The epic The Bloodline vs. The Club feud had two great matches this week, in Anderson/Gallows vs. The Usos and Reigns vs. Gallows. The first had a great beatdown by Anderson/Gallows and some nice well-timed hope spots for Jimmy, with a bunch of fun counters and a super hot crowd. The second was the Hoss War that wrestling needs more of. But I’ve been giving these matches high marks for weeks and was eager to talk about something else. And I got it!
By the way – Ziggler/Sheamus and Owens/Cesaro from SmackDown! and Ryder vs. Del Rio from Main Event were also fine matches.
But praise be to NXT.
NXT has had a weak last few months, and the week-to-week TV hasn’t felt special since the build to TakeOver: London. TakeOver: Dallas was a wonderful show, but the TV clearly lost a step. This match thankfully had everything I’ve loved and a lot of things I’ve missed about NXT – a hot Full Sail crowd, characters you care about, and sensible booking that moves right into the next logical thing (in this case the Monster Showdown of Nia Jax vs. Asuka). This is what great TV wrestling is all about.
Nia Jax has been wrestling for like a year and a half and she isn’t there yet but for a rookie she’s proof that they’ve got something real going down there at the Performance Center. She strings moves together well, plays the role well. And when in there with a pro it can be magic. And Bayley is a pro. Everyone talks about Sasha but Bayley is not only someone the people care about, she’s a great professional wrestler. Big bumps, great selling, working from underneath really well. Her going for the guillotine choke right away was neat as well.
The finish was so cool too, Jax just leg dropping Bayley to death.
The title match in London was good but I enjoyed this even more. TV wrestling, man. It’s a beautiful thing.
