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.

***

NXT Brooklyn

 (2015/08/22)

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

Another fantastic edition from the grand ladies division of NXT, they produced another memorable classic and a strong company MOTYC. Now hey, this match was slightly “weaker” than Becky/Sasha from Unstoppable and the 4-way from Rival, but those bars were just set too damn high. I’m not going to compare this one to those. Let’s deal with negativity first, I didn’t love the opening 6-7 minutes. Were they bad? Hell, no! But they weren’t a MOTYC level, the pacing was kind of awkward and the match didn’t flow impeccably like all the other big Sasha matches. But then shit got better and better, the drama was excellent, there were big moves, bigger counters, and really the entire emotional cloud hanging above the match made for something special, it turned the match into “one of those moments”.

Once again Sasha proved her world class talent and body of work with some strong character work (minus the generic trash talk) and paying attention to details, while Bayley sold the entire match/angle/moment simply perfectly, her facial expressions were so lovely. Great, great match.

****1/2

NXT Brooklyn

 (2015/08/22)

LADDER MATCH for NXT Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor ©

Shockingly good ladder match, to be completely honest with you. Okay, maybe not that shockingly because one of the participants was Kevin LADDER WAR & STEEN WOLF Owens, but the NXT/WWE Owens is kind of hit & miss, and I just can’t get into Finn Balor, like, at all. But, here they are, surprising the hell out of me by working a smart, punishing and well structured ladder match that was actually grounded in reality and anti-Ziggler instead of doing just another generic MovesMania. Bayley/Sasha should’ve been main event, but this was still good enough for the fans, I guess.

***3/4