BRM Reviews NXT Takeover: Fatal Four Way

[Big Red Machine]

NXT Takeover: Fatal Four Way (9/11/2014)- Orlando, FL

NXT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Ascension(c) vs. Sin Cara & Kalysto- 6.5/10
Exciting babyfaces taking on big scary monster heels. Classic stuff. There was a lot of great action in this match, good storytelling, and, hopefully, the end of the era of boring Ascension squashes.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS SIN CARA & KALYSTO- Great promo, and a cool new team name: the Lucha Dragons.

BARON CORBIN vs. CJ PARKER- great squash.
It’s rare that the unknown guy who didn’t even get his entrance shown is the one doing the squashing. A good little twist by whoever is booking this (is it still Dusty?). They claimed that this was Corbin’s NXT debut, which is not even close to being true.

HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH: Enzo Amore (w/Colin Cassaday) vs. Sylvester Lefort (w/Marcus Louis)- 3.25/10
For some reason, Enzo shaved off his beard GOING INTO a hair vs. hair match. This was by far the longest match either guy has been allowed to have in NXT. They did a lot of basic stuff, but their character-work was good, as it always is, which is why the crowd reacted so well to everything.
Lefort lost, which made me very sad. He tries to escape, but Colin and Enzo stop him. Marcus Louis saves Lefort, who then immediately abandons him. The babyfaces beat down Louis and shave his head via a bucketful of hair-removal cream. As Renee pointed out, this was very reckless and dangerous of them, because something like that can’t be good if it gets in your eyes.
It will be interesting to see what they do with this on a few different levels. Does Lefort need to get his head shaved? Will Louis turn babyface on Lefort? And should we really feel sorry for Louis, considering that he was the one who accepted this match on Lefort’s behalf, which wasn’t very nice of him.

PROMO FOR WWE NETWORK MONDAY NIGHT WAR SPECIAL ON MICK FOLEY- HOLY SH*T BRYAN SHAVED! AND HIS HEAD, TOO!

WILLIAM REGAL INTRODUCES KENTA-
They first had a video package for him, and, strangely, the two guys they had put him over in interviews were Kofi Kingston and Big E. Langston. It seems to me that Neville, Rollins, Zayn, Cesaro, Tensai, and (especially) Daniel Bryan would have been much better choices for this.
KENTA spoke English, which already puts him over the original Sin Cara. He announced that from now on, he would be known as Hideo Itami, as a tribute to one of his heroes (though they never said who, I can’t figure it out of the top of my head). Either way, having him take on this new name instead of just introducing him with makes the name change feel like it is almost part of his character. By changing his name as a tribute to one of his heroes, it tells us that he has a deep respect for tradition, and has people who he wants to make proud. I’m sure that doing it this way also makes the name change much more palatable to the Japanese fanbase.
The Ascension come out, knee him in the stomach, and toss him out of the ring. Konnor says that they are pissed off and demand that Regal give them a rematch. Then Itami gets back into the ring. He takes off his jacket, loosens his tie (and the people go NUTS), and gets his business face on. Konnor charges at him... and Itami ducks the clothesline, then fights them both off. On his own. If you want to get a guy over, having him singlehandedly fend off the monster heels who have run roughshod over the tag team division for over a year is a damn fine way to do it. In the space of two minutes, this man just became the biggest badass in the entire WWE.

MOJO RAWLEY vs. BULL DEMPSEY- no rating. AWESOME segment.
Bull kicked Mojo’s ass in about a minute, but it was a minute full of big men slamming into each other. Not only is Bull now the new biggest dog in the yard, but this string of big losses in high-profile situations will hopefully lead us to explore some new facets of Mojo’s character. These are the sort of situations that, if properly capitalized on, can turn a one-dimensional character into a two or three-dimensional one.

WE FINALLY GET A PAY-OFF TO THE HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH- okay. This made the babyfaces look a bit more like bullies than I’d like.

Renee plug an article on Buzzfeed that put over NXT. She specifically mentioned “Kevin Steen” and “Prince Devitt” (as well as others who have already debuted on NXT) by name.

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Charlotte(c) vs. Bayley- 6.5/10
Good stuff. Both women showed a lot of character. Bayley was a good babyface, Charlotte was a good heel. I probably would have given it 6.75/10 if not for that AWFUL moonsault. If not for that, the finish would have been great. They’ve apparently changed the name of Charlotte’s finisher to “Natural Selection,” which is MUCH worse than “Bow to the Queen.”

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- AWESOME!
Sasha came out to make fun of Bayley and started to beat her down, but Charlotte made the save, turning her babyface so we can get a BFF vs. BFF feud.


FATAL FOUR-WAY MATCH FOR THE NXT TITLE: Adrian Neville(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd- 9.25/10
AMAZING action, two or three fantastic false finishes, and a great finish with some interesting character implications. They told two or three different stories over the course of this match, and all were great. Unless I am somehow forgetting something, huge, this is WWE’s Match of the Year so far (yes, better than Shield vs. Evolution from Extreme Rules). A fantastic way to cap off a GREAT show from NXT.

[Bob-O]

NXT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Ascension(c) vs. Sin Cara & Kalysto- 6.5/10
Exciting babyfaces taking on big scary monster heels. Classic stuff. There was a lot of great action in this match, good storytelling, and, hopefully, the end of the era of boring Ascension squashes.

Good assessment, but man... I wouldn't say a lot of "blown" spots, but I felt like this match was sloppy. A good opener for this show, but reminded me that Del Sol might not be as "Raw Ready" as I had previously thought.

cool new team name: the Lucha Dragons.

I don't like that they're shoving 'Lucha' so hard with these guys. With the chants, and now the name... they've got masks on, they do flippies... we get it. The reason Rey worked so well was that he was never labeled, he just... 'was'... and they worked it into the show. His roots were often brought up, but they pushed him as "Rey Mysterio" not "A Luchador", which is where I think they went wrong with Mistico and where they will continue to go wrong when trying to fill the Mask Sales Rey Mysterio void.

HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH: Enzo Amore (w/Colin Cassaday) vs. Sylvester Lefort (w/Marcus Louis)- 3.25/10

Tonight Enzo and Big Cass won me over. I was very entertained, and I really couldn't stand them up until this point. I mean, I'm still disappointed in Enzo for selling Hawk drugs, but that was a long time ago, he seems to have moved on and I should to.

I had a HUGE problem with this match though, and I'm surprised you didn't bring it up. 99.9% of the payoff of a Hair vs Hair match is ACTUALLY SEEING THE GUY GET HIS HEAD SHAVED! I was promised a Head Shavin' dammit, and I don't care who gets it! So they follow through with Lois, dude definitely legit had his head shaved, AND THEY DIDN'T SHOW IT!? Showing it accomplishes SO MUCH! The heel being held down, begging for mercy. The babyfaces throwing the locks of hair around... it's good stuff! Even if they want to stretch out the Enzo/Lefort thing, why rob us of this if they were going to do it anyway? I was ready for booking shenanigans when they introduced the Hair Removal Cream (which my wife, who is a Stylist, says 1. Would not come in a 5 Gallon Bucket and 2. Would not only cause severe chemical burns, but also blind you), but I wasn't ready for them to go through with it and NOT SHOW IT!

If you want to get a guy over, having him singlehandedly fend off the monster heels who have run roughshod over the tag team division for over a year is a damn fine way to do it. In the space of two minutes, this man just became the biggest badass in the entire WWE.

I took tonight as The Ascension's sendoff to the Main Roster. After watching Kenta handle them by himself, I'm none too interested in seeing a rematch with Lucha Dragons.

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Charlotte(c) vs. Bayley- 6.5/10
Good stuff. Both women showed a lot of character. Bayley was a good babyface, Charlotte was a good heel. I probably would have given it 6.75/10 if not for that AWFUL moonsault. If not for that, the finish would have been great. They’ve apparently changed the name of Charlotte’s finisher to “Natural Selection,” which is MUCH worse than “Bow to the Queen.”

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- AWESOME!
Sasha came out to make fun of Bayley and started to beat her down, but Charlotte made the save, turning her babyface so we can get a BFF vs. BFF feud.

I'm sure between you and Cero you guys could point out lots of stuff I've missed to keep me busy for a while, but this match restored my faith in Women's Wrestling. It had me, from start to finish, what a great story. And, holy crap, I thought Charlotte was kinda ugly before this but, the two of them staring each other down all beat to hell after the match was one of the hottest things I've seen in a while.

FATAL FOUR-WAY MATCH FOR THE NXT TITLE: Adrian Neville(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd- 9.25/10
AMAZING action, two or three fantastic false finishes, and a great finish with some interesting character implications

The theme, at least the ending, to this match was desperation. I'm missing what the problem was with Neville saving his title at the end. Another great story told, but the end fell flat with me because of all the "WTF NEVILLE!?" from the announcers and Zayn. It was a 4-WAY!


What I REALLY liked about this show, besides getting to watch it live (I think it's the first time the stars have aligned and I actually got to watch something live since getting The Network), was that nobody besides CJ and Mojo really got buried, . I still think Baily has a shot at beating Charlotte next time. I know Zayn's going to win the title, just a matter of when. Kidd and Breeze both I think came out of the 4-Way with more steam than they had going in. The Ascension is on their way out, but got another team AND a debuting talent over in the process. What a great night for NXT!

[Big Red Machine]

cool new team name: the Lucha Dragons.

I don't like that they're shoving 'Lucha' so hard with these guys. With the chants, and now the name... they've got masks on, they do flippies... we get it. The reason Rey worked so well was that he was never labeled, he just... 'was'... and they worked it into the show. His roots were often brought up, but they pushed him as "Rey Mysterio" not "A Luchador", which is where I think they went wrong with Mistico and where they will continue to go wrong when trying to fill the Mask Sales Rey Mysterio void.

The Lucha chants were something I think he started on his own, and the fans took to, so this would be the company just going with it. You might be right about them pushing it too hard, but that is not where things went wrong with Misitico. Things initially went wrong with Mistico when WWE didn't have anyone who could work the Lucha styles well enough for him to face off against (aside from the often-injured Rey), so his first bunch of matches were pretty botchy.
Then he got suspended.
Then they finally brought in another Luchador for him to work with (and put him in the ring with Bryan, who was probably the best guy at working that style they had on the roster at the time), and he started to get over more... but then he got injured.
By the time he came back, he had made no effort to learn English, which already put a lot of heat on him. Then they had him team with Rey, which got derailed because he got hurt. When he came back they put him in the same spot... and he got hurt again very soon.
When he came back after that, they still tried to push him by having him beat the IC Champ in his return... then, two months after that, the finger injury incident happened. At that point he was considered both injury-prone AND a wimp... and on top of all that, he still didn't even try to learn English.
THAT is why Mistico didn't work out. It had nothing to do with how hard they pushed the fact that he is a real authentic legit Luchador from real authentic legit Mexico. Once again, I'm not saying that you're wrong and that it won't hurt Kalysto, but I disagree that that is what hurt Mistico.

HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH: Enzo Amore (w/Colin Cassaday) vs. Sylvester Lefort (w/Marcus Louis)- 3.25/10

Tonight Enzo and Big Cass won me over. I was very entertained, and I really couldn't stand them up until this point. I mean, I'm still disappointed in Enzo for selling Hawk drugs, but that was a long time ago, he seems to have moved on and I should to.

I had a HUGE problem with this match though, and I'm surprised you didn't bring it up. 99.9% of the payoff of a Hair vs Hair match is ACTUALLY SEEING THE GUY GET HIS HEAD SHAVED! I was promised a Head Shavin' dammit, and I don't care who gets it! So they follow through with Lois, dude definitely legit had his head shaved, AND THEY DIDN'T SHOW IT!? Showing it accomplishes SO MUCH! The heel being held down, begging for mercy. The babyfaces throwing the locks of hair around... it's good stuff! Even if they want to stretch out the Enzo/Lefort thing, why rob us of this if they were going to do it anyway? I was ready for booking shenanigans when they introduced the Hair Removal Cream (which my wife, who is a Stylist, says 1. Would not come in a 5 Gallon Bucket and 2. Would not only cause severe chemical burns, but also blind you), but I wasn't ready for them to go through with it and NOT SHOW IT!

To me, the payoff was seeing the guy bald rather than watching the actual haircut, so I was fine with that aspect of this.

If you want to get a guy over, having him singlehandedly fend off the monster heels who have run roughshod over the tag team division for over a year is a damn fine way to do it. In the space of two minutes, this man just became the biggest badass in the entire WWE.

I took tonight as The Ascension's sendoff to the Main Roster. After watching Kenta handle them by himself, I'm none too interested in seeing a rematch with Lucha Dragons.

I wish I could be excited about this, but I just can't because we've barely seen them wrestle matches that weren't squashes.

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Charlotte(c) vs. Bayley- 6.5/10
Good stuff. Both women showed a lot of character. Bayley was a good babyface, Charlotte was a good heel. I probably would have given it 6.75/10 if not for that AWFUL moonsault. If not for that, the finish would have been great. They’ve apparently changed the name of Charlotte’s finisher to “Natural Selection,” which is MUCH worse than “Bow to the Queen.”

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- AWESOME!
Sasha came out to make fun of Bayley and started to beat her down, but Charlotte made the save, turning her babyface so we can get a BFF vs. BFF feud.

I'm sure between you and Cero you guys could point out lots of stuff I've missed to keep me busy for a while, but this match restored my faith in Women's Wrestling. It had me, from start to finish, what a great story. And, holy crap, I thought Charlotte was kinda ugly before this but, the two of them staring each other down all beat to hell after the match was one of the hottest things I've seen in a while.

THIS was the match that restored your faith in women's wrestling? Really? Dude... NATTIE VS. CHARLOTTE!

FATAL FOUR-WAY MATCH FOR THE NXT TITLE: Adrian Neville(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd- 9.25/10
AMAZING action, two or three fantastic false finishes, and a great finish with some interesting character implications

The theme, at least the ending, to this match was desperation. I'm missing what the problem was with Neville saving his title at the end. Another great story told, but the end fell flat with me because of all the "WTF NEVILLE!?" from the announcers and Zayn. It was a 4-WAY!

See... I, for one, have always hated the "No DQ's in multi-man matches" rule. Just DQ that guy and then restarted the match with the remaining competitors.
Either way, the thing that Neville did that was so heelish was that he grabbed the ref. He knew that he couldn't break up the pin in time, so he put his hands on the official. As you pointed out, it's not technically illegal, but it still isn't very... honorable. It feels like a cheap move. You shouldn't interfere with the official doing his or her job.
Image a world in which there was some sort of technology- a sensor of some sort- built into the ring that could determine when someone's shoulders had been down for three seconds, and could also sense someone tapping out and a verbal submission, and could count people out, etc... a system that could replace referees. In this world, where everything is fair, Sami Zayn would be the NXT Champion right now because Tyson Kidd couldn't kick out and Adrian Neville couldn't break the pin up in time. What Adrian Neville did here was break up the pinfall by not actually affecting the pinfall itself but rather by unplugging the magical sensor. It's a cheap thing to do.
It's like the opposite of getting angry at a referee for accidentally blocking your path.

[cero2k]

HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH: Enzo Amore (w/Colin Cassaday) vs. Sylvester Lefort (w/Marcus Louis)- 3.25/10

I had a HUGE problem with this match though, and I'm surprised you didn't bring it up. 99.9% of the payoff of a Hair vs Hair match is ACTUALLY SEEING THE GUY GET HIS HEAD SHAVED! I was promised a Head Shavin' dammit, and I don't care who gets it! So they follow through with Lois, dude definitely legit had his head shaved, AND THEY DIDN'T SHOW IT!? Showing it accomplishes SO MUCH! The heel being held down, begging for mercy. The babyfaces throwing the locks of hair around... it's good stuff! Even if they want to stretch out the Enzo/Lefort thing, why rob us of this if they were going to do it anyway? I was ready for booking shenanigans when they introduced the Hair Removal Cream (which my wife, who is a Stylist, says 1. Would not come in a 5 Gallon Bucket and 2. Would not only cause severe chemical burns, but also blind you), but I wasn't ready for them to go through with it and NOT SHOW IT!

100% with you, as a lucha fan, i HATE how WWE tends to do the hair/mask apuestas match. And i can totally understand having the chicken shit heel try to run, because the E stands for entertainment, but if you have a hair vs hair match, and the loser doesn't get their head shaved, then what's the fucking point!? it's like having a title match and you don't give the title to the winner, it makes no sense, if they don't want to have their guys lose their hair, then tell the writers they're doing a terrible job and book another story.

If you want to get a guy over, having him singlehandedly fend off the monster heels who have run roughshod over the tag team division for over a year is a damn fine way to do it. In the space of two minutes, this man just became the biggest badass in the entire WWE.

I took tonight as The Ascension's sendoff to the Main Roster. After watching Kenta handle them by himself, I'm none too interested in seeing a rematch with Lucha Dragons.

tapings spoilers

Hidden text.

it seems that before the leave, they're gonna feud with KENTA Hideo Itami (i just puked a little) and.....FUNAKI

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Charlotte(c) vs. Bayley- 6.5/10
Good stuff. Both women showed a lot of character. Bayley was a good babyface, Charlotte was a good heel. I probably would have given it 6.75/10 if not for that AWFUL moonsault. If not for that, the finish would have been great. They’ve apparently changed the name of Charlotte’s finisher to “Natural Selection,” which is MUCH worse than “Bow to the Queen.”

I'm sure between you and Cero you guys could point out lots of stuff I've missed to keep me busy for a while, but this match restored my faith in Women's Wrestling. It had me, from start to finish, what a great story. And, holy crap, I thought Charlotte was kinda ugly before this but, the two of them staring each other down all beat to hell after the match was one of the hottest things I've seen in a while.

yeah, there's been some better woman's matches in NXT this year, mainly the other two nxt special ones. To me Charlotte is one of those girls that is really pretty, but at the same time, not so much, it's all in the lighting i think. Her athleticism and overall performance is amazing, a lot of people are raving that she could be the greatest woman wrestler in WWE history, I can totally see that. and here i was thinking that Reed Flair was the only talented one

[Bob-O]

THIS was the match that restored your faith in women's wrestling? Really? Dude... NATTIE VS. CHARLOTTE!

yeah, there's been some better woman's matches in NXT this year, mainly the other two nxt special ones. To me Charlotte is one of those girls that is really pretty, but at the same time, not so much, it's all in the lighting i think. Her athleticism and overall performance is amazing, a lot of people are raving that she could be the greatest woman wrestler in WWE history, I can totally see that. and here i was thinking that Reed Flair was the only talented one

Being a complete waste of time, I usually take a break for the women's matches. I honestly don't remember the last time I sat through one from start to finish, but Main Roster WWE has taught me the hard way that it's apparently what they're there for. With Twitter and whatnot going on today, I now know that even a wardrobe malfunction isn't going to make it to my screen, so I don't even have that to hope for anymore. There's no point! So yeah, when you guys are all "Holyfuckinshit, you HAVE to check out Nattie vs Charlotte..." or "Paige vs Emma was amazing! Go watch it. NOW!", my reaction has been "Yeeeah... I'll uh... yeah, I'll totally do that. I'll go watch some WWE produced women's wrestling... sometime... :-BD "

But, NOW, having my mind blown by the Bailey/Charlotte match, I actually will go back and watch some NXT Diva goodness. Don't go twisting my arm with how hot Alexa Bliss is... I'm already well aware...

if you have a hair vs hair match, and the loser doesn't get their head shaved, then what's the fucking point!? it's like having a title match and you don't give the title to the winner, it makes no sense

Right!? Except in this case, it's like somebody beat the world champion, was instead awarded the US Title, and we didn't get to see the celebration.

To me, the payoff was seeing the guy bald rather than watching the actual haircut, so I was fine with that aspect of this.

:-\ What's the fun in that?

that is not where things went wrong with Misitico.

Maybe I'm just speaking personally instead of generally, but I never really gave Sin Cara a chance because I felt force-fed from the get go, and I feel like american crowds weren't ever really behind him either. All of your info is accurate, though, so maybe it's just me.

[Big Red Machine]

But, NOW, having my mind blown by the Bailey/Charlotte match, I actually will go back and watch some NXT Diva goodness. Don't go twisting my arm with how hot Alexa Bliss is... I'm already well aware...

Then allow me to twist your arm and tell you how awesome she is as a babyface. Go find her debut match against Alicia Fox (and Fox's pre-match promo, too). It's all f*cking awesome babyface vs. heel stuff. Especially Fox. Actually, pretty much every single female heel in NXT is completely awesome at it.

To me, the payoff was seeing the guy bald rather than watching the actual haircut, so I was fine with that aspect of this.

:-\ What's the fun in that?

Because they invariably look ugly and are thus humiliated. I don't want to waste my time watching the actual haircut. I just want to see the humiliating end result.

[cero2k]

Because they invariably look ugly and are thus humiliated. I don't want to waste my time watching the actual haircut. I just want to see the humiliating end result.

BRM just turned heel

[badnewzxl]

Enzo and Big Cass won me over the week before when they went to that salon. They are awesomely entertaining.

As soon as they showed Baron Corbin in the ring, I couldn't believe they were gonna job that guy out to CJ Parker; then I was relieved....then I was blown away cuz that was the coolest way I've ever seen someone deliver that move.

Bayley is good. Sasha is good. Charlotte is leaps and bounds better than every diva in the WWE except AJ, Nattie, and maybe Paige and Naomi.

Glad Ascension lost; they need it. They are definitely not ready for the main roster quite yet.

Tyler Breeze really blew me away in the title match, especially during his flurry. I think he and Fandango could be a great tag team.

Looking forward to Zayn v. Neville

[cero2k]

Charlotte is leaps and bounds better than every diva in the WWE except AJ, Nattie, and maybe Paige and Naomi.

and she just barely debuted in 2012. Flair blood + Sara del Rey training is a good combination

[Big Red Machine]

Charlotte is leaps and bounds better than every diva in the WWE except AJ, Nattie, and maybe Paige and Naomi.

and she just barely debuted in 2012. Flair blood + Sara del Rey training is a good combination

She's better than Naomi (or at least better than Naomi has so far been given the chance to be)