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 7/22/15)

Reign Of The Demon 

– The opening video highlighted NXT Champion Finn Balor pulling off his biggest accomplishment to date and it was proclaimed the “Reign Of The Demon.” Rightfully so. Balor leads NXT as it is somewhere between an era of new blood and main roster call-ups. It’s a perfect balance.

– Balor is one of the most over acts in the company right now. No way they can stop this momentum given his reaction when he came out. Balor did an excellent job of selling the emotional impact of all his hard work elsewhere to finally come to NXT and ride to the top of the pack. He also did a good job of addressing how Kevin Owens has been a force to be reckoned with since his arrival and made it a good sell for the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn NXT Championship rematch. Typical Florida to boo anything New York related. This also hyped the upcoming contract signing segment as something to look forward to.

– Bayley’s back? Thank god.

– Eva Marie’s backstage promo had her take on a serious tone and approach and she touched up on the public’s misconception of her and tried to convince them that she was indeed training. Bold statements but if you were going to take a shot, might as well do it there.

– Eva Marie was obviously going for a new thing here, but why the Ric Flair robe get-up and music that sounded a bit close to NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks? As far as her performance in the match with Cassie, there was a degree of improvement and we liked her technical-styled approach. Cassie got to show off some fierce kicks at the same time, as the broadcast team noted her being trained by Lance Storm. The Sliced Bread Number Two variation finish was pretty good and it was established that Eva will be a heel using underhanded tactics.

– So given the segment with Tyler Breeze and General Manager William regal, we’re on the long build to the already announced Breeze-Jushin Thunder Liger match for Takeover: Brooklyn. It’s at least good to see Breeze back on the more heelish side of things, assuming that Regal had something big planned for him, when Regal had no idea what to do in actuality.

– The Baron Corbin-Unnamed Jobber match was just another pointless squash where he won with End Of Days in about four seconds. Meh. The guy did look like Grimace though.

– The Mike Rawlis-Samoa Joe match was yet another platform for Joe’s relentless assault of chops, kicks and technical power. The announcement of Joe-Rhyno in two weeks has our attention. Sounds like his music is more tolerable now.

– The Emma/Dana Brooke backstage promo had Emma give some decent threats and Brooke spoke condescending and mocked Bayley’s hugging. Brooke at least continues to be a good pesky heel.

– The Emma-Bayley match had an easy Bayley return angle and a win for her would bring her back on the right track. At the same time, Emma had some moments of dominance here too, also given a little out by having Brooke ejected from ringside. Bayley winning with the Bayley-To-Belly was the way to go. Her promo mentioned the positive response and she claimed her goal to become NXT Champion and called out Charlotte. It will be a good way to reestablish her with a credible win on the way to Sasha Banks. That’ll be something in the future though.

– The Charlotte-Dana Brooke backstage segment had Charlotte mention the Divas Revolution and get emotional about it, though she also talked about still wanting to be NXT Women’s Champion, which made sense since NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks is also on the main roster now. Brooke interrupting was a decent moment on her part, as she at least came from a logical place when she complained she wasn’t from a big family or given chances. The Charlotte-Brooke showdown was eventual, and it’ll help drag things out a little bit more with the Divas left in NXT.

– The Vaudevillains-Angelo Dawkins/Sawyer Fulton match was another enhancement match for the number one contenders, as it was announced that their Title shot would happen next week. Vaudevillains reworked their repertoire a little bit to be more creative but the result was as expected.

– The Wesley Blake/Buddy Murphy/Alexa Bliss backstage promo saw them unfazed and Bliss said she’d make sure they’d stay champions next week. Maybe Vaudevillains will be the ones to uncrown them?

– The Contract signing segment with Owens, Balor and Regal saw Owens talk a big heavy game with his accomplishments. Loved how he used the negative reaction to Brooklyn for heat purposes. Balor’s response was short, but effective. Owens’ claim of his new quest to become the first 2-time NXT Champion is intriguing, considering he usually does what he says. The brief physicality was excellent as Owens laid out Regal (shock value moment) and attacked Finn, trying to give him the Pop-Up Powerbomb but to no avail. Both men looked even there. This match will already be a big headliner for where it is and with an angle like that, that will only want to make people tune in more.

Quick Results

– Eva Marie def. Cassie via pinfall

– Baron Corbin def. Unnamed Jobber via pinfall

– Samoa Joe def. Mike Rawlis via pinfall

– Bayley def. Emma (w/Dana Brooke) via pinfall

– The Vaudevillains def. Angelo Dawkins/Sawyer Fulton via pinfall