World Wrestling Entertainment – NXT Takeover: R Evolution – 11th December 2014
Each time WWE has ran one of these ‘NXT Takeover’ specials on the WWE Network I’ve received emails asking for a review. It’s extremely flattering of course, but also extremely frustrating. People are obviously enthused about the NXT product and keen for me to check it out, but as the WWE Network continues to experience issues launching in the UK – I don’t have the ability to (legally) check it out. Thankfully I managed to track down a repeat on Sky Sports (WWE’s UK broadcast partner) this time around, and with so much anticipation surrounding the ‘NXT Five’ at this show I thought I’d get a review done. It’s fair to say that ‘smart fans’ (I hate that term) are buzzing about NXT right now. All of sudden WWE seem to have cherry picked the cream of the independent talent crop and have packed them all into their NXT Performance Center facility in Florida. Tonight Kevin Owens (Steen) makes his much-anticipated debut. His long-time best friend Sami Zayn (El Generico) is in the main event, putting his career on the line as he challenges Adrian Neville (Pac) for the NXT Title. Hideo Itami and Finn Balor (KENTA and Prince Devitt respectively) take on the dominating force in the NXT tag division, The Ascension, in another feature match. We’ll also see Charlotte Flair defend her NXT Women’s Title and the Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and Kalisto) defend the NXT Tag Titles. We’re in Winter Park, FL. Rich Brennan, Alex Riley and Corey Graves are on commentary.
SIDENOTE – Graves used to work the indies as Sterling James Keenan. He announced his retirement after issues following multiple concussions and makes his commentary debut at this show.
Kevin Steen (Owens…sorry!) is the main feature in a stunning opening video montage. I don’t follow the NXT product closely at all but instantly I know who all the top stars to look out for are (if I didn’t already) and what the big matches will be…
Kevin Owens vs CJ Parker
No messing around on this show. Steen’s music hits straight away…and out he comes for his WWE debut. Parker works a rather strange take on an eco-warrior gimmick. I caught an NXT live event when I was in Florida recently and he had an extremely fun little match with Hideo Itami, so I know he’s serviceable in the ring. But as a long-time fan of Kevin I hope this is all about him…
Massive pop for Owens’ arrival into the NXT Arena. It’s clearly an emotional moment for him and he deserves every second of it. Drake Younger is the ref too rather touchingly. Kevin absolutely steamrolls Parker from the bell, immediately landing the Cannonball senton to rapturous applause. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA UP THE AISLE! CJ literally cowers in the ropes and begs for a break, and when he gets one he pops out of the corner with a cheap kick to the face. Shotei gets 2 for the ‘Moon Child’…and absolutely destroys Owens’ nose. Despite having blood all over his face he still scoops Parker up for the pumphandle cradlebreaker. Pop-up powerbomb wins it at 03:14
Rating - N/A - I can’t rate it as a match, and to be frank I was too caught up in the emotion of watching Owens make his WWE debut after spending years following his career on the indies. I’m like everyone else who has followed his career over the last decade (or more), in that I’m absolutely thrilled for him. The ovation he got was amazing, he hit all his spots well – and getting his nose splattered all over his face only added to his aura. This would have worked even better if Parker had got no offence in whatsoever, but as a first appearance in NXT this was still great. Congratulations to Mr Wrestling…
Lucha Dragons vs The Vaudevillains – NXT Tag Title Match
If you’ve not seen them before, the Lucha Dragons are the team of Sin Cara (the second one, i.e. Hunico. I preferred Mistico) and Kalisto. In my opinion Kalisto is wrongly left out of the conversation when people talk about the best indy talents being signed up by the WWE. He was tearing it up in multiple independent promotions as Samuray Del Sol before he was signed. I also absolutely LOVE the Vaudevillains gimmick. Their old school look and style is such a blast.
Simon Gotch starts out with Cara, and barely gets a chance to walk to the middle of the ring before the luchador is flying at him from all angles. Michinoku Driver gets an early nearfall for the veteran luchador. English tags…then physically hauls Sin C off the apron into the hard floor. The challengers ground Cara, negating his high-flying and allowing them to work all their old school grapples and holds to wear him down. I feel like they are supposed to be heels, but they’re pretty effective at their job so get lots of support from the knowledgeable Full Sail crowd. Finally Cara somersaults off Aiden’s back into the hot tag. Kalisto lands a springboard corkscrew crossbody then a SOMERSAULT REBOUND ENZI for 2! English gets back dropped to the floor, straight into his partner. TANDEM SUICIDE DIVES to the floor by the Dragons…and they both take out English. Kalisto hits the ring again to beat Gotch with the Salida Del Sol at 06:39
Rating - ** - Nothing spectacular, and it felt a bit flat after the explosive opening segment featuring Steen’s debut. Having said that, it was a perfectly solid match and the contrast in styles between the endearingly old school Vaudevillains and the lucha-inspired aerial pyrotechnics of the Dragons played out quite nicely. Kalisto, in his mid/late 20’s is a hell of a prospect. I enjoy the Lucha Dragons, but can’t help but think he has significantly more potential than the near-40 year old fake Sin Cara
Up next it’s Tye Dillinger taking on Baron Corbin…and getting squashed by him in less than thirty five seconds. It’s Baron’s gimmick that he destroys people in as little time as possible. Bull Dempsey (a similarly sizeable NXT performer) is in the crowd watching him
The Ascension vs Hideo Itami/Finn Balor
WWE are said to be pretty high on ‘The Ascension’ of Konnor and Viktor. They are big, jacked dudes who have worked as a team for some time, so definitely have some familiarity with each other. Unfortunately every time I’ve seen them they’ve struck as an unfortunate mash-up of the Basham Brothers and Kronik. They’ve been feuding with Hideo Itami (KENTA) since he debuted in the company. Hideo said he was bringing in a friend to help him battle them – that being Finn ‘Prince Devitt’ Balor. Outstanding puroresu junior heavyweights in NOAH and New Japan respectively, KENTA and Devitt were two exciting pick-ups for the WWE’s NXT project.
Balor is rocking his signature body paint look tonight, which the crowd absolutely eat up. His entrance lasts longer than Kevin Steen’s match. The Ascension try to jump Finn and Hideo before the bell but get beaten back by the ferocious striking of the smaller men. Their strategy is to keep the pace high and stay out of the opposition’s clutches. Itami rattles off another flurry of strikes, before finally getting caught into a massive flapjack by Konnor. It leads to Hideo getting trapped in the ring, desperately throwing kicks even as he is annihilated by both members of Ascension in turn. Alex Riley talks about Ascension wanting to crush Balor and Itami because they resent them being ‘high profile HHH recruits’ which is a neat take on the match. Viktor grinds the match to a halt with plenty of chinlocks and cookie cutter strikes, leaving Itami down and out on the mat. A few fans start chanting for ‘KENTA’ and get boo’d. I really like this NXT crowd, they really seem passionate about this product. Even when Hideo fights his way past Viktor in the ring, he finds his corner empty after Konnor hauls Finn off the apron. The hot tag comes seconds later and the fans explode for Balor. He flings himself at both opponents with a somersault plancha, but misses the double stomp on Viktor. INVERTED DDT! Viktor survives that and hits a running STO. Itami tries the GO 2 SLEEP…but Konnor saves before he can hit it. Holy sh*t the crowd wanted to see it! Pele Kick by Balor! BUSAIKU KNEE! STEREO DOUBLE STOMPS NAILED! Balor wins it at 11:34
Rating - *** - It’s easy to write The Ascension off as limited, colourless workers when they are in the ring with explosive, exciting and super-athletic guys like Devitt and KENTA, but they did their job here every bit as well as the popular babyfaces. They are painfully generic, but all they needed to do to get a reaction from the hot crowd was basic stuff. It was a safe foundation for the match from them, which Balor and Itami got to riff around. Despite having limited English skills, and only limited exposure to the NXT crowd, it’s already noticeable how much better Itami has gotten at using his body to physically project emotions – even compared to his NOAH heyday. He gave a killer performance as the babyface in peril, whilst Balor has star quality written all over him. Great move by WWE to embrace their careers before entering NXT as well – by allowing Finn to use the body paint, and teasing Hideo’s Go 2 Sleep. You know when he finally does hit it on someone the place will explode.
Renee Young talks to WWE superstar Roman Reigns. He’s here to support NXT and watch Neville and Zayn tear it up in the main event. He also says he wants to be the first NXT alumni to win the WWE Title. Does Daniel Bryan not count then?
Ric Flair is also backstage, wishing his daughter Charlotte luck in her upcoming match. Where has all Naitch’s hair gone?
Charlotte vs Sasha Banks – NXT Women’s Title Match
Daughter of Ric Flair, Charlotte has been winning plaudits worldwide for her in-ring skills in NXT. In fact, the NXT women’s division with talents like her and Becky Lynch (Rebecca Knox) is probably far stronger than the Divas division on the main roster right now. She won the NXT Women’s Title in a super match against Natalya Neidhart at NXT Takeover in May. Sasha, meanwhile, has been petitioning for a shot for sometime, personally insulting Charlotte and mocking her at every turn. She even comes to the ring wearing a modified version of Charlotte’s own t-shirt.
‘Little Naitch’ Charles Robinson officiates this one. Charlotte got completely buried on Raw the same week of this show, so starts looking to take out all her frustration on Sasha. The challenger tries to be a smart-ass and dish out some Flair-style chops and quickly gets taken to school. Outmatched in wrestling skill, Banks switches strategy and smashes Flair into the steel steps. The champion struggles to recover and is hauled back into the ring for a double knee smash to the gut for 2. FLAIR STRUT by Sasha! Charlotte tries to react angrily to that but is all trapped up into a stranglehold lungblower for 2. SKULLF*CK! And as she holds Flair in a headscissors she makes sure to continue firing off close-range shots to the ribs too. Charlotte escapes with an electric chair drop but is so beaten up she can do nothing but lie on the ground alongside Sasha. Using her size to her advantage, Charlotte takes it to Sasha with strikes then suplexes her into a neckbreaker. Still suffering from her own injuries though, Banks manages to toss her ribs-first to the outside…THEN FLIES AT HER WITH A TOPE! Not perfect execution on that, but Sasha got amazing speed on it and landed right across the ribs so it played right into the story they were going for. Spear by Flair, even though her body is covered in welts from this battle. Banks goes for another lungblower…only to be knocked to the ground and comes close to getting trapped in the Figure 4. REGAL CUTTER gets 2 for Sasha! EXPLODER SUPLEX by Charlotte! ‘This is wrestling’ – fans. She misses a moonsault…SOMERSAULT SENTON INSTEAD! Banks survives and drills her face into the turnbuckles. Superplex blocked by the champ, before she dives off the top into NATURAL SELECTION! Charlotte retains at 12:10
Rating - *** - I don’t watch much WWE, but I can’t imagine AJ Lee and the Bellas have produced anything this good on the main roster in all of 2014. This was a hell of a pure wrestling match, with both women showcasing the kind of athleticism and skill that make them far better role models to kids than anything I’ve seen from the Divas division. Charlotte has been getting props for her work all year, and she was good here (although I thought she could have sold Bank’s beating of her ribs and back better). I, however, want to talk about Sasha – because she was awesome. As a heel it was a terrific performance; from the way she mocked the Flair traditions, made fun of Flair’s moves, and the way she devised an awesome gameplan after Charlotte comprehensively out-wrestled her for the first few minutes. Her heel character had been gaining some traction in the build-up to this event, and this match showed she could really back it up inside the ring as well. I’m sure HHH is rubbing his hands with glee over the possibilities she offers once promoted to the full roster.
SIDENOTE – Check out Charles Robinson yelling ‘hard camera’ at Charlotte, then physically nudging her to turn round as she poses with her back to the main cam shot. These talents are in NXT to learn little touches like that, so by the time you see them on Raw or Smackdown they are polished, smooth and totally ready for a slick televised broadcast.
Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn – NXT Title Match
So Sami has been tearing it up in NXT. But he has continually failed to ‘win the big one’, or ‘grab the brass ring’. After coming close on a number of occasions, he’s rolling the dice tonight and going all in. He has promised that if he can’t defeat Neville and leave as NXT Champion tonight then he will quit WWE. Neville has looked imperious as champion since winning the belt from Bo Dallas at NXT Arrival. These two have wrestled numerous times before across the indies, but the stakes have never been higher.
I find the NXT belt extremely ugly. The whole building is chanting ‘Ole’ and ‘Sami’ during the introductions. In fact, they are so pumped for this that they continue to chant through the first two minutes even though Zayn and Neville are only circling each other and talking smack. Graves and Riley put over that these guys have been friends for years before their falling out for this match. Despite his skill as a flyer, Neville is obviously fearful of Sami’s speed so looks to use his power and work the mat as the fight gets going. We soon see just how tough the task facing Sami is when Pac flips out and lands on his feet when Zayn attempts to counter his mat wrestling with a series of armwrenches. Indeed, Sami’s first real offence is a tilta-whirl backbreaker the second Neville allowed him to increase the pace. Adrian tries to bail…and Zayn is on him with an ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR! Sensibly the champ leads the match straight back into the ring and rides Zayn into the mat with a rear chinlock. He pummels him with knee drops too, further reducing his ability to get to his feet and string together some fast-paced spots. KAWADA KICKS! NO SOLD! LARIAT BY SAMI! Once again Neville tries to leave the ring to kill his momentum…and this time as Zayn tries a dive to come after him Neville sprints in and drops him with a running rana. Back drop to the floor by Zayn anyway! TOPE ATOMICO! Zayn is desperate to get the belt and launches himself off the top rope again moments later. ELECTRIC CHAIR BLUE THUNDER DRIVER GETS 2!
Apparently Neville has never lost an NXT match that has gone longer than ten minutes, and he shows his stamina as he dodges the frantic Sami Zayn – rebounding him off the ropes into a snap German suplex. Still Sami won’t quit. He screams in anger as he tries to haul Pac into the rope run headscissors, only to see it COUNTERED TO A LIGERBOMB! Neville begs Zayn to stay down, and is furious as Sami marches back to the middle of the ring and screams for more! Yakuza Kick misses and the crowd plead for it not to be over as Neville scales the ropes. RED ARROW BLOCKED! KOJI CLUTCH ON PAC! Sami is devastated that doesn’t get the job done. He now looks to destroy the champ with an exploder into the turnbuckles. Neville blocks…SUPERKICK! REVERSE RANA! SAMI KICKS OUT! The crowd are biting on everything as a potential finish now, with almost everyone on their feet. Adrian batters Zayn with more elbows, but eventually tries one too many and it’s ducked into ROLLING GERMANS! HALF AND HALF SUPLEX! For the third time Neville leaves the ring trying to kill Sami’s momentum, and the challenger has had enough. THROUGH THE TURNBUCKLES TORNADO DDT ON THE FLOOR! HELLUVA KICK NAILED! But Neville ducked behind the referee! Zayn collapses to his knees in despair as the official slumps to the canvas and Adrian makes a dart for the title belt. YAKUZA KICK! Sami is such a f*cking awesome babyface the crowd even beg him not to use the belt! He stands in the middle of the ring AGONISING over whether to cheat or not. He chooses not to…NEVILLE ROLLS HIM UP! SAMI KICKS OUT! YES! TURNBUCKLE EXPLOIDAAAAAA! HELLUVA KICK NAILED! ZAYN WINS! ZAYN WINS! NEW CHAMPION! Sami has done it at 23:17
Rating - ***** - I couldn’t fault this match. It was a truly amazing performance from two absolutely outstanding workers. I don’t watch NXT regularly, yet from the opening bell they made me feel and experience every single aspect of this rivalry. You didn’t need to have seen the product before to ‘get this’. It was perfectly pitched, flawlessly executed, and so unbelievably dramatic in the closing stages. Everything about Sami screamed of desperation. He was facing a stronger opponent, who was better on the mat than him, better in the air than him and has experience of winning big matches. Indeed, Pac hadn’t ever lost a ‘big’ match in NXT before. I’ve not seen Neville work heel too many times, but he was super in the role. He wasn’t a villain necessarily, he was just a smart worker with the kind of cutting edge you sometimes need to be a champion. He knew Zayn’s only shot at victory was building momentum and getting the crowd behind him…which is why he tried to bail constantly. Even using the belt at the end wasn’t played up as a villainous move – it was simply Adrian doing whatever it takes to ‘win the big one’.
I’ll be honest, I feared for El Generico when he was signed by the WWE. He has always been a first class wrestler, and the most sympathetic and believable babyface I can ever remember. But I worried that without the Generico gimmick he’d be exposed, and he’d lose the charm and mystique that made him so lovable on the indies. I shouldn’t have worried though – he’s even better as Sami Zayn. Triple H has commented that he can’t believe how good his facials are for a guy who has worn a mask his whole career – and Hunter is dead right. Sami’s acting here was stunning. Time stood still as he crouched over Neville deciding whether to use the belt or not. As good as Adrian was, this was the Sami Zayn show. It was an all-time great babyface performance from him. As soon as the match ended I went back and watched the whole thing again, and on two viewings I can’t find a single thing wrong with it, or anything I’d change. For the story they wanted to tell, on this night, in front of this audience, this was as dramatic and perfect as professional wrestling gets. When wrestlers get something this right it truly is a thing of art and beauty. This was as good as anything I’ve seen from any promotion in 2014.
Sami is in tears as the belt is presented to him, and the crowd is going absolutely insane. The locker room empties to congratulate him – led by Kevin Owens. STEEN AND GENERICO HUG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RING! That moment is so full of genuine, raw emotion. Confetti fires from the rafters and even Pat Patterson is in the ring celebrating. Owens and Sami are still hugging as the show prepares to cut out. Kevin raises his arm once more. THEN HITS HIM WITH THE F*CKING APRON BOMB! KILL OWENS KILL!
Tape Rating - *** - What a fun, snappy and downright entertaining show this was. I stopped watching WWE on a regular basis years ago. I can’t take the bloated, interminably dull 3-hour Raws, I don’t like that Smackdown has become an almost redundant, glorified Raw highlights show and I am perennially frustrated that WWE doesn’t appear to take their responsibility to deliver value for money on their monthly ppv’s seriously (pre-WWE Network obviously). In contrast to all of those negatives on the main roster – this was a breath of fresh air. The two hour show breezed by and was booked almost perfectly. Kevin Owens’ debut kicked the show off with a bang, the spectacular performance from Balor and Itami was awesome in the middle of the show, the Women’s Title Match delivered a really solid wrestling match…all building to the absolute classic main event and post-match angle. Outside of the main event, nothing got a lot of time or blew me away – but on the flipside nothing was bad, insulting or irritating either. Everything served a purpose, every match flowed well into the next. The NXT roster all stepped up to the plate and absolutely knocked it out of the park within the confines of the role they were asked to play on the show. The gauntlet was very much laid down for the main roster. If you have the WWE Network and for some reason you didn’t watch this live. You need to watch the main event now. It’s as must-see as anything else, anywhere in the world this year!
Top 3 Matches
3) Hideo Itami/Finn Balor vs The Ascension (***)
2) Charlotte vs Sasha Banks (***)
1) Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn (*****)