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.
Highlights of the Night
- Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder: A surprisingly competitive match between these two tag teams was a great way to open up this week’s show. Both teams were very impressive, offering a side of each that we really hadn’t seen before. After some shenanigans on the outside, the team of Dawson & Wilder displayed their finishing maneuver the Shatter Machine to obtain the upset victory.
- Baron Corbin Vs Jesse Sorensen: Normally I wouldn’t put a squash match on the highlights but this makes the list because of who was involved. Baron Corbin was good, but more so I was thrilled to see Jesse Sorensen get to perform at Full Sail University and even happier that the crowd knew who he was. If you don’t remember, Jesse was the kid who broke his neck during a Total Nonstop Action taping but eventually healed up and went on to do some solid work before being let go by the company. It was great seeing that he still hasn’t given up.
- Kevin Owens vs Danny Burch: This is the proper way to use a squash match. Owens came out as rage incarnate after the results of last week’s contract signing. Screaming and mocking Finn Balor demonstrated exactly who that rage was for. Ending it with the power bomb to the apron showed his viciousness and made me excited for the upcoming rematch in Brooklyn.
- Blake & Murphy vs The Vaudevillians: This was everything a tag team championship main event should be. It was solid, classic wrestling action and both teams did an exceptional job building the drama and making it look like it was the most important match of their lives. In the end, a very simple sequence saw the Vaudevillians attempt their Whirling Dirvish, but a leg tug by Alexa Bliss proved to be the catalyst for a school boy rollup, a handful of tights, and a successful title defense for Blake & Murphy.
The Future Five
5. Jesse Sorensen: The argument could be made that this spot should have been given to someone who won their match instead of losing it in less than 30 seconds, and to be honest, this spot is being given based more on my personal emotions rather than professional success. On February 12, 2012 Sorensen suffered a broken neck live on pay-per-view during a match for TNA Wrestling. It was absolutely terrifying to see live on TV. I can only imagine what it was like for Jesse. To see him three years later not only still living his dream, but doing it on one of the hottest wrestling programs currently on television, is a true inspiration. No matter how quickly Baron Corbin beat him, in the game of life, he is a big winner in my eyes, so he gets my number five spot for emotional reasons.
4. Charlotte: If you want to be the most dominant woman in NXT history, then you have to prove it time and time again. That’s exactly what happened this week when Charlotte answered the challenge of Dana Brooke and sent a message to any other women listening and watching in the back: I am still at the top of my game. Despite not being NXT Women’s Champion, Charlotte is still considered by many to be the alpha female at Full Sail University. While Brooke still impressed me with how she used her strength advantage to offer a very different kind of challenge to Charlotte, the daughter of the Nature Boy showed her experience by never once becoming flustered, leading to Natural Selection, and maybe shutting up Dana Brooke, for a another week at least.
3. Kevin Owens: After shocking the NXT Universe last week by clocking NXT General Manager William Regal in the face during the chaos of his contract signing with NXT Champion Finn Balor, Kevin Owens had lots of momentum heading into this week’s episode. He certainly maximized his minutes by unleashing a rage from inside that has become the norm for him as of late. His systematic destruction of Danny Burch did more than earn him a victory, it sent a message. Not many performers can do that with a short enhancement match, but Owens did exactly that. He enhanced his character by showing new traits and dimensions previously unseen in the build towards a championship showdown. He used the opportunity to enhance not only his character, but the build up towards his rematch with Balor in Brooklyn.
2. Blake & Murphy: Ric Flair once said “The only way to stay number one, is to be number one.” After this week’s episode, Blake & Murphy are still number one, in the NXT Tag team Division at least. Despite winning under some less than moral circumstances, Blake & Murphy are now over the six month mark as NXT tag Team Champions, and while that still puts them months behind The Ascension’s nearly year long reign as Tag team Champions, they still have a firm grasp on the second longest reign by at least three months. Watching Blake & Murphy work last night couldn’t help but remind me of the Midnight Express when they were at their heel best. A lot of folks have already passed judgement on Blake & Murphy as being boring or stale, but I truly believe their best days are still to come. If this week is any indication, who knows how long they’ll remain champions!
1. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder: Since we’re still on the subject of Blake & Murphy, let’s talk about the night they went from jobbers to #1 contenders. On an ordinary episode of NXT, Blake & Murphy called out and defeated the Lucha Dragons, catapulting them to the #1 contendership and eventually their current reign of gold. I bring it up because we might have witnessed the same impactful moment this week from Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder. These two have hidden themselves in the background of NXT for over a year now, always impressing, but never picking up the important victories. That all changed this week when they scored a huge upset, taking out the former #1 contenders to the NXT tag Team Championship, Enzo Amore & Big Cass. I have no doubt this win marked a turning point in the career of this roughneck tag team, and it was just too big to give them any other spot but number one.
Final Thoughts
While this week’s episode had lots of enhancement talent, it provided the audience with both lots of enhancements and talent, making it an episode with good pacing, fun action, and a surprising amount of competition. This would be a great episode of NXT to start someone off with, because it has a little bit of everything. A shocking upset, character development, the drama of a grudge match, all capped off with a championship contest that provided plenty of action and storytelling. I certainly wouldn’t call it the best episode of NXT I’ve ever seen, but it was a hell of an improvement over what we have been witnessing the last few weeks, Sometimes the keep it simple motto is the best one for a one hour wrestling program.
