Asuka was a huge favorite foing into the Battle RoyalNXT kicked off its first show of the year from Full Sail University. Zayn was there, Bayley was there, Regal was there and so were promos from Balor, The Realest Guys In The Room and finally the Year End Awards which were so apt.And they chose the main event to be a womens battle royal to determine Bayley’s next opponent keeping in mind the theme of the season with the Royal Rumble on its way.It was a good show with just a few misses but a hero’s welcome for Zayn was enough to amp up the levels. Such great babyfaces this show has with Zayn and Bayley but Joe and Marie win for being the best heels.Here are the 5 points to note from NXT-
#1 First main event of the year
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Coming into this match, Eva Marie was ecstatic that Nia Jax couldn’t compete and every other women had their little snippets as to why they’ll win.
Marie being the total diva she is went out of the ring after Asuka delivered a stiff kick to her. Asuka relished being in the ring with such overwhelming competition and then Emma attacked her and the match took over.
Loved this match. Not because it was a classic but it was legit surprising. Going into the match the women who would be deemed as favorites or had a decent chance of winning were Asuka, Eva Marie, Emma or maybe Alexa Bliss but none of them won.
Carmella eliminated Eva Marie to become the new contender for the NXT Women’s Championship and if you watch Breaking Ground you know there’s this thing called ‘BayMella’. Carmella and Bayley are best friends. It’ll be interesting to see this story unravel.
P.S. Asuka was smiling, that’s never good news for whom she’s smiling at but always interesting.
#2 Rockstar\'s Paradise
Sami Zayn made his return to Full Sail University after almost a year and got a hero’s welcome. If you hear what the crowd’s chanting while a wrestler’s entrance music is playing at full throttle, you know that performer is special.
And Zayn knows that too. He introduced himself as the lead singer of the band that is NXT and ‘Ole Ole’ being their Number One single. He went on to rightfully credit himself as one of the main performers to make NXT what it is today, as Regal put it, ”the fastest growing promotion in WWE history”He got the cheap pops, got the audience to say ’Aww’ and you just have to wonder how well he’s been written as a babyface and how well he fits into that role. The world of pro wrestling did miss this guy so very much.
He came to announce that he wants to become the NXT Champion for the second time and that’s when things got even more interesting
#3 Joe! Joe!
Samoa Joe interrupted Sami Zayn’s homecoming speech and went on to display why he is on his way to become the best heel in the promotion. There was no way Joe was accepting the fact that Zayn deserved a title shot, after all he made his first appearance in NXT to put a stop to the relentless punishment of Zayn at the hands of Kevin Owens.
So, bottom line is that Joe is still in the title picture and that means Zayn has to go through him first to get anywhere near Finn Balor’s title.
Baron Corbin’s promo was a big ‘duh’ in front of these two. Joe just trampled his promo with one simple line.
Joe and Zayn will meet again and their first interaction was all the more well executed to create the anticipation for a face-off.
#4 Promising future ahead
They might be planning something big for Ciampa. A few weeks after an extremely hard-hitting main event match against Samoa Joe, Ciampa was back at Full Sail University to face Danny Burch who was given a jobber’s introduction. Burch did get a lot of offence but this match was a showcase of how stiff Champa’s offence can be and how much he can endure.
And it was a good showcase at that. He won the match with an arm bar that looked vicious.
#5 Elias Sampson
Elias Sampson’s gimmick may be a hit or a miss. Of course, most gimmicks are, but walking with a guitar and calling yourself the ‘Johnny Cash of NXT’ is borderline hilarious and his match wasn’t all that impressive.
Right now it seems like a huge miss. But if he’s being a heel, maybe all this can work but the mysterious, brooding character is being used so much. And since this just the beginning, there is hope that this can develop into something better. Hope isn’t too hopeful a word these days in the WWE, though.
