NXT Rankings & Evaluation
By George Chiverton, PWTorch NXT specialist

Network Rankings #14

(1) Sami Zayn
(2) Charlotte (NXT Women’s champion)
(3) Adrian Neville (NXT champion)
(4) Tyler Breeze
(5) The Vaudevillians
(6) The Ascension (NXT tag champions)
(7) Enzo Amore
(8) Kalisto
(9) Alexa Bliss
(10) Sasha Banks
(11) Colin Cassady
(12) Bayley
(13) The Legionnaires
(14) Mojo Rawley

The Rankings stay largely the same for now as I haven’t seen enough of Dillinger and Jordon to add them and no one compelling enough to challenge for spots just yet. Enzo and Cass are beginning to get there, though. As for C.J. Parker I’ll be adding him next week. How’s that for a hook?

***

So it’s finally happened. My favorite wrestler Kevin Steen has signed with WWE. Here’s the low down if you have never seen him before. Firstly, Kevin Steen is a big dude and not in a WWE kind of way. Essentially Kevin Steen is portly. This is not to say he isn’t in ring shape; he has had a number of fantastic 20+ minute matches as well as wrestling more than one match a night on a number of occasions. However, he is not the traditional WWE wrestler in a cosmetic sense.

One of his monikers in the past was as a ‘Zoo Enthusiast,’ which led to a series of t-shirts which equated Kevin to a panda. That’s as good of a comparison I can think of. Is this a problem? No. WWE needs variety and as long as Steen is not limiting his ability and he has the right attitude once he gets to Full Sail he will prosper. Why? He is a special talent.

First of all he is money on the microphone and able to pull off both serious and comedic bits with absolute conviction. Just look up his promos during his feud(s) with El Generico (now Sami Zayn) in ROH to see what he is capable of when given the space and time to build a feud. In terms of his talking style, both as a heel and a face (both of which he can pull off) there are definite parallels with C.M. Punk. For those who have missed Punk’s off-beat, natural style of delivery (and I’m one of them) then wait with anticipation for Steen’s debut as he’s more than capable of a pipebomb.

As for in the ring, Kevin Steen is an innovative and versatile wrestler who despite being such a big dude, can, for example, pull off a 450 splash. Imagine Bray Wyatt doing a 450 better than Justin Gabriel. Yeah, that’s money right? This is just one asset to Steen though and to call Steen a high-flyer is false. He is primarily an aggressive and intense brawler with big marquee moves to finish off opponents. His trademark package piledriver is a perfect summary of Steen: It’s devastating, it’s unique, and it’s the kind of move which first drew the attention of fans. It’s also a move that impressed one Steve Austin, who was a key figure in WWE signing Steen.

Steen’s journey to WWE, according to WWE's website, was paved by William Regal, who saw him at a PWG event. Given the timing of his signing, though, his appearance on the Steve Austin podcast (The Unleashed edition on December 12, 2013) I’d guess quite a lot to do with his success, too. Considering Kevin had been playing second fiddle to the likes of Adam Cole on the indies, something extra had to be in play outside of his career to galvanise his career all the way to WWE and the podcast appearance got Steen’s name buzzing around some fans that probably hadn’t of heard of him before. Not only this but you’ve got to believe WWE pays attention to what Austin is putting out and Steve’s seal of approval may have given Regal’s scouting report a bit more weight.

Overall, Steen is coming and I am hyped. I’ll leave it on this: the fact WWE has made a big deal of signing Steen (especially when compared to the signings of comparable indie stars like El Generico and Sami Callihan) shows that they are fully invested in Steen as a player for the future. I think that’s nothing if not promising. Cena vs. Steen? Oh, the prospects.

August 7 Evaluation

- The episode started with the reappearance of the team of Jason Jordon and Tye Dillinger in the NXT Tag tournament to determine the number one contenders to The Ascension. They faced off against Enzo Amore and Big Cass, who got a big reaction. The audience also chanted along with Enzo during his pre-match spiel and the Jersey boys were suddenly looking like a complete package. This could be a breakout competition for them.

Cass started and his size kept him in control of both Jordon and Dillinger. That was until Tye provided a distraction to allow Jordon to backdrop the big man. The blue chippers slowed down the offense to set up the hot tag. The audience stayed invested, mainly thanks to Enzo on the outside, until Cass finally made the tag allowing Enzo to come flying in. He hit the ropes and then bang. Superkick from Tye seemed to have Amore out for the count. Dillinger didn’t go for the pin at all, though, which seemed like a really rookie mistake. I’m hoping that was intentional to sell them being rookies rather than Tye being so green that he didn’t go for the pin. Jordon got a tag in and tried to hit a splash in the corner, but Big Cass leaned in from the outside to get in the way. The ref then got distracted, some more faffing about occurred until Cass’s big boot put out Jordon to let Amore take the win. It was a little messy, but, hey, the New Jersey boys are over and that’s what matters, right?

- The announcers transitioned into the tournament bracket which had a number of interesting potential match-ups already sprouting. I won’t go through them all now but considering there were 8 teams (therefore 16 wrestlers in all) it’s astounding how many of them looked like credible contenders to win. The roster depth on NXT certainly benefits from not having three-hour shows, let’s just put it that way.

- Backstage was Sami Zayn, who was in the tournament teaming with ‘????’. Sami cleared up the confusion by saying the partner he was assigned wasn’t medically cleared yet (potentially Corey Graves?) meaning he had no partner. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd, who would be facing Team Sami in the first round, entered to gloat. Zayn said he’s beaten them both, he can do it again. In came Adam Rose to save the day and be Zayn’s partner. Oh, okay then. That’s not ideal.

- C.J. Parker came out for his match against Xavier Woods. He cut a hippie promo to get some heat (or at least try) before Woods’s music interrupted. Woods looked deadly serious on the way to the ring and came out swinging. C.J. took the early beating until C.J. ducked out of a shoulder charge into the corner. This left him in control going into the break.

Back from said break, C.J. had a resthold locked in which became a short arm clothesline and a senton. C.J. then hit double knees in the corner followed by a big double axehandle. This only drew a two count, which got C.J. into another resthold and another short-arm clothesline and another senton. Well, almost, as Woods reversed and began his comeback which was punctuated by a flatline for a close two count. This finally woke both me and the crowd up. Woods then hit the Honour Roll, a flipping clothesline, but this was only two again. He tried to go up top, but Parker rolled out of the way. Woods threw caution to the wind, walked the ropes, and jumped across the ring to splash Parker. That was impressive, and another two count. Woods, growing frustrated, went for a DDT, only to have Parker reverse into a new finisher which was similar to Michael Tarver’s old finisher ‘Tarver’s Lightning.' Wikipedia informs me it’s a ‘reverse thrown scoop powerslam.' It looked okay and got C.J. the win.

This just wasn’t a good match and C.J. has quite a few of those by his name now. He just doesn’t hit hard enough and hence everything he does looks simulated. As for Woods, his character needs to be happy go lucky or serious and heel as a serious looking dude with an afro should always be booed. I’m looking at you Marouane Fellaini. Obscure references aside, this wasn’t good.

- On the Titantron, Tyler Breeze announced it was time to challenge Neville to the title, before promising the era of gorgeous.

- Bayley was out to big cheers for a match against reality TV star Eva Marie. Well, she isn’t a wrestler, is she? She got a very hostile reaction from Full Sail. On cue, a ‘You can’t wrestle’ chant got going while Eva Marie performed her interpretation of hitting the ropes. She’s so bad. I’m sorry, but how does WWE employ her as a wrestler? How? It’s a slap in the face to all the women who have worked to be wrestlers like Sara Del Ray (who ironically is probably in charge of training her) and Candice Lerae. It’s Just a disgrace. Anyway, Bayley won and got a ‘Thank you Bayley’ chant as a result. She did her best, but carrying Eva Marie is harder than carrying a Hummer with a really big dog in the boot.

- Main event time with Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel (who had quality music and looked like a badass now he’s heel) against Sami Zayn (who’s music is terrible) and Adam Rose. The announcers were having a boogie to Rose’s entrance which left about nine minutes for the match and whatever was coming next.

Full Sail sang their Oles to start (which would make a much better theme tune) as Kidd and Zayn sparred in the ring as they have on a couple of occasions now. Rose came in, while the audience chanted ‘Natty’s Wife’ at Kidd. Rose tried to play about with some rump slapping but it eventually lead to the heels assuming control. They kept the offense crisp and the shenanigans frequent to build some heat both on them and Rose. Gabriel was noticeably reinvigorated.

Rose made a half comeback, but Gabriel backdropped the South African to keep on top. That was until Kidd went for a springboard elbow only to find the knees of Rose. Cue Zayn like a house on fire cleaning up before a big senton over the top wiped out both Gabriel and Kidd. Rose then joined in coming off the top rope to the outside, taking down Gabriel and Kidd once again. Rose then rolled Gabriel into the ring, Sami hit a helluva kick and that was the match.

It was a big win for Rose in particular who looked happy to be back in front of an audience who likes him. However, I don’t want to see Zayn in a tag team as he is better than that frankly. He should be in a number one contender match at the next NXT Special. That’s all it is. Looking at the bracket they face potentially Sin Cara & Kalisto or Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy. Sin Cara and Kalisto wouldn’t exactly gain a lot from beating fan favorites Zayn and Rose, while Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy could emerge as shock winners in both the first and second round but it seems unlikely. We’ll see how this pans out.

- All in all this was an episode of NXT which lost a lot between C.J. Parker and Eva Marie. Still momentum is going the right way with the tag tournament starting, Bayley picking up a win on the way to Charlotte and Breeze making his formal announcement. The next two or three episodes have to be big to cash in on all the potential in play.

- Thank you very much for reading and I’ll hopefully see your eyes next week. In the meantime if you have any questions or comments then feel free to tweet me @GeorgeChiverton. Cheers all!

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