Blog Archives
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/11/17: Chaos And Pain
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 1/11/17)
Chaos And Pain
– The opening video hyped the big NXT Tag Team Championship rematch between Champions #DIY and The Revival. If their TakeOver: Brooklyn II or TakeOver: Toronto bouts were any indications, this should be close to flawless. Tag wrestling about as good as it gets. No complaints.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 12/28/16: Osaka, Osaka
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 12/28/16)
Osaka, Osaka
– The opening video hyped up the NXT Championship rematch between Champion (at the time) Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura. Yup, they’d show the entire match again in its entirety (this was even before their steel cage match), but the good part was that we’d see the rest of the Osaka event. A two-hour NXT show on a holiday week? What a gift. By the way, to read our review of the Joe/Nakamura match, check it here.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 12/21/16: Glorious Cien 10 Strong
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 12/21/16)
Glorious Cien 10 Strong
– The Billie Kay-Daria Berenato match traced back from when Berenato sought revenge on the Aussie Mean Girls after they abandoned her in tag team action. It was decided that Kay would be the one to take the mixed martial arts/boxer fighter on. The story up to here made sense, so we wondered how they’d fare in the ring. Peyton Royce accompanied Kay to the ring, so that already invited shenanigans. A nice start as Berenato kicked Kay in the spine and made her a makeshift punching bag. Royce began to be a factor as she repeatedly pulled Kay out of the ring and attacked Berenato on the outside, out of the Referee’s view. That led to Kay’s big kick to earn her the win. Didn’t expect Kay to actually go over and we’re concerned about Berenato’s future. She has something interesting there as far as her gimmick and after being set up to lose, now she has lost again, albeit in dirty fashion. They haven’t done much to establish Berenato as an in-ring threat. AMG’s post-match promo was a clear call-out to NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, as they deemed themselves worthy competition. They were met with constant boos that bordered on “go-away heat,” which they should’ve played off of more. The “No one cares” chants had to hurt. That said, the way they’ve built up Kay/Royce is desirable, but how can they take Asuka on when they can’t even beat the likes of Ember Moon, Liv Morgan and Aliyah, two of which are glorified enhancement at this point?
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 12/14/16: Four To Play
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 12/14/16)
Four To Play
– The opening video recapped last week’s big rematch for the NXT Championship in Osaka, Japan between Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe. “The King Of Strong Style” had a loyal home country following and after a grueling contest, he got back his gold with a Kinshasa for the history books. We saw the hype that went down, as Joe immediately sought his rematch clause, so much so, that five days later in Melbourne, Australia, we’d see them duke it out again for the Title in a Steel Cage match. We assumed this would be the main event.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/16/16: A Shot At Vengeance
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 11/16/16)
A Shot At Vengeance
– The Liv Morgan-Peyton Royce match was the latest installment in the chronicles of the NXT undercard, which you can gladly call its Women’s Division. Forever a “work in progress,” there has been an attempt to build things with the “Aussie Mean Girls” pair of Billie Kay/Royce, coupled with Liv Morgan – a blonde tomboy Jersey Girl – and Ember Moon – a Mortal Kombat-esque athlete who racks up wins. While Moon has been built on her own, we’ve seen Morgan entangled in a feud lately with the AMG. Where we last left off, we saw Morgan cost Kay a match, as Aliyah upset her. The aggressive start made sense given the feud’s context. Royce delivered a nice tarantula-like submission in the ropes, even though we were entirely distracted with her ring attire that screamed “The Riddler.” The memories stopped there until the finish, when we saw Kay physically assault Morgan before she could make Royce submit. The crowd chanted for Aliyah, who came out and it looked like the heels would enjoy another beatdown. This set the stage for Moon to come down and make the ultimate difference, as she single-handedly took down the AMG before her and Morgan hit stereo dropkicks. We like the idea of Moon to physically get her hands dirty with the rest of the division, but we had enjoyed her solo push and wished they kept her separate from this storyline.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/19/16: Champion’s Address
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 10/19/16)
Champion’s Address
– The opening video reminded us of the huge brawl to end last week’s show when NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura returned to cast vengeance upon Samoa Joe, who purposely sidelined him in an attempt to get back the NXT Championship. To the point where he annihilated various talent in demand of either Nakamura or the Title from NXT General Manager William Regal, Joe had this coming to him. A smart way to drag out television time.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/12/16: Joe Gets What He Wants
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at then bottom of the post.
(Aired 10/12/16)
Joe Gets What He Wants
– Another week of NXT TV was here and the good thing was that we’d finally get Sanity’s long-awaited debut and the first match of “The Glorious 10” pair of Tye Dillinger/Bobby Roode. It’d also happen under the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament First Round. This was a smart way to blend programs. Needless to say, Sanity’s entrance was unique, yet left us unsettled. This was reliant upon flashlights in the dark, smoke, brick walls and heavy metal music as four denim-jacket clad figures stood with masks. Two of them were revealed as Alexander Wolfe/Sawyer Fulton. It had been a while since we seen them, so we were all for this. They were big in stature and powerful, so smart idea. A man and woman remained masked outside for the match. The duo worked over Dillinger extensively as they mauled him to no limit. Roode watched from afar and wanted no part of them, to the point where he teased a step-in, but walked away, as Dillinger reached out for help. It became apparent that Roode had no interest in a team with Dillinger and was only concerned about himself. Then again, at the same time, we wouldn’t to step in against those guys either. Their finisher was like a Magic Killer variation as they turned Dillinger over for a powerslam to get the win. The reveals of Eric Young/Nikki Glenncross as the last two members was well-done, especially on EY’s part. The crowd let loose a “Holy shit!” chant and rightfully so. We’ll see what promos they give us to establish who they are, but so far, this was a hot debut. Their entrance and look almost rivals The Wyatt Family.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/5/16: When Samoa Joe Attacks
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 10/5/16)
When Samoa Joe Attacks
– With the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament now upon us, it was time to let the stories come to us. Thank goodness, with a lot of notable names absent from NXT’s roster, this was an easy way to carry us weekly with natural storytelling. Surely, that’s how the late Dusty would’ve wanted it. We had the announcement in the opening video that there’d be two First Round matches. Let the games begin.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 9/21/16: Bringing The Fight
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thought and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 9/21/16)
Bringing The Fight
– The opening video took us back to last week when Samoa Joe swerved everybody as he played the “nice guy” to get NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura to agree to a rematch for the belt before he brutalized him without remorse with help from the steel steps. With some ample time before NXT’s next TakeOver special, this was a smart way to prolong things in a way that kept the focus on Joe’s aggression.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 9/7/16: Chicken Cutler
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 9/7/16)
Chicken Cutler
– NXT seems to be in a state of developing its own talent in a field with a few established diamonds. That has always been its niche and that seems more true than ever these days. With seemingly everybody notable up on the main roster now, we need new stars more than ever. Luckily, we had a good start with the TM61-Tony Nese/Ariya Daivari opener. The upstart Aussies appear to be second on the babyface tier of the NXT Tag Team Division behind Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa and this match helped propel them further into the scene with credibility. On the other side, we had Nese (who impressed in his Cruiserweight Classic performance) show off more reasons why he might be around to stay for a while, with his versatile style in offense. Daivari already made a good pest heel from what we saw in the CWC, but him and Nese gelled smoothly for a first-time team. We never got the sense that TM61 was the superior team, as it came off more evenly matched, but we could tell TM61 was going over at the end. Nese had some impressive spots and the babyfaces finished off the bout with their Thunder Valley finisher. We have a feeling TM61 will end up with Tag Title shots sooner than later.
