WWE NXT Review - September 23, 2015

William Regal welcomes Asuka to NXT.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eva Marie def. Carmella

Whose bright idea was it to put these two in the ring together again? It was bad enough they faced off a few weeks ago in Brooklyn and there was no need to hold a rematch. Yes, I commend Eva for her improvement, but it's hard for her not to improve considering how horrendous she was before. Putting her up against equally green workers aren't going to help her cause, either. Worse yet, the camera didn't catch Eva's foot on the rope the first time, and the finish came off terribly with Carmella falling to the outside and getting counted out. Not exactly the best way of kicking off the show.


Tyler Breeze def. Bull Dempsey

Breeze and Dempsey obviously have two very different in-ring styles, but they managed to produce a decent match with plenty of back-and-forth action. The Bullfit gimmick is quickly getting over, so at least the crowd is invested in both characters. Furthermore, I liked the finish that saw Breeze put his feet on the ropes to pick up the win. It puts heat on Breeze, protects Dempsey and keeps the feud alive, so it was well-done.

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Aiden English takes control of Blake.

Dana Brooke and Emma Interrupted Asuka's Contract Signing

To my knowledge, this was the first major contract signing for any woman in NXT, so that was pretty damn cool. She looked thrilled to be there and kept her mic work short and sweet. Of course, it wouldn't have been a contract signing without someone interrupting, but I fully expected Asuka to clear the ring of Brooke and Emma and not simply walk away. Obviously, they're teasing more between them for the future, but it felt like an anticlimactic ending to the segment.


NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillians def. Blake and Murphy

While this was nowhere near as good as their outing at TakeOver: Brooklyn (then again, I'm biased because I was there live), it was still a solid matchup and they made the most of the time they were allotted. It could have been more memorable had it gone longer, but I appreciated its placement in the main event, nevertheless. I love how the tag team division continues to be showcased on NXT and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (although this match wasn't a part of that) has been a major step in the right direction.


Overall Show

I thought the show would have been more noteworthy than it was, but it was slightly underwhelming for me. Asuka's premiere appearance was cool and the main event was well-wrestled, but it wasn't their best match and the ending to the contract signing was strange. Breeze vs. Dempsey was passable while the opener just plain sucked. The entire episode may not be worth your time, but on the bright side, the card for the next TakeOver special is shaping up nicely.

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