Kana's NXT Debut and Sasha/Bayley

NXT Respect

 (2015/10/07)

Asuka Debut Match: Dana Brooke vs. Asuka

Kickass debut match for the asskicker formerly known as Kana. I dunno who Dana Brooke is, but she was a perfect foil for an all-out Asuka showcase here, and generally she looks like a very capable wrestler. Color me intrigued then. The match had so much nifty moments and moves despite being short, such as Asuka’s beautiful armbar counter, then signature lethal kicks, and lastly the groovy finish. Damn good debut showcase, basically as good as it gets.

***3/4

NXT Respect

 (2015/10/07)

30 MIN IRONWOMAN for NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley ©

Okay, plenty of problems with this one. First of all, the sheer pre-match visual of Steph McMahon standing ringside and chanting your typical indie nerd shit was disgusting to me. Second of all, the match had major issues with logistics: the clock kept ticking in between the falls, there was and wasn’t pause between the falls, all that shit was clearly designed to kill some time. I felt insulted and patronized, but what the fuck… I hate inconsistency. Also the first three minutes were terrible, all they did was some bad stalling to steal time, those were some piss poor attempts at creating drama and intensity. Bayley is clearly great, but man, does she try way too hard with sad panda faces or not? Sasha was excellent here in her own continuum, but she couldn’t go against the failed logistics and lazy booking. They did all your usual Iron(wo)man tropes that aren’t worth spending time on, so all in all, yeah, I was massively disappointed with the match, whoever put this together clearly had no idea how not to do a generic Ironman Match, and the performers just couldn’t fight it properly, I can’t blame them really.

**1/2

NXT Brooklyn (Cherry-Picked)

NXT Brooklyn

 (2015/08/22)

Tyler Breeze vs. Jushin Liger

The match was basically Liger running through his signature spots and moves, but it was fun, it worked. Breeze can still work a proper heel workover, Liger sold it well, the crowd was hot, there was the novelty of Liger finally working under the WWE banner, and there you go – fun little match, no complaints.

***

Charlotte and Sasha One More Time

NXT 2015/06/18

NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks ©

Perfectly fine TV main event with a strong finish, not as great as their two previous encounters but good enough nevertheless, it just lacked that one final touch of intensity to reach four stars, but no biggie, this shit was good. I wasn’t a fan of Charlotte doing a Flair Flop, it seemed too forced. She’s Ric’s daughter, we get it. On the other hand, everything Sasha did was great and purposeful, she is easily the best wrestler of the year in all things WWE, followed by Cesaro, and those two have a legitimate case in the world wide race as well.

***3/4

Banks

NXT 2015/2/12

NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks ©

Another Sasha Banks gem, or maybe I could say another Charlotte gem as well, it goes both ways really, these two girls are spectacular in what they do. Charlotte lost her strap a night earlier in that 4-way without even being directly defeated, so naturally she’s angry and nervous here, they really pictured the sense of urgency with her very well, but it enabled Sasha to be even more crafty and dangerous. Great storytelling right there. The match escalated properly, they built well as things were getting more and more heated, the closing run was excellent, loved Sasha’s trash talking. The only complaint is Charlotte kind of messing up her part of the finish, but no biggie, this was a great TV style match.

****

NXT 2015/2/18

NXT Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks ©

Wow, this only got the half of the previous match’s time, but it was just as good. These sub-5 minute rush hour matches are one of my favorite things about wrestling, sometimes they just kick ass and are rich as fuck when you have two competitors going balls-to-walls, then five minutes feel like a complete whole, after the bell rings you feel like you saw an entire story playing out in front of you. That’s exactly what happened here. I’ve never even heard of Bliss before, but here she is, fighting for everything in this match, Sasha’s overconfidence almost bit her in the ass, this was an awesome match.

****

Bayley. Sasha. Becky. Charlotte.

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

4-WAY for NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte ©

For the life of me, I have no clue why the hell did I skip this match months ago. But nevermind now, I just watched it and it’s fucking fantastic, right up there with Becky/Sasha to the point where I cannot decide which one I prefer. Yes, this 4-way is THAT awesome. Tons of fun, this was just an ultra vivid 4-way loaded with captivating rhythm, strong pacing and incredibly smart layout. Obviously Sasha, Becky and Charlotte were just hitting it on all cylinders, but you already knew that, however the real surprise was Bayley, I’ve never seen her wrestle before and bah gawd – she was outstanding here, might even declare her the MVP. Beautiful match. And Sasha? Well, based on three big matches I’ve seen from her, she’s gotta be one of the best big match workers in the world, she’s just so damn fabulous.

****3/4