Good morning/afternoon/evening Diva fans and welcome to the first NXT Watch of 2013. We have a WWE Diva vs NXT Diva clash to kick the new year off with a bang and judging by what we’ve seen from these two, the bang could be bigger than what was predicted by the Mayans! Representing WWE is the nefarious and dangerous Tamina Snuka and standing up for NXT is the spunky and funky Sasha Banks. Sasha impressed against Paige in her debut last month yet didn’t get the win, so can she pull off an upset here? Or will Tamina Superfly her way to a victory? Let’s take a look.
The show of black and yellow kicks off with some generic WordArt on display and wait a minute, has Sasha traded ‘Feelin’ Me’ in for a generic club beat? Whilst Diva Dirt’s Bobby is currently scouring the internet to find the name of this track, Sasha bops her way to the ring. William Regal mentions how well Sasha performed in her debut and no-one can deny that yet she is 0-1 at the moment, so maybe NXT officials gave her an easier opponent than Paige. Erm, no. TA-MI-NA DU DU DU blasts through Full Sail University and out comes the daughter of Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, Tamina. Tamina locks her brazen stare onto Sasha and the bell sounds.
Tamina kicks Sasha in the gut before clubbing her back ferociously. The Chaotic Exotic then whips Sasha into the corner before whacking her to the mat with a chop. Tamina goes for a cover but only manages two but then wallops Sasha with a kick to the back! Following a knee to the face, the former manager of The Usos hits a scoop slam on her pint-size opponent before nonchalantly covering Sasha. Tamina only manages two but keeps on the offensive by applying an octopus stretch. William Regal then tells the NXT Universe that Sasha is in fact related to Snoop Dogg (that’s Snoop Lion now Billy!) yet the only relation I see in this match is that Tamina looks like she’s going to drop Sasha ‘like it’s hot!’ (I’m here all week!)
Sasha elbows her way out of her foe’s tentacle-like lock and although pushes to the corner, she avoids destruction and Tamina bounces right off the turnbuckle. Banksy (as I will nickname her) delivers yet more elbows and you can hear the connection, yowie! The Boston, Mass native then slaps the chest of her brutal adversary before climbing up the turnbuckle and knocking out a beautiful flying arm-drag – love it! Banksy then flies at Tamina and hits a wheelbarrow roll-up but only manages two!
Sasha then bounces off the ropes and flails at Tamina but… uh-oh, she’s caught! As quick as a flash, Tamina samoan drops Sasha right into the mat. I can predict what will come next and I’m right, Tamina is going up for the Superfly Splash. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s one flawless Superfly! The Samoan Princess picks up with win and another one bites the dust.
Thoughts: Not a bad showing here from both girls and a decent way to start the new year. I preferred Paige vs Sasha from last month as I think it was longer and seemed less predictable than this week’s encounter but I still enjoyed this week’s match. I love Sasha’s springboard armdrag and her slaps and elbows were on-point. Whilst I feel we saw more from her last week, she still impressed this time around and she is showcasing why she is a great signing for WWE.
What will NXT bring in 2013? None of the girls have been called up since the start of the new NXT at Full Sail so it seems like when a diva is in developmental, they’ll be sticking around for a while. With that in mind, why not create an NXT Divas Championship? It would do no harm and could help create storylines for the women and make matches mean more. Whilst the NXT Divas are doing a great job, a championship could elevate them to the next level. And with that, stay tuned, Jack will be back!
