Rival Stuff

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze

Minus Itami’s horrible hulk-up spot, this was good. Itami was fierce on offense with his NOAHish kicks, he sold the leg damage well, and Breeze’s control session was fine enough, loved that vicious superkick. Good enough match, especially considering the card positioning. Itami keeps teasing the GTS and I imagine the place is gonna go nuts when he finally does it.

***1/4

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

No. 1 Cont. for NXT Championship: Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor

Very good cruiserweight match, borderline great even, little more depth and I would’ve thrown four stars at it. Neville is pretty awful at acting inside the ring and he should drop it altogether, but man, he makes up for it by being a spectacular athlete with a good sense for pacing. I don’t feel Balor too much, he’s hit or miss, been that way since day one, he’s trying too much with the painting and shit, but he wasn’t bad here, he meshed well with Neville. Good stuff, although little too “athletic cruiserweight style” generic.

***3/4

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

NXT Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn ©

Just like with Antonio “Claudio Castagnoli” Cesaro, Sami “El Generico” Zayn carries the great chemistry with Kevin “Steen” Owens into NXT. Great match with great mental games, Owens ruled in that department with all the stalling and slowing pace down. He was properly rough on offense and Zayn sold it tremendously, with lots of subtlety and charm, the Generico style. I loved the closing stretch with Owens obliterating him with all the powerbombs, just imagine if he managed to sneak in a package piledriver, damn that’d be glorious. Excellent match with killer finish that is only the beginning of their NXT saga.

****1/4