Read on for my thoughts on last night's ROH and NXT.
ROH:
- Page vs. Sydal:
Innovative moves in 2015 are often unintentionally comical. A lot of them are so risky it's unbelievable anyone would use them in a real fight or match.
I'm impressed by Adam Page. Being paired with Whitmer and Corino certainly helps give the group as a whole some personality.
Not a bad match overall, although I can really see why Sydal only made it so far in WWE.
That post-match meant more to me than the whole episode recapping War of the Worlds. The Decade and The Addiction are the only teams I care about as characters. The others don't really "click" with me in that department, although obviously they have fans.
Nice promo from Veda. I look forward to seeing what Moose does.
- Young vs. Ferrara:
I'm mostly liking this match. The psychology's better than average.
I think the distraction-to-rollup ending is really overused, but the match itself was fine at telling a story between the two characters and sets up more between Young and Castle (who should be having a rematch at DBD).
I'm pretty sold on Silas Young as a talent. The post-match cemented that.
Inside ROH should have gone before Veda's promo, ending with a note setting up Veda addressing the situation later in the night. This is pretty basic formatting stuff they're disappointing with.
- M. Briscoe vs. Lethal:
I hope the people who complained about TNA taping shows post-Slammiversary before that PPV are as harsh with ROH announcing Lethal defending the TV Title at the next taping.
ODB fits with the Briscoes, but her gimmick got stale really fast in TNA.
This is much better than other matches from a psychology standpoint.
Both men are doing pretty well here with the pure wrestling end of things.
That ending pretty much sucked. Not because it was dirty, but they didn't need Lethal hitting the suicide dive to the outside with three other people in the faction to deal with that.
Strong took his sweet-ass time getting involved after that many run-ins.
That eight-person tag is fittingly big for episode 200. Should be fun.
NXT:
This brand will really have a hole in it without Owens, Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky. I have confidence in HHH having replacements for them, but it takes time for someone to become as much of a presence as those names are.
- Jordan/Gable vs. Sampson/Cutler:
I'm looking forward to this teaming. They play off each other well enough.
Really impressed by Gable's mat wrestling here.
NICE finisher. This team has some potential.
I really wonder what they do with the NXT Women's Championship now. The obvious choice is having Bayley win it at Takeover. Fans would throw a fit if it was someone like Dana Brooke. How about Emma?
I hope Joe's getting paid well to just work NXT when he could be doing ROH and other indies.
- Joe vs. Tischer:
Tischer's got a nice size and look to him, so hopefully that means good things for his future.
Not a bad match to show what Joe's capable of. Balor vs. Joe would seem to be a no-brainer for September or October. I imagine we're getting Balor vs. Rhyno first.
As for Tischer, he certainly seems to have been around the ring before. I look forward to seeing what's next from him.
Pretty good promo package for Corbin. That added some much-needed depth to his character, and sets up some future feuds.
I'm willing to give Eva a chance to "earn her keep" in the ring in NXT. I think she'll surprise some people.
The tag champs and Alexa are growing on me. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but they're improving as a unit. Adding Alexa really helped their overall act.
- Blake/Murphy vs. Dawkins/Fulton:
So-so match overall. I'd like to see a team with more experience and personality work the division in the Emma or Rhyno role. I think it would help the other teams in the division progress.
Good post-match. I wouldn't be shocked if Alexa became the Lita to Blake and Murphy's Essa Rios.
Be careful riling the crowd up, Sami! You could injure your other arm!
I definitely miss seeing Zayn compete already. And Itami. And Bryan. And... you get the idea.
The question is whether Zayn can be at the Royal Rumble, or if they should use him in NXT to get some ring rust off before debuting him the night after WM32. I definitely think he's someone who should be on the fast-track to the main roster when he recovers.
Pretty cool to use Comic-Con as a place to announce the Takeover main event. I know people will bitch it's not comic related, but there's crossover between the fanbases. Why would more eyes on the comic industry be a bad thing? Plus, it's the same color scheme as NXT.
I really hope Charlotte and Sasha can keep the same level of personality on the main roster. That's what got them to the dance and part of why they got solid reactions at Raw.
I will almost definitely mark out during this match.
- Sasha vs. Charlotte:
Charlotte's athleticism is quite impressive. Her pre-WWE background's really coming into play here.
I think Charlotte would still be one heck of a wrestler without the Flair mannerisms, but I can't blame her for using them to add to the package.
I love the emphasis on submissions here. Something of a lost art in 2015.
Charlotte has one hell of a spear. It's good to see a Diva pick that up now that Kaitlyn's gone.
They're telling a pretty good story of trying to be the best.
Sasha's vocalizations are great. So many wrestlers don't interact with the crowd these days.
Charlotte losing her extensions was pretty funny, but they kept the fight up.
That was a really good match. I hope the fans of Raw and Smackdown get to see what these two and Becky can do.
More wrestling coming up.
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