Blog Archives
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/18/17: The Glorious Shiba Inu
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/18/17)
The Glorious Shiba Inu
– The opening video hyped the contact signing segment between NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode. It pretty much wrote itself. Hopefully they’d so something to make this feud personal.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/4/17: Land Down Under
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/4/17)
Land Down Under
– The Revival-Riddick Moss/Tino Sabbatelli match was interesting (yet awkward) for heel-heel interactions alone, but we’ll leave it at that. Being that this was the Melbourne, Australia portion of NXT’s December global tour, this was a house show-esque effort. We guess it makes for filler television when needed, but that’s not always good. The Steel Cage match for the NXT Championship between Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe headlined the episode, though they showed it a few weeks back. Check out our review of that match here. Luckily, anything with Revival written on it will generate fan response and the Australians were eager to chant for them. Moss/Sabbatelli have light momentum charisma-wise, but still need to hone their in-ring skills to get anywhere. A little strange when Commentator Corey Graves actually compared Moss/Sabbatelli to WWE Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro/Sheamus. Not much action besides for Revival’s usual “isolate and destroy” style on display. Moss pulled off a few decent spots, namely where he caught Scott Dawson on a high crossbody attempt and countered with a fallaway slam. Nevertheless, the fans showed no interest for Moss and a “Revival” chant actually broke out. Revival’s classic rule bending also garnered a pop in select moments, where Dawson raked Moss’ eyes and they both worked him over in the corner. The crowd booed Sabbatelli’s hot tag sequence, which only meant the Shatter Machine was imminent. Couldn’t come at a better time. Revival win and keep momentum for their rematch next week on NXT when they face NXT Tag Team Champions #DIY for the belts. Yes.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/12/16: Joe Gets What He Wants
“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 9/7/16: Chicken Cutler
“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.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/31/16: The Era Of Strong Style Begins
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/31/16)
The Era Of Strong Style Begins
– With NXT back at home at Full Sail University, it was time to see some new feuds and stars develop as the next NXT TakeOver event looms in the coming months. We started off with a backstage segment with Samoa Joe, NXT General Manager William Regal and a medical trainer as Regal was told that due to numerous injuries caused to Joe at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, he wouldn’t be cleared to compete any time soon. Joe, who was uncrowned of the NXT Championship at Brooklyn by NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, was expectedly pissed and stormed away. Uh oh.