NXT returned last night with the first episode of Great American Bash. You can find the results on the live blog here.
Joshi Dominance
As we entered this week’s main event between Sasha Banks and Io Shirai, the prevailing thought was that it would be great as long as they had time.
In the end, they received about 15 minutes. At first, that doesn’t sound too much. Typically 15 minutes televised is more like 8-10 minutes with commercials and any angle after the game.
But the “limited commercials” were applied primarily to this party, running the entire commercial for free. (Although it feels like they’ve really moved the commercial set that would last around 10:50 at the start of the show.) This allowed the two women to maximize that time.
They did their best with him, putting together a crisp match showing two women at the top of their game trying to outdo the other. It didn’t hit that overdrive in some games, but it probably would have taken at least five more and more minutes at stake to achieve that. In the end, it was a very entertaining match that paid off.
The finish wasn’t clean, but we saved a non-finish, which would have messed this up a bit. Instead, we got a surprise appearance from the raw women champion when Asuka stepped out from under the ring to prevent Sasha Banks from using the tag team championship as a weapon while Bayley distracted the referee. This salvation of the Empress included a face filled with mist for the Chief.
The rest of the match, which lasted just a minute, involved Sasha immediately ejecting Shirai’s summary, a moment that helped protect the now-blinded Banks. However, Io’s moon closed the deal, including a cover where Shirai cunningly placed her leg over Sasha’s face to hide the mist from the referee.
Despite the fact that she had help, the help that was justified given that the Golden Role Models were useless, Shirai beating Banks is a great victory. However, it protects Sasha long enough to keep her strong in her fight against Asuka in Extreme Rules… sigh … Horror Show.
And even better, set the stage for a possible Shirai / Asuka vs. tag team match. Banks / Bayley. Get Teddy Long out of here!
A rocky start
The Bash got off to a rough start with the # 1 contenders’ fatal 4-way elimination bout.
The party felt he was off the track early. It came out as sloppy and uneven. From points that seemed out of sync to Tegan using facial expressions that didn’t completely match the mood (unwarranted surprise or apprehension towards Mia Yi). These women are all very talented and have been in the ring together before. But he wasn’t there for the four of us this week.
Candice LeRae’s early removal was also a questionable call. The woman just turned around and owned the paper. But as we saw with Dakota Kai’s first heel twist, it’s not difficult to derail a hot heel twist with spot booking. (Ironically, they were both defeated by Mia Yim was part of that equation.) LeRae lost in the first five minutes without ceremony, not long after being on the losing TakeOver team.
This does not entirely condemn LeRae, but it took Kai a while to rediscover his heel mojo, and that involved introducing Raquel González as her heavyweight. If Candice defeats Mia Yim next week in a street fight, and Mia still doesn’t laugh, she’ll be fine. If LeRae loses to HBIC, it means bad news for the Poison Pixie.
Mia was then eliminated, leaving Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai to close this. Returning to these heated enemies was a good move. That story helped fuel the last section of the match. While this part of the match did not fully recover after a sloppy start, it was an improvement since these women know each other very well. And things returned to normal enough that it was easy to enjoy the finale.
Nox’s victory serves as retribution after she lost the show to Kai, which was the necessary move at the time.
It feels a little early. Given Tegan’s amazing comeback story, it might be better to wait until she’s really a threat to win the title as part of a big emotional climb. It is highly unlikely that Io Shirai will lose the title anytime soon, so Nox’s first shot will likely be unsuccessful.
But this is NXT and they have a lot of faith gained when it comes to booking, so the trip will be worth it.
Silly fun
Rhea Ripley will not have to join the Robert Stone brand.
While I’m a little sad about that given the potential of comedy, it’s probably the right move. We had a bit of fun with Rhea Ripley, letting her do some light comedies before kicking butt elsewhere.
This whole angle was fun. I’m a fan of comedy comedy when it’s done right and Robert Stone does it right. He played the prank so that Ripley could play the straight woman. That allowed her to maintain her rude appeal even in a silly story.
This week’s game continued that. There was never a time when you thought Ripley could lose fairly. Robert Stone would play dirty or use opportunistic distraction, and then he and Aliyah could attack. But Rea was never really threatened.
Instead, she’s the rude one who hit them both at once. (I really enjoyed Aliyah touching Robbie’s back.)
This was fun fun for Rhea at a time when she is out of the title picture. Rather than just squashing a bit of enhancement talent, she looked just as impressive as she amplified entertaining talent in Robert Stone.
Tied
The strap match stipulation was a perfect choice for Dexter Lumis match with Roddy Strong.
It suits Lumis’s trick since he’s a creepy stalker you want to run away from but can’t now. But it’s also an old school party for a show with an old school title.
The game was fun, although maybe a little more than necessary. Lumis continues to steal the show with her icy looks and deliberate gestures. The strap helped adapt to the character she is playing, but honestly, her character is always present in every game. That is why it has been so good.
Dexter eventually landed a victory over an undisputed ERA member, something that eluded him earlier. Now we need to see what’s next for him. It was probably an angle with Velveteen Dream, but Dream has disappeared after more allegations were raised against him during the #SpeakingOut move.
Technical intensity
Timothy Thatcher’s launch has been very clever.
NXT makes sure to show us how dangerous he is due to how competent he is in wrestling. His personality is intense, but it is his ability that really makes him someone to fear. From defeating Matt Riddle at FIGHT PIT to video packages showing Thatcher teaching how to use grips to hurt men twice their size, they have been able to portray her as a force to be reckoned with.
Oney Lorcan, a madman (at least on social media), was eager to step forward and take up the challenge. And he also held it. Lorcan gave Thatcher a fight. But it fell short, having to touch the Kimura.
Now we hope to see who is next to face the dangerous Thatcher.
Explanation
In a segment that sets up a game for next week, Drake Maverick interrupted a promotion by Santos Escobar to take revenge on previous beatings. But like the stubborn fool he is, Maverick ran into three others in a beating. Fortunately, Breezango saved his butt and arranged a threesome for next week. Breezango / Drake is a trio that I didn’t know I wanted until now.
While that was the takeout, the best part of this segment was Escobar’s promotion. He gave a compelling explanation for his stable and, more importantly, its lack of masks. Santos said that wrestling has become almost a parody, being associated with high flights and cartwheels. Then they will mold it into a new image: its image. Throwing off the sacred fighting masks is a symbol of his new take on the style.
That is an intelligent promotion linked to the very deep tradition of fighting.
The main event of this show delivered. The rest of the show was more or less a good NXT episode, outside of the first episode, which was a bit of a difficult start.
Grade: B +
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