By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 7/1/15)

That’s Finn Balor 

– The opening video hyped the tag team main event of NXT Champion Kevin Owens/Rhyno against Samoa Joe/Finn Balor well as a clash of sorts, which in many ways, it was.

– The Vaudevillains-Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder match right away was an enhancement match for the Throwback team of Simon Gotch and Aiden English. Besides the finishing double-team sequence, nothing really new or original here. Seems a slow push is on the horizon for the newly turned Vaudevillains, but they still have a ways to go on the way to topping the division.

– Becky Lynch’s promo mentioned her injury at TakeOver, where she injured her hip and had to take a few weeks off, but would use it as motivation and was just the start of N-Bex-T. Unfortunate, since she was on top of the world seemingly after her show-stealing performance at the last TakeOver, but injuries also have a way of bottling up momentum for a big return and it wouldn’t be unheard of for her to maybe come back as NXT Divas Champion Sasha Banks’ new partner.

– The Baron Corbin-Tucker Knight was another obvious squash, and you could tell it was going to be one of those shows. Not to mention Knight looks somewhat like Bull Dempsey. The “Cor… Bin-Sucks!” chants continued shortly as well. The match wasn’t all that necessary. He’s not any stronger than he was before the match.

– For where the tag team division is, it makes sense to pit both Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady and Vaudevillains together in a number one contender’s match next week, as confirmed by General Manager William Regal backstage. It feels like a step backwards for Enzo/Cass, who’ve already tasted the number one contender’s pie, while it would be new territory for Vaudevillains, but they seem outmatched at this point by Enzo/Cass.

– The third installment of “Who Is Finn Balor?” looked at his rise in NXT dedicated to fan art of his character and how he was inspired. Also touched upon was his entrance and how Triple H was showing him how to address the cameras on him and how he felt so accepted upon his arrival. Fantastic as always. Based off these videos alone, seeing his influence on others in the wrestling business spanning several continents, it almost foreshadows a title win. They wouldn’t go all out for this showdown in any other case.

– So, Eva Marie worked in the ring in front of Regal and NXT Trainer Sara Amato (the former Sara Del Rey) and feedback on her performance was hyped for a later time. Alright then.

– The Emma-Brooke match was far from dazzling, but it did a good job of keeping the evil duo of Brooke/Emma strong, as Emma’s aggressiveness helped her out directly in the match, winning by submission. As for Carmella, she continues to improve in the ring, but it’s going to take a while for her to truly connect with the crowd in the way that they do with Enzo/Cass, as they weren’t all too receptive to her pre-match promo.

– The only bright spot in the “Bull Dempsey, Resident Fat Man” storyline has been the interactions with Regal and he damn nears tole the show with his facial expressions in the backstage segment where he stopped Dempsey from taking a chair to the vending machine. Don’t really care what happens to Dempsey at this point, as he’s also got a long way to go after losing so many matches in a short span of time.

– The Jason Jordan/Chad Gable tag team is only inevitable and the sooner we get to it, the better for everyone. We kind of get a kick out of Gable’s persistent nature in trying to win Jordan over, who wants none of it.

– The Tyler Breeze-Tye Dillinger match seemed to carry on the sentiment that Breeze is working a more babyface style without actually changing his character. Dillinger was a lot more aggressive here and on the offense for a minute or two, before Breeze won with the Beauty Shot.

– Speaking of more babyface styles, perhaps Banks is also going that way, as evidenced by the interaction backstage with her and Brooke/Emma. It went down well and it’s obvious that Emma/Brooke are the new “bad girls.” It is all depending on who Banks gets as her partner, but seeing her in at least a tweener role with a lack of faces in the division now makes sense.

– The Balor/Joe-Rhyno/Owens match was pretty standard with good action, especially towards the finish. Pictured Balor getting the pinfall from the get-go, but it’s questionable to have him pin Owens after hitting the Coup de Grace, though it also took a gore from Rhyno to also do him in. It did set up as a great preview for Tokyo, as we’re almost sure that Balor will become the new Champion based on Owens’ involvement on the main roster and sights set on the United States Championship. This would also cement Balor’s rise to the top and all his hard work will be rewarded.

Quick Results

– The Vaudevillains def. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder via pinfall

– Baron Corbin def. Tucker Knight via pinfall

– Emma (w/Dana Brooke) def. Carmella via submission

– Tyler Breeze def. Tye Dillinger via pinfall

– Finn Balor/Samoa Joe def. Rhyno/Kevin Owens via pinfall