Hello everyone, and welcome to this weeks NXT Watch! I promised you all last week in the comments section that it was time to get these recaps back on track with the trusty purchase of a Hulu Plus account… and thus here I am. Granted, I’m a day behind from last weeks, but as soon as I got home from class, I searched far and wide for a video to include so I could get started (since I can’t exactly embed the Hulu Plus player), and I was left with nothing at all. I tried, and I’m sorry if I have failed you. But the good news is some hours later I managed to track down a video. It was too late to make Thursdays posts, so here we are on this Friday morning.
…Okay now that I’ve explained myself to you all and lifted myself off the floor from my pleading to accept my apology and forgive me for Youtube and Dailymotion’s heinous actions in delaying this weeks recap, let’s get down to business. This week the Divas we’re used to seeing take a break, for tonight we have a special “Champions Clash” edition of NXT where various titles will be on the line. Luckily for us, the Divas Title is included in said rulebook, and Kaitlyn will be putting her gold… err, pink and silver up for grabs. Her opponent? Why none other than the woman who has the most NXT based history with the hybrid Texan native, she sometimes goes by “babe”, “buttons”, “shortstuff”… or anything that doesn’t involve a certain five letter word beginning with ‘C’, AJ Lee!
From the moment these two first laid eyes on one another, it was a rocky start. We all remember the brilliance that was NXT season three I hope, because I certainly do. Kaitlyn and AJ didn’t really get along the first two weeks, but soon after they formed a close bond that lasted for many more years to come. The trouble started during AJ’s (best) romance, her relationship with Daniel Bryan, where Kaitlyn was constantly trying to help Lee see that she didn’t need to go crawling back to her man. Several slaps and very brief matches later, we’re back at NXT and ready to see these two collide for the Divas Championship in what can truly be described as a full circle moment.
-30 points for no AJ entrance
Sorry, I just had to get that out there before I began. If you’re wondering what my point system goes towards, well not really anything. They’re kind of fake points… think “Whose Line Is It Anyway” style. Anyways, Kaitlyn gets an entrance to AJ sitting in the ropes like she just recently teleported there nonchalantly and wasn’t noticed by any of the fans sitting ringside. I will say +10 points for panning to a close up of AJ’s eyes just as Kaitlyn’s theme song claims “behind your eyes I see the fear”, so you’re on your way to attaining a positive score NXT. We get special intros for the Divas which is a big plus as it makes the match feel special, so there’s another +15.
The crowd is definitely mixed on who they want to cheer for, but before they can begin any chants, the bell rings and the two shake hands. This form of solace doesn’t last long through, as AJ then proceeds to smack Kaitlyn right across the face to seemingly dismiss the honorable gesture, which does nothing but fire both shades of Kaitlyn’s hair up enough to Irish whip her friend turned foe into the corner and strike with a back elbow. AJ gets tossed around a bit, before using her sly ways to scurry out of the way and allow Kaitlyn to collide shoulder first into the turnbuckle post. A kick by miss Lee, which brings her to target the injured body part with a variety of submissions including a fujiwara armbar!
AJ with a beautiful bridge, but Kaitlyn is able to break out of the hold long enough… whoops, nevermind. AJ remains in control with a slap to the face, as Kaitlyn fires back with a stiff clothesline. She hits a back elbow and goes to town on AJ with some shots, but AJ gets a huge set of boots as she hops to the top rope and off it with a crossbody. Kaitlyn rolls through and transitions into a DDT, but only gets a two count. Our champ now charges for AJ, but Lee drops the rope and Kaitlyn goes flying to the outside. A sly smirk from the Devil’s Favorite Diva while sitting criss-cross style and giving me reminders of her third best romance (Sorry Punk, but Kane is definitely #2 behind Bryan).
Lee signals for a sleeper hold in shades of Dolph, but Kaitlyn flips her out. AJ then gets a nice kick and an even nicer shining wizard for just a two count which seems to anger her as she goes for her first documented Divas Title reign. Suddenly, Kaitlyn shoves AJ back into the ropes and nails a huge spear! One… Two… Three marks the spot as Kaitlyn defeats AJ and leaves with her title in tact. Now the only question that remains is if they’ll meet again down the road?
Thoughts: I’m kind of undecided how I felt about this match to be honest. It seemed like some parts were really good and unique, but then others didn’t really mesh well and kind of looked a little messy. I’m a big supporter of both ladies, but the match would probably go a little bit above average for me. It wasn’t as great as I was anticipating, but I did feel it was definitely not bad by any means, and better than just being okay. I know AJ has been stuck managing for God only knows how long so I’m sure she has to get back in the groove of things competition wise, so that could’ve played a part in some areas. I can respect if people feel differently than me, and I definitely see how. Like I said, I don’t think the match was bad by any means if my thoughts sounded a little too harsh at times, just more that I didn’t feel they had the best chemistry together is all. (Although AJ has probably taken my favorite of Kaitlyn’s spears thus far so A+) And to be honest, in some strange, twisted way, I’m kind of glad I didn’t think this match was the best thing since sliced bread because I’ve always felt like each match in a feud should top the ones that came before it. Peaking in your first encounter can hurt a feud early on as the matches have a lot to live up to, so while I did think this match was pretty solid, there’s definitely more they can do together and I really hope we get to see it.
Speaking of AJ, since this is the first time I’ve really done a redux on her in a while, I just want to chat about her current role etc. For starters, I’m really bummed with what’s happened to her since her huge saga last summer. I mean don’t get me wrong, she’s still in a lot better shape angle/appearance wise than most of the other Divas who struggle to see TV two, three or even four times a month, but that role was so hot and it built her into a Diva the crowd really got behind and became invested in which is something a female hasn’t really had in a long time. I enjoyed watching a lot of her post Punk/Daniel things at the time, but looking back on it with the knowledge I have now, having her removed from the GM position due to the whole Cena scandal was really the start of where things took a turn for the worst. I just don’t think she had the same excitement between with John or Dolph that she did with Kane, Punk, and Bryan.
I guess it was the whole having no idea what was going to happen last summer since they were doing so many things with her I didn’t really envision a Diva getting to do in this day and age, and just wanting to see how they could one up themselves (i.e. the infamous table spot). With Dolph, she’s basically kind of one-note now in terms of her antics on a weekly basis. I mean she walks out to the ring, stands ringside, and maybe distracts the referee if we’re lucky. She does still have her quirks and facial expressions that I enjoy watching, but I just think she’s so much better than what she’s currently doing. I’m not sure even turning her on Dolph would make the crowd react positively for her due to how split the fans are on him. I understand that reverting back to her original persona can be seen as a step back to something we’ve already seen as opposed to moving forward which is how all characters should be, but I just think this was a case of pulling the trigger on turning her into a heel way too fast when it wasn’t needed. If it were up to me, she would’ve been inserted into the division as a babyface for good right around the time Tamina attacked her at Survivor Series. None of the Cena/Dolph stuff would’ve happened, and with how much the crowds reacted to her fresh off the summer of AJ hype, it could’ve helped to get them to react to the other Divas in turn.
With Kaitlyn, it just seriously sucks that they put so much (in my opinion) into her winning the title only to pull this MIA shtick for an unfathomable amount of weeks. I mean you can probably count her number of TV matches on one hand since winning the Divas title and that’s ridiculous. I don’t even care that the division was small and the heel side was really weak for a while, there could have been something done. I was personally enjoying her story on SmackDown with Layla, but then you’d get to Raw in the same week and you wouldn’t even know there was anything brewing between them so it was just like why even bother if you don’t continue it onto your priority show? Her reign, like many others, has been uneventful. And, again like many others, it’s for reasons beyond her control.
I’m really starting to think the powers that be have a drinking game to see how many weeks they can keep whoever holds the Divas Title off TV and take a shot each time they succeed because this isn’t the first time it’s happened. (Though I would say it’s the worst occasion of it taking place since it feels like she’s been off TV a lot longer than some of the others that spring to mind who may have been off for one or two weeks at a time.) Hopefully they do something with Kaitlyn from here on out. I’m not sure if I want to see her go up against the Bella Twins in all honesty, but there aren’t many more choices if tonights match counted as AJ’s battle royal title shot so that’s most likely where it’s headed.
…Okay guys, my rant is over. I’m not usually like this, but we all have our weeks where we just want to get some things said and this is likely my only shot since these two Divas don’t frequent NXT that much anymore. Next week I should be back to my chipper self and hopefully on time again so enjoy! Leave a comment if you agree or disagree with me. Tell me what you’d do with AJ and/or Kaitlyn from here. Just give me some fun creative ideas so I can picture them in my head and live out what a great feud this could be.
