BRM Reviews the 5/15/2019 NXT

Post Reply
User avatar
Big Red Machine
Posts: 27378
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 15:12

BRM Reviews the 5/15/2019 NXT

Post by Big Red Machine » May 15th, '19, 22:26

Percy Watson has been permanently replaced on commentary by Beth Phoenix. Nigel and Mauro got some time to wish Percy well at the beginning of the show, which is the sort of nice, personal little thing that makes a promotion feel a little more mom and pop and a little less corporate.

OPENING SEGMENT- Didn’t like it
The Viking Raiders came out and talked about being on Raw, then asked Regal to come out. He did and they announced that they were relinquishing the tag titles because no one can beat them. The fans didn’t like this at all. The Street Profits came out and somehow tried to spin their loss to the Viking Raiders a few weeks ago combined with the Viking Raiders’ decision to relinquish the tag titles now as proof that the Viking Raiders think the Street Profits are capable of beating them. The Viking Raiders then demanded that Regal make the match, so Regal announced a tag title match for later tonight. Dawkins got in a line about the Viking Raiders’ various name changes, which got a great reaction from the crowd.
I was not a fan of this at all. This is like the David Starr/WALTER angle in wXw right now except without the years of built-up backstory and with everyone looking worse coming out of it (the Street Profits don’t have a very good reason for why anyone would think this way and are basically manipulating their way into a title shot they don’t deserve, and Viking/War Raiders look dumb for being manipulated).
I also thought that the whole idea of the Viking Raiders relinquishing the NXT Tag Team Titles was completely out of character. I mean... they’re RAIDERS. Going from place to place and taking stuff is what they do. When Raiders come and raid your village they don’t give you your gold back once they’re done Scrooge McDucking in it. They take it back to their place with them and at it too their vault so they can add it to their home Scrooge McDucking pile. They hold onto it until someone else steals it from them. Yeah, I know, that was a pretty tortured metaphor, but the point is that the thought of relinquishing the titles should never even cross their minds.
I also found it very odd that they didn’t even mention last week’s heinous attack by the Forgotten Sons. I figured the whole reason for doing that was to quickly set up a tag title match between those two teams.

WWE.COM CAMERAS FOLLOWED UNDISPUTED ERA OUT OF THE BUILDING AFTER LAST WEEK’S MAIN EVENT- Lots of harsh words were exchanged between Roddy and Cole. The last thing we heard was Cole telling Roddy he didn’t deserve to be in the group.

UNDISPUTED ERA INTERVIEW- EXTREMELY interesting
Only Cole, Fish, and Kyle were there. Cathy Kelley asked about Roddy and Cole said that it is obvious to everyone who the leader of Undisputed Era is. There were some people running past in the background, and then Roddy calmly walked up to Undisputed Era. He told Cole that Cole was right when he said they were stronger together than apart. He then handed Cole a flip-flop and said “I took care of your little Matt Riddle problem for you.” Cole then welcomed Roddy back into the group and they were all one happy family again.
There is one thing I think it is important to keep in mind here, and that is that we never actually saw Roddy attack Riddle, so this could all be a set-up (and for the symbolism-minded people out there, while the other three were wearing their Undisputed Era shirts for this, Roddy was not).

CEZAR BONONI vs. KEITH LEE- no rating, good squash
Finding a guy even bigger than him for Lee to squash was a great idea.

CATHY KELLEY IS OUTSIDE OF REGAL’S OFFICE- good
She announces that Regal just told her that Shayna Baszler will defend the NXT Women’s Title against Io Shirai at TakeOver. At this point the Forgotten Sons showed up and were going to barge into Regal’s office. Cathy asked them what they were going to talk to Regal about. It turns out they are (understandably, IMO) upset about the Street Profits just being handed a title shot. Blake and Cutler still have no charisma, but Ryker was great.
One little touch here that I loved was that before we cut away, we heard Ryker’s voice from inside the office saying “Regal! We need to talk.” It’s one of those things that we generally assume is what happened, but actually hearing it makes it feel so much more visceral.

KUSHIDA vs. KONA REEVES- 5.5/10
Drew Gulak came out during the match, so we’re getting Gulak vs. KUSHIDA at some point!

BIANCA BELAIR & MIA YIM RUN INTO EACH OTHER OUTSIDE OF REGAL’S OFFICE- good
Mia was on her way out while Bianca was on her way in. Bianca accused Mia of trying to talk her way into a title match even though she lost to her, but Mia said she was actually asking for a rematch with Bianca because Bianca didn’t beat her fairly last week. I really like Bianca’s heelish accusatory paranoia.

JOHNNY GARGANO VISITS MATT RIDDLE- his rips are all taped up, but they don’t appear to be in a medical area of the building. Gargano cut a promo on Undisputed Era, and said that Regal agreed that Cole is going to get another title shot at the next TakeOver show, because Gargano knows they’re going to come for him anyway. That’s a bad reason to give someone a title shot.
So maybe my theory was wrong... or maybe Gargano is in on it, too? That would makes things 3-on-3, would it not?

JESSIE vs. VANESSA BOURNE (w/Aliyah)- 0.5/10
Jessie is Jessie Eleban from the Mae Young Classic, but without her goofy glasses and goofy personality. I’m not a fan of goofy, but with Jessie they were the only thing that distinguished her from Generic Woman #6. They gave Jessie a little too much for me to count this as a squash.

NXT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Viking Raiders(c) vs. the Street Profits- 4/10
They did some quick stuff with a one or two good false finishes before giving us exactly the finishes I expected, which was the Forgotten Sons running in for the DQ. Expecting the finish didn’t make it that much less frustrating.

POST-MATCH SCHMOZ- meh
Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan also ran in to fight Forgotten Sons and there was a big schmoz. The Street profits hit s Doomsday Device type of move on Hanson and Ford counted a pin for Dawkins, then they left. That bit would have been better if Ford hadn’t counted too fast.
Then the Viking Raiders beat up Lorcan & Burch and the Forgotten Sons just disappeared, leaving the Viking Raiders standing tall. If anyone should have been standing tall at the end of this, it was Burch and Lorcan, because they’re the ones who need the most help in their attempts to justify their way into a title match.

A decent show from NXT. There were a bunch of squashes and short matches, but stories were moved along well, we finally got some TakeOver announcements, and they have me excited about what is coming up soon (Mia vs. Bianca II, GULAK VS. KUSHIDA!).
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

User avatar
KILLdozer
Posts: 5930
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews the 5/15/2019 NXT

Post by KILLdozer » May 16th, '19, 10:08

Or it's Gulak vs Reeves 💁, lmao.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests