NXT and ROH Reax - 5/24/17

Read on for my thoughts on last night's NXT and ROH.

-- NXT:
- Black vs. Hawkins:
I wouldn't object to Curt becoming an NXT guy other than theoretically filling out space on Main Event.

Hahahahaha Black's already got him where he wants him. I'm liking him a lot.

Fun work so far.

Black's got quite the arsenal.

Ha. Hawkins with the mind games.

Curt's effective at the basics.

Maybe a LITTLE show-offy from Aleister. He's definitely impressive, though.

- Ember promo:
Things have really stalled for the former Athena. That's a shame. Her work's been good.

- Asuka interview:
Asuka's going to kill everyone. I wouldn't mind her just vacating the belt and heading to Raw or Smackdown "to get more competition." That way the Mae Young Classic can crown a new champion.

- Roderick interview:
This guy's really growing on me. He's pretty white bread as a character, but it's a higher-quality white bread.

- V. Dream vs. Anthony:
Dream's doing alright for himself here.

VD has some personality. That means a lot.

Good enough showing from the former Patrick Clark.

We'll see how far he can get in this role.

- Dunne interview:
Both men did a pretty good job. There are some real quality wrestlers out there.

- Roode interview:
Bobby taking the piss out of everything is good.

Haha. The champ's calling his own shots.

It makes sense to keep Bobby off TV for a while until it's time to build up his next challenge in August. This way others can get some experience in the ring.

- McIntyre vs. Blake:
I hope Wesley has a good future. He's shown promise at times.

Drew's just at another level.

Haha this is good so far.

Drew's one hell of a talent.

Blake's fine as a WWE-style guy. The key will be standing out in such a crowded and talented field. How's he going to show he belongs in one of the limited main roster spots?

I do like Wesley's strategy here.

Drew McIntyre is one of the poster wrestlers for ruthless aggression.

This is solid. I think a lot of the point here is to get Blake some experience with someone who's been there as a WWE superstar.

Both men hitting pretty hard.

I'm liking this from both men.

That was quite the showing to set up Takeover.

-- ROH:
- Honor Rising footage:
Wait, really? They're showing stuff from three months ago instead of more recent stuff? They could have showed women of honor matches or something if they had time to fill. This is pretty crazy.

- BUSHI/EVIL/SANADA vs. T. Mask/Liger/Delirious:
I will give Delirious credit for not putting himself all over ROH TV. Especially with his silly gimmick that doesn't really fit with the ROH style.

Well that was weird.

The work among the NJPW names is fine. I'm not complaining we're seeing the matches. It just seems odd to show this instead of more recent footage of ROH names. I guess content with NJPW guests is a bigger draw. That's kind of concerning. They couldn't put in one NJPW match a week or something? It's not like most ROH TV matches mean anything anyway.

Fine work here. Cool to see Liger still doing it in 2017.

I don't think I've ever seen a top rope arm drag. That was pretty cool.

Hey this is totally fine.

Imagine tapping to Delirious. Not happenin'.

Delirious isn't a bad wrestler/character. I wouldn't mind seeing him more, but his position as booker opens him up to criticism if he's "taking someone else's spot."

Not bad at all!

- Goto vs. Punishment:
Martinez is such a weird fit in ROH.

I'm liking this OK.

Punishment is in a weird spot trying to be a big guy AND showing he can be agile for the spot marks.

Man, Goto's doing pretty well here.

I'm liking the action between these two.

Hey, Martinez isn't bad overall.

That was a pretty good ending.

- Ospreay/Okada/Briscoes vs. Omega/Cody/Bucks:
This match features some of the top rated talent in the world.

Nice action early. I like the feel here.

I hope you like MOVES.

A lot of matches now are just friends showing off their cool offense, and it shows.

I like Cody a good deal now.

Uggghhhhhh indie shit.

Jesus. No wonder this match got so many stars. All those superkicks!!

You know the rule. Get all the spots in you can get!

Ehhh. Not my kind of match.

And, you know, spots.

This is definitely pretty wild.

I could never see a superkick in a wrestling match again and be good.

There's definitely a lot going on here. I can see why fans of these guys would like it.

Wow. Everyone firing on all cylinders here.

That was a pretty good ending sequence.