Welcome to NXT Future Five on Last Word On Sports, where each week we analyze the latest episode of World Wrestling Entertainment Network’s hottest program, NXT and rank the five performers who made the biggest impact.
Show Overview
- Sami Zayn Injury Recap: Tonight’s show opened with a beautiful videopackage reminding viewers what happened on RAW when Sami Zayn accepted the John Cena United States Championship open challenge. It did a great job showing what happened to Zayn and made him look incredibly courageous in the face of adversity.
- Solomon Crowe vs Baron Corbin/Rhyno Confrontation: From the outset it was a foregone conclusion that Baron Corbin would win this match, but the journey getting there was interesting. Crowe started out a house of fire, but Corbin quickly took back over. When he did, the crowd started taunting him with chants of “Baron’s gonna bore you!” When Crowe took back over, the crowd roared with approval until an visually impressive second rope End of Days lead to his downfall. Once the match was over, Rhyno came out to challenge Corbin again and the two had a pull apart brawl. When Corbin was on offense during the skirmish, the crowd was cheering for him, which makes me believe they haven’t tired of Corbin, just seeing him in squash matches. Come next week at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, his match with the Man Beast will be anything but.
- Finn Balor Backstage Interview: A quick promo with Balor putting himself over and essentially saying it doesn’t matter who the NXT Champion is, he would beat them. Quick and painless.
- Tyler Breeze Backstage Interview: Much of the same style of promo here with Breeze. For those new to the Network, these quick interviews introduce them to characters without taking up too much time. Smart move.
- Sasha Banks vs “Black Shorts”: Once again the NXT Universe names a competitor based on their attire. Before the match, Sasha cut a quick promo saying how she made Becky Lynch and would prove at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable why she was The Boss. A nice warm up match for Banks, who was out wrestled at times during the contest, but was never really out of control. A backstabber/Bank Statement combo would lead her to victory.
- Bayley/Charlotte Backstage Interview: Another quick promo, this time to add a match to the big event next week. Bayley and Charlotte challenged Dana Brooke and Emma to what we can assume is a match. Bayley and Charlotte said they will be there next week and hope their rivals will show up too.
- Uhaa Video Package: The same video package from last week. I understand showing video packages to build up a talent, but the same video? That might get old fast, especially since I already feel like I’m watching Bobby Lashley 2.0. Let’s hope Uhaa can develop his own personality.
- Carmella vs Alexa Bliss: This match was a reaction to the backstage confrontation between these two recently, and while the match was serviceable, there wasn’t much heat behind it, likely because the crowd might not have seen the vignette, and since both have been wrestling as baby faces, they were unsure of who to cheer. Even still, there was some impressive athletics on display from both ladies. NXT Tag Team Champion Blake and Murphy made their way to ringside, offering up a distraction that Alexa was happy to take advantage of. One Twisting Top Rope Splash later and Bliss walked away the victor. Post-match, Blake and Murphy tried to insult Carmella but instead the Statin Island Princess said her boys would walk away with the titles next week, and then she just walked away.
- Hideo Itami Backstage Interview: Sometimes the simplest answers are the best ones. Of all the interviews between Balor, Breeze, and Itami, I think Itami’s was the best, simply because his was different from both Balor and Breeze. They both looked insulted that there was any doubt they would win, and then both said it didn’t matter who won. When Hideo was asked the question, he said it was a good question and made a choice. Kevin Owens, because he is a bad person, and he has no respect for anyone. That statement alone made me want to see Hideo win the match, and then best Kevin Owens.
- Emma and Dana Brooke Backstage Promo: A promo to tie up loose ends with the heels accepting the challenge of the baby face dup from earlier. Nothing special here.
- Finn Balor and Hideo Itami vs Tyler Breeze and Adam Rose: The teaming of Breeze and Rose just makes sense. Good efforts all around in this back and forth contest that had all four men look impressive. Towards the end of the contest, Balor and Itami began to play a game of one upsmanship, which would eventually cost them the victory as Tyler Breeze would roll up Hideo Itami for a surprise victory. After the match we had déjà vu with Balor and Itami bickering until Breeze came in to take out both men, and then his partner!
- Sami Zayn Post Raw Comments: Another look back at what happened to Sami Zayn on Raw was shown before cutting to comments taped after his fateful match against John Cena. As usual, Sami was humble in his awe of performing on such a grand scale, and parlayed the interview into a comment about not letting it stop him from concentrating on Kevin Owens. We still haven’t gotten an answer if Zayn will be competing next week, likely because they do not know.
- Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens Face To Face: There was a nice bit of editing here where WWE inserted some audio of Zayn assuring the crowd that his match with Owens at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable would be happening. Excellent work from both Zayn and Owens here. Zayn seemed exasperated and yet still concerned when prodding Kevin about the reasons for his brutality against him, suggesting that his jealous stems from his son being a fan of him instead of his daddy. In response, the NXT Champion came off as emotional, like the things Sami was saying were true. In a nice touch, Owens acted as if he couldn’t even look at Sami when addressing him. When he did finally address him, he got the last word, stating that he knew where Sami was injured, and he would hurt him there again, only this time, Sami wouldn’t be coming back.
This week’s episode seemed to be all about wrapping up loose ends before the big event next week, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it didn’t pack the kind of punch that would cause new viewers to feel like they couldn’t miss it. The highlight of the night was unquestionably the Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens face to face confrontation, where their natural charisma and chemistry shone through and elevated the excitement for their main event next week. Everything else felt shoehorned in.
The Future Five
- Sasha Banks (Last Week – Not Ranked): Although the match was nothing special, it did serve as a nice showcase for Banks before NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. With all the attention Becky Lynch has been receiving lately, it was nice to have a reminder of the talent The Boss is.
- Baron Corbin (Last Week – Not Ranked): Baron Corbin had an interesting night because on one hand he looked dominant against someone who wasn’t a pushover, but on the other hand, he got a fairly negative reaction from the usually favorable crowd. He showed a little more versatility with a mid rope End of Days, and looked strong against Rhyno when he came out for a showdown. The crowd also seemed to come back around to his side during the brawl, so it will be interesting to see how they react next week, and how it will affect him moving forward.
- Alexa Bliss (Last Week – Not Ranked): While this match against Carmella wasn’t the same coming out party her match with Sasha Banks was, it was a solid victory against a capable NXT Diva, and in doing so we got to see her athleticism on display and didn’t fail to impress. She took advantage of a distraction, which makes the victory less impressive, but a win is a win.
- Kevin Owens (Last Week – Not Ranked): Being a NXT superstar is a multi-faceted job that requires more than in-ring ability. While Kevin Owens has wrestling talent in spades, it isn’t his only skill. This week, he demonstrated that unique quality that only the best heels in business have possessed: the ability to talk an audience into their seats. Owens’ performance tonight was one that hit the audience on a visceral level and you almost felt sorry for him, but not enough that you took his side. That is a dangerous line to balance on. Lean too far to one side and the crowd starts to sympathize with you. Too much to the other side and they don’t buy into it. Kevin was perfectly balanced tonight and was easily the most captivating performer on NXT this week.
- Tyler Breeze (Last Week – 2): What a week it was for Tyler Breeze. He got time to show off his personality in a sit down interview, proving that his character is larger than life, even in a subdued setting. Then not only did he pick up the victory for his team, but he took out everyone in the match after the bell had rung. No one on the NXT roster is going into NXT Takeover: Unstoppable with as much momentum as Tyler Breeze. There’s only word to describe Breeze’s performance: dominant.
Final Thoughts:
The Future Five came to me rather quickly this week, but there was some internal debate about how to rank the bottom three. None of their matches were overly impressive, so it truly came down to quality of opposition. While some might argue that Solomon Crowe is a higher quality opponent than Carmella, the truth is that Carmella put up a stronger fight against Alexa Bliss, and while she did need a distraction to win, it showed a willingness to pull out all the stops in order to attain victory. The top two were ranked based purely on the strength of their performance. Owens continues to elevate his game on the mic each week, which will pay off huge dividends in his future with WWE. Watching him speak is a pleasure, even if you hate him while he does it. As for Tyler Breeze, even if this had been a particularly strong week of NXT, Tyler would have likely taken the top spot anyway. This was the second week in a row that Tyler bested not one, but two of the best in NXT and on top of that, he now holds a win over both heading into the event next week. Breeze was the best this week, and he looked pretty doing it.
