What’s up everybody? It is I, the fearless leader of the NXT Redux here to bring forth this weeks Diva-y goodness. If you’ll recall, last week we saw Charlotte and Bayley tear the house down in a rematch from “NXT TakeOver 2: Fatal-4-Way-Too-Long-of-a-Live-Special-Title”, but this week both Divas are off from the show as it’s time for our Boss, Sasha Banks, to reemerge and attempt to cash a check her mouth CAN cash over resident rockstar, Becky Lynch.
Will Sasha Bankroll over the competition? Will Lynch Beck-xcell to new heights? Will I stop making horrendous puns??
Scroll down to find out.
And for the sake of your sanity, I sure hope the answer to that last one is yes.
ANYYTHHANNGGG YOUU WANNAAAA DOOOOOO
I love this song. So so much. Out pops Becky Lynch, rocking that half plaid like nobody’s business as JoJo (PLEASE wrestle soon) introduces the Dublin Delight to the ring. In addition to the song, I also love Becky’s entrance (Never forget the one week of Irish Jigging). But speaking of entrances and songs I love, Sasha Banks is heyah!~
Wait, did Renee Young just drop a Carol Burnett reference? I cannot.
Sasha pops out from the back looking most definitely not ratchet at all, but what is looking a bit ratchet is that titantron. I’m all for studio shots (especially Sasha’s) and I’m all for Boss Glasses… but not slapped together NXT. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take it any day over just a nameplate, but let’s sort this out and chalk it up to first round jitters, alright?
Sasha continues down the entrance ramp as I sit wondering how she can possibly hear her theme song, which is my favorite of CFO(dollar sign)’s work since the early days of Paige‘s, and not sing along! Is there some sort of wrestling rule to not sing your theme as you walk down the ramp? TV or not, this jam is too catchy I wouldn’t be able to contain myself. Needless to say, Sasha is way more professional than I am, as she steps into the ring and we get this match underway.
Sasha immediately picks apart Becky’s hair, with the match then getting underway via hair flip and arm drag! Roll up for a one count, continuing to work over the arm until Sasha takes her down. Pin attempt, but Becky bridges out (This may be my favorite move in wrestling), and connects with a dropkick! She flies into the corner, however, misses Sasha who connects with my other favorite move in those scrappy claws. A boot to the throat as the crowd chants “Sasha’s Ratchet”. Becky now with an elbow, going for a pair of boots… but Sasha traps her in between the ropes and hits a pair of knees for a two count.
Sasha applies a submission to the arms, with the crowd getting behind Becky to try and will her out of it. This seems to help a little, but Sasha simply overpowers her and keeps it locked in, now adding a boot to the back! Becky finally fights… nevermind. She gets taken down again and I suddenly notice how cool her green shoe bottoms are. Needless to say, I get distracted pretty easily, but Sasha refuses to let my attention wander as she locks the submission back in.
Lynch finally escapes into a roll up, then a jacknife attempt! Sasha escapes it, but Becky hits an uppercut into a set of clotheslines and a leg lariat! Legdrop now! Just a two count. Lynch with a nice hopping kick off the ropes, then running forward as Sasha rebounds off the ropes behind her with a sick clothesline. From there, she hits the backstabber into the crossface which she dubs The Bank Statement, and scores the submission victory like a true goddess… err, god-boss? Hey, they can’t all be winning puns.
In addition, check out this week’s Carmella(!!!!!) cell phone recorded segment at this link, which involves Enzo and Big Cass asking NXT GM, William Regal, if she can have a tryout.
Thoughts: To me, this was an extremely fun (and fresh!) match-up, especially needed as something to follow how built up and lengthy Charlotte and Bayley’s match was last week. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen Sasha (and by that, I mean not counting the mysterious backstage segment that aired on the network version but couldn’t be found anywhere online), and so it was great to finally have The Boss back in the ring. I don’t feel like it needs to be said because it should be obvious by now, but she is such a star. This girl started off in NXT seeming very shaky & nervous, while always being a very good in ring performer. Now though, you wouldn’t even associate who we have now with the girl that walked in the door.
She’s grown so much and developed such a unique character that I think can really resonate on both NXT and the main roster if she’s given the proper introduction. A lot of people talk about how Charlotte is the top prospect in NXT for the women, and while I am taking absolutely nothing away from her because she has worked hard and she is extremely worthy of that moniker/title, to me personally, it’s Sasha Banks. She just has got everything in the world and then some, and her style in ring resonates with me personally a bit more, in the sense that heel Melina‘s did. Needless to say, I am so excited to see what 2015 brings Sasha Banks because I just can’t see WWE letting her slip through the cracks (since they’ve finally stopped letting it happen on NXT).
Becky also had her best showing in this match so far in my opinion. I think she’s very very talented in the ring and I can’t wait for the day she gets a big live special match because I feel like she has a ton of tricks up her sleeve just waiting for that size of a stage to bust them out. If I had one critique with her though, it’s that she hasn’t been given any mic time outside of saying “Heyyyyyy!” in a Bayley team video promo.
I just feel like I have no idea who she is aside from that she likes rock, swings her hair around (which IS cool, so bonus points on that) and that she’s from Ireland. Even Alexa Bliss got a few backstage segments and video promo’s upon debuting so I felt I had a better understanding of her character and voice than I do with Becky’s so far. Hopefully this will change in the coming weeks because it’s nothing she can be blamed for. I just feel like I know Charlotte’s identity and I know Bayley’s and Sasha’s and Alexa‘s and Carmella’s even, but with Becky it’s a bit like Paige on the main roster before AJ Lee came back. She fights, and she fights very well, but I want to know backstory and see her talk. Give me a video promo about her coming to the USA from Ireland to explore the music scene! I’ll take anything, I’m desperate.
That’s it for this week! Hopefully all the times I got distracted and started blabbering about random things didn’t bother you too much. If it did, I understand. But if it didn’t, I’ll see you guys next week!
