BRM Reviews the 7/18/2018 NXT

[Big Red Machine]

LACEY EVANS vs. DAKOTA KAI- 4.75/10
This went a shockingly long time, which is a good sign for how they see Lacey Evans developing. Lacey worked the back and Dakota actually looked like a real babyface for a change and not a pathetic loser, so that’s improvement, too. Evans got down in Dakota’s face after the match and verbally abused her, like Steve Austin after a stunner.

CATHY KELLEY INTERVIEWS RICOCHET- good
He calls Adam Cole out for rarely defending his North American Title, and says he wants to get a shot at Cole’s title.

STREET PROFITS TRAINING VIDEO- fine.
They’re coming for TM61.

EC III WALKS AROUND… SOMEWHERE- He takes a selfie with a fan, then gives another fan a t-shirt. Then he bumped into a third fan- no, wait, that’s Kona Reeves. My bad. Kona said Ethan’s stuff wasn’t as fancy as his so Ethan cut a promo on him, but Kona wasn’t willing to fight. Ethan walked off, but then Kona Reeves muttered angrily to himself, so he’s going to be going after Ethan at some point.

CIAMPA/BLACK RECAP VIDEO PACKAGE- fine

KASSIUS OHNO vs. A JOBBER- GREAT squash
Ohno just obliterated the poor jobber with a single Rolling Elbow.

UNDISPUTED ERA PROMO- good
They feel Ricochet is being a little presumptuous, so they’re going to do something about out.

WAR RAIDERS VIDEO PACKAGE- excellent. With lots of indy footage, plus pictures from ROH courtesy of Scott Finklestein, who ROH probably wishes hadn’t let WWE use his pictures, at it let them basically tell the truth about War Machine Raiders’ formation, but without ever mentioning ROH once. I was getting ready to dislike the more humanizing moments, but the way they used Rowe’s motorcycle accident made it work. I’m not sure why I was fine with it for them but not for Bianca Belair, but I think it has to do with Bianca’s gimmick being less one-note cartoony and thus the humanizing brought her down to a more “normal human” level that it should have for an arrogant yet kind of cool heel, whereas with War Machine a bit of humanizing was needed because they’re babyfaces.

VELVETEEN DREAM VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO- This didn’t really serve any sort of purpose.

#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Kairi Sane vs. Candice LeRae vs. Nikki Cross- 7.75/10
Bianca Belair was supposed to be in this match but she is “not medically cleared.” They gave no details of any sort on what happened to her.
Shayna Baszler came out to commentary for this match. There were a number of times where they cut to show us Baszler on commentary when there was action going on in the ring. Her ability to put the wrestlers and the match over while simultaneously being casually dismissive was excellent.
The match was GREAT, and Baszler vs. Sane is definitely the right match to go with in Brooklyn. In fact, you could argue that it’s too big and feels like it has to main event, which would be yet another show where Aleister Black and the NXT title don’t main event… and yet maybe that’s the best way to go if Gargano is going to get involved in the finish, both so that the main event will have a clean finish and so that they can use the idea of Black not getting Takeover main events as storyline fodder (Ricochet, ECIII, and TVD all come off as opponents who could cut promos playing into that). The only thing I didn’t like here was Candice getting pinned instead of Cross. Cross should logically be on her way out, so she should be the one putting people over.


Another good episode of NXT, building towards Takeoer and just being a generally fun wrestling show.

[KILLdozer]

Nikki Cross who? Oh, I wasn't sure for a minute because she's obviously never been in Sanity nor had anything to do with them at all ever. *Rolling eyes*

[cero2k]

Nikki Cross who? Oh, I wasn't sure for a minute because she's obviously never been in Sanity nor had anything to do with them at all ever. *Rolling eyes*

Nikki Cross without Sanity is really just a random crazy chick

[Big Red Machine]

Nikki Cross who? Oh, I wasn't sure for a minute because she's obviously never been in Sanity nor had anything to do with them at all ever. *Rolling eyes*

Nikki Cross without Sanity is really just a random crazy chick

With cool entrance music.

[Bob-O]

Baszler vs. Sane is definitely the right match to go with in Brooklyn. In fact, you could argue that it’s too big and feels like it has to main event,

I mean... it looks good, but I'm all ears for that argument. Kairi's technically the most qualified, but there's no heat there beyond Kairi holding a win - one that I think Shayna got back..

which would be yet another show where Aleister Black and the NXT title don’t main event… and yet maybe that’s the best way to go if Gargano is going to get involved in the finish, both so that the main event will have a clean finish and so that they can use the idea of Black not getting Takeover main events as storyline fodder

Aleister was definitely more fun in his chase than he is as champ. If they continue the Black/Ciampa program, which makes sense since there really hasn't been anyone else in the picture, there's NO WAY it goes before Baszler/Sane in Brooklyn. Ciampa's too good of a heel to not make that feel like the bigger match, give them time.

It's funny... it just occured to me how I put WWE on blast for how they treat AJ, but I'm only slightly annoyed about Black not main eventing as champ. Through the build up to Black/Ciampa match this week, Tomasso made it occur to me that we don't really know what Aleister is... he's a progressive hair cut, neat tattoos, a cool entrance, but beyond that he might as well be Kyle Kicks'a'Lot because he's an empty gimmick. Ciampa's work here has been absolute gold, and when confronted with it we're all "oooooh, what's Aleister gonna say to that!?" and what happens is the champion standing in the ring looking like he's wondering "oooooh, what's Aleister gonna say to that!?...wait... shit, I'm Aleister... uh... he's gonna be mysterious... he's gonna be angry... he's gonna be funny... no, no, he's gonna be silent... damnit damnit damnit it's my turn.... c'mon Aleister... uhhhh... "YOU'RE GOING TO FADE... TO... BLACK!"

I mean, it's developmental, it's OK that they're figuring this out - and I thought they had back with Velveteen, but it's getting worse. Putting Gargano/Ciampa last, while frustratingly non-traditional, was the right thing to do. It's been the better program. Hopefully inserting Black into it will bring out the missing piece to this "what is Aleister" puzzle.

[cero2k]

Ciampa is awesome, but I do kinda agree with Red that Sane vs Baszler feels bigger than Ciampa vs Black, just for how longer the feud has been. Add Gargano and milk it and yeah, that should main event.

I don't know where any of this is going, but my money would be on Undisputed Era vs British Strong Style + random UK guy in WarGames as the main event, but since they're turning that match into a gimmick PPV, it's soo early for that

[Bob-O]

Ciampa is awesome, but I do kinda agree with Red that Sane vs Baszler feels bigger than Ciampa vs Black, just for how longer the feud has been. Add Gargano and milk it and yeah, that should main event.

I don't know where any of this is going, but my money would be on Undisputed Era vs British Strong Style + random UK guy in WarGames as the main event, but since they're turning that match into a gimmick PPV, it's soo early for that

I think it only feels bigger right now because it's the only thing set in stone for the PPV so far. Ciampa/Black with lingering Gargano is underway, they planted seeds for Ricochet/Cole this week which will undoubtedly be great, and the Tag Titles bouncing around gives that an 'anything can happen' vibe... Brooklyn, in theory, is going to be a solid show. I just think when EVERYTHING is set in stone, the women's match isn't going to be the most interesting thing going.

Sane/Baszler will be great, but there's nothing behind it yet beyond Sane having a victory. Maybe that's enough for this, but unless the build to this match gets nasty, I'm not as psyched for it as her previous programs. Shayna's taken such a relaxed role as champion. Her heel heat is on simmer, but I'm hoping we get some of that back moving into Brooklyn. Red was critical of Candice taking the fall, I'm going to be critical that Shayna was on the ramp and let Candice walk out of there alive after jumping her last week. I like despicable/dominant Shayna, we haven't seen much of it since she won the title.

I also read the spoilers for this week's show, so on the other hand, I'm trying to be indifferent, but I might be partial because of that.

[Big Red Machine]

My thought process for Baszler/Kairi main eventing is as follows:
Black and Ciampa do feel like bigger stars, but the fact that their match feels like it's a component of the Ciampa vs. Gargano feud makes it feel like a lesser match. Meanwhile, the women's title hasn't main evented in a very long time, and if you want it to be an equal draw, you have to let it main event sometimes, too.
Yes, the draw of the Baszler/Kairi match is all based on "two big stars want the title" with a component of "Shayna has never beaten Kairi," but I have no problem with that main eventing. Plus, if you're going to do a f*ck finish in the Ciampa vs. Black match (and I 100% think we're going to see Johnny's interference backfire and accidentally cause Ciampa to become champion to set up for Johnny winning the belt from Ciampa, probably Royal Rumble weekend), then it's not a bad idea to have something else main event. (There is an argument that you want Gargano's despair and Ciampa's glee at Gargano accidentally helping Ciampa win the title be the closing shot of the PPV, but if you've already got other interference finishes that weekend- and SummerSlam probably will- then I would try to avoid having interference in my main event.)