NXT Review, 8/15

We get the official announcement that the Triple Threat match has become a Last Man Standing match with Aleister Black unable to compete.

 

STREET PROFITS VS. THE MIGHTY

I can’t figure out what the crowd is chanting. It’s a really good match. Montez Ford gets the big hot tag in the match and cleans house. Whatever Mighty dude was in there tried to use the tights to pin Ford by grabbing the tights, but Ford rolls through and grabs two handfuls of tights himself for the win. I dig when faces can use heel tactics and it fits their characters. Really good match to start the show.

Match Rating: Seven Gold Medals

 

We see Shayna Baszler talking to Aaliyah backstage. We can’t hear what they’re saying, but Aaliyah will wrestle Kairi Sane tonight, and Sane wrestles Baszler on Saturday for ther championship, so we can assume that Shayna is telling Aaliyah to worry more about hurting Sane than winning the match.

 

AALIYAH VS. KAIRI SANE

Shayna Baszler is on commentary. Talking is not her strong suit. Her delivery is not good. The unfortunate thing about that is that it does sound natural. She’s just not a good talker, not everybody is. It’s not terrible, but I think she needs to do it less. Sane hits her Insane Elbow three times, staring down Shayna after each one. She pulls Aaliyah up after a two count instead of finishing her off, and puts her in The Anchor, her submission finisher. She wants to show off her killer instinct and does a great job of it. I won’t rate the match because it was very one-sided and wasn’t the real story here. I’ll rate the booking, because it was fucking phenomenal.

Booking Rating: Ten Dustys

 

IN-RING SEGMENT: VELVETEEN DREAM & EC3

The douche hipster crowd has to cheer both cool heels and chant whatever EC3 says. Dream owns him and the crowd. EC3 seems to be positioned as the face for this match, but neither guy’s persona seems to fit the face dynamic. EC3 is the better choice for that role between the two guys, so it works. Either way, the crowd will surely be hot for this match, and Dream is such a terrific performer, it almost doesn’t matter who is opponent is.

Dream Promo Rating: Seven Roddy Pipers

EC3 Promo Rating: Two Stone Colds

 

WWE Zapruders the Aleister Black attack footage and it shows that pretty much every single NXT Superstar was in the vicinity. Ok.. That really narrow it down. I think we know where this is going:

 

Bianca Belair is recovering from injury. It makes me really sad I won’t be able to see my girl wrestle in Brooklyn.

 

TYLER BATE W/TRENT SEVEN VS. RODERICK STRONG W/KYLE O’REILLY

Nice to see Strong let his kid brother tag along. There’s no reason why Strong should be getting half the cheers in this match other than filthy hipster smarks, which unfortunately I will be surrounded by this weekend in Brooklyn. I really hope four straight shows dealing with them doesn’t turn me off from wrestling forever, but if this blog disappears then you’ll know why. I guess WWE saw that demographic and decided fuck it, we’ll take them in, to the chagrin of the rest of us.

As far as the match goes, it’s two really strong guys who can really go. Bate is one of the most impressive in-ring performers I’ve ever seen. He did some sort of twisting flip like 10 feet in the air to counter one of Strong’s moves, and landed on his feet. God damn!

Snot-nosed teenybopper Kyle O’Reilly’s interference almost spells doom for Tyler Bate, but he’s able to recover and hit the Tyler Driver 97 for the win. Terrific match.

Match Rating: Eight Gold Medals

 

Overall Show Rating: Nine Gold Medals