Thinking about what to do and came to the conclusion: why
not recap and comment on episodes of NXT? I wanted to keep things more open and
free from structure, to just riff on what got my attention in the wrestling
world from week to week. But a couple things have removed other wrestling
promotions from the conversation, in a sense.
1)
TNA. I’m just done. I thought there was some
excitement when Impact was still on SPIKE and the possibility of it closing its
doors was looming. How would the company prove its relevance? And then, when it
moved to far less widely known station, Destination America, but with a larger
presence there, the question became ‘how would it reinvent itself?’ The answers
soon became evident: Not really making much effort to do either. Same silly
stories, same rushed pace, same, or perhaps more, investment in goofy
promotional campaigns, like ‘superlatives’ that seem like it’s about some
generic reality tv project, not pro wrestling. Furthermore, very few compelling matches and misuse of
talent, making the top guy someone who is was past his prime and should be
giving the shine to up and coming talent. While I’d be glad to hear about any
exciting developments that may happen in Dixieland, I don’t plan to watch or
chronicle here for the time being.
2)
Ring Of Honor: Actually, this is a great
wrestling promotion, despite whatever may be holding it back from growing. I’m
sure I’ll be speaking about it here and there, especially considering its
connection with New Japan Pro Wrestling, a relationship that gives both
promotions a sense of worldliness and vitality. However, with the mystifying
policy of making viewers that don’t have access to it on television pay to see
the most up to date episodes of its tv show, which I’m not sure owes more to
ROH or its parent company the Sinclair Broadcast Group, reviewing it from week
to week seems pointless. Especially when you can live in New York City and its
surroundings, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and many parts of California, have
cable, and still not receive it.
3) Lucha Underground has a unique program, but
it may be going on hiatus. Besides that, while I enjoy a lot of the show, I
can’t help but feel it is a product that exists in a bit of a bubble. There are
familiar faces, though many of them are of the past or lacking relevance.
Still, after several months I am not a big fan of the overproduced feel, and I
liken it to watching a wrestling show within a fictional drama. It is very cool
to watch the luchadores from Mexico, but I get a sense that what those stars
are doing in heavily affiliated Mexican promotion AAA holds far more weight. I
am sure I will give some mentions to some of the more remarkable talent and
angles, but I cannot see myself devoting too much time to watching anymore or
documenting, with NJPW proving to be so captivating.
4)
And finally, there is WWE. With a presence as
major as that of WWE, I am not going to feign disinterest. In many ways, it is
the trendsetter. And the path to Wrestlemania, as well as the event itself,
held a LOT of intrigue. However, having come down from the huge party, some
realizations came into focus. I am a HUGE fan of Brock Lesnar and was looking
to his new contract with WWE to mean more involvement. He is still going to be
a ghost most of the time. That could be fine, it means when he is in the
picture it is more exciting and not played out. But it leaves you to face the
rest of what WWE is offering up on its weekly RAW and SMACKDOWN programs, which
isn’t much. Storylines and match outcomes are pretty much maintaining the
status quo. A mark has been made in terms of new talent coming in from NXT.
This improves match quality, so I feel I can keep an eye on RAW and SMACKDOWN
for the occasional good match. Beyond that, I’ll probably report on the
specials and give the following of RAW and SMACKDOWN a bit of a rest.
So here we are back with NXT, giving a solid hour of
wrestling every week to those with the WWE Network, Hulu Plus, as well as those
who know how to find their way around the internet. It finds itself in the
unique position of being owned, without casting any illusions to the contrary,
by WWE, but growing in stature. Triple H
and many of the wrestlers on the roster have made a point of saying, “it is a
brand in itself.” So going with that notion, and considering it is home to two
key figures in recent Japanese wrestling history in Finn Balor (former Bullet
Club member and IWGP Junior heavyweight champion Prince Devitt, and Hideo
Itami, who has achieved legendary status wrestling under his real name Kenta
Kobayashi in the organizations NOAH and All Japan Pro Wrestling. So let’s start
taking a close look at the week to week of NXT, with this especially apropos
episode focusing on Itami’s path to his first Wrestlemania.
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The show begins with a look at the buzz of activity among
fans and performers, and then the scheduled NXT tournament at AXXESS
Wrestlemania, an annual event giving fans the chance to interact with WWE
talent held days before Wrestlemania. We are reminded that the tournament
winner would go on to participate in the Andre ‘The Giant’ Memorial Battle
Royale taking place in the preshow right before Wrestlemania proper began. Highlights
of first round matches are shown, in which Finn Balor defeated Baron Corbinn
with a surprise rollup, Tyler Breeze beat Bull Dempsey with the Beauty Shoct,
Hideo Itami won his match against Jason Jordan with his Shotgun Kick, and Adrian
Neville defeated Kalisto with his Red Arrow splash from the top turnbuckle.
The show picks up from here showing the remaining matches in
the tournament.
Hideo
Itami Vs Adrian Neville
The match: Itami attempted some roundhouse kick's which Neville
backed away from. Neville grounded Itami
forcing him into a wristlock Wich Itami was able to reverse a few moments later.
Hideo hit a big roundhouse kick that
sent Neville to the corner to regroup. Itami
landed a stiff penalty kick to a seated Neville, and then clotheslined him to
the outside. Neville regained
control after not giving a clean break in the corner. He hit a snap suplex on
Hideo. Hideothen hit an interesting
tornado DDT that snapped Neville’s head onto the top row.
Hideo lifted Neville into a GTS position but he escaped to
the corner and hit a huge super kick leading to a near fall on Itami. Hideo would
pick up the win with his Shotgun Kick, a running dropkick off the ropes with
one foot making impact, and the pin. Hideo showed off a much bigger variety of
moves then he usually does on the weekly NXT program filmed in the WWE
Performance Center. Perhaps being in front of a big crowd charged him up.
Finn
Balor vs Tyler Breeze
Before the match: Balor is shown coming to the ring as Tyler
breeze looks himself over on his cell phone cam, propped up on a turnbuckle.
The match: Balor mocks Tyler breeze by lying down across the
top turnbuckle to pose. At one point, Breeze missed a splash in the corner and
Balor kicked him in the chest, sending ‘Prince Pretty’ a few feet into the
air. Balor reverses a sunset flip into a huge dropkick to Breeze’s chin.
Balor hits his massive running dropkick that sends Breeze
into the corner and then finishes him off with the coup de grace, a double foot
stomp off the top turnbuckle, for the win.
-----------------
A promo for Dana Brooke is shown, and she will be on an NXT
the following week. With Charlotte’s move to the main WWE roster seeming closer
and closer, Brooke looks to be ready to fill a top babyface position among the
NXT women’s wrestlers. I can see her moving quickly through the ranks to set up
as challenger to Sasha Banks at the next NXT special.
-------------------------
Hideo
Itami vs Finn Balor
Before the match: Itami comes in first. Balor is next,
without facepaint, but is still making a more theatrical entrance than before
his match with Breeze.
During the match: Both wrestlers engage in a quick series of armbar
reversals until Hideo takes Balor down with a single leg takedown. Balor hits a
big dropkick to Hideo as Itami runs off the ropes. Itami tries the same
spinning tornado DDT as in his match with Neville, but Balor rotates Hideo back
onto the turnbuckle and hits a big enzuguri.
Itami takes Balor down with a combination of strikes and
kicks, but Balor and Itami then both manage to hit pele kicks to drop one
another to the mat at the same time. Balor hits his big running dropkick
knocking to Itami into a corner. He goes to the top rope but Hideo crotches
him, sets up the GTS, but is countered with a roll up. Hideo comes out of the
corner with the shotgun kick and pins Balor for the victory.
After the match: Hideo points toward the Wrestlemania sign
above the bleachers. He and Balor shake hands and embrace in the ring, still no
tease of a feud between these two. It should be noted that this is the second
tournament in which the two friends have competed against one another. They now
hold one victory each
With the winner of the tournament revealed, for anyone who
had not already followed the course of events Wrestlemania weekend, the show shifted
gears to focus on Hideo’s journey from signing a contract with the WWE til now.
Clips are shown from the press conference in Japan where Hideo, then Kenta,
signs the contract, followed by Kenta speaking in front of fans with Hulk Hogan
and Jimmy Hart.
Clips are shown of Triple H and Daniel Bryan speaking about
Itami. Bryan focuses on the strength of Itami’s kicks.
Itami is shown backstage after his Axxess win, taking
pictures with Triple H, as well as Hall of Fame inductee Tatsumi Fujinami.
We are then taken to the San Jose University arena where the
Friday night live NXT event would be held. Itami is seen taking in the empty
arena with his children. Clips from Itami’s match that night with Tyler Breeze
are shown, including when he hits the GTS to a huge audience reaction. Clips of
more superstars speaking about Itami are shown, including Hogan pointing out
that Itami is the originator of the move.
Next, Itami’s limousine ride to Levi stadium on the way to Wrestlemania
is shown. Itami is shown early in the day walking around the vast arena
and taking photos. Next, cameras zoom in on Itami as the battle royale is in
progress. He is shown delivering a series of kicks to Bo Dallas before
eliminating him. We are then shown Itami’s elimination at the hands of The Big
Show, who delivers a big knock out punch to Itami on the ring apron. Itami is
shown walking to the back as fans audibly chant his name. In the backstage area
he is congratulated for being in that event by numerous superstars on both the
WWE and a next your roster.
What could have appeared like an insignificant appearance was
framed as a triumphant success story. It makes it seem as though a lot is being
invested in Itami, and he has a bright future ahead of him in the WWE. He has
the move set of a crossover fighter with a martial arts and professional
wrestling background, and the size to play the underdog that rises to the
challenge of more physically intimidating opponents. Perhaps we are building to
a Wrestlemania 32 match in 2016 pitting Hideo Itami against The Big Show in a
singles match?
