Friday, August 25, 2023

NXT 3-25-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 25th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a very lengthy recap of NXT in Columbus last week. 

NXT Women's Championship Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks

It's nice to see them push Bliss a little bit here, as they need to add some more names to the division. Sasha quickly shows why the put the belt on her, as she as really has improved her character work. She hits the double knees to the abs of Bliss. Bliss is able to throw Sasha through the ropes and to the floor. Bliss shows some fire with a few right hands and a sweep kick. She almost picks up the victory with a sunset flip powerbomb. She climbs the top rope, but Sasha throws her to the mat and puts on the Bank Statement for the victory. She keeps the hold on for a few extra seconds for good measure. This was pretty brief for a title match, but Bliss was still lacking experience at this time. Sasha was as good as expected.

Match Rating: **

Kevin Owens says that he and Finn Balor have a lot in common. He says they both came in around the same time, but while he came in and destroyed Sami Zayn to win the NXT Championship, Finn decided to paint himself up. He says to bring the Demon because it wont' matter. 

Emma tells Bayley that I told you so. She says that she needs to be more aggressive. Bayley disagrees and says that the NXT Universe helped her out. Emma slaps her for disagreeing. 

Tyler Breeze calls the interviewer Barbara Walters in a funny moment. Hideo Itami walks in and challengs him to a 2-out-of-3 falls match next week. 

They run down the WrestleMania card before going to Finn Balor. He says he does his talking in the ring and he doesn't need the Demon to beat Owens. 

Blake and Murphy apologize to Carmella for last week and give her a bracelet as a gift. Enzo and Cass aren't impressed.

NXT Championship Match
Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

There's a lot of time left in this episode, so we're getting a lengthy match here. Balor hits a dropkick and Owens rolls out of the ring as we go into an early commercial break. Owens goes for the rear chin lock as his rest hold of choice today and we get our second commercial break. Owens goes for a powerbomb outside the ring, but Balor hits a back body drop instead. Balor goes for a crucifix, but Owens falls on his back and gets a 2 count. Owens throws Balor into the corner with a hard Irish whip. Owens is starting to show frustration that he's not able to put Finn away. Owens puts on another rear chin lock and we get a third commercial break. Balor is able to hit a back body drop over the top rope and follows it up with a senton over the top rope to the floor. Balor gets Owens back in and hits a Coup de Grace to the back of the head. Balor hits a Sling Blade and then a big clothesline, but it's not enough to put Owens away. Balor misses with a running dropkick in the corner and hurts his knee. Owens is aware and goes after it right away. Owens goes for a powerbomb, but Balor gets out of it and hits a double stomp. Balor goes for a superplex, but Owens hits a package suplex instead. Owens hits a cannon ball and Owens hits another one to the knee. He misses a third one, but Balor is still in pain. Balor hits the running dropkick and then the Coup de Grace. He sells his knee after hitting it and can't make the cover. Owens hits the Pop Up Powerbomb and that's all. The commercial breaks hurt the flow here, but the last segment was good as you would expect from these two. They gave them plenty of time and they told the story of Balor's knee effectively.

Match Rating: ***1/2

This was obviously just a two match show, but they delivered a memorable main event and the women's match solidified Sasha as the Boss. Weekly shows are always at their best when they are focused and this was no different.

Overall Rating: 70%


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