WWE NXT Review - July 17, 2014

Could Sami Zayn score a win over Tyson Kidd?

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Vaudevillians def. Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore

With this being Amore's first match back, it would've been nice if his return to the ring was advertised in advance. I can't see why it wasn't since the match wasn't anything of note, but still. It didn't receive much time and I would've rather seen Cassady and Amore win their first match back together. That said, it continued the winning streak of The Vaudevillians and furthered their feud with The Legionnaires. Wouldn't it make more sense for Cassady and Amore to be feuding with The Vaudevillians instead since it's pretty obvious The Legionnaires will lose?


CJ Parker def. Xavier Woods

This hasn't been the most exciting feud to watch develop, but at least it's been built up well in recent weeks. Parker has improved immensely over the last few months and has settled nicely into his current heel role. Unfortunately, the match wasn't all that good and the fans had zero incentive to believe Woods had a chance of winning after being portrayed as an enhancement talent for so long. The came off terrible with Parker not being able to reach the ropes in order to cheat. How does that get past production?

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Adam Rose catches Jason Jordan by surprise.

Sasha Banks def. Alexa Bliss

There's still room for improvement, but Bliss has impressed me in the ring based off what I've seen from her so far. She and Banks worked a decent albeit brief matchup. I wish they would have gotten as much time as the NXT ladies usually, but they made the most of the time they were allotted. Banks going over was logical in getting her win back and she needed the victory more given the fact she's involved in the ongoing story of the BFFs breakup.


Adam Rose def. Jason Jordan

Jordan's pre-match promo about his partner Tye Dillinger being injured and last being seen with the Rosebuds was just plain awkward. Isn't he supposed to be a babyface? Whatever the case, it was fun to see Rose back in NXT. He is incredibly over with the Full Sail University crowd and I always enjoy seeing  him perform in front of them. It was your typical Rose match with the shenanigans thrown in, but it was pretty painless and was more of a homecoming for Rose than anything else.


Sami Zayn def. Tyson Kidd

As expected, Zayn and Kidd had a very good match and developed chemistry together almost instantly. The action was entertaining from start to finish and they managed to keep the pace consistent throughout. The finishing sequence was well done, but Zayn winning via submission felt a bit too decisive. If the feud is continuing past this point (and I hope it will), why not have Kidd attack Zayn afterward? I guess we'll have to see what happens next week, but other than that, this was a great contest.


Overall Show

Outside of the main event, there wasn't anything all that memorable about this show. The last few shows have been fairly strong, so this episode paled in comparison to what we've seen lately. This wasn't a poorly booked show by any means, but it felt more like filler in a long series of tapings. Zayn vs. Kidd is worth watching, but don't go out of your way to check out anything else from this edition of NXT.

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