Finn Balor comes out to introduce himself to us, but Tyson Kidd interrupts him right away. Nattie came out with him, and she was positively glowing, so I guess we know what they were up to before they came out here. We now have "Tyson's wife!" chants dueling with the "Nattie's husband!" chants, ruining things. Dammit smarks! You're NXT smarks! You're supposed to be better than this. Like a CHIKARA crowd or something.
Tyson's not happy that Finn is getting so much attention already. Justin Gabriel came out and said the same thing. The two heels corner Balor, while Nattie, the nice respectful but tough babyface, does nothing but stand there and look pretty. Hideo Itami comes out to save his buddy and OMFG THIS IS GOING TO ROCK!
A referee comes out and we have a match!
HIDEO ITAMI & FINN BALOR vs, JUSTIN GABRIEL & TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya)- 6.5/10
A great showcase match.
Alex Riley, the heel announcer, is noting that Tyson Kidd's hard work has gotten him some matches on the main roster recently. Tensai, the babyface announcer, dismisses this as only having been granted to him because he is Nattie's husband. What kind of backwards-ass world is this?
SAMI ZAYN PROMO- a great promo, but unfortunately it pretty much telegraphs some sort of unsatisfying finish.
ALEXA BLISS! vs. SASHA BANKS (w/Becky Lynch)- 2.5/10
Alexa's got her sparkly pixiedust TV effect is back. Hooray! She still has her lame new music, though. And yes. I know I'm overrating this match, but despite its minuscule length, I loved every bit of it, to the point where they actually had me biting on the Sunset Flip Powerbomb as a nearfall. It was about the only offensive move Alexa Bliss! got, but it came in just the right spot to get me to believe it. I am hereby naming that move the Glitter Blizzard and will go to Wikipedia to ensure that everyone else calls it that, too.
Anyway, that was only one of the things that made this great. The other one, to be fair, was a lot of (good?) luck on their part. Very early on in the match, Sasha did her spot where she runs towards a seated a opponent and just slaps her right in the face... and it gave Alexa a nosebleed. It first really became visible, though, while Alexa was struggling in the absolutely VICIOUS Bow & Arrow Lock Sasha had her in. Just that small trickle of blood made that look awesome, it made Alexa's angry faces on her attempted comeback look awesome, and it made the Bank Roll look even more vicious. After the match, Sasha mocked Alexa's injury. Everyone go watch this match. These two are great. All of their matches so far have been short, but looking back over my notes, I have really enjoyed every single one of them. PLEASE give them more time, WWE!
Alex Riley has apparently never seen a Bow & Arrow Lock before.
SASHA BANKS PROMO- I've gone back and listened to this multiple times and cannot determine if she said "actually, why don't you hand it over to me. or if she accidentally called Charlotte by her real name.
ADRIAN NEVILLE PROMO- good.
LUCHA DRAGONS vs. WESLEY BLAKE & BUDDY MURPHY- 4/10
The guys with the jobber names have a really cool double-team move.
VAUDVILLANS PROMO- Holy sh*t! I was expecting goofy crap, but this was amazing!
Devin has said six sentences all night. Three of them have been "what are your thoughts?"
NXT TITLE MATCH: Adrian Neville(c) vs. Sami Zayn- 8/10
F*CK SH*T F*CK F*CK F*CKING ADRIAN NEVILLE F*CK SH*T F*CKING MOTHERF*CKER!
An awesome match, with a great heel finish.
Yeah, I think Tensai and Riley must have used some sort of brain-switcher machine before this show. Riley, the heel, called Sami Zayn holding the ropes open for Neville a sign of respect, while Tensai, the babyface, accused Zayn, also a babyface, of playing mind games.
An awesome episode of NXT
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Tensai says that Balor "came up through the Japanese dojos." This is incorrect. He didn't get to Japan until 2006. He started in the business in 2000.
2. Tensai said that Blake and Murphy are always trying to get better by "practicing" at the NXT Performance Center. I believe the correct word to use (you know, the one that doesn't crap on kayfabe) would be "training."
- It's the f*cking Glitter Blizzard, everyone. Start spreading it!
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