BRM Reviews the 10/30/2019 NXT (AWESOME!)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 10/30/2019 NXT (AWESOME!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 31st, '19, 20:26

POPPY PLAYS THE NEW OPENING THEME- I don’t like the sing, but it’s a vast improvement over a song whose words are to loudly shout “WE ARE NOT YOUR KIND!” That’s not a good theme for a show that is trying to tell people “we’re not like the main roster; we ARE your kind of wrestling.”
The same band then did Io’s entrance. Seeming Io rocking out instead of being stone cold “murder Io” was very strange.

IO SHIRAI vs. CANDICE LERAE- 7.75/10
The crowd being 50-50 in this match really annoyed. Candice is one of the best pure babyface workers in the world and the feud has a clear babyface and a clear heel, so why do people insist on cheering for Io? It’s not like this is an indy darling vs. Vince’s favorite type of situation, either.
This was an awesome opener with a good finish to both protect Candice and set up a no DQs match, but also somehow feeling relatively clean.

POST-MATCH SEMGNET- decent
Io goes to beat Candice up with the chair but Rhea Ripley comes out and makes the save.

They hyped up Matt Riddle & Keith Lee vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for later. They claimed that ESPN “broke the news” about this match. I really hated that. Can we please stay away from Vince’s transparent and pathetic “ooooh! Look how mainstream and popular we are!” ploys?

FINN BALOR VIDEO PACKAGE- Hey Dunn! Do you see how they managed to use headlines from mainstream news sources without putting anything on the screen that told us that what we were watching was fake?
The presentation here was great, but Balor’s big line at the end about how he was just looking to prove himself felt oddly babyface-ish, when everything else in the video package points to him being a heel.
I’m wondering how his “Raw and Smackdown is like Hollywood. It’s easy to hide behind all of the special effect and the bright lights. NXT is like Broadway. There is nowhere to hide,” comment will go over Vince and the (non-Hunter-aligned) powers that be on the main roster.

Pete Dunne and Damian Priest have been booked in a rematch on next week’s show. Cool.

FINN BALOR PROMO- It’s a shoot, brother!
He started this off by saying “two months ago I’m laying down for what’s supposed to be the hottest new thing in the business just because he put on a new mask.” His follow up line of “well I just took my mask off, and now I’m the hottest thing in the business!” He also made a comment about how there are “too many fans in the back when they should be sitting out there!” He had quite the set of lines here, finishing it off with threatening to turn Johnny Wrestling into “Johnny Watches Wrestling” because he’ll be back in the hospital.

KABUKI WARRIORS VIDEO PACKAGE- awesome!

TYLER BATE VIDEP PACKAGE- awesome!

SHANE THORNE vs. BRONSON REED- 5.75/10
They did a lot of moves and hit each other hard. Reed won with a big splash off the top. A fine showcase for Reed.

CATHY KELLEY INTERVIEWS TEGAN NOX & DAKOTA KAI- good

MIA YIM VIDEO PACKAGE- fine, but it kind of felt like filler, too

WWE WOMEN’S TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Kabuki Warriors(c) vs. Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox- 8.75/10
Aside from some questionable selling by the babyfaces, this was fantastic. Great storytelling, fantastic drama, and extremely exciting. I just wish the crowd hadn’t been 60-40 for the heels.
I’m really not liking these mist finishes, though. It’s so obvious that the heels cheated that even I- who am perfectly happy to accept the “the referee’s decision is final” explanation- am left asking how the hell a rematch is not immediately booked for next week.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- awesome!
That being said, I did like the way that they used the blinding effect of the mist to put Tegan out of commission so that the Horsewomen could come out and beat on Dakota. They were going to do the arm-stomp when Rhea Ripley came out to make the save. She got attacked on the ramp by Io Shirai. They brawled until Bianca Belair came out and attacked Rhea from behind, which brought out Candice LeRae. Eventually Rhea and Shayna were the only two left standing, so they started to brawl. Everyone else ran in on the brawl and it turned into a massive pull-apart. Regal came out and said that the only way to settle this was War Games. The fans- who had already been chanting “WAR GAMES!” freaked out, as did the announcers. I appear to be the only one who has noticed that it’s 5-on-4 (Three Horsewoman, Bianca, & Io vs. Rhea, Candice, Tegan, & Dakota). The only misstep here was Rhea Ripley- a babyface- kicking a security guard for absolutely no reason. If she had gone to the outside and tried to go after the heels at that point that would be one thing, but she didn’t. She was apparently content to stand on the ropes and yell at them.

TYLER BATE vs. CAMERON GRIMES- 7/10
Lots of great back and forth action. Killian Dain came out and distracted Bate, allowing Grimes to hit his finisher for the win. Dain then attacked Bate and told him to tell Pete Dunne they have unfinished business. Methinks we’re not getting a clean finish in Dunne vs. Priest next week.

ANGEL GARZA VIDEO PACKAGE- I guess he’s a babyface now? This whole video package was about him fighting for his family’s legacy and future.

CBS Sports supposedly has broken the news that Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley have been named captains for War Games. There don’t seem to be too many decisions to make here. Either Rhea needs to find one extra person or Shayna needs to kick one person off of her team. That’s it.

KEITH LEE & MATT RIDDLE vs. UNDISPUTED ERA (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly)- 7.25/10
Standard main event stuff. Adam Cole and Roderick Strong tried to interfere but got taken out. They did, however, arguably contribute to Fish & O’Reilly’s victory here.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- feels a little redundant
The heels beat down the babyfaces. Ciampa comes out to make the save. Lee press slams Kyle onto the rest of Undisputed Era on the outside. Ciampa says that “Goldie will have to wait” because they are “going to war.” I don’t need both a men’s and a women’s War Games match. If you want to “make history” by doing a women’s War Games match then don’t do a men’s one, and double so don’t include ALL of the male champions in it, especially with the women’s champ already in the women’s War Games match.

This was an AWESOME episode of NXT, but I will admit that I almost downgraded it by dropping the caps simply because of the booking towards the end with the above-discussed redundant feeling and for giving us three straight dirty finish in the top three matches. I find my self looking forward to NXT more than AEW each week, but I am looking forward to Full Gear a lot more than I am to TakeOver: War Games 2019.
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

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NWK2000
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/30/2019 NXT (AWESOME!)

Post by NWK2000 » Nov 1st, '19, 12:06

Big Red Machine wrote: Oct 31st, '19, 20:26

FINN BALOR PROMO- It’s a shoot, brother!
He started this off by saying “two months ago I’m laying down for what’s supposed to be the hottest new thing in the business just because he put on a new mask.” His follow up line of “well I just took my mask off, and now I’m the hottest thing in the business!” He also made a comment about how there are “too many fans in the back when they should be sitting out there!” He had quite the set of lines here, finishing it off with threatening to turn Johnny Wrestling into “Johnny Watches Wrestling” because he’ll be back in the hospital.

I saw a lot of negativity to this online and I'm glad you're not one of them. There's a time and place for shoot promos, primarily when the shooter's righteous fury leads to a match people want to see
NWK Reviews is closed for business for now.

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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/30/2019 NXT (AWESOME!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Nov 1st, '19, 12:23

NWK2000 wrote: Nov 1st, '19, 12:06
Big Red Machine wrote: Oct 31st, '19, 20:26

FINN BALOR PROMO- It’s a shoot, brother!
He started this off by saying “two months ago I’m laying down for what’s supposed to be the hottest new thing in the business just because he put on a new mask.” His follow up line of “well I just took my mask off, and now I’m the hottest thing in the business!” He also made a comment about how there are “too many fans in the back when they should be sitting out there!” He had quite the set of lines here, finishing it off with threatening to turn Johnny Wrestling into “Johnny Watches Wrestling” because he’ll be back in the hospital.

I saw a lot of negativity to this online and I'm glad you're not one of them. There's a time and place for shoot promos, primarily when the shooter's righteous fury leads to a match people want to see
Don't get me wrong. I didn't like the way it started at all. I just thought that by the end there was enough good to outweigh the not super-explicit bad. I really wish he had phrased it more as "The Fiend beats me and supposedly be ines the hottest thing in the business..."

The only time and place for a shoot promo is when you can also make it make complete and total sense within kayfabe.
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

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