Good’ay everyone and welcome to this weeks’ edition of the NXT watch. Last week we had a bit of a bump in the road, but it’s time to shift gears and focus on what’s going on now. Ladies and Gentlemen… the day I have been waiting many years to see has finally transpired! Every week I used to review the past version of NXT, I would beg and plead to see Naomi (then) called up to compete among the best inside those coveted yellow ropes. And tonight, I finally get my wish. Sure, the show format is completely different, but it’s the principle of the matter! You see, tonight we have a match that I believe if you look up the word “fresh” in the dictionary, you would see a photo of right underneath the word.
That’s right, it’s a six diva tag team match which is at least double the amount of Divas in one ring that we’ve seen on Raw or SmackDown in weeks! Fresh off her loss to Audrey Marie a few weeks ago, Sasha Banks is seeking revenge as each Diva enlists in a pair from the main roster to come down and stand by their side. It’ll be Sasha and the Females of Funk, Naomi & Cameron battling the trio of Audrey, Aksana, and Alicia Fox who have quite a lot of “A’s” in their respected names when combined. After that’s said and done, we also get visited by everyone’s favorite interviewer since the days of Rue Debona… Renee Young! She will stand by with our resident first lady, Summer Rae, as we hear just whats on the blond bombshells mind regarding her past… and future actions.
Now let us begin.
Ahem…
Sasha Banks’ hip and happening theme music greets us to the start of some Divas action, and after some mild questioning of whether or not I’ve been transported to a club that involves drunken 20 year olds shaking their bottoms on the dance floor, I realize that the music not only works as a club jam but also maybe as a theme song too. Up next comes two Divas that I’m sure know all about the club life, the queens of funk… Cameron and Naomi! They dance down the ramp, around the ring, throw pom-poms into the crowd, and proceed to bust a move when inside the squared circle. Is there anything these two can’t do in their entrance? I surely think and hope not.
I’ve not even had time to recover at the glorious sight my eyes are bestowed with, but I must pick up the pace as it’s time to pa-pa-pa-partaayyy with Alicia Fox. And Aksana. And Audrey Marie. Triple A-itch struts their way down the entrance ramp (okay 90% of the strutting can be credited to the swaying hips of Alicia Fox, but I didn’t want to sell Aksana and Audrey short). The bell dings, as both Alicia and Sasha starts off. Banks demands Audrey, but seems to change her mind quickly as she locks up with the Foxy one. A wrist lock exchange, as Banks is sent off the ropes and scores a kick. She follows it up with one of her beautiful headscissors takedowns and a set of dropkicks to boot as Aksana tags in.
Sasha makes the tag to Cameron, as the funky one drops Aksana with a wheelbarrow into a split legged armdrag. Some booty shaking commences, before her attention is again focused on Aksana. She’s sent off the ropes, but it appears Audrey kicks her in the back and aids Aksana into taking the upper hand. Aksana Irish whips Cameron to the corner, and after some patented Alicia Fox screaming for her to show that rookie who’s boss, she begins to crawl around the ring like a cat… or a baby. Whichever you prefer! This appears to take a little bit of time away from what could’ve been an actual move, but it allows Cameron to boot her in the face and jump up to the second rope like spider(wo)man. A sweet crossbody, but only a one count before Aksana kicks out.
The tag is made to Alicia Fox as she slams Cameron’s head into the turnbuckle so hard that she may have just been knocked the funk out. One of Fox’s epic northern lights suplexes transpires, but Cameron kicks out and the tag is made to Audrey Marie. Marie assembles a leg lock around the waist as the crowd cheers Cameron into tagging out. Audrey takes it upon herself to shove Sasha a little, which does nothing but aggravate her. Cameron escapes a bodyslam attempt and after rolling through a pinfall attempt, makes the tag to Naomi!
Naomi leaps into the ring and drills Audrey with a set of punches. The booty call makes its NXT debut, as does her flipping clothesline! Naomi dropkicks both Aksana and Alicia to the outside, and then hits what may have been an attempt at her standing hurricanrana, but looked more like her finisher. She goes for the pin, but Aksana breaks it up and saves the day, allowing Naomi to hit an enziguiri. Back inside the action, Sasha flings Audrey’s face off the ropes as the referee has his back turned (awesome touch), and Naomi sets up for and connects with a second version of the Nightfalls! This time, she attains the three count and the victory for her trio as Triple A-itch head to the back in disappointment.
Some dancing ensues in celebration, but then we head to the back as Renee Young and her trademarked NXT microphone stand ready to go. We are asked to welcome her guest, which is none other than the first lady of the show, Summer Rae! Summer is not amused with Renee’s lackluster introduction, and quite frankly neither am I. We’ll both give Renee another week to get it right though… err, well, maybe I would have, but Summer Rae wants the intro done right now. Renee questions her seriousness, which is a big no-no. The first rule in all broadcast journalism courses is to never ever ever question a first lady. Whether it be Michelle Obama or Summer Rae, you just don’t do it. Summer takes us through the journey of her one woman revolution to rid of the enchanted raven haired lady. In her own words about Paige, “she’s gone… and she’s never coming back!”
Summer feels that the only reason Paige ever got such the reaction she did is because women like Paige are actually attainable to them, and in their league. (Side note: I absolutely love these Summer Rae interviews… sorry just had to get that out there.) Clearly, Summer is above us all and the sooner everyone can be like this recapper and admit that, the better off we will all be. She demands Renee focus her eyes on Summer’s glowing figure, before letting the plucky Canadian know that the next time she ever decides to walk onto this interview set again or merely speak to someone so below her own status she has set for herself, she had better be referred to by her first lady moniker. If Renee refuses to do so, there WILL be problems. She can obviously ask Paige just what those problems are, or she can simply wait a week and then ask Emma since apparently it’s just been made clear that my two favorites will be facing off next week! I’ve again assembled my church choir that’s always on stand-by when I write these reduxes to sing a benevolent hymn in celebration, but that’s not important. What is important that Renee understands Summer’s point. She leaves miss Young with three simple words that do more damage than any amount of physical pain could evoke:
“Got it sista?”
The first lady has spoken.
Thoughts: The match overall… I really don’t know what I think. The first time I watched it, I wasn’t really a fan. But this time I didn’t think it was that bad. There were some miscues and timing issues in parts, but I thought everyone recovered well and I love that Aksana broke up the pin after Naomi’s first go at the nightfalls to Audrey. Not only did it save the finish from being not-so-good, it also allowed Sasha and Audrey to get a brief moment of continuation in their feud since it was Sasha snapping Audrey’s neck off the ropes which lead to her losing the match for her team. Some other high-points for me would include Cameron’s crossbody, Sasha’s headscissors, and as always Alicia Fox’s northern lights. William Regal clearly loves her bridge pins, and I don’t blame him one bit. Also really love how fresh the match felt since it was completely different and incorporated Divas we don’t normally see surrounding each other on other programs.
Summer Rae can do no wrong for me, and I absolutely love watching her do anything she does. Her promos are so over the top that it works and doesn’t make me cringe like some other wrestlers can tend to do, and while we didn’t get a Paige appearance of any sorts, I’m glad to see she was acknowledged. To be honest, I could watch Summer Rae berate Renee Young every week, and that’s not a knock at Renee, but more so praise of how much I love their segments. It reminds me of when The Beautiful People would always target… I want to say her name was Crystal? I’m personally excited to see Emma and Summer mix it up next week and I hope we get some additional continuation leading up to Paige’s big return. Perhaps a backstage segment next week involving she and Summer? Fingers are crossed NXT. Don’t let me down!
