Good morning/afternoon/evening (circle whichever applies) and welcome to this week’s NXT Redux. I’m not feeling as intro-heavy this week, but that doesn’t mean this wasn’t a stellar Diva-filled episode now does it?
This week, we’ve got a never before seen match up consisting of Bayley taking on Alexa Bliss. Add in appearances by Charlotte, Natalya and Carmella… and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get into the action!~
Let’s go chronologically throughout the show this week, shall we?
I can’t find video of this first segment online, so you know what to do. $9.99 and all that.
We head backstage to see NXT General Manager, William Regal, speaking to a nearby assistant. It appears that the conversation is regarding treats that some sort of woman leaves for him, but before we can dig deeper into this issue, Natalya bursts onto the scene! She wants to ask Regal for a favor, but without Tyson Kidd knowing she’s doing this. What sort of favor you ask? She wants Tyson to get one more shot at Adrian Neville‘s NXT Championship. William asks why considering he’s lost time and time again, and Natalya’s argument is that he can truly prove himself with just one more shot. Regal agrees to give him one more chance… but it’s the LAST one he’s going to get. If he doesn’t win, Tyson will never get to face Adrian again for it as long as he’s champion.
“Glitter. Glitz. Sparkle. Blissssss”
Holy jam. I’m here for this new theme as Alexa Bliss skips out from the back. As usual, her pixie dust blowing is cut for reasons we can only assume are that the higher ups are heartless and refuse to give us everything we want. Nonetheless, she still curtsies and continues down the ramp, sliding into the ring and removing her tutu. Up next comes her opponent for tonight in this first time match-up, Bayley! And speaking of jams, this theme is also a 10/10, much like Bayley in terms of overall perfection. The tunes stop though, and the bell sounds as we get underway with some “Bayley” chantss. The two circle each other and Bayley applies a waist lock that the crowd takes as close enough to a hug! A roll through into another cheering waistlock, but Alexa counters out and applies her own.
Bayley backs out of it and repeatedly hug-slams her into the corner before taking her down for a two count. Alexa is sent towards the turnbuckle again, only this time she flips out and into a nice sunset flip! Just a two count. Alexa with another rolling pin attempt, then nailing a headscissors takedown! The crowd gets behind Alexa as both women high five and then go back to work as Bayley focuses on the arm. Alexa tries for a hop off the corner bottom rope, however, Bayley stays back and continues working over the arm. A nice double roll through into a pin, before Alexa gets sent off the ropes and hits a clothesline! Dropkick! She goes for the moonsault into the double knee, but Bayley rolls through and nails the Hug-plex for the victory!
After the match, she grabs a microphone and calls out Charlotte from the back. Out struts Charlotte as requested, walking into the ring to stand toe to toe with Bayley. The huggable Diva hasn’t been able to sleep since NXT Takeover. She let herself down. She let EVERYONE down. All Bayley wants is one more chance to beat Charlotte for the Womens Championship, and the crowd now breaks out in a “One More Time” chant. Charlotte claims she didn’t let her down… rather, she finally earned her respect. Regardless, the second time is still going to be the same as the first and the rematch is on for next week!
We head to the performance center as Big Cass and Enzo Amore walk in the building with Carmella(!!!!) by their side. Enzo asks why she said she was his sister last week, to which she quips that she was just trying to get in the building. That has to make the talent feel safe and secure right? He tries to hit on her, but she shoves him off quickly and asks where the ring is because she wants to knock these chicks out! They instruct her that before a ring can come into play, she has to get in shape. She seems confused by that statement because… well, look at her. But Enzo claims she’s hairdresser hot — not Diva hot.
Enzo starts working on the treadmill as he and Cass go back and forth with the way he talks to women. Suddenly, Carmella walks back into the scene wearing some skimpy workout gear and asks if this is hot enough for them. Cass is pretty much freaking out, as Enzo continues to downplay her looks. She starts stretching in the background, which causes Enzo to get way more distracted than he thought he would, falling off the treadmill and nearly decking her with a kick to the head. She calls him an idiot as he begs Cass not to upload the video footage anywhere. Cass agrees but thankfully doesn’t do as requested!
Thoughts: Huzzah!~ I really enjoyed this weeks NXT a lot. The match was very fresh since we’ve never seen any sort of interaction between these two before, and I thought it came off great. Alexa is definitely improving each time she steps in the ring now, and I’m so glad she’s starting to mix it up and incorporate new moves into her arsenal as opposed to sticking with the same batch like when she first started. It makes her matches feel a lot more memorable and cohesive, and in the long run I think it will work out great for her. The theme is also an upgrade, and I’m particularly here for the voiceover and beats at the start. It kind of gets a littttle 70’s porno sounding when she gets towards the ring, but not too bad.
Working Bayley also did nothing but help her, as Bayley has proven to be one of the best Divas to work against when it comes to the lesser experienced Divas. She is always on point and always has that fire which resonates through the screen. Much like Sasha Banks in my opinion, you can genuinely tell she wants each match to feel special and memorable to where it can’t be compared to any of the rest. I don’t always get that feeling with some of the Divas in WWE as a whole, but these two especially show that each and every week.
Carmella… do I need to even say any word other than star? This girl has got everything. She can act (and not only general acting, but comedic as well!), she looks like a million bucks, she has a gimmick, and from what I’ve gotten to see at least, she can work. I think I said this before, but she reminds me a lot of Maxine if Maxine had a love of cheetah print and a thick accent. So well versed and I can’t wait to see her debut, especially because they’re actually introducing her and it’s not going to be her just popping up like when Becky Lynch debuted. The next few weeks need to hurry because I want Carmella in the division and I want it now.
