BRM Reviews WWE The Beast in the East (GREAT!)

[Big Red Machine]

WWE The Beast in the East (7/4/2015)- Tokyo, Japan

JoJo is doing the ring announcing in English. Shouldn’t they have someone doing it Japanese, too?
Cole and Saxton are handling the announcing tonight, and aside from one or two pronunciation mistakes by Cole (one of which he made multiple times), I thought they were very good. I don’t understand why people seem to hate Saxton so much.

CHRIS JERICHO vs. ADRIAN NEVILLE- 8/10
A very hot crowd, great action, and a good story. A hell of an opener!

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Nikki Bella(c) vs. Paige vs. Tamina- 6/10
This was one of those “two of us wrestle while the third one sells, then switch it up in turns” three-ways, but it worked fine. I was quite surprised that Nikki retained the title with a just a running forearm. I was really hoping that they would present me with an opportunity to refer to Tamina as Bad Luck F[em]ale, but they didn’t so I have to shoehorn the joke in like this.

KOFI KINGSTON vs. BROCK LESNAR- BROCK SMASH!

POST-MATCH SEGMENT – Brock continues to smash. Big E. and Xavier come out to save Kofi, but Brock smashes them as well.

NXT TITLE MATCH: Kevin Owens(c) vs. Finn Balor- 8.5/10
An awesome match, full of emotion and some very smart spots (like Bloody Sunday) that wouldn’t have worked as false finishes in the US but did in Japan. Great pre-match and post-match stuff, too, to really give this that HUGE feel.

JOHN CENA & DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. WADE BARRETT & KANE- 7.25/10
Great tag team stuff with Dolph as Ricky Morton and a REALLY long heat. Probably a little too long, as I started to zone out a bit towards the end, but still a great match.

This was an awesome show from WWE. Almost frustratingly awesome, simply because it shows you what WWE COULD be, if they wanted to. Cut out the damn backstage skits and twenty minute promo segments and just build the show around matches and promos that build up those matches and make us care about the characters involved in those matches. Three-hour Raws often feel like they take forever. Even two-hour Smackdowns can feel that way sometimes. This show was two hours long (with no commercials) and absolutely flew by. If you haven’t been happy with the state of WWE recently, give this show a try. If you have been happy with the state of WWE recently, watch this show anyway because it was awesome.

[badnewzxl]

Was that not Eden doing the ring announcing? I don't think that was Jojo

[KILLdozer]

Has Jericho being at shows like these-that house show with Barret, this one-even been mentioned on the air somewhere at all? /:)

[Big Red Machine]

Has Jericho being at shows like these-that house show with Barret, this one-even been mentioned on the air somewhere at all? /:)

They don't mention them on the air, but he does a bunch of them every few months. I think the logic behind not mentioning them on WWE TV is that people would ask "well why isn't he on TV then?" I'm pretty sure they mention him on the local ads, though.

[Big Red Machine]

For anyone wondering how Owens vs. Balor could have been any better, apparently on Twitter, the Young Bucks threatened to do a run-in.

[cero2k]

The reason everyone hates Saxton is because he has the emotion and charisma of a dead fish. Look at Joe's debut, excited is not an emotion that Saxton knows. Almost as bad as Christian's return to WWECW

[badnewzxl]

The reason everyone hates Saxton is because he has the emotion and charisma of a dead fish. Look at Joe's debut, excited is not an emotion that Saxton knows. Almost as bad as Christian's return to WWECW

This, lol.

[cero2k]

Question for all, is the NXT title a "World Title" now?

[Big Red Machine]

Question for all, is the NXT title a "World Title" now?

No. It's a developmental belt. It's not the top title in WWE. "World Title" is about important, not about geography. PWG, FIP, CHIKARA, CZW, Evolve, and many others have had their belts defended in countries other than the US. That doesn't make them anything more than indy belts. At this point, I don't think the NWA Title should be recognized as a "world" title anymore.
WWE, ROH, AAA, CMLL, TNA, and the big three in Japan, and (possibly Dragon Gate), are the only belts that should be recognized as "world" titles right now. Lucha Underground is probably the closest one that already isn't (unless there is some big promotion in Mexico I don't know about).

[Big Red Machine]

Was that not Eden doing the ring announcing? I don't think that was Jojo

You were right. I was just listening to the voice and going by a quick glance.