BRM Reviews the 8/24/2016 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

TYE DILLENGER vs. WESLEY BLAKE- 4.75/10
I just cannot fathom why the fans love Dillenger so much. I assume his “ten” gimmick is a reference to how many years he will be in developmental for. Blake for his part, seems to be at least trying to have a personality. His success is debatable. He certainly has more now than he did before, but that’s not saying much. My mean snarkiness aside, it was nice to see some undercard guys get more time than usual. Unfortunately I missed two minutes of this match because…

They played a TWO MINUTE LONG COMMERCIAL advertising the WWE Network which I am currently watching. TWO STRAIGHT MINUTES on this thing that not only do I already have, but seeing as I’m already a WWE Network subscriber, but they advertise all of this crap endlessly on Raw and Smackdwon anyway, so it seems virtually impossible that I wouldn’t know about any of it. Watching this commercial actually makes me feel WORSE about paying $9.99 a month when I realize how much time I spend PAYING THEM TO WATCH THEIR F*CKING COMMERCIALS. So much of WWE’s marketing of the Network shows such a glaring misunderstanding of what aspects of it fans value the most and of how consumers use on demand services like this one in general. I would say I’m astounded, but considering their approach to pretty much every other concept they try to push (The “Diva’s Revolution,” the Brand Extension and “Smackdown Live!,” “the biggest PPV X of all-time,” “a match fifteen years in the making”), I’m really not.

BOBBY ROODE PROMO- great (not glorious, though).

AUSTIN ARIES PROMO FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- AWESOME!

BAYLEY VIDEO PACKAGE- good, although I will admit I was kind of annoyed that we were now getting our third straight Takeover recap segment in a row.

BAYLEY INTERVIEW FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- fine, until Ember Moon showed up and was a totally normal person and said stuff like that Bayley inspired her, etc. etc. I think they’re really missing a lot of potential with this Ember Moon character. She should be a silent (or mostly silent) bad-ass ninja Mortal Kombat-esque ass-kicker. Instead she now just comes off as a regular person who happens to have a slightly odd name and who wears creepy red contact lenses for some reason.

REVIVAL PROMO FROM AFTER TAKEOVER- GREAT! They said they’re the best team in the whole world so they called main roster teams!

We got a brief glimpse of Paul Ellering talking- yes, TALKING- to the Authors of Pain. I think this is the first time we’ve heard Paul speak, and this seemed like they were just throwing away something that could have been used in a spot where it would mean something.

TM61 vs. THE AUTHORS OF PAIN (w/Paul Ellering)- 6.25/10
The Authors have names now: The Big Tattooed One is “Akum” and The Other One is “Reizar.” TM61 did better than they did against the Authors of Pain last time, but they still lost.

I’m sure Vince is thrilled with Hunter promoting NXT as “the hottest brand in spots entertainment.”

An… okay show from NXT. I felt pretty bored with all of the Takeover fallout all being right in a big block in the middle of the show. I understand why they did it, but I think it would have been better to try to fit another match in the middle of it. The Bayley interview really wasn’t necessary because we were already getting the video package, and the Roode promo also could have waited a week. If you cut those and replace them with a squash for someone, and maybe do the Bayley video package at the very beginning of the show, I think it would have flowed a lot better.