15th Nov2018

‘WWE NXT’ Review (Nov 14th 2018)

by Nathan Favel

nxt-logo

Welcome to this week’s NXT review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have more build for the WarGames card, as well as Matthew Broderick running me over with his car.

Match #1: Bianca Belair def. Mia Yim

The following is courtesy of WWE.com:

Bianca Belair loves to boast, but as she proved against independent wrestling warhorse-turned-NXT rookie Mia Yim, Belair can back up her trash-talk. Following her thrilling NXT debut three weeks ago, Yim sought to be the first Superstar to deal Belair a loss between the yellow ropes. The stakes were heightened by the numerous insults Belair that slung Yim’s way, both on last week’s NXT and on social media since then. Despite Yim’s impressive track record, The EST of NXT paid her no respect, slapping and verbally berating Yim in between grinding her down with submission holds. The Head Baddie in Charge caused trouble for the ever-confident Belair, too, rattling her with a flurry of dropkicks early on and, later, a torrent of strikes that garnered a near-fall. Nonetheless, the result was exactly as Belair predicted. After a back-and-forth struggle, The EST of NXT nailed Yim with the K.O.D. (a torture rack into a facebuster) and claimed the pin. Belair, for now, remains un-de-fea-ted.

My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a simple match that was built on a steady rhythm of back and forth that made for a good one. The submissions were the high-light of this whole thing, with Belair looking good against Yim, who has gotten her second wind with her NXT signing. I enjoyed this, even though it wasn’t one of the great bouts or any-thing like that.

Match #2: Lacey Evans def. Karissa Rivera

The following is courtesy of WWE.com:

As she continues to wave the flag for class, sophistication and good manners, “The Lady of NXT” Lacey Evans made short work of second-generation grappler Karissa Rivera, the daughter of former WWE competitor Steve King. After some initial showboating by Evans (which included performing push-ups on her prone opponent), Rivera stunned Evans with a dropkick for a one-count. The burst of offense only served to infuriate Evans, who evidently forgot her manners as she viciously painted the canvas with Rivera’s face. The Lady of NXT then slugged Rivera with the Woman’s Right to pick up the decisive win. Following the bout, Evans declared that any NXT Superstar who doesn’t adhere to her standards will similarly suffer the brunt of the Woman’s Right.

My Take: 2 out of 5 – There wasn’t anything that’ll make your eyes pop, but it was a fun few minutes. The match itself was just a series of things happening, rather than action with a purpose, but it’s hard to make a few minutes matter in a WWE match right now, any-way.

Match #3: (Main Event) Kyle O’Reilly def. Hanson in a WarGames Advantage Match

The following is courtesy of WWE.com:

Advantage, Undisputed ERA. It wasn’t easy, nor was it without controversy, but NXT Tag Team Champion Kyle O’Reilly defeated Hanson to secure the WarGames Match advantage for himself and his system-shocking cohorts this Saturday at TakeOver. Though Undisputed ERA now hold the edge when it comes to the order of entry in the WarGames Match, that’s only the beginning of the bad news for the team of The War Raiders, NXT North American Champion Ricochet & WWE U.K. Champion Pete Dunne. The battle between O’Reilly and Hanson was insanely hard-hitting. O’Reilly struggled to cut down the modern-day Viking at first, though he found success once he began targeting Hanson’s left leg. O’Reilly relentlessly went after the limb with submission holds and strikes, but through it all, Hanson refused to quit. He even overcame interference by Adam Cole to surge back on offense, albeit with a visible limp.

As Hanson and O’Reilly continued their fight inside the squared circle, the ringside area swelled with the arrival of Rowe, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Dunne, who erupted into a brawl. Fish chop-blocked The BruiserWeight, causing Dunne to crumble in pain. Ricochet inserted himself into the mix, as well, leaping high over the referee with a spectacular suicide dive onto the assembly outside the ring. With the official distracted by the fracas, O’Reilly struck Hanson with the NXT Tag Team Championship behind the ref’s back. By the time the official turned around, Hanson was down for the count, and the pinfall was academic. Undisputed ERA hurried up the entrance ramp and savored the victory, while their WarGames opponents looked concerned over the possible leg injuries suffered by Hanson and Dunne. With the momentum undeniably on the side of Undisputed ERA, how will Ricochet, Dunne & The War Raiders respond this Saturday when NXT TakeOver: WarGames II streams live on WWE Network?

My Take: 3 out of 5 – This was a nice bout with solid action and a nice pace. Hanson, who hasn’t sung their big hit in a long time (just like Pat Benatar), fought O’Reilly like the Irish bastard that he is. Is O’Reilly Irish? Wait… I lost interest. Who wears short shorts? The action was like watching a butcher pound a side of beef with his bare, bloody hands just to make a point to the cows on the farm. Every strike and every slam was meant to impress upon the viewer that this was a hard, day’s night… and they are working like a dog! I like penguins. I’m all over the place right now, but these two wrestlers were just the opposite as they made every move matter, even when the match itself was meant to do little more than add a cheap sense of drama to the War-Games match. I wish O’Reilly would get a bit more attention in NXT, but I suppose Triple H already has Roderick Strong to put all of that attention into. Remember when Triple H told Davey Richards that they already had enough people on the NXT roster that were like him and Eddie Edwards? That’s what I think Triple H thinks of about Kyle O’Reilly. Either way, Kyle could just go to Japan and get a fresh start if he needs to. Fortunately, while O’Reilly and Hanson seem to be on the less of a priority, they are allowed to wrestle at a pretty high rate, which makes the trip to NXT worth their time, as they are being seen by even more people than they would in Ring of Honor. Over-all, this was a good math that deserved to go longer, but made it count for the time they had to make it happen.

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

The card itself wasn’t much of an enticement for the Takeover event, but it did have some nice wrestling in places and did keep the globe spinning for another week.

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