SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 10 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
KELLER’S NXT TV REPORT
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
TAPED AT FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY
AIRED ON WWE NETWORK
-Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy made their ring entrance as Rich Brennan, Alex Riley, and Corey Graves commented. They introduced Carmella. Enzo said she is hot as hell and you can’t teach that. She danced out and said she is the most fabulous Diva in NXT. She said she will be dancing after she embarrasses Emma in front of the whole NXT Universe. The crowd didn’t react much to her. Cassidy did some mic work which the crowd responded to, although he still looks like a deer in headlights and nervous whenever he talks.
(WK Reax: I’m not crazy about the cold open. I’d rather have a preview about the big happenings scheduled for the show to set the table and build anticipation. It seems more lazy than strategic. If the announcers aren’t going to be on camera matching their voices to the faces, they should refer to each other by name more often to differentiate for viewers. A three man booth with three somewhat similar sounding voices requires a little effort to differentiate.)
(1) EMMA vs. CARMELLA (w/Enzo, Cassidy) – NXT No. 1 Contender Tournament Semi-Finals
Riley said that Emma wants it known that she believes with her experience that she can compete with the elite women in NXT such as Sasha Banks and Charlotte. He added that he hates Emma’s music because it sticks in his head for hours. Emma wrapped all four of Carmella’s limbs against the ropes in a tarantula style hold, but she had to break before five. Carmella forced Emma to submit to a figure-four head scissors sleeper on the mat with some added torque.
WINNER: Carmella in 2:00.
(WK Reax: Emma’s casual nonchalant approach to executing some of the moves takes me out of the mach.)
-The announcers hyped the two big tournament singles matches on the show – Adrian Neville vs. Baron Corbin and Finn Balor vs. Hideo Itami. [c]
-A commercial aired hyping “NXT Takeover: Rival,” a live two hour special event. It included media quotes praising NXT as being awesome and like looking into a crystal ball at WWE’s future.
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(2) ADRIAN NEVILLE vs. BARON CORBIN – NXT No. 1 Contender Tournament Semi-Finals
Neville came out first and played to the crowd. Graves said Neville was at the top of the mountain and misses it greatly. Graves said Corbin doesn’t understand why he isn’t in the NXT Title picture already even though he hasn’t been around that long. Neville tumbled out of the ring after some early clothesline by Corbin knocked him silly. At 2:00 Neville teased a comeback, but Corbin fought it off and lifted him for a vertical suplex but then twisted it into a more traditional bodyslam leading to a two count. Neville came back with a springboard dropkick leading to Corbin taking one of his few bumps since arriving in NXT. He tumbled to the floor. Neville dove at him, but Corbin caught him and dropped him chin-first over the guardrail. Graves said raw power may be able to beat experience. At ringside, Bull Dempsey gave a cheap shot to Corbin, knocking him head-first into the ringpost. The ref and Neville didn’t see it. Neville went on the attack back in the ring, including landing his Red Arrow for the win.
WINNER: Neville in 5:00.
-They showed the tournament bracket showing Neville awaiting the winner of the TV main event. [c]
-A backstage interview aired with Sami Zayn discussing his feud with Kevin Owens. He said while Owens says his actions are just business and not personal, he doesn’t buy it. He said Owens was a master manipulator, getting him so worked up that he caused him to beg and plead for the non-title match to be made a title match in order for Owens to agree to actually partake. He said what’s done is done and he’s going to beat the hell out of him.
(WK Reax: Good, basic tell-it-like-it-is promo reacting to what happened last week. It was a good recap of the emotions Zayn says he went through as Owens manipulated him, yet he’s accepting the result and ready for a fight. Good stuff. Simple, basic, believable, sports-like. It’s all it takes a lot of the time.) [c]
-Brennan said Corbin and Dempsey will fight next week in a no-DQ match on NXT Takeover.
(3) BAYLEY vs. BECKY LYNCH
A minute into the match Sasha Banks walked to ringside to observe. Bayley applied a half Boston crab mid-ring. Lynch reached the bottom rope and then took a breather at ringside. Banks threw Becky back into the ring where Bayley quickly gave her a belly-to-belly for the win. Banks smirked at ringside. As the announcers pointed out, they’re normally aligned, but they’re on opposing side of next week’s Fatal Four-way match at Takeover.
WINNER: Bayley in 3:00.
-Banks and Lynch exchanged words afterward. Lynch shoved Banks to the mat. Charlotte then walked out and crossed her arms on the stage and looked at two or her opponents next week. The announcers talked about how they were all once friends, but there’s a combustible situation now.
-They went to Riley, Brennan, and Graves at the announce desk.
-A backstage promo aired with Owens saying he made what he wanted to happen played out exactly as he imagined last week. He said he wasn’t going to sign that contract unless it was for a title. He said two months to the day of his arrival in NXT he is going to take the championship. “Trust me,” he said.
(WK Reax: Hey, “Trust me” could be his signature tag line. Owens just has a way about his delivery that will draw money in WWE when his day comes.)
-Devin Taylor startled Tyler Breeze from behind as he was admiring himself in his own phone filming a selfie. He criticized her question asking how he feels about being knocked out of the NXT Title Tournament and what his plans are now. “Cutting edge journalism from you,” he said mockingly. He said it’s no big deal he lost one match. He said his plans are to watch the rest of the tournament very closely. He went back to admiring himself in his phone.
-Back to the announce desk, Adrian Neville joined them to comment on the other semi-finals.
(4) HIDEO ITAMI vs. FINN BALOR
Graves said Baylor is one of the most creative Superstars he has ever encountered. He said he lives in his own world and is unusual, but is exciting to watch. Slow build early. They cut to a break at 2:00 with Balor in control, posturing to the fans.
(WK Reax: Just when I had pretty much locked down the pronunciation of Balor’s name, Neville does commentary and sets me back months of clarity.) [c]
Riley asked Neville what it’s like battling his best friend. Neville said it’s more important that he is in the ring with the best in the world. He said he wants to wrestle the best regardless of his friendship. Balor applied an abdominal stretch mid-ring with a twist of the arm added for extra leverage. Balor settled into a chinlock next. Riley asked Neville what comes to mind – fame, fortune – if he regains the NXT Title. Neville said it’s about his life’s work. Neville’s answers were good, but pretty short, leaving Riley a bit challenged to draw more material out of him. Riley asked if the fame and fortune are pretty good, too. They cut to another break. [c]
Back to the match, Balor chopped Itami hard in the corner, then charged at him in the opposite corner seconds later and landed another chop. Itami fired back with a dropkick after a dropdown. He hit a clothesline and a running knee in the corner. Then he drove him throat-first over the top rope and then landed a flying clothesline off the top rope for a two count. Brennan kept interrupting the conversation between Neville and Riley when there were nearfalls. Neville wouldn’t commit and say he’d rather fight Owens compared to Zayn even though he’s become friends with Zayn.
Balor bled from his mouth and went for an inverted DDT. Itami went for a kick, but Balor ducked and countered with a Pele kick. The crowd chanted “This is awesome!” and “Marking out!” They stood mid-ring exchanging elbows. Itami got the better of the exchange with a spinning backfist, two roundhouse kicks to the chest, a spinning side kick, and then a running corner dropkick. Balor came came right back with the Slingblade and then a running dropkick into the corner. Itami rolled into perfect position for Balor’s top rope double stomp which led to the pin.
WINNER: Balor in 12:00 to move to the no. 1 contender finals next week on Takeover.
(WK Reax: It was okay. These guys were pretty much in first and second gear, and maybe touched third year at the end for 30 seconds. They have five or six gears. Still, a good match, but you can’t help but watch just a bit frustrated that they’re not giving more. It’s not out of laziness by any means, but just trying to learn to work within the WWE Style parameters of picking your spots to turn it up to 10. This was solid for the place in time and context that it took place. It wasn’t meant to be four stars. Not even sure it was three.)
-The announcers commented on multiple highlight clips from the match. Back to the ring, Balor extended a handshake offer to Itami. Itami accepted, but seemed emotionally spent. Balor celebrated on the top rope, extending his arms as the camera showed him and the underside of the scoreboard above the ring flashing his logo. Then Neville stood on the announce table. Balor looked over at him and they had a long-distance staredown. Neville applauded. Balor made his way toward him at the announce desk. Brennan said they seemed to be sizing each other up. Neville walked over to Balor and they had a closer staredown on the stage. Neville extended his hand. Balor and Neville shook hands.
-A video package aired on the Owens-Zayn storyline. Owens said he walked in with a plan that worked out perfectly. Owens said he was as excited for Zayn’s title win as he was for his own debut at the last Takeover special. He said he still is happy for him, but he came across as a conman who believes his own b.s. Zayn said, in retrospect, he should have seen the whole thing coming. Owens said he waited 17 years for the spotlight, so he wasn’t going to get in the back of the line. They showed a picture of Zayn and Owens together when they were much younger. Owens said he travelled the world for ten years with him. He said it was all to ultimately end up in NXT, but Zayn ended up getting the call first. He said he felt it wasn’t going to happen for him. Zayn said they were on the same path, but Owens got married and had a kid, and that’s where their careers went different directions, or at different speeds. Zayn said Owen ruined a moment and a friendship. “He hurt me, so I’m going to hurt him,” Zayn said. Owens said, he’s gonna do it, he’s gonna do it, he’s gonna win the NXT Title two months to the day upon arriving.
(WK Reax: Absolutely stellar video package. Just so immersive in the backstory between these two. So believable. No bells and whistles – just two guys with a real-life relationship that weaves perfectly into this moment in their careers, with the title on the line. The execution of a quick path to a title match by Owens makes him seem like a mastermind, and he’s not trying to hide that he had a plan and executed it brilliantly. Great production values, great delivery by both guys. That’s how you sell a match.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Good final sell for the two hour special next week, especially the two singles match main events. I just can’t again stress enough how refreshing it is to watch a pro wrestling show that is not dominated by a heel faction or heel authority figures. It’s so ironic that this is so heavily influenced by Triple H, yet Triple H is part of The Authority which dominates so much of the top tier storylines in WWE the past 18 months.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: 5 YRS AGO – NXT TV Report (1-29-2020): Priest vs. Dijakovic, plus Balor, Purrazzo, Riddle, Dunne, Adam Cole, Dakota Kai, Chelsea Green
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s NXT Hit List: Bianca Belair and Naomi vs. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles, Trick Williams vs. Wes Lee, Fallon Henley vs. Shotzi for the NXT Women’s North American Title
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