As I stated in my recap of the fantastic NXT TakeOver Phoenix event, the matches we saw tonight on the Network were the pre-show matches but they're presented as the "aftermath" of the show. And as we normally see, we got two matches with a series of video packages and some backstage segments of the matches from the event itself.
So let's talk about the matches themselves and we're going to start with the match between Io Shirai and Kairi Sane vs Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. Look, sometimes you just don't have to give a shit about strong booking and just give the crowd what they want, and this match was a great example of that. But it was also an example of the problem I feel exists within the NXT Women's division. The talent in the Women's division in NXT is not as deep as it should be. With people like Shirai, Sane, Candace La Rae, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Deonna Purrazzo, Kacy Catanzaro, and so on, and this is only the active roster since there are other signings that have shown up here and there such as Xia Li, Mercedes Martinez and more, and while I have yet to see a single TakeOver that's been less than excellent overall, TakeOver events and NXT in general are lacking in matches and stories for the Women's roster. I also am aware that the talent pool in the Men's roster is extremely deep, but so long as NXT is still considered to be WWE's developmental brand, they should be concentrating on doing just that: developing talent, no matter their gender. I just really think there's an opportunity here to push more than one woman at a time, and NXT has proven time and again that they're far better at storytelling and character than the main roster. Anyway, off my soapbox and back to the match. This match, while fabulous to watch, was oddly booked. Shafir and Duke are supposed to be part of this really dominant faction within the Women's division, yet they've taken losses in both of their matches so far, and that's including this one. I still think this match was ultimately booked correctly to have Shirai and the recently returned Sane go over, and it had some excellent spots that were really fun to watch. Io is just fantastically fun to watch the aerial assaults she can pull out, and Sane, despite her smaller size, really packs a wallop in her offense. And that double-team move with Sane hitting the elbow off an assist from Shirai is so cool, and the air she can get on the In-Sane Elbow is phenomenal, which is how she picked up the pin on Shafir. It's also a testament to see how far they can go with this duo as Shirai was voted Future Star and Sane was voted not only the best Female performer but the best Overall performer in the NXT Year-End award (I'm still not entirely sure how justified that is, looking at the output from Johnny Gargano, but it is what it is), so I'm forecasting Sane to take her belt back at the TakeOver during Wrestlemania weekend.
Then there were promos for what I happen to think is a really great idea, and that's the Halftime Heat tag match that was set up at the end of TakeOver. I think that this, if promoted correctly, will get a lot of people interested in this brand who otherwise aren't aware of it. Since it's going to be able to be viewed in just about every social platform as well as the network and WWE.com, it should be able to pick up some groundswell since a good amount of people will likely be tuning out of watching fucking Maroon 5 during the Super Bowl halftime show. I'm not watching the Super Bowl anyway, but I'll certainly be there supporting Halftime Heat.
I also have to take a moment to talk about the backstage segment for the post-match interview of Johnny Gargano just after he won the North American title. His character work there just killed me. Johnny is so fucking good at selling who he is now as opposed to who he was before. He's gone to the dark side, and he's liking it.
Then we got a match between Street Profits and The Forgotten Sons, and this was a match that seemed to be telling a clear story as far as having something that will definitely tie back into the weekly show. I've made no mystery in my past recaps that I feel next to nothing for the trio of Blake, Cutler and Ryker (but Mauro Ranallo's description of them being akin to King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise did make me laugh hysterically and also solidifies Ranallo as the geekiest sports announcer of all time), but I am a big fan of Street Profits. The power game of Dawkins and the high-flying antics of Ford really make this tag team solid as hell, whereas there's nothing particularly special about Forgotten Sons, other than they seem to be "Sons of Anarchy" cosplayers. Ryker of course was the deciding factor in this match, as is the case with most of their matches, as he's the one that steps in when the ref's distracted, and by having them pick up the win here, it makes a case for pushing them towards the scenario that will likely be seeing them as future competitors for the newly-anointed tag champs, War Raiders. I just wish it didn't have to come at the expense of Street Profits.
Anyway, that's pretty much it for this episode. Sadly, I don't have any photos of the pre-show/aftermath matches, but everything you saw on TV was better than any pictures I could have taken. I'll be back, though, on Saturday to go over the Worlds Collide event, because at least for the first round, I was there and taking some good pictures and video, and it's extremely likely you'll see me during that portion of the broadcast as I was sitting with The Manager right by the stage left entrance ramp.
Until next time, kids...
So let's talk about the matches themselves and we're going to start with the match between Io Shirai and Kairi Sane vs Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. Look, sometimes you just don't have to give a shit about strong booking and just give the crowd what they want, and this match was a great example of that. But it was also an example of the problem I feel exists within the NXT Women's division. The talent in the Women's division in NXT is not as deep as it should be. With people like Shirai, Sane, Candace La Rae, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Deonna Purrazzo, Kacy Catanzaro, and so on, and this is only the active roster since there are other signings that have shown up here and there such as Xia Li, Mercedes Martinez and more, and while I have yet to see a single TakeOver that's been less than excellent overall, TakeOver events and NXT in general are lacking in matches and stories for the Women's roster. I also am aware that the talent pool in the Men's roster is extremely deep, but so long as NXT is still considered to be WWE's developmental brand, they should be concentrating on doing just that: developing talent, no matter their gender. I just really think there's an opportunity here to push more than one woman at a time, and NXT has proven time and again that they're far better at storytelling and character than the main roster. Anyway, off my soapbox and back to the match. This match, while fabulous to watch, was oddly booked. Shafir and Duke are supposed to be part of this really dominant faction within the Women's division, yet they've taken losses in both of their matches so far, and that's including this one. I still think this match was ultimately booked correctly to have Shirai and the recently returned Sane go over, and it had some excellent spots that were really fun to watch. Io is just fantastically fun to watch the aerial assaults she can pull out, and Sane, despite her smaller size, really packs a wallop in her offense. And that double-team move with Sane hitting the elbow off an assist from Shirai is so cool, and the air she can get on the In-Sane Elbow is phenomenal, which is how she picked up the pin on Shafir. It's also a testament to see how far they can go with this duo as Shirai was voted Future Star and Sane was voted not only the best Female performer but the best Overall performer in the NXT Year-End award (I'm still not entirely sure how justified that is, looking at the output from Johnny Gargano, but it is what it is), so I'm forecasting Sane to take her belt back at the TakeOver during Wrestlemania weekend.
Then there were promos for what I happen to think is a really great idea, and that's the Halftime Heat tag match that was set up at the end of TakeOver. I think that this, if promoted correctly, will get a lot of people interested in this brand who otherwise aren't aware of it. Since it's going to be able to be viewed in just about every social platform as well as the network and WWE.com, it should be able to pick up some groundswell since a good amount of people will likely be tuning out of watching fucking Maroon 5 during the Super Bowl halftime show. I'm not watching the Super Bowl anyway, but I'll certainly be there supporting Halftime Heat.
I also have to take a moment to talk about the backstage segment for the post-match interview of Johnny Gargano just after he won the North American title. His character work there just killed me. Johnny is so fucking good at selling who he is now as opposed to who he was before. He's gone to the dark side, and he's liking it.
Then we got a match between Street Profits and The Forgotten Sons, and this was a match that seemed to be telling a clear story as far as having something that will definitely tie back into the weekly show. I've made no mystery in my past recaps that I feel next to nothing for the trio of Blake, Cutler and Ryker (but Mauro Ranallo's description of them being akin to King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise did make me laugh hysterically and also solidifies Ranallo as the geekiest sports announcer of all time), but I am a big fan of Street Profits. The power game of Dawkins and the high-flying antics of Ford really make this tag team solid as hell, whereas there's nothing particularly special about Forgotten Sons, other than they seem to be "Sons of Anarchy" cosplayers. Ryker of course was the deciding factor in this match, as is the case with most of their matches, as he's the one that steps in when the ref's distracted, and by having them pick up the win here, it makes a case for pushing them towards the scenario that will likely be seeing them as future competitors for the newly-anointed tag champs, War Raiders. I just wish it didn't have to come at the expense of Street Profits.
Anyway, that's pretty much it for this episode. Sadly, I don't have any photos of the pre-show/aftermath matches, but everything you saw on TV was better than any pictures I could have taken. I'll be back, though, on Saturday to go over the Worlds Collide event, because at least for the first round, I was there and taking some good pictures and video, and it's extremely likely you'll see me during that portion of the broadcast as I was sitting with The Manager right by the stage left entrance ramp.
Until next time, kids...
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