BRM Reviews the 5/30/2018 NXT (interesting)
Posted: May 31st, '18, 01:39
Candice got hurt when Johnny accidentally fell on her because Ciampa pushed him, and thus Regal has decided that this feud is “too dangerous” and thus both Ciampa and Gargano have been barred from the building tonight. OH COME ON.
OPENING SEGMENT- mixed to good
Aleister Black comes out to cut a promo about who his next challenger might be. Lars Sullivan interrupted him to announce that Regal has given him the title shot at TakeOver: Chicago II. Lars then cut a promo saying he would take the title from Black because he’s big and strong. Lars started a fight, which he won when he blocked an attempted Black Mass by catching Aliester’s foot (which looked REALLY cool) then hit him with the Freak Accident. The physical part of this was great and their promos weren’t bad or anything, but they were a little generic… which is something I normally wouldn’t have a problem with, but these are two guys who I think work better the less they talk, so the generic-ness of their promos really rubbed that in.
CIAMPA & GARGANO WILL HAVE A STREET FIGHT IN AT TAKEOVER CHICAGO II- They showed a Tweet by Candice saying that she doesn’t support this and won’t be watching the match. Whatever. So long as she doesn’t turn on Gargano or something monumentally stupid like that, I’ll be fine.
WAR RAIDERS vs. TWO JOBBERS- squash
WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH VIDEO PACKAGE- Even in this video package every time they show Dakota talking about what she’s going to do to Baszler, she seems terrified of having to be in the ring with Shayna. So yeah. This is probably going to end with Shayna ripping both of Dakota’s arms off, then shoving one arm in each end of Dakota’s digestive system and making her shake her own hand inside her intestines.
CATHY KELLEY INTERVIEWS LACEY EVANS- bad.
She and Kairi are having a rubber match. She said she would win again because she has “a right. A Woman’s Right.” And then she showed us all her hand that she does her knockout punch with. This was as terrible as it sounds, and it’s not Lacey’s fault at all. Someone wrote a cringe-worthy promo based solely around the cringe-worthy name of her finisher, and this poor woman has to pretend to sound like a badass while saying the lamest thing possible.
FABIAN AICHNER vs. EC III- 2/10
During this match Johnny Gargano came out of the crowd, grabbed a mic, told the crowd he had a signed contract for a Street Fight against Ciampa at Takeover, slammed the contract down on the announcers’ table, then left. Ethan’s facial expression as Johnny walked by him was excellent. The match itself was your standard Fabian Aichner match, which basically means that he got to do a big high-flying move, then got beaten.
BIANCA BELAIR VIDEO PACKAGE- This wasn’t a bad video package, but it was a bad idea. These video packages work well for someone like Roderick Strong who can come across pretty generic. But Bianca Belair is NOT generic. This felt like they took the larger than life Bianca Belair and deflated her. I now know more about her, but she now also seems a lot less cool than she did before.
I think part of the problem was that they were trying to turn her babyface (understandable, given their heel champion, but with Kairi Sane, Candice LeRae, and Nikki Cross running around, I think Bianca would fare a lot better fighting it out with Lacey Evans for the #2 heel spot), and that requires doing things to tone down the heelish arrogance that made her character work so well.
RICOCHET vs. CHRIS DIJAK- 5/10
This was a complete and total balls-to-the-wall four minute match, and when you haven’t seen one of those in a while, they’re pretty awesome. Dijak felt like he had a lot more of a personality in the ring than he ever did in ROH, and the stuff they gave him in this match combined with the balls-to-the-wall factor ensured that he would not be forgotten or look unimpressive despite losing his debut.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- great
Ricochet started to cut a promo on The Velveteen Dream when TVD interrupted him. I actually liked TVD admitting that it was completely fair of Ricochet to call him a “punk” after his actions last week. It’s different, and TVD’s explanation gave us a peak into how his brain works, and what makes him unique. More barbs were exchanged, resulting in Ricochet challenging TVD to fight him right now but TVD said that only Takeover would be an acceptable “spotlight” for their match. Then something happened that I’m not going to spoil for you other than to say it resulted in one of the most perfect stare-downs I’ve ever seen.
NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Dakota Kai- DUD!
This match was no fun to watch. I know I’ve been joking that I had hoped to see something along the lines of Baszler choking Dakota out so hard her head pops off and then pinning Dakota while dribbling her head like a basketball, and that’s because in pro wrestling there is an amount of fun in a complete and total obliteration. It’s why we love Goldberg matches and why the “KILL THE JOBBER!” chant exists. But an obliteration requires something to be quick- or at the very least feel explosive. This was just several minutes of torture porn (which I have no doubt is exactly what Shayna Baszler gets off to), followed by Dakota making the worst kind of comeback, which is, of course, the “I’m not going to sell anything you did to me while I’m getting my spots in” comeback. Then Dakota went for some totally goofy move where she had to balance on Shayna’s back and Shayna just made her fall and then choked her out, making Dakota look like an idiot. Yes, Dakota fought back against mean bully Shayna, but she’s a f*cking professional combat athlete. She’s supposed to do that. What did this match really do for Dakota? Am I supposed to be impressed that she managed to be in Shayna’s presence for several minutes without wetting herself?
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- LOVED IT… and then HATED IT
Apparently unhappy with having lost her ability to make Dakota have an accident with merely a glare, Shayna locked Dakota in the rear naked choke after the match until Nikki Cross came out and made the save. A lot of stuff happened between Baszler and Nikki which I’m not going to recap here,, but suffice it to say that it was an excellent example of Nikki Cross being used in a way that only this Nikki Cross character could possibly be used. It really is worth you watching for yourself. I LOVE the way she communicates so much without words. Her facial expressions and body language are amazing.
There is also a bit of a humorousness about the character that I think works very well in most situations, and a lot of that was also on display here with her body language (especially once she grabbed the belt). Her character is hard to pin down other than “crazy,” but she makes it work because of the way she can shift between her craziness (which, in her case is a kind of rabidity), and this almost simpleton-like persona that she has that we still know to be afraid of because it’s really a ruse and we know that rabid Nikki Cross is ready to strike… and yet despite us seeing through it she plays it so well that she seems certain that she’s fooling everyone, which just makes her scarier because you know she’ll be even more angry when she finds out she isn’t.
Anyway, while I like the humor that can come from the Nikki Cross character, I didn’t like the whole bit where she thought she won the title. First of all, when she handed the belt to Dakota Kai, my immediate reaction was to shout “put that down! You don’t even deserve to touch it!” at Dakota. Having Dakota participate in this actually made Dakota look even worse in my eyes. Does Dakota really think this is an appropriate form of revenge? To be a background player while someone else does something to Shayna? Her participation in this simultaneously made her look like Nikki Cross’ little stooge and like someone who had no respect for the title. I didn’t think it was possible for me to have a lower opinion of Dakota Kai than I did at the end of tonight’s match, but they found a way.
As for Nikki’s part… quite simply, I think this makes her look the wrong kind of crazy. The thing I loved about SAnitY was that all three core members (Killian Dain never really fit in personality-wise, in my opinion) were each a different type of crazy. Wolfe was detached from reality, EY was a deranged psychopath, and Cross, as I said before, was rabid. This, though… this was stupid crazy. This is the sort of thing that TNA Eric Young would do, or Alicia Fox, or Breezango. I like her stealing the belt… but that’s because stealing the belt is something Nikki Cross would do as a non-verbal way to express that she wants to be champion. In the scenario NXT gave us, Nikki doesn’t even see herself as “stealing” it at all because she thinks she’s the rightful champion.
A very mixed bag episode of NXT, but definitely one should watch for yourself. This week more than most, I am quite curious to see whether or not people agree with my takes.
OPENING SEGMENT- mixed to good
Aleister Black comes out to cut a promo about who his next challenger might be. Lars Sullivan interrupted him to announce that Regal has given him the title shot at TakeOver: Chicago II. Lars then cut a promo saying he would take the title from Black because he’s big and strong. Lars started a fight, which he won when he blocked an attempted Black Mass by catching Aliester’s foot (which looked REALLY cool) then hit him with the Freak Accident. The physical part of this was great and their promos weren’t bad or anything, but they were a little generic… which is something I normally wouldn’t have a problem with, but these are two guys who I think work better the less they talk, so the generic-ness of their promos really rubbed that in.
CIAMPA & GARGANO WILL HAVE A STREET FIGHT IN AT TAKEOVER CHICAGO II- They showed a Tweet by Candice saying that she doesn’t support this and won’t be watching the match. Whatever. So long as she doesn’t turn on Gargano or something monumentally stupid like that, I’ll be fine.
WAR RAIDERS vs. TWO JOBBERS- squash
WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH VIDEO PACKAGE- Even in this video package every time they show Dakota talking about what she’s going to do to Baszler, she seems terrified of having to be in the ring with Shayna. So yeah. This is probably going to end with Shayna ripping both of Dakota’s arms off, then shoving one arm in each end of Dakota’s digestive system and making her shake her own hand inside her intestines.
CATHY KELLEY INTERVIEWS LACEY EVANS- bad.
She and Kairi are having a rubber match. She said she would win again because she has “a right. A Woman’s Right.” And then she showed us all her hand that she does her knockout punch with. This was as terrible as it sounds, and it’s not Lacey’s fault at all. Someone wrote a cringe-worthy promo based solely around the cringe-worthy name of her finisher, and this poor woman has to pretend to sound like a badass while saying the lamest thing possible.
FABIAN AICHNER vs. EC III- 2/10
During this match Johnny Gargano came out of the crowd, grabbed a mic, told the crowd he had a signed contract for a Street Fight against Ciampa at Takeover, slammed the contract down on the announcers’ table, then left. Ethan’s facial expression as Johnny walked by him was excellent. The match itself was your standard Fabian Aichner match, which basically means that he got to do a big high-flying move, then got beaten.
BIANCA BELAIR VIDEO PACKAGE- This wasn’t a bad video package, but it was a bad idea. These video packages work well for someone like Roderick Strong who can come across pretty generic. But Bianca Belair is NOT generic. This felt like they took the larger than life Bianca Belair and deflated her. I now know more about her, but she now also seems a lot less cool than she did before.
I think part of the problem was that they were trying to turn her babyface (understandable, given their heel champion, but with Kairi Sane, Candice LeRae, and Nikki Cross running around, I think Bianca would fare a lot better fighting it out with Lacey Evans for the #2 heel spot), and that requires doing things to tone down the heelish arrogance that made her character work so well.
RICOCHET vs. CHRIS DIJAK- 5/10
This was a complete and total balls-to-the-wall four minute match, and when you haven’t seen one of those in a while, they’re pretty awesome. Dijak felt like he had a lot more of a personality in the ring than he ever did in ROH, and the stuff they gave him in this match combined with the balls-to-the-wall factor ensured that he would not be forgotten or look unimpressive despite losing his debut.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- great
Ricochet started to cut a promo on The Velveteen Dream when TVD interrupted him. I actually liked TVD admitting that it was completely fair of Ricochet to call him a “punk” after his actions last week. It’s different, and TVD’s explanation gave us a peak into how his brain works, and what makes him unique. More barbs were exchanged, resulting in Ricochet challenging TVD to fight him right now but TVD said that only Takeover would be an acceptable “spotlight” for their match. Then something happened that I’m not going to spoil for you other than to say it resulted in one of the most perfect stare-downs I’ve ever seen.
NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Dakota Kai- DUD!
This match was no fun to watch. I know I’ve been joking that I had hoped to see something along the lines of Baszler choking Dakota out so hard her head pops off and then pinning Dakota while dribbling her head like a basketball, and that’s because in pro wrestling there is an amount of fun in a complete and total obliteration. It’s why we love Goldberg matches and why the “KILL THE JOBBER!” chant exists. But an obliteration requires something to be quick- or at the very least feel explosive. This was just several minutes of torture porn (which I have no doubt is exactly what Shayna Baszler gets off to), followed by Dakota making the worst kind of comeback, which is, of course, the “I’m not going to sell anything you did to me while I’m getting my spots in” comeback. Then Dakota went for some totally goofy move where she had to balance on Shayna’s back and Shayna just made her fall and then choked her out, making Dakota look like an idiot. Yes, Dakota fought back against mean bully Shayna, but she’s a f*cking professional combat athlete. She’s supposed to do that. What did this match really do for Dakota? Am I supposed to be impressed that she managed to be in Shayna’s presence for several minutes without wetting herself?
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- LOVED IT… and then HATED IT
Apparently unhappy with having lost her ability to make Dakota have an accident with merely a glare, Shayna locked Dakota in the rear naked choke after the match until Nikki Cross came out and made the save. A lot of stuff happened between Baszler and Nikki which I’m not going to recap here,, but suffice it to say that it was an excellent example of Nikki Cross being used in a way that only this Nikki Cross character could possibly be used. It really is worth you watching for yourself. I LOVE the way she communicates so much without words. Her facial expressions and body language are amazing.
There is also a bit of a humorousness about the character that I think works very well in most situations, and a lot of that was also on display here with her body language (especially once she grabbed the belt). Her character is hard to pin down other than “crazy,” but she makes it work because of the way she can shift between her craziness (which, in her case is a kind of rabidity), and this almost simpleton-like persona that she has that we still know to be afraid of because it’s really a ruse and we know that rabid Nikki Cross is ready to strike… and yet despite us seeing through it she plays it so well that she seems certain that she’s fooling everyone, which just makes her scarier because you know she’ll be even more angry when she finds out she isn’t.
Anyway, while I like the humor that can come from the Nikki Cross character, I didn’t like the whole bit where she thought she won the title. First of all, when she handed the belt to Dakota Kai, my immediate reaction was to shout “put that down! You don’t even deserve to touch it!” at Dakota. Having Dakota participate in this actually made Dakota look even worse in my eyes. Does Dakota really think this is an appropriate form of revenge? To be a background player while someone else does something to Shayna? Her participation in this simultaneously made her look like Nikki Cross’ little stooge and like someone who had no respect for the title. I didn’t think it was possible for me to have a lower opinion of Dakota Kai than I did at the end of tonight’s match, but they found a way.
As for Nikki’s part… quite simply, I think this makes her look the wrong kind of crazy. The thing I loved about SAnitY was that all three core members (Killian Dain never really fit in personality-wise, in my opinion) were each a different type of crazy. Wolfe was detached from reality, EY was a deranged psychopath, and Cross, as I said before, was rabid. This, though… this was stupid crazy. This is the sort of thing that TNA Eric Young would do, or Alicia Fox, or Breezango. I like her stealing the belt… but that’s because stealing the belt is something Nikki Cross would do as a non-verbal way to express that she wants to be champion. In the scenario NXT gave us, Nikki doesn’t even see herself as “stealing” it at all because she thinks she’s the rightful champion.
A very mixed bag episode of NXT, but definitely one should watch for yourself. This week more than most, I am quite curious to see whether or not people agree with my takes.