectively hyped the Hell in a Cell main event and it was a refreshing change of pace for the night's opener. WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day def. United States Champion John Cena and The Dudley Boyz Although we've seen this match in the past, it was well-wrestled and ate up a chunk of television time so I can't complain. Cena will be focused on facing a mystery opponent at Hell in a Cell, so his inclusion in this match was slightly random despite his recent encounters with New Day. The tag champs were able to score the win while allowing the babyfaces to get their momentum back afterward, but it will be interesting to see if The Dudley Boyz enlist someone to counter Xavier Woods on Sunday or if Woods will be ringside at all after taking the table spot here. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Jack Swagger def. Adam Rose You could hear a pin drop when Rose made his entrance. How sad. He didn't do a single thing to elicit heat, either, other than signing his own name which was never explained. At least Swagger is still somewhat over with the audience. Neither guy cares at all anymore and it showed in this match. We've seen the match a million times before and it wasn't any different, nor was the outcome. In so many words, this was a waste of time. Stardust def. Fandango It's a shame both of these great wrestlers are being saddled with stupid characters. Stardust is much better off than Fandango at the moment, but neither gimmick is particularly over. Cody Rhodes has done all that he can with the Stardust persona, but he'll never get above a certain level with the way WWE has been handling him lately. Fandango won't get anywhere period as long as he's a ballroom dancer. Although it was a well-wrestled match, not even the Chicago crowd cared about it, which is saying something. |
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