Another Samoa Joe Attack
Dan Matha came out to fight in his debut match, only to get attacked by Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe warns William Regal once again that this is going to happen every week until he gets what he wants. What is wants is Shinesuke Nakamura.
Well, another week without your champion and it begins to wear on mentally. Look, I get storyline progression and how they really want to feel like Samoa Joe took out the champion, but you see Nakamura compete in house shows each week so how are we supposed to believe this? It is lazy booking and NXT is trying to make us miss Shinsuke. Yes, we miss him but the fans are also not getting a chance to see their champion each week. When you have a champion for a brand, one who is considerably better than EVERYONE ELSE, why would you think taking him off of television for 3-4 weeks would be a good thing? I do not know, maybe I am not looking at the big picture. I just can’t fathom RAW or Smackdown having their champion off of television each week for a storyline like this and then having him compete in Live Events. It is illogical. At the very least, have him seen on the screen or have some sort of update photos.
The Revival Win, Heel Turn For Almas
Wilder tags in and lands a stiff right hand to Almas. Dawson and Wilder take turns beating down Almas. Almas tags in Alexander behind Wilder’s back. Alexander back body drops Wilder. Dawson hits the ring and catches a back body drop as well. Almas and Alexander dump Dawson and Wilder to the outside. Almas feints a dive and lays in the ropes. Alexander dives over Almas with a topé con hilo to take out both Dawson and Wilder. Dawson gets back in the ring. Almas rolls up Dawson but as he flips Dawson over Wilder tags himself in. Wilder DDTs Almas. After a short break, Dawson is wearing down Almas’ arm. Dawson tags in Wilder, who enters the ring with a double knee strike to Almas’ arm off the second rope. Wilder and Dawson tag in and out, each taking time to work over Almas’ arm. Dawson attempts a suplex, but Almas reverses it into a small package. Wilder distracts the Referee to delay the count. Dawson kicks out at two. Almas manages to tag in Alexander. Alexander hits a running knee on Dawson, followed by a handspring enzguri. Wilder breaks up the pin attempt by Alexander. Wilder and Dawson try to double suplex Alexander, but Almas catches Alexander. Alexander takes Dawson over in a sunset flip with a bridge for another near fall. Alexander hits the ropes and runs right into the Shatter Machine. It’s over.
After the match, the crowd cheers for Alexander. Almas goes nuts and beats down Alexander. Almas tosses him to the outside. Almas picks Alexander in a fireman’s carry and tosses Alexander head first onto the steel ring steps.
The match was great and I thought was the highlight of the night. The champions do not NEED to win the tournament, but I think they should. What else can they do as champions aside from winning a tournament that would give them more bragging rights? Tonight really showed us that these guys can work with all different types of talent, fast and athletic to big and slower. I loved the pacing, the high energy from Alexander and the end of the match. Almas is a guy that has suffered a handful of losses of late, so a heel turn is simple and effective. There are too many faces and, quite frankly, he should be a heel. He has a great look and could use his lineage and background to his benefit when trying to discuss how much better he is than everyone else. He is a Del Rio like guy when he comes out, but with more energy and more athleticism. Andrade Cien Almas will be much better perceived as a heel rather than a forced face who smiles too much and tries too hard to get over.
@JoshIsenberg4 on Twitter. WWE NXT Rating:
