BRM Reviews the 5/3/2017 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

DANNY BURCH vs. KILLIAN DAIN (w/Eric Young)- 2/10
The announcers make sure to point out how odd it is that it’s only EY out here with Dain instead of the entire SAnitY unit.
Just when I thought I was all caught up with everything after powering through three New Japan shows in a matter of days, seeing Killian Dain- F.K.A. Big Damo- made me think of Big Walter which reminded me of all of that wXw from the past six months I’ve been meaning to watch, which also reminded me that I need to finish the two April RevPro shows which reminded me about that first WCPW show from January with Angle vs. Del Rio that I’m only half way through and now I feel like I’m really far behind again. This European stuff is going to be the death of me.
Anyway, in order to plug the UK show they had one of the UK Tournament competitors get destroyed a member of SAnitY. Good job, WWE.

PATRICK CLARK PRINCE RIP-OFF HYPE VIDEP- snore.

HEAVY MACHINERY vs. RICARDO WATTS & HECTOR KUNSMAN- squash.
Tom Phillips told us that “I understand that Hector Kunsman lost a tremendous amount of weight before this match.” I’m going to pretend that Tom was implying that, when he saw who he was booked against, he completed voided his bowels and bladder in fright.

HEAVY MACHINERY PROMO- Their gimmick that they’re Bull Dempsey, but as gigantic cartoon characters, and yet parts of their act are enjoyable. There are some good catchphrases in there, but they WAY overdid it on the food puns. They want the Authors of Pain.

BOBBY ROODE HAS A MUTED CONVERSATION WITH KONA REEVES BACKSTAGE- suspicious

DIY PROMO- meh.

HIDEO ITAMI vs. KONA REEVES- no rating, good segment
As you’d probably expect, Reeves jumped Itami before the bell. Nigel McGuinness- the closest thing NXT has to a heel announcer, says that he thinks that Roode gave Reeves good advice to do this, while Percy Watson says that he thinks Roode is just manipulating this poor kid into doing his own dirty work to injure Itami before Roode has to defend the title against him. See how simple that is, with everyone taking up positions that are in-keeping with their positions on the babyface-heel spectrum while also being completely rational, and getting their points across simply and effectively? Compare this to an incident in TNA so scarring that it has remained stuck in my head for what is now over six years in which, after EXPLICITLY SEEING ERIC BISCHOFF PAY HERNANDEZ MONEY AND INSTRUCT HIM TO INJURE IMMORTAL’S ENEMIES, Taz (mostly but not completely a heel) said the following:
“We heard Eric Bischoff earlier; talking to Hernandez, kind of… you know… I guess motivating him. Or manipulating him. Any way you want to put it.”
While this is certainly marble-mouthed to the point where you wonder why they let him continue to be on the air as an announcer, it is probably in line with where Taz’s character falls on the spectrum. The truly scarring part of it was the follow-up from Taz’s 100% babyface broadcast partner, the incomparably atrocious Mike Tenay, who said: “That’s a good way to put it. You know what it is? It’s motivation through manipulation,” which is bad enough on its own for the way it obfuscates Bischoff’s real, honest-to-God actual CRIME of paying one man a lot of money to purposely injure another outside the bounds of competition, but the fact that he said it with no outrage whatsoever means that our babyface announcer has no problem with such a thing.
So anyway, my point here that PERCY WATSON is a better announcer than Mike Tenay (and obviously Nigel McGuinness is a better announcer than Taz) because he does his best to KEEP THINGS SIMPLE and make sure to stay within the bounds of what his character would say rather than trying way too hard to sound smart and constantly screwing things up.
(Impact 2/11/2011 for those who want to look it up)

Anyway, Reeves jumped Itami and got the early advantage but Itami made a comeback and won with the GTS in short order. This was exactly what it needed to be.

DREW MCINTYRE VIDEO PACKAGE- fine, I guess, although, it kind of felt like filler.

WHO IS RODERICK STRONG? PART 2- easier to digest than last week, but the same problems I had still remain.
Lots of focus on Roddy’s new family. They got Ronda on the screen twice in the first thirty seconds or so. They had a shockingly non-disparaging mention of ROH, although Roddy’s comments made it seem like he was working openers his entire ROH career.

ROODE & REGAL IN REGAL’S OFFICE- Roode seems to have laryngitis. Roode obviously doesn’t want to face Itami. Regal books a #1 contendership match for next week between Itami and Roddy. THIS WILL BE SOOOOOOO AWESOME.
Then Roddy showed up to meet with Regal.

BATTLE ROYALE FOR A SHOT AT THE NXT WOMEN’S TITLE AT TAKEOVER: CHICAGO-
Aliyah eliminated Raechel E(llering)vers and got heavily booed. The crowd chanted “THANK YOU, NIKKI” when Nikki Storm eliminated Aliyah.
Lacey Evans (the MP who they have dressed up very much not like anything that would make you think she was an MP) got eliminated at the same time as Daria Berenato and Daria shoved Lacey afterwards. The fans were also very happy when the mean Australians were eliminated. The final three were Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Riot and things were getting kind of exciting when Asuka ran in and attacked everybody, causing a… No Contest, I guess? Asuka beat them all up and said that “No one is ready for Asuka.”

Asuka left and then William Regal came out (after the announcers told us that “a lot of activity” was happening backstage involving those two) and simpy and angrily declared that Asuka would be defending the title against all three of the remaining competitors in a Fatal Four-Way.

A decent episode of NXT, clearly intended to give us a good push towards setting things up for Takeover.

[KILLdozer]

Lacy Evans is the weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

Let's hope for a feud with Daria Beranato and maybe get some​ insight on her, and hopefully it would mean less Royce and Kaye. They're not attractively facially lol.

[cero2k]

Lacy Evans is the weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

Let's hope for a feud with Daria Beranato and maybe get some​ insight on her, and hopefully it would mean less Royce and Kaye. They're not attractively facially lol.

I hate it how everyone was shitting on Thunderkitty for the pretty much the same gimmick that tons of people are loving Lacey Evans for, just because she's hotter.

[KILLdozer]

Lacy Evans is the weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

Let's hope for a feud with Daria Beranato and maybe get some​ insight on her, and hopefully it would mean less Royce and Kaye. They're not attractively facially lol.

I hate it how everyone was shitting on Thunderkitty for the pretty much the same gimmick that tons of people are loving Lacey Evans for, just because she's hotter.

I must be in the minority because I certainly don't like her gimmick... I'm not sure she has one.

Did she get court marshalled then decide to become a stripper?

[cero2k]

I must be in the minority because I certainly don't like her gimmick... I'm not sure she has one.

Did she get court marshalled then decide to become a stripper?

i saw it as an old time bombshell pin up, which was somewhat similar to thunderkitty

[KILLdozer]

I must be in the minority because I certainly don't like her gimmick... I'm not sure she has one.

Did she get court marshalled then decide to become a stripper?

i saw it as an old time bombshell pin up, which was somewhat similar to thunderkitty

Yeah that's another way of putting it. Don't know any thunder kitty though.

[Big Red Machine]

Lacy Evans is the weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

Let's hope for a feud with Daria Beranato and maybe get some​ insight on her, and hopefully it would mean less Royce and Kaye. They're not attractively facially lol.

I hate it how everyone was shitting on Thunderkitty for the pretty much the same gimmick that tons of people are loving Lacey Evans for, just because she's hotter.

Lacey Evans has a gimmick? All they ever say about her is that she used to be an MP. That's not the same as Thunderkitty.

[KILLdozer]

Lacy Evans is the weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

Let's hope for a feud with Daria Beranato and maybe get some​ insight on her, and hopefully it would mean less Royce and Kaye. They're not attractively facially lol.

I hate it how everyone was shitting on Thunderkitty for the pretty much the same gimmick that tons of people are loving Lacey Evans for, just because she's hotter.

Lacey Evans has a gimmick? All they ever say about her is that she used to be an MP. That's not the same as Thunderkitty.

...


I said pretty much the same thing already.

[KILLdozer]

No, I've got it.. she's just one of those generic entrances off of the old SDvRAW games!

[KILLdozer]

Haven't bought a WWE game in years actually. Am I missing out?

[Big Red Machine]

Thunderkitty's gimmick is that she's just very old, and it's all played for comedy. If you assessment of Evans is correct the she is more like Deuce & Domino or the Vaudevillains, where the idea is that she is of a normal age and just happens to act/dress like a person from a different era.

[cero2k]

yeah, pretty much a vaudevillain type. I was referencing Thunderkitty when she did NXT jobs, not CHIKARA Thunderkitty. But overall, it's just people pretending they're from a different era

[Big Red Machine]

yeah, pretty much a vaudevillain type. I was referencing Thunderkitty when she did NXT jobs, not CHIKARA Thunderkitty. But overall, it's just people pretending they're from a different era

Also in ROH Thunderkitty has always been portrayed as if she is 90 years old rather than The Vaudvillains or Deuce N' Domino or guys like that who merely emulate people from an older time because they like the culture of that time better.

Of course, the best of these were Sha Na Na and the Bebops from Wrestlicious, who never once wrestled a match, but the bookers actually went through the trouble of thinking up an origin story for them to explain why they thought American culture had nt advanced since the 1950's.