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Top 20 Of 2015
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
*Graphic by Angel Ancantara*
2015 certainly had unmemorable moments – a Global Force Wrestling invasion, a “Divas Revolution,” a ridiculous love rectangle, tater tot promos, among others.
However, we also saw fantastic ones – a Money In The Bank Briefcase Cash-In during the WrestleMania main event, a revamped Undertaker-Brock Lesnar feud, “four horsewomen,” John Cena’s United States Open Challenge, TNA World Title Series and that’s scratching the surface.
Below’s our list of the top 20 moments of 2015.
WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect Reaction
Courtesy of Cageside Seats website.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
With a plethora of new signings mixed with already-established NXT mainstays, “Respect” delivered exciting action from top to bottom.
With the show named in honor of the late great “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes – who played an integral part in helping NXT talent “find themselves” within their character – respect was a booming theme throughout the show, right down from the Dusty-inspired stage with his likeness displayed on the LED screen to the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament trophy right next to it.
WWE Creative recently coined the term “Divas Revolution” and elements of that “revolution” witnessed first-hand perhaps the best women’s match to date – the 30-minute Iron Man match for the NXT Women’s Championship between Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks. Women’s wrestling took over the final half hour, fittingly appropriate for a show that delivered in spades.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 9/30/15: A Muscle-Busting Coup De Grace
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 9/30/15)
A Muscle-Busting Coup De Grace
– Things started with a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic update since we were a week away from TakeOver: Respect, where the semifinals and finals would take place. We saw Round 2 highlights where Jason Jordan/Chad Gable beat The Hype Bros. at a live event to meet Baron Corbin/Rhyno in the finals, where Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder will also be waiting. Good preview to get us to this hot opener match on paper.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 9/23/15: Asuka Arrives
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 9/23/15)
Asuka Arrives
– The Eva Marie-Carmella match was another squash for the red-headed up-and-comer who has been mostly all glam and no slam. The crowd continued to berate her justifiably, considering she forgot to kick out the last time she was out there. They made an effort to take that botch and use it as a way to get promo heat, as she thanked the referee for not “falling victim to the biased crowd.” It’d just be smarter to not acknowledge it, but too late for that. As for the idea of Carmella being her opponent – sigh, again? Carmella is improving herself, but she’s not on the level to carry Eva of all people. Their in-ring chemistry has bettered and Eva wasn’t terrible, but played it way too safe here and the pace suffered. The crowd was obviously amusing themselves with chants like “That’s a kickout!” and “All botch everything!” and it was building to something decent… until the lame countout finish. That did no favors for Eva and then it made Carmella look weak since she couldn’t answer a 10 count when all she did was fall out of the ring.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 9/16/15: Birth Of The Iron Woman
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 9/16/15)
Birth Of The Iron Woman
– The Tyler Breeze-Adam Rose-Bull Dempsey segment was originally set up as a Breeze-Rose match, having the backstory of Breeze beating down Dempsey after a miscommunication led to their loss to Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. Rose came out debuting a new “party pooper” gimmick, looking like a disgruntled English hipster with glasses and a vest. It was okay for what it was, perhaps a step above where he was before gimmick-wise. Hey, they’re trying. The Dempsey-Breeze promo exchange was entertaining in furthering their rivalry, with Dempsey looking to get revenge, while Breeze didn’t see him in his league. It kind of tells itself as a story. At the same time, Rose didn’t exactly get lost in the shuffle, wanting to exact his own revenge on both guys for the past and slapped Dempsey pretty hard. Even though he ended up being taken down, he still gained something here. Breeze narrowly escaping trouble was the prefect way to book it, keeping the physicality to a minimum and likely leading to a match next week, from what we saw there. Good segment that actually made everybody looking okay out of it, perhaps even more relevant.
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